Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume2 Phase03 (section)

===Part 3===

That was no mere roar.

It was no mere scream.

It may have sounded that way to human ears, but in the vocal range of a Mermaid, there was more to it. Teleria Nereid Aquamarine clearly heard her aquatic mother’s voice as she lay slumped down on the deck.

The bloody rain covered everything around her.

Her own mother’s red blood poured down on her head.

It was too late. She could tell that much already. The wound was too large and the blood loss too great for a human-sized sorcery gun’s recovery magic to even make a dent in it.

“I am…fine, Teleria.”

Her mother’s voice was scratchy and oddly distorted but still as kind as ever.

“As long as I avoid a hit to my core…as long as I shift the point of impact elsewhere, I can survive this. So do not cry. Do that and your sweetheart will notice something is up.”

That could not be true.

In no world was she fine.

For one thing, what mother would tell her child she was not fine and ask for help?

“I have some trouble moving, so I had a hard time searching out what was happening behind the scenes on the island. I had hoped you would cause them enough trouble for them to make a mistake so I could strike. Ta ha ha. I never imagined you were enough of a tomboy to go rushing into the center of the danger yourself. Maybe this is what I get for trying to manipulate my own daughter like that…”

The explosive cannon blasts continued.

They were truly from right in front of her nose, at point-blank range, but even as she was intermittently shaken, Fleurelisia did not go in for the kill. She could have easily reached out and ended this, but she chose not to. She was further and further battered by the splinters and shards of the ship and by the massive artillery shells.

Would it be the warship’s main cannons or the Water Lord’s ice?

All of a sudden, Teleria noticed her constant companion was standing in front of her while she lay collapsed on the deck. He held his Linkage Plug sword at the ready to protect her.

“What a lovely boy,” whispered Fleurelisia in response to his misguided hostility even as she was hit by more cannon blasts. “Teleria, do not let him get away. Isn’t that the happiness you found for yourself? So wipe away those tears and keep a stiff upper lip. You still have time before he turns around, so hurry.”

Teleria shook her head.

She could not say anything out loud, but she shook her head as hard as she could.

If Fleurelisia had only wanted to survive, she could have let the islanders die. Especially since they had been trying to achieve a loathsome sort of stability by sacrificing her. Or she could have recalled her position in the world for a just a moment and attacked the ship, giving up on the girl who wore a Mimic Option to hide what she had inherited from her mother.

But she did neither.

“I cannot.” She spoke firmly. “A mother can never do that in front of her precious daughter.”

That was what pushed the girl beyond her limit.

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“No.”

Her throat shook on its own despite her attempts to suppress her voice.

She was in tears and collapsed on the deck, but she just could not keep it up.

She could not continue with that silly act.

“No!! Don’t…don’t do this to me!!!!!”

Crying like a child throwing a tantrum, she pulled the trigger of her sorcery guns. Blue muzzle flashes shined and empty cartridges littered the deck. She knew this would accomplish nothing, but she still fired her recovery magic.

That was when it all fell apart.

Her world was shattered.

She found Ayato Criminaltrophy had turned her way with his drawn sword in hand. In that moment, the meaning of that protective sword changed.

He had seen her.

He had seen the truth.

No matter what they had been through together, he was a human and she was a demon.

“Miss Teleria.”

“Ahh.”

She was trembling too much to move.

Strength left her uncooperative fingers and her twin sorcery guns with long magazines fell to the deck.

She thought he might kill her here.

She vaguely thought that might be her punishment for lying to the partner she relied on and abandoning her family for self-preservation.

“I want to know one thing for certain, Miss Teleria. I want to hear it directly from you.”

“Ahh, I…I am Fleur-”

“Not that.”

But what he said made no sense.

What else could he be talking about?

“Right now, whatever connection you have to that Four Lord is irrelevant. If you do not want to tell me, I will not pry. What I want to know is nothing so trivial. I just want to hear your answer to the most important question here.”

“What – sob – what’s that?”

“''The usual.''” The black-haired boy pointed his empty hand’s thumb toward the giant dying form behind him. “''If I save her, will it bring a smile to your face? As long as I know that, nothing else matters.''”

Time truly seemed to stop for Teleria as tears and snot stained her face.

It did not matter if she was human or demon.

It did not even matter if they were talking about one of the Four Lords. He did not care what secrets she kept. His decision was based on just the one factor: would it or would it not stop her tears and bring back her smile.

Could she rely on him?

Would he not brush off her hand?

“(Don’t worry.)”

Mamilis whispered in her ear while gently supporting her from behind.

She did not provide some lovely ideal or comfort.

She stated only cold, hard facts.

“(Coach rescued a Dark Elf like me in the sky city. He knew I was a demon and didn’t care. So he won’t reject your plea for help. No matter what.)”

She hung her head.

She bit her lip.

“…Yes.”

And she looked up again. She was still collapsed on the deck and she did not bother wiping away her tears, but she raised her voice with real power behind it this time.

“Yes…please save her, Ayato. Save that Four Lord! Save Fleurelisia!!!!!”