Chapter 204: Familiar Faces

  The last time Prota tried to reach the Town of Beginnings, it took her two full days. This time, there were no such issues. With the help of mana reinforcement, she would likely reach her destination by sunset.

  She’d made quite a few decent upgrades during her year of training. For starters, her reaction time was back to what it’d been before, and her body was fit enough that she felt she could easily take on some goblins, even without mana reinforcement.

  More importantly, however, was her core. Through repeated use and strain, she’d pushed it to an A-rank core. Her uniqueness was still in effect, however, and that meant that her core was smaller than most. Even at A-rank, it might be closer to what others with a B-rank would have.

  That didn’t matter, though. Her staff was full, and there was no way that there were any threats challenging enough in this Town to force anything extreme out of her. Well, it was better to avoid thinking in such a way.

  Everything should be taken seriously, after all.

  “Prota,” she heard Anta mutter.

  Prota slowed down, and just in time. A man approached her, dressed in a tattered cloak, and his face and hair were streaked with mud. He looked like he’d been chased by a monster or a wild animal, with desperation in his eyes.

  “Oh… oh, please, help me!”

  She froze. Talking to Jinae was one thing, and this was another.

  “Anta?” she pleaded silently.

  “Hey. I’m not some kind of translator,” Anta grumbled. “I don’t care if you stay quiet, but you need to learn how to talk to others eventually, you know?”

  Prota sighed.

  “Um… what do you want?” she said hesitantly.

  “Ban- bandits!” the man exclaimed, stumbling forward to grab onto Prota’s cloak. “Please!”

  She stepped back. Talking to this man was fine. Letting him touch her… that wouldn’t do.

  “Um… bandits?” Prota said, confused.

  “Y-yes! I’m being chased! By bandits!”

  Suddenly, Prota remembered this. How could she forget? It was her first time [Resetting] after forming the [Destiny Bond].

  This man wasn’t being chased by bandits.

  Her eyes turned cold as mana welled up inside her. Instantly, five icicles formed around her, their tips deadly sharp.

  “Wha- what are you doing?” the man stammered. “Hold on, what are you-”

  Without hesitation, Prota threw an icicle forward, immediately piercing the man’s head. The other four continued to hover, ready to strike.

  “Dodge!” Anta yelled.

  Swiftly, Prota leapt to the side, easily avoiding a knife that came flying out of the woods. Her eyes scanned the trees, spotting four others. She didn’t quite remember how many of them there had been, but she felt as if there should be more than this. Closing her eyes for a moment, she scanned the surroundings for souls, and sure enough, there were two more mana signatures hidden by the trees.

  “Talented kid,” one of the bandits called out. “But you’re still a kid. What’s a shrimp like you going to do?”

  Prota didn’t respond to the provocation. In the first place, there were very few taunts that would work on her.

  However, failing to fall for such a taunt didn’t mean these men would be spared. No, in the first place, Prota had planned to kill them all.

  Before the men could even react, the rest of Prota’s icicles shot forward, their momentum somewhat sped up by a gust of wind, each perfectly finding its target.

  The forest was silent save for the soft thud of four bodies hitting the ground.

  “What the- this kid’s a monster!” one of the bandits yelled. “R-run!”

  Prota didn’t bother to chase. She closed her eyes one more time, making sure the men were truly running away, then picked up her pace once more, continuing toward her destination.

  How many times had she died to these men in her past life? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? That sounded about right. Now, she didn’t even bother to spare them a second glance. Compared to opponents like Doctor, Kit, Elder Kang Loy, and even John, they were nothing. They were like cannon fodder.

  [Extras].

  “...it’s not good to think like that,” Anta warned.

  Prota nodded. Anta was right. She had a feeling she’d need to think like a [Reader] on occasion, but if she could avoid it, she would.

  “How about you?” Prota wondered. “Are you…”

  “Yeah, I’m fine, but that’s because I don’t deal with this [Story] stuff,” Anta said, her tone mildly annoyed. “It’s stupid and complicated. I know more than you about it, but… well, there’s no need to think about it if we don’t need to, you know? It’s nice to understand John, but it’s also ok to not understand some things about him as well. We’re people, Prota. Not everything about us has to be understood. Not everything needs to be relatable or stuff like that.”

  Prota felt reassured upon hearing that. The rest of her run was continued in silence.

  ~~~

  “...I’ve seen a lot in my day, but this is insane,” Albert muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

  It had been reported that several dead bodies had been found in the woods just outside the town, but Albert hadn’t been expecting this.

  “Yeah,” Bren muttered, bending down to take a look at the footprints in the grass. “This was done by a professional.”

  “A professional with the footsize of a child?” Albert frowned.

  “It could be a dwarf or elf.”

  “...possible, but we would’ve heard of someone that skilled passing by, no?” Albert pointed out. “It doesn’t look like anything past first circle magic was used, though. Are we sure they were skilled?”

  “Hm… it just doesn’t add up,” Bren sighed. “The trajectories of their wounds make me think that the attacks were done by a caster, but the footprints are the movements of someone who knows how to fight properly. A fighter… but a caster who knows how to move that well would surely know more than first circle magic…”

  “It’s fine. Look, we’ll just keep an eye out for any particularly strong ice or earth users, and we’ll be fine, right? Besides, whoever did this did us a favour. I recognize these guys. Not particularly strong, but known for ambushing new adventurers looking to come into the town. Trash,” Albert summarized. “Come on, let’s go back. I don’t think this is related to that.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No kidnapped bodies. All the bandits are accounted for, and it’s clear they died to some relatively rudimentary magic. The footwork is a little concerning, but I’ve seen a few fledgling adventurers who know how to move, even if they are casters. Come on, we’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

  He tossed his cigar aside, stomping on it to extinguish the lit end before pulling his arms above his head, stretching.

  ~~~

  “...what do I do?” Prota said nervously.

  She’d entered the Town of Beginnings to find it was largely the same as she remembered it. There was no cult running the place. No negative changes. Nothing of the sort.

  However, what had changed was the fact that John wasn’t here. That was obvious, of course, but the follow-up to that meant that she had to arrange for her own commodities. Shelter. Food. All of that stuff was things John had taken care of in her past life, and she’d taken it for granted. She hadn’t even considered those kinds of things a challenge.

  Now, however, she was finding it incredibly hard to request even a single room.

  “You really need to get out more,” Anta muttered. “Fine. I’ll do this one.”

  Prota moved to a darker area before letting Anta take over her body, once again going back into soul form. Anta stepped out, heading toward the inn they’d stayed in before.

  “Hello there,” the innkeeper started, then cast his eyes downward. “Oh. Hello. Are you lost, little one?”

  “I want to rent a room,” Anta said, a frown on her face. “However much this will get me.”

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  She tossed two gold coins on the table, much to the surprise of the man.

  “Um… would you mind bringing the person who gave you that money, kid?” the man said uncomfortably. “I can wait if-”

  “It’s my money. Are you going to take my business or not?” Anta grumbled.

  “Ah. Um. Yes.”

  The man took the money robotically, visibly dazed, then handed Anta a key.

  “Room 204. Second floor. You’ll… you’ll find it. Thank you for your patronage,” he said, still utterly confused.

  Anta took the key and left, muttering profane curses to herself.

  “This is gonna be annoying,” she sighed as she fell onto her new bed.

  Her expression vanished as Prota took over once more. Even after taking control, though, she remained motionless for quite some time. She was starting to understand why John was idle so often.

  When one’s mind was swamped with thoughts, it was hard to do anything else. Prota wanted to stay there forever, but that wasn’t something she could do.

  “Anta,” she muttered. “...one more time.”

  “What? Where do you- oh, right. The adventurer’s guild. I’m gonna be honest, Prota. I… I didn’t quite think this one through.”

  “...nn?”

  “Well, let’s see… John was with us last time, right? He’s the one who got us all set up. This time, though, we’re going to have to do that ourselves. It’s not like we can’t but with this body… besides, we’re going to need actual identification, and-”

  Anta suddenly stopped speaking. Prota waited, confused, but as Anta’s breka grew longer and longer, she had a feeling she knew what was coming.

  “We have identification papers,” Anta said slowly. “Huh. Who know that would’ve come in handy?”

  The air before Prota began to glow, and the a piece of paper that didn’t belong in this world shimmered into existence.

  “Just a little change…”

  The age on Prota’s card smudged, changing from a six to an eleven.

  “Technically wrong, but also technically right,” Anta said, a hint of smugness in her voice. “I barely used any [DEM] for that, so it’s all good!”

  “You… used [DEM] for that?” Prota said slowly.

  “Well… look, put it this way. Would you rather explain why a five year old is wandering around, trying to become and adventurer without any guardian?”

  Prota felt a shiver run down her spine. She hadn’t actually experienced such a thing, but she could envision it, and it wasn’t a pleasant thought.

  “Besides, I barely used any at all. See, John likes to hold onto it for two reasons: one, it really only be used for emergencies. He doesn’t know what kind of opponents he’ll run into, like Diaboli… Celeste? Whatever. The point is, it’s best not to waste it. Reason two… his powers.”

  “...powers?”

  Anta sighed. “I’m going to be honest. John hasn’t even shown us a fraction of what he’s capable of.”

  Once again, a sensation of fear spread throughout Prota’s body. He hadn’t even shown a fraction of what he was capable of? He was already incredibly strong. She’d seen him use [Infinity] in a plethora of ways, and that was already impressive. She’d seen him use strange devices and tools even without [Infinity], and that, too, was impressive. Then there was [Deus Ex Machina], and that was incredibly strong, and [Zero] existed to top all of that off…

  Just how much more was there?

  “The problem is that a majority of his stronger powers require [DEM] to work,” Anta explained. “Which is why we haven’t seen them yet. And if I try to tell you… ■■■■■■■■”

  Prota winced and covered her ears as the censor blurted out of Anta’s mouth. She should’ve seen this one coming.

  “I can say they’re stupidly strong,” Anta sighed. “Stronger than anything we’ve seen so far. But in return, they use up a lot of [DEM]. I don’t expect you to remember much about what John said, but he was always trying to conserve it in case of emergency.”

  “Nn,” Prota nodded.

  It made sense. She wasn’t sure why this required such a long explanation, but it was better to understand something well than it was to assume one understood it, only to realize they lacked crucial information later.

  “The point is, John saves up because he has thresholds he needs to meet. We don’t. Of course, I’m saving most of this for something important, but… It’s ok if we use it for something like this.”

  Prota nodded again. That was good.

  With the explanation done, however, Prota was reminded of what was coming next.

  That was not so good.

  ~~~

  “...are you sure you don’t have a guardian?”

  “For the last time, yes!” Anta grumbled.

  She’d been talking with Katheryne, the guild receptionist, for almost half an hour now. Not a single step of the process had gone smoothly.

  To begin with, Anta looked young. Incredibly young. The identification papers passed through, and so Anta was technically old enough to register on her own, but her appearance was making things difficult. To Katheryne’s credit, she was genuinely worried for Anta. However, her goodwill was working against Anta’s interests at the moment.

  “I see,” Katheryne finally said, albeit somewhat reluctantly. “Then, here are the forms. There is a test in-”

  “I know the guild’s policies,” Anta said, taking the papers. “Thanks, but I don’t need to hear them. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  She turned to leave, grumbling to herself all the way. Behind her, Katheryn was muttering something about “a young child throwing her life away,” but that didn’t matter.

  Besides, it wasn’t her life that was being thrown away. She was trying to save it, desperately so.

  “Now, where’s that guy…” Anta muttered, looking around.

  Prota didn’t remember, but Anta did. She’d even tried to time things accordingly.

  “...who are you looking for?” Prota asked.

  “Destiny, that- shit,” Anta cursed. “That’s tomorrow. We arrived a day early… shoot. Well, it’s fine. We’ll meet him at the exam. It’s not like we needed to meet him immediately.”

  She got up and left, heading back to their in. Similar to their last life, there wouldn’t be much to do until the exam.

  “Why… why are we finding Destiny?” Prota asked.

  Anta passed the body over to Prota before answering her question.

  “What? Don’t wanna meet him?” the soul laughed.

  “Nn… want to. But… Anta?”

  “Well, I mean, sure. It’d be fun, I guess. But that’s not the full reason. You remember what Destiny is, don’t you?”

  “Hero.”

  “No, not that.”

  “...[Protagonist]?”

  “Bingo.”

  Prota was a little confused at that. She was aware of his role as the [Protagonist]. After all, it was this role that had attracted John in the first place. However, their opponent was no longer the Demon King. What use was the [Protagonist] here?

  “Come on, Prota,” Anta grumbled. “You’re overthinking things. It’s not that complicated. Don’t you remember how strong he was? That’s precisely because he’s the [Protagonist]. I couldn’t care less about [Characters] or whatever, but you have to acknowledge that the information is useful. By the time the elf boy grows up, there won’t be many people in this world who can beat him.”

  Prota nodded slowly. That was fair. Besides, power would definitely be needed. She couldn’t [Reset] with John, but she knew that exhausting his power was necessary. If he were using [Zero], they’d need to keep hitting him until he couldn’t use it anymore.

  “More than that, though, it’s best to stick around him anyway,” Anta continued. “Most of the [DEM] we found followed the main [Plot], right? So there’s no reason not to befriend him. Besides, just like Jinae… it’d be nice to meet them all again, wouldn’t it?”

  “Nn,” Prota nodded again.

  She made her way back to the inn, where she sat quietly on the bed. With nothing to do, she felt a little lost.

  “Mm… I’ll be going to bed again,” Anta yawned. “Taking over the body takes a lot out of me… you can handle this from here on out, right?”

  “W-wait,” Prota stammered out loud. “How… how long?”

  “Oh, I don’t know… a month?”

  “A month-”

  “Hey. You want me to take over for that long, it’s gonna use up a lot of energy. It’ll be fine. It’s not like there’s any forced conversations within that time period. I’ll wake up if it’s an emergency, but for now…”

  With that, the soul really did go quiet. Prota waited a little longer, but Anta didn’t say anything.

  “Nn… annoying,” Prota muttered before getting up.

  ~~~

  As expected, Destiny was present at the adventurer’s guild test. Prota had almost forgotten, but he wasn’t Destiny in this town. He was Fate, just another mysterious boy with a fox on his shoulder and a strange sword by his side. She had almost forgotten that strange mask her wore, hiding his face, with only his golden eyes piercing through.

  She’d have to be careful not to call him by his actual name.

  For now, though, she was safe. Just like in the past, at the moment, she was just another nameless face among a sea of nameless faces. There was no reason for her to stand out…

  Unless there was?

  “Everyone! May I get your attention?”

  A thin, pale man with long ears and long blonde hair stood at the front.

  Elfin.

  Prota subconsciously clenched her fists. This was a traitor. It was strange, knowing everything that would happen in advance, but she would have to make use of it as best she could. She wasn’t John. She wouldn’t use her knowledge of the [Story] to her advantage.

  But using the future? That was fine.

  Then again… was he a traitor right now? She didn’t know the details behind what had happened here. Come to think of it, she didn’t know much of anything that had happened in this town. She’d been a little preoccupied with other thoughts, meaning she hadn’t bothered to keep up with all the conspiracies and relationships between the various people here.

  Oh, well. She’d figure it out as she went along.

  “Hello, everyone. My name is Elfin. Your registration process will now begin. Please, step up and place your hand on the orb when I call your name.”

  Prota snapped back to attention upon hearing Elfin’s voice once more. Her heart was racing.

  So many things to plan. So many things to consider.

  Prota was intelligent, but planning for the future was not her strong suit. She’d never been the one to orchestrate how everything went. She wasn’t the one who’d discovered Doctor, the one to make a deal with Albert…

  But she could do things in her own way. Right?

  For now, she only needed to think about what was coming next. Making contact with Destiny. However, she couldn’t initiate a conversation on her own. To begin with, she had no idea what to say, and since Anta wasn’t around, she couldn’t quite talk her way through something like this either. She knew a few things that would definitely get Destiny’s attention, though, and with his truth telling ability…

  Yeah. That was fine. All that remained was to get his attention.

  And there was a pretty easy way of doing that.

  For now, though, she had to go through the process of getting assessed. Just like before, Destiny caused a bit of a stir, showing an A-rank core at a young age. Looking back, such a thing was definitely impressive, but then again, compared to what he would be in the future… well, there was no point in thinking about it.

  Finally, her name was called. The last time she’d been here, her core had been at the lowest level: D-rank. Now…

  “Wh- what?” Elfin stammered. “At such a young age… and two of them?”

  A-rank. Perfect. Of course, it wasn’t enough for what Prota needed to do in the future. But to those who considered this world to be normal, to those who still abided by this world’s logic…

  It was nothing short of a miracle.

  “Ah- um… everyone! Well, it seems we have a bit of something extraordinary, but we shall continue nonetheless. Please follow me to the testing grounds.”

  Everyone stood up, preparing to follow. Prota had somewhat calmed down now, and her mind wasn’t nearly as panicked. Now that she could analyze things a bit more calmly, she was beginning to realize that the tester was an elf named Elfin. There was something to be said about that, but she wasn’t sure what.

  Suddenly, someone ran up to the elf, whispering furiously. Prota immediately went on alert. Had something changed? She didn’t remember this happening.

  “Hm. I see. Well, if that’s the case, then there is nothing we can do.” Elfin cleared his throat and turned to the crowd. “Everyone, we will be joined by another participant. This will in no way affect your standing, so there is no need for concern. I just ask that you wait a little while.”

  Soon, a boy with blond hair and blue eyes came out of the room they’d just been in, wearing a green cloak with gold clasps and expensive-looking battle gear.

  Prota’s momentary fear turned to a slow-boiling rage. Right, this had happened, too.

  “Everyone, this is Draco Wynton. He will be joining us for the combat assessment.”

  Draco Wynton.

  Compared to everything else she’d been through, he was really nothing. His actions were relatively minor, and he wasn’t strong. If Prota could just get more mana and practice with a few fights, she felt as if she could take the Wynton household on by herself. After all, she’d had the power to nearly match Mystics at the end of her previous life.

  But how threatening one was didn’t matter. Of all the people she’d met, Draco was the worst. If nothing else, she’d stop him before he could even start.

  However, that was a matter for later.

  For now, she had one goal. Of course, she couldn’t go all out. Using multiple kinds of magic wouldn’t do. She couldn’t afford to outshine the hero twice. Or, rather, it wasn’t that she couldn’t, but more that she didn’t want to stand out all that much. Just enough to pique Destiny’s interest.

  Well, ice magic would be enough for that. Elfin was strong.

  Then again, so was Prota.

  “The test will commence!”