【Congratulations on the boss subjugation. ‘The Second Character’ has been unlocked. You may now select an additional character from the system menu.】
It looked like a new feature had finally opened up.
All that hard work taking down the boss was well worth the effort.
"A system message! The second character is unlocked!" Alto chirped.
『You heard it too, Alto?』
"…The second character?" Tria murmured.
Ah, right. That’s between us.
『For now, let’s just collect the young turtle carcasses and head back to town.』
"Right! We can deal with the second character after that!"
I had Alto switch back to Auto Mode so she could properly gather the young turtles that had been caught in the crossfire. Well then, time to head home.
What’s that? You're wondering if we should finish off the survivors? If we hunt them to extinction, they might stop respawning, so let’s let them go for now.
As they began the trek back to town, the two Spirits grew quiet and still.
In their place, Guidance Arrows manifested, hovering in the air to point the way.
"The Spirit’s Guidance has appeared. Let’s move, Tria."
"Right. …Goodnight, Lord Spirit."
Alto and Tria simply followed the light. When they had first headed for the mountains, they had left town under the cover of night, but thanks to these arrows, they hadn't lost their way once. It was a simple matter of having faith and moving forward.
Alto provided cover by firing her gun backward as she moved, while Tria ran alongside her.
With their path clearly marked, there was no need to focus on navigation. In other words, they had plenty of time for idle conversation.
"…We actually did it. We beat the Great Turtle."
"My Spirit helped, so of course we did. You should be grateful," Alto said with a hint of pride.
"I am. Thank you, Alto’s Spirit."
Tria had thought it was impossible—an act of reckless, suicidal bravado. When the beast had transformed into that crimson-black form, she had truly felt the shadow of death loom over them.
But the Spirit had chosen to fight. So she had believed in him and fought as well. And they had seized victory. They had triumphed. They had achieved the impossible. They had even managed to offer up the Great Turtle Eye—though it had vanished shortly after.
Looking back, it felt like a decisive victory, the actual engagement lasting ten-odd minutes at most.
Yet, if they had hesitated for even a single second, they would have been the ones left dead on that field. The Spirit really was incredible. As long as they followed his word, they couldn't go wrong. Tria felt her love and respect for him swell.
"…I’m jealous of you, Tria. I wanted to be more useful to the Spirit too."
"You were amazing, Alto."
"I was just letting the Spirit take control of my body. I wanted to move for his sake of my own will, like you did… but I can’t handle this thing perfectly on my own."
Alto stroked her weapon as she spoke. The massive black firearm was a relic of the Ancient Civilization.
If Alto had been the one pulling the trigger, the damage dealt to the Great Turtle likely would have been less than half of what they achieved. In that torrential rain, it was doubtful she could have even grazed the beast’s head.
"That’s just because Alto’s Spirit is too powerful."
"Ugh! My Spirit is so great and precious…!"
"Though Tria’s Spirit is also wonderful. He saw through everything and entrusted the task to me. That is true love."
"I can only say I’m purely envious of that…" Alto sighed.
"Hehe."
Their first meeting had been disastrous, to say the least.
After all, they had started their relationship with a literal brawl. Each had seen the other as a mortal enemy.
However, that had apparently just been a rather violent greeting caused by the fact that their two Spirits were exceptionally close. Since then, the two Lord Spirits had been conversing amicably.
If that was the case, there was no reason for the girls to remain hostile. The Spirit wouldn't want that.
"Alto should just focus on the work the Spirit expects of her," Tria offered.
"I suppose so. For example… it seems the Spirits can’t actually touch us with our own bodies. Maybe I can help with that?"
As she spoke, Alto reached out and touched her own chest. Without any resistance, she felt the soft, yielding curves unique to a woman’s body. It was her own body, so of course she could feel it.
"I’ve offered my everything to the Spirit… I wonder why he can't feel it."
"He said that if we raise our level, we might eventually be able to touch."
"…Level. That refers to the strength the Spirits talk about, right? So, training…"
"Yes, training. We have to train, get stronger, and deepen our connection with the Spirit."
"Then our path is clear…!"
"Yes."
The two girls both clenched their fists with determination.
"…Even so, I’m so jealous of how much the Spirit pets Penpen."
"Tell me about it. …Maybe I should research the red-light districts. Or should I start recruiting other women to offer to him? Based on how he talks, he seems to prefer women over men."
"Hmm. I suppose that depends on whether the Spirit actually wants that?"
"True. It would be a bother if I gathered a harem for him and he decided he didn't want anyone but me."
Alto nodded to herself, satisfied with the logic.
But then, a realization struck her.
"…He did say 'the second character,' didn't he?"
"…He did."
The two of them replayed the Spirits' earlier conversation in their heads.
Yes. The Second Character. He had explicitly said "the second." They were likely the first.
Which meant… was it possible the Spirit was going to go to someone else? Someone like them, or perhaps like Penpen?
"The Spirit… going to someone other than me…?"
"But the Spirit is all I have…"
"…………Ggggh!"
"But if the Spirit has decided it…"
"We have no choice but to obey. We’ve given him everything—our lives, our hearts! Even this loneliness and love!"
The one thing they could never do was obstruct the Spirit’s will. They must not do it. They must not allow it. Even if the person trying to stop him was their own self.
"But just thinking about it makes me want to cry! I'm going to leak tears any second!"
"…! Alto, I just realized something incredible."
"What is it, Tria?"
"If the Spirit enters a different girl… could we hold hands with the Spirit then?"
"!!!"
Alto’s eyes snapped wide open.
"Holding hands" was a modest way of putting it. If the Spirit inhabited another physical body, couldn't they go much further than that? They could do anything. Their "services" would be so much more effective!
"Tria, you’re a genius. That… that sounds wonderful!"
"Right?"
The prospect of a second character suddenly felt much more positive to them.
As they continued, Tria suddenly felt a strange sense of recognition regarding the landscape they were running through.
"…Hm?"
"Oh, what’s wrong?"
"I don’t know. It looked like the place where I used to live for a second… but I must be imagining it."
"You lived in a place like this? There's nothing here."
It was true. The area was just a vast, empty space. The earth was exposed and had been leveled into a flat, barren plain.
The place she remembered was a village, so this was clearly different.
"Just my imagination, then."
"Probably. Besides, the past is the past. It doesn't matter, does it? As long as we have the Spirit."
"That's true."
Tria let a small smile escape as she spoke. She had wanted to say that—"That's true." It was a phrase the Spirit used often, and she had wanted to try it out for herself.
Tria felt a surge of happiness, and the faint, lingering sense of nostalgia vanished from her mind.