“Excuse me, you’re Akashi…? And you’ve come at the request of the Akashi lying in that room…?”
“Yes. My name is Acacia, but what’s inside me isn’t much different from the one lying in there, so it seems you’ve understood correctly. By the way, is this female form new to you? If that liar’s testimony is correct, you should have already met a girl who vaguely inherited my memories, though faintly. Did you really meet her?”
Akashi… no. Acacia smiled faintly while answering my question and sidestepped Alterra as she approached me.
“That may be true, but how am I supposed to believe you’re really Akashi?”
Alertra seemed displeased with Acacia’s approach, stepping between me and her again while growling low and showing distrust. Still, judging by my left eye, it does seem like someone from the Akashi lineage…
“Hmm… Indeed, a valid question. Then let me return the answer. Ahem. Was last night fantastic for you lovers? It must have been fiery. Of course, the bonfire was. Why are you blushing? Is there something else…”
Acacia suddenly took control of the mood, repeating verbatim something Akashi had said in the past. Upon hearing those words, Alterra turned pale, then blushed furiously before exploding in anger.
“Don’t get too upset, Alterra. If you had trusted me, I wouldn’t have had to resort to such measures. Anyway, will you now believe that I am Akashi? If not—”
“Acacia, stop it. Alterra, calm down. She says she’s here to help us. Let’s hear her out. And… considering what she knows only Akashi would know…”
Alterra glared intensely at Acacia, as if she wanted to say more, but upon seeing Acacia’s unchanging expression, she sighed in exasperation and relaxed her stance.
“Yeah, it’s Akashi alright. Even the personality matches. The soft-spoken demeanor yet the temper…”
“Hehe, flattery indeed. But allow me to correct one thing. Among all the versions of ‘me’ in this world, the one lying in there has the most twisted personality. Please don’t equate me with that.”
Alterra now stared silently at Acacia, seemingly at a loss for words. Acacia paid no attention to whatever emotions Alterra directed at her.
She pulled out a small notebook from her pocket, gazed intently at Alterra, and asked:
“…Alright. Let’s end the small talk here and move on to the main discussion. First, tell me what happened when you were hit directly by that blue beam. What kind of damage did your body and armor sustain? And to what extent was the gravitational force applied? Please inform me in as much detail as possible.”
Acacia approached Alterra with shining eyes. Startled by her unusual scholarly fervor, Alterra instinctively stepped back and made eye contact with me.
It seemed like she was asking for help, but I shrugged lightly, indicating there wasn’t much I could do. With all potential support cut off, Alterra reluctantly backed down but still shot daggers at Acacia while hesitatingly explaining everything.
“Why are you so curious about that?!”
“Why am I curious? Naturally, to help you overcome them. This is something even the person lying in there would have certainly asked: How many shots of the blue beam can you endure without magical assistance, and to what extent was your movement restricted by the gravity? Without knowing these details, I cannot properly assist you, or rather, Alterra, assist you. Please cooperate.”
Acacia meticulously explained each point as she tried to extract information from Alterra. Exhausted by her persistence, Alterra sighed deeply and recounted everything.
“…If I’m wearing armor, I can handle up to two beams, but the third one becomes dangerous. The first one cracked my armor, the second shattered it. And… hmm. There was nothing particularly strange about the beam itself. Of course, it hurt, and it was so loud I couldn’t hear anything. As for the crushing force… I don’t know exactly how strong it was. I couldn’t jump, but I could still walk.”
“Hmm. Just as expected. Understood for now. The exact multiplier of the gravity can be figured out gradually through experiments. Alterra, you should restore your armor first. Myungho, you should… well, rest and recover. That’s all for today. See you tomorrow.”
Acacia scribbled something in her notebook, quickly concluded, closed it, and gave us brief instructions before attempting to leave just as suddenly as she arrived.
“Wait! Where exactly are we meeting tomorrow, Acacia?”
“Oh. Obviously, here, right? Myungho, you’ll likely be stuck here until Akashi regains consciousness. Alterra, you’ll be with Myungho, won’t you?”
It was hard to argue with her logic. Nevertheless, letting her go felt wrong, similar to what Alterra often complained about, so I called her back.
“Acacia, wait. Before you go, can you spare a moment to meet Yuna?”
“Yuna? That archer… No, the one with the extraordinary power? I doubt I can offer much help, but fine. I’ll at least pay her a visit. If there’s nothing else, I shall take my leave.”
With no other way to detain her, we watched her retreating figure disappear. Alterra was still visibly annoyed with Acacia, tapping her tail against the floor.
Even amidst this, I felt oddly accomplished for deciphering another bit of Alterra’s tail language, which I found somewhat self-contemptuous.
“…You really don’t like her, huh?”
“I hate people pretending to be polite while being rude more than outright disrespectful ones. The core might be Akashi, but they’re pretending to be polite. Disgusting.”
She clearly didn’t like her. The tapping grew even more aggressive than before, making her seem to dislike Acacia even more than our Akashi.
“Altera. You’ve cracked the floor.”
Ah. Only then did Alterra realize she had been tapping the floor with her tail and hastily stopped, repairing the damage. Still, there was something I needed to discuss. I wasn’t sure if now was the right time.
Her mood seemed far from good, and I feared getting caught in the crossfire if I brought it up. However, I felt this might be my only chance to voice it, so I cautiously broached the subject.
“…Altera. I briefly conversed with the soul of the Demon Tribe trapped in your sword. About their real purpose. Why they’re causing all this chaos.”
“Huh?”
Altera stopped tapping the floor with her tail and looked at me. Naturally, she’d be confused by this sudden topic, but I had to say it.
“The demons are trying to escape. Together with those in Landekrihen, they aim to reach their homeland—the moon—and leave. Do we really need to hold them back? They claim they’ll leave quietly if we let them be.”
I braced myself for her reaction. Do we really need to suffer and fight for them? We weren’t forcibly drafted to die; it’s a war they volunteered for. Doubts arose during the battles. Breaking through defenses is extremely difficult, and even if we succeed, what do we gain?
Altera calmly looked into my eyes. Feeling uneasy under her gaze, I briefly glanced away but decided it wasn’t right and looked back at her directly.
“They attacked us first when we were minding our own business. And… if we can’t defeat something like this, how will Father manage? Besides, what happens if they run away now and return later?”
That’s a story for another time, I wanted to say. But a question lingered. Since Alterra has half-dragon blood, how long can she live?
I momentarily lost my train of thought.
“Well, if you really don’t want to, you can stay out of it. But I want to fight. It’s better to root out evil wherever we go. This is the world we live in together after all.”
There was no immediate response to that, but somehow, it sounded like she wanted to create more shared memories with me.
Her words held no such intention. It was only my interpretation.
“…Alright. Still, take care of yourself. I don’t want to see you end up like Akashi again.”
That was the best encouragement and concern I could muster. Alterra thumped her chest lightly, insisting it wouldn’t come to that.
“Well… I’ll head out too. Need to go to a nearby blacksmith and stock up on some iron.”
“Take care.”
I waved her off, not expecting her to wait.
– …Hmm. Child. Even if you don’t seek immense power, surely you’d like to learn how to live a long life…
“Shut up.”
-How disheartening.
The demon spoke, but I immediately silenced it.
Someday, I must sever this contract with the demon.
—
Where should I go? Kalpira stroked his chin as he pondered the question. Following his daughter’s trail had been going well until the residual magical traces abruptly disappeared, leaving him uncertain of his next step.
He had certainly visited this village reduced to ashes. But where did she head afterward? He surveyed the area but discovered only remnants of an unusual creature underground.
Though he followed a road large enough for carriages, it eventually ended, leaving him standing there deep in thought.
There’s a volcano nearby, but according to his memory, there was nothing there. Perhaps one of the neighboring villages then?
Kalpira moved forward again. It turned out to be a completely wrong guess.
