“This is the ship that goes to the stars.” The elder pointed inside.
Just like Nonimora had said, on the other side of the hole was a vehicle whose exterior was smooth, flowing lines, the side of several trucks. No, perhaps it only seemed like a vehicle because of what they’d been told earlier. It was like a missile, laying on its side. It was silver, with no windows, and not even a single word of lettering on it.
“The Faceless Power is sealed within this. We are capable of using a fraction of its strength without any outside help.”
Nonimora nodded out at the elder’s words, but it was hard for Akuto to accept.
“So what is the Faceless Power, exactly?”
“An inexplicable power. No, that doesn’t tell you anything. If I had to explain it, I would say it’s the human psyche itself. The psyches of tens of thousands of people, all stuffed into one thing. What you see here is only a fraction of it, but it still has incredible power.”
“I don’t think there’s many things you would need that power for...” Keena said. The elder nodded.
“Correct. But you must know this anyway. Think of the Faceless Power as a living thing. It’s said that the Jeweled Branch chooses the emperor. Which means that the Faceless Power is what chooses the Emperor.”
“Why do you know that?” Keena asked, and the Elder touched the side of the tower.
A mana screen appeared.
“I am a third generation researcher. Of course, we have nothing left to research now, so we just pass on what we know.”
“What do you mean you have nothing left to research?” Akuto asked. The Elder let out another one of his strange laughs.
“Hoohoohoo. We know it’s a lump of human psyches, but knowing that doesn’t mean we can do anything with that knowledge. This is what we say when we talk to someone who’s got a little education. What’s inside this ship is a device which fixes a force field in place. An empty vessel, you could say. But when we attached devices to measure electrical and magnetic energy to it, it responded. The tip of this tower reacted to it. Though by “reacted”, I mean all it did was change color slightly.”
“It reacted even though it was empty? Are you sure it wasn’t just some kind of mistake?”
“We’ve confirmed it’s creating energy from empty space. It’s possible that the Faceless Power is an infinite power.”
“Infinite...” Akuto fell silent.
“But what’s inexplicable is the reason that I called it human. The Faceless Power changes its response in reaction to human emotion. Just as Nonimora said, those who have lived in this village a long time can use a portion of it for themselves.”
There was something in his words that Akuto found hard to believe.
”But are you sure you’re not making a mistake? What kind of power can understand human feelings?”
“Everyone, of course, assumed it was impossible. But we know we’re dealing with a living thing. Emotions are nothing but inputs and outputs. No matter how complex the process, it’s immediately obvious that there must exist some kind of rule. The problem isn’t that, it’s that power is coming forth out of completely empty space. If anything, this supports the unscientific way of thinking that says that consciousness doesn’t come from an arrangement of complex amino acids, but from empty space. But that’s what we’ve got. It’s the truth, and there’s nothing to be done about it.”
“The truth?”
“The Faceless Power has taken a liking to Nonimora. She can interact with it better than anyone else. Even dogs have certain humans they like and certain humans they don’t, right? But those likes and dislikes can’t be explained by science.”
“So even if we find it hard to believe, the truth is still the truth.”
Akuto shrugged. But that gave rise to another problem.
“Then the reason you sent Nonimora is...”
“Correct. The Empress must consider how she will approach this power. At a minimum, if the Faceless Power likes her more than it likes Nonimora, that poses a problem.”
Regardless of what you believed about the Elder’s explanation, the fact remained that if the Empress was able to use a power like this, it would pose political problems.
“But first, we must return the Jeweled Branch to its proper place,” the elder said.
“Return?” Keena said, confused. The Elder pointed to the Ship that Goes to the Stars.
“Except for the Faceless Power, everything here, including the tower and ship, were made in the early days of the empire. We know exactly what they were made for and how to use them. Of course, this includes the Jeweled Branch. It exists to control the Faceless Power, but primarily as a safety valve, to destroy it should that be necessary.
“To destroy it...”
“For that reason, the Jeweled Branch is said to choose the next Emperor or Empress. We can assume in doing so, it’s deciding whether or not to annihilate the Faceless Power.”
“Then it’s not like if you use the branch, you become the only person who can use the Faceless Power, right?”
“Some people, like Nonimora, become able to use it just by being near it. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Then...” Keena opened up her bag and took out the box, and removed the Jeweled Branch from within it. It was a small branch, glowing softly, with several jewels attached to it. The Elder touched the surface of the ship, and a hole that looked like it was meant to fit a ball appeared.
“That doesn’t look like a spot to put a branch into...” Keena said, confused.
“The jewels come off,” the Elder explained. Just as he said, several of the jewels on the branch were detachable. The only thing left was the branch itself, and a single jewel at the end. The jewel at the end fit perfectly into the emplacement. The hole closed around the jewel as she pushed the branch inwards.
“This’ll do it, right?” she said, waving the branch, which now had no jewels left. But before she could check to see what happened, her gaze began to dart rapidly to the left and right around her.
“What’s wrong?” Akuto asked, but Keena kept turning her head.
“There’s a bug...” she whispered.
“A bug?”
“Yeah, there’s a bug... kyah!” Keena screamed. The branch was knocked out of her hand.
“What...?”
“Huh...?”
Akuto and Nonimora shouted. The Jeweled Branch wasn’t knocked out of her hand. It was floating in mid-air. But just as the branch seemed to be floating on its own, the “bug” clinging to its end became a shadow, which grew larger and larger.
“Oooh!?” Nonimora gasped in surprise.
At first it was the size of a small fly, but before long it was about 30 centimeters in length.
“So this is what sank our ship!”
Akuto understood instantly. The “bug,” which was actually a human, was flying, carrying the Jeweled Branch that was the same size it was. It was probably a mage with the ability to shrink themselves. And they’d probably been aboard the ship the whole time.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment!”
Its voice was high and squeaky because it was so small, but it was definitely the voice of a human male. It was wearing a bodysuit and mask, which probably shrank and grew along with its body. The suit gave no clue to his identity, but he was clearly a member of C-MID8.
“Pests must be exterminated!”
Korone quickly took out a gun from her bag. But the enemy had predicted that. He quickly flew towards the floor’s emergency exit, with a speed that a normal bug might have. It was so fast that it almost seemed to be teleporting.