Chapter 248

Leisha and the others took a long carriage ride, like when they had left Aureatia for Okafu. The benefactor who had accommodated the Order children, Queen Sephite, accompanied them some of the way. Sephite was very kind during the entire trip, and smelled so lovely whenever she got close, and always had perfect posture, and she was prettier, too, even if Leisha hated to admit it. “How is it living in the Order, Leisha?” The question had come when they were staying in a town in the east of Okafu. The next day, Sephite would part ways from Leisha’s group on the way back to Okafu. She was going to continue her courtesy visits to other towns for a little while. Leisha thought it sounded really tough. “I’m sure it must be very lively and fun living with other kids your age.” “Nuh-uh, not at all! They are so annoying… I mean, there are so many kids with terrible manners, and I wish they’d all behave properly just like you, Queen Sephite.” “No one is born with good manners, you know. Both you and all the other children are still in the middle of learning all sorts of things… Whatever mistakes you or the other children may make, you’ll always be forgiven.” Hearing such an upstanding person like Sephite say that made Leisha really embarrassed about who she normally asked, even if Sephite didn’t mind. Really, Leisha was still just as much a child, too. It had been an honor simply to have the Queen come to chat with poor orphans like them, and Leisha should have been satisfied with that alone, yet instead she answered Sephite’s kindness with her selfishness—and even broke into tears, too. The other children, meanwhile, even the ones much younger than Leisha, never cried at all, despite how much hardship and loneliness they were feeling. “…What about you, Queen Sephite?” Leisha quietly murmured. Sephite was the exact same age as Leisha and the others, and yet… “Have you already gotten past that ‘middle’?” “…No.” Sephite squinted her eyes, seeming a bit sad and conflicted as she looked at Leisha. “I’m in the middle, too. I have to become a lot wiser, and a lot kinder to so many more people, or I’ll never become the version of myself I want to be.” “But…Queen Sephite, you’re already so wonderful. I can’t believe that you’re still not how you want to be.” “…Tee-hee-hee. Everyone’s still in the middle—even after they become adults or, in your case, become independent from the Order—as long as they still have a dream. So you’ll start to change, too, to follow your dream.” “Thank you very much…” After she had unconsciously bowed her head to Sephite, her words began to circulate through Leisha’s head. If their studying was never going to be over, when would Leisha and the others then become adults? If “not yet” and “someday” were going to continue on from here, then wouldn’t that mean the day was never going to come? “Queen Sephite, I…I want to marry Father Kuze. Not after I become an adult or anything—I want to marry him as soon as possible. Everyone, especially the boys, laugh at me whenever I say stuff like this, but…is it really that weird?” “…Can you tell me more about that, Leisha?” Sephite’s porcelain white hand took Leisha’s fingers. Though they were both girls, the warmth and sensation made Leisha’s heart race. “Well, I want to become Father Kuze’s wife and live together…and make him dinner, do his laundry, and shave his beard for him. I’ve changed a lot about myself. I’ve practiced a lot, and I make myself look pretty every day so I can be a good match for him… I’ve tried really hard, so I could become his wife even tomorrow.” Some distant future wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t empty talk or some dream she irresponsibly blabbed about—she genuinely loved Kuze. “When will this ‘middle’ part actually be done? Even if I want it to be over right now, am I supposed to fix that selfishness…and keep studying hard and changing myself forever, or else our dreams are never going to come true?” “Well…” Queen Sephite faltered for the first time. Sephite had always been so bright and levelheaded, and this was the first time Leisha had seen her hesitate with her words. “Yes, that’s true… While you may still be midway through so much, the person you are right now is yours and yours alone, after all. I’m certain there some things that…you’ll regret if you wait until you’ve changed.” Sephite spoke deliberately, still holding Leisha’s hand, as if meditating on something. “Queen Sephite? I’m going to go tell Father Kuze how I feel.” “Of course.” “That I want him to stop this hero stuff, be together with me, live in a tiny house…” “Yes.” “…and be happy.” A child’s dream. The kind that perhaps would only be entertained when someone was midway through life, with still so much yet to learn… Nevertheless, an earnest dream. “Leisha…Leisha. Be sure to tell him all that, okay?” Leisha felt herself being embraced. Long white hair wrapped around Leisha. She felt like her true heart was being conveyed through their body warmth. Leisha wanted to convey her heart to Kuze, too. The arrow from Mele the Horizon’s Roar that erased the ruins in the lower Sagasa basin had targeted Ozonezma with precision. The belief was that Kuze that Passing Disaster had once again been able to avoid the destructive calamity, right after surviving the clash between Kia and Uhak on the North-South Railway, because of the precision targeting Mele had on Ozonezma alone. However, there were none in Aureatia who had a full grasp of the conditions at the time, even after carrying out their survey of the aftermath. Kuze had only been a mere ten meters removed from the impact point where Ozonezma had stood. He wasn’t the only one either; the four children he protected had all survived without any serious injuries at all. Nobody knew that an impossible miracle, like the divine protection of the angels themselves, had occurred. Kuze requested to appear in the eleventh match, scheduled for the following day. Kuze was having a talk with his sponsor, Hiroto the Paradox in the Aureatia branch of Okafu’s Dignitary Parlor. “The Health Ministry has requested you be admitted for testing, but we’ve confirmed you haven’t been infected with Roto’s virus. We will be able to hold the match. If that is what you wish.” “Of course I’m appearing in the match. If I don’t, there’s no point to being the only survivor…” Uhak the Silent. Tu the Magic. Yaniegiz the Chisel. The people of Sagasa Old Town who perished before his eyes. Kuze had been entirely helpless in the face of their tragedy. He hadn’t even been able to defeat Aureatia’s enemy. He hadn’t a scratch on him, and yet he felt exhausted. I’m doing this…Nastique. Don’t stop me. He had to have suffered enough by now. He wanted to finish his final job. Kuze’s continued survival was fate. “Besides, there’s no need to hospitalize me at this point… I-I’ve had enough tests to last a lifetime already. I haven’t broken a single bone. I can fight, just as scheduled.” His opponent in the eleventh match was Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge. The venue was the castle garden theater. The match was already widely known to everyone, and Aureatia was pulling out all the stops ahead of the first officially sanctioned Sixways Exhibition match in a long while, but if he asked Hiroto the Paradox, he could probably contradict that very logic itself. “I have made requests to Kaete the Round Table, but there is no reason for his side to show any considerations toward your safety. I recommend that you prepare a means to immediately signal your surrender, depending on the nature of Mestelexil’s attacks.” “Bweh-heh-heh… I must really be pitiful. Here I was hoping you’d at least believe I had a shot, Mr. Hiroto.” “…Fair enough. I do think that there is a possibility that your powers of instant death can actually kill Mestelexil and his endless regeneration. It is also true that the further you advance through the tournament, the more advantageous concessions you will be able to get from Aureatia. I promise to carry out my pledge to you.” Kuze realized that there was hint of consolation in Hiroto’s words. It’s not going to be easy… I get it, I get it. A loss in this match didn’t guarantee he was going to die. If he was neutralized by a nonlethal weapon of Mestelexil’s, as one example, he could be defeated without dying. However, if Kuze were to win, it guaranteed that Mestelexil would die. It would mean that one of Aureatia’s trump cards, Mestelexil, had been eliminated by Kuze, under Hiroto’s banner. The discord between Aureatia and the Gray-Haired Child would sink into an even greater quagmire, and it would become more difficult for Hiroto to realize the promises he made. As a result, Kuze couldn’t trust Hiroto. “Mr. Hiroto…why didn’t you stop Aureatia from bringing the children here?” “…” “A temporary repatriation by the special discretion of the Queen… That’s got to just be Aureatia’s excuse, right?” “…Forgive me. Both Maqure and I did everything in our power, but we couldn’t stop an order from the Queen. However, even within Aureatia, since the children were once entrusted to Okafu, Okafu mercenaries and my own goblin soldiers will keep them safe. I promise you.” “So I can head into my match with total peace of mind? You can’t be seriously trying to tell me that. Mr. Hiroto, up until now, you’ve suggested that I shouldn’t appear in my match… So where do your own intentions fall here?” “My own intentions, you say…” Hiroto’s calm face moved ever so slightly. The Gray-Haired Child. What was his own desire? What did he want? Kuze had maintained this cooperative relationship with Hiroto for a long time, but the man had been an incomprehensible entity from the very beginning. Despite that, he had never tried to meet halfway and understand the man right up until the end. Perhaps it was because, even if he did understand why he couldn’t do that—carry out the teachings of the Wordmaker even children knew about—it would only bring him pain. Hiroto had always been someone he needed to betray. “My wish is the wish of my constituents, free of any coercion, situational or personal… I promise you that, to the best of my abilities, I will work to hold the match under impartial conditions. This is all the final confirmations I needed from you. Thank you very much for your time.” “…Hey, Mr. Hiroto.” When he stood up from a chair, a question pushed itself out of Kuze’s mouth. The words that came next were unnecessary. If the Order’s plan failed, everything would have been for naught. However, before their parting, was there any problem with getting a single bit of proof that he had trusted Hiroto? If he was wrong here, then it meant that Kuze had been truly incapable of understanding Hiroto right up to the end. “You’ve already realized I’m hiding something from you, right?” “That’s right,” Hiroto replied calmly, with his eyes still cast down at the table. “You know, I could be trying to deceive you in the worst way possible here.” “I won’t pry any further.” Now that Hiroto had stood up, Kuze couldn’t see what sort of expression he was making with his face downcast. Still, for some reason, he got the feeling Hiroto was smiling. “…We’re friends, aren’t we?” He decided to walk the streets of Aureatia with no real destination in mind. The following day, Kuze would appear in his match and kill the Queen. The town around him, ignorant of that fact, was almost mysteriously peaceful. The citizens were wildly excited about the Sixways Exhibition. The bars were filled with laughter, couriers were running this way and that in a frenzy, and somewhere far in the distance, someone was launching fireworks. Anyone and everyone was talking about the upcoming match. For the matches up until now, there had been a vague savagery and apprehension to it all. Now most of the citizens seemed to be looking forward to the match with pure hope and anticipation. “Please continue with the Sixways Exhibition,” was it…? Kuze had also heard Rosclay the Absolute’s dying words to the people. As if a curse cast with his last breath, the Sixways Exhibition had yet to unravel. Up until about one small month ago, there had been campaigns by the people to stop the Sixways Exhibition, as well as one distressing event after another from those trying to assassinate Soujirou for killing Rosclay, those attempting copycat attacks on the royal palace, or those who committed suicide to follow Rosclay into death. Looking at Aureatia now, it seemed like the nonstop chaos at the time had never happened at all. “Bweh-heh-heh… Sure is peaceful…” The shops and newspaper stands involved with the Sixways Exhibition were all shouting the names of the combatants in tomorrow’s match to draw in customers, but not a single person paid Kuze any mind. Without his gauntlets or great shield, he looked like a normal citizen walking the streets. While he figured there were several accurate photographs of the hero candidates going around, even if anyone had come across them, they probably wouldn’t guess that an exhausted and lifeless middle-aged man was the hero candidate himself. This is all for the best, really. To a majority of the people in Aureatia, their first impression of Kuze the Passing Disaster wouldn’t be as the hero candidate who won the fifth match by default but as the heinous criminal who assassinated the Queen in the eleventh match. The less people that came to like Kuze, the better. “Father Kuze.” Yet there was someone who picked Kuze out and stopped him. Long blond hair, with part of it braided behind her. Charming, intelligent eyes. He hadn’t even needed to check her appearance to know—her voice was more than enough. “…Leisha.” He was astonished. It felt as if all the crowds in Aureatia had come to a halt. How did she manage to find him? He hadn’t intended to see any of the children who had returned to Aureatia. Kuze feared that, despite resolving not to let anything affect his heart, as soon as he came into contact with the children’s innocent smiles and tearful faces, his determination might waver. “Father Kuze!” Kuze caught Leisha in his arms as she came rushing over. His black robe became damp with teardrops. “That’s right; it’s Leisha. I came back a full four days ago. F-Father Kuze…why didn’t you come to see everyone? We’ve wanted to see you the whole time…!” “Bweh-heh-heh… Sorry. I had work to do for Aureatia…investigating this, questioning so-and-so, and well, I couldn’t get away.” He was lying. He had used the incident in Sagasa Old Town as an excuse to keep himself from facing the children. The Roto the Cross affair, where several children the same age as Leisha and the others had died. “Th-that’s not…the reason why, is it?” Leisha didn’t seem angry, but more worried. “Th-there’s just no way…you wouldn’t send us a letter or anything while we were here, no matter how busy you were, I just know it. I said to the others…that you had to have some reason…and that you would be sure to come see us before the match…” Leisha was a clever, compassionate girl. Though Kuze was supposedly the adult here, he knew she was being considerate of him, without whining or acting spoiled. From there, she took responsibility for what she had said and came to find him. “Th-there’s still time. Father Kuze, come with me. I came in a carriage… From here we can go back to where the others are…” “Leisha. That carriage of yours—” Kuze assumed the carriage on the opposite side of the street had been the one that carried Leisha. He hardly believed that a child’s feet could’ve found Kuze across Aureatia’s vast borders. Someone that would have known that Kuze would be passing through here around this time. “—who readied it for you?” “What? Um… Someone really important in Okafu…who’s always helped us out… He’s about the same age as us, with gray hair…” The Gray-Haired Child. Hiroto the Paradox granted whatever was asked of him. An ally to anyone, chaotic, and who never pried further. Surely there must have been some benefit to granting Leisha’s innocent wish. As he gently hugged her tiny body, Kuze gritted his teeth. Did you really think…really think, after all this, you could stop me…? With a stunt like this? Ever since Kuze had taken victory over Tu the Magic, he could no longer stop. Like a watch whose tiny parts no longer locked together, he continued to creak onward. “I might kill the children.” “I might end up doing that to protect everything else within the Order.” “I’m so full of loathing, I want to kill absolutely everything in the world.” He had a hunch. The day would come when he could no longer keep Nastique under control. That was why he wanted to shoulder this futureless martyrdom. He had wanted to at least commit a sin for salvation while he still had goodness in his heart. “…Leisha.” Kuze spoke in a low tone to Leisha, still holding her close in his arms. “Why did you leave Okafu?” “Well…o-of course I did! Everyone says…th-that…you’ll be fine, but… And that even if you fight…you won’t die no matter what, but—but still…!” Leisha practically screamed as she spoke. “You might die…! I’ve—I’ve worked really hard so you’ll be happy someday! Because I love you! But if you die, that someday won’t ever come…!” “Is that right? Bweh-heh-heh… Ah, Leisha, you’re just too stupid.” “Father Kuze…?” Kuze continued to hug Leisha tightly. Even as Leisha grew confused and let out labored breaths, he gradually strengthened his hold on her. With a devilishly savage grin, he continued. “You really don’t know anything, Leisha. From the very start, you were never going to grow into an adult, never going to be a bride.” “Huh…?” “You don’t know the original reason why…all of you had to flee from Aureatia, do you? No, you carelessly stroll back here, bweh-heh-heh… Saved me a lot of trouble, really… The thing is—children’s organs? They go for a whole lot of money.” Kuze didn’t ease up. He held her tight. With his whole body, he felt the sensation of bones creaking. To etch fear into her. To ascertain her final feelings of affection. “Augh…koff… F-Father Kuze…you’re hurting me…” “Why do you think the talk about the foster parent we found for you…suddenly went away? Why do you think those guys who attacked the almshouse came in the first place? Why do you think…?” Did they really think he would stop now? “…No one in the Order can ever be happy?” “…F-Fa…ther…Kuze…I…” He could tell a hot liquid like blood was tracing his jaw. Tears. It took him so long to even realize it. He was crying as he smiled. However, she wouldn’t see this terrible face of his. Nor would he see what sort of terrible despair Leisha currently showed on her adorable face. Kuze was hugging Leisha—too close for Leisha’s face to be visible. Choking, Leisha’s consciousness began to fade. Kuze could feel the strength leave her body. “Bweh…bweh-heh-heh, heh… You’re really stupid, Leisha…” The true fool was… The true villain was… “I can’t believe you fell in love with a bad guy like me…” In the abandoned underground aqueduct ruins, there was a sickroom for Kiyazuna the Axle. The hidden room was carved out from the wall of the aqueduct with extremely high-level Craft Arts. Kiyazuna the Axle had been seriously injured when trying to take back Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge and continued to receive medical treatment here, away from the eyes of anyone else. The brutal self-proclaimed demon king, who had been more vivacious than anyone even a quarter of her advanced age, now couldn’t even raise herself up in bed. “M-Mama! I’m going…to appear…in a match!” Mestelexil’s subunit hectically rushed around the room. “Heh, that right…?” The short reply was all she gave back to Mestelexil, but it was plenty. This subunit, a spherical body with thin insectoid legs, wasn’t an idea that Kiyazuna had given Mestelexil. It was evidence of his growth. Mestelexil had grown capable of creating this type of advanced communication terminal in order to stay by Kiyazuna’s side while his movements were under constant surveillance by Aureatia. The communication between the subunit and Mestelexil’s main body utilized an encryption technology that was clearly distinct from radzio communication, the primitive wireless technology of their current civilization. “I-if I win, Mama will…get to be…fixed up, right?!” <…Quiet, Mestelexil; how many times do I have to repeat myself?> Kaete’s voice cut into the transmission. <Grams, don’t worry. Luck’s on our side.> Kiyazuna didn’t want to admit it, but Kaete’s brilliant work exceeded her expectations. Willfully returning Aureatia despite rebelling against them, and without any shred of trust to his name, Kaete then immediately obtained an opportunity to prove Mestelexil’s utility with the subjugation of the World Word. Securing the trump cards that would serve as a means to regain his lost military forces—Caneeya the Fruit Trimming and Linaris the Obsidian—couldn’t have merely happened because he was blessed with good luck. This insatiable greed grabbed any chance that presented itself to him and held on tight. Kaete the Round Table may have been a piss-poor disciple who was still inexperienced in a lot of areas from Kiyazuna’s perspective, but this greed was his sole unique talent that surpassed even Kiyazuna. That held true for the eleventh match, too. <Kuze the Passing Disaster is plotting something and using this match to do it.> “Huh?! Is that…true…Kaete?!” <Hmph. Never thought that far, did you? In any case, the man went out of his way to negotiate with Grasse the Foundation Map to produce an opponent to fight. Unless the man’s just suicidal, it’s safe to assume his goal was to ensure the match itself happened. The cowards in Aureatia don’t seem to be proactive about disposing of him, either.> “But…why would he do…something like that?! He is…b-bound to lose…if he fights me!” <That’s right. He knows that his power of instant death doesn’t have any effect on you. You’re sure about that, right, Mestelexil?> “Y-yup! W-we’ve fought…before! I was…just fine!” Presently, only Obsidian Eyes and Kiyazuna’s camp knew about the clash that happened right before the eighth match, when Mestelexil tried to drive Kuze away and prevent his arrival at the arena. Aureatia’s position was that there was a high chance that Kuze’s instant death wouldn’t have an effect on Mestelexil’s immortality, but Kiyazuna’s camp knew it wouldn’t work from actual combat results. It was a big difference. From Aureatia’s perspective, Kuze was a heavy underdog in the eleventh match, but to Kiyazuna’s camp, their victory was a guarantee. <Kuze himself should know that, too. No telling if he has some scheme that’ll come from outside the arena that makes use of the audience, or perhaps he’s planning to make some pitiful speech… In any case, I suggested the idea that he has something up his sleeve. I’ve gotten approval to kill him if he makes any treasonous moves during the match.> “Cripes, just as…koff, cheeky as ever, ain’t ya…?” Kiyazuna smiled. Kaete wasn’t thinking at all about Aureatia or its best interests. However, if something would help him win and defeat his enemies, he wouldn’t hesitate to use any means at his disposal. <Don’t push yourself to talk, Grams. Heard more than enough of your lectures.> “Hey, Kaete?! Can I…kill Kuze?!” <Priority’s still to just disable him. Outrageous that we’re the stronger ones and need to hold back, but this match’ll be in the castle garden theater with the audience watching. We have to consider the image we’re giving to the mindless unwashed masses—that said, Mestelexil, you need to judge for yourself, too. The loss of Kuze will cause our value to rise in proportion… If Kuze does anything suspicious, don’t hesitate to end him.> “D-don’t…worry! I will win…super fast!” <Hmph. That’s right. Don’t give him any time to act at all. Right at the start of the match, use high-density desflurane or a directional sonic weapon to disable Kuze the Passing Disaster. Kuze’s instant death ability can’t counter an attack that doesn’t use deadly force.> A thought came to Kiyazuna as she observed Kaete and Mestelexil’s back-and-forth. Kaete, you little brat. Went and grew up, did ya…? Mestelexil was a construct furnished with Word Arts and a heart, but for a long time, he’d never had a proper conversion with anyone besides his creator, Kiyazuna the Axle. Kiyazuna remembered when they had first arrived in Aureatia, Kaete was completely unable to control him. Mestelexil himself looked down on Kaete for being so arrogant, despite being far weaker than himself. Right now, though, Kaete seemed to have established some form of a trusting relationship with Mestelexil. Ever since Kiyazuna had been confined to bed, Kaete didn’t merely keep on going—he had gotten even stronger. Kiyazuna didn’t have any concerns for Mestelexil’s development. He continued to exceed her expectations ever since he chose to let go of the enchanted blasting sword during his battle with Toroa the Awful. Kiyazuna the Axle had been laid low; that was true. However, she wasn’t defeated. She still had her disciple—and her son—left in this world. You better win, Mestelexil. Kaete… She didn’t have the stamina to waste on this meaningless encouragement. That said, she didn’t think she needed to say it out loud to convey her message, either. You two are just getting started here… In the front row of the spectator seats that encased the open arena of the castle garden theater, there was a seat for guests of honor. It was a special seat for important guests to spectate the events held in the castle garden theater, but when Royal Games were held, needless to say, the only one allowed to sit there was the royal governing the Kingdom. Nanal felt almost dizzy looking up from the seat at the preposterous numbers in the audience. Even during her short time as Queen Sephite’s body double, she had given speeches in front of groups of people, but she had never stood in front of so many before. It seemed as if most of the minian population was smushed into the castle garden theater at that moment. She had just returned to Aureatia after her courtesy tour around the cities and towns in each of the different regions. The eleventh match’s date had been scheduled to line up with her return to Aureatia. The young Nanal was terribly exhausted, but she concealed the bags under her eyes with makeup, and even as she felt ready to collapse, she maintained her posture and expression. She couldn’t let herself bring shame to Sephite. I wonder if Leisha and her friends were able to meet with Father Kuze. This trivial thought floated through her mind as she noticed the people’s excitement. The spectators she saw from down in her seat of honor looked like specks of colors, and she had no way of possibly determining which specks among them were the Order children. Kuze the Passing Disaster was appearing in the match as scheduled. An upstanding and honorable act. However, if she was allowed to wish not as the Queen but as Nanal herself, she hoped he was fighting to win and return to the children’s side. …A combatant is knocked down and doesn’t get up. A combatant willingly admits their defeat with their own words. These were the two conditions determining defeat in the Sixways Exhibition. The match didn’t have to be decided by death. However, given that these were Royal Games, they were held in order to be shown to the royalty—to none other than Nanal herself. It meant that Nanal the Fair-Skinned would bear the responsibility for these tremendous champions so far beyond her reach. Nanal, nothing but a girl of humble origins without any actual authority or pedigree to speak of. Kuze. Mestelexil. I have no idea what sort of desires the two hero candidates facing today’s battle are risking their lives for. Still, if I’m allowed to make my own wish, despite my ignorance… Nanal couldn’t bear the agony otherwise. …I don’t want either of you to die. Aureatia’s Twenty-Sixth Minister, Meeka the Whispered, let out a booming voice. “Both sides shall agree to the accords of the true duel!” Among the four matches in the second round of the Sixways Exhibition, not a single one had been conducted in a normal manner. This eleventh match was no exception. “A combatant is knocked down and doesn’t get up. A combatant willingly admits their defeat with their own words. Either of these two conditions shall decide the match—” Kuze the Passing Disaster, whose goal wasn’t victory but only the assassination of the Queen. Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge, asked to disable Kuze without killing him. A clash, far too twisted and warped to be called a normal match, was about to unfold before the eyes of the public. “I, Meeka the Whispered, shall act as impartial adjudicator.” The second round had been, across the entire span of the Sixways Exhibition, the battle that claimed most lives. Meanwhile, this match to close the second round… “Begin with the sound of the band’s starting gun.” Match eleven. Kuze the Passing Disaster versus Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge. Amid the cheers filling the arena, Kuze’s heart was still. …I’m finally here. In front of him stood Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge. Mestelexil was invincible. Everybody said that Kuze couldn’t win. That was fine. From the very start, he had never once won in a fight against someone else. All he did was kill. He would be able to kill the Queen. Before the eyes of all the people seeking an honorable battle, Kuze the Passing Disaster would fight in the most dishonorable way imaginable. I’m glad I could do this without showing Leisha…showing all the children. He had made sure there was no going back. Leisha must have felt despondent after Kuze’s betrayal. She had likely shared what Kuze was truly like with all the other children, too. As such, there was no way they would see his battle. The only one who watched over Kuze’s deeds was Nastique. All was quiet. At the signal, I’ll go around in front of the seat of honor. In the back of his head, he visualized the steps of the plan he had put together with Maqure the Sky’s Lake Surface. In order to turn himself into a machine, without any hesitation or thought at all. The seat of honor was constructed directly opposite from where the adjudicator Meeka the Whispered stood, in the front row of the spectator seats, looking out at the profile of the two hero candidates facing each other. It was partitioned away from the other spectator seats and walled off, meaning most of the audience in the garden theater couldn’t see inside. That wasn’t the only barrier. Aureatia had a magic item used to protect the royal family—the Curtain of Ancestral Virtue. It was a magic item shaped like a soft canopy and tinged with faint iridescence. Any arrow or bullet that flew at it would have its trajectory thrown off—as if tracing along the undependable thin piece of cloth—and never reach the Queen no matter what. As long as a projectile was coming from outside the drapery, it could even defend against stray bullets from the Beyond weaponry employed by Mestelexil. However, this defense did not possess any characteristics that would stop Nastique who ignored any and all obstructions of the material world to come bringing death. Thus, to Kuze, the Curtain of Ancestral Virtue was as much of an obstacle as any normal canopy would have been. Unless he got closer, he wouldn’t be able to see the Queen underneath. It’s less than one hundred meters from the center of the garden theater where we start. If I can clear 90 percent of that distance, I should be able to see plenty of the Queen even through the canopy… The only potential problem being… His opponent, Mestelexil, possessed an excessive degree of lethality. Not only that, but from battles before the eighth match, Mestelexil learned a loophole in Kuze’s instant death counterattack—if he created unmanned turrets that targeted Kuze automatically, Kuze would die unable to do anything. The problem with this guy isn’t his ability to kill. The true threat Mestelexil posed was that he knew how to counter Kuze. It was through Nastique’s unknowable means of attack and only using the information gained by their brief clash that he had been able to think up a way to counter the instant death counterattacks. He might see through my intentions here in the brief moment it takes me to get close to the Queen. Kuze could not give Mestelexil even the slightest moment to think. He had to make Mestelexil believe he intended to fight. He couldn’t get himself into a stance that suggested he was about to run off. As he confronted Mestelexil, his mind was focused solely on the seat of honor. As his consciousness seemed to make time slow down around him, he heard the gunshot. The sound— He ran. A thin box-shaped apparatus deployed from Mestelexil’s back. Kuze couldn’t spare any attention to it. “LRAX 2000X.” A shrill noise slammed Kuze’s whole body like a shock wave. His legs twisted. He staggered. The discomfort felt like his brain was being pounded. Kuze collapsed on the ground, but he then tried to stand up. “Huh?!” Mestelexil shouted as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. “How?!” “Why?!” Kaete shouted, going pale. He stood in Mestelexil’s entryway into the arena. “He was directly hit with a sound weapon from the Beyond! He shouldn’t be able to move!” There were two types of attacks Kuze the Passing Disaster had suffered: The directional sonic weapon, LRAX 2000X, and the rapid onset inhalant anesthetic, desflurane. Both weapons had been created ahead of time and housed within Mestelexil’s internal structure, meant to be deployed and sprayed exactly as the match began to swiftly knock Kuze unconscious. Hidow had heard about this strategy beforehand as well. “Strange.” Hidow the Clamp sat leaning against the arena entrance wall and glared out at the arena. Hidow was keeping surveillance over Kaete for Aureatia. Normally, only the sponsor for the hero candidate currently battling should have been standing there, but someone needed to keep eyes on Kaete the Round Table—given his past precedent of foul play—and watch for any movement from him during the match. “Since he held out against Mestelexil’s opening attack, must mean that the guy’s prepared some sort of method of winning here.” A technology-minded civil officer like Kaete might have been unsettled from having no idea what Kuze’s method might be, but to Hidow, this was actually one of several developments he had anticipated. Hidow also didn’t have any insights into what Kuze’s method might have been, but it was easy to think that he had some sort of trump card he was saving for the match, given he was so hung up on ensuring the eleventh match was held at all. “Despite that, though, he tried to run away from Mestelexil, didn’t he?” “What is he after…?! If Kuze makes any suspicious moves, we’re clear to kill him. That was the deal, right, Hidow?” “Everything’s happening aboveboard here. Shouldn’t be any problems…” He glared at the arena. He hadn’t been able to admonish Kaete for his excessively violent words. Hidow had an ominous feeling. “I…get it. So this is what it…does.” After getting up, Kuze’s legs tangled up again and he collapsed. He didn’t feel any pain. Instead, it was a different kind of discomfort, as if his brain had been completely gouged out. He had lost his sense of equilibrium, too, but he could still crawl along the ground. Kuze needed to get even just a little closer to the Queen while, at the same time, getting as far away from the starting position as possible. According to Father Maqure’s predictions…Mestelexil is spraying…a drug that will knock me unconscious. I have…to get away…fast… The din of the sonic weapon continued to buffet Kuze’s body, but while the noise would have immediately robbed a normal person of their senses, it sounded far away, as if the whole world was separated from him on the other side of a glass wall. Kuze’s present condition was not due to the sonic weapon. “K-Kuze! Surrender now!” The noise from the sonic weapon had stopped. Instead, he heard Mestelexil demanding his surrender. Kuze crawled, ungracefully trying to escape from Mestelexil. Had he managed to get out of the range of the chemical spray? “Do anything weird, and I’ll kill you! Kaete said…I could!” “Bweh, heh-heh…” Kuze groaned as his intoxication headed toward death. “Go ahead…and try…” Mestelexil pointed his right arm, replaced with a gatling gun, at Kuze. This was just a feint. Mestelexil wouldn’t make any attacks he deemed useless. That was why he had stopped using his sonic weapon and dispersing the chemical agent. But if the attack was one he already proved was effective… “If you don’t surrender…I’ll rip your legs apart!” Mestelexil must have prepared them while the sonic weapon was blaring at him—in the time it took Kuze to move just five feet in pure agony, Mestelexil had finished making three unmanned turrets. Independent weapons without any life of their own, that Nastique’s instant death counterattacks couldn’t deal with. In their previous exchange, it had taken everything he had to survive by the skin of his teeth. Now, though… See, Mestelexil, the thing is… Taking in the pain was necessary. Brandishing the great shield he had tightly strapped to his arm, he flashed a stilted smile. Even I’ve got a card or two up my sleeve. The light of the muzzle flare flashed like a twinkling star. In the blink of an eye, the lower half of his paladin great shield was drilled through, and bullets sunk into both of his feet. Getting his legs shot through didn’t even begin to describe it. The firepower was enough to atomize his legs, bones and all. “Bweh, heh-heh…heh…” Kuze remained standing. “No way.” “The Order guy’s…” “Those things are guns, right?” “Anyone would be dead after something like that.” “He’s not even bleeding…” The audience’s excitement began to change into bewilderment at the invulnerability that defied all logic. Amid the smoke, the single purple eye flickered, keeping close watch on Kuze. “Hey, Kuze! What did…you bring with…you?!” “Bweh, heh-heh.” At the ruins in the lower basin of the Sagasa River, when Mele the Horizon’s Roar’s arrow brought down destruction— Kuze, as well as the children he protected, had been miraculously unharmed. His survival was mysterious, even when accounting for the instant death protection given to him by Nastique the Quiet Singer. However, Kuze had lived solely to assassinate the Queen here in this match. All the battles he had fought until now had been for this purpose. Including, for example, when Alus the Star Runner was slain in an operation by Aureatia. Who had been right below him at the time? Among Alus’s collection of treasures, there was still one with unknown whereabouts. “The Greatshield of the Dead.” A necklace resembling a snow crystal and small enough to be concealed anywhere in one’s clothes. It generated a spatial phase shift around the user at the point of activation, which was able to block any and all changes in properties caused by external factors. It even guarded the brain cells against sound and chemical agents. However, this magic tool of invincibility came with an explicit downside. Each time the molecular units of the spatial phase shifted drastically, they would generate friction in the binding of the molecules. When a living organism used this in particular, it would bring pain and injuries intense enough to make movement impossible, knocking wyverns out from the sky and even forcing minia standing on the solid earth to crawl. Still, was that even a downside at all? Kuze the Passing Disaster never actually attacked for himself. Whether they were nonlethal attacks, attacks without any intent to injure, or attacks made without any will or intent behind them—none had any effect on Kuze as he was now. On top of that, Kuze himself was able to kill any number of foes he saw, instantly and all at once, without lifting a finger. “Bweh, bweh, heh-heh… I’m—” Kuze flashed a flippant smile. He had to come off this way, even if only on the surface, or else he wouldn’t be able to continue playing his role as the Order’s cleaner. “—invincible.” Nor continue to be invincible. “Greatshield of the Dead…!” It was one of Alus the Star Runner’s magic tools that Hidow the Clamp also had a deep connection with. Even watching along from the entrance to the arena, it was impossible for Hidow to mistake the light of its maximum activation. “That was what he had up his sleeve?! Ridiculous… An assassin who can kill instantly…and who’s immortal?!” Kuze the Passing Disaster was the only one capable of killing Alus the Star Runner after activating the Greatshield of the Dead. But now the one in possession of that same Greatshield of the Dead was Kuze himself. “This means there ain’t a minian out there who can best Kuze now…!” “……Still, he may be immortal now, but what of it?” Kaete murmured. Now that Kuze’s incomprehensible method of defense was made clear, Kaete had regained his composure. “You say no one can best him, but that only goes for those without any means to overcome death. From the start, Kuze’s power of instant death had slim prospects of working on Mestelexil. Surely he can’t think that just remaining upright will be enough to win…?” There were many ways of winning by holding out against an attack. Buying time. Forcing a battle of attrition. Chipping away at the opponent’s will to fight. However, none of these strategies that immediately came to mind for Hidow seemed like they’d work on the foe Kuze faced. There had to be something else. Kuze has… He had an ominous feeling, like a cold chill. At the time, Hidow had been the one who ordered Kuze the Passing Disaster to dispose of Alus the Star Runner. Even as he formed a cooperative relationship with the Gray-Haired Child, Kuze consistently followed Aureatia’s orders to the letter. However, if from all the way back then, Kuze had been deceiving his collaborators and acting to secure a magic tool specifically for this match, then… …another goal here besides winning this fight. “…Mestelexil. Give up on immobilizing him.” Kaete gave orders to Mestelexil through his communication terminal. Hidow didn’t stop him. His judgment was sound. There was a chance that, just like Zeljirga in the sixth match, Kuze was hiding some means to neutralize Mestelexil instead. Either that or he was scheming to set up something else. He was too dangerous. “Kill Kuze the Passing Disaster.” “Hey, what’s that…?” “Is it…really okay for a person to get like that?” “Hurry up and surrender…” “Oh, Wordmaker, have mercy…” The match was just as one-sided as the fourth between Rosclay and Kia, but the reaction of the audience was the complete opposite. Mestelexil’s offensive wasn’t completely incomprehensible like Kia’s but came from terrifying weapons possessing a physical form. The bullets, the flames, and the flashes of light all swooped down on the powerless, mere minian Kuze. Still, he continued to stand. As if he was using his body to prove the miracle of the Wordmaker. “I mean, he’s with the Order, right? They kidnapped kids for money and stuff…” “But if weapons like that aren’t affecting him at all, then maybe they’re right…” “…There really are people who still believe.” “See, there is something wrong with those Order folks, I’m telling you.” “The story of the Wordmaker… A long time ago, my grandmother told me all about it…” The sound, the light, and the smell all made his sense of reality fade. Mestelexil deployed countless support weapons and continued to pelt Kuze with an absurd amount of firepower. He wasn’t trying to overpower Kuze with brute force because he couldn’t ascertain how to break through Kuze’s defenses. Mestelexil had read the situation and knew it was the most optimal strategy. I can’t turn off the Greatshield of the Dead. The price of Greatshield of the Dead gnawed terribly at Kuze’s remaining life. Mestelexil’s vehement attack, continuously generating an inexhaustible supply of ammo and fuel, didn’t even let up for a breath. What tormented Kuze was far more terrible than suffocation—the torment of his cells changing their properties and approaching their end. Blown away by cannon fire, he collapsed, crawled, got back up, vomited, used the remnants of his shield to stand up, walked, collapsed, and was continuously showered in a hail of bullet fire. “Are you sure I don’t have to kill that?” With his sense of reality fading, this hallucinatory voice seemed like it echoed even more clearly than usual in his mind. The angel, with a slender, ephemeral physique somewhere between a young girl and boy, was always watching over and protecting Kuze. All the attacks tormenting Kuze were from autonomous weapons. Against Mestelexil, who had already learned and adapted, his instant death counterattacks would not work. Nevertheless, Kuze could kill Mestelexil simply by wishing so in his heart. “Are you sure I don’t need to kill someone trying to kill you?” There wasn’t a single person out there it was okay to kill. …That’s right. Tu even said as much, didn’t she? You can’t kill people, right? It seemed to him like there was more meaning to it than simply keeping his method of assassinating the Queen a secret. He had stolen the irreplaceable lives of several people. Still, he had been able to get to this point. There wasn’t any need to kill anymore. If Kuze just managed to reach his goal, it would be all over. Ahhh… Is this how everyone felt…? Several followers had chosen to martyr themselves as evil villains who had abandoned the faith. Even wise Maqure the Sky’s Lake Surface, who surely could have chosen so many other different methods, hadn’t stopped their foolish desire. They all must have felt the same way Kuze did now. They wanted to bring an end to it. They had wanted an end to the torment of a cruel world—and to maintain this pure and noble faith amid it. Just as Kuze himself feared the hatred and urge to kill hidden within his own heart, they all must have feared that someday, as they lived through cruel reality, the beauty of their faith would become sullied. Though they understood it was a terrible and foolish method, in order to keep the faith of those left behind pure, they wanted to shoulder that defilement and impurity themselves and die. They wanted to prove with their lives that their own faith had been true. “Someday.” “Not yet.” In the age of the True Demon King, everyone had lived in the middle, in suspension. Believing that if they followed the teachings of the Wordmaker, someday, their day of salvation would come. Such a day never came. Thus, at the very least, they had wanted a final conclusion to their faith in place of their reward for it. “Every…one…” He crawled along the ground of the garden theater, covered in sand. Kuze had fought with his back to the seat of honor. “Please let me…save…everyone…” He had two reasons for doing so. One was that, while she may have been safely secured underneath the Curtain of Ancestral Virtue, there was a chance that Mestelexil might hesitate to aim at the Queen. The other was the possibility that Kuze, essentially unable to move while he activated the Greatshield of the Dead, would be pushed back by the blast waves and impacts, shortening the distance he needed to go. Mestelexil’s saturation attack, meant to push Kuze to the breaking point, had ironically pushed him within a short distance from the Queen. “…Why don’t you…kill me?” Mestelexil asked an innocent question after forcing the automatic gunfire to stop. With Kuze’s position, the gunshots would end up hitting the Curtain of Ancestral Virtue. “Bweh-heh-heh… You did realize the truth after all…” Just once, Kuze had actively killed Mestelexil. Mestelexil must have analyzed his log of the events and detected a long time ago that he hadn’t died from an automatic counterattack. However, because he was an ultimate weapon, he had thought about how he would overcome the attack if it was used against him. He hadn’t imagined that Kuze had kept the power hidden to wield against someone else. “But…” Kuze had arrived. “You’re too late.” He turned around. She was in his sights. For Kuze, that would be the end. Kuze looked at the Queen’s figure. Long, radiant white hair. Similarly white porcelain skin. She was a beautiful young girl. Like the pure-white angel Kuze always saw. Oh no… However, when he looked at this almost otherworldly figure… A strange thought crossed Kuze’s mind. She’s just a normal kid… His body was reaching its limits, maintaining constant protection from the Greatshield of the Dead. He could tell his fingers were beginning to buckle. He had made it. He could finish it. Only ever able to kill, Kuze could finally save everyone he had loved. “Bweh, bweh-heh-heh…heh… What the heck…?” The Queen, just like a normal young girl—was simply praying, out of concern for Kuze. Her position, with her hands tightly gripped together and eyes closed… “This has to be a joke, Wordmaker…” …was the way to pray to the Wordmaker, taught to all the Order children. “Not like this…” —If it’s not the sort of tragedy a person’s strength can help save…then people can’t save at all. Kuze collapsed to his knees before the Queen. A stance that made it look as if he was about to confess his sins. When he placed both hands on the ground, their tips crumbled to mush. He didn’t need to move. He just needed to think about killing her. Kuze had to, or he would betray everything and everyone. To all those he had killed. To those he had wanted to save. And yet. In this final moment, Kuze had a selfish wish. He didn’t want to kill her. Since this feeling to make such a wish itself was the salvation bestowed by the Wordmaker. “Nastique. Please.” Nastique cocked her head in confusion. Her childish, innocent eyes peered into Kuze’s own. “The…last one…I want you to kill…” Kuze the Passing Disaster was always the only one to survive. The angel who protected Kuze would kill anyone who thought to murder him, so Kuze had never been able to die. However, there was one way to finish off this incoherent and broken-down faith of his— “Please, kill m—” “Father Kuze.” At first, he thought Nastique had spoken. That wasn’t the case. Kuze wondered if it was because Mestelexil’s guns had stopped. Or perhaps everyone had gone silent watching Kuze kneel before the Queen. His crumbling body had clearly picked up the voice. He had no idea why he was able to. Somewhere far away inside the vast garden theater, someone was calling his name. “…Father Kuze.” “Come home, Father Kuze.” “Father Kuze!” “Don’t leave us…!” “Father Kuze…” It was the children’s voices. There was no mistaking that, amid the bustling crowd, there were familiar voices. Brought all the way to Aureatia by the Queen, Kuze’s most precious… “Bweh…heh-heh… Why’re you all… Why, Leisha…” He had done everything to ensure there was no going back. He had cruelly betrayed her, left her with a terrifying memory. “So why…?” He firmly gripped the Greatshield of the Dead. He wasn’t able to give up. His cheeks crumbled, and something flowed out, neither blood nor tears. Leisha hadn’t told them. She was just a child. She should’ve been terrified more than ever before. Despite it all, she still believed in the kind Father Kuze, the Father Kuze she loved. He stretched out a hand to the Queen as he fell face down, and a white hand settled on top of it. The corners of her mouth relaxing meant a smile. She was an entirely different entity from minia like Kuze, and yet she smiled. “You…” I— Am loved. And have had salvation held out before, and yet. “…deserve to be saved, too.” I don’t want to die. “…Your…Majesty.” Kuze spoke. He was in a wretched state, resembling an abandoned black rag. He took his hand off the Greatshield of the Dead, and without asking the angel for death… “I surrender… I………don’t want to die…” His vocal cords were horribly wounded, and his voice was too frail for anyone else to hear.