Chapter 17 — Sometimes You Gotta Be Gentle, Sometimes Harsh, and Sometimes Really Vague! The World Isn’t Always Black and White!
“Hanakawa’s gone again.”
The rest of the group was in a totally new environment.
“Oh, he is. And that Sage is gone too,” Tomochika observed, looking around. The mountain of stone chunks they were sitting on was about three meters across. Hanakawa had been farther away than that, so it seemed he had escaped their current situation.
“Hm. The ground we were standing on appears to have remained the same. Perhaps the area around us was teleported,” Mokomoko speculated. Yogiri agreed.
“There’s no way someone could teleport me against my will,” Hiruko replied. “She must’ve changed the world around us. That would work no matter how strong I was.”
“I thought we’d be able to handle Sages no problem at this point, but it looks like we can’t take them lightly,” Yogiri remarked. It was possible to simply transform the area around them without attacking Yogiri directly, effectively imprisoning them. While the Sage couldn’t kill Yogiri, she could still seal him away.
“I guess we were done with her anyway.”
“Can you do something about this, Hiruko?” asked Yogiri.
“Who d’you think you’re talking to? Something like this is a piece of cake to me.”
“I seem to remember you screaming the loudest earlier...”
“Shut up! Anyone would have been surprised!”
“Okay, then get us out of here.”
If the place they were in was a different space, Yogiri could use his power easily enough. The target would be clear and defined, so he would have no problem killing it. But if Hiruko could get them out instead, he figured it was better to leave it to her.
“Seriously, what is your deal?”
“You’re the one who said me acting insolent was getting interesting.”
“There’s a limit to these things, y’know? At least try worshiping me a little bit. I am a god!”
“Fine. Please do something about this.”
“I don’t think just saying ‘please’ counts as appropriate for asking something of a god...but whatever. I’ll show you a bit of my tolerant side.”
“Hold on!” As Hiruko began spinning her arms, Tomochika hurriedly stopped her.
“What?”
“Luu is gone!”
“What’re you talking about? Ma is right...huh. Where is she?!”
Luu had walked through the gate while the rest of them were talking.
“Can you still get us all out?”
“No. She needs to be right beside us.”
Cheerful music flowed out from inside the gate. It seemed it had been enough to lure Luu away.
“Let’s go grab her.” Hiruko headed for the gate, and the others followed her.
Passing through, they made it into an open square. Colorful trees and numerous houses filled the space, with what looked like human-sized animal costumes dancing to welcome them.
“Uh, what exactly is this place?” Tomochika asked. “It looks kind of like an amusement park.”
“Why does it exist here?”
“No idea. Let’s just go find Luu.”
It didn’t take long for them to locate her. She was being carried around by a bear.
“Ma! What’re you doing, running off like that!” Stomping over to her mother, Hiruko grabbed her out of the bear’s arms.
“It looked like fun.”
“This place appeared out of nowhere! You gotta be more careful! Seriously!”
“Okay. I’ll be careful, but let me eat some candy!”
“Here?!”
A sweet smell filled the air. It suddenly occurred to Yogiri that with everything that had happened, it had been a while since they’d eaten anything.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Please, spare me...”
The Sage Akemi begged on her hands and knees, pressing her face into the floor. Shigeto looked down on her, the Sage’s Philosopher’s Stone in his hand. The moment he had arrived, he had taken her stone. After that, he showed off his power a bit.
Akemi’s abilities were useless against him. She possessed some sort of mental manipulation with which she had instigated the people around them to attack Shigeto, but he had restrained them effortlessly. She had tried to control him as well, of course, but it hadn’t had any effect.
“This is kind of boring, to be honest, but I’ve already made up my mind.”
“Please...please...”
“Come on, you’ve been acting all high and mighty since you became a Sage, right? Shouldn’t you have some pride even if you’re losing?”
She seemed to have no problem toying with people’s lives while she was in control, but when on the receiving end, she was pathetic. Shigeto thought that seeing her so terrified and obedient would be gratifying, but for some reason it wasn’t.
“Huh. I wonder why tormenting her isn’t as much fun as I expected. What do you think, Navi?”
“Perhaps it is because she is so much older?”
“Ah! That must be it. Torturing an older woman isn’t nearly as entertaining, I guess. Hey, look at me.”
Akemi lifted her face. She was quite attractive, but her servile smile didn’t interest Shigeto in the least. He didn’t sense a glimmer of her soul in it at all. Alice had struggled up to the last moment. She had run away in the end, but she had never given in to despair.
“A-Anything... I’ll do anything...”
“Oh, will you? But I can already do anything I want, so what would I even need you to do?”
Akemi tried to cling to him as she begged, but she couldn’t get close enough. The invisible wall pushed her back.
“Die,” Shigeto whispered.
Understanding that as a command, the Omega Blade put an end to her life. Strength left the Sage’s body, and she slumped to the floor. Then, “Revive her,” he said, another idea occurring to him.
Akemi’s body spasmed, followed by a scream. She had been brought back to life, still gripped by a fear of death. Her expression twisted in agony, she looked around the room. She didn’t seem to know what had just taken place.
“She’s from another world, isn’t she? Why can she come back to life?”
“Since her death was so recent, she can be revived with a greater degree of accuracy. However, I would not count on it to be that reliable.”
“I see. All right, then let’s try this. Omega Blade, every time she breathes, age her by one year. When she dies, revive her at her current age.”
Akemi began to age so fast, they could see her change before their eyes. Realizing what had happened, she slapped a hand over her mouth and nose.
“Don’t worry, I said you’d come back to life if you died.”
Unable to hold her breath for long, she continued to grow older and more wrinkled. Eventually her breathing stopped, and she grew younger again.
“Why... Why are you doing this?”
“No reason. You guys mess with regular people to kill time. I’m just doing the same back to you.”
“What did I ever do to you?!”
“I never did anything to you Sages, but I was summoned here and suffered through all sorts of things.”
His idea hadn’t ended up being all that interesting, but possessing infinite power could make people irrational.
“I thought your objective was to kill the Sages,” Navi said. “Will you not finish her off?”
“No, I’m done with her. She can keep going like this until she loses her mind. I guess I’ll go after Alice again. I’m curious to see what she’s thought up.”
“Shall I teleport us?”
“No. I don’t want things to get too monotonous. Let’s try to think of a better plan.”
Shigeto started looking into Alice’s situation.
◇ ◇ ◇
“No way! I can’t let you eat this questionable food!” Hiruko shouted as the five of them sat in a café.
“I don’t think it’s that dangerous,” Yogiri said around a mouthful of cake. Numerous desserts were arrayed on the table in front of them. The café offered a number of desserts in a buffet style.
“Are y’sure? There are so many situations where you can never go home after eating food from another world!”
“You can do something about this place though, right?”
“Sure I can! But shouldn’t you still be careful?!”
Yogiri picked up any poison or rotten food as killing intent aimed at him, so he could guarantee that the food in front of them was safe.
“And what’re you getting all excited about?” Hiruko demanded.
“Huh? Me?” Tomochika answered, surprised.
“Yes, you. The heck is that thing on your head?”
Tomochika was wearing a cat-ear headband. She had gotten it at a souvenir shop just inside the entrance. They didn’t need money to do anything here, so they could take what they wanted from the store and eat as much as they wanted for free. The animals worked diligently to make more food for them.
“It’s cute, isn’t it?”
“Yeah!” Luu was wearing a bunny ear headband as well.
“How’re you acting so calm in such a weird place?”
“We’re not really in a hurry, so why not relax a bit? We did just get a Philosopher’s Stone for free.”
“I don’t care, it makes no difference to me. But you guys are the ones looking for someone, yeah? Are you sure about wasting time here?”
“If every second counted, we’d already be too late, so there’s no point in hurrying,” Yogiri explained.
“You really march to the beat of your own drum, huh?”
“Oh right, we’ve got this too.” Tomochika unfolded a pamphlet on the table. It was a guide to Another Kingdom. Apparently, that was the name of the place they were in.
Now that Yogiri thought about it, that was what the Sage had shouted before they’d found themselves here.
“A map, huh? Looks like a huge place.”
“I want to see the fairy tale area!” Luu said, happily pointing to a spot on the map. There were pictures of a merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel, and other cute play equipment drawn there.
Hiruko sighed. “Ma...this isn’t the time to be messing around.”
Although Yogiri had been the one to suggest they stop and eat, he agreed with the god. They couldn’t relax here for long. “Luu, if you want to stick around and play, that’s fine, but we’ll have to leave you behind.”
“What?!”
“Hey! How can you say that to Ma?! That’s just cruel!”
“Well, what do you want me to say?”
“Sometimes you gotta be gentle, sometimes harsh, and sometimes really vague! The world isn’t always black and white!”
“We can’t play around here forever, so we should try to think of a way out.”
“All we gotta do is go back to where we started. There’s a boundary there between this world and the other one—”
The loud ringing of a bell interrupted Hiruko’s explanation. The bell struck twelve times before stopping.
“Twelve o’clock? So it’s noon? Wait, is that really the time?”
Ever since leaving the Elven Forest, their sense of time had been a bit skewed. Yogiri checked his watch, but as he did, everything around them grew unnervingly quiet. The panda that had been dutifully replenishing their supply of desserts and the cat that had been working so hard in the kitchen had frozen.
“Something’s wrong...”
One of the windows suddenly shattered as something jumped through it. It was a small bear doll, holding a large knife.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login