Chapter 33: A Cute Girl Fell Into the World

I take another blow of my bubbles. Having imbued them with an unholy mixture of various magic, the bubbles blow out in rainbow colors that light up my dim room. How long has it been since I was given this bubble blower? So many things have happened in my life that I can’t quite remember the sentiment behind it. Regardless, it’s therapeutic. It brings me back to simpler times, before people started falling in from other worlds. Before I was known as Faul Formi.

The newest faller, named Talon, is especially cute. If she wasn’t so focused on her journey, I would have gladly employed her as one of my bunny girls here at the Gobrak Casino. Her black hair was slightly messy enough to be charming, and her cute face framed by freckles and a small scar on her cheek was a nice change of pace from my other staff.

She was interesting in conversation too, boldly proposing the most ridiculous things without any regard for who I was or how she looked. Her frantic expression held a mix of excitement and determination. Her movements contained an energy unbound to this world.

If only she knew she was speeding towards her own doom…

I couldn’t understand her casual attitude towards her precarious status. Not only was she between life and death, but she was stuck in a foreign body within a world that rejected her. With my eyes, honed through a long life of observation and this bubble magic of mine, I could tell. Talon was not fully acclimated to her new self. I wonder if she ever will be.

Or rather, I wonder if she’ll last long enough to even get the chance.

I don’t like admitting it, but my optimism for fallers has only diminished. The first girl deluded herself into oblivion. The second guy lost himself to raging waves of oceans abound. The girl before Talon was struck down by howling storms. If my suspicions about Talon were correct, and they were, I was going to do my best to talk her down into living a quiet life. I don’t pleasure myself with the stories of people trying to reach a place they can no longer return to. If I could stop an inevitable bad end, then I would.

If Talon agreed to work here at the Gobroak Casino, I was prepared to protect her with all of my power. I know the feeling of being displaced and having to find your way. I can’t imagine how it would feel to cross worlds. I don’t want to imagine it. With me, she could live an honest, if somewhat excitable life. I almost wanted to use my bubbles to help convince her. I could easily use more than words to get her to agree.

I dropped my plan once I talked with Talon, because it was clear she was never going to live a normal life. There are some people in this world, or rather, in any world, who will break through everyone’s convictions in pursuit of their own. Talon was already lost long before she fell into Namida. All I could do was follow her whims in efforts to assure her.

She seemed to think she was clever, quoting the Hellish Nine Rules and emphasizing her jackpot win. In reality, I could have lied about the money stored in The Void’s Greed and denied her claims. The Hellish Nine Rules are an archaic set of rules that were founded by the first Demon King of Pride. The magic on that ruleset has long faded. All they are now are a set of stiff, simple, and outdated commands. Most demons don’t follow them anymore, and as a half-succubus, I barely even qualify as a demon, so there was never a reality where the magic affected me.

Talon’s companion though, is a different story. To think that she would trap the Demon Prince himself under those Hellish Nine Rules. I was aware that Mahdnus Amunskt Kayaus had fled the castle, but to be caught by a faller of all people? What a twist of fate. Using my bubbles, I replayed their memories in tandem and viewed them both at once. It seems like the Prince was overconfident and let himself get slammed by a magic-enhanced punch. It was quite entertaining.

Though it also seems like the matter of the Weituriche Bank, which I am to manage the remains of, is somewhat unresolved. The Weituriche heir was arrested after Talon and her dusty boy companion hastily framed him. That was certainly some quick thinking, but did they… just think that the Magic Guard fully believed them? I’ll have to resolve this.

“Huggmi? Are you outside darling?~”

“Ah! Mother, yes!”

“You took a liking to Talon and her group, yes?”

“...They were extremely cute.”

“Wow, even the dusty boy?”

“Yes! His exasperated attitude made me want to squish his cheeks.”

Did that dusty boy even have cheeks soft enough to squish?

“...Even the Demon Prince?”

“He had that type of pathetic energy that makes me want to embrace him!”

What’s up with this daughter of mine? She’s getting stranger tastes by the day.

“Well, I might as well hear your thoughts on Talon.”

“Her clueless and awkward movements when she asked me to help her with the bunny suit were so adorable! I want to smother her all day long! Ahh~ I could just eat her up! She was clearly a wild girl who was hesitant about expressing herself! If only I could see them all every day, I would help them flourish~”

“...Right. It seems you’ve been enjoying yourself lately. Well, I have a request for you. It would help Talon if-”

“I’ll do it!”

This girl… She finds someone she likes and does anything for them without hesitation. I’d be worried for her if she wasn’t my enforcer.

Though… her attitude does remind me of her sister…

“Actually, darling, hold on just a minute. Your sister, where did I assign her for her training in espionage?”

“Um… which sister? I have… a lot.”

“You mean you don’t know which one based on the tone of my voice? Do I need to retrain you in vocal courses again? How can you call yourself a succubus if you can’t even be confident in verbal manipulation?”

“Ahh! Mother, please! Wait! I, uh, I’ll think really hard! I don’t need to be retrained! Going through that hell again - uh, I mean, wasting your time would be rude of me as your daughter!”

“So? Which sister?”

“Umm. Uh. Ownli Foryu?”

“Wrong.”

“Ehh?? Uhh, how about, Lukatmi Aulwaiz!”

“Incorrect.”

“...”

“Any final guesses?”

“...Steel Maihart?”

“Wrong! It’s Bimai Luhv! Your dark-elf sister who I sent to the Beastkin Capital! It looks like I’ll have to retrain you later!”

“Mother! You just said the answer to your own question! If you knew the answer, why would you ask me?!”

“Because you’re hopeless.”

“Uuuuu…”

“Stop making strange sobbing noises and listen up. If you do this well, I’ll spare you on the retraining this time.”

“Ah! Mother! You’re oh so generous to your lowly daughter once again!”

“...Right. Well, tone down the praise. Don’t make me retract my statement. Take some of these bubbles. They’ll replay some of Talon’s adventure. She got tangled up in some incident a few days ago. Use your magic to fix things up at the Magic Guard, alright darling? I also give you permission to mess with Dadiz Weituriche if you keep it quiet.”

“Of course Mother! I’ll gladly do what I can! I’ll be back soon~”

Seeing her pink hair fluttering in the distance, I heave a sigh before blowing another stream of bubbles. Indeed, even though Huggmi Closh is older by a decade, she’s just as hopeless as Bimai Luhv.

Hmm. Bimai. I’ll ask Talon to pick her up during her journey. Apparently, they’ll be heading to where she is pretty soon. I have a few bubbles attached to Bimai, so I should be able to observe her, and by extension, Talon pretty carefully. If I frame it in a way where it makes it seem like I’m worried about Bimai, I’m sure Talon would accept my request to take her pretty readily.

Now, what was it that cute faller said? She wanted me to help “change the story”. She wants to challenge her fate.

Immediately, Talon said she needed me to stop some “Hero” and construct a dungeon. I have no idea if this Hero is actually recognized by the Sword of Happiyendeng or not, but Talon insistently emphasized never to get physically close with him. She warned me that I would lose my sense of self as I handed the Hero whatever he needed without complaint.

I was planning to send one of my daughters, most likely Huggmi, to fight the Hero at the dungeon, but should I come up with something else instead? Perhaps I’ll release one of these abyssal creatures I have swimming in my room on the guy. It should be relatively amphibious… so perhaps the Abyssal Jumper could work. It’s mainly a creature that relies on speed rather than attack or defense, but still sports an incredible size and dangerous bioluminescence that is powered by dormant magic. Other smaller abyssal creatures would populate the space well and fill in any gaps. If I fill the dungeon with my bubbles and theme it after an abandoned bathhouse, I think things will be quite confusing for the Hero. Not only would the bubbles cause random warps, but they would be monitors for live entertainment as I watch this so-called Hero struggle.

Hm. Who knew designing a dungeon would be this fun? I wonder if I have some animosity against this Hero because of Talon. She;s just too cute, so I took her claim that the Hero would bankrupt me at face value. Even if it’s not true, I’ll still root for this faller. That’s what I've done for the other three, and even if things seem grim, it’s what I’ll do now.

“Mother! I’ve returned!”

“Huh? So fast?”

“Fast? But I was gone for seven hours?”

“Oh, has it really been that long?”

Surely I wasn’t that invested in designing a dungeon, right? Perhaps I should take a break from blowing these bubbles. They’re distorting my sense of time. I was about to put my bubble blower away when I caught a glance at Huggmi one more time.

She’s sweaty, and smiling, and clearly… in a particular mood. This girl truly is hopeless. Do I even dare to ask her what she was doing before she returned?

“Huggmi, darling, please tell me you controlled yourself. Please tell me that all seven of those hours were spent carefully deliberating on how you could handle the memory manipulation for the Magic Guard."

“Well… it was mostly that, but…”

I see her cast an awkward side glance and a half-hearted smile. I’ve seen this look from her one too many times.

“I might’ve… gotten… just a little excited… Just a bit…”

…On second thought, I think I’ll blow a few more bubbles.