CHAPTER 1
ENCOUNTER
The Kingdom of Elkia. The last nation of Ixseed Rank Sixteen, Immanity, situated in the west of the continent of Lucia. With the victory half a month ago of the “monarch”—Sora and Shiro—over the Eastern Union in a game, its territory had doubled.
…Its problems had also doubled. Of these, there were two principal ones in particular.
One was the concept proposed by the “monarch”—Sora and Shiro—of a “Commonwealth” in federation with the Eastern Union. This was an unprecedented challenge—to build a country crossing the lines of race. Even having regained some of its old territory, Elkia still didn’t have the means to make use of the land, but the Eastern Union, despite having lost its continental domain, remained one of the greatest and most powerful countries in the world.
—Power, currency, and social structures aside, the countries didn’t even share a common race or language, and now they were supposed to be brought together on an equal basis. There was no need to explain what a difficult task this was. It was perhaps one of the most intractable challenges in the history of people. And then the second one—
“For goodness’ sake—”
The red-haired girl sighed as she stared at the hand of cards fanned before her. Stephanie Dola, also known as Steph. Former royalty—her countenance, overflowing with a refinement that befit the granddaughter of the previous king, still beautiful despite being mired in the deep fatigue brought on by sleep deprivation—yet now twisted in rage, spreading a feeling of disorder. It was because of the second problem. Namely—
“Just how long do those two royal shits intend to play hooky at a time like thiiis?!!”
—Elkia Royal Castle: the Great Conference Chamber. Her roar echoed, causing all present to shrink.
“…Your Grace, I do sympathize, but I must question the extent to which the word shit befits a lady.”
The one opening his mouth reproachfully, beside and behind Steph, was a white-haired, aging man. His face was puckered with a bitterness that kept him in step with Steph. He had slightly drooping ears, like a dog’s, along with a tail. It was Ino Hatsuse, a Werebeast with a physique that was noticeable even through his traditional Japanese robe and trousers. He was the grandfather of the former ambassador of the Eastern Union in Elkia, Izuna Hatsuse, and now, at the unreasonable behest of the absent monarch of Elkia, Sora and Shiro…another victim like Steph.
“‘Your Grace’…? Wha—? Did you mean me?”
Ino nodded in reply to Steph’s confusion.
“Yes. Considering that this is an official setting, I judged that might be the best form of address. But is there a problem?”
“I don’t even understand to whom you are referring. If you would, address me as ‘Miss Flunky of the King and Queen of Hooky.’” Steph let out a desperate laugh, but Ino only spread his hands.
“I should like to comply, but then it would follow that I should receive the same appellation… Rather than such matters, Your Grace, would it not be best to focus on what lies before us ?”
Following Ino’s gaze, Steph remembered the situation—and told herself:
“Hff… Yes, I suppose so…”
Yes, right now—they were playing an important game.
The game itself was nothing special, just poker. Other than the fact that they’d introduced wild cards, it was very much by the book. The opponents encircling the table were nobles of Elkia proper.
—Building a “Commonwealth” with the Eastern Union, under Elkia’s leadership. Elkia’s territory had doubled instantly, and to the issue of just who would manage and utilize which resources and how, the powerful lords came champing at the bit for a chance at these massive rights. At the moment, the idea of an equal, multiracial nation was pie in the sky. You could negotiate over the structures all you wanted, but it wouldn’t hold much weight against the difference in the countries’ power. Were free trade to be introduced, Elkia’s economy would be crushed to the ground. So what should be done with those continental resources for which the Eastern Union thirsted? To say that this one point held the reins over the fate of all of Elkia would be no exaggeration.
—It was a foregone conclusion that the various figures of authority would come swarming to increase their spoils. As Steph had been left with the authority to make law for now, these lords of Elkia appeared one after the other to advance their own demands by challenging her to games. In this way—for half a month already—Steph had been occupied playing games without so much as time to sleep properly. That itself is no matter…yes , Steph whispered in her mind. For— that was the trap. Everything was as planned. All was on course—yes… If only the challenges hadn’t been so frequent .
“Verily, Sirs, I am all in —will you please just get naked and go home already?”
…What had become of the grace of the lady? With the deep, dark circles of fatigue under her eyes, her face twisted in rage, it was all as if— …It reminded the lords of their feared king , and they looked at one another. Ultimately, they chose to fold—meaning that they accepted Steph’s proposal unconditionally. But—clucking loudly, Steph kicked away her chair and stood.
“If you were just going to accept my plan, then could you please not waste my time?!”
She dismissively revealed her hand:
—Five of a kind.
If they hadn’t folded, just as she’d pronounced—that hand would have destroyed the lords outright, and it made them pale. But with no concern for this, Steph turned as she threw back:
“All or nothing! Why don’t you get the guts to be destroyed before you bother me?!”
And in Steph’s stead, Ino Hatsuse declared with a complacent smile:
“And now, as per the covenant—we shall take your memories. I hope you understand.”
—So, basically, a struggle for power. To administer the land they’d taken back appropriately and make it serve Elkia’s—the Commonwealth’s—interests. There was no choice but to find someone to take care of it, and if that was successful, there would naturally be spoils to be had.
—That, really, was as it should be. That ought to have been fine. The issue was how the nobles came talking big about whose land it had been originally. In point of fact, the land had been the territory of a number of lords before the previous king—Steph’s grandfather—had lost it all. Having had their holdings unceremoniously laid out as gambling chips , these men must have had some objections. They must have had some complaints. But—then why, at the time, had they not stood up to the previous king in a game ?
“ They don’t want to take responsibility! They lose their rights and go wailing about how it’s the king’s fault! And then when Sora and Shiro take it back, they come begging for the treats. Just when did the nobility cast away its shame?”
“Should this go on, I suspect that the very concept of the nobility might come into question.”
Ino smiled wryly behind Steph as she stormed down the hall of Elkia Castle.
It wasn’t as if nobles were necessarily bad. Even if they were rotten, they were the governors. They had great knowledge of the management and administration of territories. If they showed the motivation and ability, Steph didn’t mind granting them fiefdoms—that was what she’d been counting on. The problem was—
“All these damn nobles who come slobbering—every one of them’s got on his face, ‘I just want the milk and honey; please don’t make me do any work!’”
—And these guys, out of all of them, were the big shots who couldn’t be ignored. If you took a wrong step, it could spark a scramble for power —a riotous uprising seizing on some excuse to render the state ineffectual. And—
“I wonder if such lords may in fact be amenable to… being easy to manipulate .”
The one devising, behind Steph, raising a dusky smile—was Ino Hatsuse. Sora and Shiro were absent, and Steph, the granddaughter of the fool king, held the reins in their stead. Ino had let the rumor out. When the lords came thinking this was their chance to win the spoils, Ino and Steph would make them accept Steph’s compromise plan if they lost—and also make them swear to lose all their memories of the game, thereby efficiently hunting them all down. This would enable the policy and concession arrangements planned by Steph to proceed without opposition. It was very efficient and Ino-like—a trap that befit the multi-tribed Eastern Union. But, considering the mechanism and frequency by which this trap worked so well —
“They give me no bloody credit at all! What a fine bit of bait I am!”
—It was crystal clear how little was thought of her and, by extension, her grandfather.
“Now, now, Your Grace…let’s not overlook how successful it’s been in keeping everything going smoothly. Let us rather welcome the scorn of fools—all we must do is smile and exploit them.”
“…Mr. Ino, would you please stop calling me that? —You may call me Steph .” Former royalty, head of the house of Dola, Steph did of course rank as a duchess. However, she continued, tired and disgusted, “You make a mere flunky such as myself sound like a person of quality…”
“But is it not the case that, with Their Majesties Sora and Shiro absent, you, Miss Stephanie , are in fact the agent of the monarch—the chief minister and current holder of the highest status within Elkia?”
Ino continued theatrically.
“—The Duchess of Dola, chief minister of Elkia, the last remaining nation of Immanity and granddaughter of the previous king. Entrusted with the critical enterprise, unprecedented in history, of building a multiracial nation upon the merger of the Kingdom of Elkia with the Eastern Union. A lady of youth, beauty, and talent…! What do you think? Is this a proper epithet?”
—Goodness, who was that?
Steph looked up at the ceiling blankly.
“So the epic heroine was actually just a flunky. That’s a good one. Pretty sharp.”
She continued—Why don’t you write it down and publish it?—but Ino smiled bashfully and changed the subject.
“Still, to go through this half-month without a single loss . You yourself are quite the marvel, Miss Stephanie.”
“They’re just absurdly weak.” Tossing away Ino’s sincere praise, Steph furrowed her brow. “To fall for mean, silly ruses that Sora and Shiro would ridicule with one or two hundred contemptuous words and then exploit them—indeed, it’s a fine jest.”
“Well, that I can’t deny…”
But—. Ino thought to himself. Steph had, at first, received the support of Ino’s Werebeast senses. But as she piled up the victories, Ino had been reduced to the role of an attendant. This girl disparaged herself to no end…yet already she was more than strong enough . It was just that Blank was too cruel a comparison. It could now be said that hardly any normal Immanity could beat her. But without the means to know Ino’s true thoughts, Steph carried on.
“As if that weren’t enough, they don’t even notice they’re being tricked. Could it be the lords’ aim is just to deprive me of sleep until I die from exhaustion?!”
“…Miss Stephanie, you begin to resemble Their Majesties.”
— Pt. Steph stopped her feet kicking the ground.
“ ? Sir, what did you just say?”
Wrenching her head back so forcedly it seemed it would creak:
“That I resemble our prodigal king and queen , who dally away the days in the Eastern Union—is that what you said?!”
“M-M-Madam, please calm down! I only meant that you resemble them in your manner of play!”
Steph was winning in a variety of ways—from regular use of straight-out card counting to palming, mucking, and blind shuffling. She saw through opponents’ tricks, used them against their owners, bluffed, even played mind games. All of these techniques were tricks she’d learned by challenging Sora and Shiro and losing and losing and losing. It was true that, at first, Steph herself, threatened by the prospect of the Commonwealth’s promise fading through her own failure, had thought, What would Sora and Shiro do? Yes, she’d imitated their play consciously. But as sleep deprivation and frustration at the pair who showed no signs of returning caused that threat to recede from the forefront of Steph’s thoughts, at some point, she’d started playing as though she were playing against Sora and Shiro . But her opponents were too weak. She couldn’t believe she’d even for a moment compared these goons to Sora and Shiro.
—That these little goons .
Had been looking down .
On her and her grandfather —it made her so ?
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Steph’s face changed as if her evil spirit had been exorcised.
“Ahh, I see. The problem is that having nobles just gets in the way of our Commonwealth.”
“M-Miss Stephanie?”
At this transformation, Ino queried nervously. But, as if she didn’t hear him…as if seeing something that couldn’t be seen, Steph, eyes gleaming, whirled about on the spot, almost dancing—
“—Ohh, Mr. Inooo, would it not be fine it we simply stripped aaalll the nobles, the merchants, the guilds—stripped them of everything, threw them into a ditch and ground them to pieces and did everything through the state? We’d fill the gaps in personnel with magistrates selected from among the people, and if they were corrupt, all we’d have to do is flay them to the booone! We’ll set up and chase out all the rotten curs who drag us down, and then the treasury will fill, policy will be ours to dictate, and everything will be settled. Right? Am I not a genius?! I-I’m—not an idiot… I’m not an idiot, reaaallyyyyyy!!”
—And she broke down.
“M-Miss Stephanie, get a hold of yourself! What you describe amounts to a purge—a reign of terror !”
Laughing or wailing as she bashed her head against the wall and screamed, Steph suddenly…sensed something—and turned her gaze…to see…
—Sora.
“Oh—oh…!”
Where has he been mucking about, dissipating to his heart’s content while leaving me to do all the work? Countless feelings arose in her, but before all that, her face flushed at the simple fact that Sora was right there. Her heart’s inability to conceal its joy beset her with complicated feelings, but—
“S-Sora! You have returned—ngeeh?!”
Smashing face-first into the column at which she’d leaped, Steph made a funny noise as blood flowed from her nose. She sprawled on her back on the floor, looking at the ceiling…then it dawned on her that the “Sora” she’d seen was merely a reflection in the polished marble column—of herself. She uttered one pensive phrase:
“…………I’m just hopeless.”
“Miss Stephanie. Why don’t you get some sleep? Rather, would you please get some sleep? I beg you.”
Picking up the limp Steph, Ino continued. “…There’s no cause for alarm. King Sora and Queen Shiro, well, they are a difficult-to-understand pair of people, but—” He struggled to find a positive spin on the inscrutable siblings. “—It may be that they are staying in the Eastern Union in order to arrange things with the Holy Shrine Maiden…perhaps?”
A Commonwealth built under Elkia’s leadership—of course, it wasn’t a matter that could be settled by Elkia alone.
“They must themselves be steadily advancing—a ‘summit conference,’” said Ino.
—Yes, that could be. Sora and Shiro’s actions always defied common sense. Yet every time, those actions worked in Elkia’s favor. This was a fact. It was best to trust them—but—
“…I wonder. Everything they say and do is predicated upon the intermingling of public and private interest…”
It was also a fact that what had always happened was that they found a way to satisfy their personal desires. Casting her eyes in the direction of the faraway Eastern Union, Steph muttered:
“…I’m sure that at this very moment, they’re just fawning over girls with animal ears, shutting themselves up indoors, and filling their heads with games like the worthless vegetables they are.”
…Ino could find no words to refute hers.
—And so we take our scene to the Eastern Union: the capital, Kannagari. Equivalent to Elkia’s Royal Castle, the residence of the Werebeast’s agent plenipotentiary: the Shrine. In its Central Division: the Inner Garden. A space somehow reminiscent of a Japanese garden on Earth, full of fresh nature and red and black. Here, in this place normally off-limits to visitors, a crowd had assembled beside the sacred pond.
“…Hey, Shrine Maiden, what is love?”
“…Tell us, Shrine Maiden…”
The agents of this serious inquiry were a black-haired, dark-eyed young man in an “I ? PPL” shirt and the white-haired, red-eyed girl on his lap: the monarch of Elkia and the agent plenipotentiary of Immanity, Sora and Shiro. The crowd consisted of several Werebeasts—animal-girls making coquettish noises as the two stroked them. And there was a line, each person in it apparently waiting enviously for their turn.
“…I don’t know, I have so many things I want to say to you…” The voice that murmured like soft bells was that of the girl who sat across the game table from them. The golden, two-tailed fox whose true name no one knew. The agent plenipotentiary of Werebeast—the Shrine Maiden.
“…Now this has two meanings, mind—what is going on in those heads of yours?”
The three were playing zohjong, a traditional game unique to the Eastern Union.
It shared some traits with mahjong but was fundamentally a completely different game.
“What’s going on? Oh, whoop. We win again.”
“…This game…is…pretty, fun…”
As they played, Shiro and Sora petted numbers of Werebeast girls and asked nutty questions such as, “What is love?”
Having seen this game for the first time and had its rules explained about half an hour ago , they’d already mastered it. In the blink of an eye, they’d uncovered the most efficient strategies, countless conventions, and even devised ways to cheat. But the real question was—. The Shrine Maiden sighed with a weak smile.
“Could you let me in just a little bit on how you managed to cheat right in front of me?”
Even the Shrine Maiden’s senses weren’t keen enough to catch a glimpse. Sora grinned back.
“How could you say we’re cheating? Shiro simply memorized all the facedown tiles and tracked their positions the whole time, and I just casually felt for the tiles Shiro probably wanted —you can’t call that cheating, now can you?”
Right, of the two reasons cheating couldn’t be called out, this was one. Because they weren’t communicating at all, just inferring each other’s hand .
“Plus, come on, you’re doing it, too. We’re even, right?”
And the second was because they were competing with that as a given. In just these few exchanges, for the Shrine Maiden, who had been playing this game for over fifty years— to be plainly surpassed in genuine skill and to have the point lead taken from her…there was nothing left to say. This was a defeat so complete it somehow felt refreshing. As the Shrine Maiden thus wanly smiled with her chin in her hand, Sora began. “Okay…
“So, we’ve got three demands by the Covenants—you’re cool, right?” The Shrine Maiden chuckled in resignation, and Sora continued. “First, make an itemized tariff schedule objectively based on both countries’ interests.”
It was clear that Eastern Union understood the importance of the resources on the continent better than Elkia. Which meant that, to set rates compatible with the mutual interests of the two countries, accounting for their differences in ability, there was no one better suited than the agent plenipotentiary of the Eastern Union—namely, the Shrine Maiden. And as long as those words “both countries’ interests” were in there, she wouldn’t be able to favor the Eastern Union one-sidedly. Perfect as usual , the Shrine Maiden commented to herself. Still.
“…In essence, then, you’re dumping everything on me again , aren’t you…?”
Sora and Shiro really had, in this last month, been working. Day by day, they went to the Shrine Maiden and played games with the fortunes of the two countries at stake.
…Yes, that was some real work. If you overlooked how they’d beaten the Shrine Maiden in every game…and then dumped all of the execution on her.
“They say you should leave things to the experts. You’re the Shrine Maiden who built a great country in half a century. We believe in you!”
At Sora’s jolly answer, the Shrine Maiden cackled and scratched her head. Restructuring allied states into a federation—Sora and Shiro had apparently used the precedent of the “United States of America” from their world as a reference to propose solutions and compromises for the countless obstacles, while throwing onto the Shrine Maiden the job of minimizing the frictions. Actually, that was the right decision. Sora and Shiro were genius gamers, not politicians . But there was a different reason the Shrine Maiden had laughed. It was that up to this day she’d tried to get ahead of Sora and Shiro any number of times. This time, she’d figured she could win with a game they’d never seen, and yet she’d got it handed to her. Besides that, she’d tried to set up a number of tricks to bring the Eastern Union out on top…but in the end, she’d never once been able to get ahead of them or beat them. But the policies that had been decided upon in this manner, just as they had said, were assembled through and through for both countries’ interests. Elkia and the Eastern Union would both lose in the short term so that they would both gain in the long term. She sighed at the documents that embodied these policies but had no complaints. She was even starting to feel guilty for always having tried to outwit them. The issue was that second demand they’d always add—
“’Kay then, Demand Number Two is the usual—let us pet you!”
“…Pet you…!”
—Yes, it was that every time, they would again pointlessly wager the right to pet the Shrine Maiden.
“Considering you’re are actually putting thought into the policy, I can’t object, but…”
With a deep sigh, the Shrine Maiden glanced at the ever-growing mountain of documents. Go ahead , she indicated, gently waving her two golden tails.
“Wooot! We got this, Shiro!”
“…This, is the day…we’re gonna make you, gasp…!”
Watching Sora and Shiro pounce with gleams in their eyes, the Shrine Maiden smirked, and considered.
—Ixseed Rank Fourteen, Werebeast, was a race with physical abilities approaching physical limits. But to achieve this in the shape of a person, it should go without saying, would normally be physically impossible . What made it possible was their use of the spirits within their bodies.
…All living beings in this world had spirits in their bodies, even if just a minute amount. The ranks were based on the amount each race had and the aptitude of their spirit corridor–connected nerves—i.e., how well they could manipulate exterior spirits— magic . The Werebeasts’ aptitude was extremely low: they couldn’t use magic at all. However, all living things, even Immanity, had the unconscious ability to control the spirits in their own bodies. Werebeasts attained their astonishing physical prowess by thoroughly exploiting this. The “bloodbreaks” used by Izuna and the Shrine Maiden were prominent examples. Werebeasts were born with the skill to stir up the spirits in their bodies to raise their physical abilities to the level of self-destruction. But the price was the peculiarity that the spirits flowing through their bodies were always in disarray. The effect of this peculiarity was greater the smaller and more slender the Werebeast happened to be. As a result, Werebeasts—especially children and females—bore chronic disorders of the spirits in their bodies… discomfort. It was not a problem that could be easily solved by oneself—
……So if you want to know what bearing this had on the situation…
“…Fluffy, fluffy…petty, petty…hee-hee…”
“—!”
Feeling the urge to let out a moan at Shiro’s hands, the Shrine Maiden shifted her thoughts to hold it back. Sora and Shiro…the two were abnormally skilled—at manipulating her spirits . It certainly wasn’t the case that Immanity could see spirits. Even taking into account that they were from another world, manipulating body spirits was the realm of high-level magic. Yet these two—
“—Heh, I think this is the spot!”
“ ? !!”
—Instantly picking up on her reaction to where they touched her, they were effectively manipulating her spirits via petting. As a result, they were resolving her Werebeast chronic disorder of body spirits—without particularly intending to do so. What was the word for this—should they be called “celebrity masseuses”?
—Now you see why there’s a line for getting petted, right?
“…So, you said today your demands are three… Mm.”
Almost moaning at the on-the-spot fluffing but holding back by sheer force of will, the Shrine Maiden asked:
“—Mightn’t I get an explanation by now? Of course, it must have something to do with this situation, eh?”
Sora and Shiro were being glommed on to by a bunch of strange Werebeast girls and busily petting them all. That was enough to make her want to say a thing or a thousand, but setting that aside… The two had wrapped strips of cloth, apparently Izuna’s, so as to hide their lower faces. In addition, Sora was wearing what looked like fake cat ears, with Shiro wearing rabbit ears. Even Jibril, waiting behind them, for some reason had droopy dog ears on her head, and beside her, Izuna was staring at the girls being petted by Sora and Shiro as if waiting for her own turn. And then the Shrine Maiden cast her narrowed eyes upon the last of their party. Before her shivered a Dhampir girl, crouching and trembling in the corner of the room.
“It seems this Dhampir—Plum—whose ‘favor’ we refused last night responded by going all over Kannagari telling everyone about our petting skills.”
Apparently, that explained the line of animal-girls waiting to be petted. They’d hidden their faces and warped to the front of the Shrine, yet just the short walk from the gate had been enough to produce this situation. Sora spread his hands and laughed.
“She says she’s gonna keep interfering with our work until we save Dhampir.”
“……I see…”
“Master, do you not feel it is about time? Let us have her wager her head in a game. And then let us ensnare her in the game and take it. Her head, I mean. ? ”
“I-I—I’m sorryyy…B-b—but, you see, the very life of my race is at staaake!”
Shrinking at Jibril’s murderous eyes, Plum squealed piteously.
“—So, yeah, my third demand…”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Please use the power you’ve got as agent plenipotentiary of Werebeast and order them to leave us alone until we look for them. Now there’s a line in front of Izuna’s house. We have a phobia of being looked at, and we can’t even open the door. And we can’t get on to the real issue, either.”
……
—Apparently, Sora had many things to say. Wanting to hear what this so-called real issue was, the Shrine Maiden sharply opened her mouth.
“—Why don’t you go.”
This was enough to make the animal-girls’ hair stand on end with a twitch, and they bowed repeatedly as they fled the garden as if rolling away. Watching them leave, Shiro waved. “Bye-bye.”
“Mercy me—well, you speak of something weighty, I hope?” the Shrine Maiden asked with an incredulous look, and Sora nodded back, his face tense.
“Yeah—it’s an important issue that concerns Elkia and the Eastern Union.”
Starting thusly, Sora no longer wore his goofy look of a moment ago. His face was a mask of seriousness, as if he’d hit upon an intractable problem. Hmm —the Shrine Maiden straightened up and faced Sora as he spoke.
“You know how there’s this country in the ocean south of the Eastern Union—Oceand?”
“It’s our neighbor; of course I know it. Home of Siren, aye.”
—Siren. Ixseed Rank Fifteen: the race one rank above Immanity and one below Werebeast. Building a metropolis at the depths of the sea, they could only live in water and thus had few concerns over territory. An insular race with a peculiar mode of life, they only conducted minimal trade with other countries. Just what issue could arise involving folks like that…? To the Shrine Maiden’s gaze that asked this, Sora nodded dramatically and spoke:
“Right, it has to do with them, so Shrine Maiden—”
He paused for breath.
“—Shrine Maiden, what is love?”
“Let me give you just one more chance to explain yourself. If it’s a fight you want, I’m surely game, though. ? ” With an unreserved smile, but ready to unleash her bloodbreak, the Shrine Maiden growled, her hair reddening.
—Going back a little to the previous night. Sora, having just dismissed it all without qualification, saying: Play out your porno game scenario somewhere else. Holding on to his legs, Plum wailed, looking near tears.
“P-p—please waiiit! Your Majesties, we have no one to turn to but youuu!”
“Shut up! I can’t get involved with a race whose very premise is R-18! You ever hear of zoning?”
The race fed by viscous white fluid in place of blood—Dhampir.
—One way or another, getting involved with them was an inexcusable trip straight to the adult corner.
“No! …Well, there are sooome girls who see it like that…”
“I knew it! You are straight from a porn game!”
“L-let me explaiiin! At this rate, we’ll be wiped ouuut!”
“—Rrm?”
“…Mm?”
Responding to a phrase they couldn’t ignore, Sora and Shiro stopped in their tracks. They looked at each other in confirmation.
—Of the fact they couldn’t let that happen .
“…Let’s hear your story, then. Just so you know, I’m gonna cut you off the moment this starts turning into porn.”
Reluctantly, Sora plopped down cross-legged, sighed, and opened his mouth. Shiro perched on his lap, and Jibril, following their lead, sat on her heels. Izuna—sleepy after all, it seemed—curled up into a ball beside Sora and nodded slowly.
“Th-thank youuu!” Tearfully, Plum bowed repeatedly. “Uh, uh…give me a momeeent…”
Some kind of irregular pattern rose up in her violet eyes—and that moment.
—Just when had they moved? In an instant, Jibril was right before Plum, and Izuna had taken her rear. The breeze created by their movement blew through the room, seeming a little late.
“…Muh?”
As Plum let out a silly sound, Jibril looked down at her keenly:
“I commend your achievement in approaching my master without my notice, but lest you think I am so foolish as to permit it a second time, allow me to give this advice—might it not be best that you mind your position, worm?”
“Grampy said, if you sense Dhampir magic, you’d better get the hell out of their eyes, please.” Izuna growled in an ice-cold voice, her suspicions raised.
Sora nervously tried to talk down the tense pair. “H-hey… Don’t the Ten Covenants prevent any damage from being done?”
“Damage or not, it is possible to disguise perceptions. For instance—” Jibril directed her profound hostility to a place beside Plum. “To make those voluminous suitcases invisible—and the like.”
With tears in her eyes, Plum waved her hands at Jibril as she stared at the empty space. “It’s—it’s a misunderstandiing! I just meant to disguise my own perceptiooon !”
—From nowhere, a number of bulky suitcases appeared…
“……Mm.”
Izuna, her suspicions allayed, sniffled and went back to Sora and Shiro.
“So, basically—she concealed the existence of her luggage to get rid of the weight?”
“No. All it will do is to prevent her from feeling the volume and weight of the luggage, not to get rid of it.”
“So when she first appeared, she was exhausted…”
“…because of, this?”
“I-I’m sorryyy… I mean, it—it was heavyyy…”
At Plum’s bowing and scraping, still Jibril said:
“Dhampir’s aptitude for magical stealth and illusion—the manipulation of perception—may surpass even that of Elf. Those suitcases were there all along …and we simply did not observe them.”
“Hmm. But you noticed them, right?”
“To my chagrin, they threatened to escape me had I not paid close attention. However, this will not happen again.”
Jibril clenched her fists and drooped her head. Sora, shifting his gaze to his side, asked:
“…Izuna, what made you relax?”
“Huh? Bitch doesn’t smell like she’s lying, please,” the curled-up Izuna answered with a yawn, as if she’d become quite tired from her abrupt movement.
—Hmm—Sora and Shiro narrowed their eyes. Before them, Plum was digging through her suitcases, looking for something. Then she cried, “Oh, here it iiis,” pulling out a document—
“Ahem, um…I have heard that Your Majesties intend to conquer all the races .”
“…Uh, yeah.”
That was how it was presented. The fact that they were working on a Commonwealth with the Eastern Union—well, it was probably out of the bag, but anyway, the movement of pieces still ought to have been a secret between Team Sora and Team Shrine Maiden. Feeling no particular need to explain, Sora agreed.
“Let me speak frankly—” As if satisfied by his answer, Plum went on. “Right now, we—Dhampir and Siren—our two races are on the brink of extinction. We have tried everything we could, but…there’s no more we can do, so we would like to request your suppooort.”
…—Hmm.
“Jibril, you tell me, okay? What sort of relationship do Dhampir and Siren have?”
At Sora’s question, Jibril quietly lowered her head and began:
“After the Ten Covenants, Dhampir was no longer able to ingest blood without permission, meaning that their very survival came to depend upon the permission of others—and Siren was in a similar situation.”
“…Meaning?”
“…Siren…Rank Fifteen, a race that can only live in the…ocean.”
Shiro elaborated. Ixseed Rank Fifteen, Siren—to put it bluntly—was a race of mermaids. They lived on the relatively shallow ocean floor, possessing the upper bodies of people and the tails of fish from the thighs down. They had an extremely peculiar mode of life, as first and foremost exemplified by the fact they couldn’t remain out of the sea for long . As such, they’d built the ocean-floor metropolis Oceand, claiming a vast marine swath as their territory. Their second peculiarity was existing as a solely female race . Which meant their method of reproduction —
“…Requires, a man…of another race…”
At Shiro’s explanation, Sora squinted toward Jibril.
“Yo, these Dhampirs and Sirens, aren’t they kind of ridiculously bad as organisms?”
“Originally—that is, before the Ten Covenants—there was no problem.” Jibril continued, “All Sirens had to do was claim and devour a man of another race. And Dhampirs could very simply suck blood willy-nilly . It is the Ten Covenants that have inconvenienced them—well, races that they have not inconvenienced are in the minority, I should say—but the two races that the Covenants have most inconvenienced must be these.”
To Jibril and her smiling, savage tale of long ago, Sora said:
“…Wha, claim and devour ? You mean, like, literally?”
For a moment, the scene of a woman, a fish the waist down, displaying a loathsome visage as she messily devoured other races—a scene that looked to be R-18 for a different reason—crossed Sora’s mind, and he shivered.
But Jibril shook her head in reply. “No, I kept it vague since you mentioned being wholesome. But I meant it sexually .”
“What?? I want in on this paradise! Jibril, let’s go, right now!!”
As Sora stood, yelping in delight, still Jibril looked back vacantly.
“You will be sucked dry and die. Is that quite all right?”
“What?? I want out of this infernooo… I’m not going there everrr.”
…Mermaids who couldn’t reproduce without sucking a man of another race dry? Just how far did this world have to go betraying one’s hopes and tropes? Sora, his energy level flung to max then drained to empty in the blink of an eye, sighed and sat down. Disregarding Sora, Jibril continued, “In any case…
“Dhampir and Siren are two races that cannot survive without harming another , and so the Ten Covenants threatened their very existence. Thus, Dhampir turned their attention to Siren.”
Hmm, Sora nodded.
“Yeah, guess they would. Since Siren’s Rank Fifteen, between Immanity and Werebeast, that means they can’t use magic, right? Dhampir’s got their stealth and illusion magic skills. They’d eat Siren for breakfast.”
As another race on the brink of extinction, their wager couldn’t have been too tough, either. It was savage as ever, but when your survival depended on it—. But Jibril continued with a smile.
“Sadly, the story escalates straight up … It has become a tale famous throughout the world.”
—It didn’t even escalate gradually? Jibril continued her narration amusedly.
“I mentioned that being bitten by a Dhampir…brings illness.”
“Yeah…”
“Put simply, it is an illness that causes one to die if exposed to direct sunlight. Thus, it is an illness that poses no special threat to Siren, who live at the bottom of the sea and rarely venture onto land.”
“—Mm? Hey, so…”
Plum answered with a fleeting smile. “…Yeeesss, we Dhampirs—proposed symbiosiiis …”
Jibril took over. “Their strategy was that Siren should grant them blood, while Dhampir returned the favor with magic and would help them catch other races on which to feast. Dhampir and Siren quickly formed a common front.”
“That’s—how do I put it…?”
“…A—mazing…”
Sora and Shiro together let out an expression of awe from their hearts. Even given that they were stuck in a situation in which they couldn’t worry about appearances, these two races had proposed a plan based perfectly in their mutual interests, accurately, and annoyingly—
“Yes, indeed. They are a race most worthy of astoundment— Siren are, I mean .”
—What? But Jibril continued, smiling pityingly at Plum.
“For Dhampir, having brought the offer of symbiosis—against all odds, was crushed !”
……Huh?
“In the end—Dhampir was beaten silly by Siren, and a mysterious contract was concluded whereby the Dhampir males would assist Siren in reproduction, while being forbidden to suck the blood of non-Sirens.”
…… ? Excuse me? This information perhaps not even having been known to Shiro, she gave Jibril a surprised look, seeming to doubt her own ears.
“…Ha-ha…it’s really a funny story, isn’t iiit.” Plum, meanwhile, looked resigned to her fate.
“I imagine our ancestors hadn’t thought…the Sirens could fail to understand the Ten Covenants and not even realize that they were on the brink of ruin …ha-ha.”
—Her troubled face was augmented by her weariness as a dim smile emerged.
“…Uumm…? Brother…what…is?”
Shiro tilted her head in atypical confusion at Sora.
“—Ohh…so, could it be…? It couldn’t be…” He couldn’t believe it, but—. Sora went on. “Dhampir brought them a game where they didn’t use magic , and they were more or less setting it up for a draw as a step toward a proposal for a symbiotic relationship—but Siren didn’t understand what that meant and kicked Dhampir’s asses, and there was much rejoicing—like that?”
Jibril’s smile and Plum’s weary version of the same told him: Bull’s-eye .
“…Hey, are the Sirens stupid, or—?”
“They are stupid enough to resound through heaven and earth in three thousand worlds. ? ”
“I have to say, they’ve really reached the very pinnacle of stupidityyy…ha-ha.”
“Grampy said they’re not even up to the level of hairless monkeys, please.”
Jibril, Plum, and even Izuna, who was supposed to have been sleeping, all jumped on Sora’s question.
“…Whoa, there’s a race that’s looked down on even more than Immanity… It’s kinda moving, somehow.”
Jibril carried on with her tale, still in peak form.
“So, this has several interesting implications!”
Number one —she raised a finger.
“First of all, Dhampir is capable of surviving even on fluids other than blood.”
Two —she raised another.
“However, their growth depends on blood—without mixing of souls, they will stay children forever.”
Three —she raised another still.
“The prohibition on sucking other races’ blood only applies to males. However, Dhampirs are not capable of reproducing among themselves while they are still children. To receive blood, the males are forced to obey Siren, and to bear children, almost all the females are effectively forced to obey Siren as well.”
And four —she produced a finger yet again.
“Even if one were to flee from the city of Siren, one would be a carrier of disease—and you must know what that means?”
And with a smile, five —Jibril had her entire hand aloft.
“It means Dhampir unwittingly found themselves trapped by these idiots!”
……At this story, too stupid to even react to, Shiro had already lost interest and moved on to picking at her nails. Sora, too, gazed at the ceiling in a stupor—but then. Through the back of his mind, Plum’s words flitted:
—No—well, there are sooome girls who see it like that—
…Let’s collect and review the information here. First of all, female Dhampirs have no obligation to obey Siren and are capable of leaving. However, if they don’t suck blood, they’ll stay children . Yet they can survive as long as they have the bodily fluids of another race . On top of that, the second-best body fluid for them after blood is that ? And— there are some girls who see it like that …?
—Wait. Wait just a moment, if you would.
……So ? legal lol ?
“B-but stilll? For a…while, we still manaaged…”
“Whuh, a-ha, uh, yeah?”
Sora had been completely distracted but was brought back in a fluster by Plum’s objection.
“I just described the state immediately after the Ten Covenants. Dhampir did, in fact, succeed in symbiosis, from that point .”
Jibril, nodding, continued.
“Siren reproduces by despoiling the males of other races of their essence, their soul. However, there were individuals capable of leaving enough to keep the male alive while still reproducing, albeit just one such individual in a generation—and so.
“Dhampir would fulfill their binding obligation to assist in reproduction only with that one—she was set up as the queen, the agent plenipotentiary of Siren, from generation to generation, and the only one who might reproduce.”
“—Huhhh!”
“…A—mazing…”
Sora clapped his hands in admiration, and Shiro likewise applauded.
“Dhampir just has to assist Siren in reproduction, so it doesn’t violate the Covenant. They still can refuse the other Sirens who would suck out their essence till they died, and at the same time, Dhampir can suck blood—GG, perfect, right?”
Well, well—they might have screwed up spectacularly, but that was some turnabout. They’d found a system that would reliably guarantee the continued existence of both races. So in other words, they’d succeeded at achieving harmony across races before Sora and Shiro.
“—Dhampir’s got it together after all. Ain’t Rank Twelve for nothing, huh.”
“Sadly, Master, this system, too, broke down under the current queen .”
—Just how many punch lines did this story have?
“Okay, so what did this current queen friggin’ do?”
At Sora’s query, Jibril answered her with eyes half-closed but still bearing a smile, opening the fingers on both her hands. “— Nothing. At. All. ? ” At this Plum, as if her face wasn’t full enough of troubles, laughed to herself as if ready to cough up her soul as she muttered:
“She said, ‘I won’t get up until my prince comes to awaken meee’…and went into crybernation .”
Huh? Beaming so brightly one might have asked just what the hell was so amusing, Jibril said, “In other words—”
“The current queen, who holds the power for Siren to reproduce without Dhampir dying—it seems she was influenced by one of her mother’s fairy tales while she was still the queen, and so she made this pronouncement by the Covenants and nodded off.”
…Hey, wait a minute, you gotta be joking.
“Until the prince who will win her love appears—that is, until someone beats the game she’s set by the Covenants—she will not wake. And you see, crybernation is a special power of Siren—like the bloodbreak of Werebeast. She is capable of sleeping for over a thousand years—but, as luck would have it—”
With these words, Jibril sat on her knees and made as if to gesture with a fan.
“M-my masters, indeed—what force of spirit!”
“I don’t get it, but you both kinda kick ass, please.”
Jibril and Izuna audibly gulped.
Meanwhile, the Shrine Maiden and Plum offered more objective opinions.
“Is this what happens when you take your known weaknesses and proudly hold them aloft…? Somehow it’s impressive.”
“…It-it’s a kind of confidence that’s quite inconvenient for me, thoughhh…”
“Well, that’s how it went down, so we had her chill for a bit on the condition we’d discuss it with you.”
“…Hff, is that so…?”
“And with that, Shrine Maiden, tell us what love is.”
“…Tell, us…Shrine Maiden…”
To the two inquiring with faces earnest with purity, the Shrine Maiden let out a sigh. Sitting back deep in her chair and playing with her tails as if grooming herself, she mused, “—My, my, now what is it, after all…?”
Her voice was soft and without ceremony.
“As far back as I remember, all I thought of was Werebeast—the Eastern Union… Now that I think of it, what is love, indeed? At some point, I forgot to even give it any thought…”
The sight of the Shrine Maiden, whispering with distant eyes as if reminiscing on the distant past.
—Strange. Sora and Shiro somehow felt a kinship they’d never felt before.
“I see…”
“…Well, I guess, that’s…that.”
So they sighed together and then turned back to Plum.
“Sorry, Plum, you’re out of luck for now. Don’t go extinct?”
“…Stay, strong?”
Plum, casually forsaken for the third time, screamed with an expression as if about to erupt in tears. “Were you even listening to me? I said I brought a plan so that you can do iiit!”
Her voice trembling on the verge of a breakdown, Plum pointed to her notes.
“It-it’s not as if we Dhampirs have just been quietly letting ourselves be devoured all this tiiime… We’ve analyzed the queen—the ‘game’—over a period of many years, and at looong last, we’ve come up with a foolproof plaaan !”
But it seemed both Sora and Shiro had by now completely lost interest. Taking the Shrine Maiden’s lead, they searched for split ends in their hair as they responded absently, “…If you’ve, solved the, game…you, go for it…”
Whining, Nghhhhh , Plum shrieked, “I-I’ll show it to you! King Sora!” And she thrust a finger at him and screamed, “Name a person you think would never fall in love with you!”
“Anyone.”
“…Huh?”
Plum froze at Sora’s immediate, straight-faced answer, given while prodding at his nails. Sora, with distant eyes—with the serene face of a monk who had seen the light—continued:
“The heavens will fall and the Earth be overturned before the day anyone falls in love with me without being forced to do so by the Covenants.”
He continued as if elucidating a state of enlightenment—the truth of this ephemeral world.
“—U-ummm…Th-that’s really saaad!”
Her momentum blunted by Sora’s bodhisattva-like smile, Plum just barely managed to get her words out. Then, to somehow supply an alternate proposal—“I-in that case, is it all right if I use it on you…?”
“Hmm?”
“A spell—to force the queen to fall in love with you!”
— Hrmm , Sora spontaneously said out loud. Indeed, if making her fall in love was the condition to wake her, then if they had a spell like that, it really would be a certain victory. If that were the case, it would change the picture in many ways. But casting eyes of doubt upon the claim was Jibril.
“— Forcible manipulation of emotions , you say? The Ten Covenants ought to nullify—”
But Plum replied as if she’d been waiting for those words. “Yes, normally that would be the caaase! However, the queen asked to fall in love before she slept—which means we have permissiooon. That’s the thing! We can take advantage of that!”
It was the same logic by which they could meddle in her dreams, Plum explained, putting her hand on her hip. The Dhampir’s face oozed with misfortune but was now touched with a bit of confidence as she stuck out her chest.
Seeing her thus, Sora figured it seemed she actually did have confidence in this plan. Glancing over at Jibril, he nodded. “Okay, then. If it’s gonna work on me when I don’t really understand the feeling of romantic love, then I guess it’s gotta be a sure thing.”
With these words, Sora stepped forward.
“All right, use it on me. Shiro will determine whether it—”
—But then.
“…No…”
Grabbing the hem of Sora’s shirt as he stepped forward, Shiro stopped him short.
“Mm? ’Sup, Shiro?”
“…No.”
“Mm, uh, why not?”
“……”
Shiro’s eyes for a moment—really just for a moment—wandered. The reason was undetectable to Sora, and so she thrust her brain now into full gear to come up with an explanation…an excuse, something . And finally coming up with something, Shiro mumbled, “…We don’t, know…what you’ll do…if you, fall in love…with, someone.”
“Sh-Shiro—do you yet doubt your brother’s iron will?!”
Sora tragically pleaded that by now his self-restraint should be worthy of praise. But—the Shrine Maiden, with Werebeast’s unlikely abilities to read the subtleties of the heart, apparently understood the workings of feelings at least a bit better than Sora and laughed pleasantly.
“—Ah, if it be so, you may test it on me, aye.”
“Shrine Maiden?”
The Shrine Maiden continued as if watching something heartwarming.
“’Tis true of me as well that I lack understanding of those feelings of romance. What complaint have you?”
But Shiro, apparently still wary, asked Plum, “…Can, you…un—do it?”
“Uh? Oh, y-yes! Of course I caaan!”
“Ah-ha-ha, set your heart at ease. He’s no type of mine,” reassured the Shrine Maiden.
Shiro and the Shrine Maiden had somehow seemingly achieved a common understanding, yet Sora remained unable to follow.
“…Hey, what’s this about?”
“I’m afraid, Master, that it escapes me as well.”
“…? Sorry, wasn’t listening, please.”
There was no way Jibril understood, giving her likewise quizzical look—or Izuna, who had already been snoring. Ignoring these three, the Shrine Maiden stood up—and took a step. Silently, she came to stand before Plum.
“Come, then, will you try it on me?”
“Y-yes. All right, King Sora, and everyone else…”
Plum, faltering for a moment at the Shrine Maiden’s behavior, recomposed herself and spread her wings.
“It’s not a spell I can use any number of times without blood supply, so make sure you watch, okay?!”
At the same time a complex pattern emerged in Plum’s eyes, a breeze blew through the room. On Plum’s wings, black as if woven of night, there ran—utterly different from the geometric nature of Jibril’s halo—countless scarlet lines, wavering, irregular, imbued with crimson. These irregular lines, red as if woven of blood, came to permeate Plum’s right arm as well. Her hand—coolly yet complexly—began to move. At the presence of the spirits being woven—the rite, forming the spell—the ears of Izuna and the Shrine Maiden reacted finely. But Immanity being unable to detect magic whatsoever, Sora and Shiro were not even cognizant of this. The only one who could be expected to perceive magic accurately and even see the meaning of the rite being compiled was Jibril.
“—Dear me…could it be, genuinely?”
This she mumbled as if genuinely surprised. After an interval of a few seconds, Plum slowly gestured with her hand toward the Shrine Maiden.
—In a flash, with the sound of something splitting, a maelstrom of red light whirled around the Shrine Maiden.
……Mm?
“…What’s this? Is the spell cast now?” asked the Shrine Maiden, apparently not having felt any obvious change.
Plum, a bit of fatigue seeping through her smile, replied. “Yes! And nowww—King Sora, please approach the Holy Shrine Maiden—!
“And squeeze her booob!”
“…Whaa?”
Sora and the Shrine Maiden raised their voices at the same time.
“Upon this ‘command’—the rite…will be compleeete!”
Plum showed no awareness of the reactions around her and only brimmed with confidence at her announcement. Sora exchanged a brief glance with Shiro, and once he’d confirmed her nod of approval—
“Uhh, okay. Shrine Maiden, you cool with this?”
“…Well, I suppose I was the one who said I’d do it…though I can’t say it sits well that she didn’t explain aforehand.” The Shrine Maiden sighed and fanned her chest.
“…This is really tough somehow… ’Kay, here I gooo…”
With these words, sheepishly extending his hand to the Shrine Maiden’s breast, Sora, his face a mask of resolve—squeezed tension into his hand.
He almost let slip a cry at the elasticity that let him sink in yet pushed back. Sora was deeply moved at this sensation—still different from that of Steph. But his wonder at the sensation was ignored.
“Hmng…?”
The Shrine Maiden, furrowing her brow in apparent displeasure, felt something go off inside her, and her expression…changed. And then, turning her gaze languidly toward Sora—in a daze—mumbled:
“Wha-what is this? This skin-crawling feeling…it transcends mere disgust at your loathsome smile, incorporating irritation as well—I-I see… Is this—is this what they call love?!”
“Hell noooooo! And hey, that hurts, damn it!”
—The Shrine Maiden whispered her feelings with a look in her eye as if viewing something horrible , at which Sora promptly shouted his dismay. But as if she had no ears for his cries, the Shrine Maiden continued.
“Eh, this is love . What is it? I’d never have imagined it, yet now I can say with certainty that I am in love with King Sora. Indeed…so this stomach-churning feeling that makes me want to vomit is love… The world is a surely a vast place.”
“—Hey, Plum. You failed, right?”
Any way you looked at it, it appeared the Dhampir had blown it. Sora’s expression strained the corners of his mouth, but Plum just stuck out her chest with pride and answered.
“Hee-hee-hee, oh, just listeeen… This is where the key lieees.”
—And now her troubled face sparkled, having pulled off a feat that only a Dhampir could.
“The love spell is one whispered of since ages of old in distant realms, yet never actually achieeeved—”
“…Is that so, Jibril?”
Love potions, love spells—such things were to be expected in fantasy, but…
“—Indeed. Though I am loath to admit it, the principle escapes us all entirely,” Jibril conceded, unable to conceal her wonder. Grudgingly admitting Plum’s triumph, she nodded.
“As far as I know, a spell to intervene in such a vague, uncertain element as romantic love, which even those in the arts are unable to define, has never been accomplished even by Elf…”
However outstanding their aptitude may have been for illusion, Dhampir’s rank was Twelve. While magical aptitude was practically synonymous with Rank Seven, the very image of weavers of complex magic, having accomplished what even Elf couldn’t, Plum merely nodded as if to say, What else would you expect?
“Yeeesss, the tricky part was how the definition of romantic love is indeterminate— it’s different from person to person , you seee.”
Beating her little wings merrily, Plum explained. Raising her chest so high one thought one would hear the sound of the air filling her lungs, she continued:
“No rite can have any meaning over an indeterminate element defying definition. This is why all the stuff that was vulgarly called ‘love magic’ was nothing more than lust magic —however!”
“Hey, wait there, Miss Plum. I’m actually more interested in lust—”
Disregarding Sora’s interest, Plum raised her chest as if bending over backward.
“We Dhampirs have finally brought it to fruition!”
“……”
And then the magic that even Elf had been unable to reach, that had astonished even a Flügel, was explained once and for all:
“If it’s indeterminate, all we have to do is determine iiit ! If romantic love is a feeling that differs for every person, then all we have to do is arbitrarily impose our own definitiooon !”
What was it with this absurd logic? Love magic, so common in games, had never felt as wrong as it did today. With a glance over to the Shrine Maiden—who looked back at him as if regarding a pile of garbage—
“…Uh, but this obviously isn’t love.”
Sora mumbled with rolling eyes.
“No! If the Shrine Maiden perceives herself as being in love, that is looove! For love— is an illusion to begin with !”
Whaaaaam. The race excelling most in stealth and illusion—in the manipulation of mind and perception—laid it out without any qualification.
“…Shiro. I have never been as disillusioned with love as I am today.”
“…What…is, love…indeed…”
Ignoring the siblings as they contemplated their philosophy, Plum allowed herself to be carried by her momentum.
“Come, King Sora. The Shrine Maiden must now recognize all things creepy as love! The time has come for you to let out a decisive, overwhelming, just all-out creepy line to make sure! Do it!”
At hearing creepy chanted over and over, a desire to say something welled up inside Sora—but he swallowed it for now.
“Uhh…‘Shrine Maiden, I wanna get all hot and bothered and lick you all over…’”
At these first words that popped into Sora’s head, the Holy Shrine Maiden reacted—with a step back. “Ohh… No, Sora, you mustn’t say such things—it makes me more and more in love with you! ? ”
“Yo, Plum! You think these lines and that expression match?! You notice she’s looking at me with utter contempt?! Dude, she’s clearly telling me with her eyes to fuck off and die, you know?!”
Tears in his eyes, Sora grabbed Plum by the collar and shouted, but the Dhampir puffed herself up with pride all the more as she shook her head.
“That is the form of the Holy Shrine Maiden’s love. That’s how it is now , you seee? Isn’t it magnificent?”
“Sure, it’s magnificent. Now hurry up and stop it! My sanity is getting shaved away at Mach speed!”
—Nay, I say. This can be no love spell, no cheat code…
……
“Myyy, that was an experience… ’Tis worth living long indeed.”
The rite dispelled, the Shrine Maiden’s laughter jingled gleefully. Relegating that sight to the corner of his eye—so the Werebeast would not catch on to his wounds—Sora addressed Plum.
“Okay, I get your sure thing or whatever. But why don’t you do it yourselves?”
If they had the means to make someone fall in love so unconditionally, the Dhampir might as well have done it themselves. But Plum dropped her shoulders as she answered.
“You see, the last male Dhampir is still youung… What the queen desires is a ‘prince’—”
Spinning her hands around and making some magic circles or something float in the air, Plum continued:
“It’s a spell to disguise perception … It may be quite the spell, but even so, it can’t, say, make the Shrine Maiden fall in love with some rock over theere… It has to be at least a man with the ability to reproduuuce.”
—Then, wordlessly tugging the hem of Sora’s clothes, Shiro showed him her phone. Glancing at the words typed there, Sora replied:
“Hmm… ‘Then it doesn’t have to be Brother,’ huh. Most true.”
—At Sora’s words, the Shrine Maiden’s and Izuna’s ears twitched.
“Hey, Plum, can multiple people go into the queen’s game?”
“Huh? Uh, yes. I think so…though it’ll take some doing since the rite to meddle in the queen’s dreams is already such a big deaaal… May I ask why you can’t do it by yourself, Sirrr?”
“Sorry, but cheats are a last resort. If we’re gonna do this, I want to check our ability to do it fair and square.”
“The trickster has a mouth…”
“Hey there, Shrine Maiden, don’t you go talking shit—a cheat is an unbeatable con that breaks the rules; a trick is a method encompassed by the rules that means you lose if you get caught. They’re fundamentally different, right?”
—Though the Shrine Maiden and the rest didn’t know it, Sora and Shiro—even in their old world, though they may have used mind games and tricks—had a policy of never using cheats.
“A game should be played out for all it’s worth within the scope of the set rules. If you ignore the fundamental rules, you can’t call it a game. We’ll use bugs, we’ll use broken characters, we’ll use whatever helps us win as long as it’s official—but we don’t break the specs. That’s out of the question.”
He punctuated this with a single nod.
Then Sora realized something—and with a look toward the Shrine Maiden and another nod , he asked:
“—Hey, Shrine Maiden—can you swim?”
The Shrine Maiden responded with a shake of her head . “—Even if I cannot, ’tis more than enough for me to simply walk in the water. What of it?”
“I was thinking if it’s okay with you, we’ll take her up on her offer—and go to Oceand.”
“…Hmm, well, I suppose. The reward’s quite a nice one, and it looks like you have a chance of winning.”
“Y-you willl?!”
“—Shrine Maiden, is there anyone you know who’d be cut out for this?”
At this question, the Shrine Maiden paused briefly to consider. Then—her hand placed strategically over her mouth to obscure the smile rising unbidden to her lips as she imagined the imminent change in Sora’s expression—the Shrine Maiden announced:
“—Ino Hatsuse. I understand that man has taken thirty wives.”
Elkia Royal Castle: the royal bedchamber. Steph, having surrendered herself to the bliss of sleep for the first time in a long time, now drifted through the land of dreams—
“We heard the story, you old fart! Now your fate is sealed!!”
She tumbled out of bed at the explosive noise that rocked the castle and the roar of rage that eclipsed even that.
“Wh-what’s going ooon?!”
Steph, screaming and writhing from having struck her head, nevertheless grasped whose voice—correction: howl—she’d heard and immediately headed in that direction. That is, she made for the Great Conference Chamber, even forgetting that she was still in her bedclothes as she grabbed her sheets and flew out of the room.
Practically kicking down the door to the Great Conference Chamber, Steph saw what was most likely—no, unquestionably—the source of the boom: Jibril. And perhaps because of it—
“Wh-what is going on here…?”
Ino Hatsuse’s cards—he had been playing on Steph’s behalf—along with those of his opponents (nobles, presumably) and reams of papers all floated through the air in the wreckage of the Great Conference Chamber. The smoke had yet to settle. And the origin of this calamity, now noticing Steph, finally spoke:
“Oh, little Dora, good day. My masters instructed me to shift us to Elkia at once , and as we have a fair number of people, I opened a rather large hole in space. Is everything all right?”
—So had there been a chance of everything not being all right? Steph ignored that concern and peered through the smoke. Whereupon she saw Sora, bounding as if to smash the floor—bellowing as he stomped toward Ino with enough force that it seemed he might smash right through the floor.
“Defendant Ino Hatsuse! Charged with the grave crime of having so much of a damn life you took a double-digits’ worth of wives! In the court of summary jurisdiction in my head, all members of me, upon my arbitrary and biased judgment, unanimously pronounce you guilty and sentence you to the penalty of death! According to the laws of the galaxy, you—here and now—should become space duuust!!”
“…Ahh…King Sora, Sir, the things I would like to say to you number like unto the stars in the heavens.”
Faced with the return of the King of Hooky—and let us also add, the Mad King—after half a month, Ino twitched as he held something back—and yet. A single line from Izuna, who popped up behind Sora, made Ino freeze.
“…Grampy…are you a ‘secks monster,’ please?”
“Huh—?! Izuna, where did you learn that—?!”
Perhaps not knowing its meaning, Izuna tilted her head.
“…That’s what that asshole Sora called you, please.”
“Hey, you hairless monkey jackass!! After dumping this mountain of work on me, what did you teach my granddaughter, you bastard?!”
Unable to maintain his exterior, Ino smashed a table apart, bellowing. But seeing this, Sora looked to the heavens dramatically and waved his hands about, pointing.
“Ho! Behold, Izuna! This is the face of a criminal whose grave sin has been thrust before him. Is it not a horrible sight?!”
Izuna, looking disillusioned, mumbled further:
“…Grampy, you’re a damn playboy.”
“Wha ? n-no, Izuna! Your gramps gave each of them the love—”
“Aah, aah! Silence, silence, you slave of your groin! Cease your excuses and take with honor—gkhh!!”
“…Brother…shut up…”
Riding on Sora’s back, Shiro’s whisper was as soft as the force she applied with her arms round the vexed Sora’s throat to shut him up.
—By the time the smoke was finally beginning to clear:
“Eh-heh-heh, you folks are always so lively, every time…”
With a sound of small bells and the noise of clogs knocking against the floor—the golden fox revealed herself.
“Wha—H-Holy Shrine Maiden?!”
To Ino, who prostrated himself the moment he caught sight of her, the Shrine Maiden commanded:
“Ino Hatsuse—we henceforth wend to Oceand, in full force.”
She continued in her amused and pleasant tone:
“We’ll explain on the way, but it happens this is the time I would like you to display the full force of your predilection for philandering. Have you no objections?”
“H-Holy Shrine Maiden… O Holy Shrine Maiden, to think that even you see me in such a—”
Despite the fact that Ino seemed moments away from wetting the floor with tears, the Shrine Maiden lowered her voice slightly and put the question to him again—
“—Have you no objections?”
—Ino raised his face and looked around. Looking at the faces assembled there, who knows what conclusions he drew in the end—but his reply was succinct:
“…As you wish. It shall be done.”
“—…”
Confused, Steph lurked by the door, unable to follow the situation.
“Yo, Steph. You look great. It’s been two weeks, has it?” asked Sora nonchalantly, as if only just noticing her. Seeing him, countless emotions whirled in Steph’s heart. Rage, rebuke, volubility, curiosity—. But before any of that, Sora’s face, one she hadn’t seen in so long, made her vision blur. The many lines she’d prepared for when she finally saw him again all flew away. Steph decided to let alone the drops that formed as she clenched her eyelids. She decided not to think about what emotion inspired them, and simply following her feelings, she opened her—
“Aye, policy’s been progressing right quick in Elkia, too, I see—under Ino Hatsuse’s direction, was it?”
“Dude, it was Steph. We just put Ino there to keep her under control and advise her.”
“…Muh?”
—So it was that following this exchange between the Shrine Maiden and Sora, only a foolish noise dropped out of Steph’s gaping mouth. Her eyes widened at this explanation, a not-so-subtle change ignored by the Shrine Maiden, who smiled as if grasping the situation.
“—I see, I see. That’s why you put up the banner of building a bloody Commonwealth and then, as the would-be presiding monarch, the two of you dallied freely in the Eastern Union… You’re as wretched a man as ever, I see.”
At the Shrine Maiden’s smug words, Sora replied with a similar smile. “They say leave things to the experts—we can always count on Steph when it comes to politics.”
“…And when you consider you weren’t present , all the more, eh?”
“Yeah. What we were more worried about was that some other country might take the chance to mess with us.”
—Ino and Steph gasped. But also looking at the papers, Shiro calmly carried on her brother’s thought.
“…‘Brother and, I, aren’t home’…No matter, how you look at it…it’s a trap…” She continued:
“…To jump, into…that trap…you gotta be, stupid.”
“Those morons don’t have a chance in a million against Steph, who plays us all the time— and learns every time she loses . Which is why we could relax and focus on the Eastern Union!”
Steph and Ino could only gape, flabbergasted. But Sora hardened his expression a bit and added, “But playing that often is overdoing it. Steph, why’d you take all the matches ?”
—At this reproach, Steph’s thoughts froze. Come to think of it…he was right—why had she accepted all the matches? It was she, the one challenged, who held the right to decide the game or whether to play at all. Why had she exerted herself so? Steph’s eyes widened once more as she asked herself this, yet Sora continued:
“Steph—I’m counting on you, but don’t push it. Also—like, what…” He scratched his head as if slightly embarrassed, then muttered, “…Thanks, Steph.”
—Those were the words she’d wanted to hear. That’s all she’d wanted as she’d been pushing herself so hard. Her welling tears, the understanding permeating her brain, feeling her body heat rising, her cheeks flushing—all of this accosting her at once, she still managed to reply:
“N-no… It is only because you two are so unfathomable that I assumed I had to hurry—that is all!”
Sora approached the stammering Steph. Her heartbeat accelerated.
“So, Steph. Hate to spring it on you when you’re tired, but like the Shrine Maiden said, we’re heading to the city of Siren.”
“Eh, uh, all right… S-so?”
Steph averted her gaze. Sora’s eyes flitted over to where an unfamiliar, dark girl with a face assailed by troubles stood.
“See, apparently Siren and Dhampir are about to go extinct or something, so we’re gonna go save ’em real quick—or really…”
And then, casually as you please—
“…we’re gonna go grab the resources and territory we need so badly to build our Commonwealth with the Eastern Union.”
At Sora’s declaration, the corners of Steph’s eyes got a little hotter.
It was true after all. This man had done everything for the sake of Elkia. And now it was Shiro who approached.
“…So, Steph… Can, you, sew…?”
“—Pardon?”
“So, basically, we’re going to the beach. Can you make us all some swimsuits? I’ll give you the designs.”
—It meant, in other words, that her workload would increase again. Steph, smiling, decided to just quietly pass out…
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login