Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Chapter 12 - Anne Rose #2
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Arma Valentine.
One of the world's top ten superhumans.
A weapon master who wielded countless divine armaments like extensions of her own limbs.
But in the original story, she was nothing more than a name mentioned through Anne Rose's lips—a being who never actually appeared, not even in a single illustration.
[In that sense, she's similar to Lilia.]
"Yeah, something like that."
Luther's room.
After finishing their rough discussion with Count Gleston, the group had dispersed to their respective rooms for now.
Though the Gleston estate had been damaged in places by the sky dragons' attacks, the real destruction was concentrated in the main building and the garden, so there were no issues using the annex where the guest rooms were located.
Lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, Luther closed his eyes for a moment and thought about Arma Valentine.
'Anne Rose's master.'
As befitting her title of weapon master, she was an exceptional warrior who freely wielded all manner of weapons.
And...
[And?]
"And that's it."
He wasn't joking; it really was.
Unlike Lilia, who at least popped up occasionally in item descriptions to remind players of her existence, Arma Valentine was only ever mentioned by Anne Rose—and even that was as rare as beans in a drought.
"At least that's how it was."
[But Master, didn't Anne Rose mention some stories about her?]
[Putting those together should give us some meaningful information.]
It wasn't wrong.
No, it was entirely correct.
But there was one fatal flaw in that claim.
"I don't remember."
[Pardon?]
"I don't remember. Actually, wouldn't it be weirder if I did?"
No matter how much he loved the game, who in the world memorized every single line of dialogue?
Sure, iconic scenes maybe, but the parts where Anne Rose talked about her master were mostly just throwaway events.
[Hmm... That could be true.]
[Past masters didn't have me, after all.]
"Exactly. Wait, just to check— you're not recording everything we've done together so far, are you?"
The moment Luther asked that.
A duplicate Luther suddenly appeared before his eyes, its face flushed red as it struck a transformation pose and shouted.
"T-Transformation!"
"What the hell is that!"
Luther's voice and the duplicate's overlapped.
To be precise, it was Integra recreating last night's Luther in augmented reality—and the startled Luther who had jumped up from the bed.
But that wasn't the end of it.
The blushing Luther vanished, replaced by a naked Luther soaking in a large bathtub alongside Integra, who was clad in nothing but a single towel.
[Why? You're in the bath.]
[Oh, so because it's bath time, everything has to come off?]
The Integra in the tub smiled seductively, her fingers lightly tugging at the end of the towel draped over her chest. Naturally, the Luther in the tub's gaze followed her fingers.
[You were staring right into my cleavage back then—Master, are you still looking now?]
Startled by Integra's remark, Luther jerked away from the tub's Integra and shook his head furiously, but it was too late.
[Haa, really.]
[No helping it, then. For the sake of my perverted Master, I'll have to sacrifice this body.]
Clicking her tongue, Integra suddenly appeared on the bed, her hand moving to the chest of her maid outfit.
Click.
Then click-click.
Unable to resist turning his eyes at the sounds, Luther found himself face-to-face with it once more.
[How cute.]
Integra, undoing and redoing the first button with a seductive smile.
"God damn it."
[LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL our Master is too cute.]
Integra burst into laughter at the sight of Luther's flushed face, clutching her stomach and rolling around on the bed.
"Ugh, seriously."
[Hah, heh. Sorry, I'm sorry. Sob sob. But pfft.]
Apologize or laugh—one or the other.
After glaring at Integra once, Luther sighed and shook his head.
Integra quickly sat up, speaking in her usual gentle tone.
[Master, it's human instinct. Nothing to be done.]
[It just means you're the owner of a healthy mind and body.]
[And that I'm a very attractive woman, to boot.]
"Um, that last part sounds off?"
[Pardon? Why? Does that mean I'm not attractive? Shall we test it again?]
Integra put on a serious face and reached for the button again, but Luther scoffed, refusing to fall for it anymore.
"It's just footage at the end of the day. I'm not getting fooled by some electronic harlot again."
[Hmph, you watch porn just fine.]
"Hey!"
[What? You didn't? You totally did. Let me think—your favorite actress and genre...]
"Stop, wait, hey!"
Flustered, Luther waved his hands frantically and raised his voice.
It wasn't just fear of what might come out of Integra's mouth next—there was something genuinely off.
"How do you even know that?"
He'd let the Pikapika thing slide, but this was different.
Not because it was porn, but—
[Well... I'm not entirely sure myself.]
[It feels like information about Master is gradually accumulating in me?]
[Perhaps during the synchronization between Master's memories and the homunculus Luther Lightseeker, there's some data leakage.]
[And since I'm Luther Lightseeker's support AI—practically one with him—that info flows to me.]
It was a pretty plausible explanation.
Lee Yun-ho's soul and Luther Lightseeker's body.
The fusion of two things that weren't originally one.
Resulting data leakage.
[Anyway, so you admit it now?]
"Admit what?"
[That I'm attractive—close to Master's ideal woman, even.]
As Integra lifted her chin proudly, Luther, suddenly tired of it all, nodded vaguely.
"Yeah, sure... your looks are fine."
[Hehe.]
It was barely more than a brush-off, but Integra beamed happily anyway.
[Anyway, Master, as you saw, I record everything we do together.]
[Even if it's a thick book, I can memorize it perfectly after one read—like a photograph.]
"That's handy."
Come to think of it, he'd seen scenes like this in movies and comics plenty of times.
A seductive maid toying with her master—no, scenes of nanites instantly memorizing complex ancient tomes.
[Shall we continue with the early records, then?]
[I recommend the one where Master runs naked fleeing from Jogres.]
"Enough chit-chat. Back to business."
[Yes, Master.]
Satisfied with her teasing, Integra obediently removed the paused footage—the bath scene with Luther and herself.
[We were talking about Arma Valentine, right?]
"Yeah, Arma Valentine. The enigmatic figure who never appears in the original."
Up to there, Luther said, then rummaged through his memories again.
He'd told Integra he didn't remember, but that was about the full script.
As someone who'd played the game, he retained a rough image from the casual mentions of the master during playthroughs.
"Incredibly strong, incredibly scary, incredibly strict during training—but still a good person."
[The classic master archetype.]
Strict when she had to be, but one who truly cared for and loved her disciple.
"Yeah. Not a bad person, anyway."
[That's a relief, but... I'm still a bit worried.]
[She might hold a grudge against Master for destroying her home.]
"Well... I didn't mean to, right?"
[You didn't intend to. But you were the cause.]
Circumstantially, it was highly likely that 'Luther's spaceship fragment' had not only blown up Arma Valentine's residence but obliterated her prized collection entirely.
For Arma Valentine—who in the original story stayed cooped up at home—to venture out into the world herself, her anger must be considerable.
"Still... uh... somehow... it'll work out?"
[We can only hope she's reasonable.]
With that, Integra suddenly made the sign of the cross and assumed a praying pose.
"Anyway, it'll take Arma some time to get here."
[Yes. Based on Anne Rose's stories, at least two to three days.]
"Yeah. So let's put Arma aside for now and move on to what comes next."
What comes next.
They'd perfectly thwarted the Gleston estate massacre—the trigger for Anne Rose's story.
[Knocking out the bosses of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 will leave huge gaps in the story.]
"Exactly. It's no exaggeration to say most of the original events are already gone. But there are still some left."
[You mean the Beast Lord descent incident?]
"Yeah. All the incidents in the western arc were ultimately to summon the Beast Lord Balakia, after all."
In the original, Anne Rose escapes the Gleston estate and, after a fierce battle, defeats Valboa.
Realizing Valboa's attack on the estate was for the spirit jewel, Anne Rose decides after much deliberation to seek out her master.
She believed that Arma Valentine—one of the world's top ten superhumans—could protect the spirit jewel even against the mysterious organization the dragons belonged to.
But her trials weren't meant to end so easily.
On her way back to her master, while treating her wounds and resting briefly with old comrades, Anne Rose falls victim to a raid by the winged dragon Astra.
Anne Rose loses all her comrades to Astra—who sought revenge for Valboa and the spirit jewel—and finds herself in dire straits.
But the Sun Maiden Anne Rose never gave up.
Unleashing the hidden power of the demon sword Aventa given by her master, she defeats Astra and realizes that Hecatoncheires is plotting something sinister in the west.
"Hecatoncheires plans to descend the Beast Lord Balakia in the west. And the spirit jewel is needed for that."
[Not an energy source, so... perhaps a catalyst or offering for the summoning ritual.]
"Probably."
Its exact purpose never appeared in the original, so there was no way to know right now.
Thus, Luther decided to focus elsewhere.
"In any case, Anne Rose tries to stop the Beast Lord's descent, but as is typical in RPGs, she ultimately fails."
[And the battle with that Beast Lord is the climax of the western arc.]
"Yeah, and it's brutally tough. The game itself branches based on player choices rather than a fixed novel-like story... and this is reality now. If we don't prepare thoroughly, we could lose."
The Beast Lord's strength was incomparable to the likes of Valboa or Astra.
They had secured the spirit jewel, but no one could claim that prevented the descent event itself.
"But this time, we have one advantage. We know the place and time."
[The time when the Beast Lord's summoning can be performed is fixed?]
"Exactly. Ever heard of the 'Night of Mana'?"
[No.]
[But from context, it seems like a special phenomenon unique to this planet.]
As expected of Integra.
Nodding, Luther gazed out the window at the night sky and continued.
"By lore, it's a phenomenon caused by the two moons. On the 'Night of Mana,' the mana density in the atmosphere spikes dramatically, boosting magic power and causing mental instability in mana-sensitive beings like sky dragons or monsters."
[I see. So the ritual can only be performed when atmospheric mana density is that high?]
"Probably something like that."
[Understood. So, Master, when's the next Night of Mana?]
"Since it's before the main story even starts... about a fortnight from now?"
[Not bad. That gives us time to find the second fragment and upgrade. If we're lucky, we might even secure the one Arma has.]
She was right.
Moreover, Hecatoncheires operated in a cell structure, true to their secret society nature.
Even if they realized Valboa and Astra were dead, they couldn't dispatch dragons immediately.
'Distance is a factor.'
In short, the next few days should be peaceful.
"Lilia said she'd make a special seal to hide the spirit jewel, so we can leave that to her. As for hunting the second fragment... Integra, how much time until my upgrade finishes?"
[21 hours, 12 minutes, 29 seconds remaining.]
[Rest fully tomorrow, head out the day after, or ideally in three days?]
Luther's fatigue had built up from the consecutive battles.
Even as a combat homunculus, he needed rest.
"Yeah, I'm not rushing. But I should rest efficiently."
With that, Luther suddenly got up from the bed and turned to Integra.
"Integra, wanna go on a date with me tomorrow?"
[Pardon?]
"A date. You know, a guy and girl going out together. There's a place I want to go with you."
Integra blinked at Luther's words, then blushed and shyly nodded.
And the next morning.
[Haa, just as I expected.]
"No way."
[You know exactly why.]
[Master is an idiot.]
Directly in front of the pouting Integra, with puffed-up cheeks.
Max and Karen stood holding the box containing Kaphu's head, with Anne Rose beaming brightly beside them.
Handling the bounty and securing their identities.
Today was the day they had to visit the adventurers' guild.