God gives us tactics, strategy, schemes, and plans.
The awesomeness of a veteran... The blade of God, cutting through innumerable obstacles.
✦ ✦ ✦
Elves aren’t like us humans. Their skin is pure white, their hair light-colored, and they’re thin, as if they’d melt in the wind or water. They wear loose clothes, and their shoes are woven. They can fly in the sky, and they walk like they’re sliding. They’re like fairies you’d find in a picture book... and really scary. Their eyes are cold, like ice. They watch us from afar, smiling. But we mustn’t let our guard down. They like to flick their bowstrings at us and scare us with their leopards and hawks. They laugh when we panic.
One time, we found a pretty stone decoration on the ground. One of the kids tried to pick it up, but I stopped them. I’d noticed an elf with an arrow nocked. I think they really meant to shoot us.
Lady Kuroi watches the elves. She’s always watching them. Her eyes are the same as when she faced the monsters. She never sleeps at all. Just watches. Watches.
Tonight, again, she stands atop a tower of rubble, black hair darker than the night flowing in the breeze.
“Lady Kuroi, do you... hate elves?” I ask. I feel I have to.
“No.”
“Even though they kill humans?”
“Mm.”
“...Even though you killed one?”
“Mm.” I wonder if love and hate even factor into why Lady Kuroi fights. She had a focused look on her face when fighting the monsters, but it didn’t seem like she hated them.
“Then... why?” Does she fight because she’s strong? I hope that’s not it.
“Because I’m angry.”
“Huh?”
“That’s why I fight.” It doesn’t look that way to me. Not at all. Lady Kuroi’s always so quiet.
“Who are you mad at?”
“The world.”
“The world... This world?”
“Yes. I can’t leave things as they are.” The world. The place we live in. The place we die... the place we might be killed in.
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t matter if humans live.” Oh!
“Because this world doesn’t need humans.” Right, right.
“And it makes me... furious.” I understand. I understand, Lady Kuroi. Dad said the same thing. The world is very cruel. It was why he couldn’t stop fighting, even if it was dangerous. He said if he didn’t fight, it would be beyond pathetic.
Humans don’t have a God. So no matter what they do, they’re weak. They can never measure up. None of their wishes can be granted. Which is why the other races with language don’t bother with us. They don’t love us. They don’t hate us. It’s not even like they ignore us. It’s a more pitiful, uneven treatment... Sometimes they’re rough, sometimes they’re kind. It’s like the elves and vampires don’t care about us at all.
I see... So if no one will engage with us, then we can’t hate anyone specifically. This feeling of wanting to scream out... Yeah... It’s anger. “We’re right here!” I want to scream at the top of my lungs, tears streaming down my face.
“Let me teach you something.”
“Okay.”
“God isn’t always by your side.”
“Huh? Wh-What do you mean?”
“It’s because gods have their own fights, I think.” A fight between gods... The elven god and the vampire god have been fighting for ages, according to the priest. He described it as a very troublesome battle.
“Are you talking about the elves’ monster lizard and the vampires’ bat boss?”
“The human god is... a devil.”
“A devil?”
“A devil of battle. I fight and I fight and I fight, yet still it urges me to continue. It is a god of war and flames.” As Lady Kuroi speaks, it’s almost as if a large presence wavers in and out of existence behind her. It’s sitting... enshrined? But unlike the paintings and statues that decorate the church, it doesn’t have multiple arms, and isn’t wielding a sword and shield. It’s surrounded by lots of strange gadgets and... its eyes are closed. I can’t see its face, but I can tell that its eyes are closed.
God exists.
This thing I’m looking at is probably nothing more than a shadow of God. But He’s right there. Right next to Lady Kuroi. I can feel Him. God. When those eyes open, the fighting will start again. I’m sure of that.
“Sira.” Lady Kuroi’s voice. It’s a beautiful voice, filled with God’s power.
“If I’m ever defeated, it’ll be your turn to stand.” I stifle a scream and listen. I have to listen.
“You must prepare. You must stake everything on this.” I nod. I nod, putting my life on the line. For this is a contract. A contract with God. So listen, Dad. I’m going to fight, too. So that we can be human. Be proud.
✦ ✦ ✦
Oh, shoot! I fell asleep. But no battles broke out, so we’re all good. At times like this, I need my blessed coffee! I’m the type of person to dump the instant coffee in a cup and splash some hot water over it. No sugar, no milk, no spoon. As long as I have that pitch-black caffeine, I’m good. Ah, so good... The drink of the gods.
Now, time to appraise the situation at the Frontier. Hmm, it’s passable. Seventy points. Things are going well for now. The occupation of the elven army presents a real danger, so we can’t let our guard down. Please, no events that will cause the people’s satisfaction levels to plummet.
Seriously, these elves are really good at taunting others. Either that, or they’re just discriminatory. The way they do things is very inconsiderate. The war crimes keep happening. It’s a reality of DDR. Most of the problems occurring from the elven occupation are centered around residence.
Maybe it’s because they live in the forest, but elves seem to think of homes as toys and are quick to seize them. Then, without any rhyme or reason, they trash the place, toss about keepsakes, use them for target practice, and give away pieces of art. All of this after they’ve already forced the humans to sleep outdoors. And don’t get me started on the kids. They target kids for their “games” at an almost sadistic rate.
But, uh, if you play as an elf then you can kind of understand. To them, human kids are like rare animals. Elves don’t participate in child-rearing at all. As youths, they live completely communal lives in the Mushroom Forest. Their familiars also love to eat human children. For crying out loud, they’re not rum and mutton!
So, yeah, I figured something like that battle earlier would happen. I was focused on watching something else, however, so a few soldiers were sacrificed. Once we actually clashed, it was an easy victory. Two of the elves were wind mages and one was a water mage, along with six silver leopards. If you want to stop my Kuroi now, you’ll have to bring ten times the army! Ha ha ha!
I mean, not only do I have Accept Blade, but I also have Fire Sword, specialized for close combat. To elves, that’s as dangerous as a vampire with Thunder Strike. Oh, those are both skills for smashing through an enemy’s magic. They’re best for people who like to get up close and personal. But that doesn’t mean I can afford to get cocky. There’s still that insta-death girl, Fleilyu the Falcon. She uses a magic called Accept Falcontail that summons feathers for her. Using wind magic on top of that allows her to fly freely in the sky. The thing to watch out for is her Homing Darts. They’re silent, require no movement on her part, have unlimited ammo, and can lock on to multiple targets. She can also secretly apply poison to them. That’s just evil, right? What, is she a variable fighter or some specialized esper weapon? Come on! I don’t want to be assassinated! Her liege, Sakiel, seems good-natured, but the other one to watch is the commander NPC. That middle-aged elf seems like a close-range water mage.
But, the elves are our allies. For now. For the moment. No matter how unhappy they are about it. The point is, the next battle will be against vampires. They will, without a doubt, attack us first. They’re not the type to just watch while elves reside on the human frontier. The males and females of their race are, at their core, battle junkies. And they really do treat humans as food. I can’t say we’ll survive. No, be stronger. We will win! I’m not so sure if there’s enough total faith for Kuroi’s Call magic, though.
The bigger problem, however, is this system error that doesn’t seem to want to go away. This is really bad. I can’t save and quit. This is even more fatal than not being able to fast-forward. Actually, I haven’t quit once this playthrough so, uh, I have a lot of needs that must be attended to! Like a bath and a change of clothes! And work!
But I’ve come this far, so I’d hate to have my data erased... Ahhh... Sorry, had to yawn. If worst comes to worst, maybe I’ll take some paid leave. Mmm... I still gotta give Golden and Deep Sea a good punch... Zzz... Zzz... I can’t eat anymore...