Another Space (2)
* * *
Tormia Castle, Kreta.
The screams that had echoed through the capital overnight finally quieted at dawn.
Miro took in the pale, stunned skyline from the highest watchtower.
'They must have found their own way.'
There is no place for the lazy when faced with pain.
Miro was no different.
To her—who had sealed her heart to protect the line—nothing remained precious.
The only option was to accept the pain.
'It hurts.'
It felt as if blades ran through her veins.
Every breath rent her organs; she was afraid even to inhale.
'I wish time would stop.'
Who can dream of a hopeful future when every moment of life is agony?
'I have to endure it.'
At least Gaold had. She clenched both fists and drew a deep breath.
"Ugh!"
As the pain stabbed at her brain, she heard Gaold's voice from near the tower door.
"At first—"
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Miro, he looked out over the city and spoke.
"I'm angry. When you're very angry, you try to fight the pain. You pick at the wound, you dig it open. But how long can that last? In the end, the one who gets hurt is yourself."
Before contracting emotion sickness, she had thought enduring pain was all there was.
'Pain isn't like that.'
Any horrific pain could be borne as long as there was hope it would one day end.
'True pain is...'
the fact that it never ends.
'Can I endure it? Can I keep fighting to the end without giving in to the pain?'
Like Gaold.
'You idiot. How... how do you live like this?'
He had thought he understood all human emotions on his journey to the edge.
How arrogant.
'Humans shouldn't speak carelessly about what they haven't experienced.'
She had assumed she knew Gaold's pain.
It must be killing him. It must hurt thousands, tens of thousands of times more than my sliced hand.
That would be awful.
'...or so I thought.'
She should have remained silent.
At the very least, she should not have judged his pain.
Gaold asked, "Are you really going?"
There was no way to survive in Imir's mind, where the spirits of a billion Gaian people were fused together.
"If you're planning to pay with your life just to sightsee, I won't stop you, but—"
"No."
Miro shook her head.
"I don't care what kind of mind it is. What matters is that there's something in there we need to eliminate evil."
"What do you plan to do? You don't actually think you can pull it off, do you?"
"Why ask me that?"
Miro smiled at Gaold.
"You have to find the method. Find it. Chase after me and protect me, fight our enemies, beat Imir—just solve it. Do whatever it takes to get the Ultima System into my hands."
"I won't say I refuse... but what if you can't? Some things are impossible."
"Is that so?"
Miro grabbed Gaold's collar with both hands.
"Then I die. Do you understand? That means I can't be happy. Do you want me to die in pain?"
Even under Miro's fierce, hateful stare, Gaold showed no change in expression.
"Sigh."
Miro exhaled and pressed her forehead to Gaold's chest.
"Do you know what angers me most?"
"What?"
"That you're stronger than me. You're annoying and a pain, but because you're useful I can't just throw you out. That infuriates me."
"I'll do something about it, somehow."
Miro snapped her head up.
"Let's go in together—into Imir's mind. I'll try methods; you watch for emotion sickness."
Gaold thought simply.
He should raise the pain threshold far higher—far beyond now, to an almost unimaginable degree.
"I'm going to tell Shirone."
As Gaold moved to leave the tower, Miro—watching his back—spoke.
"Just one question."
Gaold stopped at the door.
"Why do you like me?"
He tilted his head in surprise, and Miro shot back as if snapping.
"Am I that pretty? Good figure? Or just stubbornness? You always make things hard for me."
"And you?"
He gave an incredulous smile as if to ask what strange question this was, then pulled the door handle.
"Why do you hate me?"
Even after Gaold went down the stairs, Miro stood lost in thought for a long while.
She, too, could find no words.
At the three-way junction thirty-two kilometers from Vashka, the two-horse carriage stopped. Iruki and Nade stepped down, hauling large travel trunks.
"This is the place, right?"
Iruki checked the sign.
"Yes, the journey's crossroads. Did we get here early?"
Just as they were about to check the time, smoke from the Miracle Stream condensed before them.
"Shirone!"
Shirone appeared before them by quantum transfer, smiling and raising a hand.
"Long wait?"
Nade said, "No. We just arrived, too. What about the carriage? Leave it here and go?"
After two days of preparations, it was time to start the mission in earnest.
Iruki and Nade would travel the world with Shirone, spreading the Ultima System.
"We'll focus on remote regions, so that's probably best. And sorry—Dorothy and Liz could actually come along."
Iruki shook his head.
"The castle is desperately short-staffed. In times like this you use whatever connections you have. Dorothy said she'd bring the excavation team."
Nade added, "Liz will join Pony's side. We've handed over everything related to the elemental-bomb factory."
If friends of friends and their friends were drawn in, where would the missing manpower be found?
Nade slung his backpack onto his shoulder and asked, "Where should we go first?"
Though Shirone had absorbed the world's geography through Omega, he couldn't know the full aftermath of the war.
"How about this?"
Iruki unfolded the mental world map he'd kept since his days as valkyrie general.
"On my map, everywhere the army of hell passed through is lit up. The dark spots are scattered like islands. We can use those as points and move between them."
"I see. So what's the nearest place?"
When Shirone zoomed the world map in his mind, thousands of place names within range appeared.
"The Borshua region."
Shirone nodded.
"The Kingdom of Acros."
A long, narrow country running along the coastline, bordering Tormia to the north.
"Mostly ruined by the war, but the coast doesn't seem to have suffered much. Let's go there first."
Nade asked, "What about emotion sickness? Shirone's power is buying us time now, but later we won't be able to handle it."
"There's no backup, really. If Shirone and Rian purify the otherworld, that'll solve it. If that's impossible..." Iruki shrugged.
"In the end it's the same, right? The world ends anyway."
"Of course. What worries me is that we become incurable before the otherworld is purified."
The pain threshold keeps rising without end, and to calm it the power of Hexa must keep increasing.
Shirone said, "It's bad if action capability fails at a decisive moment. But this is the best we have. According to Seriel—"
Shirone relayed information that had just come from the World Health Organization.
"Emotion sickness seems able to spread using humans as vectors. Cases have been found in regions not aligned with the wind. The World Climate Organization confirmed that."
Iruki's expression grew serious.
"Hmm, then it will spread faster than we expected. Some will abandon their homes to calm the pain. Materially, that's like giving up their largest asset: their house."
"Yes. Pony imposed emergency quarantine, but with soldiers infected too, it's impossible to stop people from fleeing. That's why the decision was made. For people on core missions, Hexa's ability will be used to extend the incubation period."
Because they were bound by the same fate, Iruki and Nade accepted the plan without protest.
"Understood. Then let's go."
Even as the world raced toward ruin by the day, the three felt a small thrill.
Nade said, "It's our first trip since graduation. We promised back then—we'd stick together after entering society. The dream's finally coming true."
"That's because you're idle. Is being jobless your dream?" Iruki teased; Nade wagged a finger.
"You talk, you mangy mutt! Just wait until emotion sickness clears. We'll make a fortune."
"Ha ha!"
Hearing their bickering, Shirone let out a long, relieved laugh for the first time in a while.
'Yes, this is where it starts.' He hoped everyone could smile again.
"Shirone."
Miro came into the room.
"What's up?" With Rian soon to enter the otherworld, the castle's atmosphere felt heavy.
"I need to talk. Did you speak with Gaold?"
"Yes. He decided to go with Drimo. Once Rian is done, we'll leave immediately."
"Right. I wanted to say something beforehand. You can tell it anytime, but once you enter Imir's mind you have to focus only on the mission."
She seemed to be assigning homework.
"Yes. Go ahead."
"Havitz."
Miro's eyes sharpened.
"During our recent attempt to assassinate Havitz, we gathered a lot of information. I'm convinced he's the most dangerous person. If circumstances line up, he could even kill a Buddha."
Shirone listened.
"When Kuan attacked Havitz while tuned to the god's frequency, he described it like this: it was humiliating. He felt like a child lost in delusion."
"I see."
Shirone could fully understand Kuan's feelings.
"But Havitz definitely exists. Meirei, and even Rian, had moments when they sensed something. So the problem isn't that it's a delusion—it's that we dismiss it as one."
"A limit of perception."
"Right. The quantum phenomenon's barrier you mentioned. If the human mind defines everything, Vanishing is the exact opposite. Havitz resides in a realm where nothing should be defined."
"For example... purity?" Miro snapped her fingers.
"Exactly. A pure being. In other words, someone who accepts the world with no preconceptions—like an infant who just opened their eyes—could they see Havitz?"
"Hmm."
Shirone rested his chin on his hand.
"Probably—no, definitely they could. Because—"
Both said at once.
"Seeing it isn't really seeing."
Miro nodded.
"That child could see Havitz because they don't even know what a Havitz is. With no preconceptions, they absorb every signal that hits their optic nerves."
"...Not invincible."
Shirone, deep in thought, murmured.
"But isn't that the same problem? How could we get help from a newborn who doesn't even know what Havitz is?"
"There is one person."
Shirone's eyes widened.
"Not perfect, but still close. No—this child might even be able to kill Havitz."
"Who is that?"
Miro raised a finger.
"Wena Wizard."
A name that had been ranked sixth among Ivory Tower candidates alongside Nane, Jinsungeum, and Shirone.