Chapter 221

Chapter 120 Shadow of the Partner

Mama, Makoto, Rikka, and Arisu, the four females of the Selfish Organization currently, all gathered around the table, their full attention focused on a pile of playing cards in front of them.

In other words, they were concentrating on the poker cards in their hands. At this moment, each of them had less than three cards, marking the final round.

“Spade Ace!”

Makoto tossed a card.

“Diamond Jack.”

Rikka followed with her card.

“Plum King.”

Arisu placed her card on the table.

“Hehe, it seems it’s my victory! Little Joker!”

Mama was confident that by playing the Little Joker that she held the winning hand!

“Sorry, but I have the last trump card here.”

Arisu smiled, playing the top card in turn, which instantly turned Mama’s confident face into an awkward one.

Oh no, I forgot that no one played the top card yet!

“Six Flowers really excels at card games.”

“It’s okay.”

Makoto pointed out Six Flowers’ interest outside of her dream to become a doctor. Six Flowers was actually quite proficient in various card games and had even faced off against Japan’s highest ranked professional player in a Karuta match previously.

Of course, that match was spoiled by Ira with her selfish group, and now Ira had been sent out for shopping. It left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth.

These days as hostages, they have gradually adapted. Initially, they were mostly worried about Ai’s mental state, but now when they see her from afar, they can see her determination, calming their worries.

It seems that despite losing them temporarily, Ai is continuing her efforts and battles with her sadness hidden under her confidence.

Aside from attending to them, Ash mainly had them accompany his spirit creatures and practice together. Their practice results had evolved from outright losses to more competitive matches over time.

The girls, as legendary warriors, were starting to awaken their innate abilities. Under pressure, the improvement in their strength was rapid.

“There has been much less training lately with Ash as compared to before, hasn’t there?”

“You are right; he also seems less harsh than before.”

This wasn’t a secret. The girls nodded in agreement. In reality, they had noticed similar changes.

“But isn’t that good? Maybe he is finally ready to mend his ways.”

Makoto, feeling increasingly optimistic lately, saw this as a positive change.

“Are you sure? It just feels like something is off…”

“Six Flowers always had great intuition.”

“Ugh, such hopeful little girls still defending him even after being captured!” Mama couldn’t stand it anymore and threw down her obviously lost card and started shuffling the cards. “Lost, lost already, hurry up and start another round!”

“Hahaha.” Seeing Mama’s behavior, they laughed good-naturedly. To their surprise, they got along well with Mama and Ira.

“I didn’t expect Miss Mama to be interested in human world games, too.”

“After all, Lord Ash is our current ruler. We officers no longer need to collect the evil energy required for revival as before. Now that we’re idle, what else could we do if not play cards?”

Lately, engrossed in playing cards, Mama even came to believe that eliminating the earth would be wasteful.

“Shuffled, let’s go again!”

“Wow, playing cards is really fun, isn’t it?”

From behind them, someone nearby commented as they observed.

“Of course it is! Playing cards is truly… fun!”

The rest of Mama’s words stuck in her throat because the voice belonged to none other than Ash, who seemed pleased at finding them playing during work hours.

“N-no…”

Ash did not get angry; after all, he never forbade his subordinates from gaming on company time, right?

But most importantly, Ash presently had neither time nor energy to deal with her, so he chose to ignore it.

“Tired… prepare dinner for me, everything else is up to you.”

Yawning, Ash swayed towards his throne, lay down on it, and closed his eyes without any concern for the rest.

Whew… I thought I’d be punished. Without punishment, Mama breathed a sigh of relief. She was brave enough to continue the work behavior of playing poker.

“However, Ash is becoming increasingly sleepy?”

“Mmh… Despite this, shouldn’t Ash have as much vigor as Ai? Could he be tired lately?”

But he had no work, why would he be tired?

Listening to Makoto and Arisu’s conversation, Rikka contemplated. Watching Ash walk away, she stood up and silently followed him.

“Where am I now?”

Awakening from a black abyss where nothing existed but darkness, Ash opened his eyes.

At first, he thought he had died once again, but unlike the overwhelming emptiness and strangeness of death, he quickly remembered where he was.

“Is this a dream? Very rare… I haven’t dreamed in such a long time, I even thought I lost the ability to dream.”

How long had it been since his last dream? It was probably when he was twelve, sleeping at home without starting his journey?

“Ash—”

“Who is it!”

Drawing Gear Gun toward the source of the voice, Ash raised the barrel but frowned at whom he saw.

As if speaking of the devil, just thinking about his twelfth year reminded him that the person standing in front of him was exactly the Ash from that time.

He had forgotten many things, but he hadn’t forgotten himself.

“System?”

There was a strange, familiar feeling about this person, regardless of whether or not they were a previous version of him. He decided to ask for his partner’s name.

“Ash.”

“Oh, it is you.” The familiar voice made Ash wear a helpless expression. “I said, it makes sense that you have a sense of self, after all, the system of hedgehog cats isn’t merely a mindless task issuer. Tell me, why didn’t you inform me earlier?”

“I’ve told you many times, but you always forget. So unless this was serious, I wouldn’t disturb you.”

“That’s somewhat reasonable.”

Ash ended the topic swiftly; he had no desire to argue with his ‘old friend’ about it.

“So why come to me this time?”

“This matter, I believe you understand. You’ve already remembered it and realized.”

System was referring to this situation: [Storage Full, Please Handle Echoes of Darkness].

Under normal circumstances, Ash could stay in a world for up to a year. Even if he didn’t participate actively in the battle between justice and evil, absorbing the small amount of dark reverberations over time would fill up. Forcing him to watch rather than participate was worse than killing him.

Situations like this, filling beyond capacity, were extremely rare.

“Because of that thing, the progress in collecting those echoes has changed. Even if I overlook it, it’s far beyond expectations!”

“You can’t fight as freely already?”

“That’s the issue.”

Ash nodded gloomily. Actually, as he absorbed dark reverberations, his power grew stronger, but when the absorption reached his limit, the power receded slowly over time.

“But not only that, Ash, staying too long in a world with full dark reverberation will erode your memory. And continuing to fight exacerbates this!”

“In other words, if I keep fighting, after transforming two or three times, your body… no, your mind will collapse!”

Past Ash reached out a hand toward present Ash.

“Ash, bringing you to the Precure world without a plan was my mistake. Stop now!”

“What a hassle,” Ash replied, scratching his head and looking troubled.

Then clicked the safety on his Closed Gear Gun, aiming it at his past self, who appeared before him.

“In truth, I don’t think the Pretty Cure world is bad.”

“I haven’t had enough yet, giving up now sounds boring. You should know that I’m unconcerned about my life, right?”

“How severe is it then?”

“You aren’t listening, no one can sway my decision, and that includes you!”

“I’ll see you later.”

A long note echoed throughout the cosmos.