by Unknown
“That’s~~ ri~ght~! Basing on the above——Now! Let’s fully answer the question that you asked when you broke through the house’s door a while ago!!——In other words! ‘Why did we confine ourselves there?’!!”
After sucking in an incredibly long breath.
“It’s too uselessly huge and slowwwwww! If we crossed a single square after walking for five hours——Just how many days, how many months will it take until we set foot on the dice’s outcome, the [62nd] square~!”
——aree, ree……
…… ee……
In the space called uselessly broad.
Sora’s useless complaint uselessly piled up echoes…… and uselessly disappeared vainly.
“It’s the Old Deus’ game, so, it’s obvious it’ll be ridiculous……”
Indeed, Sora scorned at Steph’s cursing as she pulled the cart.
“Haahn!! She must be a really shitty game maker to mistake a map uselessly big and cool as something interesting. Did she think replacing [money(development costs)] with [power] would complete a spectacularly shitty game(this)!?”
That’s exactly what you’d normally think of when a capital is purposely created in the sky of a fantasy world.
Indeed, it’s impossible to imagine how much power was necessary to make something like that possible——But.
Why! Especially! Must that continent! Float in the sky!
To sell a good fight with gravity is definitely a [waste of power] when there’s no need to.
Sora affirmed before the deed that could literally be called a [work of God].
——Wouldn’t a virtual space be enough?
“Moreover, even with all these fields, there not even a ‘straight road railway’, and as if that wasn’t enough, ‘the road is long’ ……this is the worst landmine pretending to be an open world……”
——In the end, it isn’t load-free.
About two hours ago——before Sora and Shiro declared it to be an [impossible game] and confined themselves.
While aiming for the outcome of the dice——the [62nd] square, they walked away for five hours.
After finally crossing the first square, at the square’s end——he stood at the division of the land.
They moved onto the next square with the time used in a cup noodles’ timer.
As they moved onto the [second square], Shiro, faintly breathing——murmured.
——[…… The number of footsteps, until here…… were 20,834 steps……]
Mathematics, too, were out of Sora’s area of expertise, but, any words beyond that point was unnecessary.
Shiro’s current height was 131cm——her step length was about 0.48m[5].
The size of one square calculated from there is——surprisingly, about [10km[6]].
The several kilometers between each square is moved through teleportation. The [ascending squares] are excluded as crossing isn’t necessary.
This game board piercing the heavens in a spiral has——[350] squares——In other words.
“……It’s [3,500km[7]] until the goal…… walking with your own feet. Without any fast travel.”
Seeing Steph’s expression as if it still hadn’t hit her, Sora turned towards her with a difficult smile.
Then, will she get it if I say it this way?
That it’s almost the same distance as crossing America or making a full lap around Honshu in Japan——No……?
For an inhabitant of this world, I should make this kind of comparison, huh.
“……It’s the same as going from Elkia’s western border to the Temple of the Priestess(Kannagari)——do you get it this way?”
After Sora said that, this time for sure, the lights disappeared from Steph’s eyes.
There’s no way for Steph to not know about it when she was in charge of politics, diplomacy, and trade.
It was a distance even Elkia’s open sea sailing ship which took pride in its max speed would take on average——half a month.
Naturally during that time, it’ll be on off-roads, outdoors, in direct sunlight; furthermore, if the dice decreases, with a child’s feet.
With such conditions, you’d ask ‘Why did you confine yourself?’
If I had to say it, it was a question as stupid as asking why do moles dive into the ground——
“……This game. If you have only one die left, you cannot proceed any further. Basically, unless someone ascends or everyone has only one die left without reaching zero——it won’t end.”
It was a super drawn out war game continuing endlessly……
The more it’s prolonged, the greater the probability of everyone losing——besides that absurd living being(Jibril) who needs no food or sleep.
Yes, he let out a dry smile that was almost giving a rustling sound.
Why did Sora forget about it all, threw everything away, and confined himself? ——He now announced the reason.
“For starters, there’s no way we can walk such a distance, right!? I’m a flesh and blood human, you see!? For a person, a living being who gets hungry and tired, it’s a distance that would normally and inevitably kill him!!!”
——In the distant past, starting from the southern end of Africa, humanity had crossed the majestic Eurasia.
It’s said they reached the New Continent(Americas) beyond the Pacific Ocean by going along Indonesia on a wooden boat.
But, the strength of such a primordial humanity had long since been lost by its descendants.
Much less when it led to the poster child of civilization——the hikikomori gamer, there isn’t even a residue left.
One square…… They almost died walking 10km——this is the modern human. This is reality.
It didn’t matter if they already confirmed their victories before the game even started.
That only applied if they managed to see it to the end, right?
Low physical abilities, due to the time elapsed, elements unrelated to the game itself——“self-destruction”.
To Sora and them, this was the most unreasonable, therefore realistic, hypothetical conclusion(defeat) they could expect.
Once again facing despair with Shiro, he glanced at Steph who just now also fell into the same despair.
He smiled bitterly, suddenly, the protagonist’s speech of that game floated once again in the back of his brain.
——[I wonder…… where did I go wrong……]
He answered Steph’s question about why he had confined himself, but——it was different.
——They’re challenging a god.
——They’re in the middle of mutual betrayal.
——They lose their life if all their dice is lost.
——They lose their life if they get defeated.
Even if such fearful sentences were heard and lined together——
——They’ll die if they get hungry.
Before this single too realistic line——and therefore, easily understandable sense of danger.
Sora questioned that, which allowed him to put everything else aside with just a “it doesn’t matter.”
——Just where did I go wrong to agree with such a rule?
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
——Still on the second square.
Nine hours had passed from the start of the game…… there was quietness.
Inside the long and continuing silence, all that echoed were the rustling of trees and the chirping of birds.
The sound of the cart wheels rolling couldn’t be heard anymore.
Before the irrefutable reality, even Steph had stopped pulling the cart and crouched down.
Confronted with reality once more, Sora laid in the cart and watched the dusk without moving an inch.
Contrary to the calm scenery, if that view was made into a painting and a title is added on——it’d be [The End].
But, a small voice above Sora’s chest rejected decorating a museum with it.
——Until now, it was only working e
ndlessly.
The small hope was using the tablet PC the entire time, with the resolution to exhaust the battery.
“………………Nii…… I finished, calculating……”
Saying so, she showed the dazzling tablet PC’s screen to her brother——with a smile shining several times more.
——Showing to her brother a hope that released more light than the stars.
“——Woaaaaahhhh damn yeah!! Both the Old Deus and Tet should just eat shit!!! Ah, whose line was it again? ——God is always in my heart——or more specifically, on my chest!!”
“Hyaaaaah w-w-what’s going on! I-It hurts, you know!?”
Sora had raised a strange voice from above the cart while carrying his little sister, correction, a goddess, up.
The cart tilted and the handle had bounced strongly and hit Steph in the face.
But, he was sure the “harm” would be treated as “negligence” by the [Ten Oaths] ——therefore!
Sora splendidly ignored her protests, giving Shiro a piggyback ride, he smiled and turned the tablet to Steph.
——He should’ve apologized for the negligence but, since those two were the antonyms of common sense, Steph made a resigned face——
“……A ‘world map’? What are those…… red, oblique lines?”
“The map of this game board——It’s the drawing of the ‘part of the land the Old Deus copied’!”
The [first square] they crossed and the currently [second square] ——
The two and the potential squares forming the spiral were joined together as seen from the land drawn on the map.
Shiro indexed the distance ratio and the spacing of all 350 squares and, just in case, the overall length of 3,500km.
It was a map that indexed this game board, copied from the land, from its starting point to the end.
“……This…… Is it really something that great?”
Seeing such a pitiful and ordinary person who couldn’t understand the feat of the goddess, Sora screamed appalled.
“Y-You, look carefully——There are no mountains, straits, or deserts!! Not to mention, this is a farming region!?”
——Exactly, if one goes by the map Shiro indexed.
This game board was the Eastern Union’s former continental territory——north-northeast from the center of the Lusia[8] continent.
Grazing the Inviolable Area(Sanctuary), it crossed the territory of Elven Garde and lead to Elkia.
With Sora and the other’s equipment…… the terrain wasn’t “physically impossible for one to travel by foot”!
Even more so——this [second square] was Eastern Union’s former territory that’s now Elkia’s farming region on the southeast border.
“Then, we still have a survival route(chance to win)——!!”
Sora, who had overcome despair, was ready start walking, jumped down from the cart while carrying Shiro.
I see, it still won’t change that it’s a journey of 3,500km.
Although unfortunate, we don’t have any residue of the old humanity’s strength——but.
“In that case, let’s just go like a modern person would. With the method of making something else walk for us!!”
“It’s about me, right, it’s about me, isn’t it!?”
“Listen to me, cart horse! It’s about catching a ‘leg’ and making it pull the cart!”
“As expected, it’s really about me, isn’t it! You said ‘cart horse’ just now, didn’t you, so you already caught one!!”
Putting aside Steph who making a fuss, Sora picked up something stacked in the cart——In other words.
“Alright, Shiro——Let’s go ‘capture(bag)’ a horse or maybe a cow.”
“……Got it…… Understood……”
He let a dangerous smile float on his face as he held a hoe and a rope.
“Y-You’re going to steal!? That’s——N-No, good or bad thing aside, with the [Ten Oaths] it’s——”
But, the restricting voice of common sense was answered with the smiling embodiment of the lack of.
“……Hey, how about you look back to our actions until now?”
Property invasion, unauthorized use of equipment.
The presumption is——
“Even you ‘stole’ that cart and committed ‘property destruction’ by flashily destroying that door, right?”
“——Gahh! ……H-Huh?”
Steph finally seemed to have noticed and Sora smiled bitterly.
——If the Old Deus created this game board(land) from nothing, then——it’s not supposed to have a house.
But, “gouging it” from the ground wouldn’t end with just an uproar on rights infringement, it’d violate the [Oaths].
Even if it’s an Old Deus, the [Ten Oaths] are absolute, then this place——
“It’s a stage the Old Deus ‘copied’ from the ground…… everything existing here is a ‘replica’ of what’s on the ground and as such, it’s no one’s possession——That’s why the [Ten Oaths] didn’t apply.”
——Therefore, there aren’t any other Exceeds(people), targets of the [Oaths], in this place besides the game participants.
——Therefore, there are living beings exempt from the [Oaths] here——like birds, trees, and since it’s a farming region, cows and horses.
With the exception of the participants——you’re free to burn or cook everything inside this game!
“There~fore! Let’s first go catch a ‘leg’ to tie to this cart and make it pull it.”
……Although, doing that isn’t as simple as saying, but, he swallowed those words.
“Ah, so you really didn’t plan to make me pull it all the way……”
“……Are you thinking that I’m the kind of person who would make someone pull a cart for 3,500km?”
“I thought so without a doubt until a while ago. Now, I’ve slightly changed my opinion of you.”
“You know…… If I did that, you would become exhausted, right……”
——If he were to commit such a mistake——
“Then who would pull the cart next!? You should try to think with some common sense!!”
“Isn’t that right~❤ I knew it, let’s just say goodbye to that change of opinion ♪”
——Everything was decided by games——It was a world Tet reasoned was a utopia.
It was extremely unwilling the two hikikomoris accepted physical labor.
——But, if it was to win the game, then, it couldn’t be helped.
If it’s made into a demonstration in the previous world, they wouldn’t even confine themselves, thinking flexibly.
……Sighing, looking to the left outside the game——gazing at the ground surface of the sea, Sora stood alone.
“Speaking of which, I wonder when Kurami and Fiel will be joining this game.”
“What? It’s a game starting by ‘pledging to the oaths’, right? They can’t join in the middle of——”
“I’ll be troubled if they don’t. Besides, intruding in the middle of a game is a form of art, right?”
Steph asked dubiously, but Sora answered meaningfully while only smiling——
“——Alright, I wonder which farm animal will thereby become Imanity’s sacrifice?”
“……Nii…… Shiro, likes horses…… but, like cows, even more……”
Making the rope creak, Sora and Shiro looked around for a target not included in the [Ten Oaths] ——Essentially.
They were searching for a pitiful livestock stripped of its [right to live], becoming prey for the Sixteen Races(Exceed)——
“……Shiro, Shiro~…… won’t you wipe your drool……?”
Steph’s eyes, seeing the predators(two), changed into the way one looks at demons, but——she was ignored.
Overwork them as legs, eat them when starving——!! That was why it was limited to horses or cows.
This game, the first and absolute condition was to live…… it’s time to s
how the humans’ dirty way of living……!
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
A large flower bloomed in the open sea.
The giant flower spread its petals on the sea’s surface as if to cover and conquer the waves——it was a [ship].
There wasn’t a mast or a paddle, not even the sound of a propeller, much less a flag indicating its affiliation, but.
The flower bed’s carving trajectory on the sea’s surface——That diverse scenic view eloquently spoke of its affiliation.
——Elven Garde.
Woven with the magic of the Elves——riding on the drifting “fragrance” instead of water——a flower.
Floating above the flower, the land, the sea, making flowers bloom to further advance, the floating flower——[Flower Vessel(Vár Pullum)[9]].
It wasn’t just a single ship elegantly and soundlessly conquering the harsh ocean.
A countless number of flower vessels(Vár Pullums) from the west turned toward the eastern sea and were now crossing the ocean.
They formed orderly ranks, speeds aligned, and their trajectory drawing multicolored flowers on the sea’s surface.
They formed a giant fleet(flower garden) extending for dozens of kilometers, from the first one to the last one.
Large, red roses was leading the fleet——a single flower vessel(Vár Pullum).
On the bow of that vessel was a black haired human figure.
The sea breeze disturbing her black hair and veil, the dark girl glaring sharply at her destination was——
“………… *hik-choo*”
She was repeatedly letting out a cute sneeze.
“*Hi——hik-choo*! I-It’s cold…… it’s cold here, Fii!?”
“Kurami—? Stop trying to look cool and come inside~You’ll catch a cold, you know?”
She said towards the black-haired Imanity girl trembling with her nose running——to Kurami Zell.
The golden-haired Elf girl, Fiel Nirvalen, hugged her closer and spread her shawl.
While coming down from the bow, the black-haired girl asked.