Chapter 3: Threeway Battle
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Danganronpa Togami Volume 1: Multiple Counts of Attempted World Domination
Chapter 3: Threeway Battle
1
This was a battle we were doomed to lose from the start.
If I were a defeatist, I would probably write an introduction like that without a second thought.
But we were undefeated, we were reckless, and we hadn"t forgotten our sense of adventure when it came time to sink or swim.
Dead bodies. Entrails. Raw flesh. Gray matter. Even with these things strewn across the entire floor, Byakuya-sama and I could do nothing but continue advancing. Just like a bullet has no interest in anything but moving straight ahead, once it"s been fired—in other words, it was our fundamental principle.
2
Sedlec Ossuary. A bizarre building in a town called Kutná Hora, famous for housing approximately 40,000 skeletons, about 10,000 of which are used to decorate the interior. The altar, the ceiling, the monstrances, the handrails, the coat of arms, the objets d"art—everything was made from human bones. So it"s informally known as the Church of Bones.
Borges probably had a very eloquent answer to the simple question of, "Why so many skeletons?" But this wasn"t the time for me to be brushing up on my history. Right now, in the present, we were moving at breakneck speed.
Arguably the most impressive ornament in the Church of Bones was the ma.s.sive chandelier. Supposedly made entirely of bones, it was enough to make you sick of the back-and-forth contemplation of mortality, but right then, there was a fresher death spread out underneath it.
It was an image straight out of h.e.l.l. Still-wet flesh clung to the wall, intestines were caught on the stair handrails, and scattered blood stained the floor red. What could have caused a scene like this, short of about ten hungry bears breaking in?
But this wasn"t the work of bears. It was the work of humans. We"d escaped their attack, so we knew.
"Hmph. How pitiful, to die in a place like this. It just means that in the end, their lives were as meaningless as that of an antlion," Byakuya-sama said from his perch on a windowsill that had narrowly avoided the blood damage, sounding bored. His crisp black tuxedo stood out almost gaudily against the skull-white and blood-red.
"Hoooo boy. I"ve stomped on thousands of Goombas in my time, but this level of destruction leaves me at a loss for words," said Hiroyuki-san, who was clearly not at a loss for words, lighting a cigarette.
Yuika-san was going on a stroll through the church. She didn"t seem to be paying much attention to the blood spreading out under her feet. Maybe because she was wearing red shoes?
Pretty annoying that this was basically "the squad" now.
Byakuya-sama and I eloping, just the two of us... I probably couldn"t expect a romantic development like that to happen any time soon.
Well then. Back to business.
I put a finger to my temple, powering up Borges. Even if there were no full bodies, from things like the raw flesh, clothes, precious metals, and skin color, it was possible to distinguish between individuals. Just like identifying bodies after a plane crash, pretty much. After searching for available information and then rearranging those parts like puzzle pieces, the result was 83 confirmed bodies. It was also able to specify that 31 of those bodies were the bodies of council members.
Thirty-one. That was the exact number of council members other than Byakuya-sama and Princess Sonia.
"Isn"t it about time to let us in on this?" Hiroyuki-san blew smoke. "What"s with the pool of meat? Why were you all gathered in the Church of Bones?"
"Tell them," was all that Byakuya-sama said. Apparently, this was also part of my job description.
"As he is the heir to the esteemed Togami family, Byakuya-sama is also a member of the Council of Global Controllers."
"...So hey, m"lady, would that happen to be a Freemasons reference or something?"
"I"ll leave that up to your imagination."
"Wooow."
"Didn"t you say you were from an underworld conglomerate or something, too?"
"Did I stick my neck out a little too far? Go on, continue."
"I myself haven"t heard when or how the Council of Global Controllers came into existence. But it seems that it"s existed for centuries, and when the world is in danger and the word is given, this a.s.sociation secretly guides people towards the choices necessary to avert danger."
"Oh, I see..." Hiroyuki-san was dialing it down. "Just curious, but are the members all big-shot politicians, or n.o.bility, or big conglomerates or something?"
"Obviously."
"It"s almost like the Bilderberg Group."
BORGES=SEARCHRESULT
#36695501
CLa.s.sCONSPIRACY THEORIES
t.i.tLE "BILDERBERG GROUP"
A secret conference founded in 1954 by Józef Retinger, among others.
Prominent politicians. Top financiers. CEOs of major companies. Rulers of European countries. Bankers. With roughly 130 people in attendance, and with the details of the meeting not disclosed to the public, conspiracy theories about the true purpose of the conference persist, including "planning to establish a unified government" and "discussing population reduction plans to control the global population".
"This was the first time a meeting was called to order since Byakuya-sama became a member. We flew in to the Czech Republic for the weekend so that we could head to the Church of Bones."
"So is this where you always have those discussions, or what?"
"That"s what I"ve heard..."
"Y"know, Kutná Hora was called the "Silver Treasure House of the Kingdom". It used to be a hub of monetary circulation, manufacturing the silver coins that were the predecessor of the dollar.[1] The belief that they"re the ones controlling the world from the shadows has been pretty persistent."
"That"s rather incisive."
"Ieyasu caused the downfall of the Toyotomi clan just because he found the phrases "May the state be peaceful and prosperous" and "May n.o.ble lord and servants be rich and cheerful" on a temple bell," Hiroyuki-san said, his expression a little more serious.[2] "At any rate, at least now we"ve established the reason why you came to Prague. Although I didn"t expect it to involve any secret societies."
"Why were you here to meet us when you don"t know about the Council of Global Controllers?"
"Underworld conglomerates, am I right? This kinda thing is just part of our morning routine."
"So you live in a pretty unrealistic world too, don"t you?"
"The world is realistic no matter what you say about it. Nothing too crazy unrealistic is gonna happen. So basically, n.o.body"s gonna be a global controller."
"Is that so?"
"There are plenty of organizations of all sizes in the world, and an unpredictable level of incidents happen daily. You think a single will can control such an arbitrary world? I love conspiracy theories, but I think anyone who actually believes that s.h.i.t is an idiot."
I couldn"t argue with Hiroyuki-san"s viewpoint. You can"t take the whole world at once. With so many little schools, companies, and even the smallest organizations of all—individual households, perfect control is probably impossible. We aren"t cogs in the machine. We aren"t puppets. Just like how Louis XVI helped develop the guillotine and then had that blade fall on his own neck in the Revolution, the world is full of irony and countless miscalculations. It"s impossible to do something like guiding the globe as a whole.
"With the "pitiful cattle" being the sole exception."
Hiroyuki-san turned towards Byakuya-sama, a bold smile appearing on his face.
"So tell me, Bossy Boy. Why"d this Council of Global Controllers or whatever approach the Togami family?"
"Do you have a guess as to what the "pitiful cattle", "or whatever" is, you third-rate conglomerate sc.u.m?"
"Uweeheehee. Oh, you silly-billy, playing all innocent like that. So how about it? What reason did they have for approaching the Togami family?"
"Because we are Togami. There is no further reason required."
"..."
"I simply accepted their request asking if I would like to help guide the world. I didn"t ask what was going on in their heads."
"Running errands? That"s not like you, Little Bigshot."
"Tedious socialization goes hand in hand with success in life."
"They might have come at you from the Council of Global Controllers angle when they were actually going after the Secret to the Togami Family"s Prosperity angle."
"Like you are?"
"Neeheehee... By the way, what peril was the world supposed to be in this time? Falling meteorites? Alien invasion? Global warming?"
"Isn"t it obvious? The Despair Novel and Despair Disease."
Translator"s Notes
[1] predecessor of the dollar - this is the thaler, which did originate in a town that in the present day is part of the Czech Republic. Kutná Hora was home to the royal mint.
[2] Ieyasu/Toyotomi - a reference to an inciting incident in the Siege of Osaka. The article briefly explains the wordplay with kanji on the bell messages (the characters in the names Ieyasu and Toyotomi were present in the inscriptions).
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