“Wh-Why…?”
As I looked up at her from the bottom of the hole, I received a clear answer.
“After I parted ways with Master Soma, I went to see Reinhardt.”
To summarize her story, this is what happened.
After we parted, she felt she still owed me a proper thank you and immediately began searching for me, or rather, ‘the merchant named Reinhardt.’
From a modern perspective, I wouldn’t have expected to find someone with so little information, but this town, after all, exists in a fantasy world.
Perhaps it was because the town’s population wasn’t that large, but by utilizing her swift footwork and asking around, she managed to find him quickly.
However, of course, it was Reinhardt the Lizardman merchant, not me.
In my estimation, the information should have stopped there…
When Train explained my features to Reinhardt himself, Reinhardt, being a capable man, easily deduced it was me and told her where I was staying.
She headed to the inn, tilting her head, but was then met with a witness report: “That person was eating here until just a moment ago, but he went off with a shovel.”
If it were me, I would have waited for them to return at the inn, but this was Train, with her exceptional footwork.
This time, she began questioning people searching for an adventurer with a shovel.
As a result, she heard from the gatekeeper at the south gate that a person carrying a shovel had passed through. Thinking it might be me, she returned to the place where we first encountered each other, which is how she ended up here.
“Now it’s my turn to ask.”
With her knife back in hand, Train asked me with a stern expression.
(This is bad…)
My legs were currently buried in the hole.
Even with my low character level, in normal circumstances, I would be confident that I could escape using skill combinations.
However, due to the nature of the Step skill, it is weak against vertical movements.
With a hole about a meter deep, my Step combos were completely sealed.
Of course, I wouldn’t lose if I fought with “Fire of Sh,” but conversely, I couldn’t hold back.
If that happened, I would end up hurting her.
I had to avoid that.
I had to resolve this through conversation…
“I too have heard.
That deep beneath ‘Demonic Seal Plateau,’ a terrifying Evil God is sealed.”
Train began, as if to test me.
I didn’t answer.
“That relief, it depicts the form of the Evil God, doesn’t it?
And you clearly stated earlier, ‘Shadows of the Evil God sleep.’
Ah, you are…”
With tear-filled eyes, she glared at me intensely.
“…You are a Cultist, wishing for the revival of the Evil God, aren’t you?”
I was dumbfounded.
…What kind of misunderstanding is that?
Come to think of it, in the game, I had fought and defeated cultist-like individuals who worshipped the Evil God.
So, she mistook me for one of them?
“For you to have saved me from a Monster attack, and to have lied to me by saying such strange things… it was all to prevent attention from being drawn to this place, to prevent attention from being drawn to yourself.
…Is that not so?”
No, it’s completely different.
I saved you from that monster because I couldn’t bear to abandon you, and I lied to you by saying strange things because you were simply annoying!
But I never imagined that lie would come back to bite me like this!
As expected, I shouldn’t have told such a bizarre lie.
“Even when I realized I had been told a lie, I wanted to believe in Master Soma.
But in truth, perhaps I had been suspicious from the beginning.”
“From… that time…?”
I couldn’t recall anything.
However, the answer was immediately provided by her.
“Yes. When you ran away from me in town… your perverted movements at that time, if I don’t think of it as being devoted to a cult, it’s impossible to explain.”
“Perverted… movements?”
Still no clues.
But as I thought back, I realized there was one thing that fit.
(Perverted movements… is that referring to Godspeed Cancel Movement!!)
That’s an advanced technique that only ‘Nekoneko’ masters can execute, it’s not perverted at all…
Well, putting that aside.
“It’s a misunderstanding. I have no intention of reviving the Evil God.”
“L-Lies! Then that hole…!”
I shook my head conspicuously.
“If you want to know the truth, you can come with me.”
Saying that, I peered into the hole.
It was dim inside, but if it was like the game, there should be light further in.
“W-Wait…!”
Ignoring Train’s voice, I leaped into the hole.
“…Whoa there.”
The hole was deeper than I expected.
I was surprised by the sensation of weightlessness, but still, it wasn’t so much that my game body couldn’t handle it.
I landed with ease, moved forward a little, and waited for her.
Soon after,
“…Kyaa!”
Train fell from the sky.
Despite everything, she was an Adventurer, so she regained her balance in mid-air and landed perfectly on her feet.
“Hya?!”
She slipped on the ground and landed on her behind.
“……….. ”
“……….. ”
An awkward silence fell.
“I’ve arrived! Now, explain yourself!”
She seemed to decide to pretend nothing had happened.
She declared this forcefully.
But I had no intention of answering her question.
I simply turned my back to her and started walking towards the back of the cave.
“Wait! You promised you would explain!
Why aren’t you saying anything?!”
Why, you ask?
Honestly, what a fool.
There’s no way I can answer that.
Because…
(Now, I’m inside…
What should I do from here?)
I haven’t thought about how or what to explain at all!
