THE HERO'S SON IS A MONSTER-Chapter 79: The problem

The problem was, Minium was not as "dollish" as Shogo. At the moment, she was shivering in fright and hiding it so badly that it became more apparent. At least, for Alexandra who was always disturbed by the little girl’s eyes, it was painfully clear.

This time, however, Alexandra couldn’t blame the girl. She realized that she was just about to kill her along with Shogo and maybe even herself. How strange, for a second, she considered killing Shogo more important than her own survival or her interest. That was proof of how much this girl troubled her. Thinking that way, she found herself even more embarrassed than when she touched her chest.

Maybe stabbing Shogo would calm me down? She thought about that for a second but quickly realized that she was going down the same path as earlier. Nothing good could come out of this. That was the conclusion she reached.

Shogo knew exactly where the trouble on Alexandra’s face came from.

The thing was, she knew about Alexandra’s deja-vus because they happened in earlier iterations too. Sometimes they were strong, sometimes not so much, but Alexandra always had an instinctive hate of Shogo.

The reason for that was simple: Alexandra faintly remembered everything Shogo had done to her in the previous storylines.

Normally, that should be impossible, but thanks to Shogo’s power, it was a common occurrence. To be precise, it wasn’t a direct result of Shogo’s power. How it worked was quite simple actually – if Shogo killed Alexandra in a specific situation the latter would retain her memories of the previous storyline. But if she was killed by someone else or in an unsuitable manner, she would forget everything just like now.

In some cases though, Alexandra would start remembering fragments of her past selves even when the conditions weren’t fulfilled. Shogo called those fragments "noises" because they could greatly alter Alexandra’s actions from storyline to storyline.

For example, she decided to go down on the 7th of Amberclaw last time, too late to avoid being trapped by Nya. This time, she arrived soon enough and didn’t abandon Minium, maybe because she unconsciously recognized her.

Shogo’s theory was that, since the story will repeat as long as Alexandra doesn’t succeed in vanquishing Sandalphon, it made adjustments in her mind so that she could avoid the countless deaths she may have suffered otherwise. Storylines that ended in the past must have worked like that too – heroes weren’t as lucky or special as they seemed, they just had an infinitely high number of attempts at their disposal.

Like they say, give enough time to a monkey and it could produce just about any book in the world just by tapping randomly on a writing machine. Shogo was positive that their world and the others worked like that.

The problem wasn’t Alexandra so to speak.

Yes, she instinctively hated Shogo but that was partially because she was confused about her feelings for the doll. From Shogo’s point of view, Alexandra and her were close in past storylines, but of course, Alexandra didn’t remember that. The old Alexandras had a complicated relationship with Shogo. If Shogo had to put it simply, she would say this – her Master both loved and hated her.

In equal measure, hate will always precede love, that’s how humans work. They don’t want to avoid agreeable situations so they don’t mind them much. However, painful situations mark them more because they want to avoid suffering in the future. Those past Alexandra had only one difference with this one – they trusted Shogo. They had faith in her because they spent time together, which allowed them to think past their hate. This Alexandra inherited their feelings, but, of course, without the trust factor, she couldn’t help but hate Shogo.

Shogo understood that and was currently taking steps to get close to Alexandra.

The true problem was noise produced by anyone other than Alexandra, Shogo included. For example, Nya succeeding in destroying Alexandra’s brain last time was not expected. Usually, she failed and killed Alexandra. Or when she first talked to Minium this time – she acted a bit more suspicious than usual. Some people weren’t in the exact same place as before and others weren’t doing the same thing.

Details, little details. But the result could be catastrophic if she was careless. It was up to her to kill Alexandra now or to see where this was going.

Is this level of noise acceptable? That was the question she was asking herself. Everything was still fine so there was no reason to overreact. If worse came to worst, she already took measures anyway. Now, she had to gain Alexandra’s trust first.

And she knew just what to say.

"Like I said, we haven’t met before. I can see the future. In fact, I can more or less experience it firsthand. I met you in my head way before actually meeting you physically so, for me, it is as if we met before. That’s the nuance. I just know you more than you know me because, sometimes, my present and future intertwine so my past becomes my future or something like that. It is hard to describe. When you see the future, you don’t exactly live in the present like others but into a mix between it and—"

"Wait, wait, wait, WAIT!!! Temps mort, okay?! Temps mort!!!!" Alexandra yelled showing the palms of her hands to ask her to calm down.

"Yes."

"What was that?! I didn’t get a single word!"

"Excuse me. I will put it otherwise."

"Be concise, please."

"Of course."

Alexandra crossed her arms as if to say "I am listening" – even her strand waved slowly to note her receptiveness. That was all Shogo wanted. By talking a lot up until Alexandra starts listening and stops her, she managed to grab her attention even if it was for an instant. Now, she just had to utter a single and powerful sentence to finish the job.

"In short, I feel connected with you."

"!"

As expected, Alexandra slightly jumped at the sentence. She now looked at the wall, her brows furrowed, but her face visibly red. It seems that Alexandra is quite sensitive to such comments.

"Co... Connected?! Watch what you say, doll! Why would I be connected to something like—"

"So, about what I want to ask of you..."

"Stop interrupting me!!!"

Alexandra stomped the ground angrily, her peculiar strand standing straight on her head. For someone who is supposedly tired, she sure has a lot of energy. Not that Shogo was truly surprised even when thinking that.

"Go ahead then."

"I don’t need your authorization!"

"You are complicated."

"I don’t need to hear that coming from a doll!"

"Yes."

"Exactly!"

"Yes."

"..."

There was a heavy silence. If Alexandra was searching her words, that meant she was conscious of Shogo. Now, she just had to push her a little.

"So, about our agreement."

"..."

"Am I allowed to proceed with it?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"... Do you need to ask?"

"You are a bibliomancer so I am afraid to be impolite by—"

"Just ask already!!!"

Almost there. Now Alexandra was acting all pouty and meek. She even got angry at Shogo for acting respectfully. Now, she just had to talk about Nya. In her current state of mind, Alexandra should take the revelation well.