Vol 4 Chapter 4 (2/2)

“- A sweepstake of 「Cheating all of you and allowing us to take victory」”

“Ah, Pluy rather suitable for a

weakling, no doubt a level of intelligence only achievable by the race that had

all their power taken by the 「Ten Pledges」 Since even if Amira’s evil plot

were to succeed and Imanity were to be used as 「Food」, the Dhampirs

could stillsurvive, as let’s say the Empress was actually awakened –“

Sora clapped in genuine ad any malice

“What ic and not us, so you alone

won”

- Even ame as well,

Sora continued

“Just a disclaienuinely think that – this is a

great strategy”

She had ed to create a situation where she would win no matter what

happened

Also she virtually didn’t need to do anything except sit back while others do

the work

It was an ideal method of victory, but –

“You left out one thing!”

“- Eh?”

Plum lifted her head up

“Didn’t you realize? The problem here isn’t because your plan was revealed,

nor was it because you hid the fact about the true 「Ree receive when

in the game in order to free the Dhampirs; and neither is it because –

your ic can’t awaken the Empress”

Sora’s mouth twitched at a corner

And then he spoke as ironically as he could:

“It was because Amira assured us that we 「Absolutely couldn’t」 awaken the

Empress”

“-…Ah!”

Plum inhaled sharply

Because of that, everything made sense

Why – Ino couldn’t beat the game –

Pluic worked properly

Jibril confiric unquestionably achieved its effect on

the Empress

But despite this, the Empress did not awaken

Which would mean –

“The condition to awaken the e her fall in love」”

-…Only gnawing noises could be heard

Those were the sounds of Plu her jahile Sora continued:

“A her she

would never give you 「An actual opportunity to awaken the Empress」,

because it would be a huge blow to the Seirens – you understand that right?”

Sora even kept his s smile

“The Seirens that you’ve been looking down on since earlier – even took

your betrayal into consideration”

“…-!”

Plu position, unable to believe that the

Seirens that she had always looked down upon on had tricked her

However Sora continued to add fuel to the fire

“A strategy befitting of a weakling, an excellent strategy But – in the end it’s

all just futile”

- Exactly

Even if the strong were to use the knowledge (weapon) of the weak, they

wouldn’t be able to exercise its full potential

Because the weak had so from self-pity –

Ste from their weakness – cowardice

Sora’s expression changed once again as he stopped s, instead

continuing solemnly:

“The natural ene is the weak, but the natural enemy of the

weak is not the strong – it is the ones that are even weaker”

The weak – the an

approaching Pluerously

He crouched down, ht, and spoke softly and

directly:

“An idiot that knows he’s an idiot – is even harder to deal with than an idiot

that thinks he isn’t”

- Whoever that was referring to, Sora chose not to reveal

“Alright – checkmate”

- Plum’s face was pale

Originally only Sora’s bunch had accepted her terms

But since they had saw through her deception and interrupted the game, Plum

had no other choice

In order for the Seirens to survive, they could only devour the Dhampir’s

「Hidden last living male」

Since they had confirmed that the Dhampirs had betrayed them, they would

definitely do it

- Ifso, the Dhampirs would be the first to 「Checkmate」

And after the Dhampirs turn extinct, the next up would be the Seirens

The Seirens – needed to find a partner that would allow them to carry out

reproduction

But what they needed in return for that was the partner’s 「Life」, so of course

no one would agree to it

- Just like that, the Seirens would reach 「Checkmate」 as well

In order to survive, they could only unconditionally surrender and become

-「Domestic slaves」

“Pluame is?”

He had a devilish smile on his face – that could make anyone tremble in fear

“- It’s 「To ithout fighting」 Even if we don’t win the Eame,

we still win”

After which it was soed Plum into the depths of hell – a

smile

“Trying to beat the Iy」, you all are too

inexperienced – rookies (beginners)”

- One move

He was a man that had the survival of two species in his control in just one

move

He laughed creepily, sinisterly and continued

Part 3

“Alright, you should have got the gist of it, so…”

Sora appeared restless

Looking closely, shi+ro as sitting in his lap appeared aard as well –

“H the matter?”

“- W-where’s the toilet?”

…

Sora asked with a pitiful expression that completely shattered the serious

situation from earlier

“The toilet you speak of… is the chamber where Imanity excrete –“

“What kind of toilets are there other than that!”

Sora yelled while pointing at everyone else

“Speaking of which what kind of inhuman bladders were you all born with!

Being by the sea for an entire day, diving into the ocean itself, co back to

the beach at night, even eating fish, a normal person would be at his limit by

now!”

“…N-Nii…S-shi+ro is…”

shi+ro signaled with tears in her eyes, while Miko laughed heartily:

“Beautiful ladies don’t do that sort of thing, although I don’t really understand

how you feel, but shouldn’t it be alright as long as you find somewhere nearby

to take care of business?”

- Not counting Jibrilfor now, Miko-san is a 「Living Being」 right –

Sora stood up, sensing that it wasn’t the time for such comments

“W-we – no, I’ to pick flowers!”

Sora suddenly ran off while carrying shi+ro

“…N-Nii – d-don’t… shake…”

“Ah! This is the beach so there should at least be some 「Seaside Teahouse」!

Where is it!?”

Sora and shi+ro noisily ran off

Leaving behind the perfectly silent beach

-…

There were only the noises of the waves and fireworks exploding

“Alright, noe just have to wait for them to surrender unconditionally I’m

tired, so I’ll be heading back first”

Miko appeared extremely tired, and she stood up in preparation to leave

“Ah, wait a minute! What should we do about Ino-san!”

Steph asked hurriedly, having finally come to terms with the situation

- She understood that the Seirens wanted to take the Imanity as food

She understood that Plue of their plan to free the

Dhampirs as well

She also agreed with the fact that Sora had saw through everything and was

on a whole new level above them

But –

The Seirens still possessed a card known as 「Hatsuse Ino」

Steph yelled loudly as this problem was yet to be solved

And – Miko turned around

She appeared even ht – and she spoke

with a monster-like sinister smile:

“We won’t do anything Just like that we get two races – isn’t it a good

deal?”

Miko indicated that there was 「None」 of that sort of option, allowing Steph

to finally understand everything

Which is to say – she could summarize the incident

(Neither Sora and the others or Miko-san planned to save anyone from the

start -!)

Sora and Miko and the others had discussed – a single move that could put

the two races in 「Checkmate」

Just for this purpose, only for this purpose, they had actually so easily

- Treated Ino as a sacrifice - !

“…That sort of thing… I don’t approve of it”

“Huh?”

Golden – exactly like a 「Monster」, even though Miko’s beastly eyes were

causing Steph’s knees to wobble

But, even ifso – Steph continued to survey her surroundings, squeezing out

her voice with all her ht

In an Elkia without Sora and the others, the only Werebeast that had

supported Steph was – Hatsuse Ino

Although he had only been with theether and

struggling to rebuild Elkia, he had spent a tremendous amount of effort on the

establishment of the Elkian

[29] Federation, without hiht not even

knohere to begin

No matter to the Eastern Federation or to Elkia – to Steph, he was definitely

not a cheap talent, and if a sacrifice were to occur for the sake of uniting

ative repercussions

Miko couldn’t possibly fail to understand this unspoken rule –

“Hatsuse Ino is undoubtedly a reat talent, a man who had supported

of the Eastern Federation, and a man ould

undoubtedly reply 「I obey」 if he was given the order to die for it – this sort of

man really cannot be considered worthless – but in the end he stillremains an

is”

Miko spoke regretfully while looking up at the moon

For their own benefits, they could even sacrifice someone like that so easily -!

(Then I ht be sacrificed at any time then – who could trust someone like

that!!)

Within the eed Steph’s field of vision

Izuna appeared, sitting slightly further away from them

- Of course, Izuna couldn’t possibly come to terms with a situation like this

With her own grandfather being sacrificed, even for the sake of Izuna, Miko

still –

“I-Is Izuna -?”

- Fine with this? Before Steph could finish her sentence, Izuna began hugging

her knees as though atte her unable to

continue

Even though she couldn’t see her properly in the dusk – she could still hear

Izuna’s voice

“…Grandpa was prepared long ago, des…”

Far away frolow of the moon and stars,

Izuna’s expression couldn’t be seen

“…No ood sounds and

good smells, des”

However, Izuna’s voice

It carried sounds of her crying as well – despite the pitch darkness, her

emotions were sufficiently conveyed

“I don’t want Grandpa to die… but it’ll be fine as long as Izuna bears it alone,

so – s-so! More people… can be saved… de, des –“

Steph recalled a scene from the beach earlier

After the ruckus at the seaside – when she was deciding whether to let Sora

or Ino help with her fur

Izuna who should have been sick of being fondled by Ino, instead – walked

towards him without hesitation

- She understood… it would be the last time

Izuna had accepted this outcome from the start

Werebeasts – they had supernaturalsenses, and they were done

co by then

Steph was the only one not in the know, but –

“- Still, don’t you feelsad?”

“I’s, des”

She clenched her teeth, appearing to exhale

Izuna asked a question with a shaking voice

“…Because Sora said – no one will die, no one willsuffer, des! …B-but

then, why – is Izuna suffering, des? Is Izuna weird, des…!?”

- Her tears fell like rain

Even in the darkness, it was obvious fro

large tears

However Steph – felt the blood that was concentrated in her head dissipate

slowly

Hatsuse Izuna – this child was too young

Too obedient, too pure, too smart – too clever

To ht years old take part in games she

does not wish to, even causing her to feeling guilt towards pleasurable things,

her shoulder the burden of the lives on an entire continent This truth

made Steph realize:

- The Eastern Federation’s actions – didn’t start from here

- Sacrificing the ood – was normalfor them

“You created the Eastern Federation with such ways that make children cry

like this, didn’t you – you’re despicable”

- The Werebeasts had previously split into many small tribes and continued

their disputes

A method like this that united them within the short time of half a century and

reat power –

Steph suddenly felt that she had a s picture, and she –

even scolded Miko in an underesti fashi+on

Miko aze head on, and replied:

“Sacrificing soood – it’s not even a necessary evil, but a

「Natural」 one If you want to care about every single person – then every

single person would express his/her opinion, how are you going to run a

government like that… little wench”

…Steph had no way to rebut that

To be honest, Elkia’s nobles acted the same way

They had tried their best to not let anyone suffer any losses, but completely

equality was impossible in the end

Steph clenched her fists, which hen Jibril began attacking her

Maybe because she was unable to understand Steph’s opinion, her

expression was that of genuine curiosity

“Does Dora-chan have so one person, we

can save two dying species; and we ht even move one step closer

towards uniting with the Eastern Federation through strengthening Elkia’s

forces – what else is there to be desired?”

- Steph still was unable to rebut them

“Could it be –“ Jibril continued

“You think that without sacrifice and unhappiness, we can conquer the world

– no, taking a step back, we can reclaim Elkia?”

“…!”

“Or maybe you simply –“

Jibril continued with an even more provocative smile:

“You simply don’t want to hurt those close to you – how selfish of you ♥”

Steph clenched her teeth – she understood clearly

Just by sacrificing one person, they could unite two races

They could save two races that would go extinct if they did nothing

If it was not good of her to feel bad for sacrificing Ino alone, then –

“- So what…!”

Steph spoke determinedly

Looking at Izuna as treh she was

awakened

“I don’t care what you call me, be it selfish or self-interested, but despite this,

there’s only one thing I truly know! It’s that using this method to unite all the

races – is impossible!”

- She had no concrete evidence

Miko and Jibril’s words were very true, and what they spoke ofsadly was

the unquestionablyto do

But, Steph was confident that it 「Wasn’t the way」

As for why – probably because – it was 「Common sense」

The two of the

head-on

- But, getting down to it

Atte head-on – would probably be

an impossible feat –

Part 4

Sora and shi+ro returned cal their hands

What they werehome and a solemn

atmosphere

And – Steph’s gaze pierced them like a needle

“Ah… what’s up with this atmosphere?”

“Essentially speaking you choose to run away right?”

“- What?”

“I get it, you want to sacrifice Ino-san alone to get two races – that’s just a

「Threat」… I’ve overestiuts to say

you want to unite all the races after you’ve used this sort of method!!”

Faced with Steph’s harsh words and expression, Sora scratched his head and

looked at shi+ro in confusion instead

“Eh, u scolded?”

“…Because…you took too long…?”

“Of course I didn’t take long, I just went to take a piss!! F-forget it, I don’t

really understand but my bladder’s empty now”

- With a grunt, he cleared his throat, and Sora said “Let’s get back to the

original topic” –

“So let’s start over – to awaken the E”

…- Huh?

Everyone was speechless, while Sora continued calmly:

“Without Plu as we actually awaken the Empress the

Dhao extinct; and we can use that as a condition

for them to release Ino as well, which would resolve the entire situation –

speaking of which we only 「Interrupted」 the gaainst my

personal policy, so we’re going to try again –“

Ignoring the stunned masses, Sora stroked his chin and spoke:

“The problem is 「Hoaken her」”

Sora looked sharply at Plum:

“I can just about guess – no one knows the condition… right?”

“…Y-yeah…”

“Huh? You said no one knows… how is that?”

Steph peeked at Izuna

Izuna as crying since earlier looked up attentively, seely transfixed

by Sora’s words

She closely observed Plu

she wasn’t lying

However Sora nodded, as though he had expected that

“The Seirens can’t use ic while the Dhampirs can – if anyone knew the

plan would’ve failed a long while ago, and Amira only knows -「It’s not a

game to make the Empress fall in love」”

“…How can you be sure?” Steph asked

“The Empress went into hibernation before she became the Empress… but in

her standpoint she would become an Empress sooner or later… ifsomeone

like that said she would give all her rights to you… ould you do?”

Plu that she had found the real

condition

Sora and shi+ro nodded and continued:

“Ifsuch a dangerous truth were to be mentioned with someone like Amira in

the vicinity, she would definitely conceal it – and what is the ultimate method

of doing so?”

“…If no one knows the truth…then…no one willfind out…”

- Exactly, which is to say

To beat the Eame…

One had to find the victory condition that no one knew except for the

Empress herself

It was – a game called 「Victory Condition」

It would be nearly impossible to beat, and could be described as extremely

difficult

But –

“As long as it isn’t a 「Realistic Romance Game」- won’t lose!”

“…Mm…!”

「 」

Kuuhaku

The two of them powerfully – uttered their maxim that was both reliable and

e

But upon seeing the siblings’ actions – Steph asked nervously:

“…A-about that… Sora, didn’t you – wanted to sacrifice Ino-san?”

“Huh~? What are you talking about, you’re such a Steph”

Hearing Sora’s words, they carried an unmistakable 「Denial」

She didn’t care even though her own na used as an insult

“I can’t possibly let a living cultural artifact like Izuna get depressed, and Ino

– that realmen, how could I leave him… Steph, it’s not possible

to not get tired, but you need to wake up before you start sleeptalking

nonsense like this!”

…Sora spoke as though Ino’s value to him had risen multiple folds like a

profitable coh he was

faking it

“Also – I said I would come back, didn’t I? Amira can’t lay a hand on Ino

since he’s the only way they can get us to rejoin the game, and if they do they

can only become 「Slaves」”

Steph spoke once more:

“B-but about Ino-san, Miko-san said 「We won’t do anything」-“

“Of course, Miko-san let us use Ino as 「Proof」, while the rest is our job”

Hearing Sora’s crisp and blunt response, Steph’s eyes grew even wider

Yes, Miko – didn’t need to do anything

Because after this – Sora and the others 「Wanted everything」

“Miko-san continuously used an ability 「Blood Devastation」 that ht cost

her life, even offering an important subordinate of hers to us – now it’s our

turn to do our best – exactly what it sounds like, we need to put our lives on

the line”

Sora announced cheerfully, while shi+ro nodded in agreement

However – the process of undergoing a chilling revelation and their next

words caused Steph to inhale sharply

“That’s called -「Working together」 right?”

A smallshadow passed by Steph

Izuna looked up with her eyes red and swollen at Sora and shi+ro somewhat

uneasily

“You all are planning to save Grandpa, des?”

Sora and shi+ro didn’t knohy she was crying

But – Sora placed his hand on Izuna’s head, fondling it somewhat forcefully,

then spoke with a laugh:

“But of course, I’ll definitely get the old man back – I’ll make a 「Promise」

with you”

The uneasy gaze shi+fted towards shi+ro – and elcomed it was

「Confirmation」

“…Izuna-tan…believe in Nii…”

It was unavoidable that Izuna didn’t know

It was… so only shi+ro knew

When Nii – Sora – said the word 「Promise」

Even the 「Ten Pledges」 falter under the ht of it – for that word meant an

absolute oath

But –

“…Nii absolutely…won’t go back on it…”

Hearing shi+ro’s confirain

The hand that was caressing her head – Izuna smelled it

And then – she wiped her wet eyes and spoke:

“…Mm, I believe you, des”

“Alright, someone believes me, des”

Sora spoke jokingly, while Steph looked on from a distance

Jibrilstood beside her

“Sorry, Dora-chan, I went too far”

“…What?”

“I was curious as to how you would react, so I couldn’t resist… but Dorachan

is right”

- Her expression looked like she was going to jut out her tongue, as the

overly curious person spoke

And as Steph glared at her, Jibril continued solemnly:

“The Masters will undoubtedly change this world”

But the method – Jibril continued:

“Because no currently known methods will allow it”

“…”

- So regarding the true way to awaken the Empress –

Steph was only half listening to Sora’s next words

…At that ti 「Wasn’t

right」

As she was searching for the reason why she felt that way – she finally

realized why as she looked at the two figures standing before her

Sora shi+ro… the two of them…

They wouldn’t use any legitimate methods

They snorted and laughed at things like 「Reason」

They sliced away and ignored things like 「Common sense」

The two had said – they wanted to rule over all the races without any deaths

nor bloodshed

It was like a dreaoal, impossible to achieve

through reason and common sense

- But their shadows told people that they 「Could do it」

On that day – on the day of their coronation – Steph ht have seen it

Shebeside her saw –

- As she began to understand the future she was predicting for this world, she

began feeling emotional

“Ah~ right, Steph, you said sonore”

“Huh?”

Steph snapped out of her frozen stance upon hearing Sora’s words

“Sacrificing Ino to get two races – firstly sacrificing Ino is wrong, and –“

She once again heard so that made her freeze

“It’s not two races – it’s 「Three」♪”

…

…- Huh?