Chapter 137-138: New Morning and Resurrection Gem (1/2)

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The next day.

A fresh morning for a change.

Blessed by good weather too.

You could say this is the best day to do something.

I take out the Resurrection Gem from the Shadow Storage.

(It wasn’t a dream.) (Hikaru)

The gem was giving out a mysterious light as it did, and it was shining dully on my palm.

I put the gem back and exited the inn.

There’s still a bit more before the meeting time with Jeanne, but I should buy something for breakfast before that.

No, she must have her preferences, so maybe it would be better to wait for her before doing that.

The market close by opens their stalls early in the morning, so there’s plenty of choice from meat, fish, vegetables, and a whole ton of other things -on quantity and cheap to boot.

The taste is not bad, but I would say the flavor is thick, and it is apparently them using their spices effectively, but there’s the chance that it doesn’t match her palate.

I don’t know what French people normally eat after all.

Last night I ended up drinking heavily.

I don’t know if it is because Jeanne is French or what, but she was drinking quite a lot.

I got drawn in by that and ended up drinking too much.

I was a bit apprehensive about drinking alcohol as a minor since a bit of my previous world’s common sense was left, and I was worried about the viewers as well, but Jeanne is a Chosen too, so it was also in part because there wasn’t much point in being bothered by it.

With tasty alcohol and tasty food, my memory was flying.

I clean my body with the water well.

It cleared up my mind that had a bit of alcohol remaining in it too.

While at it, I washed the clothes that were soaked with the sea water of yesterday.

Being able to use as much clean water as we want is one of the best points of this city. It is splendid in sanitary terms. There’s a variety of Great Spirits.

After I finished washing the clothes, I aired them.

There’s a place to hang clothes in the garden of the inn, and it is okay for lodgers to use it as well.

Now, if only they provided meals too…but this inn doesn’t do that.

Well, there’s as many eateries as you want and the marketplace is there as well, so they are probably telling you to just help yourself.

(At any rate, she is late.) (Hikaru)

I have nothing to do, so I have been doing maintenance to my shortsword and polishing my boots while I waited, but there’s no signs of Jeanne showing up.

She has already given me the Resurrection Gem, so she has excused herself from very early in the morning…is a possibility.

If it is that straightforward woman, it is possible.

I found the inn’s old man, and asked if Jeanne had already taken her leave.

“No, I think she is still here. She is with you, right? Just go and check on her then.”

“There’s that.” (Hikaru)

This inn is not a Japanese hotel. Most are ‘do it yourself’.

I knocked on the door of Jeanne’s room.

It seems to be locked, so she should still be there, but there’s no response.

We drank quite a lot yesterday, so she might still be downed.

Should I prepare a detoxifier or something with Crystals?

I knocked a good number of times more, and after the dull sound of something falling, footsteps rang, and Jeanne showed her face.

“Muuh~, morning already?” (Jeanne)

“Yeah, good morning. Hangover?” (Hikaru)

“There’s no hangover for me who has Poison Resistance Level 3… Just that it felt nice cause it has been a while since I have slept on a bed…” (Jeanne)

“I see.” (Hikaru)

Jeanne without her armor on and a loose shirt gave out the impression of a girl of my same age to the point that it made me forget the imposing aura of yesterday.

Her slender legs and arms showing from her shirt’s hem and sleeves made it hard for me to believe that she can bring so much power out of them.

“Wha~t are you staring at? Pervert.” (Jeanne)

“Ah, no. Sorry.” (Hikaru)

I hurriedly closed the door.

No matter the circumstances, I was way too unreserved towards a girl that just woke up.

I went outside and waited for a bit, and Jeanne came down.

A rough attire completely different from yesterday’s armored figure.

“Made you wait. I am weak in the mornings. I was more nocturnal originally after all.” (Jeanne)

“It can’t be helped. It has been a while since you have slept on a bed. I myself was sleeping for the whole day when I first came to this city.” (Hikaru)

I don’t remember well, but I slept around evening, and when I woke up it was midnight. I think I slept around 30 hours. Well, I was on the verge of dying in the forest, and I was in tatters mentally, so it might have been the natural outcome.

Maybe I should have let Jeanne sleep a bit more.

“And so, what will you do? Can you resurrect Nanami?” (Jeanne)

“Aah.” (Hikaru)

Celica told her in a message to please do it in the morning, so I think it is already okay anytime.

If we take our sweet time, it will end up being noon.

“Let’s do it in the garden.” (Hikaru)

At the garden where there’s a lot of sheets fluttering about with the wind, I take out the gem.

I opened the Status Board and a screen I am not familiar with showed up.

>

“Prayer… How exactly? Ooh God, please hear my wish!” (Hikaru)

It was a complete haphazard prayer, but the ‘offer a prayer’ itself was most likely just a formality, the screen changed anticlimactically.

>

・Souma Nanami

・Souma Hitomi

・Souma Yukio

Seeing those 3 names lined up there, my heartbeat accelerated to a painful degree.

It is not only Nanami. There’s also the names of uncle and auntie.

The 3 were killed. It felt as if that reality had been pushed onto me.

(……Nanami.) (Hikaru)

Even though it is okay to just touch it, my finger was trembling.

For a moment, I wondered if it really is okay to resurrect her…that maybe this is a path that deviated from that of a human.

Even if I can resurrect Nanami, uncle and auntie won’t be there.

Won’t she instead fall into despair after resurrecting…?

“What’s the matter? Did you push it already? I can’t see the Status Board of other Chosen, so I can’t tell what’s happening.” (Jeanne)

“No…I still haven’t.” (Hikaru)

Just imagining Nanami resurrecting in that room alone, panicking, not understanding the situation, it made me doubt if it was okay to do this at this point in time.

I want her to come back to life. There’s no lie in that feeling of mine.

But isn’t that just self-satisfaction?

Maybe I just want Nanami to resurrect in order for her to prove my innocence…?

“I don’t know what you are worried about, but everything is being broadcasted, you know? There’s no need to worry about what happens after Nanami resurrects. There must be people in the neighbourhood, and at worst, the country will protect her.” (Jeanne)

“I see… Right…” (Hikaru)

I am worried.

But it really might be pointless to worry about the resurrected person.

Nanami was chosen for the transfer, so she was famous, and Celica and Karen are most likely making their move too… No, they are not in Japan, so that would be impossible, huh.

Anyways, there’s no choice of not using this.

I resolved myself and pushed the text for Souma Nanami.

>

(Come back, Nanami.) (Hikaru)

I call inside my heart.

And then, the Resurrection Gem in my hand floated up, and then, it scattered into fine shining particles as if it were melting into the air.

Those particles were being absorbed by the Status Board, and that marked the end of all the phenomena.

But this was displayed on the screen.

>

I have been dreaming…dreaming this whole time.

An orange ocean where no one is present, floating there the whole time.

It wasn’t only me. People of varying ethnicities were floating around, but we understood that there was no point in moving our bodies, so no one did anything and simply floated on top of the ocean.

The whole time I was simply floating, but there was no point in just staying like this the whole time, so I gave up and thought that I might as well just sink.

But then, a voice rang from afar.

To come back.

A nostalgic voice. The voice of the person I loved greatly.

As if guided by that voice, I desperately moved my body as if it weren’t my own.

And then, from far beyond, a light pillar grew closer as if welcoming me, and I touched that.

…The next instant…

I was in my own room.

“Eh… Wa…?”

It is my own room. No doubt about it. But something was different from my memories.

It is dusty, or how to say it, it is as if it had been abandoned for some time.

There was one girl standing in the room.

Someone that’s practically my real little sister.

“Karen-chan…?” (Nanami)

“…Yeah, that’s right, Nanamin. You can tell who I am?”

“What’s with that. What do you mean…? That’s so weird…” (Nanami)

I answered this and my memories began to grow clearer little by little.

Why am I in the house?

I should have been chosen to be transferred to a parallel world.

At the very least, I had been spending my days preparing for that…

“Ah…eh…? I…why am I in the house…?” (Nanami)

I should have been killed by a person of the same grade who I don’t know the name of…

My memories are hazy, but I do remember thinking ‘Ah, I am going to die, huh’.

But…that might have been a dream. I am currently alive here after all.

In front of me there’s the little sister of Hi-chan, Karen-chan, and…

“You remember now?”

“Y-Yeah… A bit hazy though….or more like, you are Celica-chan, right? Why are you acting like Karen-chan?” (Nanami)

When I said this, Celica-chan smiled and tied her lowered hair into a ponytail.

“That’s a relief. Looks like you are the real Nee-san. Resurrections haven’t happened since Christ, so I was worried about whether you were the real deal or not inside.” (Celica)

Celica-chan says this decorated as a joke.

“Resurrection? Also, the inside…?” (Nanami)

“We are talking about that God here after all. There’s the chance you were just a lookalike… Since we’ve got the chance, how about we try doing a quiz here? Like: what was the name of the dog you picked up a long time ago, Nee-san?” (Celica)

“Ai-chan, right? Are you messing with me?” (Nanami)

“Correct. Also, you snapping easily is the same as well, huh…” (Celica)

Celica-chan mutters this.

No matter the person, they would obviously get pissed if someone were to touch their past wounds, you know.

“Sorry, Nee-san. I had to confirm a lot of things no matter what, you see. You can tell Karen and I apart, and you also have your past memories. Your appearance doesn’t seem to have any problems either…” (Celica)

Just what in the world is happening here?

It is true that the twins Celica-chan and Karen-chan are spitting images of each other. When they seriously try to pass off as each other, it is impossible to tell who is who.

I can tell almost instantly since I have known them for long though…

Even so, appearance, she says…

I unconsciously look at my own hand.

My usual hand. My arms and legs too—