Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy
Iris
We finished checking the surroundings for damage after the battle with Thanatos.
In the end, the only real damage was the charred garden of Ouka-san’s workshop, and there was nothing else significant. Except for Shin-san, who took his leave after the incident was solved, and Nii-sama, who said he’d patrol the area and flew off… we quickly took refuge in Master Nephilim’s workshop.
Master Nephilim, understanding our situation, kindly lent us his reception room. After finishing today’s cosplay session at his request, we finally had a moment to catch our breath, and that brought us to the present.
Of the two sofas in the reception room, one was used by me and Titilia-san for the photoshoot.
As for the other one…
“Onee-chan, ehehe…”
“Would you look at that… She’s being spoiled rotten.”
“It’s fine, no? They’re making up for the time they lost.”
“Yes, yes…”
Ouka-san and Kirsche-san, who had completely shed their tense atmosphere from yesterday, were sitting closely together and frolicking like a scene straight out of a yuri manga.
Ouka-san, despite looking exasperated, didn’t seem entirely displeased as she patted her little sister’s head.
Each time her hand moved, Kirsche-san’s cat ears, covered in fur the same pale pink as her hair, twitched slightly.
…Yes, cat ears.
Those cat ears weren’t metaphorical, but actual pair of ears sprouting not only from her head, but also from mine, Titilia-san, and lastly Ouka-san, who was reluctantly convinced by her sister.
Moreover, these cat ears adjust their fur color to match the hair and even move in sync with emotions.
…In case you’re wondering, those are magical devices made by Master Nephilim. What a waste of technology if you ask me.
I kept the thought to myself as I slowly developed diabetes watching the cat-eared sisters playing around.
“Besides, wearing those help me get into the mood to maintain the summoning. Just play along with it please, Onee-chan?”
Kirsche-san said this with a bright smile.
Around her, a group of fancy cat folks wearing boots and holding trumpets and drums were cheerfully marching and playing their instruments. They were Spirit Beasts of the “Joy” and “Motion” attributes summoned by Kirsche-san.
After moving into Master Nephilim’s workshop, I resuscitated Kirsche-san by sharing some of my magic power with her.
Upon waking up and understanding the situation, Kirsche-san…
“I’m truly sorry for causing you all that trouble! Please, at least let me treat you…!”
She was so apologetic that she almost prostrated before us. Thinking that it might ease her guilt, we accepted her treatment.
Thus, she summoned this marching band of cat people. Despite their cartoonish appearance, they were incredible supports back in the game, capable of wide-area healing magic.
At the moment, the warm energy flowing with the music they played was slowly healing our fatigue.
“But to be able to summon Spirit Beasts at will so easily… I’m astonished. Is it the ability of your class?”
“Well… that certainly plays a part in it. Her unique class, Diva, is particularly specialized in summoning Spirit Beasts.”
Kirsche-san’s unique class of the Bard grouping was called Diva.
Meanwhile, Ouka-san’s unique class was called Divine Lance.
However… both of them hadn’t developed their power much since their reincarnation, so they weren’t entirely sure about their abilities.
“But if you ask me, there’s probably nobody as good as this girl when it comes to summoning Spirit Beasts, unique class or not.”
As Ouka-san explained, she continued to stroke Kirsche-san’s head. Kirsche-san, perhaps happy to be praised, turned red up to her ears and lowered her gaze, but a shy smile appeared on her lips.
…It seemed that those sisters have finally made up, thank goodness for that.
Seeing the two of them getting along so well, I felt relieved.
Today’s theme was Lolita fashion.
I was wearing a classic black goth-loli dress, while Titilia-san, sitting beside me, was in a contrasting white one.
Kirsche-san, on the other hand, wore a different style of Lolita, more akin to a kimono.
Like before, we’d picked something on the tamer side.
“Um, Titilia-san… You seem pretty okay with it despite being suddenly dragged into this…”
That’s right. Titilia-san, who was visiting here for the first time today and was roped into Master Nephilim’s hobby, was initially overwhelmed by the mountain of outfits aimed at young girls…
“Tia-chan, could you move closer to Iris-chan? Maybe even get so close that you two are basically touching, nya?”
“…Like this?”
“Yes, perfect, nya! And if you could wrap your arm around Iris-chan a little more sensationally…”
“Got it~ Sorry Iris-chan, I’m going to touch you a bit…”
Just like that, she responded to Milly-san, who was running around taking on the role of photographer in place of Master Nephilim, who was currently busy.
“Me? Look, I was a streamer, I did this kind of stuff on a daily basis.”
“Oh right, you used to be a VR content creator, didn’t you?”
“Yes. This kind of reminds me of that time, so I’m actually having a lot of fun.”
She smiled cheerfully as she said this.
Indeed, Titilia-san was acting like a professional when it comes to cosplay.
If that’s the case, she probably wouldn’t be upset about me keeping quiet in order to drag her into this kind of thing without warning.
“Okay, Iris-chan, Tia-chan, next, let’s try lying on the sofa and striking a pose!”
Milly-san, the photographer, gave another instruction. The next thing I knew, Titilia-san had taken my hand, pushed me gently by the shoulder, and laid me down softly on the sofa.
As I blinked in surprise at the sudden view of the ceiling, Titilia-san, with a somewhat teasing expression, leaned over me and looked into my eyes.
“Um… Titilia-san?”
I was perplexed as her slender, pale fingers traced my cheeks and lips.
“Still… we’ll have to talk later about how you hid all this from me… Iris-chan?”
“…Yes.”
She was totally, really angry. I’m really sorry.
“Good lord, nya… You two are adorbs, nya…”
Said Milly-san as she clicked the shutter of the magic camera Master Nephilim had given her in a frenzy. Everyone’s gaze was focusing on her.
Why is the girl adding “nya” after all of her sentences the only one spared from wearing cat ears?
That was probably the question on everyone’s mind right now.
After the photoshoot session ended, I was quenching my thirst with some tea that Reiji-san brewed when…
“…Hey, Iris. I, uh… have something to ask.”
“Yes, what is it?”
I tilted my head as for some reason, Reiji-san awkwardly averted his gaze, seeming a bit hesitant as he started to speak.
“…Well, I get the ears. There’s probably some mechanism in the headband for that. But… how exactly is that moving tail attached?”
As he said this, he pointed at the fluffy, long-haired cat tail poking out from under my skirt.
“Oh, this is stuck on with a kind of adhesive around my waist.”
It was like the kind of electrode stickers you’d see in a hospital, with a small magic stone in the center. Apparently, it detects the wearer’s mana and moves in response to their emotions.
…Truly, a waste of technology.
I sighed as the fluffy cat tail swayed, sometimes moving of its own accord, sometimes responding to my will.
“I see… What a relief.”
“…Huh?”
Reiji-san, still red-faced, spoke in an oddly stiff tone, once again looking away from me. I was really confused.
“Oh my oh myyyy? Reiji-san, were you perhaps imagining something naughty about Iris-chan?”
“Wha—! N-no, I wasn’t!”
“Or maybe… you have a secret desire to do that kind of thing with the girl you like? Kya, Iris-chan, stay away from him!”
“Hey, listen to me!”
“…Come on, there’s no way it’s not going to hurt if we had something that big inside us without any preparation. That’s just common sense.”
“D-don’t say that with such a straight face! Are you getting back at me for leaving you on the roof, asshole!? And how do you even know all this!?”
For some reason, Titilia-san wrapped her arms around me, as if shielding me from Reiji-san, and mischievously teased him. Reiji-san, flustered, yelled at her.
“…What do you mean by ‘naughty’?”
“Well, Reiji-san was probably thinking that the tail went into your b-“
“Aaaaaargh!! Stop it, don’t say that!!”
Reiji-san, clearly panicking, covered my ears and scooped me up, pulling me away from Titilia-san.
…Even though Tityria-san seemed to have gotten over her fear of men, these two still argued like this all the time.
“Um, what are you talking about…?”
“You don’t need to know! It’s not something you need to understand!!”
Breathing heavily and looking dead serious, Reiji-san told me this, so I decided not to press any further.
“…Reiji-san, didn’t you say that she used to be your age? Why are you treating her like a little girl?”
“She is a little girl…!”
“Wow, you said that without any hesitation… but I couldn’t really deny it, though…”
The two of them continued bickering for a while, but with Reiji-san still covering my ears, I couldn’t hear any of it.
However, somehow, I got the sense they were saying something terrible about me, and I couldn’t help but pout…
“Good grief… Anyway, can’t they use this technology for your legs?”
“Ah, I was curious about that too, so I asked Master Nephilim when he was explaining how it works…”
I had hoped that maybe this accessory technology could help solve my disability. So I asked right away when the topic came up, but…
“Long story short, this technology is used to add externally controlled parts via pseudo-nerves, so it’s difficult to apply it to internal issues like mine.”
“I see… I thought it might be possible for you to walk without the help of magic or equipment, but I guess it’s not that simple.”
“Exactly… If we could make something like tights that cover the entire leg like an exoskeleton, it might be possible someday. But for now, due to the effort and cost involved, it’s not feasible. However…”
I explained that such a device would require terminals to cover the whole leg and artificial muscles to support the body, which is why it’s not realistic at the moment.
…That was the conclusion I reached.
“He said he’ll give that idea some thought when he has the time. But it’s not something that’ll happen in a year or two, so it won’t be ready while we’re here.”
“I see… Well, I guess it can’t be helped.”
As the two of us sighed together…
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve finally finished the preparations.”
Master Nephilim, the owner of this workshop, approached us with a small, white-wrapped package balanced on his fingertips.
…It felt like we’d taken a long detour since this morning, but it seemed we were finally about to get to the main purpose of today’s visit.
“Firstly… the weapon you asked me to repair.”
Master Nephilim gently placed a large, white sword wrapped in cloth onto the table… It was the Arventia.
Reiji-san, who had seemed uncomfortable without his sword by his side, quickly reached for it, but Master Nephilim hurriedly stopped him.
“Wait, don’t remove that cloth yet. The repair isn’t complete.”
“Huh? I thought you already fixed it?”
“I did. But the final finishing touches still aren’t done.”
We all tilted our heads in confusion.
“Um… if I’m not mistaken, that cloth is made of a material that blocks magic, right? Like the kind used in processing magic stones…”
“Ah, so you did your homework.”
Master Nephilim nodded at Milly-san’s comment.
Magic stones had been mentioned several times already. They’re essentially gemstones with a high affinity for magic. In addition to being crushed and used as catalysts, they can also be specially processed to imbue specific magic.
Once a magic stone has been imbued, it can activate the recorded magic repeatedly until it deteriorates and breaks, which is why they’re often used as the core of magical devices.
However, a pure magic stone with no enchantments yet can sometimes absorb ambient magic, making it unusable. That’s why they’re wrapped in special cloth for storage—something I’d learned here.
“So Arventia is wrapped in that cloth because…?”
“Indeed. In its current state, it’s highly unstable and susceptible to external magic. I can’t let it be exposed to any stray mana.”
Master Nephilim cleared his throat and continued.
“This sword is made from a special liquid metal created by the Lightwing race. If it were just sharpening the blade, this workshop’s whetstone would suffice. But for repairs…”
“Is it difficult?”
“Very. The techniques used to make this metal were kept secret, and there are only a handful of people in the world who still know how to work with it.”
“So… does that mean we’ll need to find one of those people and track them down?”
The idea of searching the world for one of the few remaining people with this knowledge seemed daunting.
“…Heh, you’re lucky to have brought it to me first.”
“Wait, does that mean…?”
“That’s right. I’m one of those few.”
Master Nephilim proudly puffed out his chest.
“Now, I have a small favor to ask in exchange for the repair…”
Here it comes.
“…You’ll change outfits one more time today, right? If possible, could you wear something a bit more daring? Perhaps something like a swim…”
“Understood, I’ll do it.”
“…suit… Wait, really?!”
Master Nephilim, who made the suggestion, looked astonished for some reason.
But I’d already made up my mind about this kind of thing since yesterday.
—If there was something I could do for Reiji-san or Saul-niisama, then I would do it, no matter how embarrassing.
Of course, I only agreed because I could trust Master Nephilim, despite his somewhat questionable tastes.
“Yes… If it will help repair Reiji-san’s sword, I’ll wear a swimsuit or whatever else, no matter how embarrassing, and have my photos taken too…”
“N-no, that’s not what I actually wanted to ask…”
“Hey, Iris, you don’t have to force yourself. I know you’re not comfortable with this.”
“No, Reiji-san always puts his body on the line to help us. If this is what I can do for him, then a little embarrassment is nothing.”
“Iris… I appreciate that.”
Reiji-san smiled at me as he thanked me, and I smiled back.
“Hnnngh… I only meant it as a little joke, that if she hesitated, I’d reveal the real request… How did it end up like this?”
“Nyahaha, those guys are just a bit too straightforward. And Saul who’s supposed to keep them in check isn’t here at the moment, nya.”
“Ugh… It’s not like I can say it was a joke now…”
“Well, well, she’s on board with it, so you should consider yourself lucky. Hehe, ehehe…”
“You… are something else…”
Milly-san and Master Nephilim were engrossed in their conversation over there, and it’s making me a little uneasy… but I’m sure it’s fine. Probably.
“Alright, then. I’ll remove the cloth now. Please, whatever you do, don’t use any magic in the vicinity.”
With that final warning, Master Nephlim slowly removed the cloth covering the blade, while everyone watched intently.
What appears is a pristine, mirror-like white blade of Arventia, seemingly repaired without a flaw.
“It looks perfectly fixed…”
“In appearance only. In reality, the reinforced parts haven’t fully bonded with the blade. Its strength is about that of plaster. The slightest shock could cause it to crumble.”
Upon hearing that, I quickly retract my hand, which I had almost reached out to touch the blade out of curiosity.
“This material is called ‘Luminatrope,’ a substance typically found in liquid form. It’s difficult to work with because the Lightwing race solidified its form into a shape through prayer… in this case, a sword.”
“…So this Arventia, from the hilt to the guard then to the tip of the blade, is a single solid piece of material?”
“Correct. So… if you just want to repair the damage, you can just replenish the lost Luminatrope and then sharpen it again… but that’s not the case.”
“What do you mean?”
“…I’ve patched this Arventia up as much as I could, but it’s in a very unstable state, with the parts that have been fixed into place by the existence of a sword and the pure Luminatrope mixed together. If it continues like this, the sword will no longer be able to hold its form, and it will disintegrate and crumble away.”
“Um… so it’s like I was trying to make mayonnaise, but if it continues like this, the oil and eggs will separate and turn into an unidentifiable liquid, is that how it works?”
“…………You aren’t wrong.”
Ah, I must have made him uncomfortable. I’m really sorry.
“But, there is a way to fully restore the blade.”
“And that is?”
“It’s simple. You need to imbue it with a new prayer, binding the sword to a new existence. Think of the person you want to entrust it to, pour your magic into the blade, and pray.”
“Think of Reiji…”
“It might become stronger, or weaker, depending on your feelings. Will you do it?”
“Yes, I’ll do it.”
This time, I gently touched the blade and closed my eyes…
…and somehow, I realized what I needed to do.
As I focus deeply, images of Reiji-san flash before me—him standing beside me ever since we arrived in this world. Always by my side, always taking the brunt of the fight, even as his body became scarred and worn.
Every time those images flash in my mind, I feel a deep, aching pain in my chest.
Please, protect Reiji-san.
This sword may be called “Save the Queen,” meant to protect me, but more than that, I want it to protect its wielder, Reiji, and help him return safely.
I pour all my prayers into the blade, without stopping, without faltering…
……
…………
………………
“…gh! That’s enough prayer, please stop!”
Master Nephilim’s sudden shout pulled me back to reality. I looked around, realizing that I’d been lost in my thoughts.
Everyone was watching me with concerned expressions.
“I can’t believe how much emotion you poured into it. I was worried it might overload and break.”
“Did I… go too far?”
“Yes, but that just shows how much you care for that young man, doesn’t it? Hahaha!”
Master Nephilim laughed heartily, while I couldn’t bring myself to look up, my face burning with embarrassment.
“T-then, the sword—how is it?!”
I turned to look at Arventia on the table.
Its once pure white blade now has a faint, rainbow-like shimmer, similar to the color of my hair.
“…Mm, its form is completely stable now.”
“So it’s safe to wield?”
Reiji eagerly asked, clearly itching to get his hands on his sword again.
I silently prayed that he won’t be disappointed as he picks it up.
The moment he gripped the handle, his eyes widened. Did it fail? I start to panic.
But then, still silent, he swung the sword in a wide arc. As he did, a rainbow-colored trail of light followed the blade, creating a beautiful, ethereal glow around us.
“Amazing. Just holding it, I can feel the power flowing through me… and it feels…”
He swung the sword a few more times, testing it out.
As he did, his face lit up with joy, and I finally let out a sigh of relief.
“It feels light. Despite being stronger than before, it feels like it was made for me. Like it’s a part of me.”
“Hmm, so that’s how it is…”
Master Nephilim, who was watching the whole thing, threw an amused look toward me.
“Ah, young love. It’s almost too sweet for these old bones.”
His teasing words made my face flush even more, and I couldn’t lift my head.
As I stared down at the floor, completely embarrassed, I felt a large hand gently rest on top of my head.
“Thank you. Now, I can fight again… even if my opponent is him.”
“Please… don’t overdo it.”
“Don’t worry, I understand. I can feel how much you put into this sword, how much you care… Thank you.”
“…Yes, please use it well.”
I smiled at him, letting my feelings show as I entrust the sword to him once again.
Please, let my prayers protect him.
That’s all I can hope for.
Saul
I said I was going to patrol the surrounding area to check for damage… and split off on my own. Now, I was tailing that boy from the player support organization called Shin from above.
At first, I thought I might figure out where their group was staying, but as I followed him, he began heading towards a location that was all too familiar to me. His destination was…
“…The Grand Arena?”
He was walking with confidence toward the Grand Arena, where we were staying. The area was currently off-limits to anyone but staff and special guests due to preparations for the main event. Yet, the boy continued without hesitation.
Finally, he reached the entrance. After showing what seemed to be a pass, he slipped inside without any issue.
There’s no one in our group from Norglacier who wears such a distinctive mask or looks like that handsome boy.
Which means… he’s probably not one of the event staff either. Could he be a representative from another country?
In any case…
“Following him further is impossible, huh.”
I couldn’t just trespass into another nation’s private area without permission. If I wanted to, I’d need to go through the proper channels later. For now, there was nothing more I could do.
Making that decision, I prepared to return to the others. Just as I flapped my wings to gain altitude—
“…Huh?”
The first thing I sensed was a gaze.
But I was floating at a fairly high altitude right now. People tend to be less aware of threats coming from above. Especially during peaceful times. Perhaps someone had spotted me by chance…? Just as that thought crossed my mind—
“?!!”
In the next instant, an overwhelming sense of dread shot through me, as if my heart had been gripped.
Cold sweat broke out, my limbs trembled uncontrollably, and my breathing became difficult, even though I hadn’t done anything.
The pressure I felt lasted only for a moment, but I’d never forget it. It was the same sensation I had felt just under two months ago…
The same feeling when we encountered “him” while trying to return the cub Sirius.
But…
“…He’s gone.”
I murmured, feeling relieved… but also frustrated with myself for being relieved.
No matter how much I scanned my surroundings, I couldn’t see a trace of “him” anymore…
(Author’s Notes)
Arventia Mk.II
In addition to improving the performance of the original Arventia, it now features relaxed equipment restrictions, Auto Regen, Auto Protect, and Auto Shell… something like that. There are other restored functions as well, but those will be revealed later.
APM - Translation 