บท 53: 10.2 Particle Effects?

"Father will have a heart attack once he sees this," Shizu weakly whispered out. "This is clearly an attack of some kind."

I hummed at her deduction. "That would explain the cannonballs rolling about, at least. But then, why would you send me here as a quest?"

"I sent you here because of rumors I supposedly overheard in the capital," Shizu sighed. "Based on the 'Script,' you should be making your way back to me by now, but I guess you're not being told to do so?"

[Main Quest: Journey North]

[Investigate the area COMPLETE]

Looking at my UI, sure enough, my quest objectives hadn't been updated yet. It was never quick in changing in the first place, but it had been a while since I completed such an objective. "Yeah... It's just... there still. Another thing Guidance will have to fix, I suppose."

Hearing the dev's name, Shizu flinched as she spoke, "So the [El]- I mean... Guidance will have to show you the way?"

"It's not like we have much of a choice," I shrugged. "Besides, it's the middle of the night and you haven't eaten anything. Not to mention sleep-deprived."

"I can go on just fine," the princess puffed out, her arms crossing over her chest as she oozed bravado. "What kind of adventurer would I be if couldn't even deny myself a night's sleep?"

"You're just saying that cause you slept on my back earlier," I scoffed.

The blush on Shizu's face was a pretty decent consolation for her earlier antics as she hurriedly turned her face away from me. And if that wasn't enough, her stomach actually growled with a low groan. It was only too bad that the subtitling system didn't pick up on it.

"D-Don't look at me like that, Stranger," she stuttered with a pout. "It's rude..."

Letting out a laugh, I shook my head as I set my sights on the sturdiest building out of the bunch. "Let's just find a place to rest, yes? We can figure this out with Guidance in the morning."

Leading the way, I beckoned her into the post office, finding a stray pillar that didn't look like it was about to fall off for us to lean on. Taking the initiative, I sat by, patting the floor beside me as Shizu eventually got comfortable with our current arrangements.

"We should really go back to the capital after this..." she mumbled aloud.

"And we'll be going there once we figure out what's going on," I reassured. "You need to rest. I'll keep watch since I don't need the sleep anyway."

"Well, if you insist...."

To my surprise, Shizu laid down on the ground, her head resting on my lap as she looked up at me with the innocence that I used to associate with her in her eyes. With a smile, she closed her eyes, before then drifting off into a deep sleep before I could even ask her to move.

Talk about having a superpower.

"Great... Now, what do I do..."

With Shizu using my thighs as a pillow, I had no other choice except to accept my fate and sit still alone with my thoughts. Looking up through the cracks on the roof, the dull light of the [Stars] shone through with a twinkling shimmer. Truly, there was still beauty even in the sadness of ruins.

"Guidance?"

I called out into the ether despite knowing full well that Guidance was probably already asleep after a long day of work. I just really wanted to have someone to talk to through this lull in time. I could try and sleep again, but I really didn't feel like sleeping at the moment... Hmm....

"This war...."

I let my thoughts drift to what I already knew. With this outpost clearly being attacked, it was only natural that the next step was for a battle to occur. And while Shizu's earlier words were clear in that I was supposed to come back to the capital with my findings, what would happen now? After all, the princess already knew what I'd be telling her anyway. Would the quest still progress? Wait... Did we actually soft-lock the game?

"Yikes... That wouldn't be good...."

I grimaced as the thought slowly sank in my head. Soft-locking meant that I had to either restart the game, or be content with not making progress until its fixed. And since I live here now, I couldn't just close the program and open it back up. I'd be literally stuck in a quest, doomed to stare at a quest objective that refused to update if Guidance couldn't fix it.

I sank to the floor, my hand subconsciously brushing through Shizu's emerald hair. She looked so peaceful, clearly unaware of her surroundings. If something were to happen now, I honestly wouldn't know how to respond. For some reason, it felt as if the quest was taking me to places that I shouldn't be in before I was at a higher level. And with the lack of monsters or enemies to even shoot at, I couldn't gauge whether or not I was even at a proper level to tackle the content.

"Dammit, Guidance...."

Ah well.... I could always grind that one wolf if it ever came down to it. Either way, this was going to be a long night of me trying to sleep and make time pass. If all else, I can-

[COMBAT COMMENCED]

I froze, the prompt in front of me kicking me into high alert as my sense went haywire. Wielding my guns, I raised them close to me as I kept my eyes peeled. What it was? I didn't even have a clue.

"What the hell is this now..."

How in the world could combat even commence? I couldn't even see the enemy!

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

"Shizu? Now would be a good time to wake up."

I clenched my teeth as I harshly whispered at my partner to wake up. Despite the growing tension, Shizu was still happily snoring away at my lap, completely unaware of what was happening even as I started moving a bit more. I was hesitant to make a sound, unsure if this enemy would somehow detect us through the quiet.

"Shizu..."

"Mmpmhh.... Too early...."

What...