[294] 6. A Massive Secret (3)
Reina said,
"An action guideline. Could it really be that simple?"
Shirone already had a cord tightening around his neck. Simply implanting the idea of triggering some action didn't seem like it would improve the situation.
"We have no choice but to try. Actually, we aren't in a comfortable position. It will take time for the neck to be fully severed, but if an artery is cut it's a mortal wound. By then the consciousness will probably collapse at an incredible speed."
Amy's panic rose.
"Then what do we do?"
Armin's proposed solution was simple.
"We have to find Shirone."
"What? But this is Shirone's mind."
"Strictly speaking, everything here is a shadow formed by projecting Shirone's core. We're going to find the core, not the shadow. It's called an incarnation."
Amy remembered what she'd heard from Gadrak in the Valley of the Coiling Serpents. The coiling serpent that appeared as the shadow of a giant snake had actually been a smooth, tiny salamander. The people of Heaven had called that an incarnation.
"Would that incarnation be on the eleventh layer's surface?"
Armin shook his head.
"No. It won't be. So we'll have to call it forth."
Reina asked, "How do you call it?"
Before Armin could answer, Amy realized.
"Can't we just ask the people? After all, everyone here is Shirone."
Armin nodded approvingly. It seemed the two of them were beginning to sense the rules of this world.
"That's right. Ask the people. It's called a keyword. Outside this place that would be a difficult operation, but here you can simply ask. If we inject 'Shirone' as the keyword, his incarnation will rise to the eleventh layer. Now, let's go."
Armin led the two women to the counter and asked the middle-aged woman who was still knitting, "Do you happen to know someone named Shirone?"
The moment Armin finished speaking, the musician's playing stopped as if on cue. The murmurs of the people fell silent.
Only when the sound was gone did they realize how much noise they'd been surrounded by. It was perfectly still.
Amy felt a chill and looked around.
People who had been sunk in gloom now looked at Armin with clear eyes.
The woman at the counter was the same. The woman who had not even blinked, as if frozen, finally spoke.
"Why do you want to find that person?"
Armin hummed and smiled.
"That person." He avoided saying Shirone's name outright—typical caution on his part.
From now on they had to choose their words carefully. No bluntness, no hostile phrasing.
"I have something urgent to convey."
The woman thought for a moment, then resumed knitting.
"I don't know. Who's that?"
"I see."
Armin exhaled. This wouldn't be easy.
He was well trained. Even mages specialized in the mental realm would falter if their necks were being cut. That the shards of consciousness here still kept their guard up despite the thunder and chaos outside showed how well he'd disciplined his mind.
"All right, then. We'll be on our way."
The woman at the counter said without looking up, "Pay the roof fee before you go."
Even on the verge of death she wanted to be paid. That, too, was the mindset of a mage seeking one hundred percent efficiency.
'Heh—meticulous to the end.'
People who took shelter at an inn without staying the night customarily paid a small roof fee.
But Amy had no money. Even if she did, it was doubtful whether real-world currency would work here.
Armin rummaged in his pocket, produced a coin, and paid without hesitation. "Here you are."
"Huh?"
Amy inspected the coin he handed over. As expected, it was a gear-shaped gold piece not used in the real world.
The woman at the counter frowned as she handled it.
"This is too expensive."
"Keep the change," Armin said.
"That won't do. If it's given, you just take it."
"It really is fine."
Armin smiled and refused; the woman coolly relented.
"All right then. May you be blessed."
Amy pursed her lips.
The innkeeper's voice, appearance, even gender were different, but something about the woman reminded Amy of Shirone's usual presence.
"All right, let's go."
Armin's expression turned serious.
They left the inn but didn't dare go beyond the eaves. Water was rising across the ground like a flood.
Amy shivered. "If this keeps up, the whole world will drown."
Armin shook his head. "No. Before that, the world will disappear."
Amy looked back at the scene inside the inn.
The warmth, separated by a single window, made her feel even colder, yet seeing people resting comfortably warmed her heart.
If Shirone died, they would all vanish.
They weren't exactly real people, but she hoped they could continue to exist in this world for a long time.
"I've already injected the keyword 'Shirone,' so his incarnation will surface. Divers call this process the net."
"I see."
"But that's the problem. We don't have much time, so I'll explain as we go. If the water rises more, movement will get harder."
Armin sprinted into the torrential rain where visibility was near zero. Amy kept pace beside him and asked, "Where are we going? We don't even know where Shirone is."
"For now… we need to buy weapons. Probably."
Armin stopped in front of a two-story building and looked up. A sign with an axe and a sword crossed above the door.
The three of them took shelter from the rain under the shop's narrow eaves, pressed close to the wall.
Armin glanced at the two women standing side by side. "Can either of you handle a weapon?"
Reina answered first. "I learned a bit of swordsmanship when I was a child…"
"I'm a mage," Amy said, embarrassed, and Armin smiled. She seemed ashamed to claim the title after the earlier teasing.
"I see. I hope there's something useful."
As Armin moved to enter the weapons shop, Amy hurriedly stopped him. "Um, how did you get the money?"
Even if there were good weapons, they couldn't buy them without money. Besides, the coin paid at the inn wasn't real-world currency.
Armin had only recently entered Shirone's consciousness, so he wondered if he might be able to acquire money here too. "Oh, I withdrew it."
"Withdrew? From where?"
Armin pointed upward. "From Shirone, of course. This is Shirone's consciousness, so anything you want can be formed. Think in your mind that you need money. Then Shirone will provide as much as he trusts you. Let's see…"
Armin rummaged in his pocket and produced a coin. "I currently have nine, so that makes ten gold for me. Well, if you call this gold, haha."
Seeing the gear-shaped coins in Armin's palm, the two women thought about needing money.
Reina rummaged through her pocket and brightened. "Oh? It's real. Seven pieces—seven gold."
Amy stared in surprise.
She had known Shirone for some time but had never heard of Armin, so she expected Reina would get at least more than ten coins.
But the result defied expectation: Armin beat her.
Did that mean Shirone had looked down on Reina? No—rather, it meant he trusted Armin that much.
'Who on earth is this person? What kind of relationship does he have with Shirone?'
Anyway, Amy felt a flicker of hope. These coins were useless in the real world, but in the mental world they were the only currency.
'Hmm—Armin has ten, Reina seven. Maybe I'll get around twenty?'
Amy stuck out her tongue and checked her pockets, then checked the other pocket.
Her expression gradually soured.
"Huh?"
Reina tilted her head. "What's wrong?"
"Wait a moment."
Amy frantically searched all her clothing pockets. No matter how she checked, nothing had been withdrawn.
Her face flushed. "There aren't any gold pieces in here."
Armin nodded as if he understood. "If Shirone refuses the withdrawal, that can certainly happen."
Amy was stunned.
The number of gold coins was supposed to indicate how much Shirone trusted a person. How could she end up with none?
"No—no, I'll try again."
Armin shook his head. "It's no use trying. We don't have time, so let's buy what we can with the money we have."
Withdrawing the coins was an easy operation. If a coin didn't come out once, trying again wouldn't help.
Reina patted Amy's shoulder and led her into the weapons shop. "All right, Amy, let's do that. About sixteen gold should be enough."
Amy pushed Reina's arm away, then stopped and shouted, "That can't be!"
Tears swelled in Amy's eyes.
The seven gold Reina had received represented Shirone's feelings toward her. Amy didn't want to buy a weapon with that. If she had to buy something, it should be with the money Shirone gave her.
Armin understood that feeling perfectly. It was precisely why looting a person's inner world was banned worldwide.
If you stripped away a person's interior, you'd inevitably feel that everything you'd known was a lie—even if those things were simply human nature.
"Amy, there's no need to feel betrayed. Shirone is fighting to hold on. Emotional disturbances can happen. Maybe something bad was transmitted to him before you came here…"
Amy shook her head violently. "No, that couldn't be. I—"
She cut herself off.
How could she know? Even if she knew everything about Shirone, she couldn't read his innermost thoughts.
Maybe he was disappointed that she hadn't responded properly to Xenoger's attack. She'd hoped he would melt the web with Ignite to rescue them, and perhaps he was disappointed in her failure.
Armin sighed. It was, after all, something anyone might face in Shirone's mind, and there wasn't a single correct answer.
"All right, let's go in. We can't delay any longer."
When Armin's tone grew firm, Amy had no choice but to follow. Reina felt sorry for her dejected friend, but in a situation like this no comfort would help.
"Welcome."
The shopkeeper folded his newspaper and greeted them.
Amy glanced up and widened her eyes. He looked a little older, but he was definitely Nade.
"Nade? You're Nade?"
"Huh? You know me? I've never seen you before."
Amy looked at Armin for an explanation. Armin was familiar with Nade—one of Shirone's friends who had once hidden in his house.
"He's a projection of Shirone. The objects of a weapons shop have combined with the person Nade. Perhaps the boy Nade took an interest in this area."
Reina said, "That kind of thing happens in dreams sometimes. You think you're fighting a villain, and when you wake up you realize the person was actually the family member you argued with last night."
"Yes. It's a normal psychological reaction. And the fact there are composite projections means there's a particularly striking concept present here compared to other places. Shall we look around a bit?"
Nade squinted at Amy, frowning. "I really don't know. Are you sure you didn't mistake me for someone else?"
"Oh, maybe. The person I know is much younger. Sorry."
"Hahaha! I do hear I look young for my age."
Amy stayed silent to avoid needlessly stirring Shirone's mind. Human consciousness was so complex that touching even a trivial part could trigger an immediate butterfly effect.