Chapter 112 : Chapter 112
Chapter 112 : Luna (2)
I do not know the nickname Luna.
The only fact I know about Luna is that Luna is desperately looking for Cain on the Anonymous Bulletin Board.
That is why, until now, I have been wary of and avoided this person named Luna.
If by any chance Luna was someone who held a grudge against Cain, it wouldn't be very good for me.
However, I knew the appearance of the person called Luna now.
No, it was impossible not to know.
‘……Dalnim-i?’
I do not know Luna, but I know Dalnim-i.
Because Dalnim-i was a person with too strong of an impression to just forget.
「Today too, the 18-year-old high school girl appears!」
***
Dalnim-i was one of the guild members of a guild I was in for a short time long ago.
[Nickname: Dalnim-i]
[Age: Guessed to be in mid-30s]
[Gender: Male]
[Characteristic: A persistent concept-er who always claims to be an 18-year-old high school girl]
Somewhat unusual, but a concept-er you could see anywhere, considering the nature of online games.
That was my evaluation of the user named Dalnim-i.
「Today too, the 18-year-old high school girl appears!」
「That middle-aged man is at it again.」
「Middle-aged man, aren't you going to work?」
「ㅇㅇ;;」
In a way, Dalnim-i could have been seen as a malicious man pretending to be a woman, but since no one in the guild regarded Dalnim-i as a real 18-year-old high school girl, no one thought Dalnim-i was a real man pretending to be a woman online.
Even I just regarded Dalnim-i as a common concept-er found anywhere, and I hadn't even slightly thought of him as an 18-year-old high school girl or anything.
There are no high school girls in online games who introduce themselves as 18-year-old high school girls.
That was common sense and truth that gamers naturally possessed, and I had never seen an existence that contradicted this until now.
It should definitely be like that…….
‘What is this?’
According to one of the guides in Newdeulbak77's post that I saw before, if a Player's gender and their character's gender are different, they fall into this world with their character's gender changed to match their own gender.
Newdeulbak77 commented that this was a kindness to the point of being absurd, but anyway, thanks to that, no one among the Players has suffered from an identity crisis unexpectedly until now.
What that implied was clear.
‘……She was a real high school girl?’
I felt the Postponer of Ruin's mind shaking for the first time in a very long time.
Because this was an event that overturned existing common sense to that extent.
‘No…… rather than that, even if Luna is Dalnim-i, why on earth is she looking for me?’
It's true that I was in the same guild as Dalnim-i in the past, but if asked if we were incredibly close, objectively speaking, that wasn't the case.
「Cain is here too!」
At that time, Dalnim-i was one of the users who followed me well, along with Yohan, but I regarded Dalnim-i's behavior as an act to get some scraps from me, as concept-ers often do, so I didn't treat him very warmly.
At that time, Cain had many enemies, but there were also countless scammers and leeches clinging to him.
「Oh. Hello.」
「Where are you hunting today? Can I come too?」
「I don't think you can.」
Thinking about it now, I seem to have been a very defensive person at that time.
No matter how much goodwill the other person showed, I drew a line first and didn't approach.
But why on earth.
I don't know for how long Luna, no, Dalnim-i, has been searching for me.
But now, I had to know.
Otherwise, something was bound to happen right now.
“This is the last warning. Don't interfere.”
“I'm sorry, but I cannot do that.”
Luna and Edric stared at each other, not backing down an inch.
As the auras erupting from both sides spread in all directions, the faces of the task force members who couldn't withstand this aura turned deathly white.
“D-dammit……!”
“Wh-what… the h-hell is this?”
“……V-Vell.”
A touch-and-go situation.
It was obvious the worst-case scenario would happen if this was left alone, so I intervened.
“Wait.”
Everyone's gaze turns to me.
“You said your name is Luna? Let's talk separately.”
Until just a moment ago, Luna was a target I had to avoid, but not anymore.
If Luna was Dalnim-i, there was no reason for her to come looking for me to kill me.
“I have nothing to talk about with the likes of you.”
“I think you do? Didn't you have business with me in the first place?”
“Hah.”
Luna glared at me as if she was genuinely dumbfounded.
Thanks to that, the formless energy that had been rising from Luna subsided for a moment.
“Do you even know what you're saying right now?”
“I do.”
Is it because of my confident attitude?
Or did Luna also notice that something had changed.
The desolate chill that had been descending, as if she would kill me at any moment, subsided a little.
“……If it's some trivial story, you'll have to give me that neck.”
“That won't happen.”
Yes, if what you're really looking for is indeed Cain.
Perhaps sensing that the situation was suddenly flowing strangely, Edric, who had approached at some point, stealthily asked me.
“……Is this alright?”
“Yes. I'm going to talk with this woman for a moment.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. It seems there was a small misunderstanding.”
At the expression 'small misunderstanding,' Edric made a dumbfounded face for a moment, but soon hardened his expression again.
“……Eum, since you say so, I'll entrust it to you for now…… but if the worst-case scenario happens, then I can't help it either.”
“I know. But that won't happen.”
“Kkeung. Understood.”
As Edric gestured with his eyes, the knights of Winter Castle withdrew.
I don't know if the trust I had built up over time shone through, or if Edric also judged that having a military clash with Luna wasn't very wise.
As a result, Edric stepped back one step more easily than expected, despite it being a situation where he shouldn't have been able to back down.
In any case, I've passed the major crisis.
“Follow me.”
“If it's a boring story, it won't be fun.”
“It's already plenty not fun.”
The place I arrived at with Luna was the mess hall inside the barracks.
Originally, there was no such thing as a mess hall, but after finishing several missions, it naturally appeared at some point.
The reason I came here specifically wasn't anything special, it was just a bit much to talk while just standing and facing off.
“Sit.”
“Are you asking me to have a cup of tea with you right now? Are you kidding?”
“Tea? As if there'd be anything like that here.”
No matter if it's the Special Task Force, there's no way mere soldiers could enjoy such an elegant hobby.
“Oh…… right.”
Luna blinked her eyes once and sat down.
Unlike her appearance, she was a person who still had a dazed side.
“So what is it? What on earth do you want to talk about?”
“Weren't you the one who had business with me, Luna.”
“Hah, how absurd.”
A cold gaze, different from just before when she looked somewhat dazed, headed toward Haima's Pendant hanging on my neck.
“Fine, since you're asking me to ask. You, where did you get that? Why do you have that?”
I was wondering how on earth Luna knew about me and came all the way to Winter Castle, I guess some trace was left on Haima's Pendant.
‘There’s no way she could tamper with an item imbued with the Destruction Dragon's Demonic energy…… so it's probably right that she tracked it in a different way.’
Anyway, considering the story I'm about to reveal to Luna, the fact that I'm a Player is a story there's no need to hide.
“I bought it at the auction house.”
“You…… bought it?”
“That's right.”
Luna's already white face turned pale like a sheet of paper.
“H-how? Why did you buy that? Why, why?”
“Purchasing an item that is cheap compared to its value is a natural choice.”
“I'm asking why you bought it!”
At Luna's raised voice, I almost summoned a firearm without realizing it, but I soon stopped my hand.
Because in Luna's eyes, which looked like not a single drop of blood would come out even if stabbed, large, tear-like moisture had welled up at some point.
“What……”
And.
“Wh-what do I do now……?”
She cried just like that.
***
Thinking about it now, Dalnim-i was a pretty delicate person in many ways.
The problem was that this fact was driving me crazy right now.
“Hwaaaaang……”
Luna was crying right now.
No, she was wailing.
“……”
If they had told me to go catch the King of the DemIC Realm instead, I wouldn't have been this flustered.
“Wh-what do I do now……? I'm going to die now.”
“……Why do you say you're going to die?”
“You, you, bought that. That's, Cain's-seuuuu……”
I asked because the reason for her crying was so absurd, but the answer I heard was even more absurd.
What on earth does me buying my own thing have to do with her dying…….
“……Ahyu.”
I waited a little, thinking I would talk with her once Luna calmed down, but she was crying so sorrowfully that she showed no signs of calming down at all.
I had no choice but to take beef jerky from my bosom and offer it to Luna.
“Wh-what is this?”
“Eat.”
I didn't have candy to give to a crying kid, but I did have beef jerky.
“It's good.”
“……Give it.”
Once she put something in her mouth, the crying that seemed like it wouldn't stop, paused for a moment.
This was my chance.
“What is your reason for looking for Cain?”
“……What are you going to do knowing that, it doesn't concern you anyway.”
She speaks well while munching.
“Can't I at least hear the reason? From what I hear, you seem to know this pendant.”
“……Come to think of it, it's funny. You, how did you recognize the value of that pendant? It's not an item the likes of you should be able to recognize.”
“Were you the one who put this on the auction house?”
“Yeah.”
Luna said, looking at me with her red, swollen eyes.
“So, I'm asking how on earth you recognized it? Just answer.”
“I just have a good eye.”
“……How absurd. Do you think that's an item you can recognize just by having a good eye?”
It's certainly not.
Even more so, considering the state Haima's Pendant was in before, corroded by the Destruction Dragon's Demonic energy.
“What can I do, I recognized it?”
“……Seriously absurd. And how on earth did you restore that pendant? It shouldn't have been possible to restore it by normal methods.”
“I have my own secret method.”
“……Talking like you're all that.”
It seemed Luna had calmed down to some extent, so now I really had to know.
“So, what is the reason for looking for Cain?”
“How do you know I'm looking for Cain?”
“Weren't you the one blabbing about it on the Anonymous Bulletin Board?”
“……That's true.”
Luna put her legs up on the chair and wrapped her arms around them.
“I'm going to die soon.”
Luna said with a face that looked like she would burst into tears again at any moment.
“Demonic energy has corroded my whole body. At this rate, I won't live long.”
“Even if it's Demonic energy, a Player of your level can't withstand it?”
Demonic energy is clearly a threatening energy to humans, but if it's a Player who has reached a certain level, their body and mind may be contaminated, but it's not to the extent of being life-threatening.
But a Player of Luna's level is dying because she can't overcome Demonic energy?
This was clearly strange.
“It's not ordinary Demonic energy.”
As soon as Luna added that, a sinister energy began to flow out from her.
An energy I already knew.
‘The Destruction Dragon's Demonic energy.’
The very same Demonic energy that had been dwelling in Haima's Pendant was now continuously eating away at Luna's strong physical body.
‘So that's what happened.’
Now I get it.
Why Luna had been searching for Cain so desperately, and why she was in despair now that she hadn't found Cain.
Luna just wanted to live.
I don't know what led to her being exposed to the Destruction Dragon's Demonic energy, but she figured that Cain, who had faced the Destruction Dragon, would know the answer.
“……My goodness. I'm telling all sorts of things to a person I've seen for the first time. It must be my time to die.”
“Did you think Cain could solve that for you?”
“Isn't that obvious? There's nothing impossible for Cain.”
I don't know where that baseless faith in Cain comes from, but as a result, Luna's choice was right.
“I'll solve it.”
“……What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this? How can someone like you solve this? Are you Cain or something?”
“Yes.”
“……Eung?”
Luna blinked her swollen eyes and looked at me.
“I am Cain.”