Monster - Chapter 44
Chapter 44: Some Stories
After lunch, Lou saw that it was still early. She had Wang Lirou help her with her makeup again, transforming her into a student, and prepared to go find Aphra.
"Are you going now? Isn't this a bit sudden?" Miu the crow, understanding what Lou was planning, asked with some surprise.
It had previously guessed that the cause of monsterization was related to human emotions. Mira and Aphra, whom Lou had met by chance on the bus, were stepsisters, and Aphra was in a strange state, somewhere between human and monster.
Since arriving in Leviathan, they hadn't seen any monsters in an intermediate state, yet Aphra seemed to be constantly struggling between being human and monster. She herself might not have noticed, but in the eyes of Lou and Miu, one moment she would lose her facial features like a monster in its initial stage, and the next she would return to her human form. It was as if someone was taking an eraser to Aphra's face, only for her to make her features grow back again.
"Haven't we already spoken with the organizer of Glory Road? We're supposed to collect information, and she'll analyze the reasons why people mutate into monsters."
"Then why didn't you do anything before? Why are you suddenly taking action right after getting off the phone with Lin Sandie this morning?" Miu confronted Lou.
"Because I have a feeling Lin Sandie and I will be meeting soon. I need to gather some information for her," Lou replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I'll find Aphra this afternoon, and tonight I'll check out that villa she mentioned on the phone. I'll try to get it all done today."
"Are you completing the Main God's mission or trying to please Lin Sandie?" Otherwise, she wouldn't have spent the last few days lazing around at home like a deadbeat, playing with that rabbit doll.
"Lin Sandie seems terrified of becoming a monster. Giving her this information first can help her avoid some risks."
"...Aren't you treating Lin Sandie a little too specially?"
Hearing Miu's question, Lou thought back and had to agree that some of her attitudes toward Lin Sandie seemed different from her usual self. But the doubt was fleeting. Lou had always been the type to do whatever she wanted. Right now, she just wanted to do something for Lin Sandie, and it didn't conflict with her mission anyway.
"Because she looks just like me," Lou explained dismissively.
After changing her appearance and confirming a few details, Lou went with Miu to Center City's No. 8 Middle School, where Aphra and Mira attended.
"Sir, my little sister forgot her keys, so I'm here to drop them off for her." Lou's smile was bright and refreshing as she dangled the keys in her hand for the security guard at No. 8 to see.
"You're from Yuhai High School? Don't you have classes?" Perhaps it was Lou's naturally likable face, but the guard smiled and opened the gate, pushing the registration book toward her.
"It's our school festival today, so I just need to drop off the keys and head back," Lou answered the guard's question without much thought, casually writing "Lin Yidie" in the registration book.
"Which class is your sister in?"
"Aphra Hall, from Class 3, second year." She pushed the completed book back to the guard, who glanced down at it.
"Nice handwriting. Go on in. You still have some time before the first afternoon class."
Of course it was nice. During missions, language and script were automatically converted to the most standard local forms.
As Lou thought this, she maintained her smile and casually asked, "What time does the first afternoon class start here?"
"Two-thirty. Yours doesn't?"
Shrugging, Lou smiled and said goodbye to the guard, then stepped onto Aphra's school campus.
"Have you ever been to school?" After Lou entered the school, Miu transformed into a crow and began using its "Island" to scan for Aphra's location, chatting idly with Lou.
It was lunchtime, and many students who weren't napping were active outside. They cast curious glances at Lou, who was wearing a different uniform.
"I have, during missions." Lou glanced at the black digital watch on her wrist. There were still over forty minutes until the first class, enough time for her to ask Aphra a few things.
"What about when you were first learning?"
"My first partner was my private tutor." A smile touched Lou's lips, her pale eyes filled with warmth and longing.
"Then that person must have had a lot of patience. Who was it?" Miu sincerely offered its highest respect to that unknown colleague. To be able to teach this Dark Sentinel how to read and write, they must have been an incredible person.
"A Guide codenamed Little Rabbit. Have you heard of her? After I left the initial world, I searched through all the Guide records, but she wasn't registered..." At this, even the usually confident and cheerful Lou couldn't help but sigh softly.
"Little Rabbit..." Miu thought of Lou's unusual fixation on rabbit-related items. "I've never heard of a Guide with that codename. Could she have died? ...Oh, no, even if she died, there would be a record."
Lou didn't answer, merely walking slowly toward the academic building.
"Who assigned you the mission back then?"
"Pie."
"The Main God assigned it personally? That's a bit strange." Unless it was a matter of great importance, the Main God rarely assigned missions in the Tower Worlds personally. Usually, they were distributed to the Sentinel and Guide teams by divine officials. It was even rarer for someone to receive an offer from the Main God while still in the initial world.
Take their current mission in Leviathan, for example. The situation here had become so severe that the world was on the brink of collapse. Only after investigating did the Main God personally assign them the task.
Perhaps Pie had seen this Dark Sentinel's extraordinary potential even back then? Miu speculated on this possibility. Since the Main God Pie's domain was related to time and space, it was normal for Her to foresee parts of the future.
"Have you ever asked the Main God Pie about this Guide?"
"Mom said we are saving a dead person. She said it's very difficult to save someone who has died."
"...And then?" Seeing that Lou had stopped after that sentence, Miu was completely baffled.
"There is no 'and then.' Mom wouldn't say any more, not even when I threatened to kill myself. She even said that if I died, I'd really never see Little Rabbit again. Isn't that super unfair?"
"I just think you two have a pretty good mother-daughter relationship..." Miu's eyes twitched with envy. This idiot Sentinel had actually threatened a god. The fact that she wasn't ground into dust was a testament to Pie's boundless motherly love.
"Did She say where Little Rabbit went, or when you'd be able to see her?"
"Nope. Just that the time is not yet ripe!" Lou swung her fist in frustration.
"Hmm..." Miu felt that Pie was being a bit unfair on this point. After all, separating a Sentinel and a Guide while they were both still alive was a cruel thing to do. "I remember that Pie also holds a portion of authority over fate. Perhaps the timing really isn't right yet."
Not daring to speak ill of a god, Miu could only try to comfort Lou.
"Go left. Aphra is in the building behind this one, on the third floor." Having found Aphra's location, Miu prompted Lou.
"Where's Mira?"
"Mira is in the classroom chatting with others. Aphra is on the balcony, looking at the scenery."
Lou nodded and, following Miu's directions, arrived at the base of Aphra's building. Looking up, she saw Aphra leaning against the balcony railing, lost in thought.
"Aphra!" Lou called out.
Aphra looked down and saw Lin Yidie from Yuhai High School, the person Mira had been talking about frequently for the past two days. Her expressionless face immediately turned a few shades colder. Lin Yidie was very good-looking, lively and cheerful, but she still disliked this dangerous boy. Besides, she didn't believe this person was really her age.
"What is it?" Aphra asked. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you! Coming down? I'll buy you a milk tea."
"How strange. She doesn't seem afraid of you anymore, even though she saw you kill someone. Is it because of the monster's emotional state?" Miu was a little confused.
"It's harder to talk when someone is too scared," Lou replied to Miu's question on the "team channel."
Aphra pursed her lips. Looking at the brightly smiling youth below, she sighed and turned to go down the stairs. Of course, she didn't bother to alert Mira, who was busy joking around with her friends.
"What do you want? How come you haven't been arrested yet?" Aphra's tone was extremely cold.
"Whoa~ I saw it coming. You're actually a girl with a really sharp tongue."
Aphra said nothing.
"I have a homework assignment, and I need your help. May I ask, are you in love with Mira?"
"None of your business," Aphra replied, her attitude icy and aloof.
Lou glared at her. "We can't talk like this."
"That's because you're too direct! Can't you be a little more tactful?" Miu was speechless.
"Such a bad attitude," Lou said, slinging an arm directly around Aphra's shoulders. "You need to calm down now. Let your big sis treat you to some milk tea. Let's go."
"Don't touch me!" Aphra tried to shrug off Lou's hand in disgust, but she froze the next second. "'Sister'?"
Aphra reached out and touched Lou's chest. Before Lou could say anything, Aphra snatched her hand back as if she'd been burned, her face flushing red as she pushed Lou away.
"You—you're a woman?" Aphra stared at Lou in utter shock.
"...Shouldn't I be the one who's shocked?" Lou couldn't help but retort, seeing the other girl look so frightened after copping a feel.
"Sorry, I didn't, I didn't mean to, um, I didn't mean to touch you... I, I thought you were joking." As Aphra spoke, her voice trailed off.
Watching Aphra suddenly transform, apologizing with a face so red it looked like it might drip blood, as if Lou were the first member of the opposite sex she'd ever met.
Lou propped her hands on her knees, leaned down to look at her face, and asked with a grin, "Are you completely hopeless when it comes to girls?"
"Because, because, I, um..." Aphra suddenly remembered grabbing Lou's clothes in the haunted house at the amusement park out of fear, pulling so hard that Lou had yelped.
That was just so improper.
"You only have feelings for girls?"
"Y-yes."
"Me too! Then we should have a lot to talk about~" Lou smiled, straightened up, and put her arm around Aphra again. "It's perfectly normal to only have feelings for other girls. It's okay~"
"But, isn't that being a pervert?"
"So what if it is?" The two walked toward the school's snack shop. "It's no big deal."
"Uh... you should probably let go. It wouldn't be good if a teacher saw."
"Oh, right. But I still want to ask about you and Mira. If you want to know why, I can tell you. I think you're in a very dangerous state right now." Lou released Aphra's shoulder.
"What dangerous state? Does it have to do with Mira?"
"Perhaps. If it's not handled well, she might be in danger too." Lou wasn't just fearmongering. If Aphra really turned into a monster, she could very well harm Mira.
"Mira sees you. She looks a little angry," Miu, who had been keeping an eye on their surroundings, suddenly said.
The corners of Lou's mouth lifted. She reached out and brushed Aphra's bangs. "Huh, looks like you got something dirty in your hair?"
"What?" Aphra was a bit slow to react.
"Okay, the expression on Mira's face is even richer now. Barring the possibility that she fell for you at first sight, Aphra's feelings probably aren't unrequited," Miu continued its live report for Lou on the "team channel."
"Then I guess I did a good deed," Lou said to Miu.
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