/
Chapter 141
Chapter 4 — Sleep, until your life is over • Episode 4–6 — Of Sleep ②
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Lazy Lady, the most enigmatic of Witches, is always broadcast live as she sleeps peacefully in the Deception World, but not a single person has ever seen her wake up.
The magic used is not known at all, and it is only observed that the Diest disappears as soon as it appears. Ordinary Magical Girls, Tea Party Witches, and even fairies, for that matter, do not know anything about the details.
「But, it looks like…」
「The image of me that is usually projected is an illusion. I am appropriating a technique you call cognitive inhibition.」
Even Elephant, who does not know much about the Magical Girl’s situation elsewhere, has seen images of Lazy Lady sleeping. She’s sure she didn’t think at the time that she looked like Sylph, but now that she’s trying to remember, she certainly can’t clearly recall what Lazy Lady looked like. It was exactly the same condition as when under the influence of cognitive inhibition.
「Then, do you still use cognitive inhibition?」
「No, this is my true nature. I told you, he and I share the same root. We are different now, but it’s inevitable that we look alike. I’m not too happy about it, though.」
「…What do you mean?　I have no idea at all.」
「You don’t have to understand. I think even you can at least recognize that I am different from him, and that is what I am, without being limited by one aspect such as my appearance.」
I thought you said you liked it at the beginning, but obviously I feel like a fool… Elephant was slightly dissatisfied, but continued to speak, as the resolution of the question was more important than that for now.
「Lazy-chan is always sleeping, right?」
「Have you even forgotten where you came here from? This is the place where you are connected to your dreams. Which means in reality I am still sleeping comfortably.」
Indeed, Chisaki must have fallen asleep in one of the rooms of a small guest house in Okinawa, not in such a restless, glittering hall. If that’s the case, it’s quite possible that she’s still in a dream if she haven’t woken up there.
Considering the existence of the magic of transference, it’s not impossible that she may have been brought to another place while she was sleeping, but in any case, there is no way for Elephant to confirm this, so it would be wise to listen to what she has to say honestly.
「I’m not sure, but at least I know you’re Lazy Lady-chan and not Sylph-chan.」
「Good. So, was it why I know about your love affairs? I am a higher being of a different order of existence than you, so I can always know the extent of what is happening in this world if I want to. I know your real name, and of course I know who he is.」
「…? I thought you were a Magical Girl?You mean a higher being like… like a god?」
「I’m too ignorant to be called omniscient, too powerless to be called omnipotent, but at least it’s a godlike figure who runs this world with my own face… Yes, I call myself a demigod, something like that? I’d say that’s closer to the common definition of a god than the less polite ones.」
The story of Lazy Lady was difficult for Elephant, who’s not a very learned person, because of the roundabout way and the technical terms used here and there, but she agreed that she was a god-like being for the time being.
But then, one after another, new questions arise. Why is she always asleep, why can’t she use her godly powers to end the fight against the Diest, why did this god bother to contact her and show her such a dream, and the list goes on and on!
But before Elephant could sort them out and put them into words, Lazy Lady spoke up to anticipate them.
「Most of what you are thinking about right now is not important to you. As I said earlier, this is where you are connected to your dreams. In other words, there is a time limit. And that limit is much shorter than you think. So I will decide what to say. You would do well to listen to me maturely. I will allow some questions.」
Not convinced by Lazy’s argument, Elephant, who noticed that her mouth had somehow stopped opening as if it had been sewn shut, reluctantly decided to stay quiet and do as she was told.
「My reason for showing you this dream is, as I answered in the beginning, out of kindness. I am a fan of yours and I am supporting you. Then again, you seem to be worried about some kind of predatory love, but I would say that these are completely unfounded fears. He has no romantic feelings for Magical Girl Succubus.」
「B–But! That time with Sylph-chan was…」
It seems that she wasn’t lying when she said that she would allow some questions, and Elephant, who seemed to be surprised by Lazy’s words, belatedly noticed that her mouth was now open.
「It’s just a kind of mental manipulation to make her think that way. It’s a shameful thing to be protected by the strict protection of a Magical Girl, but…」
「Mental manipulation, what was, that…」
「To put it more precisely, it is a charm or fascination. It’s a magic that forcibly and compulsively rewrites the feelings of the other person to make him or her like the magic user. It’s a child’s play that is rudimentary in any world, and anyone who has learned a bit of artistry has any number of defenses. Didn’t you think it was strange in the first place? How could he be so insane as to fall in love with an grade school student he had just met? He himself is so much at the mercy of and suffering from his inadequate feelings that it’s not supposed to be. It’s funny, isn’t it, he’s distressed that he has two-timed you and the Magical Girl Succubus!」
「Hold, on… That, you mean, Saki-chan was casting a spell to Sylph-chan…? Did she say she wanted to be friends after doing such a terrible thing…? Such a, such a thing…!」
Of course, it may be because she’s in love with Sylph, but even if she discount that, it was unthinkable for Elephant to forcibly change another person’s mind for her own reasons, to do such an outrageous thing and not feel bad about it. It was an unforgivable outrage. Above all, Sylph once cried that she was afraid of being deprived of fear. She was afraid that even if they were negative feelings, they were part of who she was, and that if they were changed for someone else’s convenience, it would be the same as if she herself would disappear. What Succubus did was nothing different from that, no, it was more vicious and a trampling on the dignity of Sylph to forcibly change the favor than a system that merely suppresses emotions.
「Don’t screw with me!! That is not acceptable!!」
「Well, hold on there. She didn’t mean to offend either. She just wanted to be friends with her for a day, just a little bit of magic, not so different from what I once did… but at least she didn’t have bad intentions towards her as much as you think. It seems there was some kind of mistake that allowed that magic to continue.」
「…Why do you stand on that girl’s shoulders like that?」
「No, if anything, I am saying this for your own good, okay? You seem very agitated right now, but if you act on that anger, you will certainly regret it. What I just said is not a lie, but a fact. Well, I understand that in light of your values, it is unbelievable that she would try to use such magic, even if only for a day, but you wouldn’t be so outraged if the victim wasn’t her, would you? Isn’t it also impossible for your values to judge sin with personal feelings? I don’t care if you and he are having an affair, you and he are supposed to be just friends at this point.」
「That…」
Lazy was right. If all the circumstances Lazy described are true, and if the victim was not Sylph, then the rest is between the parties, and if the victim has forgiven the crime, then Elephant wouldn’t be so outspoken as to stick her neck out and condemn it. The only reason Elephant was so angry was because the victim was someone she had feelings for, and she had been deprived of those feelings.
「Back to my point, I showed you the dream to show you that a future like that is quite possible. There is no fact that he has feelings for another human being, so what’s the concern anymore? It makes me afraid of my own kindness.」
「But that was the end of it, though, if you were stuck in that dream. You were doomed to sleep and never wake up. Of course, the happy dreams will continue. Because that, too, is a kindness.」
「It wouldn’t take much effort to bring it back if it was just you, and I wouldn’t have minded if it had been.」
Elephant was able to recognize the dream because she was aware that dating Sylph and having a date was no longer a possibility, and without the discomfort caused by the gap between reality and fantasy, she wouldn’t have been able to get out of it. If, for example, Sylph had accepted Elephant’s confession and they had officially started dating prior to this school trip to Okinawa, Elephant must surely be in a happy dream right now.
It’s a horrifying story. In that sense, the actions of Succubus, though consequential, also saved Elephant. It is possible that Lazy wouldn’t have set this up if Succubus hadn’t done anything unnecessary in the first place, but at the same time, it’s also possible that she was trying to drown Elephant in a happy dream regardless of such a thing. As long as Lazy’s true intentions are unknown, the what if’s are not worth considering.
「Now that you have successfully conquered your dreams, I have a small gift for you.」
Whether or not she knew of Elephant’s inner feelings of fear toward the girl in front of her who told her that she had intended to put her to sleep forever as a matter of course, Lazy snapped her fingers with a little bit of amusement as she spoke.
At that moment, the solemn atmosphere of the throne room disappeared in the blink of an eye, and what spread out before Elephant’s eyes instead looked like the inside of a house somewhere.