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| ← Ch.25 | Ch.27 → |
into such a deep sleep.
Chapter 1: Try
Part 1
"Waaaaaahhhhhh!!"
- The capital of the Elchean Federation, Elchea
The last fortress of the Imanity - The lowest-ranked among the
「Sixteen Races」
Until a mere few months earlier, it was a country on the brink of extinction, being forced down to its last city.
However now it had annexed the large maritime country, the
「Eastern Union」, and was expanding its territory at a speed never-before-seen.
A sharp, loud scream of agony came from the capital of a nation that was slowly turning from a 「Nation」 to a
「Federation」.
- In an instant.
The workers within the city that were extremely busy froze for a moment as though time had stopped completely, but it was only for an instant, and they soon resumed their work, seemingly as if nothing had ever happened.
Yep - it was a normal occurrence, and everyone there was used to it.
Everyone knew that 「That person」 was probably yelling again.
And the reason why that person was causing a commotion was probably due to a reason as normal as it could get.
Sometimes a sympathetic atmosphere would billow over the entire city, although everyone still had to return to their own workstations afterward.
"Argh!! Are you an idiot? You're an idiot! You are an idiot, right!?"
The red-haired girl skilfully reconstructed her sentence thrice, and yelled again.
- Stephanie Dora, commonly known as Steph.
She was the head of the Dora family, possessing the t. i. tle of a d. u. c. h. ess, and she was the granddaughter of the late king as well, being a blue blood princess.
She would definitely be a ladylike woman with incredible potential in the future - however those features weren't present at all at that moment, and she had absolutely no way to explain away the situation she was in.
She sat on a chair, scratching her head furiously, looked up and roared loudly.
"... Who's an idiot, des?"
This query was raised by the Werebeast that was sitting crosslegged on the floor beside Steph - Hatsuse Izuna.
Her age appeared to be in the single-digit range, being a young yukata-wearing girl with huge fox-like ears and a bushy tail.
The book in her hand was upside-down, however Steph didn't bother correcting her.
"I mean Sora and s. h. i. +ro, no, it's me!! What did I say - leave it to me - argh!! Am I an idiot? I'm an idiot!!"
She continued yelling with her arms spread wide.
"Find the real reason why the Seirens Empress is hibernating from the library of the late king!! Leave it to me!! Isn't this what an idiot would say!? How many books do you think there are here!? And, what I want to say is!"
She stopped for a count, and surveyed the bookshelves that covered all the surrounding walls.
"Why and how would I accept a task like searching for a book which existence is unclear so easily!!"
They were in the secret room of the late king - his secret library.
The late king had played the role of a foolish king in order to research and find out the contents of the games of other nations which involve magic or supernatural abilities, as well as how the Imanity themselves could triumph over them.
The records that he had spent his life on - the inheritance of this great man, was all displayed in this room, covering the walls around them.
His great work was compiled in over a thousand books, completely filling up the library.
Even though they were already arranged according to the date written - there was yet to be any hint of when the late king had approached the Seirens, so they could only inspect them one by one. Steph let out an anguished cry upon realizing that was the task they had to undergo, which was - what had happened earlier.
And the worst part was -
Steph pointed towards Izuna with a pained expression on her face but no tears to fully express it - the Werebeast who was holding a book upside-down.
"What the heck does Sora think Izuna can do? She can't even understand Imanity!!"
"Steph-kou, you're really loud, des. Doesn't it look like I'm learning now, des." [1] - What?
"C-could you please wait? What did you call me just now?"
"... ? Grandpa said that Steph is a d. u. c. h. ess before, des."
"Why did you have to shorten it!? It makes me feel extremely insulted!" [2]
"... Why, des? Steph-kou."
Izuna looked over at Steph with her head tilted.
"Ah, aaaaahhhhh, don't insult me with your round, ignorant eyes!? If I open the door to a new world by accident while sleep deprived, how are you going to make it up to me!?"
Steph banged her head against the corner of a table in frustration, however Izuna replied coldly:
"Steph-kou, stop it, let's get to work, des. Grandpa is still waiting for us, des."
"... Guh... y-you're right, there's no use lamenting like this."
Yes, her grandfather - Hatsuse Ino was being held hostage by the Seirens.
Izuna was tired as well, but even she was trying her best to learn the Imanity language, so Steph had no right to complain -
Steph took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down.
After which she corrected Izuna.
"Speaking of which, Izuna... that book's upside down."
"... ! I-I knew that, des. I-it was on purpose, of course. Des!?"
Izuna hurriedly flipped her book right side up, while Steph continued to correct her.
"Also, even if you really didn't mess up it's fine, but the
Imanity language is different from the Werebeast language, it's read horizontally!"
"-? There's a difference between reading horizontally and vertically, des?"
Izuna widened her eyes with a curious expression on her face.
"... Izuna, I've never asked you before, but how old are you?"
Izuna began counting off numbers from her fingers slowly after hearing the question.
She replied with an unconfident question:
"I... I'm supposed to start counting from zero, right?"
- Steph instantly understood.
It was completely reasonable that Izuna would be so close to
Sora and s. h. i. +ro, because they were essentially the same kind of people.
They were geniuses at video games, however they knew nothing else other than that.
Steph sighed and pa. s. sed her another book.
"... Izuna, you should start from this one."
"What kind of book is this, des?"
"It's a book that I used while I was still studying to learn the
Werebeast language, it's in a game format between the two countries -"
"Oh, I understand, des."
Upon hearing the word game, Izuna immediately s. n. a. t. c. hed the book from her and began flipping through it at a furious pace.
Steph approved of her newfound motivation, and knew she was actually trying her best.
But if she read that fast she probably wouldn't understand anything - Steph looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh.
"A... anyway I need to search one by one -"
Just as Steph was undergoing her solemn revelation...
Grumble
She heard a noise and voice that made her revelation instantly dissipate.
"-Steph-kou, I'm hungry, des. Bring food, des."
As though a switch within her had been flicked, Izuna spoke suddenly to Steph and closed her book with a loud smack.
She was motivated, energetic, and wanted to save her grandpa.
But despite that, she actually said - bring food.
Izuna requested that with her huge round eyes that didn't carry any malicious intent.
The young female Werebeast scratched her large ears with her feet while continuously waving her bushy tail from left to right.
Steph was forced to make a decision upon seeing her unbelievably cute appearance.
One, forget everything and just collapse.
Two, make food for this inexplicably cute creature.
After struggling with herself for some time - her sleepiness finally succ. u. mbed to Izuna's cuteness.
"A-alright... you can't do anything with an empty stomach anyway... I'll just make something simple to eat with the ingredients I have at hand."
"Mm, I really want to eat fish, but I'll restrain myself, you are forgiven, des."
Just like that, Steph dragged herself slowly out of the library.
... Coming back to the main topic, you all still remember that this is Elchea, right?
At that time Steph could have just collapsed without a care in the world and leave Izuna's meals to the chefs in the kitchen, however she had completely forgot about this selection. Steph lifelessly trudged out of the library, while Izuna followed her with her tail still waggling, and no-one bothered to remind them about it.
Part 2
Let's switch the scene - to twenty thousand meters in the air.
Sora began thinking at an alt. i. tude almost three times as high up as the Himalayas.
How should he describe the scenery in front of him?
- First, please imagine a Rubik's cube.
Then hand this Rubik's cube that requires a certain level of intelligence over to someone that is pretty far off from that certain level of intelligence.
After being forcibly taken apart by a pair of pliers, the splinters of the Rubik's cube would then be splattered all about the floor.
Now resist the urge to complain, and repeat those previous actions about a thousand more times.
So? Do you get it now?
The scenery was arranged in such a fas. h. i. +on - which was the scenery around Sora.
"Welcome to my hometown located on the back of the
Phantasmas, the floating city - Avant Heim."
With her back facing the small mountain of splinters of
Rubik's cubes.
Jibril introduced her 「City」 with a sweet smile on her face, while Sora responded dumbly:
"Um, I'm pretty sure that all the cities I know of at least have roads in them."
The scenery around them was knitted and woven with countless gigantic cubes stacked upon each other.
In the eyes of a renowned artist, there would probably be some meaningful theme to it.
However, regretfully, the eighteen-year-old mortal virgin Sora could only describe it with one word.
Which was - chaotic.
"Anyway, Jibril - let me say this about the Flügel."
"... 「Un. o. bstructed s. p. a. ces」... are important..."
- Sora and others began working at the same time as Steph and
Izuna.
To discover the true conditions to awaken the Empress of the
Seirens - so, in order to carry out comparison and evaluation with people that had underwent the same game, they had went to the one place in the world that stored the most information.
Which meant - the city of the Flügel, Avant Heim.
"Ah, Master, don't stray too far away from me, as the air here is somewhat thin."
Sora and s. h. i. +ro nodded complacently after hearing Jibril's words.
Also Sora had absolutely no idea of how they should proceed from there.
"... Right, if only the Flügel stay here, there isn't a need for public transport services at all..."
In the 「City」 below them, there weren't any doors, windows, nor roads. To be honest, beings that could move about without any form of restriction didn't need those things. Although they could understand that, the fact that the entire place was constructed with huge, countless cubes denied people any sense of perspective, and since they had nothing to compare the place to they couldn't gauge how exactly big it was.
"... It's not like a city... it's more like a jigsaw puzzle..."
s. h. i. +ro expressed her easily understandable thoughts, after which she mumbled while looking up:
"... The sky is... blue?"
At twenty thousand meters up the place should be at the doors of outer s. p. a. ce, so they shouldn't be able to see blue skies at all...
"Avant Heim is a Phantasma ranked second among the
「Sixteen Races」. This race is ranked even higher than the race that is the source of the Elemental Galleries in this world - the Elementals, and they are organisms completely independent from all normal forms of reproduction. To put it simply...
Avant Heim is another world entirely, that's all you need to know."
Even though the air in the atmosphere didn't seem to be enough for her Masters - Jibril still continued to explain.
""Hmm... I see - I don't get it.""
Sora and s. h. i. +ro nodded as one with the same focused expression.
"No matter the Flügel or the Phantasma, you lot completely refuse to work along terms comprehensible by others, and that for some reason makes us feel relaxed."
After a line of sarcasm, Sora looked towards the horizon, and saw something under a particularly tall tree - could it be that his eyes were deceiving him... probably not, there was something underneath that appeared to be a dragon skull, and it was decorated lavishly and carefully as well, then left there in the open just like that -
"... Jibril, I don't understand the art direction of this city at all."
"What!? This place will eventually be the throne of the
Masters, to think that you'd actually dislike it, it really makes me disappointed..."
Hearing Sora's grumbling, Jibril replied somewhat dispiritedly.
"Speaking of which, you should probably save this girl right?"
Sora spoke while pointing towards -
"Aaaaahhhh, the sun! The sun! I'm going to melt! I'm going to melt, burn and evaporate!"
Plum was crouching down with her body scrunched up into a ball and her hood covering her face while crying continuously.
"Ah, I'm sorry... I completely forgot about you, are you still alive?"
"I'll be dead in a few seconds! My power is decreasing drastically!!"
For a Dhampir like Plum the sunlight was fatal to them; and she appeared to be barely fending off the sunlight with her magic, but that magic itself seemed to be siphoning off even more of her energy.
"That's it, Jibril, it's not good to keep Izuna and Steph waiting, so just fly us over to the place where all the information is concentrated. Also, for Plum, it would be best if it's indoors -"
"OK, so please grasp my arms, and then -"
She appeared somewhat nervous - but yet her expression was simultaneously unreadable as well, and she grasped onto Sora and s. h. i. +ro's arms and spoke:
"... Masters, I understand that it's extremely rude for me to raise such requests - but could you please agree to two requests of mine?"
"... What is it, it's rare that you're this serious."
"- Please don't be disappointed, and please believe."
... Sora didn't understand her at all.
And Jibril merely spoke this one sentence, then shouted: "That thing over there."
"Y-yes!?"
Plum who was referred to as "That thing over there", replied with only her eyes showing themselves from beneath her hood.
"I don't mind leaving you behind here - so could you please hurry up?"
"Ah, I'll be there right this instant, don't leave me -"
Plum hurriedly stood up and dashed over, and in the instant she grabbed onto Jibril - the scenery changed as well.
Part 3
There - it was probably within one of the cubes they had saw from a distance earlier.
The place they were in was even more solemn and immense than the Elchean National Library Jibril had hogged for herself
- it was a humongous library.
The high-perched ceilings appeared to stretch up to ten stories high, and the interior was designed like an ancient ruin, with stone-made pillars and stairs, intersecting corridors and curved walkways with intertwining vines growing all over them.
And - those things that looked like 「Pillars」 were actually bookshelves.
On the other hand, there was random memorabilia scattered around the entire place as well, and stairs and walkways arranged in impossible fas. h. i. +ons like a surrealist M. C. Escher painting were all over the place - and what lit them up was, gigantic fixtures of painted gla. s. s that were definitely not on any walls, as well as infinite amounts of floating lanterns.
It was a dream-like yet elegant place - but it was a blasphemous library completely incomprehensible to the likes of the Imanity.
But leaving that aside for now, Sora spoke while pointing up at something:
"... Jibril, that was probably your doing, right?"
It was probably the effect of the large amount of air that Jibril had transported for the sake of Sora and the others.
The library (of sorts) appeared to be ravaged by strong winds, and large amounts of books were dancing about in mid-air in spiral patterns.
However Jibril looked over at that with a smile on her face and spoke:
"Don't worry about it, Masters, the owner of this place is the creator of the 《Book Equality Law》."
Sora looked up at the dancing books, and remembered why
Jibril had took over the Elchean National Library - or rather, the reason why she had left Avant Heim.
Due to the fact that they had collected too many books, the books were overwhelming Avant Heim - and they chose to deal with it by pa. s. sing the 《Book Equality Law》 in the name of eliminating unnecessary books.
"Her books are the Flügel's books, I am a Flügel, so her books are my books."
Her triple conjugations proved her Takes. h. i. + idealism, and she continued with a smile on her face: [3]
"Even if this small accident here was caused by me - or was it on purpose? I believe that she has to consider all these factors before she can 「Decide」, but of course she is extremely kind and tolerant, being able to forgive my mistakes, of course.
Even if there are books within the stash there that cannot be copied, reproduced and are the only remaining copies in this world, that's how it is ♥"
So she could only damage those books because she owned them as well.
- Speaking of which, regarding the 《Book Equality Law》 from earlier, Jibril really couldn't forgive its existence.
After which -
"Aaaaaahhh~! The books! All the books I haven't finished!!"
Everyone looked towards the source of this outcry.
While the one standing there was -
"... Whoa..."
Even s. h. i. +ro couldn't help but cry out in awe, and the person standing there was - an extraordinarily beautiful young girl.
The halo spinning around on her head, and the wings stretching out from her waist suggested that she was a Flügel just like
Jibril.
However the pattern drawn in the air by her spinning halo was even more complicated than Jibril's.
The largest difference between them was that she had a single horn protruding from her jade-green hair.
Her wings that appeared to be woven from streaks of light flapped in the air, and her appearance as she did so appeared unbelievably sacred.
But her appearance as she was flying about and struggling to collect all the books that were flapping about in the air, as well as her expression that hinted she was about to cry, was completely different from Jibril's icy cold demeanour when they had first met - instead she was extremely cute.
- Phew, phew...
She panted intentionally, then landed beside Jibril and spoke:
"Ugh~ Jii-chan you're mean-nyan~"
A saddened expression appeared on her face which immediately s. h. i. +fted to an angelic smile.
"Is this what I think it is-nyan? Is it those pranks that people play on their loved ones-nyan? Aww~ Jii-chan I haven't seen you in so long~~ nyaaaaa!?"
Jibril brilliantly teleported away in order to dodge her flying lunge towards her.
Upon seeing her crash into a pile of books, Jibril spoke blandly from behind Sora:
"- Masters, I'll introduce her to you, she's the one that approved the dastardly 《Book Equality Law》, the head of the 「Council of the Eighteen Wings」 of Avant Heim, the
「Full Representative of the Winged」 that has the right to make the final decisions regarding the country's affairs -"
She sighed and continued -
"Azrael-senpai."
- She introduced the motionless girl with half her body buried in books to Sora.
...
"... How should I put this."
"The Flügel... are interesting..."
That girl was the full representative of the race that was ranked in sixth place, brought death with them wherever they went in the past, and used to be G. o. d-killing weapons?
Sora and s. h. i. +ro mumbled to themselves, having had their expectations completely crushed.
- At this time, the young girl that was buried in the pile of books earlier, maybe because she had teleported, she had already hugged Jibril tightly while rubbing her violently with her cheeks over a span of time so short that no-one present had noticed.
"Nyan~ Jii-chan is so mean~ I haven't seen you for so long, but you're still as cold as ever but! That's fine too!!"
"Azrael-senpai is as annoying as ever as well."
Jibril spoke with a smile on her face despite having her cheeks violently jerked about.
- Although Jibril would usually reply sarcastically, this time she outright insulted her, which was rare.
"Nyan~ I've said I'm not your senpai, call me nee-san, neeeeee-saaaaaannnn~~!!"
Azrael flew about in the air, drawing a figure-eight around
Jibril.
"Jibril isn't a particularly good case but is it really ok for the full representative of the Flügel to be someone like this?"
"... Nii... you have the right... to say that?"
s. h. i. +ro looked coldly at Sora, however everyone present ignored that line.
On the other hand, Jibril spoke coldly while being pestered, hara. s. sed, and having her cheeks rubbed:
"Azrael-senpai, I gave a request for today, please allow the
Masters to browse the library -"
"I refuse-nyan~ unless you call me Nee-san, I'll deny all your requests~ ♪"
Jibril replied in frustration:
"If you explain why you're rubbing my cheeks, and allow the
Masters to browse the library, I'll consider it."
"Because Jii-chan is cute! Explanation over, and I've allowed them-nyan!! Alright, now call me Nee-san ♥ -"
She spoke while lunging towards her, while Jibril teleported away from her outstretched hand.
"So Masters, I've already acquired her permission, please browse this place freely. This is the personal library of the
「Representative of the Winged」, among which countless books have been acquired through the cursed law by taking the books of others, so there's not a single place with more information than here."
"Y-you're mean!! Jii-chan went back on Nee-san's promise with you-nyan~!?"
Azrael appeared devastated, and her voice was layered with immense shock.
Jibril replied with a flawless smile once again.
"I said that I'd consider it, and after some consideration, I' m not going to ♪"
"Waaaah~ Jii-chan never used to cheat others like this-nyan~
- and whose fault is this-nyan?"
- Glare
Her tear-filled eyes shot over to Sora.
The power in those eyes appeared as if that gaze alone could kill.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Sora, this is my sister s. h. i. +ro, please take care of us."
"... Take care..."
Those two completely ignored her gaze as they were used to it from Jibril.
Upon seeing their reaction, Azrael let out an interested "Oh?", while Sora pointed at Azrael.
"What does she mean by Nee-san? Jibril, you're the sister of the full representative of the Flügel?"
"Yes-nyan ♥"
"Nope ♪"
Both of them replied without hesitation - and with truly sisterslike smiles - they replied with completely opposite answers.
Jibril sighed and continued:
"The Flügel cannot reproduce, we have no sisters, no brothers and no parents, there is only the order in which we were created."
"... Ah, so that's why you call her Senpai."
Which means, she was a being created even earlier than Jibril.
"Also, Azrael is the 「Representative of the Winged」, not the 「Representative of the Flügel」."
"... Is there a difference?"
"She's merely the 「Senator」 of the 「Council of
Eighteen Wings」 with nine members, herself included."
At this mention, Sora recalled what she had said earlier.
He remembered that before Jibril belonged to Sora's posse, she was a member of the 「Council of Eighteen Wings」.
"Basically she has the first say only when emergencies occur, and another 「Right」 -"
Which meant - Jibril shook her head and smiled bitterly.
"She's not great nor brilliant, so you don't need to respect her in any way."
"... You're really mean even to your own kind, huh, you really haven't changed at all..."
Probably because she was unhappy with her response, Azrael puffed up her cheeks in reb. u. t. tal.
"That's not how it is-nyan!! All of us were created by Artosh, so our father is Artosh, and the earliest to be created was me,
Nee-san! The last one to be created, Jii-chan, is my imouto!
Isn't this an unspoken fact-nyan!?" [4]
Upon hearing her words, Jibril's bitter smile turned into one of mockery, and she continued:
"- She raised a suggestion like that during one of the meetings, which was completely rejected by all of the members of the council, that's how pitiful her intelligence is."
"Be~cause~ if I don't do that, Jii-chan won't ever call me
Nee-san~ nyan~!"
"Everyone knows that, which was why they turned it down, unless you're telling me this is the first time you're hearing of this?"
Jibril's tone was as cold as ever, while Azrael hugged her once again and began showing off her little sister with a smile on her face.
"Jii-chan she is~ among the children created in the Great War she is the 「Final Unit」-nyan ♪"
She laughed cheerily, while Jibril on the other hand sighed deeply in frustration.
"The children created in the later stages, since they were created when Artosh-sama was at full power, have a power that is completely indescribable by children like me created during the middle stages of the war-nyan~!! However~ the strong children were all fighting on the front lines - so everyone died in the 「Final battle」..."
Azrael's spirits momentarily dipped, and if the person she was hugging happened to be an Imanity, that person would definitely burst like a balloon. She continued while hugging her only surviving sister.
"Jii-chan is the only final-stage unit that survived after the
「Battle」, and she's the 「Final Unit」 as well-nyan!
She's everybody's imouto, and what a cute imouto she isnyan!
It should be made a law to call her that, so why doesn't everyone understand?"
She once again began flying about in figure-eight shapes cheerily.
Jibril squinting her eyes in disgust was a rare sight as well, but
-
"... Jibril... to deal with her... disturbing... precious recordings..."
s. h. i. +ro spoke while lifting up her smartphone, and began taking a video of the angels.
On the other hand, Sora was pondering another question.
He closely observed Azrael's innocent and cheerful smile -
"... This is a pain, at this rate I'll need to change the plan..."
He mumbled to himself disappointedly.
- Glare.
Hearing his softly spoken words, Azrael kept smiling - but then looked towards Sora with a powerful gaze.
"- So, are you the one that s. n. a. t. c. hed my beloved Jii-chan away from us-nyan?"
"Huh, to say a virgin s. n. a. t. c. hed a lover from someone, your question is pretty hard to answer."
Sora replied indignantly, with his head lifted and chest protruding, at the same time appearing dignified, tragic and powerful.
Azrael stepped closer.
"Oh -...."
"... Huh?"
It was impossible to react to that, as it was a step that ignored all boundaries of distance.
The step itself took multiple instants before Sora and s. h. i. +ro realized what was happening, and they cried out in surprise.
- In that instant.
A silent shock emanated from Jibril's body that caused the library to quake.
Sora had initially suspected that she had used magic, however after hearing what the two said after that -
"... Senpai, if you even so much as touch a hair on my
Masters' heads - I'll just say you might want to reconsider it."
"Really now~ Jii-chan you don't need to be so tense~ there are the 「Ten Pledges」 anyway-nyan."
- Sora realized, she had merely unleased a slight bit of
「Malicious intent」.
Just how much did Jibril restrain her power under normal circ. u. mstances -
As they got an extremely small glimpse of Jibril's 「True power」, Sora and s. h. i. +ro felt cold sweat running down their cheeks.
And Azrael didn't seem to mind that 「Slight malicious intent」, instead she turned around to face Sora.
With those jade-green eyes - eyes that were impossibly different from Jibril's - she spoke while glancing at Sora:
"I wish to make something clear."
"- Yeah, what is it?"
- Her gaze this time, was completely incomparable to her gaze from earlier.
A sudden crus. h. i. +ng sense of malice filled the room, causing the air in the library to freeze, giving them the impression that the very universe itself was being affected.
If they were to answer incorrectly - they would die immediately.
This world has the 「Ten Pledges」.
Jibril was awaiting their orders by the sidelines.
- Despite this, they were unable to relax.
Azrael's gaze gave them that impression, after which she spoke:
"As long as you command it, Jii-chan will call me 「Neechan
♥」 right-nyan?"
...
... ?
False alarm - no, Sora felt a sinking feeling that gave him the impression that as long as he were to relax, his very soul would escape him.
The very reason why he was barely standing was because s. h. i. +ro was clutching his hand in fear.
However, Azrael ignored him and continued emotionally.
"E-even like she licked the feet of the E-Elves, she could like mine - or shower with me or something! N-no, I won't force her to do something like that!! For example you could allow me to watch or something -"
- How could she have known that? Sora felt suspicious, however he took out his smartphone from his pocket and replied:
"... If you want videos of Jibril showering, I have videos -"
"I'll bet the Flügel's race piece for that! Give it to me-nyan!!"
- An impossibly loud sound could be heard in that twentythousand-foot high alt. i. tude.
"Azrael-san, please calm down, you don't have the right to do that. To bet the race piece, you need to consult the decision of the「Council of Eighteen Wings」 right? I think your request will be unanimously denied once again ♥"
"U-ugh~~... ! - Nyan?"
Jibril's tone of voice didn't carry any sense of apprehension despite her adding a small (giggle) at the end of the sentence, however Azrael -
"Wait a second-nyan... noises of gears rumbling are coming from my head! My brain is currently working at light-speeds, it's the most active it's been in my, Azrael's twenty-sixthousand years-nyan!"
- Azrael let slip her incredibly long lifespan just like that while appearing as though considering something.
Finally she raised her head up all of a sudden, seemingly having got an idea.
"- Right-nyan!! You... your name is Sora right!?"
"Ah, yes."
"I'll be your possession as well-nyan! My judgement dictates that if that happens I can shower with Jii-chan!!"
"The worst idea you've had in twenty-six-thousand years, great job on that hard work, Azrael-san."
Jibril smiled a smile that couldn't even be described with the adjective cold, as it carried hints of disappointment as well, and she mocked Azrael.
However - s. h. i. +ro glanced silently over at her brother.
Azrael had nonchalantly raised her personal freedom as a condition - just as Jibril had said, she wasn't the representative of the Flügel, and so even if they were to acquire her, they wouldn't acquire the Flügel race.
Although it would be no easy feat to play against the Flügel.
Azrael even hinted that she would 「Intentionally lose」, also it would be a rather beneficial decision to have her as an a. s. set.
Also her brother's intention included absorbing the Flügel as well.
On this train of thought, s. h. i. +ro looked over at her brother as though to confirm her suspicions -
"... ?"
She found that Sora had completely lost interest and had calmed down, after which she looked over curiously at Azrael.
Her face still had that enchanting smile on it - an overly perfect smile.
"... Ah..." - understanding what her brother's expression meant, s. h. i. +ro nodded slightly.
Sora sighed unexpectedly, turned around and walked away.
"... It's rare of you to say such things, but this sort of thing should wait until next time..."
"Eh~~... Jii-chan's naked body -"
Azrael refused to give up, and Sora grasped s. h. i. +ro's hand and spat.
"... I bragged to Steph earlier that I would acquire three races, but now I'll have to apologize to her."
Looking over at Azrael, Sora - glanced at her with a truly disappointed gaze and said:
"- This one's useless, Jibril alone is fine."
Ignoring Azrael's squinted gaze, Sora and s. h. i. +ro proceeded to the mountains of bookshelves.
"So Jibril, we can browse the books here right?"
"... Yes, Azrael-senpai has approved of it."
Sora nodded and surveyed his surroundings.
Books, books, books... it was a giant city made up of nothing but books.
And within his line of sight, he could see that on the back of countless books, there was - writing of multiple languages he didn't know.
"Since my original expectations were crushed, it looks like we'll have to tough it out... forget it, let's try our best, s. h. i. +ro."
"... Mm."
The two agreed and disappeared in the piles of books, while the two Flügel watched them go in silence.
Part 4
Azrael sat cross-legged on one of the piles of books and put her head in her hands.
"Mm~ I wanted to use myself as bait to get Jii-chan, could it be that the bait was too big-nyan?"
She coldly revealed the reason why Sora's expectations were crushed.
No doubt, Azrael's thoughts were completely different from her demeanour, as she didn't believe nor trust Sora.
To get Jibril back, all she wanted them was to fall into her trap.
- As for why Jibril called them her Masters, she had no interest.
"... You really haven't changed, Azrael."
Azrael's expression twitched slightly upon having her name called directly like that, and she replied calmly:
"Jii-chan can even talk back to people such as me and Artoshsama, so it's impossible that you would serve under mere
Imanity-nyan. As long as it's by the pledges, sealing one's intentions or making one a puppet should be easy-nyan.
Anyway those two must have won by pure luck, so you're being forced to follow them, right-nyan? To be honest -"
She looked directly into Jibril's eyes.
"- Jii-chan has changed."
Jibril replied Azrael's words with a cold smile.
"Yes, I have changed... whereas you can't."
"..."
"As for how I was defeated in that challenge, you have nothing to say - my expectations were all for nothing."
Jibril smiled faintly in betrayal, and continued coldly:
"... The reason why I defied my late Master (Artosh) and you, is because - I just can't take your personalities anymore - too stubborn, so..."
She hesitated slightly, should she say it? Or -
Jibril decided to go with it.
She knew Azrael would take offense more than anyone.
Despite this - she decided that she would tell her, so she did.
"Which is why we lost, and until now - you still won't change."
Hearing these words, Azrael's smile completely vanished.
To be honest - Azrael's expression was like a cold puppet.
No, it was a completely different existence with Azrael's appearance - and it spoke:
"- 「Final Unit」, hast thou discovered the 「Answer」?"
Jibril looked at that existence with a gaze of pure hate, and she spoke to it, almost spitting her words:
"- Yes, or more correctly, I found it long ago, it's just that I didn't have concrete evidence."
"..."
"So now I must help the Masters find what they need, so - that's it."
Jibril turned away, leaving behind the silent existence.
-...
"... What do you think-nyan?"
- You had to ask.
"... Yes-nyan, but what if you're wrong?"
- You don't have to ask, you know already.
"... That's right-nyan..."
- 「First Unit」, I completely trust in your decision, not just me, but everyone else.
"I know, nyan..."
I know... she told herself that repeatedly.
Azrael was speaking in reply to - the will of the Phantasma
(Avant Heim) residing within her.
Azrael merely looked at the people who were searching through the books -
She could only ask again when they made a move.
Part 5
"... No, we won't make it at this rate."
Standing before a gigantic pile of books, Sora realized that their efforts were futile after a mere half-hour.
"s. h. i. +ro, how many languages of this world have you learnt?"
"... Only... the Imanity, Werebeast and Elven languages..."
s. h. i. +ro mumbled nonchalantly, and Sora caressed her head lovingly.
For Sora who could barely learn the Imanity language, that stunning learning pace just simply couldn't be described with
「Only」.
But, despite that -
"Jibril, which languages are these?"
"It's the Dwarven and Demon languages, I can vaguely understand them..."
... Right, the only one that could understand all the books there would be Jibril.
Even though s. h. i. +ro could learn foreign languages at incomprehensible speeds, the books here alone were in the millions, so relying on this few people to search for information here would be impossible, which was obvious from the very start.
"... Jibril."
"Yes."
"There's no time, if we take too long, Ino's life will be in danger. Even if we have a lifeline, if the Seirens think we're genuinely running away, we'll be in big trouble - can't you get some help?"
They had no time to sit here and slowly gather information, as they needed to challenge the Empress once more as soon as possible.
Because of that - Sora had originally intended to rely on
Azrael to gather help -
However his hopes were crushed as soon as he realized Azrael didn't have any intention of the sort.
The expression Sora saw on Azrael's face, wasn't that of a knowledgeable Flügel - nor was it something like Jibril's who was a collective of both curiosity and intelligence, nor was she a trigger-happy person.
It - was only -
"... I can get help, but I fear it may not be what you're expecting."
Yes, that would be Azrael's intentions, but -
"There's no other way, so let's do what she wants since we don't have the time to just sit here - s. h. i. +ro."
"... Mm."
- Sora made a once-in-a-blue-moon fidgety gesture - he nibbled on his fingernails, and s. h. i. +ro replied as well.
"- Since your original expectations were crushed, we can only adapt to the situation at hand, so we'll need you to cooperate."
"... OK..."
Part 6
"Hey, Azra... el?"
Sora decided to call upon Azrael, but froze momentarily instead.
- Probably because she had turned the scenery in the Eastern
Union or the things within her knowledge into reality.
She was just like the j. a. panese hikikomoris Sora knew - which included Sora and s. h. i. +ro themselves - exactly like that, she was buried in a kotatsu-like thing, with her head covered within a blanket, staring at a projector (television) that had only static on it -
"... What is it-nyan... ? What is it so important that you have to bother someone useless like me-nyan?"
What a waste of energy - Azrael made the surroundings on her appear dark and gloomy in an attempt to accentuate her sadness.
Faced with her overly exaggerated acting skills, Sora instead felt admiration, after which he spoke with a deadpan expression:
"- Ah~ um, you know about the hibernating Empress of the
Seirens right?"
"Nyaaaaa... that idiot that was influenced by fairy tales and pushed two races including herself to the brink of extinction in the span of a single generation, leaving even the sh. e. l. lfish speechless? Everyone knows-nyan~..."
Azrael replied under her blanket.
- While looking at her halo that was spinning about above her blanket, Sora continued while experiencing indescribable feelings:
"Y-yes, that's her, we're looking for the records of the conditions she set before starting her game."
"... If that's you want, Jii-chan knows as well-nyan! It's
「She will continue hibernating as long as she hasn't fallen in love」-nyan."
"Yes, but - that's fake."
Hearing her words, Azrael's eyes lit up with a sharp glint as though forgetting her previous depressed act.
"Oh! Is that why everyone lost-nyan? So what's the actual conditions-nyan?"
- That fellow was a Flügel after all.
"That's what I want to know, so I'm looking for all available records of people that have carried out games with her, and the exact words the players were told for comparison."
"Oh~...."
Azrael stared into s. p. a. ce for a moment, after which she replied coldly:
"About that, if you're looking for records, they're placed in a certain somewhere, look for it yourself, and I'll inform you again if you have a definitive goal."
But - no doubt, she was different from Jibril.
"Yes, but there's too many books, we don't have time, so where are all the related records -"
"I don't know at all-nyan! Ahahahahaha~"
...
"Because of the 《Equality Law》-nyan~ After lending those books out countless times, even I don't know where they arenyan~♪"
"Do you understand now? Master, this is exactly why I left my hometown."
Probably because she had forgotten she was supposed to be acting depressed, Azrael laughed cheerily while Jibril was completely solemn.
"... Since you all live to collect books, you should at least keep them properly..."
"Hmm? That's wrong-nyan, our aim is to collect
「Knowledge」, 「Books」 are actually nothing to us-nyan. I even think that as long as we can memorise the contents of the books, throwing them away is fine as well; but since the people who haven't read them would be angry, we didn't do thatnyan~"
"Do you understand now? Master, this is exactly it! The reason why I left my hometown."
Jibril smiled a smile that indicated she would strike at any moment as she explained to Sora once again.
- Sora now understood, all she was focused on was
「Knowledge」-
「As for what that meant」... Sora couldn't restrain his laughter, however he didn't bother explaining it, and instead asked Azrael:
"So, what should I do?"
"Hmm~ just let the people that are in charge of the books' locations to search for them! There are some others that are just as close-minded as Jii-chan, so as long as they're willing to, you should be able to get all of them-nyan~"
"Mm, so I'll leave it to -"
"I'm not in the mood-nyan~"
Seemingly wis. h. i. +ng to appear sad once again, Azrael spoke while burying herself under the blanket once more:
"I can allow my cute imouto's toys to wander about everywhere, but I have no obligation to take care of you all. I have no value in being your companion, and even Jii-chan called me an idiot, so I'm very depressed now-nyan~ I'm very hurt-nyan~ So I don't want to do anything-nyan~"
Sora slowly pa. s. sed her his phone.
"Even if I show you videos of Jibril in the shower?"
"----------No."
"If you agree now, I'll throw in the offer of her calling you
「Nee-san」 then?"
"---------------------------N... no deal."
Azrael replied while sweating furiously, as though she was engaging in mortal combat with something.
She squeezed out her words while breathing heavily, seemingly undergoing some brutal training.
"I-I'm very~~ hurt now-nyan - something like that... ah, no,
I'm not dismissing Jii-chan as something beneath me-nyan! It's just that I'm too hurt, so I need something more than that - um, you should know... what I mean right?"
Cheh - Sora grumbled silently.
He saw that amongst Azrael's deception and lies - only her devotion to Jibril was real, which was the reason why he played his trump card but to no avail.
At this rate, his actions would be limited.
Facing an opponent such as the Flügel? Having the opponent have the upper hand in a game still yet unknown to them? -
What a joke.
"- To be honest, I don't care what happens to you, so if those stupid fish, mangy mutts and bald monkeys want to go extinct just let them, at the most we'll just get a few more books describing their downfall-nyan. For me, it's advantageousnyan."
Her gaze fell upon Sora.
"To someone immortal like me... people like you who die in the blink of an eye don't even deserve the value of a 「Fairy tale」. You want me to help? Why do I have to-nyan?"
- But he couldn't let her have the upper hand, as if she did it would be all over.
If Azrael insisted on playing mind games - bring it on.
"So that's how you really are, which is why I said you're useless, can't you even detect my mockery? 「Dead man」."
Sora replied with determination but at the same time in pride - and hearing his words, Azrael's expression changed.
"A tool used by no one, a puppet with no value, I'll a. s. sume that's a pretty enjoyable life you're living there."
"-..."
"It's fine, since when we've taken over the world, people like you would definitely say something like 「Please allow me to join」 right? Because you all only know how to follow along with where the wind blows. Jibril, we'll think of a way ourselves, so let's go find your friends one by one -"
Sora stood up and turned to leave.
"... You dare to pick an argument with me, don't tell me you're running away now?"
- She took the bait, Sora smiled to himself.
"Argument? Hah! Only equals can argue with each other."
"Oh... I didn't think that you'd be so self-conscious about it, you're worthy of some commendation after all."
"- The one that's on the lower rank is you of course, did you get up on the wrong side of the bed today? Airhead."
".... Very good-nyan, who's afraid of who-nyan."
After which she raised her hand and announced.
"「Kill and plunder for the things that you desire, for that is tantamount to the decree of heaven」-nyan!"
...
-... Hearing her extremely cra. s. s words, Sora and s. h. i. +ro halfclosed their eyes.
"... What kind of words are those... ?"
"Ah, Masters, that's a Flügel idiom so it's fine if you don't know it."
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Not an argument - but we'll play a game-nyan, it's just that
-"
Ignoring Sora and Jibril's conversation, Azrael snapped her fingers.
"「All of us」 will play a game together with Jii-chan's friends that you're looking for, then you can ask for their help."
- In an instant.
Everyone present was teleported with a force that even Jibril couldn't resist.
And what they saw after the scenery had changed was -
- A long banner with the words 'Kuuhaku「」 Autograph and Handshake Fan Meeting' written on it.
Countless Flügel were setting up the place -
"... We were tricked -!!"
As almost a hundred gazes fell upon them simultaneously, Sora understood instantly.
- She merely pretended to be provoked - which means, he lost in the mind games department.
But, as compared to this, the gazes that were upon him nearly made Sora and s. h. i. +ro black out.
However - the questions that were festering in his mind caused him to stay conscious.
It was a card that none of them had expected.
Although since Sora had already shut his ears and was prepared to faint, he didn't hear any of it.
It was probably the sound of a girl yelling for help, and the sound covered the entire area like an explosion.
Under the countless approaching gazes, Sora asked in a trembling voice:
"Hey, Jibril, what... is this? What is this-aaaaahhhhh!"
Sora yelled while frantically hugging s. h. i. +ro whose eyes were already rolling up into the whites, while Jibril clapped her hands once and replied:
"Ah, I forgot, in order for them to deal with the Eastern
Union, I took the Masters' 「Bible (Observation Diary)」and pa. s. sed it to them, in order for faster transmission of information -"
Jibril giggled and continued:
"I even gave them complimentary autograph vouchers, handshake vouchers, date vouchers and sleepover vouchers, don't forget all the various and dream-like special items -"
"Don't use that sort of dirty methods!! Like that even if repeated buyers increase, the buyer penetration rate wouldn't increase, right!?"
"... I see, I wanted to say that we would sell a large amount of copies but there seems to be an eerily small amount of people here, so that's the reason. Next time I'll think of an even more profitable method - or rather, a more effective way of pa. s. sing information.
Jibril's face was full of determination, and she began furiously writing down stuff on a notebook, however Sora continued:
"Wait a minute Jibril! You have to report to me when you're doing things like this!!"
- No wonder Azrael knew a suspiciously large amount of information regarding them.
But since the reason for that was due to their own comrade, how were they supposed to win at their mind games?
To make it clear, the hundred Flügel present there were all Sora and s. h. i. +ro's 「Fans」.
Looking over at them once more, Sora almost fainted again, however Jibril smiled -
"No problem, Masters, you've won this time."
"Huh? What?"
- Jibril spoke while looking sharply over at Azrael.
"~~"
""
""
""
- That was probably the Flügel language.
The two of them were conversing in a language that Sora and s. h. i. +ro couldn't understand.
But for some reason -
The hall that was filled with a woman's screams of help since earlier...
The atmosphere suddenly changed, and what replaced it was a suffocating silence.
"- Um~ Jibril-san? I have a bad feeling about this, what are you guys talking about?"
"Ah, sorry Master, we're done talking so I'll tell you now."
Jibril turned around.
"Just as Azrael-senpai said, we'll recruit these people's help to find our information."
Jibril spoke with a smile on her face to the trembling Sora and s. h. i. +ro.
"Essentially speaking, we just have to defeat all of them in a game ♪"
"Jibril, do you know how much effort we put into just defeating you alone - who can beat such a large amount of
Flügel?"
"... s. h. i. +ver."
The two were demophobic and anthropophobic in the first place...
Not to mention that they had to face off almost a hundred
Flügel in Materialization s. h. i. +ritori, so they would definitely not be able to survive.
Just imagining it - made Sora and s. h. i. +ro's faces pale in fear.
"No, that means 「Defeating all of them at once」, luckily the opponent's demands aren't that huge."
"Yep, you just need to play against everyone here-nyan."
"If you win, everyone will help you collect the books that you're looking for. If you lose, I'll let the Masters choose whether you want the autograph or handshake events. These are the conditions we set down earlier."
d. a. m. n -
The hall was filled with women's voices crying for help once more, and Sora and s. h. i. +ro were at the verge of fainting.
"Jibril... do you want us to die... ?"
"... Jibril... we... trusted you..."
The siblings were trembling non-stop like newborn deer.
"Please relax - the Masters won't lose, and -"
Jibril looked over at Azrael.
Azrael clapped her hands once.
"We can't possibly play s. h. i. +ritori with this many people, so let's play - 「Red light, Green light」."
"- Jibril, let me ask you again - do you want us to die?"
"... Tremble."
Playing red light, green light against the Flügel?
They could fly and teleport freely, so if there was a place beyond their grasps...
That was basically hinting at 「The afterworld」.
While Azrael cut off his train of thought.
"But the normal version of red light, green light is too boringnyan, so -"
"In conjunction with the nature of the Flügel - we'll use a
「Word Game」 to play it."
Jibril raised up her palm as she said this.
On her raised palm, just like a vortex -
Forty-six characters woven from light appeared on it.
Sora knew those characters - those were the forty-six - katakana.
Jibril threw those characters over to Azrael.
"Hmm~? Are these the letters of your world? Are there consonants?"
Azrael closely pondered the characters, then began moving her hand about in a complex fas. h. i. +on.
- Although Sora couldn't detect magic, the ground began to shake about as if something was hoisting it up from underneath, so they guessed that there was a gigantic spell being activated.
"Alright, I'm done-nyan, so let's get started-nyan?"
As she said this, the katakana - the forty-six characters from ア
(a) to ン (n), on Azrael's hand - converted to light...
And they dissolved simultaneously, automatically distributing themselves individually amongst the hundred Flügel females.
After ensuring that all the characters were a. s. signed, Azrael then said:
"The rules are simple, I have just transported the characters to a certain location on each of the women present."
- Forty-six characters, and with the partic. i. p. ants almost entering the hundreds, there was no way to tell who had which characters.
"The game is Red light, Green light, so for your convenience
I've specially banned teleportation from being used within the game."
- After that...
"If you both get caught by these children you lose, and if you manage to evade them for an hour it will be considered a victory."
"As long as you touch the s. h. i. +fting characters - that is if you manage to do it while not getting caught, the characters will be transferred to the Masters."
Jibril spoke with a smile on her face as if to continue Azrael's explanation.
As she finished, she threw two characters over to Azrael.
"When characters combine they become 「Word Spirits」."
Azrael raised her hand as an example, and the two letters -
「コ (ko) 」 and「タ (ta) 」, began spinning around on her wrist, and she said:
"After you touch the 「Word Spirits」, their meanings will become reality - no matter whether it's a concept or an object, you can even s. h. i. +ft their states at will."
""Oh.""
In the instant that she said that, Sora and s. h. i. +ro - saw th
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