Beron Problem (3)
The procedure for Code One was complicated, but there were less than twelve hours left until the vote.
Diplomats from each country showed flexibility, and so Albino met with Arakne's prime minister.
"Well, you've brought a difficult one, haven't you."
Prime Minister Pedra, not the king but the real power in Arakne, swaggered.
"Tormia must be in a hurry too. What's the matter? If it's urgent we can move elsewhere."
Albino shook his head, aware that Arakne's specialty was the honey trap.
"Very well. Do you intend to kill the old man?"
"Heh heh! What are you so frightened of, sir? Leave it to me. I'll take care of him properly."
"You're requesting Code One from Arakne."
Pedra's smile vanished.
'Has this old man lost his mind?'
Requesting Code One from Arakne—Arakne that had allied with Jaive, the frontrunner to become the world-leading nation.
And besides, meeting a figurehead king wouldn't suddenly make negotiations possible, would it?
"Must you make it complicated? If you have a grievance, tell me. Also, I hear… His Highness Pony isn't in good health."
"I won't hide it. His Highness Pony will not appear."
"Then?"
"Yahweh."
Pedra's eyebrows twitched.
"Yahweh will conduct the negotiations on behalf of Tormia. You know he's from Tormia. Of course the negotiations will be with your king, not you."
Pedra couldn't understand what the old man was talking about.
'Bring Yahweh in? At a time like this?'
If Tormia didn't consist only of fools, they would already know the momentum had shifted.
'This should have been done before the Jaive scandal broke. The Pope will never approve Yahweh.'
So…
'What a stunt.' It was the last gasp of a second-rate state that had lost its tie to Jaive.
"Heh."
Pedra said, flatly.
"Honestly, I'm a little disappointed. You ought to be bringing offerings, and instead you threaten? If you come at me like that, do you think I'll just say 'I understand' and approve Code One?"
"I don't care."
Albino didn't so much as blink.
"What I'm saying is Yahweh wants to meet Arakne's king. And this is only the beginning. If you think you can handle it, stand up and come out now." The world's strongest mage, humanity's representative, one of the Ivory Tower's Five Stars, the era's symbol of universal love. Yahweh is Yahweh.
'This is insane.'
Albino had said it was only the beginning.
'What do they intend to do? Wage war on every country? Even Yahweh would be hard to beat.'
But also—
'…it can't be called a loss either.'
When Pedra's indecision finally showed on his face, Albino took note.
'They'll have no choice.'
Being the weakest among Jaive's allies meant being acutely sensitive to shifts in the tide.
'If momentum is applied, you can't help it. The truly strong and those who only pretend to be are different.'
"Why not meet me then? You know all state matters go through my hands."
"You don't have the vote."
"Listen. You might think you've already won everything, but each country is granted exactly one right. Rom, Garto, Temika. On voting day, Arakne will be just one of the twelve countries."
Albino dropped his voice.
"And it isn't you who votes. Whether it's a puppet king or a genuine sovereign, the king himself goes into the voting hall, signs, and drops it into the ballot box."
What choice a king makes at the last moment is not a matter of law but of probability.
Pedra bit his lip.
'Until the lid's lifted, there's no such thing as certainty.'
"Think carefully. If you're truly confident, then do it. But you know what will happen if the outcome you want doesn't come."
Pedra put a cigarette to his lips and lit it.
Then he held the smoke in his mouth and stared blankly at the floor by his chair.
Albino smiled inwardly.
'Dante. Well played.'
Shirone was the ace of this game.
'Even if the changing situation worked against him, even if his odds might drop…'
Dante had known it.
'If Shirone offers his hand, there won't be a single nation that wouldn't take it into the fray.'
It was the power of being the best.
'Not simply because he's strong. The force of being the best lies in its ability to override relativity.'
So now that the card everyone coveted had arrived in Tormia's hands…
'It's over.'
Albino laughed inwardly.
'Humans don't spend more than a minute on a decision. The unconscious has already decided. What takes time is the process of convincing yourself you made the right choice.'
Pedra, silent until he finished the cigarette, finally muttered a curse.
Then he snorted and turned his head.
"I know it's all bluff. You're trying to rope me in. If I fall for this, I'll be a real fool."
Albino remained composed.
"All right. Fine."
Pedra nodded.
"The stakes are too big. I know I'm being deceived, but I can't bet. I withdraw. But if you take the pot, I won't interfere."
"Fine."
He stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray and leaned forward.
"Proceed, Code One."
Fermi organized Omega 999 based on the diplomatic documents the ministers had gathered.
'Value judgments later.'
First, arrange the events logically and fit the framework together; the outline would emerge.
'The country that will become the world-leading nation… the Kingdom of Airon.'
Fermi, who had been looking at the kingdom's name with cold eyes, hurried his pen.
Time was short.
'Where should I cut the information? I didn't expect a corrupted file to be this critical…'
After finishing with intense concentration, Fermi put the documents into an envelope and sealed it.
'Done for now.'
A wry thought crossed his face and he chuckled.
'How much would these papers be worth?'
Future information—moreover, a file that organized everything about the world-leading nation.
'Roughly half the planet…'
He didn't need the exact figure.
"Haha."
It wasn't just an amusing thought.
"I'd be the richest man in the world."
He'd vaguely imagined that might happen someday, but now that it was real, the feeling was strange.
"Hmm."
He wore a small smile and counted to ten.
"That's enough."
Just as Shirone had become the Infinite Mage, Fermi, too, had finally realized his dream.
'One thing remains.'
And when that was done, for the first time since being born into the world, he would be able to feel satisfied.
"Your Highness, an employee of the World Health Organization is requesting an audience outside."
It was Seriel.
"Tell them to come in."
Seriel passed the checkpoint and entered smiling, though anxiety showed in her eyes.
"What brings you here at this hour? Miss me that much?"
"Fe—Fermi."
Her face twisted and a tear rolled down from one eye.
"Run!"
As if freed from something, genuine emotion showed on Seriel's face.
At the same time, a silhouette flickered beside her and a woman resembling a serpent stepped forward.
"Hush. Does a lady scream like that?"
Shura, seventh in rank of the Council of Ten, wrapped an arm around Seriel's neck and fixed a cold stare on Fermi.
"Sorry, Fermi. I absolutely didn't want to let this woman go, but she took over my mind—"
"It's all right."
That was actually a relief.
If a brute had kidnapped Seriel, she would have fought to the death.
Fermi looked back at Shura.
"Shall I make tea? Which tea should I pour? It's not in the records."
"So you really do know the future. That I would bring this woman with me, too."
"No need to bring up the future. I'm not the only one who went to the apocalypse, you know."
That was why Shura had thought of Fermi when Basak demanded the world.
"I know you've been digging for information. Hand it over willingly. Otherwise this woman dies."
Seriel shook her head.
"No, Fermi."
She couldn't understand everything they said, but she knew whatever it was wouldn't be good for Fermi.
"Go back to the beginning…"
Fermi walked to the table and poured tea.
"There are two kinds of tea in my room. Caffeinated and decaffeinated. Which tea did I—the future me—pour?"
"That's not important. What matters is whether, even knowing the future information, you would have poured the same tea."
Shura understood.
"So which country becomes the leading nation?"
"Airon."
Here the problem arose.
"Then why Airon? Number one: because that's the future. Number two: because you came and took the future information. Number three: because even your coming and taking the information is recorded in the future information."
"The answer is…"
Shura said.
"Number three. Otherwise you couldn't know the future in which I come."
"Right. Even if you know future information, the act of obtaining that future information itself becomes part of the future. So you're wrong. The correct answer is…"
Fermi picked up the document.
"Number four. Because I, knowing that even that becomes the future, passed this document to you."
That was the most accurate explanation.
"Conversely, the moment I destroy this document, the world-leading nation changes."
"Can you do that?"
"It doesn't matter. If I destroy the document, only Airon loses out. The other countries don't even know I have this information."
Shura's eyes widened and she tightened her grip on Seriel's neck.
"I'll really kill you."
Just as Fermi calmly opened his mouth, Seriel said,
"Kill me."
Now he understood everything.
'It's future information.' In a situation where merely knowing that fact changes the future, he had been fighting alone.
'That's enough.'
Knowing her sincerity, she could smile.
"It's okay, Fermi. Do what you must. Don't give up on my account."
"Shut up. I'll actually kill you."
Even as Shura choked Seriel, Fermi showed no emotion.
'Seriel, Amy will die soon. I suggested it to Shirone. She must not survive.'
Then what about Seriel?
"Kii—!"
With a snake-like grin, Shura moved to snap Seriel's neck.
"Here."
Fermi held out the document.
'Don't run.'
Even if the whole world blamed him.
"Gasp! Gasp!"
As Seriel's airway cleared and she collapsed to the floor, Fermi hurled the document like a throwing star.
"Take it. It's future information."
Shura snatched it up, tore the envelope open with her nails, and read the contents.
"…Hmph."
She glared at both of them in turn, then vanished from the spot like air.
"You all right?"
As Fermi bent to check Seriel, someone grabbed him by the collar.
"You crazy bastard! How could you give that away!"
"You told me. You said number four— not one, two, or three. You shouldn't have given it to Shura."
Fermi doubled over from a blow to the abdomen.
"Then you'll die."
"You idiot! You missed the only chance to change the future! You should have killed me instead!"
"I can't kill you…"
Fermi clutched his stomach and smiled bitterly.
"It's the future."
The option of killing Seriel did not exist anywhere in Fermi's heart.
"You… idiot."
Moved and terrified at once, Seriel buried her face against Fermi's chest.
"…What do we do now?"
"You hit me once, so I'll return it twelvefold."
Seriel lifted her head.
"Is there a way?"
Fermi winked at her and flicked a single chip into the air with his thumb.
"A depreciation deal."