364. FORGOTTEN SOLUTIONS

“Rin-sama!”

I turned around to meet Her Highness Siesta’s gaze. It’s been a while since I last saw her. Today especially, her complexion wasn’t too good.

“What happened? Tell me!”

Having recalled the memory made me shiver. I was reminded of the emptiness in my heart.

“Rin-sama..”

She held my hands.

“We’ll do everything we can to bring Liliath-sama back, that’s why.. I need to know what exactly happened,” I saw the resolution in her eyes.

“I..”

I began to explain, as much as it hurt.

I had only arrived to Toren Kingdom after two weeks. Jiwon-san said that he had something he needed to prepare, thus the delay.

The moment we arrived to Toren Kingdom, Jiwon-san dispatched Laura-san and Moirae-sama to send the news to the heroes. Jiwon-san went to meet the king, Liliath’s father.

“H-How..”

“Nine.. she.. is now our enemy.”

I still don’t understand why Nine killed Noel. She could’ve killed all of us, why him alone?

“Liliath-sama, where is she? Is she alright?”

“She’s in the demon castle. I had tried to contact her, she never replied,” it was very worrying.
In the beginning, I sent her messages over and over. She never replied to any, so I began sending daily updates of my situation, thinking that perhaps she would at least read it. I did try to call her a few times using this video call function which.. had been ignored many times.

Whenever I checked on Liliath using [God’s Eyes], I would find her in that corner of the dungeon. Did she like the places so much? She should just teleport away, so why?

I had thought of using the Teleportationwidget to visit her but.. what if Nine was to do something about our currently held Unique Skills? Perhaps she held off removing everything from us because she had missed out on it? 

More so, my heart was telling me that now wasn’t the time to meet Liliath. There must be a reason.

Bleu’s domain was inaccessible no matter how I tried thinking of Bleu for help. The title [Blue’s Blessing] remains, however. Could it be because of Noel?
“Teal-sama.”

“I heard it, permission to bring Liliath-sama back?”

The elf, Teal-sama had been listening to us.

Bring Liliath back..

“I.. don’t know. I can bring her back if I want with my current abilities yet.. it doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?” Her Highness Siesta looked at me with confused eyes.

“I can teleport, with Noel’s Unique Skill. So I can teleport to Liliath and back, but..”

“Then why don’t you do that?” Teal-sama asked.

“I don’t know. I feel like.. not is not the right time.”

“She’s in danger isn’t she?”

“No. She’s safe, for now.”

“How about Prune-san? That beastkin?”

“She’s also safe.”

Prune kept telling me how annoying it was that she was being forced to accompany Shea-san. I’m just glad she’s safe.

“I don’t understand. Are they not in danger?” Her Highness Siesta asked.

“What’s our goal? If it’s not rescuing them then..?”

True. What is our goal?

I was still thinking perhaps Liliath wanted to forgive Javiel-san. Perhaps there’s still a chance to prevent this war. That Liliath might be in the dungeon because she was waiting for the chance to meet Javiel once more?

No, that’s too dangerous.

Then what exactly should be our next step? My next step?

I should’ve rescued Liliath when I had the chance shouldn’t I?

“I think I get it. If we rescue her now, it’ll alarm the entire demon army. Moreover, with Nine-san in their hands, if they wanted, they could wipe our existence from the face world which means our highest priority now would be to–”

Not to save Liliath but instead..

“Save Nine-san. How would we go about achieving that?”

That’s why we shouldn’t try to disturb their peace. 

First is Nine-san.

Should I.. try to talk to her? Would it work out?

“Rin-sama, how did Nine-san join their side?”

“Um.. that, I don’t know.”
I don’t know anything at all.. I’m such a failure.

“S-She is being controlled. I only know that much.”

“Considering how we still have our abilities, I think it’s safe to assume Nine-san still has some free will.”
“I agree. Rin-sama can still use teleport, then..”

“I’ll go talk to Nine-san,” Teal-sama said.

“Are you sure?”

“We won’t be able to solve anything until we have information. Rin-san, we’ll keep in touch.”

Saying that, Teal-sama disappeared from the hall.

“Rin-sama,” Her Highness called out to me.
“Y-Yes?”
“About Noel-sama.. will he be revived?”

I looked down to the ground. I gripped my fist.

“Only Liliath can revive him. But if Nine removed the skill from Liliath then..”

===

A, B, C, E, F, G~

H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P~

I didn’t know why I knew the alphabet song.

However, it’s calming, soothes my mind.

The sound of chains being tugged at. The light clash of metal resounding the unlock of the gate.

I raised my head, a numbness spread through my body.

I feel.. nothing.

Yes, I feel nothing.

There’s nothing to be afraid of.

I’m a tool, nothing more.

I don’t need to do anything. Just wait.

“How are you, Liliath?”

It has been the nth time Nine has visited this place. I wonder why? Does she not realize that she’s trespassing my space?

She sat down in front of me. Today’s she’s wearing a resplendent black dress, as always.

“Do you feel better?”

I shook my head. I found that I was pushing myself tighter into the corner, shivering. 

“I just remembered that you can revive Noel using the Revivalwidget thing. You have that, right?”

Do I have that?

Could I see him again?
I carefully brought the UI into existence.

Existence is such a provisional word. One moment it’s there, the next moment it’s gone, never to be seen again.

Let’s see. All the options I remember are here. 

Revivalwidget, is also here.

I nodded.

“That’s dangerous. Well, I’ll be removing that.”

The next second, the UI crumbled. No matter how much I tried to think of it again, nothing appeared.

The emptiness in my heart began to deepen, the expanding void began to consume me further. Liquid began flowing from my eyes. 

“I wonder if Rin has the skill, I’ll have to ask her when I get the chance. By the way, has master visited you yet?”

I shook my head, my body broke out into cold shivers.

“I see.. if it ever comes to that, call me okay?”

How could I call you when I lost my means of communication?
“See ya.”
She got back up, dusted her dress and walked out. The gates were pulled and locked.

“W-Wait..”

“Hm? What is it?”

“W-Where is Noel?”

“Eh.. I thought you already knew.”

“I knew?”

“Sorry Liliath..”

With those parting words, she left.

My body tumbled to the ground. Sobs echoed, it sounded like mine.
Oh me. Haven’t you forgotten that he died? If only you realized earlier that you had the Revivalwidget, you could’ve gotten the chance to see him again.

… 

It’s too late now.

===

‘Liliath, do you have the Revival widget? If you have, revive Noel now. ASAP!’

Prune was shivering internally, how could she have overlooked something so important? She assumed Noel gave everyone the same permissions.

“This can’t be.. please Liliath.. please..”

Rin said that she didn’t have the Revivalwidget, and that Noel had only given the authority to Nine and Liliath.

Liliath wasn’t replying.

Prune hesitated to check on Liliath’s status, fearing that Nine had already done something to her. What good would it do even if Liliath still had the skill? The important thing here is that Liliath uses the skill.

Just when Prune thought she should call Liliath, the girl in her arm began to squirm.

“Oh, she’s awake.”
“Nm?”

“Good morning..?” Prune greeted with motherly warmth, trying her best to suppress her queasy heart.

“Nmm.. where am I? Who are you?” the kijin looked around, when she saw Shea, Prune felt her body tense up.

“Good morning~”

“S-Shea-sama!”
“Yes, that’s the amazing me, hoho!”
“W-Why are you here.. you saved me?!”

“Yes, yes,” Shea nodded with pride.

“T-Thank you, Shea-sama,” Prune released the kijin who tried to escape, the girl quickly bowed.

“It’s no big deal. Anyways, where are your parents? Why were you caught?”
“I.. I got lost..” the kijin looked away in shame.

“And then you bumped into them and almost got captured by them?”
The kijin nodded.

Shea knelt in front of the child, matching her height. She began stroking her hair, “It must have been very, very scary, wasn’t it?”

The kijin nodded vigorously, tears now in her eyes.

“I can accompany you home, what do you think? Maybe your parents are there?”

“T-Thank you Shea-sama.”

“Alright. Prune-san, let’s.. Prune-san?”

“H-Huh.. no, n-nothing. Let’s go.”

“Do you remember where your home is?”

“I do, it’s over that direction.”

“You lead the way!”

Prune struggled on her feet and dragged herself to follow.
“Prune-san, what’s wrong?”

“No, nothing. It’s nothing, don’t ask me.”
Shea looked at her with concern. 

365. 

“Pina-chan!! Where have you been!”

“You made everyone so worried!”

“Pina-neechan, uwuwu..”
It was a family of kijin living in a house-shop building, similar to the one which Miss Margett once had. They sold fruits and other miscellaneous items among other objects.

“I-I’m so sowwy..” the kijin who had been save, Pina, broke down in tears in the embrace of her parents.

“She’s alright, maybe she got hurt a little but Prune-san managed to patch her up,” said Shea. Prune did use the preset spells that were in the Autocastingwidget.
“We can’t thank you enough Shea-sama, please accept our gratitudes.”

“What happened to those humans that tried to harm our daughter!? They should be punished!”
“I’ve already sent those people to the guards. Their heads should be displayed publicly, soon..”

Prune shuddered at those words.

“I-Is there anything you would like from our shop? Please take anything that catches your eye..” the father continued to panic.”
“It’s alright, we saved her on a whim after all, right Prune-san?”

Prune nodded.
“Then we’ll be on our way,” Shea hooked her arm around Prune.

“Please take these at least,” the father of the kijin couldn’t just let them leave like that so he quickly packed up a few fruits.

“No, it’s alright.. thank you very much then!” Shea decided to just take the fruit as if she didn’t.. it would only become much more troublesome.

“Thank you!”
“Thank you Shea-sama!!”
“Bye bye~” Shea said mischievously with a cat gesture before dragging Prune with her.

They were out in the market street. Many exotic items could be found here which would’ve otherwise not been seen in most other kingdoms. 

“Prune-san, what’s wrong? You’ve been spacing out for quite some time now, can you tell your Shea what’s bothering you?” The Nine Tail said in an almost begging voice.

Prune bit her lips and looked down.
“Prune-san, I’m here to listen.”
What could Prune do?

“Oh no.. ah, erm?!” Shea began to panic.

Tears began falling from Prune’s face.

“Hold on, hold on! Let’s take a break t-there!”

They came to a little coffee place over at the corner. Shea took out her handkerchief and began to wipe Prune’s tears which kept pouring.

After a few more repetitions of the same action, Prune rejected Shea’s help and began wiping the tears with the sleeves of her own clothes.
What could Prune do?

What happened to Noel?

Why didn’t she notice Nine’s peculiarity earlier?

If only she did.. things would’ve not become like this.

Did they even return to the real world?

What if that was a lie? What if it was them from a different plane of existence and that the them here would end up stuck forever?

“Shea..”

“Y-Yes?!” Shea’s voice sounded more like a squeal. It was the first time Prune addressed her without using honorifics.

“Were you the one who.. told Nine to kill Noel..”

“Nobody told her to kill anyone.”
“So why.. why did she kill him?”
“Prune-san.. you’re concerned about him, right?”

Prune couldn’t speak, her voice was caught in her throat. Her vision blurred by tears, chest tightened by the swirling emotions in her heart. Her thoughts became fuzzy and– she began to stop thinking altogether.

===

“The bath preparations are done, Shea-san.”

“Thank you! Let’s go Prune, we’ll go wash up that puffy face of yours,” Shea grabbed her arms. She followed her without speaking a word.

“Pst, Prune, what’s up?” Nine whispered.

“...”

Prune said nothing and merely followed Shea.

They were going to the big bath in the center of the castle. They first arrived at the changing room where Shea took off Prune’s clothes. Prune didn’t resist, just standing there with a blank gaze.

On the outside, Shea was acting cheerful. Inside however, she was worried sick about Prune. She had been in this state of trance ever since they saved that girl out in the streets. No matter how Shea tried to talk to her, the response would be a curt yes, or nod, or indecipherable murmurs.

“You have a beautiful body Prune..” Shea blushed at the sight. Prune merely nodded.

“What’s up with you, Prune,” Nine poked her from the back. Prune didn’t even flinch. “Did you feed her something you shouldn’t?”

“Nine-san,” Shea glared at her.

“Alright, I’ll shut up,” Nine raised both her arms with a wry smile. After that she began to change out of her black dress.

Shea guided Prune into the bath, red petals floating on top, the water giving off a flowering accent with fog wafting over the surface.

Ripples formed as they proceeded deeper into the waters. Prune began cleaning herself quietly.

Shea watched her sluggish actions carefully.

“Did something happen?” Nine came up to Shea and whispered.
“Why did you kill your friend?” Shea asked Nine.

In fact, Shea was surprised when she saw the demon fall to his knees. In the beginning, she thought it had to do with Javiel’s ability. However, after asking him about it, she realized that it was Nine who killed him.

“Friend? You mean Noel?”

Shea gave Nine a cold stare. The person in question merely cocked her head in confusion.

“I only did as I was told.”
“Under who’s command?”
“Your’s.”
Prune’s ear twitched.

Bloodlust spread into the surrounding, the water began to undulated with Shea in the center

“I never told you to kill anyone,” she bared her canine at Nine.

“Oh, then my bad… ugh.”

Nine was grabbed by the neck.
“Apologize,” Shea stared down at her.

“Y-Yes..” Nine squeaked.

She casually picked him up– the fact that Nine hadn’t suffocated from being carried at the neck was alone, amazing– and made her way over to Prune.

Shea released Nine, she began to cough vehemently.
“Apologize.”

“Y-Yes.. cough*.. I’m sorry for killing him.. cough*, Prune.”
Prune just nodded without a care. She didn’t even bat an eye at Nine.

“More, she’s still not feeling better.”

“I’m sorry, Prune, I’m really, really sorry,” Nine grimaced.

The apology went on for a few minutes. Nine was wondering when the bullshit would end when she finally spoke.

“Nine.”

“Yes?”

‘Why?’

They looked at each other. 

‘Every week. There’s something we must do.’

Nine finally responded. 

“Are you not going to.. bring him back to life..”
“Until you command so.”
“I see..” Reality finally settled in. Prune regained herself, slowly.

‘Who’s side are you on, really.’

‘I don’t know.’

Nine smiled, a very sweet one.

“Shea, I’m leaving.”
“E-Eh already?”

“Stop bullying Nine. He apologized enough.”
“O-Okay, if you say so..”
“Oh, one more thing,” Prune paused and turned around, she approached Shea. Prune raised her body out of the water and came close to her ear– “I think you can begin the ritual on me later in the evening.” Shea froze, “I’m ready.”
Shea stared at Prune, befuddled.

Prune nodded with an expressionless face. Shea’s heart fluttered.

Saying that, Prune left.

“I’m so blind. It’s all part of the instructions to begin with.. ” gritting her canines, she made her way back to her room.

===

“What’s going on?”

“They’re preparing to move out. His Majesty is mobilizing the army.”
Rin watched as the castle increased in activity. From the guards to the maids. Everyone was rushing about, preparing things in their respective ways.
“Do I need to do anything..” 

I had no idea what to do by this point. All I could do was follow Her Highness around. I wouldn’t know what to do if not for her.

“Have you met with the heroes?” Her Highness asked.
“Me? Perhaps I’ve seen them during the party, though I may not recognize them,” I was killed that day..
“Then shall we disturb them?”

I nodded.

I never got to take a good look at their faces..

Though, my enthusiasm was dampened by the fact that Noel wasn’t here. Prune had just asked me if I could use the Revivalwidget, I replied no.

Her Highness brought me to the dinning hall, and around the table were Moirae-sama, Aoki-san, Takata-san, Jiwon-san, Miss Powliena, knight-commanders, and other people who I don’t recognize. However, each of them had an unusually powerful air around them.

These must be the heroes. There are so many of them.. isn’t it typically one? It’s rather extreme to see more than a dozen here.
“Your Highness Siesta, Rinalanashina-sama” one of them, Sasaki Ishida, called out when he saw us.

“How have you been, Sasaki-san?”

“I’ve been well. How have you been doing..”
“Ishida-san, focus,” Jiwon-san’s voice rang.

“Sorry sensei.”
“What brings you two here? Do you have additional information to share?”

“Teal-sama had gone to the demon castle to persuade Nine-sama.”

“Huh?! She went ahead already?” Miss Powliena exclaimed in disbelief.

“To make sure we’re on the same page, what is the main objective?” Her Highness Siesta asked, giving a glance at the map on the table.

“Per His Majesty’s order, we are to rescue Her Highness Liliath. That is our top priority. Secondary to that would be to sever the control they have over that Irregular. If we have to, killing everyone involved would be the best option.”

“Would that even be possible?” Aoki asked, “The last time everyone fought her, they got kicked in the bum.”
“When did that ever happen?”
“Back at the castle?”
“We never.. wait, so this is what you mean by her ability to change genders.”
“Hold up, so we're going up against a dude?”
“You mean that guy with the black coat who tried to protect the demon lords back at the castle?!”

“Yes.” Jiwon-san said.

“I will summarize all the information which we know about the threat known as Nine, please listen up.”

The confusion was quickly quelled with a quick explanation by Her Highness Siesta. I was amazed by how she was able to control the flow.

“Do you have anything to add, Rin-sama? Since you were the closest person to her in this room.”
“Let’s see…”

“Any foreseeable weaknesses?”

“If she can change our status values, aren’t we all doomed?”

“I can’t think of any..” I’m sorry..

“But the fact that our status hasn’t been tampered with proves that either she requires a command to act, or that she has some level of free will.”
“Teal-sama was sent to persuade her, correct?”

“Yes. She’ll also investigate the root of the possession. There must be a way to free her.”

“Moirae, how long do you think you can hold with the artifact?” Jiwon-san seems to already have a plan to counter Nine.

“About half an hour, no, one,” Moirae-sama held a golden dragon ring with a red crystal in hand.. a philosopher’s stone.

“Is it that?”
“Pardon?”

“Moirae-sama, if we had more philosopher’s stones, could you hold her longer?” I asked.

“It’s possible...”
“Then..”

I took out two more Philosopher’s stones.. or, one and a half. Half is mine, shattered. The other one is Noel’s. 

It became a separate item when I placed Noel’s corpse in the [Inventory]. The idea to do so came to be because I found my arm in the [Inventory] the other day. 

“This is..”

“One is mine, the other is Noel’s. If you need more, I can procure it. How many do you need?”

“Jiwon-san.”

“How many can you afford?”

I checked the shop. About a dozen or so, however, we need to conserve points for teleportation and Noel’s revival, if possible. Eh?

All the daily quests were in a shade of light red.

Moreover..

My special quest for this week was to..

Save Nine?
What does this mean?

Or perhaps Nine’s actions till now have been related to this? It is a secret quest after all.

“J-Jiwon-san. I just realized something.. Nine might.. he might be acting.”
“Acting?”
“But she killed Noel-sama?” Moirae-sama said.

“I-I know that. The thing is.. we have this secret task we need to do and.. we normally can’t let each other know about it.. maybe.”

Hm? But why would Nine go so far as to kill Noel for the sake of a few points?

No, that can’t be right? There has to be some deeper reason behind this..

“Let’s say that she’s acting, what is her objective? What does she plan to do?”
“I don’t know..”
“It makes sense. On one hand, why would she not remove all threats? The demon lord would’ve commanded her to do something to us if she was actually under their control.”

“It could be a trick. After all, there’s no need for him to make us weaker when he himself is already that strong. Rin-sama, I can’t understand how all of this relates. Even so, we will proceed as planned and lock her up in a time-stasis.”
“T-Then.. I’ll come. My secret quest is to save Nine.”

“Save Nine?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps..

The deeper reason behind why Nine acted this was because the quests served as a guide.

===

“Your Majesty, I have an important letter to report.”

Ruff came in and knelt with his arms held outwards, a letter in hand.

Javiel got up from his seat and walked over to receive the letter. He burned the outer envelope and read its contents.

“We received a declaration of war. They’ll commence the attack tomorrow,” Ruff summarized.
“They’re desperate, I see. Sir Ruff, mobilize the golems and begin lockdown. Let no citizen leave the walls.”

“Understood.”

Ruff bowed, and left.

Javiel shook his head, his hair fluttered wildly. When he stopped, a sharp glint was reflected in his eyes.

Now then, how should he play with her? How should he use this war to taint her mind?
Javiel paced around the room and thought about it. That was when he realized he had become distracted from his paperwork. He groaned.

If only he had an assistant..

“Ah yes, how about her? She left her duty, if I took advantage of it, I could have her do the work.”

Her Highness Valentine would do anything for Liliath. Would it be good if he threatened her like this?

“No, it won’t work.”

Valentine could ruin everything he built up if she messed up the orders. It’s impossible to put someone who he can’t trust in charge of something so important.
“Let's put that aside, I need a break anyways.”

“Yes my lord, I’m here.”

“What are you doing here, Locket.”
“My lord, you said you need a break. My body is here to serve you.”

“No, I plan to play with someone else today.”

“M-My lord..”
“Be obedient. Your time will come. Assist Sir Ruff in moving our defenses. Make sure nothing slips.”

“Y-es my lord,” Locket was deeply disappointed. Nevertheless, his orders remain absolute. It’s been a while since she was last tossed around like a rag doll by her master.

Javiel was making his way over to the dungeon below when his sister, Iona, blocked the way.

“What is it?”

“What do you think, onii-chan?”

“Come on now, I’m only going to visit my toy. I haven’t seen her since we sent her down there,” Javiel ran his hand through Iona’s hair.

“No! Don’t go! I’ve created a new weapon! I want you to take a look!”

“What weapon?”

Iona’s lips curled. If all goes well, she’d be killing two birds with one stone.

“A talisman magic tool.”