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“Maybe being a strong man also means being a stupid one,” Yoshie said, watching Akuto and Yoshie on her monitor.
“That’s certainly true for these two,” Korone answered.
“Why are they fighting, though?” Yuko asked, timidly.
“Because they’re stupid. That’s the conclusion we reached,” Korone said coldly.
Keena and Korone had met up with Yoshie in the command room just under an hour ago. Akuto had dropped them off before heading off to answer The One’s call. Keena had wanted to go with him, but Korone had, for once, strongly opposed this.
“After seeing what happened to Fujiko Eto... I need you to be careful,” Korone said. This was how Yoshie learned what had happened to Fujiko, but Yoshie was calm enough to avoid letting it distract her. While everyone else was lost in silent sadness, she’d decided to give her all to analyzing the materials that Fujiko had left her. As a result, she’d learned something that backed up what Akuto and Marine were debating. It was time to explain to everyone the meaning of what Akuto and Marine were saying.
“I think... I need to start at the beginning,” Yoshie said, and then opened a connection. She’d contacted Brave, and Lily in her yacht. It was necessary for them to understand the situation too.
“I’m listening,” Lily said. For some reason Brave wasn’t speaking, but she could hear his breathing. Yoshie continued.
“Listen to me. The Faceless Power is a supernatural power that has existed since before the dawn of mana civilization.”
“And the Imperial Line’s maintained their power by controlling it,” Lily answered.
“That’s right. And that’s when the Jeweled Branch and Swallow’s Cowry Shell were created. At the same time, they were also concerned about the dangers of the Faceless Power. They used the rather vague phrasing of ‘It could destroy humanity.’”
“Sounds like they weren’t kidding, huh?” Lily’s words sounded like a joke, but her tone was completely serious.
“Correct. And this is where it gets complicated. They started working on figuring out how the brains of people who could use the Faceless Power worked. The result of that research was mana. An artificial version of the Faceless Power, you see. And that’s when mana-based civilization came into being.”
Everyone fell silent as she continued.
“And then this part of history was kept completely secret,” Lily said, breaking the silence.
“All we were taught was that the Imperial Family created mana civilization...” Yuko said, sounding miserable.
“I’m not seeing that information in any of the databases I have access to.” Korone nodded.
“And any research, and any technology that resulted from, the original Faceless Power, was deemed black magic. Looking back, the rituals involving the Demon King, and the gods’ belief in the Law of Identity, all connect to the Faceless Power,” Yoshie said, her eyes glancing through the documents that Fujiko had left her.
“But there are still black mages today, right?” Lily asked. Yoshie’s answer was immediate.
“But in the end, none of them actually knew what Black Magic really was, right? This is just a guess, but it’s possible that mana-civilization got its start with the seemingly harmless Marlay and their theme park. And the group that believed in the Faceless Power might’ve settled beneath the sea and become the Republic.”
“...Huh?” This surprised Lily.
“But if we assume that’s the case, a lot of things make sense,” Korone nodded. Yoshie nodded as well, and continued.
“That’s where you get the two Faceless Powers that Akuto and Marine were talking about. Marine and Nonimora were using the Faceless Power sealed within the Swallow’s Cowry Shell. And then there’s the power that the people of the Republic are using, which can destroy the world.”
“That’s the thing. How are they different?”
Korone must’ve been intrigued by the existence of something that wasn’t in her databanks, because for once, she just asked a straight-up question.
“My guess... is that the Faceless Power sealed within the Swallow’s Cowry shell comes from the outer universe.”
“The outer universe?” Lily asked, surprised again.
“I don’t have any proof of this yet, but yes. And then the power that’s granting the wishes of the Republic’s people might be our collective unconsciousness, don’t you think?”
“Then the reason Akuto and Marine are fighting...” Korone whispered.
Yoshie shook her head sadly.
“That’s right. They’ve reached the same conclusion that we have. Mankind’s collective unconsciousness has created a new power beyond the reach of mana, and is using it to summon an asteroid.”
“Then the asteroid was summoned by the people?”
“That’s right. But even if I’m wrong... we don’t know if it’s possible to destroy the asteroid.” Yoshie’s voice betrayed a sense of resignation.
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