Reborn (2)

"How's everything?"

"It's fine, here."

Silver-blue hair, and blue eyes. Prune, a wolfkin who had two ears on top and a bushy tail behind her passed me a warm drink, milk tea.

"What do you think of this?" Nine showed off her disguise for the operation: seduce the royal knights later..

I suppose an ex-streamer is fine pulling all-nighters?

"I still find it difficult to believe someone can change genders.." Sayu Takata muttered. She's one of the reincarnated heroes that got into our mess last night. I guess you could call them our allies.

"I know right.." Aoki Kaito said, the other hero caught up in this (also Takata's significant other) lamented with resignation in his voice.

The plan was for Nine, Kaito and Takata to exit the door to fool the guards and heroes using [Incite (SS)] or [Deception (SS)]. After that they'll sneak away using Liliath's concealment barrier at max level, teleport into the prison to plant down [Home Sweet Home] and rescue Miss Margrett and Jennifer-chan.

But this plan will depend on how the people would react to Aoki and Takata. If it's a positive reaction, perhaps they can act as the decoy. If it's a negative reaction, they'll have to make an escape and conduct escapism.

I'm too sure how Miss Margrett feels about being rescued. Jennifer-chan didn't reply when I asked for her opinion. It's quite clear something is up.

As for Sid, we'll have to rescue him separately, but it's the same procedure nonetheless. Using whatever means, the main objective is to evacuate everyone into this apartment.

Afterwards, Liliath will teleport to the florist and have Miss Margrett and Jennifer-chan stock up on anything from home. We could use the Teleportwidget but it's more cost efficient with Liliath's magic. We need to conserve the point for Rin.

We'll be moving to the Elven Territory. Miss Margrett's family will have to abandon what they have here. It's inevitable. Then again, I'm glad Jennifer-chan had already graduated, so she at least has her graduation certificate in hand.

As for the orphanage we frequent.. let's just hope a shit storm doesn't happen too there just because we tried to help the kids.

"Cheer up. You already made plans for this, didn't you?" Prune said.

"Plans? No?"

"It'll be difficult.. hey, Sayu, do you think they'll really attack us?" Aoki asked.

"It's hard to say.. maybe if we tried to persuade them? But isn't it weird how sensei said we'd be siding with the demon lords? Which is right, which is wrong? I don't know anymore." Takata said with a strained voice.

"The revival widget. We thought about this sort of emergency before, remember?" Prune said.

"He already knows that," Nine said.

"I know, but.. you.. um.."

Prune's motherly aesthetic shows through at times like this. Well.. that's nostalgic.

"By the way, have you told Noel-sama what Bleu said?" Kaito raised. What's up with -sama all of a sudden?

"Ah.. Noel. Actually, I talked to Bleu about it and she lent us a thousand points. We have enough to revive Rin right now, and leftovers can be used for the Teleportationwidget," Prune said.

"Seriously?"

Wow.. that's..

"And the interest rate?"

"We'll have to pay back a thousand two hundred by the end of spring."

Okay. Now that's amazing. One thousand two hundred by spring.. that's no biggy.

"Let's do it now…" I pulled up the UI for the revival widget out of excitement when I realized, "Liliath.. where is she?"

"She went to the bathroom," Takata said.

"Just so you know. Liliath didn't join me at Bleu's domain.." Prune added.

Well.. there's something important I need to discuss with her.. I don't know if she's in the mood to hear it though..

===

"Liliath?"

"Hm?"

I called out to her, she tilted her head.

"Are you.. alright?"

"Yes. I'm alright," she sat on the sofa, placed both her hands on her laps and stared into the air.

She's not alright.

In this situation I should.. no. I'll come back to it after this. First things first.

"We'll be reviving Rin."

"Un," Liliath just nodded.

A pretty stale reaction.. maybe she'll be better once she sees that Rin is alright?

"Noel, ready?" Nine asked.

"Yeah, set."

"We're actually going to revive someone.. that's cheating beyond cheat." Kaito muttered.

Prune and Sayu were on standby.

We'll revive Rin, make sure she's alright, have our short reunion, then have breakfast. The operation to save Miss Margrett's family will begin then. Here goes nothing.

[Startup Menu] [Loading..] [Initiate Revival]

[Cost: 10,000 points, Do you wish to proceed?]

[YES/NO]

Yes.

[Please select a target.]

Select target?

There's no button or scroll list.. what target? Voice operation?

"Target– Ri.. Rinalanashina," I almost said Rin there.. whoops. I might have revived the wrong person if I did.

[Target name(s) acquired; Identifier specification insufficient.]

[Death History List: Shown]

[Please Select Target]

[Rinalanashina Highlands, Rinalanashina, Rinalanashina, Rinalanshina Bougainvillea, Rinalanshine Lila]

Well damn me. I guess there's more than one Rinalanshina that died recently.

"Rinalanashina Bougainvillea."

[Scanning for soul]

[Soul found]

[Acquiring soul data]

[Target Rinalanshina] [Rebirth cycle number: 4.] [Identifier: 1kj0as84a92] [Rebirth History: Yin, Reese Darcia, Frill Uril, Rinalanashinia Bougainvillea] [Base trait: (Hidden)] [Personality factor: (Hidden)] [Karma Value: +70]

[Confirm Revival of target selected]

[YES/NO]

When I saw that name, a discomfort sprung from my chest. Her Highness Reese.. she was Rin after all. The heck is with this coincidence.

"Yes."

[Keep Data {Rebirth cycle number:4} / Initiate New Rebirth Cycle?]

I had to pause a moment to figure out what this meant, "Keep Data."

[Revival in Progress..]

A magic circle grew on the floor in front. Glowing in a golden light, it dazzled my eyes, a burst of light sprung forth– I squinted–

"Ah.."

I heard a breath.

I peeked with one eye.. and I rotated my body 180 degrees with my back facing her.

"Crap."

"Did you see it? Did you see it?" Nine asked, nudging my elbow.

"Fuck off.."

"What? You've never seen a naked lady before? I thought you watch porn.."

"GGAAAHHH??!!! S-SAYU.. I didn't see anything I swear I didn't ow, ow, ow, ow.."

Y-yikes. That looks like it hurts a lot..

"W-Where.. hikh?!" It was.. Rin's voice..

My heart trembled. Even though her revival turned into a somewhat awkward situation cuz.. well.. fuck shit I wasn't prepared that she would appear absolutely naked. Still.. I couldn't help but feel emotional.

Was it because I knew Rin was Her Highness Reese from the 11th cycle? Or that the shock of seeing her die hasn't subsided?

Whatever it was..

"Welcome back Rin."

"This is.. I'm.. alive?"

"Clothes.. clothes.. someone go get the clothes." Takata said in panic.

"Nine, Noel, Kaito, you three better not turn around!" Prune commanded.

"Will do."

"I'm a girl though!" Nine retorted in her cute voice and turned around anyways. Nobody seemed to mind it.

I breathed out a sigh, calmed my trembling breath and calmed my mind.

There are still a number of questions in my mind. We'll resolve them one by one. Safety first, that's our first priority..

Why was I not hearing anything from Liliath?

Prune came back with a simple T-shirt and skirt combo.

"Done."

"Okay."

I turned around and.. was embraced by Rin.. she buried her head in my chest. Ah..

"Noel.." she raised her head to look at me. Her silver-grey hair was an absolute mess, but her crystal clear blue eyes were filled with tears as she called out my name.

"Welcome back Rin.. welcome back," I squeezed her back.

Sheesh.. you didn't need to do that now didn't you..

"Wow.. that's amazing. So if I die I can be revived too?"

"We'll have to weigh the benefits to the cost."

"Seriously.."

"Don't die please," Takata said.

Huh?

I turned to Liliath.

"Hm?"

Sitting on the sofa.. she barely moved at all.

There's.. something wrong here.

Rin pulled herself away.

"I'm sorry for worrying you.. everyone," Rin bowed.

Liliath only looked more perplexed by Rin's actions.. what's going on? I came in front of Liliath.

"Are you alright? Rin is back.. "

"Rin? That girl is Rin?"

"Huh?" Nine's stupefied voice echoed. I was of the same mind..

"Liliath.. do you not remember me?" Rin asked in confusion.

"Rinalanashina, correct? I do remember."

Semi-amnesia? What? There's something really wrong with this.

"If such is the case.. " Rin acted all fidgety in guilt, she bit her lips, her eyelashes trembled.

"Calm down, calm down.. maybe Liliath is still shocked.. we saw everything happen in front of our eyes after all.."

Yeah. Maybe.. that's what it is. Liliath's mental condition.

To begin with, her state of mind wasn't all that stable. So Rin's death might have been too much for her to bear..

"Let's eat breakfast first.. alright, Liliath?" I picked up her hand gently.

"We shall?" stared at me, confused by my actions.

Led by me, we all went to the dinner table. We had more people than usual so Aoki and Takata opted to use the cooking counter to eat their meals.

It was a simple toast with an egg of an unknown species or sweet preserved bean paste that served as a substitute for jam.

I helped Liliath make an egg sandwich.

"Is it because of your appetite?" I tried to make her hold it but.. she wasn't interested, "Or do you want me to feed you?"

It's concerning.. darn. Life challenges. Unexpected things occur, I just have to buck up and face it.

I placed the bread gently between her lips, her lips parted a little. She bit off a small piece of the sandwich and slowly chewed on it.

'Noel. You take care of Liliath. If she's not in a condition to use her magic, we'll just use the points. We have some leeway. I'll do the rescuing.'

'Thanks Nine.'

"Delicious.." Liliath said.. a teardrop fell from her hollow eyes. It pained me to see her like this. I wiped the tear off with my finger, she remained stationary, without reaction.

"Say ah.. another bite."

One after another, we slowly made our way through the sandwich.

"That's sweet of you.." I heard Takata mutter.

"Want me.. to feed you too?" Aoki asked hesitantly.

"Erm.. if.. you're alright with that.."

"Riajuus go explode," Nine tore a hearty bite out of the bean paste sandwich she was eating. Prune and Rin said nothing and looked at us with gazes of concern.

Breakfast finished quickly.. for them, not me.

"Aoki-san, Takata-san, you two ready?" Nine who had finished called out.

"Somewhat.. let me check my equipment," Aoki borrowed my shirt for the night since our sizes were similar. His actual clothes were laundered through the night. He had to double check through his supplies cuz.. his clothes were the kind with a lot of hidden pockets. And most of them were stocked with weird gizmos like talismans and consumable magic crystals.

Takata's adventurer clothes were much simpler.

"Going where?" Rin, who was on her third sandwich. I never realized that she was a glutton..

"A lot of things happened along the way, so, we have to rescue some people– Prune, watch the door for us."

"Just a second.." Prune was wiping the table with a wet cloth, "Here, use this to clean up the crumbs once you're done."

"Okay," replied Rin.

Prune will hold the door just in case someone tries to barge in while Nine, Takata and Aoki make the escape.

"Ah.." Liliath opened her mouth again.

"Here," I fed her another bite of the sandwich. She's cute. "Good luck," I told Nine.

"Yeah. I'll bring Margrett-san and Jenn-chan in first, prepare the place for them… here goes nothing."

I heard Aoki and Takata take in a sharp breath.

Click.. the lock of the door was opened.