Carpeng Subjugation Battle (3)
The cicadas were screaming so loud I couldn’t focus on the movie.
“Ugh, damn it. It’s already hot enough to die, and now they’re pissing me off.”
I finally stood up and shut the window.
“Don’t be so hard on them. They’ve got to make a living too.”
Dad, watching the movie with me, grinned as he said it.
“Come on, aren’t they stuck right on the glass at this point? They’re way too loud…”
“Still, you’ve got to understand. Those little guys spent seven years underground. Of course they’re excited.”
“Well, yeah, but still…”
Dad kept his eyes on the TV for a moment, then turned his head toward me.
“You know the ones making all that noise are the males, right?”
“Yeah. They’re doing it to find a female.”
“That’s right. And most of them only live about two weeks before they die.”
“I know that too.”
“So think about it, Noah. For them, those seven years are an entire lifetime. If you put it in human terms, it’s like spending nearly eighty years locked in a room doing absolutely nothing.”
“Oh… that actually sounds pretty good?”
Thwack—
“Ow! Why’d you hit me?!”
Dad’s knuckle cracked hard against my forehead.
“Good my ass. You wouldn’t even be able to play your precious games, you little punk.”
“Mm… yeah, that would suck.”
“Anyway, a cicada pours its whole life into achieving just one goal.”
“They were just born that way.”
“Ha, this kid… talking back just like— tch. Just listen, will you?”
Dad gave a bitter little smile and ruffled my hair.
“Let’s start over. Anyway, a cicada endures and holds on for its entire life just to make its dream come true.”
The hand stroking my head stopped.
“And at the end of that endless stretch of time, it steps out into a terribly dangerous world so it can finally spread its wings.”
Dad stood up from his seat.
“How terrifying must that be? Just looking down from the tree, people are swarming everywhere. But they come out anyway. Those little guys.”
He walked slowly toward the window.
“Because failing to achieve the dream they spent their whole lives working toward and longing for is scarier than a world that could kill them in an instant.”
He reached for the window I had closed.
“And then they cry until their throats tear, announcing their existence to the world.”
He began to open it, little by little.
“That way they meet the female they’ve waited their whole lives for, and they make eggs.”
From the half-open window the cicadas’ cries gradually poured in.
“And two weeks later they die. Without ever even meeting their own children.”
Soon the living room was filled with the sound.
“And the ones making all this racket right now… their time is almost up. They’re thrashing with everything they’ve got right before the end.”
The cries that had only felt noisy a moment ago now sounded, just a little, desperate.
“Keh-heh-heh… Well? Hearing it like this, it’s kind of romantic, isn’t it?”
Looking at Dad’s smile, I carefully opened my mouth.
“If you live like that… are you happy?”
Is that even a life that means anything?
One’s own—
“Well, the ones that never meet their mate are probably unhappy. But they won’t have any regrets.”
“Then… what about the cicadas that achieved their dream?”
Hearing my words, Dad pressed his lips tightly shut for a moment.
“...I don’t know. But the way Dad sees it, those guys are probably—”
Right then, an airplane passed over the villa.
In the end I never heard Dad’s answer.
But I saw his expression clearly.
That wistful smile.
Those eyes filled with unyielding will.
The unshaken look he turned toward me.
A warm sensation wrapped around my body.
Something… familiar about the cushioning.
That aside, my whole body ached.
Feels like I’m falling apart… I’m seriously gonna die… ugh…
While I was groaning alone, a sigh reached my ears.
“Ha… Heinzel…”
It was Rubia’s voice.
What?
Why Heinzel?
What’s going on?
I wriggled my body and tugged at the hem of Rubia’s clothes.
“Ru… Rubia…?”
“Ah, Noah…! Wh-what do we do… h-how are we supposed to…”
Droplets began pattering down onto my face.
Uweh…?
Why… why all of a sudden…?
“Wh-what is it…? What’s wrong…?”
Rubia pulled me tighter into her arms.
Uwaah!! That hurts!
Even a breeze hurts right now!!! If you hug me like that I’m gonna die!!
“Ru… Rubia…! It hurts… it hurts. I’m dyinggg!”
At my desperate scream Rubia loosened her grip.
But she was still crying.
Ah, so why are you doing this?
“Wh-what’s goi—!”
My cracked throat produced a weird squeak.
I carefully cleared it again.
“Ahem, ahem… wh-what’s going on?”
After catching her breath for a moment, Rubia slowly opened her mouth.
“Ca… Carpeng… Carpeng has woken up…”
What…?
“Ru… Rubia, didn’t you put up the scent barrier back then…?! I t-told you to—”
“No. I did. I’m sure I did… I don’t understand either. The veil was definitely up… so why… f-first we have to go over there… we have to… but why… why won’t my legs… hnn…”
“N-no… wait. Just calm down for a second…”
I forced my creaking body to move and slipped free of Rubia’s embrace.
Then reached for the greatsword at my waist.
The greatsword…
Where’s my greatsword…?
No matter how much I groped around, it wasn’t there.
“Ru… Rubia… have you seen my greatsword?”
“Huh…?”
“My greatsword…”
I traced the shape of it with my hands as I explained.
“Th-this kind of thing… the one I always carry around…!”
Why are you acting like you don’t know!
“Wh-what are you talking about, Noah…?”
“Nooo…! You’re the one saying weird things, Rubia! I have a greatsword! I always carry it… and earlier I beat down all those magic beasts… and… killed…”
All those magic beasts…?
Beat them down?
Who?
“Noah… first… hhic… H-Heinzel’s arm was cut off. And… and Luci is facing it alone… I think we should go right now… but leaving Noah alone without a greatsword…”
Rubia’s words weren’t reaching my ears.
My memories were all jumbled up ‘again’.
What kind of memory is this.
Whose memory is this.
What is this.
What the hell.
What is it? Why. Why? Whose memory. My memory? In the first place. Who is ‘me’? What is it. What. Who. Who is it. Alrba. Forest. Black Bear? Who? Me. Aileen. Rubia. Priestess? Client? Who. Rubia. Priestess. Black Sun. What is it? Game. The one I played. Named request. Rubia’s. Aileen? Rubia. Rubia. Rubia. Priestess. Save Rubia. Who are you? You. Me. Noah. Shin Noah. Male. Female. Girl. Girl. Short. Blind. Eyes. Can see? Can’t see. Save Rubia. Need the greatsword? Can see without it. No can’t see. Greatsword. Need the greatsword? Need it. Where is this? Roholan. Before that. Ruins. Habron? Save Rubia. No the ruins. What about Alrba? Save Rubia. Alrba. Hermila. Kind? Blacksmith. Killed a troll in the ruins. I did. And the barrier? Me? No. That wasn’t me. Save Rubia. Then who? You. Yeah? No. Me. Probably not. Broke the barrier. Met Luci. Heinzel. Met the main NPCs. Lucky. Save Rubia. Good. Can enter the main story. Eyes. Can’t see? So can’t find it. But found the priestess. Well done? Save Rubia. Yeah. I’ll praise you. Thanks. And came to Roholan. Horn of Frenzy? Ah so that’s why so many magic beasts. But you killed them? I killed them. Me. The greatsword there. And after that? Save Rubia. Don’t know. Don’t know? Don’t know. Don’t know? Really? Really don’t know. You too? Me too? Me too. You too. Save Rubia.
“Noah… Noah!”
“Yes?”
“Why… why are you suddenly like this…”
“Like what?”
Rubia’s trembling hand brushed along the corner of my eye.
“Why… why are you suddenly crying…”
“Me?”
“...Noah…?”
Rubia’s voice was shaking.
“Yes?”
“...Noah… is that… really you…?”
It was sinking lower and lower.
“It is Noah, right?”
I lifted the corners of my mouth.
Should I?
How did Noah act?
Ah.
I’m confused.
“Why… why… hhic— N-Noah too… why are you… kkuup… don’t. Please… sob, please…”
Rubia’s arms wrapped around my body.
And one by one, droplets soaked the edge of my shoulder.
Warm energy flowed into me.
Rubia’s divine power.
It enveloped my body.
A familiar.
Longed-for.
Touch.
Stroking my hair.
Slowly.
Slowly.
Making my mind whole again.
Rubia’s divine power.
Gradually.
Wrapped around my memories.
Untangling the complicated knots.
Sorting out the filthy tangled past.
Calming the surging emotions.
It brought the me who had gone mad back.
It forcibly held onto the me who wanted to die.
Just as instinct commanded, I opened my eyes.
And silently recited the sentences glowing right in front of me.
The target is a character from the game.
The target is a character from the game.
The target is a character from the game.
The target is a character from the game.
My head cleared.
That unpleasant sensation woke me up.
“Ru… Rubia…”
I lifted my arm and stroked her back.
“Rubiaaa…”
“Noah…? Is it really Noah?”
“Yeees… it is… Rubia, first… first please explain the situation.”
I gently pushed Rubia away.
Her trembling shoulders shook my emotions.
“I-it’s really Noah, right…?”
“Uuu… y-yeahh.”
Both of Rubia’s hands clamped onto my cheeks.
“R-really… it really is Noah…”
“Thash whad I shaid…”
Only after I nodded vigorously did her hands let go.
“Rubia, I’m fine, so calm down and talk.”
“Huu… yes. Calm… yes. Earlier, after Noah collapsed—”
I couldn’t see ahead.
I couldn’t feel anything.
But the tingling tremor in my body.
The sticky killing intent coiling around me.
The sound of something cutting through the air from far away.
Luci’s desperate roar.
They told me exactly what was happening.
Still.
Calming Rubia came first.
I trusted Luci and Heinzel.
They weren’t the kind of people who would break so easily.
Once she had steadied her breathing, Rubia began explaining the situation clearly.
And extremely quickly.
Outside the village Luci and Heinzel were facing Carpeng head-on.
The plan was to evacuate the villagers…
And even as far as Urusphier…?
Impossible.
They’re all going to die. Definitely.
They won’t even set foot at the entrance to the Karahan Mountains before they’re wiped out.
And Carpeng…
I still couldn’t sense it with Qi Sensing.
Couldn’t see it.
So I had no idea what it was actually like.
Even the first goblins I hunted.
The trolls, the orcs, the Black Bear.
And every other magic beast besides.
They had been completely different from the game.
They weren’t trash mobs.
Every single attack from a magic beast threatened my life.
There were plenty of blows that would kill you if you took even one wrong hit.
Mere trash mobs.
So what about Carpeng?
It would be on another level entirely…
But.
I had to do it.
I could do it.
I’ve killed it plenty of times before.
I’ve overcome tens of thousands of magic beasts.
Don’t chicken out.
Rubia’s behind me.
Luci and Heinzel are here.
It’s doable enough.
I can do this.
“Rubia… is there any greatsword left… by any chance?”
“Th-there isn’t… no matter how much I looked… nothing but broken greatswords…”
I don’t even know if Qi Sensing will activate with a broken one.
But for now…
“C-could you bring me even a broken one?”
“...Noah, are you planning to go over there?”
I nodded.
“Alright.”
I heard Rubia rise from her seat.
I sat still and let the sounds of the village fill my ears.
I had expected chaos because Carpeng had woken, but surprisingly there was hope in the air.
And then.
From far away.
Clattering footsteps racing closer.
That scatterbrained running sound.
“Hwek, hek… h-am I too lateee!”
“He… Hepais…?”
It was Hepais.
“Haaah… the Red Beast that Tears Magic Beasts… ahem! N-Noah-nim!”
“Wh-what brings you here…?”
“Ah! I came to deliver this! I thought you might need it… I’ve been working hard on it since last night… i-it might be a little late… but please take it anyway.”
A cold sensation touched my hand.
The familiar feel of leather.
The feel of a hilt.
The weight.
I felt it.
“I made it with pretty expensive… no, extremely expensive materials! As close as possible to the greatsword Noah-nim used to use!”
I reached out and gripped the hilt.
Along with a welcome pain, the scenery of the village painted itself before me.
Hepais smiling brightly right in front of me took shape.
Smiling?
Huh?
Why can I see her expression?
“H-how’s the weight?”
Hepais’s face filled with curiosity.
Wow…
I can’t make out the face itself, but I can tell the expression.
The expression is drawn.
“I… like it.”
I gave a rough nod.
What.
What is this?
What the hell is going on?
Did I level up or something?
I looked around.
The villagers’ expressions took shape.
And.
From far away.
Running toward me.
Rubia’s expression.
Twisted up, gasping for breath.
It took shape.
“Ah, Priestess! Hello!”
Hepais bent her waist at a perfect right angle in greeting.
Seeing that, Rubia looked flustered.
Flustered! Look at that flustered face!
That’s a ‘why are you here?’ face!
Holy crap!!!
“He… Hepais, how did you end up here…?”
“Ah, well… I was making a weapon… and it got way too late.”
I lifted the greatsword Hepais had given me toward Rubia.
“Th-that… you’ve been making it until now? For us?”
“Yes! Earlier… when the magic beasts were pouring in… I figured ten shoddy greatswords wouldn’t be enough. So I scraped together everything I had and made this. M-Master might completely destroy me when she gets back… but! If we die none of that matters, right! So I made it… so Priestess… could you maybe put in a good word for me…?”
She mustered courage.
Got scared.
Mustered courage again.
And in the end, leaning on the priestess’s authority, Hepais wilted.
Once more Rubia’s expression twisted.
That’s a teary face.
Rubia’s crying!
“Yes. I will. I’ll somehow… somehow speak to her, so don’t worry too much. And… truly, truly thank you.”
Finished speaking, Rubia took my hand and pulled.
“Hepais. For now we don’t have time, so how about we save the rest of the conversation for after everything is over?”
“Y-yes! Please… hurry and go!”
“Thank you for understanding. Noah, let’s go.”
Rubia naturally took my hand and headed south.
But.
Something feels off…?
“Ru… Rubia?”
“Yes?”
“Why… are you going?”
“What do you mean why?”
“N-no… it’s dangerous though?”
“I know? Noah. We don’t have time right now. Let’s hurry.”
“A-auh…? Rubia going… is not okayyy?”
“Then is it okay for Noah?”
The expression Rubia turned on me was extremely angry.
“Eut… no… I’m strong though…”
Thwack—!
Rubia’s knuckle struck my forehead.
“I’m strong too. Enough. Hurry up. From now on, wherever Noah goes, I’m going too no matter what. I’m staying right beside you no matter what. Don’t refuse.”
After rattling all that off, Rubia led me by the hand.
That hand held a firm resolve.
So I.
Had no choice but to nod.
And followed her.
The closer we got to Carpeng, the more my body tingled.
My legs grew heavy.
Cold sweat ran down.
Sticky killing intent pressed down on me.
“Huu… huep— hu…”
Rubia seemed to be the same, carefully steadying her breath.
“Rubia… if it’s hard—”
“Shut up.”
“Yess…”
Rubia had gotten a little strange.
Heinzel and Luci’s battle cries began to reach us.
I carefully widened my Qi Sensing.
Their condition… was a complete mess.
Just as Rubia had said, Heinzel had lost his right arm.
And every bone in his body was twisted.
But he was still fighting.
Luci too was covered in deep wounds.
Severe enough that he would die of blood loss soon.
And.
Carpeng.
Was condensing blood qi inside its body.
It was entering phase two.
There was no time.
Luci and Heinzel didn’t know Carpeng.
Even if they did, they would only know phase-one Carpeng.
So there was even less time.
At this rate…
Both of them would die in one hit.
“Rubia. Let’s go a little faster.”
I overtook Rubia, who had been walking ahead, and quickened my pace.
Around the time Luci’s breathing became audible.
With a horrific sound of air being torn apart.
Luci and Heinzel were sent flying and slammed into the ground.
Blood erupted from their bodies.
Luci’s remaining eye burst.
Heinzel’s remaining left arm was torn off.
“Rubia! Hurry!”
I let go of Rubia’s hand and ran.
I have to draw Carpeng’s attention.
And.
Make it obvious to Heinzel and Luci that it’s me.
It might be harsh on them.
But so they can get up and fight again quickly.
I have to let them know I’ve arrived.
Dragging the greatsword, I approached them.
Approached Carpeng.
And.
In my usual voice.
To put them at ease.
Just like Luci and Heinzel always did.
I casually tossed out a light joke.
And sneered.
“At… at least a four-person party… you dumb uncles. Did you hate treating us to a meal that much…? So stingy…”
Then, glaring at Carpeng.
I clenched the hilt tight.