<5: 01 pm>
“...You did what?” Karra asked one more time, bewildered.
“Exactly as I said. You see, Kenni talked to me about a weird sighting within that hellscape, so she asked me to investigate, and so I did.” It’s a very simple chain of events, though the possible consequences are definitely not simple and clean. “Something like that can easily devastate an entire nation. I don’t know what the exact cause and effect is. Did the demon come first and start influencing people once the Eclipse began, or are people such savages that it drew the demon to them. It doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but something to think about nonetheless.”
“I guess this is going to be quite a sensational headline?” Karra asked.
“Probably, there are a few people who witness the event, perhaps one or two of them are willing to talk to any crazy journalists close by.” Of course, just because the demon is gone doesn’t mean it all went to normalcy. I cast a sleep spell on the entire premise just so any lingering influence of it dissipates long before they all woke up again with a clearer mind. Monsters might show up and gobble them during the night, so I also cast a protective spell on everyone to st through the night.
“Kind of rare for you to be proactive like that.” She remarked.
“It seems pretty important, so I had to step in. If it had just been just a pointless feud between people, then I wouldn’t have bothered.” People right now are unequipped to deal with something like that, so it’d be unfair to not lend a hand. When it’s a feud between two groups of people, I don’t want to get involved too much since it’ll just cast too much eyes on me. Even if I can change my appearances whenever, things like social expectations can still creep into my mind, especially if they’re trying to paint me as some sort of savior.
“I was gonna say you can do more than that, but that could be said for a lot of us.” Karra said, giving a pretty neutral response. “By the way, how did that negotiation go again? Do I get a free pass?”
“It went pretty smoothly, mainly because we didn’t really ask for much.” The reaction to our retively modest request was quite funny, though Karra wasn’t actually there to see it. “As for the school side of things, we’re allowed some time to leave, though it was made clear we shouldn’t feel too comfortable about asking for a day or two off.”
“Would be weird if we could just do that whenever.” She remarked. I guess it would. “What else… Oh right. Didn’t that jackass post about coming back here? The streamer you ran into st week?”
“...Well more half-time entertainment wouldn’t hurt.” I guess a guy like that wouldn’t slink away peacefully. “Say, don’t you have more to say about what I was talking about?”
“Not really. From the sound of it there’s no way I would be safe standing near it, let alone fight it.” She answered. “You said even if Kenni and I were to fight it, we wouldn’t even scratch it. Does that sound right?”
“A bit of an exaggeration. You could cause a few bleeding scratches, or rather the equivalent…” It’s not a lot of damage, but at least they can contribute. “It’s not something humanity is equipped to handle just yet, outside of those from times long passed…”
“I guess none of them are aware of it?” She asked. Wouldn’t that be nice to know.
“Perhaps, though it is unlikely that all of them are unaware.” A good deal of them can easily survey the whole pnet. It would be reasonable to say that it is impossible for there to be none that didn’t notice it. “Who knows why they didn’t act. Could just be to conceal their own secrets, or something else. At least I didn’t immediately get berated for it, so it couldn’t be someone pcing it there deliberately.”
“So much vagueness to go around…” She muttered to herself.
“It’s just going to be like that with all sides having something to hide. It’s a bunch of smoke and mirrors.” We probably will never know about any of them in full. I mean, I don’t even think the two of us shared everything with each other even if there is no reason to hide anything. People don’t y their life history to bare, perhaps if they were asked, but next to no one would do it unprompted.
“Speaking of all those mysteries. The whole vampire and demon lord business. Can you really not tell me who those two are?” She asked again. I guess the topic warrants another prodding, but it is getting quite repetitive.
“No. Like I said, they’re best left unprovoked, and will remain friendly and civil as long as you don’t meddle in their business, whatever they may be.” Of course, Walsuna and Rico mostly just ze around and doing… retively human things. It’s not like they’re hunting people down all the time, they just stay in their own ne and don’t try anything that could disrupt the livelihood of the people here negatively.
*Knock* *Knock*
“Come in.” I said, wondering what my parents are bothering us for. “What is it, Mom?”
“Wiina, why are there wanted posters with your name out in the neighborhood? With your Jass face I meant. Also Nicks’ face as well.” …Okay, what the hell is that about?
“Ah. Looks like that guy is stirring shit up already.” Karra remarked before searching things up on her ptop. “There it is. He’s doing this to ruin your reps, it looks like.”
“Talk about petty.” I said with a sigh. Does he not know I can easily find out where he lives? I’d rather not get my hands dirty on this front, even if it might be a bit fun to see his expression. It might give more clues to connect the two sides. “Okay, Mom. I’ll deal with it, don’t worry.”
“If you say so…” She said before walking out of the room and closing the door.
Let me think of how to deal with this… Hmm… Let me phone a friend.
*Ring* *Beep*
“
———Lynda———
<12: 02 pm>
“What in the goddamn…” I’m confused as to what I am seeing here.
*Punch* *Punch* *Punch* *Kick*
“Uogh!” That nuisance streamer is getting his shit beat by Kenni. What happened just before now? What did I miss? What happened a few minutes ago?
“Oh. Lynda. The heck are you doing here?” Kenni said casually as she walked over to the guy lying on the ground.
*Stomp*
“S-Sorry, but what the hell happened here?” I just need to ask. I know this guy keeps saying he’ll come back here for whatever reason, but I don’t think she was involved in the initial incident?
“Oh. I ran into him and he pissed me off. That’s the reason.” She cheerfully said.
*Thwack*
And then she hits him in the head with a staff with a big green orb for its head. Where did she even get that?
Also, how is this guy not completely mangled. She wasn’t really holding back.
*Kick* *Crash*
She kicked him into the wall, another brutal dispy that left him bloodied.
*Shine*
“There we go, may the pain go away.” Kenni said while pointing the staff at the man. So is it an actual magic staff? Those should be pretty damn rare. Is she healing this guy? “By the way, keep this quiet will you? I don’t need to get harassed by the cops.”
“O-Okay…” I feel like I would’ve been in the same position if I refused. Is it wrong to feel like that might be the case?
*Grab* *Sm* *Punch* *Kick*
“Are you sure he’ll be alive by the end?” I asked just to be sure I’m not about to be a witness to a murder.
“Well, physically he should be fine.” …That’s not reassuring at all! Also, when was she ever a healer? I thought it was Jass that was the healer, and that other girl… Seni, I think. Where is he anyway? Didn’t this guy try to provoke him and Nicks? I thought either of them would be the one to kick his shit in. “I’d like to see him try to expin this to the authorities. Like anyone is going to believe a nutcase like this.”
I don’t really care about the guy. I find Kenni to be more credible than a guy who loves harassing others anyway. She wouldn’t need to say anything and I would still root for her.
“So is that staff super good? You’ve been using a lot of healing spells in a row.” I asked, since it doesn’t look like she gets tired at all.
“Yeah. Would probably go for millions as some sort of miracle tool. I’m not selling it though, this is way too fun!” She said with what could easily be called a truly unhinged tone. I thought Emmie was supposed to be the unhinged one…
Also, did she just say millions!?
*Thwack* *Smack*
It doesn’t look like I’m going to get any more eboration on that. Maybe I should just ignore her and go further in. I want to try fighting the fifth floor boss solo.
———Orrel———
<1: 07 pm>
“The world does work in a mysterious way.” I said, as a way to convey how I have no idea what is even happening. At least those prank posters are gone, though who knows who will get rid of those. It was an eyesore, so everyone was happy to see it gone, and more importantly the man responsible punished.
“It certainly is.” Useph said, not having much to add. One has to wonder where our culprit might be. There are definitely more than a few daring to knock his teeth in, but at this point, no luck.
*Crunch*
“Do you ever get sick of those?” He asked as I continued eating the cereal.
“Not really.” I could probably eat this forever if I wanted to, but it wouldn’t be healthy, so I won’t. “Any kind of fruity cereal would do, I never get bored of them.”
“Not like you eat other brands of cereal, I only got Queerloop here because it’s your favorite.” He pointed out. Indeed, he barely ever eats cereal, so the only kind he got around is the one I like for this occasion where I stay at his house, or mansion, to be more apt. “Let’s see here…”
Useph pulled out his phone and checked something while I continued to eat the cereal.
“No update from anyone relevant. Looks like this topic is going to stay stale for a while.” He remarked. “Now what were we… Yesterday we were talking about demons and demon lords. How about monsters? We were given a rundown of how they generally worked, but did you find something else worth talking about?”
“Not really. I did bring up the point about humanoid monsters. There seems to be a period of time where they run rampant, taking feminine form in order to disarm and kill their prey easily. From how I understand it, they seem to originate from something called the Mother of Monsters, Echidna.” I wasn’t quite expecting to hear a name from a mythology the first time around, but considering all the evidence of mystics popping up, it shouldn’t be surprising that names found in these legends might have derived from something in reality.
“You mean, monsters in general or…” Useph asked, a bit confused on that point.
“Just the monster girls. Monsters in general have existed long before that.” Of course, why her title is generalized is anyone’s guess. Maybe it’s just too wordy?
“Huh. Weird.” He remarked. Of course it is strange. “...So what should we do to get to the fortieth floor?”
“It would be best to ask that question once we are all gathered. Preferably the entire css if we could help it.” We did well to improvise a pn and act on it in just a day, getting to the twenty-first floor, but it was clear we were too exhausted to continue, and the trials are going to be harder from that point onward. “Just need to take our time, for the time being.”