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Chapter 190: A Legal Loli? No, A Kuudere Onee-san
Noticing the newly generated third Dimensional Gate inside Greed Island, Suyan immediately set aside his construction work on the paradise project. After instructing his contracted partners, he decisively pushed open the Dimensional Gate and stepped into the new world.
The moment he pushed the door open, blue skies, gentle breezes, and green grass... The aura of nature instantly washed over him.
"A grassland?" Suyan was taken aback for a moment.
Beyond the door lay an endless expanse of grassland stretching as far as the eye could see. Whether it was the Highschool of the Dead world or the Demon Slayer world, the locations he arrived at during his previous two transmigrations were never completely desolate and devoid of a single human silhouette like this.
However, Suyan wasn't in a hurry. After confirming that there truly wasn't a soul in sight, he unhurriedly found a patch of tender green grass and lay down. He casually plucked a blade of crisp grass and popped the root into his mouth. Then, resting his hands behind his head, he lightly chewed on the root a couple of times. A slightly astringent earthy flavor mingled with the scent of fresh grass instantly burst on his palate. His series of actions exuded an indescribable sense of ease.
Logically speaking, the first thing Suyan should have done was find a local of this world and gather information. But right now, he didn't feel the slightest bit anxious.
As the saying goes, the first time is unfamiliar, the second time is routine. Since this was his third transmigration, Suyan wasn't going to panic like a rash kid. Based on his experiences after the previous two transmigrations: in the Highschool of the Dead world, he bumped into Marikawa Shizuka shortly after arriving and was picked up by her; in the Demon Slayer world, he was almost immediately dragged off to a matchmaking session with Mitsuri Kanroji by some random matchmaker.
Therefore, even though this place seemed incredibly isolated and unlikely to see any foot traffic, Suyan believed that as long as he waited around for a bit, he would eventually run into the female lead of this world—or someone who would lead him to her.
Thus, rather than running around aimlessly and exhausting himself for nothing, it was better to wait in place to avoid missing her. He had at least that much patience.
"Someone's here!"
Not long after, Suyan abruptly sat up from the ground, spat out the grass root, and fixed his gaze forward. Just as he predicted, someone was coming. He saw a figure emerge from the other side of the grassland, slowly walking toward him.
"A little girl?" Suyan paused for a moment.
He evaluated the approaching girl. Her light blonde hair was tied into fluffy twin tails, with a few curly strands framing her unusually small face. A red-and-white patterned mask adorned the side of her head like a hair accessory, adding a bizarre splash of color to her youthful features.
Although the girl's face looked entirely immature, her sky-blue eyes gave off an aura of maturity, as if she had seen through the ways of the world. Her oversized, light-green coat and the massive red suitcase on her back—large enough to stuff her inside—created a stark contrast.
Or perhaps, a gap moe? It was just... she was a bit too small.
The girl barely reached his waist. Judging by her size, Suyan guessed she couldn't be older than ten. There was no way a loli this tiny was the female lead he was waiting for, right?
"Are you Ian?" The blonde loli stopped in front of Suyan, looked up, and a clear, ethereal voice escaped her lips.
Suyan countered, "Who is Ian?"
"You're not?" Although the blonde loli phrased it as a question, her expression remained entirely unchanged—indifferent and emotionless as ever. She paused for a moment, then asked, "Then are you someone sent by Snow White to interfere with Loco's mission?"
"Snow White?" Suyan was stunned.
He re-evaluated the blonde loli named Loco standing before him. Anyone from modern times would be familiar with the name Snow White, right? So, was this a Disney Princess world? Could this blonde loli in front of him be a princess too?
Thinking along these lines, Suyan couldn't help but feel a sudden, inexplicable sense of familiarity when looking at the blonde loli's design.
"Are you not that either?" Loco first muttered to herself.
Her gaze then took on a more scrutinizing edge as she inspected Suyan's head, ears, neck, wrists, fingers, and other areas. After confirming he didn't have what she was looking for, Loco concluded that the man in front of her was just a random passerby. Losing all interest in speaking with Suyan, she walked right past him without looking back.
However, she hadn't gone far before she sensed something was wrong. She stopped and turned around. She saw that the man hadn't left; instead, he was following right behind her. And when she turned to look at him, he even smiled at her.
This left Loco's little head rather confused. If he was a normal person, he should have run as far away as possible the moment he saw the earring identifying her as a member of the Chess Pieces, right?
Loco issued a warning to Suyan, "Do not follow Loco any further, or Loco will not be polite." However, the voice that came out of her mouth was still ethereal, completely devoid of any emotion.
"Can we have a chat? Little sister Loco."
Looking at Loco's youthful face, Suyan genuinely felt like he was looking at a blonde version of Makomo. Suyan smiled and, as he spoke, couldn't resist reaching out to ruffle Loco's silky blonde hair, just like he normally did with Makomo. Although he hadn't yet recalled exactly which anime this blonde loli belonged to, the faint sense of familiarity in his heart was real.
Naturally, he had no intention of just letting her leave. Setting aside the idea of kidnapping her back to Greed Island, he should at least follow her to find the suspected female lead she mentioned, Snow White, right? Moreover, he had just arrived in this world and knew absolutely nothing about it. Following her was much better than wandering around aimlessly by himself.
"Loco is not a little sister. Loco is 32 years old this year!"
Feeling the large hand messing with her head, a prominent tick mark bulged on Loco's forehead, and she swatted Suyan's hand away. Although her voice remained ethereal, a rare hint of annoyance could be detected within it. If she hadn't failed to sense any malice from this man, she would never have bothered explaining this to him. She would have just attacked and shown him her power directly.
"32 years old?" Suyan was stunned again.
Looking at Loco, who was even shorter than the petite Shinobu, she looked like an underage blonde loli no matter how you sliced it, right? A legal loli?
It wasn't entirely impossible. In fact, there were quite a few legal lolis in anime. For example, Komoe-sensei from A Certain Magical Index, Natsuki Minamiya from Strike the Blood, Sugar from One Piece, Illya from Fate, and Jun Shiomi from Food Wars.
This meant that this emotionless loli was the first female he encountered after crossing over, and coupled with the faint sense of familiarity... Suyan's lips twitched uncontrollably at the thought.
Loco was cute, sure—cute enough that if Kanae saw her, she'd definitely want to hug her and call her little sister. But he really wasn't a lolicon! Suyan suddenly didn't know what to say. He could effortlessly tell Shizuka and the others "I desire your body" with a straight face, but dealing with a blonde loli like Loco, even knowing she was legally of age, was pushing it a bit too far.
He couldn't do it, he really couldn't. It was fair to say Loco had triggered a glitch in his system.
Unaware of Suyan's internal struggle, Loco stated coldly, "So, please stop following Loco, otherwise Loco will truly attack you." As she spoke, fearing Suyan hadn't noticed, she deliberately showed off the rook-shaped earring hanging from her ear, identifying her status as a member of the Chess Pieces. That should be enough to make the man leave, right?
After walking a bit further, Loco turned her head to check behind her again. Unexpectedly, she saw Suyan still trailing behind her.
Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit!
Loco took a deep breath, then pulled out a solid, silver-white pendant from her pocket. She said coldly to Suyan, "Darkness ÄRM, Negzero!"
Instantly, an invisible light radiated from the silver pendant in her hand. The next second, Suyan felt his body become sluggish, as if wrapped in chains. He quickly focused aura into his eyes using Gyo and looked at the pendant in Loco's hand. Sure enough, dozens of invisible chains extended from it, binding him tightly. Furthermore, an energy completely distinct from Nen began to emanate from Loco.
Suyan paused for a moment. He was used to using Conjuration to bind others with chains, but this was the first time he was on the receiving end. Fortunately, the chains extending from Loco's pendant weren't as powerful as Kurapika's chains from Hunter x Hunter, which could force a Nen user into a state of Zetsu. As long as he exerted enough force, he could shatter them.
However, the term Loco just used to describe the pendant...
Darkness ÄRM? Did he hear that right?
Suyan quietly watched Loco, the sense of familiarity reaching its peak. He saw Loco place the red suitcase from her back onto the ground, open it, and rummage inside with both hands.
A scarecrow! It has to be a scarecrow, right?! Suyan muttered inwardly.
"Darkness ÄRM, Cursed Scarecrow!"
Just as Suyan anticipated, accompanying Loco's ethereal voice, the item she pulled from the suitcase was indeed a scarecrow. What's more, this scarecrow was even larger than the suitcase it came out of, and the chains wrapped around it were connected to a heavy-looking iron ball.
Suyan narrowed his eyes. He guessed right. So, the next things she brings out should be a nail and a hammer, right?
"Nail! Hammer!"
Soon enough, Loco pulled a hammer and a conical nail out of the suitcase. Holding the hammer in one hand and the nail in the other, she explained to Suyan, "Don't worry, Loco will not kill you. Using just one nail will only cause you enough pain to temporarily lose your mobility. It is just to teach you a lesson, so you stop following Loco."
Seeing the items Loco produced... If the Negzero she brought out first hadn't completely jogged Suyan's memory, then the scarecrow, hammer, and nail definitively confirmed what world he was in.
This was an anime he watched as a kid called MÄR (Märchen Awakens Romance). The plot was fairly cliché—a standard tale of a useless, chunibyo teenager from the real world being summoned to another world to become a hero, save the princess, and save the world. However, the combat system was incredibly unique and interesting.
In this world, there were weapons known as ÄRMs. They usually took the form of accessories like necklaces, earrings, rings, or bracelets. There were Weapon ÄRMs that could transform into various weapons, Nature ÄRMs that manipulated elemental forces, Guardian ÄRMs that summoned monsters or beasts for protection, Dimension ÄRMs that could teleport people or objects, and Holy ÄRMs, which provided healing or purification effects—exactly what Suyan lacked the most right now.
Among these ÄRMs, the power of Darkness ÄRMs was the most bizarre, and the closest to conceptual abilities. The vast majority of Darkness ÄRMs possessed overwhelming power, but using them often came with severe drawbacks.
Take Loco, for example. Suyan fully recalled her identity and the Darkness ÄRMs she used. She was a member of the Chess Pieces, the antagonistic faction of the MÄR world, a Knight-class (Castle-class in this translation context) user of Darkness ÄRMs. The Darkness ÄRMs she used were a complete set of seven cursed items. Aside from the dimensional suitcase capable of holding a room's worth of items, the Negzero pendant used for binding, the Cursed Scarecrow that inflicted sympathetic pain, and the nail and hammer used to damage the scarecrow, there were three other Darkness ÄRMs whose names and abilities Suyan couldn't recall.
This set of seven ÄRMs shared a common drawback: the more times they were used, the younger the user became physically, though their lifespan did not increase. Years ago, when the first great war between the forces of good and evil swept across the magical world, Loco had just acquired the cursed set of seven. Back then, she was a kuudere onee-san in her twenties. A few years later, she had regressed into a legal loli. If he remembered correctly, near the end of the anime, Loco went all out with the cursed set to protect her dark-skinned catgirl friend, a Bishop-class member. As a result of the side effects, her body regressed all the way back to infancy.
It was worth mentioning that this world lacked clear power scaling. The only reliable metric for strength was the ranking system used by the villainous Chess Pieces. Based on chess pieces, the ranks went from lowest to highest: Pawn, Rook (Castle), Bishop, and Knight, along with the anomalous King and Queen. A member's rank was denoted by the chess-piece-shaped earring worn on their left ear.
Pawns were generally ordinary foot soldiers with little magic power and weak ÄRMs. Rooks possessed decent ÄRMs and some magic power, acting as elite soldiers. Bishops either wielded incredibly powerful ÄRMs or possessed vast reserves of magic power. As for the Knights, they lacked neither powerful ÄRMs nor magic power. There were only thirteen of them in the Chess Pieces, known as the Zodiac Knights. To become a Knight, one had to defeat an existing Knight and take their place.
As for the King and Queen, strictly speaking, their strength still fell within the Knight class; their status was just special as the masterminds behind the scenes manipulating the entire magical world into a global war.
Ding!
At this moment, Loco aimed the nail at the Cursed Scarecrow's shoulder and hammered it down hard. However, the next second, the recoil from the scarecrow caused the nail to slip from Loco's grasp and clatter to the ground with a crisp clink.
"How is this possible?" Loco stared at her slightly trembling hand, her eyes wide as she muttered in disbelief, "I couldn't hammer it in? This has never happened before!"
Suyan spoke up, "Little Loco, can you release me now? After all, if I forcefully break free and accidentally break your ÄRM, that wouldn't be good."
Clearly, these so-called Darkness ÄRMs weren't true conceptual powers, or at least, the conceptual power they held wasn't absolute. At the very least, when Suyan used Ken to shroud his body in aura, Loco's cursed nail couldn't penetrate the Cursed Scarecrow to harm him.
"Who exactly are you?!" Seeing Suyan's calm demeanor, Loco finally started to panic.
"Suyan, that's my name," Suyan replied with a smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Little Loco."
Loco rolled Suyan's name around on her tongue. She took a deep breath and withdrew the influence of Negzero from him. She then picked up the fallen nail and shoved it, along with the hammer and the Cursed Scarecrow, back into the dimension ÄRM.
Although going all out with her strongest cursed ÄRM regardless of the cost could threaten even a Knight-class fighter, doing so would likely trigger the severe side effect, reverting her into an infant like the previous owner of the cursed set, or worse, reducing her to an embryo and killing her. This was absolutely unacceptable to her.
The reason she joined the Chess Pieces was never because she was inherently evil or enjoyed destruction and slaughter like the others. She simply wanted to survive in this chaotic world. Were it not for this limitation, with the power of the cursed set of seven, she could have easily achieved a much higher rank within the Chess Pieces.
Loco looked at Suyan and asked calmly, "What do you intend to do with Loco? If you cross the line, Loco will resist."
Suyan scratched his cheek awkwardly. Her phrasing made it sound like he was about to do something unspeakable to her. He really wasn't. At least, he hadn't cleared that mental hurdle yet.
More importantly, now that he knew he was in the MÄR world, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Suyan said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you. I just have a few questions I want to ask."
"Ask questions?" Loco blinked, neither agreeing nor refusing.
Suyan asked, "Tell me, has Phantom resurrected yet?"
Loco didn't answer. Phantom was the strongest of the Zodiac Knights of the Chess Pieces, and the apparent leader and primary antagonist. In the previous world war, Phantom mutually perished with the protagonist's father, the previous hero summoned to the magical world. Because Phantom was an immortal zombie, he resurrected a few years later and initiated the second great war. At least, that was the story on the surface; in reality, Phantom was just a pawn for the true masterminds, the King and Queen.
"So he has resurrected, then?" Suyan rubbed his chin, confirming that he had indeed arrived during the timeline of the anime's main plot. "Then did Snow White just escape from the kingdom?"
Suyan started to ask about Snow White but quickly realized something, shook his head, and corrected himself, "No, that's not important. Different question. Has the ÄRM Phantom used to wield, Babbo, appeared yet?"
Snow White was one of the female leads of MÄR. She was the princess of the magical world's largest kingdom, and the Queen backing the Chess Pieces was her wicked stepmother. Yes, aside from the ÄRM mechanics, the MÄR world was essentially a massive fairy tale crossover. The protagonist Ginta was the hero summoned to another world to pull the sword from the stone and save the world. Snow White was the princess with a wicked stepmother who encased herself in ice, waiting for a prince's kiss. The other female lead was Dorothy, a witch burdened with a heavy destiny who used a broomstick as a weapon. The supporting male character, Jack, was based on the story of the boy who planted magic beans to reach a castle in the sky. In addition, several other supporting characters and villains were heavily inspired by fairy tale archetypes or possessed their own unique backstories.
The reason Suyan asked this specific question was simple. After the previous world war ended, Babbo—Phantom's weapon—had been sealed away by the heroic Cross Guard. It wasn't until the start of the anime's plot that the protagonist, Ginta, summoned from another world, found it and made it his signature weapon. Since Babbo was found by Ginta and Dorothy together, chronologically, Dorothy's storyline occurred before Snow White's. Therefore, there was no rush regarding Snow White.
If Babbo had already appeared, it meant the protagonist Ginta had already played the hero and won Dorothy's heart. That would be very bad.
Although Suyan didn't enjoy breaking couples apart, he genuinely wanted to take a hammer to Ginta, the protagonist of MÄR, when he was a kid. To Ginta, this world was nothing more than a fun isekai adventure. In the end, after resolving the Chess Pieces crisis and saving the world, he chose to abandon the friends he made and the female lead, returning to the real world with his resurrected father.
Suyan could never forget the scene at the end of MÄR where Ginta and his dad went back to the real world, leaving Dorothy flying alone on her broomstick in the sky, weeping silently. Especially considering that Dorothy had just killed one of the masterminds of the Chess Pieces, Queen Diana—the older sister she had been closest to growing up. It was heartbreaking, to say the least.
As for the other female lead, Snow White... She died in the ending...
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