This sight seems familiar.
"Are you alright!?"
"Yes, my apologies." Rachel wiped her mouth using her napkin.
Was Lucifer her dead brother or something? Why'd she react like that…?
While waiting for the nun to gain her composure back, Aria scratched her own head.
'Should I take that question back? Maybe the topic is sensitive…'
Before she could do so, Rachel opened the conversation. "It is nothing of importance. The name 'Lucifer' just brings back some memories, that was all."
Even though her action was a bit out of character, her face was still blank all the way through.
"...Right. Sorry, I didn't know."
Perhaps it was a bad memory, otherwise she wouldn't react like that…
It's quite hard trying to find something that could make Rachel react as hard as she did just now.
Last time the same thing happened, she had mentioned the Saint…
Could the two be connected somehow?
Rachel didn't respond but she could tell she had touched a sore spot.
Aria coughed into her fist, trying to chase away the awkward atmosphere.
"Anyways, I'm not going to delve too much into the reasons… but could you bring me to his castle?"
For a moment, it felt like the blind nun was scrutinizing her even while not looking in her general direction.
Suddenly, Aria felt nervous.
'Was this topic too much, after all? But I really needed to get as much help as possible.'
Rachel had been silent for a while. That was until her small voice muttered, "Understood."
Despite feeling guilty, Aria did rejoice at the nun's compliance.
"Thank you very much!"
Aria almost had to stop herself from throwing herself onto her disabled roommate.
It really seemed like Rachel was about to reject her idea, fortunately she didn't.
"Before we set out towards the castle, I am going to need to tell you about some rules."
"Rules?"
"Yes. Although most people should never have access to that place, you are an exception. Since you have been here multiple times already."
Aria tilts her head in confusion. She did? How come she doesn't remember this?
If so then doesn't that mean she had already met this 'Administrator'? Why haven't her rewards been claimed yet?
"First of all, beware of your mana circulation in the castle. Secondly, the moment you feel any discomfort, tell me in an instant. The final rule would be to close your eyes until the moment we arrive at the location."
Aria listens intently to Rachel's words.
Well, the first and second rule somewhat makes sense. From what she could make out, that place is probably dangerous. Quite simple stuff.
But the final rule doesn't seem like a rule at all.
Instead, it sounded like a request in her ears…
"As long as these rules are followed, I will bring you to his castle."
Even with some suspicions about the reasons for the rules, she doesn't really have a choice in this.
It's either following them or eventually becoming disabled.
The choice almost seemed obvious.
"I'll follow them like a baby chick following its mother!"
"..."
Was it her imagination? It sounded like a soft chuckle escaped Rachel's mouth.
—
Darkness.
That's all she sees.
It was like that time in her childhood when… Well, who cares about her backstory anyways?
Aria was just feeling a bit ironic while she's being guided by a blind person since she had agreed to the rules.
But despite still feeling a bit weird about it, she had somewhat gotten used to them.
The way Rachel navigates, that is.
It almost seemed like she hadn't lost her sight at all. It felt like she had thought of this so many times before but it is not everyday you could see a blind person walk around normally without a guiding stick.
And now she's trusting her sight to a blind person.
Once again she repeats, ironic.
"Please do not mind the sudden feeling of restriction, I am just going to cast some defensive magic on you."
"Alright…"
Since Aria had already deduced the danger level of Lucifer's Castle, Rachel's words didn't surprise her at all.
But as she waited for any feeling of 'restriction', none came.
And she waited more.
A couple of minutes later, she finally built up enough anticipation to ask Rachel, "Are you done casting them yet?"
No answers came.
Aria thought of opening her eyes but decided against it since she had already promised to keep them closed.
So she just waited.
Suddenly, she felt like she was falling for a millisecond before her feet met the hard ground again.
"You can open your eyes now." Rachel voiced out.
Aria opened her eyes as she immediately recognized their location.
"This is…"
"Yes, you have been here twice."
The place was familiar. Of course it would be.
Both times she had escaped death's clutches, she found herself lying on the ground in this exact location.
"So this is Lucifer's Castle…?"
Rachel didn't respond but she immediately walked towards the throne erected in a vast space.
The sword she had seen before was still embedded into the throne.
But instead of stopping in front of the throne, she went past it and stopped in front of the gravestone, forming a praying gesture using her hands as her head tilted downwards.
Aria stared for a little bit before frantically realizing that she had arrived at the location where the 'Administrator' should be.
She looked around.
There are no signs of life other than the two of them. This abandoned castle looked like it had been reclaimed by nature almost hundreds of years ago.
Click
And the world stopped.
The color disappeared as all beings ceased to move.
A familiar panel formed itself.
[Connection with the Administrator restored. Connecting the Administrator with subject '⬛'… Successful.]
[System shutting down.]
As she read the sentence forming in front of her, Aria panicked at the last sentence.
But it wouldn't last for long as a voice could suddenly be heard inside her head.
[Hello, hello? Is this thing connected yet?]
An androgynous voice. She really couldn't tell whether it was more feminine or masculine.
"Hello?"
[Ah, finally it's connected! Why did that take so long?!]
"..." Aria listened closely as the voice continued ranting for a bit.
[Phew… I was quite concerned that you'd be dead by now, fortunately the worst case hasn't happened yet.]
[With how long it took for me to finally connect to you, I really thought something had happened to you.]
[How long ago was it that you arrived here? Wait let me check... Ah right, ta couple of weeks? Thankfully it wasn't a full month...]
The voice was very energetic.
Though it felt wrong to interrupt, Aria thought she had to say something just so this voice would actually pay attention to her.
"Excuse me...?"
[Ah, my apologies! I forgot to welcome you when you first arrived in this world. Please don't hold any grudges, K?]
Aria's thoughts are muffled as she came up with a conjunction.
'Could this person be… the one that sent me here?'
[No no no no! Wait, wait!!! Listen up! I didn't send you here nor did I expect you to be here! It's just that certain… cases, caused you to end up here!]
The voice panicked as if being framed for a crime it didn't do.
Aria is once again feeling the sense of Deja vu.
[Yes… I can read your mind. But don't worry too much about it! I wouldn't delve too deep in there since I value my life very much!]
"Doesn't that mean you could read my memories too?"
[...Ehe]
Suddenly, she felt like punching air at this moment.
[A-ny-ways~ Let's do an introduction since this is our first meeting! I am the Administrator, Medina! Nice to meet you!]
Although Aria felt a bit puzzled by the voice's reactions, she still introduced herself politely.
"My name is Aria… Nice to meet you."
[Yes yes yes! Nice to meet you too! Hehehe…]
After a couple of back and forths between them introducing themselves, the main topic was finally brought up by Aria.
"So you're the administrator, right?"
[Yes, I indeed am!]
"In that case, can I claim my rewards from you?"
[That's right! You can entrust the rewards to me since I wouldn't be trying to hold you back! Unlike some other Administrators…]
Though the last sentence couldn't be heard, Aria still nodded her head.
"In that case, I would like to claim them right now."
[Sure thing! But first let me see what kind of achievements you've accumulated… Ah?]
A dumbfounded sound suddenly escaped from her head.
[What kind of achievements are these…?]
It sounded like she had seen something unbelievable.
Aria never interrupted as the Administrator continued talking to herself.
[Run away from 5 different types of monsters successfully…? Survive a 5600 celsius heat... And what is this…? AH!? You!]
Suddenly, Aria was called out by the Administrator.
Surprised, the canine pointed towards herself in a confused manner as if signaling her own confusion.
[Yes you! How did you meet up with Tiamat already!? Moreover, attracting their interest!?]
'Tiamat? Did they mean that bastard dragon that had toyed with me?'
If so then, yes. She did meet them.
The voice suddenly sounded deflated.
[Hah this is hopeless… is this one a failure too?]
Aria sweat dropped, scratching her own head as she doesn't know how to react to this situation.