Chapter 115
Chapter 115
115th Episode
EP27 - Star Gazing Mountain Redevelopment (5)
“…….”
As the sword was drawn, the Witch’s body swayed. She stumbled back several steps and landed on her backside. Blood spread and flowed from beneath her leafy dress.
Around that time, Ran quickly retrieved a first-aid kit from his [Spatial Pocket].
If it’s fortunate… or rather, I don’t know if this should be called fortunate, but from a medical perspective, it was fortunate that the wound was not deep. The Witch had excellent physical regeneration abilities.
“I’ll do it.”
“…Alright.”
As Ran approached silently, the Witch scowled, showing her displeasure.
Nevertheless, when Ran took a step forward, the Witch, still seated, tried to back away and create distance.
It was the same reaction as always. She showed a rejection response to anyone other than me approaching her.
However, for some reason, the Witch closed her eyes and fainted, so Ran discreetly tore off a piece of the tattered cloth and began dressing the wound.
At this moment, my mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts.
Emotions are a high-speed reaction system to external stimuli.
I struck the Witch with the revulsion I wanted to feel.
I saved the Witch with the urgent feeling that I should save her.
However, emotions are as prone to error as they are fast.
Now it was time for logic to take over.
I asked myself a question.
Q. Was saving the Witch the right decision?
If I don’t kill her now, I might be unleashing a disaster upon human history. Even so, is it right to save a ‘Two-Horned Demon’?
The fact that the Witch does not commit murder is merely a record up to this point. The future is uncertain.
However, she was a target that did not show aggression towards me, despite having injured me. At that point, I felt I shouldn’t attack.
So, if you ask whether saving the Witch was the right decision, I lack certainty.
I was still emotional. Therefore, this was on hold.
Q. If so, is there no basis for saving the Witch?
There was one thing. It was the 「scouting star」.
These little frog-like transformed star spirits are always out to watch interesting things, but they rarely go to watch Demons.
Because it’s not interesting.
It’s hard for the daily life of a student preparing for the civil service exam, studying all day, to be interesting. But Demons are like students studying for a murder exam.
Because of this,
I concluded that there was something more to this Witch than just a mere Demon.
Q. What was the Witch’s relationship with me?
I couldn’t think of anything. It seemed to be related to that ‘species’.
Q. Why did I forget the Witch?
…Before judging this, there was something to experiment with.
“Ran. Stay here for a moment. Put this band-like model on your head.”
“Yes.”
Leaving Ran and the Witch behind, I descended the mountain.
I put enough distance between us. Then, status windows began to appear busily.
< ♠ 『Curse of Oblivion』 is applied. Direct memories and records of the recently encountered individual will be erased or distorted. >
< ⧉ 『Game System』 resists. >
< ♠ 『Curse of Oblivion』 is applied. Direct memories and records of the recently encountered individual will be erased or distorted. >
< ⧉ 『Game System』 resists. >
⋮
As if engaged in a battle, the two status windows alternated continuously, and then.
< ⧉ 『Game System』 wins! >
The curse was pushed back.
“…Witch of the Graveyard. Eve.”
I have memories.
As expected, I have immunity to almost all mental attacks. It’s within the protective shield of Systematicity⧉, the 『Game System』. Yet, why did I forget?
I ponder deeply.
When does the Game System turn off?
‘Ah.’
It’s a Hotfix.
Suddenly, I remembered the last status window right before the hotfix.
< ⧉ 『Game System』 will temporarily shut down. >
The 『Game System』 is the power that sustains me on this land, so it disengages when I [Log Out]. There seemed to be a delay. The 『Curse of Oblivion』 exploited that delay.
It was absurd.
A systemic flaw caused this kind of situation.
Q. Why did I forget the Witch?
Because of the delay when the Game System shuts down.
“Ran.”
“Yes.”
“Can you send an inquiry to Systematicity⧉?”
“I can try.”
“Send an inquiry. Forget bug patches or whatever, just fix the logout delay first.”
And I didn’t say the nasty words about running this trash game properly.
“I don’t know what you mean, but I will deliver it as is.”
Lastly.
Q. Then, will I forget the Witch every time I log out from now on?
…As of now, it seems so.
That is, unless the [Curse] is lifted.
“The dressing is finished. What will you do now?”
“…….”
Indeed. What now?
“Shall I send her home?”
“How would you know where home is?”
Ran took something out of his pocket.
It was a dog-ear headband.
“I can smell well.”
“…….”
And so, Ran thoroughly sniffed around and found the Witch’s dwelling.
It was inside a cave.
The interior was surprisingly tidy.
There were glowing jewels.
Several miscellaneous iron swords were visible.
There was something like a bed made of dried grass.
There was no smell at all.
Yet, for some reason, a Holy aura could be felt. It wasn’t just a feeling of holiness, but actual [Holy] Mana attribute was faintly present.
Holy power in a Demon’s home…?
At that moment, the scabbard vibrated ominously.
< ○ The sword doubts your aptitude a little more. >
Idiot sword.
I shoved it into my [Inventory].
“You worked hard. Sit for a moment.”
“Yes.”
I sat and thought a little more.
What to do with this Demon now.
\ \ *
There were strange scribbles on the cave wall.
I couldn’t tell what they were.
As I stared blankly, Ran spoke.
“Shall we go? It’s late, Professor.”
The unconscious Witch had not woken up.
I thought I might try to communicate with her if she woke up.
According to Ran’s guess, it was probably due to mental stress.
With no other choice, I thought it was time to head back, but then.
Rustle.
I heard a sound and turned my head to see a plastic container (presumably picked up from a trash heap).
Wondering what it was, I looked inside and saw a squirrel.
…How it managed to do it, it was holding pinecones in both arms.
Startled!
When our eyes met, it tensed up.
“What is it?”
“Little squirrel.”
“Are you raising it?”
“…….”
I suddenly had a feeling.
“…It seems like a thief squirrel.”
Startled…!!
The squirrel tensed up even more.
Or, it might be that I’m just feeling that way.
“A thief? How did you know?”
It wasn’t the squirrel, but Ran who spoke.
When I turned my head, a parrot was now perched on his head.
“What is that?”
“It’s a Communication Parrot. It can communicate non-verbally through gestures, expressions, Mana, and vocalizations.”
…Just how many ‘assistive devices’ does he have?
Then, the squirrel, as if realizing something, flustered.
“He is plotting to escape.”
“But he is intimidated by Professor.”
“For some reason, he seems to have a shallow acquaintance with the owner of this house… that is, the Two-Horned Demon. It seems there have been quite a few conflicts of interest over pinecones usually.”
“The squirrel claims that a considerable number of pinecones have been stolen.”
“Therefore, this is not theft but recovery through self-defense.”
“…….”
At this point, my head was already complicated, and I didn’t want to know the squirrel’s inner circumstances, but as I listened, it was strangely interesting, so I remained silent.
So the Witch was a pinecone thief.
“Wait a moment.”
“Yes.”
“Non-verbal communication?”
“Yes.”
“Can you talk to it then?”
“Yes.”
This was interesting too.
“Can you ask it, about the Witch?”
As I mentioned several times before, the 『Curse of Oblivion』 applies to the world and people. To be precise, it applies to ‘the world surrounding people’. It does not apply to animals or stars.
“…….”
Then Ran bowed his head and pushed it in front of the squirrel, and the parrot on his head began to dance rhythmically. To me, it was an incomprehensible gesture.
“He says he doesn’t know much about the owner… that is, the Two-Horned Demon.”
“Ask if he knows anyone… any animals.”
Rhythmically, rhythmically.
“He says yes.”
“Who is it?”
Rhythmically.
“He says he will bring them if you overlook him taking pinecones.”
And so, 5 minutes later, the squirrel brought his friends: an old-looking bird. And I knew one of them.
“You are MiniMini Moong.”
“Mungmung!”
It was Elise’s puppy, whom I had met a few times on the way to the academy. It wagged its tail, so I petted it.
However, this one knew nothing (it seemed to have followed its friend), and the old bird brought up various stories. Chirp… Chirp… it said.
“…….”
Ran hesitated for a moment.
“Why is that?”
“…This isn’t actual speech translation, but rather viewing the Mana flowing into consciousness. It’s in the second-person perspective, so it’s a bit unfamiliar. …To summarize, it’s like this.”
This bird had been watching the Witch for a long time.
Among the many humans who approached, most approached with aggression.
“…It must be the aftermath of the great curse. It gives off an ominous feeling.”
Among them, there was a human who approached with goodwill for the first time.
That was me.
“So, how many times did I visit the Witch?”
According to the bird, it had witnessed more than twenty encounters. Each visit was brief, but later, the Witch apparently waited eagerly.
……Did I come that diligently?
But I still didn’t know the reason, and something felt strange.
Why did I keep coming to see the Two-Horned Demon?
Was I planning to kill her?
For the same reason, I still lacked logical certainty about whether to keep this Witch alive.
Why on earth did I come?
“Look over there. It’s a turtle, Professor.”
A turtle?
Indeed, a real turtle was crawling into the cave.
Why is there a turtle on the mountain?
As it got closer, I realized. It was a Spiritual Beast.
It seemed to have come to say a word as a friend of the squirrel.
Doo… Um… Chi… It…
As Ran spoke slowly, the other nodded.
About 10 minutes later, Ran said.
“…This turtle is about 1,100 years old. According to the turtle, the Witch has something she absolutely must accomplish here on Star Gazing Mountain, and if she leaves Star Gazing Mountain, she enters a state similar to death.”
Oh, dear.
The moment I heard that, I realized the current situation was far more extreme.
To proceed with the Star Gazing Mountain redevelopment, the Witch must be driven out, but she enters a state similar to death if she leaves.
“…Does that have anything to do with why I came here?”
“Wouldn’t it? And the turtle says it didn’t know the Witch had horns on her forehead.”
Huh?
That statement sounded rather significant.
Didn’t know she had horns?
I asked the bird.
“He says he didn’t know.”
I asked the squirrel.
“He says he didn’t know.”
I asked Moong.
“Moong!”
“He says he is glad to know.”
That means he didn’t know.
I see. The hood coming off was the doing of the 「scouting star」. It wouldn’t have come off normally.
‘Wait.’
Then, suddenly.
This hypothesis came to mind.
‘Then, I didn’t know this either?’
I raised my hand and skillfully covered the Witch’s head.
If I came because I didn’t know she was a Two-Horned Demon, then if the horns were covered, the Witch would look exactly like a human.
If she were human…
Slowly approaching, I touched the fingertips of the prone Eve. Then I checked the status window.
───
Eve Lemontree [3.0]
───
Ah!!
At this very moment,
Much was sorted out in my mind.
1.
This ‘Potential Status Window’ only appears for humans. It does not appear for Demons or monsters. Therefore, the Witch was partly human!
2.
I realized the reason I came here. Potential [3.0] was a shockingly high number. So high that the moment I saw the number, I felt an urge to possess this Witch.
Constellations? Top-ranked individuals? None of that matters. With Potential 3.0, she could become overwhelmingly stronger than them.
3.
I gained a strong conviction that the Witch must be kept alive. This was not a pure ‘Two-Horned Demon’. It was ‘Demonization’ under specific conditions. But because the potential was absurdly high, she became a ‘Two-Horned Demon’!
‘Wait? Then?’
Lastly,
4.
There was a scale in my mind. I placed something on it. On the left and right sides. Then the task I had to do immediately came to mind.
It was a very, very important task.
And that was…
“Hello. Is this Lord Reim? This is Professor Dante. Please tell the Princess that the Star Gazing Mountain redevelopment has just been canceled, and our contract is also terminated.”
Cutting ties.