, she had unapproachable majesty and pride.“……Even so.”
This change.
It was the same since she’d met her at the terminal several days ago. What was this slack state of hers?
“I feel like I’d like to see the cool Ishtar normally too.”
“Ahaha, I’sa-chan also says that oftenn. She says that no matter how much it’s to make people let down their guard, onee-sama is playing innocent too much. Ymy-sama, you also think that?”
The Cadres Guard smiled embarra.s.sedly with her tongue poking out.
In response to that childish way of feigning ignorance.
“Yes, if you had asked me up until yesterday, I would have thought so but──”
Ymy shook her head with a smile.
“When you’re fighting is the exception and this right now is your true self, right? It’s not you playing innocent.”
A moment.
“…………”
Her eyes suddenly sharpened.
“I remember our conversation back at the hotel quite well.”
“I’sa, you meaaan? Yes, she’s Ishtar’s only family in any case.”
“I’sa-chan used to have a weak const.i.tution long ago and would immediately get a fever, you know? On top of that, she was very spoiled and would cry while saying, ‘It’s lonely when onee-chan isn’t here!‘ when Ishtar went out to get her medicine.”
She took one step towards Ishtar who was staying silent.
The tall woman stared down at her and she stared up at her expression.
“It might have been really hard to look after the previously sickly I’sa-chan that well. ……That’s what I thought. It’s not something that can be done easily with a simple reason like her being your precious little sister. Your happy face as you talk about I’sa-san can’t be you playing innocent.”
In place of a mother, a heartwarming smile was needed to comfort her little sister who was sickly as a child.
In place of a father, dignified strength to protect her frail sister was required.
Both sides could be said to be her. However, if it came down to a question of which one was her true self──
“There are probably a lot of people that are mistaken.”
“……That’s why I don’t like you; just when you’re playing innocent, you suddenly reveal your true colors.”
Those words that Sheltis said.
A large amount of the Guards thought the same.
“The Guards probably have great respect for the position of Cadres Guard. They can naturally imagine that you’d ‘be like this‘. That might be why they feel a sense that your usual carefree att.i.tude is out of place. They think that it doesn’t suit the image of a Cadres Guard, it’s to have the enemies let down their guard.”
“………………”
“But that’s wrong. When you’re fighting is the exception and I think that the motherly and kind Ishtar-san when with I’sa-san is closer to your true self.”
……I somehow have a feeling that I understand.
She was good at looking after kids and also at making meals and snacks.
Even if the given reason was to look after I’sa-chan, the truth is……isn’t the truth just that she likes those things?
“I just want you to answer me one thing. This is……a really personal question but, Ishtar-san, you didn’t really want to become a Guard, did you? For example, maybe you would have rather been a kindergarten teacher, a housekeeper, cake store owner or something similar?”
But she had chosen the path of a spear user.
Because there had been something more important than the road she wanted to take.
“I want to confirm that more than anything else.”
“…………”
She said nothing, her lips remaining a line.
And──
“Who knoows? Ishtar’s an idiot so she’s already forgotten things from so long agoo.”
She slowly turned her back towards her with a half-spin.
“Ah, w-wait! Wait──”
“See ya, Priestess-sama! Here’s one more thing from me. I understood over the four day period we were together but he really does suit Ymy-sama like I thought.”
“……Who’s he?”
Who is that?
“That’s right, I wonder how many years it’s been. I’ve heard Ymy-sama’s name before, you know?”
The Cadres Guard looked over with a sharp gaze and the corners of her mouth tilted up.
“‘She’s an apprentice Priestess right now, but Ymy will definitely become a Priestess. That’s why──’”
“Y-yeah. That’s why……?”
“‘It’d be the biggest issue for the tower if there were a mischievous, scatterbrained Priestess, so I have to be a Sennenshi to look after her.’”
“…………Sc-scatterbrained!?”
“E-he-he. It’s a secret as to who said it. Well then, Ymy-sama, see ya─”
The Cadres Guard started to leave. She watched her go without being able to say anything.
It was then that the airship door behind her opened.
“Ah─……jeez! Monica and Kagura and Vaiel! How unfair of them to leave their luggage behind because they’re tired! Does this mean I have to carry this all myself!?”
“It’s your last job.”
Four peoples’ worth including his own and his three comrade’s. The boy she knew ran down the steps with nothing but travel bags loaded on his shoulders.
“Oh, Ymy?”
She looked at him blankly and blinked.
“Just standing there like that, did you forget something?”
“…………”
“……Ymy?”
“I found him.”
In front of her childhood friend who was looking at her face, she clenched her fist.
Then.
“Sheltissss!”
Ymy shouted with her face bright red.
“You’re the one who said it! J-just……who’s a scatterbrain────!?”
Part 3Tenketsu Palace , Floor 291, ‘Paradise‘.While it was a floor of the tower, there was no ceiling nor walls. The un.o.bstructed white night sky spread overhead and the azure ice walls spread out to the distance below.
Even breathing.
Even the body’s warmth.
Even memories, consciousness and anything else, all would freeze in this world.
All manners of protection from the cold were meaningless. All creatures, all substances and Yuugenshu. It was a world of ice which could freeze everything without exception.
“The fifth Priestess has just returned from the Governmental Sector.”
She was at the center of this world.
“Ymy Ele Soufflenictole. Even though I took the time, she still can’t hear the Forbidden Crystal’s voice. She couldn’t handle the plan I blessed her with……what a worrisome girl.”
She combed her glossy black hair with her hand.
Clinging tightly to her long and slender arm was a pitch black vestment which faithfully mirrored her curvaceous body.
Wrapped in the vestment tailored specifically for her, the woman smiled faintly.
“Right? It’s just like a certain somebody from the distant past.”
“……Tsali.”
In the middle of that area surrounded by the ice walls that spread out.
That voice came from the interior of a particularly large Hyouketsu crystal.
“Unfortunately I have no recollection of who that could be, so I wonder who it could be?”
Mature ── compared to that, it was the voice of an extremely young girl.
“Oh, so you were awake.”
“You were too loud so the shinryoku wavelength is getting disrupted. ……What are you going to do if a Yuugenshu manages to penetrate the barrier?”
“The supervisor of this tower, Queen Salah, would have her shinryoku disrupted with just this?”
Those words could be said to be cool-headed, but her tone remained intimate to the end.
“Even if the Yuugenshu rise to the surface, there is a suitable person to subjugate them.”
“……Sheltis Magna Yehle.”
“And there’s also Ilis for that purpose. It looks like that stubborn machine’s calculation abilities haven’t declined. There’s no problem with practical use.”
“Ilis is energetic. She seems to have devoted herself to support to make up for losing her body as a machine G.o.d. It’s praiseworthy. Even though when she was supporting you, she didn’t really support and kept complaining, but she’s now……sometimes dedicated to the point of causing me unease.”
Tsali’s lips stiffened for the first time with those words that reverberated from within the ice. She silently clenched her right hand that had languidly lowered.
“That’s not something I can comment on. ……Well, to begin with, that stubborn machine was more of a meddler than a machine G.o.d. It’s a little boring for me though.”
“She was a good quarreling opponent for you, after all. ──Mikuva the machine G.o.d who stood against a few million Yuugenshu alone. The strongest and final incomplete G.o.d-cla.s.s machine to which the last hope of humanity was entrusted.”
“The problem is the two right now, right? What do you think about the essential part from your point of view?”
“…………”
A curtain of silence descended upon the world of ice.
Invisible airflow. With a surge that couldn’t be called the wind or a blizzard, Tsali’s hair fluttered and after the time for that flowed forever. [T/N: Think “forever in an instant”.]
“It still won’t reach. The deepest part of the Garden of Corrupted Song still won’t answer.”That was the answer the Queen gave.
“Sheltis Magna Yehle and Ymy Ele Soufflenictole ── the one chosen by the Garden of Corrupted Song ’s mateki and the one who inherited the Baptism of Amaryllis. I wonder if they will live up to expectations.”“That is dependent on them.”
“It’ll take some time until things start up.”
“Yes, I’m counting on you for continued surveillance. I will contact you if there is a change with the Forbidden Crystal.”
“Contact, huh……ahh, that’s right. Speaking of contacting, I have one other thing to convey.”
Tsali’s foot that had spun on its heel came to a halt. With a fearless smile that could be seen as provocative spread broadly on her face,
“The third organization attacked the Governmental Sector’s ‘Crimson Eye‘. Those big-shots ── the Lords of Unusual Books are also moving, so Tenketsu Palace should be prepared for hindrances if they get near the Garden of Corrupted Song . I’ve confirmed five people from the Lords of Unusual Books and they’ve gathered a really interesting bunch of members. As far as I could intercept from their telepathy, pillaging Priestesses is also within their plans.”“So you mention such an important plan as an afterthought.”
The voice that answered was shocked.
“I’ll leave the troublesome things to you. This tower is like your child, right? You deal with it.”
“I will overcome the obstacles. I will absolutely reach the deepest part of the Garden of Corrupted Song .”“──It’s time; I have plans so I’ll be going.”
And she turned around once again.
Her black hair that covered her back spread like wings and, with her pitch black vestments, hid her body from view.
“Business? How unusual. What kind of business?”
“What, you ask, well that’s──”
Finally.
After her black hair that resembled black wings had tapered to a point.
“I have a promise to play with Eyri-nee ♪”
Her innocent young voice echoed throughout the floor called Paradise.