Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: S4. Succubus's Dream / Erasure Corps of the 440th Year -4
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Preparations for this kind of situation had been made long ago.
Apply the emergency escape system.
The emergency escape system Yuna was operating from outside was, in a word, a straw capable of sucking up massive amounts of data all at once. When Yuna slurped it in, it felt like I was whooshing right up after it.
This was meant to rip my consciousness out in one fell swoop to save my skin in a pinch, but there was another function I'd set up separately. Using that very propulsion like an elevator.
Decompose this body into data, bundle it up tight, and activate the system at just the right intensity. I'd shoot up into the sky, pass outside Yuri's mental barrier, and re-enter.
In short, respawn.
It was all thanks to the Queen's carelessness in skimping on defenses against something slipping out from the inside. Or maybe she was just that confident she could block anything that got in once.
I tugged on the line binding me to signal Yuna. Pull me up only halfway once the casting's done.
-Got it. I'll let you know the second it's ready...
Shhh...
Click, click, click.
As my body began transmitting, I could feel the Queen desperately reaching out. Yuna pulling from above, the Queen yanking from below. Felt like a tug-of-war rope.
I helped fend off the Queen's interference. With Yuna's output combined with my skills, even a lofty Queen like her could only grab at my ankles.
What I had to do here... was buy time until the casting finished.
I pressed my ear tight against the door and listened carefully. Soon, footsteps approached. Analyzing the rhythm, it was Yuri. She'd come.
"Pardon the intrusion. I've come for the intel..."
I ran my tongue over my lower lip. Time for my mug to shine.
Right as Yuri approached and was about to open the door. I threw out a lewd groan in a faked voice.
"...?!"
She gasped sharply, clearly thrown off.
I alternated between male and female moans. Yuri, mistaking it for some historic hookup inside, flailed about in confusion...
Then froze, sensing something off.
She must've noticed the moans never overlapped. Quicker than expected, but this ploy was more about shaking her up than stalling.
Yuri asked in a tense voice.
"Who's in there?"
"Me, who else."
I answered calmly in my normal voice. Hearing it, Yuri jolted in shock, her voice trembling slightly. She asked,
"Why are you there...? And how?"
"What do you think?"
"This is an Erasure Corps outpost. Even if you're high up in the Defense Bureau... it feels disrespectful. Where's the handler? They should be here."
"Never seen 'em. Maybe they clocked out—it's late..."
I gave an answer that sounded suspicious to anyone.
Not just now, but going forward, the Queen's suspicions would rain arrows at me. So I struck first. From here on, I'd play the part of someone framing me.
That's why I opened with those weird moans.
To plant the premise that whoever was behind this door could mimic voices.
Just in case she bought it and burst in with "Oh, it's you? Coming in!", I needed to heighten her wariness a bit.
I deliberately stirred the air with my hand, wafting the scent of blood through the door crack. Yuri's guard shot up sharply at the sinister bloody tang, just as I'd hoped.
"Who are you...?"
"Me, duh. Your neighbor. We met today, right? Played chess or something?"
"Chess was the day before yesterday."
"Oh yeah, right. Day before. Memory's fuzzy when you get old, y'know?"
This oughta do it.
-Hey, ready! Just say the word and I'll yank you!
Perfect timing on the contact. Respawn prepped. As I geared up to drop a cryptic line and bolt, Yuri spoke.
In a voice thick with hesitation and waver.
"...Please. Tell me. Are you... him? No, you..."
There was a brief pause before she said "him."
In that instant, she'd realized she didn't know my name. It amplified her unease, making her voice quiver badly.
She's so young.
The Yuri beyond the door was young. Unable to control her emotions, innocently asking the presumed fiend his identity. Even knowing a pat answer would come.
She wanted it not to be true. Didn't want her friendly neighbor to be the enemy. Especially amid her loneliness, a chance friendship born by coincidence.
In a harsh life where only lusty creeps sought her out as a succubus... someone who might actually open up to.
So, yeah. Time to answer.
Just like always. Lie to her.
Best to neither confirm nor deny here. I was mimicking "his" voice on purpose, planting the idea of a framer. Simple.
Spin a plausible tale, play the role, fool Yuri. Easy. Just answer ambiguously.
Then, suddenly, my tongue froze.
"..."
What's this? Queen's attack? Nah, she's busy tug-of-warring with Yuna. Speak. Lie.
As I urged myself, my heart blurted out.
...Is this really okay?
Lie? Snap out of it. I'm fighting the Queen to save Yuri. Survive this crisis, get close enough for the key.
...So if it's to save her, it's fine to toy with her heart on a whim?
No. It's to save her. Plus, this is her child self's mind... not the real her. All per plan. No need to throw a wrench in a good flow.
I shook off the boy's voice echoing in my head. Don't waver. Useless thoughts.
Still, I couldn't answer Yuri. I stayed silent and tugged the line. A floating sensation hit as the floor dropped away fast.
"Wait, answer me...!!"
Yuri flung the door open, but no one was there.
Just the corpse, shredded files, and bloodstained traces remained.
The skirmishes between me and the Queen quieted down after that day.
She lobbed probes now and then, but nothing as elaborate as that trap. More like scouting moves.
She must've realized she couldn't devour me without neutralizing my emergency escape somehow.
Thinking I needed to drive it home, I kept reconnecting.
Zipping map-end to end, dipping into no-exit rooms a couple times till caught... and the Queen seemed pretty pissed. The click-clicks sounded irritable.
I could also sense her hunger building. The more I flexed, the more she itched to gulp me down whole.
Overdoing performances and playing it cool... seems she hasn't caught on yet.
Good momentum.
Everything on track so far. Except one thing.
...I don't get my own heart. Random thoughts keep bubbling up. Was I too harsh on the Bennett trio? Should I have Centra pen a custom letter for Irid or something?
Maybe start prepping a real proposal for Yuna soon, or I'll miss the moment. Stuff like that.
Guilt over Yuri, too.
I knew the cause of this sudden mood shift. I'm a severed consciousness, inside Yuri's mental world. So physically and magically distant from whatever's in my head.
Theoretically, less influenced by "that."
That's why my stunted conscience suddenly sprouted, wasting time on useless worries in this critical spot...
I consciously shook my head to prune the stray branches.
Keep going like this. Steady wins. No regrets. Gotta save her. Talk work. Focus.
I'd guessed the Queen picked 440 AD for the stage for a reason, and that "Crimson Rebirth" group was a key term.
She's no good at fabricating from scratch, so future events would be history with tweaks.
In other words, if I dug into what happened back then, it'd be like future sight.
Someone at the Academy who knew Yuri Lanster and her whereabouts in 440... perfect, Irid's agent, Kirby.
I plucked the line to signal.
-You want me to check...? Yeah, got her location. Sending a butterfly to ask.
"Thanks. I'll stick close to Yuri from here."
-Mm, right. Hang in there...
"Not much left. Let's both push on."
Communication ended.
"Here, orders."
I handed Yuri the imperial decree. The one from shortly after arriving at the Academy, when I'd asked Irid to cover the demon sword fiasco... memorized and replicated perfectly.
It stated I was joining the Erasure Corps to support Yuri personally.
Figured closing the physical gap and minimizing time apart would help.
Yuri read it meticulously, then nodded.
"...No issues. So we'll be working together?"
"Yep. Not a field agent, kinda scrawny, but got sharp eyes... should help?"
"Sure you will. But... what were you up to last night?"
"Slept like a rock. Why?"
I played dumb, and she shook her head.
"Nothing. Never mind..."
She suspected last night but seemed lost. People doubt outright offers first, right?
Logically, if this guy was the perp, he wouldn't expose himself like that... at least, no certainty. She'd think that.
Plus, she didn't want to suspect.
She probed for an alibi afterward. I had ironclad ones—anyone could see—but she wanted reassurance hearing them.
Wish I could've left traces. Long-range teleports via reconnect for neighbor stamps? Queen waves once, poof.
Yuri hemmed a bit, then...
"...Come to think. I don't think I've heard your name."
Obvious request. I stalled. Couldn't give it even if I wanted; faking it spelled trouble.
" 'You' works fine."
"Classified... or something?"
"Nah."
Moment my name's set, Queen gains attack vectors. Slap it on shady docs—threat city.
So I brushed it off.
"Um, there's... a little festival coming up with the Corps. For bonding, I heard. Know it? Of course you do, Defense Bureau and all..."
"...And?"
"If you're free, maybe... if you have time..."
I watched her eyes closely as she trailed off. Not a date. No love or crush. No reason for such a push.
Loneliness dripped from her young eyes, unstemmed.
Ah. Easy to picture.
Isolated in a remote manor despite Corps membership. Her thorny first-meet attitude. That fragile look.
...Getting bullied?
That black-haired lesbian seemed to idolize her, so I thought she was fine. Different back then? Or is the Corps not what I think?
Like a class outcast kid. Barely befriended outsider, dragging to the clique party.
Desperate to ease the loneliness.
Chest felt damp.
I hastily rationalized in my head why I had to join that Corps fest.
Story centering on Erasure Corps? Obvious. Need their roster and traits.
Thought to avoid over-approaching before, but I just played the join card. I nodded readily.
"Schedule's open that day."
"...Haven't said when yet."
Oh. I scratched my hair sheepishly, averting eyes. Yuri chuckled at it. Like a spring bud blooming.
Then she asked once more.
"...Festival needs names in the guestbook."
"..."
The thought it might be a Queen trap hit late. Festival now? Too convenient. At least wait for Yuna's intel... confirm it happened.
Safe first, then answer. Stall with schedule vagueness, follow up later.
But she'd be disappointed. Already said yes. Back out, her face clouds over.
Besides, this "happened" already. Me making young Yuri smile won't rewrite history. Sandcastle on beach—wave comes, gone.
So, sweeten the answer quick...
"Call me Mima?"
"...Mima?"
"Someone just like you used to call me the mad mage. Shortened it."
I'm mad, alright.
Yuri mulled the impromptu alias, lips mouthing "Mima." Felt weird.
Fake name or not, first time she called me by one?
More than that. How long since hearing my name from another? Can't recall. I'd forgotten it. If life's only what I remember, this is a first.
Yuri beamed.
"I see. You... Mima, then. Cantankerous, unpredictable type. Whoever she was like me must've had her hands full with you."
"Opposite. She dragged me."
"...Dragged you? What kinda person even is she?"
"Big chest, for starters."
Yuri eyed me like you got none for a beat. And so, I became young Yuri's festival partner.