Otherworld TRPG Game Master

36 – S1.5. Elaine and Pharaoh’s Return -2

Not with hands, but with their entire bodies.

From their entire bodies to the world.

The wind that had held them back, flowing with their blood, was released into the world.

Believing that Pharaoh, borrowing strength, would finally take his first step and capture the attention of the two mutants.

So, until Pharaoh became accustomed to the wind… buying time was Elaine’s responsibility.

-Uwoooooo!

The fist of the giant mutant creature fell like a meteor.

Elaine lifted her steps lightly. Like a sail catching the full force of the wind, she smoothly accelerated.

Kwoooosh!

Her fist resonated with the ground. Elaine casually shot out a blade of wind. There was a squelch as the mutant’s skin was cut, but the wound wasn’t too deep.

“As expected, the destructive power has decreased.”

But what she could do was close to infinite. Moreover, there was no longer a need to rush against time. All that remained was to calmly proceed with what needed to be done.

Elaine gathered earth, stones, and sand from the ground, swirling them with the wind. Like orbiting satellites, spheres formed around Elaine.

She shot them.

Thunk!

When the wind sphere struck the giant mutant’s head, sand scattered, obscuring the view. The mutants raised their arms in confusion.

As Elaine gestured again, a chilling gust of wind brushed past the mutant’s Achilles tendon. Relentlessly, without pause.

Forcing consumption upon the opponent, preserving oneself. It was entirely opposite to the combat style she had employed until now, yet it felt as comfortable as wearing a perfectly fitting dress.

And at that moment, Pharaoh soared high into the sky.

Elaine confirmed it and began condensing the wind in its vulnerable state. To forge a blade that would cleanly sever its neck. Trusting.

————-

Pharaoh felt the wind enveloping his body. By concentrating, he could sense it, and it felt like controlling the wind borrowed from Elaine.

“Elaine has a fascinating ability…”

It’s called Wu Hua.

“Seems different from my healing. Can I use it someday too?”

When you’re under a lot of stress.

“⋯⋯Not a bad ability, huh?”

Just move; I’ll guide your gaze.

Fero nodded to Yuna in his mind. He imagined wings made of wind appearing, flapping vigorously. But despite the wind rising, nothing happened, as if it were a lie.

“⋯⋯?”

You need to fix the wings to your body to fly. And these wings are not suitable for flying. It’s easy to think of it as launching your body for beginners.

“Ah, okay⋯⋯ Like this for launching──.”

Whoosh!

Before he could finish speaking, Fero’s small body shot up into the sky.

Higher than the position of the giant mutant. It floated towards where the moon and clouds played. Looking down from above, he saw the giant mutants he was looking up to.

Elaine, gathering an unusual century’s worth of wind in her grasp, was visible.

The gaze of the giant mutants focused on Fero floating in the air. Two pairs of giant arms reached out to the sky to grab the boy.

“⋯⋯What do I do next?!”

If you bind the movements of the giant mutants, Elaine will be at ease.

“Wind⋯⋯ Shall we try throwing sand into their eyes?”

The given wind moved as kindly as Fero’s thoughts, but it was difficult to handle as intended. Just staying airborne was the result of barely squeezing out concentration.

Handling the power of transformation, bestowed by a virtual personality with only limited information, was an impossible task. Fero was neither a magician nor a warrior; he was just a boy with healing abilities.

However, in Fero’s mind, there was the Archmage of the Violet Tower, who had reached the realm of transmutation.

Yuna briefly took over the body.

With the boy’s fingers, the Archmage drew a strange shape in the air. The wind circulated, and in an instant, it took on a form. It was a giant chain.

-Whoaahhhhh!

From Noble mtl dot com

The wrists of the colossal mutants were bound simultaneously with chains made of wind. As their fingers traced downwards, immense pressure exerted in the direction of gravity – the bound wrists were driven into the ground.

The colossal mutants, resembling the structure of humans, tilted their weight forward and collided with each other’s heads. Pero shouted.

“Elaine!”

Pero believed that he could attract the attention of the colossal mutants and create an opportunity. In Elaine’s clenched fist, which had been quietly gathering the wind, there was suddenly a giant blade that seemed to be condensed from a storm.

From bottom to top.

It diagonally carved a path from the ground towards somewhere in the night sky. As the compressed blade of wind was released, it explosively shot upwards.

Sshh.

The cutting sound was not loud.

The neck of the colossal mutant was severed.

Kuuung-!

After the face of the mutant, which was covered in bumps, hit the ground, Pero smoothly landed, wrapping himself in the wind. Elaine faced Pero with a relieved expression.

There were no dramatically changed parts. She would still doubt someone and prioritize practical judgment in her actions. However, at a decisive moment, perhaps she could believe in someone.

Elaine looked up at the moon and asked Pero.

“So?”

“Um?”

“I mean, there was something you wanted to say next…right?”

“Oh, yes…! Well, um…”

Pero blushed deeply and fidgeted before kneeling down and presenting something. It was a grass ring that he had carefully woven.

Taking a deep breath, the boy expressed his feelings.

“I…I like you, Elaine! Maybe, from the moment we first met…!!”

Elaine’s response to Pero’s confession was as follows:

“A bit premature, isn’t it, Pero?”

=＞ Are you a fast mover?

“Well…”

“We’ve only been together for 5 days… and the most we did was take a short walk together. It takes a little more time for things between a man and a woman.”

=＞ What did we do? I really don’t know.

“Um…”

“So, I appreciate your feelings, but…”

=＞ Let’s just be friends.

“Oh…”

That day, Pero’s world crumbled.

The distance remaining to paradise.

0.

Pero dashed ahead, full of excitement. It was the moment to confirm whether the lottery ticket he had bought a long time ago was a winner or not.

“Here, Elaine! The compass is pointing this way.”

“We’ve finally arrived. Right on time.”

Her wrist tattoo was racing towards 0. In order to arrive on time, Elaine accepted the mode of running on all fours twice.

“A true princess rider… D-don’t say that!”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

The grand sorcerer, borrowing Pharo’s voice, spoke freely. Considering the fact that they were not directly facing each other, everyone was under the misconception that they were dealing with a kind mutant larva, and there was no chance of their true identity being revealed.

Yuna was flaunting her cunning in the corner of the room.

During their journey, the two of them shared many stories. They heard about Pharo’s devastated village and Yuna’s origin from a different dimension, as well as the events at the royal palace.

There was also the sharp calculation of a princess hidden here. In the original world, there was a high probability of facing severe punishment for speaking ill of the royal family, but this was a different world. No matter how much Pharo spread his stories, there was no impact.

So, they decided to make a trial run. They wanted to explain the situation to Eilid and Sled, and convince them to spend time together once again.

Eilid waved her finger, sweeping away the sand dune in the direction indicated by the compass. As the covering was swept away, a sturdy metal door became visible.

“⋯⋯There’s an entrance!”

“Yes, Pharo.”

“There is⋯⋯ Paradise!”

“There is.”

“⋯⋯Are you upset by the larva’s words?”

“It’s just surprising. I’m amazed that it actually exists.”

Eilid grabbed the handle of the metal door, pushed Pharo aside, and exerted her strength. With a creaking sound, the metal door opened.

A ladder leading deep down became visible.

The passage looked clean, with no sign of anyone’s blood. The likelihood of “Paradise” functioning normally increased slightly.

Eilid tidied up the compass and looked at Pharo.

“⋯⋯I wanted to check the interior, but it seems like we’re running out of time.”

“Are you going back?”

“Yes. I can hear the ticking in my ear. It’s even counting down kindly⋯⋯.”

“⋯⋯I love it!”

“This is the twenty-sixth time, right? They say there’s no tree that doesn’t fall after being hit ten times, but that doesn’t mean we should keep hitting it, right? Phew.”

“Good, goo⋯⋯d.”

Elaine grabbed Pharos’ cheek and stretched it from side to side.

“Ahahahaha⋯⋯”

“Let’s conclude our journey by wishing each other luck. It’s fitting for both of us, Pharos, that now is just the beginning, isn’t it?”

From now on.

Pharos had reached paradise, but it didn’t mean the end of labor and adventure. He still had to make sure there was enough food for the next generation and inspect the facilities.

Elaine had reached ‘paradise,’ but it didn’t mean bidding farewell to all the trauma. It was just the first step, and for the scars to heal, she would still need to put in a lot of effort going forward.

“Good luck, Pharos.”

“⋯⋯I wish you luck too, Elaine!”

After their laughter intersected, the violet haze of solitude disappeared. Pharos silently gazed at the spot where Elaine had vanished⋯⋯.

“Let’s stay strong.”

They began their lives.

————-

Princess Elaine rose from the magic circle.

It felt like she had woken up from a long dream. She felt dazed, strangely floating, as if reality was unreal. Two magicians from the purple tower approached her.

“You’ve woken up, Your Highness. Did you have a good⋯⋯ Uh.”

The magician canceled his speech as he winced from the sharp elbow of his colleague.

“H-How was it? Did you enjoy it?”

“Matapju had a peculiarly excited expression ─ reminiscent of the expressions of young maidens blooming with someone’s love story in a salon ─ as he asked for her thoughts.

Elaine pondered deeply and then looked down at her open palm.

The wind whirled around. The changes she had obtained in this world were extending even into reality. It was a great harvest.

“I’ll thank you. Although it brought back an unpleasant memory, my mood wasn’t great, but… “

“…!!”

Matapju shrunk down.

“Because I gained a lot from it. It was good.”

Matapju let out a relieved sigh.

Elaine watched the sorcerer’s fluctuating form with delight, then stretched and turned her body.

First, she would go find Irid and give her a tight embrace after a long time.

————-

“Princess 1 has obtained something very big.”

“…Was it the same as evolution? Changing from an Eevee to a Jolteon in Shamede, the evolutionary stage doesn’t change, right?”

“If we use a wuxia novel as an example… it’s like the difference between the martial arts of a famous sect and magic. Magic says it’s difficult to advance to the next level, right? Extreme evolution is difficult to achieve sublimation.”

“Ah.”

“Princess 1 gave up on magic and switched to the martial arts of the sect… Is that favorable?”

“It’s favorable. Oh, I need to take a log.”

“…Stop!”

“Why?”

“This time, I’ll take the log since it’s my daughter. You can rest first. It’s okay to rest.”

“No, it seems like there were many sloppy parts this time, so I’ll take notes…”

“…No, I, I’m the one! I’m her father, so if she doesn’t want to taste spicy food, she can go back!”

“Why are you making such a big deal about it?!”

Matapju chased away the slightly insane magician while hitting his back in the simulation room. He was afraid of how he would react when he recognized the AI that was alive and moving.

“To ruin my session, such an evil AI must go to hell.”

…In the worst case, he thought to himself, wondering if he should nullify his personality!

Matapju Yuna swallowed her saliva and reconnected to the simulation room. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but for now… she wanted to secure the safety of the boy whose first confession had been interrupted.