Tonight, Yezi Wasn't Home

(Sun Yao)

More than a dozen innocent people have died.

He died from the high-voltage electricity used by the Magnet Monster to power the train traction machine...

Well, this wasn't even the Monster's intentional act; he wanted to speed up the subway train to create a bigger attack. As for the casualties that occurred along the way to achieve this goal, they weren't even "incidental" to him.

Why is this Monster, a human turned into a monster, so cold-blooded?

With heavy hearts, I returned home with my mother.

The Golden is fast asleep on the balcony.

"Carefree is wonderful."

Looking at it made me feel a little more relaxed.

Since coming to our home, this lazy dog's daily activities have consisted of eating and sleeping, completely lacking the liveliness and energy it had at the Canis Major Kennel.

She's even gained weight.

With the Yezi providing such careful nourishment, the species is almost transitioning to the order Artiodactyla.

I was just about to call Yezi when Miss Sirius called.

"Huh? Yezi went to study in another city?!"

"Yes, I arranged a 'trainee agent experience course' for him, allowing him to accompany other celebrity agents to other cities to observe performance processes."

Miss Sirius went to great lengths to cultivate the Yezi.

But...

"I'm participating in a talent show the day after tomorrow! Even if you want to mentor him, you shouldn't have chosen this crucial time, right?"

I still couldn't help but complain.

"Ceruno- chan, why don't you understand? He's leaving now so he can get back before the main competition starts. Don't you even have the confidence to get through the preliminary rounds and the first round on your own?"

"No, it's not that bad..."

After practicing under Sirius's "teacher" for so long, even if I can't be called a professional yet, I'm no longer that clueless otaku who only knows how to sing anime songs at karaoke.

Passing the preliminary rounds shouldn't be a problem... probably.

Oh, right.

I thought I would hang up after informing Yezi of the situation, but Miss Sirius had more to say.

She said, "There's one more important thing, Ceruno- chan. You need to come to the branch at 10 a. m. tomorrow. We can't do without you."

Do I have to go to the branch again?

This was quite sudden.

"What's going on? Is it related to Dark Energy? Or to today's attack?"

"They've given us such a generous gift, shouldn't we retaliate in kind?"

"A return gift? What are you planning to do?"

"They sent Past unmanned reconnaissance drones, and then... War Machine manufactured by Future Magic Company!"

"Wait! What? The second half of what you said is full of flaws..."

What is Future Magic Company?

What, then, is War Machine?

This sounds completely out of place with the style of magical girls, doesn't it?!

"It's War Machine in the literal sense. Before being deployed into the wormhole, it's infused with the magic of witches, thus enabling it to effectively kill Monster. It's equipped with a small nuclear bomb, which will detonate if it can no longer fight!"

"That sounds dangerous; there might be civilians on 'the Other Side'..."

"Ceruno- chan, throw away that merciful idea. The 'The Other Side' hasn't considered us at all. Don't forget how many innocent civilians died today. This operation was unanimously approved by the Association and the government; no one will object."

"I know."

Although we can only fight through wormholes, we are at war with "the Other Side" in a full-scale war that has been going on for twelve years and is still ongoing. Now that the other side is deliberately pushing the situation to deteriorate, we must respond.

Even though I know all this, I still find it hard to let go of it deep down...

His father knew all this, yet he still chose to join the Other Side. Why was that?

"Well, thinking about it from a different perspective might make you feel better."

Sirius paused for a while on the other end of the phone before continuing.

"Ceruno- chan, do you think the world ' on the Other Side's is the same as ours? All our enemies so far have been created by a certain will, even the witches. They are just weapons that will obey. Under such a completely dictatorial system, there won't be the kind of people you imagine. Everything on the other side is our enemy."

"Before 10 o'clock tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, don't be late. The other preparation staff have been working overtime all night tonight."

After hanging up the phone, I turned my gaze to the living room.

My mother is standing with her hands on her hips, scolding our Doggy.

"You can't eat any more now! These were all brought back for you. You can eat them tomorrow during the day, okay?"

"Woof!"

The Golden nuzzled its head against its mother's legs in a spoiled manner.

"Eating too much isn't healthy either. You've already had dinner, haven't you?"

My mother was talking to the dog, but I didn't see anything wrong with it; maybe everyone's a little crazy.

However, Golden does indeed rummage through things to eat, and even turns on the TV and air conditioning. I even suspect that it can open the door and go downstairs for a stroll, because there are often things in its toy box that could never belong to Yezi's family.

My mother handed me the steak.

"Yao'er, let's put it away for today."

"Um."

I also think we can't feed Golden anymore. Doggy's obviously gotten fat and lacks exercise. Raising a dog isn't like raising a pig; we need to watch his weight...

I closed the refrigerator door, Golden made a pitiful "woof woof" sound beside me, but I just found it amusing.

"Yezi has gone on a long trip. If you can lose weight during this time, he'll be very surprised when he comes back and sees you, right?"

"Ooh--"

As if struck by something, it suddenly quieted down, no longer thinking about the steak. Looking utterly detached, it returned to the living room, curled up in its doghouse on the balcony, closed its eyes, and prepared to sleep...

This Doggy is quite the drama queen.

"Goldie, Yezi isn't home tonight, why don't you come sleep with me?"

The lines were perfectly fine, but they just sounded weird coming out.

"Woof? Woof!"

It quickly got up and darted into the Yezi's bedroom.

Upon closer inspection, she was already lying on her back in bed, covered with a blanket.

The mother asked, "Oh dear? Xiao Yezi isn't here. Are you sleeping in his bedroom again tonight?"

"Yeah, I've gotten used to sleeping there. I can't sleep when I go back to my bedroom."

Besides, Miss Metal's housing renovation project isn't finished yet. My bedroom walls have been torn down. How could I possibly sleep in such a room?

The mother covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Heh, no wonder you climbed over Past last night."

I shrugged.

"As a result, Yezi went to sleep on the sofa in the living room."

The mother explained, "Don't blame him, he's just afraid he might do something wrong."

I think he was afraid I'd do something... I know I'm not a very good sleeping posture.

I activated the Teleportation Halo to send my mother back to her room to sleep. I also pulled back the blanket, lay down next to the furry Doggy, and hugged it from behind.

"Awoo~"

It let out a soft chirping.

The Golden was very comfortable to hug, like a large teddy bear. It was very clean and had no smell, but its body temperature was a bit hot for people, so I kicked the blanket off.

Goodnight, Goldie...

I stroked the soft fur on its belly.

"You'll have to wake me up tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Woof~"