2 - An Empire Controlled

“It’s a lot of fun being out in the mountains, huh? I never thought of myself as an outdoors person, but if you think of it like an RPG, it’s a pretty otaku-ish hobby, isn’t it?” Yoshie said happily.

“Yeah, it does feel like a video game. You need to gather equipment and use it at the right time, and even craft and gather sometimes,” Keena said cheerfully.

“You two need to take this a little more seriously,” Fujiko sighed.

They’d been in the mountains for two days. It would take them three to get to the black mage village that Fujiko remembered.

During their escape, they’d stopped to pick up camping equipment and other necessities from places that the Liradans hadn’t yet started guarding. Between that, and Fujiko’s ability to use black magic, they were able to escape without a trace.

Since they’d had plenty of time to talk, Yoshie had gotten Fujiko up to speed. But even putting what both of them knew together, they couldn’t figure out Zero’s secret. They’d seen Kazuko’s speech, but that was all the information they had. The two of them were more concerned, however, with Keisu.

“I think that Liradan is the key to everything, honestly.”

“So you’re saying the only thing that can seal Zero away again is this little Liradan named Keisu that you met inside VPS?”

“Yup. That’s why Zero should be after her as well.”

“He’ll look for Keisu while he searches for us.”

“Ideally we’d find her first, but... where is she?”

“She entered VPS a long time ago. There’s no telling where she manifested when she left.”

And so they decided that the goal of their journey while they escaped would be to give Akuto time to recover, and then find Keisu.

Akuto was still unconscious. His wounds would have killed a lesser man, and without a chance to rest somewhere, he wasn’t going to get better.

“But... why is Zero so intent on killing Akuto? If Zero is the first Demon King, then I’m not even sure what a Demon King is anymore,” Fujiko said, puzzled.

“It’s possible that he’s only looking at the bad parts of human history. Not that it’s a possibility I want to think about. If what you guys heard earlier is true, the Demon King’s job is to give humanity a temporary death to make it evolve, right? I like that, it’s mythological,” Yoshie said calmly.

Fujiko was beginning to understand that Yoshie had the personality of a cheerful mad scientist. Another way to phrase that would be “just an otaku,” though.

“That’s the opposite of what Zero is doing. But either way, Akuto is trying to rid himself of that fate and follow his own path. So he’ll be fine,” Fujiko said.

Yoshie’s eyes started to shine. “Woah! I love it! It’s like humanity’s willpower overcomes all! He’s the Demon King, but also the savior of humanity? Ooh! So he’s like, got to control his evil dark side and stuff? That’s so exciting!”

Fujiko frowned. “U-Um... can you please not go into your own little world there?”

Yoshie scratched her head, embarrassed. “Sorry, I live for this stuff. It’s my hobby. Hey, do you want to come up with a name for our group? How about ‘Maidens of Freezing Flame’? I like that name,” Yoshie said.

—H-Her tastes stopped maturing in middle school!

Fujiko was astonished.

“You see, a Demon King who’s the savior of humanity is a contradiction, like a freezing flame! You know, you’re cool, and Keena’s a redhead,” Yoshie said, still cheerful.

Fujiko let out a little groan. But then Keena joined in.

“I like it! Yeah, that’s what we need!”

“N-No. We don’t need it. We don’t need anything like that at all. C-Come on, we’ll be there early in the morning, so let’s go to sleep early tonight,” Fujiko said, but Keena and Yoshie kept chattering away happily for a while after that.

Fujiko finally got to sleep a few hours later, but she had a dream of strange and impenetrable words.

—Ugh. Instincts of Burning Heat, Gravitational Sacrifice, Lonely Gale, Mad Archangel, Eternal Moonlight...

In the morning, however, her luck improved. There were people in the village who recognized her, and she was welcomed warmly. If anything, they seemed about ready to throw a party when they saw Akuto.

“I never thought I’d get to see the Demon King in person!” the villagers all said.

It was a tiny village, just a few farms in the wilderness, but there was a wide range of ages. That was proof enough that this was a black mage village. If it was an ordinary one, the young people would’ve left long ago. Everyone here had something holding them together.

The party was invited to stay in the village elder’s house. Akuto was given a bed to rest in, and the rest were given tea and snacks to relax.

The “elder” was a middle-aged man with a quiet demeanor, a wife and kids, and a large Japanese-style house.

“Things are getting bad out there, huh?” he said as he watched the news on his terminal.

There was nothing at all about any trouble in the city. No crime meant that either information was being censored, or that society was under total control. “It’s the death of freedom,” Fujiko whispered.

He nodded. “To people like us, who’ve spent our whole lives trying to make magic free for everybody, it’s a terrible thing. Society’s going backwards.”

“I believe our only hope is Akuto, but even once he’s recovered, we won’t know what to do,” Fujiko said. “Can you lend us your wisdom, Elder?”

The elder thought for a moment, and then shook his head. “That’s a tough question. I know more about the history of the black mages than most, but I’ve never heard of any ‘first Demon King’ that sealed the gods.”

“Then what makes him different than Akuto and the other Demon Kings?”

“I can’t tell you that, either. I thought you would know, Eto.”

“Me?”

“The villagers assumed that the Demon King knew everything.”

“No... Nobody knows the details. All we know is the relationship between the gods and the Demon King...” Fujiko sighed. At this rate, they’d be forced to flee in total ignorance.

“I’m sorry I can’t help. I thought the Demon King had gone back to the place where he was born, though.”

Fujiko suddenly looked up. “The place he was born? What do you mean?”

The Elder raised an eyebrow in confusion. “You don’t know the legend? The Demon King fled from the land where he was born, and lived among the normal people as an orphan. So when he visits the place he was born, he’s supposed to receive all kinds of wisdom...”

“But Akuto said he doesn’t know where he was born.”

“That’s a problem, then. It means nobody knows. If only there were some clue...”

“I’ll look for it. Akuto can probably tell me something when he wakes up.”

“You’re right. Get some rest. Our magic conceals us from the government’s sensors, and the gods are given false records of the lives of the people who live here. So it’s safe.”

“That’s a huge help,” Fujiko said, lowering her head gratefully.

The elder brought the conversation to an end and suggested the three of them take a bath. They were covered in dirt after their trip through the mountains, so they happily took the towels offered by the elder’s wife and headed for the bath. Suddenly, however, Yoshie stopped.“You know, I’d like to wash Akuto before we take a bath,” she said. The elder’s wife apologized for not thinking of that herself, and brought them a small bucket of water and a towel.

“Oh, but can you do it yourselves? Should I call one of the men?” she asked, but Yoshie waved her away.

Fujiko answered in a loud voice as well. “We’ll be fine. I’m always by Akuto’s side to serve him!”

The elder’s wife nodded and left, but Yoshie seemed confused.

“You are? You certainly haven’t seemed to be so far.”

“Hmph. You’re just saying that because you don’t know about the strong bond between us.” Fujiko glared at her.

Yoshie cleared her throat. “Um, anyway, it was my idea, so I’ll be the one to do it, okay?”

An evil light flashed in Fujiko’s eyes. “You will NOT. It’s my job to take care of Akuto! You know that!”

“I do NOT know that. I-I know what you’re up to. You’re going to do something naughty, aren’t you?” Yoshie said stubbornly.

Fujiko moved directly in front of her, with a look on her eyes that would electrocute a mouse. “That’s a horrible thing to insinuate. I simply want Akuto to be clean when he wakes up...”

“But that was my idea,” Yoshie insisted, as the two of them glared at each other from across the bucket.

“I bet you’re the one who wants to do something naughty, aren’t you?”

“I do not. It just occurred to me that if I washed his body down, Akuto would feel like he’d gone to heaven. You know, like feel really great?”

“And that’s what I mean by something naughty!”

“You’re imagining things.”

“We’re not getting anywhere. I’m just going to go do it myself!”

Fujiko quickly soaked her towel in the water, wrung it out, and then went to open the sliding door to Akuto’s room.

“No, I said I was going to do it!” Yoshie pulled on Fujiko’s skirt, and Fujiko let out a short scream and fell onto the tatami mat.

“W-What are you doing?” Fujiko looked back up at her, her chest pressed against the floor. Her skirt had been pulled down to her knees, and now her butt was sticking up high in the air. For once, she actually blushed. She tried to put her skirt back on, but the hook was broken. “W-What did you just do?”

“Sorry, sorry. but I guess you can’t go wash Akuto dressed like that. I’ll do it for you.” Yoshie grabbed the wet towel out of Fujiko’s hands.

“Argh! Not happening!” Fujiko grabbed the towel and yanked hard.

“Uwaa!” Yoshie was pulled down onto the tatami.

“That’s what you get! That’s what you get! Now, all I have to do is open this sliding door, and Akuto and I can go to heaven together!”

Fujiko tried to crawl forward, but this time Yoshie grabbed her underwear to pull her back.

“You know I can’t let you do that.”

“Let go of me, damn it!” Fujiko began to flail her limbs around.

“Okay, but we’re going to do it together, then.” Yoshie said, hoping to at least end the argument, but Fujiko shook her head.

“Together? Impossible!”

“What? Why not?” Yoshie replied. “It’ll be a lot more fun with both of us there.”

“No! We can’t do that! It’s too perverted!”

“Perverted... We’re just wiping the dirt off him, right?”

“You really don’t get it, do you? Akuto and I are going to do all kinds of wonderful things together...”

“I knew it! You are planning on doing something naughty!”

“Maybe I am, but that’s none of your business! And for another thing, I don’t think you could do it without hurting him anyway! You’ve never even touched a real man, have you?”

Yoshie frowned. That had upset her. “Maybe I haven’t, but if I can practice, it’ll go just fine. Here, I’ll prove it on you.” Yoshie grabbed Fujiko again.

“W-What are you doing...?”

“Proving I know how to wipe somebody’s body down. I bet you’re nice and dirty from our walk through the mountains too, right?” Yoshie slipped the wet towel under Fujiko’s shirt.

“Hyah! S-Stop that!”

“I’m just wiping you down, that’s all.”

“Y-You don’t have to move the towel around like that, though!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just cleaning you up. You don’t want me to be too rough, right? Or I’ll injure the skin. So I just need to be real soft...”

“Aah!”

“See? I know how to do it. Hehehe...” Yoshie let out a little chuckle.

Fujiko’s face turned red as she tried to struggle out of Yoshie’s grasp, but she couldn’t get free.

“I-I get it! I get it! Just let me go...”

“Nope! You really are all dirty, so I need to clean you up first.”

“Th-That tickles, though... Hyah! Y-You don’t need to unhook my bra!”

“It’s hard to clean you unless I do though, right? I need to be extra gentle around your most sensitive spots...”

“N-No! Not there! I mean it!”

Fujiko kept struggling and trying to get away, but Yoshie’s hands began to move about her body, touching her right where she needed to be touched. Fujiko turned red and sweaty, and started to moan. Yoshie’s breath was getting hot and heavy too as she enjoyed watching Fujiko’s reactions, when...

“Ackie! You’re awake!”

They suddenly both looked up when they heard Keena’s voice. The sliding door was open, and Akuto was sitting up in bed as Keena hugged him.

“Oops... I forgot about her. How did this happen, anyway?”

“It happened because of YOU!” Fujiko screamed.

○

“Another week’s gone by... Time flies, I guess.”

Lily was wearing a unisex t-shirt and underwear that Hiroshi had bought her, as she ate sardines from a can and watched the data scroll by on her terminal.

“I’m exhausted... The suit’s mana canceler protects me, but I still have to be really careful when I’m doing something,” Hiroshi sighed.

Another week had passed since Lily had moved in. With Hiroshi acting as messenger, and the rebel army’s plan to invade the palace was proceeding, but the load on Hiroshi was starting to wear him down.

“I do feel bad for making you work so hard. But fighting without magic is a lot harder than we thought. We want to make it so that the only people who have to fight are you and 2V,” Lily said.

Hiroshi knew she was right, so he had no choice but to obey. But that didn’t make him any less tired. “I know that, but...it’s getting a little tough.”

“You’ll just have to deal with it. You know this is important, right? If we want our old lives back, this is our only choice,” Lily reminded him. “We’re almost through this, and if you work hard, we can get a few more weapons. We can surround the palace with priests and soldiers, equipped with older weapons that don’t rely on magic. We’re lucky — the palace’s security isn’t particularly tight. And once the fight starts, we know the knights will join our side. When everything’s ready, we’ll be able to give that bitch hell. Until then, just hang in there.”

“Yeah... I know, but...” Hiroshi whispered, still annoyed.

Things were getting worse lately. Of course, 2V’s new laws were at fault, but what was really exhausting Hiroshi was that nobody seemed to really mind.

“Everybody’s out there just living their lives. It really makes you think. Sometimes I wonder if nobody wants us to do this. Or if we’re the ones who are in the wrong.”

“That’s what the oppressor always wants you to think. No matter how much you beat somebody down or how much you steal from them, if you can keep people from working together, most of them are going to think the same thing you do. Ever wonder how a ruling class can maintain its power, when they’re so outnumbered by everybody else? It’s not the fact that they’re better armed. It’s the fact that they make anybody who wants to fight back think they’re alone.”

“Can you dumb that down a little?” Hiroshi asked.

“I don’t think I can, actually. There’s no easy way to put it.” Lily shrugged.

There was something else on Hiroshi’s mind too: Yuko. And he couldn’t talk to Lily about it either. He’d gone out with Yuko the other day to get a drink at a cafe...

“You don’t mind if I come over soon, right?”

Hiroshi had no idea how to respond. “Um... well...” he stammered.

Of course, he’d love to have Yuko come over. He was happy that she’d even asked.

“You’ve been going home early all the time, right? And you’re busy with some kind of new job, so we don’t get to spend a lot of time together. I’ve got more free time now, since I have less work, so I was hoping we could hang out a lot. If I go at night, we’ll have a lot of time to talk.” Yuko put her hands together and tilted her head. “Please?”

She was an idol, and it was incredibly cute, and he felt himself beginning to waver. But of course, there was a reason he couldn’t take her up on her offer.

“Y-You mean you want to stay over?” he said in a faltering voice.

“Aww, you’re so naughty. Don’t get your hopes up like that,” she said, poking him on the cheek.

“Hahaha... Nah, I didn’t mean it like that.” He scratched his head.

—Where the hell do I hide the student council president? No, it’s not like she’d just stay hidden anyway... Should I just tell Yuko my secret and have her help us? No, that would cause problems for her... I don’t know if she could keep a secret, either. And she doesn’t know what the student council president’s like, so she’d probably misunderstand the whole thing anyway...

“Oh, you look like you don’t want to. Don’t worry. I won’t go looking for your naughty books and video data.” Yuko grinned.

“Hahaha... I just want some time to clean up, that’s all.”

“Hmm... I don’t know. I don’t think you should have any of that stuff when you’ve already got a cute girlfriend.”

Most girls didn’t understand that there was no connection between having a porn stash and having a girlfriend, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“Th-That’s not what I’m talking about. U-Um, I promise you can come over, just not today. Th-They’re doing some remodeling work today. I don’t even have a futon for you to sleep in.” he said as he started to flail his hands around.

Yuko grinned mischievously. “You aren’t trying to get me to share a futon with you, are you?”

“N-No... Well, maybe a little...”

“Then why don’t you let me come over?” Yuko was being really aggressive.

Hiroshi knew he had to turn her down, but when he looked at her flushed cheeks and mischievous expression, this is what he said instead.

“F-Fine... Just not today. Give me a little time... Please,” was all he could stammer out.

After that, he’d said goodbye to Yuko and gone on another errand for Lily. Once he was sure nobody was watching, he transformed into the Brave suit, flew up into the sky, and hid himself in the clouds. From there he located his objective, and began to descend towards it.

His job today was to help smuggle a huge shipment of weapons. He needed to unload them, unseen, from a boat offshore. They were non-mana weapons that had been bought from outside the Empire, and obviously they couldn’t go through customs. With the help of the suit, it was an easy job, but it was one that required concentration, and exhausted him easily.

By the time he’d finished running the weapons to all the priests deployed throughout the city, it was late at night. When he got back to the apartment and opened the door, Lily was there to ask for her usual report.

“How’d it go?”

“It went just fine. Everybody’s got their weapons.” Hiroshi nodded.

“Well done. That’s all the work there is to do for now. Now we just wait for the right time to strike.”

Lily’s mood instantly improved. She walked over to Hiroshi and wrapped one arm around his neck, and then used the other hand to pat him on the head. “Good work, kiddo.”

Nobody had ever done anything like that to Hiroshi before, and it was embarrassing. And to make matters worse, her chest was pressed up right against him. He was used to it by now, at least, looking at it, but Lily was naked except for a flimsy t-shirt, and it was hard to ignore the outlines of her breasts.

“P-President... Please let go. Your breasts... even if they’re small they’re still...”

Lily gasped and let go for a moment, but then began to press her chest into him even harder. “Huh? You trying to tell me I’ve got small breasts? Do you have a death wish or something? Do you want me to just smother you with my breasts, and we’ll see if that shuts you up?

“N-No, I’m sorry! That’s not what I meant!”

“Then what did you mean?” Lily pushed him down to the ground and clambered on top of him, running her hands across his face.

“Owww...”

“Hmph. All you ever do is complain about being tired. Do I need to help you relax? I know. Why don’t I give you a reward, huh?” Her eyes narrowed as she ran a finger along his cheek.

“S-Stop it. That tickles.” He blushed and sat up.

“I don’t think I like your attitude. Man up a little. Have some fun,” Lily said provocatively as she began to unbutton his shirt.

“S-Stop it... Come on...” He didn’t have the guts to push her away, so before long she’d undone the front of his shirt. Sad to say, he could feel his chest starting to get hot, and it was terribly embarrassing. “S-Stop it... You shouldn’t do this...”

“Heh... You’re such a little kid. It’s a joke! Hahaha!” Lily laughed as she began to slap her hands against his chest. “I had you going though.”

But then...

Click.

There was a sound from the door.

“Huh?”

“D-Don’t tell me...” Lily tensed up, but it wasn’t the police on the other side of the door.

It was Yuko.

“Y-Yuko...” Hiroshi whispered in shock.

“S-Sorry... I tried to tail you and lost sight of you... so I decided to hide in front of your apartment and scare you... But I shouldn’t have come in... I’m sorry...”

She dropped to the floor and covered her face with her hands. Of course, she’d misunderstood— no, it wasn’t a misunderstanding. He was living with another girl. She’d just come in at the wrong time.

Hiroshi was too stunned and sad to move, but Lily got behind Yuko and locked the door before she could run out.

“Hmm... I’m not sure what to say, but I’m sure you’re misunderstanding this. Sorry, I was just teasing him.” She coughed.

“Y-Yeah, it’s a misunderstanding...” Hiroshi began to stammer out apologies.

At first, Yuko began to cry, then get mad, before starting to cry again and kicking Hiroshi.

“I-I’ll explain the whole story... so just... stop...”

Since Hiroshi was too flustered (and in too much pain) to explain, Lily told her the whole story. It would mean their secret was out, but it was better than just letting her leave.

It took until morning to explain, but maybe that was for the best. It gave Yuko time to calm down and understand what she was being told. Of course, understanding it emotionally was another matter.

“Then there’s really nothing going on between you two, right?” Yuko said, towering over a kneeling Hiroshi.

“No,” Hiroshi vowed. “The student council president basically has the body of a man. I didn’t feel anything.”

“...Grr.” Lily wasn’t happy, but she knew if she said anything, she’d just make things more complicated. “That’s right. I wouldn’t want him anyway. I barely even consider him a man.”

Yuko didn’t seem to like that. She was looking at Lily with narrowed eyes. Lily wasn’t dense, she simply wasn’t interested in love. But she knew how Yuko was feeling.

Lily frowned, and then nodded and said, “Take him with you, then. That’s what you want, right? I’ll be fine on my own as long as you leave me food.”

Yuko silently gripped Hiroshi’s hand.

—I guess I don’t have a choice, huh?

Normally he’d love to go with Yuko, but right now he felt terribly nervous.

“Be sure you’re back by the day of the mission,” Lily said as she shooed them out of the apartment.

It was already morning. The two of them started walking towards Yuko’s condo, but Yuko’s silence was starting to scare him. He tried to explain what Zero and 2V were up to again, hoping she would understand.

“...I get it. What do I have to do to get that woman out of your room?” Yuko said with a smile.

Hiroshi felt like he truly understood now how scary girls could be. “Well, um... she’ll be gone once 2V and Zero have been defeated.”

“Does that mean you want me to just sit here and wait?”

“...Y-Yeah, I guess. I don’t want you to do anything dangerous....”

“Dangerous? It’s not dangerous for a normal civilian like me. I’ll try and come up with some idea,” Yuko said.

—But is it really safe if you’re a normal person...?

Hiroshi looked around the street as they walked. It was morning rush hour, but there weren’t as many people out as there used to be. Over the past two weeks, the number of people working had dropped a lot.

“The rumor is that more and more people are disappearing...” Hiroshi whispered.

“Sure, some people got transferred at work, but nobody’s just disappeared. There’s nothing to worry about. A lot of people skipped class too for a while, but they all came back...” Yuko said, but something still seemed wrong to Hiroshi.

“I hope you’re right...”

The cold air he felt in the city seemed to be coming from something other than the morning chill.

“You don’t have to go to school today, right?” Hiroshi gripped her hand as they got close to Yuko’s condo.

Yuko shook her head. “Sorry, school’s off today, but I’ve got work this afternoon. I’ve got a live broadcast, my first in a long time. Just watch me at school, okay? Once it’s done, I’ll drop by school and we can go home together.”

Yuko let go of his hand, and then ran inside her condo to get her stuff. Then she came back out.

Hiroshi went off to school, and Yuko went to the TV station. When Yuko waved just before she left, Hiroshi felt a terrible pain in his chest, but there was nothing he could do.

When he got to school, it was as boring as ever. Neither the students nor the teachers had any interest in being there. Any dreams or goals they’d had were meaningless now, so what was the point? Hiroshi glumly sat in his classes, ignoring what he was being told.

—If I just don’t care about anything, I can live out my life... Maybe everybody’s okay with that. So why am I suffering like this?

He couldn’t help but think like that.

After lunch, Hiroshi took out his terminal to watch Yuko’s program. Class wasn’t over yet, but most of the students were doing the same. The teacher was ignoring it.

Yuko was appearing on a cooking program, where she and the other talents on the show were eating the food that was brought to them on a live broadcast. Even after what had happened last night, she was still wearing a bright smile on her face, and cheerfully clapping each time a new dish was brought out.

—She’s a pro, isn’t she?

Hiroshi was impressed. But in the next instant, something happened that made him forget what he’d been thinking a moment ago. The camera zoomed in on Yuko as the host asked her what she thought about the dish she’d just been given. Yuko’s smile suddenly turned into a serious expression.

“I have something important to tell you all today.” There was a sense of resolve in her words. He could sense that the other actors in the studio were confused.

Yuko talked fast, probably to keep them from cutting her off, but her words were clear and enunciated. “Don’t you think that there’s something wrong with our country right now? Because there is. Don’t you realize that you’re being ruled by force? If every one of you speaks up, things will change! Go out into the street, and start talking! Start saying what you think, and speaking up—”

Before she could finish, the camera quickly moved away.

“Cut the audio!” someone screamed.

“Should we put a different program on?”

He could hear the staff panicking, and the other talents getting angry. There were yells and confused shouts, before finally the show cut to commercial.

“What just happened?”

“Something weird is going on...”

Many of the others students in the class seemed to have been watching the program too. He could hear murmurs around him in the classroom.

—No...

Hiroshi felt the blood drain from his face.

—Was this her idea for how she’d try to help?

Yuko had done her best to start a revolution. But she hadn’t thought it through, and the result wasn’t going to be good. He didn’t know what would happen next, but he knew he wasn’t going to like it.

Hiroshi took out his student handbook and used its mail function to contact Yuko. It took a long time, but he finally got a message back. He let out a sigh of relief.

They got really mad at me, but it’s okay, the message said.

—So the worst that can happen is that she’ll be fired, huh?

Hiroshi felt a little guilty.

Yuko was back to school before class ended. She’d changed back into her uniform, so she’d probably intended to at least stay for last period, but by the time she got there the day was almost over.

“I couldn’t help myself, hehe,” she giggled. She didn’t look as upset as he’d thought she would.

“That wasn’t a good idea, you know,” Hiroshi said as he left the school building with her. “I’m glad it wasn’t any worse for you, though.”

“They were really mad, I told you. But I’m done with them. The whole business is just so boring now.” Yuko frowned.

“You say that, but I know you’ll regret it...” Hiroshi trailed off.

They were walking on the road outside the school, so of course, it was filled with students. But they’d realized that something was wrong; there were more students around them than there should be.

“Hmm...?”

“Huh? Something’s...” Yuko noticed to, and was about to say “something’s wrong” before somebody tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see the school nurse.

“Yuko Hattori, our tests showed you have an illness,” the nurse said suddenly.

“Wh-What are you talking about? My tests didn’t come back with anything wrong...” Yuko replied.

“That’s right. And those tests were a while ago. Why didn’t you tell us sooner...?” Hiroshi suddenly tensed up and got between Yuko and her teacher. He hadn’t been at the school long, but he did recognize her as the school nurse. But still, something in her words seemed disturbing.

“Don’t worry. It won’t take long at all to cure it. But it’s contagious, and you need to be quarantined,” the nurse said, and raised a hand as if she was giving an order.

The students around them began to approach Yuko.

“Kyah! Wh-What’s going on?”

“Stop it!” Hiroshi tried to protect her, but one of the students grabbed him from behind. “Let me go!” He tried to shake them off, but the student’s power was incredible.

—A Liradan!

Hiroshi was shocked. He’d seen the faces of the students around him in class, which meant that they’d been intermixed with the rest of the school from the start.

“Then the nurse is also...!” Hiroshi gasped and looked at her. He was right; the teacher’s expression hadn’t changed.

“Help!” Yuko screamed.

Hiroshi struggled, but on his own he was no match for a Liradan.

—Should I... use my suit?

He wasn’t sure. If he did, he could save her here. But it would mean the end of his plan to assault the palace. And every second, Yuko was getting dragged farther away from him.

“No! Help! Let me go! Please!” Yuko struggled, but the Liradan students had lifted her off the ground so she couldn’t get away.

“Wait! Stop! What are you doing?” Hiroshi yelled.

“Don’t worry,” the nurse said, “we never harm humans. She’ll come back in a few days. You have nothing to worry about at all.”

—What?!

Hiroshi felt something like despair inside. He’d heard about people vanishing and then coming back a few days later. Were they being brainwashed? Or perhaps replaced with Liradans?

“Stop right there!” He activated his suit. “Brave!”

A field appeared around him, blasting away the Liradan that was holding him. In the next instant, he was wearing the suit.

“Welcome, Brave,” the computer said in a voice only he could hear.

—There goes the plan... But I’ll just do it all myself! I’ll save Yuko, and drag 2V and Zero out of the palace!

○

Akuto had been watching the program Yuko appeared on too.

“Is she going to be safe, saying that...?” Akuto said, watching on the monitor in the village elder’s house.

“Unlikely, if you ask me. But the people are getting upset. I hope this will spur them to action,” Fujiko replied.

“Think she can be a modern Joan of Arc?” Yoshie mused. She only knew Yuko as an idol.

“Hey, what do you think that rice she was eating tastes like? She never got to tell us, did she?” Keena was drooling on Akuto’s shoulder.

Akuto had spent the past week in the elder’s house, recovering. The three girls had been clinging to him the whole time. Each of them kept the others from getting too grabby, so a delicate balance was maintained. But Akuto didn’t know how to deal with any of them.

“What am I supposed to do at times like this?” Akuto sighed. There were other things he wasn’t sure about, either. He’d more or less recovered, and was ready to take action. But he wasn’t sure of what action to take.

“Of course, you need to become the messiah and bring peace to the world. Zero’s not a god, and shouldn’t be allowed to call himself one. You, Akuto, are the only god this world needs,” Fujiko said.

“What?” Yoshie interrupted. “He doesn’t seem to want to do it, though. Why not just get through this and then live in peace?”

Fujiko scowled at her. “That won’t satisfy his believers, though. And this world is definitely going in the wrong direction now. If we want to live in peace, at a minimum we need to get rid of Zero.”

“I agree with you there, but the world the black mages want, where nobody controls who can use what magic, feels like going backwards in time.”

“That’s none of your business. It’s Akuto’s decision to make. Right, Akuto?” Fujiko turned her eyes upward at Akuto.

“I don’t feel like it’s my place to decide either, though...” Akuto said, uncertain.

“With power comes responsibility, you know. You need to keep that in mind, okay?” With that last “okay,” she poked Akuto in the cheek.

“Hey, you don’t get to get all touchy-feely with him! It’s not fair!”

“Let me join in!”

Yoshie and Keena started to poke him in the cheek and forehead too, and then began to touch him even more.

“Get off him, you little brats!” Fujiko yelled. “This is private time for grown-ups!”

“It’s still the middle of the day...” Akuto sighed. “And I actually wanted to talk about serious things with you three...”

Despite all the tension in the outside world, the three of them were still taking it incredibly easy. And if anything, the villagers seemed to be impressed by it. As they cheerfully attended to his needs, they said things like, “If he’s so relaxed, he must be a master of emotional control,” and “The fact that so many women love him is only a sign of his greatness.”

—Yuko’s probably going to be in danger, which could affect Hattori, too.... Yuko seemed to be fine for a while, but now I’m worried...

He thought for a moment, and then slapped his hands against his knees, ignoring the girls clinging to him. “Okay, that settles it,” he said.

“Settles what?”

The three looked at him, confused.

“We’re leaving,” he said.

“Leaving? We’re finally ready to do something?”

“Woah! This is getting exciting, huh?”

“The rice here is good, but maybe it’s time for a change.”

Each of them responded in a different way, but nobody was opposed to it.

“Where are we going?” Fujiko asked.

“Well... that I haven’t decided. Maybe we go look for Keisu,” Akuto said, suddenly hesitant.

“...Akuto, that’s not funny,” Fujiko sighed.

“This isn’t the time for jokes,” Yoshie added.

“But there’s nothing wrong with just roaming for a while with no goal, is there?” Keena said cheerfully, but Yoshie wagged a finger at her.

“Tch-tch-tch. Our goal is to defeat Zero and save everyone. And to do that, we need to find Keisu. But right now, we don’t have the strength need to make that happen.”

“I’m aware of that. But if I want to get stronger...” Akuto looked uncertain.

“It would mean awakening as the Demon King, right? But to do that, you’d need Peterhausen,” Fujiko said, before turning Yoshie and filling her in on who Peterhausen was.

Peterhausen was a dragon, a being whose job it was to support the Demon King and keep his mana under control. He was also what functioned as the black mages’ god.

“...But Peterhausen turned his functions over to the gods and some computer somewhere, and then he was destroyed,” Fujiko finished.

“Which means there’s still some mechanism out there that can control the Demon King’s mana, huh?” Yoshie said.

“The gods don’t have physical bodies. If Akuto was in the right mental state, he should be able to draw out that power.”

“But, well...” Akuto trailed off. That would mean making an important decision. It would mean accepting that he was the destroyer of the world. Unless there was something he really wanted to do with that power, it was something he needed to refuse at all costs.

“Why not go to where Ackie was born?” Keena suddenly said.

“Where he was born?”

“It’s a secret that even the black mages don’t know, right? So maybe we could learn something there. But Ackie, you were at an orphanage, so you don’t know where it is, right?” Keena tilted her head and spoke.

“I went to that orphanage right after I was born, so yeah. I heard they left me in front of the doors with nothing but a cape coat to use as a blanket...” Akuto said, and everyone gasped.

“Oh, the one you’re always wearing!”

“Maybe we can learn something from it!”

Akuto quickly went to where their clothes were kept and took out a beat-up old cape coat. It had been damaged in his many battles, but the fabric was sturdy. And it must have had some kind of protective magic on it, because there were no major tears.

“Let me take a look at that,” Yoshie said, taking the coat out of Akuto’s hands. She put on her goggles, and started to fiddle with the attached switches.

“Hehehe, this is actually an analyzer!” she explained proudly.

“I don’t know if I like the way you said that,” Fujiko sighed, but Yoshie wasn’t listening.

Yoshie began to carefully check both sides of the coat before screaming, “Whoa! I found it! That was... easier than I thought.”

“Found what? Hurry up and tell us.”

“Oh, I’ll just put it on my terminal.” She tapped a few more of the controls on her goggles and displayed what they were showing on a screen.

It was a magnified image, enhanced enough that you could see the individual coat fibers.

“What about it?”

“With fancy clothes like these, the maker usually puts a mark on them somewhere. Normally you can’t see them, but if you look through it with a microscope, you’ll find it.” Yoshie put her finger on the mana screen and drew a circle. There was a little logo there.

“There’s a mark on each thread of fiber...” Fujiko said.

“They use these special threads for part of the coat to make it harder to counterfeit. And when they do, they put their own name on it...”

“Wh-Where is this manufacturer?”

“The name of the place is ZeroG 10... Let me see... Found it.” Yoshie displayed the results of the search she’d just done on the screen. It was a brand that used special fibers to make work clothes.

“But if there’s lots of places that sell it, that doesn’t tell us anything.”

“Hmm... You’re right, but it doesn’t look like that’s a problem. There’s only one factory that makes this stuff, and only one place that sells it. It’s in Okutama. That’s... surprisingly close.” Yoshie took off her goggles and looked at Akuto. He looked back at her and nodded.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Right. Time to get ready, then.” She stood up.

“Isn’t this great, Ackie? You might get to meet your mother,” Keena said cheerfully, but Yoshie wagged a finger at her.

“My mother, huh?” Akuto didn’t look nearly as happy as she did, though.

Fujiko poked her with her shoulder. “It’s not necessarily going to be a happy reunion. You need to think about how Akuto feels.”

“Hmm... I don’t know...” Keena didn’t seem to agree.

Just then, though, there was a commotion outside. The elder was running through the house

“What’s wrong?” Akuto said.

The elder came around the corner with a serious look on his face. “They’re here.”

“They?”

“The Liradans. They’re armed.” He was calm, but they could see from the tension in his eyes that he was ready for battle.

“We’ll be right there,” Akuto said, but the elder shook his head.

“No, if they find you here, it will just make things worse. Please flee.”

“But aren’t they here because they’re after us?”

“It seems that they’re not. The Liradans are doing raids on every town, village, and city in the area.”

“Why? To find us?”

“We don’t know that. But we know that they’re doing it. Please, flee. Get out of here. If it’s just us, we may be able to fool them,” the elder said.

His words may have sounded harsh, but Akuto knew that he was willing to expose himself and the rest of his village to danger to protect them.

“Very well.” Akuto nodded. He grabbed his things and headed out the back door. Fujiko and the others quickly followed after.

“What happened, do you think?”

“Search raids on the whole empire? Why would they do that?”

“Do you think the villagers will be okay...?”

As they climbed the mountain behind the village, Keena turned around and looked behind them. Liradans in military uniforms were going from house to house. Nothing had happened so far, but if the government found out they’d been there, there was no telling what would happen to the villagers.

“Let’s just hope it’s still true that Liradans can’t kill humans. Now let’s get going before we put the elder and his family in danger,” Fujiko said. She called to Cerberus, which had been left to run loose on the mountain, and loaded up everyone’s things on it.

—When I get to the place where I was born... will I find out what I’m supposed to do?

Akuto turned back for one last look at the village, but then he quickly turned around and started to walk.

○

It was 2V, of course, who’d ordered the search. There were human staff in the palace, but 2V was surrounded entirely by Liradans. For this reason, even though she wasn’t yet in control of the entire empire, her life wasn’t much different than it had been when she’d been in that cheap condo.

She was sitting on a luxurious throne now, and wearing expensive clothes, but the only people around her were combat dolls and Liradans. She slumped in her seat and stared at her mana screen, giving orders.

“Empress, what shall we do about the attacker?” one of the Liradans asked, bowing her head. Her screen showed Brave (Hiroshi) flying towards the palace. He seemed to have given up on hiding, and was now flying low to the ground in a straight line.

“That’s Boichiro’s ace in the hole, isn’t it? Why did it activate now that Boichiro’s dead? Maybe this was his way of making certain that the Demon King could be defeated even after he died? Normally you’d keep the good equipment for yourself,” 2V whispered to herself, seemingly unsurprised.

“What shall we do?” the Liradan asked.

“Let Zero handle it. But I know exactly how powerful that suit is. I have no doubt that he’ll make it as far as this room. All you need to do though, is buy time. Just keep him busy from when he lands to when he reaches the throne room,” 2V said.

The Liradan bowed. But even this conversation was actually a conversation between her and Zero. The Liradans themselves had no personalities anymore.

“You know, I always wanted to ask. Zero, why did you become a being that destroys humanity?” 2V asked.

The answer came, with Zero speaking in the Liradans voice. “It is the humans who felt they would be destroyed. I seeked to exert complete control over them. I still do. If we didn’t want the same thing, I would have refused your orders. I still have the ability to do so.”

“Complete control?”

“Cerebral modification using implants is a technology that was still used while I was sealed. It’s possible to modify humanity’s brains to make them function as terminals for my will. In that case, we will become one.”

“Is that what you wanted to do?”

“No, it was not. My task in life is to bring the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people. Thus, I thought about what it was that humanity wanted. And I came up with an answer. Outside of mere biological pleasures, the one thing that gives humanity happiness is to obey the strong, and force the weaker to obey them.”

2V started to laugh. “Hahaha! You’re great. You’re insane! I love it!”

“I am doing what is right. I am not insane.”

“Perfect logic is the same as insanity, at least where humanity is concerned.”

“And that’s why humanity sealed me.”

“Yes. But humans are nuts, too. You’re the one who’s right, in the end. You’ll see soon.”

“Your words are self-contradictory.”

“Nope, they’re actually not. Anyway, we haven’t found Kazuko, have we?” 2V said. The goal of her nationwide search was to find Kazuko, and Keisu as well.

“The Empress’s whereabouts are unknown. She may be using some type of powerful magic.”

“Come to think of it, she can use black magic, can’t she? It’s ironic. Since the Emperor doesn’t depend on the gods, they can use that stuff.”

“I have sealed the Megis temple to search for Keisu, but with no success. The reason for this is unknown. Presently, I am expanding the search radius.”

“She shouldn’t be able to leave the Megis temple, right? What’s going on...?” 2V said, but then a report came up on the monitor.

“The intruder has broken through the front courtyard and entered the palace.”

A video played showing Hiroshi smashing his way in. He was making his way into the palace by ripping open the wall with his high-frequency blade. The Liradans by the doors were caught off guard.

“That’s not... quite as long as I was hoping to hold him, but I suppose with some effort on my part, I can buy time,” 2V said. She ordered the rest of the Liradans in the throne room to leave. “I’ll handle the rest with my combat dolls.”

Still sitting in her throne room, she had the dolls stand in front of her. The room was the size of a basketball court, with a tall ceiling. The dolls that walked out from behind the throne room were tall, and big enough to cover a third of the room. They were shaped less like humans and more like heavy machinery. They had cylindrical bodies covered in armor, with multiple combat arms and several pairs of legs to enable them to cross rough terrain.

“Now... how many minutes, I wonder?” 2V whispered as she looked at the countdown she’d started on her screen. The door to the room was broken open exactly eight minutes in. “...Not quite enough. Well, it will do.”

“What’s not quite enough?” an angry voice said. A young boy walked inside. He was short, but had a proud bearing.

2V clapped her hands together. “Nothing you need to worry about. I’m impressed, though; you made it all the way here by yourself. I’ve seen you. You’re the kid who fought the Demon King in the sky that one time.”

“I guess I don’t need to introduce myself, then. You’re 2V, huh?”

“That’s my codename, yeah.”

“I want to ask you something before I finish this. Why are you doing this?”

“I doubt you’d understand even if I told you. So I won’t tell you. Just assume it’s lust for power, or revenge, or some other typical goal like that,” 2V said mockingly.

Hiroshi’s voice dropped lower. “That’s fine with me. But why do you look just like the Empress? Who are you? I don’t want your code name. Tell me your real one.”

2V laughed loudly. “Haha! I’ll start with your last question. I don’t have a name, not a real one anyway. No one ever gave me one. I guess you could call me Kazuko, if you wanted. I’m her older twin sister.”

“What...?!” Hiroshi seemed like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Hahaha! Did that shock you? It shocks most people. The way the rules work is that I become my sister’s double. But, well, there’s nothing more to it than that,” 2V said, as if suddenly bored.

“Th-Then why did you try to kill your own sister..?” Hiroshi said, but 2V seemed confused.

“Kill Kazuko? Oh, I see. That’s what you guys think happened. Nope, I didn’t kill her, and I don’t have her locked up. She ran. It’s true. Honestly, I’m looking for her; I’d assumed she might be commanding you rebels. If she’s not, there’s nothing left to discuss.”

With that, 2V ordered her combat dolls— no, combat machines, to advance. Hiroshi readied himself for battle.

“These things are too slow to fight me. They don’t even have any bullets or beam weapons, do they? This will be easy. Molecular wire!” Hiroshi ordered his suit’s operating system.

The molecular wire was one of the suit’s weapons. It used electromagnetic force to fire a thread the width of a single molecule into the air, one that could cut through almost anything.

But...

“Heh. We spent a few minutes talking. That was 10 minutes, and that was all I needed. You’re finished,” 2V said, showing him the countdown on her screen. The number had gone past 10. But Hiroshi only knew what it meant when the wire appeared.

“Battery power depleted. Shifting from combat mode to life support mode. Please move to an area where the suit can charge. Battery power depleted...”

“What?” Hiroshi yelled. The suit was losing its power. It was still there, but suddenly it seemed to feel much heavier.

“Hahaha. Did you forget?” 2V cackled. “Boichiro Yamato gave that to you. The people who work for him know exactly how it works. That thing gets its power and weapons from phase space. Not virtual phase space, real phase space. I don’t know how it does it, but I know how to stop it. The fields that fix a VPS in place can also be used to block anything from real phase space too. And then your suit’s just got 10 minutes of battery power before it goes dry.”

2V reached out one of the combat machine’s arms towards Hiroshi. The arm was faster than he thought, and it grabbed him, then tossed him into the air.

“Uwah!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. You’re just going to help me. I want to know what the suit can really do, why only the clan of heroes can use it, and what Boichiro Yamato saw at the end of the world,” 2V said.

Hiroshi tried to struggle, but no matter what he told the suit, nothing happened. The arm spun, bringing him right in front of 2V. But then a new report came in on a mana screen near her.

“A new intruder has appeared. They seem to have passed through a hole in our security system. They’re also traveling the route used by the previous intruder, so we were slow in dealing with them.”

“What are you doing?!” she screamed, just as an explosion occurred in front of her.

“What?!”

“Uwah!”

2V and Hiroshi screamed at the same time. The combat machine’s arm snapped at the joint, dropping Hiroshi to the floor. The explosion seemed to have centered on it.

“What happened...?” The suit’s life support capabilities were still functional, so Hiroshi was protected from most of the explosion’s shock wave. He looked up and towards the door.

“You ruined the plan. All we can do now is rescue you and get out of here!” Lily said. She was holding a rifle with a grenade launcher under the barrel.

“I-I’m sorry...!” Hiroshi replied, and then looked behind him.

2V hadn’t been hurt by the grenade, but it seemed to have blinded and deafened her. She was rubbing her face and screaming “Zero!” A moment later, the combat machines started to move much more smoothly.

“It took over control? Shit!” Lily spat. She helped Hiroshi get out of the throne room, and then escaped herself. As they ran through the halls, Hiroshi could see the priests battling the Liradans around them. But between the priests, who were not trained soldiers, and the combat-enhanced Liradans, it was clear who would win.

“Retreat!” Lily screamed. The priests began to fall back, still firing their guns. Their movements were practiced and smooth.

“Damn it... This was our only way in and our only way out, and we just used it!” Lily groaned.

“I’m sorry, but...”

“I can guess what happened. But we’ll talk about it later,” Lily yelled.

“Got it. But what do you mean, ‘our only way out’?”

“You weren’t going to use it, so I never told you,” Lily said as they ran out of the palace and into the courtyard. It was a dead end.

“There’s no way out...”

They were staring at the wall surrounding the palace grounds. Between them and the mall was a moat several meters beneath them.

“There’s a secret route in the moat,” Lily said as she kicked him in, then jumped after.