27

*Wait... write my own way...?*

Why did I have such a thought?

*My own way...?*

How much control did I have over this life? Back on Earth, I feel like this question plagued me endlessly.

*But I'm not on Earth anymore, am I?*

"Uh, HELLO?"

"Ah."

Hazel Blaze snatched the pocket mirror out of my hand.

"You know, I thought it was strange that you wanted to look at your own eyes. Are you that obsessed with your own face?"

"Um... No..."

"That wasn't very convincing."

"..."

"Anyway, let's go back! Ah-!"

Hazel Blaze attempted to run off only to trip and fall on her face.

"Are you out of mana?"

"Oof..."

Her arms trembled as she tried pushing herself off the floor, but an unending weakness pervaded her body and she collapsed again.

"Really... How are you going to climb back to the surface like that?"

"M A S T E R ... I , C A N , C A R R Y , H E R ..."

"Won't that be a problem? You're too scary-looking."

Hazel Blaze's terror of Mauve was no secret, but maybe this wasn't a bad thing. If she just passed out, it would save us some headache.

"I , C A N , T R A N S F O R M ..."

"You know what, why don't you stay like th... Oh."

When you imagine a transformation sequence, you might think it's some flashy series of events where the... "transformee", for lack of a better word... is veiled by a sparkly screen and performs showy movements.

That's not what this was.

*It's best if I spare the details...*

Mauve's body contorted in grotesque ways. The spiky scales flipped and twisted revealing bits of inner flesh. Bodily fluid must have escaped through the process, because the ground around it was wet. Limbs retracted and bent in ways they weren't supposed to.

It was almost like watching a pile of flesh evaporate in a slow-motion car accident. I was about to ask how this would make it look *less* scary, but I soon had my answer.

*How- You know what? I should just stop questioning things.*

Of course, the mysterious being in front of me had transformed into a girl.

*Is there some law of the universe saying little girls are the most monstrous of all creatures or something?*

Once again, I described her as a "little" girl, but this thing looked older than Hazel Blaze, who looked older than me. However, the human version of Mauve didn't look any older than 16, so calling her "little" still felt appropriate.

*Even like this, though...*

Mauve was now a human-looking entity, but she hadn't solved everything. The first thing was that her skin was so pale that I would have no trouble believing she was a vampire if I saw her on Earth. The veins under her thin skin were easily visible, even on her face. Everyone I saw here had tanned olive skin at the lightest and dark brown as the darkest, so she would definitely attract attention.

Her eyes were purple, but I didn't remember if that was a common eye color or not, so it was probably fine. However, the last thing was... Mauve needed some clothes. Her body was covered in black scales that conveniently swirled around the NSFW parts, but other than that, she was functionally naked.

*Hey, System, is this a sort of deliberately elaborate censorship?*

*>System message: CP is bad.*

*What the...*

I wasn't expecting to get a response with my half-assed questioning, but this surprisingly gave me information.

*What aspects of the world do you control?*

I didn't want to get lost in thought about my own autonomy again, but if the System had control over random aspects of the world like deliberate censorship of privates, then how did I know I wasn't under its control?

*Hey, System, what do you say?*

...

No response.

*Well, whatever...*

The other interesting thing was that this "System" had a surprisingly human moral compass. A simple statement such as "CP is bad" was very spontaneous and human-centric. It was unlikely the system would say such a thing if it were an unknowable alien entity, right?

So was the system human-made and/or was it a derivative of humanity's qualia? Or was it just an alien actress attempting to fit in with us?

"Master..."

"Ah."

*Lost myself in thought again. Screw you, system.*

"So you were a girl?" I asked.

"Um... Did... Master... not... see... me... like... that...?"

"What the..."

*What kind of question is that?*

"Obviously not, I saw you as a fricking Obsidian Basilisk."

"Oh... Well. I suppose... that... should have... been... obvious. Forgive me..."

"I don't have time for this nonsense. Just pick up Blazel and let's get out of here."

Though her voice was now much, much higher-pitched and quieter, she still spoke in the same laborious manner.

"Okay... Ah!"

Mauve tripped over her own feet and fell onto her face.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Apologies... Master..." she said, looking up at me. "I haven't... transformed... in a... long time..."

"Why did you even offer to help then..." I sighed and picked up Hazel Blaze myself. "Do you need me to pick you up, too?"

"N- No! Of course not!" Mauve said, scrambling to her feet, barely keeping her balance this time.

With a few hops and a couple of dashes here and there, I was back on the surface.

"Ah, Young Master, you're back! I see the girl is unconscious... Did you have to retreat?"

"The thing is..."

Before I could muster a response, I heard a collapse in the sand behind me.

"A... ahh..... Sun... hurts...! Nnnnnnn..."

Mauve had extraordinary strength, so I wasn't surprised she was able to follow behind me so quickly. However, it was evident whatever strength she had wasn't effective against the sun.

Regardless, she probably had a lot of vitality, so I left her alone.

"Who... is that?" the carriage driver dubiously asked.

"She's the Obsidian Basilisk that was living down there," I said matter-of-factly. "She wants to follow me for some reason."

"Is that so..."

He didn't look convinced, but he had no further complaints.

"Blazel here is unconscious, but she's recovering," I continued. "I'm not sure when she'll be completely healthy, but she's no longer in critical condition."

"Hm... As expected of the Young Master..."

This time, he wore a content expression as he examined Hazel Blaze.

*So now he believes me?*

"By the way," I said. "Is there really no way to watch Emma's ceremony?"

"I'm afraid not," the driver replied. "Ruby's word is as good as law. If she denies you, there's nothing to be done."

"Is that so... Anyway, will we head back now?"

"If that is your request. Please take a seat inside, and we shall be off shortly."

"Thanks."

I gently laid down Hazel Blaze on the spacious carriage seats and waited, but Mauve didn't show up. Curious to see what was happening, I peeked outside only to find her unconscious as well. She was lying face down in the sand.

*Are you kidding me... Is she really that weak to the sun?*

Solar allergies weren't common, but they did exist.

I sighed and threw Mauve inside the carriage as well before taking up as much space on the seats as I could.

*Yeah, this thing's insane.*

I lay down on the seats and stretched out my arms and legs as far as they could go, but nothing got in my way. There was no way I could do this on the smaller supposedly "luxurious" carriage from town.

With a series of small bumps, the carriage was off and moving. Even as we sped up to faster-than-freeway speeds, this carriage hardly shook at all.

*Does it have magic suspension or something? Who is Emma exactly?*

If the simple carriage was luxurious, Emma had to be royalty or something, or this wouldn't make any sense.

*I think Ruby mentioned Imlan and Sophot...?*

I didn't know anything about the countries of this world, so even if I knew the details of Emma's identity, it wouldn't mean much to me.

I stared out the window at the vast world before me. I knew we were moving, but the lack of landmarks made it tricky to tell how fast we were going.

*This world... where is it? What is it? Why am I here?*

*>System Quest: Slay the Demon Lord. Never expires.*

*What...*

This was the first time I received a quest with no time limit. I ignored the quest's contents because no expiry meant I didn't have to worry about it. But I'd periodically forget about this thing.

*What is the System? Why did you answer as soon as I started questioning my existence?*

In a way, the system did define my existence, because if I didn't do what it told me, it would kill me instantly.

*Yikes. I don't really want to think about deep questions for a while.*

Focusing on the moment, I had a feeling there was going to be a lot to do here. At the very least, it seemed exponentially more exciting than my existence on Earth. There was a sort of freedom here that I never experienced there.

On Earth, the most freeing thing one could have was an abundance of wealth. However, there were things you couldn't do no matter how much wealth you had.

*In this world, nothing feels... "concrete"? It's like my imagination has opened up. The world is less logical and more nebulous. It's harder to describe things here, so maybe that's why it feels like I have more options?*

The existence of magic was the ultimate proof of this. No matter how much money you had on Earth, you couldn't use magic like you could in this one.

*The power of imagination at my fingertips. The world is a canvas. If this is the case, can't I live however I want?*

The best way to live was in the moment, so for the foreseeable future, that's exactly what I was going to do.

END SEASON 1