Chapter 755: Cloudy Night Sky: The Gaze of an Outlaw

Five days after that.

I had finished my final exams without logging into ShanFro even once......... and, I was currently suffering an after-school summons from our school's morally sensitive English teacher, Oosuga Makiko-sensei.

"........ Hizutome-kun. Do you understand the reason you were called here?"

"Ah...... well, yes. For the most part."

I was already called in by my Japanese History teacher this morning, after all.

"Ye......s, this sort of thing is not very...... good, but. This time, Hizutome-kun's test score is...... very, very bad."

"......Is it a failing grade?"

"No...... it is not a Fail, but...... it is very low. Did something happen?"

Did something happen......... huh.

Well, on the first day, I was...... to put it mildly, in a completely useless state. I probably didn't even have the concentration to thread a needle.

When I later found out about the update details regarding the system changes, even I ended up kicking a trash can. Since I only found out about it five minutes before the test started, the equipment I dropped was probably long gone by now, making me wonder if that update info in the convenience store magazine really was that shocking......... or rather, there was no way I could have mentally reset right after that just by telling myself, "I have a test tomorrow so let's just go to sleep for now."

"No, something did happen, but I've already resolved it. I just couldn't concentrate on the first day of the tests no matter what......"

".........I under, stand. Hizutome-kun is aiming for Raiou University, correct? With this current loss of points, it will be difficult, but...... if it's the usual Hizutome-kun, it will be No problem.!"

"I'm glad to get your seal of approval, sensei. Well then, excuse me......"

"Ye, s. One last thing."

Hm?

"The final essay question...... there were some spelling mistakes, but it was very good. The Sentence and Hook as well, but...... especially the Conclusion. If not for the essay question...... it would have been a Fail."

"I'm a man burning with 'righteous indignation,' after all."

I submitted the essay I had memorized beforehand with an additional sentence added to it, so I'm glad it paid off.

───In conclusion...... we must, first and foremost, conquer ourselves and control ourselves.

Normally, I don't write essays actually believing that from the bottom of my heart, but just this once, I think it's absolutely true.

First, I have to conquer myself.

◆

It's my first login in exactly five days. I suppose the reason I don't feel refreshed is because it's a cloudy night right now. A player's eyes get off with just seeing things as dimly lit thanks to visual correction, but normally, it would probably be a pitch-black darkness where you couldn't see an inch ahead.

"......ContractorMaster."

"Yo, Saina...... what happened after that?"

"Report: This unitI forced several armaments into overdrive, and at the time of re-storage, transported the two target Goldunines and Wimp to the frontline base 'Sea Serpent's Apple'."

"Not bad."

"However, because of the re-storage at that point......"

She doesn't know what happened after that, huh.

I see......... if they made it all the way to the Sea Serpent's Apple, there should be plenty of guys who know the details of what happened next.

On the way to the "Sea Serpent's Apple" from the save point inside the Leviathan, I checked the result of going through that battle.

First of all, pretty much everything I had equipped at the time was lost...... my mask, the Brilliant Scorpion Gauntlets, the Levin Trigger: Hazard...... well, I was prepared for it, but still......... hmmm......... even though I'm used to it from Bakumatsu, it still stings. But what's lost is lost; I'll probably drag this out a bit longer, but I have no choice but to switch gears.

"Alright, gears switched."

"?"

"Just talking to myself."

For now, the next time I see that PK woman, I'm going to beat her down. I don't know if she specializes in first-time kills, but she's got some nerve; she definitely has an aptitude for the End-of-the-Century Round Table. Conversely, she probably wouldn't be suited for Bakumatsu.

Anyway, I have a mountain of things to do, and even though I cleared a few of them, the past me got the order wrong. I misunderstood simply because things were going smoothly until I went to the Dwarves' place.

The Reverse Position is a wedge stabbed right into the heart of the character "Sunraku"; leaving it alone was my biggest mistake.

Idiot, I've been fighting with a build predicated on "The Fool" this whole time, so there was no way I could win when its performance was completely reversed. Thinking I could somehow manage by reinforcing myself with accessories, chief among them the Levin Trigger: Hazard, was the beginning of my mistakes.

"Not seriously thinking about a strategy in the first place was where everything started going wrong."

What did that Shitty Old ManArcanum say again? Right, "Overcome the trial, and discover the 'Truth' degraded into blackness. The answer is always with you" or something like that...... oops, looks like I arrived at the Sea Serpent's Apple while lost in thought.

".........Hm?"

It was a frontline base that had been attacked by the Nagas, but humanity had already overcome an assault of 6 Dragons vs a Human Army brawling it out—an event that wouldn't have been out of place as a final boss battle depending on the game.

While there was some damage, the frontline base, which could essentially be called unscathed, was already completing its reconstruction with five days having passed.

However, there are some exceptions.

For example, in ShanFro, nighttime light sources are typically glowing moss or ores suited for fantasy, but when those are absent, primitive lighting using fire is naturally employed.

For example, just like how the Sea Serpent's Apple—which is nominally a "hangout for outlaws"—still hasn't replenished the glowing moss lights damaged in the Naga attack, and is instead illuminating its entrance with bonfires.

"............"

"Is something wrong, ContractorMaster?"

───The wind blew.

It was so feeble that it couldn't possibly blow away the clouds covering the entire sky, a weak wind that merely brushed against my cheek lightly before passing by.

That was it, just that simple breeze......

"......Hah."

Showed me the answer.

"How incredibly...... cliché........."

"Ah, hey Sunraku! What happened to you!?"

"Yo, Survival. I just got caught in a shitty forced-loss event."

"A forced-loss event...... is it the kind of forced-loss event where both your legs get torn off and one of your arms gets blown away?"

"Listen and be amazed, it was three of the giant snakes that attacked this place."

"......Haha, seriously?"

"By the way, what about those three?"

............

I see.

Wimp is locked up in her room at the Sea Serpent's Apple and won't come out.

And as for the other two, the respawned Ougasei and Shiyu took them to the Church to seek asylum, huh. I'm surprised they were accepted; well, at the very least, the Royal Guards have now learned about Goldunine the Inexhaustible's Unique Scenario...... not that it matters anymore.

"........."

"Ah, hey, where are you going, Sunraku?"

"I feel like I'm a bit short on parameters...... Saina, I think it's pointless, but try approaching Wimp to see if she responds."

"Question: Where is ContractorMaster heading?"

"Well......... you know, I'm just going to quickly clear a couple of tasks and then go settle a little brotherly quarrel."

......

............

..............

◇

Survival had been thinking about going to sleep soon, but after seeing Sunraku in such an unusual state, his curiosity got the better of him and he completely lost track of when to log off.

"Goldunine the Inexhaustible, huh......"

Unfortunately, Survival was unable to participate in the "event where snakes so massive you had to look up at them attacked the frontline base." The reason was simply that he took too long getting his pet cat vaccinated and arrived home late, but it seemed the giant snakes in question weren't just a simple attack, but were related to a much grander taleUnique Scenario EX.

Seeing the hype on SNS, Survival hastily logged in, only to witness the moment Sunraku's contracted Conquista Doll—who had likely forced herself to fly all the way to the "Sea Serpent's Apple" in a semi-rampaging state—disappeared.

And from Survival's perspective, he also saw the figures of severely injured people who brought back quite a bit of nostalgia. During the five days Sunraku hadn't logged in, the two Goldunines had left this establishment, and as for Wimp, she had locked herself in her room and hadn't come out even once.

Just what exactly had happened, and where did Sunraku go after logging in without even bothering to go see Wimp?

Was it also related to the fact that the "disappearing white snake" was nowhere to be found?

It was exactly 8 hours and 30 minutes later when Sunraku, who at the very least should know the answer to that, finally returned.

"............"

"Uwah!?"

A player from the 【Dress-Up Tias-chan Squad】 instinctively let out a scream at the figure of the black tatters that swayed into the "Sea Serpent's Apple."

With that as a signal, the players who turned around wondering what was going on reacted in various ways, from screaming similarly to being rendered speechless......

Survival was laughing.

"Oi, oi, oi...... you're pretty battered up, ain't ya, Sunraku."

"Aah...... well, you know, I just came back from a solo clear."

A solo clear. In other words, Sunraku—whose appearance had completely changed from when he left, right down to his gender, let alone the presence or absence of injuries—answered Survival's question without hiding his exhaustion.

A pitch-black mourning dress. The transformation item "R.I.P." dropped by True Quiet, which spawns triggered by the mass despawn of monsters. Sunraku, wearing it, answered that he had probably been fighting non-stop for nearly eight hours against an enemy capable of shredding it to pieces until not a trace of its original shape remained.

Although his appearance was miserable...... no, precisely because it was miserable, Survival saw the little girl from that day in the eyes peering through the veil that was half-missing.

"Well, this should be enough......"

Swaying unsteadily, looking as though he might collapse at any moment, yet simultaneously giving off the contradictory impression that he absolutely would not fall, Sunraku climbed the stairs toward the room given to Wimp.

There was no one with enough courage to stop him. Even Survival saw Sunraku off without trying to forcefully stop him.

"Ku, kukukukuku......"

"S-Saba-san?"

"Hah? What is it?"

"No...... it's just that you started laughing out of nowhere......"

"Ah, don't worry about it. I was just remembering something funny."

He had seen a nostalgic face.

He couldn't possibly mistake it, because "Vival" had been killed by those eyes countless times, and had killed them countless times in return.

Author's Afterword

I Usurped, but I won't Usurp.