Chapter 77

The sunlight streaming through the window grew weaker, and the room gradually began to be enveloped in twilight. As the sunlight faded and the room grew dim, the lights turned on.

The room, brightly lit, was the same elegant interior I had seen before. It was a private room, the kind where politicians would pretend to be ill and hide away. You might be able to imagine it.

An expensive sofa and table were placed there, and a set of living room furniture was complete. The furnishings were clearly expensive at first glance, but they exuded a refined atmosphere rather than a nouveau riche vibe.

Next to the sofa was a king-sized bed, and the bedding looked fluffy and comfortable. It was a luxurious room, but there was one thing that was different from the norm. An IV drip and a blood pressure monitor were present, and a female nurse stood quietly by, indicating that this was a hospital room.

Moreover, it was a room that Miharu recognized. It was the hospital room where she had saved Yamato four years ago.

Just like before, Miharu was lying in the bed. The young girl with silver-gray hair was sleeping soundly, snoring softly and looking adorable.

"Mnya. The Hornbearcow was a rabbit..."

Muttering in her sleep, she turned over. This was the young Miharu, the little girl who aspired to be the strongest. After turning over a few times, she finally opened her eyes slowly and yawned widely.

"I slept well. Where am I?"

She looked around, tilted her head, and yawned again. She rubbed her eyes and looked around with a sleepy expression, puzzled.

During the battle, she hadn't felt tired at all, but when she closed her eyes in the trunk, the fatigue hit her all at once, and she had a real nap. She might not have even noticed if she had been kidnapped seriously. The battle with the King Mantis must have put a lot of strain on her body.

Even though her body was game-like, she felt tired after the battle. It was like the body in a novel. Falling asleep from exhaustion was probably a common event. Or maybe she had returned to a normal body. Which one was it?

The soft feel of the white sheets was so pleasant that she kept touching them. Miharu, who had returned to being an innocent young girl, looked around the room again. She recognized the spacious room. This was the hospital where she had been admitted before. This is a hospital room.

A nurse was sitting by the wall, fiddling with a computer, but when she noticed Miharu was awake, she raised her thin-rimmed glasses. She looked like a strict head nurse.

"You're awake, young lady."

"Frigg, do you have a transformation skill?"

Tilting her head, she leaned to one side and fell over. She was still sleepy and could sleep a lot more. She must have been quite tired. The battle with the King Mantis was really pushing her limits.

The head nurse smiled thinly at the rolling Miharu.

"This world is a magical world. So, the guards rely too much on magical devices that detect magic. They think that if you want to infiltrate, you would use 'Illusion Magic' or 'Invisibility.' But humans can disguise themselves much more easily."

Wigs, colored contacts, and a little makeup, Frigg winked and explained. She looked nothing like the Frigg Miharu knew, appearing as a strict woman.

"Is Frigg a spy? Or a thief?"

"I am a goddess. The goddess of love and precious metals, Frigg."

"Isn't she the goddess of love and fertility?"

"Fertility and precious metals have the same meaning. Why don't you look it up in the classics next time?"

"Don't lie to a little girl as easily as breathing."

Looking at Frigg, who was calmly lying, Miharu smiled and shrugged, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She always looked so cool.

"So, do you want to hear what happened while you were napping?"

"Hasn't much time passed?"

"About four hours, I think."

It wasn't like three days had passed, so she sighed in relief. She didn't want to worry her parents. Hmm? But why is no one here?

"Where are Dad and Mom?"

She thought they would be worried and close by, but this was strange. ...Could they be hurt? She felt anxious.

"I have to heal them if they're hurt! Status abnormalities? I need to level up my cleric skills right away!"

She needed to obtain a spell that could heal any wound and cure any status abnormality. She should go to a dungeon. That's what she decided.

She patted the sheets, ready to go, but Frigg laughed at the gray-haired girl's panic.

"Don't worry. Your father is being held by an old lady, the Duchess of Ryusui, who wants to talk to him. Your mother fainted from anemia and is being examined by a doctor."

"I'm heading to the dungeon! I need to get the hybrid job, Wabu, right away!"

"Calm down."

Frigg approached and tapped Miharu's head as she tried to jump out of bed.

"You really don't think things through when it comes to your family. It's okay, you just worried them... more like, that was..."

"I worried them? But I'm such a good girl!"

She didn't think she had done anything to worry them. She was well-behaved and a good girl. She had managed to cover up the King Mantis incident, right?

Breathing heavily, the young girl hit the sheets with her hands, excited. This was strange.

"You don't seem to realize, but you were supposed to be kidnapped. It's natural for your parents to be worried."

"GAH! I didn't see that coming! You're right... I'm so down."

She had been so focused on fooling Stampede that she hadn't thought about this at all. She was careless. Miharu felt regretful and plopped down, ready to fall asleep.

"You haven't even heard the story yet. Do you not want to know?"

"Sorry, Frigg. So, what happened after that?"

Regaining her composure, she turned to Frigg, who nodded and began to recount the events.

"You were kidnapped but not taken away. The treasure hunters who were fighting the magic user who had infiltrated the temple and trying to carry away the treasure were found dead. You were found sleeping peacefully in the trunk of the car."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Treasure hunters turning on each other. It's a common trope. Good thing Miharu was found.

"There wasn't much treasure. Not even in the secret room. There was a chest full of gold coins, but it was clearly not enough compared to the size of the room. They're saying 'Loki' stole it."

"Hmm. What about the 'Rusted Rope'?"

"It's been recovered."

"Yay! So the 'Rusted Rope' was in the temple. Now I don't have to sneak into the imperial city."

She snapped her fingers in joy. This was the third divine artifact she had obtained. In the game, it was found in the treasure room of the floating castle, but the description of "a while ago" had bothered her. The secret room only had 'Dromi.'

"Nobunaga was clever. If he hid powerful magical items in a secret room, no one would care about a rope lying in a corner of the treasure room."

"When the 'Rusted Rope' is awakened, it becomes 'Gleipnir.' But among the divine artifacts, 'Gleipnir' has the weakest performance. It can 'Restrain' monsters, and when a monster tamer processes a magic stone to turn it into a familiar, it increases the success rate by 50%. It's a divine artifact that only monster tamers use. But it's a necessary item for the resurrection of the demon god."

Let's just be happy it was easy to get, unlike in the game. Sneaking into the floating castle was incredibly difficult, and the performance was underwhelming. It's a common issue in games.

"But there wasn't much treasure?"

She gave Frigg a skeptical look. In this world, gold is produced in dungeons and is much cheaper than in her previous life. Precious metals like adamantite, orichalcum, and mithril are the expensive ones. So, a room full of gold coins worth 200 billion yen should have been overflowing with gold, right?

"It's not a significant amount for the country. We need to use it effectively."

Frigg answered calmly. As expected, leaving it to Frigg resulted in this.

"I told you to just take a fee..."

"The problem is that if we don't launder the money properly, it will be traced. Selling a large amount of gold coins will raise suspicion. So, I'll store it appropriately. Don't worry."

Frigg gave the most untrustworthy smile in the world.

"Besides, it will be useful for our future undercover operations. I'll keep it as evidence of 'Loki's' activities."

"Selling the gold coins will alert someone. Like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumbs."

"Quite a hard-boiled way of putting it. That's right. The gingerbread house is empty, though."

"Loki." In the game, she left traces here and there. Deliberately leaving her tracks is a good idea. Frigg is impressive, but she seems too used to this kind of thing.

"But is it okay to kill 'Loki'? She's a significant character in the story, right?"

"Hmm, she appeared occasionally in the original and brought important information in the game, but I remember that information. It's fine, right?"

She caused chaos with Stampede. She will do good things in the future, but also bad things. She mostly killed the people she transformed into. She had to be eliminated. In the story, there were descriptions of the dead bodies of transformed guards.

The original author could have written that she only trapped the transformed people, but the description of killing them was probably a template action for a character who steals identities.

"So, the second 'Loki' will be you, as planned?"

"Yep. 'Loki' has been observed for 15 years, even before I was born. So, I won't be suspected. It's perfect for an undercover role."

The inauguration ceremony can be just juice and snacks.

"That cruel part is very god-like."

Frigg is right. Miharu is aware of her arrogance. She doesn't feel guilty about killing villains. She doesn't intend to deny it or stop. However, she doesn't plan to become a vigilante. She doesn't have that much of a sense of justice. It depends on the situation. Hmm, maybe she is arrogant.

"I won't go around killing villains to achieve world peace, but 'Loki' is too dangerous. 'The Jester' should bring laughter to people and act in a fun and playful way."

"Right. And... the guards will be back soon. They had magical devices to detect magic everywhere."

"So, Frigg just walked in normally?"

They were so focused on the surveillance cameras that they didn't notice someone walking by.

Frigg, looking like a nurse, winked and left the room. Her father and mother came in, and they were relieved to see Miharu awake.

"That's good, Miharu. You're awake."

"Good morning, Dad, Mom!"

Yamato and the others also came in and were happy to see her. She felt guilty for deceiving them, but it couldn't be helped.

The new 'Loki' will be active. She won't aim for world peace, but she will aim for family peace.

As 'The Jester' 'Loki,' she will change her actions from today. She will cause playful mischief in the world, spreading a fun and cheerful atmosphere.

The young girl with silver-gray hair smiled and her ice-blue eyes sparkled.

By the way, why did Frigg infiltrate the hospital room when she could have used telepathy? She said it was more hard-boiled this way. She's definitely a female spy.