‘The moon’s really bright tonight.’
Maybe it’s because this world has several moons, but on some nights the moonlight is ridiculously strong.
Right now, I’m in no condition to move.
I wanted to ask her to close the curtains, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
Luna’s mood was strangely dark.
While I was suffering under this moonlight torture, Luna finally opened her heavy lips.
“…Sorry.”
“Keke, out of nowhere?”
“You got hurt because of me. If I hadn’t jumped in, you wouldn’t be like this…”
Well, that’s not wrong…
Luna, thinking objectively? Is the sun going to rise in the west tomorrow?
“I’m always the one causing trouble and you’re always the one cleaning up. I should’ve been the one to get hurt this time too…”
Her voice grew watery.
She kept talking after that. Stuff like she was only getting in the way, that she should leave, that she didn’t want to, that she was being selfish.
In short, she felt sorry, but she still wanted to stay with me.
“Pride, my ass… I was just being selfish.”
Luna sank into heavy gloom, and I was completely dumbfounded.
To Luna, it was probably a desperate confession.
From my point of view, though—
‘Why is lightning suddenly hitting me out of a clear sky?’
I was quietly resting and suddenly got confessed to for no reason.
[Luna’s pride is shattered. All stats decrease by 50.]
[All skills related to the Lester family are sealed.]
You’ve got to be kidding me. It even triggered a status effect.
With that much of a drop, even an amoeba could beat her up.
The worst part was, I still couldn’t move.
‘Normally I’d just give her a light hug and pat her back a bit, and that’d fix this in no time…’
Right now the only thing I can move is my tongue. I have to fix Luna’s mood with words alone.
This really is a shitty game.
Still, I couldn’t just let a hard-raised companion get beaten up by an amoeba.
My brain spun fast, and my tongue spun even faster.
“If Luna really were selfish, other people wouldn’t gather around her.”
“Mm?”
Starting with Rezé, then Yuridia, Victoria, Alex, Rodelin, and Raymon… Let’s skip that last one.
Bringing up that name might make her mood worse.
“I was surprised when you called them comrades.”
“…They’re not bad people.”
“And those aren’t the only ones you called comrades, are they?”
Yuridia’s faction, Victoria’s faction, the neutral faction, and even the hostile Teron faction.
You’d proudly declared that all of the first years were comrades.
“Well… I got too worked up then… but it’s not exactly wrong, either.”
“Keke, it reminds me of the first day I met you.”
Back then, Luna had treated the whole world like an enemy, convinced anyone who approached her had some lecherous ulterior motive.
Maybe she remembered that, because her face flared red.
“Wh-why are you bringing that up now? I was just a kid.”
“Keke, that was only a few months ago.”
“A-anyway, it’s in the past!”
“Exactly. Which means you’ve grown since then.”
“You’re saying I’ve grown?”
Exactly. Luna was growing.
Her skill, her mental toughness, her mindset, her ability to get along with people.
Her height… well, that’ll probably grow someday too. Anyway.
“You’ll grow even more from here on. Just seeing that is enough for me.”
She’d keep causing trouble, sure, but she’d also keep growing little by little.
Learning about the world bit by bit, and someday she’d be an adult.
And—
“Luna, you’re not selfish. You’re kind.”
“You’re saying I’m kind?”
“You’re the only one who stays by my side, aren’t you?”
That’s right. It’s been several months since I dropped into this game.
The only one who stayed by my side was Luna.
‘If I’d really been alone, I probably would’ve just buried myself in min-maxing and route clearing.’
A life no different from before I came into this game. A dried-up, empty life.
I was grateful.
To Luna, for not leaving me alone in this world.
“Thank you. Truly.”
Luna’s eyes widened slightly.
She met my gaze, then suddenly whipped her head away.
“…Idiot.”
Out of nowhere? How am I an idiot!?
Isn’t this usually where you say, ‘I’m the one who should be thanking you’!?
“Mm… C-carrot… th-thank you for e-existing…”
Rezé’s sleepy mumbling cut through the awkward atmosphere.
Luna met my eyes again, and we both burst out laughing.
Come to think of it, I’d forgotten.
We had Rezé too.
[Luna has regained her lost pride.]
[Her stats return to normal.]
[The seal on the Lester family skills has been lifted.]
I’d said it to remove Luna’s status effect, but I truly meant it when I thanked her.
Passing my honest feelings to someone else… that was something I’d never managed once in my life.
Maybe, just like Luna was growing, I was growing too.
“Phew… I’m exhausted. I should sleep a bit.”
Luna flopped down right next to me.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“What do people do when they lie in bed? I’m trying to sleep. Ugh… Sitting for two days straight is killing me. Let me have at least this much.”
“I am a man, you know.”
“So what. Friends can sleep together.”
I see. Our Luna is a very… open-minded type, huh?
This is going to be trouble in more ways than one.
“Good night. Let’s play together in our dreams.”
Luna fell asleep, arms wrapped tightly around me.
She was so close I could hear her soft breathing.
My body wouldn’t move, so I couldn’t push her away.
“…”
If nothing else, one thing was painfully clear.
Tomorrow, there’d be another huge commotion.
The next day.
Five red lines were etched across my face.
…Rabbit claw marks.
In a way, I’d gotten off easy. If Yuridia and Victoria had seen us, it wouldn’t have ended with just this.
‘I probably would’ve been forced into a wedding ceremony while still lying in bed.’
People came to visit again today, and we chatted away until I noticed the sky outside had turned orange with sunset.
Right after the kids left, Luna suddenly stuck her face in close.
“You’re sure? You’ll really be able to move soon?”
“I am.”
“You can’t even wiggle a finger right now, but you’re telling me you’ll be moving around fine soon. That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Keke, I have a feeling.”
The closer the time came, though, the more fidgety Luna became.
She was terrified I might be stuck like this forever.
“No matter what happens, as long as you get better, that’s enough. Even if you don’t, don’t worry. I’ll stay with you for the rest of my life.”
Mm… shouldn’t you ask the person involved before deciding something that big?
‘I absolutely have to get up!’
To save the continent from destruction? No.
To avoid a future where I live with Luna for the rest of my life.
I had to stand.
Absolutely!
[…0 minutes 0 seconds.]
[Recovery complete.]
[Your body has returned to normal.]
Exactly 72 hours since I collapsed.
Control over my body came back.
Everything ached and my joints creaked, but I had no trouble lifting my upper body.
“Keke, how unfortunate. Looks like there’s no need to spend the rest of our lives together.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? That’s a fixed condition, whether you get better or not.”
“…?”
How? Why?
My mind was a mess. And I wasn’t the only one in shock.
“H-h-how can this be! Th-the Demon has r-risen again! Th-the continent will be destroyed…!”
Rezé trembled from inside a box, hiding.
Right. I’d forgotten about that damn rabbit.
It looked like she’d need some… re-education soon.
Tie her to a stick, hold her over a campfire, and spin her around slowly.
Would that be enough to make her come to her senses?
‘Or I could put her in a pot and heat the water slowly.’
I was licking my lips, chin resting on the box, when Luna scratched her head.
“Mm… so what do we do now?”
What else?
We had to prepare for finals.
“The teacher’s C-sprinkling attack!”
“Argh! Please, anything but a B grade!”
“Chaos! Destruction! Ruin! The end of humanity is nigh!”
“Kuk! I almost wish a Legion Commander would show up. Fighting that guy would be easier than these exams!”
Classroom, hallway, even the garden outside the window.
Students were going crazy everywhere.
Guess people going nuts during exam season is the same in reality and in a game.
Of course, we were no exception.
“So… Philosopher Benius’s Demon Theory, based on the idea that humans are inherently evil, says Demons might actually be an evolved form of humans… but Philosopher Nuevius says… Wait! Benius and Nuevius? How am I supposed to remember names that sound this similar!?”
Fsshhh!
Steam practically rose from the top of Luna’s head.
It was because the written exam was just around the corner.
With 40 out of 100 points resting on it, the written test was just as important as the practical.
‘If I place in the top three on the final exam, I can get a Title.’
And Titles stack, so I absolutely had to get one.
The problem was—
“Let’s see. Practice test score… 10 points? This was even possible?”
“Ah, Demon! I-i-idiot!”
My knowledge level was even worse than Luna’s.
There was no way I’d know the history of a continent that spanned thousands of years.
‘Though thanks to what I saw in the game, I at least scored 50 on the Imperial history…’
Everything else was basically wiped out. And even 50 wasn’t exactly a good score.
In this state, top three was impossible.
What did I do in the game?
Out of the three daily actions, if you invested just one into theory studying, you’d get at least 90 points.
But here? It still consumed one action, but if I didn’t memorize it myself, it was useless.
“Y-y-you’re an i-idiot! Th-the Demon’s an idiot!”
“Keke, did Miss Rezé perhaps get a perfect score?”
“O-of course.”
Rezé proudly held out her practice test results.
Wall-to-wall 100s. She’d gotten perfect scores in every subject.
She’d ranked 4th on the midterms, beating Teron.
Thinking about it now, you couldn’t get that high on practical skill alone.
‘So her theory was backing it up.’
The kid who usually curled up in some corner with a scrunched-up face was now beaming with confidence.
Honestly?
‘This is annoying.’
I wanted to grab those cheeks and squish them flat.
Or maybe pluck out that idiot hair sticking up from the top of her head.
Would she collapse if she lost the main body(?)—that idiot hair?
Or who knows, maybe it’s some kind of gear that makes you smarter if you plug it into your own head.
I was sneaking closer to conduct an experiment when—
“That’s amazing. As expected of my friend.”
“I-it’s nothing…”
“Teach me, genius Rezé!”
“G-genius… th-that’s too much…”
Rezé squirmed under Luna’s praise.
A brilliant idea flashed through my mind. A way to get into the top three.
“Keke, indeed. A perfect score really is impressive.”
“H-hmph! I’m on a completely different level from the stupid Demon.”
Rezé strutted, drunk on superiority.
She didn’t realize that was exactly what I wanted.
“Different level, huh… Then teaching should be easy for you.”
“O-of course. I-I was going to explain it all to Miss Luna anyway.”
“Then you can teach me at the same time.”
I sat Rezé on a chair and tied her up tight with a rope.
In an instant, she became one with the chair.
Underneath, I drew a simple Demon summoning circle.
“…Kkiiik?”
What do you mean, ‘kkiiik?’
Start teaching.
Unless you’d rather be offered up as a sacrifice.
–TL Notes–
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Beautiful Beautiful Luna character episode!
Also her decrease stat…Early in the story she got an A-rank skill that increase or decrease her stat based on her ally conditions/relationship could this be related to that?
Also…Rodelin ship is starting to fall behind a bit!
And a new Reze hidden piece!