kscans

Chapter 66 - Waking Up, and What Laciel Left Behind

I woke up. The ceiling was low, creating a sense of pressure. Last night, I should have collapsed naked on the floor, exhausted, but I was in a bed. The bottom bunk of a bunk bed. I was also wearing clothes. Sunlight streamed in through the window. From the short length of the sunbeams, it must have been around noon. Beside me, Mizuki was sleeping with her back to me. She was wearing a T-shirt and panties. Since I had the opportunity, I gave her butt a little touch.

"Ngh... nnngh..."

Mizuki let out a sound. She sat up with a start, rubbing her eyes and looking around.

"Mash, it's already noon. What are you doing?"

The one who spoke was Cecily. She was sitting in a chair, giving me a cold look. On the table where Laciel had descended last night, there was some bread. I got up and was about to kiss Cecily, but she turned her face away. With no other choice, I grabbed two pieces of bread and handed one to Mizuki.

"Where is everyone else?"

I bit into the bread. It was hard. And dry.

"They went to check on the monster fluids scattered around town, just like you said yesterday, Mash,"

Cecily answered.

"...What was that last night?"

"That was Laciel."

That was the only way I could put it.

"To think I lost to something like that... Well, I definitely understand now that summoning her is a waste of time that only makes you happy, Mash."

Did Cecily think I was summoning Laciel just to do perverted things to her? She was absolutely right, but I felt like I had at least gotten some minimal information this time.

"No, that's not entirely true. When Mizuki and I were summoned, we were first called to her room. I got the video we were supposed to see then. Let's watch it."

A screen materialized in front of me. Mizuki got up and came closer. When I leaned in to kiss her, she readily accepted. After a light touch of our lips, I turned my gaze to the screen, and the video began to play. And there, on the screen, was a reflection of me on a crowded train, fiddling with my smartphone with a faint smirk on my face.

"...Laciel. No, that's not it."

I quietly ended the video.

Cecily washed Mizuki and me, and we got changed. We decided to leave the inn to check on the state of the town. If possible, I wanted to buy something to eat from a street stall. The town was preparing for the monster attack; wooden boards were being nailed over windows, and things on the streets were being cleared away. The stalls were packed up, and most of the shops were closed. The ones that were open were sold out. There was no sense of residents trying to flee the town. It seemed they weren't taking the option of leaving town for a while and coming back after the Big Hoppers had passed.

"You know, when we first met, Mizuki, you were the type to initiate communication, but you haven't been like that recently."

Perhaps because of the video, I was reminiscing about when I first met Mizuki. She had been more proactive than me.

"You've changed too, Mash. You've stopped trying to shut yourself away."

"Even now, if I could, I'd use you as a shield to avoid interacting with people."

I hated the sense of emptiness I felt in my old world, but I still had a desire to cut off my ties with society and become a shut-in. But this wasn't a world that would allow that.

"...That's not going to happen. But I do think you've become more personable, Mash."

"I think that's thanks to you being so willing to talk to me."

And it wasn't just Mizuki. Famu was the same, and so were all the residents of this world.

"In that sense, maybe I'm the same, thanks to you..."

For once, Mizuki's voice dropped in tone.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't know if I should say this, but... after you forcibly kissed me, and especially after you attacked me, I became afraid of men."

"..."

I was at a loss for words. There was no way Mizuki wasn't hurt. Because she had told me herself that she would be my girlfriend and followed me, I hadn't thought about it at all. What was her mental state like? I had no idea. Cecily, who had been listening, sighed.

"Mash. Just how much of a monster are you? And Mizuki, why are you with a man like that?"

"That's... well, yeah. But I think it was really for the best that it was Mash."
Mizuki offered some incomprehensible follow-up.

"How is that for the best? Are you an idiot?"

Cecily let out another heavy sigh. From now on, I'll be kinder to Mizuki. And I'll try to listen to what she says as much as possible.

"About Laciel from last night,"

Mizuki said.

"What about her?"

I replied.

"She was different from when we were first summoned, too. The first time we met, we could say whatever we wanted to her. But with the her that appeared last night, we couldn't ask any of the things we wanted to ask."

In the end, all we learned was that we were told to defeat the Demon Lord again, and that she had given Kalpana a revelation to search for the word of God.

"It's the charm effect Myra mentioned."

"That was certainly a power you couldn't resist,"

Cecily added her thoughts to my reply.

"Isn't it strange? She said something about not being able to adjust her power, but I don't think that's true."

"You're saying that the first time, we weren't under her charm."

Mizuki nodded.

"It's debatable. Myra's words made us aware that she was charming us. But the first time, we weren't aware that our egos were being distorted, so maybe we just think that? We kissed in front of Laciel that time, you know."

"Th-That's because you forced me to!"

In the past, my mind was occupied with lewd thoughts 24/7, just like now, but I didn't have the guts to act on them. It didn't seem like she would believe me, so I kept quiet.

"Besides, it should have been a common understanding among the three of us—Laciel, you, and me—that the explanation at the first summoning was insufficient. Even if you and I were captivated by her charm, she should still be able to explain things to us, right?"

"That's true. She's the one who summoned us. She should want to explain what she wants us to do, but she doesn't seem to want to talk unless we ask."

Come to think of it, Hyakka and Chihiro were in the same situation. Mizuki's words made it seem like it wasn't a coincidence.

"One more thing. Laciel said that there was no form to your... well, that act. And she said it would be different if you made a pact. If you take her words at face value, doesn't it seem like she wanted to confirm something by... doing that... with you, Mash?"

"..."

I tried to recall the conversation before and after we had sex, but I couldn't remember it clearly. I didn't think we had exchanged anything.

"Can we trust Laciel?"

Mizuki murmured. Her words lacked conviction.

"I don't have the answer to that either. I just know she has her own motives. And they might not be for our benefit."

Cecily would probably make fun of me, but I wanted to believe the girl who said she would be my lover.

We arrived at the spot where the pink Big Hopper's carcass had been. The carcass was gone. It had been cleaned up neatly. The holes where the stakes had been driven in were repaired, and the ground was smoothed over. I spotted Hyakka. Chihiro was with her. She seemed to have spotted me too, and headed our way.

"Well, look who decided to show up for work."

We raised our hands and exchanged greetings.

"You know it. I'm the leader of Levante. I'm a big deal."

I puffed out my chest for no reason.

"We moved the monster outside the city, to the west. Looks like the soldiers are gonna attack from the walls."

I wondered if they were going to use crossbows from the walls.

"Is that so? That's reassuring."

I couldn't imagine what kind of tactics they would use, but I nodded along.

"There's someone I want you and Chihiro to meet. Could you come with me for a bit?"

"...This ain't some shady place, is it?"

Despite her words, when I started walking, they began to walk with me.

"How are the city's defenses?"

The area enclosed by the walls was probably a little over a kilometer north-south and east-west. How were they going to defend such a vast area?

"A hundred soldiers will be on defense at the walls. Fifty will guard the palace. The rest will patrol the city. The Guild's adventurers will be with them."

"Doesn't sound like enough to hold."

As expected, that number didn't seem sufficient to cover the entire city.

"It's an all-out war. The citizens will participate too. Gotta protect yourself."
How much of a force would that be? Come to think of it, this was a world with monsters outside the city walls. They should have opportunities to fight with weapons, and they probably had some basic combat training.

"Taxes paid in blood, huh..."

"That's how it's always been. The mercenaries we usually rely on have sensed the mood of war and headed east, so we can't count on them."

So this city relied on mercenaries for its defense. It was probably the same in other cities. A city of this size probably couldn't secure enough tax revenue to maintain its own military force, so they hired mercenaries when needed.

"But we've got a shot at winnin',"

Hyakka continued.

"Really?"

"The nomads. They said this mornin' they'd help defend the city."

So Kalpana had made her move.

"Are they strong?"

"You don't know? The nomads are a bunch who were cursed by a god and driven from their homes. Rumor is they spend their days and nights in combat training, seekin' revenge."

"Sounds like you don't know either, Hyakka."

"Well, yeah."

Hyakka laughed. We arrived at the inn where Kalpana was staying. The usual pair of guards were in the first-floor tavern, so I told them I wanted to speak with her.

"You're a sly one, Mash. You were already acquainted with the nomads."
Hyakka must have recognized them as nomads from their appearance.

"No, they were with us when we first met, remember?"

"I just thought we happened to run into each other,"

Hyakka said. I briefly explained to her how we had met the nomads. As we waited for the two guards to return, Famu, Myra, and Aira entered the tavern.

"We saw you go inside, Master."

"Perfect timing. I wanted to talk to all of you."

I nodded to Famu. My gaze shifted to Myra. Last night, she had failed to resist Laciel's charm and had been sound asleep by herself.

"Myra... are you okay?"

"Um, I'm truly sorry about that. I'm fine now."

Myra bowed her head with a little 'pekori' sound. Just then, the two men returned.

"Kalpana-sama has requested that you come to her room."