Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? Volume Chapter 23

When I open my eyes, I find myself looking up at the ceiling of a white tent.

Since it’s made from Miss Ariel’s thread, it’s far sturdier and more weatherproof than it looks, enough so to be comfortable even in this freezing cold.

It’s so nice that I’m tempted to snuggle back into the blankets for a while longer.

It might be good to get some more sleep…

Rolling onto my side, I let my eyes fall on Merazophis, lying close by.

Ahhh, he looks cool even when he’s passed out from his injuries.

Wait, what?!

Then I suddenly remember everything that happened before I lost consciousness.

“Hmm? You awake?”

I look up to find Miss Ariel looking at me from a chair a short distance away.

“Yes. Good morning.” My brain is still fuzzy as I mumble a greeting.

“Morning.” Ariel raises an eyebrow. “You all right? Maybe you should sleep a little longer.”

Kind and perceptive as always. She must be able to tell that I haven’t completely recovered just yet.

“No, I’m fine.”

Sitting upright, I survey my surroundings.

Merazophis is resting by my side, and across from him, White is doing the same.

Looking in the corner of the tent, I find Sael crouching meekly.

Everyone who was at the glacier is here and safe.

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Hang on a second.”

With that, Miss Ariel makes me a hot cup of tea.

“Thank you.”

I emerge from the blankets and sit down on the chair across from Miss Ariel.

“Looks like you guys had a rough time of it.”

“A little.”

I nod as I drink down the tea.

It certainly was rough.

That was an extraordinary stroke of luck for all of us to have made it out alive.

“Would you mind telling me the details of what happened? I got a rough idea from White, but, well, you know her…”

I know exactly what she means.

I’m sure White tried to explain, but she’s not the type to go into detail. No doubt she just gave some one-word answers and Miss Ariel had to figure out the rest.

“All right.”

I tell Miss Ariel the whole story of what happened after we got separated.

How we made an igloo and waited inside.

How that ogre we’d heard so much about attacked us.

The life-and-death battle that ensued.

And how White called that ogre Kyouya Sasajima.

“Hrmmm. So this ogre—or, wait, he evolved into an oni, right? Well, never mind that. Was he really this Kyouya Sasajima person?”

Unsure how to answer Miss Ariel’s question, I sit in silence.

Miss Ariel waits patiently for my response.

Finally, I make up my mind to answer honestly.

“…I don’t know.”

“You don’t?”

“No. I don’t actually remember most of my former classmates’ faces.”

None of my memories of my old school life are good.

In elementary and middle school I was bullied, and while that wasn’t quite the case in high school, people certainly gossiped about me on a daily basis.

It would be no exaggeration to say that my parents were my only allies.

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So I certainly don’t remember my classmates’ faces very clearly.

In fact, I don’t even remember their names.

So I didn’t really have a face to put to the name Kyouya Sasajima.

Since White said that name after seeing his face, then maybe that oni had the same features Kyouya Sasajima did in our old world.

White has her old face, too, after all.

But I don’t remember Kyouya Sasajima in the first place, so when I say I don’t know, it’s the truth.

Reluctantly, and with a bit of grumbling in the mix, I explain all this to Miss Ariel.

“Ahhh.” Miss Ariel looks upward, her expression unreadable. “Well, in that case…I guess I can’t blame you for not remembering, huh?”

“I should certainly hope not!”

I frown indignantly at her noncommittal answer.

“All right, all right.” She raises her hands in surrender. “But if it really is Sasajima, what should we do? I’ve got Ael and the others out looking for him right now.”

“What do you mean?”

I’m not sure what Miss Ariel is asking exactly.

“I mean, he might already be dead. But if he is alive, should we kill him or let him live?”

Ah, I see now.

She’s being considerate because he might be a reincarnation like me.

In that case, I think the right course of action is obvious.

“Kill the bastard, of course.”

“Pffft!”

Miss Ariel snorts out a laugh.

“What are you laughing at?! Rude!”

“Sorry, sorry. But, uh, I think that was kinda your own fault, Sophia.”

“It’s not very nice to pass the blame onto others.”

“Right, right.”

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Miss Ariel looks somehow displeased.

“What is it? Were you expecting me to say please don’t kill him?”

“Hrmmm. Yeah, I guess so.”

“How absurd.”

“Absurd, huh…?”

Miss Ariel looks to the heavens and sighs.

“I mean, since you were born and raised in Japan, wouldn’t you normally feel weird about, y’know, murder? Especially when it’s a fellow Japanese person we’re talking about. Besides, from what you guys told me, this Sasajima lost control of himself because of the Wrath skill, right? He wasn’t doing it of his own free will. Shouldn’t you take that into consideration?”

“We have a term for that in Japan, Miss Ariel. It’s called involuntary manslaughter. And it’s still a crime.”

Miss Ariel looks up and sighs yet again.

“Besides, even if I was born and raised in Japan in my old life, this version of me was born in Sariella and raised all around this world. I left my Japanese sense of ethics behind when my hometown was destroyed. And I was never all that attached to my old life anyway. So why would I feel any obligation toward someone whose face I don’t even remember?”

Miss Ariel…hasn’t stopped sighing since I started talking.

“On top of all that, we don’t know if he would have been decent even if he wasn’t out of control at the time. He even had that repulsive Kin Eater title and all.”

“Huh?!”

When I saw that title in my Appraisal, I couldn’t believe my own eyes.

There’s only one condition I can think of that would make a person gain that title, right?

No one who would do such a thing could possibly be a decent person.

Even if he did it while he wasn’t in his right mind, it’s still repulsive.

“So that’s what Nia was talking about. What an atrocious thing to do…”

I don’t know what Miss Ariel is muttering about, so I just ignore her.

“And most importantly! That damn bastard nearly killed Merazophis! That’s more than enough cause to kill him!”

Miss Ariel covers her face and groans.

“How could I possibly forgive him after he injured Merazophis so terribly? And Merazophis even apologized to me because of him! I never want to see Merazophis make a face like that again… Although it was kind of appealing in its own way. Um, I mean—! I couldn’t possibly allow the bastard to live when he upset Merazophis so much. I’d like to tear him limb from limb myself, in fact. Oh, I know. I can do to him what he did to Merazophis. I’ll slice off his arms, kick him around, and laugh at him while he rolls across the ground! And after that—”

“Okay, stop, stop, stop. I get it already,” Ariel interrupts, looking exhausted. Then she mutters to herself, “Maybe we didn’t raise you right…”

I’m sorry, what was that? Did you mean to say that out loud?

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As I open my mouth to press her about it, Ael and the other girls come into the tent.

“Welcome back. How’d it go?”

Ael just shakes her head silently.

“I see. No good, huh?”

She didn’t just get that from the gesture: Ariel is linked to the puppet taratects with Kin Control, so she can understand them pretty well.

They must have relayed the situation to her that way.

“So apparently the glacier where you guys fought totally broke apart, then actually slid down the side of the mountain like an avalanche. Since Sasajima must have been caught up in all that, it’d be pretty difficult to find him.”

I see.

Well, that’s a bit of a shame.

“I guess he might be dead, huh?”

“No, he’s alive.” I shake my head. “My level hasn’t gone up.”

“Ah.”

I’m still at level 1.

I haven’t actually raised my level once since I was born.

The reason for this was an uncharacteristically lengthy explanation from White: “You shouldn’t level up until you max out your enhancement skills.”

When skills that enhance your stats evolve, they exponentially increase how much those stats go up with each level up.

White said that one of those skills, Skanda, was really useful.

So I’ve been holding off on leveling up until my skills reach an advanced level, too.

You can still raise your stats and skills without leveling up, after all.

And my level still hasn’t gone up, even now.

If we’d actually beaten such a powerful enemy, surely my level would have gone up quite a bit.

So he’s definitely still alive, of that I have no doubt.

“Heh. And if he’s alive, then we’ll have to have a rematch someday.”

He and I will meet again.

I just know it.

“Yikes. Now, that’s a nasty smile.”

Miss Ariel mutters something under her breath.

Ael looks away indifferently, Sael is trembling in the corner, Riel tilts her head uncertainly, and Fiel has a vacant look of I don’t know what’s going on, but wow.

Then my eyes wander over to White.

“…She saved me again.”

“Oh yeah. She can make thread again, huh? Maybe it’s like when people get superhuman strength in times of crisis?”

Miss Ariel misses the point of my comment ever so slightly.

It certainly was a miracle she was able to produce thread in that situation, so I do think it’s amazing.

But to me, the most important point is that White saved me.

Again.

When I’m in trouble, White always comes to the rescue.

Two years ago, when White lost all her power, I have to admit that I was thrilled.

I selfishly thought I could finally repay my debt to her by protecting her in her weakened state. Worse, I was just gleeful to see her not all-powerful for once.

From my perspective, White was way too strong.

She could do anything, protect anyone.

So she was always saving me, and I could never pay her back.

At the same time, it felt unfair that she was so strong.

So when she got weaker, I was secretly happy.

Awful, isn’t it?

But this incident made one thing clear: White is still strong.

Even in her weakened state, she was still able to rescue me.

It’s not a matter of her physical prowess.

White is strong in a different way.

And I’m still weak, in body and mind.

“I want to get stronger…”

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“I think you’re plenty strong already, Sophia.”

“Not at all.”

I can’t let Miss Ariel comfort me.

I’m still so much weaker than her and the others.

“I have to get so much stronger!”

It won’t be easy to improve on my inner strength.

My awful nature has stuck with me since my former life.

I haven’t changed much.

Of course, I haven’t given up on myself yet. I have to improve, little by little.

But it’s going to take time.

In the meanwhile, I can strengthen my body.

At the very least, I have to be able to defeat that awful oni.

“That’s it! I’m going to train even harder starting tomorrow. Just you watch! That bastard won’t beat me next time!”

“Hoo, boy. Just take it easy, all right?”

I clench my fists tightly.

Riel and Fiel imitate the gesture, while Ael discreetly edges away.

Sael?

She’s still just trembling in the corner.

“Hang in there, Merazophis, buddy,” Miss Ariel mumbles.

She looks concerned, but it’ll be fine!

Merazophis has already done more than enough!

It’s my turn to get stronger, and I swear I will.

So that next time, I can be the one to rescue White.

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And so that when that oni and I meet again, I won’t lose.