“Gah, everything hurts.” I say as I awaken from my deep slumber.
“Well, maybe you shouldn't be such a showoff. Then you wouldn't end up in these types of situations.”
“But, these situations are nice. It gives me a chance to rely upon you rather than me constantly dragging your drunken self about.”
“Well, do expect me to keep relying upon you. After all, you make a great courier service for drunk geniuses.”
“I wish that weren't true, I mean, how many times have I done it with you at this point? Two thousand with?”
“Hmm, I'd say it's closer to fifteen hundred. Though I can say that I've only had the chance to do it 11 times with you! I can't wait to increase my number even further.”
“Well, it seems our journey is only just beginning. It's been about two and a half months?”
“Yeah, and to think we are only down one trial. You'd expect the later trials to take even longer than the first too.”
“At this current rate of one trial every two months or so, it'll take us one and a half more years. But if we factor in increasing complexity, it's likely to be more like four or five years.”
“Welp, I guess we better settle in for a long haul then. We're not gonna be getting out of this anytime soon.”
“Heck, even when it's done, we will be the leaders of humanity. We will have to do all that sort of work. And while it will definitely be fun, we aren't in for a proper long break for quite a while.”
“Well, so long as we are together, all shall be well.”
“Luce lunae per aspera ad astra et ultra, isn't it?”
“For sure, we will show them never to underestimate the Moonlight Duo.”
My body is still absolutely on fire. It feels as if every neuron through my entire body is screaming at me in pain. Now, maybe I did overdo it this time. But, from what Ray has told me it was worth it.
In the past two days people have been going absolutely crazy over us. Not only our performance at the gala, but the display afterwards left a massive impression. I think it's safe to say that everyone is paying very close attention to us at this point.
By the way, if you haven't guessed, I'm currently resting on Ray’s wonderful lap. Apparently she carried me all the way back to the ship. We then proceeded to fly all the way to Risia’s Bastion City before I woke up.
Though, that does mean that I've been tended to by Ray for two whole days. So, the positives far outweigh the negatives in my honest opinion. Though, I do kind wish I got the positives without the mind shattering pain part. I wouldnt wanna seem like a child and constantly rely upon Ray though. Even though she says she wouldn't, she would tease me for sure (while complying).
Anyways, since I am currently immobile, Ray decides to turn the TV (which was recently installed with the latest Earth media) on to catch up on some of our anime. We have kinda been slacking on keeping up with stuff. We gotta be careful, otherwise we will get too far behind and will struggle to catch up.
By the way, we watch every single new anime episode that comes out (obviously not all that have ever been made). So, it's quite a busy task. Though not quite as bad if we watch them at 4x speed.
I lay in Ray's lap and we watched anime for several hours. A couple times we ask Alex and Duck to go fetch food cause we are too lazy to move.
Man, alien tech is really nice and convenient. We could literally sit like this for weeks without having to move. We don't need to use the bathroom, shower, or move. Since the augmentation kits will generally keep us in perfect physical condition. Plus we can just have food and water brought to us. It's every Otaku NEET’s fever dream.
One day, perhaps we shall spearhead a program that brings such luxury to all the Otaku of humanity. Could even be our first act as administrators. Though, we might just immediately trigger a revolt from those who think we are just a bunch of lazy kids.
Anyways, about twenty hours of debauchery later, we get an unpleasant visitor.
“Cmon you wastes of space. I know you've been awake Ko, you forget that I can sense all. No more of this sitting around doing nothing. You've got a special event to attend, courtesy of me.”
Ray:”Woah, an event. What kind of event?”
“Well, it's a celebration for the two of you! Most of the order has gathered here in Risia. We've got a grand event planned. So get your sev’ing butts up off that couch and get ready.”
Ko:”Oh great, what madness has she cooked up now.”
About two hours later
Pure madness it seems.
We quickly put on our typical admiral and captain's uniforms, she said we didn't have to be too fancy. But the moment we left the temple, we entered into pure madness.
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Every surface of every building on the street is lined with pictures of the two of us and/or our emblem.
Signs, banners, the like. With taglines like "Congratulations Moonlight Duo”, “Moonlight Duo is the best!” Or even “Please marry me Moonlight Duo <3!”, it's truly quite absurd.
Also, lined along the sides of the road are hundreds of people. Crammed in as tight as they possibly can to get a glimpse of us. They are all dressed in some variation of silver and purple. Many of them also display our emblem.
“This is.. Insane.”
“Even by our standards, this is kinda crazy.”
“Oh dear Initae, what the klack did you do!?”
She coalesces out of the crowd and walks over next to us.
“Why what do you mean, my dears? I merely temporarily gave them permission to lift the restriction on not showing their true devotion to you. Naturally, they took this as their chance to show their full support for you.”
Ko:”So, you mean to say that without the IEC’s restrictions, they would always be like this. All those people that we have been interacting with have been secretly concealing this side of themselves from us?”
“Yeah, that's about right.”
“Ohmygosh ohmygosh. This is sooo cool Ko! Look, we've got tens of thousands of adoring fans standing out there waiting to greet us!”
“Thats great and all, but like, what do you plan for us to do with them, Initae?”
“Well, first off, we've got a big stage and stuff for you two to give a short speech. Then the highlight of the day, a massive tournament, where the winner gets to challenge you two. [quieter] and absolutely beat you two into a pulp.”
“Oi, what was that last part Ms. Transcendent being that really seems to like inflicting physical trauma onto us?”
“Oh nothing.”
We then proceed down the street, which is absolutely packed with people out in full support for us. We come to a grand plaza which is filled with even more us-themed decorations. It's honestly a bit creepy.
We are brought up onto the stage.
In front of us is a massive crowd of fans, I approximate about fifty thousand in attendance.
Initae:”By the way, this will be recorded and broadcast to all your lovely fans all across the universe!”
Ko:”Yeah, sure, not to pressure us too much.”
Ray:”Relax Ko, just let me, the most beautiful girl that should ever live, handle this.” [Okay, I might've altered what she said a bit, but it's still 100% the truth]
She then proceeds to give an absolutely stellar speech to the crowd. At basically every pause she has to motion for them to calm down as they clap and cheer at her every word.
I guess I may now understand what the Gamekeeper was alluding to when they said not to accidentally build a cult following. It may be a bit too late for that warning.. Oops.
Oh well, it's not like they will be able to stalk us right? The IEC would definitely prevent any such actions from occurring. Plus it seems people are unreasonably compliant about treating us normally when we are just out and about.
It does make one wonder what type of control the IEC has. It almost seems sorta like a shady spy government. But from the other impressions I have gotten, they are a fairly normal and not shady organization.
Either way, her speech works to great success. I don't even have to say a word and it seems they are all content. Guess having a cute childhood friend turned game ally pays many types of dividends, not just ones of comfortable places to pass out.
Next up is the tournament. Several very scary looking competitors, mostly Itokin, are gathered. 90% of them have markings that signify them as wielders. It seems most are gesir, there are a couple skiers though.
Initae:”Hey, Ko and Ray. Sorry to say, but you can't actually watch the tournament bouts. They are using advanced techniques that you aren't ready to learn about yet.”
“Waaht, such a drag. You're like a nagging parent.”
It seems that comment really set something off in Initae. Ray receives a nice walloping, seemingly made out of air itself. She quickly runs to hide behind me while holding her head. Heh, maybe she now knows the pain and wont do it to me (not that I really mind all too much, honestly).
We are led offstage and into a local bar to wait out the tournament. Ray seems slightly happier that she can get drunk while we wait. She ensures to turn on her timer so that we are ready to face our challenger when the time comes.
A couple hours later, that time is now.
We enter the ring and across from the two of us stands a very bulky Itokin, they must stand at nearly three meters and are ripped with muscles. Strangely, they don't have any wielder markings.
They wield a giant battle hammer in their hands. I would presume that they are very good at using it as well.
Ray:”Oh for kek’s sake. I feel like ima need a lot of liquor to walk this off..”
The fight is over within thirty seconds.
Apparently this guy has made a bit of a name for themselves.
Known as the breaker of universes. It is said that their hammer defies all laws of reality and can render any opponent incapable within one minute or less.
For us, it was on the side of less.
We were apparently quickly carted back to the temple and dumped into my bed. It seems Initae had some specific words to be super rough with us as punishment for being such embarrassing pupils. I expect we will be put through the ringer in the near future.
Oh well, all in an effort to get stronger.
This sure was a fun event. I (and Ray too) couldn't believe that we actually had such a strong fanbase. Perhaps that is part of the IEC’s core strategy to make us feel more like natural citizens rather than superstars.
I could see some, like a little pink haired devil, getting quite arrogant over such a fact. It wouldn't be good if we, the representatives of humanity, go lording our fame over everyone.
Regardless of whether we are super duper famous or not. So long as Ray and I are together we will endure and overcome any obstacle. So, bring it on.
End of Chapter 47
A/N: Hiya dear reader. Author here. Sorry to cut this ramble short, but I dont wanna occupy too much more of your time, so ill end this note here.
As always, if you are enjoying this story, be sure to follow/favourite/share with a friend, it is always appreciated. See ya next time, dear reader.
- Cathrix