Everyone was stunned by the unexpected event. Neither I, Ena, nor even that bear knew what to do on the spot.
In the midst of such tense atmosphere, Layla alternated her gaze between the knife in her hand and me, who had fallen to the ground.
“I, I… I’m sorry!”
Suddenly, as if jolted, she turned around and ran away from us.
“Layla!”
I yelled, but she didn’t stop.
For a fleeting moment, her steps faltered slightly, but she continued to run away from us.
“Damn it!”
I didn’t understand why Layla had done that.
Perhaps if I got close to her, I might be attacked again.
(But…!)
I couldn’t just leave her with such a pained expression.
So, so I reached out to her one more time—
“Darkness!”
—First, I obscured her vision with the basic dark magic spell, “Darkness,” and while she was frozen in place, I threw the restraint item, “Bind Rope,” to immobilze her. Taking advantage of her confusion, I quickly approached, tripped her, and as she fell, I secured her and unleashed a barrage of “Paralyze” magic at close range.
“…!? …!?”
“Alright!”
Seeing Layla, who was looking around blankly in my arms without understanding what had happened, I finally let out a sigh of relief.
Now, it seemed like we could have a proper conversation.
“Well then, Ena, Bear. Let’s head into the mansion for now.”
As I turned around after finishing my task, Ena wore a peculiar expression.
“…Soma-san. The way you caught her was a bit rough.”
As soon as we entered the mansion, Ringo and Mitsuki rushed over, wondering what was going on. I briefly explained the situation.
“…Soma, are you okay?”
Ringo, who had been listening, patted my body with concern, trying to ascertain if I was alright. I gently pulled her away.
“I’m fine. It was just a graze, and it would have been instant death, so I wouldn’t get injured.”
As I said it, I realized it didn’t sound very reassuring. Ringo withdrew her hand. The priority now was to hear Layla’s story. I moved the bear, who was playfully poking Layla’s cheeks, and then released Layla from her restraints and paralysis.
“I’m sorry for being so rough.”
After I apologized, Layla blushed faintly and replied, “N-no. It was me who was wrong, and… and the piggyback ride, I was happy about it.”
…Hmm.
I decided to take it positively, that I had regained a little bit of energy.
“More importantly, why did you suddenly do that?”
When I asked, Layla weakly shook her head.
“I-I don’t know. It’s just that when I saw the two of you getting along, my mind suddenly went blank…”
She then confessed that she had almost no memory of pulling out the knife and lunging at me.
(Hmm. This might be…)
After hearing Layla’s story in detail, I realized the possibility that Layla’s “To the Disloyal, Death!!” might be an event-triggered action.
Come to think of it, in the sense of performing special actions when certain conditions are met, this is similar to Ena’s Train mode. The activation of Train mode also occurs independently of Ena’s free will, so it wouldn’t be strange if “To the Disloyal, Death!!” had a certain level of compulsion.
However, what’s puzzling then is when I hugged Ringo. Layla showed no reaction then, and naturally, “To the Disloyal, Death!!” was not activated. Perhaps there was a clue there, so I asked her…
“Hey. When I put my arm around Ringo just now, didn’t your mind go blank?”
“A-at that time, my chest felt a little pricked, but. But Soma’s voice was trembling, and I knew you were forcing yourself.”
“Ah, I see.”
Because I knew that was an act, it seemed she didn’t feel enough jealousy to trigger “To the Disloyal, Death!!”.
(But, this is troublesome…)
If this speculation is correct, then even if Layla herself has no intention of harming me, there’s a high probability that she’ll try to stab me again. Moreover, that attack comes with an instant-death effect for the player.
(I have to test it.)
I made a secret resolution and called out to Ringo, who was standing by vigilantly, Ena’s name.
“—What!?”
I forcibly embraced her.
It was like a repeat of the previous scene. However, this time, to leave Layla no room for doubt, I hugged her tightly from the front.
“…Ah, ugh”
Almost simultaneously with feeling Ringo’s body stiffen in my arms,
“—!!”
Layla’s left hand, with a knife I hadn’t realized she’d drawn, came towards me.
Several things were discovered through subsequent verification.
Indeed, Layla’s “To the Disloyal, Death!!” seems to activate automatically when Layla feels a certain level of jealousy. Compared to the game, where she would attack even if I just talked to another woman briefly, the conditions have been significantly relaxed, but this is still quite strict. It activates with high probability if I’m getting along with my companions, and once, she suddenly attacked me while I was playing with the bear. It seems she gets jealous with high probability whenever I’m getting along with someone, regardless of gender, race, or whether it’s romance or friendship. For example, even if I do nothing, if Layla simply recalls me and Ena linking arms, she might meet the conditions at that moment, which is also dangerous.
Fortunately, the attack speed of “To the Disloyal, Death!!” itself isn’t that fast, and unlike in the game, it seems to stop once the attack is evaded, so we’ve managed to avoid disaster for now. However, I’m not confident I can evade it when I’m vulnerable, such as during sleep or meals.
Furthermore, “To the Disloyal, Death!!”‘s attack pierces through obstacles. No matter how strong the armor or indestructible the object, it’s useless. If Layla isn’t stopped before drawing her knife, those around her cannot defend against the attack.
However, there was a glimmer of hope. Based on past experience, I know that to alter the outcome of an event in this world, one needs to take actions not possible in the game or introduce elements that the developers didn’t anticipate. And while Layla’s Deathbringer was a fixed equipment in the game that couldn’t be removed, Layla in this world can remove it.
Although doing something she shouldn’t normally be able to do is mentally taxing, when I asked, Layla, albeit with difficulty, removed the knife along with its sheath and handed it to me. “To the Disloyal, Death!!” is an attack utilizing the Deathbringer, so if the crucial Deathbringer is rendered inoperable, there’s a chance it can be prevented. Thinking this, I held the Deathbringer and tried to trigger “To the Disloyal, Death!!” again…
“…No luck, I guess.”
The result was failure. The moment Layla activated “To the Disloyal, Death!!”, the Deathbringer vanished from my hand and reappeared at Layla’s waist.
So, this time, with Layla’s permission, I synthesized the Deathbringer with another weapon. Unfortunately, the Deathbringer’s attack power wasn’t as high as a Meat Cleaver, so the synthesis only benefited from the instant-death effect, but that wasn’t the point here. Surely it wouldn’t go back to its original state after being synthesized. With a prayer-like feeling, I tossed the bear high into the air, provoking Layla’s jealousy,
“…Still no luck?”
I was disappointed to see the Deathbringer reappear at Layla’s waist again.
Also, because I suddenly dodged, I let go of the bear, and the bear, having fallen to the ground, got angry and patted my leg, but I didn’t have time to deal with it. I quickly checked the equipment with the synthesized Deathbringer, and it seemed the synthesis effect remained. Perhaps it wasn’t entirely ineffective.
“…Soma. Let’s stop now?”
Seeing me repeatedly dodging Layla’s attacks with bated breath, Ringo finally intervened. However, I had one more thing I wanted to try.
“Cooler Box! This should work!”
The Cooler Box, a magic item that could stop even homing spears and freeze the time of objects placed inside. I put all my hopes into it, carefully brushing the bear’s soft fur. But…
“…It didn’t work, I guess.”
The result was a complete failure. As soon as Layla moved, a new Deathbringer appeared in her hand, and the knife I had placed inside the Cooler Box had vanished without a trace.
As I slumped in disappointment,
“…Don’t be sad.”
Ringo patted my shoulder with concern.
“Thank you, Ringo.”
Certainly, getting depressed won’t achieve anything. Being encouraged like this makes me want to cheer up. Still, when my gaze fell upon the now-empty Cooler Box, I couldn’t help but let my disappointment show.
(Sigh… I thought I could make the Deathbringer multiply infinitely…)
The fish that got away is the biggest. I returned to Layla and the others with a sigh.
After that, I tried various things to somehow get rid of the Deathbringer, but all attempts failed. It seems that as a countermeasure for weapon destruction, the “To the Disloyal, Death!!” is designed to regenerate the Deathbringer at Layla’s waist when it begins, and simultaneously discard any Deathbringers existing elsewhere.
“I’m at a loss…”
It seems practically impossible to deal with the Deathbringer. If that’s the case…
“Let’s take a short break.”
Unable to withstand the anxious gazes of Ringo, Ena, and Layla, I unilaterally declared and quickly left the room.
“…Phew.”
The cool air in the corridor felt pleasant against my skin. Continuously evading attacks with instant-death effects had apparently caused psychological fatigue without me even realizing it.
When I confirmed that no one was around, I secretly opened my Adventurer’s Bag and took out a pitch-black ring, the “Ring of Immortality.”
…Actually, there is a way to resolve this situation.
“But, am I really going to do it…?”
Staring at the cursed, jet-black ring, I asked myself.
I had no options before going to the Arken Family. Now that I had obtained the “Ring of Immortality,” I could likely solve Layla’s problem with almost absolute certainty by using a certain method.
—That method is called the “Eternal Statue Method.”
It’s a cruel technique that literally turns bothersome NPCs into stone statues.
It’s not a long story, but for now, this is it.
A considerable amount has been written, so the next part shouldn’t be too far off.
