"YES! IT'S A SUCCESS!"
The heart of Laevateinn—the country of swords—was its capital, with its center being the palace's audience hall.
It was a place for the king to have an audience with others, so it was definitely not the sort of place one normally caused a fuss. But right now, the place was undoubtedly playing host to cheers of great joy.
In the middle of all this was a young, spiky black haired boy who was probably still in his teens. He was confused over whatever had just happened to him a moment ago.
Who knew what started it.
The boy, who lived in Chiba, simply finished school for the day, gave it his all in his club activities, and went home as per usual. But that routine was interrupted by an unusual voice.
"To the one who can hear this voice. Please, save us." It was a voice pleading for help.
It was a very nebulous thing. The boy didn't know who was asking, where they were, what situation they were in, or even what kind of help they needed.
The boy had no reason or duty to answer the cry, much less a voice that echoed in the back of his mind, the height of creepy. Normally people felt fear and doubt before any sort of sense of justice. Most likely, nobody would blame a person for ignoring the voice and running from the situation.
Humans feared the unknown. How could someone claim it would be a bad move to fear or run from a disembodied voice?
But the boy was abnormally softhearted. He had a screw loose, or he might have completely lost it.
If there was ever anyone in trouble, he wanted to help. If there was ever anyone lost, he wanted to reach out and lend a hand. His innate goodness was a virtue. The boy didn't have a shred of doubt nor an ounce of hesitation. He was called and he earnestly wished to help.
The defining nature of a hero was that spirit that thought, I want to help, instead of harboring any doubt.
But for a person, that wish clearly lacked a sense of danger or even self-preservation. It was a completely reckless and thoughtless action. Put bluntly, reason was abandoned in favor of emotion.
That was why the gate formed and the summoning through Xgate succeeded. He disappeared from the country called Japan, even though the summoning needed heartfelt acceptance from the summoned party.
—The Hero Summoning was a success.
The news would travel between countries near instantly.
***
"Sigh…"
We were busy leaving Gjallar since we'd finished all our business here.
Ahh, I acted really high-and-mighty back there. That's gonna leave a black mark on my past.
I bet I looked so uncool, spouting all that stuff.
"What is wrong, Master?"
"Nothing. We were just thinking that We said something unlike us. We may have exposed quite the unsightly side of ourselves."
"That is not true. Your awe-inspiring figure at that moment deserves to be kept in my memory banks forever. The fact that I cannot turn that image into something physical is truly disappointing."
I shivered hearing Penny say 'forever.' I wasn't sure if that meant pictures or video memory, but if she did that, it would be like a public execution.
Well, she said it was disappointing, so it must not have happened. I should check just in case.
"Penny, We shudder to consider the possibility, but there are no photos of that, yes…? If you have taken any, dispose of them immediately."
"…"
However, there was no answer to my question.
Penny usually answered immediately, but I could see that she was struggling to find one.
What? Do you want to keep it that badly?
But Penny came back with an answer that I would never have expected.
"Excuse me, but… What is a photo?"
I froze for a moment after hearing Penny's reply.
Ohh, right.
This world doesn't have photographs in the first place. Of course Penny wouldn't know what I meant by that.
Just in case, I looked over to Fiona, but she also shook her head, indicating that she had no idea. From that, I became sure that photos did not exist in this world.
How strange.
It truly felt like a fantasy world when Penny—a metal golem made with techniques that far surpassed modern science and technology—existed but photographs didn't. To be fair, Penny was actually made using an Alchemist's skill, so she wasn't truly mechanical.
Maybe it's not all that strange?
But something… Something bothers me. I'm missing something. What is it? There's something I'm totally forgetting.
What am I forgetting?
Remember… Yes, it happened the day I came to this world.
"…That was one thousand years ago. There should not be that many who still remember my face. This world does not even have photographs."
"That's far too naive, Big Sis! This trade city is a place where many countries and people gather. Among those are elves with extremely long lifespans. People like them still remember you clearly."
"—!" I reflexively looked towards Haruka.
I'm not wrong. She knows! Haruka knows about photographs, something that should not exist in this world!
Haruka herself seemed like she'd realized her mistake, as she gasped and looked my way.
There's no room for simple suspicion anymore. It's definite. She's guilty.
I don't know what's going on, but Haruka is a fellow irregular in this world. Or at the very least, she knows of the other world.
"Haruka… We need to speak with you alone. Will you come?"
I won't allow her to refuse. I'm not wrong.
"…Yes."
Right, I had been constantly forgetting about Haruka this entire time. It was something I realized after just a little contemplation. Maybe I had just been averting my eyes from the truth.
An NPC that even I had forgotten about.
True, she existed. I had definitely placed a background object like her that had no combat data or capabilities. However, for an NPC who claimed to be my number one little sister and advisor, Haruka was far too skilled to be just an object that I had placed. She had abilities befitting advisor. And it should have been impossible for people like Fiona and Juvia to not remember her.
With Haruka in tow, I went to a nearby forest.
Fiona and Penny wanted to accompany me, but I stopped them. This was something that should only be between Haruka and I. So I left Tayuya with Fiona and Penny and made sure there was no one near us.
We should be able to talk in private here.
"Now then. Where should We start…? No, let's stop beating around the bush. We will ask you straight. What are you? You claimed to be my advisor and little sister that was around one thousand years ago… That was a lie, wasn't it?"
Haruka replied to my question truthfully. "…Yes, it was a lie."
As I thought. Haruka was no background NPC. She was just squatting in that position.
Of course.
'After all, that tower was filthy.'
Haruka's words were clearly contradictory if she really had been waiting there for one thousand years.
It wasn't impossible that she'd continued to sit in that position for one thousand years without cleaning, but it was clearly unnatural. If she were truly waiting for her master to come back, then wouldn't she at least have made sure the top floor was clean?
However, the fact that she hadn't even done that meant… that she hadn't been there for one thousand years.
That was a conclusion anybody would've quickly reached.
Yes, it was easily understood. But I hadn't thought of it. I'd wanted to pretend. I had unconsciously averted my eyes from the truth. I hadn't wanted to understand it.
"Who are you? One of my citizens or subordinates…? No. If that were the case, Penny would remember you. At the very least, you weren't present in the Ouzel Tower before We were sealed."
"That is correct. I am not your advisor, little sister, nor am I a subordinate of yours. However, I knew that there was an NPC with that description in your tower, so I used that."
NPC, huh? So she's finally stopped hiding.
However, I still had questions.
Even if she was a player, if she was someone who'd sided with me… Penny should have remembered her. But Penny didn't. Also, Fiona hadn't recognized Haruka at first, but after seeing her she remembered her as my 'advisor'.
That was…
Wait, I see. Haruka had that.
"You tricked Fiona and Tayuya with memory manipulation, didn't you?"
"Yes. I planted false memories in each of them. Fiona when we first met and she questioned me. Tayuya, she was helping the grimmfolk, so I did it when she was in their castle."
"The fact that the golems did not recognize you as an ally was because your memory manipulation doesn't work on them, right?"
"You're right. Golems have records, not memories. Some techniques with a vague effect like my memory manipulation won't work on them."
Memory manipulation that works even on those who are stronger than you, huh? What a nasty skill she has.
However, if that were the case, then my memories might have been manipulated, too.
Also… the grimmfolk's castle?
I see. It's becoming clear to me. Her true identity, that is.
"By the way, how extensively have you manipulated our memories?"
"…I couldn't."
"What?"
"Your sense of self is stronger than even you realize. Even if I wanted to plant some false memories in you, I would have to stick with you, constantly using the skill on you, for an entire year at the very least. That was why I had no choice but to trick you by creating a position for myself by taking the place of an NPC cute little sister advisor who happened to be in your tower. I could only manage to implant the idea to 'unconsciously avoid doubting me.'"
So she couldn't mess with my memories, huh?
I'm not sure how much of that was the truth, but it's true that if she really could, she wouldn't have had to force herself into the position of my advisor and act as a cute little sister character as her way to be closer to me. She could have just pretended to be one of my subjects.
Or is having me think this way her aim?
"The fact that you know that… So you are a Player."
"Honestly, I was surprised. I never thought someone other than me would… that you would be a Player. I miscalculated."
Chuckling, Haruka smiled craftily. It was different from the refined smiles she'd been giving up until now. However, mysteriously enough, it fit her.
Seems like this is how she really is.
"Also, let me make a correction. I am not a Player."
"…What?"
"More accurately, I'm a 'Test Player'. I was hired by management as a test player for the new half-elf race that was supposed to be introduced with the new update."
"So that's why you knew about the state of affairs in the tower."
"Yes. Using their accounts, management can peek into the bases of player forces even if they aren't citizens. That was how I learned about your advisor NPC."
Is it even okay for a test player to be able to see that stuff in the first place?
She must have peeked in without permission. She's lucky she wasn't fired.
"Also… What do you mean you manipulated Tayuya's memories while she was in the grimmfolk's castle? We can only take that as an admission that you were there as well."
"That's what I'm saying, Big Sis. I am in a position to be able to come and go freely from the grimmfolk's stronghold," Haruka said.
And then she changed.
Her hair, which used to be red, became golden yellow. And her face, which used to seem gentle, warped into a belligerent expression. Her lips drew an arc on her face, and her eyes narrowed; she exposed her true face which had been hidden until now.
"To be honest, I planned to simply continue to play as your cute advisor and have you and the Grimm King crush each other. However, now that this has happened, my plan is a failure… I underestimated you a little. So I'll be taking another path."
"Oh?"
"I will have you submit now, and become my pawn. You still have a role to play… my dear 'master.'"
The pressure Haruka gave off increased. The rumbling of her magic power shook the trees and sent tremors running through the ground.
This is amazing.
This is quite possibly the most pressure I've been under since coming to this world.
"You can do that when you're only level 300?"
"What? HAHAHAHAHAHA! You still believe that?! That's a lie, of course. That's the effect of another skill that was to be introduced. It's just a fake set of stats made through Status Concealment. You see, the fact that Observing Eye was too useful and a problem had been on the radar for a while… It was only natural to make a counterskill."
"Then your true abilities are…"
"Of course. Do I even need to say? I'm level 1000, just like you." She finished transforming.
The person who stood there had the same face as the Haruka I knew, but she was a completely different person. Along with her long golden hair, she also had overflowing magic power. And she still had her beautiful looks even though she had changed so completely and taken on an evil countenance.
"Let me introduce myself once again. I am Ashley—one of the grimmfolk's Seven Destruction—the Grimm of Metal. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She spread her arms wide like she was crucified, giving a derisive laugh as if she scoffed at the entire world. "Now, let's kill each other, my dear 'master,' Lunaru Fenris!" Haruka shouted from where she soared on high.
Her whole body released a golden radiance.
The next instant, metal appeared in the sky like rain. The number of objects materializing must have been in the thousands or even tens of thousands. At any rate, it was so high I didn't even feel like attempting to count.
Each piece was a lump of metal slightly bigger than a fist. It was worthless as an attack. However, combined with thousands more all at once…
There was no need to even think about it; any normal person would be turned into mincemeat.
The space above was filled with many steel bullets. Haruka brought her hand down.
"Now come, Lunaru Fenris. All things will be crushed under this weight—Cleta!" She chanted.
At the same time, the metal rained down, smashing into the ground and through objects like rounds from a Vulcan cannon. Anything and everything under it was shaved away or pulverized.
Something like this should damage me, right? No. As if I care. Just break through it.
I obeyed the orders of the 'Naru' within me and flew straight through the rain of metal that could pulverize boulders.
Of course, I was pummeled by a storm of metal. It certainly hurt… but it wasn't anything I couldn't just ignore with willpower.
I flapped my wings powerfully to create a gust of wind, sending the metal rain flying away.
"Now it's our turn!"
Using my Alchemist skills, I transmuted large numbers of blunt weapons. I sent them all hurtling towards Haruka.
However, Haruka didn't even bat an eye. She stayed where she was and simply chanted, "Xgate!"
What appeared in front of Haruka was a hole in space, I would say? It looked exactly as if someone had punctured a hole in the air. The sight seemed impossible and unreal.
Really, what a strange thing. The sky isn't meant to have holes in it. But even so, there certainly was something there that could only be described as a hole. And all the weapons I launched were swallowed up by it.
Metal really was such a strange attribute, though. It was similar to alchemy, but it wasn't. An Alchemist's alchemy mixed and combined things, as it were. The Alchemist simply took materials that already existed and combined them in certain ways to make something else.
However, metal attribute magic was different. It simply 'created' metal. Magic took mana and converted it into physical phenomena. At least, that was how it worked in this world. For example: although water and fire born out of magic was, for all intents and purposes, real until it disappeared, it was still just mana and not actual water or fire.
That was why magic could never create something like a golem. Or rather, it could create golems, but the golem would disappear in no time. In order to maintain a golem made by magic, one would have to have infinite amounts of SP.
That was basically it.
The only difference was whether magic created water or metal. That being said, seeing something in a solid state being created like this was really messed up all the same.
As for Xgate… I'm not really sure about that.
I'm pretty sure spatial magic should be under moon or something like that, but Haruka's element is metal. Is it something that isn't bound to one attribute?
Not to mention, in the game this spell only existed in lore. However, even though Haruka was a Player like me, she was able to use it. Did she learn it in the one thousand years I was away? Or was it another thing that was supposed to have been added in the next update…?
Either way, there's no way for me to find out right now.
"Are you thinking? How composed of you."
Haruka returned all the weapons that I'd just shot at her.
Tch! So she can throw back things Xgate's absorbed on a different trajectory.
I struck down every single one of the weapons that came flying at me and closed in on Haruka.
But Haruka opened some distance once again by teleporting and unleashed her next spell.
"Aglaia!"
I suppose this is what a person would define as 'dazzling brilliance.'
An extremely strong golden light that forced me to close my eyes shone, robbing me of my sight. But there was only light damage. It couldn't pierce through my defenses.
By the time my sight had somewhat recovered, Haruka had already moved on to her next attack.
"Auxo!"
Rain fell on the surrounding area.
The rain itself wasn't dangerous. But the problem was the ground which was exposed to it. Everywhere the rain touched, trees sprouted. And they turned into natural whips that reached up to the heavens before attacking me.
"Tch!"
I punched, kicked, and snapped the gigantic trees that came at me. But the trees sprouted endlessly, so I escaped by flying higher. Then, I descended suddenly!
Using the Grappler skill 'Meteor Kick,' I pierced through the ground, literally uprooted the trees, and sent them flying.
On top of that, I grabbed one of the trees I'd snapped in twain and threw it towards Haruka.
Of course, she avoided it through teleportation, but I was aiming for where she would appear next. I flew to her location and closed the distance.
"…! Fast…"
I threw a regular attack at the surprised Haruka to see how she would react! In the spur of the moment, Haruka twisted her body and avoided the attack before counterattacking by throwing a reverse fist towards my face.
But…
"That won't work."
"?!"
—It didn't hurt at all.
No, I think it had more than enough power compared to a common, small-fry monster. Like that one I fought before… Uhhh, who was it? That girl who ran around a lot. The one uses fire and lightning swords in Seven Grimms of Destruction.
…Well anyway, that girl's name doesn't matter.
Regardless, she couldn't even be compared to Haruka.
However, people had strengths and weaknesses, even against those of the same level. For example, even if Juvia were to hit me with a mace in her heyday, it wouldn't have amounted to much.
Magic types are magic types. And front-liners are front-liners.
Not to mention the fact that I boosted my stats with items. Sorry, but a physical attack from a simple level 1000 back-liner won't shave off even 10%—no, 1%—of my health.
I slammed a palm strike incorporated with the Blunted-Sword Strike skill into Haruka's stomach.
Her delicate form flew away in an amusing manner, mowing down the trees that were in her way.
However, she was also max level.
She flipped over in midair and lightly touched down. But she was unable to hide the impatience spreading on her face.
"That hurt, I see. As I expected… I knew it. I knew it! As expected of you, Lunaru Fenris. That one hit hurt quite a lot."
"Just stop, Haruka. You cannot win against us," I stated clearly.
It kind of felt like bragging, but I was the natural enemy of magic types. Magic couldn't deal 'neutral' damage, so it wouldn't do much to me since the cloak I had on halved all elemental damage. My dress also gave me immunity to status ailments, so thankfully, I couldn't get affected by any of that, either. On top of that, I could easily close distance at high speed with the Strider's agility and unleash the high-power physical attacks magic types were so bad at dealing with.
Of course, level 1000 back-liners could prepare any number of countermeasures for that. Juvia actually had quite a number of those, so she was fine even if she got pretty close to the front lines. Although something like Penny would be the exception. She wouldn't be able to do anything about her type.
But Haruka had none of that.
It's true that she's equal to me in level, but it's as if she's had zero practice countering front-liners and doesn't know the meta for it.
Well, of course.
After all, she's a test player.
In other words, she didn't play the actual game like we did. She just measured game balance. So she hadn't searched for any shortcuts and hadn't gone as far as to research just what combinations would be effective. And there was no way a test player would do something as troublesome as hunting down and using stat-boosting items.
"Oh my, how nice. You're saying you'll forgive me when I've been deceiving you all this time?"
"It's true that you have been deceiving us. But at the same time, it's also true that you've helped us immensely. Being deceived like this just means that We have been unbelievably foolish in this case. We are far from being resentful. We want to praise your skills, in fact."
I already held no more anger towards Haruka.
It's true that it's shocking that I was being tricked, but that's it. In the end, she's still someone I should be protecting.
She tricked and used me. Yes, that's true. But what about it? As if I'd hate her just because of that.
My feelings aren't something that will be changed just by being tricked once.
"Will you not speak with us about your reasons for using such roundabout methods to have the Grimm King and us crush each other?"
"So you think you've won already? It's just a little too soon for that. You should save a line like that for after you've dealt with this attack!"
Haruka's eyes shone, and she spread her arms. Then, the ground started trembling.
Trees fell over one after another. Just the after-effects of her magic power caused winds strong enough to make Mercury's wind feel like a simple breeze.
Seems like she still has a trump card left.
"Xgate—"
"Summoning? At this point, what do you…" I started.
But suddenly I noticed that my surroundings had all gone dark.
What? Did the weather change?
I looked up… and regretted doing so.
…No… Well… No way…
"…Well, then. You've done something quite absurd, We see." Up in the sky, Haruka had deployed a gigantic gate.
That in itself was fine. I could deal with that.
The problem was what was coming out of it. That giant, golden, shining sphere…
There's no way that's real.
In reality, if that was real and falling it wouldn't shine golden. And it would be too big for me to even recognize as a sphere in the first place.
But even so, its size was absurd.
Its diameter… I wonder how many kilometers it is?
I'd bet she created the sphere with metal attribute magic high above and brought it here with Xgate or something.
What came falling was… a small planet, shining golden.
"Planetary Devastation!" Haruka roared, and the small planet came crashing towards the surface with a thunderous sound.
Wha—You… Wait.
Isn't this totally gonna involve Gjallar?!
Not only that, but the spell was famous for being hard to use since it took a while for the planet to fall once the spell was activated. The fact that Haruka used Xgate to make it into a blitz attack was just a little too unfair. She probably thought that if she didn't do this she wouldn't be able to beat me, but this really was too far.
Still, I didn't have the choice to just run. Gjallar would seriously be squished if I were to run here, and Hinata would die, too.
Fiona and the others could probably endure it without doing anything special, but I had no intention of just letting that thing fall.
"Fine. We accept your challenge, Haruka." I only ever had one choice.
Punch the subordinate who made a mistake and set them right before extending my hand to welcome them back.
I've always been bad at thinking. I don't like admitting this, but I'm not that clever a person. There's only so much someone like me can do here. So at the very least, I'll devote all my ability to carrying out the few choices I have.
This time is the same. It's no exception.
I formed a firm fist and raised it to the sky.
The feeling of oppression I was getting from the planet made me want to run, but strangely enough, I didn't feel any fear.
I'm sure that the 'Lunaru Fenris' inside me is telling me I can do it.
It was strange even to me, but my heartbeat rose with excitement, and violent urges ran through me. I could tell the muscles in my cheeks had loosened, and I realized that I was currently laughing.
I flew.
Kicking off the ground with all my might, I flew as fast as I could.
Accelerate, accelerate—keep accelerating. The sound barrier—you're in the way. Move.
I can't keep waiting for something as dull and slow as sound. Just leave that behind.
The scenery sped past me stupidly fast, and I concentrated all my strength in my right fist.
I used a Grappler skill—'Iron Fist'. It proportionately raised one's bare-handed attack power according to one's class level.
On top of that, I added the defense piercing 'Weak Point Strike.'
Now it was all left up to my own power. All I could do was trust in my body, my fist, and my punch.
"OOOOOOOOAAARRGGGGGHHHH!"
—I struck.
Unfortunately, I have no stylish way of describing this, but in reality, the result is all that matters.
I'm not great at adding useless decorations and exaggerations on stories, so all I can do is say that I punched it, because I actually punched it.
And that was enough.
The small planet that I'd punched was blown back into the sky, ignoring the laws of physics, before crumbling and scattering into the air.
Then, given that the giant golden sphere could no longer hold its shape, it dispersed back into mana as if it had never existed in the first place.
"…N-no way…"
Haruka stood there dumbfounded with her mouth wide open, as if she'd completely forgotten to put on that evil expression.
Well, it's a natural reaction.
If I wasn't Naru but myself, and I had been in Haruka's position and seen what had just happened, I'd probably be saying "Nice cheats, GJ."
At any rate, it seemed like that was enough to break Haruka's will to fight. I could no longer feel the aura she had been putting out earlier.
"So… Will you continue, Haruka?" I asked, just in case.
If she were to choose to continue, then I'd probably have to hit Haruka again with a Blunted-Sword Strike-infused fist.
Personally, I didn't really like the idea of hitting a cute girl like her, so I'd really like it if she just surrendered now. I'd at least avoid her face.
"…No. It's my loss."
However, it seemed I was worrying needlessly. Haruka admitted her defeat and sat down on the spot.
Thank goodness. Now I don't have to keep hurting her.
But, well, I was really scared this time.
I never expected her to throw a frickin planet at me, even if it was just a fake.