Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Tarros's Tower (5)
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"...Hah!"
Rafne's group was resting and preparing for the decisive battle the next day after arriving on the 10th floor.
Among them, Rafne, who had been dozing off with her knees pulled up to her chest beside a tombstone, suddenly snapped her eyes open and lifted her head.
"Wh-what's wrong? Rafne, are you okay?"
Emily, who had been nearby, hurried over with a worried look at Rafne's abrupt movement.
But ignoring Emily's question, Rafne stared intently at the tombstone.
Then, with a grave expression, she opened her mouth.
"...I can feel it."
"Wh-what? Don't tell me Ken...?!"
"No..."
Rafne turned her hollow gaze from the tombstone to Emily.
Her face looked extremely uneasy as she spoke slowly.
"I have this feeling... like there's some other woman next to Ken."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Ego Sword Tirpione.
She had been nothing more than a mere sword that fell into hell alongside her original owner.
She followed her owner, a knight dispatched from the kingdom to the tower, and slew countless demons until, at some point, they ended up here.
At first, she had no consciousness.
She was just an ordinary sword bestowed upon her owner when she became a knight in the kingdom.
But after her first weary owner died amid endless battles in this hell, she remained in this shabby house.
And at some point, while lingering there, she began absorbing the demonic energy of hell.
Tempered and honed by the ambient energies, she gradually gained a spirit.
Once her spirit formed a body from the demonic energy, she lived alone in the house that had always housed her master.
Without any purpose.
For she was someone who could do nothing without someone to pick her up.
She simply closed her eyes and stayed there.
But then.
"Um... are you okay?"
The first human to appear before her.
"Uh, u-um, uh..."
At his sudden greeting, Tirpione froze up, struggling to speak.
It wasn't because he was the first human she'd met since her master.
Humans were just humans.
Beings she, as an ego sword, could easily slay.
But this one before her eyes was somehow different.
'...Wh-what's wrong with me?'
A heat she'd never felt before.
Her body heated up like an iron ingot thrust into a furnace, her face burning.
Her heart raced, blood rushing to her head, thoughts scattering.
'I-I need to say something...!'
"Ah, a-ah...! Ex-excuse me! I-I'm Tirpione.... That's me, the spirit of the sword hanging over there."
Her tense body made her tongue slip midway, but she managed to speak.
She pointed to her true body hanging on the wall behind her.
'I-is this right...!'
In her confusion, she had introduced herself first.
She had no idea why she revealed her name to a stranger.
She just felt like telling him about herself.
And Ken, looking awkwardly at her, followed suit and introduced himself.
"I'm Ken Fine Stein. I said I was lost, but actually, I'm looking for something."
Though flustered by her appearance, which differed from his memories, the priority was finding the key.
Her sudden introduction and amiable demeanor made him feel a bit more at ease, so he got straight to the point.
But Tirpione barely registered his request.
"Ken... sir."
"S-sir?"
Her cheeks flushing in rapture as she murmured his name.
'Ahh, even his name is...'
The man before her who had introduced himself as Ken.
Though she was merely a sword, his presence made her human-like heart flutter.
His gentle, innocent smile.
His straight nose.
His clean, fair skin, lightly dusted with dirt.
His golden hair roughly tied back, unkempt from lack of care.
Even his unmanaged look from life here felt wild and exciting to the girl.
'What... is this feeling?'
Having lived alone even after gaining a spirit, she was oblivious to emotions.
She knew little of them.
After all, there was no one here to make her happy or sad.
So when the first boy to appear stirred unfamiliar feelings in her, her affection for him deepened.
Oblivious to her heart, Ken pressed on.
"Um, Miss Tirpione. If it's not too much trouble, could I ask about one item?"
"Ah, y-yes! You're looking for something, right?"
"It's a palm-sized stone slab engraved with unusual text like this. I really need it."
Ken knew she had the key but phrased it formally to avoid strangeness on a first meeting.
"Yes! Of course! It's definitely among my former master's belongings!"
She answered more brightly than expected.
Born as a human tool, Tirpione felt immense joy at his request.
Smiling radiantly in her role as a tool, she confirmed she had what he sought.
'She's really friendly...'
Caught off guard by the unexpected flow, Ken scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.
This wasn't the Tirpione he remembered.
He recalled some of her game lines.
"I am the demon sword Tirpione. How dare you disturb my eternal slumber. Are you tired of living?"
"A key...? Why would I have such a thing? Stop bothering me and get out of my house."
"Hmph, take it and scram. ...Well, it wasn't bad company after the long silence. Swing by if you think of it."
A cold, aloof character.
Yet as affinity rose, her tsundere lines became charming.
'...Well, good is good.'
Though puzzled by the discrepancy, if things went smoothly, it was fine.
Better yet, he might get the key faster than planned, which suited him perfectly.
Seemingly pleased herself, she headed to the shelf to rummage for it.
Then, suddenly.
'...Once you get this slab.'
Tirpione thought of what came after handing it over.
She turned cautiously to look at Ken.
At him staring blankly, waiting.
"...Um, Ken sir. ...What do you plan to do after getting the slab?"
"Well... it'd be a bother to stay, so I plan to head back."
His polite response shocked her.
'...Why that face?'
Her flushed cheeks paled in disbelief as she stared at him.
Then she turned and banged her head against the shelf.
'If I give it to him... he'll leave right away?'
She didn't want to part yet.
No, she just didn't want to part at all.
It would be nice if he stayed here with her.
As that thought crossed her mind, an idea flashed.
"Ah, oh! Come to think of it, this slab was my master's precious keepsake!"
"Y-yes?"
She knew changing her words abruptly was odd.
But greed won out, so she decided to play hardball.
"I-I can't just give it away."
With a stern face, Tirpione glanced carefully at Ken.
To hide her selfishness.
Falling for it, Ken asked without suspicion, flustered.
"Th-then, what do I need to do to get it?"
"Huh? Do... what?"
"Well, if you can't just give it, there must be some condition, right?"
Perplexed by the diverging flow, Ken questioned.
Tirpione panicked too, having thought only of setting a condition, not specifics.
"Uh, um, th-that is..."
Her eyes darted, seeking something plausible, when she spotted it.
Her true body on the wall.
A rusted, dusty sword.
"Th-that!"
"Yes?"
"If you repair my true body nicely, I'll give it to you!"
Even she thought it brilliant.
This was hell in Tarros's trap.
Repairing her here would take time and be tough.
She could keep him around while he worked on it.
Confident in her perfect plan, she pointed to her sword.
But Ken didn't falter.
"Ah, that should be no problem."
He smiled confidently.
"...Huh?"
Her excited eyes dimmed, finger drooping limply.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'Of course she wouldn't give it up that easily.'
That was my thought when Tirpione proposed the exchange for the key.
In the game, there was an affinity requirement, after all.
No way she'd hand it over right away.
But her condition suited me perfectly.
Repairing a demon sword.
That was my specialty.
"Then, excuse me for a moment."
I reached for her true body on the wall and picked up the sword.
"Ah! W-wait a sec!"
But she, who had been stiff, rushed over and grabbed my hand as I took the sword.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
"On second thought, you can't just touch my true body carelessly!"
'Ah, right...'
Her panicked expression jogged my memory of Tirpione's lore.
The sword's dangers, as I recalled, were two-fold.
Demon Sword Tirpione.
A blade steeped in hell's demonic energy from ages at Tarros's depths.
First danger: its "Corrosion" ability.
If it cuts a living being, anything corrodes.
Second: the moment you take it out of the house, all hell's demons swarm the owner.
In the game, players who stole it after discovering its power all died that way.
She's probably warning about corrosion from being cut.
"S-so... could I trouble you for a moment?"
Blushing, she looked at me cautiously.
Trouble...? What for?
Figuring it harmless, I nodded.
Tense and flushed, she brought my hand to her mouth.
And.
"...Mm."
"Eek?!"
Her teeth sank into my flesh. The familiar pain followed.
'Is she... drinking my blood?'
Eyes closed, cheeks red, she held my hand in her mouth a while, then released it, gazing dazedly at me.
"N-now it should be fine. ...Hehe."
Her lips looked redder from my blood.
'Did she do some kind of treatment...?'
Bitten hands were familiar thanks to Emily, so it didn't hurt much.
The blood-sucking was new, just startling.
Probably some measure to prevent corrosion even if cut by her true body.
Not that I'd test it.
"Thank you. I'll fix it right up."
"Y-yes...? Right up...?"
"Don't worry. It's my specialty."
Her uneasy look prompted me to pull out my work hammer reassuringly.
But it only made her face stiffer.
'W-well, let's start.'
She requested it, yet despaired at my assurance—odd, but anyway.
I inspected her sword, priority for the key.
'Just some rust and a chipped edge. Otherwise fine.'
Not much work needed.
I began polishing it for the key.
"...Ah! ...Mm, ha!"
The more I worked, strange noises came from behind.
Right, this is her true body.
Thinking of it as caressing her body made me self-conscious.
"Hah... th-there..."
Don't think about it. Focus.
Tougher than usual, but I finished somehow.
"Hah, hah... Wh-what? Already... done?"
She looked somewhat reluctant checking her restored sword.
"Wow, perfect..."
Murmuring stiffly, clearly pleased with the clean blade.
Good, condition met. Time for the key.
But.
"Um... so now that you have the slab... you're leaving, right?"
Head bowed, she asked.
What? Déjà vu...
"Well, staying longer would be rude... so yeah."
Odd atmosphere, but I answered warily.
Why am I wary...?
Like I can predict what comes next...
Pondering the déjà vu as she murmured.
"...No."
"...What?"
Her quiet word made me repeat unwittingly.
She lifted her head.
Her eyes: hollow, eerily familiar.
"No... you can't leave."
Her words revealed the nagging déjà vu.
Right, Rafne when confining me in the tower was like this.
Ah.
"Why not just... stay with me? It's pretty livable here once you get used to it."
"N-no, um, Tirpione?"
Her vacant eyes smiling, she approached and pressed against me.
Looking up seductively, she whispered.
"I... want to be your partner."
...This is bad.