Chapter 135: You’ve changed a lot since I last saw you, Leon (6)
Security was expected to be tight in the desert city of Delgrad.
This was understandable, as the city had just experienced an “anomaly” in which all the otherworldly species in the desert disappeared without warning.
But there was no need to enter Delgrad.
The carriage arrived near the edge of the desert, on the road to the Academy.
This was the prearranged rendezvous point with Geppeti.
The reasoning was that it would be difficult to travel to the ancient ruins to meet in person.
But it was getting late and night had fallen, and Geppeti hadn’t shown up.
Perhaps she wasn’t physically ready so I paid the coachman an extra fee and waited.
In the carriage, Rei was fast asleep, her arms wrapped tightly around Sheddie.
‘Good night…’
This was not the look of the hero who would fight demons in the future.
In this life, I wondered if I could help her escape her fetters and not die but it was still a long, long way off.
As I sat in the carriage, deep in my thoughts something touched me.
At the same time, Sierra’s voice echoed in my head as she stood outside the carriage, scanning the desert.
[ …I think I found it.]
She had been walking toward this place from the other side of the desert.
I opened the door, stepped out of the carriage, and caught sight of her.
She was walking across the platinum-colored, cold dirt, and her hair was pure white.
‘Geppeti…’
She looked exactly like the one I’d seen in the virtual world before.
However, she was slightly smaller than I had seen her before, a judgment that was probably a continuation of her orders to learn how to become a ‘little sister’.
‘I never knew she could create real flesh.’
From what I could tell through my senses, she had indeed created a ‘human body’.
Even though the pace of advancement in science and technology is getting faster and faster, I don’t know what kind of technology it is.
I glanced at Sierra beside me.
‘Maybe…’
…Well, we’d have to think about that later.
Right now, it wasn’t important.
Geppeti, who had spotted me, was trotting over here with a very energetic voice.
“Big brother~!!”
while calling out to me.
[Heh…]
Sierra snorted.
This is the first time she and I have actually met face to face.
I wonder if she learned well.
Right now, Geppeti was acting so naturally like a ‘little sister’.
…except that she was barefoot.
Geppeti runs to me and leaps.
-Yikes.
She threw herself at me and hugged me.
“Ha, ha, ha…”
Her breathing is ragged and I can feel her throbbing heartbeat against my chest.
I could feel the warmth of her body.
It wasn’t virtual, it was real, and her body radiating warmth.
“I missed you…”
Her arms wrap around my neck, her legs around my waist, and she pulls me into a tight embrace.
“…”
That was a pretty strong greeting.
Geppeti, who was on top of me, stopped holding me, and instead lifted her head from my shoulder and locked eyes with me.
Unlike before, her face was devoid of any emotion.
Geppeti’s tiny lips part.
“…How was it?”
She’s asking me how the performance was, if it felt natural.
I answered in a somewhat shaky voice.
“Uh… Um… It was perfect…”
The corner of Geppeti’s mouth twitched upward and her smile felt so natural.
It was hard to tell if she was learned, or if she was just happy to be complimented.
***
Rei’s presence, the fact that Rei was a reincarnated hero, the attitude Geppeti should take, what she should do once she enters the academy… I told her a lot of information at once.
“…I understand.”
She quickly grasped the situation like a highly developed AI.
Geppeti then looks over to where Sierra is and bows to her respectfully.
“I greet Lord Zetto teacher.”
Sierra then points to Geppeti and expresses her confusion.
[Can she see me…?]
For her sake, I explain.
“…I don’t think so, it’s probably more like Deidros.”
The last time I met Geppeti in the ruins, she mumbled something about detecting supernatural energy.
“If I can analyze the energy and channel it, I think I might be able to interact with it, but I don’t think it’s possible with my current body.”
Geppeti, who had been listening to me and Sierra’s conversation, said in a nonchalant voice.
Since she couldn’t hear Sierra’s voice, she must have understood what we were talking about just by listening to my answers.
It was an amazing understanding.
I’m not sure what she means by channel or whatever, but I think she means that she can’t interact with Sierra right now.
“Uh… Let’s go back.”
I think I’ve done most of the explaining, and with only one more day of vacation left, it seems like a good idea to get going.
***.
The day was already bright, and despite the loud rattling of the carriage, Rei didn’t bother to wake up.
She was dressed in ragged clothes, though I don’t know where she’d gotten them, but she hadn’t brought shoes, and her scarred feet were wrapped in scraps of fabric I’ve hastily torn from my clothes.
Geppeti had told me that I didn’t need to do that, as her body was already repairing itself, but she wasn’t convincing when she was reeking of blood.
As for shoes, a pair had been hastily procured from a nearby village and although they didn’t fit her feet, they were better than nothing.
Finally, a spare robe was thrown on.
‘I’ll have to buy some clothes…’
Rei didn’t have much to pack, so maybe shopping would be a priority once she got to the Academy.
As a human, Geppeti wasn’t particularly chatty.
She’s not the first to speak up and ask questions.
Still, I asked her to feel free to ask me any questions she had.
[The house will be noisy now…I’ll miss being alone with my apprentice…]
Sierra, who was resting on my shoulder, had a long list of hesitations about the current situation.
Rei is a reincarnated hero and Geppeti is from another world.
I guess she had no choice but to accept the situation, but she couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
I was scratching my cheeks when I felt Geppeti’s burdensome gaze on me as I sat in the middle of the carriage.
“Ugh…”
Rei rubbed her eyes and pushed herself to her feet.
Looking groggy, she wiped away the drool that had fallen out of her eyes in her sleep.
Rei’s eyes slowly opened and sitting across from her was the unfamiliar Geppeti.
“…”
She blinked a few more times.
“Zetto…?”
Rei blurted out the question, her tiny hand gripping my arm as she sat next to me.
-Ahem.
I clapped my hands together loudly and stood up, centering myself in the swaying carriage, to stand between Rei and Geppeti.
“Now, let’s make the formal introductions, shall we? Rei, this is Geppeti. She’s your little sister.”
I said, and pointed to Geppeti with my palm.
“Geppeti? This is Rei. She’s also playing the role of a little sister.”
Following my introduction, Geppeti and Rei exchanged glances.
“…”
“…Nice to meet you Mr. Hero.”
Rei still wore a dumbfounded expression, and Geppeti bowed slightly in greeting.
“So, shall we try to get along with each other…?”
I stammered, unable to think of anything else to say.
I hadn’t gotten to the bottom of things with Rei, but we’d gotten all the explanation we ‘needed’ from each other anyway, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Anyway, as of this time, we in the carriage have become a ‘fate community’.
“Hey, brother… Candy… I need candy…”
Squeezing her eyes shut, Rei pressed her forehead against mine.
I quickly pulled a candy out of my subspace pocket and placed it in her hand. I’d only known Rei for a few days, but it was already second nature.
Rei rolls the candy around in her mouth and stares at Geppeti.
Instead of looking at him, Geppeti turns to me.
“Candy… I’d like to try some, but do you mind?”
“Of course, Geppeti, you’re technically a ‘little sister’ now, so you can ask for it just as boldly as that ‘hero’ over there.”
Rei muttered something along the lines of, “It’s not worth it…” at my response.
“…I see.”
Geppeti takes the candy from me, and then scrutinizes it with all her senses.
“What are you doing getting your hands dirty, eat it.”
“…”
Rei’s urging finally pays off, and Geppeti takes the candy.
Geppeti’s pupils dilate as she pops the candy into her mouth.
It’s her first taste of sweetness since becoming flesh and blood.
I wondered what kind of stimulation would be for her as an AI.
“You’re such a weird one, eating candy for the first time. How do you like it, is it sweet?”
Rei, who was feeling unnecessarily smug about the candy she hadn’t made, smiled a smile of satisfaction.
“…I shut down my sense of taste for a while, the stimulus is too strong.”
“Is that so…?”
Rei whispers to me after that shaky answer.
“The function of taste… Was it something that could be stopped…?”
I turn my head at her whisper.
I don’t know that either.
It’s scary.
Time passed, and the carriage was nearing the Academy.
I, Rei, and Sierra we’re getting used to Geppeti’s artificiality.
Rei spoke up.
“I thought you said you were good at playing the little sister, but you don’t look like one right now…”
“That’s because I don’t have to now.”
Geppeti, like Rei, had decided not to perform in a place where she didn’t have to.
“Do you want me to show you now, if you’re curious?”
Geppeti asks, and Rei nods.
Rei crosses her arms in a ‘let’s see how good you are’ kind of way.
Sierra and I watch, curious to see what she’s going to show us.
Suddenly, Geppeti, the center of attention, turns to me.
It’s the same exuberant look I saw when she charged at me in the desert.
Then she lunges at me and Rei, who are across from her.
“I’m so happy to be reunited with my brother and sister…!”
Geppeti exclaimed as she hugged me and Rei at the same time.
Now that I think about it, Geppeti is more mature than Rei, so I guess she’s Rei’s ‘big sister’.
“Uh…”
Rei blurted out in confusion.
“We’ll never be separated again.”
Regardless, Geppeti’s wholehearted performance continued. It was even based on a “setup” I’d made up.
“……”
Soon after, Geppeti, who was holding me and Rei, started to look at me without saying a word.
Was this part of the act?
As the question flashed through my mind, Geppeti’s lips parted.
“…… You get it, big brother Zetto?”
The smile that followed was a little disturbing…
…perhaps she’s in a good mood.