Ch.109 The Smile of a Corpse Overflowing with Honey

"Ta-da!"

"Wow! Whoo!" "Oh, un..."

Without delay, a corpse emerged from behind Nabla-kun, making the same sound as Cern-san. Its face was smiling, with its arms outstretched, as if to say, "Look, look! "

The bones are banging against each other, making a rattling sound.

"As expected, we should have put something cute on you. Vester's reaction is bad. She must be scared."

"My head is completely smooth, after all."

She made a soft, dissonant, almost fuzzy sound, and stroked her own skeleton head. For some reason, tears welled up in my eyes when I heard that voice. I got goosebumps.

My impression after seeing it? Terrifying. That's it.

I was so surprised and scared that my speech became erratic. Nabla-kun is correct.

She's not scary because she's hairless, but because of the dried blood and dirt clinging to her in places, it looks like a buried corpse has come back to life, and that's what makes it frightening.

Having hair doesn't necessarily make someone cute; in fact, it might even make her seem more frightening.

Why, of all things, a realistic skeleton...? Although, It would be weirder if it were a cartoonish version instead, but still...

The unfortunate thing is that no matter how much she dresses up, the fact that she's a skeleton means it's inherently scary, so no matter how hard she tries, it will still just look like a skeletal corpse that's been dead for several tens of days.

If there had been hair, skin, or flesh, we might be able to manage somehow, but I don't have the knowledge or means to do "that".

By "that", I mean the so-called reprehensible act. Like using corpses to create new humans, generating chimeras, or summoning demons.

I don't know if such a thing is possible in this world, and even if it were, I have no intention of doing it. ...But if it were possible to recreate her physical form from when she was alive, and that's what she wanted, I'm sure I would lend a hand.

I want to minimize the risk of dying, so I'd rather not get involved in any trouble. But, since Cern-san is my friend, I don't mind helping her fulfill her wish while I'm listening to her.

"You're, Cern-san, right...?"

Nabla-kun is treating it that way, so I'm sure that's the case, but I'll double-check just in case. If that's not the case, I can't just say "Oh, I see" and leave it at that... but then again, even if it is, it's the same.

"That's right! I learned how to do it while Ves-chan was away! Hey, hey, amazing, right?"

"...Yes, you did well."

I've heard the story, so I understand her efforts to somehow bring her bones home. She succeeded, and I think that's amazing.

But ultimately, fear wins. I want to return her smile, but all I can manage is a forced, strained grin.

Why, of all things, a realistic skeleton...? (Again).

I remember the skeletons that appeared in the dungeon being eerily lifelike. Back when I was human, I never actually saw a dead body in the real world.

The idea that death results in a corpse just like in reality is perhaps the ultimate goal of the Mystery of Life series, a game that strives for realism.

Come to think of it, blood doesn't just disappear along with the eyeballs and flesh, does it? Is it decomposing? Or decaying? Is that what it's called?

I don't remember seeing any blood on the skeleton... Am I misremembering?

"Right, right?!"

"Ah, yeah."

First the sparrow lookalike that mass-produces blood, then the creepy-faced Nabla-kun, and now we have Cern-san, a real ghost who sometimes turns into a skeleton corpse.

Since when did the Fairy Forest become a haunted house? Do you think this place is more suited to being a paranormal hotspot, God(AI)?

"...So, what exactly will that accomplish?"

"That's right. Um, Ves-chan is suffering from a status ailment right now, right? Well, there's something I've become able to do since having this body, and I thought that might help. Just wait a moment..."

She brings her hands together, turns her palms upwards as if forming a bowl, and concentrates as if making a wish.

"...Okay, it's done."

"Whoa...oh? A sweet smell...? What is that?"

After a while, thick orange liquid began to ooze from the center of her palm.

Perhaps because she's only recently become able to use it and is difficult to control, the particles are born in the palm of her hand, then spill out, and rain down on the plants and flowers at her feet.

"This is honey. The one papa like."

"Huh, does that mean...?"

"Yeah. I explained it a second time earlier, right? This is what I used to use to make the sweets I make for my dad's birthday every year."

After arriving in the Fairy Forest from Canadil, when they're trying to bring back my memories, I committed a heinous act of making her recount painful events twice.

She explained to me, who had lost my memory of Cern-san, the reason why she had become a ghost again.

"Is it possible for you to tell things like that? I mean, well..."

"I understand what you're trying to say, it's fine."

While crossing her arms and nodding, she points her index finger at me decisively, saying, "That's exactly right."

"As you can see, I can't smell or taste anything in this form. So I dripped some of this onto a fallen leaf and smell it after moving out from my skeleton. I knew what it was by the smell, and when I tasted it, it was exactly what I expected."

Ghosts have a sense of smell and taste, after all. And strangely, they can touch people and objects without feeling any pain. ...it's similae to my fairy form.

There's another strange thing.

During her second exchange with the Fairy Flame Gerbil, the bird can't land any of its attacks.

Originally, ghosts and similar beings are only susceptible to holy magic or similar effects, so perhaps the reason for this is that they are only affected by other types of attacks, or they're only like that during combat. I don't know the real reason, though.

"So, here you go. Will you eat?"

"Eh..."

A bony hand, overflowing with honey, was thrust out.

You want me to put my face there and drink? I stared blankly at the kind, smiling face.

Perhaps because I've gotten a little used to seeing it, I started to find it just a little bit cute.

"It's okay. It's not poison or anything."

"I'm not worried about that, but..."

I don't think she would do something like poison me. So what am I hesitating for? I ask myself, unable to figure it out.

"This honey is supposed to have some kind of healing effect. I don't know why, but I just know it does."

Could be magic or skills... But this could be her racial trait skills?

While it might be understandable in her ghostly form, it's questionable whether she's considered human in this appearance. It wouldn't be surprising if her species had changed.

"Come on, don't be shy. Nabla said it was delicious too."

"It was really sweet. It might taste good on that fish too?"

"Ehh..."

Are you talking about Pacific Saury? No matter how I think about it, I can't imagine it tasting good...

"But, well... since it's been offered, I'll have some."

"Please go ahead."

This was something Cern-san did for me. Nabla-kun also ate it and said it was delicious.

Though hesitant, I accepted her kindness and leaned closer.

"Oh, it's delicious... it's so tastyyyy..."

As soon as I put it in my mouth, the sweetness spreads throughout, and the lingering aroma wafts through my nose. I swallow it down, but the honey lingers on my tongue, teeth, and throughout my mouth, mixing with the sweetness that came out, creating a second wave that washes over my mouth again.

In short, it's sooo sweet, that my vocabulary got reduced.

"Hehe, right?"

"It's shooo sweet... This is the beeesh..."

"So, how are you feeling? Do you feel better? Has your memory returned or anything?"

Oh, so sweet! So yummy! It's tastier than any honey I've ever had before! Mmm, so sweet! So delicious!

"Vester?"

"...Ahhh. Oh no, oh no. It was so delicious I was tripping."

What does that even mean, tripping just from eating honey? It's my first time experiencing something like that.

"You had a kind of dreamy look on your face. It was cute because it made you seem like your age."

"Oh, haha... please forget about it..."

A bright smile on Cern-sa 's face revealed that she had seen something interesting. When I turn my face away to avoid her gaze, I make eye contact with Nabla-kun.

"Why?"

Nabla-kun really didn't seem to understand why. He had a puzzled look on his face.

◇◆◇

Apparently, there's more than one type of honey that she can make, and although I was told each of their taste and effects, none of them removed the status ailment I have.

It's not that I wasn't expecting it, but it was more of a "that's what I thought" kind of feeling. Well, things don't usually turn out that conveniently, do they?

"It seems that in order to cure it, we need to find the person who performed the spell...the person who attacked, or a monster...no, couldn't be a monster, huh."

"Yeah, I wish I could have cured it. What a shame."

"Just knowing that makes me happy. Thank you."

"Are we going to look for them now? Are they jn Canadil?"

Starting now...? There's still time before it gets dark, so I could go, but...

"Hmm... but I don't even remember who did it. Searching blindly without any clues is a very laborious task. Especially since Canadil is the capital."

There are a lot of people around, so there are bound to be one or two witnesses. But that's like finding a single grain of salt in a pile of powdered sugar...that's a bad analogy. Maybe it's the honey, but I've been thinking about sweet things.

What I'm trying to say is that even if I'm looking for the culprit, or even just a witness, if I don't have even a single bit of information, it could take days and I might not find anything.

Furthermore, there's no guarantee of a witness, and even if I'm lucky enough to track down the culprit, the sheer number of people makes them more likely to escape, or they could even already be on the run.

"...No, isn't it better to strike while the iron is hot? Shouldn't we gather some information by questioning people before the culprit escapes far away? As time passes, even if the people who might have seen it don't completely forget, they might not be able to remember the details."

"Well, that is..."

"Okay, then we have no choice but to go."

"Yes...?"

"Shall we go together? To Canadil?"

◇◆◇

"Take care."

I wave back at Nabla-kun, who is waving his branch, and we set off from the Fairy Forest.

With Cern-san, who can't fly but no longer has to worry about being attacked, we walk towards Cabadil, through the cave which entrance has been hidden by some kind of magical mist. Needless to say, I am flying.

Cern-san's bones were wrapped in large leaves, and she would usually carried them with both hands, but when monsters or magic beasts appeared, I used telekinesis to levitate and carry them. This mountain, beyond the cave, is in the territory of the Treants.

It's astonishing that she managed to get through here without being attacked while she was alive. I wonder if there are certain conditions that prevent her from being attacked...

Overwhelmed by Cern-san's enthusiasm, I was being dragged towards Canadil, but flying like this helped me calm down. Seeing her actions and the profile of her as she walked beside me, I realized that she really wanted to go home as soon as possible.

While chatting cheerfully, her gaze was serious, and the scenery seemed to pass by so quickly that you could almost call it a brisk walk.

"Aren't you tired? Shall we take a short rest?"

"No, it's okay."

She's an incredibly proactive girl. I suspected she was quite something, considering she even came all the way to the Fairy Forest to buy honey.

Apparently, when I went to Canadil, she wanted to come along with me and go home, but I told her that wasn't my destination, and also that her bone were under Nabla-kun that couldn't be retrieved immediately, so she stayed behind in the Fairy Forest for those two reasons.

When I asked why she didn't wait to return the bones until later, even though she could have done so,

"If I don't bring my bones back now, mama and the others might come all the way here... or rather, they definitely will. I don't want them to come to such a dangerous place and die."

And while looking down, she continued,

"Besides, if I didn't take the bones back and told the whole story, I might be seen as a threat... and a hunting party might be formed... It's all just a possibility, but even so, Ves-chan and Nabla, who were so kind to me, might be killed. That's the one thing I wanted to avoid. That's why I decided to stay there until I could retrieve the bones."

She said this with a serious look in her eyes, her cheeks flushed.

The bones in question is already in her possession, but... how did she actually get them out? I got curious along the way, so I asked, and it seems that Nabla-kin flashed a bright light and disappeared, and that's when she retrieved them.

I thought (probably) that he'd been summoned again, but at the same time, I was glad he didn't come back right away. It would have been the worst-case scenario if Nabla-kun had returned while she was in the middle of taking out the bones, and the bones she was only partially moving had been crushed underneath and shattered into pieces.

Incidentally, the situation where Cern-san, who is working, is climbed on by Nabla-kun, who has returned, and although she doesn't feel any pain, she can't get off and is in a terrible predicament, wouldn't occur.

Thanks to AI-powered consideration processing, if there is a living creature in the original location when he returns from being summoned, the current coordinates of that creature will shift to a position where it is no longer in the way. That's why when Nabla-kun returns, he and Cern-san, who was there, don't merge. Her in the ghost form would be fine, but his body would explode. Such a thing will not happen.

The above is information about summoning magic and sorcery that I found at the library.

◇◆◇

We made our way through the mountains and across the fields, and soon Canadil came into view.

Of course, I couldn't just walk straight through the gate into the city... Instead, we were stopped by soldiers and led to a room where we were being held.

This isn't because of me, it's because of Cern-san. I mean, she's transparent, and she looks like a ghost no matter how you look at her.

I was present during the questioning. I stood by her side, supporting her as she answered questions about how things had happened.

She didn't answer everything honestly. There were a few lies mixed in. It seemed she was trying to avoid the future she had described involving the extermination party.

The questioning lasted about 10 minutes. After being safely released, we were escorted to Cern-san's home by a gate guard.

Given the circumstances, it was predictable that going there would take priority.

We were gathering information without any leads to begin with, so it didn't matter where we started. Therefore, we decided to gather information wherever we arrived.

The investigation is of unknown duration.

"You can use my room as your base of operations. Next time, you can stay over at my place."

Is what she said. This means I no longer have to worry about money for accommodation. Ans she could finally go home and see her family. It was a decision made with mutual agreement. She seemed happy, so this decision was not wrong.

Of course, there's no guarantee I'll be able to stay at her parents' house. I need their permission, but if I can't get it, I'll just stay at an inn or make round trips to the Fairy Forest.

Let me introduce you to the soldier walking beside us, who is a gate guard.

His name is Lambeck. He is an acquaintance of Cern-san, and also someone I know personally.

Her family runs an inn called <Kumahachi Inn>, and it seems that Lambeck-san has been going there since he was young, and has known her since she was a baby. I think the place where I had lunch had a similar name.

Mt relationship with him is limited to seeing each other when I'm coming and going from Canadil. We're really just acquaintances.

◇◆◇

Following Lambeck-san as he walked silently, we arrived near the <Kumahachi Inn> that belonged to Cern-san's family, but...

"Such evil attacks won't work on me, a hero! Don't think you can use the same trick over and over again!"

"Damn damn damn!! What the hell are youuuuuuuuu!!!"

"You remnants of the former Demon Lord's army who harm innocent people!! You'd better accept your judgment here and now!!!"

In front of the inn, the handsome, blond, flowing-haired NPC who introduced himself as a hero and whom I had passed in the library, and a male player named SPIRITsnack dressed in cute, ill-fitting clothes meant for a young girl were fighting.

"Don't attack Cern! Stop it!" "What's going on?" "Hey! Where are the soldiers?!" "What are you doing to my daughter?!" "Nee-Neeeee!" "You scum, don't point your sword at a child!" "I'll save Cern!!" "That guy's outfit is crazy... spread the word, spread the word!" "If you hurt my Cern, I won't forgive you!!"Hey hey!It means older sister

Watching from a distance were onlookers, and NPCs, calling the male player SPIRITsnack as Cern, surrounded them from afar, trying to stop the fight.

"Yahau-san, you're wrong! That's not her! That's not Cern-chan! There's a name written on his head! He's an imposter demigod! How can you not recognize that?! Don't go there!"

"That person is not your child!! That's not Cern-chan!! Don't get in Samyu's way!!"

A male player wearing an apron, named □□△○, stands in the way of the NPCs who are trying to stop the two fighting, holding them back.

The foxwoman NPC I passed in the library was desperately shouting to prevent the other NPCs from getting caught up in the fight.

"Why do we have to hold back the NPCs?! I want to kill that pervert myself!"

"Oh dear, your language is getting a bit harsh, Ruki-san."

"H-Huh...!? No, no more...! I know that you did something to Vester-sama! You perverted player!!"

"Let's use our hands rather than our mouths."

Helping them were a male player named HIVITako2 and a female player named Rukichi, both dressed in what appeared to be the same habit worn by church members, and who looked somewhat familiar. Several other players dressed similarly were also holding back the NPCs.

What an incredible atmosphere! Everyone was drawn to the battle between the blonde, handsome man and the cross-dressing male player, creating an extraordinary scene centered around them.

It's pure chaos. That's the only way to describe it.

Seeing this firsthand, Cern-san uttered a single word.

"Huh...? That outfit looks similar to one I have."

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Ruki-chan, a former troublesome player , changed her name to Rukichi when she recreated her avatar and restarted the game.

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Vester is unaware, and unable to realize, that eating honey cured one of his status ailments.

Of the two ailments (perception alteration and memory manipulation) that were applied to her by SPIRITsnack, the one that was cured was the perception alteration.

There are two reasons why she did not notice.

One thing is that every titimshe eats the honey, Cern asks, "How's it going? Has your memory returned?" and Vester replies, "No." Then Cern produces more honey and offers it to her to eat. This repeats, so there 's no gap to have her appraise herself.

Moreover, it's obvious that the person hasn't regained their memory without even needing to conduct an examination, so there's no need to go through that trouble.

Another point is that SPIRITsnack altered her perception to make himself appears as someone else.

He is staying in Canadil, quite a distance from the Fairy Forest. Since he was not in front of them, even if the perception-altering status effect wears off, she will not be able to see his appearance switch from Cern to that of his avatar.

She used to confront him as a male player dressed as a girl, but her memory of that time had been erased using memory manipulation, so if she sees him now, whe will just think, "Who is this weird guy?"

Perception alteration only has the power to change what those present see at that moment. In other words, even if the status effect wears off after parting ways with the user, the altered memories that remains will not change.

Things that have already become memories, or things that have happened, do not change; what remains is altered memories.

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〘Honey Healer Skeleton Cern〙

This is another form of Cern, created by possessing her own corpse, and she has transformed as an event monster in that state.

Her voice brings both comfort and anxiety to those who hear it, and confuses their minds.

As long as she has MP, she can produce honey and manipulate it freely to attack or heal.

She may look like an ordinary skeleton, but she's incredibly tough, so ordinary weapons can't damage her. She's also resistant to magic and sorcery, making it impossible to defeat without other means of attack.

〘Skeleton〙

Monsters that mainly appear in dungeons.

Its basic attacks consist of hand-to-hand combat using its own fists and legs. Its attacks are incredibly tough and swift, something you wouldn't expect from a body made entirely of bone.

Albeit rare, be careful, as some skeletons will appear carrying weapons or wearing armor. These are often experienced fighters and are far stronger than regular skeletons. If you want to defeat them, don't fight them one-on-one; it's best to deal with them with two or more people to maintain a numerical advantage.

〘Monster Transformation System: Skeleton Edition〙

NPCs who die in certain dungeons turn into bones, and regardless of their origin, they are resurrected as skeleton monsters by the evil magic of the dungeon.

• NPCs lose all memories and consciousness from their previous life and become nothing more than killers of the living. They cannot be restored to their senses through conversation or other means; defeating them is the only way to save them.

When defeated, they ascend to heaven and await the opportunity for reincarnation. However, if they have lingering regrets after being defeated, they will become ghosts and wander the world. Let's grant their wishes and help them find peace.

• Players do not lose their memories or consciousness, can equip and unequip their gear, and can log out.

However, the player becomes unable to speak, and their player name, which would normally be displayed above their head, also disappears.

(Since it can become difficult to distinguish them from wild monsters, it is recommended to prepare tools for writing and learn telepathy before entering the dungeon, just in case.)

Also, since they have been transformed into monsters, if you go to a village or town, NPCs will attack you in an attempt to defeat you.

Moreover, this applies to other monsters transformation as well; defeating you yields some of your money and some of your equipment, making you just as desirable targets as rare monsters.

(Defeating a player in their monster form will not count towards the Player Kill count, nor will it increase your karma value.)

To undo monster transformation, you need to go outside the dungeon.

(If you die in the dungeon, you will respawn somewhere in the dungeon as a skeleton. It might be the boss room, or it might be near the entrance. It's all up to luck.)

Let's persevere, endure, escape, fight back, and ultimately perish.

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Author's note:

[A reincarnated brother and sister duo who unknowingly win over the target of the game, causing players immense frustration.]

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051596199197548

⬆️Here is my new novel⬆️

This is the story of a beastkin brother and sister who are reincarnated as NPCs into the world of an otome game, which exists in the same real world as "[Hello, I... Am a Tree Fairy.]".

They're not connected, but maybe they are?

Because it's a game from the same company that developed the Mystery of Life series... (Something to that effect will be mentioned starting in Chapter 3)