Chapter 134: You’ve changed a lot since I last saw you, Leon (5)
“Hmmm… I rember that.”
Climbing onto my lap, Rei’s tiny hand clutched the necklace around my neck.
It was none other than a necklace that she had a deep connection to, “The Hero’s Favor Necklace.”
“…Where did you get this?”
“I got it from the Innocence Academy.”
“Ha, that Hubert guy… Just when I thought he was doing sothing useless as usual, he was planning sothing like this…”
Rei laughed at that, but then her eyes beca solemn as she looked at the necklace.
I wonder if she’s rembering the old tis.
“…Do you want to tell you what happened to them after that…?”
“…”
Rei nods quietly.
“It’s a story that has been told, but…”
I trailed off, recounting the aftermath of the hero death and the mbers of the hero party.
Rei listened intently, she was eager to hear every detail of her companions’ stories, and she asked questions if she had any.
By the end of the story, Rei had a look of complete reminiscence on her face.
Rei laughed out loud, especially when I told her that Dregonot, the hardy northern warrior who served as the party’s tank, run into the demon lands, inflicted massive damage on the demons, and died on the battlefield.
Thank goodness, the mbers of the Heroic Party had died happily on their own terms, praised for their deeds.
The only thing is, they’re all dead now.
They can’t even et their descendants.
“I see… Did they all go back to the land…?”
‘It’s been hundreds of years.’
True, one of her old companions, the Sage, might still be alive in the deepest reaches of the Labyrinth, but his survival was not information I could provide.
I don’t know if the Sage will realize that the Hero has arrived and show himself or not, but if he does, they’ll have a long talk.
It didn’t really matter, since the sage wasn’t going to chase the hero away anyway.
“So there are ‘few’ who rember now, then.”
“What do you an…?”
I asked, questioning her words.
Not many beings can live for hundreds of years, only elves and dragons, at most.
“There must be demons who rember . How ironic.”
When I scratch my head at Rei’s comnt, she adds.
“I an the Elders.”
“Elders… I’ve heard of such a thing, but were they beings that could live for hundreds of years?”
“Hundreds of years? I don’t know exactly how many years they can live. What I do know is that they knew a hero before , and since I didn’t have the mories of my previous life like I do now, I didn’t even realize it was . I think they’re still alive, though, although I don’t know if that’s the right word for it, but…”
“Why?”
“Because the ‘elder’ I t was nothing more than a big hunk of at.”
“A hunk of at…?”
The words don’t paint a picture.
“That’s the only way I can describe it. It didn’t have a mouth to speak of, but it could communicate, and even then, I killed it after only a few words… There must be so Elders left, for there are many of them.”
“Hmm…”
That was interesting.
At the very least, I’d have to go to the Demon Lands to et them, but unfortunately, I couldn’t set foot in the Demon Lands in the ga, so I didn’t have much information.
I hear the sound of candy rolling in her mouth, and Rei steps away from .
She asks to let her be a “hero” in the privacy of her own ho, away from prying ears.
Of course I said yes.
As long as she could play the part when needed, I was fine with it.
Sierra was looking at Rei curiously in this bizarre situation.
Watching her sit still in the wagon and pet Sheddie, Sierra asked when she would be able to beco a true hero, and I relayed that to her.
“…the Master asks.”
I told Rei about Sierra’s relationship with .
She would probably be living with in the dormitory, so it was better to share any secrets that might make her uncomfortable.
“…Hmm, well, I haven’t even made contact with a Light Elental yet… and I don’t think I can handle the Holy Sword properly, at least not with my current body.”
Hearing Rei’s answer, Sierra nods slightly. They can’t interact with each other, so they have to go through to communicate.
To summarize, she needs to ‘grow up’ in more ways than one.
Well, the resurrection of the Demon King is still a long way off, so I guess it’s not sothing I need to worry about right now.
“Did I ntion our destination is the desert? Did this Hubert guy build his academy in the desert?”
Rei asked, looking out of the carriage.
It was too late to ask now that they were already in the desert.
“Not really, I have one more sister to take to the academy, haha…”
“…A younger sister?”
Rei’s eyes widen.
If all goes according to my plan, Rei and Geppeti will be living together in my dormitory.
Rei is in front of now, and all I have to do is go to the desert and fetch Geppeti.
I don’t have much trouble getting them, the problem was how to introduce them to each other.
My choice ca down to ‘nothing to hide, everything to reveal’.
Two fake sisters….A reincarnated hero who had never been a woman and an artificial intelligence who had never been human.
A hero who could teach her what it ans to be human, and an A.I. who could teach her what it ans to be a sister through data.
I realized that they had a lot to learn from each other.
“…She’s not a real sister.”
“Then what is she?”
“She’s more like you.”
“Hey, brother, I can’t understand you. Are you saying there was another hero besides ?”
Rei asked, still speaking in the tone of the hero, only using the word brother in moderation.
“It doesn’t an that, it ans that she’s a fake sister.”
“Ah… what happened to her…?”
Rei, who was petting Sheddie in her arms, asked in a sad voice.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to take her with us. She’s human, for one thing, but she’s not technically human.”
“…”
Rei looks at in disbelief, her mouth hanging open at my vague explanation.
“Hmm… It’s more like a highly intelligent, self-aware golem, but she’s human.”
“……”
Suddenly, Rei frowns.
It was quite similar to Sierra’s reaction to the explanation a while ago.
I couldn’t help myself.
I think I explained it as well as I could.
Geppeti was an alien to this world. Well, not necessarily in this fantasy world, but still.
“You’ll get to know her when you et her.”
“……You have two sisters who aren’t related by blood… That ‘setting’ doesn’t change?”
“Yes, the setting will remain the sa, and I’m sure she’ll do an excellent job of playing the younger sister. You’ll need to take a cue from her, hero.”
“…To be on the safe side, I’ll defer to my ‘brother’ for now.”
Rei clenches her jaw and puffs out her chubby cheeks, then stares out the window with a sullen expression.
I don’t think I need to ask her for anything since Geppeti will learn to be human just by being around her.
After all, she saved the world and there’s a lot to learn from her.
I could teach her, but she’d probably have more ti alone with Rei than with , an Academy cadet.
‘I hope they can be a good influence on each other…’
***
“Checking physical condition.”
The sphere in my mind made a sound.
“According to self-diagnosis, body temperature is within the normal range. The current heart rate is 80 but I need to make sure that all parts are working properly.”
With that, the sphere opens with a puff of smoke.
Push.
Thud.
A flawless, pure white leg erges from the sphere, clearing the smoke.
As if she’s used to it, she pushes herself up and out of the sphere.
It’s her first ti on the ground, but the red eyes of the girl, with her pure silver hair brushed back, show no emotion other than admiration or fear.
“Testing range of motion.”
The girl shuffled forward, moving her arms but a sharp piece of scrap tal on the floor leaves a mark on her foot.
“Minor damage to left foot. No problem moving around.”
The girl looks at her wounded foot is covered in red blood with a nonchalant expression on her face.
“Body reactions are also normal. Ending check. Main system ‘Geppeti’, startup.”
The girl falls into a stupor, her head facing forward.
She blinked a few tis as she stared blankly into space, but it wasn’t long before she ca to her senses.
“…”
Geppeti lowers her head and looks down at her hands.
A dark shade is etched on her face, which had previously been devoid of any emotion and the girl’s breathing quickens.
Geppeti senses that her stress levels are rising.
It was an abnormal reaction, but in a way, it was a very normal reaction.
As an inanimate object, she had ‘feelings’; now that she had a body, she was naturally having emotional physical reactions.
The amount of data she had learned about ‘sisters’ at Zetto’s command was quite extensive.
However, once she gained emotions, Geppeti made one error or, more accurately, a conflict with the ‘learning’ she had been doing.
The emotions she had learned from her master, Zetto, were negative: anxiety, confusion, and nervousness.
When Zetto left her side after 200 years of waiting, this led to anxiety and Geppeti was confused by this anxiety.
She wondered if she would be abandoned.
How much longer would she have to wait?
Would Zetto really co back to her?
“Now we can et…”
And with that, a new Geppeti was born, with the body of a human being.
“…Brother.”
Geppeti mumbles, her face suddenly brightening.
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