Liliana giggled at my reaction to her ridiculous words. "I know, it sounds a little ridiculous to admit to out of nowhere, but...that's right. Almost everyone had to kill during the tutorial. It just so happened that I killed my entire family."
She rubbed a hand along her arm awkwardly. Despite the forced smile, it wasn't hard to tell that she was uncomfortable. That made her next words even more confusing.
"But I don't think I regret it at all."
There was silence for a little bit. It felt like that silence could stretch on into an eternity. Finally, I gathered the courage to speak.
"...why are you even telling me something like this?"
Liliana pouted, the cute gesture unbefitting of the conversation. "Are you really going to make me say something like that, Alan? Of course...it's because I trust you. Well...how could I not?" Her eyes met mine, and while I had denied her access into reading any emotion in my gaze, her eyes were like an open book.
Pain. Trauma. Hurt. Suffering. Abuse. Insanity. Murder. Release.
and...finally...Happiness.
It was like I was seeing a short history of who Liliana was through the look in her eyes alone.
"Avery. That's my last name. Liliana Avery."
The moment she said that, some gears clicked into place. Who she really was. Where she came from.
Even before the apocalypse, the Avery family was one of those families. Incredibly rich. Incredibly old-fashioned. And focused on keeping their excellence and pedigree, no matter the cost. The name 'Avery' was synonymous with excellence in the entirety of the country.
She was what you'd call someone born with a golden spoon. I didn't have any preconceptions about those types of people, but if I did, the way Liliana acted would never have tipped it off.
"Based on the look in your eyes, I guess that you know my family. I always heard that the family name was a prestigious one. But, you know...there was nothing more in my life that I hated more than my family."
Liliana stared forward, her gaze transitioning into something unknowable and alien, like the first time I had met her.
"It was hell, living in that house. I was always carefully monitored, trained, forced into a strict, controlled diet...had every aspect of my day chosen and set out for me...I hated it." Liliana curled up, bringing her knees to her chest. "That was why, when that 'Pixie' thing came along, telling me to kill my family, well...for some reason, I just thought, 'ah, this is just how it must be.' It was pretty easy, you know. None of them thought I was capable of doing that. After all, they'd spent so much time beating me into submission...and they were also the ones that taught me that no method is wrong to get what you want..."
Her voice was beginning to shake. My gaze was wavering, too. This was heavy information to just lay on my shoulders. But I still didn't understand why-
"I wandered the city for who knows how long in a daze. I had no idea what to feel. Then...you called out to me, Alan." She looked over at me, a weak smile slowly making it back to her face. "I really don't know why you did. Or if you have some mysterious plan that I don't know. But...I want you to know that, during that time, you saved me. I don't know what would've happened to me if you never showed up."
She wiped away some tears I hadn't noticed coming to her eyes, and instead looked straight at me.
"We fought together, you helped me find a purpose, taught me so many new things and helped me try so much delicious and fun stuff...no matter what happens, Alan...I'll always be on your side."
I was left speechless.
I...didn't know what to say. Nobody had said anything so genuine and heartfelt to me before. Not even before all of this started.
Liliana, who was standing there and waiting for a response, was now blushing the same color of red as her roses. "A-Anyway! Since you seemed really down lately, I thought I should tell you that, okay? So cheer up, please!"
With that, she left the room, and I was once again alone.
The weight of my thoughts didn't feel that oppressive anymore.
In fact, a smile found its' way to my face.
"...thanks, Liliana."
There was no more room for hesitation. I would make this life count, and finish the Flood Dragon here without having to find out if there was another regression or not.
...
"...this is it?"
I looked around at the 'meeting room', finding myself absolutely bewildered.
There was the Saintess, and a man standing behind her wearing priestly black robes.
In the other corner were a set of people I could only describe as 'magical girls'. No, seriously, they were dressed in colorful, bright outfits with way too many frills and accessories...and they all had big wands or staffs.
Then there was myself, standing behind Liliana. Would you believe I was still wearing my convenience store uniform as my main outfit? What can I say? It's easy to wash, and comfortable.
Regardless, I was disappointed by the turnout. At most, there were three large guilds here.
While you might be tempted to dismiss the numbers I quoted as large, it was rare to have a guild that was even the size of fifty people.
'Sistine Chapel', headed by the Saintess from the North.
'The Magical Girls' headed by...magical girls I didn't know, apparently from the far East.
Then 'Lily's Pond', the guild I shared with Liliana, from this central area.
This hall, a repurposed underground bunker, was supposed to accommodate much more groups. I had expected many more to take it seriously when using both the Saintess and Liliana's influence to send out a message that a world-ending Abnormality was on its' way.
In fact, a lot of the big-name guilds I knew from my past life hadn't made an appearance at all.
There were only 3 more weeks left until the Flood Dragon appeared. Those people were really going to prioritize pride and personal survival over the possible end of the world...?
"To be fair, we only came because...well, let's say we had a good feeling, ehehe~!"
One of the magical girls, a bright-eyed girl with long pink hair - was it sparkling? - spoke up in the midst of the tension.
"That's too nice. Of course none of the big shots would come here when some small trash is calling them. Those magical weirdos are an exception."
"Ehehe~! Saintess-san, aren't you calling yourself a weirdo by extension, too?"
"Why you-!"
"Enough." Liliana spoke, an unusual amount of authority in her voice. Before, that authority would've had me bewildered. Now, I understood where it came from. "This is too serious of an issue to spend time bickering, guys...so, please...?"
The magical girls just smiled happily. They hadn't really felt bothered by the little interaction in the first place. Honestly, they seemed a little...off to me, but whatever.
The Saintess slumped back in her seat, her arms folded. "Yeah, yeah...hey!" She snapped her finger at the young priest behind her, who hurriedly knelt forward, passing her a cigarette and lighting it. The Saintess inhaled the smoke and relaxed.
"So, what are we here to talk about? The end of the world? Just what the hell does that mean?"
"I have to agree...while there are certainly Abnormalities that threaten the city, the world is a little..." The leader of the magical girls had doubt in her voice, but less so than the Saintess.
Liliana turned to me, clearly handing the floor over.
"Everyone knows this about Abnormalities. Just because they haven't done something yet doesn't mean it can't happen."
I pulled up a map of the city, one of the few still remaining in existence.
"I've been collecting research data from some of the people surviving on the coast. The waters around the city - no, the country, and receding at alarming rates."
The Saintess scoffed. "And? Sure, that's weird, but tell me how it's world-ending, trash."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Because it's happening all around the world."
The room was silent. Even Liliana, who had heard my plans, and the information behind it, was apprehensive.
"Praytell...just how did you get access to that sort of information, Clerk-san?"
"...clerk?"
The magical girl smiled brightly at my confusion, clapping her hands together. "Because you look like the picture of an average Konbini clerk, of course!"
"..." I had nothing to say to that.
Still, this was a real problem. Feeling the predatory gaze of the Saintess, and the hard-to-discern gaze of the magical girl, I knew I had to come up with a suitable lie.
Yes, all of this had been a lie. Well, in some part I did have to do real legwork. After all, I hadn't known about the Flood Dragon until it was too late. Not that I would've been capable of doing anything.
But an Abnormality this large wouldn't appear without some sort of sign. That was what I believed. Of course, I had nothing to compare it to, but...there was no way the world could just end without there being some sort of sign, right?
Thank god I was right. For now.
"Anyways, if you'd really want to know, I sent out our guild members to explore the country. It took a long time, but it wasn't hard to gather word-of-mouth. After all, there are still people around who maintain some forms of radio communication."
Risky as it was...very few people bothered using communication electronics, because more often than not, they just acted as further gateways for abnormalities.
"Based on that...I can tell you that something big is coming. For sure. And we need to be ready."
I could continue, but I didn't want to overstep my bounds in acting as the 'vice leader ' of our guild.
Lily picked up where I left off easily, intertwining her fingers and giving a beautiful smile.
"So...what do you think? Ideally, we would've much preferred a larger group, but there's nothing that can be done. With the three of us, let's make an alliance for this Abnormality."
There was silence in the room. Of course there was. Since the beginning of everything, there had been no official guild alliances. Even with the many things rampaging out there, working together in large groups was mostly a pipe dream.
In this new world, everyone had their own agendas.
I stared at the Saintess, who had an unusually placid look on her face. Then to the magical girl, who just retained her mysterious smile...
And then, they both spoke.
"Only because Lily's in it."
"Of course, Clerk-san!"
The Saintess's answer didn't surprise me. She was still as enamored with Liliana as the day she met her.
However, the magical girls...frankly speaking, they were an unknown factor. I really didn't know them at all.
I mean, I didn't even watch much magical girl shows.
Something about them was off. Like they had already come to a decision, and were ultimately just probing me for information...
But I didn't care. No, right now, I was resisting the urge to smile and burst out into laughter and happy tears.
I just clenched my fist behind my back. Somehow Liliana noticed, turning to give me a brief wink and a smile.
With this group, with these people, with this sort of preparation...defeating even the Flood Dragon might not be a pipe dream!
I couldn't help but smile back.
...
In the end, I was just being naive. I should have kept my hopes low. I wish I did.
Maybe it would've made the end softer.