Chapter 71

"Hafu—"

Keena slumped onto the table, and warm sunlight streamed in from the window. After finishing breakfast at the Keena household, Luka had left for the outdoor classroom with a butler. Roxine, who was clearing the table, smiled wryly at Keena’s state, while Siren was hanging laundry outside where she could see the living room. Opus, having finished breakfast, had gone off somewhere to prepare for something, saying, "When it gets dark, help me with the experiment."

Three days had passed since the incident, and the village was peaceful. Regarding the Three Kingdoms, they had received reports that Shining Saber and Koiloge had explained the situation without mentioning the players, and the Three Kingdoms had accepted it. Keena had gone to Outro Quest and given a similar explanation. However, the queen seemed more interested in Keena’s accidental slip about meeting Sahana than the potential threat to the country.

"Aah, so bored—"

"Pfft—"

Roxine chuckled at Keena’s mutter. Her mistress had gone hunting with the village hunters the previous day but had been scolded by Maleer for overhunting. Maleer had said, "Are you trying to wipe out the animals around this village? A little meat for everyone to share is enough. We should never have a day where we’re full just from meat." As a result, Keena was banned from hunting for a while. Moreover, when she suggested building an ice house to preserve meat and vegetables, Opus scolded her, saying, "What will you do if we have to leave this village for some reason and can’t maintain it? Don’t provide the villagers with too many conveniences."

When Keena tried to go to the outdoor classroom with Luka, her daughter had said, "You’re already enough, Mom..." It seemed that while Keena was flying around the Three Kingdoms, Roxilus and Sunea had thoroughly taught the children. Now, the children were teaching the adults reading, writing, and arithmetic. The children had been exempted from cleaning the village bathhouse, which used to be a punishment. Roxilus was now doing it alone early in the morning, and when Keena secretly asked, he said it was faster without the children.

"Would you like to go to one of the capitals and do some work?"

"Eh, when I think about it, every time I go to the capital, I get involved in some trouble. Sometimes I just want a peaceful life."

"If that’s the case, you should welcome the current situation. Accept it gracefully."

"Ugh—"

Keena was floored by Roxine’s logical response. However, she knew that lying around in the living room would only get in the way of the maids. Sighing again, she stood up and decided to go for a walk to find something to do. She patted the goat tied up in front of the house, which was munching on the grass, and stretched towards the sunlight. She picked up an egg that had rolled near the goat’s feet and handed it to Siren, who was about to go back into the house.

"Going out?"

"Maybe a walk? Where’s Opus?"

"I think he’s somewhere around the village, but I’m not sure exactly where..."

"Hopefully, he’s not causing trouble for everyone."

Waving goodbye to Siren, who bowed to see her off, Keena headed towards the warehouse next door. She needed to clear out the bags of wheat that the Eilene Caravan had delivered and piled up. Within ten minutes, eighty percent of the wheat had been turned into whiskey barrels, and twenty percent remained. Opus had said that beer doesn’t last as long as whiskey, so she planned to make it when the caravan came to pick it up.

Next, she went to Maleer’s inn. Entering the open door, she found Maleer wiping the tables in the empty dining room, which had clearly finished breakfast.

"Good morning, Keena."

"Good morning, Maleer."

They exchanged greetings, and Keena walked over to the large screen display on the wall. She tapped it to check the remaining magic power and poured her MP into it until it was full. She smiled wryly at Maleer, who was looking at her with a squint, as if wanting to say something. This was because they had had a bit of a disagreement about keeping the large screen display in the inn. Maleer had argued that it was risky to leave a valuable magic item in the inn, where it could be broken or stolen. However, from Keena and Opus’s perspective, it was more like, "Try and see if you can." During the game, it was an unbreakable item, but now it could be broken if hit with a weapon or magic. Of course, if even fragments remained, Opus could use "Connect" to restore it. It was also quite heavy, and even Keena, with her stats far above the average, could carry it easily. For the current residents, it would be difficult to lift, and at least three people with levels comparable to Crof would be needed.

Recently, she had been thinking about increasing the variety of connection destinations. She planned to place a pair of eyes in places like the dragon palace in Rio Take and the hidden ghost’s garden, and exchange the eyes on this side to see high-altitude or underwater scenes. First, she needed to persuade Opus.

Leaving the inn, Keena looked around. The sky was a clear blue, with a few clouds, and the sounds of various birds and rustling leaves could be heard everywhere.

"Hmm, what should I do?"

Keena was already at a loss for what to do. Originally, VRMMO was a way to pass the time, and she didn’t have any particular hobbies. Thinking of things she could do, most of them required skills she didn’t have. Sighing at her own inadequacy, she turned to go back home when she was called.

"...Keena, Mom!"

Luka was running towards her, looking happy. Roxilus was following at a respectful distance. Keena patted Luka, who clung to her waist, and asked Roxilus a question.

"Is the outdoor classroom over already?"

"No one came today, and Latem had some business, so we disbanded early."

"Is that so. What will you do, Luka?"

Keena thought she might spend time with Luka until Opus was done with his business. But Luka’s unexpected answer froze her.

"Siren, big sister, is teaching me cooking. ...Will you join me?"

"...Eh?"

To be honest, Keena had zero cooking experience. At most, she had helped her mother with simple tasks as a child and had never made an omelet. She had rarely attended home economics classes in school. In Riedale, there was a skill called "Cooking," but it was one of those skills that became useless if you didn’t use it. Quests could be completed by gathering materials for cooking NPCs, which was a prerequisite for the "Cooking Skill." The "Cooking" skill alone had no practical use.

"Hmm—"

"...Keena, Mom, do you dislike cooking?"

Unable to shake her head at the pleading gaze, Keena could only nod.

"J-Just, shall we do it together?"

"Yay!"

Luka, smiling, turned to Roxilus, and they nodded meaningfully. In fact, it was a strategy by the servants and daughter to ensure that Keena wouldn’t refuse if Luka asked. Thus, with Luka, who had some knowledge from growing up in a fishing village, and Keena, who was hesitant but had refined skills, a somewhat questionable dish of vegetable and meat stew appeared on the table for three meals in a row.

---

As night fell, Keena followed Opus out of the village and into the forest. Opus, dressed in his usual special equipment, was completely black from head to toe, almost blending into the darkness. The only thing preventing that was the light source floating above their heads, a light spirit in the form of a butterfly (Level 330, one meter long) that illuminated the area as if it were daytime. Keena was wearing a white coat over her usual fairy king’s robe, which, during the game, was an outfit without special abilities that could be freely colored with a paint tool.

"I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation with Luka. We need to do some preparation, and this is the only chance."

"I would have liked an explanation beforehand, though."

Keena, who had been discussing the problems with the cooking they had just done, was not pleased. She knew Opus had business, but she thought he could have waited until Luka was asleep. Opus smiled and explained the uniqueness of his ability.

"I’m connecting to a fragment of power I left behind. I thought you might be concerned about it."

"Fragment of power? And 'there'?"

"The place where you were born and lived until recently."

"......Huh!?"

Keena’s shrill cry echoed through the quiet night forest.

---

They soon arrived at a clearing in the forest. It was about thirty meters in diameter, with a small spring in the center. There was no moon in the night sky, but the spring, illuminated by the light spirit, emitted an unnatural glow. When Keena, curious, peered into the water, she saw a faint magic circle on the surface. Unlike the few concentric circles with pentagrams or hexagrams seen in games and general depictions, this one was written in a form she had never seen before, with unfamiliar characters swirling densely.

"W-What is this?"

"An ancient language that no longer exists anywhere. Well, the first one to teach it to me was you, actually."

Feeling a sense of nostalgia in the words, Keena, who had once been a master and servant, felt a pang of guilt and bowed her head. Opus, seeing her, smiled and said, "Don’t worry about it," as a golden glow gathered in front of Keena, forming a small snake that licked her cheek affectionately.

"Whether you remember or not, we have followed you for countless ages. That will never change. This was not something you forced upon us. We chose to follow you of our own accord."

‘As the Crow Flies, Alz.’

"...Yeah, um... Thank you."

Keena, feeling a bit embarrassed, turned away and thanked them.

"So, where are you planning to connect this?"

"The connection will be limited to a communication screen. It’s not like the game where you can pull an entire continent over. The preparation on the other side is minimal, and the catalyst I left behind is also very small, so it will only last a few minutes."

Keena, who didn’t know any better, was impressed. In reality, connecting worlds with minimal preparation was an impossible dream, and if the title holders on the other side heard about it, they would faint.

"Stand on that side for now. I’m about to activate the spell."

"Okay, but who are you connecting to? The only person we have in common is the avatar from the game."

"I have no one to talk to. This is for your cousin."

"My cousin, Ako?"

Keena and Opus stood facing each other across the spring. Surprised by the mention of her cousin, Keena touched herself, looking puzzled.

"I look completely different from when I was in the real world. Will my cousin think I’m someone else...?"

"What do you think the snake is for? It remembers your old appearance. The filter on the screen is up to it."

‘I Understand, Alz.’

The small snake, Kii, coiled on Keena’s shoulder, nodded at Opus and Keena. Opus, who had suddenly become serious, began to chant a song-like incantation, and the characters on the water’s surface began to glow in rainbow colors. Four characters of the same shape flew out of the glowing text at regular intervals.

They floated in front of Keena, maintaining an equal distance, forming a square. As the characters dissolved into lines of light, they formed a square, which seemed to be the screen. The remaining characters in the spring glowed in seven colors, and Opus, with his hands outstretched towards the spring, chanted loudly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Can we finish this quickly...?"

Keena, with a mix of hope and anxiety, watched the screen, which displayed, "Connecting to the other side." Eventually, the text disappeared, and a woman’s figure appeared on the screen, accompanied by static.

---

Kazako, exhausted, collapsed onto her bed. She had been a secretary assisting her father, who ran the foundation, for several years. Until recently, the people she met at meetings were mostly middle-aged, but lately, she had been introduced to more "promising young people" who accompanied them. These meetings seemed to be informal matchmaking sessions, and among them, there were some who were arrogant and others who were easy to talk to. Seeing her father and the meeting participants satisfied, she had to consider the possibility of settling down, which was a recent source of headache.

Suddenly, her gaze shifted to the cabinet beside her bed. Four digital photographs were displayed, showing her family, friends, and landscapes, with the last one being a photo taken in the hospital with her cousin, surrounded by machines, the last one they had taken together.

"Kazana, ...what should I do? Is it okay to be happy without you?"

She remembered the last day with her cousin. After receiving the news, she rushed to the hospital and clung to her cousin’s lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably. The most shocking moment was after the private funeral with her father, when a world-renowned celebrity visited. The celebrity, who had placed their hands on her cousin’s body, revealed that her cousin had a special ability and was likely alive in another world. In a world of title holders, the words of the saint who had raised her cousin were not to be doubted.

The question was how her cousin was living in that other world. Was she in a state between life and death, or had she forgotten everything and started a new life? When she asked, even the saint couldn’t track someone who had moved to another world.

What she regretted was not visiting her cousin for a while, citing busyness. Or perhaps it was an excuse because she didn’t want to see her cousin’s emaciated body.

"Haah..."

She couldn’t stay in bed in her clothes forever. Sighing, she stood up just as her terminal rang. She had left the office late at night, pushed out by her father, but it seemed they were short-handed. She picked up the terminal, which was palm-sized and oval, and when she selected communication, a rectangular screen projected from the top. The name of the caller on the screen shocked her.

‘Kazana Kagami’

"…No way…"

Holding the terminal with both hands, she bit her trembling lips. She didn’t immediately laugh it off as a joke because it was something that couldn’t be ruled out. If her cousin in another world could communicate across worlds, or if she had pre-recorded a message to send at this time, it was possible. But she was confident that her cousin wouldn’t do something like that, even if she knew her own death was imminent. Her grandfather and uncle, though estranged, had a good relationship, and as cousins who had known each other for a long time, she was certain of this. Despite the turmoil of emotions inside her, she took a deep breath to calm herself and opened the line.

The image on the screen was of her cousin before the accident, clearly relieved and about to say something.

"…Kazana?"

‘U-Yeah! Long time no see, Ako-nee-san.’

The appearance was different from the last time they met, but the voice and the emotions it conveyed were enough to make Kazako’s eyes well up with tears. The blurred vision, the sound of Kazana’s tears through the screen, and the words they both repeated were "I’m sorry" and "I’m glad." However, the increasing static on the screen made them prioritize speaking.

"I heard from the saint that you’re in another world… Is it true?"

‘Well, yeah, how do I explain… You remember the MMO game I showed you? It’s like that, but I’m in the game world as a character.’

"Your appearance is different, though?"

‘I don’t know how I look either. What do I look like to you? Oh, this is because of Kii… a friend who’s making me look like my old self. If I suddenly appeared as someone unfamiliar and said, "I’m Kazana," you wouldn’t believe me, right?’

Kazana looked to her right, and Kazako guessed that the person was off-screen. In reality, Kii was perched on Kazana’s shoulder, and the snake’s form was excluded from the video to avoid confusion.

"You look like you’re back to how you were before you were hospitalized. You seem to be doing well, that’s good…"

‘Wow, it’s that far back? I’m so different now, Ako-nee-san. I’m glad you can recognize me, though.’

"…Do you look like the character in the game, with the foreigner-like appearance?"

‘Yeah, my ears