Chapter 29 - Express to the Cliff Bottom
"—Oh?"
As I respawned, nursing the heartache from my pathetic death immediately after talking so much trash, an unfamiliar ping echoed in my ears.
At the same time, a simple mail icon popped up in the corner of my vision.
It seemed I'd received a message, but since you need to be friends with someone to use the mail function in Arcadia, I only had two possible candidates.
Either Sora or Kagura-san—this time, it was the former.
The message was, in short, an 'invitation,' but the wording was strangely stilted and formal… It was written in a way that made the girl's hesitation painfully clear.
"Hmm…"
Alright then… I'll just have to swiftly abduct her and show her that I'm the kind of person you don't need to be reserved with.
"And so, welcome to the sheer cliff!!"
"What do you mean, 'and so'?!"
After locating and securing my target, who was shopping at an NPC store, using the friend tracking function, I extended a no-nonsense, non-stop invitation to the [Cliff Road of the Sky Bridge].
She must have been waiting for my reply. Sora, who had been engrossed in her shopping with a somewhat restless air, was subjected to the experience of being whisked away without warning. After a sequence of screaming, confusion, and panic, she now seemed to be harboring the 'furious' status effect.
"I received a rather formal message, so I figured I'd demonstrate through my actions that there's no need to be reserved with a guy like me."
"I-It's not that I was being reserved… I've just never contacted a boy like that before, so I was a little nervous, that's all…"
I stated my reason with a slightly smug look, only to receive an unexpectedly cute reply. As I fumbled for a response, Sora sulkily turned her head away and mumbled, "Please put me down."
"Ah, yeah, my bad."
I'd been carrying her princess-style to reduce the criminality of the abduction scenario, but she was blushing, clearly embarrassed, so I set her down.
"Honestly…"
Oh my, her glaring eyes are quite adorable.
As I scratched my cheek, belatedly thinking, Did I go too far?, and averted my gaze, Sora's eyes widened as if she'd just noticed something.
"By the way, Haru-san, that outfit…"
Well, that's a natural reaction. A guy who'd been running around in a barbaric fashion with default underwear, not even showing a hint of wearing armor, suddenly shows up the next day dressed in stylish clothes. It's no wonder she's surprised.
"Ah, this, well… you see, for one reason or another, I got it as a gift."
"A gift…? Huh? But I heard that costume items are very expensive."
"Yeah, well, you know, for one reason or another."
If I were to honestly confess that I'd casually posted on the question board and caused a huge uproar, I knew I'd get a look that said, This guy again?
I'll introduce her to Kagura-san when the time is right, but for now, I'll just brush it off.
"Well, it's purely a cosmetic item, so my defense is still zero."
"That's not something to say so proudly… Um, Haru-san, have you cleared this area already?"
As she asked her next question, my mind was occupied with something else. Namely, the existence of the creature that dwells below.
A quick search revealed it was a rather famous case, one of the few un-cleared pieces of content in the game. It was possible that the diligent Sora already knew about it.
"Sora, you don't look up strategy information or anything, right?"
"? Um, that's right. I try not to look up things like map information or what kind of monsters are there."
Her preliminary knowledge apparently consisted of system mechanics, the general state of the world of Arcadia, and useful tips for beginners—basically, the kind of 'public knowledge' that was widely known.
My own encounter with it was quite spectacular—and idiotic—so if this was her first time, I really wanted her to experience that same feeling of having her common sense shattered.
So, I'd keep the spoilers to myself and just arrange an audience for her.
"…About this area, there's actually a hidden route. Well, less a route and more of a hidden area? Like a secret region."
Sora may have the outward appearance and demeanor of a classic, prim and proper young lady, but she's actually quite curious.
Which means, if I pique her interest like this—
"A hidden area!"
—she'd take the bait in a second with sparkling eyes, just like that.
"Exactly. But the gimmick at the end is a little tough for us to break through right now, or to be honest, we'll definitely die and have to respawn, but…"
Naturally, there's a death penalty. Since there's something to lose, I have to explain the risks—but she's already looking at me with those sparkling eyes as if to say, So what?
"You're too easy…"
I'm a little worried about you, kid. I sincerely hope you're a bit more cautious in the real world.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, nothing. So, I can show you the way if you want. Care to go?"
"I'd love to!"
Okay, one VIP tour coming right up. How do we get there? Well, to reach an area at the bottom of a sheer cliff, there's only one way, right?
"Then if I may have your hand… no, your entire body."
"Huh…? W-Wait, hold on…?!"
I took the hand of the sparkling-eyed, excitement-radiating Sora, and then swept her up into my arms.
I'm getting pretty used to carrying a girl around by now. It's a princess-carry with ease—actually, no, it's tough without both hands free.
"H-Haru-san…! Please stop picking me up so suddenly—"
"Sorry, Sora, I need a hand free. Could you hold on tight? Not tight enough to choke me out, though."
"Choke you… I-I wouldn't do that! No, that's not what I mean—"
"Alright, let's go! Your personal tour is departing!"
"—?! W-Wait, please wait…! The cliff, that way is the cliff, Haru-san. Haru-san…? Haru-san…?!"
Look, scary things are even scarier when you have time to brace yourself for them, right?
If a terrifying experience comes at an unexpected moment, you're more surprised than scared, and it's over before you know it. This is me being considerate.
"Sora."
"Y-Yes…!"
I stopped at the edge of the cliff and called out to her with an expression as casual as if I were about to go for a walk. The girl looked up at me, her eyes filled with terror.
"You said it yesterday, didn't you? That people can't fly—allow me to present a counter-example."
"………………"
—A face that said, What is this person talking about?
—A face that said, I don't want to understand what you're saying.
—A face that pleaded, Please, I'm begging you, reconsider.
—A tragic face, like that of a victim pleading for mercy from a vicious criminal about to commit a heinous act.
"In other words… if you don't hold on tight, things could get ugly, you know?"
"W-Wait…! Wai—Noooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!??"
Me, stepping off the cliff with a smile.
Sora, screaming her lungs out.
Gravity, doing its job.
And the howling, roaring wind.
At the cost of Sora's sanity and my eardrums, pierced by her point-blank screams, the two shadows vanished into the pathless mist.
Here is the afternoon part.