Chapter 50

Kirito   I   Resemble

(tl note: from what I could find, title is a reference about an asshole on twitter bragging he looks like kirito from sword art online.)

Kabbalah-chan──The mythical beast carbuncle is a special holy beast that inhabit various regions of the Fairy World, fulfilling the role of "Observers" by delivering information from different areas to the guardians of this world. They are created by the Holy Dragon in ancient times.

To put it coldly, one might describe them as terminal beings for the archangels.

Though they possess no combat abilities, the carbuncle species can vividly record the information they see into the gem on their foreheads. This data can then be transferred to angels, enabling seamless information exchange.

So, that thing on her head was a something like a USB drive…? What a shocking new revelation.

Although, this was a capability possessed by the original carbuncle that came into being tens of thousands of years ago. However, the modern carbuncle species are the descendants of those who left the hand of Ein Sof and became feral over the long months and years. Most have forgotten their mission, and their abilities as "Observers" have regressed. Well, that's only natural after such a vast amount of time. In fact, it's amazing that the species has survived at all.

『And so, nowadays, carbuncles are generally seen as very rare, very cautious, weak, and adorable holy beasts. Still, not only the ordinary citizens, but for even the archangels to think so... how lamentable. Don’t you agree, Chesed?』

“Kyuu.”

『…Hearing that makes me feel ashamed. I didn’t know either.』

Incidentally, Ein Sof seems to see the modern carbuncles, who have completely forgotten their lofty mission, as “part of the process of evolution” and welcomes them. As expected, God is magnanimous.

He may have been pleased that the beings he had originally created as terminals to gather information for the angels had become splendid lives living in this world. That’s just the kind of character that god has.

『This child is one of the few carbuncles who have reverted to their ancestors. She is filled with a sense of duty that won’t lose to that of angels. That’s why I granted her my divine protection and worked together with her to gather information from all over the world. For example, monitoring the first ‘humans’ who came to this world.』

"Monitoring...? So Kabbalah-chan was watching us?" (tl note: watching as in ‘in guard duty.’)

“Kyuu.”

In response to En’s question, Kabbalah-chan cried in affirmation.

Oh my, so Kabbalah-chan was doing such things with such an adorable face. While thinking that, I was inwardly breaking into a cold sweat.

『Sometimes, I gave her direct instructions. Kabbalah-chan really is a good girl.』

Phew, it’s a good thing I consistently acted as an original protagonist even in front of Kabbalah-chan!

I’m glad I didn’t let my guard down even when no one was around. Thanks to that, I managed to get through the monitoring of the world's observer and Binah-sama without slipping up.

In misunderstanding-style fanfictions, it’s crucial not to let the original protagonist’s inner thoughts be exposed in moments like this. Had I been the me just after reincarnating, when I let my guard down from time to time, it might have been dangerous when I first met Kabbalah-chan.

"So… did we meet your expectations?"

I thought the savers would have something to say about being unilaterally monitored. Among them, I expected Chouta to be the first to protest, but surprisingly, he calmly asked that question.

Chouta has become a little more mature lately, hasn’t he? If this were an anime, the gap between his past self and now might have made the female fans’ hearts pound heavily. Not mine, though.

Eight-chan’s gender is that of a TS original protagonist, nothing more and nothing less.

『I’m sorry for testing you like that. Through Kabbalah-chan’s eyes, I was also observing all of you. When things were dangerous, I supported you or helped from behind, you know?』

"…Like when we were escaping from Malkuth’s group and when we were fighting Adishut. Those arrows of light were yours, right?"

『Yes, that’s right. What, so you noticed.』

Hmm? Something like that happened? …Ah, now that you mention it, I do recall distant covering fire coming in back then… It was so casual at the time that I overlooked it, but it was Binah’s technique, wasn’t it?

That means she has secretly saved En and the others from crisis many times until now.

Elegantly, nonchalantly, and with a mysterious impression.

…

Isn’t her character overlapping with mine, after all!? No!

Stop that! That’s the kind of nice position I was aiming for!

That’s supposed to be my position! M-i-n-e!

...No good, this original protagonist-style pinch ended up making my mind regress to that of a child.

I couldn’t suppress the unease and ended up with slightly teary eyes. Now Binah-sama is looking at me with an extremely dubious expression. Don’t look at me with those eyes.

This won’t do… I can’t allow this.

Remember the thrill, me.

Show composure even in moments of crisis. Isn’t that right? T.P. Eight Olishua!

──Alright, I’ve calmed down. That took about ten seconds. I’m an original protagonist who can switch gears.

“Humans sure are something, aren’t they?”

『...Fufu.』

Overcoming my inner turmoil, I deliberately smiled to exude composure. Cheat original protagonist secret technique: natural condescending attitude. My voice wasn’t trembling!

‘The one who proudly watches over En’s group is me!’──I gave her a warning on careless character overlaps here. To put it simply, this is a struggle of dominance.

Unfortunately, the role of the mysterious older sister figure has already been filled. It’s none of your business.

『…You’re right. Watching you and Tsubasa, I’ve come to think humans aren’t as much of a throwaway as others say.』 (tl note: throwaway as in ‘discarded as unnecessary.’)

"Rather, you’ve always liked humans, haven’t you? Even the structure of this town resembles the human world quite a lot."

『Not bad, is it? Human culture, both rational and highly creative, is something I respect. Honestly, I wanted to build more structures like those, but my subordinates stopped me.』

『Naturally.』

With a wry smile, Binah-sama spoke in a way that exuded an aura of authority.

『Humans are sometimes terrifying, and cruel at others. But they also continue to develop at a pace that surpasses even the holy beasts, and they’ve shown us unique changes time and time again.』

"That change is what makes humans wonderful, Binah. That’s why I hope you’ll continue to watch over them with a long term view."

『That was my intention from the beginning, you know? However, unfortunately, many of the holy beasts cannot wait for humanity as a whole to mature. Particularly, the king is at head of that faction. With the Abyss becoming more active, the world is currently very unstable.』

Eei, what’s with this guy’s manner of talking…!? It's way too similar to mine!

Grr… It feels like I’m talking to a mirror.

Not to be outdone, I tried to exude an air of authority myself and engage in a discussion about humanity, but it’s next to impossible to one-up her.

Then, I overheard Chouta and Mea whispering to each other beside us.

“Those two are kinda similar, aren’t they?”

"Mea thinks so too."

Silence!

An original protagonist must be unique. Resembling someone else is unthinkable.

If I can’t avoid overlapping character traits, I have no choice but to assert dominance. An original protagonist must fight to survive. Think in terms of presence.

However, with that said, I can’t openly show hostility toward Binah-sama.

Acting irrationally like that would tank the original protagonist points I’ve worked so hard to accumulate, turning me into a stepping-stone protagonist instead.

I dislike the character overlap, but actually kind of like Binah-sama, even though this is our first meeting. Since she looks like me, it’s natural that she’s cool, has a nice design, has beautiful legs, and an absolute beauty. In any case, she has a nice voice (important).

Hmm? Praising Binah-sama like this kind of feels like the praise is being returned to me… This feels surprisingly good.

『I, Binah, want to cooperate with you. Though with Chesed around, you might already have enough, but... when you head to Ein Sof, who is sleeping at the shrine of the World Tree, I’ll protect you from the other Sefirot.』

『Your support will be helpful. As I am now, I’m like an empty shell. If you join us, we’ll also be able to bypass the shrine’s authentication.』

"Are you sure? That’s what we were hoping for when we came to ask you, but… deciding so quickly like this? You’ll be opposing the other archangels, you know."

『It’s too late for that. I’m the disliked older sister, after all. Besides… through the divine protection I granted to Kabbalah-chan, I’ve already understood what kind of people you are. The courage it took for just five of you to enter this world to stop a war is something I personally admire. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have invited you to this island myself.』

“Thanks! What the heck, Binah-sama, you’re such a reasonable and awesome archangel!”

『Fufun, I’m at least that great.』

──While I was inwardly grappling with my identity as an original protagonist, it seemed the discussion had concluded smoothly.

Her finesse is almost like an RTA.

It’s probably some kind of sacret art, but having observed En and the others through Kabbalah-chan, Binah-sama apparently trusted them to some degree from the start.

Her attitude toward En’s group was too convenient and friendly, and the faintly visible smile beneath the veil exuded a sense of relaxation.

Grrr… She really is similar to me, damn it.

If she had been an official character in the baribari anime, my past life’s me might have searched the internet using the words "Binah Me Resemble." (tl note: probably baribari legend)

That’s how much her personality felt similar to me, and she’s so easy go get along with. She’s bigger than me, though, which is just unfair.

If she ends up being promoted to a main character in the future, that’s going to be a problem.

Without a doubt, I’d feel ashamed as someone whose character overlaps with hers.

While seriously pondering how to handle such a situation and running mental simulations, Mea-chan leaned in with a concerned look, as if what’s inside my mind was surfacing.

“Eight?”

“…It’s nothing. If she sticks with us, maybe this journey is nearing its end.”

“Aah, we originally came to ask Ein Sof to mediate for us.” [En]

Depending on how things develop, one option to deal with character overlap… would be for me to leave the party and go solo. If I’m not traveling with them, there won’t be any character overlap.

Even without that, with Chesed-kun’s revival, the number of party members has increased.

When the number of main characters increase, it’s inevitable that older ones with overlapping traits will have their screen time disappear. Such cold circumstances are part of why I fear character overlaps.

…Because it’s lonely.

『I think asking Ein Sof to mediate is effective. Especially since the hearts of Keter and Chokmah probably won't budge unless it's by Ein Sof's words.』

"It has to be the Holy Dragon, after all..." [En]

"What kind of god is the Holy Dragon?" [Chouta]

『A kind one. He was a kind, clumsy, and great god... so much so that even the heart of a king exhausted to his limits was eaten away."』

Yes, the Holy Dragon... the Holy Dragon Ein Sof. In the anime Fairy Savers, once the companions were gathered and their strength consolidated, they ventured into the World Tree "Sefira," where the god slept. (tl note:This is already the 50th chapter and I just realized サフィラ(safira) and サフィラス(safirasu) are actually different. Haa…)

Tiferet, one of Ten Archangels of Sefirot, didn’t join the group, but the addition of Binah-sama would make the current strength far surpass the original work’s members who charged in.

Once we quickly regroup with Tsubasa and head straight to the Holy Dragon, this long yet short story of Fairy Savers with Eight-chan would straight line toward its conclusion.

…Well, even after thoroughly digesting the original work’s episodes, there’s still that ominous flag called “Qlippoth of the abyss.” I don’t think it’ll end just by doing something about Keter.

Not that I have any intention of simply defeating him like in the original story. I’m Eight-chan, who tasted success in reconciling Malkuth-sama-chan and Chesed-kun. If I'm aiming to be the perfect cheat original protagonist, I have to continue striving to improve myself and achieve an ending even greater than the original. Though I don’t yet have any concrete plans for that.

『I like the king. I don’t want him to do anything strange anymore, and for that, I’d love to cooperate with you. However...』

──Hm?

『There’s just one condition I’d like to present. Once that’s done, I’ll bring some reliable troops and accompany you.』

"Is that... something like an archangel’s trial?"

『No... rather than a trial, it’s more of a personal request. It’s something that’s related to you as well.』

“Us?”

…Thinking ahead like that ended up setting off a flag.

Well, I don’t mind, really. It’s an original development, after all. Wrapping up this island’s event with a simple “Win over Binah-sama and increase fighting power! Regroup with Tsubasa! All done!” would feel a bit dull.

I’m not the type of original protagonist who gets caught up, I’m the type who actively gets caught up. Unless it’s a heavy event involving deaths, I actually welcome trouble.

Before me, fully ready to accept anything, Binah spoke in a slow and frustrating, and serious way about the condition.

『I want you to save… your companion──Kazaoka Tsubasa.』

(author: Explanation chapters are always tough because the story doesn’t progress much.)

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