Chapter 95
I'll Become Your
Bride
Translator : PolterGlast
I didn't have any
major doubts about why Marc was here.
(Yuko said this was a
hidden route...)
To be precise, it was
a world where entering the hidden route had led to being too late. Normally, by
returning to the point where the Saint had saved, they could go back before
Hail Land attacked. And apparently, the path to the solution would be the true
ending.
--What's with this
"grand finale"! That's just a normal ending where you don't end up
with anyone! You have to play all the routes to get the true ending, right!?
And the hidden character hasn't even appeared yet!
Yuko had shouted the
words "hidden character" several times. I hadn't asked who it was,
but I had a slight idea. In the story I thought was the grand finale ending,
all the leaf countries joined hands, and demons were recognized as people. It
was a story with Veda's arguments and various twists and turns, but I didn't
know if everyone was truly convinced.
For example, in the
game, Lotus was silent, and when I noticed, he was always alone in a corner,
and I couldn't tell what he was thinking, and he never tried to show his inner
feelings. With his one eye, he was always glaring around, and even in the happy
ending I hadn't played in my previous life, I didn't think there was much of a
romantic element.
Setting that aside,
the party members weren't even convinced, so the leaders of each country
probably weren't sincerely wishing to become peaceful by joining hands with the
demons from the bottom of their hearts. Their cooperation was only on the
surface, and it was a gray ending where our battle would continue. If I had
thought it was a grand finale, but it was actually just a normal ending, maybe
it couldn't be helped.
Among them, Shangra
was the one who clearly appeared on the main stage as a demon. With his
appearance and attire, he was agile, superficial, a show-off, frivolous, and
always had self-centered thoughts behind his cheerful smile. Still, if our
goals were the same, he was a strong ally. His goal was to defeat the Demon
King.
Shangra and the four
countries joined hands. Not to save countries heading towards destruction, but
to obtain the land of demons where new life would sprout.
--You know, there's
something I absolutely can't stand. The fact that "that guy" is at
the center of this world is unbearable for me.
This was a line he had
said in the game. So, who exactly was "that guy"? Who was the other
character I didn't know about who was supposed to appear?
"...Is Vejasha
here too?"
Marc snorted at my
question.
"Of course. He is
my lord, after all."
Marc revered Vejasha.
You could even say he was devoted to him. And here he was, standing in our way.
Even if I tried to imagine Vejasha's purpose, "Don't misunderstand,"
he said, slightly raising his chin and glaring down at us.
"The fact that I
am standing before you here is solely my will. Lord Vejasha doesn't even
consider you worthy of his attention. Those just now—"
He stopped there and
snapped his fingers, snap.
"Those monsters
just now were, of course, my doing."
Large ants spilled
down from the leaf. Each one was about the size of Ichi and the others. Lotus
had easily kicked them away just now, but if even one bit us, they would
probably take a chunk of flesh with them. The ants were clicking their hard,
large mandibles.
"My unique skill
is to transform monsters into demonic beasts. It means I can control them as I
please."
In other words, it was
the superior version of my tamer skill.
(I had only thought of
demonic beasts as monsters controlled by demons...)
But it was obvious.
Even that was one of their skills. It wasn't a power that just anyone could
use. That meant all the monsters we had encountered so far had been controlled
by this person. The sand scorpions too. --Even in the town of Velvect.
Without realizing it,
I had clenched my fists tightly. I remembered the destroyed town. Surely it
wasn't just me. Beneath Lotus's unchanging expression, a simmering emotion was
rising.
Marc, without paying
any attention to us, quietly opened one hand.
"There are
monsters everywhere in this place, you see. I can turn them into demonic beasts
as much as I want. There's no end to them, no matter how many you defeat."
--Just how many
demonic beasts are there?
Demonic beasts tumbled
and fell endlessly. All around him was filled with chaotic
"ugliness." It darkened, rustled like waves, and clicked its
mandibles.
"Lotus..."
I thought it was
impossible.
No, Lotus might be
able to kick away all the demonic beasts. But we had other conditions besides
reaching the top. Time. We had to climb the World Tree before the wind wall
Veda had created disappeared.
We were getting closer
to a visible distance. But Lotus could no longer use his flying skill. We had
to climb with our own bodies. I had been pretending not to see it. It was
impossible for us. Whether Marc was here or not, we—wouldn't have reached the
top.
I felt like all the
strength in my body had suddenly vanished somewhere. Pathetic. Painful.
Agonizing. I tried to fit several words into my head. No.
Frustrating.
Terribly frustrating.
I slowly exhaled. "I... said I'd go..." The words that came out of my
mouth were small. I had been asked. And I had nodded. Even as I slowly prepared
myself, Lotus and Ichi and the others were already ready. No matter what was
said, they would move forward. In my head, I combined several skills. I would
kick them away.
"Get out of the
way—please!!"
I glared sharply. I
wasn't asking for a reply at all. But Marc said, "Ah, I understand,"
and nodded easily.
He was a completely
incomprehensible person. Snap, he snapped his fingers once more, and then the
demonic beasts that had been swarming even on the surrounding branches
disappeared smoothly, little by little, like the tide receding. "Um,
well," I hadn't expected him to actually move out of the way.
My fist, which I had
posed with a "here we go" feeling, had nowhere to go.
"...What's your
purpose?"
Unlike me, who had
completely lost my momentum, Lotus continued to send a sharp gaze at Marc.
"That's why I
told you, wasn't I? This is purely my will. It's not Lord Vejasha's order or
anything. In other words, if you tell me not to release the demonic beasts, it
is also my will to comply."
Marc shrugged and
shook his head.
It was the kind of
words that implied "it's obvious," but I couldn't understand it at
all. Seeing us like that, Marc playfully raised his index finger.
"El, Lotus. After
all, you are the saviors of my little sister. In that case, I will also be
sincere towards you. It's just that simple."
"...Sister?"
"I told you,
didn't I? It's not nice to meet you. Especially El, this will be the second
time I've met you, I believe."
I understood the first
time. When I had a near-duel discussion with Yuko. The night the sand scorpions
attacked. Along with Vejasha, he had been taking something that controlled the
demonic beasts out of the sand scorpion's remains. I didn't understand when he
said the second time. Could he possibly be talking about Velvect? But I hadn't
met him there, and the more I delved into the sea of my memories, the harder it
became to surface.
"Just so you
know, I didn't clearly show my face to you at that time."
So, still Velvect?
When I tilted my head, Marc pointed to his back.
"I handed you an
arrow. You tried to protect my sister. That was about two years ago."
What had I thought
when I first saw Marc's face? Bright red hair, a low voice, yet his features
were somewhat youthful. And I had seen him "somewhere." But I had
never met him.
He handed me an arrow.
Sister. The name Marc. Red hair.
--The one who finished
off the monster was a single arrow that seemed to have flown in from somewhere.
"Elma's... older
brother...?"
The adorable girl I
had met in Leyshan.
Elma's brother had
become a demon. She had secretly helped him escape at night, so a lot of guilt
had piled up, and she couldn't interact well with the villagers.
It was a country where
deep rain poured down.
Marc, no, Elma's
brother, slightly raised the corner of his mouth. That was his entire reaction.
It was a strange feeling. "That's right. Unfortunately, it seems I was
also one of the people connected to you by fate." Since he specifically
added "unfortunately," he was probably a bit twisted after all.
"I am grateful to
you. I cherish my sister as much as Lord Vejasha. If I am harmed, I will
retaliate even more, but I will return any favor I am given equally."
Marc turned his back
to us. Then, he walked to the branch and slowly placed his hand on the trunk.
"You should climb through here. You'll reach the top much faster than
going outside." It seemed to have some strange magic cast on it, as his
hand, when he pushed it in, didn't stop at the surface but quietly sank in, the
cross-section rippling.
There was a silence
that felt both long and short. I didn't know what to say. I could still
remember Elma's voice as she muttered, "I hope we meet again."
"...Um, thank you..." A gift that came from an unexpected place, far
from where I had imagined, made me more confused than happy. "Whatever,"
Marc said, his face looking much like Elma's as he ironically raised one
eyebrow slightly.
"I don't think
you can do anything just by going to Lord Vejasha."
"If you're going
to end up half-heartedly failing, you might as well just burn out
completely," the next line made me wonder how to reply. "I mean, um,
if you were going to tell us the way from the start, why did you bother siccing
those demonic beasts on us...?" Couldn't he have just come out normally
and told us, "This way"? And when we met him the other night, he had
been strangely prickly too.
"I was just
giving you a little scare. As you can see, this World Tree is swarming with
monsters. The ones just now weren't the ones I summoned. I'll make sure the
monsters around here don't approach you, but once you're out of range of my
skill, don't let your guard down."
"Uh, ah,
yes..."
It seemed he had shown
us rather than just telling us, but he was still quite twisted.
"Please,"
Marc gestured with one hand, and I bowed my head, "Well then, excuse
us." Lotus walked right beside me, and Ichi and the others also bowed
politely, "Excuuuse us~..." as they passed by Marc's side. "Is
that all?" Marc asked as I was about to touch the trunk.
"As I said
before, I attacked the town of Velvect and sicced the sand scorpions on you.
It's true that Lord Vejasha ordered it, but I judged it to be right and carried
it out."
"Are you going to
believe me?" he continued.
He said something
quite difficult. In conclusion, neither incident resulted in any deaths. But
that was just luck. Anything could have happened. And probably in the original
story, Lotus's important people had disappeared from this world.
"...About
that,"
I thought I had no
right to say anything, so I looked at Lotus. Then, he had a surprisingly calm
expression and looked back at Marc. "I don't know about 'might have
beens.' Marc, you make the judgment." With just that, he quickly went
inside the trunk. I thought the Lotus in the game and the current Lotus were
completely different, but maybe they were both the same Lotus after all. He had
times when he got angry, and times when he became tongue-tied.
"Uh, um..."
Looking at Marc, who
had his eyes wide in surprise at Lotus's words, I was confused about whether I
should explain. "Maybe Lotus means that even though he doesn't trust you,
Marc, if you believed that we would trust you, then he will trust you?" My
vocabulary was dying. I couldn't even convey half of what I wanted to say.
The meaning of "I
don't know about 'might have beens'" was probably that in the game, Lotus
had been seriously injured, and Sutra-san and Yozaki-san might have died. Since
it hadn't become reality, he didn't know how to blame him, but if I said that
much, it would become even more confusing, so I stopped.
Hearing my words, Marc
furrowed his brow even deeper. He had an expression just like Lotus. "Well
then, that's that!" Half-heartedly trying to smooth things over, I jumped
into the trunk. "Well then, well then," Ichi and the others also
hopped in. Since we had entered the hollowed-out World Tree, I could no longer
see Marc's face. I wondered what kind of expression he had now. He probably
thought we were strange.
The inside was dimly
lit, and Lotus, who was waiting ahead, thought for a moment and then told me to
get on his back. Inside, a spiral staircase wound upwards. But if we
accidentally slipped, we would fall straight to the bottom. I nodded and got on
his back. This way, we would reach the top much faster than climbing outside.
Step, step, the sound
of our footsteps echoed strangely in the hollow. Small flames burned at regular
intervals along the edges.
It was quiet. So,
little by little, my thoughts grew larger, and I rested my forehead against
Lotus's large back.
"After all,
Vejasha attacked the town, didn't he...?"
"Yeah, that's
right."
I had known it, but it
was something Marc had said. The way I felt about "maybe" and
"it was definitely so" was different. I continued the conversation
aimlessly. "Marc was Elma's older brother, huh? Their names are a little
similar too." "Yeah," Lotus replied. "I wonder if Socius is
alright. And Kuuga, I wonder if the transformation of the water sphere membrane
is progressing well." "He'll be fine," Lotus answered.
Anyway, I kept talking
to Lotus. Even though I should have just shut up and conserved my strength, I
kept talking to him about trivial things. Lotus nodded to everything and gave
proper answers. Ichi and the others hopped up the stairs. Gradually, the hand
gripping his shoulder began to tremble. The monsters that Marc had mentioned
had been defeated by Lotus. The top was getting closer. My trembling wouldn't
stop. I was scared.
Cutting off a branch
of the World Tree. Doing so would cause one of the lands to sink. I had the
bracelet Veda had given me. It was telling me that the place to cut was there,
and I had clear confidence in that. But contrary to that, the depths of my
heart felt uneasy, and I asked myself if it was really the right thing to do,
feeling anxious.
With just one action,
a change that I couldn't handle alone would come. It was heavy, I couldn't
support it, and I felt like I would accidentally throw it up. The words I kept
speaking were a lid to swallow my cowardice. But gradually, those words also
disappeared.
Scary.
"Lotus..."
Somehow, my voice
didn't tremble. But what would happen if I let out just a little more? Trying
to gloss over it, I ended up saying the same old teasing words.
"Lotus, I want
you to kiss me. Then I think I can try a little harder."
When I had said this
before, he had said "when you grow a little taller." I knew that
wasn't just about physical appearance, but maybe my appearance hadn't changed
much either. He was tall, and his back was broad, and even if I stretched, I
couldn't reach. Even now, I was completely buried in Lotus's back.
"Hmm," his reply was quite casual.
It was much more
casual than the nods he had been giving me all along, so I bit my lip just a
little. I was gently lowered onto the stairs. Knowing it was for a break, I
took out my water bottle from my bag and handed it to Lotus. Then, instead of
the water bottle, he took my arm. He pulled me closer, adjusted the angle of my
chin with one hand, and kissed me. He let go, and Ichi and the others, who had
apparently caught the water bottle I had dropped, handed it back to me.
"Drink this. Just being carried around must be tiring too." No, that
wasn't it.
"O-o-ofuu,
oooooooooh!"
"Hmm? Hmm!?"
Instead of
rehydrating, copious tears streamed from my eyes. Even Lotus, usually so
composed, seemed flustered, showing a rare bewildered expression. I didn't even
know why I was crying. I should have been happy, but I felt terribly sad. Because
this was, "T-that's, that's, that's awfulllllll!" "Huh? Hmm?
Oh?" While saying that, I sorted out my feelings.
"I-I, certainly,
did ask for a kiss, but, there's something, more! Not now, the timing and
stuff!"
Maybe Lotus thought it
was terrible that I hadn't expected him to actually do it. But the maiden in my
heart was crying. Because it was the first time. I wanted it to be at least a
little romantic, if not completely so. I hadn't wanted it to be so casual, and
I had wanted some mental preparation.
And so, after I had
confessed my utterly pathetic and unreasonable complaints about what he should
have done, Lotus didn't say a single word of complaint but just patted my back,
repeating, "My bad." I sniffled. But since there was no time to waste
now, I got back on Lotus's back.
"Lo, Lotus, about
what we were talking about earlier."
"Yeah?"
"Don't forget it,
but also, forget it."
"Got it."
"Next time, I
need to mentally prepare first, and absolutely no onlookers!"
"O-okay..."
Around the
"onlookers" part, the slimes, who had been moving while trying to
make themselves less noticeable, looked flustered. They conveyed, "We
didn't see anything." I felt a bit sorry for them.
Next time.
Even though I was the
one who said it, I knew that what just happened was really special. I wasn't
big at all right now, and I could even ride on Lotus's back. So, even though I
said to forget it, I decided to cherish it in my memories.
"I'm going to be
Lotus's bride..."
I suddenly muttered.
I had told him before,
but even so, when I tried to say it out loud, it felt like it got stuck in my
throat. But I forced it out. I wanted to convey my feelings of love.
"Yeah, that's
right."
Lotus replied. He said
it while still carrying me on his back. Before I knew it, the stairs had
stopped there. I vigorously wiped my tear-stained face with my sleeve and
looked straight ahead. Lotus took one step forward. Then, we smoothly passed
through the wall and came out into the open air. It was a sunny place with good
weather. We hadn't come out onto a leaf, but onto a magnificent stump. It was
wide, so wide, it was surprisingly vast, making me wonder what kind of tree it
was.
The top of the World
Tree was just the top of a stump. Several branches extended from there, and
each one was connected to the earth.
A man was standing
alone. His long silver hair fluttered in the breeze. He was gazing blankly at
something. There was no vitality in his eyes.
The Demon King,
Vejasha.
That was his name.
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