“It’s weird... What does it really mean, that this world might be fictional?”
“Yeah... I mean, if you die, you die, right? I don’t want that...”
“Yeah..”
All Hiroshi could do was nod.
“And you’re taking Keena... her highness... up to space, right? If you do, I’ll never see you again.”
“I have to do it anyway. It’s important. If it works, I may be able to bring everyone back to life...” Hiroshi said, stumbling over his words. But even as he spoke, he still couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
“It can’t be true! I mean, even right now I’m thinking my own thoughts... I’m me!” Yuko buried her face in Hiroshi’s chest and began sobbing.
“It’ll be fine... Brave is... I mean... I am... allowed to do whatever I want whenever the mission’s done. So I... I’m going to stop the asteroid myself. I can still do things in space. So I know I can...” Hiroshi said, and then Yuko looked up at him.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. I’ll protect you. You, and humanity.”
“Wow... You really are a hero.”
“Don’t worry... I’ll protect you... I’ll protect you...”
Hiroshi kept repeating himself. He wasn’t sure if he was lying or telling the truth, or just trying to calm Yuko down. He didn’t know if she believed him. He didn’t know anything at all. But he didn’t want his words to end up as a lie. That, at least, he knew.
And then suddenly, the reality of his death came crashing down on him. He’d been in many situations in the past where death was a possibility. But this time, it felt totally different.
“I’ll... protect you...” He repeated to himself, and then gave Yuko a kiss.
○
“I got authorization for our operation. Officially, we’re sending Keena Soga into space.” Yoshie said as she entered a meeting room inside the Marlay village. There was nobody there but Akuto. He had the Robe of the Fire Rat in front of him, and was reading the manual on how to use it.
“Officially?” Akuto asked, looking up from the manual.
“Nobody knows if the Robe of the Fire Rat actually works. Honestly, I don’t either.”
“It does,” Akuto said, cutting her off.
“Huh?”
“It works. Fujiko gave up her life to get it for me.”
Without Fujiko, The One would probably have destroyed it.
“You’re right. If The One wanted it broken, that means it probably does something.”
“That’s another way of looking at it,” Akuto said, and then stared again at the small parabolic antenna.
“Whether it works or not, we won’t know what it does until we try to use it,” Yoshie said with a sigh.
“The afterlife, huh?” Akuto murmured.
“If it exists, what do you think it’s like?”
“It’s hard to say... I don’t know if I entirely believe it myself. If this world is fictional.. Like some dream of the Law of Identity, then there should be an afterlife... But I still wonder, what happens if I’m wrong?”
Yoshie laughed, sounding a little tired.
“If even you feel that way... then I can understand why everybody else is worried.”
“You’re giving me too much credit... but it makes me happy that you feel that way.”
Yoshie’s eyes took on a distant look.
“They say that people who did neither good nor evil don’t have the right to even go to hell. Which am I, do you think? I know I haven’t done anything good... So what end do you think the Law of Identity has prepared for me?”
“I’m not sure. But to me, you don’t seem like a girl who never did anything.” Akuto smiled.
“And even if the Law of Identity did make this world, we all have minds of our own. With a strong enough will, maybe we can affect the world.”
“A strong will, huh? Even if we’re fictional characters?”
“That’s right. We’ll be able to accomplish something big. If we can’t even believe that, I don’t think we deserve to be here.”
“A strong will that can accomplish something...”
Yoshie said to herself, and then nodded, as if convinced of something. And then she gave Akuto a mischievous grin, and moved her face close to his.
“Hey, if that’s true, I’d like to try out my own will on something.”
“Your own will?”
“I want to see if a character’s will can change the flow of a story,” she said, pursing her lips and closing her eyes.
“W-Wait a second...” Akuto said, confused.
“If Keena’s will is mixed in with the Law of Identity, then she wouldn’t want to let me kiss you, right? So I’m testing to see if this works,” Yoshie said, and leaned in closer.
“Um... uh...”
“Stop being stubborn. Come on!” she yelled at him.
Akuto gave in and drew his face closer to hers for a kiss. However, it was on the cheek.
“Hmph!” Yoshie pouted.
“Damn... I guess that’s as much as my will can do.”
She laughed.
○
The next day, the others arrived in the Marlay village by teleportation via Lily’s yacht. They went into the tower lab, where the Marlay elder was examining the Swallow’s Cowry Shell.
“I was right, only one person can fit in this.” Nonimora sighed. The only ones present were the Marlay elder, Nonimora, Akuto, Hiroshi, and Yoshie.
“She’ll just have to accept it. This is fate,” Yoshie said.
The mission was a top secret one. The public hadn’t been informed that Keena was coming here.
“I don’t really like this. It feels like we’re lying to people,” Hiroshi said, looking at the mana screen.
The news was showing shots of panicked citizens, as well as the empire gathering its surviving forces to destroy the asteroid. The government was insisting that it could destroy the asteroid once it entered the atmosphere. So the plan’s to take this capsule up to orbit, and then take a break?”
“That’s right. Then she can watch the end of the world... or I guess she doesn’t have to. After that, she goes into cold sleep, and then Akuto goes into the afterlife.”
“And nobody knows what happens then.”
“Correct.” Yoshie nodded.
“I’m not scared to die!” Nonimora shouted to no one in particular, jumping up and down. “In the Marlay tribe, heroes surpass even death.”
“That’s good to know. I hope it’s evidence of something, actually. Anyway, it’s about time...” Yoshie glanced at her watch.