kscans

Chapter 64 - The Last Forest and the Little Person

"Woah!"

Pulled into the ravine, Chihiro and Dolphen were caught by something soft. Bouncing high like a fava bean popping in a frying pan, she was thrown by the force and ended up face-down on Dolphen's chest. He had curled his large body around Kobito-san, and the momentum sent him rolling across the ground. Fortunately, they landed on thick grass, so no harm was done. After rolling a few times, Dolphen immediately got to his feet, holding Kobito-san close as he cautiously surveyed their surroundings.

"Where are we.....?"

A deep forest that completely blocked out the sunlight.

Even looking up, all he could see were towering trees, no cliff face, no light, nothing. The soft grass underfoot was tall enough to hide about half of Dolphen's crouching body.

"Chihiro-sama, are you injured?"

Holding the squirming girl tight, Dolphen took a small orb from his hip bag. Just as he was about to smash it on the ground, a hand stopped him.

《That would be a problem. I intended to invite only the King. You will refrain from using light as well.》

Multiple threads flying from all directions had stopped Dolphen's hand. Ignoring the flustered man, the trees before them creaked and groaned as a giant creature emerged.

It was a spider easily exceeding five meters in length.

Its body was shaggy, its legs thick. Its eight glistening eyes were all fixed on Kobito-san. If it were a creature from Earth, it would resemble a tarantula, but its color was jet black. It was a beautiful spider, its glossy, raven-black body accented with touches of vermilion that blended into the darkness.

"Are you the Forest Master?"

《Indeed. Hmm....?》

The giant spider blinked its many eyes and stared at the little girl.

《You... you do not have a right hand? What happened to your right hand?》

"My right hand?"

As Chihiro practically radiated a question mark, the spider made an indescribably complex face.

Forest Masters are so expressive.

Ignoring Kobito-san's idle thought, the spider gave a weary sigh and settled down before her, curling its massive body.

《Release him. He is a guest, after all. King, please tell that man not to move.》

The threads from all sides had been cast by the master's children. Looking closely, she could see countless miniature versions of the master lurking in the gaps between the dense trees. They ranged in size from palm-sized to as large as a toddler. Perhaps that was the standard size for the master's children. The threads were cut with a butsuri, and the slackened strands scattered around Dolphen. Chihiro looked up at Dolphen, who was staring about in astonishment, and gave a wry smile.

"It's the master and its children. They said not to move, so please stay still, Dolphen."

As if a switch had been flipped, Dolphen grasped the situation. He sat cross-legged on the ground and settled Chihiro in his lap once more.

His composure in these situations was admirable. He placed his complete trust in Kobito-san. Even with a ferocious-looking monster before him, if Kobito-san told him not to, he would not attack, no matter how much it bared its fangs.

He was a follower who made things easy.

"So? You invited me, which means you have business with me, right? I have some with you, too."

The spider looked at the little girl sitting primly on Dolphen's lap and began to speak, its words seemingly heavy.

《Indeed. This story goes back several thousand years.》

The tale the spider told, its eyes distant, was of the gods' wager. The story of Arcadia's birth and the divine exchange that decided its fate. And that the gods of Earth were providing assistance.

The spider narrowed its eyes at the stunned pair and clicked its fangs softly.

《Now that I have told you this much, you must understand, yes? I am not of Arcadia. I am a Misaki for the gods of Earth. A card sent as a desperate, last-ditch effort.》

Spider, Misaki, a desperate effort.

In Kobito-san's mind, thoughts began to construct themselves with a series of clicks, like puzzle pieces falling into place.

What this meant was.......

"Destruction is just around the corner, isn't it? That thing, it's already complete?"

The spider, slightly surprised by the child's frozen expression, nodded as if to confirm.

《You are quite knowledgeable. Well, I suppose that is why you were chosen and sent here. It is complete. Destruction is unavoidable.》

The spider stated it unequivocally.

Chihiro's neurons fired as she sifted through all her knowledge, searching for a way to save the present.

Think, I have to think.

If her web was complete, then there was nothing left to be done.

"If what you say is true, then I once had a left hand of regeneration and a right hand of destruction, right? And Fatimah took the right hand of destruction. All I have left is the left hand of regeneration."

According to the spider's story, the wager could not be lost until she killed the Forest Masters with that right hand of destruction. The magical power of the gods must not be left behind. It was a true irregularity for the masters, who were neither Misaki nor divine messengers, to possess the gods' magic. In the eyes of divine reason, it was an unforgivable interference. And if that magic was tied to the very foundation of the world, then they were a foreign element that must be eliminated.

Ahhhh, so that's why Queen Merda and Molt looked so conflicted! Now I finally understand what Zett meant!

They knew. They knew the gods' intentions. But they could not speak of it.

Even knowing they were to be killed, they tried to stand with humanity until the very end.

And yet, isn't this just too cruel, you gods?!

Dolphen watched the child silently, her anguish at the dead end of her thoughts plain to see. Then he murmured.

"It is a good thing that Fatimah-sama took the right hand of destruction. The masters must be relieved."

Kobito-san looked up at Dolphen's innocent, sincere smile with a sullen expression.

Good?

When its absence means our defeat is certain? But, even if I had the power of destruction in this right hand, could I have killed Queen Merda and the others?

No. There is no way I could have.

If I had killed them without knowing, the me of today would surely not exist. Even if it was just because I was swayed by an unconscious superstition, I want to praise my past self for touching the masters with my left hand.

"Let's struggle as much as we can. There will be plenty of time for regrets and complaints after I'm dead. For now, let's complete the golden ring and see if we can't keep the masters alive!"

That's right, I didn't come here to kill the masters. I came here thinking I could save them. I've got it all backwards.

"For now, let's make a pact! We can think about the rest later."

The spider looked at Chihiro's broad smile with a perplexed expression, but it nodded nonetheless.

《I'd really like to return to Earth, you know. The plan was for you to send me back with that god-killing right hand once this was all over.》

"God-killing right hand?"

《That's right. The only one who can kill me, a divine Misaki, is one who has also been granted power by the gods. You are the only one who was granted the power of destruction by the gods. If you don't kill me, I can't return to Earth. A Misaki is on the lowest rung of divinity, you see. We don't have a lifespan.》

I see.

Having completed the pact, Chihiro looked up at the dense, overgrown forest.

"How are we supposed to get back?"

Just as Kobito-san muttered in a weary tone, Dolphen also gazed up at the sky.

《I'll open it. Just for a bit. It's noisy up there, and it seems my children are having trouble.》

Now that it was mentioned, Chihiro noticed it too. She could hear some sort of commotion coming from above. The young spiders around the master all shot out their threads at once, making the branches of the trees Chihiro had been looking at bend with a mishi mishi sound, creating an opening. Light shone through the thickly covered trees of the forest, and a gap about two meters in diameter opened up directly above them.

《Your ride seems to have arrived. Now, off you go.》

No sooner had the spider spoken than something came falling through the gap in the trees, splitting the air.

"Are you alright? Chihiro!"

Descending with a loud zasazaza was Sakura. Behind her were a bee and Pochiko-san, supporting her. Sakura landed with a soft bounce, and only then did Chihiro realize that the entire area was covered in spiderwebs.

A dense, silver web was strung in multiple layers between the trees. This must have been what caught them when they first fell. The delicate, knitted pattern shimmering in the sunlight was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Is your business done? Come on, everyone's waiting for you up there. If you don't hurry, they'll all come down."

Urged on by Sakura, Chihiro was lifted up by Pochiko-san. She glanced back at the giant spider.

"Your name is A..."

"It's Joker."

The spider waved a leg with a sullen look.

《Here, my name is Joker. Remember it. This is my first time in the outside world in a long while. Don't go calling me by some gloomy name.》

With a cunning grin, Kobito-san nodded enthusiastically.

"You should just stay here, it'd be more fun than going back to Earth. See you later, Joker!"

Watching Kobito-san and the others leave, carried by the bees, the young spiders cut the threads supporting the branches. The hole immediately closed with a loud noise, and the forest was once again enveloped in the darkness of the abyss.

See you later, she says.

There cannot be a next time. The world is going to end.

I will be left behind in a world of nothing with my children, Joker thought, a self-deprecating smile on its face.

But that smile.

For some reason, she could not forget it, that carefree, clear, sunny smile.

Even though despair was right before her.

《Ah, now that I think about it, their smiles were similar. Those two.》

Two souls caught in the web Joker had completed. She had thought them hasty, as the destruction was still just a prelude.

《Perhaps I'll go play for a bit. I wonder if that thing has come. The child's incessant crying is terribly annoying.》

With that, the large spider fell asleep.

As she drifted, surrendering her body to drowsiness, she heard a cry from the depths of the abyss.

Drawn by the high-pitched cry of a young child, she fell into a deep sleep.

Oblivious to Joker's pessimistic thoughts, Kobito-san was charging full speed ahead.

"Where there's a will, there's a way! Nothing is impossible if you don't try!"

Leading the Little Person Squad, who tilted their heads as if hearing a tongue twister or a pun, Chihiro shot out of the ravine and headed for Molt's forest to complete the golden ring.

She thought about so many things her brain nearly short-circuited, but in the end, it was the same as always. Charge head-on, be a world unto oneself. The Kobito-san quality remained unshakable.

I don't care about the gods and their problems. I'm going to be happy, and to do that, first I have to live! I refuse to be destroyed!

Kicking aside even the tragic anguish of the gods, Kobito-san goes her own way today.