This is the start of Arc 2, just as a sneak peak for the rest of the arc. I will try to pace myself in translating this arc.
TL: clover
ED: clover
My name was Erica Aurelia.
A duke"s daughter with blonde with vertical rolls, I was a plain and ordinary girl.
Charm point?
If I had to say it, I guessed it was being one step away from the grip of Death……?
—-I was in trouble.
Even if I tried to play it on the down low, the damage was not reduced.
Blonde hair with vertical rolls, a duke"s daughter who was overloaded with death flags, in which way was it plain and ordinary?
It was about a month and a half from the incident in the Ruins of Visitor.
I was in the midst of escaping reality while tracing the texture of my working desk.
It was because I got a "letter of challenge" from Klaus Harvan who was supposed to be my friend.
Why……!?
Even so, as expected from Klaus, the striking power of his letter was high.
Was this a new mental attack type of spell card or something?
It was about time for me to fight against the next death flag.
My willpower was about to be shaved.
If I could turn back the time, I would like to go back when I thought, "Wah~~, a letter from Klaus - I"m happy."
Past me, do not open the letter, let"s put the happy feelings in the cupboard of your heart.
And let"s keep the important letter in the back of the drawer…okay?
What about the reply?
It was very hard to reply.
If I replied poorly and he decided to fight me by any chance, not only it would be a danger to my life, but I wouldn"t be able to win.
Because he was so strong, you know?
I finally thought that I could make friends, and that it would work out……
『What"s wrong, Erica. Are you not eating the meat?』
Oops, I made a friend elsewhere.
I raised my head and turned to my reliable partner.
A lizard-like armor with silhouette of a stuffed toy.
A helmet with a design like a dragon.
Beyond the slit of the eyes, big eyes were blinking rapidly.
A mysterious creature wearing armor who disguised as a star steel golem.
He was my new friend.
An evil spirit that was betrayed by part of my ancestors - the giant sea creature Zaratan was reformed, and became the black dragon Tirnanog.
His new name was quoted from the words engraved on the transfer gate.
The other content of the contract was concerning about wanting a friend, so he decided to have patience with me.
He resented all of Aurelia once, and was planning to kill all of us.
However, knowing that he was not betrayed by his trusted person, he had completely become amicable.
Just now, he was devouring the Harvan specialty dry-cured ham that Ann had sent greedily, and he seemed happy.
Revenge?
What, is it delicious?
Meat is more delicious, he had that kind of feeling.
"No, never mind. Besides that, please give me some."
I wouldn"t be able to go on living if I was damaged by a communication failure.
Maybe he was just embarra.s.sed.
Let"s eat meat first.
Ah right, if I ate this with the dry-cured ham, it would surely be delicious.
I took some figs from the fruit basket where fruits that were picked this morning were placed.
『Do you eat figs?』
"Yes, what about you?"
I split the fruit with a handy fruit knife and replied while peeling off its skin.
Sc.r.a.ped a slice of meat from the dry-cured ham, and then wrapped the fruit with it.
The dry-cured ham really complimented the fig.
I threw a wrapped fig to Tirnanog who had his mouth open in front of me.
『Oh, oooohh!!!』
"Oh my, is it delicious?"
『It"s delicious!』
"Isn"t it?"
I also put one in my mouth.
Oh, the saltiness from the plenty oleic acid of the pig and the sweetness of the fig were just right.
The taste of the meat was good, I felt comforted.
If you had delicious meat and true friendship, surely life would feel more fulfilled.
"Well then, have you gotten use to your body now?"
『Well, not bad. It feels rather comfortable.』
"Then, that"s good."
Tirnanog waved his arms wildly while wearing his armor, and made a fine appeal.
The condition of the joints seemed to be good as well.
I was worried whether to increase the range motion a little more, but if it was stable, then it was better not to break the balance by forcibly handling it.
By the way, my dad, an alchemist of Aurelia, was delighted to hear that his daughter was able to make an elaborate golem.
I am sorry…Otou-sama……
This pseudo-golem was currently eating meat.
I seemed to have deceived you somehow, I apologized.
Apart from that.
By establishing him who was the real culprit of the first scenario "The Golden Madness Murder Case" as an ally, the first death flag was completely avoided.
With this one thing, I understood the details of the evil spirit that were not revealed in the game, it was a feeling of getting unexpected bargain—
No, no, I had a lot of difficulty with many unexpected factors.
Although he wasn"t a human, it was a pleasure to have a friend to confide in.
This made it easier for me to tell him the secret.
『That said, what about the next oracle?』
I thought that it was useless to explain about the whole otome game of my previous life to Tirnanog, so instead I just said "I received the destiny of destruction as an oracle."
The degree of incomprehensible things I said didn"t change very much, but it wasn"t a lie.
"Next is the event with the Prince of the South……"
Auguste, First Prince of Ignitia.
He was famous as the Foolish Prince, so famous to the extent entering the ear of an eight-year-old like me.
It was to the extent that people who had never met him in person were running off at their mouths about it.
He was a person who was a bit pitiful.
By the way, six years in the future, Prince Auguste would be one of the game characters.
Long blonde hair with light brown skin.
With a smile that looked flirty, he was a flashy prince who was always attached to a different girl every time.
But he would not have a deep relationship with anyone, and if you tried to shorten the distance, he would quickly escape.
Although he was a flashy person, the sh.e.l.l of his heart seemed to be overwhelmingly thick.
Prince Auguste was covered with scandals.
This was the second summary of his second scenario "The St. Angel Anthropophagism Case."
The stage was crowded due to Holy Angel"s holiday; it was the familiar Leandez Magic Academy.
There, the news of the b.l.o.o.d.y case burst in.
When people came to the chapel which was decorated for the festival, there was a terrible disaster that covered their eyes.
Abundant amount of blood was scattered on the scene of the crime.
In the sea of blood, there were three things, the finger and left ear of a girl, and the left arm of a boy.
The cut off parts were teared to shreds as though they had been bitten by a beast.
From the characteristics of the pieces of human body left behind, it was specified that Prince Auguste and Erica Aurelia were killed.
The mouth of the statue of an angel in the chapel was soaked with blood as if the angel had killed the two of them.
At the murder scene, the heroine Chloe saw the shadow of a huge beast without one arm.
And that night, she met Prince Auguste who was supposed to have been killed.
Simply spoil yourself.
Prince Auguste held a raging inferiority complex.
He was a prince of the Country of the Dragon Knights, but he couldn"t ride a dragon.
And, therefore, he was under suspicion of being a child of infidelity.
Regardless of his efforts, only gazes filled with contempt were directed to him.
Unable to endure the pressure, in the end Auguste reached out for a forbidden black magic.
He revived the contract beast of Ignitia"s ancestor and integrated himself with that beast.
In exchange of him getting the ability to ride dragons, he stopped being a person.
However, six years later, the beast itself couldn"t tolerate the burden of the fusion.
Every evening, the beast would separate itself from the prince and began to walk alone.
Those pitiful victims who unfortunately encountered the starving beast, were being devoured greedily while still alive.
Naturally, the first victim of this beast was the infamous Erica Aurelia.
I really wanted to avoid experiencing this death situation.
Being eaten alive, it was like eating live seafood while still moving, right? Was I a white fish or something?
Oops, my thoughts were disturbed.
There was a person who became the impetus for this Prince-sama to reach out for the forbidden black magic.
Who was it?
Of course, it was me, Erica Aurelia, who was well-known for bringing unnecessary trouble upon myself and suffering the consequences.
Yes, it was also my own doing.
Erica ridiculed Prince Auguste"s failure and caused his pride to be in tatters.
Why the original Erica would step through other people"s landmines, I would never know.
Incidentally, the causal event should happen in the tournament at the advent of spring.
It was exactly during the time for the Advent Festival1.
Moreover, it seemed that my father and I were invited to the banquet of the Advent of the royal family.
Our departure to the Kingdom of Ignitia was tomorrow.
Even so, my last ray of hope Edward-oniisama was absent.
My father seemed to be convinced that he was not investigating a serious thing.
This reaction came back when I told my bosom friend Tirnanog about the sugar-coated version of the development of the game.
『Do they believe in a single G.o.d?
With the existence of contract beasts and other things, such an ancestor wouldn"t be recognized.』
"Well, that country should be tolerant of pagans, but as expected the pseudo-evil G.o.d was related to the royal family."
『Is it an evil G.o.d?』
"G.o.d who asked for the blood of a person is not allowed even to the religion which was tolerant of pagans."
While I did ceremonial occasions in Buddhism and sometimes Shinto, enjoyed myself in faux Christianity events, and I liked temples and shrines, but I was an average j.a.panese who wasn"t interested in religion itself, not even paganism2.
At the very least, the being I prayed at was something other than a human.
『That kind of thing is normal for us.』
"He…heeh, are you eating people too?"
『Kukukukukukuku! I am not interested in blood itself! It is human soul that I eat!』
"Heh–……, I didn"t know that–……"
I knew that I didn"t even want to know.
『Kukukuku! You have to eat the flesh to eat the soul!!!』
"Heh–……, that"s amazing–……"
Surely he wanted to talk about such dangerous things for even longer, but I couldn"t afford to sacrifice my time for such a thing.
Even so, when he was talking about this kind of thing very excitedly, it was hard for me feel afraid.
I guessed he was free for the first time in hundreds of years, so he would like to do what he likes.
"That"s why, may I ask you something, Tir?"
『Umu, what is it?』
"There is something I want you to help me with."
『Hou. It is a request of an important friend. You can ask me anything.』
Yes, this was something I could only ask him.
Since alchemists were always holding a lot of luggage, I would like to ask a strong friend to hold my bags.
1 This will be explained in the next chapter, but the Advent here is not the coming of Christ, but the coming of the ancestor of the royal family that they revered as a G.o.d.
2 Most j.a.panese are atheists, but they go to temples and shrines for New Year or other occasions to pray, and celebrate Christmas.