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Chapter one — Anti-war tactics.
“The great war”. A dark age when the G.o.ds and their creations waged war for the throne of the One True G.o.d.
As if they were laughing at the planet that was being destroyed, and the fleeting lives of those in it──
As if it wasn’t enough to tear the heavens and earth apart, they continued to trample the world to exhaustion.
The ones who are challenging a game imitating that, Sora and s.h.i.+ro, are writing “Commands” fiercely.
To live… just for that.
However, the hand that was writing the letters required to execute the exploit that’d solve the most difficult part stopped suddenly,
“…!? s.h.i.+ro, I just thought of something good!!”
Sora excitedly explains his idea:
“If we wrote an order to “Netorare the wife next door”, wouldn’t that be interesting!?” …. He said as there was another flash of light…. And another mountain vanished from the “Map”.
That was where their “Capital” was located a few seconds ago.
If they hadn’t read the previous attack patterns and ordered a “Settler” to move the capital, that light of destruction would have surely annihilated them together with that mountain. But, seemingly without worry, s.h.i.+ro gives a thumbs up and answers:
“…Nii, good job…. but, that’s not… a specific instruction…”
“Aaah～ What do I have to do to be able to Netorare the wife next door?!”
Forget about stealing someone’s wife, he’s someone who has never had a girlfriend outside of his own imagination.
While Sora agonizes over a problem that seems to be much more difficult than “to live”…
“I’ve been wondering what you’ve been doing since before…. How can you be so carefree right now?!”
Steph, who was mailing the “Commands” that the other two were writing into the “Mailbox”, screamed.
“I-If you’d been a bit slower, r-right now we would be d-dead… can’t you do this seriously!?”
If they had been a bit slower the capital would have fallen, Steph realized that and became pale,
──’Well, it’s fine isn’t it?’ Sora replied in his mind.
In a typical RTS, in order to “Take” the enemy capital, first, it’s “Fall” has to be recognized.
Not to mention, thinking about Jibril’s intentions, she does not intend them to die just for taking an attack.
That’s because in this s.p.a.ce the players are disconnected from the outside world.
Anyhow, right now Sora and s.h.i.+ro are in the bodies of children that are less than 2 years old. Sora is 1.8 years old. s.h.i.+ro is 1.1 years old. Even Steph is just 3.6 years old. The desk is so high that they have to stand on the chair in order to be able to write “Commands”.
In fact, Steph, the oldest one, has to desperately stand on her tiptoes just to reach the “Mailbox”. With those bodies and in the middle of that h.e.l.l… If it wasn’t disconnected they would be already dead.
Well, if every city was destroyed, then all of humanity (their units) would be destroyed as well, so it would be checkmate anyway. In any case,
“Hmmm. Hey, what do you think I should do to get the wife next door to fall in love with me?” He nonchalantly asked Steph.
“Ara～ You’re asking me? Let’s see, if I may speak from experience, then… How about setting her up with a dirty trick to force her to fall in love with you?”
“Wha…?!”
Sora became speechless and said that with an exaggerated smile, then continued,
“You’re really on the ball, huh!? That’s right, I just have to deceive her and set her up!!”
“I’m being 100% sarcastic! Couldn’t you notice that at least a little!?”
To Sora’s heartfelt compliment, Steph answers with a heartfelt request.
And, towards Sora, who wrote two more “Commands” with zero hesitation, Steph dejectedly continues:
“Do you feel like using the head that thought of such a vicious and horrible thing so quickly seriously?”
“… Seriously, huh? For what?”
“Wh-what…?
Without worrying about Steph, who continued to post “Commands” confusedly, Sora continues with a serious face.
“Let’s see… How about I use my head seriously for “Diplomacy”?
Diplomacy. Establis.h.i.+ng a relations.h.i.+p of trust by means of a contract.
They don’t have many negotiation tools, but it is certainly not impossible.
Knowledge from another world, a Player’s information, food, etc.
Using those as bargaining chips, they might be able to get the other powers to promise some sort of cooperation, or maybe even a trade agreement.
“…If you believe they can keep that kind of agreement even after seeing all that, should we try it?”
That… In other words, the “Scout’s” field of view that is being projected on the empty s.p.a.ce above them… The spectacle outside.
The storm of violence breaking apart heaven and earth… After witnessing such a tragedy Steph can’t help but lose confidence too.
In a world where you can just take by killing, things like contracts have no meaning.
“Weeell, in that case how about seriously using my head to do “Battle”?
Battle. Using military power to secure existing territory.
The chances of winning are certainly not very high, but it is certainly not impossible either.
Needless to say, if they confront them directly they will certainly lose, however… the Warbeasts, Elves, Seirens, and Dhampir.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro have more information about the 16 races than them, to a certain degree.
Based on that, they could use their units to create a strategic surprise encirclement.
Stealing the enemy’s strategic advantage by fighting in a limited area, and capitalizing on an advantageous position… well, if they do that they do have a chance of winning.
It would be possible to crush one or two enemy units, and if they do it really well…
“We might even be able to fatally wound one race… but then what? What do you think will happen after that?”
That race will see them as enemies and seek vengeance, it would only increase the danger uselessly.
In short, both “Diplomacy” and “Combat” are useless, no, worse than useless.
If they move poorly they could attract unwanted attention and their “Capital” could be pinpointed…
“A single misstep and we would be destroyed. The end. And I mean that literally.”
Sora makes a bitter smile, in the first place,
“Thinking about it normally, we would be checkmated from the very beginning, right?”
Just how did Imanity actually manage to survive this “Great War”?
Sora, of course, has no way of knowing the answer to that question, but,
“There are not many ways humanity can survive in this environment”
And, among those few options, only one stands out as the most realistic.
“To thoroughly run away and hide… only that”
They have to behave like something that they won’t look out for, something that won’t be recognized… something that can’t even be noticed.
Like small animals, like insects, like leaves on a tree, they have to erase their presence.
To keep running away no matter how far, that is the most plausible move… however.
“But even that… As long as Jibril knows about us that is impossible too, isn’t it?”
That’s right, if they are looking out for them it’s checkmate, but from the very beginning they were already looking out for them.
In such a situation they can’t even afford to move their units poorly.
If their units are discovered by Jibril, and their “Capital” is pinpointed, that would be the end.
“……………………”
Steph became pale and gasped, and Sora nodded at her with a bitter smile.
Do what seriously?
In this situation… Nothing can be done.
The best they can manage is to send scouts out in order to be able predict the enemy’s conduct. Then, move the capital to avoid being hit by stray bullets.
After that, secure food and send “Letters” to Jibril to instigate her.
“We can’t fight! If we go outside, our units just get expended and its Game Over!! We can’t even use diplomacy, are you trying to use our pride as gamers to provoke us into trying hard to enjoy this s.h.i.+tty game!?”
“I think you’re wrong about the trying hard part, also it is not your pride you’re betting, but your life, right?!”
It was a splendid scream, but Sora is already very aware of that.
That’s exactly why they are performing an experiment.
Yes, for example could they be able to…
“… Nii… it seems…. We were able to… Netorare?”
Sora smiles at s.h.i.+ro’s voice, jumps on top of the desk and enlarges the screen.
In there, two units were displayed in a position that indicated the experiment’s success, however.
“Uwaaaah… they actually did it… women are scary～”
“…Hey… nii, women are… scary, huh?”
“Don’t you feel even a little bad about pulling away from them because of something you forced them to do?!”
The wife next door and her lover are having dates while hiding from the husband.
Steph screams at Sora, who pulled away, and at s.h.i.+ro, who for some reason started to brainwash people.
However,
“Forced them!? I did not! Did you forget the contents of my “Commands”!?”
The two commands that Sora made Steph post, what he wrote there was:
First. To “The wife next door” (Unit designation c1fe436)
From today onwards and for 20 days, at 2200 hours, while feeling a ravenous hunger
Move to coordinates (765, 9875) (the food storehouse), and secretly misappropriate some food.
Second. To “The netoraring lover” (Unit designation b3fc412)
In fifteen days, at 2201 hours, move to coordinates (765,9875) (the food storehouse) and encounter “the neighbor’s wife” (Unit c1fe436)
As the price for ignoring her misappropriations, seek a physical relations.h.i.+p with her.
Sora raises his voice in an accusatory tone, in short:
“The one who ordered her to steal was me! The one who compelled him to take advantage of that for a one-time relations.h.i.+p was also me!”
Certainly, “The neighbor’s wife” unit was forced to steal by Sora.
Certainly, “The netoraring lover” unit was also forced to take advantage of that and blackmail her.
“However! But! s.h.i.+kaaaas.h.i.+!!”
Suddenly, Sora points at what the map is projecting:
At the two who continued to rendezvous even after the set time period pa.s.sed.
“That they are continuing that relations.h.i.+p is their own judgement!”
That’s right, “the neighbor’s wife” was never ordered to fall in love with “The netoraring lover”.
What’s more “The netoraring lover” also wasn’t instructed to seek a physical relations.h.i.+p more than once.
Sora also questions things from the very beginning, that is
““The neighbor’s wife” wasn’t instructed to fall for “The netoraring lover’s” blackmail ri-!!”
Thus, it is proven that the one who gave them an opportunity was Sora, however, their infidelity is clearly their own responsibility, that is an obvious thing!!
“……no ……. I feel like there is something wrong with that reasoning-”
“-ght? As expected, was it because of the sense of immorality!? Does it really feel that good to betray your husband!?”
“No, listen! Forcing someone to cheat, then getting angry when they do is wrong as expected!?”
But, well, ignoring Steph who is causing a ruckus.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro nodded at each other with satisfied smiles because of this experiment’s success.
It seems like this game is fuzzier than they expected.
To cheat? To continue? The units made their own judgement about that, in that case…
“Well, whatever, let’s keep going! There is also a time limit, so hurry up and mail these!”
Sora stops his overly dramatic lamentations, and hands over 2 more “Commands” that he had written beforehand.
Steph hurriedly mailed them, and, while the two of them were closely watching the map, she asked them with suspicious eyes:
“Your viciousness is completely heartless, huh? How about making a legitimate experiment to confirm whether it’s possible to conduct “Diplomacy” or “Foreign Trade”?”
Specifically, …
“These are the instructions: To “The neighbor’s wife”, tell your husband that you’re being blackmailed for hush money because of your robberies. “The netoraring lover”, who accepted the money, flees to The Third City”
“That is not diplomacy, that is extortion, right!?”
In response to Steph, who screamed that, Sora simply thinks: ‘Ah, that’s right’.
In summary, this is nothing more than: ‘I stole your jewels (woman), if you want them back, give me some money’
‘If this isn’t extortion, then what is it?’ If someone asked Sora that, he would answer that it is, of course, extortion.
That’s why…
“The netoraring lover” successfully cheated “The husband next door” out of the hush money, and then he started to move to The Third City.
When Sora sees that, his smile deepens and he answers:
“If you unwrap diplomacy, then it is just a collection of extortions on the inside, right?”
“…Nii, you’re… making a face like… you’re thinking of something sleazy again… so cool…”
s.h.i.+ro’s respectful gaze, and Steph’s disgusted gaze, fell upon Sora.
This wasn’t a situation where Sora could mind that, so he just deepened his smile.
It is possible to deceive even unspecified units.
In that case, it should be possible to use “Diplomacy”, even on the other races.
Sora made that breakthrough, but Steph just looks at him with suspicious eyes and whispers:
“a devil’s deed… Ah, but with this, the married couple next door will have peace again.”
But, just as she was saying that.
“…? …Nii, an unemployed person… is coming out…”
Listening to s.h.i.+ro’s mutterings, Sora touches the “Map” and enlarges the image.
When he does… For some reason “The husband next door” unit is wandering the streets, penniless.
“…Sora? Are “The wife next door” and “The netoraring lover” together by any chance?”
Right.
Sora thoughtfully turns towards the two units that moved to The Third City.
He certainly did not specifically write the contents of the hush money.
He also could not confirm how much they took from “The husband next door”, who is outside the instructions.
If he had to guess, they…
“… She cheated the husband out of all his a.s.sets. Then she ran away together with the lover…?”
…………………………………………
“All right! In any case, I just saw a breakthrough, s.h.i.+ro!”
“…Yes… With this… we can make… various moves…”
“You smoothly refuse to look at the misfortune we have caused huh?”
Steph had no idea what she was talking about, so Sora and s.h.i.+ro decided to ignore her, and started to write “Commands” fiercely.
As if confirming something, Steph mutters a few words:
“… shouldn’t we just renounce our rights after all?”
“… eh?... why?”
“This is finally getting fun, so we might get busy?”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro answer with a smile, and hurriedly start to act.
Meanwhile…
There was a hall wrapped in silence.
It was the same as the cave where Sora and the others were, a player’s s.p.a.ce.
It was the floating city’s, Avant Heim’s, main office room. Right in the middle, as expected, there was a worn out “Mailbox”.
Also, in front of a desk where a “Map” was spread, there was Jibril.
Jibril had 10 dice floating around her chest, but she wasn’t doing anything.
She was just covering her face and waiting. No, she was praying.
Praying that Sora and s.h.i.+ro, her masters, would renounce their rights.
“… I don’t want… to lose…”
‘Just this time, I will take the win… By any means necessary’
Jibril resolutely made that declaration, however.
“I don’t want to lose, I don’t want to lose, I don’t want to lose… Master!!”
Both Sora and s.h.i.+ro… no, anyone who knows her would become speechless at her appearance.
She was hugging the book she had been restlessly writing in until now, her “Diary”.
Her back, her shoulders and her voice were trembling.
She was crouching and muttering deliriously.
….. In that case.
‘It might have been better to just return the 10 dice when the game started’ She thinks.
Jibril doesn’t know how to handle this feeling, after all she doesn’t have much experience with it, so she just touches her “Diary” with her trembling fingertips.
Her gaze falls on the front cover, written in Flugel language, and she thinks:
‘I will keep reading these 3205 pages to the point of losing my memories’
… In that case.
‘It might be better if I just didn’t have my memories’ She thinks.
With those feelings resembling regret… Those 3205 pages.
Since this “Sugoroku” started, she doesn’t know how many times she has opened this diary, but once again, she opens it.
In there, countless memos are crammed in, they are the records that Jibril wrote.
For example:
【Hatsuse Ino】Warbeast・Male・Can be looked down upon in normal operations・Gross
【Plum Stalker】Dhampir・Not interested in separations by gender・It is OK to consider him a mosquito.
From crude scribblings like that, to:
【Stephanie Dola】Imanity・Red haired female・I call her Dolchan
Servant of Sora and s.h.i.+ro. Is in love with Sora, but keeps denying it…
And it continues on with detailed things like her height, her three sizes, and even anecdotes.
A person’s characteristics, to Jibril’s knowledge, and various other things were recorded there.
However, among those notes, there was an item written in conspicuously big letters, inside a circle drawn with double lines, and even with a note saying ‘most important information’
【Sora】Black-haired Imanity 【s.h.i.+ro】White-haired Imanity
They come from a parallel world. Siblings who deeply love each other. My new Masters.
The answer I’ve always been looking for, since I was born…
That last sentence was written in shaky handwriting. Jibril traces it with her fingertips, and lowers her gaze.
She remembers the mental state she was in when she wrote that.
Immediately after the game started, before the 38 days had pa.s.sed.
In other words, the first move.
The very beginning, when she rolled her dice for the very first time…
Puzzled, Jibril casually puts one hand on her cheek, tilts her head and whispers:
“…huh? Where is this place?”
Even though she could just fly away if she wanted to, she just stood alone in that gra.s.sland.
There were nine white cubes near her chest, and around her, there was an unusual land whirling around and forming a spiral.
‘Where is this?’ ‘Why am I here?’ Jibril just stood there without understanding anything.
She just looks around with her amber eyes and cross-shaped pupils.
Sure enough, using her vision that transcended s.p.a.ce, she was able to see those who were advancing along the spiral land.
“One eyesore of a dhampir bug, two beasts that dare to walk on two legs…”
And… Furrowing her eyebrows, she whispers:
“… and even lowlier that those, three human worms, huh?”
Jibril wonders why she is here with such lowly creatures, so she tilts her head.
As expected, she doesn’t understand the situation.
“Well, I don’t really understand, but if I ask someone, I’ll probably get a good explanation♪”
That’s right, she concluded that she should act with common sense.
Well, just to tell the bugs or the beasts something like: ‘I got lost! Please show me the way’.
She was very unhappy, or rather unwilling, to act in such a fairytale-like manner.
“Let’s just kill the cause of this. After all, it looks like this isn’t my own fault, right?”
The point is that if she kills the one that caused her embarra.s.sment, everything would be solved.
Deciding that by herself, Jibril spreads her wings and increases the revolutions of her halo.
──Teleportation.
To twist s.p.a.ce to connect two different spatial coordinates. Something similar to moving with infinite speed.
But, in principle, it is still movement…
“────────hya?!”
If there is a barrier in between… this happens.
What caused her to scream in a such dumb voice, so different from her normal one, was an accidental collision. Moving with something similar to infinite speed, Jibril hit something where there seemed to be nothing but empty s.p.a.ce. There was even the sound of an explosion, and Jibril was stuck in midair like a frog.
Then, just like that, she started to slide down.
Finally, as if she was getting peeled off of something, she finally fell to the ground.
“…Fu fufu… To surround me with a spatial rupture… fu fufufu”
With a large b.u.mp on her head, now wide awake, Jibril…. laughs.
Something so powerful that she didn’t notice it even with her Flugel senses.
She understands now, both this spiral land, and the rupture powerful enough to inhibit teleportation.
The only ones able to do something like that… If this was the deed of an Old Deus, she would be able to accept it. However,
“You have some nerve!!!”
In that case… ‘Well, in any case, let’s kill them’ she thought.
She fires Heavenly Smites and spatial destruction magic until she calms down.
……………….
“…haa…ha… I’ll let you go for now…”
Finally, Jibril reluctantly admits that everything she does seems useless.
She also sees that, at the destination of those who were advancing along the spiral land, there is an Old Deus.
‘In any case, even though I’m going to kill you, I’ll be patient for now’ she thought with displeasure, and stepped forward.
The situation is still unknown, but only a few minutes have pa.s.sed.
Then, when she crosses that mysterious darkness, the spatial rupture, for the 42nd time…
──【Make a vessel containing 4 liters of water before the magma swallows you up】
A haughty voice echoes at the same time.
In front of her eyes, there was a fountain and two vessels labeled ‘5 liters’ and ‘3 liters’ respectively.
And suddenly, a looming magma wave as big as a tsunami appeared from the front.
… She didn’t understand at all.
No, she of course understood what was being said.
Using the two different vessels, measure 4 liters precisely.
However, her mood was already the worst. Shoving such a childish problem in front of her at this time…
‘If you think you can solve this before the magma comes, then try and solve it!’ is what she heard.
“… Who do you think you are?”
Jibril showed a daring sneer while saying that.
In short.
She concentrated all the moisture in the earth and atmosphere, including the water in the fountain, and threw it at the magma.
Thus, inside the rain produced by the steam explosion, Jibril looked at the 4-liter container she made herself with magic as it was filling up.
Jibril made a joyful face because of her own, too perfect answer.
──【Task completion recognized】
The haughty voice echoes a second time, and, at the same time, the number of cubes by her chest increases by one.
She looks at that, puzzled, and immediately after…
“────────────────!?”
Jibril falls to her knees and hugs herself.
“… What is… happening…?”
Trembling all over, she was barely able to squeeze out that question.
‘What happened?’… That was obvious.
The questions from before ‘Where is this?’ and ‘Why am I here?’ were melting away.
She answers them herself: ‘This is the Old Deus’ game’ and ‘I am partic.i.p.ating in this game’.
She… temporarily lost that memory. That was all. But there was something else that she could not express, chills that seemed to drain the blood from her face.
Her teeth were chattering, and she acted as if she wanted to run away from something.
‘What is happening to my body’ She thought.
“… Let’s calm, down… and think…”
Without understanding that at all, she desperately tries to calm her own confused thoughts.
Jibril starts to examine the rules with care and composure.
First of all, about what happened, in other words, the reason why only she lost her memories.
01：The seven partic.i.p.ants shall be granted their own “Ma.s.s Existence Time” divided proportionally into 10 “Dice”.
Ma.s.s Existence Time. Yes, that is, the time their own ma.s.s has existed.
The “Soul”, which has no ma.s.s, is not included.
Thanks to Sora’s influence, Jibril was also able to notice this at the beginning of the game.
It seems her masters arranged things so that the partic.i.p.ants could still act even if they dropped out of the game.
In other words, to separate the “Body” and the “Soul”, and then, to only put the body on the betting table, however.
One likely hypothesis emerges. Jibril uses her vision that transcends s.p.a.ce to look around once more.
Towards those that continued to advance along the board.
Plum, Ino, Izuna, Dolchan, and… Sora and s.h.i.+ro, her masters.
Even if their dice decreased they continued on without problems. The hypothesis was confirmed.
It was only her.
The only one that is not a ‘living thing’ but rather a ‘living being’, the Flugel, Jibril… Only she has no clear boundary between her ‘soul’ and her ‘body’.
“Aaah…. This is…”
As she whispers that, Jibril finally understands what was happening. Even with that, she still feels like she’s about to lose consciousness, but she gets a hold of herself.
With trembling hands and chattering teeth, Jibril takes out her diary and starts writing fiercely.
She writes down her memories about those who are advancing along the board, who she regarded as inferior animals just a moment ago, her memories about her masters.
But most importantly, she writes down the memories that make them important to her.
Those memories that disappeared by losing just a single dice.
She didn’t even notice.
After learning that truth, now, after living for 6407 years, Jibril finally…
“…I see… so this is… “Fear” … huh?”
She finally experiences and understands that feeling, so because of that feeling, she records all her experiences, without leaving anything out, and without adding anything either, in her diary.
So that even if her memories are gone, she should be able to remember by reading her diary…