[781] The Definition of Evil (3)
* * *
War had broken out.
The Gustav Empire, having rapidly advanced on Cotria's capital, now stood with the enemy's fall within sight.
'Gustav Havitz.'
Shirone sat atop the citadel's highest spire and watched the night sky with sorrowful eyes.
'Monstrous.'
When he heard that the Gustav Empire had buried seventy thousand citizens of Pasipa alive, the world spun.
The commanders hadn't even shown up, and the captured women had reportedly been sold as slaves within their own country.
'How can someone still wear the face of a human…'
If Cotria fell and Gustav secured its rear, their gaze would sweep across the entire world.
"We need to find a way, and fast."
As Shirone muttered that, Minerva flew up to the spire in a jet and landed.
"When did you get back?"
While the people at the card table hunted for a way to kill Havitz, Shirone had been focused on sealing the altar.
"An hour ago. Aganos is almost sealed. How's the design for the Lawslaying? Any progress?"
Minerva shook her head.
"I've got the broad strokes, but there's a lot to fine‑tune. The scale of the changes to the Law is enormous, and we need to approach the alpha‑phi and beta‑phi we're targeting very carefully."
Shirone said sullenly, "I see."
"It's getting clearer bit by bit. Solve a few core issues and we can move to implementation immediately."
"All right. Please."
Shirone prepared to leave Aganos.
"You haven't forgotten, have you?" Minerva asked.
"We're staying in Kashan, so we'll handle the altar here. Remember: the Temple is a human organization, and Uorin will use you for her country's interests."
"I know that much."
Uorin was not pure.
Even with the power of Mitochondria Eve and the ability to look down from the top of the world, she was still human.
Her desire to kill Havitz stemmed from Havitz's monstrous nature threatening Kashan's future.
'Whatever her motives…'
In the end she lived for herself; you couldn't treat her as simply as someone like Nanena or Miro.
"Nothing will change. I don't want Havitz to ruin the world either. Same goes for the altar."
"That's a relief, then."
Just as Minerva snorted, a bolt of lightning surged upward from below the citadel.
"The Empress summons."
When Shirone, who had been looking at Minerva, raised his hand and shed Yahweh's light, they vanished in an instant.
"So they were here. Good."
When they arrived at Uorin's room, a stranger sat across from the card players.
"Who's that…?"
"That's an envoy from the Cotria Republic. He came into Kashan through the Temple's highest security channel. Gustav doesn't know about it."
Knowing Cotria was already on the brink of collapse, Shirone guessed why the envoy had come.
'But it's already irreversible, isn't it?'
Cotrial hopes of allying with Gustav had been utterly shattered by the mass burial of seventy thousand.
'Are they clutching at straws?'
With Cotria's collaboration exposed, the Temple had likewise turned its back.
"Sit down. We don't have time—explain quickly."
Uorin relayed the envoy's words.
"To cut to the chase: we plan to reintegrate the Cotria Republic into the Temple."
Minerva asked, "And what do we get in return?"
Even as a leader within the Temple, Uorin couldn't unilaterally reinstate a nation that had conspired with the enemy.
"An ancient weapon. They'll provide Exmachina to the Temple."
"...Sufficient."
Minerva accepted it, but Shirone—unfamiliar with Exmachina—remained doubtful.
"Is it powerful enough to turn the tide?"
"Maybe. Maybe not."
Uorin passed the floor to a specialist among the card players. Ness spoke up.
"Exmachina is an anti‑Law device. It alters the Law within its radius. Not certain, but there's a theory that Kariel, the archangel of Creation, made it."
Kariel had perished.
"It's called a weapon, but it's closer to a computational device. It detects and analyzes every factor that could influence a target variable and runs simulations until the desired outcome appears. Based on that output, we can revise the Law and reapply it."
Maise added, "For example, if I want to eat pasta tonight—someone nearby has to make pasta. For that person to think of making pasta, their wife might need to go to the market for ingredients. For the wife to go to the market…?"
Agaya continued, "If you keep digging like that, you can find the initial factor necessary to produce the outcome we want. It could be ridiculous—maybe a man four kilometers away fell in the morning."
Guido said, "Of course, what Exmachina gives is only a simulation. But if we use that result as a blueprint and induce that man, four kilometers away, to fall that morning…"
Shirone swallowed hard.
"You can stamp a desired result onto a specific spacetime coordinate. A single scenario among countless possibilities. The picture of this entire city tonight—the scene where Maise is eating pasta—captured exactly."
That was why they called it a weapon.
"It exceeds human brain capacity."
Guido nodded.
"You can't call an angel a 'genius' the way we mean it, but without creative power on Kariel's level, something like this would be impossible. In any case, with Exmachina our plans would be far more complete."
Uorin interjected, "The most plausible theory is that Exmachina was created during the ancient war with the Gaia. It was probably meant to control their actions against Heaven…"
Minerva added, "No other Exmachina has been found. It may have been lost, or perhaps they never mass‑produced it."
"Stopped production…?"
Shirone considered one possibility.
"Yes. If the latter, the Gaia solved the Veron problem. They escaped the Law and were able to change the future by their own will. Whether it was possible from the start or they achieved it later, I don't know…"
"They achieved it."
If it had been possible from the beginning, Kariel wouldn't have made Exmachina.
"The Eleventh Sense: Ultimae."
The race that, resisting Anke Ra, pierced even Exmachina's Laws and established an integrated mental system.
'Gaia.'
Shirone found himself missing beings he'd never known.
"By the way…"
Shirone shook himself and asked, "Even if the power gap was huge, why were we being pushed back helplessly when we had such an ancient device?"
The envoy answered.
"Exmachina isn't omnipotent. We lost to Gustav for three main reasons."
He folded one finger after another.
"First: manpower. As you can tell from how Exmachina works, its effectiveness varies wildly depending on the user. It was originally operated by angels. Without brain functions at least comparable to theirs, anyone who enters the device will go mad."
No wonder they were reluctant to use it.
"Second: range limits. Exmachina's radius reaches up to two hundred kilometers—wide enough to be called a map‑scale weapon—but it doesn't even cover a quarter of the Cotria Republic. It's what saved the capital. That's why we're negotiating an alliance."
The envoy clenched his fist.
"Third: the enemy's military—Valkan. For some reason, every time Exmachina alters the Law, they almost instantly react."
It was a countermeasure system.
"If we change something, they change it back. Because they mount a new countermeasure each time, it overloaded; eventually all five Exmachina operators died. There's a second team, but with the first squad wiped out, we're not in a position to fight."
That the envoy disclosed his nation's internal situation so frankly meant they were betting everything on this alliance.
'Same goes for the Temple. If Valkan can read military codes, we'd also need our best five…'
Shirone raised his hand. "Wait—did you say five?"
The envoy explained, "Originally it was a space for one angel, but the device exceeds what a single human mind can handle. So they linked four brains in parallel, and the remaining one in series to make the final decision."
Shirone glanced at the card players. Agaya shook his head.
"We'll take the parallel slots. It's not just about balancing brain functions—teamwork matters more."
Though Valkan had beaten them, as a team they were indisputably the strongest four.
"What about the remaining one?"
"The Temple will provide a suitable partner. The important thing is that this person occupies the position that decides our opinion. Many nations have a few servants who are just machine‑like calculators, but…"
"It needs to make value judgments."
Ness nodded.
"You need to factor in environmental variables and be able to model human emotions as equations. Someone whose brain function doesn't lag behind ours, who also has the gambler's temperament to risk everything. Creativity matters, too."
The conditions were exacting.
"We'll leave it to the Temple, but the first person who came to mind was Snake of the Black Line. He joined Sion under his real name, Sein. He might be capable."
Sein's iron‑wheel eye could compute emotions and reason simultaneously, but Uorin wore a troubled expression.
"We'll send paperwork to request cooperation, but it'll be difficult to bring him here."
"Why? If he's in Sion, wouldn't he want to stop Havitz above all else?"
"Because movements in Heaven are worrying—Teraphos no longer judges breaches. Currently Sein is deployed on Miro's Heaven defense front. For a long operation like this, he may be unavailable for months."
Because stopping Havitz was equally urgent, the card players accepted the setback.
"It's tricky. Most servants are weak on emotion. We need not an excellent calculator but a perfect gambler. Finding someone like that…"
"There is one."
Shirone's eyes trembled with excitement.
"Someone who can express human emotions as equations, and…"
He had once predicted every student's feelings at the Alpheas School of Magic and designed hologram paths alone.
"Superior computational ability."
When he bared the electricity in his eyes, he could compute every incident in the city that occurred within three seconds.
"And, when necessary, a gambler willing to risk everything."
He had led the Scramble Royal to victory.
"Is there… such a person?"
Minerva tilted her head while Uorin smiled meaningfully.
"Hmm, indeed…this could be interesting."
Encouraged, Shirone stood and turned to Uorin.
"May I recommend someone?"
She readily agreed.
"It would be an honor. If Yahweh recommends them, the Temple won't easily oppose it."
As Shirone smiled, the two of them pointed at each other and spoke in unison.
"Mercodaine Iruki."