I observed the golden apple from various angles. Well now. What weird thing did I just do?
Mana gathering and solidifying wasn't especially rare, since Earth and Metal elemental magic did that exact thing. But I'd never heard of any magic that created an apple. Anyway, I was flugel, so I couldn't use magic in the first place. Like, what use would a spell that creates an apple even be?
"Haruka, do you know what this is?"
"…"
"Haruka?"
When I asked Haruka about the apple, she brought out a strange name after some hesitation. "O-oh, right. I believe this would be the 'forbidden fruit.'"
Forbidden fruit? Like that whole thing with Adam and Eve and getting kicked out of paradise? Then I guess this thing makes you smarter? I should ask about it.
"So this is an INT-boosting item? We don't recognize it."
"Well, it will boost INT for sure, but… it's not exactly a stat-boosting item. Rather, it's an EXP item."
"Oh?"
"Ummm… I believe you've realized this, Naru, but unlike in the game, you don't absorb mana and get EXP just by participating in battle here. All the mana goes to the one who landed the last blow. On top of that, the efficiency is really bad. A person only ends up getting around 1/10th the mana of the opponent they killed."
"So that is why the average level has gone down so unnaturally these last one thousand years…"
All the strong people who were there one thousand years ago died. But I guess that wasn't all. There was another factor of it being hard to level up in the first place.
Actually, I probably should have noticed this sooner. Like, I should have started to figure things out when Cardin and the others didn't level at all while we were going up the Black Empress's Grave.
But Haruka continued on to deny my comment. "No, that's how it originally was. The entire system of the world didn't just suddenly change one thousand years ago. It's always been like this. This world wasn't meant to have several level 1000 people in it in the first place. It was that era one thousand years ago that was weird."
"Meaning that the average level right now is actually normal?"
"Yes. One thousand years ago, the average level wasn't much different from what it is now… until a certain event, that is. As far as I've been able to find out, it was said that humanity was doing well if at least ten or so people rose to over level 100."
"A certain event?"
"The rise of Lunaru Fenris… Basically, when you rose to power. That golden apple is the result of gathering up all the released mana without any loss. It gives an incomparable amount of EXP, or mana, over normal leveling. From what I can gather, you used this ability to raise humanity's levels all at once."
…I see. So I've misunderstood something fundamental again. I'd always thought that the average level of this world dropped unnaturally. But it's the opposite. One thousand years ago, the average level rose unnaturally. And I'm the cause of it all, which was why everything went back to normal when I disappeared.
Still, though. A forbidden fruit? That doesn't sound too good.
"According to legends, there used to be no mana in the world. The people of heaven descended upon Vanaheim, the mountain closest to heaven. They watched over the world, gathering up and cleaning all of its impurities. By concentrating the impurities, or mana, together, they created the forbidden fruit—a golden apple. One day, someone ate the forbidden fruit on a whim, causing that person's body to be suffused with mana. This led to their exile from Vanaheim and eventual transformation into a human…"
"What does that mean?"
"It's a myth that's told in this world. If you ask anyone, they'll tell you it's just a story, but it might actually be true," Haruka said, giving a pointed look down at the apple in my hand.
Oh. Yeah. Right. I have the apple right here.
"This apple, which pushes people up to levels they would normally never reach, is truly a forbidden fruit. There's probably no more troublesome ability for the Goddess than this. And you even used it to mass-produce powerful people, starting with the Seven Maidens of Midgar."
"…Hm…"
I tossed around the apple in my hand as I sunk into thought.
I guess it's finally time to admit it. My game knowledge isn't reliable. Well, I already knew that there would be some differences between the game and real life, but I still thought my knowledge would be pretty useful. But it never works when it counts the most. In fact, the more important the knowledge is, the further away my knowledge is from the truth. I feel like it's causing some really big misunderstandings. I'm sure I'm wrong about other things, too, as it is.
Well, I know one thing at least… There was a drink in the game you could buy with real money that would boost stats, and that certainly doesn't exist here.
"At any rate, this definitely isn't poisonous, right?"
"It's a lump of mana, so it's the most fearsome poison in the world to the flugels, given the chance that their child would be born with black wings."
Well, at least it's not actual poison, so eating it won't make you sick. But it's a powerful poison to the White Wings Faction, huh? I wonder how Wendy feels about it.
Wendy's wings were amazingly white. Even I thought they were pretty, and I didn't care about the color almost at all. They were such a surprisingly pure white that she could probably be the symbol of the entire White Wings Faction. Luckily, eating it wouldn't affect your own wings, just possibly your children's. Still though, I was hesitant to make her eat it. Even though it was just bits and pieces, I remembered parts of Naru's past, and I could definitely say that I didn't want to recreate that for someone else.
Instead of giving the apple to Wendy, I stored it within my cloak. I'll just hold on to it for now. I'm sure Wendy would want to avoid the possibility of her children being bullied, too. To be honest, I wanted to level her up if I could, but I didn't want to do it at the cost of her future.
"Capture!"
I captured the scorpion monsters that had survived my attack all at once. By doing so, I became their master, so their loyalty changed over to me. Monsters with high intelligence might still rebel, but as noted before, the scorpion monsters here were just killers that acted on instinct. As long as they were properly captured, they'd never doubt their orders.
Like that, the monsters became loyal to me and were obediently whisked away to the tower by Haruka and his Xgate. In exchange, the golems that had been teleported to safety before were returned to the battlefield.
Now all that's left is Anko.
I started walking in the direction of Anko, who was simply standing there staring at me.
"It's been a while, Anko. Have you forgotten us?"
"Lady… Naru…"
The outfit I had on right now was the light disguise given to me by Juvia. It didn't hide my face, and I had even made a grand entrance with the attack that had wiped out her scorpions. There was no way she wouldn't recognize me.
Anko was staring at me as if all the emotions had been drained out of her. But after a while, her purple lips tilted upwards, and her cherry-red tongue peeked out.
"There's no way I would. I've never forgotten you for a single second of a single minute of a single hour of a single day! I've been waiting and wishing to meet you again ever since I heard that you were alive. I've been waiting for this exact moment!"
"!"
Anko howled as she sent her tail-like braid at me. While I was surprised by the sudden attack, I managed to sway my upper body to the side and dodged.
"What is the meaning of this, Anko?"
"Heehee… Hahaha… Ever since that time… Ever since I lost you, I've regretted it. I thought, 'Ahh, why didn't I stop you? Why did I just let you head out onto such a dangerous battlefield?' I've always always alwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalways alwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalways regretted it! So I decided something."
Anko's cheeks flushed, and her eyes opened wide like those of a prostitute at her climax when she looked at me.
"If I ever got to see you again, I'd keep you for myself! Just for myself! I swore that I, Anko, would protect you alone! I'd catch you and tie you up and restrain you and shut you inside and hug you and keep you and protect you so that no one other than me could ever touch or hurt you! No one will touch you or wound you or look at you or even hear your voice. They'd never even hear from you. You'd be next to me and only me!"
"That's right. That's the best way to do things. Right? I mean, it's a mistake to let other trash even be near you, the world's most valuable treasure, in the first place. Just thinking about trash being able to lay eyes on you drives me crazy! I won't forgive them for being able to hear your voice, and I won't settle down until those who didn't know their place as they yearned for you die ten thousand times! I'll never show mercy to that trash that abused you, either! So I'll be the one to kill all your enemies, and I'll be the one to protect you from everything!"
"It'll all be fine, my dear Naru. You might feel inconvenienced at first, but I'll provide you with everything you need. You won't even need to lift a finger. I will watch over your food, sleep, exercise, entertainment, and provide everything you want. I won't let anyone take you away from me, and I won't let you fight anymore. I will pluck anything that would dare harm you from this world, whether that be the Seven Maidens of Midgar or the Grimm King or the Goddess or humanity or the grimmfolk or dragons or the ouroboroses! So please, wait in the love nest I've prepared for you until my work is done. Please, make your smile only for me—"
—Holy hell that's scary.
I turned away from Anko, who was even now spitting out words like a machine gun, screaming out her love for me, and looked over at Haruka.
Huh? Hey, was Anko always like this? Haruka looked pale, too, and she was giving me a look like she was demanding that I do something about Anko quickly. Wendy was spaced out, as if her soul had flown right out of her. She probably couldn't even process Anko's words anymore.
"—So… Please, come leap into my arms!" Anko finished her speech.
Ah, oh no.
She once again launched her hair that was bound together like a tail (whatever, let's just call it a tail from now on), and I managed to dodge it. But she sent a second strike right away.
Somehow, Anko managed to grow more hair, so now she had several tails attacking me.
Wai–What the hell is up with that hair?
"Tch!"
If I were alone, it'd be easy to dodge her attacks. Actually, I'd even be able to slip past her tails and close in without a problem. But I had Wendy, Haruka, and Jaune with me. While Jaune was tough and I could leave him to his own devices, Haruka and especially Wendy were very vulnerable.
I grabbed Haruka and Wendy's hands and leapt away, avoiding the attacks from all of Anko's tails. But that wasn't the end of it. Another attack came towards us…
"Acubens!"
Jaune suddenly came in swinging, which caused Anko's attack to miss as she went flying off into the distance. Looking down, I noticed that at some point, Jaune had equipped himself with half of a pair of scissors in each hand. He approached and stood over Anko.
"HAHAHA! YOU are as CRAZY as ever. It's actually comforting! But you know, Anko, ME the shield of the Zodiac, won't allow YOU to attack Lady Naru in my presence, even you are one of us. Standup! I will be the one to straighten out your personality that's so twisted anyone else would throw in the towel!"
"Jaune… You're just a lowly crab. Don't stand in the way of me, the mighty scorpion!"
Anko stood back up and concentrated mana in both her arms. The mana solidified and became a pair of black scissors. Jaune's weapons were also scissors, so I guessed this would be a showdown between two people wielding the same weapon.
Anko kicked off the ground and charged at Jaune with her scissors aimed at his neck.
Jaune didn't even try to dodge. I reflexively raised my voice in worry while Wendy looked away. But he wasn't hurt. He wasn't even fazed!
"…!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Did you forget how tough I was after one thousand years apart?" Jaune smiled, full of composure, as he kicked Anko. But this was no normal kick. It was counter, powered by Anko's own attack stat.
As Anko went tumbling across the ground, I had a thought. Huh? Isn't Jaune really strong for a dumbass?