novelVolume 7, Stage 02 - An Enemy Named Olivia Highland (2)
| ← Ch.077 | Ch.079 → |
Volume 7, Stage 02: An Enemy Named Olivia Highland (2)
The collar was only plastered in place with the moisture, so it could open up at any moment.
And despite the conversation, they were not about to forget they stood on the front line of the Summoning Ceremony.
"Let me make something clear, " said Aoi.
"Yeah?"
"Even if that...Olivia, was it? Even if she comes to, it will not be easy to open her eyes to the truth when her faith in the Queen is so strong."
"I've taken that into account."
Meinokawa Aoi had created the shock of a failed summoning and it apparently put people in the same state as losing a Summoning Ceremony battle. That meant it would take about 24 hours before they recovered. Aoi had likely planned it this way, but Kyousuke's side was fortunate that they had taken less damage due to not summoning a Material.
That gave them time to think.
"Oh, they had water bottles in there, didn't they?" asked Kyousuke.
"This land is known for its water, so why not just drink from the lake?"
"Do you have any idea how much bacteria there must be in there? Even commercial mineral water is boiled and there might be germs that can resist the heat. We don't have time to examine the water quality, so if there are bottles it's best to just use it."
"And judging what is going on inside that Olivia girl's head would be even more difficult. Then again, she contains the royal blood that allows her to control the Materials with such incredible precision. To be honest, I am not fond of the idea that your bloodline determines everything before you are even born, but she would make for a powerful ally if she was fighting on our side. Of course, that's only if we could convince her."
"I know that." A grim look came to Kyousuke's face."But we might be able to manage since this is Houbi Village. For that, I'm thankful."
"?"
Aoi shook her long silver hair, walked back to the shrine(?), and returned with a family-sized water bottle held against her surprisingly ample chest. Since both her hands were full, she could not hold down the bottom of the kosode that showed off her thighs right up to the very top.
Once the shrine maiden sat down with only the kosode covering her butt, she poured the imported deep sea water into a metal pot from the camping goods.
"Now, I want to decide on a general plan, " said Kyousuke."At the moment, we have two primary options."
"Yes. I would like to head for the summit as soon as we finish eating this. This Houbi land has fallen to those Bridez-made people and the people cannot elude them forever. Our time limit is two or three days at the most, so there is no time to waste."
"Really? I was hoping to suggest we wait for those two to recover."
"And why is that?"
There was a wide variety of cup noodles, but Kyousuke chose the standard soy sauce flavor while Meinokawa Aoi chose the limited edition seafood tomato soup flavor.
"First of all, to increase our strength. Simply having Biondetta able to fight will mean a lot. And if those two can walk on their own, we won't have to carry them."
"Hmm. Sorry, but based on that battle, I'm not sure what help she would really be."
"That was just a bad matchup for her."
They pulled the lids of the cups halfway up and then Kyousuke froze in shocked silence. In nothing but a soaking wet kosode, Aoi sprinkled grated cheese into her container before even pouring the hot water inside.
"Why was there cheese in the disaster goods?"
"Why not? Fermented foods are generally preserved foods, right? Just like seasonings, it takes a lot for things like natto and kimchi to go bad. Hm, hm, hmm. There is nothing wrong with adding a hint of extra flavor, so it's time you had a taste of a maiden's aesthetics."
"Maybe so, but you wouldn't just leave yogurt sitting out, would you!?"
"What, have you never heard of greke yo-gert? Get with the times!!"
"You don't store Greek yogurt at room temperature!"
The two of them continued bickering and fighting over each other's toppings. Kyousuke was not too picky except when it came to cereal, but he needed to acquire the proper nutrients when he knew he had to fight. Simply put, he had to eat when he had the chance.
"Oh? Are you the kind of boy who knows his way around the kitchen?"
"I'm not an expert or anything, but I can handle it at the moment. Even without any special knowledge, everything will miraculously come together if I just choose at random."
"?"
"It's the same as that combination lock. This is a world where I can mix random drinks at the soda fountain and end up with the kind of success worth getting patented. As long as there's at least one possible success among the random options, I'll end up choosing that one. Of course, that's only when I don't come into conflict with someone else's choices."
As he explained, Kyousuke's hand wandered about and grabbed something at random: a freeze-dried vegetable set. He poured hot water in there, set it back down, lightly cooked it in a frying pan, and mixed in some starch and water. All of it was simple enough for a child to do, but it ended up making his cup noodles ankake-style. It lacked meat, but he did not reach for the canned goods, perhaps because it would have clashed with the thick tare sauce.
Meanwhile, Aoi sat with her bare thighs placed in front of her.
"Hm, hm, hmm."
"What are you doing with that rice? Surely you aren't making ramen rice."
"You fool. Have you forgotten my cup is already something of a mess with the grated cheze inside?"
"So you admit it's a mess!?"
"But if I rehydrate the rice and dump it in...tah dah!! It transforms into something like a rizo-to!!"
"What the hell kind of food is that!? The noodles are extraneous at this point!! The cheese, soup, and rice would be enough!!"
But because of the world they now lived in, that too was a success.
The world was a complicated place.
"Hmm, it could use some more color. Oh, I know. There were some canned goods. Yes, there's some salted chicken. That would be the perfect finishing touch!"
The lid had a pull tab, so Aoi did not need a can opener. Only after seeing that did Kyousuke realize there were cans with a non-tare sauce. He had failed to properly look over everything because he was relying on the random choices like a book fortunetelling. The meat in cup noodles always made one wonder if it was really meat, so he was honestly jealous.
(Does that mean I can't choose any coincidental successes that weren't in the options I thought were possible?)
And...
"...Ow!"
"?"
"Uuuhh, I was caught by a fearsome trap."
"Don't try to make this sound more exciting than it really is. Just say you cut your finger on the edge of the can's lid."
Aoi grew tearful as a red drop of blood appeared on the tip of her index finger.
"Oh, I know. Boy, I think you should lick this off to disinfect it."
"Well, I don't think so. Why would I?"
"Don't act like it's some awful thing! You made me do it when we bound our contract, but now you refuse to put mine in your mouth!? Honestly! Oh, honestly!!"
Aoi was quite upset and began licking off her own finger.
Their ridiculous conversations did help pass the time. When adding original toppings, it took time for them to work their way into the entire cup. If you miscalculated, your noodles could end up overcooked.
"Well, even if she only diverts the enemy's attention, I can see how letting Biondetta recover would be useful, " said Aoi."But what about Olivia? Letting that child wake up seems to me like it would only complicate matters. She would likely try to escape from us at every opportunity and I doubt Biondetta would appreciate it after losing to her. We could end up with an internal threat in addition to the external ones."
"That ties into my second reason. If we can get information out of Olivia, we might be able to get some details on the Bridesmaid troops deployed in Houbi Village."
The silver-haired shrine maiden gave a bitter look.
Aoi crossed her arms, which lifted her surprisingly large breasts.
"That seems overly optimistic. Wouldn't that require fully eliminating the Queen worship rooted so deeply in that child's soul? Although I would appreciate it if we could accomplish that."
"I know."
"I am not just talking about whether she will obey us or rebel. If she pretended to turn over a new leaf and fed us false information, it would only invite chaos."
Of course, Kyousuke knew all too well the troublesome transformations people underwent when influenced by the White Queen.
However.
The promised time arrived, so Kyousuke removed the small stone from the top of his lid.
"If we can't get Olivia on our side, we'll have to search out the extent of Bridesmaid's deployment on our own."
"Mh."
"We have a set destination in mind, but the route we take to reach that cruise ship at the mountain's peak depends on Bridesmaid's location. It would mean a lot to know their timetable in advance."
"Summoner battles are quite different from those of traditional armies. Isn't a dense mass of enemies the perfect opportunity to build up a Chain and wipe them all out? Aren't you at Freedom's 900 level?"
Meinokawa Aoi fully peeled up the lid, bent over at the hip without bothering to grab any chopsticks, and leaned forward to bring her nose to the steaming container.
"Ahhh. The combination of tomato and cheese seems to have come out well. Didn't it, my cute chicken cheze rizo-to-chan☆"
"You can't even call that ramen anymore, so it's actually scary that it looks like it might actually be decent."
"D-don't leer at me like some kind of wild animal... But if you are jealous of my amazing creation, I am willing to give you a bite. But just one! O-okay, say 'ah'."
"...What am I supposed to do here? I understand the rules of this world, but I'm just having trouble believing it..."
"What, so you want to fight? Then let's let our fists do the talking."
Meinokawa Aoi puffed out her soft-looking cheeks, but there was a clear look of enjoyment in her eyes.
She soon began eating the risotto(-ish thing) she had created.
"Eating with someone else really is nice."
"..."
"Renge has been better than most, but I really have been neglected as the generations go by. There really is no substitute for eating a proper meal like this."
But anyway.
Kyousuke got back on topic while slurping up the cup noodles he had successfully modified into ankake ramen.
"Using their superior numbers against them by breaking through a dense formation with a Chain is certainly a viable tactic, but what if Bridesmaid sees it coming? They might have intentionally spread out their people to prevent a Chain. They might even skip the whole Summoning Ceremony business and just snipe us from a distance. We're not talking about that pure white here and summoners aren't all-powerful. I also want to ask Olivia how well they understand me. Even if that means angering her into letting something slip."
Olivia was a member, Azalea had been a member, and they had their connection to the White Queen herself. Bridesmaid knew far too many people who understood Kyousuke as a person rather than a legend. If they understood the details of his thought processes and built up a flowchart people could use, it would be dangerous to continue blindly on with no hope of supplies or reinforcements. They might lure him into wasting Incense Grenades. He did not have access to anyone like Lu Niang Lan or Ellie Slide here, so he could not resupply and needed to be careful.
Meinokawa Aoi's surprisingly large chest rose and fell as she worked her artificial lungs to blow on and cool down the contents of her container.
Then the shrine maiden looked up in just her white kosode.
"...I'll just have to trust your judgement then."
"Thanks."
But then she grabbed some of her thick rice porridge creation, held the chopsticks out toward Kyousuke, and winked.
"Listen. Do not forget that this smooth decision is a result of a pure and beautiful maiden taking a step back so the gentleman can show what he can do. Besides, you seem biased toward those girls with Western names like Olivia and Biondetta, so I need to remind you that I am the one with the contract to share your destiny as your vessel."
"Sure, whatever."
"That's the kind of behavior I'm complaining about! Stop acting like I don't matter at all to you!!"
Kyousuke had feared using the oil lamp would burn it, but that was not the world they lived in now. Still, they took their time drying out the shrine maiden outfit. And surprisingly, Meinokawa Aoi seemed to be the sort of person who would go all in on the task before her eyes, no matter how dull it was. Perhaps it was like finding an abandoned puzzle magazine in a mountain cabin during a blizzard.
"That should do. Fwa ha ha. Look, it's perfectly dry now, isn't it!?"
"Yes, yes. If you have time to strike a pose with your hands on your hips, then get that hakama on already..."
They had washed Kyousuke's shoes and Aoi's boots in the lake and then dried them. Kyousuke and Aoi (once she was dressed again) made periodic patrols around the lake, but they never found any Bridesmaid summoners or Repliglass soldiers. Not only was the network of tunnels below Houbi Village quite complex, but it was likely designed with large decoy rooms and treasure storerooms that looked quite suspicious but did not actually have anything in them.
Since the enemy did not immediately attack this kind of "truly important location", it was unlikely that Renge, Higan, or the other villagers had been captured and forced to talk.
"No, wait. Choosing at random will always work out right now, so that can't be it. Maybe the fact that we have a clear objective in mind has started having an effect."
"Hm?"
Meinokawa Aoi cutely tilted her head like a child despite giving off such alluring charm, but as the two of them killed the abundance of time on their hands, the moment they were waiting for finally arrived.
24 hours had passed.
The losers were freed from their penalty.
"Kh..."
"...Uuh... Onii-chan?"
In the shrine(?), Biondetta and Olivia groaned and started moving below their blankets. Instead of their previous, mechanically-repeated movements, these motions had a clear human will behind them.
However...
"Tch, the enemy!?"
"Stop, Biondetta! The battle is over!!"
"And why are we naked? What in the world happened on the way here, sir? Surely you are not going to claim ignorance to the difference between seeing and being seen."
"Oh, no. Now she's aiming her gun at me with a smile. I've completely lost track of what that might mean. And you really did a half-assed job, Meinokawa Aoi. This is the first I heard of you putting them to bed in the nude!!"
He had to distance himself from the two girls covered in nothing but a blanket, but if he left Biondetta alone with Olivia, it could easily lead to a fight to the death. That left only one option.
"Aoi, you take care of this. It's best for you girls to stick together, right!?"
"Ehhh? Do I have to remind you not to treat me like this!?"
Kyousuke escaped the shrine(?) and simultaneously tossed the silver-haired shrine maiden inside while ignoring how he messed up her clothing in the process, but then he heard some odd sounds of destruction from within, something like a broken branch flew out of the door, and a round object about the size of a volleyball came bouncing out.
It was the alluringly slender arm and beautiful head of the Joruri Method girl. And as soon as their eyes met...
"Boo."
"Wow, is that an old-fashioned joke!"
"...This is not good. My joints might have gotten looser. They seem to be coming apart easier than normal."
He picked up the arm and head just as Biondetta left the shrine(?) with her clothes back on and her decorative tail swishing back and forth.
"Sir, explain this."
"Umm, Olivia's still alive I hope?"
"Should I assume she is no longer our enemy?"
He hesitantly peeked below Biondetta's arm and inside the shrine(?) where the (headless and somewhat dismembered) shrine maiden stood to protect Olivia who was frozen with fear in the corner.
"Sigh, so I was captured, was I?"
The double blonde braid girl did not seem all that bitter about it. She rubbed the flat chest of her school swimsuit to make sure it was fitting right and she stuck her hand below the white floral pattern pareo to fix the swimsuit that was riding up in her butt. She then breathed a short sigh.
"But, well, if this is the will of the White Queen, then there's no helping it. There is meaning in all things, so I must have lost for a reason! Right, Onii-chan☆"
"..."
Those words and her smile put a bitter look on Kyousuke's face.
This was rooted deep.
To Olivia in her straw hat, the White Queen was the same as "good morning" and "good night". She was the same as the portrait on a paper bill or a coin. Olivia was not being forced to perform a special and holy ceremony; it had completely become a part of her normal life.
(But that's why this can work. )
Kyousuke thought quietly to himself.
It did not matter who had the advantage. A summoner fought by using everything to their advantage
(This isn't Kingdom F in Eastern Europe. It's the distant Houbi Village. )
Now, it all began here.
Kyousuke forced the detached head onto the shrine maiden, passed her the arm, and then ducked below her other arm to put himself on Olivia's eye level.
"Olivia, I have something to discuss with you."
"I have to admit, Onii-chan, I didn't expect for you to avoid a straightforward approach and attack while I was unconscious. But I see. So you prefer to play with people in their sleep. But that's a problem. That makes you a pervert, but for some reason I don't mind when it's you."
"Via."
He spoke more strongly and used his old nickname for her.
Her small shoulders jumped, so it seemed to have worked. She was still refusing to look at him, but her imaginary tail was wagging.
(What did I do in these moments back then?)
After thinking back, he gently rubbed her head. Only then did she deign to turn toward him.
The girl sat with her knees up despite her floral pattern pareo. She also pouted her lips and rubbed her big toes together.
"I won't listen if this is about you and the White Queen fighting. I mean, it's all your fault for being mean to her! She's trying to welcome you, so if you would just face her and accept the invitation, no one would have to say goodbye!!"
"..."
Still crouching, Kyousuke tapped his index finger against his temple. Biondetta quickly gave a suggestion while standing by the shrine(?) door.
"Is it too late?"
"No, not yet."
It was easy to say she would never understand, but you could not start a dialogue with that kind of attitude.
He analyzed Olivia Highland's unique mental state in his own way.
"Mutter, mutter...Onii-chan won't listen to me...mutter, mutter..."
"This isn't like before."
"Sigh. So is the problem that this school swimsuit isn't white? I didn't realize a pervert from an island nation would be so picky. But I need to study up on this ocean-loving nation's swimsuits for the sake of your future, Onii-chan!"
Biondetta must have decided this was never going to end because she butted in.
"Just tell her the truth already."
"No!" protested Olivia."And who is she anyway, Onii-chan!?"
"Are you not going to listen to your teacher!?"
"Eh? Teacher...? Hmm, then I guess I have to..."
She had erased an entire village from the map using around 20, 000 rockets, and now this. Were they lucky the rules of a child's world were making an appearance, or was this only a sign of how deep the distortion went?
Kyousuke looked to the light pink rose decoration on her tiny chest. It took the Queen's white and added a bit of the red that Kyousuke tended to choose for his clothing.
"You know what?"
She worshiped the White Queen, but she was not Kyousuke's enemy. You could say she was an ally to both. Or to put it another way...
(She's like a child trying to protect her own little world by keeping her parents from fighting. )
Kyousuke wrinkled his brow at the headache brought on by that idea.
Even as a joke, it was simply too cruel, but that was the truth as Olivia saw it.
Simply put, Olivia wanted to bring Kyousuke and the White Queen together. So depending on the situation, she would fight for either side. She was currently taking the Queen's side and attacking Kyousuke, but she focused on maintaining a balance and she would take the other side if the scales tipped in that direction. She did not really want to kill him. It was more like she wanted to correct his mistake.
But that was all.
She wanted to bring Kyousuke and the White Queen together, so anything else would look like noise to her. The girls like Meinokawa Aoi and Biondetta in particular would look like distractions from the "family" she envisioned, so she would view them like a job or mistresses. That was why she had not hesitated to attack Houbi Village.
Bridesmaid.
That word referred to the pure white bride's attendant. This girl truly embodied that concept.
"Olivia."
"...What is it, Onii-chan?"
Kyousuke spoke to the double braid and straw hat girl who sulkily puffed her cheeks out in the corner. He spoke slowly so she could process it one thing at a time.
"Sorry, but I can't do that."
"Why not?"
She seemed to have understood what he meant.
Olivia's eyes widened like a child who was asked whether she would go with her mother or father.
From her point of view, he had skipped past the important point.
"Why can't you!? No one would reject anyone, there wouldn't be any conflict between anyone, and it wouldn't cause anyone any trouble, so why do you alone push her away!? If you would just bury the hatchet and take just one step toward the Queen, it would fix all the problems in the world!!"
"..."
It might look that way if you did not know anything.
It might look like the conflict would end if Kyousuke stopped rejecting the White Queen's intense appeals.
However.
"I can't do that. No matter what."
"That's not a reason!! The White Queen loves you so much, so how could she be doing anything wrong!? It's your fault for not looking her way! That's why she's sulking!! So why do you actively seek that chaos, Onii-chan!? The White Queen is so admirable, so what don't you like about her!?"
"Because that evil is in love with Shiroyama Kyousuke the Strongest."
"?"
Olivia fell silent because she did not know what he meant.
Her small hands did not touch anything: not her double braids, not her decorative collar, not her thick chain, and not the keyhole of the bag-sized lock. She could not even comfort herself by fidgeting with something in her hands.
Her eyes remained wide as she tilted her head in actual confusion for once, so Kyousuke looked her in the eye and explained.
"That is not who I am. It is a fictional being. She is obsessed with an image of Shiroyama Kyousuke that she created in her own mind, so it wouldn't solve anything for me to approach her now. The discrepancies between the ideal and the reality would be laid bare and it would all fall apart. She would decide her love had been a crude fake."
"That's not..."
"The person in front of you here can't compare to the Shiroyama Kyousuke the Queen thinks I am, Olivia. In fact, no one can. Since I don't meet the specs of that framework, I can't even control the White Queen through her love. That leaves only one option: killing and stopping her, once and for all."
"That's not true!! I don't understand what you're saying, Onii-chan! There isn't more than one Shiroyama Kyousuke! Why can't you understand the simple fact that there's only one of you in the world, Onii-chan!?"
"Yes, there is only one of me. And I only have this one life." Kyousuke readily admitted it."But the White Queen doesn't understand that. She might look completely obsessed with me, but if I actually die, she'll give up on me in the blink of an eye. She'll decide it had all been an illusion and she'll search out something else that won't be destroyed at the slightest touch. And if that happens, no one will be able to predict what she'll do because they won't know what she's obsessed with. That's why I have to kill her myself while she's focused on me. Anything else would do irreparable damage to the world."
"Onii-chan, what you're saying makes no sense..."
"Probably not. But it's the truth."
"That settles it. I'm going with you, Onii-chan. I mean, you're clearly insane and that will never change if I'm not with you. It's clear now that you won't join the White Queen unless you realize the error of your ways!"
Kyousuke slowly sighed.
That was good enough for now.
He had been afraid they would reach a stalemate, but now he knew Olivia would stay with him instead of wandering off. They did not need a complete mutual understanding right away. It was more important that he set up a situation where they could contact each other at any time.
"Olivia, I'm fairly certain we're safe since we haven't been attacked for more than 24 hours now, but just to be sure: you don't have a bug or homing beacon on you, do you?"
"You're the one that stripped off all my clothes, aren't you? You didn't check then?"
"That is one hell of a false accusation there, but whatever. How about inside your body?"
"Do you want to check every nook and cranny yourself? Here: ahhhh."
She was acting just like a sulking child. She did not care if he saw her small tongue or the uvula in the back of her throat. Olivia opened her mouth wide and looked up at him, so Kyousuke ran his smartphone along her undeveloped bodylines like a metal detector.
He also looked deep in the defenseless girl's throat before answering.
"Well, I can tell you aren't giving off any obvious EM or IR signals. Still..."
"Isn't that good enough? Hmph."
If they were using Repliglass, it was possible an aromatic or chemical signal was conveying information like ant or bee pheromones, so this was still not perfect. However...
"But this could be a problem. If I'm caught off guard and die, I'll never have a chance to make up with the Queen. Never ever."
"! I don't have anything! If I did, I'd tell you!!"
This was Olivia Highland's controller.
Kyousuke decided to trust her here.
Whatever was motivating her, he doubted Olivia would lie. That small girl in a school swimsuit, a decorative collar, a ridiculously short skirt, and a floral pattern pareo would not allow anyone to get in the way of bringing Shiroyama Kyousuke and the White Queen together. Not even if it was a fellow Bridesmaid member. Her belief in the Queen was different from Azalea's or The Saint's. It was purer, more transparent, and void of ulterior motives, but that made it much more deeply rooted.
"Then let's move on to our next destination."
That was all he said before leaving the shrine(?) which housed emergency supplies. As he left through the double doors, Waitress Biondetta whispered into his ear.
Only someone who had shared his past in the Queen's Miniature Garden could speak these words.
(You really don't need to let that March Hare incident bother you after all these years, you know?)
Kyousuke responded without looking back.
His voice was deep and cold.
"It's a simple fact."
Meinokawa Aoi guided them from the large cave and into more complex passageways. These had outdoor lights attached at irregular intervals, but the bedrock was supported by wooden pillars. Perhaps due to the moisture in the air, they seemed somehow swollen. It may have been a way of keeping people away from this holy ground, but...
(This is bad. A lot of this looked hand dug, but this area looks especially dangerous. )
"This area sure has changed, " commented Aoi.
"Really?"
"Given my origins, I used to use the caves as a playground, but I don't remember it looking so rundown. This is what happens when you look away for a moment. The flow of time is so cruel."
The silver-haired shrine maiden narrowed her eyes and sounded somewhat sorrowful.
The wooden framework must have reminded her of traditional scaffolding and the modern lights of traditional lamps because Meinokawa Aoi pouted her lips.
"I wonder what will happen with the festival. I never know when I will be able to come to the surface next and it isn't often that coincides with such a festive opportunity. I had hoped I could go enjoy it with everyone."
"..."
"Well, I know I'm hardly normal. They were all just little kids, but it won't take long before they outgrow me both physically and mentally. And who knows how the festival will have changed form by the time I make another appearance. Honestly. Just honestly."
At that point, Aoi slowly shook her head.
Instead of not creating stress, she immediately rid herself of the stress she did create.
That seemed to be her way of life, so she intentionally changed the subject.
"The Joruri Method is a technological system with a history stretching back five or six hundred years, but as its name suggests, it is something of a hodgepodge of different things."
Both moisture and dust filled the air, but that had to be a harsh environment for a fully artificial being. She wiped moisture from her brow, which showed off the armpit hidden below her wide sleeve.
"Just as Joruri is a collection of various plays, songs, and dolls, the Joruri Method forming my body has gathered many technologies from both the East and the West. A lot of it came from the South Seas and the Western Continent, so you could maybe even say it is primarily a Western thing."
"...What's your point?"
"Prepare to be amazed when you see the St. Elmo at the summit. Golems, Homunculi, the Shakoki-Dogu, the Terracotta Army, images of the Virgin Mary, images of the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara, and even execution devices like the iron maiden and the wicker man. Oh, you will be all too aware of just how greedy and indiscriminate a people the Japanese are."
"If you say so."
"You! Will! Be! Amaaaaazed!!"
Aoi began childishly thrashing about (which made those surprisingly large things jiggle), but when she saw that exchange, Olivia pouted her lips while clinging to Kyousuke's hips, which she had apparently decided was her designated spot.
"Boo. If you were always like this, you wouldn't have to fight with the White Queen."
Since Aoi was designed to look just like the Queen, this situation might indeed look something like that, but in reality it could not have been more different.
And then...
"!"
Kyousuke and Biondetta simultaneously grabbed Meinokawa Aoi's shoulders as she took the lead once more.
This was a hand-dug tunnel, so it was not as straight as a school hallway. It meandered here and there and they had heard a quiet noise from further ahead.
The silver-haired shrine maiden gave them a puzzled look, so Kyousuke used a gesture that would be understood in most any country in the world: he pressed his index finger against her soft lips.
And on top of that...
"(The footsteps are too regular. They're probably with Bridesmaid. Should we take them out here?)"
"(The bedrock is unstable. The pillars are rotted and half broken, so summoning a Material could easily get us buried alive. )"
"(Yes, and Bridesmaid would probably happily do it on purpose if it was for the Queen. )"
They could not reproduce any detailed nuance while communicating using their eyes and fingers instead of words, but that was the gist of the conversation.
They had to think up some way around this. The tunnel curved a lot, but it was still just the one path and there was no other path to take.
And a moment later...
"Wait!! Is someone there!?"
A booming voice struck Kyousuke in the back.
It came from Olivia Highland who had been clinging to him until now. She let go of his hips and walked on ahead. Thinking she was betraying them, the waitress demon prepared to snap at her, but Kyousuke stopped her with a hand. The situation was already underway. He could only reach for the Incense Grenade in his pocket while carefully watching the girl in a school swimsuit, decorative collar, ridiculously short skirt, and floral print pareo.
"That voice...?"
"You were safe, Miss Highland!?"
(Oh, I get it...)
Kyousuke thought to himself while listening to the voices from the blind spot down the tunnel.
(She had gone missing, but it was possible they still didn't know Olivia was working with us. )
"There was some trouble with the bombing and everything else, so I got separated. You hadn't heard?"
"We had. He was worried."
"We can head there right away. We'll get you some hot food and a blanket."
"No, I can still walk around, so don't worry. Don't take away my faith in the White Queen." Olivia spoke cheerfully."More importantly, I saw footprints matching Shiroyama Kyousuke's on the way here. And the food wrappers hidden around here were a lot like what I saw in the shopping district. Investigate outside. He's probably been frequently heading up to the surface."
After hearing the footsteps disappear into the distance, Olivia stuck out her tongue. The others remained hidden until there was no chance they would be heard.
"Well, that should about do it. If I'm going to get Onii-chan and the Queen together, I guess I can't let Bridesmaid capture you here." She lightly struck her small chest with her fist and she winked."See? I'm not your enemy right now, Onii-chan☆"
"Hm, " muttered Kyousuke as he focused on their surroundings.
The group blocking the way forward really did seem to be gone, so she was not bluffing.
Confident in that, he crouched down to her eye level.
"Which will it be, Olivia: a rap on the head or a spanking?"
"Eh!?"
"What else could you expect after running off without asking our opinion first!?" demanded Biondetta."Sir, this isn't worth your time. Allow me to turn this insolent little butt bright red."
"Nyah, nyahhh!?"
Olivia made a surprisingly swift escape, but she ultimately took up her position hiding behind Kyousuke's back. Her already small body shrank down further and tears filled her eyes.
In fact...
"Biondetta, aren't you chasing her around a little too much? You've scared her enough to count as a punishment, so leave it at that."
"I see. So it was you spoiling her like this that created her current personality."
Meanwhile...
"Oh, deary me."
As an antique, Aoi gave quite an elderly-sounding exclamation as she climbed up an especially tall step in the tunnel. Once past that, the scenery changed entirely. Before, it had been a tunnel with mining lightbulbs installed at irregular intervals, but now the walls were covered in white crystals. Due to the crystalline structure, they seemed to form giant diagonal pillars and the light reflected off the walls and ceiling made it hard to judge distances or depth.
Was it black-haired Renge who had mentioned these crystals were used for the shrine's protective charms?
"Once through here, we will be near the summit. I mentioned a crater lake that had dried up after the bottom grew cracked, right? A ladder was embedded in the side of large crack, so we can use that as a shortcut."
"I see."
Kyousuke nodded once in the even greater moisture of this cave.
"...But it looks like we're going to run into some trouble first."
The sound was too high-pitched to call footsteps. Perhaps that was because this was a crystal deposit.
A single figure blocked their way forward.
The large man wore a lab coat and a black riding suit, so he looked out of place among the white crystals. His inhaler-equipped helmet resembled a fighter pilot's and a wheeled oxygen tank rolled at his feet. This was the swordsman summoner who had worked with Olivia and caught Biondetta off guard the day before.
Before he could draw the sword which was longer than he was tall, the vengeance demon aimed the muzzle at the end of her silver Blood-Sign.
But not at the large man. She aimed it at the back of Olivia's head as she clung to Kyousuke's hips.
"Biondetta."
"No, sir. Olivia Highland is skilled enough to accurately destroy the Silhouette at the core of a Material, so beginning a battle against her at Cost 1 would be suicide. If you can't start with a Cost advantage of at least 5 and preferably more than 10, it would be best to avoid using the Summoning Ceremony."
"It doesn't matter, " replied Kyousuke. And he was not just letting emotion cloud his judgment."If that was all it took to be the strongest, I would have killed the Queen a lot sooner."
"..."
Olivia trembled even more than Biondetta when she heard that.
What was it that had shocked the small girl? That he was denying her talent, or that he had mentioned killing the Queen?
"Olivia, are you going to rejoin him?"
"Onii-chan..."
"Do as you wish. Either way, I'll crush him and continue on."
Kyousuke did not even look back at the girl whose swimsuit had grown a darker shade of blue after reabsorbing so much moisture. For one thing, she was still contracted with that summoner. If that helmeted man threw an Incense Grenade, she could not reject it.
And Olivia could accurately guide an attack toward the Silhouette and ignore the Cost difference.
(But that perfect one-hit-kill technique is reliant on Olivia Highland actually controlling the Material. )
Kyousuke kept his eyes on the enemy before him and pulled his Repliglass Blood-Sign from his back.
(So it's just like trick art or an optical illusion. If I can fool Olivia's sensory organs, she'll still miss and won't be able to pull off that one-hit-kill. Of course, the Material will be changing every few seconds and each time I'll have to rearrange the trick to work with ultrasonic waves, infrared, or whatever other senses it has, but that's fine. I have it all memorized. )
"What's the matter, Bridesmaid?"
He put on a daring smile as he made his announcement.
He had no idea who this man was, but if he was reliant on Olivia Highland's talent, it was all over for him.
"Just try it. Assuming you're really so confident that you can defeat me with the same trick twice."
The helmeted swordsman summoner did not move out of the way and he remained silent.
No, it was hard to tell with the mask covering his expression, but he was laughing.
"I knew it..."
Finally, he spoke.
But Shiroyama Kyousuke was the only one who tensed in realization of what that voice meant.
"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. So a mere princess was not enough to stop you."
"You... It can't be..."
Biondetta frowned at how he said the word "you".
There were only a select few people with which he put such emphasis on the word. This had to be someone quite close to him but also a target of his hatred.
Then who was he?
This had to be someone just as - or more - twisted than Biondetta, but what candidates remained?
Olivia gave the answer.
While still clinging to Kyousuke's hips, the double blonde braid girl called her partner's name.
"...Doctor S."
"That's right. And the S stands for Shiroyama, you failed guinea pigs."
Once, 15 children had been gathered from around the world and placed in a secret facility deep underground. The children living in the Miniature Garden had all been given new names, but there had been one point in common between those names.
They had all been given the surname of Shiroyama.
But why?
The situation was set in motion before their thoughts could catch up. Doctor S pulled a pineapple-shaped Incense Grenade from his lab coat and Shiroyama Kyousuke's Blood-Sign sliced through the air before he could pull the pin.
The weapon roared like a metal bat and was clearly being used to prevent Doctor S from starting the Summoning Ceremony.
That was hardly surprising.
His attack hit the back of Olivia's neck as she clung defenselessly to his hips. He did not hesitate to strike the bright nape visible below her decorative collar.
"Gah!?"
Even if the summoner and vessel were spiritually linked, there was nothing they could do if one of them was physically knocked unconscious. Olivia crumpled to the cave floor like a broken doll. Doctor S laughed within his helmet and toyed with the useless Incense Grenade in his hand.
"I thought you said she could do as she wished, you failure."
"I take it back, you piece of sheet."
Even during that carefree exchange of words, they were already clashing. Kyousuke and Doctor S left everyone else behind and swung their Blood-Signs as purely physical weapons. Kyousuke knew the swordsman summoner would knock his Blood-Sign from the air with his sword, but he incorporated that into his plan and transformed the ricochet into an unexpected lucky hit. His Blood-Sign shot up irregularly and veered sharply toward the man's face.
"Whoops."
With the sound of something solid breaking, the lab coat man's head jerked backwards.
The single blow had shattered his military grade helmet like an eggshell, but the man known as Doctor S did not seem to mind. He moved back and used almost elegant movements to pull a clear medical device from his lab coat, press the inhaler mask to his mouth, and tighten the tubes running through his riding suit like a fighter pilot's suit.
That artificially reproduced a hyperbaric oxygen environment to manipulate his own thought speed.
He was a man leaving middle age and approaching elderly.
But even with his gray hair revealed, he did not look at all physically inferior. His body was covered in the muscles of an athlete who constantly trained with machines.
And it was a mistake to breathe a sigh of relief just because he stepped back.
Despite that action, Doctor S was still close enough for his long sword to behead or bisect Kyousuke. Just like with Biondetta, he had created an imaginary hurdle to cover himself with the apparent shadow of defeat.
"Tch!!"
After a short delay, Kyousuke raised his Blood-Sign vertically to defend. A moment later, orange sparks and an impact burst out before the sound of slicing air was heard. Unable to fully stop that weight, Kyousuke was knocked off balance.
"Sir!!"
Biondetta joined the fight with her waitress-style miniskirt fluttering around her.
She had no idea which way Doctor S himself would move, so she instead fired a sniper rifle bullet at the wheeled oxygen tank at his feet. The metal can was defenseless because it took a moment for his movements to propagate down and move it, so her bullet opened a hole in its center. But...
"Biondetta, not yet!!"
"!? Really!? It's still not over!?"
Had anyone said it was over once the oxygen tank was taken out?
Just as the tank exploded, Doctor S moved forward. Kyousuke was forced to defend and his movements were further sealed by the need to cover for Biondetta.
"Let's see."
Meinokawa Aoi sounded far too carefree as she cut between the two of them.
Doctor S now had his inhaler connected to an oxygen tank the size of a hairspray can and he naturally drew his sword and made a horizontal slash toward the defenseless shrine maiden's slender neck, but...
"Removing my head will not kill me."
She did it herself.
It was like removing a hat with her dominant hand. Meinokawa Aoi winked and removed her head just in time for the tip of the silver line to pass through the empty air between. And it was not over yet. With her needlessly large breasts pushing out on her shrine maiden outfit, (headless) Aoi had removed the expected resistance from the sword's path, so it continued on and forcefully struck the wall of the crystal cave. It seemed not even Doctor S could fight the pain that sent shooting up from his wrist.
"Oh? That's a neat trick!" he said.
"Surely you know why samurai and ninja mansions were built with such narrow hallways. Besides, the katana is a part of our culture, so I would rather a mere fan not act like an expert."
Before the brief pain and tingling passed, Kyousuke and Biondetta were on the move again. The two summoners rushed past headless Meinokawa Aoi on either side and Doctor S finally managed to move back to put more distance between them.
The flow of time changed from fast to slow.
But it was a tense slow, like a taut bowstring that could be released at any moment.
The inhaler-equipped full-face helmet of a fighter pilot had been broken and Kyousuke roared at the exposed face of the gray-haired man.
"What the hell are you doing here, dad!?"
"Yes, yes! I am still searching for the 'answer' that kept you from calling me scum!!"
Some questions about Shiroyama Kyousuke's past had remained.
He had seemed familiar with the Summoning Ceremony even before arriving in the Miniature Garden. He had set an objective for himself and fulfilled it like a precision guided missile, but who had made him that way?
In fact...
Just like young Biondetta had arrived at the Miniature Garden after experiencing something that not even "horrific" suitably described, where had Kyousuke come from to arrive in the Miniature Garden?
All of the answers were found here.
Doctor S switched to a clear medical inhaler before speaking.
"My greatest desire was fulfilled in July of 1999. I saw the future then. I discovered the Third Summoning Ceremony, contacted the beings that surpass even the gods, and saw that purest of white lights. And there I saw nothing but despair."
If he drew the blade, he would make a slash. If he sheathed it, he would deliver a blunt blow.
Even with the Summoning Ceremony taken from him...no, because it was taken from him, Doctor S shined all the more.
As if to say he had always been strongest on his own.
"But the stagnation afterwards was truly awful. You understand, don't you? I created you, remade you, and released you into the world as a guiderail for the Queen! But you failed!! Humanity! Has! Made! No! Progress!! Ever since, I've had my hands full simply making course corrections! Yes, even now!!"
"From the beginning...?"
Based on how long they had lived, Meinokawa Aoi was much older than Doctor S. Since she had been created as an exact lookalike, she would have made at least partial contact earlier than him.
But the silver-haired shrine maiden still used that wording.
She reattached her head and brushed her long hair off her shoulders.
"He was involved in it all from the very beginning? From the moment the Blood-Sign Summoning Ceremony was created!?"
"Hurry it up."
The man who carried a different legend from Kyousuke's spoke in a voice shaking from either irritation or joy.
Regardless, he urged Kyousuke to hurry.
"Hurry up and bring the Queen under control. Then this world will be completed. Humanity will be able to stand at the true peak. You guide while I experience. You don't mind if I give you a push forward and move the hands of the world's clock ahead a bit if it helps us fulfill our respective roles, do you?"
"You thrill-obsessed freak..."
"Precisely! It is because I feel more fear than anyone that I desire more than anyone, ensure my safety more than anyone, and want to experience it all from closer than anyone!! Yes, yes!! This tingling in my spine is everything!! But why bother mentioning how I live my life at this point?"
Either way, it did not matter what Kyousuke thought.
This man had not wanted to be destroyed by the pure white, so he had given that role to someone else. He had merely used his own child as the bumper of his car so he could remain in the driver's seat and feel none of the pain himself. That was why he had "created" Kyousuke.
Yes, he did not even feel the attachment one might for a stuffed animal. It was all purely mechanical.
If they saw the number of things forced onto Kyousuke until he had given up on living a life in the light of the sun, anyone would have known it was far too much for a single person to bear.
This was not for someone else or for an Alice.
Just how rare was it for that boy to shout in anger for himself?
That unspeakable cruelty had already gone much too far.
"You said you would give me a push forward, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Did you never consider the possibility that I would kill you before that?"
"Of course not." Doctor S's shoulders would not stop shaking with laughter."Surely you didn't think my experiment could be stopped simply by taking Olivia Highland from me. Surely you didn't think the nightmare of Doctor S would stop at that."
He snapped his fingers.
Immediately, an invisible but definite change occurred. Only those involved in the Summoning Ceremony would understand what had happened.
(He ended his contract with Olivia!?)
"..."
"You can throw an Incense Grenade if you feel the need, " said Doctor S."Yes, you, the failure over there! You are Biondetta from the Miniature Garden, aren't you!? You were such a failure your file wasn't even worth tagging, so you two feel free to work together and attack me with two Materials at once. Either way, there is no chance of me being defeated here."
"...It's impossible?"
Biondetta gulped.
That demon of vengeance scorched even the air around her with all forms of madness and barbarity, but she was just about overwhelmed by the great pressure of Doctor S.
"No matter how skilled you might be, that advantage only gives you the upper hand until we summon the Materials, " she warned."Once we summon those otherworldly beings, a flesh-and-blood human will be crushed with no way to fight back. And that is true even of the Cost 1 Original Series."
"True enough. If we are following those stagnant rules, anyway."
He admitted it, yet his confidence remained.
He was hiding something. And this trump card was so great that it would overturn everything the instant he revealed it.
(Don't tell me...)
Only one thing came to mind.
That was the great evil that Kyousuke least wanted to remember, but it was still the very first thing that occurred to him.
"Don't tell me! You...!!"
As if to reject the answer he had accepted, Kyousuke pulled the pin from a metal can and threw it.
But it did not detonate.
It did not even fall to the crystal ground.
"It may only be five seconds, but that is still five seconds."
The next thing he knew, another hand was reaching out from the space next to Doctor S. There had been nowhere for a third party to hide in this open tunnel, but it readily appeared from behind him like a piece of trick art.
It was a slender hand wearing a long white glove.
This was not Meinokawa Aoi.
This was not the lookalike...!?
"The flow of time is not a set thing. For example, if you approach impossibly close to the speed of light, a mere instant will stretch out almost infinitely long. In other words, five seconds in this hand is the same as an eternity, brother."
A sensation much like goose bumps raced across Kyousuke's entire body.
He recognized this.
No one wanted to, but Kyousuke recognized this sensation.
Something was appearing.
Something stepped out from behind Doctor S's back as if flipping over a card.
At this point, there was no denying it.
"Hello, brother. It's finally me☆"
More than terror or rage, it was overpowering nausea that initially exploded in the center of his body.
"U...rp!!!???"
He doubled over, just barely forced down the burning sensation in his throat, and began to step back.
But the sense of danger did not vanish.
The White Queen had appeared.
And yet he could not see the end of it. This was the worst possible situation he could think of, but was it going to get even worse!?
Step.
Step, step.
Those leisurely footsteps did not come from the Queen before his eyes.
They echoed off the crystal cave's walls and ceiling as they surrounded the boy and the pure white. But who were they? The greatest evil had already made an appearance, so what was this rotten world waiting around to reveal to him?
"Brother, you already understand, don't you?" The White Queen giggled and casually crushed the Incense Grenade trapped in her eternal prison."What could possibly overpower the pressure I produce as an individual? Surely you already know the answer."
He did not.
He could not find the answer.
After all, he couldn't think of any being that could surpass the White Queen. If anything could overpower that one-of-a-kind and frustratingly absolute white evil, she never would have been such a problem. It was the lack of such a being that had led him to create one, so how could one be walking around now?
After thinking that far, Kyousuke froze in place.
One-of-a-kind.
That meant there could not be two White Queens.
But was that really true?
"Now, then. It's time to announce today's horror theme."
The White Queen gave a carefree smile.
Kyousuke used his trembling throat to speak in something like a groan.
"It...can't be..."
"It can't be what, brother?"
"You've...multiplied...?"
"Non, non."
Kyousuke could feel the relief inside his chest when she readily denied that possibility. It was as humiliating as receiving pet food from a kidnapper, but he could not deny the truth. He had to accept it.
But then she said more.
Step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step.
Those disconcerting footsteps filled the entire area and she smiled to show off her unnaturally long canine teeth.
"The correct answer is infection. And I mean of humans, of course☆"
Immediately afterwards, the White Queen placed her hands on her flushed cheeks. Her eyes were damp, her breaths were heated, and a tremor ran down her spine because it was just that perfect.
Shiroyama Kyousuke's mind exploded into sparks and he screamed at the top of his lungs.
This saying remains in a small, historical kingdom hidden in the depths of the mountains of Eastern Europe:
The large roof of Kingdom F is supported by two pillars.
In addition to the royal family that handles the official duties and stands before the people, there is apparently another bloodline that thoroughly supports the kingdom from the shadows.
Neither side is superior or more prosperous than the other.
They burn through their lives and fulfill their duties equally to preserve the peace and order of Kingdom F.
It is said the White Queen will swing down the hammer of punishment when rebels appear to tear apart that beautiful land of ice and snow.
That role is fulfilled by the Royal Shadows, but that also means they only have a chance to serve their kingdom when it is in urgent need. That may be the reason why. They refused to make their name public despite belonging to a legitimate bloodline, but that may have been due to their self-imposed rule to never desire any action that would destabilize the kingdom.
They remain in the shadows while fighting to protect the people.
Those iron watchmen desire only the smiles of the people and refuse even formless glory.
As they fight in secret and die in secret, tracing their footsteps is incredibly difficult, but if you check in the deepest depths of Kingdom F's giant royal library, legend has it you might just run across a text filled with specially compiled records.
The only thing known for sure is that Kingdom F has survived to this day.
That is proof enough that there have been people protecting its continued existence.
Incidentally, there is a small fragment of a record that has survived:
Sinceria Highland.
Government Award 913, Noble Bride.
However, her Awards have been reset a few times in the past, so that number does not accurately represent her skill. Even as the monarch herself, she is an extremely skilled vessel who follows an absolute merit system in which she selects the most skilled man among the royal knights as her summoner.
Facts:
*The Third Summoning Ceremony is a contract between a human and a Material, so the better someone demonstrates the definition of "human", the better they are perceived by the Material and the better the two synchronize.
*The vessel's mind is contained in the Silhouette at the core of the Material and destroying that allows an instant kill even with a Cost difference of 5-10. But only a vessel at Olivia's extraordinary level can pull it off outside of a lucky hit.
*The Blood-Sign Summoning Ceremony is still a ceremony, so a failure hits the magic user with damage that can be called a reaction or side effect. Meinokawa Aoi used this to hold back Olivia.
*Meinokawa Aoi is attempting to procure an artificial vessel using the facility in a cruise ship near the top of the mountain.
*Olivia sees the conflict between Kyousuke and the White Queen as a couple's argument, so she intends to become the enemy or ally of either in order to bring them back together.
*When a vessel becomes a Material, they receive information on the outside world through the specific Material's sensory organs.
*Doctor S is Shiroyama Kyousuke's biological father and he used his own child as a guiderail for the White Queen. After the Queen's Miniature Garden, he decided that plan had ended in failure.
*Doctor S was one of the researchers who constructed the Blood-Sign method in 1999 and he was planning to usurp the White Queen's position from the beginning.
*The Queen is infecting people this time.
*Currently, there are 14, 902 White Queens inside Houbi Village. And that number continues to grow.
| ← Ch. 077 | Ch. 079 → |