The campfire crackled as it burned.
“It’s cruel, isn’t it? But don’t worry, I’ll defeat all seven Witches.”
“That way, the world will no longer be cursed.”
Seeing Sophie looking so shaken, Kaila offered words of comfort.
Sophie sat up.
“Then, how many Witches has Lady Kaila defeated so far?”
“Today... was supposed to be the first one.”
“So, you haven’t defeated any at all?”
Kaila: (´～`)
“Today! Was supposed! To be! The first!”
“Right, right, I understand.”
So, zero.
Furthermore, when she had stopped Kaila earlier, she had based her judgment on Miaoyue’s Stats from when she first left the game.
Five hundred years had passed. Sophie didn’t believe that these veteran holders of the Destined Crowns hadn't increased their strength in all that time.
Sophie looked at Kaila’s puffed-up cheeks and reached out a finger to poke them.
They felt soft and squishy.
“Sophie... you really have no sense of personal space,” Kaila couldn’t help but say.
“Maybe it’s because I feel like Miss Kaila is a very easy person to get along with,” Sophie replied.
Personal space?
My Favorability is my personal space.
When your Favorability is maxed out, I won’t be poking your face.
“So, where is Miss Kaila’s Night Companion?” Sophie asked curiously. “Didn’t you say they were assigned from the moment of birth...?”
“I’m not from Solitude, so why would I have a Night Companion?” Kaila asked back with a puzzled expression. “And Sophie, you aren't a local either, are you?”
Not only am I not a local, I’m an alien.
And is it really appropriate for you to say you’re an outsider while wearing such a large Solar Cult emblem?
Though she was curious about where Kaila came from, Sophie didn't press the issue.
For two people who had just met, such a question was a bit too personal.
She’ll tell me herself once her Favorability is high enough anyway.
Sophie thought for a moment and shifted the conversation to another point of confusion.
“Is the relationship between monsters and humanoids very poor?”
As a standard fantasy game world, the Red Moon Continent naturally featured the usual humanoids like humans, dwarves, and elves.
It also had humanoid monsters like vampires, succubi, goblins, and the undead.
During the time Hiso was active, succubi could open brothels in towns, vampires could run blood banks and hospitals, and humans or elves from the humanoid category could just as easily spawn in the wild as hostile bandits.
Aside from different racial habits, there wasn't much difference between humanoids and demon-kin.
Sophie never felt there was much of a gap between different species.
After all, everyone had the same options hovering over their heads: Talk/Kill/Assault.
Could it be because some evil Demon King had appeared? Like how a Hero had appeared?
Hearing this question, Kaila tilted her head.
“I heard that a long time ago, it wasn't bad.”
“But there are rumors among the elves that the birth of the Seven Witches was a conspiracy by the monsters.”
“Gradually, monsters and humanoids stopped trusting each other.”
“Some countries might really hate demon-kin, but where I’m from, it doesn’t really matter.”
Sophie: “I... I see?”
I’m terribly sorry that it was my conspiracy.
She thought for a bit and finally couldn't help but ask, “Then, has Miss Kaila ever heard of a certain name?”
Sophie really wanted to do a search on herself.
She added a handful of wood to the campfire and spoke.
“A person named Hiso...”
Click... clack.
The mechanical, cold sound of a clock turning rang out.
Sophie’s eyes widened.
...
Year 152 of the New Calendar, The Puppet Theater.
Hiso sat in the first row—this theater was always opened for him alone.
There were no other actors on stage, only hundreds of puppets hanging by strings, suspended silently in mid-air.
As the final curtain fell, Hiso began to applaud for her.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
“Your Stats are getting higher and higher,” Hiso said. “Before long, you’ll be able to challenge the King of Puppets.”
“Brother clearly knows that isn’t what I want.”
Chengzhong Dino leaned her head against Hiso’s shoulder, complaining softly.
“But I still hope Little Dino can achieve that goal,” Hiso laughed.
“I know, I know. Since Brother wants me to, I’ll go challenge the King of Puppets—”
Chengzhong Dino played idly with the silk threads in her hands. A puppet on stage moved with various fluid motions according to the flicking of her fingers.
She seemed to suddenly think of something and spoke up.
“By the way, Brother.”
“Legend says that the time of this world is controlled by a giant clock.”
“It’s hidden very, very deep. Deeper than the sea, deeper than dreams. Its gears turn one notch at a time. With every notch, someone dies, an encounter ends, and a word left unsaid is lost forever.”
“I was thinking.” Chengzhong Dino lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. “If one day... I could take my silk threads and wrap them, one by one, around the hands of that clock—”
She raised her hand, as if she were truly wrapping something in the distance.
“First the hour hand. Then the minute hand. And finally, the second hand.”
“Wrap them tighter, and then tighter still, so it can never move again.”
“—If that happened, Brother.”
“Would we be able to stay together forever in that frozen moment?”
...
Click... clack.
The mechanical, cold sound of a clock turning rang out.
Screech—Screech—
Eerie sounds of friction followed immediately.
It sounded as if countless silk threads were strangling some massive object.
The “click-clack” grew slower and slower, finally disappearing completely.
A second ago, Sophie was still poking the campfire with a branch, adding wood.
But in this moment, the entire world had been paused.
The flickering orange flames instantly lost all motion, and the sparks exploding in mid-air were abruptly frozen right before Sophie’s eyes.
No sound of wind, no chirping of insects; all of nature's whispers were completely severed at this moment.
Sophie’s pupils constricted suddenly.
At the edge of her vision, Kaila remained in the posture of biting into her hard bread, her yellow hair frozen in the air, and even the tiny chewing motion on her face was completely still.
Thousands of silk threads emitting a ghastly white glow hung straight down from the void of the night sky. They had no source, and their ends were buried in the soil.
A petite figure slowly descended from the air along those hanging threads.
It was a young girl wearing a blue-black gown. A small dress hat adorned with blue ribbons was tilted on her head, and her sky-blue hair was pinned up by an exquisite hairpin.
Chengzhong Dino.
Although she had never seen this face, Sophie recognized her at first sight.
Destined Crown · Chengzhong Dino.
Inside her inventory, the Bond Item · Silent Flute hummed softly.
Her true body?
No, Dino is a puppet master; to her, every puppet is her body.
“You...”
Chengzhong Dino spoke.
“You just mentioned that name, didn’t you?”
Sophie: ...
The Witch extended a long, pale finger and pinched Sophie’s chin.
“You mentioned him.”
“You said that name. Why do you know that name? Who told you? Where is he? Is he back? Did he abandon me? Or... have you hidden him away?”
The Witch tilted her head slightly, asking questions like a rapid-fire barrage.
You are panicking.
Sophie rolled her eyes.
In the next moment, she found she could move her mouth.
“Answer me,” Chengzhong Dino said expressionlessly.
But only her mouth could move.
What... what do I do?
This suffocating feeling was like being coiled by a python.
Dino, if you speak to your Brother in this tone, your Brother will be very scared, you know.
So my name has already become a forbidden word?
As expected, caution was necessary. Just mentioning Hiso once led to being doxxed in real life. If she took out the Bond Item, wouldn't she go straight into a bad end CG?
Sophie wasn't afraid of death; death was just a cool summer night that could give her +1 Blood Essence.
But besides death, there were many endings worse than dying.
Like being turned into a puppet... Dino was definitely capable of that.
Sophie thought for a moment and shuddered.
She decided to play the bot.
Sophie said, “I completely understand how you feel. I’m right here—not hiding, not concealing, not dodging, and not running. I will support you firmly. I’ll give you an explanation in the most direct, simple, and straightforward way possible to ensure you understand as soon as you hear it.”
Chengzhong Dino: ?
Sophie continued, “To summarize in one sentence: you have Hiso in your heart.”
Chengzhong Dino took a deep breath. “I asked you where you heard that name...”
Sophie: “I apologize for making you angry. The user takes a deep breath... hmm, let me think. This usually means the answer the user received was something that made them feel speechless, awkward, angry, or amused. There is a need for emotional release. The user might just need a listener, or to receive emotional resonance and a reply...”
Chengzhong Dino: ?
Chengzhong Dino: “Are you mocking me?”
Sophie said, “Don’t say that. Many Witches never realize this in their entire lives. This shows that you are already in a very clear-headed position.”
The killing intent on Chengzhong Dino was released without reservation.
“Since you don’t want to talk, I’ll just tear you open. I’ll pull out your memories, your soul, along with every second of time you’ve lived, and filter through them bit by bit...”
Eh? Dino can do that kind of thing now?
Sophie was a bit stunned.
“Don’t be so fierce! I’ll come clean and tell you everything! Do you want me to summarize three locations where you might find Hiso...”
“Shut up. I’ll see for myself.” The blue-haired Witch reached out her hand, seemingly about to press it against Sophie’s forehead.
Can... can we reconcile?
I’m out of options!
“Hero, save me!” Sophie shouted.
Chengzhong Dino tilted her head. “?”
Just then.
“A Hero cannot... turn a deaf ear to a cry for help.”
An extremely piercing burst of pure white holy light suddenly erupted from the side.
Kaila’s finger moved with great difficulty.
Fine beads of sweat seeped from her forehead, and the holy light around her body burned in a violent manner.
Then, she moved.
“Puppet Witch, let her go.”
Kaila said in a low voice.
The sound of countless silk threads snapping rang out.
The crackling of the campfire returned, along with the sounds of insects and birds.
Sophie found she could move again.
Bang.
A massive, exaggerated rifle made entirely of light appeared in Kaila’s hands.
The complex holy runes on the barrel lit up one after another in an instant.
There was no need to aim; or rather, from the moment Kaila broke the stasis to launching her attack, it was only a brief instant.
The rifle’s muzzle was pointed at the Witch’s head.
Bang—!
With a crisp gunshot, a pillar of blazing light, ten million times brighter than the sun, smashed through all the silk threads blocking its path with unstoppable force.
The pillar of light passed directly through Chengzhong Dino’s body.
Under the intense light, that body, as exquisite as a doll, instantly became transparent, and its edges began to curl and vanish like burning paper.
“So it’s you, my former loser,” Chengzhong Dino’s ethereal voice rang out. “Very well. So this was the method you used to lure me out.”
“Does one who calls themselves a Hero also use such lowly tactics?”
“Do not mention that name again. Letting you go last time was my mistake.”
“I will wait for you in Ming City. This time, it’s a fight to the death.”
At the final moment before her body burned away, Chengzhong Dino’s voice still drifted over the campsite, carrying a lingering obsession.
“Suits me,” Kaila said calmly.
The light rifle in her hand dissipated into points of starlight.
Seeing the Puppet Witch finally leave, Sophie let out a long sigh of relief.
Sophie’s faith was being tested!
Dizzy, staggering, she was nearly at her breaking point.
This world is too terrifying!
She just tried to do a little self-search and almost hit a bad end.
Feeling deeply sorrowful, Sophie hugged Kaila.
The Hero had saved her once again.
“So... Sophie, you’re all sticky.”
“It’s rain. It just rained,” Sophie said.
She wouldn't admit she had just been sweating bullets.
And didn't she just see some strange weapon?
“By the way, Kaila, that weapon you just used was...”
“Hmm? A Discord single-shot rifle. Why? Is something wrong?”
What do you mean, is something wrong?
Aren't we in a medieval fantasy setting with swords and magic? How can you pull out a weapon that's accurate and fast within seven paces?
Seemingly understanding Sophie’s confusion, Kaila explained simply, “The Kingdom of Moon-Weeping has few people, but other places are a bit different.”
Sophie understood.
The seven Destined Crowns...
Or rather, the seven current Witches. Because the Trauma she had caused them was different, their curses were also different.
In these five hundred years, the kingdoms established on the various cursed lands naturally had different levels of technological development.
Judging by the breech-loading single-shot rifle she had just seen, the technological level was at least equivalent to the Victorian era of her previous world.
“Sticky. Why don’t we take a bath? I know a water source nearby,” Kaila suggested.
“I have no objection,” Sophie said.
Today was too intense; she really, really needed to relax.
“By the way, Sophie.” Kaila turned her head, the Hero’s eyes shining brightly. “The name Hiso. How did you know it?”
“Eh?”
Rate on N.U.
