"Hurry up and take me away..."
"Those cats are monsters..."
"My wife cheated on me... I only did those things because I was in a bad mood... It's all that bitch's fault..."
A moment later.
The doors of the pet hospital opened. The demon doctor, whose mind had already become somewhat unhinged, was escorted out by two police officers and shoved into a police car before they drove away.
Having personally experienced a 'paranormal' event, he would rather face the punishment of the law than continue being haunted by terror.
"I thought that guy would be tough. I didn't expect that we hadn't even used the other tricks we prepared before he got scared and called the police to turn himself in." Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, complaining with disgust. "He feels so useless."
"It's not surprising." Sora said softly. "Even an ordinary person would be terrified if they suddenly encountered something like this, let alone someone with a guilty conscience."
"That's right." Anna hugged her arms. "Putting myself in his shoes, I would definitely be startled too."
The girls' abilities combined could totally be considered an unsolvable paranormal event, much scarier than those street pranks. Someone with a weak heart really wouldn't be able to handle it.
Mahiru said softly: "I hope that bad person can turn over a new leaf in prison."
A few years ago, Japan passed the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals, explicitly stipulating that abusing cats and dogs is a criminal offense. Depending on the severity of the case, one could face up to five years in prison and a fine of five million yen. Given the demon doctor's egregious behavior, he would spend at least a year or half a year in prison.
"We can consider this matter concluded for now." Sora looked at the time on his phone. "It's almost 10:30 PM. I don't know if we have enough time to get back."
"Eh, it's already this late?"
Prompted by the reminder, the girls belatedly realized that the night was already super deep.
"Mount Takao is an hour's drive from Tokyo. If we rush to the subway station to catch a train now, it'll definitely be past midnight by the time we reach Tokyo." Ruri bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, her tone worried. "By then, both the trains and the subway will have stopped running. Even if we get to Tokyo, we won't be able to get home."
Shortly after it got dark, Mrs. Gokou had sent a message asking about the situation.
At the time, Ruri was focused on punishing the cat-abusing fiend and naturally didn't want to go home. She just said she was out playing with friends and would be back late.
"And now it's turned into staying out all night..."
Ruri felt a massive headache coming on, not knowing how to face her mother when she got back.
In comparison, Anna was much more relaxed.
The gluttonous girl had many friends and often stayed over at their houses. She had already sent a message to Mrs. Yanami saying she would just go straight home tomorrow.
"Looks like we won't make it back in time." Sora looked up at the girls and suggested, "Let's find an inn to rest for the night and head back tomorrow morning?"
"Phew..."
Yamada Elf raised a hand to cover her mouth and yawned, gently tugging at the hem of Sora's shirt:
"My legs are so sore, and my heels hurt too. Let's hurry up and get a room."
The corner of Sora's mouth twitched slightly, and he looked at Angel-sama: "What do you say, Mahiru-san?"
Mahiru raised her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, a hint of fatigue showing on her pretty face:
"Let's go rest at an inn."
"Ah~ I remember now." Anna's eyes suddenly lit up. She slapped her forehead, quickly opened her backpack, and buried her head in it to rummage around. "I put the hot spring vouchers in my schoolbag earlier. It seems there's a chain branch of the hot spring inn near Mount Takao... Found them!"
Anna quickly pulled out several hot spring vouchers, her smile bright and radiant: "Let's go rest at a hot spring inn! Tomorrow we can spend the day playing at Mount Takao, and then take the train home in the evening."
Although she really wanted to soak in the hot spring alone with Sora, the current situation was special. Plus, in Anna's mind, having defeated the cat-abusing fiend together, they were already friends, so naturally, she wouldn't be stingy about sharing.
"Agreed."
"I agree too."
"So tired, let's hurry to the inn."
"..."
The girls all agreed.
Sora naturally had no objections. So, everyone pulled out their phones for navigation and walked together toward the hot spring inn.
The long street was empty and exceptionally quiet. Walking alone would inevitably feel lonely and desolate, but with Anna and Yamada Elf there, it wasn't lonely at all.
"It'll take over ten minutes of walking to reach the inn." Sora glanced at the navigation app on his phone, then looked at the three magical girls. "You guys used your magic power multiple times today, so side effects are definitely unavoidable. Since we have time now, I can help purify the magic power... Who's first?"
"..."
The smile on Anna's face quietly froze.
Damn it!
I want to hold hands too!
Why am I the only one who isn't a magical girl!
"Help Elf-san purify her magic power first." Angel-sama's voice quickly rang out, her gentle, sweet voice drifting softly in the evening breeze. "The side effects of invisibility are very troublesome."
Yamada Elf's small face flushed slightly, and she gave a tsundere hmph: "No, we'll talk about it when we get to the inn... Holding hands on the street, if someone sees us, they'll misunderstand and think that Pervert Sora and I are dating, right?"
The girl's unintentional complaint instantly made the atmosphere subtle.
Sora expressionlessly withdrew his right hand: "Then never mind."
Ruri reminded them from the side: "When checking into the inn, we need to register. You must deactivate your invisibility first."
"No way." Yamada Elf instantly grew nervous. She hurriedly reached out her small hand and grasped Sora's fingers. "I absolutely refuse to erase the clothes on my body."
"..."
The rest of the journey was silent.
By the time they reached the hot spring inn, Sora had just finished purifying the magical corruption from Elf's body, successfully netting another 100 versatile experience points.
It was already very late. The hot spring inn was deserted, with only a middle-aged auntie sitting sleepily behind the counter.
"Hello, we would like to check in..."
Anna's voice was crisp. She took out the hot spring inn vouchers and stepped forward to negotiate:
"We're in luck, there are still plenty of rooms. Everyone, hurry over and register your information..."
"Coming."
Sora and the girls lined up to step forward. After registering their information, staff members wearing yukatas quickly appeared to lead them to their rooms.
There were three rooms in total, conveniently located right next to each other. As a boy, Sora naturally rested alone in one room. In the remaining two rooms, the four girls paired up.
The girls whispered and discussed for a few moments. In the end, Anna and Kuroneko shared a room, while Angel-sama rested with Elf.
Of course, before resting, the magical corruption in Mahiru and Kuroneko still needed to be purified.
Stare—
Anna sat in the corner, her arms crossed over her chest, staring unblinkingly.
Sora's expression was composed, completely devoid of guilt. Like a doctor treating patients, he naturally wouldn't feel ashamed just because someone was watching. Conversely, both Angel-sama and the Holy Kuroneko were clearly a bit unnatural.
Fortunately, no accidents occurred during the process, and the magical corruption in the two girls was quickly purified.
Seeing the versatile experience points roll in, Sora nodded in satisfaction, then waved them away:
"You can go back to your rooms now. Take care, I won't see you out."