70 – Dreams that connect realities
For the first time since I arrived in this world, I had a dream.
It was normal. Very normal.
That was what tipped me off that something was wrong.
I was at my office in the IEEE building, having just given my guest presentation on the general theory of some project that I couldn't remember.
And then I felt a tug on my shirt.
"Uncle Charlie!"
A familiar young girl's voice.
Glancing down, I saw a six-year old girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes. Rose, the young girl that Uncle Chris was taking care of, and who I had been given to babysit a few times.
Though that stopped after the 'incident' where I snuck her off to Disneyland.
In my dream, she was wearing the Frozen hoodie that she insisted on having, as well as a blue jean skirt.
I knelt down and ruffled her hair. "Heya, Rose. What are you doing here?"
Rose puffed her cheeks and headbutted me. "Liar! You promised to come back! You left like Daddy!"
Wait.
I stared at Rose.
Rose stared back, sniffling.
Then my eyes widened. "...This isn't just a dream, is it?"
Rose hugged me tight and said, "You promised! Liar, liar, liar!"
I hugged her back too and chuckled. "I'm not a liar, Rose. I'm just on a... business trip." As I said that, I took a closer look around.
It wasn't just a lucid dream.
Now that I was paying closer attention, I could see that the surroundings were fraying a bit at the edges, revealing an ominous pulsing network that looked like nerves.
Uncle Chris DID say Rose was special.
Clearly, she was some sort of bioweapon...
But this was convenient.
Since she'd managed to find me...
I wiped Rose's tears away and said, "Can you do me a favor, Rose?"
Rose sniffled and said, "I don't wanna!"
"Hm... How about I give you a gift then?"
"...Gift?"
'If this place is what I think it is... Then <Parallel System> should still work.'
I typed the air to check. And sure enough, the familiar IDE and terminal that I'd been using since I got isekai'd popped up.
Rose tilted her head, looking confused.
But I ignored her for a bit to do some coding. And then when I finished, a blue rose hairpin that emitted a soft cooling effect appeared in thin air. I tucked it into her hair and smiled. "There. Now you're just like Elsa."
Rose gasped and placed her hands on her head. "It's cold!"
"Yep! I think it's hot at home, right? Now you'll always be nice and cool even outside."
Rose giggled and then hugged me. "...Fine! I forgive you."
"Great. Then..." I handed her a USB drive with all the intel I'd stored up about my situation since I arrived here via a hardware dump of <Solaris> and parts of <Parallel System>. "Give this to Uncle Chris, okay? And tell him that I'm okay."
Rose held the USB drive and nodded. "Okay! But promise you're coming home!"
I held out my pinky to her and said, "Pinky promise. It might take a while... maybe a year. But not THAT long. I'll be back before you're grown up."
Rose trembled and wrapped her pinky around mine. "...You promised! I'll be mad!"
I winked. "Don't worry. By the time I come back, I'll have lots of friends for you to play with too- Hm?"
A pulse in the blurred surroundings.
For a split second, I saw a man with sandy hair and a distinctive greenish coat.
And then I saw something else too.
Something looking right back at me with clear malice.
Rose tilted her head. "Uncle Charlie?"
I patted her head and said, "Wake up, Rose. This is just a dream. But don't worry. You'll have those when you wake up."
Rose pursed her lips. But she nodded. "...Okay. Um... how do I wake up?"
I walked past the man and towards the 'thing' looking at me.
The man nodded at me as he walked past me. "Thanks. For keeping an eye on her."
"No worries. Rose is cute. But also..." I stared at the 'thing.'
...If I had to describe it, the only thing I could say was that it looked like a biblically accurate angel. Except... all tentacly and mold-like.
*YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO REACH HERE*
A voice that sounded like grating nails.
Rose immediately flinched, looking scared.
But the man in the green coat hugged her, murmuring, "It's alright, Rose. Just close your eyes and count with me."
Seeing that the man had it handled, I stared at the 'thing' and said, "You're going to be trouble for Rose later. Since I'm basically the only responsible adult in her life, I guess I should take care of you now."
*YOU DARE-*
"Blah blah blah, skip dialogue."
*WHAT-*
I flicked my wrists, causing Harpe to fly out. Black shadows flared with blue flames as the shadowy blade cut through the 'thing.'
And then it screamed.
As it did, the surroundings started to distort.
The man and Rose vanished, probably swept out of the dream world by the 'thing' being injured.
But I smiled and said, "Interesting. Hypothesis confirmed." I pulled the chains back, causing Harpe to return to my hands. "When using Harpe, the 'prevent escape' function for otherworldly enemies means that I cannot be ejected from battle as well. It's excellent for hunting outsiders."
*YOU! WHAT... WHAT ARE YOU!?*
I chuckled and casually walked forward. "Something you should have never met. A pity. You might have been able to do something with Rose if you had laid low and ignored me. But you just HAD to be curious, didn't you?" I smiled and said, "Don't you know the saying? Curiosity killed the cat."
*NO. NO! I AM ANCIENT! I AM A GOD! I CANNOT DIE-*
"Perfect. I've always wanted to kill a god."
===
Los Angeles, California.
Uncle "Charlie's" apartment.
Rose rubbed her eyes as she woke up from her dream. When she did, she realized she was curled up in a green coat. "...Dreaming..." She immediately got sad when she realized that her Uncle Charlie wasn't really there with her.
But then she realized she was holding something. Two things.
A shiny blue comb with a rose on it that looked like it was made of ice, and was cold to touch. And then one of the computer things that Uncle Charlie always plugged into his computer. A small black rectangle with "J.F.K" scratched onto the side.
And when Rose realized that, she gasped and jumped to her feet. "IT'S REAL!"
A groan echoed from across the room and then someone fell onto the floor.
"Goddammit..."
Chris Redfield pushed himself up to his feet and made his way over. "Do you have to scream so early in the morning, Rose-"
"Uncle Chris! Uncle Charlie gave gifts!"
Chris paused and mixed emotions crossed his face. Then he sighed and said, "Rose, Uncle Charlie- Wait. What are those?"
Rose held them up. "Gifts! Oh!" She handed the USB to Chris. "Uncle Charlie said to give this to you!"
Chris grabbed the USB. And then his eyes widened in shock. "This...?!"
===
My eyes snapped open after I murdered the eldritch fungal entity. "Darn. I wanted to study it a bit more."
It was rare to meet an alternative lifeform entity. Rarer still to meet one that apparently had some hint of divinity.
I wanted to see if I could grab a sample, but apparently it physically tore me out before I could completely eradicate it.
Still, it was a fun dream. I felt well-rested after it.
In fact, my body felt good too... and the pillow I had was super warm-
Wait.
I blinked and focused on my surroundings.
And then I realized that the 'pillow' I was using was Rishia's chest.
Not only that, but she had wrapped herself around me as if to shield me from the world, resting the chin of her head against my own.
In short...
Classic misunderstanding anime trope.
Normally, the protagonist would freak out in this situation.
But as for me...
"Huh. It really is comfortable."
...I was just surprised at how cozy it was.
Rishia smelled nice, like a bit of mint and some other herbs. And her body was soft too. Not super plump, not bony, and not overly muscular. Just... cozy.
And apparently, my body agreed since I felt more rested than I ever had since arriving in this world.
I shifted a bit and stared into Rishia's sleeping face before nodding. "As expected. You're very suited to be a maid. Excellent service."
Rishia finally woke up after hearing my voice. Her eyes slowly blinked open, revealing her sleepy green irises. But then they widened and she turned a deep red. "L-Lord Naofumi?! Th-This is-"
"Shh." I placed my finger on her lips and said, "I am surprisingly well rested. Let me enjoy this."
Rishia turned a beet red. But she nodded and just laid there, trying and failing to meet my gaze, constantly averting her eyes.
"Mm..." I nodded. "You really are cute. I approve. 10/10 service. Would use as a body pillow again."
The appeal of waking up next to a cute woman suddenly made sense. And I also understood how men could fall to baser instincts and lust now...
Couldn't be me though.
I had more important things to do.
For now.
Maybe later.
Rishia turned an even darker shade of red. But she didn't reject my words. Instead, she just gave a shy, but confused nod and said, "A-Any time you wish, Lord Naofumi...?"
I rolled out of bed and stretched.
Almost as if they were waiting for me to get up, the moment I did that, Mina and Nina woke up too.
Mina sat up first, rubbing her bleary eyes. Then she noticed me and flew over, her blue hair scattering around her in a mess. "PAPA!"
I laughed and hugged her. "Morning, Mina."
Nina sat up next and then sleepily flew over with her shadowy wings. After landing on my right shoulder, she fixed her blonde hair and said, "Good morning, Father."
I smiled and shifted her into my arms too, making her giggled. "Good morning, Nina. Were you good with Rishia?"
"Of course!"
Mina nodded too and said, "Goodest girl!"
Rishia slowly got up from the bed, fixing her messy green hair. She was still blushing, but she looked more composed as she smiled and said, "They were very sweet, Lord Naofumi. We just read stories and practiced magic together."
"That's good. Although..." I peeked out the window to check the time. "I guess they were tired out too, huh? Looks like it's already noon, so-"
"LORD NAOFUMI IS FREEDOM! FREEDOM IS GOOD! LORD NAOFUMI IS GOOD!"
"ALL HAIL THE LEADER OF LIBERTAS!"
"LIBERTY! LIBERTY! LIBERTY!"
I shifted my gaze to the source of the disturbance... only to see a full-blown festival in swing with demi-humans, monsters, humans, and even animals sending praise to a gleaming golden statue of me draped in magical enchanted equipment that must have been made by S'yne and Erhard working together.
Rishia noticed and then giggled, covering her mouth. "I suppose everyone is excited about you saving them, Lord Naofumi?"
I let out a long suffering sigh.
===
Meanwhile, dimensions away...
Dante dropped down into the middle of an empty street in Tokyo. "...So this here's supposed to be Tokyo? Doubt I'd find any sushi or geishas in this hellhole." He sighed and took off his hat, running his hand through his hair as he stared up at the broken sky with a spiral floating above it. "This job already sucks ass, doesn't it, Vergil?"
Vergil dropped down next to Dante and looked up at the sky. "...I sense power."
Dante looked up too and said, "...Yeah. Seems like old Lucy's still up to no good even in other worlds. Wanna see if you're finally stronger than him?"
"Hmph. I have ALWAYS been stronger than him."
"Sure, bud..." Dante cracked his neck and pulled out his Royal Guard's Sword. "But I'm curious too. I wanna see if this thing works on him. Apparently, it's a copy of 'The Sword that Seals the Darkness.' And considering old Lucy's pure darkness... I think it'll be fun."
Vergil didn't look impressed. "Relying on gimmicks again, Dante?"
"Hey. They worked on you, didn't they?"
"...That was once."
"I think it's three times now, isn't it?"
Vergil clicked his tongue and said, "Regardless... That one will be able to give us directions to the boy. If he does not talk..."
"THEN I can test out this baby?"
"...Then you can test out your trifling blade, yes."
"Bet."