Chapter 336: “Their Expressions Should Be Interesting”

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“Alright, I understand. As you said, I can confirm I get what I want from the first dungeon, then decide if I’ll help…”

“Don’t worry about your bastard father. Ms. Reviki and I will take care of him.”

“Will I get a chance to meet Reviki?”

“After you leave here, she’ll be waiting for you outside. Of course, if you’re worried I’ll pull any tricks, you can have Ms. Shuna come with us.”

“…Why are you doing all this… never mind. I doubt you know. I’ll just ask her in person.”

…

Under the dazzling desert sun, Shuna held her black “dagger” umbrella, looking like she was attending a funeral—though the current scene did resemble one. Shuna watched the two of them talk.

After spending so much time with Will, listening to him ramble on, she had a general understanding. If this world was a story, then the current world was different from the one he had seen. Specifically, the original male and female leads had all vanished—both the obsessive man, Shu, whom she had seen in his memories, and Reviki, the empress who ran Galaxy Summit.

But the “plot” of the world was running very smoothly. So smoothly that major events were still happening, and even she, whose gender didn’t fit the original setting, was a part of it.

Now, the missing Reviki had appeared as the mastermind they had been investigating…

Alright.

Shuna scratched her head.

She could understand all this, but she didn’t really care. She was only slightly—just a little bit—annoyed at how excited Will was to hear that name.

“Shuna, so, will you join me?”

Suddenly, Will lifted the brim of her umbrella. Shuna realized that while waiting, she had unconsciously lowered her umbrella so much that it almost hid her completely. Will, wearing his monocle, stood outside the umbrella, his smile overly “brilliant” in the sunlight.

“You look so happy. As expected of someone who’s been reborn, hmm?”

“Sorry to keep you waiting. So, about what’s next, will you join me? As teammates, I think we always work well together.”

Shuna looked up from under her umbrella, reading his expression.

So easy to read.

He looked so expectant, his eyes shining. He must be hoping she would join him on another “grand adventure.” It seemed that ever since she had rescued him, he had been gradually becoming more “honest,” “unpretentious,” and “emotionally proactive.” Now that he was sure he would live, he seemed so cheerful he was almost a social butterfly.

But—

“I refuse.”

“Huh? Wait, what? Aren’t you interested? You’ll definitely like Reviki. After all, she… in the original story, she’s an empress who’s very interested in the depths of dungeons…”

“Don’t say that person’s name again!”

“Oh, I get it. You’re jealous. It’s okay, I promise. Although she’s beautiful and mature, probably my type, you know I value our shared experiences now, so I promise I’ll only think of you four—Mmph?!”

Will’s vision was suddenly shadowed, and then… he felt the warmth of Shuna’s lips on his. He wondered if it was because the desert was too dry; they had only been here a few hours, but her lips felt a little chapped.

“Being too straightforward can be annoying sometimes. Say a few less words—I admit, I’m a little jealous.”

“But, Shuna, you’re not refusing just because you’re jealous, are you? You’ve found something more interesting…”

“The aura of the Death Sanctum…”

“Hmm? What?”

“The worm you killed, it had the mark of the Death Sanctum, right?”

“Yes, the withered Lycoris Radiata…”

“…The dungeon I was born in, the emperor I killed…”

Shuna looked at her palm. As her first memory as a “person” in this world, she could recall it clearly, anytime, anywhere.

“The blood that flowed at my feet, into the dungeon’s grooves, was also… that shape.”

“Huh?!”

Will was shocked.

“In the original story, the dungeon emperor you killed was the most… important foreshadowing of the whole story…”

“Even if it’s not a story, it’s the key to finding out… who ‘gave birth to me,’ who ‘wanted me to kill myself,’ and… ‘what my purpose here is’.”

“So you…”

Shuna smiled.

“Will, you’re always talking about fate. I was thinking, since in your story, that man defected to the dungeon side after his friend’s death…”

“Wait, you’re not going to…”

“I’ll find a way to join the Death Sanctum and meet that empress.”

After Shuna said this, she saw a flicker of “relief” on Will’s face.

“Why that expression? What? You think what I’m doing is cool?”

“It’s just… I feel… ‘the girl who would put a knife to her neck and say she’d die with me is still stubbornly living her own life.’ I’m relieved I don’t have to carry another person’s life.”

“No, if you die, I’ll still die with you, you know?”

“Wh-What?!”

Shuna placed her fingers on his lips.

“But, precisely because of that, I want to get revenge on the bastard who tied my fate to yours and gave birth to me.”

“I see. That’s a very Shuna-like reason.”

After finishing this temporary farewell, Will’s gaze shifted from her to the distance, as if he were thinking about something. Shuna noticed that his look was one of “thinking,” and a new idea had just sprouted, which he was now following down the rabbit hole!

And… it was not good.

His expression was strange, especially his eyes. He only had that expression when he was thinking of some “bad idea.” No… even more so, he only had that expression when he had a hint of “wanting to see something more interesting and chaotic happen.” In other words, a “yandere” expression?

“Shuna, then I have a favor to ask you.”

“What?”

Shuna was taken aback. She saw him first take off his witch’s storage ring, then the magnetic white earring, and finally the collar from his neck. Although his current strength, even without these external items, could probably handle an S-rank entry-level challenge.

But…

“Are you going to die again?!”

“No, no. I’m just going to fake my death. There are some things I can’t do at the Adventurer’s Guild for a while. Most of the time… I’ll probably be in a dungeon.”

“You want me…” Shuna took the three items, clearly from her rivals, into her palm. “…to do what with these?”

“Help me go to the Adventurer’s Guild, mail these to Novis Town, and have the Guild inform the rest of Morning Star.”

Shuna didn’t understand Will’s meaning at first.

But… she had a very, very bad feeling about his expression.

He looked like he was “looking forward” to something interesting happening, but… his actions of putting down these items and the words he spoke were exceptionally “gentle.”

“Are you planning some kind of ‘punishment’ for them? Or… is this a step to redeem them?”

“Mmm… perhaps it should be considered… a step to let them feel my love?”

Will’s smile sent a genuine chill down Shuna’s spine.

“After all, sometimes, only by losing a passionate feeling for a moment can you truly feel the other person’s love, right?”

“It’s fine. I believe they will feel it.”

“Just, if you happen to run into them—since it seems possible… just help me act a little.”

“At that time, their expressions should be… very interesting, right?”

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