༺ Shall We Go To the 2nd Floor? (3) ༻
I was nervous while climbing the stairs.
The feeling was that of a rabbit hiding in the grass after discovering a hungry lion.
“What are you doing? Hurry inside. I need to show you something.”
At Queen’s call, I snapped out of it and entered.
On the 2nd floor of [The Last Cherry Blossom] was Queen’s room that she was renting long-term.
I was now being invited into that very room.
What was actually going on?
While thinking back on everything that led to this, I tried to pay attention to the current situation.
Queen liked strong men, and I was strong enough to defeat her–.
That’s it.
Nothing can elude me, after all.
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat and looked around.
The floor of the room was littered with her belongings, mostly clothes and underwear.
This utter disorganization was characteristic of her and hadn’t changed since the last time I entered a room of hers.
Despite her room being in this kind of state, she was once a princess and was apparently cleaned up after by maids and servants
Hence, she couldn’t be bothered to keep her own things clean and orderly.
“Damn it, I thought I left it here somewhere.”
Rustle— Rustleeee—
Queen shifted through the piles of random things, then scratched her head in frustration.
“What are you looking for?”
I asked her, trying to shake off my nerves.
Still scratching, she said, “There was something I wanted to show you.”
What did she want to show me?
Well.
Was there anything else to show besides her underwear?
I replied calmly.
“That’s fine. I prefer taking off everything.”
“Take off what?”
“Not going to undress You called me up to your room.”
A moment of silence.
But time slowed down for me, the silence feeling like an eternity and weighing heavy on my shoulders.
It was as heavy as the earlier attack from her double-edged axe, and I almost felt my body sinking through the ground down to the first floor.
Soon, Queen burst out laughing Hahahaha—
“Ah–, wow. You. You seem a bit confused. I didn’t invite you here to ‘do it’ with you, Judas.”
“Well, fuck.”
Is this for real?
Well, Queen had only said, “Let’s go upstairs.”
I misunderstood things by myself.
Fucking embarrassing.
Was this a confession:0, rejection:1 kind of thing?
Queen continued laughing like she didn’t care at all about my wounded heart.
“That’s hilarious!”
She was laughing so loud that the room next door knocked on the wall, saying, “Quiet down. Do you think you own the place?”
I guess this inn didn’t have decent soundproofing.
Besides the beautiful cherry blossom tree at the entrance, the rest of the place really was cheap.
“Judas! You’ve become funnier since the last time I saw you!”
Bang— Bangbang—!
Queen’s hand slapped my back.
It hurt a lot, but to hide my embarrassment, I spoke nonchalantly.
“Shut up. That was pretty hurtful, you know? Why would you confuse me and pain me like this? It hurt less when you betrayed us and took off with Mara.”
“Betrayal, huh? Well, what can I say? All I was doing was fighting against you, Judas. I was trying to help you in my own way… Anyway, it was around here… Found it!”
Swoosh—
Queen pulled out a book.
A thin book.
“A children’s book?”
A book was a kind of luxury in this world.
In a world where people worked hard just to get by, very few people could afford to read.
That was why most books were tailored to those people but the one Queen presented to me had pictures that kids would enjoy.
‘Children’s book’ was the perfect description.
“Take a look!”
Was this picture book the only reason I was invited upstairs?
Grumbling inside, I accepted the book.
The title was 「The Giant Snake and The Hunter」.
I couldn’t tell what it’d be about.
「Once upon a time, there lived a snake. The snake was huge. When it moved, mountains formed and its yawning caused waves.」
“What is this? You really called me up here for this?”
I scowled and looked at Queen.
She replied, “Keep going.” with great confidence so I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and continue.
There weren’t that many pages so I’ll just read it.
The story was befitting a children’s book and wasn’t hard to understand.
It was about the snake being so large that neither people nor gods could do anything about it.
The snake within the story liked women especially and demanded of the people that they ‘offer a young woman every week.’
Then one day, as another woman was sent to be sacrificed.
「A kind girl from the village of Iscario, Rachel, decided to become the sacrifice in place of her wounded sister. All the villagers became sad.」
「One day as everyone was preparing for her leave, Rachel discovered an unconscious man in the forest on her last walk around the village.」
「Rachel dedicatedly nursed him back to health and at last, the man spoke. “I’m a hunter from a faraway land. Since you have shown me kindness, I will repay you.」
「To repay Rachel, the hunter fought with the huge snake for days. Their battle caused crashes of thunder and even transformed the sea into land!”」
In the end, the hunter prevailed against the giant snake.
The story finished with the hunter and Rachel getting married, having many children, and living happily ever after.
This sort of tale.
I’ve heard of it somewhere.
Didn’t I suffer not too long ago because of 「Dragon King’s Flute」?
It could be the tale of Demon Hunter Cariote’s ancestors.
Or it could be a simple story, I thought, when Queen spoke.
“How was it!”
“Well, good story.”
Poetic justice.
Plus a moral to reciprocate any kindness that you receive from others.
As well, as to not ignore others in need.
It was good enough to show kids like Naru and Cecily.
It could even increase their Princess power.
But Queen frowned as if she didn’t like my answer.
Then she opened the book and pointed out the beginning and end of the story.
“This snake was extremely powerful! Not even the gods could mess with it! You’ve heard of the one that even the Demiurges couldn’t defeat, the Leviathan, right?”
“Yeah, well…”
“But there was a man who defeated the Leviathan. I believe, Judas, that this will be the answer to your problem!”
“…….”
“Judas, become stronger than this. You will for sure be able to do it. Face the problem head-on and overcome it!”
I see.
I think I know what Queen wants to say.
Become stronger than Nocturne who’s overtaking me.
Is that even possible?
Nocturne’s existence is that of a ‘god.’
But future-me or future-we must have sent present-me to this Last Cherry Blossom Inn for this reason.
It meant there was a possibility.
“Keep the book. Or give it to the kids. You, I heard you have a little girl? Is she from your marriage with Brigitte while we were apart?”
Did Queen also hear about Naru?
Because I couldn’t explain things properly, I kept it simple.
“Brigitte and I aren’t married yet. But I think there’s a high probability that it’s her kid. It’s complicated and hard to explain.”
“I wouldn’t get it even if you did explain!”
* * *
“So that’s what happened.”
I sat at the table and talked about all that went on today.
Including how I met Queen at the inn Cecily sent me to, and the book I received after the fight with her.
As she listened, Brigitte gave me a narrow-eyed look.
“That’s all? You two, nothing happened when you were on the 2nd floor?”
“Surprisingly, nothing.”
“Hm…, Well, I guess. It’s that Queen.”
Brigitte nodded as if in acceptance. Then, the bald Enkidus, who was drinking beer next to Brigitte, asked.
“So Queen will be working together with Tenebris, then?”
“That, I’m not sure of. She doesn’t exactly seem to be a traitor or an enemy. Well, Queen’s always done her own thing. It’s more fun that way, I suppose.”
Queen wants to help me become stronger, it seems.
Perhaps she’s volunteering herself as an obstacle I need to overcome.
Though it’d be difficult to fight against her seriously, now that I’ve learned a lot about the situation.
Pat— Pat—
Just then, Cariote gracefully wiped at the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief.
Then she spoke.
“The tale of the snake is about my ancestors. Snake Hunter Adam. He was my father’s fathers’ father. He was known to be immensely strong.”
Swoosh—
After saying that, Cariote brought forward the bone flute.
“This is the evidence. He was no great warrior or Demiurge, but he defeated the massive Dragon King. Overpower strength with greater strength–. An obvious but simple answer.”
“The truth is usually pathetically simple. But therein lies the problem. Strengthen Judas so that he doesn’t succumb to Nocturne’s clutches… will be impossible using regular methods.”
It was as Enkidus said.
To become stronger, leveling up was necessary.
The problem was that I was at level 49, only 1 more until 50, and in my current state, I’d be consumed when that happens.
I can no longer become stronger by ordinary means.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Everyone at the table was quiet.
Because there was no clear solution.
However, it was a big gain to learn the ‘right direction’ to head towards.
Future-me wouldn’t have found this out or would have wasted a lot of time even if he did.
Compared to that I was able to save time thanks to the kids from the future.
While everyone was lost in thought-.
Brigitte spoke first.
“Elle Cladeco.”
A familiar name fell from Brigitte’s lips.
When everyone turned their eyes to Brigitte, she elaborated.
“That woman might be holding the key to this. Of course, it’s only a theory.”
Elle Cladeco, hm.
The one who built the Principality of Freesia into the greatest magically-engineered city.
If we asked her, she’d be able to give us some kind of answer.
But-.
More than Elle Cladeco, I wanted to ask her daughter Tywin something.
The kid once mentioned Naru’s birthday was in August.
Then when was Cecily’s birthday?
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