"Could I speak with
"Of course you can."
Sariel was located in the alternate dimension D had created, since she was the core of the System.
It was a place no one could enter without D's permission.
That applied even to Gülie, who had been granted partial operational authority over the System.
Rather, the authority given to Gülie was quite limited — when it came to the System's full scope, there was far more he could not do than could.
What D wanted from Gülie was simply bug discovery, and she had deliberately restricted his access so he would stay away from everything else.
"Then I'll send you over."
"Is D not coming?"
"No. I don't get along well with angels, so it's better if we don't meet."
Despite having just been speaking with Sariel moments ago, D said this without so much as batting an eye.
Why would she lie about something like that?
Because it seemed more amusing that way.
D teleported Gülie to the System's central core where Sariel was held.
She did so while wondering what kind of conversation the two would have.
"Sariel."
When Gülie saw Sariel's form, he was struck by just how literal D's use of the word "restraint" had been — it was no metaphor, nor anything like one.
An immense space.
A colossal magic circle that filled every inch of it.
And at its center, Sariel was there.
Geometric patterns extending from the magic circle bound her body like chains.
When he had heard the word "restraint," Gülie had imagined something far milder.
Something along the lines of simply being unable to leave the space that served as the System's core.
But the reality was far harsher than that.
The sight of her left Gülie stunned — she looked like a prisoner.
"Sariel."
Dazedly, he called her name once more.
Nothing else came to mind in that moment.
"Gülie."
At his call, Sariel responded in kind, addressing him by name.
Her eyes fixed straight on him.
Those same eyes as always — an inorganic, luminous gaze.
And yet, those eyes that should have been exactly the same as always now seemed to carry a faint hue of reproach.
"I'm sorry."
Gülie reflexively apologized.
He himself did not know what he was apologizing for.
For the dragons attacking humanity?
For draining the planet's energy and fleeing afterward?
For being unable to stop any of it?
For having driven Sariel into this situation?
Or for all of it?
"It's all right. This isn't your fault."
As if forgiving him for every last thing, Sariel slowly nodded.
"You must have been surprised when you suddenly found yourself in this state."
Even with Sariel's forgiveness, Gülie could not forgive himself.
Still, there was little he could do. One of those few things, however, was to begin explaining the situation to Sariel.
How he had turned to D for help.
How D had accepted that request, built this System, and as a result, Sariel had been bound as she was now.
And how, though it would take time, D had promised to restore the planet and free Sariel from this place.
As Gülie spoke, Sariel noticed that he was operating under a misunderstanding.
He seemed to believe she had no idea what was going on — that she had never met with D — and he proceeded accordingly.
Knowing this, Sariel did not correct him.
It was something D would do.
She had a feeling that pointing it out would not lead to any good outcome.
And that was the right call. All it would have done was deepen Gülie's inner conflict — and D would have found that entertaining.
"I understand the situation."
Sariel swallowed her distrust of D and nodded without conveying it.
"Gülie. As you can see, I cannot move."
Under her contract with D, Sariel was unable to move freely.
She had been reduced to serving as the System's battery — nothing more than one of the gears that kept it running.
She could barely interfere with the System at all.
"I am counting on you — for the planet, and for its people."
In place of herself, who could not move.
Bowing her head, she poured that wish into her words.
"Naturally."
Gülie answered her firmly.
But when Sariel's next words came, he could not respond immediately.
"Please. I don't mind if my liberation is delayed. But please guide the people so that they won't fight each other, so they won't kill one another."
It was a wish that amounted to denying the very System itself.
And for Gülie, it was far too difficult to accept.
"Sariel, that's…"
"I know I'm asking the impossible. But I don't want the people to keep fighting anymore. I told the children at the orphanage the same thing — all I want is for people to live peacefully, to be happy."
He understood what Sariel was trying to say.
If one had watched everything she had done up until now, this was exactly the kind of thing she would ask.
But Gülie did not believe it could be done.
The broad strokes of the System were already known to the people of the world — Gülie himself had seen to that, having read the script D had written.
And he could read their next move like the back of his hand.
Namely: conflict.
Right now, the planet's inhabitants could broadly be divided into two groups.
One was humanity as it had always been.
The other was the new humans who had undergone Evolution through MA energy, as
The former outnumbered the latter, but the latter could not exactly be called few.
After all, most nations had been promoting MA energy use.
Those who had wasted MA energy and brought about this crisis would inevitably accuse and attack those who had failed to evolve — that much was plain to see.
Especially now, with a System that rewarded combat fully active.
"Please, stay alive. Let them live. Don't let them be killed. Don't let them kill. I'm begging you."
"I… will do what I can."
That was the only answer Gülie could give.
*'Your time is almost up.'* As if she had been waiting for precisely the right moment — and in truth, she had been — D's voice cut in.
"Understood. Then, Sariel. I will come again. I will save you. That is a promise."
"Yes. I will be waiting."
And with that, Gülie departed.
He did not yet know that he would never set foot in that place again.
"What a magnificent spirit of universal love."
Gülie was greeted upon his return by D's flat, affectless voice.
Whether she truly thought it was magnificent — there was no way to read her true feelings from that tone.
"Yes."
Gülie agreed, but he had already resolved that this time, he could not do as Sariel wished.
It was true that most people had simply been caught up in events beyond their control.
Ignorance was a failing, but not an unforgivable one.
There was, however, at least one person who could not be forgiven.
Potimas Haranfeinace.
The root cause of this entire crisis — a man who, even if only indirectly, had driven an entire planet to the brink of collapse.
He might forgive everyone else, but this man, he could not.
Sariel had predicted that Gülie would take this course of action, which was precisely why she had asked him not to kill. But on this point, he simply could not comply.
He would kill Potimas.
And leave not a single fragment of his soul behind.
"You should follow the example of that universal love of yours and refrain from interfering with a planet's inhabitants, Administrator."
But Gülie's intended action would be stopped by an administrator of higher standing.
"Huh?"
At first, Gülie did not immediately grasp what D was saying.
And so, like a fool, he let the confusion show in his voice.
"I said the Administrator should refrain from interfering with a planet's inhabitants. The System was originally a device for the planet's inhabitants to compete with one another so that energy could be harvested. If we interfere too much, we deviate from its purpose."
"But…"
What D was saying was entirely logical.
However, Gülie had someone he needed to kill.
He could not simply nod in agreement here.
"Our role as Administrators is observation and adjustment. Quite befitting of gods, wouldn't you say? So you mustn't try to kill any particular individual. Sariel wouldn't want that either, would she?"
By invoking Sariel's name, D issued a command that left no room for argument.
"You simply need to do as I've told you. If you start acting on your own, I can't guarantee what will happen."
She did not spell out exactly what would follow if he disobeyed, but Gülie could easily imagine that it would be something terrible.
Gülie experienced the illusion of invisible chains wrapping around his own body.
It was not only Sariel who had been restrained.
For the first time, Gülie felt a faint but unmistakable doubt toward D take root in his heart.
"Now then, do entertain me."
From the impenetrable darkness came that flat voice — utterly devoid of even a shred of enjoyment.