Chapter 35: Please Watch Over Me Until Then

Despite all the life changing information I learned at the casino, I will say that I've had a pretty nice few days. Teasing Reuby and Maddie with my bunny suit outfit was fun, though I can't quite tell if they were affected by my charm or just embarrassed to be seen with me.

I had tried to really play up my charm. Using my own techniques, such as my usual leaning pose, my smile, my head tilt, I approached the two dusty boys and tried to get a reaction out of them. I had even tried observing the other bunny girls in the vicinity to try and mimic their techniques.

The reaction was, regrettably, lukewarm, Reuby kept stuttering as if he saw something incomprehensible, and he even turned red from anger. Maddie kept muttering to himself and didn't want to meet my eyes. Is my charm stat really that negative?

Knowing Reuby, he probably wasn't too impressed. Maddie is still hard to get a read on, but perhaps my efforts will bear fruit one day. The pink-haired succubus who had guided me around that day was also really nice. I never got her name though, that's too bad…

We've already arrived at our next location. With the Gimmimunee dungeon being set up, and the bank successfully robbed, and Faul Formi on our side, I have confidence that the Hero will be distracted there for a fair while. I wish I could send some sort of correspondence to the General and see how he’s doing. I just hope the Hero doesn't go too far. I've done my best to protect the people I want to, so I can only rely on my own plans and see what happens.

For now, I’m enjoying the comfort of this bed at a luxury inn, paid for by my newly acquired wealth. At this point, we’ve already reached the outskirts of Miit Yurmaika, the Beastkin Capital known for its brutal hierarchical society and vertical infrastructure. In the game, the inside city was quite the bustling location to travel. I wonder how it’ll be in this version of Namida?

“Insolent human, I have questions for you.”

Oh? Maddie's speaking to me first? He’s usually so grumpy that I can barely hold a casual conversation with him.

“What's up?”

“What did you speak about with that siren woman? I did not expect the Beastkin Capital to be our next stop.”

“Hm? Well I was already going to head over here, but Faul Formi asked us to pick up her daughter on the way. Apparently, if I just say a certain phrase, she’ll happily join us. The problem with that is…”

“Finding her.”

“Yeahhh…”

“Did you send the weak human on an errand to find her?”

“Reuby isn’t weak! He taught me my fundamentals, didn’t you know that?”

“Oh? Then he truly is weak.”

“Would you like an uppercut?”

“...I will pass.”

“Why are you so concerned about Faul Formi anyway?”

“Well, it was clear she knew who I was. The more I dig into my memories, the more I realize her prestige.”

“Is she that big of a deal?”

“She was once a candidate to become the Demon King of Lust.”

“Woah.”

“Hmph. She stands no chance against me.”

“If you say so.”

The door to the inn room opens, and Reuby walks in with three bottles.

“I’m back, you two. These were a major pain to get, y’know?”

In his hands are bottles of a different dubious concoction from usual. Rather than it being Reuby’s recipe, he holds three vials of a transformation potion. Miit Yurmaika is notoriously difficult to infiltrate, and so Faul Formi set us up with a recipe that can transform us into beastkin. We’ll have to take another potion to turn us back, but for now, this transformation will be semi-permanent. She said whatever we transform into would be based on our personalities. I’m not sure of the logistics behind that, but I guess once we move further inside the city, we’ll each have our own set of new surprises to deal with.

Pocketing my drink, I look back to see Reuby staring at Maddie who has…

Already drank the potion…

“Are those… weasel ears? Pfft. Maddie, you’re a weasel! Look at your little tail! Bahaha! What happened to you becoming a dark dragon? Kyahaha!”

“Shut your mouth you insolent human! That wretch Faul Formi must have rigged this to spite me! I knew she knew who I was!”

“Mahdnus, why did you drink it right away? You could have waited until tomorrow. Now you’re stuck as a… weasel for longer than you have to be.”

“...”

“Maddie, don’t tell me! Don’t tell me you were excited and having fantasies, seeing yourself as a dark dragon, so you drank it immediately.”

“Th-That’s an absurd claim!”

“Your voice just cracked! You definitely wanted that, ahaha!”

“Heh.”

“Now you laugh at me too, weak human! I will not stand for this slander! I will not!”

“Ahaha!”

“Mahdnus, it seems even Talon’s chickens are laughing at you.”

“Cease your incessant clucking you foul… fowl!”

“Maddie, please, I’m gonna die from laughing, ahaha!”

Times like these are pretty fun. Even if I’m stuck with this goal that I’ve placed upon myself, and even if the Hero himself is my enemy, I think I can learn to value small moments like this. If nothing else, moments like these are motivation for me to push forward and preserve the lives of people who can’t control what the Hero will do to them.

Many times, I’ve had to think about my place in this world, and why I was summoned into it. Faul Formi revealing I’m not the first person to experience this means that there’s a lot more weight on my current existence. What causes the transmigration to happen? Who or what causes it? Does it happen with the goal in mind?

I wasn’t prepared to question my existence, I had already accepted and defined my role. The fact that there’s a new thing I need to worry about would certainly not do any favors for me. Even now, I sometimes find myself spiraling back into the thoughts I always try to avoid. I count the stalactites in my head and wait for them to fall. I sprawl out in my head and just melt into my consciousness, wondering if the path I’m taking has any meaning.

But with every spiral, I also get a reminder. Sheffie and his Orc Tribe are now free from their resource troubles, and can cook and live however they want. They’ve followed us here, and even now, we still do things together. The General has moved on from his delirium, and has shed his bitterness in efforts to guide the younger generation of apprentice knights. Faul Formi has dodged a date with bankruptcy, and her family and livelihood remains intact.

Even beyond those good endings, I have my party. Rocco, Cooper, and Emerald, my chickens who have strange quirks but all have their own ways of looking out for me.

I have Maddie, who remains grumpy and dissatisfied, but I hope to have him tag along for a long time.

And I have Reuby, who somehow sticks with me despite all of my nonsense, who makes me strange drinks, and reels me back in when I dive too deep. No longer an NPC, he is a true friend.

When I think of the encounters I’ve had and the encounters to come, I realize that there’s a lot more to experience in a life than I initially thought. The deepest urge to lock myself away is always knocking on the door to my mind, but now I have a way to keep that mindset from entering.

If nothing else, I’m doing this for my parents. For the keepsake that was stolen. Namida wants me to remain as an NPC. As just Village Girl A. And I’ve embraced that role. But by now, I’ve made it my own thing. I’ve pushed the boundary of this broken world, and I’ll keep doing so. Until I reach the highest point, until I become the strongest existence, until the very world itself has to kneel under my power, I’ll keep on moving forward. Village Girl A will no longer speak her fake dialogue and fail to make her own choices.

I, Village Girl A, will crown myself at the peak and relish in my victory. I’ll become the final boss, the Demon King!

Mother. Father. Please watch over me until then.