kscans

Chapter 142 - The Little One and the Gods' Banquet, Part Ten

"Either way, we’ll have to meet him at least once, won’t we? The Dark Spirit King."

The Little One’s cheeks puffed out like a squirrel’s as she stuffed a sandwich into her mouth, mo mo. Seeing her eat endlessly, like a small animal preparing for hibernation, those around her gave wry smiles.

"Are you not eating too much?"

Cesare sounded concerned, but the Little One just drooped her eyebrows and swallowed the food in her mouth.

"Because no matter how much I eat, my stomach doesn’t get full."

That was right. It was delicious and she could eat as much as she wanted, but for some reason, it didn’t fill her up. Sapphard gave a pointed cough at the Little One’s slightly dejected mumble.

"Ah, sorry. It’s all an illusion. My apologies."

"Wha…!"

The Little One’s mouth fell open.

So that’s why… But this is amazing. This flavor, this texture. It seems completely real, nyo.

Paying no mind to the Little One, who looked at her sandwich with fresh eyes rather than seeming offended, the atmosphere around them suddenly became frantic. The air trembled, a tremendous roar echoed, and a doon of an impact from behind shook the gazebo. Standing in the billowing cloud of dust was a familiar giant honeybee.

"Sapphard…?"

"…Merda? Huh? No way!"

Sapphard shot to his feet, his face a mask of astonishment. He rushed over to Merda and touched her body. His fingertips were trembling, wana wana.

"Impossible…! Those Higher Beings, they used Bonnie again…!"

"…Bonnie?"

As Sapphard collapsed with a look of disbelief, the Spirit Kings around him also wore expressions of shock.

"When Sapphard agreed to become a material for the light, he desired the release of his loved one and made a pact with the Higher Beings. …To think they would reincarnate her again."

Apparently, Sapphard had been present when Merda’s soul was passed on to the next generation and had confirmed without a doubt that a different soul had taken her place. A new Lord is born while the current one is still alive. It should be impossible for the same soul to be inherited. However, the Lord had changed several times over the past few thousand years. They must have mixed his precious person’s soul back in during one of those successions. As they explained this, the Spirit Kings looked up at the heavens with disgusted expressions.

There was no way Sapphard would mistake the soul of his beloved.

"Why…? Didn’t you set her free?!"

"What’s wrong? Why are you so sad, Sapphard? It is me, Merda. Ah, how nostalgic!"

Merda embraced the golden youth as if to comfort him. Sapphard looked up at her, his brow furrowed, his face on the verge of tears.

"…You’re right. It is nostalgic, Merda. Have you been well? How did you know to come here?"

"I felt your magic. I must have flown a very long way… but it’s strange, the sun hasn’t moved."

Sapphard caressed the cheek of the tilting Merda and clenched his teeth.

"I won’t forgive them, those bastards from the higher realms…! This means all-out war. If they won’t keep their promise, then I have no reason to keep mine!"

The Little One had no memory of her time as Lucrezia. Naturally, Merda had no memory either. But the Little One was distracted by something else and murmured softly.

"…Could it be, Sapphard is Clyde? From the movie?"

"…That’s a nostalgic name to be called. A movie? They made a movie about us? What’s the title?"

After a brief hesitation, the Little One replied with a wry smile.

"…Bonnie and Clyde… nyo."

Sapphard’s eyes widened for a moment, then the next instant, his lips twisted into a defiant smirk.

"A fine title. We don’t need any tomorrow. Tomorrow will come on its own, anyway."

His eyes flashed fiercely, and Sapphard spat out the words like a growl. The Little One nodded vigorously in agreement, her own eyes shining brightly.

"Exactly. Tomorrow will come no matter what you do. So, let’s struggle as hard as we can today."

They clasped hands, gashi, and Sapphard and the Little One brought their faces close, looking delighted.

"We’re almost out of time. Stay safe until we meet again, alright?"

"You too. Don’t you dare let the Higher Beings find out about you, nyo? …They might just erase you, you know?"

The Little One was beginning to understand the Higher Beings’ methods.

They were like it. The intellectual yakuza, the high-minded outlaws you’d find in Japan.

As the two of them vowed to meet again, the Spirit Kings also began to fade.

"The magic here is running out. We are at the limit of how long we can stop time. Forgive us."

"Let’s meet again. With our blessing, you can come and go from here as you please. From the Spirit World side, the dimension is different, so we can talk without the gods knowing, you know?"

"The magic circulation devices, perhaps. It should be easier to connect to our world from there."

"Well, it seems you could connect on your own even without such things."

The Spirit Kings vanished, each leaving their own parting words. After seeing them off, Sapphard’s form also began to fade.

"I’m sorry, Merda. I have to go back now…"

He intertwined his fingers with hers wistfully, brought Merda’s foreleg to his brow, and placed a kiss on the tip of her leg.

"I will be happy, I swear it. I will make it happen. So wait for me, okay?"

Merda looked at Sapphard’s pained expression with curiosity, then let out a soft laugh.

"I do not understand what you are saying, but I am quite happy, you know? I was able to meet you again, Sapphard. You have given me an unexpected joy."

"Merda…"

The moment Sapphard tried to say something more, his form vanished.

The Little One gently patted the bewildered Merda, who was staring into the empty space where Sapphard had been, and broke into a wide grin, nika.

"I’m happy for you, Merda. But let’s keep this a secret, okay?"

There was no telling where the ears and eyes of the Higher Beings or the gods might be. If the unknowing Merda let something slip, it would be a disaster. As the twins’ forms also began to fade, they watched Merda nod obediently.

"This place is like a dream. A fleeting dream. We’ll be back soon, so wait for us!"

With those parting words, the Little One’s group also dispersed, and when Merda came to her senses, she was back in the forest of the royal capital. …A dream?

Even though she should have flown so far, the place she was in and the position of the sun hadn’t changed. Understanding her current situation, Merda looked strangely at her own body, which felt pleasantly tired.

For a dream, it was awfully real. Was this what they called a daydream?

Even if it was a dream, it was a very good one, being able to meet a nostalgic person.

Around the time the giant honeybee was deep in bliss, her antennae twitching fuku fuku with happiness, the Little One was transported back to the underground of the rabbit forest.

"Welcome back! Did it go well?"

Next to the giant rabbit who struck a pose, sucha, with its right hand raised, time began to move again for Dorfen and the others.

"Chihiro-sama? …Wait, huh?"

Dorfen blinked his eyes as if taken aback. The other knights also looked around, kyoro kyoro.

"It looked as though the young lady had vanished."

"An illusion? Huh?"

"…Well, as long as nothing happened, then that’s fine."

The knights muttered with suspicious eyes. Ignoring Dorfen, who looked like he wanted to say something, the Little One looked up at Olga.

"You’re from Earth too?"

"That’s right."

The giant rabbit embodied the "tehepero" gesture.

What a cute face you have!

Even the little rabbits that had gathered at some point were all imitating the tehepero.

Whoa! This is too cute! What kind of utopia is this?!

Unable to get angry, the Little One writhed in moe agony as the baby rabbits flew around her. The Lords’ Kin, performing a realistic rabbit dance on their hind legs, made it impossible for the surrounding knights to stop their hearts from pounding.

"Aren’t they cute? I taught them myself! See, everyone, great job, great job."

The rabbits even started singing to themselves, tarattarattaratta~♪, and began to dance.

At this point, it was a free-for-all, and the Little One joined in with a Bon Odori.

The knights, caught up in the cute and chaotic scene and able to do nothing but watch, stood there dumbfounded until the rabbits and the Little One were out of breath. Of course, they were burning the delightful sight into their memories.

Later, it was a charming episode when the guardian group, upon hearing this, pushed Romel to miniaturize a recording magic tool to give to the Little One’s squad.

And so, the ingredients that were nearly made into the gods’ banquet unified their will, and each began to move toward rebellion against the Higher Beings.

Their goal is the happiness of their loved ones. Which is to say, the peace of Arcadia. A modest yet grand ambition now begins to move.