“Aah~ that was a good sleep. Guys, wake up quickly. We need to gather information!”
Luna shook my body back and forth.
When I opened my eyes, sunlight was streaming through the window. It seemed I had fallen asleep without realizing it last night.
“Keke, how about sleeping a little more and starting in the afternoon?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I couldn’t sleep well.”
Under Caron’s piercing watch, staying awake all night was inevitable.
If, even in my sleep, any part of my body so much as brushed against Luna, that part would have been lost forever.
I had tried to pull my hand out while she was asleep, but her grip was so strong that I couldn’t budge.
‘Come to think of it, my hand is still intact. So he’s letting this much slide?’I glanced cautiously out the window, but the ever-watchful Caron was nowhere to be seen.
Rolling over, I wrapped myself tightly in the blanket. Maybe because I had transformed into a cozy little cocoon, drowsiness overtook me.
“Ugh, uuuuugh…”
Rezé also grabbed her blanket and rolled over, turning into a cocoon.
“What the? Rezé, you too?”
The little cocooned rabbit weakly nodded.
Rezé was especially sensitive to the presence of strong people.
And Caron had been outside? There was no way she could’ve slept properly.
“Hm… something’s strange. Even if we played around before sleeping, we still got more than six hours of rest…”
Luna’s eyes shone sharply.
Thanks to training and deduction, her stats had increased significantly. With her Intelligence stat higher, her thinking had deepened as well.
She was no longer the foolish Luna of the past.
‘Has she noticed that we’re under Caron’s protection?’
That would be a problem. Not only had I not yet uncovered Caron’s secrets, but if Luna found out that Caron had killed Renia, I had no idea how she would react.
Just as I was desperately trying to come up with an excuse, Luna slowly opened her mouth.
“You two… had fun without me, didn’t you? Right?”
“…”
“How could you! You should have woken me up so we could play together! Even now!”
Luna wrapped herself in her blanket, rolled over, and wedged herself between us.
I might not know how this game will end, but one thing is certain.
Luna will never become a queen of deduction.
The life of a cocoon was short-lived.
Ron came running and pounded on the door.
The urgency in his pounding was evident.
Of course, after seeing us basking in the sunlight in our cocoon forms, any worries he had of that nature seemed to vanish completely.
“So you really were just playing innocently. This means I can keep my laid-back instructor life going.”
“I don’t know what you mean, but how about putting in a little more effort? Like… secretly giving us a hint?”
“Sorry, but that would be against the rules. Any other requests, my little kitten?”
“I should report you to the principal. Not only are you slacking off in your duties, but you’re also flirting with students.”
“There’s a scoundrel like that here? Who is it? Tell me right now, and I’ll make sure to punish him severely!”
Just as Luna grabbed Ron’s fist and lifted it toward his own face—
“There really is a human who made a contract with a demon!”
A boy’s urgent shout rang out.
We hurried over and soon found a group of kids.
The Trash Sprout Defense Squad and Annwood Academy students.
“There’s no way. Kids always blame everything on demons.”
One student scoffed, and the surrounding children nodded in agreement.
Partly because demon hunting was a secret, but also to provoke them into revealing more information.
“Do you have any proof that it’s the work of a demon?”
“We do, but we’re not telling! Why should we, when you don’t even believe us?”
“Why should we?”
“W-why should we?!”
The Trash Sprout Defense Squad was made up of little kids, but getting them to talk was no easy task.
That’s exactly why I had tried to bribe them with money yesterday—to make that point clear.
‘Persuasion is a better way to build favor than threats.’
Threatening the Trash Sprout Defense Squad lowers favorability, while persuasion at least maintains the status quo.
However, that doesn’t mean there’s no change at all. Their favorability rises, little by little.
Gradually building favorability through consistent conversation.
That’s the only way to win over the Trash Sprout Defense Squad.
“If it really is someone who made a contract with a demon, that’s an even bigger problem. What if they end up kidnapping you?”
“Don’t underestimate us! We’re destined to be heroes!”
“You guys? That’s a big dream.”
“Why not? Our village had a hero too. Well, it was a few hundred years ago…”
“Oh~ sure, sure.”
Heroes. The kind of existence everyone in this world dreams of becoming.
But the kids’ reactions were lukewarm at best.
Which was only natural.
‘Back then, the title of hero didn’t carry the same weight.’
A few hundred years ago, “hero” was a term given to anyone.
A person who dug an irrigation canal for their village, someone who slew a beast with an axe, a mother who carried her sick child over the mountains through the night.
Even the boulder standing at the village entrance.
They were all called heroes and praised.
It was different now, with clearly defined concepts and standards for what made a hero.
So of course, the kids weren’t impressed.
“It’s true! If he wielded a sacred sword, then he must have been a hero!”
Perhaps realizing they were being ignored, Adel, the leader of the Trash Sprout Defense Squad, shouted at the top of his lungs.
“He wielded a sacred sword? What was his name?”
“I don’t know that.”
“A hero without a name? That doesn’t make sense.”
“It couldn’t be helped. That was the condition of his deal with the demon.”
“…A hero made a deal with a demon?”
“Hmph! Fine, I’ll tell you. The tale of Trash’s hero.”
Adel, raising his nose high with pride, began his story.
A battle against a demon legion that attacked the village.
After a fierce struggle, the humans managed to gain the upper hand. But then, the villagers were taken hostage.
The demon then proposed a deal in exchange for their lives.
“If you agree to be forgotten by everyone, I will spare them.”
The brutal battle, the hero’s valor, even the fact that he sacrificed himself to protect the villagers—
All would be erased from everyone’s memory. A cruel condition.
But the hero accepted it.
Because saving people was the very reason he took up the sword.
“To sacrifice one’s own existence to save others… That’s a truly heroic act, don’t you think?”
Adel and the Trash Sprout Defense Squad puffed up with pride.
Watching them, one of the kids smirked and spoke up.
“But then, how do you know this story?”
“My parents told me. My grandparents too.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little strange?”
“Huh? What is?”
“If the contract made everyone forget him, then how do the elders know about it?”
He had a point.
If the contract was fulfilled as stated, no one should remember his existence, let alone his sacrifice.
This story shouldn’t have been passed down in the first place.
‘Of course. It’s just a fairy tale.’
A folktale created to be told to children.
There was no actual hero from Trash.
Story enthusiasts had compiled timelines of heroes and sacred swords, and their research had proven it.
‘Well, there was someone who could have been called a hero. But the part about wielding a sacred sword? That’s a lie.’
In other words, the story was half true and half false.
But I didn’t bother correcting them.
I didn’t want to shatter a child’s innocent beliefs.
However, it seemed some of them thought differently.
“Huh? You mean, how do we know about him when he was supposed to be forgotten?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Kuhaha! Isn’t it obvious? Because it’s all made up! You actually believed this fairy tale? Are you guys stupid?”
“We’re not stupid! This story is real! Apologize right now!”
“Apologize? You should be thanking me for showing you reality. Can’t even understand that? You idiots—ugh!”
Thud!
The boy who had been mocking Adel suddenly lurched forward and slammed his face into the ground.
Standing behind him was a girl.
Luna.
She looked down at the boy sprawled on the ground.
“What the hell?! Why’d you kick me?!”
“Oh, my bad. I thought you were trash. Turns out, you were a person?”
“…How do you mistake a person for trash?”
“Well, if you’re spewing garbage from your mouth, then aren’t you trash?”
“You little—!”
Just as he was about to lunge at her, the other kids quickly grabbed him.
“Hey! Calm down! She was the top scorer in the midterms!”
“Yeah. And Zero is right behind her… You wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Damn it! So I’m just supposed to take this beating and do nothing?!”
“Well…”
The kids glanced toward their instructor, silently pleading for help.
Clearly, they wanted him to punish Luna for using violence.
“Oh, if it isn’t my dear fellow trainee, Vesta? Hey there~ Having a good day?”
Ron casually waved at the instructor on the other side.
The man, apparently named Vesta, sighed and shook his head.
“…We’re backing off.”
“Huh? Instructor! They’re the ones in the wrong! Why are we—”
“Do you want me to report that you tried to crush the dreams of innocent village kids? Because if I do, your academy life is about to get very difficult.”
“Ugh…”
“Be grateful it’s Ron. If it were someone else, this wouldn’t have ended so lightly.”
With that, the kids followed Instructor Vesta and left.
Meanwhile, I had obtained a curious piece of information.
‘This event is slightly different from the game…’
Saving the Trash Sprout Defense Squad from being bullied—
Yes, this was an event.
An exclusive event for gaining both information and favorability with the squad.
‘Normally, this event can unfold in two ways—either through dialogue or through combat. I can understand that Luna’s personality forced the fight option, but…’
The resolution was drastically different.
Normally, this would have resulted in a minor fight, along with penalties like reduced action points and demerits for the day.
‘Well, I’ll set it aside for now. I can guess what’s happening.’
Progressing the event storyline came first.
Luna approached the Trash Sprout Defense Squad.
“You guys aren’t hurt, right?”
“Tch! We didn’t need your help! We could’ve handled it ourselves!”
“Yeah, suuure. Anyway, be careful. Not everyone is as beautiful, cool, and kind as we are.”
“…Instead, you seem to have some major issues in the head.”
“Ugh! You little—!”
Just as Luna raised her fist to flick his forehead, Adel suddenly took on a strange stance.
“The beast has begun rampaging! Trash Sprout Defense Squad! Temporary retreat!”
“Retreat!”
“R-Retreat!”
One by one, the kids disappeared through a small escape hole.
Just as Luna’s fist, now without a target, started thumping against my arm, Adel peeked his head out from the hole and spoke.
“We’ll definitely repay this debt, so look forward to it!”
“Can you not say it like you’re planning revenge? It makes it sound like we did something wrong!”
“Does it? Oh well, whatever. Adults shouldn’t be so petty.”
Grinning, Adel disappeared behind the escape hole.
“There’s a secret passage in the mansion, right?”
“The knights are suspicious. What if they kidnapped someone to see their child?”
“Did you know? This place was once inhabited by a dragon. No—dragons used to live here together!”
It had been three days since we arrived in Trash Village.
Rodelin, Lowell, Alex, Raymon, Yuridia, Victoria, the Trash Sprout Defense Squad…
We had met various people, and quite a few incidents had erupted along the way.
Since most of them were events I had already encountered in the game, they didn’t really leave much of an impression.
More than that, I was enjoying watching Luna and Rezé’s stats rise day by day through all the deductions we were making.
‘We’re in the final stage of information gathering. Soon, we’ll need to start piecing together the mystery and uncover the mastermind.’
With that thought, I went to bed, looking forward to the next day. That was the last thing I remembered from yesterday.
“…”
I was forced awake.
Something heavy was pressing down on my body.
I couldn’t tell the exact time, but judging by the bright moonlight, it was definitely the middle of the night.
‘Did Luna throw her leg over me in her sleep again?’
But no, this weight was much heavier and more evenly distributed.
Almost as if… someone was sitting on top of me.
‘Has Caron finally decided to kill me?’
I opened my eyes, ready to negotiate.
One of my predictions was correct, and the other was wrong.
Someone was on top of me.
But it wasn’t Caron.
‘…Luna?’
Bathed in the moonlight, Luna gazed down at me with deep, unreadable eyes.
Still straddling me.
–TL Notes–
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