During that night, rleen told about everything. She briefly narrated her tale. Although the third perspective voice was there, I still understood her story.
"It must have been rough" That phrase was the only thing I could mutter after hearing the entire plot of her book.
If I were in rleen's position, I would have thought and done the sa thing. We were still humans at the end of the day and ti. All of us will make mistakes no matter how small they are. We did not have to save and reload, unlike in the ga.
It was when a spark kindled the heart inside of , telling that the world was not a ga Magique was not a world created by the ga developers anymore, but an actual world where people could die where I could die.
"Despite your trauma, you finally cast a spell, right?"
"E-Eh? No, no! rleen didn't do that! You saw nothing!" The girl retorted, and scrambled away behind the rock. "rleen did not use magic rleen despises magic. Magic was the one who killed my parents."
She kept going on with that false information. However, I knew no words could cure the ntal damage done inside rleen's brain. All I could do right now was listen to her story.
"Casting magic before was sothing I would like to call 'baby steps,' in my world. If you can do that now, I think you'd beco fine soon,"
After our exchange, the two of us fell silent once again. Our eyes hovered at the crisping fire in front of us, with the ashes crumbling from the twigs. That sound was the only thing that kept us company from this lonely night.
But that silence ended after a few minutes. rleen shuffled beside and stole so glimpses at my figure, wondering sothing inside her head. She thought I would not notice her actions. And yet, I did.
That sparked my interest, wailing inside of .
"How about you? Did sothing happen before rleen found you in the lake?" the wizard girl asked, with her eyes locked into mine.
By the looks of her face, she wanted to learn more about . After telling her story, rleen wanted a piece of as if we were working as partners.
I fiddled my hands around Clarent while I pondered my tale. My eyes kept looking at the dark sky, with only the stars illuminating the night. All my breaths beca audible to our ears, but I continued telling my story.
rleen's eyes widened at every climax I told. I even ntioned to her I was not a part of this world. That girl believed and questioned nothing, except for
"But you're already a hero for rleen? You saved rleen, rember?"
Those words cracked the shell inside my heart, breaking the crumbling inner confidence left inside. I did not know what to say at first. But as the seconds went by, I finally took an inhale and answered.
"No. You must be kidding. I always run away whenever I feel troubled," I confessed, despite looking uncool in everyone's eye.
However, rleen continued retorting while shaking her head. She refused to believe the phrase I ntioned as she covered my mouth with her hand.
"Mhm, you're a hero for rleen! If you did not co to rleen's rescue, rleen could've been dead already!"
That sentence rleen ntioned peeled my clam open. For the first ti in my life, I finally saw the colour surrounding my world.
It was not just black and white. The realm had a myriad of colours filling the environnt.
"Hmmm," rleen continued, and humd to herself. Within a matter of seconds, she turned to again and exclaid. "Thank you for saving rleen, hero!"
A warm sensation surged through my cheeks, and the butterflies I desperately contained let loose. The candle disappeared and replaced itself with a glowing ember that looked more like a lantern. The light that ca from the illuminating source paved the road ahead.
Everything beca crystal before .
"Hmm? Arthur, are you crying?"
rleen's voice woke up from this nightmare as the girl in front of pointed such a thing out loud. If I were still inside my school, my classmates would have made fun of right now. But this girl found my lost self in a different light.
My lost self that got lost inside the abyss, which we called "life." And yet, here I was, alive.
"You're so cute! rleen likes you!"
"Heh Is that so?" I replied. I couldn't handle my excitent and went with the current mood. "Thank you for saving too."
rleen tilted her head to the side and asked, "How co rleen saved you when rleen did nothing? rleen is a useless gi-."
Before she could even continue her sentence, I leapt at her fore and covered her mouth. rleen had a surprised expression carved on her face as she witnessed my figure jolting from my seat.
It was the first ti that my head boiled. I was not mad at her or anything at all. My brain just did not like rleen's words.
"You will never call yourself useless ever again! Did I make myself clear, rleen Sylvestris?!"
"Y-Yes!"
Upon hearing that phrase, we ended the conversation.
.....
The two of us woke like early birds hunting for worms. As the sun ca out, the world beca livelier than before.
A flock of weird-looking birds flew from the sky, with their predator heeling them behind. Dozens of sounds ca from dostic animals echoed in the forest. Those voices also served us as our alarm clock for waking up.
rleen was already awake when I opened my eyes. She packed all of her things. And before I knew it, all the equipnt that ssed up the scene went into her handmade basket.
"Did you bring that here before we even t?" I could not help but ask.
rleen gave a nod and replied, "Yup! rleen needs sothing like this to survive in the forest! If rleen did not make all of this, rleen would be de-,"
"I don't want to hear about it. Not a single word, rleen!"
"Y-Yes!"
I went to her house and helped her organize her things. All the tools looked different from the ones I recalled back on Earth. I could only guess that these were the ones that primitive people used.
"How did you learn to use these?" It was what people said, "curiosity got the cat." It might have been darker than that
"It's a secret!" rleen answered. But as soon as she saw my stern face, she reverted to her usual self and added. "No, no! rleen's sorry rleen learned about this from rleen's mother! She was the best at surviving in the wild!"
I did not want to press on that topic, since it felt eerie. What kind of parent would teach soone to live in the wild? It made little sense at all!
After we finished packing all of our stuff, rleen fiddled with a ring on her finger. My eyes blinked a dozen tis before recalling the item that she had.
"D-Don't tell ," I gasped.
"Hmm?" rleen mumbled. She heard nothing but my incoherent words as if scheming a hideous plan. But she noticed grumbling about sothing, which struck her curiosity.
Even without her telling the contents of that ring, I already knew the item's features! That ring could store any item that the player holds. Players could only unlock that attribute upon reaching a higher level.
Since the ga concluded that storing items throughout the journey was just an overpowered ability. Those ga developers tried nerfing that part as well, but they failed in the end.
I always cursed those people in charge of Magique, since they were all idiotic animals that knew nothing but made our efforts vigorous.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Arthur? You look like you've seen a ghost."
rleen was not wrong about that. That ring also had the na "ghost" before it got released.
"That ring that you have there Where did you get that?" I straightforwardly asked.
"Oh, this? rleen created it!" the wizard girl let out a faint chuckle. "rleen thought that carrying things around was a drag. So rleen made an item that could carry rleen's stuff! rleen did not consider this as using magic. Magical items have unique descriptions, after all! rleen guess you know rleen's secret! Don't tell anyone, okay?"
"You made this all by yourself?" I pressed once more.
rleen gave a nod. "Yes! Is that bad?"
"No just surprised."
I was more than surprised. This girl was way ahead of her ti, building sothing that even the ga developers thought was extre. People in this world considered this ring as a valuable treasure. Even the players would fight a war if they knew a kingdom wielded sothing like this ring.
An icy shiver flowed through my spine as I imagined things that rleen's mind could create. Who the heck was rleen. She was too powerful, even for .
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