Chapter 153: Midnight Freezing
———Lerim———
<12: 09 am>
“Mhmmm…” Ugh, my eyes are still keen on being shut. Just do what I want, for crying out loud. Using magic for this wouldn’t be efficient. It takes a surprisingly large amount to overcome human limitations. If my body craves sleep then it’ll take over half of my mana to do so. Even if I just make my body ignore it for a few minutes it’ll take way more than expected.
Of course, I had a nap not too long ago so the condition isn’t that severe, but it is annoying that it feels like everything is slowing down.
Anyway, time to go back home and actually sleep. Multiple naps won’t be enough to keep my health from deteriorating from so many hours of non-stop fighting. I need a long rest to keep things balanced.
There is definitely the problem of running into monsters so late at night. They roamed around more freely during this time. I can’t let my guard down even if I should be able to reach my house in only a few minutes.
The street is filled with silence and the world feels like it has been frozen in time. It’s so late out that not a single soul can be seen. Good. I don’t want to deal with any miscreants ruining my mood. I’m so tired right now I don’t want to deal with their nonsense.
I can barely make my house out from here with how dark it is. Doesn’t look like there’s anyone loitering around the area, at least.
…Well. There is that weird bird perched up on the pole. Way too big to be a regular bird. It’s none of my business though if it chooses to ignore me. Sometimes they just sorta do, and from what Kara had told me before, it’s because some respect the strong, or something along those lines.
But still…
*Leap* *Slash*
Might as well do one final kill before going to bed. It’s not like I can count on it to not cause any trouble afterward anyway.
As for the corpse, the others can take care of it and do whatever they want. My bag is already completely filled with a bunch of monster parts. I’ll sell them off tomorrow morning before repeating the process.
Right now I can’t be bothered to do anything else. No way I’m staying outside in this freezing temperature. Going to sleep in my home is the top priority.
———Wiina———
<12: 36 am>
“It’s rather dull that there aren’t many shining lights around this time of day.” Her voice rang out with a slightly sarcastic tone as she looked down, sitting on the edge of the rooftop.
“I would call it a different type of aesthetic, personally.” I said as I stood there a few feet away. “Are those kinds of sights common there?”
“Yeah. Some places are even considered ‘nightless’ with how bright the cities are at every moment in time.” She said while looking out for the tiny glimmer of lights that can still be seen. “It’s mostly just gaudy decors, no practical meaning to any of it. It doesn’t really reflect the true state of place.”
“Figures. Not like that’s any different during this time, though I guess there seems to be less lights in general nowadays.” I said while crossing my arms. “What are you even doing here anyway?”
“Just looking around. You know how long it has been since I came here?” She said with a smirk on her. She really should fix her hair, it makes her look extremely unhinged.
“I’m pretty sure you were here even as recently as yesterday. Just because you didn't show your face doesn’t mean I’m not aware of your presence.” Her presence is quite noticeable to me, and I haven’t done anything until now since she was content to stay in the background, but today is a little different.
“Jeez. What a killjoy. A big sister always watching kinda deal? You just have to abuse those powers of yours no matter what, huh?” She said with a frown as she looked at me.
“No. I only keep the ones that would sniff people like you out active. I don’t need every ability to be toggled on all the time.” Most of them are redundant anyway, and I’d rather not become dependent on those even if there isn’t much of a limit to them. “You are pretty easy to detect, considering that you’re not even supposed to be here.”
“Wrong. I am meant to be here. Unless you already forget, the timeline is straight as an arrow.” She said with a confident smirk. “No, there’s no way you could forget with that brain of yours. Are you still trying to present yourself as an ignorant one? Just because you weren’t one of the old means doesn’t mean that you aren’t also someone who held a lot of power and influence, as well as knowledge.”
“I’m talking about your time displacement. Just because this is meant to happen doesn’t mean the timeline itself isn’t freaking out right now or hasn't tagged you.” There is an odd reading on her because she is misplaced. “You also can’t play as the fool either, no matter how much you’d like to, unless you want to claim senility already?”
“Tch. Playing that card already? Guess you really aren’t pulling any punches.” She said before scratching her head. “Am I really that big of a danger to anyone?”
“...Even your current self is already showing signs of trouble, what do you think?” I asked with a glare. I know full well that she is comfortable with killing already. It probably was further back than even that, but this is the first that she does anything on a big scale.
“Who knows? I don’t have the faintest clue what you’re talking about.” She said with a smirk. So she really is just playing the fool still. She really doesn’t want to be straightforward in the slightest.
“And that is why you should just leave. If you can’t even figure out that much, you might as well leave and go to a retirement home.” I said while she still cast her gaze down on the streets below.
“Sorry, there’s nothing like that for someone like me where I came from. You’ll get it once the time comes.” She said as if I can’t already figure out why that is.
“It’s ridiculous to think that there is no longer something like a cemetery. Do you really think you could fool me?” I said as the cold wind blew strongly.
“...You know. You seem to know quite a lot about me despite how little time we’ve spent together.” She said with a strange tone. “Do you know much about yourself?”
“Nothing I need to worry about. I can’t hurt something I cared about, but you certainly can.” I said with a firm tone. “And don’t give me any nonsense like I’m losing my control or my morality deteriorating. Anything you said would be empty words at best.”
“I haven’t even said anything yet though?” She said while putting a finger on her lips.
“Do people still use that sort of comeback, or are you just an old-timer?” That kind of response doesn’t hold as much weight as she thinks it might, especially not with me.
“Really hammering in the age thing, don’t ya?” She said as she swung her legs.
“If it was you back then, you’d probably take the loss and just play it off. When did you stop being a clown?” There’s no reason for her to keep up this game of back-and-forth.
“Jester, my dear. Why do so many people neglect to use that term?” She said while playing up a tone of remorse. “So, why do you even pursue me this time around? If I was always around, surely you can just leave me alone this time too.”
“You know why. Don’t even act dumb.” I said with a frown. “That demon wouldn’t have shown himself if it weren’t for someone happening close by. He is usually the harbinger, not the instigator. And not to mention the things you have hidden in the corners of the town.”
“Heh. Those innocuous things? Whatever could make you so alarmed?” She said with a smirk. “And did you really need to act out at this time?”
“Just answer the question. What did you plan on doing?” I said while brandishing the blade and holding it close to her neck. I might’ve already neutralized them before coming here, but I still don’t know the full picture. Nothing would clear things up more than the mastermind’s own words.
“Aren’t you just so impatient…” She said while looking rather unbothered by the threat. “Well, since you already spoiled the fun, I guess I could tell you…”
———Karra———
<6: 51 am>
“Mhmhmm…” …When did I even fall asleep? It felt like it was just a moment ago that I was still awake… What time is it?
…It’s almost seven in the morning!? It didn’t even feel like it was that long! Am I still in Wiina’s house? Where is she right now? Hm? Is that a plate of food covered by a glass cloche? Let’s see… Oh. It looks like the glass dome is emitting cold air. That’s interesting. Let’s put that away for, there’s a note next to it.
‘I’ll probably still not be back by the time you wake up, so here’s a really cold pasta.’ It seems to be carbonara pasta… Oh! Even the plate is really cold. Just how I like it. The temperature of the room is just about average, not really what I’d classified as cold. Just good enough for eating something cold.
Delicious! No idea when she had the time to cook this up, but it’s tasty…
…So where is Wiina right now anyway? It’s odd for her to be so busy so early in the morning unless something happened.
…I guess I shouldn’t try to pry. I am still feeling kinda low on energy. Yesterday’s training session was a lot. Just what sort of people did she think I was meeting for her to do all that?
This is quite a large portion. Does her mother not plan on making breakfast this morning or did she miscalculate the portion size?
Well, I can just ask her mother later. Right now I’m not completely awake, at least I don’t really feel that way.
Heck, my muscles still feel rather sour, and it doesn’t really feel like my mana is completely refilled. I might’ve woken up a bit earlier than I should’ve.
Oh, there’s also a glass of cold milk too. Shouldn’t ignore that.
*Gulp*
“Aaah…” Quite a nice breakfast. Did she make all of that by herself?
First, let’s check up the dates to see when the collab should take place. We already agreed on a location and Wiina will be the one taking everyone there. Teleporting is extremely convenient.
Hmm… I should clean myself up. I don’t even think I even showered or took a bath yesterday. Wiina did cast a simple cleaning spell on me, but that’s about it. She’s not even here right now to do that.
Alright, let’s strip and get in the bathroom. Just soak in the water for a while so I feel better. Hopefully she doesn’t randomly barge in while I’m doing so, it’d be rather awkward.
*Splash*
…There. Nice and warm bath. So nice…
…It’s nice that this is a pretty big bathtub. My tail tends to get in the way when I’m bathing. The bathtub in my house isn’t as big as this, and that causes a bit of an issue so I tend to just shower instead of bathing.
The warm water is working nicely on my legs which still feel a bit stressed out after everything yesterday. It’s the strongest part of my body so I had to use it a lot whenever I can’t just slash at things with my knife. If there’s one thing Wiina keeps saying is that I really shouldn’t forget that I’m now a horse girl. It does greatly enhance my leg strength and make me a bit tougher than an average human.
…It’s kinda weird that I still have my human ears though. Not everyone gets to keep those. In fact, it’s pretty rare for anyone to keep it.
…Still isn’t anywhere near as odd and rare as whatever Wiina has. It’s clear that she wasn’t telling me the full story, at least not in the most straightforward manner.
…Alright, let’s just sleep in here for a while… I’m still so sleepy and weak from all that crazy training yesterday… Hopefully Wiina won’t drag me out to do something crazy suddenly…