Voluue (1/2)

PROLOGUE: LAMENTATION ON THE BEACH

I gave up

I gave up living a long tio

Ha to kill ravel bullets with my slow body I cannot hope to escape her Sensory Threads with my terribly conspicuous body

I gave up being rewarded quite a long while ago

It is said that happiness has a fixed quantity in the world My happiness ht have been completely robbed by some happy person somewhere in the world Fate had always been cruel to me

I gave up being loved the other day

Since my body became non-human, there is no-one to love me

If there is one thing that I cannot give up, that would be the driving forceby ive up

Only one thing I do not want to forget… The fact that I was in this world

I want soht the moon was beautiful when I looked at it That I was sad when I saw dead people That I thought someone was precious to me when I looked at that person

nobody knows that All the people who knew this have died

Ha to kill

1923, autuon Pneumonia Incident

Ismo Republic, East Coast Near the northern border was an ocean called Allow Bay Five Armed Librarians were there

The sea was calh above the Ar that peace has returned

There was nothing on the vast sea’s surface Basked in the northern cold sunlight, the gently shaking waves sparkled

Up until a few hours ago, that sea was a battlefield That seemed unbelievable now

The sea had sed it all Both the shi+p covered with a powerful Magic barrier as well as the human bombs that approached the Ar

This battle was later called the Allow Bay Naval assault Incident That was the day it began – the longstanding fight of the Ar God Cult

“…Volken, stop crying”

A single Arainst the rocks He was crying He was the young Armed Librarian known as Volken

The Ar his back He coe body around him

“What’s wrong with Volken?”

Haazed at the sea

“Director, please wait for a little while”

Luimon answered And he stroked the back of Volken who cried out in an especially loud voice

“…Volken”

The Ar their backs And she then sighed for the umpteenth time

The battle of Allow Bay ended in the Aring God Cult have died without any exception

But no-one was pleased with that victory

It was not only the followers of the Indulging God Cult who died All the people that were kept on the shi+p by them have also died Hamyuts’s rescue team had failed

That fact had dropped a shadow of melancholy on the Armed Librarians’ expression

“So, Mirepo What about the seized goods?”

Asked Hamyuts Mirepoc counted and checked the Books, docuht from the shi+p

“I’ve found soens of Dragon Pneumonia as well There is also one of the Me Doll Ückück – and a ic circle To be frank, it’s quite the treasure trove”

“They seem to have stockpiled quite a lot”

“Also, that shi+p probably was not the Indulging God Cult’s headquarters Looking at the docu God Cult facilities”

“Hmm, not bad”

Hahts in a flat voice Mirepoc spoke from behind her

“Frankly, I cannot believe that the Indulging God Cult still exists in the world now”

“Well, I can understand how you feel It’s been 500 years since the Indulging God Cult last appeared, after all”

Hamyuts scratched her hair that ith sea-water

500 years ago, the Indulging God Cult was destroyed along with the Ever-Laughing Witch All Arht so It was understandable that Mirepoc would be surprised

“But, Mirepo When the Ever-Laughing Witch revealed herself, the sa God Cult had been destroyed by the Great Kingdo But the Cult survived

These people are tenacious You kill them and you kill them but they resurrect”

“That’s right…”

Mirepoc spoke in a melancholic tone

“Besides, I wonder why those people ended up like that”

Mirepoc changed the subject She was talking about the people kept inside the shi+p The Arri power

“That was probably hu like that That seeh”

Hamyuts said calmly

“Unbelievable How could humans do this”

In contrast to Mirepoc whose voice roughened up, Hamyuts spoke without any emotion She seemed to be frustrated but still had a bored expression

“Oh well Let’s keep our thoughts on winning the battle See”

“…Yes See”

Mirepoc once again sighed Given the battles with the Indulging God Cult in the past, no aon Pneuo, in the battles that took five years, four Acting Directors were killed in action

Thinking about it, it e sustained in this battle was trivial

Unexpectedly, Hamyuts chuckled

“Well, the one silver lining is that we had this battle while I was here”

What is that supposed to ht Mirepoc Well, it certainly was fortunate that the Arth is pro this isn’t all she meant

Perhaps this allowed her to alleviate so was hidden in Hamyuts’s words

Mirepoc had the feeling that there was another o God Cult

“Even so!”

Said Ha upset

“How long are you going to cry, Volken C’”

“…Yes ma’am”

Mirepoc approached Volken She knew hi the sa the same time – they were classmates

He was a gentle , honorable man

“Volken… this is no time for you to cry”