Writer’s Weapon

Word spread to the town that it was finally blessed by the Creator and gained the name Espoir. Everyone was celebrating and preparing to hold another festival, in which the mayor agreed readily.

On the other hand, Ollie and I are taking Sol to have a walk around.

I left the book home because I don’t see any reason to carry it this time.

After I suddenly had an idea about what to do, I decided that it’s safer to leave the book at home.

“Lapis-sama, are you alright now?”

“Ahaha…” I awkwardly laughed. “Sorry about what happened yesterday, I guess I really am a narrow-sighted older sister who always looks at the negative side of things. But that will change now!”

“Ooh! You look energetic today, Lapis-sama.”

“Yes, actually… I just thought of a way to handle the dilemma.”

“Really?”

I nodded at him.

“I’m still figuring out how to execute it though. I need to do some experiments first.”

“If that’s the case, is there any way I can help?” Ollie enthusiastically suggested.

“Arf!,” Sol even seconded.

“I’ll count on you soon, for now, I’ll try managing it alone for now.”

“I-is that so…”

Ollie looked disappointed, and I understand why.

I honestly feel extremely guilty, but…

…I’m sorry, Ollie. This time, I should be the one dealing with it alone. I promise to let you know once I’m certain that this method will work. Definitely.

While walking around, the streets looked bustling once more. This town is really carefree, but it’s not a bad thing. This peaceful atmosphere is something that is worth celebrating after all.

“Lapis-sama! Ollie-kun!” Dolce came running towards us while waving.

“Hello, Dolce-chan,” Ollie greeted her quietly.

“Good day, Dolce-chan, are you running errands?” I asked her.

“Yep! The town is blessed by the Creator, so we will be having another festival! It’s really exciting!” Dolce cheered, then leaned closer towards me. “Goddess, this is your doing, right?”

“Ahaha, what could you mean, young lady?” I awkwardly diverted her attention.

“Hehe, thank you!”

“Arf!” Sol barked at her.

“Hm? You have a puppy?”

“Yes, Ollie-kun picked him up yesterday,” I explained.

“Arf! Arf!” Sol barked cheerfully.

“Uhm… this is Sol. Please get along with him, Dolce-chan,” Ollie said to the girl.

“Sure! Hello there, Sol. I’m Dolce!~”

“Arf!”

It seems that they are getting along well. I honestly feel out of place being surrounded by kids. Don’t get me wrong, okay? I do adore them dearly, and I love being around them, but down the line, we still have a gap that we call ‘age’.

I was used to having a mature and strict connection with people given the time that I was in the workforce and had to dedicate most of my time and energy to it without having any time to take a breath.

“Ollie-kun, Dolce-chan, I’m going ahead first, okay? Just take your time and play together,” I calmly said.

“Ah, wait, Lapis-sa—”

“Sure! I’ll watch over Ollie-kun!”

Before Ollie could appeal, Dolce butted in and stopped him. Ollie eventually relented and I left them there.

Dolce definitely realized that Ollie is kinda down, but because Ollie felt obligated to stick with me, he wants to go with me. I’m thankful that Dolce is quick to notice, I wouldn’t want to impose on Ollie after all.

Now that I’m alone, I sat on the bench under a tree in the town square. The wind is nice today, I felt calm just being here.

Let’s collect our thoughts for now.

Looking back on it, Ollie has always been beside me since I woke up in this world.

I was thankful for it, I really am.

But the thing that I am dealing with now is something that I have to face alone. I was the one responsible for it after all. When I wrote [Dream-colored Sky], I was all alone… and now I have to do something about it myself.

As a writer, my weapon is my words.

This world considers me as a goddess, but I previously didn’t have the resolve to live up to that title. Even though I did something god-like such as giving a name that is equivalent to a blessing, I was still afraid to make bold decisions that might disrupt the status quo.

It’s been a while, so I eventually forgot.

But now, I may be able to face it again.

Writers are spontaneous, they are free, they should not be held back by anything except themselves.

It was something that I didn’t try to understand in my past life.

So what if I can’t earn money from writing? So what if others won’t read it? So what if my word choice and grammar are horrible? So what if I suck?

I write, and write, and write… I stopped, but I will write once again.

“Isn’t that nice?”

A familiar voice spoke behind me, I did not turn around because I know very well who it is.

“What do you think, Ruri?” I asked.

“...”

No answer. I expected that.

“Ruri, this is your— our dream. All these times, the hesitation that prevented me from having the courage to defy the inevitable is purely because of you, right?” I mused.

I may look like I’m talking to myself right now, but I can feel someone behind me. A very familiar person from my past.

“Ruri, what do you think about this world?”

“... nothing. It’s just a fragment of my imagination, it’s not real. It’s useless.”

That’s right, those feelings are understandable.

“Right, you’re that kind of person. The one who abandoned your works without finishing them.”

“...”

“I won’t fault you for that. I am you so I know that giving up on your dream is not an easy decision, and I know that you tried picking that dream up again, but when you realized that you can’t do it anymore, you got scared…” I closed my eyes, trying to imagine what kind of face she is making now.

Is she furious at me? Is she indifferent? Or was she about to cry?

I would never know, because Ruri is already behind me, a part of my past that is holding me back.

“Ruri, I’ll throw away everything that you decided for this world,” I smiled to myself. “This is no longer the story that you wrote to vent out all your miseries. You were not able to write a happy ending for this story, but I’ll make sure to give this world the happiest ending that you never had.”

“Did you forget? This world must be destroyed,” the voice argued.

Right, there was that request from the nameless god as well. The wish to destroy this world.

But do I really need to destroy this world? Sure, this is a tragedy-stricked story, and the world will eventually be destroyed according to the original outline… However, the original outline bears little to no weight now.

In the first Plot Hole, the original outline stated that the twins will die several days after their birthday, and seeing a Plot Hole occur during the birthday parade is just a blatant diversion from it.

That alone made me conclude… this world only flows to what was written in ten chapters that was published online.

And I also arrived at the conclusion that…

“It doesn’t have to be destroyed. You know that too, right?”

“...”

Of course, you know. You are this kind of writer after all.

Playing with words and using literary devices to conceal the elements of the story. Well, that very thing is what I’m going to exploit to fix this dilemma.

“I’m going to ditch your logic. I can’t change what’s already written, but I will use your own vague narrative to look for a way and prevent tragedy,” I sincerely said.

“It’s useless.”

“It might be,” I muttered. “But the feeling of being useless is the worst.”

The feeling of not being able to do anything but just watch as the people around you are suffering. The people begging for their lives, for their misery to end, for someone to save them…

“You’ll just get hurt. It is a thankless act. No one will praise you nor reward you for it.”

The voice continued calling out to me, ushering me to stop what I’m thinking of doing… preventing me from acting against what’s already predetermined.

“You’re a selfish writer, you know?” I chuckled lightly. “But I can’t bring myself to hate you.”

I stood from the bench and heaved a deep sigh.

I’m a writer, as well as the Creator of this world. If I really want to do something, I need to stop holding back. I have to try everything no matter how stupid or absurd it might be.

I took a step forward, leaving the imaginary conversation that I just had with another me.

“When the town of Espoir gained its name, a rain shower occurred in the middle of the day,” I whispered to myself in my native language. The same language that I used to write this story.

I stared at the sky which started turning cloudy. Little by little, small drops of rain started falling down.

“Ah! It’s raining!”

“Everyone, take shelter!”

“Miss, come here quickly!”

A villager called out to me but I didn’t pay it any heed and just remained standing in the middle of the town square. I could feel the drops of rain touching my skin, but I could care less about it now.

“Everyone who’s preparing for the festival felt disappointed, but just as fast as it happened, the rain stopped…” I continued. “When the dark clouds dissipated, a rainbow appeared. A symbol of favor from the Creator, a congratulatory gift.”

Just like that, the rain shower stopped, and the sun peered once more. A rainbow appeared from the mist and light for everyone to behold.

“Waah! Look! It’s a rainbow!”

“The Creator really blessed us!”

Everyone went out to see the rainbow and started cheering in awe, while I walked away quietly.

It seems like my words really bear a huge weight that can influence the reality of this world. The key to accomplishing it appears to be using the same language that I used in writing the story before.

I have no problem with it because my previous life’s language comes naturally to me despite this world having a different language.

Still, I need to be careful with my words. I can’t just throw my weight around without any regard for the circumstances.

Now that I found out that I can use words to influence reality, I have to be more careful than ever. If I suddenly let go of words that will cause disaster, all this effort would be for naught.

Still, I can’t help but smile to myself.

It really worked! I can’t believe that it actually worked! Haah… I’m actually prepared to look like a madman there, good thing it’s not for nothing.

I’ll go back to the kids now since I finally finished my experiment. I can’t wait to tell Ollie about the good news, maybe I’ll prepare something for him.

Should I cook for him? Or should I make a toy that he would like?

_______

As I was walking back to where I left the kids, I passed by a dark alley. I didn’t intend to stop on my way, but I heard a rustling noise coming from there that made me stop on my tracks.

Is it a lost pet again?

I entered the alley expecting a cat or a dog, but then… something started crying– I mean, scratch that, it’s definitely a person!

There’s someone crying here! Is it a ghost?!

“Sshh… please stop crying, we have to keep quiet.”

That voice… There's no mistake about it, it sounds like a young boy.

“It hurts, Onii-chan… hic…”

Another voice spoke, this time it was a crying girl.

“P-please hang in there, I’ll do something about it!” There was a sense of urgency and desperation in the voice of the young boy.

I moved closer to the voices carefully and quietly, trying not to startle them.

When I was close enough, I could see exactly where those voices were coming from. There are two small figures wearing worn-out cloaks that hide their features, they are embracing each other as if all they have are each other.

I don’t think I’ve seen these kids in the town before, and I don’t think any children in this town would have been left in this horrible state.

I felt bad looking at them like this. Whoever left them here in this state is definitely a horrible adult. How could they do that to young children?!

I decided to slowly show myself to them.

“Excuse me…”

The two flinched, then the boy stood in front of the girl protectively.

“Who are you?! Who sent you here?!” The boy yelled at me.

I raised my hands to show that I am not a threat to them. They looked confused, but still didn’t let their guard down.

“I’m from this town, I heard something in this alley so I decided to have a look,” I said as gently as I could. “I don’t know what happened to you, but you can rest assured that I won’t harm you.”

The girl behind the boy then grabbed his hand and gripped it tightly while breathing heavily.

“Onii-chan…”

“How can we trust you?!” The boy glared at me intensely.

“I’m Lapis Lazuli, where are your parents?” I patiently asked.

The two exchanged glances with each other and their expression turned from distrust to disbelief.

“Are you—”

“Argh… haah… haa… Onii-chan, it hurts…”

“The girl doesn’t look to be in a good condition, I’ll take you to the clinic!”

“No! We can’t let someone see us!” The boy argued.

“Eh? But I saw you already?”

“That can’t be helped, but we can’t let more people see us. Lapis Lazuli-san, please help my sister,” the boy pleaded quietly yet desperately.

I nodded without hesitation.

“I’ll take you to my house.”

Since this is an emergency, I think it’s fine using my ability this time. These are just children, and they badly need help. I don’t think they would snitch on me if they saw me use something that seemed impossible.

Argh, why am I hesitating? I need to do this now!

I took a deep breath and lowered myself to their level. I closed my eyes and started using my words to teleport us to the Sanctuary.

“Two kids who urgently needed help were found by the Creator, sensing desperation, the Creator took them to the Miniature Sanctuary in the blink of an eye.”

I’m not sure if this will work because unlike the rainbow, this is directly using my ability on other people.

Well… it doesn’t matter. To these children, it might just sound like strange incantations. If they ask me what I did, I’ll just say that I used a Teleportation Spell.

The next time we opened our eyes, the three of us were now in front of the house.

“This is my house, we have to take your sister to safety,” I said to the boy as I led the way. “Come in, you’re welcome here.”

They didn’t have problems going inside the Sanctuary because I welcomed them properly, I made sure to do it properly now. That’s still progress, I guess.

“Is this… a library…?” The boy asked, while carrying the girl on his back.

“Something like that. I’m thinking of starting a bookstore… Ah! Let’s go upstairs. Let’s have your sister lie down on a bed. Should I carry her?”

“No! Don’t touch her!” the boy bit back.

“Alright,” I patiently nodded. “Follow me, I’ll let you use the room closest to the stairs.”

It was originally my room, but I don’t mind moving to another one. These kids need it more than me now.

I opened the door and the boy gently placed the girl on the bed. The girl looked to be in pain, she’s breathing heavily and sweating bullets.

“Can you tell me what happened now?”

“Someone wants us killed so we ran away from home, but my sister was poisoned!” the boy recounted with a frustrated voice.

I see, so it was poison that’s causing pain to this young girl.

“Apologies, but I’m not versed in medicine. If we want to help your sister, we need to have an expert look at her before she gets worse,” I explained to the boy.

“No! We can’t do that! We can’t trust anyone!” the boy argued.

This is hard… these kids don’t seem to trust others. What happened to them might have been so horrible that they grew to distrust others like this.

Still, no matter how much I feel bad for them, this is beyond my knowledge.

If only Ollie was here…

“Ah!”

“What is it?”

“I forgot my gui— I mean my brother outside! Little boy, look after your sister for a while, you can use anything in this house that might help her. You can get water from the kitchen sink, the medicine box is in the drawer,” I hurriedly said.

“Ah, wait Lapis Lazuli-san!”

“What is it?” I turned to look at him only to see him staring at a book on my bedside table.

“That book— is that [Dream-colored Sky]?”

I froze in my place as soon as the boy asked that. My eyes widened in disbelief as I could feel my heart drop from that question.

“H-how can you read the title of that book…?”

“Are you Lapis Lazuli-sensei? The one who wrote this book where we reincarnated?”

The boy's voice was full of expectation, at the same time, it was full of remorse and bitterness. I could not find the words to respond to that question after seeing the disappointment in those black eyes that I knew very well.