Chapter 35: I’m going to collect materials.

I excitedly ran towards the mushrooms with Ria.

The red and colorful mushrooms shone like twinkling gems among the green grass.

“Wow, it’s super cute—!”

“I know, right♡ It will look really pretty if we decorate the amusement park with this!”

“Yeah! The round, flat ones are just like….”

Wait.

Didn’t they have a ride that looked similar to the caps of those mushrooms?

Round.

And, cute and small, flat cars—

That spark and pop.

Crash this way.

Crash that way.

Sometimes even competing with each other by bumping each other.

“Bumper cars—!”

“Yes?”

“This mushroom! The cap part looks exactly like a bumper car—!”

I lifted the mushroom with both hands.

“Wow! It’ll be so cute if we make this into a bumper car!”

“…With mushrooms?”

Ria blinked and looked at the mushroom.

I excitedly added an explanation.

“Yeah! Think about it! A bunch of round and flat mushrooms, moving around and spinning, and bump! Crash! It’s so cute!”

“Um, I guess so when you say it like that♡”

“And since mushrooms are fluffy, wouldn’t they bounce when they hit each other with a ‘poing—’ feeling? Then, the impact will also be less!”

Ria smiled brightly and gently pinched my cheek.

“You even think about safety, Senior♡”

“Of course—! I’m the Sajjang of the amusement park!”

I proudly puffed out my chest.

It’s important to make a ride that is cute, fun, and safe!

“Then, wouldn’t it be good to collect a variety of mushrooms?”

“Uung? Why?”

“If you make bumper cars with only this mushroom, the car design will be all the same.”

“…Ria, you’re smart! Genius!”

“No♡ Then, let’s find mushrooms with different shapes and colors♡”

I nodded, my eyes sparkling.

“Okay! Mushroom exploration!”

“Let’s go, let’s go♡”

We ran forward, bouncing and shaking our arms.

Ria smiled softly and followed behind me.

The goal was to find pretty mushrooms.

We began to search for various mushrooms, going around the forest.

Mushrooms of various colors and shapes came into view.

“Wow, those mushrooms are colorful! Rainbow-colored! I have to collect them─!”

“Excellent observation skills, Senior, as expected♡ Ah! Senior, over there! There’s a mushroom that looks like a purple flower!”

“Where, where—!”

I jumped over in the direction Ria pointed.

There really was a mushroom that looked like a flower growing there.

“It’s really pretty! If this flower-like mushroom cap goes around in a bumper car, it’ll be amazing.”

“Right? I think this would be good for decorating the amusement park♡”

“Yeah!”

I carefully picked up the mushroom.

The mushroom cap was soft, and it had a slight gloss.

It’s a little itchy, but it must be because of the spores, right?

“Okay, collect this too─!”

“Senior, there’s a plump white mushroom over there!”

“Fluffy—! It looks like a cloud! Ah, the color of that mushroom is pretty─!”

“Oh, I know that mushroom. Is it a bioluminescent mushroom?”

“Bioluminescent?! I have to collect it no matter what.”

I collected pretty mushrooms, one after another.

I didn’t just focus on mushrooms, and I didn’t forget to collect other materials too.

Cute, palm-shaped grass.

It was swaying as if it was waving a small hand.

And I collected a huge rock as well.

Because I had a really good idea at that time.

In addition.

Pretty trees,

Tree stumps,

And also, small and round logs that had fallen on the side of the road!

“Let’s collect a little dirt too…. Wow! These pebbles are really pretty─!”

“They really shine. It’s also beautiful how they make a different light when tilted this way and that.”

Ria rolled the pebbles between her fingers.

The pebbles shone with a dazzling blue light, a gentle purple light, and sometimes even a golden light, depending on the sunlight.

“This will look really pretty if we spread it on the road. I thought it was all plain black and yellow lines—!”

“That’s right♡ It’ll be cool if we put it on that road… no, the walkway♡”

Ria continued to roll the pebbles around.

“And since it shines like this, if we spread it all over the black walkway, the stones will stand out even more. Senior, you even thought of that…”

“…Eh, not really.”

I scratched my head and looked at the pebbles again.

Actually, I just picked them up because they looked pretty, but when Ria explained it like that…

“Oh? I look like I am collecting materials by plans?”

“Senior always had excellent senses♡ It is clear that you unconsciously made the best choice♡”

“Ehehe… Really?”

“Really♡”

I puffed out my chest, feeling proud.

I collected the pebbles with vigor.

“Okay! With this, we’ve decided on the design of the amusement park walkway! We’re going to make a twinkling starlight street—!”

“Wow♡”

Now, we should go back to the amusement park and start making the new ride…

“Ah…?”

“What’s wrong, Senior?”

“…The ones, I duplicated, the bunnies disappeared.”

“Yes?”

I had been working on the tent so passionately yesterday that the records of duplicating the bunnies had been pushed back and disappeared.

I looked into the air with a dejected face.

“…”

“Shall we go back to the village?”

“Uung. We have to….”

And so, we went back to the village a few hours after we had left.

We visited due to a small mistake, but the kind villagers welcomed us.

An unexpected welcome.

And we stayed one more day because the villagers, regretting that we were leaving soon, insisted that we stay.

…I shouldn’t have done that.

Sometimes Rozalin, sometimes Lucy, sometimes Patra.

The Colosseum’s commentator who had thoroughly hidden her real name.

The lovely and annoying girl with blonde hair and green eyes,

looked down at the people in the Colosseum, who were leaving one by one, from her house on the hill.

“Huuuum….”

Leaning her chin on her hand, tapping her foot.

With eyes that seemed somewhat pathetic, and somewhat envious, she stared blankly at them.

“Are they really all leaving?”

The sound of swords and spears clashing never stopped in the Colosseum.

The warriors, hearing that the arena of the gods had been opened, put their weapons away one by one.

Even those who didn’t want to leave,

Started to go on their way because the Colosseum was getting empty and it became boring.

Usually, she would have laughed,

“Hey, those amateurs will have false expectations again!”

But…

…Hm.”

Today…

Somehow, her mood was strange.

Several hours passed from that time.

No sound could be heard in the Colosseum, where the sound of swords and spears clashing never stopped.

It was so quiet.

The pastime that had comforted the child’s boredom for a long time had disappeared in an instant.

The child stared blankly at the Colosseum.

It was empty everywhere she looked.

There was no sight of warriors swinging their swords and fighting,

nor the sight of the talentless, pathetic losers.

“Fools… What is the big deal about the arena of the gods.”

Even while saying that, her feet were tapping the ground.

Something was off, it felt empty as if her stomach was empty.

“…Tsk.”

Why did that guy come to mind all of a sudden?

The guy, who always came to scratch her nerves and then went to Valhalla in a hurry.

The guy who, even though lost to her, would always give comments.

“…Hector.”

That name, which she had never said because it was annoying,

For some reason, it scratched her throat today.

If he was still in Elysium,

He would surely have been at the forefront and led people to the arena of the gods.

Then—.

He would have suggested to her.

“Won’t you come with me, Achilles?”

That voice was played clearly in her mind.

“…Truly annoying.”

He was a really annoying man.

Both in her previous life, and in Elysium.

Achilles, the hero of Greece.

The child’s previous life, and

A being greater and mightier than anyone else.

But in the end—

He was hit by an arrow in his heel and lost his life in vain.

“Everything is futile….”

And after arriving here, in Elysium.

Achilles was no longer Achilles.

Because she had wished for it so to the Goddess.

She discarded it all.

The name from the past.

That foolish glory.

In the end, she, became a weak self that had been defeated.

As a result.

A side effect occurred in which she had become a girl.

She was satisfied, since no one could recognize her.

Except for one person,

Hector, who had lost his life to her.

Hector.

That guy.

He called the name she had abandoned, as if it was natural.

He believed firmly that she would hold a sword again.

“I look forward to the day when we will face our swords again, Achilles.”

Even until he left to Valhalla.

“…Annoying.”

So, she wanted to fight?

She abandoned everything.

She threw it all away.

She was the one who lost her life to her.

Hector chose that path to the end.

‘…What is the big deal about that arena of the gods.’

Since he was gone too,

There was no one to call that name,

Nor anyone to recognize who he was.

There was no one to urge her to pick up the sword again.

But…

‘Hm. Well, it can’t be helped.’

The child got up from the chair.

And then, she took out her old friend, which had been put away in the corner.

“Annoying.”

She thought it hadn’t been maintained for a long time, but

The blade was still sharp, as someone had taken care of it until recently.

The child lightly flicked the sword with her fingertip.

“I don’t care about the arena of the gods or anything. But, since I wonder how much those amateurs will be defeated?”

The child, who was looking around because there was no one to hear, muttered.

“….I’m definitely not saying this because I care about what Hector said~?”

And yet.

Her feet were moving towards the arena of the gods.