Seeing the silence of their master, Rendy continued. "What's the link between all these? What are we? Why were we taken prisoner in this fictional world? Does this make us fictional beings?"
Faced with their determined quest for the truth, Isaac sighs and leaps on the counter to sit down before mumbling...
"...Fictional beings, huh?"
Seeing him repeating her question, Rendy's eyes and her sister's eyes flicker strangely. But it was not anger, or everything they had shown before, but a disappointment accompanied by a feeling of loss of self.
Isaac did not need to dig any further to understand their current feelings. For some reason, his heart tensed in his chest as if he unconsciously shared their feelings.
He then looks up at Cindy while switching between the two. "Do you hear what I'm hearing right now?" He then asks before pointing the finger at his heart.
As the two looked at each other to understand the depth of his words, he continued. "Three hearts fighting in this room. You bleed like me, you have a pulpit like me, and above all, you have emotions like me; does that also make me a fictional being?"
"!! - that's not what we wanted to say, mast--
"So, tell me you both, what did you say? What exactly do you mean?" Isaac cut Rendy off by bellowing these words with hard eyes.
"..."
Faced with their silences, he gave a sign to them to approach him.
Once done, he puts his two hands on their heads. "I may owe you an apology for my silence and my unanimous decision to keep this secret, but I would not do it. Do you know why? Because these things are just bullshit.
-I am not omniscient, nor almighty; it is, therefore, normal that I am neither aware of everything, nor capable of everything. All my life, I led two different existences, the one you knew, and the person you had never met before and who has always lived in this world governed by humans that you took so much pleasure in slaughtering in the other.
-But who am I to judge what's real or not when I find myself in a situation no less irksome than yours? The balance and barriers that I thought were insurmountable doomed and merged. And the more I attend this epic show, the more I realize that everything was perhaps only an illusion."
He took a short break to catch his breath and took the opportunity, at the same time, to check if both were listening to him carefully.
Seeing their eyes riveted towards his, he continued.
"If gods exist, they will be responsible. When it comes to whether you or the world in which you lived, including a part of me, was only fiction, then our world may be at this very moment. - For my part, I prefer to believe that I would be wrong about the existence of a real world that I thought was just a game, instead of believing that we are all fictional beings." He ended his speech with these last words spoken with certainty.
After finishing what he had to say, he gets off the counter and starts walking towards the exit door.
"Ah, and one last thing; if you still believe that you are nothing more than simple fictional creatures, it also means that you have the same opinion of my other self who lived with you. In this case, to deny me, who am largely responsible for your existence, will be to deny the existence of the person you had served throughout your life.
-Huff... well, in this case, you are free to stay at my service or leave on your side. Finally, I say this based on the fact that you will not put obstacles on my wheels in the future. Otherwise, no need to tell you that this relationship would turn into something else, as with the seven generals of deadly sins. It is therefore only a lost part if you have these kinds of ideas in mind."
Following this warning, and without worrying that they can attack him at this moment to avoid future problems, Isaac frees the floor, leaving only the twins in the supermarket.
"Wow, it was a beautiful speech." For the first time, since he woke up, Jane articulates her first sentence as just Isaac closes the door behind him.
Isaac did not have to ask himself silly questions about how or by what miraculous means she was able to spy on them.
Her gadgets were probably the ones that did everything with her.
"We're pulling out of here, is everything ready for the trip?" No mood to discuss the subject with Jane, Isaac went straight to the point.
"... Well, we have a small problem." Jane also did the same when she saw that Isaac's morale was in the socks.
"Develop."
"We don't have enough fuel to make the trip by car." She revealed.
Isaac doesn't say anything but takes a look at the gas station next door.
"I know, but the pumps are dry. They no longer work; even if this was not the case a few weeks ago."
"...Fuck."
Jane wrinkles her eyelids when she sees Isaac swearing in a low voice. "Everything may not be lost yet; we will be able to make the trip by motorcycle. But we are in numerical superiority; if you know what I mean." She mutters her last sentence while looking towards the supermarket.
"For that, they will have to decide to follow us," Isaac responds while sitting in the trunk of the Pickup with his legs suspended.
Jane finally reached her limits by seeing the strange atmosphere that manifested itself around them.
"Well, are you going to tell me who these two crazy girls are or do you intend to stay here and leave me in ignorance?"
"..."
Faced with his silence, Jane continued. "Just before I lost consciousness, I had ordered Pucky to start a recording. As a result, I know how we got there and how you freed one of the boss's blood knights. But what I don't understand is, why do you yell at each other with your maids? Aren't they like the blood knights of...-
"No, they have nothing to do with these two badgers, whether at the intellectual level, strength, or free will, they are better than them; masterpieces, I always enjoyed at the time." Isaac interrupts it to correct it.
"...Great. You create uncontrollable supermaids that you then decide to release into nature. What do you think they will do once alone and in a world of which they know nothing?" She talked with such a pace like a scratched cassette that played unpleasantly in Isaac's ears.
Indifferent to her unpleasant but true remarks, Isaac looks up to the clear sky with little clouds. "We don't care."
"You, you don't care, but not me. In case you have forgotten it, the nearest plantation is that of my base; and that... I refuse that you let your seemingly harmless little monsters drag in the corners, they risk killing or committing the worst of massacres. And from what I could see through the recording, they are capable of the worst. You're going to--
Isaac jumped from the pickup and stood in front of Jane, shadowing her with his 195cm body.
"Well, listen to me carefully, little talking parrot; I rarely care about the spells of others, but even if it doesn't look like it, that's what I'm currently doing by quietly setting up my ass and waiting for them to make a decision.
-During this time, put it on standby and let me concentrate to think calmly after my maneuvers, okay!?" Isaac growls like a beast about to kick the lead.
Meanwhile, Jane was content to stare at him in silence. And the only thing she could say after the end of Isaac's speech was: "... You are cute when you get angry; especially when your pupils turn in mysterious blood reds, how lovely~."
"...You're more stamped than I imagined, but just stop bitching and let me ponder quietly." Isaac moves away from her, lest he lose control over his emotions.
Finally, after three long minutes of waiting, the two finally came out of the supermarket.
"You took more time than expected," Isaac pronounces this sentence heavily while descending off the back of the pickup.
In addition, the two maids only answered him when they arrived in front of him.
They then kneel in front of him while speaking in a synchronous tone. "We apologize for making you wait by taking your precious time, and we also thank you for granting us this privilege, however incredible it may be."
Hearing their last sentence, Isaac raises his eyebrows slightly. "I had never said that you didn't have the right to ask yourself questions."
"Despite everything, we owe you thanks for this kindness to us, even if we do not deserve it," Cindy responds without the need to raise their heads.
"...I see. But let's move on, I don't know how to get along with much flattery, I rarely receive it. This obliges me not to dwell on this insignificant detail for me and ask you for your decision."
This time, following Isaac's question, the two maids raise their heads and look at Isaac.
And this time, it was Rendy who led the dance. "Our answer is of little importance, our raison d'être is to serve you, otherwise we do not deserve to exist."
Hearing her affirmations, Isaac frowns. "Don't have such biased thoughts. Before concluding this, you must be aware of certain things. As desired, I will be honest with you; I am no longer as powerful as the one you had known before.
-Comparing my current power with the one I had, I would say that it is the equivalent of a seed of sand in the desert. Therefore, I need time to restore my reputation; I'm not even sure I can do it in the allotted time. So I ask you again, will you be able to follow me and obey my finger and eye as you did?" Like a psychopath who no longer believed in anything, Isaac persisted despite the frank reply of the binoculars.
But this persistence on his part had the expected effects on his two maids; just by seeing them shut up.
"For my part, nothing bothers me; on the contrary, this is the right time to show you our loyalty to you." Rendy answers before her sister steals the show from her.
Cindy soon followed her sister's example. "You kept us with you when we were weak, it's our turn to return this favor by serving you for eternity."
"..." After such a speech on their part, Isaac had no choice but to let the story flow under the bridge.
'It looks like I was worried about nothing; let's hope this is the case for the others. Anyway, with what happened with the Knight of Mary, I now have a revelation, the loyalty of NPCs, who have become people in their own right, is not unwavering.
-If there are artifacts capable of altering their judgments, it is also possible that they (NPCs) betray their masters by their own will. It was therefore crucial that I know their feelings before going further with them.' He said to himself before finally deciding to express himself with words.
"Very well, I understood what motivated each of you; now I am sure of your loyalty." It was only a simple sentence, pronounced nonchalantly; but for both, it represented more than that.
"We won't disappoint you, master." They replied together with certitude.