The Kingdom of Ambition
“Such a blank ceiling,” Mitsuha murmured. And I’m drawing a blank trying to remember it.
“Do you understand words, little one?”
Uh, I sure do, thank you very much. And don’t call me little!
“Do you understand words, little one?”
Oh, so this is like one of those shitty games notorious for not letting you make any progress until you say “yes.”
“Do you understand words, little one?”
“Y-Yeah, yeah, I do, okay?!”
“A single ‘yeah’ would have sufficed, little one.”
Shut up! And stop calling me little! Mitsuha felt there’d be no point in replying to a disembodied voice if this was just a dream. However, it felt real enough, and after all she’d been through, she figured she might as well assume this was reality. If this is a dream after all, then I’ve got nothin’ to worry about. But if it’s not, and I treat it like one? Whoopsie.
“Umm, I’m Mitsuha Yamano. What about you? Are you God?”
“Hmm… You are curiously unsurprised. No matter. I am here before you to tell you something of great importance. But first, I am no god, and I have no name…”
The “thing” then revealed the story of how it had come to be. It knew only that it was an ancient, extremely rare lifeform. The “thing” theorized that its ancestors were alien creatures that had evolved beyond physical form and become beings made of pure energy, or thoughts, or something of that nature. It had no body, did not know death, and had no desires or goals. Honestly, its existence seems pretty pointless, Mitsuha thought.
But after eons of aimless drifting, the being had made a remarkable discovery─it had the power to travel between worlds! Armed with its new ability, it had gained its first-ever desire: an interest in learning things it hadn’t known before… A thirst for knowledge! Its consciousness had trembled in anticipation of having found the meaning of its existence─
“Yeah, yeah, get to the point,” Mitsuha interrupted.
“Again, a single ‘yeah’ would have sufficed.”
Anyhow… The “thing” traversed and observed countless worlds and came to know the concept of “fun.” But one fateful day, as it floated above a certain world, it had suddenly been assaulted by an intense, unpleasant, and confusing sensation. Later, it realized that it might’ve endured what animals with physical bodies knew as “pain.” The experience was altogether new, so it was intrigued, but it was also puzzled as to how a non-physical being could feel pain.
The “thing” had probed itself for an explanation and found that a piece of itself was missing. The unknown attacker had entered its area of influence─the equivalent of a body in normal lifeforms─and used powerful mental energy to tear away some portion of its essence. The assailant then traveled to another world, but the being’s introduction to “pain” had left it confused and unable to track them. It continued to observe the world until it sensed the missing part nearby. When it felt the piece move to another world once more, the “thing” was finally able to follow.
“Huh? Was it me that did that?”
“Indeed, it appears so. But fear not… I will not fault you for this. It seems the event was accidental, and I have not been inconvenienced by it. In fact, I feel I should thank you for granting me knowledge of ‘pain.’ It was new to me.”
Phew, what a relief! I thought it was gonna ask me to pay its medical bills or something.
“So, what did you want to tell me?” she asked.
“Oh, yes… I have neglected to say it. It appears that your mind carries such strength and intensity that you have absorbed the fraction of my energy you tore away.”
“Huh?! I-Is that bad?”
“Worry not. This will do you no harm, mental or otherwise. However…”
“H-However?”
“You seem to have acquired the ability to travel between worlds.”
HUUUUUH?! Wait, so that’s what happened?!
Mitsuha had torn off a part of the “thing” and thereby gained the power to travel between worlds. And because of her strong wish to survive the fall, she had jumped to another world, taking the part along with her. Apparently, it was the last world the “thing” had visited prior to Earth. Additionally, the part had now merged with Mitsuha so thoroughly that trying to remove it would cause irreparable damage. Yeah, I think I’ll stay like this, thanks!
“Now, explaining the situation and telling you of your power was merely a way of expressing gratitude. If there is anything else you desire or simply wish to know, then by all means, speak. The part of me within you has the potential to give you more powers.”
Anything I want, huh? Well, I… Ah!
“Umm, could you teach me new languages?”
“Languages, you say? Truly an important thing when traveling between worlds… Very well. I shall make it possible for you to understand and copy the languages of those you converse with. Do bear in mind this is limited to language. I advise against seeking power to absorb knowledge beyond that. The amount you could acquire would be too much for your feeble mind. Besides, having the capacity to read absolutely anything would reduce the excitement.”
HEY! My head’s got plenty of room! I’m not stupid, damn it! The higher being had a point, though, so Mitsuha felt it best to listen.
“Let’s just go with that, then. By the way, does moving between worlds use stamina or something? What’re the costs and limits?”
“Costs? Well… The burden it places upon you is akin to moving between adjacent rooms. Repeating this motion a few hundred times would leave you quite fatigued and breathless.”
Ohh. Well, it’s true that moving between rooms a couple hundred times would be exhausti─Wait, THAT’S IT?!
“Any other inquiries or requests?”
“Hmm, I don’t think so…”
“Such a lack of desire. There’s still room for another power, so allow me to at least offer you a restorative function.”
“Details, please.”
“It would be weak, and therefore slow, but it would gradually heal any wounds you suffered. Given enough time, lost limbs will regrow, and scars will vanish as if they were never there. Consider the wounds on your left arm. They would leave a mark, no?”
Whoa! That’d help a lot! It’s actually amazing!
“I’ll take one order of healing powers, then, please!”
“Certainly. I am well aware that a long life with physical impairments is difficult. This is no trouble at all, and will only take a moment.”
“Hehehe!”
“It…feels as though your attitude toward me has changed.”
The being exercised some unseen force upon her and then prepared itself to leave.
“I will come see you again after this planet has spun a few tens of thousands of times. Be in good health until then.”
Those were its last words, and it took Mitsuha a few seconds to realize that it was talking about hundreds of years. I’ll be dead by then! Or did it mean around the sun? I’ll be dead either way, though… Her conversation with the “thing” had actually been some sort of direct interference in her brain, and once it had left, she automatically drifted off to sleep. As her consciousness faded, something finally dawned on her.
“Oh, so I’m not dead…”
I recognize this ceiling, Mitsuha mused in her usual fashion. The bed too. And there’s Colette, the sweet little girl sleeping on my legs. So, she got her parents to bring me here again, huh? I hope this doesn’t become a trend. Oh, I’m covered in some kind of bandages. This must’ve cost them some money… I’m sorry. However she felt, it was time for her to think about what would come next.
What she had assumed to be a village in some developing country was really part of a totally different world─one that was way behind Earth in terms of technology and civilization. She had also gained the power to freely travel between this world and Earth.
YEAAAH, JACKPOT! Now I don’t need to worry about work, or college, or anything! This world’s gotta be full of gold and jewels and all kinds of stuff that’ll rake in the money back home…and stuff from Earth could be worth a fortune over here. If I brought some over and sold it, I’d be rich!
Then again, if Mitsuha overdid it, she risked hurting the other world’s development. If I brought over something too advanced and made it popular, everything related to it would eventually crumble ’cause the foundation for it wouldn’t be there. And if I brought over something really out there, I could collapse the economy or destroy some industries, which would cost people their jobs and drive them to suicide, or maybe they’d even form angry mobs!
She also ruled out things that would depend on her so much that abandoning them would cause chaos. Super influential stuff that’s centered around my existence is a big no-no. Another thing she had to keep in mind was that if she attracted too much attention, she could be targeted. I’ve gotta keep things quiet until I have some backup. Of course, she could always escape back to Earth, but that would be her last resort.
Although Mitsuha’s thought patterns were a bit unusual, she’d always been a well-behaved, sincere young lady. This demeanor had gained her lots of friends who were still quite fond of her, even if they’d grown distant because of work or college. Because she had such a personality, Mitsuha decided to earn money with her newfound powers without bothering anyone else.
Mitsuha was actually quite careful, though this quality had frequently surprised the friends who assumed she was a loose cannon. She wouldn’t hesitate to make risky moves whenever it was necessary, but she never took such gambles when it wasn’t. This was most likely thanks to a childhood spent looking up to her older brother.
Anyway, Mitsuha considered that her world-jumping ability might vanish one day. While she found it unlikely, she didn’t think it was impossible, and so made her plans with this in mind. She would set up a base both in this world and on Earth and earn enough money to live comfortably on either side. She decided to make one billion yen in each world, for a total of two billion.
That sum, Mitsuha determined, could see her comfortably through her one-hundredth birthday, even if the economy became turbulent. She wouldn’t be living in the lap of luxury, but a yearly income of twenty million yen was more than enough for her. Beyond that, her earnings wouldn’t matter much. She could just sit back and do something she loved, like writing books or selling handmade crafts, even if it didn’t make much money.
Now, I don’t know if this is a kingdom, an empire, or a republic, but I’m gonna rack up two billion and become a WINNER AT LIFE! BWAHAHA! BWAAAHAHAHAHA!
This was the birth of her ambition.