Apologies for the extended break! I offer thee, a new chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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We haven't won yet...
Well, that's what I thought, but this thing which made me doubt our win...
'Is this a woman?
A petrified statue of a beautiful woman donned in silver armor with a red cross on the chest component, that's what we found near the foot of the dead boss monster.
Rina rotated the stone statue above the ground to scan it from everywhere.
Her frozen angry expression and her arms stuck in a swinging position with a sword in her hand tell me that she went very far off the first boundary and was very close to slashing the boss monster down, huh. Well, she got turned into a statue, so that's the aftermath of whatever transpired here.
"Hmm..."
Now I get it. The reason why we didn't encounter any large hoard of monsters on this floor too, this petrified woman, she was the reason.
And judging by the armor, she must be...
"An Apostle of Goddess Hepasteus," Rina said.
"Yeah, only that Goddess has female apostles, but what would an apostle be doing here?" I scowled.
"Trying to conquer the dungeon?" She replied.
"No, Apostles are forbidden from entering dungeons, because--" I paused, all I knew was book knowledge.
And every book, every historical event, every awe-inspiring epic, every piece of information about dungeons, every fucking information about this whole damn world was told, regulated and censored by those immortal goddesses, and I just can't trust them anymore.
'Could it be that she was thrown here as well....?'
"This may be a bit far-fetched, but she might have betrayed her Goddess," I said, as I touched the armor of the petrified Apostle. Only her body was petrified, leaving her armor and sword intact. Of course, we were going to make use of it.
"Huh? Did you really conclude that because that bitch said that she throws sinners and 'traitors' here?" She raised her brows. "Aren't Apostles bound by their goddesses?" She added.
"Yeah, right." I waved, don't want to engage in a debate, right now.
She sighed. "I wonder if you are right and if she were still alive, would she have helped us escape?"
"She may still be alive though," I said.
Earlier, when I was trying to form a contract with that sheep, I saw that Bron's slot was still occupied. It could only mean one thing, the petrification doesn't mean death. They may be still alive inside those statues.
Rina looked at me, flabbergasted.
"Then-then even Bron is alive?" She grabbed my shoulders with both her arms. I noticed how wide her smile extended and how her eyes looked as if they had stars in them.
Her eyes had Hope...
"Hey... why...? Why do you have that look in your eyes?" She asked.
...But mine didn't. They didn't have an ounce of hope in them to even imagine getting back Bron.
"Even if Bron is alive we don't know any way to turn her back," I answered and put her arms off my shoulders.
"Come on! You can't just give up like that, there must be some way to reverse it, let's check out Bruce's book, you said there was numerous mystical stuff written on it, didn't you?"
"...."
My silence caused her smile to fade.
I have already skimmed through both of the books, and there were only three sentences related to petrification.
First, a previous summoned hero had skills related to Petrification.
Second, no method to reverse this ability was ever discovered.
And the last one, numerous beasts turned into stone statues by that Hero stayed preserved in a museum for public display and research purposes. Pretty useless statements but, that was it.
"Break the Bron's statue, Rina," I said as she caressed Bron. "We need to get out of the boss room as soon as possible. Also, her slot is still occupied, I need that slot, " I added.
She turned to me, "She is still alive in that statue, right? How could you even think of killing her!" She cried. "She was like a sister to Fena, Yelo and Emy. How would they feel? She played with them, she fought with them, she fought for us!"
It wasn't that I didn't care for Bron, I do feel sad for losing her. But in my mind, I was always prepared for something like this. But clearly, Rina wasn't. So, I just listened as she vented. Even if reincarnation didn't make me some all-knowing top-of-the-world genius, at least it made me realize to have enough patience to listen to a grieving, frustrated and angry friend.
It was my fault too for proposing such a thing to her. I just thought that it was the most convenient method to free Bron from her suffering. But...
"There is no way I am letting you kill her!" She took a breath, a drop of tear fell from her eyes. "My grandfather always told me to never abandon a comrade, even if they are dead. 'Bury the fallen and mourn for them. Pledge to protect the lives of comrades.' That's what I adhered to for my whole life. Even though I could never be a complete part of his syndicate, I will not break our pledge..." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I simply c-cannot..."
"..."
I'd say it again, it was my fault to propose such a thing to Rina.
Rina is a bubbly, humoristic, expressive, trustworthy, courageous, mostly carefree, always reliable, and most of all a kind girl.
'You really do respect your grandfather, which I know already. Well, you do talk a lot about him after all. Hmm, I thought it was just your attachment with Bron that was speaking but now, you overdid it now, Rina.'
..... I caught her!
She is lying. She is acting...
All of this is an act. If even these tears of hers are not true... if she can lie about the person she told to have loved and respected so much... is that person even real, did she lied about him too?
Why is she acting like this? That too in a place like this...? Who is she? How much she told me about her was true? How much of it was fake? Why would she fake so much about herself? Don't tell me that she really is a Devil's--- No, that's not possible!
I looked at her red eyes shedding tears.
I remembered something. She was called a Chunnibyou at the school... is it possible that she's simply lying to put up an interesting backstory...?
'Sigh, I am just trying to somehow justify her actions, aren't I?'
I do have an option to ignore this and try to continue to work with her just as before. I would love to continue just as before, I really would. But now since a Doubt has seeped into my mind there is just no way I could. It will hinder all my actions and thought processes, I will hesitate to execute each step of my plan due to distrust. That is just how I am. Easily influenced by my emotions.
This needs to be confronted.
I need to make it clear. This is just going to be a talk.
An Act, huh.
"Why are you... acting like this, Rina," I said.
"What did you say?" She twisted her brows, I guess she got confused.
"I said what you heard. Perhaps, I should say it clearly. Drop it. Your act. What do you even gain from acting like a person you aren't, are really you trying to be a different person... that too here? In a place where no one cares about that, in a freaking dungeon?"
Her eyes widened in shock, she turned her face to the floor, "How did you know?" She muttered after a few moments of silence with a voice that was soft but... also had a hint of coldness with it. A completely different tone from usual.
'Is she trying to hide her expressions?'
"Right now you busted yourself. A few moments ago, you were pushing all the beasts I summoned to their death. And now you are preaching about why you won't abandon a comrade in the name of your grandfather and your morals. They were 'comrades' too, you know!"
I tried to observe her reactions while she constantly stared at the floor. "Had you hesitated a bit there, your nice and empathetic act might've fooled me longer, but that time your eyes had no concept of comradeship, you looked ready to sacrifice even Fena."
"Tch!"
'Did she just click her tongue?'
Really?
She just fucking clicked her tongue!?
"With only this much you concluded that?" She asked staring at the floor.
"No, there were other inconsistencies in your act. They were minute but significant. I guess during life and death scenarios we can't help but be our original self..." I said, ignoring a whole new tone of voice from Rina. "But first tell me, you just blabbed some stuff about your syndicate and what not, are you really Amaterasu's head's granddaughter? Or better yet, is your so-called Grandfather even real?"
"Heh" She finally looked up and smiled. "No!" She replied and hovered above the ground.
She was grinning. Her face was the same. Her outfit was the same. Yet she looked like a completely different person.
'This look, these expressions, don't match usual Rina's personality. Or should I say that this is the usual Rina?'
But...
My heart raced. It didn't look like our 'talk' went well. 'What is she going to do?'
The air around me thickened. I felt a sudden restrain around my whole body. She raised me from the ground and spread my arms forcefully.
'I don't like the way I am restrained by her.'
"What is the meaning of this, Rina? Are you being serious? Are you even sane?" I glared but tried to be calm. I never expected something like this when I started the conversation. She grinned in return and tightened her grasp around me.
"Ugh!"
There is no doubt about that, she is going to kill me. She's gone insane!!
There is no escape from her. Her psychokinesis is too powerful and versatile, moreover, I have zero defence stat. She is going to suffocate me to death.
I need to survive this, and for that, I... have to kill her.
'....Kill?'
'How can I think of killing someone... so easily?'
'...Screw it! This is for survival!'
She has my limbs restrained and is floating me a couple of metres above the ground. I won't be able to invoke my skill on her since I can't point my arm toward her... that must be what she's thinking.
But. Only my wrist is restrained, my fingers are free.
I think she doesn't know it but for aiming I don't have to point my whole arm towards the target, just the tip of the finger is needed. But I still have to verbally activate it, which is going to be difficult when she can just shut me up in the middle.
I have to think of something fast.
"Rina..." I called out her name. "You know... it will be too difficult for you to escape this dungeon without my skill 'Shit, she figured out what I was gonna do!!!!!!!!!!' Her smile widened even more. "Hey tell me, you were going to kill just now, weren't you? And it seemed you thought it through... I have killed humans in the past too and trust me. It isn't easy to choose murder even when your life is threatened. My suspicions were correct. You are not as clean as you claim to be. You too have killed someone in the past, haven't you?" I shook my head. I have never killed anyone! "Huh? So, you never killed anyone? Then how could you think of killing so easily? Rack up your memories, Ren..." She tapped my cheeks. 'Yeah, it's as she said. That time in that white chamber, and just a few moments ago as well, I thought of the same thing- How could I think of... killing someone so... easily...?' Rack up your memories, Ren. A tinge of pain enveloped my head. It wasn't Rina, it seemed some memories were flickering... painful memories, extremely painful memories. A memory showed it that memory, I was agonizing in pain. Someone was holding me... It was the memory of the last moments of my past life that my brain had blocked. "Argh!" I winced in pain, coming back to the present. "Hey, what -------? Hey, are---u fine? You-- s roug--" Those were the last words I heard before my vision dimmed and I passed out.