by Yuu Kamiya
The Shrine Maiden spoke, gazing longingly up at the moon. If even she would be so calculating as to toss him away as if he was nothing—! (Does that not mean that I, too, could be cast aside at any time—?! Who could trust one such as that?!)
While Steph raged, Izuna, who’d been sitting apart the whole time, suddenly appeared in her field of vision.
—Of course. It was inconceivable that Izuna could accept this situation. Her own grandfather had just been sacrificed. If she thought anything of Izuna, even the Shrine Maiden would have to—
“M-Miss Izuna, do you—”
—accept this? Steph was going to ask, but Izuna’s manner as she sat apart, holding her knees as if resisting something, made Steph choke back her words. It was hard to see her in the darkness, but—the Werebeast mumbled.
“…Grampy knew what he was doing, the asshole, please…”
Away from the fire, lit only by the moon and stars, Izuna’s expression was invisible.
“…Grampy’s heartbeat, his smell…to the end, he sounded good, he smelled good…the asshole, please.”
Yet Izuna’s quivering voice, her wet words—even in the darkness of the beach—revealed her expression all too vividly.
“I don’t want lose Grampy, please… But I’m the only asshole who has to bear it, please. And—a-and! Th-then more assholes…will be saved…please—”
In the back of Steph’s mind floated that scene at the beach. After the farce in the sea—Sora and Ino had faced off over who would groom her. And Izuna, who’d said she hated being petted by Ino, had nevertheless unhesitatingly—headed right to him.
—Grasping that this would be the last time…Izuna from the beginning had accepted this outcome. Through Werebeast’s uncanny senses, they’d already understood one another. The only one who hadn’t understood was Steph—but still.
“—Even so, you’re sad, are you not?”
“I’m not…sad, please—I just don’t…get it, please.”
Grinding her teeth as she spat it out, Izuna, voice quavering, managed her question.
“…’Cos Soraaa…said no assholes would die, no assholes would suffer, please! …So why, so why is it—I’m suffering, please? Is there some shit wrong with me, please…?!”
—Dripping, dropping. Izuna’s voice made it clear even in the darkness that heavy tears were falling from her eyes. Yet Steph, conversely, felt the blood rush from her head. Izuna Hatsuse—she was too much a child. Too obedient, too innocent, too intelligent—too perfect a child. That this girl, at the tender age of eight, was forced to play games she didn’t even want to play… To feel guilty having fun, to shoulder the weight of the continental domain, Steph realized something.
—For the Eastern Union to go about things this way—was not a new development.
—For them to cast off the few for the sake of the many—was how things always were.
“So this is the Eastern Union, making their children cry—this won’t do at all.”
—How Werebeast, said once to have been split into any number of tribes that were in constant conflict, had been united in just half a century and elevated to the status of a great nation—Steph seemed to glimpse it as she accused the Shrine Maiden—contemptuously, even. But the Shrine Maiden took her gaze head-on and answered.
“For the few to be sacrificed for the sake of the many—is not even a necessary evil. It’s fate, lass. For all to have a jolly old time together, those are fine words—but a state won’t run just by everyone bickering for what they want…dearie.”
…Steph had no counterargument. In fact, that was just how it had been when she was dealing with the lords of Elkia. However you might try to keep anyone from losing out, perfect equality was unfeasible. As Steph clenched her fists at this truism, this time it was Jibril who rained down another blow. She looked as if she was asking sincerely, seemingly unable to comprehend Steph’s argument.
“Dora, what is it that dissatisfies you? One life will be enough to save two races on the brink of destruction, fatten up Elkia as a nation, and even bring the federation with the Eastern Union closer to fruition—for what more could you ask?”
—Steph, still, had no counterargument. Of all things—Jibril continued.
“Did you think it was possible to take over the world—no, even take back Elkia’s national borders—without sacrifice or discontent?”
“………………!”
“Or is it simply—”
Jibril inquired with a still more provocative smile.
“—that you wish no suffering to come upon those close to you—that you wallow in the depths of narcissism and egotism? ”
Steph ground her teeth—she knew. The sacrifice of just one would win two races. It also meant that they would save two races that would have perished left on their own. If she felt that Ino’s lone sacrifice was not worth it, then—
“Then, so what, may I ask…?!”
But Steph opened her mouth decisively, and with the quivering Izuna in her field of vision, defiantly—she shouted, “Egotism, narcissism, you can call it what you like, but this much I can tell you! Uniting all the races by this method—is never going to happeeen!!!”
—She had no logical evidence. The Shrine Maiden and Jibril were right. Probably, indubitably. They were realistic. Yet, even so, for some reason, the conviction they were wrong held Steph fast. Why—it was, yes, probably, one might suppose—because they were plausible. Their words were plausible. Appropriate. Right on the mark.
—But to begin with… The existing mark would never be enough—to unite all the races—
As Sora and Shiro returned, wiping their hands, faces relieved, they were greeted by a departing Shrine Maiden, a heavy atmosphere. And—a piercing look from Steph.
“Uhh…what’s the deal here?”
“So, essentially, you mean to run.”
“—Uh?”
“I understand perfectly now. You’d get two races by sacrificing Mr. Ino—mere bluster… I’ve lost what faith I had in you! And, with this, you dare claim you will unite all the races!!”
In response to Steph’s vitriol, Sora scratched his head and asked his sister confusedly:
“Uh, umm. Shiro, why’s she yelling at me?”
“…’Cos…we took too long…?”
“It didn’t take long. Come on, this is number one we’re talking about! W-well, whatever, we got our business done, anyway.”
—Clearing his throat once, Ahem, Sora muttered, “Let’s get back on topic—
“So, it’s that time again—we’re gonna go wake up that queen.”
……What? To the speechless gathering, while yet ignorant of the discussion that had gone on in his absence, Sora calmly continued.
“If we can forget about Plum’s magic and actually wake up that queen on our own, then Dhampir and Siren will both be saved, we’ll get Ino back using that as a condition, and everything will be cool. I mean, we just ‘exited’ that game, you know. It would go against our principles to ‘quit’ it. So, now we have to stage our comeback—”
Disregarding the dazed crowd, Sora put his hand to his chin, ruminating.
“Question is, how can we actually wake the queen up—huh.”
Ffp—sharply setting his gaze on Plum.
“Yeah, let me guess—there’s no one who knows the conditions…right?”
“…Y-yeeess…”
“Wha—no one knows…what do you mean?”
Steph glanced at Izuna. For her part, Izuna (who’d been crying until very recently) now had her head raised as if intensely interested in Sora’s words. She cautiously checked Plum’s reaction—and then shook her head to indicate the Dhampir wasn’t lying. But Sora nodded at an answer he’d seen coming.
“Siren can’t use magic, and Dhampir can—if anyone knew, the lid would have been blown off long ago. Even Amila probably only knows that it’s not a game to make her fall in love.”
“…What gives you such confidence?”
; “When Her Majesty went to sleep, she was not yet the queeeen…buuut, she was in a position to someday become the queeeen… If one such as that were to say she’d grant all of her rights…what would you dooo?”
Plum, who’d thought she’d uncovered that, spoke with a sigh. Sora and Shiro simply nodded.
“That’s pretty chancy. If there was someone in a position like Amila’s back then, she woulda covered it up—and what’s the ultimate way to cover something up?”
“…If no one…knows…the truth…no one will…know.”
—Right, in other words… To beat the queen’s game, you had to uncover conditions that no one knew except for the sleeping queen herself. It was—the victory condition game. Practically impossible. You could pretty much say it was hard as was conceivable. But
“As long as it’s not the real-life romance game—Blank doesn’t lose!”
“…Mm…!”
Hearing the siblings’ strong assertion—hard to judge whether powerful or pathetic, but self-assured in either event—Steph asked trepidatiously:
“…Uh, um… Sora, I thought you were abandoning Ino…… You’re not?”
“Whaaa? What the hell are you talking about, you friggin’ Steph?”
—To an extent, it didn’t even bother her that her name had been employed as a direct insult. Sora’s reaction represented a clear denial.
“There’s no way I could do something that would make our living cultural heritage, Izuna, sad, and obviously I couldn’t abandon Ino—that man among men. …Steph, I know all this must be tiring for you, but can you wait until after you wake up for your half-lucid babbling?”
…Apparently, Sora had indeed raised his opinion of Ino into the stratosphere. It hadn’t been an act. He went on.
“I mean—we said, ‘We’ll be back,’ right? Amila’s not going to mess with Ino. ’Cos he’s the only card she’s got to get us to resume the game. If she touches Ino, then they’ll really be doomed to be livestock.”
Steph protested. “S-still, the Shrine Maiden said ‘there’s naught to be done’ about Ino…”
“Well, yeah. We had the Shrine Maiden send Ino for verification. Now the rest is our job.”
At Sora’s casual rebuttal, Steph’s eyes widened. Indeed, as far as the Shrine Maiden was concerned—there was indeed naught for it. For momentarily—Sora and Shiro would grab everything.
“The Shrine Maiden’s used the hell out of her bloodbreak, a power that threatens her very life, and even given us one of her most valuable officers. Now it’s time for us to go at it like we wanna die—literally laying down our lives, you know.”
Sora said it blithely, and Shiro nodded just as much so. But—their vaguely chilling resolve and next words took Steph’s breath.
“That’s what it means—to fight together, right?”
A little shadow slipped past the dazed Steph, approaching the siblings. Eyes red and swollen, Izuna, her gaze still quivering uneasily, looked up at Sora and Shiro.
“…You’re gonna go save Grampy, please?”
Sora and Shiro didn’t know why Izuna had been crying. Still—Sora placed his hand on Izuna’s head, stroked it reassuringly, and smiled.
“Of course. We’re gonna get your gramps—I promise.”
Her uncomposed eyes then turned to Shiro, where they were greeted with conviction.
“…Izzy…trust Brother…”
Izuna couldn’t know. What only Shiro knew. What she had when Brother—when Sora—said the word promise signified an absolutely binding oath that made the Ten Covenants worthless in comparison. But—
“…Brother never…goes back, on his promises…”
At Shiro’s assertion, Izuna once again looked up at Sora. The powerful hand stroking her head as she sniffed its scent…and then—she wiped her wet eyes.
“’Kay, I trust you assholes, please.”
“All right, she trusts us assholes, please.”
Steph watched the clowning Sora from a short distance away. Jibril stood next to her.
“My apologies, Dora. Our teasing was a bit immoderate.”
“…What?”
“I was just so aching with curiosity as to how you would react, I couldn’t help myself… But you are in fact right, little Dora.”
—So said the curiosity addict with a countenance that seemed to want to say, “Tee-hee! =P.” But before Steph even had a chance to look sarcastic, Jibril got herself together, asserting:
“There can be no doubt that my masters are to reform this world.” But as for their methods—Jibril continued, “No existing methods, indeed, could possibly serve the purpose.”
“…………”
So, now, as to how we’re gonna uncover the conditions to wake up the queen—As Sora reinitiated his scheming, Steph only half-listened.
…Before, what the Shrine Maiden and Jibril had said—it had felt wrong to her. Steph, having searched for the reason—now seeing the two before her eyes—finally realized what it was. Sora…Shiro…these two never once used the appropriate method.
After all, conventional wisdom was something to be derided. After all, common sense was to be cast off. These two…said they’d conquer all the races bloodlessly, without a single death. With such a dreamlike—such an unrealistic—argument, there could be no conventional wisdom.
But, in his form that had made her believe that they could really do it, that day—the day of the coronation—Steph felt she’d seen it. Perhaps it was the same thing Jibril standing beside her saw—
—What she’d foreseen was this world’s future, and it made her heart race, she realized.
“Oh, by the way, Steph. A minute ago, you said something I can’t let slide.”
“Huh?” Sora’s words brought the dazedly ponderous Steph back to reality.
“About getting two races by sacrificing Ino—first of all, the part about sacrificing Ino is wrong. And also—”
—and here she got jammed right back into a daze.
“It’s not two races—it’s three!”
……
……Come again?
INTERRUPT END
The exchange audible from the beach, felt at her back in the dusk as she walked, looking up at the moon… The Shrine Maiden muttered.
“…Did he know I was testing him—I wonder…?”
No…the Shrine Maiden gave her head a contemptuous shake at her own whisper. Whether he’d known or not, his actions would have been the same. Sora, from the start, had no mind at all to abandon Ino. His heartbeat, from start to finish, resounded pleasantly, without a single note of discord.
—Yes, the Shrine Maiden had been testing Sora and Shiro. What would she have done in their place, faced with the same decision? Probably—no, certainly—she would have chosen to cast Ino off. Because it would have been an unnecessary risk. Because, by sacrificing one, she would obtain much more. Because to ask for more than that would be idealism. And because casting aside such idealism—
—had been her limit.
“…Perhaps I can lay my hopes in them?”
Those two sneered at her limit and flew over it. Having sought confirmation of this—by testing whether they would save or abandon Ino—the Shrine Maiden closed her eyes. It was because—if Sora and Shiro had abandoned him as she would have, for seeking more than her own limits in Sora and Shiro and giving them such a reckless test—
—she would have condemned herself till her last days. That was why she’d picked Ino, but—
“…Truly, I may be able to lay my hopes in them.”
Having come this far, the Shrine Maiden finally understood. The noise at her back—Immanity, Werebeast, Flügel, and Dhampir.
—Those two had no concept of the barrier of race.
“…With those two—I may be able to leave it to them.”
Thus, pressing her hand to her chest, the Shrine Maiden felt the throbbing of her heart—emotion long since forgotten. She looked up at the bloodred moon and whispered.
; “Jibril.”
“I am here.”
Jibril shifted instantly behind Sora at his call.
“You…knew the story of why the queen is sleeping and even the condition to wake her up, right?”
It had been Jibril who’d told him, back when they’d met Plum.
“I did—except that I was mistaken…”
Misinterpreting his query as a rebuke, Jibril humbled herself before him. However…
“That’s not my point. Where’d you get your info?”
“It was in my homeland—Avant Heim.”
Then, half in hope, half in disgust, Sora continued.
“…We’re talking about the Flügel here. You guys must have all kinds of books snatched up from all over the world, right?”
“Why, that goes without saying!”
Jibril nodded with irrepressible pride. Grinning a bit disgustedly at that face of hers, Sora thought, Ah, whatever, and moved on.
—To beat the queen’s game. There couldn’t be very many ways to root out an unknown, absent victory condition. But—there had to be a way. What they needed—for now—was information. And—
“Steph. You go work with Izuna and pore over the old king’s library.”
“—Huh?”
“Elkia’s former continental territory was adjacent to the waters of Siren,” explained Sora. “Considering that old king uncovered the Eastern Union’s game, I can’t imagine he didn’t do any digging into his neighbor.”
The man who had played the proud fool king—it was hard to suppose that he had a definite answer. If he’d pinned it down, then he should have woken up the queen himself—but—
“…Even if he doesn’t have the answer, there’s a high probability he left some thoughts on it.”
Sora’s eyes conveyed confidence in the king, Steph’s grandfather.
“I’m counting on you, Steph.”
“—Why, yes, Sir. You needn’t worry.”
“…Understood, please.”
Together, Steph and Izuna each gave a big nod.