One by one, I froze and shattered them.
Then, I took a good amount of time to melt the ice, letting their pieces fall into the sea.
What irony, their pieces will probably become food for the fish.
════════════════
[Mission "Defeat Arlong's Pirates" completed! 100 GP have been credited to your account and 2 Special Silver Gacha Coins can be claimed!]
════════════════
I already started to hear the sounds of footsteps; I knew it must be the islanders who heard the sounds of the fight and came to see what was happening.
Getting on the flying carpet, I used the hat's effect now that everything was finished, flying as high as I could, returning home.
...
When I returned, I went to Nojiko's room and saw that she was still asleep.
"Good night, Nojiko-nee." I murmured softly.
Closing the door, I went to take a bath.
--
--
POV – Nojiko
'He left.' I sat up in bed and sighed in relief.
Noah thinks he hid things well, but I noticed that something in him changed since he asked to go out with Nami.
And what made my suspicions even stronger was when he went out one night and only returned early the next morning. I don't know what he was doing, but I decided not to wake him.
I wanted to talk to him about it, wanted to know what was going on, but deep down I hoped he would tell me on his own.
What gave me a vague idea of what was happening was when Chabo spoke to me.
When he thanked me and seemed very cheerful, I didn't understand until he mentioned how Noah rescued his mother, thinking I knew about it.
I pretended I knew, though I felt a little guilty. When I pretended, Chabo told me everything.
After hearing what he knew, about his mother being kidnapped by Arlong and handed over to a corrupt marine captain, I admit I was shocked.
'No wonder we never had support from the navy—since the beginning they were on Arlong's side,' I thought.
My mother was a marine and was proud of it, but she left all that behind to raise me and Nami...
Okay, I got a little off track.
A little while ago, I heard loud noises in the distance, my heart pounded like a drum, and when I went to Noah's room, my fear was confirmed.
I knew he had some connection to it and...
That was also when I noticed something different inside me.
How to say this simply?
Yes, I think I've lived another life!
What do they call it?
Reincarnation?
Yes, that's it.
At first, I was confused and surprised to the point of being petrified in place.
It wasn't exactly memories, but rather knowledge I never had.
This knowledge I received seemed to be from my possible other life. I kind of know I was also a girl, I don't remember the name, or if I had a family, but the knowledge about mechanics—how to fix X things, and operate complex machines.
This information made me dizzy, and I lost strength in my legs.
I wanted to go out, wanted to see how Noah was; if he was the one causing those sounds.
But I couldn't.
'Why am I always useless in important moments?' I thought at the time.
And when I finally managed to move and returned to my room, changing clothes, etc.
I heard a sound coming from Noah's room.
At first, I wanted to get up and confront him, but I ended up lying in bed pretending to sleep.
Now, after he left, that's when I stopped pretending.
'I'm glad he's okay,' I thought with sincere relief.
I don't know what he did, nor do I know if I should ask or not.
What kind of stance should I take? Should I be annoying and force him to talk, or be patient and wait for him to tell me?
--
--
POV – Noah
After I returned to my room after taking a bath, I sat on the edge of the bed.
Now that my body had cooled down and reality knocked at my door, I felt a little guilty.
I know they made life on our island a living hell, but that didn't stop my hands from feeling increasingly stained with blood.
When I looked at my hands during the bath, it felt like no amount of scrubbing would help—the 'blood' they carried wouldn't come off, no matter how hard I tried.
'They don't deserve my empathy.'
I tried convincing myself of that, but it didn't help much.
Wanting to change my focus, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep, I opened my status screen.
════════ ××× ════════
|Name: Noah Amano
|Race: Human
|Level: 2
|Title: ___
════════ ××× ════════
Gacha: 0
Special Gacha Coins: 1x [Special Gold Gacha Coin], 2x [Special Silver Gacha Coin]
GP: 251
════════ ××× ════════
Assimilation in Progress [3/3]: [Hercules (Hercules) - ★★★★★ (20.9%)] - [Elastic Woman (The Incredibles) - ★★★★☆ (13.2%)] - [Frozone (The Incredibles) - ★★★★ (12.5%)]
Assimilated [1/3]: [Li Shang (Mulan) - ★★★★]
════════ ××× ════════
Summon [1/3]: [Cri-Kee (Mulan) - ★★★ (Loyalty: 56.5%)]
════════ ××× ════════
When I clicked on the Gold Coin, four different types of miniature Gacha Machines floated in front of me, each with a different highlighted name.
[The Incredibles] – [Moana] – [The Little Mermaid] – [Aladdin].
I held my breath seeing those four options.
I was interested in the items and characters from all of them.
Maybe the least interesting at the moment would be The Little Mermaid.
However, before choosing any of them, I thought: 'Wouldn't it be better to do this while I'm with Cri-Kee?'
Gacha was nothing more than a game of luck.
If I had Cri-Kee by my side, my chances of getting something good would increase.
And, from what I understood, although each Gacha Machine has a time limit, it doesn't mean that if I don't choose one now, I'll lose my coin. So I didn't choose any of them nor did I redeem the coin.
By the way, when I clicked on the silver coin, the result was the same.
'So, these Coins let me choose a specific dimension.'
If I wanted to raise the star level of a specific card, using this would be the best option.
'If I wait, could a Gacha from the Hercules dimension show up?' I wondered.
I admit that thinking about these things helped me stop focusing so much on what I did earlier. Though now, even after stopping those thoughts, the memory of me killing them still haunts me a little.
I shook my head and decided to spend 50 GP on Bronze Scrolls.
After I clicked to open them, several light balls flashed in front of me, quickly transforming into cards. I picked them up and looked at them one by one.
════════════════
[Poisoned Apple (Snow White) - ★]
[Olaf (Frozen) - ★☆☆]
[Zazu (The Lion King) - ★☆☆]
Scarecrow's Straw Hat (Winnie the Pooh) - ★☆]
[Heihei (Moana) - ★☆]
[Captain Hook's Boots (Peter Pan) - ★]
[Pascal (Tangled) - ★★☆]
[Enchanted Flute (Encanto) - ★]
[Lumière Candelabra (Beauty and the Beast) - ★★☆]
[Tinker Bell (Peter Pan) - ★★★]
[Magic Carpet (Aladdin) - ★★★]
[Moana (Moana) - ★★★]
[Poisoned Apple (Snow White) - ★]
[Scuttle (The Little Mermaid) - ★★☆]
[Jack Sparrow's Compass (Pirates of the Caribbean) - ★★☆]
[Cri-Kee (Mulan) - ★★☆]
[Lilo's Cup (Lilo & Stitch) - ★]
[Flash the Sloth (Zootopia) - ★☆]
[Sebastian (The Little Mermaid) - ★★☆]
[Mulan's Sword (Mulan) - ★★☆]
[Mushroom (Alice in Wonderland) - ★☆]
[Judy Hopps (Zootopia) - ★★☆]
[Poisoned Apple (Snow White) - ★]
[Rémy (Ratatouille) - ★★☆]
[Poisoned Apple (Snow White) - ★]
════════════════
'4 poisoned apples, seriously?'
Sure, what interested me the most was Moana, Tinker Bell, and... Jack Sparrow's Compass. With that, I had 2 extra Jack Sparrow's Compass cards.
Taking the card [Lilo's Cup (Lilo & Stitch) - ★] and [Captain Hook's Boots (Peter Pan) - ★], I sacrificed them for Scarecrow's Straw Hat (Winnie the Pooh) - ★☆].
Right before my eyes, the two cards were destroyed, and I saw the second star light up on the Scarecrow's Straw Hat.
I also sacrificed [Enchanted Flute (Encanto) - ★] and [Poisoned Apple (Snow White) - ★] for: [Mushroom (Alice in Wonderland) - ★☆].
Then, taking Jack Sparrow's Compass from around my neck, I picked up the two cards of the same and placed them on top of the Compass.
What I saw was similar to the situation when I let cards assimilate with Nojiko-nee and Chizuru-san.
When the cards finished merging with the Compass, I re-evaluated it and saw that it had increased to a full 3 stars.
Even the design became more beautiful and shiny.
Afterward, I looked at the Moana card.
'Wait, did she really die?'
I looked at what was written on the back of the card: 'She died after being hit by a magma rock thrown by Te Kā.'
Although she didn't have the potential to become a card above 3 stars, she still had her skills as a navigator and was very brave.
'Having her and Nami wouldn't be a bad choice.' I thought.
But, there was also the issue of the possible psychological problems she might have.
Would she still be optimistic after dying and no longer being able to see her family?
To me, it was a difficult choice to think about.
'I'll decide that later.'
I won't do anything while I'm unsure, better to stop and think carefully.
If I summon her, I'll have to take full responsibility, whether basic, emotional, or psychological needs.
There was a phrase I read in my past life that came to mind now when facing this situation: If you're not ready to commit 100% when introducing yourself into someone's life, then don't even do it.
I remember it was said by a caretaker at an orphanage. She was fed up with people adopting children and wanting to return them afterward because they weren't exactly what they wanted, as if they were items you could exchange if you didn't like them or they showed a 'defect.'
If I'm going to summon her, I need to have the same mindset as someone wanting to adopt a child and take on all responsibilities.
The more I think about it, the more I feel the weight of summoning someone. Especially someone with such a delicate case like this Moana who died while on a journey to save her people, etc.
It's not the same as summoning Cri-Kee.
I know he's a living being too, but in my heart, it doesn't carry the same weight.
Of course, I committed to taking care of him, but I let go when he chose to stay with Nami instead of staying with me.
However, I didn't stop to think much when I summoned him, I just thought of using his luck to my advantage...
The question is... Am I capable not only of wanting to use her navigation skills, but also of supporting Moana in every way if I summon her?
The answer was... I don't know.
I really have no idea.
'Better to put this aside for now.' I thought.
As I thought like that, I put on my pajamas and lay down on the bed.
My mind was still occupied with thoughts of having returned from a massacre, but having done what I did earlier helped clear my mind a bit.
--
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