What Lies Beneath Desire
Ugh! Argh...!
Ah, she's back to her normal form!
I knew it... That huge Voidborn-like form was nothing but a hallucination, too.
What she could offer people, and what she had herself...
She was nothing but an illusion through and through.
Grr...!
You...
Just what are you...?
There's no such thing... as a person without desire...
Muttering in a cracked voice, the magician seemed to have already lost the will to fight.
Agreed. We have no time to waste.
We need to get somewhere else and sell this chocolate before Valentine's Day is over!
What kind of trouble are you planning to stir up now? Absolutely not!
Why not?! Do you expect me to just throw away such a promising product?
Every time you start a business, you end up causing trouble!
Surely you've learned your lesson about keeping your desires in check!
Ahem! Yes, of course I have.
And to that end, Captain, from now on you'll be joining me in—
You're coming back with me! Quietly! Right now! Understood?!
Ugh... Nag, nag...
I watched Charlotte and Frey bicker, taking my eyes off the magician for just a moment...
Disgusting...
Coddling those disgusting creatures without knowing a thing...!
Me... a woman who's nothing but an illusion...?!
?!
In that instant, a terrifying chill crept up from my ankle.
I looked down to see the magician's outstretched hand gripping my ankle.
You bunch of phonieees!!
In an instant, the magician closed in until her face was right in front of mine.
Her white mask, which she'd worn the entire time, now cast aside...
If you still can't take off that disgusting mask...!
Then I'll! Tear it off for you!!
The magician's eyes, tinged a grotesque color, filled my vision.
Charlotte's and Frey's voices calling my name grew faint, as if coming from far away...
...
Is this it...? The source of his desires...
...What? Why is it so empty? Is he really a man with so little desire?
No, no, no! That can't be, it can't be!
Right, he must really be that good at keeping his desires in check.
With it this empty, no wonder my illusions don't work on him.
But...
But even if there are people who keep their desires in check, there's no such thing as a person without desire!
If there's even the tiniest desire, I'll blow it up to enormous proportions...!
Once I can make this man do whatever I want...
It'll take more time, but once again, the whole world will show its true—
*Rumble!*
?! What's this? The space is shaking...
Damn it, where... Where is it...?!
Deeper... If I go even deeper...!
Yes, this is it! Here! I can feel it right here! Ahaha! Ahahaha!
Where, where, where? What kind of desire could it be? Hmm?
Show me your true desire, Captain... Show m—
...Hm?
Wh... What... is this...?
Eek? Eeeeek?!
No no no no no no!!
This can't be real no way it's a lie nothing like this could ever—
S-Stop! I'm sorry! It was my fault! Stop! Eeeeeek!
You, just what are you...! What did you want?! Eeeek!!
Ah! Ahh! Aaagh?!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!
*Zzzt*
...
As my consciousness gradually cleared, an inexplicable pain washed over me.
As if someone had been rummaging around inside my head...
Ow, ow, ow...
Ah! You're awake!
Captain! Are you with us?!
Do you remember who we are?
Charlotte... Frey...
You two look...
*Sniffle*... Captain! I'm so glad you're all right!
You suddenly went blank and collapsed. We were terribly worried.
Thanks. But...
Why are you sitting on top of me, Frey?
Ah...
That's...
...
It's a long story.
...And why do my cheeks hurt so much?
Ehehe, well... Lady Frey said we'd need some physical impact to wake you up...
Charlotte! You can't just tattle like that!
So, Frey, you...
...Yes. I sat on top of you and pulled on your cheeks until you woke up.
But I absolutely, absolutely did not touch you anywhere else!
I wasn't suspecting anything, though...
All around us, people who had collapsed were getting up one by one.
They looked around in bewilderment, as if they'd just woken from the hallucination.
Then let's get out of here before the guards figure out what's happened.
If we stay any longer, things will get complicated.
Hmm, you're right...
Then what should we do about her?
About her...
A short distance away, the magician who had attacked me lay crumpled on the floor, trembling.
I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry...
It was my fault it was my fault it was my fault...
Please stop showing me please stop showing me please just stop...
Actually, when you collapsed earlier, Captain, she collapsed too...
And she's been like that ever since.
Hmm, that's what becomes of someone who peeks into other people's hearts as she pleases.
Part of me would like to just leave her here, but...
Still... shouldn't we take her to a hospital?
Leave her to me.
...From behind me came a familiar mechanical whir.