CH 56.2

Chaos in Ostland (2)

“Is this okay?”

“Everything depends on the safety of the other two. Right now, the most important thing is to protect them.”

“Well, you have no duty to protect this country. I don’t know, either. I think Keena is probably in the auditorium. I think Sharon might be there too, but I haven’t seen her today. She went out with her father.”

I started running toward the auditorium with Anon. The knight was angry at us from behind, saying, “Don’t leave your post without permission!!” but he shut up when I said, “I got rid of all the monsters in the surroundings, so you could lend me this one person.” Well, since they can’t fight that many monsters with the kind of forces they have, they have to pay back the debt. I head for the auditorium with Anon immediately. The monsters that came into view on the way were destroyed with my revolver. If I ignored them, they would cause more damage and may even get in the way in case of an emergency. Monsters, like humans, die when their heads or the magic stones inside their bodies get destroyed. However, the location of the magic stones is different for each monster, so it’s easier to blow their brains out.

“You have strange tools as always. It would be faster to use magic, though, no?”

“Magic power is finite. If I run out of magic power when the time needs it, I won’t be able to do anything.”

My strength is magic. If I run out of gas, I will be reduced to a piece of trash no better than an ornament. I would be no better than a product of environmental destruction that only breathes. Therefore, it’s not a good idea to use too much magic power. Well, it recovers quickly, so I do use it, but I save energy for where it is needed.

“And I’m currently using body reinforcement spells anyway. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”

I ran through the uselessly spacious academy together with Anon and headed for the auditorium. The size of this academy is inconvenient. I was flustered to hurry up, and Anon chided me for losing my composure. Was I too impatient? I can’t stop feeling that I have to hurry.

But I was nowhere near as fast I wanted to. The front of the auditorium was still filled with monsters. The Knights tried their best to push them back, but standing on all sides were giant species such as ogres, trolls, and cyclops. Why are there so many monsters in the Capital… I didn’t even need to think about it. The city walls must have been partially or mostly destroyed. Many of the citizens have taken refuge in the auditorium. And the castle was probably also destroyed or people inside annihilated. The big fire I see in the distance is the Royal castle, I believe.

“Formula release, Wind Cutter x5. Synthesis, Scythe of the Grim Reaper.”

The heads of all the giant species present dropped to the ground. As expected, these monsters are tough and this has drained a lot of my magic power. There is about 50% remaining. It’s pretty bad at this point. The consumption of magic power is too intense and my physical strength is also not great.

It is probably reckless for me to do this on my own. However, I want to save my friends at the very least. Frankly speaking, I would much rather die than abandon my friends. So let’s fight to the end.

“Alice… don’t overdo it. At this rate, you will collapse before your magic power runs out.”

“… No… problem. I won’t be defeated… I will save you.”

But no matter how strong my resolve was, the world is cruel. It tries to take everything away from me. When I entered the auditorium after eradicating the monsters in front of it, I found many people collapsed on the floor. Sharon was among them, and Keena was sobbing near a couple-like man and woman, who appeared to be her parents.

“We… didn’t make it.”

“No way!!”

My mind went blank.

??’s Point of View

It was a blank space. There were no clouds, but the world was filled with rain. There, standing alone, was a one-story Japanese house. A girl with a vague figure was sitting on the eaves of the house, her legs wobbling.

An unnatural presence in an unnatural world. It was not Teth. If it were Teth, one would not be able to distinguish their gender. However, there is an outline of a girl sitting there that can be understood. Well, it was almost gone.

“Snatched again. ‘She’ won’t be able to stand it. She’ll go mad like me and give it her everything, and yet, once she realizes that she can’t do it, she’ll lose it all.”

“YOU are saying that?”

Teth was by the girl’s side.

“I’m already a concluded existence, you know? I can’t even pay you back, so I’m just waiting to disappear, you know?”

The girl smiled sadly. The girl who hated the world and challenged the world’s reason alone ended up disappearing. Her last task was to give everything to her next self and wait to disappear without doing anything.

“But you are still here. You are a great person. Normally, it’s not possible to maintain one’s ego in this world. You should be dissolving into the world, dreaming of happiness, but you are still here. It’s because you have that much mental strength and the despair to support it, that I could not reincarnate you as you are.”

The girl was Teth’s enemy. She tried to disrupt reason with a wish that could never be fulfilled on Earth. Even in death, she turned her fangs against Teth. Teth was fond of the girl. It was not love. Teth could not abandon the girl who did not give up hostility even though she recognized her existence correctly. That is why she was born. He even interfered with the world by supporting her in various ways so that she could live as happily as possible. It is probably Teth’s sincerity in his own way. Basically, Teth does not interfere in people’s destiny. Everything goes with the flow of the world. That is Teth’s way.

“I honestly can’t decide if I should disappear. I feel like if I disappear here, the worst that could happen is that everything will be forced on ‘that girl’, and I don’t like the idea of satisfying you by being swept away by your wishes.”

The girl can dream happy dreams as long as she is here. The people and time she once lost. The memories of the boy she came to like. Everything is here, but she can’t disappear. The “would be” self that was separated from her… no, she has already grown into a different person, but she is still heavily influenced by the girl. She is in danger of following the same path as the girl.

Foremost, the girl hated Teth. She hated the God-like being who only observed and did nothing, so much so that she found him repugnant. She did not want to do what he wanted. Even if it meant denying her past.

“So what are you going to do about this situation? Surely she will make the same choice you did?”

“My time was not wasted. She can still save them. The world you gave us is not like Earth. It’s not as bad as you think, as long as their souls are safe.”

The girl cut the information out of the parts that made up her and tossed it into the world as if she were throwing away trash. The pale mass of light melted into the world and disappeared. And the girl’s figure became thinner again. She gave her the important bits that made her who she was. The already squeezed-out girl grew even weaker.

“You never cease to amaze me. You’ve been working on such a miracle here? It’s true that this place is connected to the other side, but don’t disturb world’s reason so casually. I’m the one who has to manage this place.”

“I don’t like you. I hope this makes you flustered as much as possible. You speak of reason, but you are going to tolerate it anyway, right? It’s so easy to keep death away in this world.”

The girl laughed. The sun rays have come out in the world. She held a hope. The climate of this world in her mind was up to her. And the girl hated rain.

“If you really care about someone, don’t just receive, but obtain power to protect them. If ‘you’ lack it, rely on those around you. We are broken when we are alone.”

Teth, who stood beside her, disappeared.

That one comes in and goes out without permission, an intruder trespassing on this paradise for the girl, so she didn’t really think anything of it when they left.