Kapitel 9: Flesh Should Not Lie Flat

As the day was reaching toward sunset, I let my ears immersed with the nature that prayed to the black star to claim them in my stead.

Because I might have caused more deforestation than one cereal company with the amount of woods I'm piling on our base.

"Are you sure that you're a fairy, miss Narcissus?" Verina commented with sweats running from her forehead. "Aren't fairies supposed to be nature-loving? Why are you mind-breaking me like this?"

I snickered, "I have a premonition that tonight won't be as kind as usual."

"Does the wind tell you that?"

"No, just my gut feeling."

"Your gut feeling might be the wind too, you know?"

"Are you trying to trick me? "

"I thought it would be funny,"

"That is such a horrible attempt. I'm not Lupina."

Woods and leaves weren't the only thing I'm harvesting from this damn forest.

Remember the clump of boars strapped by vines that Lupina dragged to this place?

The vines turned out to be really resilient and stretchy, similar to a rope-sized rubber band although not as tough as a rope-sized rubber band.

However, it was still durable and strong for a natural rope.

"Is that what I think that is…?"

Verina attentively watched me building a defensive prototype that we could utilize to protect this base.

"What do you think this is?"

"A bloody ballista."

"The fun kind, too." I pulled the lever, unleashing the wooden bolt to travel at a devastating speed, before it immediately cycled to retract the rope, and chambering the next ammunition from the giant magazine. "It can hold twenty bolts before needing to be reloaded."

I took the reference from the schematic of a polybolos, otherwise known as 'multi-thrower', an ancient Greek catapult with torsion mechanism mimicking a repeating ballista.

I also used the modern automatic crossbow made by modern craftsman hobbyists for a greater reference.

This prototype could be automatic if only I got my hands on more types of material to work on.

"Are you going to place this ballista on every chokehold of the fortress, miss fairy?" Verina asked.

"I'm surprised that you're still referring to me as a fairy after witnessing all of that."

"A fairy wasn't only known for their love of nature, but also for their beauty, you know?"

My face unconditionally forced me to make a smug grin. "Hmm, how beautiful I am in comparison to your average person then?"

"Beautiful enough for Citadel's nobles of both men and women alike to immediately court you on the spot, or force you to become their property if you happen to refuse their proposal."

Hmm, this face might be much more troublesome than I expected.

"Can I trust this information?"

"Well, for the record, Lupina might be adventurous, but she was barely interested in any kind close-skin relationship." Again, with her disinterested gaze, she delivered her words, "Her mental fortitude should be strong enough to prevent herself from assaulting anyone, regardless of how bad she wants to achieve her relief."

"I see."

"Yet she was so bent on wanting to mate with you despite being in the same gender category," Verina said casually, "I'd say that there was more than your appearance that created this sense of universal attractiveness, something psionic in nature."

"Psionic in nature, huh. That is interesting, I wonder if I can have you help me examine my body as part of the 'offer'."

It would be great to know more of this mysterious force that make up the Angelic Charisma trait in my Biography detail screen.

"... Is miss fairy trying to flirt with me?"

Did I sounded like I was flirting?

"You're a hard-boiled seasoned ohrtender, no? This whole 'psionic' attractiveness could be easily solved with one helping around."

"Ah, I see. That's disappointing."

"... What with the disappointment?"

"I thought that I had the chance to court you."

"Not you too…"

"Just a jest~" she said with her usual poke-face. "I possess enough mental fortitude to somewhat negate that 'psionic' charm that you're having."

I exhaled a breath of ease. "That's relieving to hear."

As much as I want to have people praising this face of mine, having everyone suddenly courting me left and right wasn't the most ideal of an image that I had in mind after reading that Highlighted Trait.

"I will still court you though," Verina said as she gestured a 'heart' with both of her middle and index fingers. "Please stay pure and innocent until I have enough treasures and vanities to ensure that we shall wed in the biggest ballroom on the most renown citadel."

"You crafted a beautiful image, only to destroy it in a shockingly swift turn of events."

Speaking of the future, there was still the fact that this world, Fallen Carcosa Online, was still yet to be published.

With how vivid and real this world appears, it might be my last chance to truly ever live as myself.

I hope that I can survive long enough to find myself happy in this world, no matter how many horrors they throw my way.

Several hours later, the base had evolved into a rather fortified colony of three.

With multiple layers of wooden walls, trenches, and torches soaked in animal's fat to keep the darkness at bay, this place was also riddled with numerous ballistas positioned at many strategic angles, with even some of them existing at the inner layers in case the outer layer faltered.

It was unknown how harsh the Ordeal of the Dusk would be, but the info-dumps did give me a rather vivid description of what it was potentially to be.

'Sins and flesh that shouldn't lie flat, a step that covered seven steps. From the howling of the dusk and the entrance of the spiraling, maddening moon, Carcosa shall be covered in the stillness of hope.

Entities of incomprehensible origins will hunt, while the devil in human skin will try to usurp society. All gates must be fortified, for it shall break once and evermore until there wasn't a single lifeline lingering on this land.

The sins and flesh must not lie flat.'

Still, if Lupina and Verina managed to survive through the nights of Carcosa until today, then it shouldn't be much of an issue with the three of us, no?

The fear of dying had greatly encompassed my own very windpipes, trying to choke down any semblance of easiness for the brighter future.

With so many questions still latching within my head, I refused to be filtered on the first day of my awakening.

I wouldn't even hesitate to sacrifice these two if I was given the chance to survive.

'Remember, Lothair, humans are fragile, yet precious beings.'

Right…

[The Ordeal of the Dusk will be approaching in 30 minutes_]

[However, due to the absence of the Storytellers in this world, the Random Events will be regulated to spawning a regular amount of Calamity Objects]

[This message will appear invisible to every instances of entities in this world, if you received this sequence of notification, please notify any of the Arbiters to prevent further complications in your immersive playing experience]

The imminent was approaching.

Verina had already taken enough rest for her to push through the entire night, while Lupina had already cleansed her fatigue after a good sleep and proper meals after days of foraging and eating flavorless roasted meat.

Though Lupina was still in heat, which might severely reduce her effectiveness in combat...

I suggested that we should do something about it, especially before the 24 hours marathon of survival where we might not have a single moment of rest.

"This is too embarrassing!" Lupina screamed. "I can't do this! I'm too pure to do this!"

Verina could be seen dragging Lupina who was trying her best to run away from me.

"Purity doesn't worth jack shit when the Ordeal of the Dusk started, you dirty mutt."

"You're too cruel!"

After we binded Lupina to a chair, Verina left the room after signaling a big thumbs up.

"This won't take a while, Lupina." I said with the straightest face I could ever convey. "It will be pleasurable enough for you to stop thinking about mating for the next 24 hours."

"Nooooo!"

It didn't take a while for this process to finish.

After the procedure, Lupina walked out of the room looking both relieved and defeated at the same time.

"Uuuuu…"

"You look like a mutt that went back from a vet." Verina commented.

I didn't really like doing this to someone, but it should be necessary since it was our lives that were at stakes.

Not like I had any experience myself.

I just did what the guide on the internet told me while I let my dexterous hands to do the work.

"... I don't know how that aphrodisiac mushroom looks like."

I needed to ask Lupina about its appearance so that I know what to avoid when foraging in this area.

"I thought you would be the least excited when doing it," Verina commented.

"I just don't like anything sexual, that's all."

Our morale started high, and I hoped that it would maintain for a long time.

[The Ordeal of the Dusk will be approaching in 5 minutes_]

[However, due to the absence of the Storytellers in this world, the Random Events will be regulated to spawning a regular amount of Calamity Objects]

Darker was the sky, but not the land that I inhabited.

As I sat atop the outer layer of the fortified wooden walls, I set my gaze onto the surrounding perimeters that were illuminated by numerous checkpoint of torches.

So far, there wasn't anything anomalous happening in sight.

It wasn't until the countdown of the notification in my head reached zero, that terrifying scream ambushed my consciousness.

[Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō!!@&%]

Along with it, was an echoing faraway shriek, a foreboding sign that something was coming in this direction.

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