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SING CRIER
CH.21 - Serendipity
〖 Location Discovered: Niji〗
〖 Location Discovered: Niji 〗
We open our eyes.
There's a cold and wet feeling.
...
We sit up and shake off the wetness; it's water.
We pull on our sidetails to wring them dry.
「 What would you two like to eat? 」
Our hands stop.
We lock our eyes onto Agehatate.
「 ... 」
『 ... 』
『 ... 』
Agehatate gets up leisurely,
and strolls off towards a whitewater river.
Once at its edge, she leaps over in one bound,
then quickly disappears into a rocky forest.
...We resume wringing out our hair.
Looking around, it seems we're yet again in a whole new area.
We're on a rock -- or rather, a barren island nestled in the middle of a wide river.
That is to say, we're surrounded on all sides by a lot of water, whitewater.
Escape is clearly impossible from here.
Beyond the river is a rocky forest on all sides. There are large rocks, and trees.
There's really nothing else special or outlandish about it compared to earlier forests.
The trees aren't too dense or sparse, not too thick or thin, tall or short...
it's just the kind of regular forest that you see on nature documentaries.
Behind us, a comfortable distance away, is a very large waterfall and a very high cliff.
It's roaring, the mist is just barely out of reach, and whitewater rushes from its base.
The forest continues on at the very top of the cliff.
Lastly, the sky is blue with clouds.
That's the environment.
Does it look nice?
It does.
Any other questions?
That's nice, we're going to continue wringing out our hair.
There's no point in being concerned or trying to figure things out anymore.
We're going to die again, it's inevitable. We're going to wake up somewhere else,
and everything we learned prior is going to become meaningless.
Every interaction that happens next is going to happen again,
and it's honestly too confusing anyway. It's not worth the effort.
Something is dropped in front of us.
「 Fruit, they're safe to eat. 」
Agehatate sits before us with pristine white fur.
There's not a single blemish to imply she ever left.
We stop our hands and glare at her again.
「 ... 」
She lies down and watches us.
It seems she won't go away again with just glaring.
『『 « Identify » 』』
Let's cast it on ourselves.
...
Our mana has dropped to the tens.
It fluctuates like before; 17, 19, 18, 16, 17...
But there's very little magic that can be done with this much.
It seems this iteration of our revival is going to be less exciting.
Double disappointment.
Whatever.
We may as well eat.
Sing will grab a fruit.
There's a lot of different kinds of fruit of various shapes and colours,
it's a bit hard to believe they're all supposed to be safe to eat,
but even if they aren't, it's not as if it will change anything.
How about this green one?
Actually, Sing, that red one looks better?
It also doesn't have spikes so...
Okay, this red one is fine.
Itadakima-
Spit it out, it's awful.
Everything about this fruit is horrible.
Throw the fruit in the river for good measure.
Sing glares at Agehatate.
「 You're welcome to try another. 」
Okay, fine, let's try the spiny green one this time.
Let's just dig our nails into it and slowly pull it apart.
Very slowly, at a rate of one damage per second.
...There.
It's yellow and juicy inside with a fruity fragrance.
Itadakima-
Spit it out, this is worst.
What the heck, all of these fruits are the worst.
Throw this one into the river too.
Sing gets up and kicks all of the other fruit into the river.
Agehatate doesn't move.
『 Sing thinks these fruits are very bad. 』
「 Is that so... 」
The pristine fox pulls herself to her feet again
and begins strolling back to the whitewater river
where she leaps over, returning to the forest.
...
Some birds are flying out from the forest after being disturbed.
Our mana drops to zero at around the same time.
No comment.
While she's out, let's both go to the river as well.
Sing needs to wash out that awful taste.
『 ...Ah. 』
『 What is it? 』
『 Is something... different about your side tail? 』
Crier pats the side of her head.
『 ...It grew back. 』
『 ...? 』
Ah, stop, stop, let's dismiss the fact that her side tail grew back for now.
The big news right now is that there's a memory discrepancy between us.
Sing doesn't have any memories of Crier losing her side tail,
so let's quickly share them all before Agehatate gets back.
It's seriously unpleasant having different memories.
Sing can wash her mouth,
Crier will piece it together in the meantime, okay?
『 Okay... 』
Then... the first discrepancies are... our deaths in Sal'venakai.
I watched you die, Sing. I also saw that red-headed elf's death and was awake for my own.
After all that... I was... angry... so angry... I...
Maybe, it's a good thing... you didn't see any of it.
『 ... 』
Oh, you were... sad because you couldn't help me then...?
Well... I kind of knew already that but...
...
Still, that's sweet of you, Sing.
『 ...Mm. 』
Then, after that...
You woke up before me with... that bug lady and old man.
Polimion? I recognize her, I learned her name too, I think.
You found me in a coffin? So she must have brought us there...
and that old man was the necromancer that reanimated us...
It looks like you went through a whole journey to Agehatate after that, huh?
And Marie? You heard that name along the way? That's a bitter feeling...
『 I don't want to think about that right now. 』
I know, we're just sharing memories.
It's just, that's a bit agitating to learn, you know?
Even if it's just a coincidence, the possibility is...
『 Yeah... 』
Let's move on...
Next, was your battle with Agehatate.
You... couldn't do all that much...
『 ... 』
But it couldn't be helped.
You were dealing with a lot of thoughts -- on top of being undead.
Plus, you were going in blind, right? She might not have behaved like in Myriad Worlds.
So, the fact that you managed to stab her once is a big deal, you know?
Seeing her blood on the knife helped me a lot. You'll see...
You did really good sis...
Thanks for thinking of me...
『 ...It was nothing. 』
Polimion seems nice too.
Sing nods.
After that is... when you died...
『 Let's keep going. 』
...I think my memories come next chronologically.
When I woke up, Polimion and that old man were there too,
but we were at Agehatate's temple already.
The reanimation was really bad though...
I think we had a -60% stat penalty?
『 A bad magic circle. 』
That's the only explanation...
If you're able to cast the skill «Raise Undead»,
it's one hundred percent effective, or zero.
There is no in-between; you can or can't.
If you're not high enough level to cast the skill however,
you can also use a magic circle; same mana cost, but you also need a catalyst.
A bad catalyst for the skill's level, or a poorly drawn circle, and you get penalties.
Neither of us saw our own reanimation so we can't pin the problem,
but it can only be one or both of those things that caused it.
『 What else? 』
Oh, um...
Polimion gave me Jing'ra's dirk, that's when I saw the blood on the blade.
Agehatate implied she killed you so... the first thing I thought was... you know...
That it was you.
That you wounded her with it.
Undead don't bleed, after all.
...You helped me realize then,
she was going to behave like in Myriad Worlds.
I mean, if Agehatate could freely attack
there would be no way we could've land a hit, right?
The only way you could is if she decided to melee you over using magic,
and even then you'd still have to bother hitting her over running away.
But... you knew you couldn't run, right?
If Agehatate's twin foxes fail to mark a target twice in a row,
she enrages and uses an arena-wide instakill attack five times.
That's how I knew what to do right away,
that it was going to play out just like in Myriad Worlds...
『 I see... 』
You really saved me, okay?
It really came down to the wire on that first flame lance.
If I hesitated for even a second longer, I might not have made it.
So please remember, you saved me then, okay?
『 ...I'll remember. 』
Sing pats my head.
『 Thanks a lot, Crier. 』
『 Ehehe... 』
Next... we should keep going...
I got sent into the spirit realm from her marking attack, like you.
You saw that chain as well, right Sing? In both of our memories,
we had chains connected from us, to the coffins, but looking back,
they probably didn't connect to the coffins themselves...
Those chains in the spirit realm... probably connected us to each other.
That just makes a lot more sense, doesn't it? A soul-connecting chain?
『 Mmhmm... 』
I thought so...
Lastly... after that... was the end of my battle.
I grabbed onto one of the twin fox's tails
to bait the other into shooting it.
But I didn't think I'd be able to hold on for as long as I did...
I'm not sure whether Agehatate can freely stop her attack rotation,
or if me holding on for that long enabled her to break out of it,
but, that oversight was pretty much the end of my fight...
『 That's not right. 』
...Huh?
『 What about your sidetail? What happened? 』
That... that memory chronologically connects with mine but...
『 ...I'm taking a look, okay? 』
『 ...Mm, okay. 』
So... Crier, after that... Agehatate pulled you off of the twin fox?
Did your grip loosen because you were surprised?
『 ...That's right. 』
She said that time was up, and that we aren't Devil Twins.
As she talked, you etched two magic circles into the dirk's handle,
and then... you told her that you were Streya.
『 I didn't say that. 』
Even though it's from your perspective?
『 That wasn't me! 』
Crier is making a worried face.
It's your memory...
but you don't remember doing it...
『 ... 』
...Okay, just let me take in everything first.
Streya then cuts off your side tail to use as a catalyst for the magic circle.
She has more than enough mana, so she casts «Mana Barrier».
You don't have that effect right now though, so at some point,
we hit zero mana and the effect fell off...
『 Sing... 』
After lashing out at Agehatate, Streya's pinned down,
and I think... she gets disabled by the morning sunlight,
since we were both undead at the time.
...And that's the end the memory.
It's done, memories are synchronized.
Crier is squeezing her head.
I sit close and hold her.
『 Sing... I... don't like that memory... 』
『 It's okay... we're done. It's okay now. 』
Our mana suddenly starts to rise again.
Agehatate appears from the forest,
leaps across the river, and lands next to us.
Sing pulls Crier away.
「 ... 」
A leaf wrapped blob is dropped on the ground.
It naturally unfurls, revealing a slab of raw meat.
It's just a slab.
There's no bones or anything.
It's a slab of raw red meat.
『『 ... 』』
「 ...What is it? Do you eat rocks? 」
『 Meat is... 』『 ...fine... 』
...Agehatate walks off, towards the end of the island nearest to the waterfall,
but that's all we catch. The gelatinous redness is devouring our attention.
...
...
...
...We break away to glance over our shoulders.
Agehatate is lying down with her back turned.
...
...Silently, we pull ourselves forward
to sit directly in front of the glistening slab.
Our stomachs growl.
We glance over our shoulders again.
Agehatate doesn't seem to have moved.
『 ... 』
Crier rubs her eyes
as Sing pokes the red blob.
Squish.
With the help of our true damage,
Sing manages to pinch and tear out a small piece.
The way it tears is strangely enthralling.
...Nom.
Sing pinches another small piece and hands it to Crier.
...Nom!
We pull out more marble-sized pieces and chew silently.
It's juicy, really easy to chew, and kind of rings in our cheeks.
There's something about biting into it that is completely entrancing.
Even though it's raw... it's somehow...
『 ... 』
Crier peeks over her shoulder.
Agehatate has rolled over.
Eye contact is made.
Abort.
Wait.
...Maybe she sleeps with her eyes open.
Agehatate gets up and walks towards us.
Mission failed. Abort.
Destroy the evidence.
Sing picks up the meat to throw it,
but it's heavier than expected.
It lands on the river's edge with a splat,
and slowly rolls off the ledge into the water.
Plunk.
Agehatate stops in front of Sing,
bowing her head close.
『 ... 』
「 ... 」
『 ... 』
A fish leaps out of the water in the silence.
The giant fox sighs, and pulls her head back,
sitting calmly next to Crier.
「 Listen... 」
Her tone is gentler than usual,
for once, she's not speaking with authority.
「 Those simple feelings you two had just now, are good for you.
「 Worrying about your next meal, where you are going to sleep next,
「 or how to avoid the big bad fox. That is what you two should be doing.
「 I do not want you two to worry about complex things, such as the future,
「 who you are... or who you are meant to be. 」
We blink.
Agehatate closes her eyes.
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「 ...One day, those talks will come. They are sooner than I would like...
「 but... until that day, all you two should be worrying about are the moments.
「 Because as your guardian... it is my job to worry about your futures.」
She gets up and strolls back to the far end of the island
where the mist spreads in all directions,
but stops just short of touching her.
「 So if you so please... whenever you two have finished your silent protest,
「 I am here to help you. To answer your questions, and ease your worries... 」
Sing... carefully sits down.
「 ...That is what I am here for. 」
Crier gets up a bit and sits down next to Sing.
There is a large distance between us and Agehatate,
but the air is suddenly strained nonetheless.
We huddle against each other.
The roar of the waterfall fills the air again.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully.
We couldn't say anything.
[END]