If a playwright had witnessed this scene, he would undoubtedly award it the title of a terrible drama.
The man's intrusion was that abrupt, that meaningless, and that utterly alien.
"What are you?" asked younger sister Keia quietly.
Her voice was one of suppressed fury. The tension in her posture made it clear she was on the verge of lunging.
The only thing stopping her was that the man had, without a shadow of a doubt, defeated the Demon Lord in a single blow.
It was as if a mighty warrior had cut down a common rabble-rouser with a single stroke—an act that could fairly be called a feat.
Yet it was not a feat that ought to have been displayed against the Demon Lord. The depths of his power were impossible to gauge.
Thus, the sisters first decided to ascertain his intentions and challenge his identity.
"No... well, you two were being attacked, so I thought I'd help?"
The man replied in a manner entirely devoid of any sense of urgency.
His attitude was as if he had happened upon an acquaintance from the neighborhood during a leisurely afternoon stroll in a park.
This land was a desolate wasteland situated far to the south, well beyond the reach of civilization.
There was no conceivable reason for this man to be present here, nor any reason for him to adopt such a relaxed demeanor.
The Elful sisters exchanged a glance.
A question, born of the sanity that still lingered within their madness, arose: was this man their enemy or their ally?
However, even if he were an ally, for them—on the very cusp of striking down their foe—this represented a profound insult.
"Help? Did we look as though we required assistance? You seem to possess remarkably perceptive eyes."
"Ahaha, how funny. We never called for help. Whatever made you think we needed it?"
A witch's instinct told them that something was deeply wrong with this man's actions.
His actions were strange enough to invite suspicion.
"Perhaps..."
That was precisely why.
"Did you interfere with some ulterior motive?"
At this observation, the man fell silent.
Mearia's eyes were wide to their breaking point, her crazed stare boring into him.
Only then did the man seem to grasp the insanity harbored by the Elful sisters. A look of revulsion crossed his face as he edged backward.
For he indeed had something he was hiding from the two.
The witch, of course, did not miss this shift.
"Ah, ahaha! C-Come now. Don't be like that! It was pure coincidence, really! Believe me! Look, such angry faces don't suit the lovely you two at all! Wh-What I mean is..."
The two girls wordlessly readied their weapons.
These were arms taken from the Demon Lord that remained even after their master's death, their existence forgotten.
A halberd and twin swords forged from the evil deeds and warfare of a man from another world reflected the moonlight with a dull sheen, poised and eager for their next prey.
"V-Vait, wait, that's not what I meant! I really did want to help!"
The man thrust his hands forward, desperately trying to calm the Elful sisters.
But there was no one in this world who could stop these two madwomen.
No... there once had been, but that was now lost.
Whether they sensed the strange aura emanating from the two, or some other instinct kicked in...
Having judged persuasion impossible, the man let out an exaggerated sigh, his earlier frivolous expression vanishing as he quietly placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his hip.
"Stop. In your current state, you cannot defeat me."
Responding to the killing intent of the sisters, he began to draw his sword. Yet strangely, his words carried a theatrical quality, as though he were following a script, playing a part just as directed. It was as if he were being forced into a role unlike any he had played before. That was the profound sense of dissonance in his attitude.
...But what did it matter?
The twins spat internally at the dissonance they felt. Such things were utterly irrelevant, truly and completely. The only thing that mattered was the fact that the man before them had defiled their past. Their atonement to that past, their sacred prayer—all had been ruined by this man. The outcome of the battle they had dedicated to their mother had been stolen by his crude interference, leaving them forever unable to avenge their enemy.
This was the depth of the humiliation. This was the magnitude of their rage.
The hatred, which had swelled to dimensions the sisters themselves could no longer grasp, leaked from them as a dense, oppressive aura of dark mana.
A silence fell over the world.
The calm before the storm.
They were at a distance where voices could carry, already within each other's striking range. One more catalyst, and the next battle would begin.
The man sank low into a stance, ready to intercept.
The sisters sank low into a stance, ready to leap.
And so, knowing nothing of each other, they prepared to clash.
A senseless slaughter had begun—
"That's enough."
"Wha—!?"
Today, there were far too many interruptions. And far too many strange occurrences as well.
The battle that should have started was forcibly halted and rewound by a quiet voice.
A moment of confusion over what had just happened. Then the twin girls noticed their feet were suddenly sewn in place by newly materialized ice.
"Incredible. You're forcibly inserting a halt event into an action already in progress... Did that just warp time a bit?"
It wasn't just ordinary ice.
The girls, who had inherited Isla's heroic potential and awakened as heroines themselves, couldn't be stopped by mere ice. In fact, their actions had been halted despite already being mid-attack. It could only be explained by some wondrous law at work.
Understanding this instantly, the girls turned their gaze toward the source of the voice.
There stood their hero, Atou, called the Sludge.
She had countered a phenomenon already fully activated.
The technique she used was "Glacier-Crushing Slash," a special move she had stolen from Ice Rock, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. What had initially appeared to be a guaranteed-hit ability against an opponent seemed instead to be a power that forcibly hindered an enemy's action while inserting one's own in its place.
...A power so vicious it made the concept of "guaranteed hit" seem insignificant.
Pondering how unreasonable the coercive power of the RPG system truly was, Atou shifted her thoughts for an instant, used telepathy to report several points of the situation to Takuto, and then quietly walked closer to the twins.
"Whoa, another girl!?"
Atou looked at the man and he cried out.
"..."
Atou turned her gaze to the man with a glance.
Her expression momentarily turned to one of shock, then to one filled with anguish.
Given how she nodded slightly and repeatedly, it seemed she had received contact from Takuto.
Unlike the twins, it was thought she and her kind held some information about the man.
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
"Uh, well... that's, um, a trade secret? Ah, you don't know what a corporation is... Haha."
Though she thought "I know what a corporation is," in response to the man's words, Atou simply ignored him and consulted with Takuto.
Even as she did so, her gaze remained fixed on the man, her vigilance undiminished.
"Yes, I understand, Ta—my King."
After a mere few seconds, having received some instruction, Atou stared intently at the man for a moment, then abruptly looked away.
While the man was unsettled, she addressed the sisters.
"I have already heard the situation from the King. A recall order has been issued for you. Your objective has—also been achieved, yes? Then let's return."
Indeed, there had been an irregularity, but Atou's received command was the retrieval of the twins.
Her task was to safely return the sisters to the city of Mynoghra.
Fortunately, their objective, the Demon Lord, also appeared to have been defeated, so there should be no problem with just returning.
But...
"That man interfered."
"We cannot let him escape."
The Elful sisters still had unfinished business.
They desperately sought an outlet for their hatred and regret.
"What? Our king said that, didn't he? Why aren't you listening? You all—aren't you misunderstanding something?"
It was Atou who showed irritation at these words.
For her, Takuto was the top priority. And at the same time, she believed the Dark Elf citizens who shared his values should hold them too.
That wretched shadow spirit, who had been granted the honor of becoming his citizen by the king's mercy alone, daring to raise objections to his words was something that should never happen.
"We don't want you to interfere."
"If you interfere, even I won't forgive you, okay?"
"You little wench—have you grown arrogant from gaining power?"
It sounded like something snapped with a *click*.
Countless tentacles surged from behind Atou.
Each one swayed, imbued with a clear will, radiating killing intent at the foolish one who refused Takuto's command, poised to strike at any moment.
It was unknown what Atou's current combat power amounted to.
But the true value of Atou the Sludge wasn't in simple fighting ability; it lay in her capacity to infinitely seize power from her enemies.
And she had succeeded in acquiring that ability in abundance during the previous battle against the Demon Lord's army.
Certainly, the twin girls' abilities were incredibly troublesome.
Their own combat capabilities also shouldn't be underestimated.
But it was no problem at all.
Just like before, she would use "Glacier Rend" to impede their actions, then deliver an unavoidable preemptive strike with tentacle-based long-range attacks.
Even if they were young girls, they inherited the qualities of a Hero. They wouldn't die.
Incapacitated due to damage is a serious matter. Unconscious is the best outcome. Even if irrecoverable... well, that's a necessary loss.
I judged calmly, building a combat prediction in my mind at high speed.
A hero born with it. The overwhelming combat sense possessed by the peerless warrior that Mynoghra boasted was already something difficult to overcome, even with the power the twins now held.
Neither could break the other. The sisters for the past, the hero for her king.
Was he considering mediation? The man who had been repeatedly reaching out and then pulling his hand back for a while now was ignored by the three as a volatile atmosphere circulated between them.
That was when... the moonlight... dimmed.
It was nothing special. Dawn had arrived.
Before I knew it, the moon had largely sunk into the earth, its radiance fading. At the same time, strong light poured in from the opposite direction, and the sun showed its face as if to take its place.
"... Carrie, let's stop now."
"Sister..."
"...?"
The one who murmured this while watching the sinking moon was the elder sister, Mearia. It seemed the younger sister calling her name shared the same sentiment, as both stared at the moon with drained expressions.
Eventually, the two turned their gaze from the moon with sorrowful expressions and faced Atou again, bowing deeply.
"... Atou. I'm sorry."
"We're sorry for saying rude things."
At the same time, they offered their apologies, and they looked exactly like the two he had known before—not a hair out of place.
This way they could hold a proper conversation, and they would surely obey the order to return.
Atou cast a brief glance toward the moon and nodded, as though satisfied, and his expression cracked ever so slightly at the return of the two he had once considered relatively favorable.
"I see. Well, given the circumstances, I suppose I'll pretend I didn't hear those outbursts just now—provided you follow orders. Do make sure you properly apologize to the king."
"Yep, we're sorry~"
"Yes, it is so."
And so the two trotted over to Atou's side.
Seeing them bobbing their heads repeatedly, it appeared they were already using thought-speech to apologize to the king.
They're awfully Japanese-like... While indulging such a thought, Atou turned to face the most dangerous party present.
"So... how long do you intend to stand over there?"
Before his gaze stood a man. He gave a frivolous impression, somewhere between sixteen and eighteen years old.
His clothing and armor were unlike anything Atou had seen, yet they existed in his knowledge. Through sharing vision, the king had confirmed them as well. If the man truly was what they suspected, it could prove a very unfavorable situation.
Atou waited quietly for the man's next move, his tension far greater than during his exchange with the twins.
"No, well—ha ha ha. It seemed like you were having a rather serious conversation, and I didn't want to barge in where I wasn't welcome, you know?"
In truth, the man had been on the outside of everything from the start. His interference in the battle had been unnecessary, as had his presence while Atou was persuading the twins. Alone among everyone present, he radiated the utterly out-of-place atmosphere of a foreign object that had been forcibly inserted into a story that already existed.
Now then, what to do? Avoiding battle had been strictly ordered by Takuto. There was no reason to fight in the first place, since the twins had calmed down. Atou had heard much of the background from the king, but in a sense, the man could be said to have tried to help the sisters by defeating the Demon Lord.
However, the sheer, indescribable creepiness that radiated from him was what made Atou refuse to engage in any further conversation.
Perhaps her attitude showed? Or had the man finally reached his limit of feeling unwelcome?
He straightened up, raising one hand, and began to speak rapidly in a one-sided manner.
"Well then! I'll be on my way from here! You all seem fine on your own, so I wouldn't want to intrude!"
With that, he turned on his heel.
Atou simply gave a small nod in reply to the man, who only turned his head back to gauge their reaction.
Making contact here was far too dangerous.
If he was indeed the kind of person Atou and Takuto imagined, there was no telling what might happen.
"Sorry for the trouble! You two over there as well -- Right then!"
And with that, the man darted off like a startled rabbit, vanishing over the horizon at a terrifying speed.
Watching his receding figure, Atou let out a small sigh.
This was for the best.
She'd already received word to return to Takuto soon.
Further trouble was beyond Mynoghra's current capacity to handle, and they desperately needed time to reorganize.
So, while the man's movements were concerning... for now, there was no choice but to leave him be.
Why had Atou and Takuto been so wary of him?
The man they'd encountered possessed one distinctive trait.
The clothes he wore were called a school uniform in the world Takuto had previously known, and the weapon he'd wielded was a sword.
Both were things that should never, ever exist in this world.
Something extremely troublesome was afoot.
When they first arrived in this world, Atou and Takuto had complained that the difficulty was brutal due to the miserable location. Now, they might not get off so lightly.
Thinking this, Atou's sigh deepened further.
Whatever the case, they had to return first before anything could begin.
Atou turned to the now-quiet and obedient twins, speaking in her usual tone.
"Alright... let's head back. Things are going to get busy soon. I'll need you two to help out."
Before she knew it, the twin sisters had moved a short distance away from Atou.
It was where the Demon Lord had fallen, and in place of its corpse now stood a mountain of gold coins.
"...Is something wrong?"
"Um, what... is this?"
Perhaps still a bit embarrassed from having caused trouble earlier, Kyaria asked tentatively.
"They are the gold coins of Brave Questus. In that realm, monsters turn into gold coins of equal value upon death. --For a Demon Lord, the amount is simply abnormal, isn't it?"
Atou explained while gazing up at the mountain of gold.
An absurd quantity.
Moreover, the enemies she had defeated along the way had also been dropping gold coins all over the place.
By now, the entire region must have gold deposits that would put a gold rush to shame.
Naturally, flooding the market would visibly shatter the economy, so they couldn't simply spend it.
Leaving it unattended seemed like it would attract attention and cause a hassle.
Wondering what on earth to do about it, a quiet question reached her.
"Will... Mother Isla come back to life?"
Hearing this while lost in thought, Atou considered it for a moment, searching her knowledge for any possible method.
"I regret to inform you that Isla is dead."
He simply answered in a quiet voice.
"H-hic... ugh, hic, hic...!"
"Ngh... ugh, uhhh!"
The two girls' eyes filled with tears.
Mearia stood in place, letting out stifled sobs, while Caria crumbled to her knees.
They never imagined that what they had gained through the depths of regret would feel this hollow.
Never did they think their wishes would be so casually discarded.
Thinking of a past that would never return, the two could do nothing but weep.
The gleaming gold coin almost seemed like some kind of reward...
And that was unbearably tragic.
"Waaaaaah! Aaaaaahhhhh!!"
"Hic... ugh! Aaaaaaah!"
They simply screamed and cried at the top of their lungs.
As though it were the only thing they could do now, the only spell left to them.
Watching them like that, Atou sent a telepathic message to his sovereign, informing her that his return would be slightly delayed.
The moonlight faded off into the distance somewhere, no longer illuminating them.