Chapter 4 - Wild Card/The Fool
The surrounding space exploded.
of the impact.
- Plum and Amira were frozen in shock as they saw that everyone had
The reason why they were surprised wasn’t simply because Jibril had easily
that had recently consumed blood with the force of her will alone.
“- Alright, checkmate, we win.”
Amira spoke with a stiffsmile.
“…The rules didn’t say we can’t… 「Save and Quit」…”
one of us was rejected, so there shouldn’t be a problem with us 「Quitting」
know!”
“Alright, Jibril, we’re done here so restore the air.”
Jibril nonchalantly began drawing out the outline of a spell with her fingertips.
In an instant, the water parted and inside the room – air began expanding.
Plum and Amira were completely stunned, while Jibrilsmiled thinly.
to its originalstate.”
waters.
- She hadn’t said anything since earlier, when they were in the dream.
expression as though she was in pain.
shoulders heaved up and down almost as ifshe was laughing.
- She revealed the truth straightforwardly.
and blood for such a long period of time… it feels pretty uncomfortable even
Miko appeared to be at the verge of collapsing, experiencing a liberating
However, she strengthened her will, sat cross-legged and cupped her face in
“- Eh?”
on.
emotionlessly as if he was wearing a mask:
even ifshe used 「Blood Devastation」 it would be undetectable, which was
heart’s content – thank you very much, Miko-san, please give us your
- Miko’s expression was…
Miko thought from the deepest recesses of her heart 「Luckily these people
“That Seiren over there – she doesn’t want to awaken the Empress at all.”
And then… hearing her next sentence, she positively froze in place.
Empress’ 「Bet」 was a lie as well – ah~ and…”
smiled bitterly.
“All that stuff about you being just her type, being a handsome guy and all
“I realized that long ago - …dammit.”
And then – as though she was looking down upon Plum and Amira.
She spoke painfully, but with the highest degree of mockery, and laughed with
“- The fact that I’m the 「FullRepresentative (Strongest) 」 of the Werebeasts
Sora tried extremely hard so as to not show how hurt he was, and looked
“Yes, Master, same goes with me.”
“Plum’s spell actually did work properly, as in that it did make the Empress
- After which – it was Plum’s turn to freeze.
affected.”
Sora confirmed it with her wordlessly, but Jibril laughed and replied:
herself, didn’t you?”
They didn’t need any form of verbal communication –
- With this sentence alone, Shiro fulfilled all of her brother’s requests.
He still had a cheerfulsmile on his face.
an unbelievably sharp gaze.
wild beast, he spoke:
you could use us as 「Food」?”
If they really thought that sort ofsuspicious action wouldn’t be noticed by
“Eh? Huh? Um, well, what’s going on?”
Steph and Izuna still didn’t appear to understand what was going on.
But Sora didn’t appear to want to explain any further, and instead clapped his
“Alright, we’re going back, Jibril, take us to the beach.”
Jibrilspread her wings and her halo began spinning, while everyone hurriedly
“Eh? Um! P-please wait!”
“You’re pretty observant, Dhampir – can you stop acting the errand girl
What welcomed her was – Sora’s thin smile, which caused a chill to run
- Amira spoke.
Beside Amira, Ino was lying motionless, and everyone looked over at him.
But Sora replied casually:
“Because…the consequences if you do anything to Ino – you know them
Amira’s eyes grew wide in shock, and Sora laughed mockingly.
when you underestimate others, outsider.”
“- We’ll be back, Seirens, and don’t forget that the price for looking down on
After which Jibril teleported them out, only leaving behind Amira and Ino.
They were back at the seaside.
– and a beach lit up by bonfires.
bonfires, Sora spoke cheerfully:
“…Tropicalfish…can we eat it…?”
[28]
Since they had teleported a large amount ofseawater with them, they were
“Hah -! …This stuff is usually what I eat as side-dishes with alcohol after
Miko finished her drink in one gulp, ate her entire fish after which Sora
“If only it was 「Fried tofu skin」 - am I right?”
Ignoring the shocked Miko, Sora and Shiro began laughing.
“W-what is this… what’s going on?”
asking herself this question.
While further ahead – Plum was silent as well.
“It’s nothing – it’s just that Plum wanted to trick us, that’s all.”
reply to her query:
…No, he was speaking to Plum who was looking at the ground – and he
Upon seeing Plum lift her head up in trepidation, he smiled bitterly and
“It was 「From the beginning」 - your story was pretty suspicious from the
As though imitating Sora, Shiro, Miko and Jibrilsneered as well.
And their relationship was crumbling due to the Empress entering hibernation.
Sora smiled bitterly again as though he had just heard a bad joke, and
“「Since we’ve created a form of magic to awaken her, please help us」- hah,
“…Eh? W-why is that?”
grilled fish down –
game where we have no chance of winning, causing us to lose everything,
do the same?”
Steph’s face twitched instinctively upon hearing Sora who was uttering such
“That’s true, but there’s stillsomething that 「Worries」 me.”
“I couldn’t seem to tell whether Plum was lying, and Izuna who was in the
fish?”
encountered Plum.
Izuna shook her head slightly.
head as well.
wasn’t lying.”
revealed instantly.
exposed, or at least that was what Sora had thought.
“But what Plum casted back there really was - 「A magic that could make
Under the glow of the fire, Sora appeared to be genuinely enjoying himself.
“So she really had a spell that could guarantee victory – but why ask for our
“Essentially, w-what that means is, she really wasn’t lying?”
Hearing Steph’s question, Sora began twirling a fish stick and replied:
- Sora looked down at Shiro who was at his knee-height, and she replied:
As though she was a recorder, she recited his words out perfectly –
Shiro adhered to the accurate time displayed on her phone from their
his pitch as he spoke those words. She spoke Sora’s previous words
their eyes in shock.
“…UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) 6/20 22:43…「Plum」…”
“…「Um… we willreward you with thirty percent of Oceande’s underwater
um… I-I will do whatever you wish.」...”
hearing it.
Sora pointed the stick he was playing with previously at Steph.
in their game?”
“Yes, you’re correct.”
Sora chewed on his fish while nonchalantly uttering shocking revelations, and
“I shot your protests down only because I needed to gather the necessary
At that moment Steph’s incongruity could only be described as she felt
“This 「Game」- is like a 「Horse race」.”
Sora nodded in relief at the fact that this world had horseracing as well.
will win… but in its most basic form it’s just the act of letting horses race
To be precise, what he meant was –
game.”
love.”
“On the other hand, the resources and relations given as rewards by Amira
Empress」- racing and horse racing (gambling) are clearly two different
course we would feelsomething wasn’t right.”
According to Sora’s example, they were the riders in a horse race.
to take part in a second game.
- He shook his head and said “That’s not the problem.”
competition go?”
“…Huh, it’s the love of the Empress of course… allowing her to wake up?”
love the person forever? And she would wake up for her prince? – This
「Equal」 reward for the winner?”
Resources, good relations, and Plum’s free will – none of them sounded like
So, the game that allowed the Empress to hibernate after 「Swearing by the
The 「Bet」 of equal value to both parties – to be given to the victorious rider
- Regarding that reward –
Miko laughed bitterly and began playing with her fish stick as well.
rewards for winning」, the Dhampir over there intentionally avoided the twofacedness
She smiled and continued.
Miko immediately sensed something in Plum’s heartbeat that told her 「I was
Sora spoke in an exaggerated fashion as though deep in thought –
the two-facedness of the game?”
“Before we reached the sea floor – the place where you thought you could
just say something like 「Amira said there won’t be any risk」?”
sticks behind Sora passed him a fish stick that was coated in salt, and
“- Because as long as she were to say that it would be 「Lying」… right?”
Sora nodded, so what that meant was – Sora glanced at Shiro meaningfully.
our species!」…”
“If the words 「Our species」 wasn’t a lie – that would mean she really wanted
Which would mean –
Sora ignored Steph whose eyes were wide as marbles.
sitting on the beach, and it stuck in the sand beside her.
Sora began throwing stick after stick in her direction in the same fashion.
Looking over at the beach sand that had three sticks lodged in it, Sora spoke
“- Are you prepared for this? Plum.”
- Under the light of the bonfire, the red moon and the stars.
The first to react was Miko.
of the games?”
stick Sora threw, causing it to split into halves.
After Sora replied, Jibril was the next to act.
Jibrilshot out a stick that broke the sound barrier as well, hitting Sora’s
“Because Plum can’t lie.”
“…Getting to the bottom of it… why – can’t you… tell a lie?”
stick… connecting the two.
- Exactly.
different horses.”
The Dhampirs bet on – Sora and the others.
Combining all the conclusions they had made.
“The Seirens plan to use 「The Empress’ hibernation game」 to 「Feed on the
“What -!”
The Seirens had done what Sora had said initially.
lure Sora and the others – the fullrepresentatives of Imanity into their game.
avoid the crisis their species was in.
“The Dhampirs took advantage of this plan to betray the Seirens – they plan
Yes – Plum did want the Empress to fall in love and awaken from her
While Amira – did not.
plan entirely she couldn’t reveal the truth either.”
But – as though requesting everyone to stop, Sora raised up one hand.
“Alright, so let’s allrecall, what was the 「Prize」 if the Empress were to win
Sora smiled at Plum genuinely, and he looked away.
eyes began discussing.
situation over awakening their Empress?”
“Would that 「Bet」 let Plum – let the Dhampirs achieve freedom if they were
A pair of cold amber eyes, Jibrilsmiled mockingly.
rights of the Dhampirs…”
Each one of them spoke in order, and a pair of obsidian eyes, Sora
“What the Empress bet was –「Everything she had」… am I right?”
Back when the current Empress first entered her hibernation, she wasn’t the
But now it was different.
– they would win all the Seirens had as well.
implied.
He casually uttered words that made Steph question her own hearing.
“- What?”
anyway.”
well.
– which is to say…”
Plum.
“We brought you to the beach in broad daylight to weaken you.”
Devastation」 could be disabled underwater.”
location of Oceande.”
by Shiro who was fondling Miko-san until nighttime.”
and instead we proceeded using Jibril’s teleportation.
Seiren blood to allow us to breath underwater and part ways with us; while
casting extra preventive methods on Miko-san as well to prevent your
with her Werebeasts senses fully awakened.
…
- Steph and Plum were both shocked to the point ofspeechlessness.
properly.
you had to make us swear 「Everything we had」 on the pledges, and to
affected by your suspicious magic.”
And the caster was Plum who was confirmed to be an 「Enemy」 as well, so
After uncovering all the solutions, Sora continued:
made us bet everything we have on ourselves, taking part in both a horse race
- Exactly.
“Ah, Plum, you’re quite something, that’s a strategy rather suitable for a
all their power taken by the 「Ten Pledges」. Since even if Amira’s evil plot
could stillsurvive, as let’s say the Empress was actually awakened –“
“What made the Empress fall in love was your magic and not us, so you alone
- Even managing to deduce Plum’s reason for joining in the game as well,
“Just a disclaimer, I don’t praise others, I just genuinely think that – this is a
She had managed to create a situation where she would win no matter what
Also she virtually didn’t need to do anything except sit back while others do
It was an ideal method of victory, but –
“- Eh?”
“Didn’t you realize? The problem here isn’t because your plan was revealed,
we win the game in order to free the Dhampirs; and neither is it because –
Sora’s mouth twitched at a corner.
“It was because Amira assured us that we 「Absolutely couldn’t」 awaken the
“-…Ah!”
Because of that, everything made sense.
Plum’s magic worked properly.
the Empress.
Which would mean –
-…Only gnawing noises could be heard.
“Amira knew that from the start, as no matter how much you beg her she
because it would be a huge blow to the Seirens – you understand that right?”
“The Seirens that you’ve been looking down on since earlier – even took
“…-!”
Seirens that she had always looked down upon on had tricked her.
“A strategy befitting of a weakling, an excellent strategy. But – in the end it’s
- Exactly.
wouldn’t be able to exercise its full potential.
Stemming from their weakness – cowardice.
continuing solemnly:
weak is not the strong – it is the ones that are even weaker.”
approaching Plum dangerously.
directly:
that thinks he isn’t.”
“Alright – checkmate.”
Originally only Sora’s bunch had accepted her terms.
had no other choice..
「Hidden last living male」.
definitely do it.
And after the Dhampirs turn extinct, the next up would be the Seirens.
reproduction.
no one would agree to it.
In order to survive, they could only unconditionally surrender and become
“Plum, do you know what the ultimate way to win a game is?”
“- It’s 「To win without fighting」. Even if we don’t win the Empress’ game,
After which it was something that dragged Plum into the depths of hell – a
“Trying to beat the Imanity with 「A weakling’s strategy」, you all are too
- One move.
move.
Part 3
Sora appeared restless.
“Hmm? Master, is something the matter?”
…
situation from earlier.
“What kind of toilets are there other than that!”
“Speaking of which what kind of inhuman bladders were you all born with!
the beach at night, even eating fish, a normal person would be at his limit by
“…N-Nii…S-Shiro is…”
“Beautiful ladies don’t do that sort of thing, although I don’t really understand
to take care of business?”
Sora stood up, sensing that it wasn’t the time for such comments.
Sora suddenly ran off while carrying Shiro.
“Ah! This is the beach so there should at least be some 「Seaside Teahouse」!
Sora and Shiro noisily ran off.
-…
“Alright, now we just have to wait for them to surrender unconditionally. I’m
Miko appeared extremely tired, and she stood up in preparation to leave.
Steph asked hurriedly, having finally come to terms with the situation.
She understood that Plum wanted to take advantage of their plan to free the
She also agreed with the fact that Sora had saw through everything and was
But –
Steph yelled loudly as this problem was yet to be solved.
She appeared even more enchanting under the moonlight – and she spoke
“We won’t do anything. Just like that we get two races – isn’t it a good
Miko indicated that there was 「None」 of that sort of option, allowing Steph
Which is to say – she could summarize the incident.
start -!)
the two races in 「Checkmate」.
- Treated Ino as a sacrifice - !
“Huh?”
causing Steph’s knees to wobble.
her voice with all her might.
supported Steph was – Hatsuse Ino.
struggling to rebuild Elkia, he had spent a tremendous amount of effort on the
[29] Federation, without him, they might not even
No matter to the Eastern Federation or to Elkia – to Steph, he was definitely
multiple races – it would cause unbelievably negative repercussions.
“Hatsuse Ino is undoubtedly a man of great talent, a man who had supported
undoubtedly reply 「I obey」 if he was given the order to die for it – this sort of
impeccable man that has achieved great things.”
For their own benefits, they could even sacrifice someone like that so easily -!
that!!)
Izuna appeared, sitting slightly further away from them.
With her own grandfather being sacrificed, even for the sake of Izuna, Miko
“I-Is Izuna -?”
her knees as though attempting to hold herself in, rendering her unable to
Even though she couldn’t see her properly in the dusk – she could still hear
“…Grandpa was prepared long ago, des…”
Izuna’s expression couldn’t be seen.
good smells, des.”
It carried sounds of her crying as well – despite the pitch darkness, her
“I don’t want Grandpa to die… but it’ll be fine as long as Izuna bears it alone,
Steph recalled a scene from the beach earlier.
or Ino help with her fur.
towards him without hesitation.
Izuna had accepted this outcome from the start.
communicating by then.
“- Still, don’t you feelsad?”
She clenched her teeth, appearing to exhale.
“…Because Sora said – no one will die, no one willsuffer, des! …B-but
- Her tears fell like rain.
large tears.
slowly.
Too obedient, too pure, too smart – too clever.
does not wish to, even causing her to feeling guilt towards pleasurable things,
made Steph realize:
- Sacrificing the minority for the greater good – was normalfor them.
like this, didn’t you – you’re despicable.”
their disputes.
made the Eastern Federation a great power –
even scolded Miko in an underestimating fashion.
“Sacrificing some for the greater good – it’s not even a necessary evil, but a
single person would express his/her opinion, how are you going to run a
…Steph had no way to rebut that.
They had tried their best to not let anyone suffer any losses, but completely
Steph clenched her fists, which was when Jibril began attacking her.
expression was that of genuine curiosity.
can save two dying species; and we might even move one step closer
forces – what else is there to be desired?”
“Could it be –“ Jibril continued.
– no, taking a step back, we can reclaim Elkia?”
“Or maybe you simply –“
“You simply don’t want to hurt those close to you – how selfish of you ♥”
Just by sacrificing one person, they could unite two races.
If it was not good of her to feel bad for sacrificing Ino alone, then –
Steph spoke determinedly.
awakened.
there’s only one thing I truly know! It’s that using this method to unite all the
- She had no concrete evidence.
the unquestionably more realistic thing to do.
As for why – probably because – it was 「Common sense」.
head-on.
Attempting to unite all the races by attacking head-on – would probably be
Part 4
What they were met with was Miko who was returning home and a solemn
And – Steph’s gaze pierced them like a needle.
“Essentially speaking you choose to run away right?”
“I get it, you want to sacrifice Ino-san alone to get two races – that’s just a
you want to unite all the races after you’ve used this sort of method!!”
looked at Shiro in confusion instead.
“…Because…you took too long…?”
really understand but my bladder’s empty now.”
original topic.” –
…- Huh?
“Without Plum’s magic, as long as we actually awaken the Empress the
for them to release Ino as well, which would resolve the entire situation –
personal policy, so we’re going to try again –“
“The problem is 「How do we awaken her」.”
“I can just about guess – no one knows the condition… right?”
“Huh? You said no one knows… how is that?”
Izuna who was crying since earlier looked up attentively, seemingly transfixed
She closely observed Plum’s reactions – then she nodded her head, indicating
However Sora nodded, as though he had expected that.
plan would’ve failed a long while ago, and Amira only knows -「It’s not a
“…How can you be sure?” Steph asked.
her standpoint she would become an Empress sooner or later… ifsomeone
Plum sighed and spoke, originally thinking that she had found the real
Sora and Shiro nodded and continued:
the vicinity, she would definitely conceal it – and what is the ultimate method
“…If no one knows the truth…then…no one willfind out…”
To beat the Empress’ game…
Empress herself.
It would be nearly impossible to beat, and could be described as extremely
But –
“…Mm…!”
Kuuhaku
embarrassing.
“…A-about that… Sora, didn’t you – wanted to sacrifice Ino-san?”
Hearing Sora’s words, they carried an unmistakable 「Denial」.
“I can’t possibly let a living cultural artifact like Izuna get depressed, and Ino
to not get tired, but you need to wake up before you start sleeptalking
…Sora spoke as though Ino’s value to him had risen multiple folds like a
faking it.
since he’s the only way they can get us to rejoin the game, and if they do they
Steph spoke once more:
“Of course, Miko-san let us use Ino as 「Proof」, while the rest is our job.”
Yes, Miko – didn’t need to do anything.
“Miko-san continuously used an ability 「Blood Devastation」 that might cost
turn to do our best – exactly what it sounds like, we need to put our lives on
Sora announced cheerfully, while Shiro nodded in agreement.
words caused Steph to inhale sharply.
A smallshadow passed by Steph.
uneasily.
Sora and Shiro didn’t know why she was crying.
then spoke with a laugh:
“But of course, I’ll definitely get the old man back – I’ll make a 「Promise」
The uneasy gaze shifted towards Shiro – and what welcomed it was
“…Izuna-tan…believe in Nii…”
It was… something only Shiro knew.
Even the 「Ten Pledges」 falter under the might of it – for that word meant an
But –
Hearing Shiro’s confirmation, Izuna looked up at her once again.
And then – she wiped her wet eyes and spoke:
“Alright, someone believes me, des.”
Jibrilstood beside her.
“…What?”
is right.”
overly curious person spoke.
“The Masters will undoubtedly change this world.”
“Because no currently known methods will allow it.”
- So regarding the true way to awaken the Empress –
…At that time, hearing Miko and Jibril’s words – she felt something 「Wasn’t
As she was searching for the reason why she felt that way – she finally
Sora... Shiro… the two of them…
They snorted and laughed at things like 「Reason」.
The two had said – they wanted to rule over all the races without any deaths
It was like a dream – a completely unrealistic goal, impossible to achieve
- But their shadows told people that they 「Could do it」.
She might have seen the same thing Jibril who was standing beside her saw –
began feeling emotional.
“Huh?”
“Sacrificing Ino to get two races – firstly sacrificing Ino is wrong, and –“
“It’s not two races – it’s 「Three」♪”
…- Huh?