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Last Embryo Volume 1 Chapter 9 Part 2

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Editor: Weasalopes

Unable to move even for an inch, all that Homura could do was to stare at the young woman in front of him in shock. It was a situation where the saying 「Like a frog under the snake’s glare」 would fit perfectly, but it was even more than that. It was as if he was completely charmed and petrified by her eyes at the same time, and that made his unable to move even a single muscle in his body. Yes, this ephemeral, beautiful Queen was an existence that would make even the fiercest and most brutal of the Gods of War stop and kneel before her.

Just like that, Homura simply stood there, frozen solid, unable to do absolutely anything. She must have known that it was going to be like this, because Queen Halloween, as if unable to watch him suffer silently like that, appeared right next to him with but a single step, and with the flutter of her sparkly golden hair, she delicately touched his cheek with her silky-smooth fingers.

「Relax, I do not mean to harm you.」

「…..!???」

And then he grasped his face in both her hands. Dumbfounded from the suddenness and directness of her actions, Homura tensed up so much that all the muscles in his body began to hurt. Since she was somewhat shorter than him, her lovely eyes looked at him from below, making the whole situation feel more erotic than it should. And then, as if to deliver a finishing blow, this young woman, or perhaps still just a girl, judging by the fact that she didn’t look that much older than Homura, pressed his head against her chest, patted his head and told him:

「There, there, everything is going to be fine now. Just take a nice, deep breath and try to calm yourself down. Can you do that foe me?」

「!!!!!….. *Inhale*… *Exhale*…. *Inhale*…」

「There, you see? Your heartbeat is nice and slow like it’s supposed to be now, doesn’t it?」

The golden-haired Queen let go of Homura, spun around and walked a few steps away from him. Just to be absolutely sure, he touched his chest with his own hand again. His heartbeat was still somewhat fast, but it was gradually returning back to normal, and his breath wasn’t as ragged as before, where he thought he was going to suffocate from breathing too fast. However, his eyes must have still had that 「What the hell is going on here?!」 expression in them, because when Queen Halloween turned back to face him again, she pouted, visibly displeased, but still offered him an additional explanation nonetheless.

「Geez, I already told you that I am not going to harm you, remember? The only ones who I do that to are the occasional troublemakers who happen to wind up here from time to time, but you don’t have to worry about that, since you were invited here personally by Yours Truly. If you had any sweets on you then we could have gone with the Trick or Treat play, but you couldn’t have known about that so I’ll just let you off the hook this time, okay?」

「I, I see. Thank you for being so considerate with me despite my late arrival, Your Majesty.」

「Oh, stop it with that stiff formality, it always bores me to no end no matter how often I hear it! If you want to address me in some way, then feel free to simply call me Queen, since it has a much friendlier sound to it, don’t you think?」

Queen’s lovely lips curled up in a sharp, confident smile. When she did that, she really looked like just your normal teenage girl. Also, it might have been only Homura’s imagination, but he felt as if the pressure around her wasn’t as strong as it was just moments ago. Breathing a long sigh of relief, Homura straightened his back and introduced himself properly.

「Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Saigo Homura. Pleased to make your acquaintance, and I am sorry for being late to the meeting, Queen.」

「You were late indeed, but I forgive you, so there’s no need for you to fret about that. Including you, only a total of three people were late to the meeting with me and lived to tell the tale, so if at all possible I would like you to be a little more mindful of the time during your next visit. Now come on, I permit you to sit with me, so come here, and don’t be shy!」

Even though she just told him not to be worried, she immediately followed that up with some pretty horrific statements. Maybe that was her way of showing consideration to her guests, but for Homura, this was nothing more than a pure power move meant to display the difference between the two of them. Homura still hadn’t completely let his guard down, but since he was so graciously offered a seat, there was no reason for him to decline, so he sat on a chair, which appeared out of nowhere, by the way, at the opposite side of the table so that he and Queen could see each other without any difficulties. He wanted to be the one to initiate the conversation, but since all the sensation from what he just went through were still stuck to him like glue and refused to let go, he found it exceedingly hard to do something so simple like opening his mouth, so both of them simply sat there and stared at each other for a short while. He wondered how long is this awkward silence going to continue, but as if she read his mind, it was the Queen who started talking first.

「Ah, you must still feel confused, so perhaps it would be better if I did the talking bit first?」

「Well, y-yes, that… that would be appreciated, if I can allow myself to be honest. To be completely frank, I do not understand what is happening right now, like, at all. If possible, I would like a thorough explanation starting from the very beginning. Would that be a problem?」

「Not at all. I see. Then if that’s the case, let’s use the Q&A format: you ask your questions, and I try to answer them to the best of my abilities. I think it will be the most efficient method, since I do not know how much knowledge do you already possess and how much I would have to explain. Oh, and also, feel free to drop the honorifics entirely. As I mentioned before, I hate formality.」

「Okay, I will be sure to do just that, if that is what you want, Queen.」

「See, isn’t talking like that nice and easy? Because I certainly think so!」

Replying to Queen’s order, Homura felt light-headed from all the confusion that was assaulting him, because so far the Queen was displaying a surprising amount of leniency for someone as powerful as her. Even the words from before which he took as a threat were actually the ones of advice more than anything else, and at the time she was a monster who would have killed those who came to have an audience with her without remorse if she considered them to be 「troublemakers」. That was a dangerous sort of duality, the one that should not be screwed around with if you valued your life.

By all means, Homura felt that his life was still in danger, but he should at least be grateful that he didn’t receive any harsh punishment for his transgression of coming to the audience late. For the time being, he had to do what Queen wanted him to do if he wanted to avoid getting on her bad side and get some answers out of her at the same time. So while choosing his words carefully, he decided that the first question he was going to ask of her will be the most important one, pertaining to the biggest issue at hand for him, Suzuka and Ayato.

「I will do as you ask, Queen, so here’s my first question: if we manage to complete the Gift Game that is currently going on, will my friends and I be able to go back to the world we were summoned from?」

It would appear that Queen Halloween did not expect that question at all, because she tilted her head to the side and her lovely eyes became round with surprise.

「My oh my, I thought it was obvious? Just like it was with the vampires during the last such Gift Game, you have been summoned here to Little Garden thanks to the special, limited Participation Privilege, meaning that you will be send back to your home world once the Game you are participating in draws to a close… or rather, if you were unable to go back home, that would be pretty troublesome for me in all sorts of ways.」

「Really?!」

Hearing that unexpectedly good answer, it was like a huge weight has been lifted off of Homura’s shoulders. Just now, she didn’t simply say 「You will be returned to your home world」. She explicitly stated that if they weren’t returned there after the end of the Game, it would mean trouble for her. In other words, she wanted to say that she will send them back home when all of this is over by whatever means necessary!

The clarification of that one fact was everything Homura needed for his mood to change for the better.