Sunlight was streaming through the window, blazing in with an almost obnoxious intensity.
Normally I wouldn't care, but in my current state, I found myself hating it for some reason.
The effect of the Progenitor Title meant the sunlight shouldn't have any impact on me, but I was still a vampire, after all. Maybe I just didn't like sunlight deep down.
This was something I'd never given a second thought to before, so it must be the mental toll talking.
"My Lady, are you awake?"
Melazophus's voice came from outside the room, beyond the door.
It sounded like Melazophus had woken up before me.
It wasn't that I'd slept in—Melazophus was just an early riser.
…The bustle of already-awake people I could sense was definitely just my imagination.
"I'm up. I'll get ready and head out, so go on ahead."
"Understood. Everyone else has already gathered, so please hurry."
…I'll be ready in five—no, three minutes!
"Have I kept you waiting?"
"Yep. Fashionably late, as always."
I arrived at the grand hall where everyone had gathered in high spirits, only to be greeted by Kyoya's cutting remark right off the bat.
I glared at him, about to fire back, but closed my mouth before the words came out.
He was on edge like I'd never seen before.
"What's wrong?"
"After everyone collapsed yesterday, we were attacked."
"Huh!?"
No way!
I had face-planted completely!
"We managed to drive them off, but couldn't finish them. They escaped."
"Hmm."
I was about to say something about how pathetic it was to let them get away, but caught myself just in time.
I knew Kyoya's strength. If he couldn't take them down, the enemy must have been seriously powerful.
More importantly, the fact that Kyoya was this rattled meant it had been genuinely dangerous.
And besides, I'd been passed out and completely useless, so blaming Kyoya here would be incredibly unfair.
Although… I supposed he had technically been protecting me…
"…I'll say it anyway. Thank you."
When those words left my mouth, Kyoya blinked in surprise.
"What's with that look?"
"Nothing. It's just—Sophia saying 'thank you'? This might be an omen of something terrible happening today."
"What kind of person do you think I am?"
"Heh heh."
I shot him a glare, and he laughed it off with a grin.
Fine. Whatever.
I'd let it go, considering he'd done all the work while I was out cold.
Now then, let me take a look around the room… Was this a wake or something?
Virtually every Reincarnator was present, yet not a single person was speaking.
An eerie silence.
Well, I could hardly blame them for how they felt.
"Sophia-san, you seem to be doing comparatively okay."
"Yes. Heretic Nullification must be working to some extent."
In order to suppress the negative effects of the Envy Skill, Kyoya and I had raised the level of Heretic Resistance together and obtained Heretic Nullification.
That was probably why I was less affected than the others.
This was, after all, a Taboo.
"All the same, distributing a Taboo to the entire human race is quite bold.
The reason I'd collapsed yesterday was because this Taboo had been forcibly shoved into me.
It had pierced through my Pain Nullification, my Fainting Nullification—every resistance I had—and given me a splitting headache until I passed out.
When I came to, I was in bed.
"Oh, come to think of it—who carried me to bed?"
"Hmm."
Kyoya pointed toward a girl in a maid outfit, bustling about while carrying plates.
If I remembered correctly, she was
"The girls, she carried. The guys, I did."
"I see. I should thank her later, then."
Come to think of it, what was she carrying?
I looked more closely, and it was breakfast.
She was silently placing breakfast plates on the tables of the Reincarnators, who sat with their heads hung low.
"Did she make that breakfast too?"
"No. Ariel did."
"Huh?"
Ariel?
Wasn't she in rough shape?
"Alright, alright! Time for a delicious breakfast!"
Speak of the devil—Ariel herself approached, plates in hand.
"I know everyone's feeling pretty down, but humans can't survive without eating. So let's eat, shall we?"
Her words prompted the Reincarnators to lift their heads.
Ariel then came over to our table and sat down at the same seating area.
Aerl promptly set down breakfast plates for Kyoya and me.
"Thanks."
"Oh—"
Unintentionally, Kyoya and I had spoken in perfect sync.
Aerl gave a silent bow and headed straight back outside.
"Aerl will keep watch while we eat."
"Right. Just in case there's another attack."
"Exactly."
Fair enough.
"Okay, everyone ready? Then, let's dig in!"
Ariel's little pre-meal greeting.
The Reincarnators offered a scattered "Itadakimasu," and a few of them began slowly picking at their breakfast.
There were still a few who hadn't moved, but they'd come around eventually.
I wasn't about to worry about them—I was going to eat.
"Oh, this is good."
"It's made from whatever we had on hand, so I can't exactly call it top-notch. Especially with the outside looking like that."
The outside had been scorched to a crisp, after all.
Which meant the ingredients for this breakfast had barely escaped the devastation.
Or maybe she'd brought it from the army's rations?
Either way, it was hard to call it high quality.
Yet it tasted pretty good—probably a testament to Ariel's cooking skills.
That said, the remaining food supplies wouldn't last forever. We'd need to leave here soon.
"So what's the plan going forward?"
When I asked, Ariel's face grew complicated, and she fell into thought.
"Honestly, I can't predict what happens next. That's the real reason we've been hesitating on our next move."
Well, nobody could have predicted things would turn out like this.
Sticking to the original plan was off the table.
"I've had Melazophus and
Ah. So that was why they weren't here.
Still…
"Can't we do something about this Taboo? It's incredibly annoying."
The Taboo Menu kept surfacing in my mind, constantly emitting the thought of "atone" from it.
The idea that this would keep going on forever was deeply depressing.
"There's no way around it. I've been dealing with it for ages myself."
"Ugh…"
I'd known the answer, but I couldn't help letting out a sigh.
"However, if the System were destroyed, the Taboo and the Skills should disappear with it."
"That's it!"
We were planning to destroy the System anyway, so this annoyance would be gone too!
Yet another reason to break the System.
"…That's way too convenient."
"Hm?"
Ariel's brow furrowed as she wrestled with her thoughts.
Looking at the contents of the Taboo, there was a certain logic to it—Ariel was trying to save the Goddess, after all.
And if people learned that destroying the System would free them from the Taboo's torment, surely more would be willing to side with us.
Even I, with Heretic Nullification keeping the effects suppressed, found it unbearable.
Those without it must be suffering even more.
If they could be freed from that pain, they wouldn't care about appearances.
Thinking about it that way, the Taboo being distributed to the entire human race was actually a tailwind for our side.
But if it was so convenient, what was Ariel worried about?
"Do you have some concern?"
Before I could ask, Kyoya posed the question to Ariel.
"As far as I know, the Goddess—the superior administrator—has never been the type to play favorites. Yet as things stand, everything's been tilting in our favor."
"…So you think something's going to happen that puts us at a disadvantage?"
"I don't know. But when the Taboo was distributed, it said 'World Quest Sequence 1.' That means there's a Sequence 2 and beyond."
Come to think of it, she was right.
Which meant there was more to come.
World Quest Sequence 2.
Oh?
Speak of the devil.
Well then—what was about to jump out at us this time?