Chapter 230: Reap What You Sow
Chapter 230: Reap What You Sow
Prota sat up with a gasp, heart racing. The battle. She was fighting, and—
“You’re up.”
A calm voice rang out from the other end of the room. In the shadows sat Sofya. She stood up from the chair she’d been sitting on, closing the book she’d been reading.
“I heard you did something incredible.”
“...not incredible,” Prota said, shaking her head. “Just what I wanted to do.”
“Still, not many children have the ability to risk their lives like that… ah. I see,” Sofya said with a faint laugh. “You’re used to this, aren’t you?”
“Um… maybe,” Prota muttered awkwardly. “This one… too close. Magic circle. Stopped spells.”
“A magic circle to stop spells?” Sofya frowned. “In what sense?”
“No casting,” Prota shrugged. “So… no fighting.”
“But aren’t you-”
Prota held her hand up, suddenly looking a little afraid. She couldn’t have the idea that she was a fighter be revealed here. If Hikari found out, then all of her sacrifice would have meant nothing. Anta would have been able to step in and deal with the situation anyway.
“...I see,” Sofya sighed. “Worry not. I’ve put up a sound barrier around us. You can speak freely.”
“Enemy,” Prota said quietly. “Too risky. Showing too much… not worth it.”
“But what would you have done if you died? Do you truly believe you were in a situation you could have escaped?”
“Yes.”
“That- really?”
“...no.”
“Then what? What were you placing your belief in?”
“Friends. I trust… my friends.”
Sofya just stared at Prota. “Such a thing… you are aware this is incredibly naive, especially for someone such as yourself, yes?”
“Nn. But that’s ok.”
“That’s…” Sofya let out a light chuckle. “I suppose it is. And this enemy. I don’t suppose you were aware that this was going to happen…?”
“Nn. It was-”
Prota was cut off as Anta forcibly took over her body. Not to explain, but to stop Prota from talking.
“What are you doing?” she hissed, accidentally doing so out loud. “Are you crazy?”
“Anta. I want to tell her.”
“Why? We went through this already! I-”
“Things changed already. Right?”
“Prota-”
“Changed a lot. Anta. They wanted us. Not Destiny. Us. And… I learned. I want to help my friends. They’re not [Characters]. They’re friends. And trying to control everything doesn’t work. You told me. Not gods. People. So… let me do what I want to do.”
“Ugh, seriously, you…”
“Am I wrong?”
“You’re getting too cocky, you know that?”
Anta opened her eyes, looking back at a somewhat confused Sofya.
“Hey.”
“...hello.”
“Sorry about that. Look. Do you understand the principle of the Butterfly Effect? I know we brought this up before, but… well, you never know.”
Sofya nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose if regression is in the picture, then that would be relevant. Then, I presume you are wary of changing the future?”
Anta sighed. “That’s right. Except…”
“It seems Prota has already rejected that idea,” Sofya laughed. “In the hopes of saving her friends.”
“You’re uncomfortably perceptive, you know?” Anta grumbled. “But yes. So, while I wasn’t going to say anything… it seems that’s not what we’re going to do from here on out.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your sacrifice. Both of you.”
“I’m not-”
“I understand what you are. But you think on your own, do you not? You, too, have a will. Regardless of your existence… doesn’t that make you worthy of respect?”
Anta blushed, just a little.
“Ugh. Whatever.”
What followed wasn’t too complicated. Anta explained that, in their previous life, Hikari had been someone who had moved to serve the Demon King due to a somewhat unfortunate set of circumstances, and was attempting to accomplish something within the school. However, what that something was…
“You don’t know?” Sofya exclaimed. “But… how?”
“Well, the circumstances in which we fought them were a little… different,” Anta muttered. “There’s already a lot of factors that have changed, even now. The core party behind Hikari’s involvement is already gone, and you no longer have access to [DEM], so that changes everything.”
“...DEM?”
“Don’t worry about it. The point is, you were, for lack of a better explanation, the final boss. That’s not the case anymore.”
“Explain. Just… what happened in the fight with Hikari?”
Anta sighed again, explaining the circumstances that had led up to the battle. She was still reluctant to do so, but with Prota’s stubbornness, she really had no other choice. Sofya continued to listen with wide eyes, taking in every detail.
“So, in the end, we never really found out what was going on,” Anta concluded. “Because we forced their hand earlier than expected.”
“The way you speak… it sounds as if this world has a predestined path,” Sofya mused. “As if, even in your first life, there was something you were expecting.”
Anta managed to keep a calm expression, but even she had been caught off guard. Neither girl had expected the dragon to be so observant. Then again, they had revealed a large amount of information somewhat freely, so perhaps it wasn’t entirely surprising.
“Um. Sure,” Anta managed to squeak out. “Look, the point is, there’s going to be a few more incidents. Namely… next year’s midterm. Specifically involving my year’s students. After that, I’m not sure, because that’s when Hikari got involved.”
“Would it not be better to deal with them now?” Sofya frowned. “Why wait?”
“Because… there are people in this school we still need to meet,” Anta said carefully. “There are still people who need to grow. I don’t really care. But Prota… well, we said she’d get the chance to live this time around. So it would be a shame to bring Scholaris to a close so early, wouldn’t it?”
“I see… Hm. Very well. I will pretend we never had this conversation, then. If you need my help, just ask.”
“...thank you.”
This came from Prota, who had asked to move back into the body for the chance to say her piece. The gratitude that carried across lives was not to be underestimated.
“Did I really do that much for you, child?” Sofya said, her expression blank. “I… is it really so much that you feel free to tell me this?”
“You… wanted your daughter back,” Prota said quietly. “Not evil. Just… sad. I’m sorry. This is your daughter’s body. But you teach me anyway. Taught me Soul Steal. Taught me Tenth Seda. Taught me mana control. Even though others called me demon. Even though others wouldn’t help. And you gave back the energy after, and you didn’t want it. So… you are a good person.”
“A good person…” Sofya let out a light laugh. “Is that really enough for you? Just because of that? Prota. Let me tell you something. In this world, you shouldn’t get used to evil. Perhaps it exists. But it is better to strive for a world where good is the norm, and evil is the exception.”
“But-”
“It is unrealistic, yes. But isn’t your existence unrealistic in itself?” Sofya offered a heartwarming smile. “Take care not to tire yourself out. But at the same time, do not simply accept the cards you are played. You’ve already done so much. Isn’t it time to do something for yourself?”
She stood up, waving her hand. Prota felt something in the air change, likely the sound-proof spell disappearing.
“Oh. Those who stood their ground have been rewarded. That includes you as well. You are powerful, but I suppose I would-”
“Yes.”
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Prota accepted the offer with such vigor that even Sofya was surprised.
“Um… I see. Then, I presume you know what it is you would like…?”
Prota nodded, a faint smile unconsciously forming on her lips.
After so long, one of her most glaring flaws was about to be fixed.
~~~
“You’re seriously that happy about getting a stupid charm… seriously, if I had known it would make you that happy, I would’ve just made one with [DEM],” Anta sighed.
Prota wasn’t acting that much differently than how she normally did, but to those who knew her, they would notice the ever so slight spring in her step, the light in her eyes, small things like that.
It wasn’t flashy, but the small weight on her wrist was an absolute comfort to Prota.
“Prota!”
She looked back to see Lilith and Ryan running up to her.
“You’re ok!”
Before she could react, Lilith tackled her with a hug, knocking her to the ground. Uncomfortable as she felt, she accepted it. Something like this with someone like Lilith… it wasn’t too bad.
“Nn.”
“That’s all you have to say?” Lilith laughed. “Good to see you’re the same as always.”
“It was rough, Prota,” Ryan said quietly.
But even he had a wide smile on his face.
“Thank you.”
Prota nodded. In the end, it was worth it. The rewards of her actions were not rooted in gifts or strong allies.
The “power of friendship” wasn’t something to use in times of conflict…
But something that simply existed no matter what.
“Prota!”
From the path came Destiny, Celestia, Danjo and Briar, all of whom had heard about the exam’s circumstances.
“Hey, you seem to be doing well,” Briar grinned. “I heard you took a bunch of arrows. Some good armour would’ve fixed that, you know?”
“B-Briar, you can’t say something like that!” Danjo protested.
“What? That’s the whole point of a blacksmith, you know? Making good tools that’ll save people’s lives! If she had better protection, maybe those arrows would’ve bounced off! You can’t speak either, dwarf boy. What if you made some kinda fancy tool to deflect projectiles?”
“That’s a powerful magic circle! I would need a master to make something even remotely close to that to make a tool that good!”
“Ignore them,” Destiny laughed. “You seem to be doing well.”
Lilith released Prota, who dusted herself off.
“Nn. Thank you.”
“...I would thank you as well, but honestly, I don’t know what I would be thanking you for. Actually, well, that’s not true. Thank you for trusting me, Prota.”
“Good work.”
“Coming from you, that probably means a lot,” Destiny smiled. “Just make sure we don’t get into that kind of situation again, alright?”
“Nn.”
Just like that, the first year passed. Perhaps far more peacefully than Prota remembered, but still, it was something to remember.
She could only hope the second year would go just as well.
~~~
The summer passed peacefully. Instead of sticking around Scholaris, Prota opted to go back to back to Lunaris, where she continued to train with Kit.
“You’re… you’re kinda ridiculous, you realize that?” the fox muttered.
They were using the forest training grounds to practice some more, but Prota’s affinity in absorbing spells out of the air was far better than it had been the previous year. Of course, such a result should have been expected, but to those who understood the “fundamentals” of the world, it was absolutely ridiculous. It was like seeing someone reverse gravity at will, fundamentally defying the laws of physics.
Still, for someone like Prota, who had spent all her life mastering skills instead of raw power, it made sense for her to stand at such a level.
Someone who had spent so many years of her life through nonstop battle and death should be at least this strong. To take even another step forward would be taking a step into another realm.
If she had reached the peak of the mountain, to go even further, she would have to learn how to fly.
“Nn. Kit not going full strength, too.”
“That’s- well, I guess,” Kit sighed.
Prota was momentarily stunned. She’d expected the fox to retort playfully, but she’d just given up on the argument instead. Why?
“It’s because she doesn’t think you know about her circumstances,” Anta said quietly.
Unfortunately, this didn’t clear anything up.
“But… regress?”
“Look, just because someone knows something doesn’t mean they can internalize it. It’s the same with you, you know.”
“...me?”
“Think about it. John told you that this world is a [Story], right? But you don’t think that way. You don’t internalize it the way John does. You don’t see things in terms of [Characters] and [Plot]. Its the same with Kit. Just because she knows you regressed doesn’t mean it’s in her mind when she says things.”
Prota was beginning to understand. The analogy was perfect. If she was reminded of the world being a [Story], she could force herself to think in terms of the [Plot], but it wasn’t like she did so instinctively.
Then, similarly, Kit wasn’t constantly factoring in the fact that Prota was a regressor. When the fact became relevant, yes, Kit would bring it up, but her own past wasn’t such a topic.
“Should I tell her?” Prota wondered.
“...I don’t think so. I know you want to help, but is it really helping if you’re forcing secrets out of them? It’s different from Sofya’s situation. It’s not a problem we need to deal with immediately. I know you’re ignoring the butterfly effect now, but even without it, the point of this is to care for your friends, right? How would you feel if someone just came up to you and forced you to solve your problems before you’re ready?”
Prota nodded. She’d jumped the gun. Power wasn’t something she was used to, and while her intentions were good, the execution could use a little work. Still, it was good that she had someone reliable to lean on.
“Prota? Hello? Are you there?” Kit called out, waving her hands. “Talking with Anta again, huh?”
“Nn. Sorry,” Prota muttered, raising her staff once more. “Keep going.”
“Using me like some kind of training machine… seriously, you’re something crazy,” Kit muttered, preparing a Flame Column.
Before Prota could absorb it, though, Anta forced herself into the body, grabbing the flames and rerouting them upward.
“What the- could you always do that?” Kit exclaimed. “And- you’re not Prota! What’s going on?”
“This?” Anta laughed. “If Prota can absorb mana, it’s only fair that I, a fighter, can move it around, right? When her skills improve, so do mine. Anyway, I realized I had something to ask you.”
Her eyes turned blue as Prota pushed her way back in.
“Anta! Wha-”
“I’m trying to help, ok? Kit’s perfect for this question! Just let me ask her!”
“Tell me!”
“Fine, fine, sorry!”
Kit watched in confusion. The two were so equally competitive that they’d reached a state of harmony, both fitting in the body at the same time. Such a thing was usually only seen when they fought together at full force, so to see it happening because of a simple argument…
“Um… what is it you wanted to ask?” Kit said.
Anybody else might have backed off, but it was a good thing Kit’s personality was so curious in nature. The existence of two souls in one body was a subject of great interest, so it was only natural that Kit was willing to stick around.
“Ah. Kit, your clan specializes in illusion magic, right?”
“Um… that’s right, but I’m not a specialist-”
“I know. But you researched magic. Did you research anything else?”
“...a little,” Kit shrugged. “Why?”
“If there was a machine that spewed out a mind washing fog, do you know what that would be, and how we can counter it?”
Kit frowned. “That’s… theoretically, I suppose it’s possible. You’d need a specific combination of herbs and petals that are a little hard to find, as well as a long preparation time and still airs, as well as a lack of sunlight… but it would be possible in those conditions. Why?”
“In the near future, we’re going to be fighting some cultists that are going to use a fog machine as a means to brainwash a large audience,” Anta explained. “The way we won last time… well, I’ll be honest, it wasn’t very clever. But now that we know the trap is coming, we can prepare.”
“Well, for a scale of that size, it should be easy to resist if you just have some kind of filter,” Kit mused. “I’m not sure, but I’ve heard mortal alchemists often use filters when brewing in order to avoid inhaling toxic fumes?”
“Hm… is there anything magic related we can do?”
“I suppose if you were to continuously use wind magic to force only clean air near your mouth, or use fire magic to burn away impurities… but such an action would take a lot of concentration, even for someone like me,” Kit shrugged.
“...then how would you avoid being brainwashed?”
“Hm… that’s simply a matter of mental strength, isn’t it? If mana could directly manipulate one’s thoughts, that would be too much,” Kit laughed. “Mind manipulation is more a matter of ‘convincing’ than it is actual control. Our clan specializes in illusion magic, which, in turn, is just fire magic. In the end, it’s just a matter of convincing someone to think in a certain way.”
“Hm…” Anta nodded. “That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.”
“Huh? Wait, so you really didn’t know?” Kit said, a sly grin forming on her lips. “Hey, that means there’s still things I can teach you, right?”
“Wha- I guess?”
“Teacher. Call me teacher, then. Just once. I wanna hear you say it.”
“What- Prota never called you that, even in her past life! Well, maybe she did, but you were always just Kit! What do you mean-”
“Not Prota. You. I wanna hear you say it.”
“Oh, piss off!”
~~~
“Heya, Gramps.”
Briar took off her shoes as she stepped into the small hut she called home. Perhaps it was small, but it wasn’t a place she would trade for anything else.
All because of the old man sitting at the table before her.
“Briar. How was Scholaris? Did you do well? Have you been healthy? Did you eat enough?”
“Of course!” Briar grinned. “You should’ve seen those old professors. They really liked my stuff!”
“Now, now. Pride is the fault of many a blacksmith. What have I always taught you?”
“Ugh, yes. Every strike of the hammer needs to be tempered. But wouldn’t it be so much cooler if I could just pull out molten metal and shape it with magic? That would be awesome, wouldn’t it? And then, if I could turn metal into any weapon I want, then I could be a blacksmith fighter! Wouldn’t that be cool, Gramps?”
Zuko Hi smiled, his bushy eyebrows curving in an amused arc.
“You’ll make something great, Briar. Just keep working as you have.”
“You betcha! I’ll make something that surpasses even your works!”
“Yes. Of course.”
She headed up to her room to change, whistling a tune Zuko had taught her as a child. The old blacksmith sighed, his smile fading as soon as his adoptive granddaughter was out of sight.
Underneath the floorboards, he pulled out a small box. Inside was a black mass, wiggling and flowing as if it were a liquid and a solid simultaneously.
“Ryu… my brother. Just what are you doing?”
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Zuko frowned. The debt collectors wouldn’t arrive yet, they’d promised him more time than this. But he didn’t exactly receive guests, either. Perhaps it was someone looking to sell something?
“Hello?” he called out, heading toward the door.
What greeted him, however, was not a marketer, but rather a human wearing rather strange clothing, including a long red scarf despite the warm weather. Even though his appearance was odd, however, it was his expression that stunned Zuko the most.
Cold. Uncaring. Not in a violent or dangerous sense, nor in a sense that this man had given up.
But simply in the sense that there was nothing worth caring for.
“I heard a blacksmith lives here,” the man said. “Can you make me a weapon?”
“I’m sorry, but I believe you’ve heard wrong,” Zuko said apologetically. “There is no blacksmith here but myself. And as you can see, I am but an old man.”
The man just nodded and turned to leave.
“Ah. But… if I may ask. What is it you need a weapon for?” Zuko called out.
He didn’t know what prompted him to ask the question. Maybe it was the way the man had simply given up. Maybe it was the look on his face.
But something had stirred a deep curiosity within him.
“...what kind of question is that?” the man said, turning his head back. “There’s only four things you’d ever really need a weapon for. You can collect them. You can use them to look cool. Uh… self defense is another. And then you use them to kill.”
“That… I see.”
Zuko sighed.
“I cannot forge you a blade. But I can give you one.”
“Cool,” the man said, turning around. “How much?”
“...a favour.”
The man frowned. “A favour?”
“There is something I wish to investigate. If you could do me this one favour… I will grant you a sword. A masterpiece.”
“As long as it doesn’t break,” the man shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“...one additional condition,” Zuko said, hoping he wasn’t pushing his limits. “I ask… that you leave them alive.”
“Um. Yeah, sure,” the man said.
Zuko was surprised. For a man with such empty eyes, he seemed strangely indifferent to the request. He had expected the man to have a disregard for life, but strangely enough, it seemed he didn’t particularly care about the extra condition.
“You do not… plan to change your mind, do you?” Zuko said carefully.
“Me? Huh? Why would you say that?”
“It’s just… the way you phrase yourself, it seemed you were looking for a weapon to kill.”
“Sure. Yeah.”
“Then-”
“If it’s part of the job request, then sure. I don’t mind. A job’s a job. You could ask me to, I don’t know, dress them all in bunny costumes, and it would be the same thing.”
Zuko breathed a sigh of relief.
“Then, I will explain the details…”
~~~
When Prota arrived at Scholaris, the first thing she did was ask Briar about whether or not she was having problems at home. While she’d dealt with the whole cultist problem later, since John wasn’t here, it was best to try and figure out how to deal with things early.
“Huh? Gramps isn’t having any problems,” Briar frowned. “Well, he did hire someone recently, to help with something. He doesn’t tell me the details. But everything’s going well. Why do you ask?”
“Nn… sorry. Maybe something else,” Prota said quickly, nodding and heading off.
She didn’t get it.
Had something changed?