Chapter 11

—And with that. “……Hey.” Chlammy’s mumble fell out and was erased by the cheers roaring through the castle. But, in the ears of Sora, Shiro, and Steph alone, it rang cold. “Just tell me… What manner of trick did you use?” With these cold, low words, Chlammy pierced Sora with a scowl, and continued. “Yes, it’s true. I accepted the help of the Elves. As the only way for humans to survive. And now you’ve ruined it. Now answer me, whose spies are you? Certainly you don’t mean to tell me that a mere human was able to defeat elven magic!” From her perspective, he was a loathsome enemy who had sold out Immanity. As Chlammy interrogated Sora with eyes full of hate, Steph swallowed—but the siblings. “I do, and, actually, I did.” “…You got a problem?” The cheers roaring through the castle subsided as Sora walked back toward Chlammy. “You know, I did mean it when I said that your plan wasn’t bad, and if you could prove your story was true about getting Elven help for the sake of Immanity, I could have even stepped down.” “Then why—!” “But I don’t like the way you think.” Sora looked down at Chlammy with a scornful gaze that was no act. “If it’s ‘We’re gonna use the Elves and claw our way up,’ that’s one thing, but when you’re saying, ‘We can’t even survive without the protection of the great Elves,’ that seemed just a little too pathetic, and it kinda pissed me off.” “—Hasn’t that been proven? The limits of Immanity, by history, by the present we’re in!” While Chlammy looked at him as if to imply, How can you talk when I know you cheated, too? “Those are the limits of those dudes who made history; they sure ain’t our limits…” With these nasty words, he smiled. “Humans have their own way of doing things. Like, yeah—the way we won because you always believed that we were cheating to the end.” Now swallowing, looking back at the match, Chlammy. She’d been totally wrapped up in uncovering the ruse they were using, but what if. What if there had never been any ruse in the first place—? “That…can’t be… A mere human—couldn’t possibly…compete with magic.” “If that’s what you think, that’s fine; that’s your limit.” And Sora squinted. “Whether the opponent be elven or a god, the word ‘lose’ isn’t in Blank’s dictionary.” With that—as if to signify that her pride had been sullied—Sora took hold of Chlammy’s chin and peeled off the black veil. Then looking straight into her eyes, Sora for the first time showed faint anger lurking in his own—and he spoke. “Don’t—underestimate humans like that.” ……Those words hushed everyone in the castle. They echoed and spread, as if soaking into their hearts. As if to rend the chains that bound them as inadequate humans. As if piercing an epoch of darkness with a single ray of light. —As if lighting the lamp of a quiet hope in their hearts. —Then, a word fell from Chlammy’s mouth as well. “Wuh” “…Wuh?” “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” “Whoa! What the hell?!” Suddenly, Chlammy dropped to the floor and started wailing. Sora, not knowing what to do, took a step back in surprise—and who could blame him. “Waaaah, you’re so stupid; I hate you! Don’t you know…how hard, hic, it—it was to make contracts so I could get the Elves and then trash them… I-I-I-I-I wasn’t underestimating anything; I was serious! Waaah…” As Chlammy spilled out big tears, opened her mouth wide, and bawled, everyone was astonished. Whether it was the reaction from the load on her being removed, or whether that was her real personality—in any case, it seemed it was universally agreed in every world that there’s nothing you can do about crying children. “…Brother…made a girl…cry…” “Hey, wait, it’s my fault?!” “Waaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh…stupid…jerk…just diiie…” The crowd, who until just recently had been roaring in victory, now just looked vaguely on at Chlammy as she hurled insults between childish sobs