scary monsters ~endless halloween night~ 3-13 "a really ordinary high school student"

[mandytl]

 

Location: The Other Dimension - Hollow Graveyard

Sebek: I’ll show no mercy to all who stand in my way!

Ghost C: H-His gutsy spirit’s about to blow me away!

Ghost D: Yikes! All hands, retreat~!

Sebek: Hmph. What pathetic ghosts!!!

Trey: At least we got some shards for our trouble.

If what the ghosts back at the castle said is true, we can use these to close in on that Halloween party.

Sebek: Those nuisances are gone. Pick up from where you left off earlier, Rook-senpai!

Rook: The reason I can remain calm during a crisis is surely…

…on account of a distressing experience in my youth. 

Sebek: Distressing experience… ?

Rook: It all started one cozy day in early autumn when I was six.

I accidentally found myself stranded deep in the jungles of the Sunset Savannah…

Trey: How’d you pull off something like that by accident?!

Rook: Carelessness can be quite dangerous. I spent the rest of a month steeped in my loneliness in that jungle.

Magicless, and with nothing but the clothes on my back… 

I cracked stones and fashioned them into a knife to whittle down wood into a shield. After that, I weaved cut grass into a rope.

I laid myself in a hole to sleep, covered in leaves for camouflage and caked in mud so as to hide my natural scent.

At one point I found myself stuck in a bottomless swamp for 72 hours, only managing to escape by latching onto a nearby warthog!

Then came the day I had to confront the enormous tiger who’d been chasing me relentlessly. I fought and won with my combined strength and wisdom!

Before the sun went down every day I would mark the date with trembling hands, clinging desperately to my own life…

Until finally, the fabled day I will never forget: October 31st.

Caught up in fever after having been stung by a poisonous insect, consciousness fading, I saw… a ghost.

I mustered up the last of my strength and chased after them.

Thereafter a rescue team discovered me collapsed by the riverbank and I narrowly escaped death!

Even now I can vividly recall the warm embrace of my mother as she praised me for enduring a great many sufferings in nothing but a grass skirt…

Trey: Rook…!

… You’re totally pulling our legs here, right?

Rook: Fufufu. I wonder. What do you think?

Trey: Sheesh. You’re always coming up with the craziest jokes.

Sebek: Alone in the jungle…?

Trey: See? Even Sebek can’t figure out how to react.

Sebek: Who knew we’d be in the same CAMP?!

Trey: S-Same camp?!

Sebek: Silver and I led an outdoors life as part of our training under Lilia-sama!!

Trey: First my clubmate Rook, now Lilia, my actual classmate…

Why am I surrounded on all sides by guys who’re off-the-wall?

Rook: Birds of a feather flock together, as it were.

Trey: Hold that thought! I’m just a really ordinary high school school student from a really ordinary household!

Sebek: Your story did sound harsher than what we went through, Rook-senpai.

A six-year-old living alone for a month… I never would’ve envisioned you as a stalwart warrior capable of surviving under such harsh conditions.

All the more reason for you to be as resolute as you are.

I, Sebek, AM DEEPLY MOVED!!!

Trey: You probably don’t want to take everything he says too seriously, Sebek.

Actually, nevermind. There’s no light at the end of that tunnel vision.

Rook: To tell you the truth… the real reason for my composure lies elsewhere.

Try placing your palm upon my chest, Sebek-kun.

Sebek: Why? I’d rather not.

Rook: Don’t be shy now. Here!

Sebek: Augh, don’t pull me on me! I’m not embarrassed in the least, I’m—... mm?

Your heart’s pounding so fast.

Rook: As you see, I’m actually nervous myself.

My precious Vil and Epel were stolen away from me… and what’s more, I’m powerless to help them. It’s astonishing how anxious I am.

Only… I know I’m not alone. I have you at my side, Monsieur Crocodile, as well as the Rose Chevalier!

This is a far cry from back when I was desperately struggling to stay alive.

The three of us can overcome anything together.

It is this firm belief that allows me to keep my cool in danger!

Sebek: Y-You trust in my caliber to that extent…?!

Very well!! Let us overcome this ordeal together!!!

Trey: … Hey, Rook. You can’t adjust your own heart rate or anything, can you…?

Rook: Oh? Is there a problem with my “heart of iron”, as you call it?

Trey: … I’ll keep my mouth shut. Just try not to mess with our pure, innocent first-year too much, okay?

Rook: Of course! It’s time to hit the road, gentlemen!

Ghosts: Hold it~!

Sebek: Ugh. It’s those ghosts from earlier!

Ghost C: Return those mirror shards to us at once!

Rook: Fufufu. Let’s show them our combined power then, shall we?