The kids normally would have been just as pallid as Mimily, but their experience with creatures like the griffin had made them bold. Something like an eyeball no longer fazed them. Furthermore, since anything of Cayna’s was unlikely to harm them, the trio were fascinated by the item’s effects despite its bizarre appearance. “What is this unpleasant thing…?” Mimily had stopped by to pick up her usual meal but let out an impressive yelp when she saw the giant eyeball floating over the dining table. It was undoubtedly a freakish sight to the uninitiated. “Here, you’ll see something interesting,” Opus said, dragging the flustered mermaid over against her will. The reluctant Mimily didn’t get any closer to the eyeball than absolutely necessary. Needless to say, the children’s relentless comments about how “cool” it was left her confused. The eyeball before them was one half of a Pair of Eyes; the other half was with Cayna. As the name suggested, it was a two-for-one item with a single effect that could transfer imagery from one eye to the other. “All issues aside, it’s operating normally,” Opus remarked. “We can only watch!” said Kuu. Mimily and the children glanced over at the cackling Kuu but soon turned back to the eyeball to watch Cayna and Roxine pick forest nuts and fruits in real time. The kids were too small to safely venture beyond the village and thought it was a spectacular sight. Well, to be fair, the outside world still felt like a terrifying place, given their previous incident. “Never figured there’d be places like that close to the village,” Latem said in amazement. “So…this is how…Cie picks our food.” “Mr. Lottor’s always been the one to bring back whatever we asked, but he did say it wasn’t easy.” Luka was watching with keen interest while Lytt was explaining the history of the village’s collective sweet tooth. Although their hamlet wasn’t very big, there was still significant pressure on Lottor as the sole hunter. Roxine had recently taken to harvesting on the outskirts of the village; she turned the tables on any wild beast who dared attack her and brought them home in the form of fresh meat. Meanwhile, Siren and Roxilius started hunting as well after Opus grumbled about the village’s lack of protein, and Lottor was gradually beaten at his own game. As one might expect, Cayna had no intention of disturbing the village’s power balance. Opus therefore made sure everything remained fair and that no one received more meat than necessary. Roxine’s and Siren’s Item Boxes unfortunately (?) became storage for surplus meat as a result. Cayna also developed a life hack: Whenever she had more meat than she knew what to do with, she would fly to Helshper to transfer it to Sakaiya. That said, Sakaiya had its own foodstuffs division and lacked adequate space for Cayna’s surplus. “I knew it,” Opus grumbled. “This is pretty much the most people who can watch at once.” He returned to the subject at hand: the Pair of Eyes’ limitations. Only those crowded around the table could watch what the eye was projecting. Furthermore, there was no audio. On-screen, Cayna and Roxine were chatting pleasantly as they visited various Collection Points. However, the lack of voices or music made it like a silent documentary. Of course, this world had no tradition of adding background music to videos, and an item that allowed several people to remotely watch footage together had enough of a wow factor anyway. “Yep, it’s official! I need a projector!” The door to the dining hall clattered open as Cayna suddenly burst in. ““Wah?! That scared me!”” Latem and Lytt shouted in surprise. “Using your skills to slam the door and make an entrance was uncalled for.” “I figured timing is everything, and one thing led to another.” As Opus complained about her method of reappearance, Cayna boldly stuck out her tongue and smirked. “Quit startlin’ the kids!” Marelle chided, to which Cayna replied, “Oops, sorry,” with a bow of her head. The door to the dining hall was left open throughout the day, but she had quietly shut this before using the Pull skill to reopen it and announce her arrival—with a loud SFX to boot. Luka murmured “That…surprised me” three or four beats after everyone else. Kuu, seated atop her head, let out a boisterous laugh. Roxine entered after Cayna, passing Opus and the children without a care in the world before sharing her bounty with Marelle. “Sorry again for the trouble,” the innkeeper said. “There is no need to apologize. I could very well say the same thing,” the maid replied. Given a rougher, more vulgar tone, their conversation would be right at home in a period drama. Roxine would have been a massive wolf in sheep’s clothing if Roxilius wasn’t in the picture. The two had previously fought in the dining hall, so Marelle was aware of their true personalities. However, this didn’t matter to the matron in the least, and her kind attitude toward Roxine never wavered. Cayna observed Roxine with a sigh, then turned back to Opus, who had collected himself and was waiting for her patiently. “By projector you mean a Pedestal, correct?” he asked. “If we’ve got one of those, a whole crowd of people will be able to watch incredible videos and even hear sound.” It was commonly called a projector, but the item’s official name was a Pedestal. It was part of a series called That Was the Best You Came Up with? and could be combined with the Pair of Eyes as an optional accessory. It was an audio component item that acted as a stereo speaker and came with three cavities in the center to insert several Pairs of Eyes for simultaneous videos. During War Events, the Admins set up a live broadcast for all to see. However, a Pedestal itself could not be created. It was only available for purchase in shops, so it was impossible to make a new one. As for what was to be done about this… “We should just take one from wherever we can find it!” Cayna’s pushy suggestion sent Opus’s head into his hands. “Did you just suggest stealing…?” “What’s mine is mine! It’s called Gianism! It was in that show about the robot cat!” “Yes, well, I believe your education has suffered a few missteps.” Opus shrugged at her incomprehensible logic and shook his head in hopelessness. His statement came from the fact that he had given Cayna a basic education back in the Game Era. “I’m saying we should investigate any place that might have one from top to bottom!” “‘Any place that might have one’?” “You’re not the brightest bulb, aren’t you?” Cayna pouted. As Opus tilted his head in total cluelessness, Cayna pointed her Skill Master Ring finger at him. “I mean this.” “…The Guardian Towers? Yes, I see.” Opus at last understood and nodded with relief. The Guardian Towers were installed with massive Item Boxes. If luck was on their side, they’d find a Pedestal in one of them. “You said it was tossed into storage somewhere, but the Item Boxes in the Guardian Towers were just the best I could come up with. I figure we can check out other places, too.” All the towers she’d located thus far recognized Cayna as their temporary master, hence her Gianism comment. “So we have the faintest glimmer of hope.” “Don’t say things to stress me out!” Cayna slammed Opus’s unnecessary comment. In truth, he was absolutely right. Even so, she didn’t want to hear any negativity right out of the gate. “In any case, we can discuss it more tomorrow.” Opus motioned with his chin, and Cayna looked over to see several villagers who had just finished the day’s work sit down at open spots in the dining hall. The sky was still a faint orange, but the inn had grown lively in that short amount of time. Cayna glanced around and noticed that Roxine had disappeared during her and Opus’s comedy act. The maid had apparently hurried home to help Siren prepare dinner. The children knew the day’s program had ended when the Pair of Eyes vanished in a heartbeat. Lytt’s mother called for her to help out, and Latem waved good-bye, looking somewhat disappointed before heading back to his father’s workshop. Cayna then bowed to Marelle, took Luka’s hand, and returned home with Opus and Kuu. “Ahhh, what sheer bliss.” “Sheer…bliss?” Once they finished dinner, Cayna and Luka left home for the bathhouse. After seeing Cayna drape a towel on her head and settle into the bath, Luka haltingly followed suit and placed a towel atop her own head. It soon slipped off and fell into the water, and she made a sad face. “Soak it a little more.” “…Like this?” Kuu, completely naked, glided across the hot water toward Luka like an ice skater and, with the briefest of instructions, told her to dampen and squeeze it. Before long, the wet towel was firmly on Luka’s head. After multiple attempts, Luka and Kuu could tell they’d finally succeeded and smiled in satisfaction. Cayna peeked over at them and let out a shared sigh of relief. Mimily and several other ladies had joined them in the women’s bath. It wasn’t yet a full house, but things were getting fairly crowded. Roxine had been invited along as well, but she curtly declined. She had evidently come while it was still empty and taken a quick bath. “She seems to be in and out of the water in mere minutes,” Mimily noted, looking concerned. “Eh, Cie’s always been the cautious type.” Cayna scratched her cheek with a dry smile. She couldn’t figure out why Roxine stubbornly refused everyone except her, but it wasn’t like she was hurting anyone, either. Cayna decided to respect Roxine’s privacy. A plunging noise came from the men’s bath on the other side of the wall, and a man scolded Latem. It was most likely his father, Lux. Meanwhile, Cayna heard Opus threaten Latem: “I’ll freeze you if you don’t settle down.” There was immediate silence. Cayna could understand his desire to peacefully enjoy the bath, but his forceful tactics seemed like overkill. Be that as it may, she had no intention of entering the men’s bath to speak her mind. She had another plan. “Kuu, arrow.” “Yuppers.” Cayna held out her right hand, and Kuu offered the crimson arrow she’d just materialized. “Kee, give me a calculated target.” “…Understood.” Clearly exasperated, Kee opened a display window for Cayna. It used Opus’s voice to determine his location and the estimated parabola. After weighing the red arrow up and down in her hand, she looked up and sent it flying with perfect accuracy over the partition and into the men’s bath. About two seconds later, Cayna heard Opus’s pained yelp. “Damn it! Don’t go throwing around dangerous weapons!” “Yep, that’s our Kee for ya. His calculations never fail.” “Kee! I’ll remember this, you bastard!” Opus’s furious curses carried over from across the way, but Cayna laughed this off with a sniff and casually sank into the water beside Mimily. “Ha-ha…ha.” The mermaid laughed awkwardly. “It’s okay to laugh, really.” “But I feel bad for poor Opus.” Mimily quickly stifled her laughter. Cayna encouraged her on with a light elbow jab, but the mermaid only mumbled her pity. Next to Cayna, Luka’s dropped jaw strongly contrasted with Kuu, who was clutching her sides in laughter. The girl didn’t seem to process the javelin-style comeback that had just occurred. “Hmm?” As if she’d been waiting for a quiet moment, one of the village women waded through the water to approach Cayna. “Luine?” Luine, Marelle’s eldest daughter and Lytt’s big sister, sat down next to her. She was already married and only helped out in the dining hall in the evenings. Her husband was one of the young village men Cayna greeted as he tilled the fields. “My goodness. You’re as lively as ever, Cayna.” “Ah, were we kids being too noisy? I didn’t mean to disturb you ladies.” “No, not at all. But aren’t you older than the rest of us?” Luine smirked as she pointed out the age discrepancy. Cayna was by far the oldest agewise, but mentally she was still a young girl with meager life experience. She doubted Luine would believe her if she said as much, though. After all, her son Skargo had already visited the village. Even if he, Felskeilo’s walking encyclopedia, claimed Cayna was actually younger than Luine, there was no question it would only be taken as a joke to clear the air. According to Roxilius, who had witnessed the aforementioned visit in its entirety, Skargo had preached God’s love in the plaza at the elder’s request and roused the wild enthusiasm of heart-eyed village women young and old. Cayna distinctly remembered thinking, What is he, an enka singer now? “And?” Cayna pressed Luine. “A-and what?” “Wasn’t there something else you wanted to say?” “H-how could you tell? Is that another part of getting old?” “Uh, not exactly.” Luine enjoyed gossiping with the other village ladies during their occasional bath meetups. Cayna had approached them on a whim before, and they sometimes reached out to her as well. However, the two parties didn’t have much to talk about. Rather than joining in and nodding along like a bobblehead doll, Cayna preferred to soak in silence. She usually wrapped herself in a faint magical aura of serenity, so the ladies stopped inviting her to their gossip sessions. Since Luka was with Cayna this time around, those proactive measures had been interrupted and had inspired the friendly Luine to approach. “Um, so…,” Luine began. “You’ll need to speak up. Is it a sensitive subject?” “Well, that’s why it’s so hard to ask.” Luine remained conflicted for a moment before finally deciding to speak her mind. For whatever reason, she straightened up and peered into Cayna’s eyes. “Say, Cayna…” “Yes?” “What happened to your husband?” “Huh?” Luine’s question was one that Cayna had expected to come up at some point, so she and Kee already had the high elf Cayna’s backstory all lined up. “I guess you could say death separated us.” “…What?” Luine’s face instantly turned pale, and Cayna offered a silent apology. She chuckled apathetically and lowered her head. “Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago. There’s no reason for you to feel bad. It’s all good, really.” “I-I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked… Wait, what?” “Look, it’s fine. Okay?” “R-really?” Cayna smiled at the flustered Luine, who fell silent and nodded timidly. More specifically, the game system was the father of Cayna’s children. However, since it was currently an integral part of Cayna, any misguided attempts to explain would only confuse poor Luine. Although reluctant, she decided to go with the same explanation she’d previously given Skargo. This also provided the convenient excuse that she’d given them up for adoption because she couldn’t handle life as a single mother. On paper, it was a pretty lame excuse to ignore her children. Moreover, since Cayna had grown world-weary and had hidden away in the forest (or so the three believed), there was nothing they could have done. Cayna had no other options, so the situation was inevitable. Still, she felt terrible for the children who loved her so dearly. “What’s wrong, Cayna? Did I upset you?” “No, no, I’m fine. I was just thinking about something else.” Luine peered at Cayna, who had her brow furrowed in fierce concentration. As Luka clung to Cayna with a look of concern, it was apparent the elf had gotten carried away. She waved her hand dismissively. Luine wasn’t completely sold, but asked no further questions; needless to say, Cayna breathed a sigh of relief. The next day, Cayna left the house with Opus and Kuu in tow. She waved to Luka, who watched nervously from the doorway. “No worries, Lu. We’re just going on a little trip.” “A little trip!” chirped Kuu. “Uh-huh… Come home soon…okay?” “I’ll be honest: You’re one of the strongest people in this world, so where is this vague air of tragic heroism coming from?” Opus asked, staring blankly into the distance and sighing. Unsure of where this comment even came from, Cayna sulked, unclear about what he meant by a “vague air of tragic heroism.” She seriously wished he wouldn’t spread such negativity when they were hardly out the door. Luka’s ongoing adulation was at the root of his concern. It was a firepower that could be stamped out with a minor dose of reality, but the pair couldn’t let their guard down either way, since doing so might jinx them somehow. “Well then, Cie, Rox. Watch the house while we’re gone, ’kay?” “Understood.” “Please leave the young lady to us.” Roxine and Roxilius bowed their heads in reverence. The third servant, on the other hand, calmly stood beside Opus. “You’re coming, too, Siren?” Cayna asked. “Who knows what will happen if I allow my master to run loose.” “G-good point…” What in the world had caused Siren to distrust Opus so much? Cayna shot her demon friend a suspicious stare, but he shook his head as if to say he was innocent of all charges. “Anyways, Opus. In addition to both our towers, we’ve got the Battle Arena, the Palace of the Dragon King, the white whale, and the tortoise, right?” Opus watched Cayna count on her fingers, and his shoulders drooped. “So you’ve finally located half of the towers. Even I don’t know exactly where the rest are. This would be much easier if you mastered the system.” “Ugh, sorry I’m still a rookie. Besides, how am I supposed to master something I just discovered the other day and don’t even really understand?” “All you can do is trust your sensibilities. Manipulate it like a chakra.” “How is a vague example like that supposed to help me?!” Cayna was sick and tired of him treating this like someone else’s problem. She’d only recently found out her soul had been synchronized with the game system, so it was unreasonable to assume she could control it at will. It didn’t even come with a user’s manual, and she didn’t feel like there was anything foreign inside her. Kuu was in charge of the subsystem, but although she was told to link up with Cayna and accompany her, the fairy didn’t have the slightest clue, either. “Well then, you’ll just have to gradually become accustomed to it.” “That’ll take a hundred years,” Cayna moaned dejectedly. She took out each Guardian Ring from her Item Box and raised the one for the Palace of the Dragon King. She opened her mouth to speak but paused. “What’s the matter?” “Do I really have to say the chant?” No matter how many times Cayna repeated it, she always shuddered with embarrassment afterward. The password and its various requirements were tiresome to repeat ad nauseam. How was her past self ever okay with this? “The chant will be necessary until you master your various specs. Get on with it.” “…Fiiine.” Feeling dejected, Cayna once again raised her ring to the sky. Opus briefly checked his Stats Window, confirmed four members in their party, and signaled for her to proceed. Cayna put the faintly luminescent Kuu on her shoulder and loudly invoked the incantation. In truth, she would have preferred to mumble it under her breath. However, since shouting was yet another prerequisite, Cayna had little choice in the matter. “One who protects in times of trouble! I beseech you to rescue this depraved world from chaos!” At that very moment, Roxine, Roxilius, and Luka watched a magic circle appear over the group and submerge them in a waterfall. Cayna and the rest were hidden by the thunderous torrent as the circle traveled downward. People and waterspout alike were squished into the ground until it broke apart and vanished. “…” Luka rushed over to the spot where the magic circle dispersed and stared with her mouth agape. It was the first time she’d witnessed (what she assumed was) the spell that took them to that skeleton’s place (Opus’s tower). “The water…” “Fear not, Lady Luka. What you saw just now was only a bit of theatrics. The waterfall didn’t swallow anyone up.” “…Really?” “Yes.” “Thank…goodness.” Roxilius’s words set Luka at ease. Once Roxine saw Luka was smiling, she knelt down to meet her at eye level. “What shall we do today? Would you care to practice your needlework?” “Uh-huh… I’ll do…my best.” Luka’s eyes sparkled with confidence, and she clenched her fists. Such a sight would make anyone smile. Lately, cheerfully making cushions with the patterns Siren and Roxine provided had become part of her daily routine. Most of the finished products ended up in either the golem wagon or Cayna’s living room. However, the best ones were sometimes sold (with Luka’s permission) to Elineh’s caravan when he stopped by the village. Roxine would sell these for a small fee and give the pocket money to Luka. Most of the products Cayna made with Craft Skills were woven from fine thread and yarn, so Elineh had his eye on unprocessed goods.
Chapter 120
18 min read