The Super High Schoolers Affording to Live in Another World! - Volume 10 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Greed of Man, Sin of Man

World fairs were festivals held back on Earth where all the participating nations brought examples of their culture to display.

After declaring that he and the other prodigies would put on an international event and inviting the Freyjagard Empire’s people and emperor to attend, Tsukasa called on the Republic of Elm, the Lakan Archipelago Alliance, the Azure Kingdom, and the Yamato Empire to participate. The message he sent them was succinct, explaining that this event was their only hope of defeating Lindworm, their shared enemy.

Once the representatives of each nation were gathered in an Elm council room, Tsukasa explained how the world fair would work.

“First of all, I’d like to thank you all for accepting my invitation and showing up today.

“Now, without further ado, here’s an overview of the world fair’s particulars.

“We’ll be using the Cornie Plains in the northern part of the Gustav domain as a venue. The event will be held one year from now. Until then, the participating nations will use their allocated event space to build a pavilion that showcases their country’s culture.

“During this preparatory phase, the Republic of Elm has agreed to leave all checkpoints leading to and from the Gustav domain open and to suspend all tariffs and tolls in the region.

“That said, I know this is a lot to plan for. And since I suddenly sprung this on you all, I’d like to announce a theme to help guide your ideas.

“The theme is…‘the future.’

“Throughout history, human greed has driven culture and progress. How do each of the participating nations envision that carrying on in the years to come? I’d like for you all to use your pavilions to display your answers.

“We’re going to use those outlooks to make the brainwashed imperials realize that they would rather live in the future we offer than in a closed-off dystopia. That’s how we’re going to dash Lindworm von Freyjagard’s ambitions.”

After Tsukasa’s speech, the gathered nations got right to work bringing materials and personnel over to the event space to build their pavilions.

The area was about the size of a provincial village, so even divided up among the various countries, it was still a lot of space to work with. Essentially, they were building a town from the ground up, and labor needed to proceed quickly to have any hope of completing things on time.

The Cornie Plains stood in the northern part of the Gustav domain, which was about as close to the center of the continent as possible. This afforded the region very little snow in the winter, a boon that permitted construction to continue through the cold months.

Despite that, one nation showed no signs of getting to work: the snowy Azure Kingdom from the northern sea.

Sergei Pavlovich, the Azure Kingdom’s representative who’d been promoted to Minister of the Left due to his accomplishments during the previous trade summit, plopped himself down on a boulder and let out a long sigh as he stared at his country’s empty plot. “Hahhh…”

Seeing how listless he looked, two people called to him from behind.

“Well, what’s this? You haven’t made a lick of progress. What have you to say for yourself?”

“If you’re having trouble getting ahold of materials, I would be happy to help you source them here in Elm.”

“Chancellor Li… Speaker Juno…” After glancing over his shoulder to be sure who he was speaking to, Sergei asked, “Are you really all right with this?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Shenmei replied.

“I mean, do you actually believe that this silly festival will be able to stop Lindworm?!” When Sergei had learned of the plan in the Elm council room, he’d been skeptical, and that hadn’t faded. How could they go and throw a veritable celebration when the fate of his nation hung in the balance? “It’s madness! I was only on board with joining your four-nation alliance because I thought we’d be taking the fight to Lindworm!”

“Is that what you’re wound up about?” Shenmei said. “I thought we sorted all that out back during the meeting. Have you already forgotten how you were the first to fly off the handle?”

“Of course I remember… But still!”

During the meeting, Sergei had lashed out at Tsukasa.

“Wait just a damn second!”

“What’s the matter, Minister Pavlovich?”

“This wasn’t the agreement! Our four countries were supposed to band together to fight the empire! Wasn’t that the plan?! I didn’t come here to throw some leisurely ‘world fair’ party!”

“This was always the agreement. We’re going to use the world fair to fight Lindworm’s philosophy. I’ve already got the emperor to agree to abandon his quest if we succeed in turning the imperial populace.”

“But surely there must be another way! We could pool all our armies together and storm Drachen as one!”

“That would be foolhardy.”

“What?! How?!”

“This world fair is our only hope.”

Tsukasa snapped his fingers. The lights in the council room dimmed, and an image appeared on the screen behind him—one of the New World clan alliance’s joint army still frozen in ice out in the wastes.

“Wh-what’s that…?!” Sergei stammered.

“I’d heard tell of it, but to see it is truly unnerving,” Shenmei remarked.

“Thanks to Ringo, we have an image of the situation over in the New World,” Tsukasa explained. “Lindworm did that with a single swing of his sword.”

“H-he has… He has that much power?”

Sergei had heard the rumors going around Lakan that the emperor defeated the New World’s people with a single move. Now that he saw it for himself, the sight of tens of thousands frozen struck him speechless. The emperor commanded inhuman strength.

“Now that Lindworm has absorbed a monster said to have razed this continent to the ground long ago, he possesses the mobility of an individual paired with the combat capabilities of an entire nation. That isn’t the kind of enemy you can fight the traditional way. Even our Divine Lightning won’t make a difference.

“Lindworm’s might is absolute. The divine realm we angels hail from likely won’t be able to stop him. However, his ideals are imperfect. None of the people gathered here want to live in Lindworm’s dystopia. Do you?”

“O-of course not…,” Sergei replied.

“That’s no way for humans to live,” Shenmei agreed. “They’ve become livestock.”

Tsukasa nodded. “That right there is what makes him vulnerable. His power lets him suppress anything that opposes him, but his philosophy doesn’t have the strength to sway everyone who opposes him. If we’re going to beat him, this is the way to do it. Striking him where he’s weak ensures our victory.”

Juno looked surprised. “Convincing the imperials… Those are some uncharacteristically bold statements, Mr. Angel. The way I see it, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them are happy just being able to live out their days in peace.”

Juno had seen how Tsukasa specifically avoided making firm declarations about the future during the Yamato debacle. Only God could see what was to come, so Tsukasa was loath to make careless assumptions. He preferred to prepare countermeasures for every eventuality he conceived to ensure things turned out for the best no matter the situation. However…

“That’s an astute observation. When it comes to matters of politics, I like to avoid concrete judgments about the future. However, this is a special case. After all, we’re talking about human greed,” Tsukasa said with confidence. “It’s true that there are undoubtedly many imperials satisfied with Lindworm’s regime, and now with Keine’s brainwashing in the mix, that’s all the more true. However, that’s only because they don’t know what they desire yet.”

“How could they not know that?” Juno asked.

“Because they haven’t been exposed to all the culture, knowledge, and ideas the world has to offer yet. And if that’s the case, then it’s our job to give them a crash course. Once they’ve seen all that, they’ll learn to want. And when they have, they’ll strive for their desires. That’s the way people are.

“Juno, you once stormed in on me and said that all you wanted was to live your life in peace. Now you seek to protect the Republic of Elm so badly that you’re willing to risk going to war to do it.”

“ !”

For Juno, that was the most persuasive argument Tsukasa could have possibly made. She and nearly everyone in the Republic of Elm had grown through learning new information.

Once Tsukasa made his argument…

“…On a pragmatic level, I do agree that we stand a better chance fighting Lindworm’s ideals than his strength. I have concerns about whether Lindworm will hold true to his word when we best him, but I suppose there’s no sense worrying about that now. Lakan accepts your proposal.”

…the realist Lakan delegation was the first to voice their assent.

The other nations followed soon thereafter.

“Yamato hath no objections, either. After two consecutive wars, we’d be of little help in a battle anyhow.”

“Elm fully supports approaching the situation from a diplomatic angle before we turn to violence. If we can solve the problem peacefully, then great. Worst-case scenario, we can always take up arms after negotiations break down.”

“And what of the Azure Kingdom?” Shenmei asked. “Does it intend to stand against Lindworm’s might on its own?”

“Urgh…”

Sergei let out a small groan when he thought back to how he’d reluctantly agreed during the meeting. “I only did that because everyone else was going along with it…”

“That’s the kind of excuse a child would make,” Shenmei chided. “I’d expect better of the Minister of the Left.”

“Urk…”

“Nobody offered up an alternative, so we all just have to accept it and do what needs doing,” Juno said.

Shenmei nodded. “Why, I couldn’t have put it better myself. We can’t have your pavilion spoiling the imperials’ fun.”

“…Fine,” Sergei replied unhappily as the other two representatives glared at him. “I’ll do it, all right? I’ll do it.”

The fact of the matter was, it was obvious that the Azure Kingdom lacked the military might to stop Freyjagard even before Lindworm’s ascension, so any option that didn’t involve the other three nations helping them out wasn’t an option at all.

He had no choice but to get on board with the program. That said…

“But the future? I can’t say I’ve ever given any thought to my homeland’s future.”

Sergei cocked his head. For the longest time, he’d been going about his life half-assing his way through the jobs his king assigned him. He’d never spared any thought to what his nation would look like for the coming generation.

Shenmei gave him an exasperated sigh. “Once again, Azure shows how out of order its affairs are. You had best figure it out and get working fast, lest this golden opportunity slip away from you.”

“Opportunity?”

What did she mean? Sergei cast her a puzzled look right as a massive gong echoed across the event space. The sound signaled noon.

As it did…

“Hell yeah! Lunchtime!!”

“Get a move on, man! We gotta get us a good spot!”

“You’re in the way! Move it!”

“The hell’s your problem?! You wanna go?!”

…the Lakan workers flooded from their section and headed to other sections in droves with a veritable fleet of food carts in tow. Each came to a stop in front of the other nations’ workers.

“Step right up! We’ve got piping hot dim sum! Don’t miss it!”

“On chilly days like this, what you need is hot pot! Everyone in Lakan knows it! Just three rook a bowl! You won’t get a better deal anywhere!”

“How about some sesame balls to finish your meal off right? Sesame balls, anyone?”

—And in the blink of an eye, the event space had transformed into a lunchtime market.

“What’s…going on?” Sergei stammered.

A fierce grin spread across Shenmei’s face. “We have workers from around the world all gathered in one place with no import tariffs. The merchants of Lakan aren’t about to let an opportunity like that slip away.”

Taxes had been suspended to allow the nations to prepare for the world fair, and the Lakans had taken full advantage of that to bring huge amounts of commercial goods into Elm alongside their workers and pavilion materials.

Elm’s representative, Juno, gave her a strained smile. “I can’t say we didn’t see this coming, but Lakan’s entrepreneurial spirit is really something else. This commerce is all well and good, but I’d ask that you make sure you don’t bring over so many goods that it starts interfering with your ability to finish your pavilion,” she said, lightly telling Shenmei off.

However, Shenmei responded with a sonorous laugh. “Oh, that won’t be a problem. After all, our pavilion is going to be a grand market featuring everything Lakan has to offer!”

“What?!” Sergei’s eyes went wide.

The merchants were so determined to earn more than their competitors that they shouted loudly enough to tear their throats, arguing over the best spots and, at times, coming to blows with one another. If this veritable melting pot of greed was what they were planning on showing Lindworm to dissuade him from the perfect world he was trying to build, Sergei wondered if it wouldn’t be better for them to act with a little more decorum.

Despite his perfectly reasonable concern, Shenmei didn’t look concerned at all.

“This is perfect. We have no intention of hiding who we are. This is precisely what we’re fighting for. Lindworm is a thorn in our side, to be sure, but that matters little. We’re going to take advantage of this opportunity as much as possible. It’s how we’ll paint our vision of the future.

With that, Shenmei turned to leave. Then…

“Now that I think about it, my good Sergei, this world fair might be just what you need. We never had a reason to give much thought to the future before, either. Perhaps you and that king of yours could stand to sit down and have a good long think on the matter. What do you want your nation to be? What aspects do you wish to develop?”

…after leaving a few pieces of advice for Sergei, who’d just admitted that he didn’t know what kind of pavilion he wanted to build, she returned to the Lakan area.

Sergei watched her leave.

Beside him…

“Fighting to show who we are… She’s right. If this was just about self-preservation, then all we’d have to do is stop opposing Emperor Lindworm.”

…Juno chewed over Shenmei’s words, speaking in her true, rustic accent as though trying to convince herself. She turned her gaze over to the Elm pavilion, which was midway through construction.

“Elm has got things it needs to see realized in the future. We can’t afford to lose!”

With that, Juno offered Sergei a small bow and scurried back to the Elm area.

As Sergei watched the two leaders hurry toward tomorrow, his thoughts turned over and over in his head.

“What about Azure?”

Where did the Azure Kingdom need to go?

It was a question for Sergei’s king, but as Minister of the Left, he ought to go in with a few ideas of his own. For someone like Sergei, who’d never considered his own nation’s future before, that was a tough question.

That said, there was one thing he was confident of. He wanted no part of Lindworm’s so-called perfect world. There was no joy to be had in a life stripped of entertainment, education, and all the finer things while being shut in a safe cage. Sergei and his people were no pets of Lindworm’s.

“ !”

Then it hit him.

A thought flashed through Sergei’s head.

“No, but…”

He hesitated. Was his idea appropriate for a display? It was liable to piss off Lindworm in a big way.

However, that hesitation only lasted a moment. Lakan was taking risky moves with their section, and if push came to shove, Sergei could always shunt the blame elsewhere.

With his mind made up…

“Self-control? Bah! To hell with it! That bumpkin king wouldn’t know luxury if it hit him in the face! He’d be singing a different tune if he ever had anything nice in his life. The extravagance of the Azure Kingdom will blow his mind!”

…Sergei stood up from his boulder and rushed off to go have a meeting with the Azure king.

Winter came and went, and spring followed in its wake.

The fair weather brought a livelier flow of goods and people, and the preparations for the world fair began to really hit a stride.

Planes and the internet were unknown in this world. Foreign countries felt much more distant than to the people of modern Japan. As a result, the idea of a world fair with peoples and cultures from nations never seen before all gathered in one place sparked a massive wave of curiosity and intellectual fascination among all involved nations’ citizenry. Each day, hordes of merchants and scholars with no professional connection to the fair gathered at the venue and made merry despite the fact that the event hadn’t begun yet.

Meanwhile, the empire had spent the winter making steady progress toward Lindworm’s perfect world.

“Hello there! What a joyous day!”

“Indeed! What a joyous day!”

“What lovely weather we’re having. How joyous.”

By the early days of spring, the empire was full of warm smiles and kind words so sunny they put the season to shame.

Over the course of the winter, Keine had spread her treatment across just about the entire country, from the largest of cities to the smallest of villages. Over the same time frame, the nation had also been completely purged of all riches and education with the potential to give rise to conflict and inequality.

Now that they didn’t use money anymore, food was dispersed via a rationing system. When ration day came around, all the homemakers—former nobles and former slaves alike—lined up together and exchanged pleasant chitchat unfettered by the past.

“Goodness me. It looks as though we’ve been allotted some chicken today.”

“It’s been so nice getting to eat every day since rationing began. Back when I was a slave, I went hungry more days than most.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that. We nobles were a pretty nasty bunch back then, weren’t we? We acted so petty. I can’t thank Dr. Keine and His Grace enough for showing us the error of our ways.”

“It’s all water under the bridge. More importantly, I have an idea. We’ve got some meat today, so what do you say we former slaves and nobles get together and have a big barbecue?”

“Oh yes, let’s. That sounds positively lovely.”

Freyjagard’s people no longer harbored reckless greed, nor did hatred control them. The people of the empire had been given good hearts, and there wasn’t so much as a whisper of discord or competition between any of them. They simply enjoyed their peaceful lives without fighting or quarreling over anything.

As Keine Kanzaki strolled through town, she became more certain than ever.

This is how people are meant to be.

The world was a big place, and it had plenty of everything people needed to survive. Why should a tiny handful of people get to use heartless violence and devious laws to monopolize the abundant land and resources, breed scarcity, and cause others to go without? It was inane.

None of that would’ve happened had God not given people more greed than absolutely necessary. That egregious oversight had brought about a world where the impoverished were forced to butcher one another.

I will never forgive God for that.

With the power of medicine, she intended to right God’s error. People’s overabundant greed had warped their definition of happiness, and she would set it right—here and on Earth.

With Lindworm at her side, she had the strength necessary to do so. He was a just emperor, one who pitied humanity from the bottom of his heart. There was no selfishness in the way he ruled. He desired to guide the weak to the right path. Importantly, he possessed the strength and resolve to realize that goal. Lindworm would manage resources and the law in an ideal manner, Keine would mend hearts, and eventually, the world would be full of people with good hearts who could live fulfilled lives off of solely what they needed to survive.

Surely, that would spell the end of conflict and inequality.

Then, at long last…

…the world would truly be perfect.

Nobody would fight, and no one would get hurt. The world she’d yearned for since that attack on the medical camp would be born. The scene on the streets of Drachen proved to her that they were getting close to the ideal she’d long been dreaming of. She began humming to herself as she strutted through town.

That was when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something twinkling.

“Oh?”

Keine whirled around.

The gleam had come from the bracelet a local girl wore.

“Pardon me. May I see that bracelet on your arm?”

“Oh, Ms. Angel. Good day to you.” When Keine called over to the girl, she beamed and gave her a small, elegant bow. There was a pronounced refinement to the gesture, indicating that she’d probably belonged to a family of some standing. “My brother made this for me out of a pretty rock he found.”

She showed Keine the bracelet with a smile as radiant as the trinket itself.

Keine had assumed that it was a piece of jewelry that should have been confiscated, but that wasn’t the case at all. The girl’s bracelet was a simple thing formed of a series of white stones—the kind you could find lying on the ground—with holes bored in their centers so they could be put on a string. The stones had been polished to give off a strong luster. There was clear love in its creation.

“My family used to be really important. We oversaw an entire army during the last campaign, and I got loads of jeweled accessories for my birthday. All of them were sparkly and beautiful. But of all the presents I’ve ever received, this one is my absolute favorite!”

“It looks lovely on you. That’s a good brother you have.”

“Oh, I know! Thank you for saying so, Ms. Angel!”

Keine and the girl waved good-bye to each other.

The girl was probably about five years younger than the prodigy physician, and in the old world full of greed, there was a good chance she wouldn’t have spared a second glance at a handmade accessory. Now that her definition of happiness had been corrected, things were different. And Keine’s treatment had made that possible.

Knowing that filled Keine with an indescribable sense of happiness and fulfillment while also renewing her conviction. That challenge Tsukasa issued wasn’t a threat at all. Tsukasa would undoubtedly try to stir up the imperials’ greed, but it would be futile. These people knew what truly mattered now, and they weren’t going to give it up.

Surely, they would choose Keine and Lindworm’s eternal peace.

Their way…was correct.

It was the height of summer, and preparations for the world fair were finally reaching their climax. The event would open soon, and each participating country had made diligent progress.

On a rare day when he was free before sunset, Tsukasa did a circuit around the event grounds to take stock of the headway. He’d worried slightly at the start about whether the Azure Kingdom would put in any effort, but he understood now that concern had been unfounded. Without any prodding on his part, Azure had perhaps put the most effort into its pavilion.

That wasn’t to say that the other nations were slacking off, of course. Tsukasa squinted in amazement at the various ideas people had envisioned for the future.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar blond elf helping to distribute food to the Elm workers. It was Lyrule.

“………”

He and Lyrule had barely spoken over the past half year. They weren’t on bad terms, but the simple fact of the matter was that putting together an entire world fair in a single year demanded all the High School Prodigies’ attention.

Despite the never-ending stream of work that packed each day, Tsukasa hadn’t forgotten what Lyrule had said to him.

“There’s something I very badly want to tell you.”

They’d made a promise right before the battle at the Tomino Basin, and Tsukasa still felt the emotion that had charged Lyrule’s words.

………

He needed to settle things. Now that he knew how she felt and how he felt, pretending to be oblivious wasn’t an option.

“Hello, Lyrule.”

“Oh, Tsukasa! Good work today! Are you here to get your dinner?”

“No…” Lyrule was about to offer him a bowl of stew, but Tsukasa held up his hand. “Once you’re done with your shift, would you mind coming to the Elm materials storehouse?”

“Hmm? I certainly don’t mind, but why there?”

“There’s something I want to discuss with you, just the two of us.”

“ Hweh?!”

Just the two of us.

Upon hearing that phrase, Lyrule’s fair skin went flush.

“I’ll go on ahead and wait there.”

Instead of explaining more, Tsukasa turned and left.

What’s come over me?

Lyrule’s heart pounded at the thought of Tsukasa’s request.

It was odd. She had feelings for him, but why did him calling her over cause her pulse to race so terribly? Was it because they hadn’t gotten much time to talk lately? Had it been the phrase “just the two of us”?

Lyrule’s mind was a mess of questions as she completed her work and took a hurried soak in the camp bath. It was summer, and after working outside the entire day, she had built up a fair amount of sweat. The dinner site had been so crowded that it was impossible to tell who stunk of what, but the materials storehouse was unoccupied at night. Lyrule felt bad for making Tsukasa wait but couldn’t stand to head there without freshening up first.

By the time Lyrule arrived at the meeting spot, about two hours had passed since Tsukasa first asked her to talk. After hurrying from the camp to the storehouse, she spotted Tsukasa sitting atop the mountain of piled-up wood and iron. “S-sorry about the wait!”

Upon hearing her voice, Tsukasa turned and looked down at her. “I’m the one who should apologize, summoning you out of the blue like that.”

“Oh no, it’s all right,” Lyrule replied as she climbed the heap to join Tsukasa.

Lyrule had grown up amid mountains, and it showed. She reached Tsukasa in no time at all and plopped herself down beside him.

“Whoa…”

When she did, she let out a small gasp of amazement. Immediately, she understood why Tsukasa had been sitting up here.

The world fair venue was illuminated by powerful lights, and construction efforts continued into the night.

“It’s incredible…,” Lyrule whispered.

“Ringo’s run electricity through the venue, so we can keep working safely in the dark,” Tsukasa said. “It looks like we’re going to be able to make the deadline.”

“Oh? But the Lakan pavilion doesn’t look anywhere near finished…” Concern entered Lyrule’s expression. The Lakan space had only a few stakes joined by cords and signboards planted haphazardly in the ground. For the most part, the windswept plain was largely unaltered.

However, Tsukasa assured her that everything was fine. “Despite all appearances, it’s pretty much complete.”

“What?! Even though they’ve barely done anything?”

“It might look that way, but Lakan’s used its production budget to create something truly unique. They had to submit their proposal to me because I’m the head coordinator, and when I read it, I was blown away. The imperials are going to love it.”

Shenmei was a successful merchant for a reason. The goal was to return greed to a population who’d been robbed of it, and Tsukasa had commended Shenmei for how thoroughly she understood that task.

If Tsukasa, of all people, spoke highly of Lakan’s progress, then Lyrule believed everything was fine. However, one other matter weighed on her, and that was…

“But even if we do manage to finish putting everything together, will the people of the empire really choose our future?”

“Is that what you’re worried about?”

Lyrule nodded. “I’m from a remote village…and life there was completely subject to the whims of nobles. I think the future that the emperor and Dr. Keine offer, the promise of safety and enough food to get through the day, would have been awfully tempting to me back then.”

“But you feel differently now, right? You’ve come to know the freedom and culture we helped bring.”

“Oh yes, of course.”

“Well, it’s the same thing here. People who’ve known nothing else can’t know what they want. All we have to do is teach them. This event will bring together presents and futures from across the world. The Freyjagardians are bound to find something they desire from the bottoms of their hearts there.”

Tsukasa offered Lyrule much the same reply when Juno had voiced a similar worry.

This time, though, he went on…

“When they find it, they’ll know want…the way I did.”

…moving into the main reason he’d asked to speak with Lyrule alone.

“They way you did…?” Lyrule tilted her head.

Tsukasa gave her a deep nod. “That’s right. It took me losing what I wanted to realize how incredibly selfish I am.”

The young politician turned to look directly at Lyrule.

“Tsu…kasa?”

Lyrule’s head swam with bewilderment. She’d noticed that the heterochromatic eyes staring at her held something different than usual, Tsukasa’s greed.

He continued to meet her gaze as he continued. “When I woke up in that dungeon, I realized that the situation had taken the worst turn imaginable. I knew that we’d lost at the Tomino Basin…and that you were dead.”

“………”

“We’d failed to protect you, and it shook me deeply. I thought I’d never speak with you again. I’d lost you forever.

“It tore through my heart, and I cried. I screamed… And that made me realize that you’d had a significant place in my life.”

“~~~~~~!!!!”

On hearing Tsukasa’s words and the unapologetic affection they carried, Lyrule’s eyes went wide, her cheeks turned bright red, and a look of powerful confusion showed on her face.

Never had Lyrule dared imagine Tsukasa might broach this subject. Not long ago, Tsukasa had felt the same. When he’d realized how Lyrule felt, he’d intended to turn her down. As a politician who’d resolved always to prioritize the people—other people—first, he knew he couldn’t put her first the way she would for him. Wanting someone to love him, seeking something that he knew he couldn’t reciprocate, was selfish in the extreme. It was far more shameless than Tsukasa was willing to be. Or so he’d thought.

Disgraceful as it was, he’d discovered the longing lurking within him. It had become abundantly clear to him after losing Lyrule.

Upon making that discovery, there could be no hiding it. He couldn’t lie to himself or others anymore. And so…

“Listen, I’m the kind of person who’d sacrifice his own parent for the sake of a stranger. For as long as I continue serving as a politician, that probably won’t change. I can’t change.

“But…if you’re willing to accept that about me, I’d like to ask you to come to Earth with me. I want you by my side. You who cried for me back when I confided in you about my sin.”

Tsukasa didn’t mince his words and laid all his feelings bare. He told Lyrule about the greed burning him up inside and how he yearned for her dearly.

Lyrule’s lips parted. She wasn’t shocked or embarrassed, as she had been moments ago. Now she could only beam.

“You’re so mistaken, Tsukasa.”

“I am…?”

Lyrule nodded. “If there’s anything I have trouble accepting, it isn’t how you put the good of the masses above yourself and your family. It’s that you think choosing to live that way means you deserve to be hated. I can’t stand that you torture yourself and say you aren’t worthy of gratitude or love.”

“……!”

“And if that was enough to make me hate you, I would’ve distanced myself from you all the way back during the situation with Lord Findolph. But I’m still here. It’s not about accepting you or not accepting you. I’m here because I want to be.

“You work so hard without regard for yourself to protect as many smiles as you can. I want to be there to support you, even if nobody else is.”

A soft, gentle warmth enveloped Tsukasa’s hands. Lyrule had taken them in hers.

That heat dredged up a memory from the depths of Tsukasa’s mind, one of a sunset, when his parents walked down the street holding hands. He recalled the warmth he’d felt from those who loved him and how it told him he was loved.

“I love you. I know you’re on a treacherous path, but please, let me walk it with you.”

A brisk night wind blew past, and the moon peeked its face from between the clouds. The way its light shone off Lyrule’s damp golden hair made her appear as a lunar nymph. Captivated, Tsukasa brought his face to hers…

…and their silhouettes joined.

A gleam was born in that moment, a single pearl.

A tear formed in the corner of Lyrule’s eye as she gave Tsukasa a delightedly bashful look. “You know… I just realized something. I understand why you were so sure of our victory now.”

“Right?”

Tsukasa returned her smile with one of his own, then looked out at the construction, still ongoing.

When he spoke next, his voice rang with conviction.

“We’re going to win. There’s something Keine doesn’t know. She doesn’t know the strength of what she’s up against, and it’s time we show her.”

Shortly before the world fair preparations in Elm reached their climax, right as summer approached its hottest days, there was…an incident over in the empire.

A fight broke out.

Perhaps calling it a “fight” was a bit much, as the participants were a pair of young girls, and they only exchanged two or three slaps each, but the scale of the injuries wasn’t the issue. It was that they’d engaged in violence at all. Under Lindworm’s regime, that sort of thing shouldn’t have been possible. Keine had stripped all Freyjagardian citizens of their greed and given them good hearts.

So how?

Lindworm was the first to learn of the incident thanks to his scrying magic, and after he teleported in and admonished the girls, he called Keine over to speak with the guilty parties and learn what had happened.

The sight of the girls’ faces sent a shock through the prodigy physician. One of the parties involved was the girl whose bracelet Keine had complimented earlier. Apparently, she’d been spending time with a friend, and the pair had gotten into a disagreement over that very bracelet. Both had been given similar stone trinkets, and they’d argued about whose was prettier.

As it happened, giving stone accessories as presents had come into style in the empire since Lindworm confiscated all treasure made from precious metals. The girl’s brother had probably given her the bracelet after hearing about the trend, and the girl’s friend had been given a bracelet by her sister in much the same way.

The two had chatted normally until the topic of their bracelets came up. Initially, they complimented the other’s accessory, but before long, the conversation shifted to being about whose was prettier, and neither side was willing to back down. Both insisted theirs was better because their sibling made it with love.

The discussion quickly got heated, and they came to blows, forcing the emperor to step in.

Keine was flabbergasted. Why were two children comparing themselves and fighting after she’d removed their greed?

This marked the fourth such incident.

The first three anomalies were people so distinguished that, like Keine, they’d been dubbed High School Prodigies. On some level, it almost made sense that nonstandard irregularities would pop up. This time, though, it was just a pair of ordinary girls. How in the world had they regained so much greed that they were willing to hurt people?

Perhaps Keine had made some oversight when applying her surgery. The possibility sent a shock through her and wounded her self-confidence.

Unfortunately, the incident was just the tip of the iceberg. After the girls’ case, similar occurrences began happening across the empire. It started with quarrels over comparisons, like in the case of the girls, then escalated from fights over pretty stones all the way to attempted murders.

Eventually, they happened so frequently that Keine and the emperor were overwhelmed dealing with it all. They decided to ban accessories, no matter how simple. On top of that, they also implemented strict rules on what people could wear based on their age and gender. The idea was that by eliminating all individuality, the people would have nothing to squabble over.

However, their efforts were in vain.

Even with everyone wearing the same clothes, people discriminated based on how others wore them, and when Lindworm and Keine regulated that, too, people began renovating their houses, growing flowers in their gardens, thinking up new ways to wear their hair, and putting extra effort into their daily cooking. The people of the empire found new ways to embellish the minimalist lifestyles they’d been so satisfied with. That process was breeding disparities within their communities. People were seeking betterment, envying betterment, and growing jealous of betterment.

All of those were urges that stemmed from greed.

It was half a year after Lindworm had instituted his system in the empire, and things had begun coming apart at the seams.

The question was, why? Keine had failed to get rid of their greed, and realizing that fact caused her to sink deeper and deeper into desperation.

“~~~~~~! Why? Why?!”

She swept all the medicine off the desk in her room in Drachen and clutched at her head. Her eyes burned with rage and humiliation, and her bedside manner smile was gone from her face. From how disheveled her hair was, it was clear it hadn’t seen a comb in some time.

Day after day, more issues with greed appeared. Handling them wasn’t particularly difficult, but assuming her treatment had worked correctly, they shouldn’t have been occurring in the first place, and the discrepancy wore on her psyche.

Aoi had been helping Keine through it all, and seeing her so distressed brought a thought to mind.

The last time I saw her this distressed…was just after the incident, that it was.

She thought back to when they’d first met.

Aoi had just entered middle school. Even back then, she’d already started charging across battlefields to protect the powerless. She’d heard the rumors of a girl who worked in war zones as she did but with medicine instead of a sword.

Then one day, Aoi got word that terrorists had attacked the girl’s infirmary camp.

The goal of the raid was to steal pharmaceuticals and rations, but it was also to kidnap medical personnel to use as hostages. Thankfully, that meant the terrorists wouldn’t simply go and kill everyone. Aoi rushed to the scene to lend aid.

Upon arrival, she saw something unusual.

Keine Kanzaki, armed with no weapon of her own, grabbed at the brawny-armed soldiers with her small hands.

“You took their homes! You took their country! Now you’re taking their lives, too?! We’d finally saved them! They were finally going to be okay! What is it you want so badly you’re willing to go to such lengths to get it?!”

Her eyes were open so wide that they tore at the corners, causing tears of blood to trickle down her face as she raged.

Behind her, there was an unfathomably tall pile of burnt corpses. They had to be the medical camp’s patients. Refugees were worthless as hostages, so with no reason to take them alive, the terrorists had doused them in oil and burned them to death.

Unsurprisingly, a group of terrorists willing to commit an act that barbaric weren’t about to let a young girl lash out at them unscathed. One of them struck Keine with his rifle and sent her flying. Others descended on her quickly, pinned her to the ground, and tore at her white gown.

“Stop right there, brutes!”

Their attention was locked on the girl before them, so they’d failed to notice Aoi moving in. That error proved fatal.

Aoi dispatched the entire thirty-man cell and saved Keine and the other medics.

However, the infirmary camp was still in ruin, and many of the surviving doctors were wounded. There was no way they’d be able to continue the operation. The head medic decided they would evacuate, and he ordered his surviving colleagues to gather up what supplies and equipment had survived the attack.

As all that was going on, Keine sat down alone off to the side and stared up vacantly at the sky. The head medic claimed she was in shock. He believed it was best for the adult men to give her some space. Aoi was a girl of about the same age, so the head medic asked her to speak with Keine instead. Aoi nodded and headed over.

To the present day, Aoi still vividly remembered what happened next.

She’d never forget the disquieting emotion she’d witnessed.

“I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him.”

Keine wasn’t in a shocked daze. Rather, she repeated the same words over and over with cracked lips and a hoarse throat like a curse.

“Worry not. I have slain them, that I have.” Aoi initially assumed Keine spoke of the terrorists. However…

“Not them.”

…Keine quickly corrected her and rose to her feet.

“They were sick. They’re poor victims so altered by the sickness called greed that they’ve lost sight of their ability to love others. They’re not to blame. God’s the one at fault. He gave humanity its greed!

“That I will not abide! How dare our incompetent creator fail to give us perfect hearts and bodies? I will grant all the things you failed to provide! I will build them perfect bodies! I will build them perfect hearts! I will give them everything you didn’t! Then we’ll finally have no more need of you!!”

Tears of blood rolled down Keine’s face as she stretched her hand to the sky. The sun shined down on the ground through a sandstorm, and Keine grabbed hold of it tightly as she spoke…

“Mark my words—I will kill you if it’s the last thing I do!!”

…and swore an oath to the heavens.

It wasn’t just the people around her or the helpless people suffering from persecution.

It was every person living in their era.

Keine intended to take them all, saints and sinners alike, and save them in God’s place.

Aoi realized how perilous a goal that was. She knew that it was too grand an ideal for a single person to shoulder, and that didn’t change even as the two girls got older. If anything, she was more concerned for Keine now.

The thing was, Keine was gifted with the overwhelming amount of talent necessary to make her absurd dream into a reality. She’d honed her medical skills on the battlefield, she’d finally developed a technique to heal people of their greed, and now she genuinely intended to usurp God. Seeing her like that…caused Aoi no end of worry.

People who flew the highest were too often the ones with the longest falls. Keine had tried to grasp the heavens, and when her dream got shattered through no fault of her own, Aoi worried that she wouldn’t be able to take it.

Keine was kinder than anyone else, and that gentle spirit drove her to strive for a goal beyond human limit. Her love was so unbearably strong it threatened to crush her.

Oh…

“What you’re trying to do isn’t going to work, Keine.”

Aoi realized why Tsukasa, who knew that he was only an ordinary man and hated making definitive judgments about things, had spoken with such conviction.

Tsukasa, m’lord… You understood all along, that you did.

He knew how fundamentally wrong Keine’s ideals were.

It was a lot to take in. Sure enough, there was no way Keine could succeed.

Aoi hung her head and smiled grimly at her belated revelation.

“Aoi.”

“!”

Upon hearing her name, the prodigy swordmaster looked up.

“I have a new procedure I’d like to try, so would you mind bringing me…let’s say four of the patients we have in temporary confinement? I need to heal their sickness.”

Keine’s voice was calm, but that was the only thing about her that was. Her eyes were open far too wide, and blood seeped from her torn canthi. It was that same expression she’d worn when Aoi first met her, the one that made it look like she was on the verge of breaking down.

How would Keine react if Aoi pointed out the error she’d noticed?

It might be enough to break Keine for good.

I was given a task.

Tsukasa had asked Aoi to look after Keine for him. She was probably the only person in the world capable of protecting her. And so…

“That won’t be necessary, that it won’t.” Aoi shrugged off her clothes, stripped to the waist, and gave Keine a smile. “If you have need of a test subject, then use me. I am your accomplice, Keine, m’lady.”

Then…

After summer passed, autumn deepened, and the air turned chilly, Lindworm received an invitation to the world fair.