While checking over my weapons in my room, I listened to
"We were wrong?"
"A little off. At first, we figured that 'the souls of reincarnators awakened the genes of
Setting the shotgun down on the table, I let out a sigh at Cleare's way of putting it.
"That's pretty wishy-washy."
"With more data, it would become clear. But Master wouldn't allow that, would you?"
I'm against human experimentation.
There's no telling what these guys would do to
After all, they must have done some pretty reckless things to bring back Old Humanity in the first place.
"Then what about Finn? He was born in the empire. And the emperor is basically the head honcho of New Humanity, right?"
It seems the imperial family has inherited the blood of New Humanity in a particularly strong line.
Maybe they've inherited knowledge about New Humanity and the like as well.
I picked up the rifle and took a stance in front of the mirror.
Bullets were lined up on the table.
"Brave wouldn't let us investigate, so we don't know. He was wary of us, you see."
"You guys are pretty useless, huh."
"My, how cruel. Wasn't it Master who didn't let us investigate?"
I never imagined that at this late stage, we'd be making a fuss about Old Humanity and New Humanity.
"In the first place, we never considered that New Humanity had incorporated the genes of Old Humanity. No, it might be the other way around. Old Humanity incorporated the genes of New Humanity. Perhaps to survive in a harsh environment, they chose that route."
"—At this point, none of that really matters."
"Really? It's possible that they set things up so that when the environment became suited to Old Humanity again, Old Humanity would be resurrected."
"Is that even possible?"
"Who knows? But with magic, there might be some way. Everything is short on information."
Putting the rifle down, I checked the knives and blades.
As I checked my weapons, Cleare continued on to explain about Erika.
"Erika-chan is inside a medical capsule. I intend to keep her asleep until everything is over."
"—That's for the best."
"Also, I confirmed something with
Hearing those words, I sheathed the katana-like sword.
"It was remade?"
"It was a complete edition that bundled all three games in the series. It was released for both home consoles and handhelds, apparently. But what Erika-chan played was—"
"—the original, huh."
Now I understand why Erika kept quiet about it.
She must have thought that as long as she wasn't around, there'd be no problem.
"Neither of them knew about the magic essence. Or rather, neither of them had played the remade version. They said maybe it had some added content."
I put down my weapon and laughed.
"You've got to laugh. Everyone was misunderstanding things."
"—Master, what will you do?"
"I'm going to collect items. Right now, I want to raise my odds of winning, even a little. What about
"Is there no option of running away without fighting the empire?"
"No. This is a survival competition."
When I said that, Cleare asked curiously.
"Normally, isn't this the part where you'd say 'I don't fight battles I can't win'?"
"Even battles I can't win, my way is to make them winnable before taking them on. —Cleare, tell me the honest win rate."
Cleare answered without lying.
"Twelve percent. The victory condition is the destruction of
"What if your buddies joined in?"
"Even then, it wouldn't reach thirty percent. At this stage, recovering one or two Lost Items won't change anything."
Even so, right now I should do what I can.
I wanted to raise the chances of winning, even by one percent.
"If I do nothing, it's over right there."
"Master, are you really going to fight alone?"
At Cleare's question, I lowered my gaze.
"—How am I supposed to explain it to everyone? Old Humanity, New Humanity—on top of that, a survival competition? Who would believe me? I wouldn't."
Thinking they'd understand if I explained is naive.
Even if I told them I was a reincarnator, given the current situation, I'd probably get forcibly committed to a hospital.
"Master, you're so stubborn."
"It's because I don't expect anything from humans. No matter how much you explain the truth, humans won't believe it. They'd just make a fuss about me plotting something."
Things don't wrap up neatly like in stories.
People always keep making the wrong important choices.
Serge, Leria—and on top of that, the kingdom when the Holy Kingdom pulled all that nonsense.
They don't say it aloud, but everyone prioritizes their own interests above all else.
—I'm one of them.
"Being alone is easier. When I die, I'll be alone anyway."
"If you lose, there are a lot of people who'll be in trouble, you know?"
"I'll leave what happens after the loss to you. —You'll protect everyone, won't you?"
"If that's an order, I'll carry it out with everything I've got."
"Then I can rest easy."
Worst case, I just need to disappear together with all the weapons.
The foreign element in this world will be gone, and what's left will be the fluffy, gentle world of that otome game.
Old Humanity, New Humanity—all that troublesome, dark backstory, I alone will take care of it all.
—Isn't that simple?
◇ Around that time.
Luxion had summoned
Angie, stunned by Luxion's story, sat in her chair with her head hung low.
"—A survival competition."
Livia supported Angie.
"U-um, that—"
In place of the troubled Livia, Noelle crudely summarized Luxion's explanation.
"In other words, it's either the kingdom or the empire that survives, right? —What happens to the people of the republic?"
Luxion corrected Noelle's rough summary.
"The people of the republic lived close to the
Noelle looked at the back of her right hand.
There, the priestess's emblem was visible.
"It's scary to think you've been tampered with before you knew it."
"The problem is the empire. They are closer to New Humanity. They've revived a fortress that produces magic essence. Continuing to raise the concentration in the air is convenient for them."
Angie pressed her right hand against her face.
"And that means we suffer."
"—Yes. According to Cleare, there is a possibility that the magic essence in the atmosphere is being purified by some means, and that things were rigged so that once it drops to a certain level, the blood of Old Humanity becomes more dominant. In fact, that's what the investigation results show."
In the materials prepared, the number of children suffering had been increasing recently.
Since Arcadia's activation, those numbers have been rising.
"Wouldn't the empire stay put? If they wait, the kingdom and the rest of Old Humanity's side will weaken on their own. Watching without doing anything would be best."
"That won't be possible. The kingdom has Master. I am a weapon from the Old Humanity side that remains in perfect condition. They are most wary of the kingdom."
Livia clasped her hands in front of her chest.
But her eyes seemed to harbor some doubt toward Luxion.
"Lux-kun, what are you planning to do? What do you want to do with
The red lens tilted slightly downward.
It looked almost as if he was dejected.
"I don't want Master to fight. I am a migration ship, so I can carry Master and the people around him to escape this planet—Earth."
Hearing that, Noelle was startled.
"Flee the planet? This is getting incredible. Or rather, how did Old Humanity, capable of such things, lose to New Humanity?"
"It's a long story, but it was a situation where both sides lacked a decisive blow. We wore each other down, and devastated this planet."
Noelle shook her head.
"That's just stupid!"
But for Angie, that story wasn't something she could laugh at.
"It's a story that could plausibly apply to us too. To begin with, even if we tell people this, fewer would believe than not. —The kingdom can't unite."
That meant they couldn't fight against the empire.
The exhausted kingdom had no reserves left to fight the empire, a great power.
"Just in these last three years, there's been the principality war and that recent coup uproar. The principality war consumed massive military strength. If we're not careful, the lords might defect to the empire."
Even if we call it a survival competition, no one would trust it.
They'd just be wary, thinking Leon was plotting something.
"I want to talk to Leon."
When Angie stood up and said that, Luxion shook his single eye side to side.
"Why?"
"Master's current location is a dungeon."
"Then we'll go there immediately too—"
"—It's a dungeon located quite far from the royal capital."
"—What did you say?"
At this emergency, Leon being away from the royal capital is troubling for the kingdom too.
"What is he thinking? A duke shouldn't be able to move so easily. And without consulting us at all—wait? Hey, don't tell me Leon is—!"
Angie grabbed Luxion with both hands and pressed him for answers.
"Yes. Master intends to fight alone."
"—Doesn't he trust us?"
When Angie said this sadly, Luxion followed up.
He spoke for Leon's feelings.
"It's because you are precious that he protects you."
"That means he doesn't trust us."
To the disheartened Angie, Livia called out.
"There must be something. There must be something we can do to help Leon-san."
Noelle scratched her hair.
"The Sacred Tree is still a sapling, so it doesn't seem like it'd be much of a fighting force."
Luxion then made a proposal to the three of them.
"I have a request. Could you please leave behind Master's bloodline?"
◇ There was a forest Marie had challenged before the opening ceremony.
It was Marie, on her second attempt, who stepped into it again.
Arranging her own airship and bringing along
"F-found it."
Covered in mud, with the secret medicine she'd found before her, Marie collapsed to her knees.
Kyle slumped down too, and Carla had keeled over.
"It really existed, huh."
"I can't walk anymore."
Marie stood up and took hold of the secret medicine, which was in something like a glass liquor bottle.
"With this, I can be useful to Bro."
What she had obtained was an item that dramatically boosts stats.
If used during the combat segment, the character's abilities would improve.
Marie was thinking that with this, she'd surely be able to help Leon.
She hugged the secret medicine close.
"I'm taking it back right away."
But Kyle and Carla stopped her.
"It's impossible. Let's rest a little!"
"Th-that's right, Marie-sama. It's already nighttime, and moving now would be dangerous."
Stopped by the two, Marie looked outside the cave.
The entrance was very dark.
(If I drop the secret medicine, I can't deliver it to Bro.)
Hugging the secret medicine close, Marie sat down on the spot and waited for dawn to break.
◇ "Could you please leave behind Master's bloodline?"
The three froze at Luxion's proposal.
Not out of embarrassment, but because they understood what it meant.
Noelle's cheeks twitched.
"You're joking, right. Don't say that at a time like this. That's—!"
"—Yes. Master is, literally, betting his life."
Livia's legs were trembling.
"Wait. Such a thing—Leon-san always complains but solves everything for us, and—"
"I cannot win. I've told you that. I also proposed running away. That was rejected too. —With luck, it'll be mutual destruction. And even then, I judge it to be impossible to completely sink the enemy's fortress."
Angie was staring straight at Luxion.
"Would our help be useless?"
"Even pulling up the Weiss and maintaining it would be useless. I don't think it would be effective against Arcadia."
"If we silence the others, there should be at least some effect?"
"Since it had no effect on the Black Knight, it's no longer possible."
"Could the imperial army be stopped?"
"—That isn't a reason to greatly raise the win rate."
"Even so. It would rise a little, wouldn't it?"
"By a few percent."
Angie smiled.
"If it rises that much, it's worth doing."
"Are you serious?"
"Sorry, but I have no intention of suddenly becoming a widow. And besides—unless I hear 'bear my child' from the man himself, I won't accept it."
Livia looked at Angie.
"Angie."
Seeing Livia's worried face, Angie immediately started thinking of ways to raise the win rate even a little.
"I know. In that case, I'll do whatever it takes to push it up, even by one percent. The kingdom has been saved by Leon countless times. So this time, helping Leon won't bring down any divine punishment."
Noelle put her hand on her hip and smiled.
"Well said. Then I'll contact Leria too. 'It's a chance to repay all that accumulated debt,' I'll tell her."
Livia closed her eyes.
And when she opened them—she looked at Luxion.
There was no fear there.
"Lux-kun, I've made up my mind too. I'll ride the Weiss."
But Luxion's electronic voice sounded somehow sad.
"—Is that so."