"How rude... I know it's my first time cooking, but it can't be that bad, can it?"
Hare glanced angrily at the passed-out Ryn. After a moment of thought, Hare also put the breakfast she had brought to her mouth on the table.
"Maybe it really does taste a bit bad... Forget it, good thing I don't have to eat..."
"I thought there was going to be a big fight, but it was resolved just like this."
Hare took out a rope, preparing to tie Ryn up. But when she tried to approach Ryn, giant plant vines shot out from around him, enveloping him and preventing Hare from getting close.
"Automatic protection? What a magical ability." Hare reached out and tugged at the vines, but couldn't move them. She then tried to pierce them with her weapon, a javelin, but found that she couldn't pierce them either.
"But I've already taken everything out, it would be a shame to put it back." Hare tossed the rope in her hand, an idea already forming in her mind.
Click— Click—
A few minutes later, when Ryn woke up, through the gaps in the vines, he only saw Hare holding a camera and constantly taking selfies with him.
In the photo, Hare was smiling and making a peace sign at the camera. Next to her was a vine-wrapped rice dumpling tied up with a rope. Through the gaps in the rice dumpling, the unconscious Ryn could be vaguely seen.
"Ahem, this should count as completing my mission." After confirming that the photo was fine, Hare clicked send, sending the selfie of herself and Ryn to Jackal.
"Oh, you're awake. How was the food I made? Was it delicious?" Hare stood in front of Ryn, still smiling at him, and also handed him a printed copy of the photo.
"Absolutely delicious. I highly recommend you try it yourself. It looked so good, but it was full of poison..."
Ryn waved his hand, dispelling the vines that enveloped him. After the vines disappeared, the rope that had tied the vines into a rice dumpling also fell to the ground.
Ryn looked at the rope on the ground, then at the innocently smiling Hare.
"Have you ever had a head injury?"
"No, why?" Hare picked up a mirror and looked at her face, asking back in confusion, "Why do you say that?"
"Because I feel like you're not very smart..."
Ryn looked up at the sky. Not only was he surrounded by idiots, he was an idiot himself. Was there any hope for this world...
"Thinking about it, it doesn't seem very reasonable. Trying to control Schicksal's strongest S-rank Valkyrie with just one life and public opinion is a bit too naive. So your organization's real purpose was to send an idiot to lull me into a false sense of security, then drug and kill me?" Ryn summoned Stars and pointed his sword at Hare.
"Ryn, you're being so mean. I made you breakfast with great care, you know." Hare turned her head away, feigning sadness, then took out two javelins and pointed them at Ryn.
"Warrior who bears the Stigmata, I greatly admire and envy the will you possess, so I don't want to kill you, just trap you for a while."
Hare's javelins merged into one, transforming into a banner. Hare held the banner with one hand and began to slowly circle Ryn. And with every place Hare walked, a phantom of a hero bearing a Stigmata would appear in her place.
"If Ryn doesn't want to stay here with me in a harmonious way, then I can also satisfy you by fighting to drag this out until the mission is over."
"Then let's fight first and talk later!"
Ryn swung his sword at Hare, but a Transcript also swung its sword at Ryn at the same time. Ryn had no choice but to turn back and parry the Transcript's attack first.
Clang—
Sword met sword, producing a crisp ring.
What great strength. Ryn shook his hand to relieve the numbness in the web of his thumb.
But the Transcript on the other side was completely unaffected and swung its sword again. This time, it wasn't just one Transcript, but three or four attacking at once.
Ryn's eyes narrowed coldly, and a ten-thousand-fold gravity crushed the three Transcripts into dust. But there was still one Transcript that was completely unaffected, continuing to swing its dual blades at him.
Side-stepping the dual-bladed Transcript's attack, he thrust his sword into its body in a backhand motion and swung upwards, cutting it in two.
Ryn confidently turned to look at the remaining Transcripts, and then Ryn became 2.5 Ryn.
The wound Ryn had inflicted on the dual-bladed Transcript healed at a visible, super-fast rate, and then two blades fell, cutting Ryn in half at the waist.
"F*, that really hurts."
Ryn pushed himself up with both hands and jumped in place. In the few seconds he was in the air, his lower body, along with his pants, regenerated again.
And during the time Ryn was regenerating his lower body, the few Transcripts that Ryn had crushed into dust also finished regenerating.
Ryn looked at these unkillable Transcripts, then at Hare, who had poured herself a pot of tea on the side and had not yet made a move.
"What's wrong? If fighting puts you at ease, then continue. They are some of the strongest people in human history, and they created their own immortal legends in different eras."
"I'm not fighting anymore, it's pointless." Ryn sheathed Stars and walked over to Hare, picking up the teapot and pouring himself a cup of tea.
"They're all dead, can't you let them rest in peace?" After drinking a pot of tea, Ryn looked at the Transcripts he had fought against earlier.
Their clothes were different, their builds were different, and their fighting styles were different. But their spirit, their will, was the same.
Although masks covered their faces, even in a brief clash, Ryn could feel the heroism and will emanating from them.
"You can't say that. The dead are ultimately dead. The ones that appear through my 'transcription', although they have the memories and strength of their former selves, are new individuals with new souls and thoughts."
Ryn tilted his head and said seriously, "So... you still dug up their graves."
"I did not!" Hare slammed the table and retorted angrily, "Although I'm not human, I am very moral. I only need to touch their remains or the Stigmata information they left behind to complete the transcription!"
"Got it. So what you're saying is, in the end, you still had to dig up graves. I despise you." Ryn raised his teacup in a toast to Hare, then drank it down in one gulp.
"Can't you watch what you say? I told you I didn't dig up their graves, they did it willingly!"
"You showed up at their door, they had to be willing whether they wanted to or not."
"??? I negotiated with them through their dreams first, and then I transcribed them!"
"Dreams? They're dead, how can they have dreams? Stop bragging. Don't try to find some grand excuse for yourself, that will only make me despise you more."
"You, you, you..."
Hare was so angry she was speechless. For the first time in her long life, she had a strong desire to hit someone.