230 – 230 – Summer. festival. Fireworks #5
230 – Summer. festival. Fireworks #5
All games have rules.
Although the number and content of the rules vary depending on the type of game.
The big premise is that games have rules—they never change.
At least there were rules for children’s pranks and games.
For example, when you shout ‘ice’, it’s like the tagger can’t catch it.
Why do games and games need rules?
For fair and equitable play?
No, there might be a reason for that, but I thought it was not the ‘essence’ to the end.
In my opinion, the reason why games and games have rules is simple.
Because that’s more fun.
The reason other than that is actually just a law that attaches according to necessity.
Ludens, which claims to be a playground for these gods, also had several rules.
That rule makes Ludens a more lively place.
But.
On the one hand, those rules made Ludens Island the harshest and most ruthless place.
“Mue… .”
rustle.
At that time, the blanket was shaken.
The girl who was sleeping curled up in the futon opens her eyes.
She blinked her emerald-colored eyes, and then Betsy smiled.
“Oh, I fell asleep. eight o’clock… !? I overslept again… . Because I keep sleeping late these days. hehehe… .”
Nike seemed ashamed that he hadn’t been able to go to bed early yesterday and only woke up at 8 o’clock this morning.
“Mi-in, they say she sleeps a lot… . Do you want to become prettier if you sleep a lot?”
It was Nike who folded the futon while making a joke to whom he was speaking.
I said to Nike.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. It was the day I had to watch Viktor from the side yesterday. I stopped falling asleep I’ve been sleepy a lot these days.”
The sight of him yawning with his mouth wide open made it seem that his drowsiness hadn’t gone away yet.
I ask.
“Do you remember what happened yesterday?”
“What happened yesterday? I think I just said something pretty nasty to Miss Victoria… . Actually, I was a little excited, so I can’t remember exactly what I said… .”
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Judging by the way he rubbed his index fingers together, it seemed that yesterday, in many ways, his emotions were raging.
Originally, when you’re excited, you just say things that aren’t even in your mind.
That’s why you have to be more careful with your words when you’re excited.
That doesn’t mean don’t get angry.
Humans get sick just by hoarding things.
That’s why it’s so important to get angry right.
To the point where I wonder if it should be taught at school.
When I thought about why people don’t teach me ‘how to lose my temper’, Nike said.
“I feel sorry for Miss Victoria, but… . I have no regrets though. I’ve said everything I wanted to say I actually have a few more words left, but still… .”
Nike hesitates somewhere even after he says it.
Nike immediately washed her face with the water I had scooped up and wiped her wet pink cheeks with a towel.
It was a natural attitude.
It seems to smell good too.
I must have washed my face with the same soap as mine in my club room, but the scent could be different.
“therefore… . What happened to Miss Victoria? I’m suddenly very sleepy… . I don’t remember very well. Miss Victoria are you mad at me?”
Nike seemed to be wondering what happened after she fell asleep.
All I can say here is this much.
“Nike, do you remember what happened when you were little?”
“My childhood?”
“It was when I lived in the city of flowers. Memories before the great war.”
“A city of flowers… . To be honest, I seem to remember it sparsely. I don’t remember the details, but… . I used to run and play with the kids.”
“In addition?”
“In addition? My father bought me a puppy. Actually, no matter how I looked at it, it was not a dog, but a raccoon. Still, he was a good kid who listened well. miss you.”
“In addition?”
“In addition?”
Nike looked at my face at my question.
Then he tilted his head and said, “Hmm.” He put his index finger to his lips and seemed to be lost in thought.
“Well… . did you have a birthday party I think it was my fifth birthday. I had my father and my father’s friends. But, I don’t really remember.”
“yes?”
“Before the age of five, I honestly don’t remember. Is it just me? I definitely remember it from about the age of seven. Because I lived in the forest back then. It was really hard every day… !”
It was only natural that Nike sparsely remembered his childhood.
I also have sparse memories before I was seven years old, before I went to kindergarten.
For example, when I was very young, I went to a toy store holding my mother’s hand, but I don’t remember if that was when I was six or four.
I just want to be down there.
The sequence of memories is also jumbled.
Could Nike be the same?
However, the answer I wanted to hear was different.
“Come to think of it, Nike, you said you were very sick when you were little, right?”
“… … .”
Nike’s expression darkened as he was brushing his teeth.
Soon, Nike said that he was rinsing his mouth.
“right. Actually, I don’t remember well at the time, but I was sick when I was young. I have a lot of memories of lying in bed.”
“is it.”
“Of course, I’m healthy enough to climb a tree right now like a squirrel!”
Certainly Nike was healthy now.
It reminds me of children running around with nets in summer.
“Victor, then you have to work hard today!”
“No, you can rest today. Nike. I will rest too. I have to go to the bank too. I also have other things to do.”
“yes? Shall we go together?”
“no. Okay. I will go alone today.”
“yes.”
Nike blinked.
* * *
Luden’s banking takes a long time.
I don’t have a computer.
Although there is a computer-like magic engineering calculator or something.
Still, it was a place with an analog feel, so waiting for your turn and reporting on work would make you late.
Ding dong.
“The person on the waiting list for number 476.”
Is it finally my turn
I simply paid off the principal and interest.
“You now have 40 million Renées left. Thank you for your steady debt repayment. Then, I guess I will have to prepare for the work after completion. This new installment savings product… .”
“No, I will do that later. Rather, I want to get some loans.”
“A loan? Another debt from debts that are being paid off?”
“… After all, it would be good to talk about this a little later.”
I left the bank leaving behind the teller who wanted to make a lot of noise.
The place I’m heading to is the church.
“Is there a torneo?”
The church on weekdays is quite quiet.
That’s why I was able to easily meet with Priest Torneo.
“This is Viktor-kun. For what?”
“There is something I want to ask you.”
“If there is anything I can tell you, I will tell you.”
The drawing room of the sanctuary where the sun is shining.
I sat down in a chair and asked Priest Torneo a simple question.
“Do you know anything about the sacrament of cessation?”
“… … .”
“what?”
Torneo’s expression was subtle, so when I asked back, he shook his head.
“No, no. Because I didn’t expect to ask questions about the sacraments. Say goodbye… . To put it simply, it is a sacrament performed for those who are seriously ill and sick.”
“is it.”
“But… However, most of the sacrament of final burial is performed before death. It must feel like preparing for death. That is why denominations these days do not use the word cessation.”
“i get it.”
It was as I knew.
The fact that the sacrament of finale was performed means that someone was in a critical situation or was on the verge of death.
There may be cases of miraculous recovery through the sacrament, but it must be like a ‘miracle’ in the literal sense.
“Come to think of it, I heard that the Seonghwangcheong had dispatched people. It seems that the time has come for the priests of the Genesis Society to act as well. Hopefully it will be fun.”
While listening to the meaningful story of Torneo, I left the cathedral.
In my pocket is the paper I received from Victoria yesterday.
「The Diary of the Sacrament of Endings
Priest in charge: Rufus the Great
Participant: Nike Wildrose and 5 others
Date: 00/00
Place: Flower Palace」
Nike Wildrose.
According to this document, Nike seems to have received the sacrament of ancestry from the church as a child.
It must mean that the disease he suffered from as a child was critical.
In a world where even fatal wounds with holes in the body can be healed with magic, the daughter of a ducal family, who is said to be able to make stars fall from the sky, fell ill.
It must have been that there was no way to go other than ‘death’.
It must have been a disease with no cure or solution.
“Nike is dead. maybe.”
This is my conclusion.
“But for some reason you survived?”
For some reason, it is probably a taboo.
That would be the case, because the most important rule that even the gods had to abide by in this Ludens was that ‘the dead must not come back to life’.
Even in the game “D&A” I played countless times, I couldn’t bring back a dead party member.
No matter what you do, dead characters don’t come back.
If you want to make a party with dead characters, you have to reset and start over.
that’s the rule.
But what if Nike broke it?
It would definitely be better to describe it as irregular.
Not ordinary.
Everyone will wonder how.
“There must be as many people as there are desires to bring the dead back to life.”
The reason why ducal families waged war against each other.
And, the reason why Cain and Balak were interested in keeping Nike alive… .
All the incidents seem to come down to what happened to Nike Wildrose in the end.
As Victoria put it, “If all of this is happening because of Nike… ?” is not a very wrong story.
“You’re more serious than you think.”
Is this the DLC progression?
Thinking so, I came to admire the fact that the story, which I thought would be light with a heroine like a pink rabbit, is heavier than I thought.
“Certainly, the age of gamers has risen.”
The kids who played D&A since childhood are now all old like me.
It would be good to say that the content of the game has also evolved seriously.
“If it is natural, then it is natural.”
The end of a vast story spanning 10 years.
It seemed perfect as a story to tie all the contents together and see the ending.
“After all, Nike, Victoria, and Enio were all entangled in what happened that day in the Flower City.”
Events and people that were thought to be completely unrelated are brought together.
There, I was rather moved.
It felt like the tangle of complicated events was actually a single string, and if I pulled it, it would finally unravel.
Although, I am worried that the relationship between Nike and Victoria seems to be strangely out of sync these days. It seemed at first glance that he knew how to reconcile the two.
“It just happens to be a summer festival.”