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Chapter 48
Nyaang…! (Those guys…!)
Just then, Snowleopard trembled as if agitated upon seeing them.
“What’s wrong?”
“…….”
Snowleopard didn’t respond. With no other option, Elijia focused her attention on the conversation the temple members were having.
“Is everything ready?”
“Of course. It’s just… we don’t know the exact time it will happen today…”
“It’s fine. As long as the demon beasts are properly stationed around the area, the mission is essentially complete.”
“Right. That part is already done, so we can report it as such.”
All of them were unfamiliar faces, which meant none of them had been at the banquet last time. Most importantly, the High Priest wasn’t among them, which was a relief.
‘That guy always gave me a bad feeling.’
The way he glanced at the chat or the camera before… he might be someone capable of detecting Elijia in hiding. The fewer unpredictable elements, the better.
‘But still, I can’t believe the temple people are showing up here.’
This was good news. Could it be the temple also predicted that Prillien would descend here? If so, Elijia might have guessed right.
“Mmff, mmfmmf! (Hey, what’s going on?! Do you know something?)”
Meanwhile, Howell—who had ended up getting his hair pulled and his mouth clamped shut by Elijia—struggled in confusion.
“Shh. Just hold still. Looks like they’re all leaving.”
As she said, the temple people were moving away from the spot. It seemed they were heading off to report something. Only after their presence completely disappeared did Elijia remove her hand from Howell’s mouth.
“You…!”
“Keep your voice down. If you get loud, I might have to shut you up with my fist.”
“…….”
At her warning, Howell quickly lowered his voice and whispered.
“What’s going on? Why are temple people here?”
“How should I know?”
Elijia shrugged. The voices had been too soft and far away for a regular person to hear. As expected, Howell hadn’t caught any of it.
How should I answer? It might have something to do with Prillien, but it wouldn’t be wise to bring that up with Howell. Instead, she feigned ignorance.
“Oh, I know! Maybe the temple’s also trying to catch fireflies to sell, just like me?”
“As if! There must be something more important going on.”
…Exactly. That was the problem.
Elijia recalled what the temple people had said.
“Is everything ready?”
“Of course. But we don’t know the exact time it’ll happen today…”
‘Judging by their words… it must be about Prillien’s descent.’
Could it really be happening today?
And they were preparing for it too?
‘Come to think of it, at the start of the game, the temple acted like they knew Prillien would appear.’
In Lady Marigold’s starting route, the moment the male leads rescued Prillien, temple people had immediately shown up and taken her away.
‘As if they’d been waiting for it all along.’
The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. If Prillien really was descending today, then it was a good thing Elijia had moved early. Who would’ve thought it’d happen the very day after the prophecy ended?
‘But can I find out the exact time?’
Did even the temple people not know? No, she shouldn’t assume. The High Priest might know and just isn’t sharing it with his underlings.
Elijia looked around. White evergreen leaves and the blue fireflies floating around them. Between the trees, she spotted the lake they’d been searching for.
‘If this is really the place where Prillien descends…’
This wasn’t something she could figure out alone. Elijia pointed her camera at the lake and asked in voice chat, so Howell wouldn’t hear:
∥“Is there any clue we can use?”∥
Hmm…
This place really looks just like the game’s starting zone.
Sis, hang on a sec.
The viewers also began searching for clues. Chat messages rapidly scrolled by.
Ah, I think… at the start of the game… the moon was faintly reflected in the lake.
└Omg, that’s right.
I thought it was just a pretty visual, but it was an Easter egg??
∥“The moon was reflected?”∥
Then… do they have to wait until nightfall for the moon to rise?
“Hmm…”
Of course, it could be early evening or even a daytime moon, but one thing was for sure: it wasn’t right now. Sure, she could go back and return secretly later… but what if she missed the key moment? That would be bad.
So the best option was to wait here.
But…
“Hey, how long are you planning to stay here?”
Howell, urging her from beside her, was the problem. There was no way this guy would wait until the moon came up.
“Sigh.”
Elijia let out a short sigh. She closed her eyes in thought, and then suddenly smirked.
∥“If that’s how it is, there’s no helping it. If there’s no moon—then I’ll just make one.”∥
What?
Wait, what are you saying?
Is she gonna threaten the moon or something? Wouldn’t it be faster to threaten Howell instead?
I don’t even know what I’m hearing anymore lmao.
∥“Actually, maybe I don’t even need the moon. You all mentioned this before, right? When the game starts, there’s a special effect.”∥
Oh right!
Blue light!!!
She remembered a previous chat during the scene where she interrogated the admin to find the descent location.
“At the start of the game, the lake gradually lights up with a blue glow.”
“Right. That might be the important part.”
Elijia knew the scene well. In Seiros Saga, there were times when the lake in Hillein Forest would glow blue at its center.
“…And I know exactly how to do that.”
“Elijia? Why are you suddenly muttering to yourself?”
She had forgotten to turn off voice chat, so Howell had heard part of her monologue. But Elijia paid him no mind and reached out her hand.
∥“If there’s no moon or glow, then I’ll just make my own! That’s the true spirit of a gamer!! Illusionis!!”∥
Elijia shouted the incantation.
And then—
PAAAH!
A mystical blue light began to ripple from the center of the lake.
?!?!?!
She really just made it?? LMAOOOO
∥“If the game won’t give me the effect, then I’ll hand-draw every pixel myself!! True gamers MAKE their own content!”∥
She had once made a custom outfit by manually drawing every dot and line on a plain white robe.
She’d memorized skill effects and movements so well that she’d sparred with the crown prince—this was nothing in comparison!
Elijia began to perfectly recreate the blue light and the reflection of the moon on the lake.
Nya-nya-nyang?! (Wh-what is this?)
“Wh-what the heck, Elijia?!”
Seeing the spectacle, both Snowleopard and Howell grabbed each other in shock.
But they weren’t the only ones surprised.
SHHHHH!
The fireflies, reacting to the light, began glowing even brighter in resonance. The evergreen leaves shimmering blue also deepened in color.
‘That’s right, it was just like this in the Seiros Saga event too.’
She remembered that the flora and fauna of Hillein Forest had a trait where they amplified strong blue light. Maybe the lake’s glow came from microscopic organisms or substances in the water reacting together.
If so, even this fake light might be enough to actually trigger the real event.
‘Not that it matters if it doesn’t.’
If nothing happened, she could just play it off.
“Oh, I guess that didn’t work! Just made it for fun for the viewers!”
And sadly, if needed, she’d have to stall Howell and persuade him to keep it secret.
However—
…Something felt off.
The surrounding light was brighter than expected.
The blue light Elijia had cast, combined with the glow of the trees and fireflies, merged to fully illuminate the center of the lake.
And then—Elijia saw the air ripple unnaturally.
As if something was being torn apart, faint cracks shimmered in midair.
Then a notification popped up.
!!!UNSCHEDULED EVENT GRAPHIC DETECTED!!!!
ERR0R! ERROEE! ROEOEOREEOROEOEO!!!
Unpkjfdfjvent fshgls appears!
PAAAAAAAH!
Far in the center of the light, amidst the shards tearing through the air, something began to move.
The silhouette slowly took form.
First, she saw radiant blonde hair fluttering. Then, through the flowing locks, a face like sculpted porcelain and flawless, translucent skin appeared.
Whoever it was, it was clearly a woman.
And not just any woman—someone Elijia knew all too well.
The protagonist of this world. The saintess beloved by the temple.
“…Prillien.”
‘And an excellent healer to have in your party—wait, no! This isn’t the time for that!’
Elijia snapped out of her daze and stood up abruptly. Witnessing the actual descent of the saintess—she’d almost lost herself in how breathtakingly beautiful the scene was.
Of course, she wasn’t the only one mesmerized.
“Th-th-that person…!”
Nya-nya, nya-nya-nya! (Who is that?! What the heck is going on?)
Howell and Snowleopard, staring wide-eyed at the sight, gasped in unison. Howell, regaining his senses first, grabbed Elijia’s shoulders and shook her.
“Th-that’s the saintess the temple’s been searching for, isn’t it?! What is going on… Wait, that blue light earlier—did you know this would happen? Don’t tell me you summoned her?!”
At his barrage of panicked questions, Elijia calmly played dumb.
“What are you talking about? I was just trying to light things up to catch some fireflies. You know how moths gather around lights? I figured maybe fireflies would too.”
“What?”
“And then… instead of bugs, I caught a person. I totally didn’t see this coming. Wow… how mysterious.”
“Y-you’re lying!”
