Chapter 214: Together Under Heaven — Part Twenty
Once, I was created to "be thus."
I have never felt dissatisfied with "being thus" now.
That is precisely why I stand before them.
It is not the mission of this "name." It is not the reason of this "body."
It is simply that I, who exist here, feel this way.
So, so let me praise them at this very moment.
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…………
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Huh? I'm alive?
Wait, did "Grit" activate multiple times in a row thanks to some lucky streak? Did the goddess of RNG finally hear my prayers? For real? Should I seriously start worshipping her?
Psyger-0: "Good... I made... it in time..."
Sunraku: "Rei-shi?"
Why is Rei-shi relieved that she "made it in time"? From the faint residual effects still clinging to my body, I could roughly guess the answer.
Sunraku: "A revival item?"
Psyger-0: "Yes... I had... some left over from before... when I did... that PKK..."
The PKK from before... ah, that time when Pencilgon was laundering things.
So, regardless of any RNG, I had actually died. Damn RNG goddess, you really are a type of evil god after all. Throw salt. Throw salt.
No, but wait, the effect of "Arcanum: The Fool" forces the game into a luck-based match anyway, so maybe the RNG actually saved me...? Heh, heheh, just kidding, goddess-sama...
Sunraku: "So... what about Ctarnidd?"
I knew without asking. The atmosphere I'd been feeling in my skin ever since he appeared had dissipated. That probably meant what I thought it meant.
Sunraku: "Did we... win...?"
At the end of my gaze, there was the remains of Ctarnidd, his massive body collapsed beyond recognition, fading away. And then, crawling across the surface of that lump of flesh, escaping into the air, a magic circle appeared... or rather, what was probably Ctarnidd.
Ctarnidd: "I have witnessed the brilliance of life, without a doubt."
Akitsu Akane: "Is it... over?"
Sunraku: "Probably... yeah, I think so."
Rust: "...'M sleepy. 'M tired..."
Rust, don't go to sleep yet. It's gonna be a bit weird to progress through the event while you're lying on the ground. I'm also about to pass out from exhaustion, but hold on. Hold on.
Unlike when it was floating in the air, the magic circle didn't have eyes or a mouth. It was just a complex pattern of a magic circle, its parts rotating like gears. It should have just been that. Yet, I definitely felt... and probably the others did too... that Ctarnidd was looking at us.
Its gaze looked at us, then at Araba and Emul, then somewhere far off... After a brief silence, it spoke.
Ctarnidd: "Two miracles, linked together. Existing together, without conflict... It is joyous."
Sunraku: "Oh?"
Akitsu Akane: "...? What's... wrong?"
Sunraku: "Nah, just something."
Could it be that we actually fulfilled some kind of condition? Like with Wethermon, where the clear rewards differed depending on whether or not you successfully endured his Tensei.
If that's the case, was Ctarnidd's special condition "defeat Ctarnidd together with NPCs"? If I think about it that way, I can kind of see why Araba was placed here. And also, the reason Stude was brought to Ruluiath as a flag in the first place... Was that it?
Ctarnidd: "Far, far... I have come far. The sea of stars is now distant... And yet, that sea I look up to is my home."
Ctarnidd: "Travelers who journey across the stellar sea... Though you may perish, your journey continues... O humans, take pride in the honor of having a great progenitor."
Stars, journeys... Well, given the sci-fi background, it probably means that Divine Era humanity originally traveled aboard spaceships.
I wouldn't be surprised if a spaceship stage shows up somewhere, but for now, let's just bask in the joy of clearing a Unique Scenario. I can probably get the illegal loli from that lore clan to explain things for me if I wave the Book of Truth in front of her.
If I keep hoarding multiple Uniques all by myself, I'll really start to stand out in a bad way. So it's probably better to show that "I'm on the players' side" to a certain extent. I feel like I'm already standing out like crazy, but the stray puppy pickup on a rainy day is an effective tactic for Japanese people.
Ctarnidd: "O humans, those who have shown their strength. I grant you aid for your journey."
Sunraku: "Alright, here comes the reward!"
The moment the magic circle that was Ctarnidd floating in the void transformed into a different-shaped magic circle, eight lights blossomed before all of us, tracing circles.
They shone with the same radiance as the eight cups we'd struggled to destroy just a few dozen minutes ago, giving us a vague idea of what the reward might be.
Ctarnidd: "Of my eight radiances, I shall bestow one fragment upon you..."
Sunraku: "Only one out of eight, huh."
That feels kind of like they expect us to run this multiple times...? Nah, no way.
Surprisingly, the eight lights were also spinning gently before the NPCs. I was wondering which was which for a while, but when I fiddled around, an item description popped up, so it seemed I didn't need to guess.
Probably, like how the Tactical Machine Beast doesn't have the same specs as Wethermon's Qilin, it's been downgraded to some extent, but... Close-range, long-range, skills, magic, gender, vision, damage, stats. If you have an item that can invert any one of these, its value is immeasurable. Even I could become a high-mobility tank just by swapping LUC and VIT around. Or if I boosted my MP, I could even become a pseudo-mage. Even without that, I could secure temporary invincibility by using close-range nullification in a pinch, or I could counter pure mages or muscle-brains. The possibilities are endless.
But still, everyone probably thought the same thing... "One is kind of few." But Japanese people are, for better or worse, reserved. They think it, but they don't say it. Still, having only one when there are eight just feels like too few...
So, what I'm trying to say is...
Akitsu Akane: "Mr. Octopus! Can't we get three or so of these!?"
Sunraku: "Oi!?"
Of course it was Akitsu Akane. Or rather, it had to be Akitsu Akane. No, really, with courage that makes me want to ask where she gets it from, she actually went and negotiated directly with Ctarnidd.
Ctarnidd: "............"
Akitsu Akane: "At least let us have two!"
Sunraku: "Akitsu Akane, you... are you a hero?"
Overcoming all the obstacles—that they were trying to kill each other just moments ago, that it's a monster whose very status as a living creature is questionable, and the fundamental fact that it's an AI—she actually haggled with it.
For real? Are you for real? No wonder you could charge straight at Siegwurm.
Silence dominated the area. The players were stunned that she "actually said that," and the NPCs were stunned that she "could talk so casually to a being akin to a god."
But Ctarnidd just kept turning slowly as a magic circle in the air. No way, seriously. This is a Unique Monster, you know? There's no way such an absurd demand would work. It's like she has negative bartering skill points.
Ctarnidd: "I shall bestow two."
A critical hit? No way, man.
Akitsu Akane: "Yes! Thank you very much, Mr. Octopus!"
Sunraku: "No way, man!?"
This isn't something as simple as "player skill" anymore. This is a combination of divine luck and innate talent.
"Yes, what kind of process would even find something like this?" I want to say. But gamers who can find hidden elements like that definitely exist. The type who somehow manage to find a hidden element even when it requires a quadruple whammy of "specifics"—equipping a specific item, at a specific location, while reciting a specific spell and doing a specific action.
I never thought I'd witness that moment, but man, Akitsu Akane is scary...
Sunraku: "No, I never expected you'd actually negotiate directly, but... I guess I'll say... well done... yeah."
Akitsu Akane: "Yes! I remembered that Sunraku-san talked to Lyc... Lyca... Lycaron? I remembered that you talked to Lycagon before!"
Now that she mentions it, I did do something similar. I can't really talk.
Gazes that looked like they were looking at a complete and utter idiot also turned toward me, but what could I do? Because of that wolf, I've been stuck living in a semi-naked tattooed state. I wasn't going to feel better without complaining about it. And in the end, she only made things even more complicated for me. I will never forgive her...
I'll pay Lycagon back for that someday. Setting that aside, I look again at the eight lights floating before me. If we can get two, I'll take this one... and this one without hesitation.
I never imagined a negotiation command would actually work. I'm off my guard now that the scenario is over... no, wait.
Psyger-0: "Did something... happen?"
Then it hits me.
Sunraku: "Hey... did any of you... hear the announcement... that we defeated a Unique Monster...?"
Mold: "...Announcement...?"
At my words, Rust, Mold, and Akitsu Akane tilted their heads in confusion. But Rei-shi, who knows the systems of SLF well, seemed to understand what I was getting at.
The others, noticing that something was off as we put strength back into our limp bodies and looked around in alert, also stood up.
That was when it happened.
A shiver ran down my spine.
The "Blue" stirred.
The return trip is part of the field trip.