Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: The Most Dangerous of the Good (1)
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Everyone has likely had an experience like this at least once in their lives.
You somehow manage to acquire a limited-time item that you can’t get any other way.
But once you have it, it doesn't fit your environment or circumstances, becoming a troublesome possession.
It’s quite a headache when you go through it.
If you’re unlucky, you waste not just money but also time and opportunity cost.
The better outcome is to just send the item off as a used product or an unopened new one.
In a similar vein, early in the morning the day after returning from our trip.
I entered Raven's closet, as I always did, and stood with my arms crossed, thinking quietly.
‘Did I… make a mistake bringing this?’
In the darkness, where the faint sunlight seeping through the crack in the door was the only illumination.
My gaze was fixed on a crescent-shaped piece of processed metal.
It wasn't ornately decorated, didn't look like it was made of expensive material, and wasn't large.
At first glance, it looked like a cheap, cliché souvenir you might find at some low-budget tourist spot.
However, if you knew where this item came from, you would have to re-evaluate it immediately.
This crescent-shaped metal was… a fragment that had been embedded in the Archmage's orb!
Wait, the orb belongs to Tamamo, so did I steal it?
Well… to be honest, that was the original plan.
Unlike magic, psychokinesis leaves no trace of magical energy, making it virtually untraceable.
Moreover, I had Echo, who specializes in information gathering and manipulation.
Theoretically speaking, it was entirely possible.
And since it was an item related to the Invaders, I had a reason to do so.
But as luck would have it, there was no need for such a troublesome task.
While I was secretly plotting, Tamamo approached me first.
-Yuria-chan, hello. What are you doing here all by yourself?
-…?
-Nyahaha, I heard about you. You’re like a precious little sister to Alice, right? That makes you my little sister, too! Wanna exchange terminal numbers?
I tilted my head quietly and listened to her.
It seemed she was quite interested and curious about me.
To Tamamo, Alice was the most precious friend in her life.
Perhaps she just couldn't lose interest in me, the one her friend doted on so much.
In any case, it was a convenient turn of events for me in many ways.
If a direct connection was made like this, there was no need to sneak around and snatch it.
Besides, no one else could recognize the value of this item.
I could just brazenly ask for it, right?
-Oh, huh? S-Sorry, could you gesture that one more time? Big sis here is having a little trouble understanding…
-…!
-Hmm? What does this mean… A ball? An orb?
-…!!
Of course, Tamamo broke out in a sweat, looking like she had no idea what my hand and body gestures meant.
Communicating solely through body language without being able to speak was indeed difficult.
Alice and Raven could understand what I meant even if I just jumped up and down on the spot.
It was a moment that made me realize anew just how incredibly perceptive those two were.
Still, was it worth the long time we spent racking our brains together?
In the end, Tamamo figured out what I wanted to say and handed me the fragment that was embedded inside.
It was broken and useless anyway, so it seemed she was just planning to display the orb at home.
There was no other way to use it, after all.
‘It was great that I got it without much trouble, but…’
Obtaining the fragment in exchange for my contact information was a pretty good deal, even now.
The problem, however, was that the fragment I acquired wouldn't react no matter what I did.
It was definitely an item related to the Invaders. Tesseract guaranteed that.
But since it didn't respond when I tried to talk to it, there was no point in having obtained it.
What on earth was wrong with it? When I asked Tesseract and Echo, they answered like this.
[ Mama, I'm sure it's sleeping. ]
[ I am of the same opinion. It is highly likely that it lacks energy… ]
Sleeping… does that mean it’s in a state similar to when Tesseract ran out of energy?
If so, the solution was simple. I just had to keep feeding it energy from the rift to wake it up.
However, this was quite a predicament.
I was hesitant to readily give energy to this unidentified fragment because Tesseract and Echo were low on energy themselves in the aftermath of the St. Maria incident.
‘I don't know when or where danger might strike. Did I ever imagine I'd run into Morte on a trip?’
Let's think. If I didn't have Tesseract, could I have even struggled against powerful foes like Akashumir or Morte? No, absolutely not.
Therefore, replenishing Tesseract's energy was a no-brainer.
And as for Echo, although I usually used her for pranks.
She was specialized in hacking terminals, manipulating information, and disrupting situations.
In a way, she could be a great breakthrough to turn around difficult situations, just as much as Tesseract.
But to use the energy—which was already insufficient for Tesseract and Echo—to awaken some unknown fragment… It made no sense, no matter how I thought about it.
What if I wake it up and it has some useless, unhelpful ability? I'd be so mad I wouldn't be able to sleep.
‘Hmm… But then there’s no point in having gone to the trouble of getting it. I have to wake it up eventually. It might even have the ability to break the curse that keeps me from speaking.’
I pondered, and pondered.
Lost in thought, I rolled around on the futon in the cramped closet, arms crossed.
Finally, after bumping my forehead against the wall and tearing up a little, I made a decision.
I would give it energy from the rift. But it would be better to give it a smaller ratio.
Tesseract gets 7, Echo gets 2, and the fragment gets 1. That ratio should be fine.
‘In the end, Tesseract is the most important. As long as Tesseract is well-fed, no enemy is scary. Next is Echo, and the fragment can get just a tenth. Since I don't even know what its ability is, there's no rush.’
Still, I hope it has a game-changing ability like Tesseract.
With that small hope, I distributed the energy from the rift according to the set ratio.
All I could do was earnestly hope that a similar kind of trouble wouldn't arise again anytime soon.
*
After squeezing out every last drop of energy from the rift and leaving the closet, I found Raven sprawled out in the agency's spacious reception area.
Sloppy pajamas and an untrimmed, messy beard.
It was as if his entire being was proclaiming that today was a holiday, and the agency was closed.
Well, even though we had been on a trip, Nighthaven Week wasn't over yet.
I couldn't really say anything to him for acting like a carefree sloth. Not that I had any intention to.
‘What’s he watching today?’
I approached quietly, making sure my footsteps were silent, and peeked over his shoulder to see what he was doing.
He was watching the same old Dino-race on the large TV screen.
The Dino-race, a race where massive creatures, several meters tall, thundered across a stadium.
Perhaps because any injuries could be healed with magic.
The exhilarating sight of these giant, monster-like creatures charging forward fiercely without fear of injury.
Raven had said that was the reason the Dino-race was the most popular sport of this era.
Indeed, even to my untrained eye, it was spectacular enough to elicit admiration…
But I felt like I would get bored of watching the same thing over and over.
It was quite amazing that he could watch it every day without fail.
“…”
“Huh, what? Is it lunchtime already?”
“…?”
To avoid disturbing Raven, who was engrossed in the race, I quietly sat on the sofa next to him.
But my presence was easily detected by his sharp senses.
Raven turned his head slightly and spoke to me.
Since it was now past morning and approaching early lunchtime.
He must have thought I had come over because I was getting hungry. Hey, I'm not some kind of pet.
Still, he was right that I was hungry.
I didn’t deny it and moved to the part of the sofa where Raven was lying down.
He then shifted slightly to the side to make room for me. How kind.
“Ah, I don't think I stocked the fridge since we were going on a trip… Should we just order in? How about pizza?”
“…!”
“Then… would about four pies be enough? You eat about one whole pie yourself.”
“…”
Four pizzas for the two of us.
The dizzying calculation left me speechless for a moment.
This is why the agency has no money. How much do you eat?
I scratched my neck for a moment, then nodded vigorously as if to say that was fine.
I wasn't a picky eater, but my tastes leaned toward kid-friendly foods like pizza and hamburgers.
There was no reason to refuse Raven's offer to buy pizza.
Tapping away at his terminal, Raven quickly paid for the delivery pizza.
The estimated time was around 20 minutes. A delivery speed that made me not miss the infrastructure of my past life.
“Done. Well, there’s nothing to do until the pizza gets here. Wanna watch the Dino-race with me? Today’s race is pretty interesting.”
“…!”
“This is a special event for Nighthaven Week, and that one that looks like a T-rex is called Brutalis…”
We decided to watch the Dino-race together until the pizza arrived.
With Raven explaining the information and stories of the archosaurs, it was much more fun than just watching.
And perhaps the 20-minute delivery estimate wasn't an exaggeration.
We hadn't been watching the Dino-race for long when the doorbell rang at the agency's entrance.
So fast. The cheese probably hasn't even cooled down.
I dashed off, announcing I’d get the pizza, and flung the door open.
But the person at the door was not the pizza delivery guy.
A tall, beautiful woman with pure white hair cascading down to her waist, her face somehow familiar.
Coincidentally, it was someone I knew extremely well. Though this was the first time I'd seen her in person.
“Oh my, are you… Yuria?”
“…”
Sakuragi Lily.
The sharp horn rising from above one of her eyes made her presence clear.