Chapter 1: Another Age
Relativism
When first the puppet met the baby bird,
upon the bird’s back were great wings.
Those white wings could surely go anywhere.
The empty puppet wished:
I want to see what this bird sees.
The dazzling bird had everything the puppet did not,
yet it had no home. Surprised to find
that it could become the bird’s home,
the puppet smiled and swore from the heart:
I will be your home.
We’ll always be together…
They crossed their little fingers and swore…
Sora and Shiro, having thought long and hard, got back to the problem at hand. The problem was the presumed Dwarf lying on the bed in front of them. The Dwarf—of yet indeterminate gender—was draped in what looked like a firefighter’s coat. Actually, that wasn’t even the biggest question. If Emir-Eins hadn’t told them, Sora and Shiro wouldn’t even have been sure this was a living thing. This “Object X” looked more like a backpack. They’d had Jibril pick the object from the ground, carry it, rinse it off, and dump it on the bed… And now—
“It still won’t get up. What do we do?”
“…Brother… Are you…sure, it’s alive?”
—they weren’t even sure whether this stone-still thing was alive or dead. As they grew increasingly nervous, Jibril solemnly knelt on one knee and informed them:
“What is picked from your field belongs to you , my masters. I do believe that you may dispose of it however you like. ? ”
…For the sake of absurd argument, let’s assume that ridiculous hogwash to be true. Even so!!
“You’re saying this aspect ratio–skewed, bearded thing belongs to us?! Noooo, thank you! I just wanna wake it up and tell it, ‘Please go home.’ But how do we do that?!”
Sora howled as he remembered the disappointment of the day he had first observed the appearance of Dwarves.
…Indeed—he’d had hopes. In this world, the Werebeasts had been animal girls. The Sirens had been mermaids as opposed to fish monsters. The Elves had been pale, blond, and long-eared, just as one would hope—this world had brought his dreams to life! Under the circumstances, of course he’d imagined the Dwarves as superstrong manga girls or porn-game legal Lolis!! Who would’ve thought they’d be buff and bearded regardless of sex as in the classics?!
…But dreams were only dreams. Sora wept at the bitter reality.
“If I may, Master, please, please give the matter more thought.”
Jibril folded her wings and put her hands together in prayer.
“—There is no greater thing in this world than a Dwarf.”
……
……Hold up. Is it about to start raining meteorites? Shiro and Sora compulsively looked out the window, fearing for the day’s weather prospects.
“After all, they use catalysts such as this to bring out magic.”
Jibril waved a hammer of mechanical structure—a giant hammer, about the size of Sora, that had been buried in the ground with Object X. They didn’t know the details of this “catalyst” thing Jibril was talking about, but…
“What…? You’re saying they can’t use magic without some magic wand–type item ?”
“…? You call that, great…? More like…weak sauce…amirite…?”
Instantly reminded of Sunday-morning cartoons, Sora and Shiro were both skeptical. Magical girls were always given items to fulfill their great destiny of selling toys. What great destiny did this Dwarf shoulder? their eyes asked.
“There are spiritual materials in the bodies of Dwarves. Their bodies are protected by mithril hair, and their eyes are made of orichalcum.” Jibril swallowed. “When they manipulate spirits in their bodies, the mithril naturally amplifies the spirits…which in the worst case may cause an overload—a loss of control . Therefore, to use magic, they use their orichalcum to synchronize the spirits externally, with catalysts.”
Sora and Shiro narrowed their eyes further at her reply.
Ah yes, I see, that’s magic…also known as bullshit. It could never be understood in its details by normal humans like Sora and Shiro. But basically, was she saying that Dwarves couldn’t use magic without their wands? No, she was saying that they were just so powerful they couldn’t control it without their wands.
…Sora understood, at least, that this was the stuff of every little boy’s dreams. He was impressed.
“Furthermore, they combine multiple catalysts with intricate seal-rite patterns, structuring the rites to be mobile, adjustable, and modular . By synchronizing with the catalysts that form the core of these mechanisms, Dwarves are able to cast multiple spells at once, allowing them to emulate the Elves’ unique specialty of multi-casting. What makes this possible, in short—”
Jibril paused her magical technobabble to raise the hammer before Sora and Shiro before concluding.
“—are these spirit arms.”
Spirit arms…
So, the countless components of this mechanical hammer were all catalysts. And the fine patterns on each of them were seal rites or something? And a Dwarf would combine those to…like, cast some übermagic or something … Having translated it into terms they could understand, Sora and Shiro felt strangely relieved to recognize that, yep, this was some bullshit. But wait:
“So, Jibril? That means this Dwarf can’t use magic without this hammer, right?”
“That is correct. Indeed my master is wise. It should be no surprise that you would deduce this fact independently.”
Jibril swallowed again. Sweat ran down Sora’s and Shiro’s cheeks.
— So if it’s so important—
why is Jibril holding it ?
“I excavated and claimed this hammer. Yes… I was able to claim it .”
…She’d been able . Yes, able . And what does that mean?
“In light of the fact that the Covenants render theft impossible , that means this hammer is lost property and now belongs to me, who found it—which in turn means that it belongs to you , by the Covenants!!”
“Uh… But isn’t it still obviously against the Covenants to make off with lost property?”
“…If the Dwarf says… ‘Give it, back’…we’ll be forced to…return it…”
Sora and Shiro felt compelled to say what had to be said to the impassioned Jibril, but they got what she was saying. Jibril had a logical basis to assert that the Dwarf belonged to them.
“Yes. If the Dwarf says, ‘Give it back,’ then you will be forced to return it. However, I , like the hammer, am merely your property, and I myself have no right to return it !!” Jibril beamed. “And therefore, even if the Dwarf asks me to return it, I will have no obligation to do so ! ? Though it may be impertinent, I would ask that you vacate this place for a brief time, so that I can compel the Dwarf to indulge me in a little game by the Covenants—and with that the Dwarf will be yours. It is as good as done. ? ”
Indeed, she would make the Dwarf play. She could enforce it. But how?
“Since, without the hammer—without magic—the Dwarf could neither leave this spatially severed room nor win at my game. ? ”
Which would leave the Dwarf with two choices: refuse a losing game and never leave, or accept and become property. Having laid out her diabolically brilliant plan, Jibril looked up at them, hoping for praise it seemed.
— Heh. That Jibril… She’s learned a thing or two.
Getting teary eyed, Sora and Shiro smiled and were opening their mouths to give her the compliments for which she so yearned, when they noticed the way Jibril gulped as she crept upon the Dwarf. Gulp. It was the gulp of one who was drooling. They closed their mouths without speaking.
“In which case, my masters? Before you depart—you see, in the Great War, useful materials such as mithril, which amplifies spirits, and orichalcum, which synchronizes souls, were quite easy to procure , but since the Ten Covenants, they have become quite hard to come by. And here we have a walking mother lode …”
Thinking back on Jibril’s words, they realized there was no need to worry about those meteorites.
— There is no greater thing in this world than a Dwarf…
“How shall I reconfigure this Dwarf?! Please, instruct me! Geh-heh! Eh-hehh!”
“At least recognize it as sentient, okay?! How ’bout we return that hammer right now?!” Sora cried out as Jibril gripped her blade of light and begged him to tell her how to harvest these materials. He was surprisingly echoed by two people of different races who had been observing in strict silence from the corner of the room.
“Why, I never… If only that devil had the sort of multicellular brain necessary to achieve tasks other than killing.”
“ Acknowledgment: Object cannot be reconfigured. Critical gap in Flügel intelligence. Confirmed. Stuuupiiid.”
As soon as he heard Fiel and Emir-Eins, Sora looked to the heavens: Oh no, not again. Through the raging flames of malice, his sadness had come to pay a second visit for the day.
But then…he dropped his gaze from the ceiling, made eye contact with Shiro, and thought.
— Flügel, Ex Machina, Elf—and Dwarf…
…Was he imagining this? Here, in this bedroom above this little shop in a corner of Elkia—all were present to resume the Great War of the ancient past…or was it…just him ? ?!
“Uh, ummm!!! Emir-Eiiins! ? What do you mean when you say, ‘cannot be reconfigured’—?”
“ Oh, Master. ? It is simply the inaccurate reading of a long-obsolete machine. Please pay it no mind. ? ”
Sora was doing his best to stay positive toward Emir-Eins, to be sure that the Great War never needed to be numbered. But Jibril shifted right into his line of vision. Sora and Shiro each wondered: The explosion that shook the building earlier—that was just my imagination, right?
“… Conflict: Mithril, orichalcum. Only Dwarves can process. Obvious.”
“No, Master. It is quite feasible to process them as long as we have the fire of the Old Deus Ocain. ? ”
“ Ridicule: Seizure of Holy Forge. Equivalent to control of Ocain. Requesting plan data. Resource not available. No surprise.”
“Why, we’ve no need to trouble ourselves. ? We need only dispose of it deeep underground so as not to pollute the soil. ? ”
“ Rejection: Can collect raw material. Recommendation: Disassembly. Sale. Profit.”
The two of them discounted each other’s claims, their animosity swirling through the air, as they all argued for the same kind of thing.
“Come on, doesn’t anyone care to remember the Ten Covenants? Why is murder even on the table?!”
Sora howled out the lone objection to what otherwise was a consensus to kill the Dwarf.
Just then, a trio of blasts shook the shop.
“Hey—that time it wasn’t my imagination, right?! That was seriously an explosion , right?!”
The heat made it clear it was no illusion as Sora scrambled to protect Shiro. Had they failed to prevent the second Great War? Sora was more than half-serious in his panic.
“……Looks like…it happened …?”
“ Estimate: Dwarf simulated sleep for escape attempt. However, spirit arm failed. Rite failure caused explosion. Boom.”
Shiro and Emir-Eins pointed to the burned “backpack” trembling in the corner of the room. Apparently, it had long been awake, watching for a chance to escape. Then its escape spell blew up, and now it was shaking there, clutching its broken hammer and its head.
……That made sense. Suppose you were the Dwarf. You wake up and hear that all of a sudden Jibril is plotting how to despoil you of your rights. While the Flügel, an Ex Machina, and an Elf are arguing about how to kill you. What a nightmare. Sora and Shiro had respect for this hero who managed to get back the hammer and at least tried to escape. Meanwhile, however…
“—? My… How could this happen? How perfectly unfathomable.”
“Jibril, if you’re saying that after talking seriously about killing the little d00d, that’s pretty damn freaky!”
“Oh, no, Master. It’s not that… If you’ll please observe—”
Jibril gestured as she murmured with sincere confusion. Sora and Shiro gaped.
While the Dwarf shook in terror, around the Dwarf countless blurs zipped about, too fast for Sora and Shiro to follow or identify. But they could manage to get the gist of things: It was like a video playing in reverse of the once- shattered hammer coming back together as its countless components flew through the air as if being juggled.
“As you can see…Dwarves are exceedingly dexterous.”
“…Mm…not that, we can tell…since we can’t… see it…”
“Mm-hmm… I can see that at the very least their dex is broken as shit …”
Sora and Shiro looked on in disgust at the repairs proceeding literally faster than the eye could see. Apparently, they were also faithful to the classics in nimbleness. However:
“A Dwarf failed ? At a seal rite? It boggles the—”
“Sorry to interrupt. But could you please explain that mind-boggling phenomenon first?”
“Why, even without spirit arms, you moles can use magic, too, you knowww? All you have to worry about is the possibility that you might explode due to internal spirit overload!! But you’ll certainly die otherwise, you knowww? Why, this is your one chance to gamble on escape!! Why, I’d looove to see how dashing and heroic you can be! Go, Mole! ? Go, Mole! ? ”
Their buxom counterpart appeared interested neither in letting the Dwarf escape nor in letting a chance to kill the Dwarf escape. She hopped around the Dwarf with a radiant smile—as she indirectly told them, “Hurry up and die! ? ” They struggled to explain the Elf who was trying to goad the Dwarf to use magic while interfering with the repairs.
“Since when is Fiel that kind of character?! Hey, Chlammy, this is you, right? Stop her!! ”
“ ? Huh? Uh. I’ve never seen her like this, either! Hey! Hello, Fi?!”
Fiel’s bizarre antipathy toward the Dwarf had left Chlammy almost transfixed in the corner of the room. Having been woken up by Sora, she shrieked and rushed to intervene.
So what Sora was asking Jibril was, if humiliating Jibril once had been enough for Fiel to forgive her for annihilating the Elven capital in the Great War, how would you explain the cementitious obduracy of Fiel’s hatred of the Dwarf? Jibril hung her head.
“Well, Elves and Dwarves. Their mutual opposition is iconic, like that of oil and water or cats and dogs.”
Indeed. The strife between Elves and Dwarves was and had ever been legendary. However!!
“Which of you assholes don’t hate each other?! You think you can justify her being this OOC with a canon statement that applies to anyone?!”
Thus Sora raged at those who moments ago were racing to resume the hostilities of the Great War, when—
“ Warning: Spirit overload detected. Master advised to seek shelter beneath this unit’s skirt. High urgency. Herein. ”
“Ah. Master. It seems the Dwarf has elected to attempt escape, despite the high probability of a fiery death.”
“Make it stop! Chlammy, get Fiel away! Jibril—”
—The two weapons’ casual report of the Dwarf’s impending demise caused Sora to yelp. The rapid-fire orders and entreaties of Sora and Shiro, as well as Chlammy, filled the room…
…and that was that. Those whose presence was like a bomb with a lit fuse were politely escorted off the premises, and Jibril was made to sit. The only ones left in the now-peaceful room were Sora, Shiro, and—
“Uhhh, all right, I’m not going to let anyone kill you, okay? Sooo…are—are you okay…?”
—the still-huddled-in-terror Dwarf, who gingerly looked up at Sora. The Dwarf’s eyes cautiously inspected the room for safety—and then made contact with Sora’s involuntarily. What did those pale blue eyes see in Sora’s dark ones from under the hood of their coat?
It was a soft whisper:
“……You’re Sora, you are…”
“Yeah. Nice to…meet ? ?”
Sora replied reflexively, but then frowned suspiciously.
“Wha…? Did I ever tell you my name? —Hey, whoaaaaa! ”
“Waaah! I was so scared, I was!! What do I dooo?!”
The “backpack” leaped upon him, knocking him to the ground as it wailed.
“I—I was ten thousand meters below the surface…when my subterrane broke, just when I was coming up! I—I dug on and on without rest or sleep…until I saw the sun and thought, oh yes, I’m saved—yet then I found myself in hell, I did!!”
“Oh, Master. A subterrane is a ship used by Dwarves to travel through the ground.”
“Oh. Thanks for the footnote—but is that all you have to say after freaking out the little d00d like this?!”
Sora remonstrated appropriately with the cause of the little d00d’s frightened tears, as he began to go over the facts in his head.
— All right. So the Dwarf didn’t actually grow out of the field.
Regardless, the Dwarf continued to cry on his chest, clinging with great unease.
“I—I can’t see why you would save a grubby mole such as me, I can’t!! Wh-what do you want from me?! Wh-what can I do for you not to kill me?!”
“Ah, Master. Since the spirit arm is broken, the Dwarf is as good as yours. ? ”
“Oh. Thanks for the footnote—but, Jibril, isn’t it your fault the little d00d’s pleading for their life?!”
Sora shouted at the absurdity of being begged for clemency by someone trapped by Jibril.
Okay. So the Dwarf couldn’t run, because they needed the hammer to do magic and that was broken. Therefore they had accepted as an inevitability that they would be Sora’s property.
However, they had determined they needed to somehow prove that the rights to their ownership were worth fighting over with a Flügel, an Ex Machina, and an Elf. And they were begging for their life with the conviction that this was the only way.
“I’m ready, I am!! I’m nothing but an unwanted mole, with no home to call my own! I’m ready to live in exile, whether as a slave or a pet! If it will save my life, I’ll even be your chair—Whaaa?!”
But their prayers turned to a squeal and disappeared at the same time as the Dwarf’s weight from Sora’s chest. Sora’s sister had pushed the Dwarf aside and now was sitting in their place, squinting.
“…This…is my seat…! Who is this girl …?!”
Shiro’s voice was like a hiss, making Sora realize too late:
—Ah…indeed, the voice of the backpack that had pushed him over wailing—
—was like that of a girl.
And on top of that, she was already in unconditional surrender mode, like, I’ll do anything . That did explain it. Under normal circumstances, Sora would have bit at close to the speed of light. Though in this case, there was the disqualifying condition of the race of stumpy girls being bearded in this world. But that didn’t seem to stop his sister from getting a little jealous because she was, technically, a girl. It warmed his heart, and he smirked.
“Yeah, okay. That’s a good point… Let’s start with self-introductions, shall we?”
Sora sat up and put Shiro on his lap where she belonged.
“ Once more —I’m Sora. This is my sister, Shiro… Sorry. I’m my little sister’s reserved seat.”
He patted her head as she continued to growl, and he affirmed her behavior by starting introductions. The Dwarf either realized her impropriety or simply felt Death’s blade hanging over her.
“Sir—!! I-I—I apologize, I do!! I—I failed to even show you my face—!!”
The Dwarf hastily righted herself and saluted. She opened the backpack—rather, the coat that covered her head to toe…and—
.
“I—I! I’m a grubby mole of a travesty of a Dwarf , I am! My name—”
Sora watched as she revealed her face—and her body. Distantly, abstractedly, in ecstasy and distraction, he listened as she said her name……
Shiro sat on her brother’s lap. Her brother appeared in drunk rapture, as if his soul had left his body. Seeing the Dwarf appear out of the backpack-like coat—
—she couldn’t blame him. It made her gasp, too.
The Dwarf was neither bearded nor stumpy. Her brown skin glistened as only the paltriest excuse for clothing covered…her exceedingly young-looking body. A pair of horns emerged from her hair. Her hair, in contrast to her body, sparkled of silver—no, mithril. Her enchanting pale blue eyes flickered with faint flame, doing justice to the name of orichalcum. And her sheepishly, nervously wavering voice and fragile expression—
“I—I! I’m a grubby mole of a travesty of a Dwarf , I am!”
—and the plaintive way she struggled to make herself heard—it all was just the thing to arouse the desire to protect. Shiro thought it not unreasonable that her brother would be entranced. In fact, it was necessary—perhaps even inevitable. And for that very reason—!! Shiro left reason behind her and moved. Yes ?
“My name—is Tilvilg by clan, N?i ? ……Um… What?”
Tilvilg.
Shiro now knew the name of her sworn enemy. She etched it into her memory and took prompt and appropriate action, reaching out her hand to clear that flag by force . Reaching for those components of unfathomable use on the garment that covered that flat body all too little, those string-like suspenders …
…Yoink, yoink, yoink…
“…My sister… Would it be all right for your brother to ask you what you’re doing?”
Sora was brought back to reality as Shiro silently tugged. But Shiro herself could not answer his question. She tugged on and gave an evasive answer.
“……Buttons, exist to be pushed… Cords, exist…to be pulled.”
“Yeah. I get that. I almost want to ask you to let me do it, but—Shiro? Hellooo?”
“Uhhh, excuse me! I’m not sure why, but I feel as if I’m being gravely humiliated, I do!”
Shiro ignored their objections and kept tugging as her thoughts raced furiously.
How had she come to this thought? Despite her typical excellence in inductive reasoning, the question hung over her unsolved. Her intuition insisted without clear evidence that the girl before her eyes was the biggest threat ever .
“… By the way, Jibril? I have a grave and serious question for you. Please answer with due consideration.”
Her brother, at this very moment, was investigating this question with a solemn voice.
“If memory serves, Dwarves are supposed to be stumpy and bearded…correct?”
“Yes, Master… Wha—?! Oh… Oh! I am so sorry, Master!!”
…It was the question of how Dwarves were supposed to look here—that was the source of her unplaceable restlessness, which led her to this thought:
Oh, shit…
“From your words, I should have deduced that you were only familiar with male Dwarves !”
Yoink, yoink, yoink… Shiro pulled hard. Yes—that was it… That was the problem…!!
“Dwarves exhibit pronounced sexual dimorphism… For example, females tend to have less hair, relatively speaking—and they have horns that extend from their foreheads.”
Yoink, yoink, yoink… Shiro ground her teeth. Yes—and thus every time she pulled the string, a round stomach was revealed that proved this: Female Dwarves were not fluffballs .
“Also, while both males and females are short in stature , the adult form of females is what we might see as— youthful .”
Ah—so, if we were to just lay it out there on that ironing board—!!
They were dark-skinned Loli monster girls ……
And from what Jibril said, they were even legal.
“I see. In that case—Miss Tilvilg? Allow me to rephrase my request.”
If he had on glasses, they would have glinted. Shiro found her hands shaking.
A girl—already in unconditional surrender mode, like, I’ll do anything . Under normal conditions, her brother—virgin, eighteen—would most certainly take the bait at close to the speed of light!
“There’s just one thing I ask. As I said, please go home. And…”
As evidenced by his creepy words as he spread his arms and flashed his teeth—!
“From today, your home is here… Welcome back… Til . ? ”
As far as he was concerned, this was almost as awesome as animal girls.
…But… how’d that seem, like such a big deal…even now …? She hadn’t felt so shaken even when they conquered his favorite type with the Kingdom of Animal Ears. She couldn’t explain this panic—the screaming of her instincts that Seriously, oh, shit . What was it? What basis did she have to know that the belly before her represented a foe unprecedented ?!
“D-did you…pick me up without seeking anything in return?”
Shiro once again observed Tilvilg—Til—from her words to her expressions. She scrutinized the data to identify the danger lurking within.
“I-I’m but a grubby mole, I am! N-no skill at building spirit arms, no place to go home to, just an unwanted mole, I am!! I’ll assure you I’ll be of no use whatsoever, I will!”
From the feeble gaze and voice that inspired such sympathy, Shiro began to form a hypothesis.
Hypothesis : Because she’s useless? A pincushion of flags from the start indicating that this was the easiest girl in the game to get?
“O-or could it be…that tugging at my clothes is somehow of use to you?”
Seeing the Dwarf’s face flush uncertainly, Shiro internally called B.S.
Hypothesis : Because she’s an exhibitionist masochist? Embarrassed, was she? Then she didn’t have to go out practically in underwear, now did she? “Failed to even show her face,” did she? Then couldn’t she just take off her hood to show only her face ?
…Why’d she have to open up down below? Seriously! What was she after, flaunting her Loli body to Lolicon Brother?!
…Yoink, yoink, yoink, yoink—!!!
“Uhhh, hold on a sec… Hey, Shiro?! A little girl getting red-faced as she glares like a monster while endlessly sexually harassing a little Dwarf girl, it’s kind of—it looks kind of bad, y’know?!”
“…………!!”
Her brother having pointed out her aberrant thoughts and uncomposed expression, Shiro abruptly let go. But the exchange that followed as Til ducked behind her brother’s back made her narrow her eyes to knife points.
“You don’t have to be useful. You just have to be mine.”
“A-all right, then I’ll be your…slave? Or pet, is it?”
“It’s neither!! We are absolutely not turning this into porn, okay?!”
“Sir. I-in that case, I am yours, I am—and exactly what is it you would have me do?”
.
“…………Yeah, what do you do after you get them?”
Such is the fate of the man who wishes for game. The virginal big brother had never considered what he would do if he actually had it .
“ Eavesdropping: Opposite-sex body conformant to sexual preferences. Assessing motivation to possess: Relief of sexual frustration.”
A voice answered with exactly what Shiro was thinking.
“ Corollary: Risk of compromising Master’s fidelity to this unit. Reminder: Disassemble and sell parts of Dwarf. Go away.”
“Hey, Emir-Eins… I thought I told you to leave. Did you use your optical camouflage again?!”
“Oh dear. You offer yourself as a slave to my master? Are you truly so disenchanted with life? ? ”
“I’ll never be a slave, I won’t; I wouldn’t even think of it, I wouldn’t!! S-Sir?!”
“Uhhh, wait, wait!! …F-friends… That’s right!! Friendship is legendary, like—you know?”
“Just as you say, Sir! As of this moment, I am your friend, I—”
“ Request: Disclose justification for possessing friend . Also, evidence for feasibility of opposite-sex friendship… Can this unit achieve friend status?”
Translation: Yeah, let’s hear this alleged motivation you have other than sexy time . As Sora found himself caught between a rock and a hard place, Shiro’s panic and questioning deepened.
Hypothesis : Because Brother’s just getting too popular recently?! No. Because it wasn’t even a recent development at this point! Shiro shook her head in agony. She was extremely reluctant to admit it— but that was old news ! The very day they’d arrived in this world—that very night, he’d already had that redheaded doormat fall right into his hands!! And Jibril just didn’t realize how she felt, given Flügel’s lack of emotional sensitivity and her perception of the relationship as master–servant! Like Emir ? like—Emir-Eins ? ?
The hypothesis Shiro now arrived at cooled her head instantly. Knowing that she’d identified that unprecedented threat , her thin smile bore deep into her face like a crevasse.
…It had just been Jibril and Emir-Eins competing for one role, that of servant. Izuna and Holou comfortably shared the pet role. Steph had the role of doormat all to herself. So then—
—what was Til’s role—?
As fate would have it, the weepy Til herself confirmed Shiro’s hypothesis.
“Um! S-Sir! A moment ago, you referred to yourself as your little sister’s reserved seat, you did!!”
……Oh yeah? …Right…
“Th-then allow me to be your little sister, too —oh. I am eighty-four years of age, but will this be acceptable?!”
“What the hell kind of family circumstances lead to a little sister sixty-six years older?! No, I mean, my only sister is Shiro, okay?!”
“Then allow me to be your big sister or mother or—I-I don’t know, I feel as if I am being glared to death, I do!!”
Shiro’s eyes, fixed on the commotion, seemed to see the entire story that lay ahead.
A useless simpleton with no role, the type who triggered a person’s desire to protect. The type you bedded as soon as she appeared. Okay, that’s nice—what next?
She wanted to steal the little sister role. And the white-haired role, and the Loli role. All of her brother’s favorite things… Something in Shiro audibly snapped. She sneered ferociously as her hand thrust forward…
Sora and everyone else turned at the sudden bam . Shiro’s fist was buried in the wall next to Til, who was trapped as Shiro closed in.
“……This is your final warning… I won’t, say it again…so listen…up.”
She seemed to whisper, but with a malice that brooked no argument. It was an ultimatum—no room for compromise or negotiation. If Til didn’t comply—
“… I am, the little sister here! Me!! …I won’t cede that role to anyone else… Okay?”
—Shiro would annihilate her.
“ ? Y—y-y-y-yes, Ma’am!! Right as rain, it is!!”
Til shrieked at Shiro’s ghastly smile, then saluted, her expression that of one facing certain death. And then there was silence.
.
Then: ……Uh—
“A-all right, calm down, Shiro! Well, yeah, your brother should’ve been the one to calm down, but!!”
“…………Ffffff… Hsssssss…!!”
Having crashed and then restarted in his mind’s return to normal operation, Sora shouted foolishly. He lifted Shiro out of her position dictating to Til the proper settings for her headcanon, while silently he screamed at himself.
When I think about it, this isn’t even the time to be deciding her role!! Til wasn’t his slave, or his pet, or his sister, or by any means his mom! And in any case… they hadn’t even played her yet—so they hadn’t even gotten her yet !! Jibril had just gone ahead and trapped her! And Til had just assumed herself she would lose!! While Sora had just gotten carried away by the beautiful tanned monster girl that came from the backpack, so strange and scandalous!! But Til, when all was said and done, was just—
a guest —no. To be more precise: just the messenger of that tough customer making an inquiry with their shop. As his mind cooled down, Sora sorted out the information as he’d originally intended. It was true, she was a guest he’d been expecting—but still… Sora tried to probe carefully:
“““…………”””
“Well, Ms. Til! What is the purpose of your visit to Elkia? Business or pleasure?!”
“Sir! Neither, I’m afraid!! I—I suppose I’m more of a castaway or a refugee, I am!”
But the pressure from around him made it difficult—the pressure from Shiro, who continued to growl in his arms; Jibril, who still hadn’t received an answer as to what Sora wanted out of Til; and Emir-Eins, likewise. Til’s eyes were filled with tears.
“Th-the chieftain seized me in the capital and forced me to deliver this let—ter? Wh-where is it?!”
With one eye on Til as she looked for her letter, Sora inquired softly of Jibril:
“…Jibril. Let me just check something here… ‘Chieftain’?”
“Yes. The Dwarves traditionally play a game using spirit arms to decide their representative. This is meant to appoint the Dwarf with the greatest craft as their chieftain—their agent plenipotentiary.”
“Here it is—so… I’m not even sure you can call this a letter, I’m not. It’s more of a messy little note, it is.”
Til pinched the “letter” she’d found in her pocket and frowned. Sora and Shiro had to agree with her, smirking to themselves. They’d already read the little scrap and put it back in Til’s pocket.
It’s me. Gimme the drugs, on credit , ya outsiders .
That was all that was written on the dirty little scrap, no address nor signature. It was for Sora and Shiro—but Til didn’t even seem to know that.
“He said, ‘Give this to the weirdos ’…and with that just dumped me in the subterrane, punched in some coordinates, and off I went… I-I’m an exile, I am. Cast adrift…”
— Well, then. So the purpose of her visit was mere survival.
“There’s no place and no work in Hardenfell for a grubby little mole like me, so off he sent me to find a needle in a haystack—I’m a waste of space, I am! Being kept busy with the most thankless task until the time comes for layoffs!!”
That explained it. No place to go back to. An unwanted mole. At Til’s self-abasement, so enthusiastic it seemed kind of fun, Sora and Shiro exchanged looks and nodded. Then this should be good news for Til: the needle had already been found . Sora and Shiro stood up to deliver the good tidings then and there, but…
“Heh, it’s fine with me, it is! I’d just as soon leave that bloody country behind, oh yes, I would!!”
?
“…Uh, ummm…? What now? Til—don’t you want to find your needle and go home…?”
“ Not at all, I don’t!! It’s a heavensent opportunity, it is!!”
Sora and Shiro were dumbfounded as Til shrieked giddily before her expression clouded over.
“—I certainly have no place in my country—but then…who’s to say I have a place anywhere…?”
…Perhaps she did have a place in another country.
“When one door closes, another opens. It’s true, it is!! So long, Big Papa Ocain! Out with the old gods, and in with the new! A needle in a haystack will be crushed sooner or later, it will! In which case it’s indistinguishable from the hay , it is! I have no interest in sifting through hay. Pft! ”
With that last part, she pretended to spit, without actually doing so. As Til smiled, at last having been able to let out all the vitriol inside her, things finally made sense to Sora and Shiro.
…So that’s why she was so willing to be acquired. She’d been prepared for an exile that might have even put her life in serious danger—and just when she’d been searching for a new home, Sora and Shiro had picked her up out of the ground, literally. She’d lost any prior motivation to return to Hardenfell, and now she even had an excuse not to return until she delivered the letter. Her eyes glistened with gratitude as she looked at those heaven had sent her.
“I—I see… Thing is, though, we’re going to Hardenfell right now …”
It would probably come as rough news to Til, Sora reflected, as he pointed out what was right in front of her nose . They say that you tend to find things when you stop looking for them. It was true.
“…Look at us. Doesn’t it make you think of something?
……
“ ? I—I was just talking to the biggest weirdos conceivable , I was!”
…Two shut-in Immanities with a Flügel and an Ex Machina. While outside the room were an unduly familiar Immanity and Elf pair. Haystack be damned, one could hardly find a more distinctive needle in the world. This was the cause of Til’s bellowing.
“I think it’s actually not the case that it doesn’t have an address. It’s that the addressee is us—Blank.”
Til looked back and forth between the scrap and her hosts.
“Ah. Um, by Sora and Shiro—d-do you mean…the king and queen of Elkia?!”
For some reason, her eyes sparkled as her voice screeched and bounced. Sora squinted dramatically at her reaction, which was much like that of a fan finally meeting her favorite star.
“Hate to break it to you, but right now, we’re just pharmacists. And now, we’re going to go deliver an order of some drugs.”
“…Deliver drugs…COD…to the chieftain, of Hardenfell… Go.”
Having told her their existing plans , Sora and Shiro started packing. After all, the two of them were pharmacists, and a pharmacist had only one business—pharmaceuticals. All that was left for them was where and to whom the pharmaceuticals were going.
…So the “who” was the chieftain…the agent plenipotentiary of Dwarf. The “where,” they now knew, was Hardenfell. Thus they got ready to go.
“—Wha…? Do you mean I was merely sent as a gofer?”
It seemed Til hadn’t been told she was merely their customer’s gofer. She’d been all fired up over the idea that the chieftain was exiling her when he punched in those coordinates, and now:
“I—I was afraid I would be enslaved… Once again, the chieftain was just teasing me, he was!!”
Til stomped her feet, large teardrops rolling down her cheeks from the sheer ridicule.
But there was one thing that still bothered Sora.
“…By the way, how did your ‘chieftain’ or whatever know where we were ?”
“Haven’t the foggiest, I’ve not. Probably just a hunch , as usual!!”
Til puffed up her cheeks in frustration, and went right on:
“I-I’m not going back to Hardenfell, I’m not!! M-my place is here, it is! M-my home is here…it is…isn’t it…?”
It seemed she hadn’t been just throwing a fit over being exiled. She genuinely didn’t want to go back to Hardenfell, apparently. Clinging to Sora and Shiro, she trembled like a puppy: Are you going to abandon me?
Sora smiled gently.
Abandon a tan-skinned, legal Loli monster girl? Nonsense!
Even after the coup d’état, Elkia remained the leader of a multiracial commonwealth. Even members of other races could immigrate if they went through the proper channels—and what was more, Sora informed her…
“Of course. It’s just that Hardenfell is gonna become ours .”
“ ? Come again?”
“…This order of…drugs—it’s a bit, pricey…”
“Yeah, the price is— your whole friggin’ country .”
.
Shiro and Sora sneered at the speechless Til and carried on.
“So onward we go to claim our sweet new home, that Shangri-La, the Kingdom of Brown Monster Girls!!”
“…You mean to claim them…and then…do what…?”
Shiro brought it back up with a look. Sora, virgin, eighteen, held back his glistening tears.
“ I’ll think about that after I get ’em!! The saying goes ‘Opportunity has hair in front; behind she is bald’—but who has time to chase some goddess who’s ninety percent bald?! Just lay a trap and get her once she’s caught. And that’s just where we are!! Get them and then do what? I can just as well think about that later!!”
He shouted bombastically to distract from the impurity of his motives.
“—Then perhaps we’ll accompany you. That won’t be a problem, will it?”
Announcing they’d heard everything, as if it were only natural, the two eavesdroppers—Chlammy and Fiel—opened the door. Having exhausted every resource and still not figured out this was where Sora and Shiro were , they continued on, their eyes sharply agleam.
“So you have medicine as valuable as Hardenfell. I would very much like to know what kind of medicine that is.”
“Heyyy, hey. Didn’t I tell you? It’s the basics of business—”
Chlammy smiled fixedly at Sora with great sarcasm. But Sora showed his empty hands and replied with equal snark:
“—if you’re gonna sell medicine, first you gotta make the poison .”
That’s right: To sell your supply, first you need to create demand.
Once the customers were desperate, nearly killed by your poison…
“Then you can sell empty bottles for more than a country . ? ”
……
“Very well—it is 9,748.7 kilometers to our destination, the capital of Hardenfell.”
As Chlammy and Fiel looked on in doubt and Sora and Shiro in smug silence, Jibril just did her thing. She spoke with a bow, and the spinning of her halo sped up.
“Please take hold of my clothes and make yourselves comfortable for the brief journey. ? ”
Everyone took hold of the belt hanging from Jibril’s hips as she prepared for a very-long-distance shift.
“’Kay, we’re off. Look after the shop while we’re gone, Emir-Eins.”
“ Equanimity: This unit will mind the house. Duty of wife. This unit is dedicated to the completion of its mission… Not lonely.”
Except for Emir-Eins, who interpreted Sora’s words in the most convenient possible way, as usual. Despite her claims, she waved a handkerchief in poignant demonstration of her loneliness. Chlammy squinted.
It made sense. They were having the spies, Chlammy and Fiel, come along with them, while leaving behind the fearsome warrior Emir-Eins. But was that really all that was going on?
Suddenly, Til butted in with her mumbling.
“Uh, um… My subterrane is out of service, it is. How will we reach the capital?”
“Mm? Doesn’t everyone know about the Flügel’s shift ability?”
“No. I have heard that their ability to shift to any coordinates known or in sight was a nightmare in the Great War, I have!”
Reminded of that RTS they’d played based on the Great War, Sora and Shiro smirked. No kidding—that was a nightmare. It invalidated the basic concept of a front. They laughed dryly at this angel of bullshit whose preparations were now coming to a climax. Meanwhile…
“…The capital is underground, it is. She can’t have seen it —a—and—”
With Til’s next words, not just Sora and Shiro—
“—i-is it just me, or is she compiling a Rite of Heavenly Smiting ?!”
—but everyone there, even including Jibril for some reason, looked back as if confused. She had a point—even a long-distance shift shouldn’t require this long a charge. Sora worriedly inquired:
“…Jibril…? Have you been to Hardenfell?”
He spoke for all of them. Jibril straightened her collar and nodded.
“Yes, Master. After all, Dwarf is the race most advanced in industry. The federal nation that unites them is the most developed mechanical civilization in the world. ? ”
In other words, Hardenfell—
“It is true that its capital is underground, but it is a very interesting country whose branches extend up to the surface and take a multitude of forms, from vertical cities to marine cities. I have visited on numerous occasions. ? ”
—was a treasure chest to the insatiably curious Jibril. Of course she would visit. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief to find that Til’s misgivings had been unfounded. However—
“—Yes, and on numerous occasions I have visited the airspace above the capital . ? ”
—at Jibril’s follow-up, they all froze…and then ran without another word, her voice fading behind them as she wiped the drool from her sloppy grin.
“After all those years looking down, a-at last I have received authorization to enter !! It will just take me a bit of time to compile the rite chain to shift us into the air, bore a tunnel with a Heavenly Smite of approximately one percent intensity, and protect my masters as—”
Jibril’s declaration of her plan for an air raid made it clear that Til’s misgivings had actually been perfectly well-founded. Apart from Fiel, who alone cheered, everyone else rushed out of the room.
They dashed off at full speed, all with the common understanding that they should fix the subterrane…
Far from the maddening crowd, in the Elkia Royal Castle—in the throne room—there was someone besides Emir-Eins who’d been left to take care of things: a certain redheaded girl.
Stephanie, Duchess of Dola—now Grand Duchess of the constitutional dukedom, leader of Elkia in name only.
“…Say, Aloe? I’ve got a problem… Will you listen?”
Despite it all, she sat not on the throne, but on the floor, a potted plant in her arms.
“It seems to me…I’ve not been entrusted with holding the fort, but merely abandoned … I must be overthinking it, don’t you think? ? ”
Her sobs filled the empty throne room like a song…
The day Sora and Shiro had been driven from the throne by the coup—no, the day they’d turned down the game, stepped down, and handed the throne right over—
—Allll right, Steph. Hope you’ll work as hard as you always do . ?
—Steph had known without a shadow of a doubt, as they disappeared: This coup by those whom Sora and Shiro had oppressed…
…had been orchestrated by none other than Sora and Shiro themselves. And if they’d told her to work “as always,” well, that must have been part of the plan, too. “As always,” it would be a plan that could very well destroy Elkia. She’d readied herself to carry the heavy responsibility of the fate of Immanity, no stranger by now to her shoulders. It had already been three weeks—
“Aloe… Am I being left out again…?”
—and still there had been no word from Sora and Shiro. What peaceful days. The trauma of being left out of the game with Old Deus flashed through Steph’s mind, and she buried her face in her knees. Ah… How peaceful. This was a coup d’état…a seizure of power. The House of Lords was bubbling over with the chaotic machinations of the Commercial Confederation— but that was all there was . Merchants, after all, put profit first. It wasn’t in their interest to give the people the impression of instability. Thus the Commercial Confederation had set it up not as a “revolution” representing the people, but just as an internal altercation among the nobles—a “coup.” And they issued convertible banknotes. Facilitated distribution. Liberalized trade… To the everyday man on the street, at least, it appeared as though nothing had changed—things were as peaceful as could be. While Grand Duchess Steph, divested of all actual authority, sat alone complaining to her aloe.
“…They always put everyone else before me… It’s not fair…”
She bet they were off in some exotic land doing things she’d never dreamed of. Jibril and Emir-Eins had probably gone along, too. What about everyone from the other states of the Commonwealth? It was strange how they were just quietly observing…
“…I wish I…was with ? What?! ”
She realized she’d been about to admit she was crying over not being with Sora.
“With whom…? With Sora?! What is my mouth doing?!”
Her sudden self-questioning led her to reflexively imagine all manner of ways she might be with Sora. She did her best to expel these lurid fantasies! In the solitude, I’ve lost my mind. Come back, my sanity! Steph sought a good wall to bang her head against.
“What’s thiiis? If you find the throne so uncomfortable, I’ll take your place aaanytiiime. ? ”
A girl’s voice—a boy’s, actually—accosted Steph. Steph screamed to chase the Dhampir off the throne he’d sat on before she knew it.
“That’s Sora and Shiro’s seat!! It’s not mine, and certainly not yours, Mr. Plum !!”
Ah. To think that the first familiar face she should spot in three weeks would be, of all people, his…
“…Mr. Plum, won’t you return to Oceand with everyone else…?”
She was insinuating, You too, get out.
“Excuuuse me? Renowned for my dutifulness, I would neeever leave Elkia at thiiis juncture.”
The supposedly dutiful fraud stuck out his chest as he declared his devotion to his duty.
“I’m not like the others. I’m allll about self-interest! I intend to plot and scheme with the utmost sincerity!!”
His sworn duty being—to stab his every enemy in their sleep!! His otherwise questionable declaration was so bold, Steph couldn’t doubt his sincerity. She sighed—and froze. He’d said it so naturally, it had taken her a moment to catch on.
“‘Plot’?! D-do you mean—you’ve been playing a part in this chaos?!”
Oh no…how did I not realize?! The administration was in turmoil. Things seemed all too peaceful for there having just been a coup— but someone with the right connections in the Commercial Confederation could very well seize control of the state—it was the perfect chance to devour Immanity—!! Steph sweated as she finally realized just what she’d been meant to work hard at.
“ —Us? Not just uuus … Even just as far as I’ve observed—”
Plum smiled a pitying smile.
“—Elf, Dwarf, Fairy, Demonia—even those reclusive Lunamana are playing paaarts. ? ”
?? …?! ?!
Steph alternated between sprouting question marks and losing consciousness standing up, utterly confused.
“Where shall I staaart…? Blank are no mere Immanities— ”
With his troubled grin, Plum continued as if lecturing a child.
“—as other countries surmised. They’ve been probing their allies, like us, to figure out their true identity—and particularly, the unbeatable trump card they’re thought to have, capable even of defeating an Old Deus. Did you reaaalize this?”
“Y-yes, I did… They said that would make our allies , like you, excellent bait.”
Sora and Shiro had rapidly expanded their power and even defeated an Old Deus, Holou. “ ” had done what no one else could. So they were suspected of having an unbeatable trump card. Now they were skipping a turn to let their enemies probe their allies for that risky something . Steph recalled Sora explaining this to her. Plum’s sneer grew even more twisted as he looked at her.
“And why did you suppose that they’d probe only your allies —and not you yourselllves ?”
Well, about that—
“ Everyooone wonders whether Blank are mere Immanities… including Immanities . ? ”
.
“If you want to look wayyy back, think of when Their Majesties first won the tournament to become the monarch of Elkia… They defeated an Elven spy. What would make you think that they themselllves were not foreign spies?”
No words.
As she felt the blood drain from her face, Steph listened to Plum’s taunting sermon.
“Doubt has been brewing for a looong time… So, if it were meee, I would approach some Immanities with long-harbored resentment against King Sora and Queen Shiro—in this case, the Commercial Confederation.”
Putting aside whatever agendas they declared when they colluded, if one assumed basically what they were after was power—
“I’d say: ‘Pleaaase, I’ll give you support to outstrip your rivals, so find out who Blank really is.’ ? ”
That’s right—if one won over a member of the Commercial Confederation, one could swallow up Immanity. What this meant was that Steph had entirely failed to appreciate what a crisis this was. After all—
“—You don’t think I’m the only one who would think that, do youuu?”
In a haze of dizziness, Steph just managed to wring out a shriek.
“Th-then, the way Elkia is now—the Commercial Confederation moving to seize the reins of the administration—”
“It’s spy paradiiise!! Foreign interference, information leakage, secret pacts!! A world fair of treacheryyy!!”
And Plum’s next words forced Steph to look to the sky in terror.
“Or may I spell it out plainlyyy? You’re three seconds away from succumbing to the poison. ? ”
…Hard to argue there. If everyone in the Commercial Confederation that now controlled Elkia was a spy.
In that case, Elkia… has already been swallowed up , hasn’t it…?
“—No… No! That—that cannot be the case!”
Remember—those “Immanities with long-harbored resentment” to which Plum had referred—the Commercial Confederation—Sora and Shiro themselves had built that resentment and given them an opening —which meant!
“I’m sure of it!! All of this is part of Sora and Shiro’s plan!”
“Yesss. ? It’s a trap … Only we the allies know this. ? ”
Yes—those who knew who those two—Sora and Shiro—“ ”—really were. Those who knew that, while from another world, they were only human, and they had no unbeatable trump card.
Which meant they could anticipate this situation and would certainly exploit it . That would explain why the allies had been watching with such unusual silence. And it would also explain that national missive , hardly comfortable to describe as such, that Sora and Shiro had made her write.
—“Hey, dumbasses, need some help? How ’bout you thank us by giving us your whole damn country?”
Everything she hadn’t understood then was starting to make sense. Which meant…
“They mussst have a plan to save and exploit the poisoned Elkia—an antidooote.”
Steph sighed in relief. He agreed after all that it was part of their plan.
“…Ahem. Parrrdooon…? Why are you sighing in relief at that?”
“E-excuse me—?”
Plum’s follow-up left her breathless and dazed.
“This is the very staaage on which the spies will be crushing each other looking for an unbeatable trump card that doesn’t exist…”
“B-but you said it’s a trap set by Sora and Shiro—”
“What is the surest way to bring down a whole pride of lions at once with poison?”
Steph started thinking about it. The Dhampir boy didn’t wait. The edges of his mouth curled. With a sadistic grin, as if about to bite into and bleed his prey at any moment, he spoke.
“—It’s to gulp down the poison yourself and let them eat you .”
.
“It must be a poison so powerful that the other nations who fall into the trap will beg to be allowed to give up their countrieees. Simply put—it’s a game of chicken. Without the antidote, everyone will die, including Elkiaaa. ? ”
Trembling, Steph covered her mouth to stop from screaming. This was more than losing the battle to win the war. It was a trap that could bring Elkia and the whole pride of lions down at once—however.
“…J-just what sort of magic potion could right this situation?”
Steph hadn’t the faintest idea how that step was supposed to work. More pressingly, she had no idea what the point of it was.
“… If I knew that, do you think I’d be blabbing away to you thiiis kindly…?”
Plum smiled, making no secret of his considerable irritation.
“My plot is based on the wager that everyone will fall to their trap.”
Steph grasped the meaning behind his expression and tone, then blanched once more.
“And for it to work, Elkia must be kept aliiive… Do you catch my driiift?”
That meant: Even Plum, a master strategist approaching the level of “ ”, had searched for the purpose of this charade, a way to resolve it, and a means to exploit it…
…and had come up empty .
“If you have the time to talk to an aloe plant ? then get to work . ? ”
Even if she was a figurehead without authority, she should use whatever connections or other means she had. The situation was dire enough for Plum to worry and ask for help in keeping Elkia alive. It was an emergency that left no room for debate. Steph ran.
But she stopped and asked one last question:
“May I ask…why you chose to bet on Sora and Shiro’s victory?”
Sora was a swindler, a liar, and a poor excuse for a human being. But, by now, Steph did trust him…not to cross that final line. However—this Dhampir boy, Plum, was another matter. If he thought it necessary, he would gladly sacrifice all the races—even himself. She couldn’t trust what he said. She had no reason to. But then his smiling answer convinced Steph that he meant what he said, and she grinned.
“Oh, have I never told you? I like to bet on the looong odds. ? ”
—Ah, so things were going according to Sora and Shiro’s plan…just as always. Just as always, it was a plan that more likely than not would destroy Elkia !! With a renewed sense of responsibility for the fate of Immanity, this time Steph sprinted without reserve. Yes, just as always—they’d left the politics to the politicians, just as they said they would.
“Aloe!! They didn’t leave me out after all!! Did you hear that?! Did you?!”
……
Plum watched Steph dance away.
“I wonder why she doesn’t trust meee… I’ve never lieeed…”
That’s right—everything he’d said was true, he thought with a pout. He just hadn’t told the whole truth.
“It certainly would be marvelous to usurp their means of victory…to take their mediciiine . ? ”
I’m not too fooond of watching from the sidelines. The Dhampir smiled as at last, out of the view of anyone, he slipped away into the darkness.
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