Part 32: Evil and Crazy

I wish I could go a day without an explosion.

Video- “Muppy 1”

Watch the Explosion

Anyway, it started with Muppy.



I can learn it, but fixing my ship will take quite some time… No, wait.
I don’t have to do it myself. I can have these people fix it for me.
Yes, conquer this school. That’s it… But first, I must learn the geography.
Heheheh… I’ve got it. This school is already within my grasp…
Muuuuu!!!

He asked for a tour of campus.



Yes. I want to learn everything.
I don’t mind but… Why’d you ask me?
(You look easiest to manipulate…)
Huh? What?
Oh, nothing.
Ooh ooh! If you’re gonna play with Muppy, I wanna come, too!
I’m going, also!
You too, Nikki?
Someone needs to watch your back in case he does anything wrong.
Damn extras…
Hey! I heard that!
C’mon Nikki, let’s go!
You too, Muppy. We can’t start without you.
Very well.
That thing… I’m so gonna find out what you are!

We started out by showing him the Athanor.



It’s an Athanor. An alchemy forge.
A great amount of energy…
It automatically regains fuel and continues to work forever or something…
It’s a complicated mechanism.
Hm…very well! Muppy Scan, begin!
He’s started doing something, again…
Don’t bother him. He seems so serious right now.
How does his face ever look anything close to serious.
(That’s a lot of fuel… I can destroy 18% of this planet…)
(Splendid. When the day comes for my success… Heh heh heh…)
Oh my god! Did you just see that really evil look in his eyes!?
I’m so glad he’s enjoying this. It’s worth showing him around.
He’s not “enjoying” anything!
But as always, it’s so hot in here… Huh? Muppy?
Hm?
…Is it just me, or did your body shrink a little?
G-gah, no! The heat is melting my… Noooohhhh!!
Oh, Muppy.
Wait up.
…Well, at least it looks like he won’t be using this place to do any evil.

Then we showed him the Campus Grounds.



Yeah. We can go to…
What’s that statue!?

He was referring to a statue of Uroborus in the center.



Oh, that? It’s an Uroborus.
Uroborus… You say…?
It’s supposed to look like a snake that’s eating its own tail.
It’s a symbol of alchemy that depicts the beginning and end, space and matter.
Well, you can call it a form of god, I guess.
God, huh… Right, it couldn’t have been.
Did something bother you?
No… It’s just, the back of this statue looked so similar to my father’s…

He didn’t finish his story, I kind of wonder what he was going to say. Anyway, we went to the Music Room next.



Music? What does that have to do with alchemy?
Um…I’m not sure, either.
You see, instruments that play beautiful sounds are made by good alchemists.
So any professional musician is also a professional alchemist.
I see…
Instruments…huh…
Do you play any musical instruments?
I don’t do instruments.
I bet you can’t even beat on the drums right.
…When my band broke up, I tossed my guitar. I’ll never play again…
Wha… Guitar? Band?
It was a painful past. Staying here makes me remember it. Let’s go…
That’s the first time I’ve seen Muppy so sad…
Maybe it was his past we shouldn’t have touched…
There’s no way he did any of those things.

At that point we headed down to the Cafeteria.



Yes, thank you.
Yay for you, Muppy.
Hmph, I guess you were pretty calm today.
(Unaware of danger, this place shall be easy to rule. The one problem…)
*stare *
(This catgirl who suspects me… I will have to rid of her some time soon…)
Ehh, a chill just went down my back…
……
(Heh heh heh, enjoy your blooming world while you still can.)
(But, alchemy, hmm… It may not be a bad idea for me to learn some more…)
…Hey, um, Muppy.
Hm?

And that’s when things took an unexpected turn.



Ah! No! The pompon on my head!
Wow, it’s amazing! It’s so soft!
Ooh! Let me, let me.
Oh, you’re right. It’s so squishy…
Stop it! Stop it!
Haha, this is so much fun!
No, no more… Ahhh!
Huh, what!?
???: Detected danger to life. 20 seconds until defense mechanism activates.
D-defense mechanism!?
Oh no! No one can stop it now!
I-isn’t this kinda bad?
Let’s run! Hurry!
Mu!

Yeah, and that’s when Muppy blew up the Cafeteria.



Needless to say, we ran away, because we don’t need to get blamed for destroying a major school building.



Muppy! Muppy-!
What an amazing finale… I’ll never forget you.
Unh *sob * Muppy…
Don’t be sad. You must overcome his sacrifice and move on… Now, let’s go!

Unfortunately we didn’t manage to get away with it, though at least Muppy turned out to be okay.



Eeeeep!
I heard a loud noise and wondered what it could be. But alas, it was you…
N-no! We didn’t do anything…
This student belongs to your workshop, no?
Moooo…
Ooh! Muppy!
He’s alright. I’m glad…
It flew in through my office window. Every time…
But no, he just exploded on his own!
What kind of person explodes on his own!
He’s right there! I mean, it’s doubtful if he’s even human in the first place!
Anyway, you will clean the cafeteria as punishment! Do not leave until done!
Boo!
*sigh * Oh well…
The pompon… It was so soft…
Don’t touch it anymore!
Oh-kay…
Mu…

So yeah, that’s how we almost got exploded again. I don’t know what the deal with Muppy’s pompon is, but we’re not going to touch it again…

Video- “Anna 3”

Watch the Training

Anna and I did our practice in the Mana Ruins today. We had a bit of a problem.



Are you alright, Anna?
Yes… Can you move over just a little…?
Hold on, it’s tight in here… Oh, I think I can turn the light on.
Phew… It seems like we’re both okay.
Yes, barely. But…
Hmm… How should we get out?

See, Anna got a bit enthusiastic.



I don’t mind… But do you really know your way around in here?
No. The key here is to step into an unknown area.
…Let’s not go in, then. It could be dangerous.
You can only become stronger by overcoming danger. Now, come.
Once she starts, she won’t listen. …Huh? Anna?
Eeaahhhhh…
Anna!? Where the…? Anna… Wha—whaaaaa…!

And we fell into a big hole.



No, it’s alright. I didn’t see it, either… What should we do?
No one would come by at this time. We’ll have to patiently wait for help…
Yeah. Don’t worry, someone at the workshop will notice eventually.
Okay…
*sigh * …How miserable. Because of my negligence, I’ve endangered Vayne…
If no one comes to rescue us, I’ll be alone with him forever…
*gasp * A-alone!? Alone with a man… In a place with nowhere to run…
No, Vayne would never. If he had the guts, by now, he would’ve already…
But, he is a young man, after all. What if…?
Oh no. What if he can’t stand the darkness, and turns his fangs on me.
What if he does this and that, and even..!
No, what are you thinking? To an innocent girl who hasn’t been wed yet…!!

I’m not sure why, but Anna got really insistent that we needed to get out of the pit right then.



Wh-what are you doing…?
Let’s get out of here! Right this minute! Out!
But, you said we should wait for help…
The situation has changed! Now, hurry!
But…how?
We’ll find some clues. Come on, don’t sit still!
Y-yes ma’am…

We found a cracked wall that seemed pretty hollow.



What is it?
This wall sounds different when I knock on it. Maybe it’s thinner.
Which means, if we break this wall… Please stand back.
N-no stop! If you swing your sword in such a tight place…
We’ll deal with it later.
No! I’ll do it!
You?
I think, if I just hit it a few times… Just stay back a little bit.
A-alright.
Hah!
It opened… Good, it looks like it leads to another path.
Great… Does it look like we can get out?
I’m not sure what it’s like ahead… What do you want to do?
Of course we’re going! If we stay here. I’ll never be able to get married.
M-married? …I don’t get it but, be careful.

We fought our way through the monsters in our way, but ended up at another dead end.



Wait. Up there… I can see the sky.
Oh, you’re right. If we yell, do you think people will be able to hear?
I’m not sure… Unless there’s people nearby, I think that’s kinda hard.
…Then I’ll climb it. Vayne, please help me.
But, it’s dangerous. It is pretty high…
that won’t work, this won’t work. Then what do you think will!?
Hmm, let’s see… Sulpher, do you think you can climb that?
Sure. No problem.
Alright. Then can you go get us some help?
Alright. Just wait patiently.

Sulpher climbed up and reached the hole, leaving us to wait.



*sigh *
What’s wrong?
Nothing… Just thinking about how handy you are.
Handy…? Is that a compliment or what…?
Of course it is. If it were me alone, I couldn’t have gotten out of here…
Don’t be so depressed… No one can do everything by themselves.
Well, that may be true, but…
When in doubt, just have someone help you. I might not be as reliable, but…
That’s not true! You’re very handy!
I don’t understand why you emphasize that so much…
Oh, sorry…

Luckily for us, Sulpher managed to get Flay and Jess back to the hole.



Vayne!? Anna!?
It’s them! Great! We can get out of here.
……
Aren’t you happy?
That’s not it… Vayne, I truly thank you.
Huh? Oh, you don’t have to thank me…
Of course I do! I will make sure to repay this debt to you!
Um, I mean…
I will repay it!
…Well, if you insist.
Oh, there you are. Hahaa! Look at you two.
Are you alright?
Flay! Jess! Don’t just laugh, help us!
Just wait a minute. I’ll send down the Flay Rope.
Geesh… Come on, let’s go Anna.
Yes…

Well, at least it was good training…