Mosquitoes, Fear of Heights, and "The Wolf Is Coming"

"Bang!"

With a sharp, crackling sound like shattering glass, the kangaroo in the distance died instantly, collapsing to the ground and turning to white ash in a flash.

There was no need to burn it; it simply turned to ash and dissipated into the air.

Then, the chain reaction was completely formed in the next instant.

"Bang bang bang..."

Just as a chain reaction of explosions occurred in the Coca-Cola bottle factory, a symphony of death began to weave across the grassland.

After about a hundred explosions, everything returned to silence.

Perhaps this proves that Opal Smith's title of "Death King" is not undeserved.

[La: Interesting!]

[La: But does it have to be a gun? Gunshots are too loud, they'll echo in my coffin, it's bad for my ears.]

Upon hearing the message from the Sun King, Cong Yu nudged Opal: "Did you see that? Do you really have to use a gun?"

Opal was quite embarrassed by Cong Yu's teasing.

"My abilities have many uses, such as curses, sleep, and Life Link, but..."

Opal paused, not continuing directly, but instead tactfully explaining his predicament, "If we encounter kangaroos later, you can help deal with them."

The subtext of this statement is that he has no offensive skills whatsoever; all his skill points are invested in buff skills and unpredictable abilities.

In a serious fight, he could curse his opponent to death, but the problem is... right now he's just killing kangaroos.

Setting up sacrifices or using curses to kill... is that really necessary?

(The kangaroo that was cursed to death: I, the little kangaroo, have lived a worthwhile life.)

The Sun King understood this underlying meaning.

But the problem is...

[La: Can't we use magic bullets?]

[La: All we need to do is condense and concentrate the magic.]

Indeed, this is the simplest way to use magic that even a trainee who has only been a magical girl for three months can learn.

"Well..."

Cong Yu sighed and explained to the Sun King behind him, "His magic bullets are very inaccurate... or rather, it's not that he can't use attack spells, it's just that he's not good at these kinds of spells, and his attacks are all very inaccurate."

For Opal, offensive spells are not nonexistent... such as enchanted bullets, but what if the power of the enchanted bullets isn't enough?

Then use magic bullets, enhanced magic bullets, magic overload bullets, magic explosion bullets, and magic explosion split-enhanced bullets.

Since you need a firearm anyway... otherwise Opal's accuracy is really questionable -- if you're going to let him shoot, it's best to stand behind him.

It's not that I trust Opal's abilities and can confidently entrust everything to him.

It's not that they don't trust Opal's accuracy... If you stay to his left or right, you're very likely to get hit hard.

Friendly fire! Friendly fire!

Chapter 189 Flying Mosquitoes, Fear of Heights, The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Are you familiar with "floaters"?

When you look up at the clear sky in broad daylight, your mind goes blank, and your eyes become vacant... Against the stark white background, it seems as if there are some insects in the air.

It might be mosquitoes flying around, or something wriggling and twisting that evokes images of plankton moving and flying.

But they could never catch or hit it.

This is called "floaters," a visual effect that occurs in people over 40 years old due to vitreous opacities in the eye.

The vast majority are benign and have almost no impact on normal people's lives, so there is no need to worry about them.

However, is there any possibility...?

These "Sun Bug," which appear in your field of vision when you look near the sun, are they also watching you?

"..."

"Sun Bug... floaters?"

As Opal said this, he looked at the sky with great interest, trying to clear his mind... but he saw nothing.

"Yes, that's how the Sun King sees things and captures her targets... Wherever the sun shines, the sky within a hundred miles is densely covered with servants who can provide her with information."

As Cong Yu said this, she turned to look at Opal and then reminded him, "Stop looking. Floaters are a condition that only humans can get... Just because you were once human doesn't mean you are now."

Ah, that's right.

Opal nodded as he sat aboard the Jormungandr Train, shrouded in Cong Yu, watching the scenery rush by.

That's right, they're currently sitting "above" the Jormungandr Train, not inside it...

That is, riding on the back of Giant Serpent, they traveled towards the "large number of kangaroos" that the Sun King had captured.

"I see. I was wondering before why the Sun King could see the outside world while inside the coffin... and why he didn't sense any magical fluctuations."

As Opal spoke, he saw a large group of kangaroos fleeing in all directions because of the Giant Serpent's wandering, but he wasn't in a hurry to kill them.

Just quietly

They wrapped each of them with fine harvested silk threads.

In fact, Opal's relationship with the Sun King is not good... Of course, it's not that it's terrible, just a normal "acquaintance".

The relationship is more like that of ordinary friends... the kind you've only known for a short time.

Or to put it another way—the King of Glory is centered around Cong Yu, and the connections they have now are formed around him.

The original words would be more in line with the description of "a passerby or a stranger".

What? You're asking about Miss Chi You?

It's just a roast chicken; besides Cong Yu, who else would be willing to feign politeness with that emperor who cares about face but is utterly useless?

Even when summoned, the Monster King mostly just go through the motions in order to successfully transform.

Therefore, Opal did not actually know the Sun King's specific abilities, and the Sun King also did not know Opal's specific methods.

This was the first time we had worked together like this, and we were both quite reserved when cooperating.

Cong Yu was in charge of driving, Sun King was in charge of scouting, and Opal was in charge of the killing... The three of them were rapidly slaughtering the kangaroos at a sweeping pace.

If I count them, there are probably several thousand already.

"Let's go to heaven..."

As Cong Yu spoke, she directed the Jormungandr Train to fly into the sky. "At high altitudes, your Death Link can connect to more kangaroos at once."

[Buzzing--]

[Rah: Wait! I am Pharaoh! Pharaoh!]

"..." Opal looked at the message on her phone, felt the wind blowing past her ears, and asked Cong Yu in confusion, "What does the Sun King mean by that?"

To this, Cong Yu simply explained, "It means... 'If the Pharaoh is on earth, nothing is impossible!'"

Opal: "???"

Seeing Opal's puzzled expression, Cong Yu added, "The subtext is... the Sun King is afraid of heights."

What? This is a setting that even science fiction wouldn't dare to use so easily?

--

Perhaps it was because there were simply too many kangaroos. In just a short time, the number killed had reached over ten thousand.

It's close to 20,000.

Many people may not have much of a concept of "ten thousand".

Well, the square was bustling with people, and there were densely packed elderly men and women dancing... but it was only a little over a hundred people.

India's streets are so crowded that they're practically swarming with people, enough to trigger trypophobia. You might only be able to see about two hundred people at a glance.

A basketball court was packed with people, so crowded that there were probably around five or six hundred people.

And indeed, the three of them killed 10,000 kangaroos.

That's really good efficiency...

We're only 69.99 million short of our target of killing 70 million kangaroos... which does seem to be faster than kangaroos giving birth.

But before the quantity is controlled reasonably...

The vegetation environment will be the first to collapse.

"..."

"Do you feel how troublesome the current situation is?"

Opal sighed.

"Indeed... the tender plants were eaten, and the leftover dry grass is very easy to start a fire, no wonder there are so many wildfires here."

As Cong Yu said this, he was mentally calculating the cost of having the army kill the kangaroos.

Let's assume we disregard all military pay, marching expenses, maintenance costs, and so on... and ignore the costs of unloaded weapons, weapon maintenance, and time.

Killing 70 million kangaroos would require 70 million bullets... Assuming each bullet costs one cent, that would still cost 7 million yen.

Even setting aside the facts, the expenses are already somewhat beyond expectations.

"Ugh... I'm exhausted."

As Cong Yu spoke, she sat resting in the now-stopped Jormungandr Train, looking out at the real grassland scenery.

[La: Hahaha! Aren't I the one who's more tired?! I've been flying all the time, I'm so sick of it!]

Looking at the words that were full of emotion, Cong Yu curiously looked at the coffin placed to the side, and saw that the hole on the side of the coffin was pitch black.

Where is your vomit?

As Cong Yu said this, she took a pack of tissues from the table inside the carriage and reached through the hole into the coffin. "Let me wipe you down."

Then my hand was slapped.

The tissues were quickly identified as well.

[Sun King: Ah! It didn't really come out! Also, that's my thigh! Don't touch it!]

"..." Not only the two of them, Opal was also exhausted. He had used up a lot of magic power and was resting while drinking Cong Yu's coffee.

"Wow, Jormungandr Train..."

Opal touched the curtains inside the carriage with envy, then popped a cookie from the table into his mouth. "It can hold things, it can be used for movement, and it's also very useful in battle... You can even drink coffee and eat here when you're tired."

Cong Yu does not deny this point.

"For the past few years, I've been trying to develop a way to rest when I'm tired, but unfortunately, I haven't succeeded yet."

As she spoke, Opal rested her chin on her hand, the skull pendant on her chest jingling crisply. "Speaking of which, Cong Yu, what have you been up to lately? Negotiating with the Magical Girl Association of Japan?"

After all, everyone already knows that Cong Yu has peacefully declared himself king. Although it's only at the level of one city, everyone has seen the situation in Japan.

All I can say is

No one really cares about the size of the territory, as long as Cong Yu is happy with it. The kings are all happy for him.

"No, I'm going to school now, and I'm living with a magical girl."

"..."

"Ha ha!"

Opal burst out laughing. He knew Cong Yu's personality well. "He's spouting nonsense again. It's still ridiculously fake. You can tell it's fake just by listening to it."

[The Sun King: Hahaha, such a prank, this is just the style we're used to!]

Cong Yu: "..."

Cong Yu: "No, this time I'm telling the truth."

"..."

"!!!"