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The Simulacrum - Chapter 119 - Part 4
🕑 Added 2023-08-02 17:59:29 +0000 UTCThe turmoil on the island, caused by my initial disappearance, calmed down remarkably fast once I revealed myself to my inner circle about a week ago. Over time, things returned to business as usual, Blue Cherry High opened its gates again, and after I put Sir Percival in custody, I let my sisters return home and attend as usual, though not without doubling the Kage ninjas on shift around the district, to make sure no ne'er-do-well would bother them while I was away.
There was no shortage of candidates either. While the local School was ostensibly on our side, I couldn't be sure if the Assembly delegation wouldn't try to pick a fight with Snowy. Then there were the Celestials with their constant scheming, and I didn't even mention the Abyssals yet. As such, I tried to keep a close eye on them, just in case… which made the scene in front of me all the more irking, and just a little embarrassing.
"Lady Neige, your safe house is very… well-fortified," a familiar face stated a touch nervously, no doubt feeling more than a little psyched out by my other sister giving her a death glare from the other side of the coffee table.
Snowy and Penny were sitting side by side on the couch in our living room. My Abyssal sister was wearing her pyjamas under a bathrobe, no doubt turning in early after getting mentally tired out by Percival's interrogation in the afternoon. My knightly sister, on the other hand, was clad in her uniformer, and even though she was sitting down, her body posture told me she was ready to leap over the coffee table at a moment's notice and cut their guest down… with her teaspoon, by the looks of it.
On the other side of the table, and also holding a porcelain teacup, sat a young woman in a fancy gothic lolita dress. She had a pair of round glasses, one side of her straight, shoulder-length hair was pitch black, while the other was a light, borderline pink strawberry blonde, and while her outfit was fairly modest, her corset pushed up and emphasized her already sizable bosom even more. She was a familiar, and one of the people I tried to keep under constant surveillance, yet somehow the Inanna house's young spymaster still managed to fly under my radar and make contact with my sisters since the last time I checked on her.
"This is not a 'safe house'," Penny hissed, her hands aggressively stirring her tea even as she was speaking. "This is our home, right, Snowy?"
"Penny! You're frightening Tajana!" my other sister chided her, but she remained steadfast and continued to stare daggers at her.
"P-Please excuse my careless remark! I didn't mean it in a bad way!" the lady with the two-toned hair backpedalled at once and turned a pair of pleading eyes at Snowy.
"We aren't offended, right, Penny?" My knightly sister only responded with a grunt, but Snowy continued as if she just agreed with her. "There's no need to be afraid. She isn't going to hurt you."
"That depends on whether she really has something important to say or not, or if she's planning something underhanded," Penny hissed again, causing my normally reserved Abyssal sister to roll her eyes.
"I told you, Tajana is fine. She was the one who taught me how to use my Seducer abilities, and I've known her since I was small."
Wait. She was what? This stuttering, shrinking violet was a Seducer? I mean, sure, she was rather pretty; that much was more or less expected from a seemingly important Side Character type, but still.
…
On second thought, the only two Seducers I knew were both soft-spoken and easily startled girls. Maybe their whole lineage was running on exploiting the gap-moe aesthetic?
Before I could spend any more time pondering on that, Penny raised her voice in turn.
"You still can't just trust her! She's an Abyssal, and they can't be—" It took her this long to realize what she was saying, and her fierce expression immediately melted into a panicked one as she turned to my other sister, her hands wildly gesticulating in the air. "A-awawa! That came out wrong! I didn't mean it like that! I was only talking about the… the bad Abyssals! You're nice, so it doesn't apply to you!"
"Tajana is nice too," Snowy pointed out, which finally caused the allegedly brave and valorous knight to let her hands down, cross her arms, and sulk.
"If you say so then… I suppose we can hear her out."
The two of them glanced at the woman at the same time. During all this time, she was mechanically blowing on her cup, but when she realized that she was in the center of attention again, she twitched and nearly dropped her drink.
"Ah! Y-Yes, um… R-Right away, just…" She somehow managed to put the cup onto the table without spilling its contents, and after taking a few deep breaths, she began her explanation. "You see, I… um… where should I begin? Ah, right! So, it all started about a week ago, when I told our lord and liege about a discovery we've made, and… no, actually, it started even earlier, when we first heard the news about the disappearance of the Chimera Slayer, and… and…"
"Calm down, Tajana. Just start at the beginning."
Hearing Snowy's comment made her twitch again, and after taking several long breaths, she lightly slapped both her cheeks at the same time, startling Penny. My other sister remained completely unaffected by the sight, so she was probably used to this kind of thing.
"Yes, my lady! I'm perfectly calm now!" She shook her head and put her hands in her lap before starting again. "So, as I was saying, it all started with the disappearance of the Chimera Slayer. Not long after it was announced that he was taken by Abyssal forces, the Ashurs claimed responsibility for the act. However, we have managed to infiltrate the inner sanctum of their lands, and discovered that…" She paused here and clumsily adjusted her glasses, probably aiming for dramatic effect, before ominously declaring, "The Chimera Slayer wasn't there!"
She fell silent again, obviously waiting for a shocked reaction that never came.
"We know," Penny uttered a touch flatly, literally unbalancing Tajana and nearly causing her to fall out of her seat while flailing. Yep. Seducers really were all-in on the gap-moe aesthetic. Hell, even I started to consider her antics endearing, and that was an achievement in and of itself.
"Y-You do?" she sputtered out, and when my knightly sister nodded, she hastily doubled down. "Wait, there's more! We also found incriminating evidence that showed that the Ashurs were working with the Celestials!"
"That… logically follows, yes."
Snowy's nonchalant response made the hapless spymaster twitch again.
"Did… did you also know that the Chimera Slayer was taken by the Celestials?"
"We sure do," Penny declared with one of those smug little smirks that came right out of the princess's handbook, and Tajana reeled back like she was slugged in the nose.
"N-No way! We only just learned about that!" She quickly collected herself though, and locked eyes with Penny again. "But… did you know that he wasn't kidnapped, but he followed them on his own?"
"Yes."
This time, it was Snowy who responded first, causing her to twitch again.
"How!?" Tajana exclaimed in disbelief, forcing Snowy to wave at her to calm down.
"Our brother told us."
"The lord did!?" After blurting that out, the young woman froze for a second and let out a weird noise. "W-Wait, my lady? You couldn't possibly have meant the Chimera Slayer!?"
"Why do you keep calling brother that?"
Penny's question made Tajana's eyes move back and forth between the two girls.
"It's… um… You see, our lord doesn't like to hear the words 'Leonard', 'Dunning', or 'crow', so we've been avoiding them over the last few months and… wait, that's not important! My lady, are the rumors true!? Have you truly forsaken your own blood for a—"
"Choose your words wisely," Penny cut in, and for a moment, I could swear I could see one of those roiling red bloodlust auras around her you would see in some stories. It only lasted for a moment, and it might've been just my imagination.
"A… human… person?"
"I'm… not sure that applies to Leo anymore," my Abyssal sister noted, resulting in my other sister turning a slack-jawed face her way.
"Snowy!"
"But… you know? With all the things Leo can do, I'm not sure it's right to call him just a human."
Penny wanted to argue at first, but even after she opened her mouth, no words came out. At last, she closed it, cocked her head to the side, and let out a thoughtful hum.
"You're right. Ever since brother lost his memories, he's been too awesome. Maybe he's like a superhuman? Or a super knight?"
"My… My lady…" Tajana whined in an attempt to gain their attention again. "After your name was cleared and it was proven, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you didn't betray the House of Inanna for those treacherous Nergals, I was certain that your conflict with our lord was just a misunderstanding! Could it be that you truly abandoned your noble lineage for… for…"
"Hey, she didn't betray anyone!" Penny cut in and hugged Snowy, causing the latter to freeze up like a startled bunny. "If anything, that jerk betrayed her! Not that it matters anymore, because Snowy is now part of our family, right, sis?"
Penny looked at her expectantly, and after a brief moment, my Abyssal sister nodded with a shy smile.
"Yes. My family is here, on Critias."
Tajana stared at the two like she was seeing a white raven perched on a black sheep and then let out a conflicted groan.
"Our lord is not going to like this…"
"If he doesn't like it, then tell him to come up here and try to say that to our faces! We'll show him what's what, right!"
Once again, Penny looked at Snowy for support, but she remained silent for a while and shook her head instead.
"If possible, I wouldn't want to fight Noire. Or rather, it would be best if we never met again. But, that's not important now." As she said that, she carefully wriggled out of Penny's embrace and levelled a dispassionate gaze at her guest. "Be honest with me Tajana. You wouldn't have left the Abyss, let alone show up in front of my home, only to tell me all that."
The young spymaster blinked in surprise and then let out a soft, delighted chuckle.
"I'm glad to see that my lady is sharp as always. Yes, you're right. I admit that I had my own, um, personal reasons to come to Critias, but there was something very important I wanted to tell you before I set out on this, umm, very personal task." With both my sisters focused on her, she let out a shallow breath and finally explained, "After their connection to the Celestials was discovered, our lord used the opportunity to strike House Ashur down with the full military might of House Inanna. Unprepared, their castle fell within the day, and after our lord claimed their Mana Well, I personally investigated the study of the Lord of Ashur. That is how we learned of the true extent of their treachery against the Houses of the Abyss, as well as a chilling discovery: the Lord of Ashur provided the Celestial Intelligence Network with at least one full vial of Udug Blood Amalgam."
Once again, she looked at the two expectantly, waiting for their reaction, only for Snowy to calmly say, "Yes, we know."
"We do?" Penny blurted out, ignoring the shocked woman sitting across them, and my Abyssal sister nodded.
"Yes, it… it was something Leo told me in private."
"I think I've heard of that 'amalgam' thing, but I'm not sure. Is it important?"
"It was, but… I'll explain it later."
With that settled, they focused their attention on Tajana again, who was still reeling back from the previous reversal.
"You heard about that too?!"
"Only recently," Snowy spoke a touch apologetically, and after puffing out her cheeks, Tajana let out a dejected sigh.
"It appears that there was no reason for me to come here. Still, I'm happy to see that my lady is safe, even if I don't agree with all of your, um, choices." She stood up and straightened her dress, followed by a quick curtsy. "Thank you for your time, my lady and… um… before I leave, I have to ask; how should I address you, again?"
"Don't worry about it, Tajana," Snowy responded with a sweet smile before Penny could react. "You'll have plenty of opportunities to discuss this with Penny in the future."
"I… was just about to leave, so I'm afraid—"
Before she could finish what she wanted to say, my Abyssal sister, wearing the same smile, slowly nodded. A moment later, two heavy hands landed on Tajana's shoulders, one on each side. She reflexively tried to retreat, but the large fingers held onto her tightly, and a second later, their owners were revealed as the stealth Sigils on Pip and Rabom deactivated.
"Lady. No see. Long time."
Rabom's seemingly friendly greeting made the blood drain out of her face, and Tajana desperately faced my sisters again, where Penny looked about as surprised as she was. Snowy, on the other hand, remained calm.
"I'm sorry, Tajana, but I'm sure that Leo wouldn't want you to run around on his island while he's already busy elsewhere. I'm afraid I have to insist that you stay with us for a while longer."
The Inanna spymaster opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, like a fish out of water, but with two Fauns holding onto her, she apparently didn't have much choice in the matter. As for me… well, I let out a relieved sigh, which once again caused a certain highly visible ninja to look up from her book for the umpteenth time.
"Hm? Why is Leonard-dono smiling?"
"It's nothing," I said with a wave of my hand. "I just got reminded that I have the best little sister in the world."
Comments
Waifu-glasses
I think we all know that the real seducer is the self proclaimed robot.
Vega
Neige supremacy for the win!
