In the World of Midgar 38 — The Flugel Country Gjallarhorn (12)

꒰ঌ The Flugel Country Gjallarhorn 12

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It was nighttime now. After a short day which seemed to go on forever, I was currently lying down on a bed thinking.

Fiona had already gone to sleep, and Penny was standing in a corner of the room, as always. … She doesn't even twitch, so it really does seem like she's just decoration. But I'm sure she'll move if something happens.

Having Hinata take action is probably the best way to solve all of this town's problems. But Hinata's the queen of this country. It's not going to be easy to make contact. I could probably sneak in without being noticed, but that's a far cry from a peaceful method.

I kept repeating this, but I wanted to stay away from any and all turmoil. So, the question is how I get in touch… Really, I have no idea what to do. Penny had detected someone who seemed like Hinata, but they just wouldn't move from the castle. Do your damn job, White Empress. Or do you plan on throwing away your title of White Empress for the title of Idle queen?

"… I'm baaaack… Huh? … Is everyone asleep?"

As I was gradually turning into a useless decoration that couldn't come up with any solutions at all, my self proclaimed little sister returned, opening the door and sneaking in.

I supposed giving a greeting, even if in a whisper, made her very polite, in a way.

I had something I wanted to ask Minako about. Penny was also signaling me by moving her eyes slightly, suggesting that now was the time to confront her. But I silently shook my head, denying her suggestion since Fiona was asleep right now. It probably wasn't important enough to wake her up. It could wait until tomorrow.

***

"—So, we will now start the interrogation of the accused."

"Everything you say will be added to my memory banks, so please feel free to spill everything."

"Huh? What?"

It was the next day.

Penny and I captured Minako, who'd crawled her way out of bed seeming awfully carefree. We cornered her behind a table and surrounded her so she couldn't get away.

I honestly felt like it was about time we took a scalpel to the mysteries around Minako and figured out the truth. She was too talented to just be a former background NPC. She could use teleportation magic, too. It was like she was just asking us to suspect her.

It could have only been that her presence was just so weak that we never noticed her abilities, but I couldn't imagine that was right.

Put bluntly, she was in no way weak. In fact, she was strong. I just couldn't believe that she had ever faded into the background looking at her now, but that might also be because she had changed.

If this were the game, I'd get it. If this were the game, that was. But, no. This was reality, and Fiona and Penny were here, too. Apparently Penny was missing some of her memory data, but it was pretty strange for Fiona to have forgotten her.

"Starting off: Minako, as for the teleportation magic you use, is that Xgate? I have heard your claim that you cannot use it on others 'unless they give you their permission.' That coincides with one of the usage conditions of Xgate."

"Ah, yes. It's Xgate."

"…"

Hey, she just admitted it outright.

No, wait. Now that I think about it, there really wasn't a reason to hide that fact. In fact, she wasn't really hiding it at all.

It was a rare technique, but apparently someone else used it to summon me here, too. If that low-level elf gramp could use it, then, well… Yeah. I'm feeling stupid for interrogating her about it.

"Uhh, next. Tell the truth. Just what are you? We do barely remember you from one thousand years ago, so at the very least you are no human, right? But you don't have the characteristics of an elf, flugel, or vampire, either…"

"I'm just a half-elf?"

"…"

… Ahh, right… There were half-races, weren't there?

If she's mixed between a human and an elf, well, it makes sense that she has the appearance of a human but the lifespan of an elf.

You couldn't make half-races in the MMO, could you?… This is also totally my mistake.

"The reason for all your talents…"

"I trained really hard these past one thousand years so that I wouldn't blend into the background! I'll say it again. I am not the background!"

"…"

Okay, so it was so important you wanted to say it twice. I understand. What now? I ran out of things to ask her.

Minako seemed somewhat proud of the fact that she'd evaded all our questions perfectly.

I looked over at Penny, hoping for help, but she simply made an X sign with her arms.

I guess this interrogation is over. It's our loss. She's innocent.

Hmm. Was I just thinking too much? I guess that headache might have just been a random headache without any meaning.

Oh, no. Aren't I acting really shamefully?

Actually, I could just do that. I could have just used Observing Eye. Why did I never think to use this on her until now?… That's weird, even to me.

[ Namikaze Minako ]

[Level]: 300

[Race]: Half-Elf

[Class Levels]

・Acolyte: 100

・Priest: 100

・Mage: 100

[HP]: 11000

[SP]: 9800

[STR (Strength)]: 650

[DEX (Dexterity)]: 1000

[VIT (Vitality)]: 683

[INT (Intelligence)]: 3850

[AGI (Agility)]: 900

[MND (Mind)]: 2967

[LUK (Luck)]: 643

Oh, what? You're actually strong, Minako.

She didn't match up to the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians or me, but she could totally fight evenly against the Seven Grimms of Purgatory.

… I'm still feeling like I'm missing something important, though.

While I was thinking, Minako glanced over at a pendulum clock that was hung on the wall. She spoke up as if she'd just remembered something.

"Ah, right. I just thought of something. I can teleport Penny anywhere with my teleportation magic."

"Hm? So it is impossible for us but possible for Penny?"

"Yes. Inorganic objects aren't subject to Xgate's restrictions. Otherwise, I'd have to take off all my clothes. And since Penny is a golem, I should be able to bring her with me using Xgate."

The reason why I wasn't able to travel using Xgate was because somewhere in my heart, I didn't completely trust Minako. And in truth, I had just been interrogating her because of my doubts, so it would be hard to claim that I trusted her. That would probably be seen as rejection, and I wouldn't be able to use Xgate.

Dammit. Does that mean if I didn't harbor any strange doubts I'd be able to teleport?

"We could test it now if you'd like. Using this would be much smoother if we were to test it out several times now rather than having to wing it."

"Hm… What do you think, Penny? We believe there is value in trying it."

"… I judge that there will be no problems. The Grimm of Wood Mercury has yet to approach this area. As long as he does not somehow have a convenient way of sensing that I am gone, the probability that he will use this opportunity to attack is less than 5%."

Penny herself told me that her maximum sensor range was 150 km. In other words, Penny's statement meant that Mercury was at least 150 km away. Then as long as he didn't attack as soon as Penny left, there would be no problems.

Hm. Well, nothing bad will happen. Probably.

I gave permission for their experiment.

"Ah, right. Then why don't we take this chance to organize your equipment, Big Sis? I wouldn't be that great at figuring out which ones are useful by myself… Really, I'm just not that knowledgeable about weapons."

"Understood."

"Master, it will require around ten minutes. Is that okay?"

"Sure. We do not mind."

There's no way Mercury would just happen to show up in the space of the next ten minutes.

Assured by that thought, I sent the two of them off. Once they had teleported away, I returned to my room and rolled around on the bed.

The time to act will come after the two of them get back. Then we can have a discussion on how to approach Hinata.

A scant seven minutes after that, someone attacked the white town and suddenly everything was kicking off.

Wai— Wha— … Really?!

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