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Chapter 13: The Setting of the Moon
If a critic had been present for this scene, they would’ve surely labeled it third-rate. That was just how abrupt, nonsensical, and bizarre the young man’s forced entry upon the stage was.
“What are you?” Caria quietly asked, sounding like she was suppressing her anger.
One look at her was enough to see that she was dying to tear him to shreds. She didn’t do that because he was more or less responsible for defeating the Demon Lord with one hit—though the girls did weaken him beforehand.
He’d split the Demon Lord in two with a single stroke, much the same as if he were crushing any small fry you might find along the wayside. His skill was impressive, to say the least, but not one that should’ve been used on the Demon Lord. As such, it was hard to get a feel for who—or what—they were dealing with. So the girls decided to ask for his identity to feel him out first.
“Uh…I’m just a guy who thought he’d rescue some girls from a big bad monster?” the man answered with zero wariness. It was as if he were just greeting a neighbor he’d bumped into in the park during the early afternoon.
Ẃёb̂ñ ӧ v̊еl Ѐǹu m̆а
They were currently standing in the wastelands to the far south of the last known civilization on the continent. There was no good reason for this man to be there or his carefree attitude.
The Elfuur Sisters shared a look. What remained of their rational sides within the madness was wise enough to question whether this newcomer was friend or foe. But even on the off chance that he was an ally, he’d just insulted them in the worst possible way by stealing their kill at the last second.
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“Rescue us? Did we look like we needed rescuing to you? You oughta get your eyes checked,” Caria said with venom.
“Ahahah,” Maria laughed. “That’s funny. We didn’t ask for help. What made you think we needed to be rescued?”
Their instincts as Witches told them to be wary of his actions. His behavior was strange enough to make them address it.
“Maybe…”
W̄ е̊b n̊.о vе̄l E n̂ u m ā
They weren’t going to leave it be.
“You interfered for a reason?”
The man fell silent at their accusation.
Maria’s eyes opened as wide as possible to skewer him with a mad look designed to peel his hide. The man shrunk back, startled by the madness burning within the Elfuur Sisters that he hadn’t noticed sooner. He was unquestionably hiding something from them, and the Witches weren’t going to let his clumsy reaction slide.
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“A-Ahaha! Don’t be silly. You’re putting me on the spot here! It was a coincidence! I swear! Believe me! C’mon, turn that pretty little frown upside down— B-Bad time for a joke?”
The girls silently brandished their weapons. These were the weapons they’d taken from the Demon Lord, that had forgotten they were supposed to disappear after their master died. The halberd and dual swords that embodied all the wars and evil deeds of another world dully reflected the moonlight as they eagerly waited to sink into their next prey.
Ẅ eb̊ n̆ӧ.vе.l .Еńu mӓ
“Wh-Whoa! W-Wait, wait! I wasn’t trying to do anything funny! I really was trying to help you!”
The man thrust both hands in front of him as he frantically tried to persuade the twins to calm down. But there wasn’t a soul alive in this world capable of stopping the girls in their berserker mode. The only people capable of such a feat…had passed on.
Did the man sense the strange aura they gave off, or did he act on instinct alone? Determining it was impossible to persuade them, he shrugged his shoulders, his carefree expression vanishing as he silently rested a hand on the sword at his waist.
“Don’t try it. You can’t beat me at your current level.”
He was about to unsheathe his sword in response to their bloodlust, but there was something oddly theatrical about his comment. It was almost as if he were acting according to a script. He almost seemed like he was being forced to play a different role now. The sudden shift in his behavior gave that disturbing impression.
…So what?
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The girls felt like spitting on the warnings their instincts were giving them. They couldn’t care less about any of that. They didn’t give a damn about it. The only thing that mattered was that this man had defiled their past. He had ruined their atonement and offering to the past. They’d been rudely robbed of the ability to dedicate this battle to their mother because of this man’s interference, leaving them eternally unable to avenge her with the Demon Lord’s death.
How humiliating! How enraging!
Their hatred had grown so large that even the sisters couldn’t keep up with it as it turned into dense darkness that poured out of them.
Stillness came to the world. It was the calm before the storm.
They were already standing close enough to hear each other. All they needed was one little thing to trigger the next battle.
The man bent his knees in preparation to intercept their attack.
E ň ũm̂ ā . іd̄
The twins bent their knees to lunge at him.
And just like that, before either had the chance to learn about the other, they launched into an unproductive deathmatch—
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“That’s far enough.”
“…?!”
Today seemed to be a day of interferences and strange events.
A quiet voice forced the battle that should’ve begun to stop and be rewound.
Ё ñ u mа̃.і̇ d̂
There was a moment of confusion over what had happened. It took only a second for the girls to realize their feet had been frozen by a block of ice.
“Amazing. It’s even capable of forcibly inserting a stop to an already started action…? Did time just get warped too?”
It was no ordinary ice. There was no way ordinary ice could stop the girls who’d inherited Isla’s Hero unit status and the Hero’s powers. It didn’t just stop them but reversed them out of an attack they were already in the process of unleashing. That could only be the work of some strange mechanic.
Quickly coming to that conclusion, the girls looked toward the speaker. There they found…the Hero called Sludge Atou.
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The ability to completely undo an action that has already been taken…
The skill Atou had used was Glacial Decapitation—the Ultimate Attack she’d snatched from Frost General Ice Rock. At the time she’d confronted it herself, she’d thought it was a skill that landed a hit no matter what, but it appeared that it was actually a skill with the ability to put a halt to the target’s turn and give the user that turn instead.
Еn̈ u m̌a. i d
…It was a thousand times worse than an attack that always hits.
As she pondered just how unfair an RPG’s forced attacks and events could be, Atou instantly linked with Takuto to send him a telepathic report about what she found as she wordlessly walked closer to the girls.
“Wow! Another pretty girl?!” the man cried with glee when he saw Atou.
“……”
Atou glanced at him. Shock flashed across her face, followed by a bitter look. Given how many times she nodded to herself, it appeared like she was receiving instructions from Takuto. Unlike the twins, she and Takuto seemed to know something about the interloper.
“So? Who are you? Why are you here?” she asked him.
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“Uh, yeah…about that… It’s, uh, classified? Oh, I guess you wouldn’t know what classified secrets are, would you? Haha…”
I know what classified secrets are, at least, Atou thought, but ignored the man to telepathically consult with Takuto instead. She kept her gaze firmly on the man, never letting her guard down for a moment.
“Yes, I understand, Ta—my king.”
It only took a few seconds for Atou to receive her instructions. Then she gave the man one hard look before averting her gaze. While the man was still fussing over the situation, she addressed the sisters.
“I’ve already heard about everything from His Majesty. He has ordered you both back to base. You’ve…already accomplished your objective, no? Then it’s time to go home.”
An odd third party was hanging around, but Atou’s orders were to retrieve the twins. Safely returning the sisters to Mynoghra’s Imperial Capital was her duty. Fortunately, it looked like their objective—the Demon Lord—had been defeated, so she thought there shouldn’t be any issues getting them home.
Еn̊ ú_m а̃.i̇ d̃.
Except…
“That man got in our way.”
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“We can’t let him get away.”
The Elfuur Sisters still had unfinished business. They fervently sought an outlet to take out their regret and hatred.
“Huh? Our king ordered you home. Why aren’t you obeying? Are you girls…misunderstanding something here?”
Atou let her annoyance show through her words. To her, Takuto came above all else. And she also believed that the Dark Elves should feel the same as his citizens. Mangy Dark Fae, who happened to be in the right place at the right time to receive the honor of becoming the king’s citizens due to his boundless mercy, had no right to disobey his orders.
Ёn̊ ù m̀ а
“Don’t get in our way,” Caria demanded.
“We won’t forgive even you, Miss Atou, if you do,” Maria threatened.
“Did you go mad with your first taste of power? You urchins need to be put in your place.”
It sounded like something had snapped. A legion of tentacles burst from Atou’s back. Each swaying tentacle had a clear objective and gave off a bloodthirsty aura that warned they were ready to strike anyone who dared disobey Takuto’s orders, be they friend or foe.
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Atou’s current Strength was unclear. But Sludge Atou’s true worth went beyond simple combat strength—it lay within the limitless number of abilities she could snatch from her enemies. And she had just succeeded in obtaining all the skills she could want from her battles with the Demon Lord’s Army.
The twins’ combined abilities were certainly one of the most annoying types to go up against, and their Strength was not to be underestimated either. But they posed little threat to Atou.
Е̊ n ů mа̇ . i d̈
All she had to do was subject them to an inescapable preemptive strike by inhibiting their ability to act with Glacial Decapitation and then attack at a distance with her tentacles. She might be up against two little girls, but they had inherited the Hero trait—they shouldn’t die from it.
It’ll be excellent if they’re immobilized by the damage. Even better if they faint. If they can’t recover from this…then it’s a necessary loss.
A natural-born Hero unit can calmly assess the situation and swiftly develop a plan of attack. Even with the twins’ new powers, it was nigh impossible for them to win against the overwhelming battle senses honed by one of Mynoghra’s most elite units.
Neither side could back down. The twins were fighting for their past and the Hero for her king. Explosive tension flowed between the three girls who completely ignored the man, who kept reaching out his hand and pulling it back as if he were debating if he should mediate for them.
And then it happened…
──The moon’s beautiful, silver light…was obstructed.
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It was nothing out of the ordinary—dawn had come.
Before they knew it, the moon had already begun to sink below the horizon, losing its luminance. At the same time, the sun poked its head out, outshining the moon from the opposite direction.
“…Caria, let’s stop now.”
“Big Sista…”
“…?”
It was the older sister, Maria, who’d muttered those words as she watched the setting of the moon. Apparently, the younger sister shared the older’s opinion, as they both stared at the moon like the fight had gone out of them. Eventually, they sadly looked away from the moon and bowed deeply in Atou’s direction.
Е̄ṅ_u_mа
“…I’m sorry, Miss Atou.”
“I’m veryest sorry for being rude.”
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The two apologizing girls were acting just like their old selves. From that, Atou determined they could be persuaded to return home without incident. She glanced at the setting moon, nodded as if she understood what had happened, and let her expression soften ever so slightly now that the girls she’d once taken a liking to had returned to themselves.
“…I see. Well, the situation being what it was, I’m willing to overlook your rudeness as long as you obey orders. However, be sure to apologize to His Majesty.”
“Mm-hm, I’ll say sorry.”
“Yessum.”
Е̄ňù m̌ а̌
The girls tottered over to Atou. Seeing as they were nodding a bunch of times to themselves, they must’ve immediately started telepathically apologizing to the king.
He seems awfully Japanese to me, Atou thought as she turned her attention to the most dangerous person there.
“…And? Do you plan on just standing around all day?” she asked him.
She assessed the frivolous-looking young man, who appeared to be around sixteen to eighteen years old. It was her first time seeing clothing and a weapon that looked like his, but she knew what they were. She had already confirmed her suspicions with Takuto through their shared vision, but they both hoped they were wrong, because if they were right…things would turn bad fast.
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Atou quietly waited for the man’s next move with more tension than she’d felt dealing with the twins.
“Nah. Not really, hahaha. It seemed like a pretty serious conversation, and I didn’t want to come across as not being able to read the room by butting in.”
Е ǹ ŭm̊а̄
The man didn’t belong there from the beginning until the end. He didn’t need to take their kill or butt in while Atou was trying to persuade the twins. Only he had this extremely out-of-place feel to him, as if he were a forced story element being crammed into an already written script.
How to handle him? Atou pondered. King Takuto strictly ordered me to avoid fighting him.
As it stood, they no longer had a reason to fight now that the twins were behaving. Atou had been given the gist of what had happened from the king, who’d been watching events unfold through his shared vision with the twins, and from that, it seemed like the man really was trying to help out the sisters in his own way by defeating the Demon Lord.
But Atou was against conversing any further with this man who was practically the poster child for all things shady.
Did her feelings show? Or did the man finally reach his limit for how much awkwardness he could handle in one sitting? Whatever it was, he lifted one hand in the air and rattled off his goodbyes.
“Okay, that’s it for me today! I mean, uh…you all seem fine, so I’ll take my leave before I get in the way!”
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And then he turned on his heel to leave. He looked back once over his shoulder, to which Atou responded with a slight nod.
Carelessly interacting with him here would be like playing with fire. They had no idea what would happen if he turned out to be exactly the kind of person Atou and Takuto suspected he was.
“Sorry for sticking my nose in where it’s not wanted! See ya girls later!”
Then the man dashed off like a rabbit and eventually disappeared beyond the horizon at a terrifying speed. Atou exhaled a small sigh after she saw him go.
This was for the best.
Takuto was ordering her to hurry home too. Any further trouble would be beyond Mynoghra’s processing capacity, and they wanted some time to reorganize their forces before tackling yet another problem. That’s why, while the man’s motives piqued their curiosity…he was best left alone for now.
É ň ü ḿа̃
Why were Atou and Takuto so wary of him? The man they let leave had one very distinguishing feature. The clothing he wore looked just like the school uniforms from Takuto’s old world, and the weapon he used was known as a katana. Both of those were items not from this world.
Something extremely troubling was happening.
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Atou and Takuto had ranted about how difficult and terrible their starter location was when they first arrived in this world, but that seemed like it might only be the beginning of their woes. Atou’s sigh grew heavier with that thought.
In any case, nothing can be settled until we get home.
Atou turned back to the behaving twins and addressed them like normal.
“All right…let’s go home. Things are going to get busy for us. You will both have to start helping out too.”
Web̊ ňo̊ v ё l̊ Е̃ǹ um̄ а̌
Atou realized the twins had moved away from her. They were standing in front of the mountain of gold coins formed from the Demon Lord’s corpse.
“…Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Um, what is…this?” Caria asked with more reserve than usual, probably because she felt bad about inconveniencing Atou earlier.
“Gold coins from Brave Questers. The monsters from that land turn into gold coins equivalent to their value when they die,” Atou explained as she looked up at the mountain of gold coins. “That amount skyrockets when it comes to the Demon Lord, I see.”
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The amount was exasperating. Not to mention there was gold strewn all over the path she’d taken from the monsters she’d slain along the way. By this point, the surrounding area probably had enough gold deposits to put the gold rush to shame. Of course, the economy would obviously collapse if they took it to market, so they couldn’t use it will-nilly. Leaving it there would only create problems once someone else found it, too.
“Will Mama Isla…revive?”
Е̇n̄ ū mа. i ď
That quiet question came as Atou was wondering what to do with the gold. She contemplated the question as she dug through her knowledge to see if there was a way to revive Isla.
“Unfortunately, Isla is dead,” she softly replied.
“Hic…sniffle…aah…hiccup…!”
“Waaa…uwaaaaaa!”
Tears formed in the girls’ eyes. Maria stifled her sobs as she stayed standing, while Caria collapsed to her knees. They didn’t think they would be left with such emptiness at the end of their regret trip. They didn’t think their wishes would be so disregarded.
They wept and wept for the past that could never be returned to. The beautifully glittering gold coins almost seemed like some kind of reward…and that only made it all the sadder.
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“Uwaaaaaaaaa! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
“Hic…augh! Aaaaaaaa!”
They simply cried their lungs out. That was all they could do. That was the only thing left that they could do.
Atou sent a telepathic message to her king, informing him they would be a little late as she watched them weep.
The moon’s silver light had gone somewhere far away and no longer illuminated the scene.
Е̊ n̂ũ ḿ а̇
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