Chapter 31
Sprint
Translator : PolterGlast
"Today, I'm going
to give it my all...!!"
Sutra-san rolled up
her sleeves, her eyes blazing with enthusiasm. Wow, clap, clap. Do your best,
do your best. Whee-whee!! It looked like she was really excited, but in
reality, all that cheering was from Ichi and the others, so it was a
surprisingly quiet space at first glance. I weakly clapped my hands too.
"...El, you seem
a little down. Are you okay? Does your stomach or tooth hurt?"
"Eh, no, nothing
at all!?"
The excuse I had made
up to avoid going to the chapel had unexpectedly resonated this far. Ever since
I met that silver-haired demon, a heavy shadow had fallen over my heart, and I
felt terribly uneasy. But that had nothing to do with Sutra-san, and she was so
excited. I didn't want to worry her, so "I'm fine!" I repeated, doing
squats. Honestly, I moved a little too much, and she looked at me with slightly
puzzled eyes, but I succeeded in dispelling her anxiety.
"Well then, I
guess I'll head out too," the landlady said, leaving the shop with
Sutra-san. "El, won't you come with me after all? I don't know what to
talk about with Yozaki-kun," "Ah... sorry, my eyes suddenly hurt...
maybe it's eye strain... I'm going to go look at some greenery and relax!"
"Wow, your excuses are way too flimsy!" "Osshaaaaa!" I
shook off Sutra-san and dashed out with Ichi and the others. Of course, I went
in a different direction from the landlady.
It was a precious
opportunity. I thought I should do what I could. It was scary, but I would go
to the church again. If I found that man, this time I would grab him and demand
to know what he was. He was a demon too, he wouldn't do anything dangerous...
that was my wishful thinking, and I didn't know what kind of power he
possessed. But since that man said he would come to pick me up, just waiting
wouldn't change the outcome. No matter where I was, that man would come. I had
a strange certainty about it.
So, I sat down on the
bed with everyone and told them that things might become very dangerous from
now on. "Seriously!? I'll do my best!" said Ichi, and Nii bounced up
and down, "Understood, understood!" San just let out a
"Uooooooo!" as if psyching himself up. It was too fast of an
understanding, I had been consulting them about whether we should run away. They
were too reliable.
So, I used both my
Detection and Search skills with the three slimes, who were more motivated than
usual, after thinking it over. I had also asked Ichi and the others for help.
They had much more high-performance search skills than I did.
Even as I walked
along, the same cat from before came over. I desperately tried to ignore it,
but it kept meowing, so I couldn't help but ask in polite language, "A-are
you, perhaps, hungry...?" I hated myself for it. After offering it part of
my packed lunch, I tried my best to pretend I didn't know it.
Unconsciously, I
appraised various places. It was already a habit. I wished I could have
appraised that demon man, but I had been too overwhelmed at the crucial moment
and regretted it.
When I appraised a
person, their name, age, and occupation appeared. It was the same for things.
Knowing the names of buildings was very convenient, but strangely, some things
showed no information at all. I could appraise the food at Harapeko-tei, but
for some reason, I couldn't appraise the Harapeko-tei building itself. I could
also appraise the landlady and Lotus. But I couldn't appraise Sutra-san and
Yozaki-san.
I once again felt that
it was a very inconsistent power. Would it become more useful once I unlocked more
achievements? It wasn't something that would be a problem to have, but it was
difficult to use effectively.
My Listening skill was
already at Lv. 2. Now I could hear a little better than an average person and
could easily pick up conversations around me. On my way to the chapel, I was
more alert than usual, so various voices entered my ears. "Pii-chan."
It was a girl's voice.
It sounded like she
was about to cry. At the side of the road, she held a limp bird in her small
palm. It must have been a bird she cherished. When I appraised the girl, her
name appeared. For some reason, I also appraised the bird in her hand. No name
was displayed.
It was a feeling like
being rejected. If something had a name, even if it wasn't a person, I could
appraise it. But I couldn't appraise that bird. In other words, the appraisal
had failed. It was a feeling I had experienced many times, but it was still
strange. At that moment, the girl cried out loudly. Her parents flew over and
comforted her. She was desperately explaining in broken words, tears streaming
down her face, that the bird she loved had died.
It was as if her
feelings were coming over to me, and my eyebrows naturally furrowed. But
something caught in my chest. I could hear people laughing. Many people were
walking on the cobblestones. I appraised them as they passed by. Various
occupations, various names, various ages. Some people's names I knew, some I
didn't. Some things I could appraise, some I couldn't. I couldn't appraise the
dead bird.
What was appraisal,
anyway?
It was a system that
Yuko in the game also used, so I hadn't thought about it deeply, but appraising
meant that there would be a result. Who made that result? If it was purely a
skill that told me some information, there were too many inconsistencies. Then,
what else could it be? It was something I didn't want to think about, but this
was the "world of a game." In that case, it wouldn't be strange if
the creators had systematically assigned meaning to each thing.
Even the NPC players
in the game's main story each had a name. So the names of the people I could
appraise were probably given by the game developers. When I appraised Ichi and
the others, it only showed "Cleaning Slime A." The name
"Ichi" was something I had given them. Then, the people I couldn't
appraise were probably people who had overflowed from the developers' naming,
since there were so many people in the world.
There was something
off. I felt like there was something deeper. Now was three years before the
original story. If they were creating the game's settings, the timeline three
years later should be the standard. In other words, the appraisal results only
showed things that would exist three years later, according to the game
developers' settings. The reason the bird's name didn't appear was because it
had died. If it had died, it wouldn't be there at the start of the game, so it
wouldn't have a name.
In other words,
Sutra-san and Yozaki-san wouldn't exist three years later.
"N-no way, no
way."
I muttered to myself,
saying that couldn't be right.
Even though I thought
it was definitely wrong, my head spun, and I sat down at the side of the road.
If the appraisal
results were just a sneak peek at the code the developers had made, it would be
natural to think that there were people who hadn't been named. After all, there
are so many people. But the landlady's name, Sheila, had appeared. Was there
such a person in the Cloudy Country route? She might have existed as an NPC,
but if so, Lotus should have reacted to her a little.
I hadn't cleared the
true end of the Lotus route. Besides, I didn't remember the settings down to
every detail of the game, so I couldn't nod definitively. But it had to be that
way. No, I wanted it to be that way. But what if this appraisal went beyond the
framework of the developers and simply looked at the world three years after
the game's main story?
My imagination kept
expanding. In the first place, why had Lotus' personality changed so much? He
usually had a face that looked like he was angry, but the future him, who has a
gloomy expression and speaks very little, was completely different from the current
him. I had thought he was in the midst of wavering values regarding demons, but
then, what kind of trigger could have made him hate demons so much?
Normally thinking, it
would be when he lost an arm and an eye. He would suffer terrible injuries in the
future. After thinking about him hating, getting angry, and vowing revenge for
that, the image of Lotus that I had blurred a little. I felt like he wasn't
that kind of person.
He was always acting
for the sake of others. He cared more about others than himself. If he got
angry, he would get angry at others rather than himself. He had muttered
painfully, "Don't die in front of me."
The number of deaths
in the battle of Volvect was only a handful. ――――Then, who are these dead
people?
My clasped hands were
trembling without me realizing it.
It was the death of
just one person. Only a few people. That was just my impression, and it was
wrong to use "just" for someone who had died.
――――Demons possess unique
abilities from the moment they are born, but among humans, there are those who
awaken abilities one day based on the expression of their emotions.
Expression of
emotions.
The future Lotus must
have hated demons terribly. So much so that he gained a new power.
I thought about it. If
the place you had cherished since childhood was destroyed before your eyes. If
your friends and childhood friends died before his eyes. Covered in blood,
Lotus would probably scream. He would surely spew out words of hatred from the
depths of his throat countless times.
I couldn't even
appraise Harapeko-tei.
――――You're early. Well, no
matter, I'll go pick you up.
It wasn't the time for
the demon attack yet. I had thought that and felt relieved. But in the first
place, why had the demons come? Did they simply want to conquer the city? Or
was there a trigger? For example, to go pick someone up.
I was careless in many
ways and couldn't live alone, so I headed for the city early. Then, I thought
about what Eldorado from the original story would have done. Since El and I
were the same human, if I thought slowly and carefully, I could roughly
understand the path. First, I wouldn't go to a human city right away. That was
because there was a possibility that rumors about me had spread from the
village. It would be difficult for her small body to go to the demon country,
so she would carefully hide her form in the forest, wait for the right time,
and then blend in with the humans. In other words, she would eventually reach
this city.
In that sense, if I
was told "You're early."
As a premise, the
silver-haired demon needed to understand my actions, but in the first place,
that man knew my name. It could be his unique skill. What kind of changes would
occur if I didn't come to this city now? First, I wouldn't go to Harapeko-tei,
so Sutra-san might not have been ready to meet Yozaki-san yet. It was just a
little, but I had kind of pushed her. But surely, she would work hard the same
way even if it took time. And the landlady might open the shop with the same
consideration.
In other words, the
same situation would eventually occur, but at a different time than now.
I was accelerating a
part of their story. I wanted to think it was not. But I was scared. Without
realizing it, my feet, which should have been heading towards the chapel, were going
somewhere else. I was running. The breath escaping my mouth was painful, and my
short limbs felt frustrating. Tears overflowed even though I didn't want to
cry. I couldn't breathe properly, my legs stumbled many times, and I trembled
violently.
What should I do?
I don't know, what
should I do?
I just trembled in
fear. This was just a possibility. It couldn't be. It was definitely not the
case. Every time I thought, my imagination became more and more realistic. I
was El. But that wasn't the truth. I was Eldorado, the villain of 『The Tale of the Five-Leafed Country』.
It was as if the story
of the game was chasing after me as I ran. No matter where I went, a villain
was a villain and couldn't escape. It was my destiny to be defeated by the
protagonist. I just wanted to live quietly. But honestly, I didn't care about
that anymore. I had anxiety. But among the many anxieties, a very small part,
something much bigger, was raging in my heart as if it was about to burst out.
Sutra-san and Yozaki-san. What if they died?
What should I do? What
if they were harmed because of me? The mysterious man, "I'll go pick you
up." The two of them were at Harapeko-tei, which might disappear. The
timing was too perfect.
I thought it would be
fine if the bread tasted good tomorrow, but with a tear-streaked face, I
rushed. With exhausted breath, unable to even speak properly, I collapsed to
the ground.
"Hey,
El...!?"
Lotus was surprised.
Yozaki-san was off today. So, I knew that Lotus was unusually working as a
gatekeeper. He crouched down and placed a hand on my shoulder as I slumped
down, just repeating sobs. It was painful, terribly painful. But I desperately
raised my face, knowing that this wasn't the time for this. And when I moved my
mouth to say, "Lotus...! Help me," his blackish-purple eyes clearly
reflected in my vision.
Lotus was very
worried. He asked me repeatedly, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Seeing his figure, I came to my senses, wondering what I was doing.
If Sutra-san and the
others were in danger, so was Lotus. What was I thinking? Using the privilege
of a child, selfishly crying for help, what was I trying to do? (Absolutely
not.) That was no good. I couldn't involve Lotus. I couldn't let him get
involved.
I stood up, grabbing
his clothes.
"Haah, sorry, ugh
haah, my stomach suddenly started hurting, so I thought I'd borrow your toilet,
but it suddenly feels all better now."
I desperately
suppressed my trembling voice. I desperately maintained my composure. If I
relaxed even a little, a strange sound would escape my lips. I grinned, forcing
a smile. "Hang in there, hang in there," I cheered myself on. Lotus
tilted his head, looking slightly puzzled.
"Hmm, okay?
...No, you're definitely acting weird."
For a moment he seemed
convinced, but then he shook his head. "No, that's not true!" The
voice that came out was so loud that I was surprised myself. So was Lotus. He
widened his eyes slightly. "...Is that so?" "Yeah," I
replied, "sorry," I conveyed, and then turned my back and ran off,
"Good luck with your work!"
I absolutely couldn't
involve him.
Desperately moving my
short limbs, I ran, "Ichi! Nii, San!" I called out everyone's names.
I didn't care about being seen. I was just in a hurry.
They nodded in
agreement and slipped under my feet. I ran, bouncing along as if leaping. Since
Ichi and the others couldn't be seen, people occasionally turned around and
tilted their heads, probably wondering why I was running so strangely. I had to
get to Harapeko-tei as quickly as possible. Only bad premonitions swelled up.
"Can we go any
faster...!?"
"Yeah!"
everyone replied. The three of them piled on top of each other and flew through
the city as fast as they could. Please, let this be a misunderstanding. Let
nothing happen. The words I prayed felt terribly hollow, and only anxiety grew.
***
There were two men.
They stood on a high
rooftop overlooking the city of Volvect. One was a man with silver hair that
reached his waist, and the other had short hair, but both had the exact same
color of eyes: a deep red. The silver-haired man's hair fluttered in the
whistling wind. Under the sky full of clouds, the man was expressionless, as if
he had lost all his emotions somewhere, and his complexion was pale, like a
dead man's.
"Vejasha-sama,
what shall we do? It's a little earlier than planned."
The short-haired man
asked the silver-haired man. TThe latter's eyebrows were raised and he had a
serious look on his face. "...Yeah," the silver-haired man nodded
reluctantly. "That's right," he muttered, gazing at the scene before
him. And then, as if it were a set line, he slowly spoke.
"A nostalgic
city. Shall we crush it thoroughly?"
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