{Jinma}

After hearing Obina’s last words, I felt the same weird feeling of something getting sucked out of me like when we came in, but in reverse. Soon after that, the white blindness died down and I was met with a comfortable darkness, realizing my eyes were closed before slowly opening them. The familiar ground of the church’s secret cavern was below me.

“Goodness, that took quite a bit. You must have been up there for a while. And I see you came back with some souvenirs?” Winny, the Arch Imp Priestess, asked.

I looked up and checked my surroundings. On top of the Immortals’ Monument towering over us, Sue and Winny were in the same positions as when we started the chant, two different-colored ribbons sat in front of me, Ume was back in her Lizardman form, and Ren had the collar and silver armlet on when we left Obina’s room. Nyra wasn’t behind me, and when I patted myself, I felt the tanto holstered where it should be. Looks like we really did come back.

“How long were we out?” I asked as the others were wiping the brightness out of their eyes.

Winny looked up in thought, “About … 10 seconds, maybe? These things are usually done less than that. You must have spoken with Goddess Obina for quite some time.”

A couple seconds, huh? With how long it felt there, though, I’m not sure if I want to make those trips a regular thing, especially with the time and effort it takes just getting to the secret cavern here.

“Have you found what you needed after speaking with Goddess Obina?” Winny then asked.

I looked at Sue again, who was shifting glances between me and Ren in surprise. Now that I think about it, Sue could probably see the changes in our statuses from our visit with whatever appraisal-type skill she has on her. She seems to know what I have hidden with my [Status Sorting] skill, too. 

I probably should have asked Obina if I could buy anything that would hide my identity and location like Sue can. Then again, I went over quite a bit of the list when I was shopping for Ren’s equipment and didn’t find anything that fit that criteria. It was mentioned before that more stuff will be available for me to buy when I’m higher ranked as an adventurer, and I was black-ranked, so maybe I wasn’t qualified for the top-tier quality items just yet. Those may be available when I reach bronze, silver, and gold-rank in the adventurer’s guild.

Putting that aside, even if I was able to buy something like that, Sue—as well as the Demon King—already knows my identity as a Champion and a D-Human, and what I can do as a Brawler, anyway. The only things that changed were my abilities, my new title as a [Kotori Family Lieutenant], and the [D-Subordination] skill that came with it. Though Sue already sees what we have now, I should still make an effort to hide what I can with my [Status Sorting] skill. This Devil-turned-Arch Imp is just the exception of who or what can see through my efforts of hiding my identity when that really shouldn’t be the case. Now that I learned that much about her through my meeting with Obina, though I should still be wary, I didn’t have to worry about the possibility of facing many potential enemies that are just as dangerous as Sue can be.

“... Yeah, I think I learned enough to be satisfied for now,” I answered honestly to Winny’s question about fulfilling my objective from meeting Obina.

~~

With our business finished, I pocketed my Familiars’ ribbons before Winny led us out of the Champion’s Confessionary and back into the office where the secret passage began. On the way over, I used my [Status Sorting] skill to hide the new stuff I didn’t want most other people to find. Ume and Ren walked in silence, but Sue seemed the most tense out of us all. Once Winny took the necessary measures to hide the secret passage again, she turned her attention back to us while we stood around in the office.

“Is there anything else you need from the church while you are here, Master Jinma?” Winny asked.

I shook my head, “Nah, you’ve done more than enough going through the trouble for us. I really appreciate it.”

“It is no trouble at all. For you, I will do everything in my power as one of Dondegarm’s Holy Bishops to support you,” Winna said before giving an angelic smile.

“Uh, there is one thing I’d like to request,” Sue said unexpectedly, “Could we borrow this room to have a quick private chat? We won’t touch anything, of course.”

Winny nodded, “I have no problems with that. There are some chores I must get back to, but if there is nothing else you need from me, I wish you the best of luck in your quest, Master Jinma.”

“Thanks for everything, Winny,” I said before giving her a hug. She was surprised by the gesture at first, but quickly warmed up to the gesture as she returned it.

After requesting us to close the door on our way out, the Arch Imp Priestess left the room, leaving the four of us behind. To ensure our privacy, I cast the [Soundproof] Null Spell to cover the room.

“So, what did you want to talk about, Sue?” I asked.

“Well … I was wondering if there was anything you learned from your talk with Goddess Obina that you want to confirm with me about? I’ll try to answer whatever I can, of course,” Sue said, but she didn’t look confident as she was looking down and fidgeting in place.

I sighed and scratched my head, “There are things I want to confirm, but … I’m under an oath set by Obina that I cannot say anything of what I learned from our talk.” I then went on with the conditions she set with everyone in the room listening in.

When I was done, Sue looked up to me with widened eyes, “So, unless I come out to you or anyone in your party, you and Nyra can’t say anything to us, but after seven days from around this time today, you’ll be free to confront me, alone, on what you’ve learned?”

“What happens if you break that oath?” Ume asked.

“... I can’t say,” I said while averting my gaze.

I read as much as I could in the contract before signing it, and I confirmed some things with Obina on some instances before bringing Ume and Ren back in her bedchambers, too. I was allowed to bring up that much of the oath to those who know most of the circumstances, Ume, Ren, my Familiars, and especially Sue. If I brought up the consequences of breaking the oath, which is me, Nyra, and my Familiars forfeiting our lives to the Immortals, it could add enough pressure to Sue to confess by force, which I believe was something Palonitus wanted to avoid. At the same time, just staying quiet about what I learned may also cause Sue enough stress to do the same thing. Putting this much out on the table will be enough for Sue to be kept in the loop, as well as giving her a choice of revealing everything sooner. Keeping her in the dark of my penalty would also add just enough pressure of how serious these circumstances are. I assumed that was what this so-called ‘God of the World’ had in mind when setting up this middle-ground, but I wasn’t sure how fair this arrangement really was.

Moreover, what does ‘forfeiting one’s life to another’ really mean? The worst-case would be me, Nyra, and my Familiars dropping dead right there. Interpreted in another way, we may be held as the Immortals’ prisoners, maybe falling to the same fate as the God of Time who screwed everyone over with his pranks. It was hard to say what that vague statement really meant, and it was that uncertainty that would add as much pressure to the four of us under the oath as it would for Sue.

After hearing of me keeping quiet about my penalty, it looked like Sue’s thought process on this arrangement was mutual to mine as she stared down pale and breaking into cold sweat.

<Oof, I could feel the pain from the stress she’s feeling in her stomach right now,> Nyra said in my mind. Incidentally, it seemed she retained the mature, exotic voice from her new Arch Pixie body into her telepathy. That was going to be a little weird getting used to.

<Yeah, looks like she wishes she never asked about my talk with Obina,> I agreed.

<You feel bad about bringing it up to her?>

<... After seeing the emotional turmoil she went through in the recordings, I’m not really sure, honestly,> I answered.

I was aware that the Sue we’re talking to is a clone, but other than retaining the knowledge of being one, it seems they hold as much independence and personality as the original. Moreover, once those clones merge back with the original, the latter will acquire all the memories and experiences the former learned as if they were right there. That means until they merge back, the original has no idea what their clone is going through. The only exception would be if there was some means of communication to report what’s happening between each other’s ends, and recalling what I’ve seen in the recording, I have a feeling Sue already has that covered. That aside, even if this is a clone in front of us, we can assume this is what the original Sue’s really feeling at the moment. The question is where the original Sue is. She could either be watching in from a distance or someplace else taking care of a mission we’re unaware of. Either way, since the original and the clone have the same thing that’s keeping their identities and locations hidden, there’s no way I can find them normally.

Not bearing the stress of the unknown anymore, Sue reached into her knapsack and took out the pain-relief pills she gave me before and swallowed a few, along with whatever other negative emotions she had in her mind. The disguised Devil sighed in exhaustion, “Right, well … thank you for sharing that much with me, Jinma. I’ll definitely take some time to think about this.”

I nodded in understanding, “Sure.”

“It also looks like you all got some new stuff during your time in the Immortals’ Realm. Especially you, Ren, I could already tell you’ve gained a great power. You have my congratulations,” Sue then said.

“... Yes, thank you,” the Werewolf answered. It looked like she had more to say, but restrained herself after remembering her outburst in Palocaesy’s junkyard.

The disguised Devil then turned to me, “I just have one thing I want to ask of you before we put this matter aside for now, Jinma.”

“I’m listening,” I said calmly.

“Whatever you learned through your talk with Obina, whatever you learned about me during that time … from now to even after I reveal everything to you, I’d like for you to still see and treat me as you have been up to this point,” Sue said.

I raised a brow in confusion.

“I know … it’s both totally weird and a lot to ask of you,” Sue continued, “And yes, I admit that my actions that led to these circumstances were not only hasty in my judgement, but also insensitive and unfair to you and Nyra. I … grew up with complicated circumstances that I admit may have bent and twisted what I know as common sense, as well as what’s right and wrong. That proves well enough that I’m not perfect, and I should be viewed as imperfect.

“That’s why I want you to treat and behave around me as natural as you would for any other person, regardless of kin, social status, or gender. I want you to be the prime example of why I’m not perfect and don’t deserve special treatment. The fact that no matter what I turn out to be, I’m still Sue, a messed up, misguided girl who honestly has no experience of truly connecting with another individual outside of family …” Sue trailed off before looking down, “Then again, I wonder if I still even have a family at this point.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

Sue then held up one of the necklaces around her neck, “Despite how much I cherished Father, going so far as to carry one of the necklaces he gave me wherever I go, I’ve recently started to question his true character as of late and why he’s raised me the way he did. Moreover, Mother has started seeing someone else, something I never imagined she’d do despite how much she loved Father, as far as I've seen out of the few times the three of us were together.”

Sue’s mom and dad, and the ‘few times’ the three of them were together? Does that mean most of the time they were never together for an extended period?

<If Sue’s dad is the previous Demon King, I’d imagine his royal duties would keep him busy,> Nyra pointed out, <I get it, so there are some complicated mommy-daddy issues at play here. Still, that begs the question of whether Sue’s mother being part of an affair was the queen, or a concubine. Not to mention, how long it's been the three of them, if that really was the case.>

“I may have been fooling myself, though,” Sue continued, still looking down, “We drifted apart ever so slowly, and before I knew it, I was suddenly thrown with a heavy responsibility as an ‘agent’ of ‘The Dark Wind’. And now … I don't know if I could meet either of them.”

We all know Sue was lying about that spy bullcrap. Me, and even Ren could tell despite our different levels in the [Intuition] skill. I guess this is the closest thing she could describe herself as at the moment. Still, Sue's family situation seems very real. If this is something anyone could come up with on the fly, I'd lose faith in pretty much everyone, especially the disguised Devil in front of us.

"... Is that why you're trying to get close to me, despite how it may complicate the mission the Demon King gave you?" I asked, "Did you need someone to keep yourself grounded, alleviating the fear of confronting your parents for the truth?"

"... You know, it's humiliating for me if you point it out like that," Sue said while sulking, averting her gaze with tinted cheeks.

<Huh, isn't this the first time we're actually seen her embarrassed over something?> Nyra asked.

"But why me, though?" I asked, "I'm from a different kin. I can't even see my own parents and relatives under … complicated circumstances, to really sympathize with you, someone from a different lineage and culture, who has that freedom to do so."

"... When I first met you face-to-face, I felt something click inside me. 'This is the one,' that thought just came to me then and there," Sue explained as she looked back up to me with a hand to her bosom, "Even now, I feel there's a connection between us, something I've never experienced with anyone else before. I don't know if I'm looking for a solution to my problem with my parents, but I feel like you're the kind of person I can trust to confide in. It's just that I've been living with secrets for so long, I don't know what will happen if they come out."

"But you were able to tell me those things earlier while we were alone, right?" I asked, referring to her favorite food, fighting style, and her taste in guys that she told me in the inn's restroom, "There was also The Blink you told us about in the junkyard."

"The Blink is one of this kingdom's great secrets set by the previous Demon King," Sue explained while shrugging, "I honestly don't know its purpose in the first place, so I don't think it has anything to do with me, personally. And from what I told you alone, I'd like to think those are baby steps to help me come out of my shell. They're nothing compared to the other secrets I have yet to tell."

Yeah, I figured those 'secrets' didn't mean much.

"Still, there are very few who know that much about me, and they could very well be used against me in more ways than you think," Sue continued, "That's what I've been raised to believe, anyway, and seeing how even someone of my own family could betray me, it's gotten hard to tell anyone anything. Until now, I don't think I have anyone I can really call my confidant with pride."

"'Until now', as in me?" I asked.

Sue nodded, "I know I've done wrong to you and Nyra, and I understand that you lack trust in me, but … I really do want to put my trust in you. My trust in you that, even after I reveal everything, you'll still see me as I am now. Would you consider my request, at the least?"

I scratched my head awkwardly and looked towards Ume and Ren.

"Since it's between the two of you, I'll keep my opinions out of this one, but know that this very kingdom won't be let off scot free if something happens to him under your watch, Sue. It would be wise that you remember that," Ume warned as she glared at Sue. 

Ren couldn't say anything as she trembled under Ume's threat. Now that she knows my wife is a Dragon, she knows that that threat could very well come true. My Werewolf’s very well aware that even with her boost in power as a Ninja, my wife was still leagues above her.

"... Yes, I will take your words to heart, Umeiyon," Sue said calmly as she turned back to me. According to Nyra, though, she couldn't be more nervous than she already was.

The disguised Devil then widened her eyes in realization, “Ah, I almost forgot. With the three of you being as powerful as you are, I would like you all to take these. [Storage, Out].”

With that chant, a magic circle opened over Sue’s raised palm before four identical, yet familiar necklaces fell from it. They were the same as one of the two necklaces she was wearing. I used my [Street Smarts] skill, allowing me to appraise any item for any information I can gleam off of, to see what she brought out. I couldn’t identify that necklace the first time as it seemed to be in effect while she had it on, but since these were by themselves in her hand, I managed to see what they were.

Well, this just explains a lot.

“Isn’t this one of the same necklaces your dad gave you as a gift?” I asked.

“From my father and a close friend of his,” Sue corrected, “It’s the latter of the two who managed to prepare these for me under short notice. We’ll be facing dangerous opponents from Chaos Barrage, so it’s wise that you hide as much of your true strength as possible.”

A close friend of her father’s … if she’s related to the previous Demon King, could that ‘close friend’ be Shining Tea Set? If she was able to make something that caused The Blink, I suppose it wouldn’t be too strange of her to craft something this incredible.

“Won’t this make you unable to see our statuses and where we are, too? If we’re separated for whatever reason, it will cause a big problem in your mission to escort me to Korangar, won’t it?” I asked.

“I was able to find you the first time, didn’t I?” Sue asked while shrugging, “With how flashy you tend to be with your attacks, I don’t think it will be hard for me to find you again. Since I’ve found you, though, I’m able to use another way that overrides the necklace’s function of hiding your location, at most. Even if you’re on the other side of Raiza, I’ll still know where you are … wow, that actually sounded a lot creepier than it did in my head.”

You just noticed that now? 

This news is also troublesome to me, because even if I tried running away now, the Demon King would surely chase me down. I was pretty much in her hands the moment Sue first laid eyes on me, and I didn’t even realize it. Though … could that blood sample she extracted from me last night be part of why finding me anywhere is possible now? Could that have been part of the reason for her mission?

<Dude, if I knew I had a stalker like that and I had no idea who or what they were, I’d kill them on the spot right there, no questions asked,> Nyra commented after reading my thoughts.

“Anyway, Her Highness gave me permission to give these to you when the situation calls for it, so consider this as a gift to ensure your safety,” Sue continued, “The fourth one is for Noire as she is formally recognized as an ally to the Demon King, but you’ll be the one to give it to her as a gift when you see her later. I do have more for the others in your party, but I’m worried those watching from the outside will raise their guards to prepare for the unexpected. These are not my payment for you to follow through my request, that’s a different matter.”

“And … you’re really okay being unable to see my status?” I asked, “I could gain something incredible while leveling up and you won’t even know about it.”

“Considering your track record so far, I wouldn’t be surprised, but I’ve already learned enough of what I needed to know about you in terms of your identity and status,” Sue answered.

That didn’t exactly make me feel any better as I furrowed my brow, “Will I ever be able to see your status, since you know so much about mine already?”

The disguised Devil averted her gaze briefly before looking back to me, “... You will be the very first to know if I’m comfortable enough. That’s a guarantee.”

I sighed and scratched my head some more, "I still don't know what you see in me to make that request, but … alright. I can't make any promises, but I'll keep it in mind when you're ready to open up." The three of us then took Sue’s pendants and wore them around our necks. I put the fourth one for Noire in my [Storage] to give to her later.

Sue lowered her head to me, "I'm grateful for you hearing me out, at least. It just further proves that you're the best one I can count on ..." After she trailed off, her wings folded and her tail curled around her waist tightly while she held her arms.

<Sue has seemed to relax a little, but she's still tense. In fact, it seems like she's really restraining herself,> Nyra informed me.

<From what?>

<... Hugging you, from the looks of it?> Nyra guessed, <I sensed these feelings from her before, so I can recognize it. Embracing you seems to help her as stress relief lately, but this time around, she's desperately holding herself back. Maybe she's trying to be considerate of your space with how awkward things are between you two right now? It might be a different story if you two are with the rest of your party trying to keep up the act as ‘fan and celebrity’, as you both agreed on earlier in the inn’s restroom. I guess when you’re alone with those in the know like this, she’ll remember her place and not get close for your comfort.>

With that strange statement, I sighed internally while scratching my head more, These things usually happen the other way around, right? If I was still left in the dark of all this, would you stick to my side like glue no matter the time and place? And now, to hold yourself back so much to the point of being unhealthy … Seriously, Sue, just what are you thinking about right now?

Orange_Rain

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