by Okina Baba
For one thing, a spider that has weapons should definitely be against the rules.
Plus it’s got six arms, Asura-style, and each one of them is holding a damn sword.
It’s pretty good with those swords, too. Like, I don’t think it should be allowed to call itself a spider at this point.
I mean, sure, I’m pretty far removed from a normal spider myself, but that thing doesn’t even look like one anymore.
Its skill makeup is different from the archs and the rest of the spider army, too.
Most significantly, it has weapon skills now and other upper-level skills that seem more suited for a human than a spider.
I have fought humans before, but I basically just trampled them with the sheer difference in our stats. I can’t say that was a very educational experience.
To be honest, I can’t read the puppet spider’s movements at all.
If anything, I can just barely manage to evade its attacks with the golden combo of Future Sight and Thought Super-Acceleration.
Not to mention, it’s got those nasty stats that exceed 10,000 across the board.
At least it doesn’t have a type advantage over me or anything, but in terms of sheer power, things aren’t looking too good.
Like, the only stats I have that are nearly that high are my magic stats.
And aside from that and speed, all my other stats are waaay lower.
Plus, even if my speed is decent, I don’t have much yellow instant stamina, meaning I can’t keep up my top speed for long.
In other words, magic is the only area where I have it beat.
If I want to win against that puppet spider, I definitely can’t do it head-on.
I might be able to pull it off with my tried-and-true method of setting lots of traps, but if I want to do that, I have to clear out the rest of the spider army first.
In the end, I’m stuck just slowly but steadily whittling down those numbers.
For now, as long as the Demon Lord is off searching the ocean, I guess I’ll head back to the labyrinth and wreak a little havoc.
THE REINCARNATIONS IN THE ELF VILLAGE
The day after we arrive in the elf village, Ms. Oka brings Katia, Fei, and me to a certain location.
Honestly, I didn’t really want to leave Anna alone when she has such horrific trauma associated with this place.
However, considering where we’re going now, we thought it was best if only us reincarnations went.
When I explained all this to Hyrince, he told me confidently that I could count on him, so we left Anna and him behind.
Our destination is a special protected area.
The place where the reincarnations are kept in order to protect them.
“Ms. Okaaaa, are we there yet?”
Fei complains.
I suppose we have been walking for a pretty long time.
With Fei’s high stats, I doubt she’s actually worn out from that. But none of us realized it was this far away. I can’t blame her for being a little bored.
“Just a bit farther. The elf village is quite large, you know. Please try to be patient.”
Frankly, it’s so large that I don’t know if it should be called a “village” at all.
But I suppose that makes sense when you consider that most of an entire race’s population is concentrated here.
It’s so massive that it would take an entire day to travel from one end to another.
When you think of it that way, the distance to the reincarnations’ area might even seem small by comparison.
“Still, I can’t believe there’s a barrier big enough to cover this entire place. It must take some incredible magic.”
“Yes. Thanks to the barrier, the elf village has never been attacked before.”
“How exactly does it work anyway?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know that much about it myself.”
Normally, I’d expect Ms. Oka to know these things, but I guess it is a matter of national security.
“What I do know is that it’s so strong that even an attack from a queen taratect can’t affect it. In the long history of the elves, it’s never once been broken.”
It can withstand a direct hit from a queen taratect?
That surprises me, but it also makes sense.
The queen taratect is in the strongest class of monsters.
When one appeared in a battle between humans and demons a while ago, it trampled both sides indiscriminately.
And the queen taratect’s destructive power permanently altered the terrain around that Great Elroe Labyrinth exit.
If one of those same monsters lives in the Great Garam Forest, it’s only logical that the barrier would have to be strong enough to hold it off.
Otherwise, the history of the elves would probably have ended by now.
“Considering how long they live, the elves must have a pretty long history, right? How far back does it go, exactly?”
“I don’t know. But from what I’ve heard from my grandfather, who is the eldest in the village at five hundred years old, the barrier already existed in the time of his own grandfather.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
I can’t imagine living through that much history.
In fact, much of the history of this world has been lost.
This is partly because books are often destroyed in the constant wars between humans, and unlike on Earth, paper here degrades very quickly.
Since it’s difficult to preserve books, the history we do know is extrapolated from the few remaining documents or passed down through oral tradition.
And it’s hard to say how much of that is true, since many of them seem to contain fictional stories and fairy tales.
In which case, the long-lived elves might be important living witnesses to history.
However, since the elves are so closed off from the rest of the world, most of them probably never even leave the elf village, meaning they might not know that much about human history.
“Do you think Hugo can get through the barrier somehow?”
That barrier has been protecting the elf village for such a long time that it’s like a part of history itself.
Does Hugo really think he can break through something that powerful?
Does he know something we don’t?
“I’m not sure. However, just because it’s never been broken before doesn’t mean it’s impossible. We mustn’t rely on it too much.”
If anything, it sounds like Ms. Oka is assuming the barrier might break.
That gives me the impression that Hugo knows some way to break it.
And Ms. Oka must know about it, too.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had us go on such a dangerous journey through the Great Elroe Labyrinth to defend the village.
Not if she thought its barrier was unbreakable.
I remember Katia’s warning again.
Ms. Oka is still hiding something.
At this point, I think Katia is probably right.
There’s clearly a line somewhere between what she’s telling us and what she’s keeping to herself.
“From what you’ve told us, it’s hard to imagine any human could break such a barrier. Do you believe Hugo has some kind of secret weapon?”
Katia cuts in sharply.
Of course. If it’s obvious to me, then it must be doubly obvious to Katia.
“Again, I don’t know. However, he most certainly knows that there is a barrier around the elf village. Surely even Hugo wouldn’t bring such a large army here if he wasn’t confident that he could break through the barrier. I suspect that he must have some kind of method in mind, though whether it will actually work is another story.”
Her analysis certainly makes sense.
I can’t find a single contradiction in that logic.
Still, it’s not quite enough to dispel my doubts completely.
Katia, too, narrows her eyes while Ms. Oka isn’t looking.
Fei says nothi
ng, unable to keep up with the tension between the lines of the conversation.
I keep quiet, too, afraid I’ll mess things up if I say any more.
“Ah, there it is!”
Luckily, just as an awkward silence starts to fall over us, our destination comes into view.
I mentally heave a sigh of relief.
That kind of battle of wits just isn’t my forte.
Instead of being full of trees like the rest of the forest, the area Ms. Oka points at is a brightly lit clearing.
In most of the forest, the huge leaves and branches block out the sky.
But in this one area, instead of trees, all that’s growing are vegetables.
It’s a farm.
Tending to the field are a few young boys and girls, right around our age.
There seems to be livestock, too, with a few more people taking care of them.
Noticing us, one of the girls stops working and approaches.
“Welcome back, Ms. Oka.”
“Thank you.”
The pair exchanges greetings in Japanese.
This girl really is a reincarnation.
But although hearing Japanese should warm my heart, there’s a slight chill in the air somehow.
The girl’s greeting was very curt.
And Ms. Oka’s expression seems rather stiff as well.
“So? Are these three new victims or what?”
The girl’s words make the atmosphere even colder.
“Victims? Of course not.”
“Well, that’s your opinion. From my perspective, you’re definitely the villain… But whatever. You three, what are your names? I mean from there, not here.”
Coldly rejecting Ms. Oka, the girl turns toward us.
She looks at Katia and me, then turns suspicious when she sees Fei.
“I’m Shunsuke Yamada.”
“Mine is Kanata Ooshima.”
“I’m Mirei Shinohara, as if you didn’t already know.”
“Huh?”
She furrows her brow, but I can’t tell whether it’s because Katia is a woman now or because Fei’s appearance is incredibly similar to how she used to look.
“Wait a minute. Ooshima?”
“That’s right.”
“Wow…”
Her reaction seems involuntary.
“Excuse you! What kind of reaction is that?!”
“You’re right, sorry. It just surprised me, that’s all.”
“Well, now that you know who we are, shouldn’t you introduce yourself, too?”
As Katia sulks a little, Fei cuts in with slightly narrowed eyes.
“As if I can’t already tell from your attitude.”
“Fair enough. It wouldn’t be very polite to ask your names and not return the favor, would it? Sorry about that. I’m Sachi Kudo.”
“I knew it.”
Fei sighs rather irritably.
Sachi Kudo.
The girl who was our class rep.
We weren’t particularly close, but she stood out in class because of her blunt nature.
Since she was monstrously strict about the rules, she had a lot of enemies, too.
And since Fei tended to be a bit of a mess in various ways, they butted heads pretty often.
“Why do you look so much like your old self, Ms. Shinohara?”
Apparently, Kudo did notice that Fei looks a lot like she did in her previous life.
Since it’s been such a long time, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of us forgot one another’s faces, but I guess she remembered an old foe.
“Oh, y’know. I guess even death couldn’t take away my beauty.”
“Give me a real answer, please.”
Fei’s 100-percent lie is even more obvious because of the silly pose that comes along with it.
Kudo immediately shoots her down.
Now that’s a nostalgic exchange.
“Seriously, I dunno why I look like this, okay?”
Fei refuses to drop her jokey attitude, and Kudo continues to glare at her suspiciously.
“Mirei?”
“Huh? Is that really you?”
A few others notice our presence and drop their work to join Kudo in gathering around us.
Two of them notice Fei’s appearance and call out to her.
“Hmm? Wait, is that Ai and Himi?”
“You guessed it!”
“Oh my god, so it really is you, Mirei?! Wow, it’s been sooo long!”
Reunited with their old friend, the girls jump up and down with excitement.
Fei was the center of a particularly flashy group of girls and had a lot of friends.
It’s been more than ten years, yet they immediately clump together and chatter away like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Honestly, I think that level of sociability is pretty impressive.
“At any rate, let’s not keep standing around out here. Everyone, let’s put today’s work on hold for now and go inside.”
Kudo directs the first half at us and the second at everyone else.
“Are you coming, too, Ms. Oka? Not that you’re particularly welcome.”
I can’t help but feel a twinge in my heart at her harsh words.
It was clear from the beginning that Kudo strongly dislikes Ms. Oka, but I can’t understand why her rejection is this intense.
Since she was the class rep in our old world, Kudo spent a lot of time with Ms. Oka, and I seem to remember them being pretty close.
Something must have happened between them in this world to cause such a large rift.
As I dither uncertainly, Katia calmly looks around at the situation as a whole, while Fei stares right at Ms. Oka.
“Right…I understand. Well, I would hate to put a damper on everyone’s reunion, so I’ll take my leave here.”
With that, Ms. Oka quickly turns away.
Her expression looks as if she’s forcing a smile while holding back tears.
“Let’s go.”
Ignoring our teacher, Kudo starts walking.
Looking around, I see that several of the other students are looking at Ms. Oka with hard-to-read expressions.
But nobody makes any move to call out to her.
As we start off in the opposite direction, I steal a glance at Ms. Oka as she walks away.
I’ve never seen her look so small.
PLAYING WITH DOLLS
These days, my life basically involves moving in and out of the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
When the Demon Lord is getting close to catching up with me, I use Teleport to return to the labyrinth, where I work on reducing the ranks of Mother’s army.
Then, when the Demon Lord gets an SOS from Mother that I’m causing trouble and comes back toward the labyrinth, I teleport outside again.
And so on and so forth.
Apparently, even the Demon Lord can’t catch up with me as long as I have Teleport and the ability to monitor her location.
Still, if I let my guard down, she’ll catch me for sure, meaning I have to use Exhaustion Nullification to stay awake around the clock.
The skill keeps my body from getting worn out even if I don’t sleep, but the lack of rest is pretty tough on my spirit.
Besides, the Demon Lord is no fool, so she’s been taking measures to put an end to this game of cat and mouse.
Specifically, the number of puppet spiders has increased.
The puppet spiders are under the Demon Lord’s command, separate from Mother.
In addition to the one that Mother already had, the Demon Lord has thrown in ten more of the damn things.
Even just one was a headache in itself, and now I have to deal with eleven?
Come on—give me a break.
Half the new puppet spiders are on guard in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
The other five are outside pursuing me, as I found out the hard way.
The Demon Lord was returning to the labyrinth, so I teleported back outside only to find a puppet spider w
aiting for me.
I managed to escape with my life somehow and even succeeded in Appraising it so I could mark the thing on my map, but one wrong move and it would’ve been curtains for me.
In fact, I took enough damage that I would be dead right now if it weren’t for Immortality.
Long live Immortality!
However, the situation is getting worse by the minute.
The Demon Lord and her puppet spider tracking team are constantly on my tail, and in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, I’ve got Mother and six more puppet spiders to contend with.
Mother’s not as strong as she used to be, but at the same time, I’m running into the puppet spiders more and more often.
At this rate, I’ll eventually be backed into a corner with no more places to run.
So I have to somehow reduce the number of puppet spiders before that happens.
Right now, I could beat Mother if given enough time, but the Demon Lord is nearly invincible, and the puppet spiders all have higher stats than I do.
I’m definitely outclassed here.
But I have to do something, or I’m done for.
Who cares if they’re all stronger than me?
I’ve been fighting enemies who far outclassed me all my life here.
There’s no point in wimping out now.
Thus far, I’ve been able to beat enemies who are stronger than I am through a combination of resourcefulness and sheer guts.
The resourcefulness to make various traps using my thread and the guts to never give up, no matter how bad the situation.
It’s no exaggeration to say that those are the two things that have kept me alive all this time.
I’m just going to stick with what works.
For the moment, I can’t beat a puppet spider in a fair fight.
But I’ve come up with a trap that might do the trick.
Anyway, that’s what’s on my mind as I’m running around like crazy.
Fleeing from the Demon Lord and the puppet spiders, slowly whittling away the spider army.
And now, I’ve been chased into a dead end.
The Great Elroe Labyrinth, Upper Stratum.
I’m in a small dome-shaped room, surrounded by six puppet spiders.
To an onlooker, this probably seems like a desperate situation.
The dolls likely think they have me cornered, but what they don’t know is that they’ve been drawn right into my trap.
I’ve been playing tag in the Great Elroe Labyrinth for longer than usual in order to lure all six of the puppet spiders here into one place.