Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 125

Chapter 125: The Girl’s Lullaby

 

I woke up in the morning, completed my daily jogging under Shino’s supervision, took a shower, had breakfast, and logged in.

 

Since I had returned from ?Euthenia? the day before, it was time for the final preparations.

 

Sora and the others were assigned to a corner of the plaza where the teleport gate was located.

 

Kuro and Satanas had chosen a refreshing blue color for the food stall, using the painting function to dye it. Meanwhile, Shio and I gathered all the necessary tools and began the finishing touches.

 

As for the stall’s specialty, ?Kushidora katsu?, Shio surprisingly managed to obtain something resembling a base Worcestershire sauce from somewhere, allowing us to evolve our dish further (I have a feeling she mentioned she got it by breaking into a dojo and asking for it, but I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.)

 

On the day of the event, we would be busy with frying, so today was the only day we could prepare everything.

 

With over a thousand pieces of Lesser Dragon meat, Shio and I efficiently processed them using the ?Forest Wolf Knife? Kirie had made for us, along with our ?Cooking? skills.

 

However, as the monotonous tasks dragged on, it didn’t take long for Shio and me to hit our mental limits.

 

So, we called in Shin and Rou, who had learned the ?Cooking? skill the day before, to help us out. We decided to rotate shifts for the preparations.

 

It was just the right time for a shift change, and we saw the two guys expertly taking the meat we had stored in boxes and cutting it into bite-sized pieces.

 

I thanked them for their help.

 

“Wow, this is really a lifesaver.”

 

“We have to respond to the Silver Sword Princess’s call.”

 

“Most adventurers treat her like a princess. If we don’t respond properly when called, we’ll get beaten up by the others.”

 

Shin and Rou chuckled at that.

 

…Even though everyone on the front lines knows I’m a guy, they still call me a princess?

 

I wondered about this, but I figured they might think it’s okay as long as a guy is cute, so I decided not to dwell on it.

 

By the way, I tried to call Yoru to join our group, but he simply replied with a short message saying, “No way.”

 

Well, in her case, it was understandable.

 

If Yoru showed up casually, he would definitely get lectured by Shio for hours about neglecting her duties as the guild leader.

 

Since long ago, all the members of ?Sky Fantasy?’s “Hunters of the Apocalypse,” except for one, have had to show respect to Shio.

 

By the way, that one person has a really bad relationship with Shio.

 

Her player name, used consistently in the game, is Inori.

 

She’s a girl who enjoys professions like alchemy and generating items, mainly excelling in support roles.

 

Whenever Shio and Inori are left alone without Sora, they inevitably start fighting, which means I have to step in to mediate every time.

 

I’ve heard from Shin and Rou that she’s playing this game, but that’s about all I know.

 

I thought about meeting up with her at least once after the battle with Leviathan, but it seems Inori refused.

 

I haven’t received any responses on real-life chat apps either, so maybe she dislikes the fact that I’m playing in this form.

 

While I was thinking this, I saw a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who calls herself a VR journalist, Rinne, happily waving her right hand and calling out, “Sora-kun!” from a distance.

 

She stopped in front of Sora, who was sitting on a bench, and proudly declared, “I wrote the article just as Kirie told me, and I also used flyers to promote it to the NPCs in this country!”

 

“Oh, thanks! I’m sorry for asking you to promote it so suddenly,” Sora replied.

 

“No, no! It’s a great honor to help with your wonderful adventure tale, so this is no trouble at all. Plus, thinking that I’m doing this for you, Sora-kun, made my adrenaline rush, and it was quite a thrill!”

 

“W-Well, if Rinne is having fun, that’s good…” Sora said, slightly taken aback by her joy.

 

As she observed her with a thought of how strange she was, Alice sat down next to me.

 

“I asked the soldiers to look into Grandpa’s stall, but it was no good. They couldn’t find out what kind of stall it would be.”

 

“Hmm, it would have been best if we could gather information about the enemy, but it can’t be helped. We’ll just have to give it our best shot with what we can do now.”

 

As I said this with a serious expression, Rinne asked a single question.

 

“Why not explain the situation to the adventurers and get their help? That would make it easy, right?”

 

“No, I don’t want to do that.”

 

Sora shook her head, rejecting Rinne’s suggestion.

 

“I’ll do the promotion, but I won’t explain the situation and rely on the players’ help to clear the quest.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because I’m a gamer, Rinne. If the opponent plays dirty, I’ll respond in kind, but if the conditions are fair, I’ll meet them head-on with everything I’ve got.”

 

Isn’t that more interesting?

 

With that, Sora left to join Shin and Rou, who were busy processing a large amount of meat after their break.

 

……………………………

 

That night, just before the Dragon King Festival, I found it hard to fall asleep.

 

While I put on a cool face in front of Rinne and Alice, I felt quite the opposite.

 

It’s always been this way.

 

Whenever there’s a field trip or a big event, I get a little too excited to sleep.

 

It’s proof that I’m not managing my own control well.

 

However, pulling an all-nighter and losing focus on the day itself would be unfair to everyone who helped out.

 

So, to clear my mind a bit, I put on my VR headset and woke up in the large bed I share with Kuro, where I last logged out as adventurer Sora.

 

Then, a beautiful singing voice reached my ears from the next bed.

 

A gentle, soothing voice.

 

It’s Alice’s voice.

 

Without making a sound, Sora got out of bed and listened closely to the dragon princess’s song.

 

—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–

Sleep, sleep

My beloved child

Protected in your mother’s arms

Into the calm, drowsy embrace

Watched over by angels

Sailing on the ship of the World Tree

The new morning welcomes you

Sleep, sleep

My beloved child

—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–

 

The moonlight streaming in through the window illuminated Alice, the red-haired girl, as she sat up in bed.

 

On her lap, the young girl Satanas, with her tanned skin, rested her head and fell into a peaceful sleep.

 

As Alice sang while gently stroking Satanas’s head, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

 

Sora was captivated by the surreal and heart-wrenching scene.

 

So engrossed that she forgot to breathe, she was suddenly jolted when the singing stopped and Alice’s gaze turned toward her.

 

“Oh, Sora-sama,” she called out.

 

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Sora stepped into view.

 

“Sorry for eavesdropping.”

 

“No, it’s fine. I needed to do this. Lately, Satanas has been having trouble falling asleep.”

 

“Is that so? Sorry for putting all the burden on you, Alice.”

 

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s my fault for not saying anything.”

 

She smiled wryly and caressed the sleeping Satanas’s cheek.

 

After a brief silence, Sora scratched her head and, hesitantly, asked, “Was that lullaby just now the lullaby of this country?”

 

“Yes, it is. I actually learned it from Mother when I was little, hoping to sing it for my little sister someday…”

 

Alice hesitated, her words trailing off.

 

The important word that slipped from her mouth prompted Sora to blurt out, “Sister…?”

 

“It’s not something special. Everyone in this country knows about it.”

 

With a smile that seemed to take all her effort, she conveyed a painful truth to Sora.

 

Ten years ago, her sister was stillborn before she was born.