Otherworld TRPG Game Master

84 – S2. A Grudge Confessed To The Stars -6

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“Sweet and nice.”

I smiled like a father as I watched them roll around warmly. Wasn’t there also a hint of the sweet scent of romance? I really like love.

Also. Although it wasn’t specific, the players seemed to have caught on to the direction of the goal. How could they not use this situation where the past and future were linked?

What I needed to reinforce here was to provide clues on ‘exactly what to do’, and to fix the mentality of the still-shattered party.

Let’s put the weight of this scene on Niole. She is the one who feels her failure the most out of the three, and she is still immersed in regret, thinking ‘If I hadn’t done this’.

Not noticing Isaac’s plot.

Losing Abraham while trying to save reporter Sally.

Investing time in destroying the magic circle instead of completing Abraham’s research.

Not finishing the cult leader properly.

Let’s give proper meaning to all these regrets. What changes did Isaac’s survival, reporter Sally’s survival, the destruction of the magic circle, and the killing of the cult leader bring to this world? Let’s show how it made the world suffering from the evil god better.

And this kind of ‘Thank you for saving the world, hero’ plot tends to be more powerful when the character expresses gratitude directly. I need one character that wasn’t planned.

“Abraham, Isaac, a descendant a few generations down, Joseph. A 17-year-old virgin. She looks similar to Isaac, but doesn’t have an evil feeling, a cheerful impression, the owner of the wool panties that Bennett picked up….”

“Was there such an NPC?”

“…make it, Matopju!”

“Heeng…”

In fact, it was something that could be done by mixing existing resources, so there was no need to make Matopju do it. However, the person who did wrong needed to be punished. Even for the sake of the person who did wrong.

From Noble mtl dot com

Think about it, if you did something terribly wrong and no one scolded you for it?

Some would commit crimes with excitement, but those with a standard conscience would feel like they were sitting on a bed of thorns. Because there is no way to relieve the guilt.

So I roll it on purpose. Meaning to relieve some of the guilt while rolling.

In fact, Matopju’s expression had brightened a little. Until just now, his face was gloomy as if he was going to write 500 pages of reflection after work, but now it seemed to have been reduced to about 420 pages.

I, who take care of the sub-GM’s mental health while rolling the session, am I not a genius…?

As I injected myself with confidence, I felt the angle and efficiency of my shoulders rise significantly. An appropriate amount of confidence is a good buff. It was the buff that the three players needed the most.

Have confidence, you did a really good job.

Lighten the mood and give them confidence and a buff that their actions were not wrong. It’s not difficult. Let’s get started.

—- —-

Tara finally finished understanding the situation. Bennett and Niole had flown to the future, and the present and future were connected. It was a nagging and complex concept, but…

This, maybe.

“…Can’t we use it?”

[We thought so too. We need to learn a little more about this place.]

-Do you think you can help us as we investigate?

“Yeah, you just have to move according to your path, right?”

Tara puffed out her chest. It was a sign of confidence that she wanted me to believe in her, but it was also a struggle to fight against Niole. It would look a little bigger if she stretched it out.

Bennett gestured from beyond the mirror.

-Don’t miss it and follow us closely. We’ll take the mirror shards.

“Who are you talking like Mia? Be careful too, you never know what might happen.”

Pop.Tara smashed the dressing table, breaking the mirror, and picked up a piece of the right size. She could see her future image from various angles by reflecting it here and there as if she were peeping. The blue sky, and the ants crawling on the ground.

She walked leisurely, chasing after Venet and Niole, who were moving from the future.

“…”

Inspiration flashed in Tara’s head. I can freely decide where and how to see it.

She subtly adjusted her walking speed and position. And when she bent the broken mirror piece at an exquisite angle, Venet’s face was reflected very close. It was a really satisfying moment.

Tara smiled as if she was full.

-…Yeah? Yes. Niole told me to tell you. How about spreading the distance and looking at each other’s blind spots?

“…Lee.”

Tara grumbled hungrily.

As I felt before, I had a strange thought that Niole was somehow hindering me. If she had some evil intentions and kept checking me…

Oh, no, no way. Niole is such a good girl.

Tara shook her head and shook off the useless thoughts. It can’t be anything but ugly to be jealous of a friend because you are blinded by your emotions.

Still, the awkwardness and resentment of being disturbed, even if it was unintentional, did not go away. She pulled out her magic sword without even looking at it to vent her anger and stabbed it into the wall of the building. The feeling of piercing the flesh.

Kyaaah-!! A scream rang out from beyond the wall. Tara sucked in the fanatic’s power through the thorns entwined in the magic sword.

-What’s going on?

“No, nothing. Has anything changed on your side?”

-There is a scratch on the wall of the building, and one more flower has grown.

“It’s a good thing to die and become a flower. It’s too much for a fanatic.”

Tara sharpened her magic sword.

The sword that was swung for meaningless revenge now had a purpose and a visible reward. It felt a little different. Because every time I dealt with a crazy fanatic, the future definitely got better.

I was also very happy that I could be of help to my colleagues. When I thought about the past when I had to kill time alone without divine power, my heart still ached.

Maybe, now more than when I was using divine power…⋯ It might be more helpful. Because the power of the fable was so strong.

-I checked with the mirror. It looks like two guys are following you from behind.

“Yeah.”

The party moved while watching each other.

It was a short move, but the party learned various ways to use this time-connected situation. When a large barrier blocked the way of Venet and Niole.

“If you dig up the ground in the past, wouldn’t you have thought of setting up a barricade here?”

-It seems like it will take a lot of time to go back.

“I have a spell for fanatics. I’ll just turn it over with a space sphere.”

Woo-woong-!

Changing the terrain of the past, the obstacles of the future disappeared.

[Tara, by any chance… Can you pass on something to eat this way?]

“Can canned food last? A hundred years.”

-Abraham told me that it can theoretically last for a century.

“I’ll ask here.”

By burying a time capsule in the past and having it discovered in the future, Venet judged that such communication could be used in combat if he became more familiar with it. It was possible to cooperate at any time, even if they were separated by a hundred years.

The canned food was swollen, so I couldn’t eat it and threw it away.

The place where Venet and Niole were chasing after human traces was the direction where the main body of the Silver Twilight Church was located. Gradually, clear traces of humans began to appear.

A low hill with green grass planted and flowers blooming here and there. On the hill, laundry was hung on a line tightly strung between branches stuck in the ground.And the building of the Order of the Silver Twilight, somewhat old but still holding its form. A devout and gentle atmosphere was felt in the Order building of the future. Like a proper religious facility.

Judging from the women’s underwear hanging on the clothesline, it seems that a woman lives here.

Tara took her eyes off the mirror fragment that was facing the future.

The Order building of the past was still ominous, and from the inside, the groans of fanatics stained with joy and pain were echoing. They were all potential enemies. Tara relaxed her body lightly and gripped the demonic sword.

“There are still many surviving fanatics in the Order building. It seems like it’s going to be busy from here on out… So, farewell for now.”

-Don’t overdo it, and don’t get hurt.

“I don’t want to hear that from a guy who lost his arm. You be careful too, Bennett. Niole.”

[Tara, be careful too!]

They each stepped foot inside the Order building.

—- —-

Creak.

Bennett carefully opened the door to the building. The interior was tidily organized with a sense of life, and there were no evil magic circles or sticky traps to be seen. If there was anything noteworthy…

“…What’s that?”

[Oh, Tara… Is that you?]

Statues.

In the location where religious symbols such as crosses should have been, three statues were carved. The statue in the center was of Tara raising her demonic sword while wearing a splendid saintess outfit.

The statues standing side by side as if guarding Tara’s statue also had faces that seemed familiar somehow. Even though their features were somewhat blurry and smudged…

“Niole, it looks like your statue.”

[That one looks just like Bennett.]

Their own statues that they found in the future a hundred years later. It didn’t seem like they were objects of mockery. The statues were well-maintained, and no dust came off even when they brushed their fingers over them.

What happened on earth?

“Hoho… Those are, you see, statues carved in the image of the heroes who saved the world.”

“…”

Bennett and Niole looked back. And, without realizing it, they vigilant. There was a girl became standing there, because her face closely resembled Isaac’s.

Did Isaac, who prolonged his life for a hundred years with evil sorcery, draw his blade for revenge?

That wasn’t it. The girl’s face resembled Isaac’s, but it also closely resembled Abraham’s. Especially those sparkling, gentle eyes. They brought to mind the expression of Abraham as he gazed at the stars.

The girl wasn’t surprised by the unfamiliar visitors, and she began to speak calmly.

“According to the stories that have been passed down, the three legendary heroes… offered their lives to seal away the evil god. Thanks to that, the world was able to gain a single chance.”

“…Who are you?”

“You can call me Joseph.”

The girl with the somewhat masculine name seemed to be of Abraham’s bloodline. It seemed that sparing Isaac’s life led to the result of his bloodline continuing on to future generations.

Bennett observed Joseph, torn between vigilance and relief.

“Are you living here alone?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m even more delighted to have guests after such a long time. Do you need food and a place to rest?”

Niole tugged on Bennett’s hem and secretly wrote something.

[Can we trust her?]

“…Probably. And the return is great compared to the risk. We have no information about the future, so if we receive help from a local… We might be able to find out.”

Bennett and Niole looked at each other, feeling a sense of deja vu. It seemed like they had gone through this same process when they met Abraham. Thinking that, their tension eased.

Just as they had eventually opened their hearts to the old man, it seemed like they would do the same with the girl.

Instead of nodding right away, Bennett decided to ask a few questions. Because the statues that resembled them bothered him so much.He gripped the mirror shard. Soaked in blood, it showed Tara leaning back as if exhausted, looking at him. Seeing their eyes meet, she had the composure to wink, so it seemed that all the blood belonged to the zealots.

Bennett gestured for Tara to tell Joseph, then said,

“That story… can you tell us more about it? The sealing of the evil god.”

“Aha, it’s rare for guests to be interested in old tales. You’re in luck today. All these records are stories passed down from the prophet, Sally-nim.”

[…]

Reporter Sally. It seemed she had memorized the story of the three people and passed it on to others.

Joseph began to tell the story, nodding his head from side to side and singing it in a singsong voice, in rhythm. About the three warriors who had faced the evil god in the past.

“The warriors first destroyed the magic circle that was eating away at the land. The land, which would have become unable to conceive any life with the evil god’s descent, was able to grow and nurture plants thanks to them.”

[…Really?]

“The land that the evil god directly contaminated is still unable to be farmed. If it hadn’t been for the warriors’ efforts… we might all have starved to death.”

The actions that he had thought were a fatal failure had become the foundation for the future of mankind.

“Next, the warriors cut down the cult leader who was guiding the evil god’s descent. In the process, two of the warriors lost their lives… but thanks to their sacrifice, they were able to prevent the evil god from fully descending. “

Taking the cult leader’s life had opened up the opportunity for the future of mankind to continue.

And.

“Finally, Saint Tara-nim… after fighting for 3 days and giving her life, sealed the evil god away. Giving us the world.”

“…”

The things that will happen in the future. Tara’s struggle, which was happening in the present progressive tense, must also have some kind of meaning in the end.

Bennett clenched his fists.

Clenching his fists, unclenching them. Repeating that, he placed his hand on Niole’s head.

“Look, the things we did. It seems they weren’t meaningless after all.”

[…]

-⋯⋯⋯⋯.

Tara lowered her head slightly and wiped away her tears.

Niole collapsed on the spot, her legs giving out, and covered her face with both hands, crying silently and pitifully.

Regretting, and regretting again.

How nice it would be if she could turn back time and write a proper story once more. How much she had regretted it. How much she had cut herself down to bear the things she had not been able to save.

But now, after checking what had been left in her grasp at the end of that desperate resistance, which she had been too busy floundering in pain to check.

“If there was… meaning in all the suffering we went through. Niole.”

Would there be no more need to be in pain?

Niole remembered the evil god’s clever words. The sharp razor that had cut into her mind. However, if their actions had been gradually bringing forth flowers. The evil god’s mockery would take on a different meaning.

The evil god had been afraid.

Those interferences had all been signs of fear.

Desperately, please, begging to be broken. Begging to stop resisting now. If that was the case. If that was the case.

“…There’s only one last step left. The bastard was cornered. We became a threat to it. Tara, Niole.”

[…Yes.]

-Yes.

Let’s finish it. So that we can shake off all these wounds.

—- —-

Niole began to explain with her eyes red and swollen.

[The Outer God’s body is not bound by the time of past-present-future. It exists across all of spacetime. The Outer God that Tara of the past will face and the sealed Outer God that we will face are essentially the same entity. ]-What does that mean?

“Whether it’s damage done in the past or the future, it’s all applied together.”

-…Can you explain it a bit more simply?

Tara had a hard time understanding the concept of the shared HP of the foreign god. However, understanding it wasn’t important, so Bennett explained the more important part of the plan.

“It means that you and we can fight together. According to Joseph’s words, it seems that the future where you seal the foreign god has already been decided. However, that’s just semantics. It doesn’t sit well with me. I can’ t just stand by and watch you sacrifice yourself.”

[It’s a two-front war between the past and the future.]

“So, we’ll help you. We’ll support the past through the changed future, creating a virtuous cycle. The first goal is to seal the evil god without you sacrificing yourself. And the ultimate goal is…”

Tara’s actions changed the future immediately. And the Bennett and Niole of the future were able to help Tara. It’s a ring of virtuous cycles that continues indefinitely. If we repeat this and increase our gains.

Perhaps we can do more than just seal the evil god──.

[Killing the foreign god.]

──We might be able to kill it, the judged group.