“That’s a wrap.
I figured it’d be harder than that.”
Silver Wolf waved a hand, and Prometheus, her smart weapon, dissolved into the air on its own.
She yawned lazily, thinking that the so-called highest difficulty setting really wasn’t much to write home about.
“Well, at the end of the day they’re just a pack of thugs huddling together for warmth.
Besides, didn’t you have plenty of fun with the final boss?”
Felutina sat on an abandoned shipping container, one knee drawn up, the other leg swinging back and forth in midair.
“You moved way too fast.
Before I could even react you’d already cleaned up most of them,” Silver Wolf shot her a sidelong glance, her tone distinctly aggrieved.
“And here I thought you were the type who didn’t like killing.
To think I actually worried about you.”
“Heh.
Sis spent over a decade on the Xianzhou cutting down abominations of Abundance.
My heart’s been as cold as the sword in my hand for a long time now.”
Felutina planted both hands on her hips and tilted her chin up, thoroughly pleased with herself, looking equal parts ridiculous and adorable.
“What kind of game is Xianzhou?
Is it fun?”
Silver Wolf blinked.
She told herself she had zero interest in Felutina.
Learning a companion’s backstory was an important part of any game.
She was simply respecting the game.
“Xianzhou, huh…
Most people there live over a thousand years.
It’s your classic long-life-species nation,” Felutina said after a moment’s thought.
“Sounds like a boring place.” Silver Wolf cocked her head, staring at her.
“Why are you still sitting up there?”
“Aren’t you supposed to strike a classic victory pose after clearing a high-difficulty run?”
Felutina flicked her long hair back.
A breeze lifted the strands, and the white light that never gave way to night wrapped her silhouette in a faint halo.
“Pointless theatrics,” Silver Wolf sniffed—yet her body hopped up onto the container without any prompting at all, hands stuffed in her pockets.
“Then why’d you climb up too?” Felutina leaned in beside her, smiling, her voice dropping softer.
“Didn’t want you sitting up here all lonely and cold.
Be grateful for Lady Silver Wolf’s boundless mercy.”
Silver Wolf spread her small hands and put on a smug little wolf face.
As if to prove her own point, she jumped straight back down off the container a moment later and waved without turning around.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
Felutina followed close behind, walking along in Silver Wolf’s shadow.
They left through the front gate of the Slag Gang’s stronghold and ran into the middleman in the black suit almost at once.
Past the two slender girls, the wreckage inside the stronghold was perfectly visible—bodies sprawled every which way.
The middleman said nothing for a long moment.
He looked at the now completely empty Slag Gang hideout, then at Silver Wolf and Felutina, and finally tilted his head back to look at the sky.
The objective of this job had been: teach the Slag Gang brats a lesson.
Just a lesson.
Who could have guessed Felutina and Silver Wolf would simply gun down every last one of them?
And the Slag Gang was no ordinary dungeon.
At the top of it sat an S-rank wanted target, The Cremators known as the Beast Tamer, a first-rate big shot by the standards of all Punklorde.
Counting the hours—these two had come back out of the Slag Gang stronghold in what, ten system hours?
He was near tears.
Just what tier of monsters had he signed a contract with?
He turned around and hauled out a crate of gold bars with considerable effort.
[Mission Complete]
[Exclusive 4-Star Light Cone Acquired: “Our Game Life”]
[Bonus Reward: Casual Mini-Game, “Punklorde’s Ready Player One”]
“What are you thinking about?”
Seeing Felutina standing stock-still, Silver Wolf assumed she’d zoned out and nudged her with an elbow.
Her eyes curved into crescents; she was clearly in a very good mood.
“Nothing.
I just remembered something I regret.” Felutina blinked.
“What is there to regret?”
“The mission’s over, so now I’ll never get to see little Silver Wolf rolling around on the ground, bawling and throwing a tantrum, all pitiful, boo hoo hoo.”
“…I would never bawl and throw a tantrum!”
Silver Wolf puffed out her cheeks a little, but her silver eyes were still full of laughter.
Having a companion.
Not bad.
…
Meanwhile, in the real world.
Little Bluebird finally cleared the Jarilo-VI main storyline and stretched with a lazy groan.
All the way through the Jarilo-VI arc, she hadn’t caught a single glimpse of the Felutina she’d been pining for.
That ghostly white-haired girl seemed to have simply vanished out of the plot.
“Ohhh, Felutina, my Felutina, how am I supposed to live without you, take me with you, boo hoo hoo~”
She had her daily meltdown in front of the computer.
The story wasn’t over yet.
There was a transitional stretch, not too long and not too short, where you could chat with your companions on the Astral Express about the adventure on Jarilo-VI and decide on the next destination.
After a round of discussion, just as Pom-Pom finally settled on a choice and prepared to announce the name of the next stop, Kafka’s hologram made a spectacular entrance.
“Long time no see, everyone aboard the Astral Express.”
“I’d like to invite you…
to change your destination.”
“Here are the coordinates.
Everything else is up to you.”
[MOM!!!]
[Did Kafka just glance at me?
I’m in her heart!]
[Oh please, two seconds ago you said you’d love Felutina forever.
Changed your mind already?]
[You traitor, you spy, you warlord, you careerist, you tyrant, you capitalist-roader, you capitulationist, you revisionist, you double-dealer!]
“Oh, that’s right.”
Before she left, Kafka paused.
She raised a hand and tapped the empty air, and a small, exquisite game cartridge appeared out of nowhere, landing neatly in the Trailblazer’s palm.
“A little gift Silver Wolf asked me to pass along.
She says there’s someone inside you’ll want to see.
Open it up and take a look, if you’re interested.”
Little Bluebird snapped bolt upright in her chair, eyes locked on the screen.
There was a white-haired cartoon figure on the cartridge label, and no matter how she looked at it, that was Felutina.
“Holy shit, I need to sit up straight for this one!”
…
On a certain floor of the Rainbow Metropolis Tower.
Silver Wolf had kicked off her shoes and lay sprawled on the bed, pale calves swinging in the air, her attention fixed on the screen in front of her as code streamed rapidly down it.
Beside the room came the splash and clatter of running water.
The place was laid out a lot like a hotel room; all Silver Wolf had to do was turn her head and she could see the bathroom.
Silver Wolf hated being disturbed.
But right now, looking at that bathroom, at the steam-fogged light glowing through the door, listening to the water mixed with a girl humming a light little tune, Silver Wolf decided she ought to clear out a slot for her target.
“Silver Wolf, what are you doing?”
Felutina’s voice came from the bathroom.
She pushed the door open a crack and poked her head out, her silky white hair hanging down, soaked through.
“Making a game.
A Metroidvania, to commemorate our beginning—don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not like I made it specially for you.
I just think a game ought to have an achievement system,” Silver Wolf grumbled out, sneaking a look at Felutina’s reaction from the corner of her eye.
She watched Felutina scratch at her hair.
“No, I meant, are you free?
Could you go grab my clothes for me?”
“…”
Silver Wolf clenched her fist, then unclenched it just as fast.
I still need to make use of her.
I have to learn to accept living together first.
That was what Silver Wolf told herself.