Ch.69Reunion (2)

It wasn’t a simple decision to make.

I’m not saying this because I’ve lived long and grown wise, but because that’s just how human hearts are.

Meeting family after being separated for 10 years—especially when the parting wasn’t pleasant, or rather, there wasn’t even a proper ending—required quite a bit of mental preparation.

At least that’s what I thought, but my world revolved around my perception, so I was the best and I was the answer.

Therefore, I didn’t need to convince myself that mental preparation was necessary.

The problem was convincing Melody.

“Preparation?”

As far as I knew, bards were skilled at persuading and coaxing others.

“It’s fine. Your sister isn’t that difficult a person, and she’s not the Guardian anymore, right?”

Part of the reason was that I didn’t have much ground to argue.

How could I explain that I came from another world, that my sister created Lucilla in that other world, and that Guardian Lucilla might be my sister? That fact was holding me back.

I wasn’t confident I could convince Melody of that. My way with words wasn’t particularly impressive.

What an awkward situation this was.

“Ruwellin?”

“I’m a bit tired, so maybe we could meet later…”

“I can heal you, you know.”

Even my excuses didn’t work. The fact that Melody was an almost omnipotent bard who could do just about anything was the real obstacle.

“I understand it’s uncomfortable, but your sister has wanted to see you at least once.”

“Me?”

I hesitated with a doubtful thought, but her answer was different from what I expected.

“Yes. You’re the first homunculus friendly to humans besides my sister.”

So that was the reason. As I quieted down, deflated, Melody chuckled.

“But are you really going to do this after coming all this way?”

I had nothing to say.

I was already at the Temple of All Gods. Specifically, in the residential area called the “Nest.”

I had come up from the teleporter on the third basement floor and was now standing with Melody at the dock, looking down at the temple.

It had seemed quite high when I first came up, but the sky was clear now, perhaps because the clouds had calmed.

Because of that, the temple was starkly visible.

What was once just an abandoned temple now had many people visibly moving about.

It was filled with tents, and occasionally there were even small huts.

“Actually, we arrived quite a while ago, but it took time to learn and use that teleportation device. I’m the only one who can use magic.”

So that’s how it became like this. I stared blankly at the temple that had transformed into a residential area.

“The Guardian…”

“She’s not the Guardian anymore, but yes. My sister should be there.”

My feelings were complicated.

I didn’t even know what to do first.

I had left the underground city in Isla and Lorian’s care, but I couldn’t bring myself to go meet her right away.

[Play Time: 9,362 hours]

It had been three years. Since my sister disappeared and I entered this world to reach this point.

It felt like almost 10 years to me. I could barely remember my sister’s face anymore.

But what should I say when we meet?

Should I reveal that I’m her brother?

What if she doesn’t actually want to see me and hasn’t been looking for me?

Wouldn’t I be an annoying brother who chased after her?

Though I enjoy solving most problems simply and directly, I couldn’t do that with this one.

Did my sister want to go back?

I didn’t even have thoughts of going back myself.

Life on Earth was certainly comfortable and good, but for someone like me who had nothing, it wasn’t that great a place.

The international situation was a mess, jobs were decreasing, and I didn’t even know what to do with my future.

Though I’m the type who gets good at whatever I do, I didn’t think I could make a good living on Earth.

Of course, I was good at games, but not good enough to make a living from them.

But this world gave me plenty of other options.

With my good physique, I could become rich just doing manual labor, and even if not that, I had the potential to take on important responsibilities.

So I had no intention of going back.

But.

“Does the Guardian have anything she particularly wants or aims for?”

If my sister felt the same way, it would clearly hurt.

I wouldn’t say my heart is particularly delicate, but if my sister actually didn’t want to see me again…

I thought it would be difficult for me to keep seeing her.

That’s why I asked that question.

“My sister’s goal?”

Melody tilted her head, puzzled. She narrowed her eyes, tilted her head side to side, then shrugged.

“I don’t know. I’d know if we had a big drinking session, but she won’t let me drink.”

“Why?”

“Says I’m not even twenty yet.”

She grumbled that she was already an adult and that she drank even before becoming her sister’s companion.

Melody complained like that, but I couldn’t even agree with her.

My mind was complicated.

Lucilla seemed very likely to be my sister.

My sister was someone who despised alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, and even in games, she tended not to allow the use of such things.

She was completely different from me, who used substances at appropriate times to prepare for battle for better performance.

Even that point matched my sister. I quietly discarded the “Lucilla character theory” I had been considering.

“But why did you ask?”

“…Just curious. I thought it would be good to have something to talk about.”

“Don’t worry. My sister has a good personality.”

My sister was like that too. I swallowed the words I couldn’t bring myself to say.

“Shall we go down then?”

Melody snapped her fingers. A gentle current of air swirled around us, and as we threw ourselves forward, our bodies began to glide slowly toward the temple.

As the ground got closer, things I couldn’t see from above came into view.

Ordinary humans moving between bonfires, tired but relaxed.

Inquisition warriors discussing what to do next.

Among them were familiar faces. The Mourner limping while busily carrying materials.

I bit my lip unconsciously and looked at the figure standing at the center of the people.

It wasn’t an overwhelming presence.

Rather, she was a woman with an infinitely soft and comfortable atmosphere.

A homunculus at level 20, called the Guardian, with a gentle but well-refined strength that made it impossible to imagine she was the protagonist.

She had a completely different atmosphere from other level 20s like Melody or the Red Beast.

She didn’t have Melody’s subtly dangerous aura, nor the Red Beast’s transcendence.

Rather, it was closer to not feeling anything from her.

Her black flowing straight hair had such good texture that the expression “like silk” would be fitting, and her body, dressed in a white shirt and leather pants, had a fullness befitting her mature atmosphere.

Even that was similar to my sister. Her height was similar to my sister’s, and her hair resembled my sister’s too.

The reason was simple to understand. Lucilla was a character my sister always created similar to herself for immersion.

But the voice I heard when we landed on the ground seemed to say it was more than that.

“Hmm?”

It’s just a short utterance, but it made my body stiffen. Not because it contained infrasound like the roar of the Aulbear shapeshifter.

Because it revived my memories across the three-year gap.

It was the same voice I heard every day three years ago.

“You’re back. Welcome.”

She approaches. I looked up and immediately regretted it.

Her eyes were gray. Her face, with pale skin that made those eyes stand out, was beautiful at a glance.

But it wasn’t her beauty that made my body stiffen.

I was already used to beautiful people around me, and with Isla often waking up in my arms every morning, I was accustomed to beautiful faces.

Rather, it was something beyond beauty that gave me regret.

The straight nose, lips that gently curved, soft eyes, and the familiarity in her gentle voice.

Why?

How?

The first question that came to mind was “how,” but…

I could answer it myself.

Lucilla was human before becoming a homunculus.

I heard she died once and became a homunculus.

There’s no reason her appearance would change. Lucilla would have kept her human appearance.

I could sense that with an almost instinctive feeling.

But that didn’t mean I could simply forget the shocking fact before my eyes.

Guardian Lucilla. Her face was exactly the same as when Lucilla was my sister.

The only difference was the color of her eyes.

Her body, face, height, and hair—nothing else was different.

Because of that, I desperately closed my mouth that was about to open. I almost called her “sister.”

I shouldn’t do that. It would be troublesome. I desperately managed my expression.

Melody, unaware of my state, introduced me with a smile.

“I’m back. This person is…”

“So this is Ruwellin. Hello, Ruwellin.”

She greets me with a bright smile. The way she slightly waves her hand with a broad smile shows she’s someone who likes humans.

Loving, gentle, yet principled.

My only family.

I carefully managed my expression and replied.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Lucilla.”

Now without a doubt, I calmly accepted it.

Lucilla was my sister.

*

“Sit comfortably. Speak comfortably. Do you like tea?”

“No, I’m not really one to enjoy it.”

“Is that so? That’s a shame.”

My sister led me to her hut.

Melody had temporarily left my side to handle some business, so only my sister and I were in the hut.

Considering that my sister wasn’t one to enjoy luxury, this was probably built by someone else, not her.

Perhaps someone around her built it arbitrarily, saying that a leader should have appropriate quarters.

As I was thinking, her face suddenly popped up in front of me.

I stiffened with a start, and my sister tilted her head. She was smiling, so it didn’t feel bad.

Rather, it felt good. It reminded me of when I was still her brother.

Sure enough, she smiled awkwardly.

“I didn’t ask for it to be built this big, so don’t misunderstand, okay?”

“Ah… so that’s how it was.”

“So that’s how it was?”

“People tend to do that for respected leaders, right? They would want to build quarters fitting for a leader.”

When I said that, Lucilla covered her mouth with a surprised expression.

As I desperately suppressed the corners of my mouth that wanted to rise, she smiled brightly.

“It’s really like that. I said a tent would be enough, but they built it big… I couldn’t take a room up there either. And I couldn’t ask them to tear down what they’d already built. It’s really troublesome.”

As expected, my sister wasn’t one to enjoy luxury.

There was no difference from the sister I knew, and some kind of desire stirred within me.

I wanted to reveal that I was her brother, even now.

But the fact that there was no turning back after revealing it made me hesitate.

What if she doubts me?

What if she attacks me, asking how I know about her brother?

In a situation where I couldn’t defeat or harm my sister, death would be the only answer.

“Well then…”

No, that’s an excuse.

It was closer to not wanting to see that tired expression if I revealed I was her brother—if she found it troublesome, if she didn’t want me to follow her, if she thought I was annoying.

If, just if, she made such an expression, I was afraid to reveal it.

I know. It’s cowardly.

But I had always been a coward and just a brother in front of my sister. Having been that way all my life, I couldn’t help it.

I tried to organize my complicated feelings as I sat down.

“You must be tired, I’m sorry. There’s something I really want to clarify, and something I want to discuss… understand?”

She smiled, her eyes crinkling.

Seeing that, I wanted to close my eyes. My sister’s smile after so long made me both happy and pained.

“Of course. As you know, homunculi are resistant to fatigue, so don’t worry about it.”

“You’re so mature. Usually, escaped homunculi are either crazy or childish, which is troublesome… it’s easy to talk to you.”

My sister took a sip of tea. After one sip, she stuck out her tongue slightly—exactly the same habit.

My sister, like me, had a cat’s tongue. It was fortunate that hadn’t changed.

“Well, since you must be tired, shall we get straight to the point?”

“You mean the Empire’s betrayal.”

“Yes.”

My sister sighed. The good scent of tea leaves mixed in her breath tickled my nose.

“How should I explain this… I can’t explain it like a game.”

When I didn’t react, my sister fiddled with her cup and then spoke.

“Do you know about the Emperor?”

It wasn’t asking about common knowledge. When I nodded, my sister looked relieved and then immediately put on a serious expression.

“The Emperor is not human. He’s a puppet.”

Strange words. Considering that my sister was from the same cultural background as me, was she saying his personality wasn’t human-like and he only followed someone else’s instructions?

Before I could open my mouth with such thoughts, a certain idea came to me.

It was the expression my sister had muttered at the very beginning.

‘Like a game.’

Somehow, because of that, I could understand what my sister wanted to say.

It was as if my sister was trying to say:

The Emperor is not human, but closer to a ‘character.’

But a character of what?

I felt like I somehow knew the answer.

No, hadn’t I just seen it recently?

The Red Beast suddenly changing and being controlled.

Just as I recalled that and paused:

[One Who Knows / ???

-You have noticed its existence, and it has noticed you as well.]

The status window that had been stuck in the corner of my vision expanded and filled my sight.

It was a short phrase that had newly appeared in the reputation window that hadn’t changed for a while.

That phrase was bolder than the other text, flickering with static noise, shining as if giving a warning.

I shuddered involuntarily.