Chapter 25: Neily’s Letter
Bai quickly retrieved her tail from Victoria’s grasp, clutching it to her chest, her face flushed.
This strange, new appendage, like her ears, was incredibly sensitive.
It was a natural defense mechanism.
The Dream Demons, with their immense power over dreams, were practically omnipotent in their own dream worlds.
But their physical bodies were incredibly fragile, a mass of weaknesses. A Calamity Class Dream Demon could easily be defeated by a Destruction Class human in a direct confrontation.
…Of course, with their dream world as a shield, a direct confrontation was rarely an option.
“…Wait,” Bai’s voice trembled slightly. “Are… are you all real…? Not just… illusions?”
“Real? Fake? What are you talking about?” Victoria asked, confused, then stood up, dusting herself off. “Commander, we recognized you the moment we saw you, even though you look completely different.”
“But to think you’d doubt us… it’s heartbreaking! Heartbreaking!”
“No… I mean, aren’t you just figments of my imagination?” Bai frowned. Her comrades seemed too real, so real it felt… fake.
“Ah, I don’t know about that,” Victoria said, a troubled look on her face. “I remember dying, and then I was here. I didn’t even have time to look around before I saw you.”
Lockner and Rayne, standing a short distance away, nodded in agreement.
In the final battle at Saint Noyes, knowing escape was impossible, they had fought with everything they had, not even realizing they were on the verge of death.
So, their memories of that time were hazy.
“Commander, I don’t think we’re your illusions,” Qin Su said, her voice calm. She pointed to her head. “My memories are complete. I remember things you couldn’t possibly know. That alone should prove I’m not your creation.”
“Me too,” Victoria said, her eyes widening in surprise as she thought back.
“Mm-hmm…” Rayne and Lockner nodded again, like bobbleheads.
“In that case, how are you, who are supposed to be dead, here?” Bai asked, her brow furrowed, her hand unconsciously stroking her large tail, then, with a jolt, she quickly let go.
“Where are we?” Qin Su asked, looking around at the familiar scenery.
“My dream,” Bai replied, a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Huh… so, Commander, are you still alive out there?” Victoria asked, crouching down beside Bai, her eyes wide with curiosity.
“Yes,” Bai nodded.
“And do you look like this out there too?” Victoria asked, blinking.
Bai looked away, a faint blush on her cheeks. “Yes,” she mumbled.
To have her former comrades see her in this… embarrassing form… even the silver-haired little girl was better than this pink-haired, beast-eared one!
“Then why aren’t you speaking?” Victoria asked, moving to face her again. “I’m curious, Commander!”
Bai’s lips hadn’t moved since they had arrived; she had been speaking with her dream body.
“…No comment,” she said, lowering her head, though her ears were now a bright red.
“Ah, I always thought the Commander’s cold, quiet demeanor was so cute. And now that she’s a little girl, she’s even cuter!” Victoria said, ruffling Bai’s pink hair, a mischievous smile on her face.
“Commander, are you reincarnated, or have you possessed someone?” Qin Su asked, using terms she had read in novels.
—This sword-obsessed warrior was also a major novel enthusiast. If she could ever leave this dream, she and Eleanor would have a lot to talk about.
“No, actually, this is my true form…” Bai said, scratching her head, a habit she had picked up from Eleanor. “My previous form was just a disguise.”
In reality, Sister Neily had created a dream illusion that had affected the real world. Although she had appeared as a young man, her true form had always been the silver-haired little girl.
“A little girl’s heart in an old man’s body?” Victoria stroked her chin. “No, a little girl’s heart in a young man’s body. No, wait, the Commander is a real little girl, and a fake young man… can she even be called a little girl?”
“I think so,” Qin Su said, her tone flat.
“…According to a certain elf’s definition of a little girl, I don’t qualify,” Bai said, referring to Eleanor.
Then, realizing she was getting off track, she quickly changed the subject. “So, do you feel any different now?”
“Not really,” Rayne, the most straightforward of the group, said, swinging his sword and tapping his armor. “Same as before.”
With that, Victoria gave up her discussion of little girls and, with a whirring sound, assembled her pulse cannon, firing a shot into the forest.
With a loud boom, a line of trees was instantly incinerated. “No difference.”
“This is strange…” Bai said, her head bowed in thought, her tail, as if with a will of its own, curling around her, and she absently began to stroke it.
Just then, she felt something hard in her tail. She reached in and pulled out a letter.
She looked at it, the elegant, familiar handwriting on the envelope.
“For Bai, from Neily.”
Sister Neily… left this for me?
Wait, why was this letter hidden in a tail she had never had before…?
“What’s that?” Victoria asked, leaning closer. Qin Su also craned her neck.
“Perhaps… I can finally find out why you’re all here,” Bai said, taking a deep breath and opening the strangely-placed envelope.
