Back at my house, I introduce Dal to Y and vice versa.
Y's skeletal metal tails begin to crack, making sinister sounds. She opens her eyelids and rushes to study the newcomer in every detail.
“Wow! But I don't know these materials!”, “But these abilities!?” “Amazing, can you resist N's Scan!? luckily, mine is superior! N, his job is Unholy paladin—Oh, you already knew that? Well, you also knew—”
While they get to know each other, I go onto the veranda. Some time has passed, and there are deceased people to judge.
They wander around the desert. Some of them slowly, shuffling, others with greater vigor.
The wind intensified. It is not something I can understand on my own. The distance is still too much. Surface sand moves on the first steps of the veranda.
Ci-cin.
Corals have also increased. The times when the desert was the limitless black lake of my childhood have disappeared.
The ash is still there. The membrane as well. What has changed is the atmosphere. The error grows luxuriantly and generates a series of coral atolls in the sand.
It is destined to expand.
Until everything is an amalgam of corrupted materials.
Who knows what will happen to me, the deceased, the undead, and the other living then?
Can Irferno not live in those conditions? And the gargoyle lords? And can I live there as an immortal? What about Gron and all the sleepers?
Y's voice has raised, and I hear her exclaiming something. I look at the figures on the horizon, in the orange light with their hair and hair blowing in the wind.
I have to roll up my sleeves.
[Dungeon path]
♦
Finished!
The last being, a sort of spider hyena, is disappearing into the vast crypt beneath the desert.
[Dungeon path]
I go back to my room. Voices in the background are chatting happily, and I recognize them.
Gron, Dal, and Y.
Before joining them in the dining room, I check the condition of my sapphire sword in the kitchen.
On the table, the blade is perfectly reconstituted. Its side remains the umbrella sheath.
I grab the hilt and raise the sword, bringing it closer to my face.
The calm waves that run on the surface, illuminating the surrounding space, relax me.
It is a light blade, which I am used to by now.
Affectionate.
I cannot say it is a part of me. Not in the sense that Dal-Dazzer would mean, at least. However, in other respects it is.
This blade is a gift, an ornament, and a working tool. I am happy that it is back in great shape.
I also pick up the umbrella and sheath the blade.
The light disappears. Sigh.
I put the weapon back on the table. From the door, I look at the room.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Y and Dal-Dazzer are playing chess, and now that I look closely, most of the coral encrustations are gone.
In my absence, Y must have worked hard to clean up the internal environment.
I take a step forward and stop.
Gron is in the kitchen doorway looking at me.
I am about to say something, but as soon as I move my lips, Gron turns and goes into the other room.
I leave it alone. I imagine it wanted to make me understand that it remembers our pact, even if I have forgotten it.
The pact states that I can now judge Gron.
I shake my head. I rub my hands.
We'll talk about it later.
I move into the next room. “Hi!”
From the three-quarter turn, Dal is not wearing a helmet at the moment. It is leaning on the ground next to him.
“Hello, N.”
Y does not look up from the board, too busy thinking about her next move. Four of her tails float gracefully, while two alternately click with their snouts on the floor.
They rest slowly, producing a faint but timed noise with the precision of a clock.
Peering at the board as I get closer, I see that the situation is not defined at all.
They are grappling with a very complex defensive position.
I sink on my heels beside them, not having a cushion to sit on within easy reach.
“Er… I'm done.”
Y does not turn around. She nibbles on her thumbnail. “N, did the warning appear?”
I nod. Silence falls.
Not turning around, she did not see me nod. Sigh. “Yes, I saw.”
“Hmm… eh, I found it!” Y moves the [W] and sacrifices a [f] to make it move again and eat an opponent's [K].
Hmm, strange choice considering that she will now lose her [S].
“Anyway. If you saw it, it means the System now recognizes it as hostile. It took a while. Operating on a cosmic scale is… oh well, never mind. I mean, it's fine.”
“Yes. But having it as an enemy is useless for now. Until the Interface banner appears, what do we do?”
“Hmm… shall we power up Dal?”
I look at Dal. He lowers his head in reverence. I look back at Y. She grimaces, seeing Dal ignore [S] to get a trivial [f] away from them.
It is a trap. Or a branch of the game discarded a priori. Due to an error of judgment.
My tail hisses.
“Did she explain to you?” I look at Dal's thoughtful face. He nods.
“She explained to me, she explained to me.” Y moves a [f]. “I think with some Dry Flare and some of those Holy Explosives leftover… Yeah, maybe I can synthesize something. Aky will be able to get excellent material out of it.”
“Aky?”
“Akmhul, abbreviated Aky, N. Friendly Y has decided to call me that, but you can continue to call me whatever you like.”
Dal is more relaxed than when we first met. He no longer has contracted muscles. Even the speech, although reverent, is more fluid.
I look back at Y. She holds back a squeal of satisfaction as she sacrifices the pieces to get a freshly eaten [K].
Ci-cin.
“So?” My question seems to fall on deaf ears.
Y looks at me distractedly.
“As soon as we're ready, take Aky to get some Dry Flame. You can find it in warehouse fifteen northwest of the plant where we met. Follow the headlights on row five, the big pipeline, you can't go wrong. Extracting it would be too complex, the excavating undead could be malfunctioning or—NO!”
Y prunes hands to her face while Dal eats her [W] and gives a check.
“So then?”
“So, there is time. Irferno, until it reaches the Interface, it is as if it did not exist. Unless you encounter it by chance, you just need to equip yourself patiently. While you gather the materials and get ready, I will work directly on one last safety line. Directly on the Interface.”
Y's distracted tone is annoying. I know we have time, and there is no rush. I also know that I, for one, often experience emotions that are not suited to the situation...
However…
“Y.”
“So what?” Y is sweating, and a drop falls from her forehead onto her thigh.
“When will you be ready?”
I do not finish the sentence until I notice Dal making several small bows of her head. I get the feeling he's apologizing.
But—
“When we finish the game.”
♦
In the wind on the porch, I caress Gron waiting for those two to stop playing.
“Dal realizes the situation, but just as he doesn't want to upset me, he doesn't want to upset Y either.”
“Don't worry. It's just the opposite. Mortals are in a hurry, in a frenzy. This is because they have little time. It escapes from their hands like the ash of the desert escapes from me.”
“How poetic you are. My influence is starting to be felt. Prr.”
“How silly you are.”
I let Gron climb down from my legs.
“N, after we solve this problem…”
“I know. I'm sorry I don't remember anything about you. For some things, I have inklings. But for others, it's as if I had never been there. Memories from which you are removed, more or less surgically.”
“Well, I remember this place. Your house.” It looks at the desert, the tornado in the distance. “It's completely different up here. When it rained, this place was calm. Absolute desolation. A desolation where I met a special companion. An adventuress looking for a party and—prrr.”
I got up and picked up the cat.
I sense Gron's sorrow, its melancholy. I feel very sorry for it. I am sure if it were a humanoid, it would be crying.
But I do not remember.
I do not really remember. And this stuns me. How can someone I barely know be so attached to me?
“Gron…”
“Prr…”
“I—”
Ci-cin!
“YEESSS! I WIN! HAHAHAHAHA, eons must pass before you can win against me!!!”
My hairs stand on end. Gron grins.
“She won.”
“Yeah. Y won.”