It was where Sora and Shiro once gave their coronation speech.
The Elkian castle’s balcony overlooked a large plaza. And right now, a single girl was standing there. Wearing frilly clothes and followed by a floating japanese style inkpot, the girl closed her eyes ── and waited.
This was what Sora and Shiro had called the “big stage for your idol debut”... and raising the curtain on that, was a sound─ the roaring sound of music being played at a very high volume. That was the signal:
“H-Holou’s name is Holou! Holou doesn’t understand, but she’s an idol?... or something like that!!”
And thus, after introducing herself in such a cryptic way, her lips and body started moving. Just as she had said, she didn’t understand anything, but she didn’t let that discourage her.
She didn’t make a single mistake performing the “Ad-lib introduction” script she had received just a little while ago.
The girl that was a god── Holou, started to sing and dance, without realizing that she had been subtly moved to tears──
■■■
There were four persons looking at her more intensely than anyone else.
One was gazing at her with a sardonic smile from the skies. She was the Flügel girl, Jibril. The other three were gazing at a nearby magical screen projecting Jibril’s field of view. They were: Sora and Shiro, sitting on the throne with a bad mood, and Steph, swaying due to a lack of sleep, next to them.
──By the way.
While making the costume all night, Steph muttered things like these on and on:
I see, so Sora and Shiro want to paint Holou as the main culprit. However, suddenly saying: “Hi I’m a god. Everything Sora accomplished was thanks to me. I’m also an idol”──
Who would be convinced by that nonsense and say “Oh, so it was like that!!”?
And there’s no way there’d be an idiot who would also cheer with a “Wooooo” on top of that. Therefore Steph repeatedly questioned Sora and Shiro’s hidden intentions. That’s right──
“... You’re kidding right?...”
Until the instant she heard the cheerful “Wooooo”s across the magical screen.
A few thousand people were cheering for Holou in the plaza.
It was nothing more than a fraction of the Federation’s population, but there were plenty of idiots waving their hands,
“... Imanity might be already hopeless…”
Come to think of it, the Elkians also cheered when bras or panties disappeared in the game against the Eastern Federation, even though the Race Piece ── their very existence ── had been bet… But now, it wasn’t just a single country, what would happen if they just let those idiots be?
Steph was laughing at nothing. Her cheerful optimism’s main component was “Giving up”. As for the other two:
“Dammit, this sucks. Heh… I won’t let you off so easily”
“... Fu, fufufufu… you’ve got… some guts…”
They said, with a dangerous smile. Those two were sitting on the throne with a bad mood.
“Are you talking about Holou? But her song is good, and she’s doing her best to keep up with your nonsense.”
“Ahhh… Of course her song is good, and Holou is also doing her best. That’s precisely why”
── At first, they were going to use one of the songs in their smartphones, a hit from their previous world.
However… would they come? It was another world, but even so, the JASRAC… Shiro was worried about things like that. So they used a music app from their tablet, and arranged a new song using Leila’s feelings as the lyrics, and Fiel’s knowledge for the chord progression.
Of course it was good. Even in another world, they could make music. Well, as long as they had their tablet ☆
And Holou, who was singing and dancing to that, was also doing her best. She still didn’t understand “Expressions”, her movements were stiff, and the song didn’t have any emotion at all. But even so, the girl who used to doubt everything was doing her best.
── And that’s precisely why──!!
“It’s the stage, the stage! What’s up with that shabby set──!!”
Sora said, and pointed at the magical screen that Jibril was projecting── the balcony where Holou was performing.
Using equipment from the Eastern Federation, they had prepared all sorts of showy special effects. However, now it was just a plain balcony, so Sora screamed:
“Since they were pressured by the agency, they had to hurriedly cancel our equipment request!? What’s the big idea!?”
── In the first place, there were no idols in Elkia.
Sora and Shiro had been gloating over their ultimate monopoly (Blue Ocean), however, it looked like there were idols, agencies, and even competition in the Eastern Federation.
It was her important debut performance, but they were notified that they wouldn’t be receiving the equipment on the same day.
“Isn’t this just the big companies picking on small businesses?! This is just harassment, right!?”
“... Isn’t it fine? What’s important is Holou herself, right?”
Steph told the enraged Sora. She didn’t understand what the big deal was, but she just added fuel to the fire:
“She’s literally a godly idol right!? And yet she’s in this shabby stage!! Do you have any idea how troublesome it would be to get to the major leagues if the image of an ‘underground idol’ stuck even once!? It would interfere with our strategy!!”
“I don’t get what you mean! But wouldn’t it have been fine if you just asked a different person!?”
The ‘different persons’ that Steph brought up were… that’s right. The other races under the federation’s flag.
The Flügel Jibril, the Old Deus Holou, the Dhampir Plum, etc… if it was one of the guys that could use magic, then they could certainly make the special effects, and not only that, they could physically change the scenery itself… However!
“We’d have done that if we’d had time! That’s why we are angry that they cancelled on the same day!!”
Jibril isn’t good at making delicate spells like those required for special effects. It would take some time.
As for Holou, they’d need to make her understand their intentions first, it would take even more time.
It would be very simple if they just used the Dhampir’s illusion magic── but would Plum cooperate? There is no way.
Thus, Holou simply amplified Shiro’s smartphone’s playback volume, and her own voice.
When they saw the now bare stage, Sora and Shiro both licked their lips, and made a fierce smile.
“You've got some guts, becoming an enemy of the country. You have my attention. First, I will crush you.”
“... We will… teach you… what happens… when you defy… the authority…”
So you are a big idol agency? So what.
We are 989 production. The famous state-run agency-sama! You thought we were just some weaklings, but you picked a fight with the wrong people!!
“Actually, could you please not declare your intention to misuse the authority of the country so brazenly!? Even if you technically are the king!!”
Those two were thinking like complete villains, and when Steph heard those thoughts she screamed desperately.
However, since those two had entered deliberation mode, did her voice not reach them?
“More importantly, Sora? Shiro～…? Haaa… Producer!?”
“...hmmm, what is it? To crush... the Eastern Federation agencies… we have to scout… their idols…”
“We are thinking about how to produce after that! Do you need something more important than that!?”
“There’s nothing more inconsequential than that, right!? More importantly!”
Steph cut off Sora and Shiro’s deep machinations, and screamed once more:
“The people waving their hands down there, do they really believe that Holou is the main culprit!?”
If that was the case, then Imanity won’t last long. Sora just smiled bitterly at Steph’s lamentations.
“Well, there probably aren’t many that do. At least for now.”
“...What?”
“I told you before, but there’s no need for them to believe.”
── The concept, or Quintessence of “Thinking simultaneously” about “Doubt” and “Desire” ──
“There are those who would believe, and those who won’t believe. That “Suspicion” itself will become Holou’s power you see”
Doubts and wishes, refusal and desire ── everything would increase Holou’s power.
And most importantly:
“A cute girl is doing her best at singing and dancing… there’s no way they wouldn’t wave their hands, even if they didn’t understand!!” Sora concluded with a sharp gaze.
“I hoped from the bottom of my heart that there would be a way…” Steph said with eyes that were truly anxious for Imanity, but Sora just smiled and continued:
“Incidentally, if Holou performs magnificently, just with that no one will be able to attack us anymore,”
“... You said something like that yesterday too, but what do you mean by that?”
── Well, well.
After making some corrections to their future plans, Sora and Shiro made a small nod.
Then, they suddenly turned towards Steph, without answering──
“Well then, this might be sudden! But we have a quiz for you, Steph!!”
“... ‘What are Sora and Shiro thought of as?’... okay you have 10 seconds…”
“Wh-What!?”
── They answered with a question, so Steph panicked and just enumerated all the answers she could think of:
“T-the kings of Elkia, Imanities… ah, people from another world. Also──”
Steph looked at Sora for just a moment, blushed, became lost for words for a moment, and continued:
“You have a rotten nature. And a twisted personality. You are also swindlers──”
“Hey, stop it with the ‘there’s nothing wrong with calling a baldy a baldy’! The truth is you are just hurting people you know!?” Sora screamed. Being relatively hurt, Sora and Shiro said:
“..... Bzzt… okay, that was 10 seconds… time’s up… Steph… you fool”
“You should pay more attention to the statement of the problem, Steph. Part of what you said was only because you know us, right?”
Mixing nonchalantness with criticisms, Sora pointed out her mistake.
“The great majority of the world doesn’t know us. We were asking what they think”
“uhh..?”
It looked like Steph hadn’t understood yet, so Sora leisurely stood up from the throne, and:
“The ones who suddenly rose up to solve Imanity’s crisis! Heroes!”
He was just like an actor on stage, with his loud voice, exaggerated gestures, and passionate speech──!
“The ones who beat the Eastern Federation’s game that even the Elves couldn’t beat! The ones who beat Oceando’s long unbeaten game! They also beat the Flügel, and even an Old Deus! They accomplished the third ‘god slaying’ in history, and now, all the evil countries in the world are trembling in fear of these strong heroes! However, their true identity is──!!”
“Simple humans? Who could believe that?”
He finished, with a suddenly cold tone.
“Furthermore, they are not even simple humans. They are the lowest class of humans, hikikomori NEET gamers. And you say they are royalty? Can swindlers with a rotten and twisted personality really do something like that?”
Sora was probably taking a swing at her with those words, so Steph just groaned.
… Well. Actually they can. Or rather they could. However, Sora──
“I don’t think they could do that～. After all, they’re just an Imanity you know～? And Imanity is like that～ just the small fry ladybugs that had been getting exterminated until recently you know～? Eh～ Suddenly what’s this～? It totally looks like──”
He said with a very punchable smile, and,
“── humans have changed, you know～?”
“Ah…! Just like Kurami at the time of the king selection tournament!?”
Steph finally remembered, so Sora and Shiro smiled at her.
Kurami thought that Sora and Shiro had seen through her Elven magic. She concluded that there was no way a mere Imanity could do that…
“Well then, question: ‘What are Sora and Shiro thought of as?’...”
“... the answer is… ‘Spies’... from other nations… other races…”
── That’s right. What Sora and Shiro have been ‘thought of as’ has been consistent since the very beginning.
It was just like when they declared war against the whole world at their coronation. Everyone thought there was someone behind the scenes.
That bluff was still── no, it had become even stronger. That’s because:
“Well then, if there’s no way those shitty small fries could do all that, then ‘who’ can?”
Steph couldn’t think of anyone, so she remained silent, but Sora smiled and thought: ‘Correct’.
── No one can.
Well… Sora and the others could. But no one from the other races could. It was a simple truth. Up until now, no one had ever been able to do this.
“... In other words? We are the ones who were able to do something that no one should have been able to do──”
It was an absurdly preposterous suspicion, but right now,
“The ones who can win a game against any opponent. Suspected to have some mysterious ‘certain win trump card’.”
“... it’s too dangerous… to challenge… something like that… head on… it’s suicide…”
── Now that they’ve won against an Old Deus, that suspicion has a tinge of truth.
Then, what should they do? They had finally gone back to the original question.
“Ah! S-so that’s why they want to split Elkia at the edges… right!?”
“Yes. In order to expose our true identity── our ‘certain win trump card’── they have no choice but to investigate.”
“... And the other races… have to find that out urgently… before anyone else… even if they suffer loses in the process…”
“...? even if they suffer loses, you say?”
“A trump card that can win against any opponent. It would be very bad if they didn’t ‘suppress’, or ‘monopolize’ it.”
If it was for that, then a few loses are a cheap price to pay.
What they don’t know is that all those efforts would be in vain,
“However, such a thing doesn’t exist and they won’t be able to obtain information about us either♪ That’s because we are just normal humans, and we just normally won those games── But no one is going to believe that truth♪”
“... Therefore… after looking for something... that doesn’t exist… those sitting ducks will… go back after... only losing♪”
Those two said, with devil-like smiles. Steph started pulling away from them, when suddenly:
“Ah… And if they do it poorly, we might even be able to make them suspect that we are someone’s spies”
“...? Whose?”
── Someone who could do something that no one else could, someone who could prepare a certain win trump card.
If it became known that Sora and Shiro came from another world then there’s someone who could get falsely accused. Sora made a bitter smile full of empathy, and said that person’s name:
“Tet’s. Maybe his boredom got worse, so he used us to instigate the other races♪”
In the first place the one who summoned them was the One True God, Tet ── no excuses.
It was much more likely than simple humans beating higher ranked races.
“Well, I do feel bad for Tet but it’s the last boss’ job to attract aggro～”
“... Live strong… Tet…”
After sending him a provocation on the level of a greeting, Sora and Shiro became dissatisfied and returned their eyes to the screen,
“A-as usual, you two are treating the One True God Tet-sama so rudely…”
They weren’t even aware of Steph’s mutterings anymore. They went back to their thoughts before they were interrupted.
── They finished revising the plan to deal with the Eastern Federation’s idol agencies. It’s execution was a very pressing issue──
“... In any case, what should we do about Holou’s next live?...”
Most of the spaces in their task planner were empty.
They only had the hand shake event, the signing event, making the rounds to others in the business, etc. They were mostly straightforward activities.
But when they saw Holou singing and dancing earnestly on that shoddy stage, Sora and Shiro both grinded their teeth.
── If things remained like this five days later on her second live, they’d be a failure as a “producer”.
Maybe they could procure just the equipment from the Eastern Federation── No. They’d probably interfere again.
“It can’t be helped Shiro. Let’s ask Jibril to create some stage magic. If she had five days──”
“... I-is that fine? I feel like… she can only make… explosions”
“A-at worst we can leave the stage to Elkia’s craftsmen. But Jibril is the only one we can rely on for the special effects. We could ask her to make a virtual space for example… In any case, let’s make a specific image.”
── For the time being, they just hoped there wouldn’t be any deaths.
Not trusting the Ten Pledges too much, the two of them started up an app on their tablet.
They didn’t have any artistic inclinations, but if they did it to share Holou’s stage, they felt they’d somehow be able to draw something.
They were discussing that while their fingers slided through the tablet, when suddenly──
── La～ra～ralararala～raaa…
When they heard that unfamiliar sound, the three of them: Sora, Shiro, and Steph, looked down.
“......... Nii… phone call…”
Shiro remembered. The sound coming from that smartphone was the ringtone that Sora had set.
“Ha ha ha… dear little sister, your brother’s phone is exclusively for games. You knew that right?”
However, Sora took that phone with a masochistic smile. That unfamiliar sound was indeed his ringtone. He couldn’t remember when was the last time he had heard it till the end… Anyhow,
“I’m not proud of it, but your brother is someone who will have zero friends for all eternity. Who would call me!?”
“... That’s really something you shouldn’t be proud of…” Steph said, with eyes full of pity. He magnificently erased that from his memory.
With a skilled motion, Sora began to slide his finger across the screen displaying “unknown caller” to reject the call──
“It must be a wrong number, or some delivery… well, in any case, I can’t believe something so troublesome came this──”
── But he stopped both his finger and his words. Sora and Shiro shared a look.
It was too abrupt, too unexpected. It was so bizarre they even were even late to wonder:
── Why would a phone ring in Disboard?
“Hello… who’s this?”
However, when they noticed, it only took them a fraction of a second.
With great prudence, Sora immediately decided that he should pick up, so he answered the phone, and asked that question.
However, as expected, the phone still displayed that it was out of range. Their only answer was:
He had put the phone in speaker mode so Shiro could hear it too, but there was only noise.
“...? What is that? It’s just some noise, right?”
“... maybe it’s… a cursed… phone call?”
“Yeah… I wish it was just a cursed call, but…”
Steph and Shiro were suspicious, and Sora answered them with an alarmingly high sense of danger.
After a single moment, Shiro’s face also became uneasy, she had finally noticed.
── As far as they knew, the very concept of “Signal” didn’t exist in Disboard.
Therefore, when Sora asked himself: ‘Should I ignore it?’, he instantly replied with a ‘No’, and answered the call.
It could be some kind of electromagnetic field produced by some sort of magic. If it was, for example, accidental indiscriminate interference, then forget about the call, they had to immediately turn off their phones and tablet, if they didn’t handle this well they could break.
However, if they were aiming the interference at them, that’d be an even greater problem… it couldn’t be ignored.
And then, as if to answer that wariness and bewilderment:
“.... cipher… principle──Analysis… plete…attempting... gnetic field… control…”
“────────!?”
“...? What is that? What is happening?”
No one answered Steph’s question. After all, Sora and Shiro didn’t understand either. Even if they didn’t understand, they knew it was a very dangerous situation. After all──
── Someone was interfering with technology from another world.
In a world without signal or a cell phone tower, their cellphone was connecting to a call, that was even being unencrypted.
No. In the first place, they shouldn’t even know what a telephone machine is. And yet they were interfering with such a device.
A cursed call you say?
That would have been a lot better. The bizarre, chilling phenomenon continued like this:
“Establishing two-way communication── call, possible”
They had exposed, analysed, and seized a technology that doesn’t exist in this world in such a short amount of time. That’s what that voice had clearly declared when the noise disappeared. What followed was a man’s voice:
“We seek an audience, oh king of Imanity. Oh Spieler. We── are the Ex-Machina.”
Just as they feared, it was targeted interference, someone they couldn’t ignore. Sora had to confirm how much they had uncovered about Sora and Shiro’s true identity and intentions.
── Their very existence fundamentally undermined Sora’s plan. But the only response was:
“...aaah all right. Shall we meet then?”
Sora answered across the phone in an emotionless voice. It was something instantaneous. There weren’t any sounds, wind, shocks, vibrations, anything… there wasn’t even any coherence. The space between the throne and the castle’s main doors turned into a road made of rubble.
“............................ what?”
After being dazzled for several seconds, Sora barely managed to squeeze out that word.
In front of Sora’s gaze, there was a black group proceeding slowly along the road of rubble created by the castle’s destruction. Sora yelled at them in his head.
──ありえない。城を一瞬で破壊しただと？
デタラメで片付く話じゃない──キッパリと不•可•能•だ──ッッ!!
『十の盟約』で他者の物を同意なく破壊など出来るはずがない！
故に──ど•ん•な•ペ•テ•ン•を•使•っ•た•？ と。
黒い一団を鋭く睨にらむ空に答えるように、先頭を往く男の声は語る。
── No way. They destroyed the castle in an instant?
It wasn’t something that could be dismissed as them being crazy. It was simply impossible──!!
Due to the ten Pledges it should be impossible to destroy other people’s possessions without permission!
So── what trick did they use?──
Sora was pointedly glaring at the black group. As if to answer that, the man in front of the group spoke:
“... Since it is only possible to ‘teleport’ to places one can see or to already known coordinates…”
Each time the group took a step, the rubble behind them distorted and disappeared. By the time they came close to Sora and the others, it was already as if nothing had happened in the first place,
“... we had to use “Spatial overwrite”... please forgive that impoliteness…”
When the space in front of the throne returned to normal, the group facing Sora and the others started to look like they had been simply walking together.
Hmmm… ‘forgive us for making a temporary entrance’ is it?
“... Listen here… why didn’t you knock first, or call someone? You had countless other options, don’t you think?”
“S-Sora～... t-the castle is closed right now～ The castle’s staff is also on holiday”
“Aah that’s right. Or rather, what’s up with that power. It’s super convenient. It’s perfect for the special effects──”
“... N-nii calm down... ! And look at reality…!”
She tried to bring Sora back, somehow. With so many thing happening at once, Sora’s thoughts couldn’t keep up.
As Shiro shaked, the black group took off their robes silently and with mechanical movements.
── Those robes were black cowls just like the grim reaper’s. Their owners were 13 persons, men and women.
No, correction. They were not persons, they were machines.
Everything Sora and the others could see, from their joints to their skin wasn’t flesh, it was metal. The things extending out of them to the floor weren’t tails, but cables.
Sora and the others knew about them, they had seen them on the Great War recreation game. They were just what they introduced themselves as──
── Exceed rank 10… the “Ex-Machina”.
“Sora～? You can say it any moment now: That there was immediately a misread!?”
── He had proudly declared that they couldn’t be attacked , and almost immediately after, this had happened.
Steph demanded an explanation with a falsetto voice, but Sora had no room to answer. After the Ex-Machina took off their hoods, all their 26 artificial eye lenses focused on Sora.
It was almost as if they were in a server room. There was an imposing, artificial… oppressive and intimidating atmosphere.
They felt as if their every move, every heartbeat, even their every neuron was being appraised and analysed.
No. Was that really just a feeling?
In his uneasy and bewildered thoughts, Sora answered Steph’s question without speaking:
── This is not just a misread, it simply doesn’t make any sense!!
Right now, there’s no one who could challenge Sora and Shiro head on. That’s an unshakeable truth! Even in the worst case scenario, the Ex-Machina should at least suspect that Sora and the others have a ‘certain win trump card’. And even if they didn’t, if Sora and the others were challenged, then Sora’s group would have the right to choose the contents of the game.
What’s more, right now there’s no bait that would make Sora and Shiro accept a game they could lose! They could either propose a game they would certainly win, or simply not accept the challenge!! Everyone should understand this, and that’s why he had asserted that no one would come to challenge them. Then why?
A race they knew almost nothing about, not even how they had come here.
A race they had no information or clues about. And what’s more, out of all the races:
── A race Blank recognized as an opponent they could lose against head on!
Why was such a race here!? And why were they staring at him!?
“... I’m sorry but I don’t have a name to introduce myself with. This device is called the ‘All linking commanding unit (Einzig)’”
Ignoring their confusion, one of the thirteen machines stepped forward and greeted them. He looked somewhere around 10 years older than Sora. He also at least looked like a man. They were the inorganic machine like race, so naturally, his face looked like a doll’s, as if it had been molded by someone. Both his reddish black hair, and his whitish blue eyes, looked like they had been made artificially after all.
──However.
“I am the Ex-Machina’s… that’s right. Designated Representative would be the corresponding term I guess?”
He introduced himself as Einzig and approached Sora and the others.
But his voice and his gaze were clearly not those of a simple machine. There was clearly an intelligence and feelings peeking through.
When Sora and Shiro realized that truth, cold sweat ran down their cheeks.
── If he had been a simple machine, it would have been trivial.
Even if it was a super computer, a machine is a machine after all, it can’t go past the limitations of one. There were many ways to outwit them, especially in games. There were even some ways to surpass them.
However, they were the race that defeated the strongest god, Artosh, and triggered the end of the Great War. That race learned without limit, and accumulated responses, and in the end, they even massacred the Strongest.
That was, maybe, the truth.
Part of the basis for that were the emotions housed in his eyes.
He had interfered with Sora’s smartphone. If it was as Sora and Shiro feared, and he had exposed their true identity and strategy, then even if it was Blank, no matter what kind of game…
── Winning was almost impossible.
Sora’s thoughts were drifting away from confusion and uneasiness towards the clear sense of danger.
However, the approaching machine man before Sora’s eyes froze in front of him.
The Ten Pledges exist. He can’t cause them any harm.
But even so, no, precisely because of that, the machine man extended his hand past Sora’s cheek, touched the throne and said:
“I wanted to see you, my beloved Spieler. Come on, let’s cultivate our love”
── Sora, who suddenly received a whispering of love, Shiro, who became petrified, and Seph who blushed and covered her mouth happily for some reason, shut down their own consciousness, and strongly, very strongly, chanted a single mantra:
‘Disappear, my memories’...────
It was where Sora and Shiro once gave their coronation speech.
The Elkian castle’s balcony overlooked a large plaza. And right now, a single girl was standing there. Wearing frilly clothes and followed by a floating japanese style inkpot, the girl closed her eyes ── and waited.
This was what Sora and Shiro had called the “big stage for your idol debut”... and raising the curtain on that, was a sound─ the roaring sound of music being played at a very high volume. That was the signal:
“H-Holou’s name is Holou! Holou doesn’t understand, but she’s an idol?... or something like that!!”
And thus, after introducing herself in such a cryptic way, her lips and body started moving. Just as she had said, she didn’t understand anything, but she didn’t let that discourage her.
She didn’t make a single mistake performing the “Ad-lib introduction” script she had received just a little while ago.
The girl that was a god── Holou, started to sing and dance, without realizing that she had been subtly moved to tears──
■■■
There were four persons looking at her more intensely than anyone else.
One was gazing at her with a sardonic smile from the skies. She was the Flügel girl, Jibril. The other three were gazing at a nearby magical screen projecting Jibril’s field of view. They were: Sora and Shiro, sitting on the throne with a bad mood, and Steph, swaying due to a lack of sleep, next to them.
──By the way.
While making the costume all night, Steph muttered things like these on and on:
I see, so Sora and Shiro want to paint Holou as the main culprit. However, suddenly saying: “Hi I’m a god. Everything Sora accomplished was thanks to me. I’m also an idol”──
Who would be convinced by that nonsense and say “Oh, so it was like that!!”?
And there’s no way there’d be an idiot who would also cheer with a “Wooooo” on top of that. Therefore Steph repeatedly questioned Sora and Shiro’s hidden intentions. That’s right──
“... You’re kidding right?...”
Until the instant she heard the cheerful “Wooooo”s across the magical screen.
A few thousand people were cheering for Holou in the plaza.
It was nothing more than a fraction of the Federation’s population, but there were plenty of idiots waving their hands,
“... Imanity might be already hopeless…”
Come to think of it, the Elkians also cheered when bras or panties disappeared in the game against the Eastern Federation, even though the Race Piece ── their very existence ── had been bet… But now, it wasn’t just a single country, what would happen if they just let those idiots be?
Steph was laughing at nothing. Her cheerful optimism’s main component was “Giving up”. As for the other two:
“Dammit, this sucks. Heh… I won’t let you off so easily”
“... Fu, fufufufu… you’ve got… some guts…”
They said, with a dangerous smile. Those two were sitting on the throne with a bad mood.
“Are you talking about Holou? But her song is good, and she’s doing her best to keep up with your nonsense.”
“Ahhh… Of course her song is good, and Holou is also doing her best. That’s precisely why”
── At first, they were going to use one of the songs in their smartphones, a hit from their previous world.
However… would they come? It was another world, but even so, the JASRAC… Shiro was worried about things like that. So they used a music app from their tablet, and arranged a new song using Leila’s feelings as the lyrics, and Fiel’s knowledge for the chord progression.
Of course it was good. Even in another world, they could make music. Well, as long as they had their tablet ☆
And Holou, who was singing and dancing to that, was also doing her best. She still didn’t understand “Expressions”, her movements were stiff, and the song didn’t have any emotion at all. But even so, the girl who used to doubt everything was doing her best.
── And that’s precisely why──!!
“It’s the stage, the stage! What’s up with that shabby set──!!”
Sora said, and pointed at the magical screen that Jibril was projecting── the balcony where Holou was performing.
Using equipment from the Eastern Federation, they had prepared all sorts of showy special effects. However, now it was just a plain balcony, so Sora screamed:
“Since they were pressured by the agency, they had to hurriedly cancel our equipment request!? What’s the big idea!?”
── In the first place, there were no idols in Elkia.
Sora and Shiro had been gloating over their ultimate monopoly (Blue Ocean), however, it looked like there were idols, agencies, and even competition in the Eastern Federation.
It was her important debut performance, but they were notified that they wouldn’t be receiving the equipment on the same day.
“Isn’t this just the big companies picking on small businesses?! This is just harassment, right!?”
“... Isn’t it fine? What’s important is Holou herself, right?”
Steph told the enraged Sora. She didn’t understand what the big deal was, but she just added fuel to the fire:
“She’s literally a godly idol right!? And yet she’s in this shabby stage!! Do you have any idea how troublesome it would be to get to the major leagues if the image of an ‘underground idol’ stuck even once!? It would interfere with our strategy!!”
“I don’t get what you mean! But wouldn’t it have been fine if you just asked a different person!?”
The ‘different persons’ that Steph brought up were… that’s right. The other races under the federation’s flag.
The Flügel Jibril, the Old Deus Holou, the Dhampir Plum, etc… if it was one of the guys that could use magic, then they could certainly make the special effects, and not only that, they could physically change the scenery itself… However!
“We’d have done that if we’d had time! That’s why we are angry that they cancelled on the same day!!”
Jibril isn’t good at making delicate spells like those required for special effects. It would take some time.
As for Holou, they’d need to make her understand their intentions first, it would take even more time.
It would be very simple if they just used the Dhampir’s illusion magic── but would Plum cooperate? There is no way.
Thus, Holou simply amplified Shiro’s smartphone’s playback volume, and her own voice.
When they saw the now bare stage, Sora and Shiro both licked their lips, and made a fierce smile.
“You've got some guts, becoming an enemy of the country. You have my attention. First, I will crush you.”
“... We will… teach you… what happens… when you defy… the authority…”
So you are a big idol agency? So what.
We are 989 production. The famous state-run agency-sama! You thought we were just some weaklings, but you picked a fight with the wrong people!!
“Actually, could you please not declare your intention to misuse the authority of the country so brazenly!? Even if you technically are the king!!”
Those two were thinking like complete villains, and when Steph heard those thoughts she screamed desperately.
However, since those two had entered deliberation mode, did her voice not reach them?
“More importantly, Sora? Shiro～…? Haaa… Producer!?”
“...hmmm, what is it? To crush... the Eastern Federation agencies… we have to scout… their idols…”
“We are thinking about how to produce after that! Do you need something more important than that!?”
“There’s nothing more inconsequential than that, right!? More importantly!”
Steph cut off Sora and Shiro’s deep machinations, and screamed once more:
“The people waving their hands down there, do they really believe that Holou is the main culprit!?”
If that was the case, then Imanity won’t last long. Sora just smiled bitterly at Steph’s lamentations.
“Well, there probably aren’t many that do. At least for now.”
“...What?”
“I told you before, but there’s no need for them to believe.”
── The concept, or Quintessence of “Thinking simultaneously” about “Doubt” and “Desire” ──
“There are those who would believe, and those who won’t believe. That “Suspicion” itself will become Holou’s power you see”
Doubts and wishes, refusal and desire ── everything would increase Holou’s power.
And most importantly:
“A cute girl is doing her best at singing and dancing… there’s no way they wouldn’t wave their hands, even if they didn’t understand!!” Sora concluded with a sharp gaze.
“I hoped from the bottom of my heart that there would be a way…” Steph said with eyes that were truly anxious for Imanity, but Sora just smiled and continued:
“Incidentally, if Holou performs magnificently, just with that no one will be able to attack us anymore,”
“... You said something like that yesterday too, but what do you mean by that?”
── Well, well.
After making some corrections to their future plans, Sora and Shiro made a small nod.
Then, they suddenly turned towards Steph, without answering──
“Well then, this might be sudden! But we have a quiz for you, Steph!!”
“... ‘What are Sora and Shiro thought of as?’... okay you have 10 seconds…”
“Wh-What!?”
── They answered with a question, so Steph panicked and just enumerated all the answers she could think of:
“T-the kings of Elkia, Imanities… ah, people from another world. Also──”
Steph looked at Sora for just a moment, blushed, became lost for words for a moment, and continued:
“You have a rotten nature. And a twisted personality. You are also swindlers──”
“Hey, stop it with the ‘there’s nothing wrong with calling a baldy a baldy’! The truth is you are just hurting people you know!?” Sora screamed. Being relatively hurt, Sora and Shiro said:
“..... Bzzt… okay, that was 10 seconds… time’s up… Steph… you fool”
“You should pay more attention to the statement of the problem, Steph. Part of what you said was only because you know us, right?”
Mixing nonchalantness with criticisms, Sora pointed out her mistake.
“The great majority of the world doesn’t know us. We were asking what they think”
“uhh..?”
It looked like Steph hadn’t understood yet, so Sora leisurely stood up from the throne, and:
“The ones who suddenly rose up to solve Imanity’s crisis! Heroes!”
He was just like an actor on stage, with his loud voice, exaggerated gestures, and passionate speech──!
“The ones who beat the Eastern Federation’s game that even the Elves couldn’t beat! The ones who beat Oceando’s long unbeaten game! They also beat the Flügel, and even an Old Deus! They accomplished the third ‘god slaying’ in history, and now, all the evil countries in the world are trembling in fear of these strong heroes! However, their true identity is──!!”
“Simple humans? Who could believe that?”
He finished, with a suddenly cold tone.
“Furthermore, they are not even simple humans. They are the lowest class of humans, hikikomori NEET gamers. And you say they are royalty? Can swindlers with a rotten and twisted personality really do something like that?”
Sora was probably taking a swing at her with those words, so Steph just groaned.
… Well. Actually they can. Or rather they could. However, Sora──
“I don’t think they could do that～. After all, they’re just an Imanity you know～? And Imanity is like that～ just the small fry ladybugs that had been getting exterminated until recently you know～? Eh～ Suddenly what’s this～? It totally looks like──”
He said with a very punchable smile, and,
“── humans have changed, you know～?”
“Ah…! Just like Kurami at the time of the king selection tournament!?”
Steph finally remembered, so Sora and Shiro smiled at her.
Kurami thought that Sora and Shiro had seen through her Elven magic. She concluded that there was no way a mere Imanity could do that…
“Well then, question: ‘What are Sora and Shiro thought of as?’...”
“... the answer is… ‘Spies’... from other nations… other races…”
── That’s right. What Sora and Shiro have been ‘thought of as’ has been consistent since the very beginning.
It was just like when they declared war against the whole world at their coronation. Everyone thought there was someone behind the scenes.
That bluff was still── no, it had become even stronger. That’s because:
“Well then, if there’s no way those shitty small fries could do all that, then ‘who’ can?”
Steph couldn’t think of anyone, so she remained silent, but Sora smiled and thought: ‘Correct’.
── No one can.
Well… Sora and the others could. But no one from the other races could. It was a simple truth. Up until now, no one had ever been able to do this.
“... In other words? We are the ones who were able to do something that no one should have been able to do──”
It was an absurdly preposterous suspicion, but right now,
“The ones who can win a game against any opponent. Suspected to have some mysterious ‘certain win trump card’.”
“... it’s too dangerous… to challenge… something like that… head on… it’s suicide…”
── Now that they’ve won against an Old Deus, that suspicion has a tinge of truth.
Then, what should they do? They had finally gone back to the original question.
“Ah! S-so that’s why they want to split Elkia at the edges… right!?”
“Yes. In order to expose our true identity── our ‘certain win trump card’── they have no choice but to investigate.”
“... And the other races… have to find that out urgently… before anyone else… even if they suffer loses in the process…”
“...? even if they suffer loses, you say?”
“A trump card that can win against any opponent. It would be very bad if they didn’t ‘suppress’, or ‘monopolize’ it.”
If it was for that, then a few loses are a cheap price to pay.
What they don’t know is that all those efforts would be in vain,
“However, such a thing doesn’t exist and they won’t be able to obtain information about us either♪ That’s because we are just normal humans, and we just normally won those games── But no one is going to believe that truth♪”
“... Therefore… after looking for something... that doesn’t exist… those sitting ducks will… go back after... only losing♪”
Those two said, with devil-like smiles. Steph started pulling away from them, when suddenly:
“Ah… And if they do it poorly, we might even be able to make them suspect that we are someone’s spies”
“...? Whose?”
── Someone who could do something that no one else could, someone who could prepare a certain win trump card.
If it became known that Sora and Shiro came from another world then there’s someone who could get falsely accused. Sora made a bitter smile full of empathy, and said that person’s name:
“Tet’s. Maybe his boredom got worse, so he used us to instigate the other races♪”
In the first place the one who summoned them was the One True God, Tet ── no excuses.
It was much more likely than simple humans beating higher ranked races.
“Well, I do feel bad for Tet but it’s the last boss’ job to attract aggro～”
“... Live strong… Tet…”
After sending him a provocation on the level of a greeting, Sora and Shiro became dissatisfied and returned their eyes to the screen,
“A-as usual, you two are treating the One True God Tet-sama so rudely…”
They weren’t even aware of Steph’s mutterings anymore. They went back to their thoughts before they were interrupted.
── They finished revising the plan to deal with the Eastern Federation’s idol agencies. It’s execution was a very pressing issue──
“... In any case, what should we do about Holou’s next live?...”
Most of the spaces in their task planner were empty.
They only had the hand shake event, the signing event, making the rounds to others in the business, etc. They were mostly straightforward activities.
But when they saw Holou singing and dancing earnestly on that shoddy stage, Sora and Shiro both grinded their teeth.
── If things remained like this five days later on her second live, they’d be a failure as a “producer”.
Maybe they could procure just the equipment from the Eastern Federation── No. They’d probably interfere again.
“It can’t be helped Shiro. Let’s ask Jibril to create some stage magic. If she had five days──”
“... I-is that fine? I feel like… she can only make… explosions”
“A-at worst we can leave the stage to Elkia’s craftsmen. But Jibril is the only one we can rely on for the special effects. We could ask her to make a virtual space for example… In any case, let’s make a specific image.”
── For the time being, they just hoped there wouldn’t be any deaths.
Not trusting the Ten Pledges too much, the two of them started up an app on their tablet.
They didn’t have any artistic inclinations, but if they did it to share Holou’s stage, they felt they’d somehow be able to draw something.
They were discussing that while their fingers slided through the tablet, when suddenly──
── La～ra～ralararala～raaa…
When they heard that unfamiliar sound, the three of them: Sora, Shiro, and Steph, looked down.
“......... Nii… phone call…”
Shiro remembered. The sound coming from that smartphone was the ringtone that Sora had set.
“Ha ha ha… dear little sister, your brother’s phone is exclusively for games. You knew that right?”
However, Sora took that phone with a masochistic smile. That unfamiliar sound was indeed his ringtone. He couldn’t remember when was the last time he had heard it till the end… Anyhow,
“I’m not proud of it, but your brother is someone who will have zero friends for all eternity. Who would call me!?”
“... That’s really something you shouldn’t be proud of…” Steph said, with eyes full of pity. He magnificently erased that from his memory.
With a skilled motion, Sora began to slide his finger across the screen displaying “unknown caller” to reject the call──
“It must be a wrong number, or some delivery… well, in any case, I can’t believe something so troublesome came this──”
── But he stopped both his finger and his words. Sora and Shiro shared a look.
It was too abrupt, too unexpected. It was so bizarre they even were even late to wonder:
── Why would a phone ring in Disboard?
“Hello… who’s this?”
However, when they noticed, it only took them a fraction of a second.
With great prudence, Sora immediately decided that he should pick up, so he answered the phone, and asked that question.
However, as expected, the phone still displayed that it was out of range. Their only answer was:
He had put the phone in speaker mode so Shiro could hear it too, but there was only noise.
“...? What is that? It’s just some noise, right?”
“... maybe it’s… a cursed… phone call?”
“Yeah… I wish it was just a cursed call, but…”
Steph and Shiro were suspicious, and Sora answered them with an alarmingly high sense of danger.
After a single moment, Shiro’s face also became uneasy, she had finally noticed.
── As far as they knew, the very concept of “Signal” didn’t exist in Disboard.
Therefore, when Sora asked himself: ‘Should I ignore it?’, he instantly replied with a ‘No’, and answered the call.
It could be some kind of electromagnetic field produced by some sort of magic. If it was, for example, accidental indiscriminate interference, then forget about the call, they had to immediately turn off their phones and tablet, if they didn’t handle this well they could break.
However, if they were aiming the interference at them, that’d be an even greater problem… it couldn’t be ignored.
And then, as if to answer that wariness and bewilderment:
“.... cipher… principle──Analysis… plete…attempting... gnetic field… control…”
“────────!?”
“...? What is that? What is happening?”
No one answered Steph’s question. After all, Sora and Shiro didn’t understand either. Even if they didn’t understand, they knew it was a very dangerous situation. After all──
── Someone was interfering with technology from another world.
In a world without signal or a cell phone tower, their cellphone was connecting to a call, that was even being unencrypted.
No. In the first place, they shouldn’t even know what a telephone machine is. And yet they were interfering with such a device.
A cursed call you say?
That would have been a lot better. The bizarre, chilling phenomenon continued like this:
“Establishing two-way communication── call, possible”
They had exposed, analysed, and seized a technology that doesn’t exist in this world in such a short amount of time. That’s what that voice had clearly declared when the noise disappeared. What followed was a man’s voice:
“We seek an audience, oh king of Imanity. Oh Spieler. We── are the Ex-Machina.”
Just as they feared, it was targeted interference, someone they couldn’t ignore. Sora had to confirm how much they had uncovered about Sora and Shiro’s true identity and intentions.
── Their very existence fundamentally undermined Sora’s plan. But the only response was:
“...aaah all right. Shall we meet then?”
Sora answered across the phone in an emotionless voice. It was something instantaneous. There weren’t any sounds, wind, shocks, vibrations, anything… there wasn’t even any coherence. The space between the throne and the castle’s main doors turned into a road made of rubble.
“............................ what?”
After being dazzled for several seconds, Sora barely managed to squeeze out that word.
In front of Sora’s gaze, there was a black group proceeding slowly along the road of rubble created by the castle’s destruction. Sora yelled at them in his head.
──ありえない。城を一瞬で破壊しただと？
デタラメで片付く話じゃない──キッパリと不•可•能•だ──ッッ!!
『十の盟約』で他者の物を同意なく破壊など出来るはずがない！
故に──ど•ん•な•ペ•テ•ン•を•使•っ•た•？ と。
黒い一団を鋭く睨にらむ空に答えるように、先頭を往く男の声は語る。
── No way. They destroyed the castle in an instant?
It wasn’t something that could be dismissed as them being crazy. It was simply impossible──!!
Due to the ten Pledges it should be impossible to destroy other people’s possessions without permission!
So── what trick did they use?──
Sora was pointedly glaring at the black group. As if to answer that, the man in front of the group spoke:
“... Since it is only possible to ‘teleport’ to places one can see or to already known coordinates…”
Each time the group took a step, the rubble behind them distorted and disappeared. By the time they came close to Sora and the others, it was already as if nothing had happened in the first place,
“... we had to use “Spatial overwrite”... please forgive that impoliteness…”
When the space in front of the throne returned to normal, the group facing Sora and the others started to look like they had been simply walking together.
Hmmm… ‘forgive us for making a temporary entrance’ is it?
“... Listen here… why didn’t you knock first, or call someone? You had countless other options, don’t you think?”
“S-Sora～... t-the castle is closed right now～ The castle’s staff is also on holiday”
“Aah that’s right. Or rather, what’s up with that power. It’s super convenient. It’s perfect for the special effects──”
“... N-nii calm down... ! And look at reality…!”
She tried to bring Sora back, somehow. With so many thing happening at once, Sora’s thoughts couldn’t keep up.
As Shiro shaked, the black group took off their robes silently and with mechanical movements.
── Those robes were black cowls just like the grim reaper’s. Their owners were 13 persons, men and women.
No, correction. They were not persons, they were machines.
Everything Sora and the others could see, from their joints to their skin wasn’t flesh, it was metal. The things extending out of them to the floor weren’t tails, but cables.
Sora and the others knew about them, they had seen them on the Great War recreation game. They were just what they introduced themselves as──
── Exceed rank 10… the “Ex-Machina”.
“Sora～? You can say it any moment now: That there was immediately a misread!?”
── He had proudly declared that they couldn’t be attacked , and almost immediately after, this had happened.
Steph demanded an explanation with a falsetto voice, but Sora had no room to answer. After the Ex-Machina took off their hoods, all their 26 artificial eye lenses focused on Sora.
It was almost as if they were in a server room. There was an imposing, artificial… oppressive and intimidating atmosphere.
They felt as if their every move, every heartbeat, even their every neuron was being appraised and analysed.
No. Was that really just a feeling?
In his uneasy and bewildered thoughts, Sora answered Steph’s question without speaking:
── This is not just a misread, it simply doesn’t make any sense!!
Right now, there’s no one who could challenge Sora and Shiro head on. That’s an unshakeable truth! Even in the worst case scenario, the Ex-Machina should at least suspect that Sora and the others have a ‘certain win trump card’. And even if they didn’t, if Sora and the others were challenged, then Sora’s group would have the right to choose the contents of the game.
What’s more, right now there’s no bait that would make Sora and Shiro accept a game they could lose! They could either propose a game they would certainly win, or simply not accept the challenge!! Everyone should understand this, and that’s why he had asserted that no one would come to challenge them. Then why?
A race they knew almost nothing about, not even how they had come here.
A race they had no information or clues about. And what’s more, out of all the races:
── A race Blank recognized as an opponent they could lose against head on!
Why was such a race here!? And why were they staring at him!?
“... I’m sorry but I don’t have a name to introduce myself with. This device is called the ‘All linking commanding unit (Einzig)’”
Ignoring their confusion, one of the thirteen machines stepped forward and greeted them. He looked somewhere around 10 years older than Sora. He also at least looked like a man. They were the inorganic machine like race, so naturally, his face looked like a doll’s, as if it had been molded by someone. Both his reddish black hair, and his whitish blue eyes, looked like they had been made artificially after all.
──However.
“I am the Ex-Machina’s… that’s right. Designated Representative would be the corresponding term I guess?”
He introduced himself as Einzig and approached Sora and the others.
But his voice and his gaze were clearly not those of a simple machine. There was clearly an intelligence and feelings peeking through.
When Sora and Shiro realized that truth, cold sweat ran down their cheeks.
── If he had been a simple machine, it would have been trivial.
Even if it was a super computer, a machine is a machine after all, it can’t go past the limitations of one. There were many ways to outwit them, especially in games. There were even some ways to surpass them.
However, they were the race that defeated the strongest god, Artosh, and triggered the end of the Great War. That race learned without limit, and accumulated responses, and in the end, they even massacred the Strongest.
That was, maybe, the truth.
Part of the basis for that were the emotions housed in his eyes.
He had interfered with Sora’s smartphone. If it was as Sora and Shiro feared, and he had exposed their true identity and strategy, then even if it was Blank, no matter what kind of game…
── Winning was almost impossible.
Sora’s thoughts were drifting away from confusion and uneasiness towards the clear sense of danger.
However, the approaching machine man before Sora’s eyes froze in front of him.
The Ten Pledges exist. He can’t cause them any harm.
But even so, no, precisely because of that, the machine man extended his hand past Sora’s cheek, touched the throne and said:
“I wanted to see you, my beloved Spieler. Come on, let’s cultivate our love”
── Sora, who suddenly received a whispering of love, Shiro, who became petrified, and Seph who blushed and covered her mouth happily for some reason, shut down their own consciousness, and strongly, very strongly, chanted a single mantra:
‘Disappear, my memories’...────
