Prologue

Prologue

The leather sofa in the room was an antique, and the table was hewn from a single giant tree. But other than the desks and chairs, the only decorations were the abstract paintings on the wall.

A strange group had gathered here, in this room overlooking the palace in the center of the Imperial City. Several of them were wearing masks to conceal their identities, but from their silhouettes it was clear that they weren’t human. The ones who weren’t wearing masks, on the other hand, all had handsome, striking faces. It was like someone had gathered together a group of unforgettable men.

“If the Jeweled Branch’s seal has been broken, then all the people around the world who carry the blood of the imperial family will begin to return to the Empire. Which means...”

One of them spoke. He was a handsome man, the sort some might derisively refer to as a “dandy”. His name was Kento Kurahashi. He was a member of C-MID8, and the smartest and most capable of them. His codename was USD. He was famous as perhaps the greatest genius humanity had, and was the only one of the members whose identity was not kept secret.

“...For our part, no matter who these others might be, we want to continue to support the existing Empress.” Kento looked around the room in search of agreement. It was clear that he was the member of the group with the most influence. But there was one voice who spoke out against him.

“You always jump to conclusions, without allowing for any debate. The government never interferes with the doings of the royal family. And C-MID8 is now nothing more than a group of individualists, correct?”

No one in the room appeared to speak, but the voice could be clearly heard. Kento answered, without seeming to find this strange at all.

“Individualists or not, we need to come together for the sake of our original goal. I’m referring to, of course, the wishes of the late Boichiro Yamato. Specifically...”

The voice cut him off, as if it already knew what he was going to say.

“...To appease the outer universe. Or, failing that, to fight and defeat it.”

And then, the voice added its own thoughts.

“...Appeasement seems the more likely of the two options.”

“I hope you’re right,” Kento said coldly, and then looked down at his feet. There was a large dog curled up around him. It was a long-haired breed, with droopy eyes buried beneath a mountain of fur. If it wasn’t moving, you might think it was a particularly large mop. The dog lazily craned its head and looked up at Kento. Its mouth began to move.

“But since I’m the one saying it, perhaps we can’t be so sure?” The long-haired dog was speaking human words. Kento didn’t seem perturbed by this. He shook his head as if he was sharing his gripes with an old friend.

“Even if you were one of them once, we still don’t know that for sure.”

“It’s true. I don’t represent them.” The dog put a particular emphasis on the word “them.” His codename was “The One.” He was a very rare type of talking dog. But in truth, he was...

“You’re the only human from ‘their side’ on this planet. Don’t tell me you don’t represent them.” There was a cold edge to his voice.

The One bared his dog-like fangs, and smiled a sarcastic smile.

“That’s one way of looking at it. But still, I betrayed them.” There was a strange sort of tension between the two. It was a girl’s voice that broke it.

“Kento, One, that’s all you ever talk about. So, what exactly do you want us to do?” The girl’s only movement was to put a hand up against the side of her head, and then tilt her neck a little, but somehow it seemed strangely seductive. Both Kento and The One slumped their shoulders, as if they no longer felt like fighting.

“Kei, what I’m trying to say is that we all need to come together to protect the Empress,” Kento said. The girl he’d called Kei brought a hand to her chin and looked upwards.

“Hmm... but it’s not up to us to decide whether the Empress is worthy of that or not. The Demon King’s on her side, right? Doesn’t that mean that if anything, we’re her enemies?”

“But the Empress is the only one who can use the Jeweled Branch. And we need the power that it awakened. It’s probably the only thing we have that can fight the Outer Universe. Still, if that’s all, then it doesn’t matter who the Empress is. We’re going to use her power for our own ends no matter who she is, right?” Kei leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head.

“That’s right. But the power is used by the Empress. But all we need is the power itself. That’s where the issue lies. Which means we need to convince the Empress to obey us,” Kento explained, but Kei seemed to still not understand.

“Do we actually expect that to work? Is that Demon King going to do what we tell him?”

“Given what we know about his personality, I don’t expect any problems. He’s afraid of the Empire’s way of life coming to an end. Which means that we can talk to him. Or perhaps I should say, we can take the people of the Empire hostage. Either way, protecting the existing system is going to be important, right?”

“Does that mean that the plan for me to take his place is being called off, then?” Kei leaned further back in her chair, her feet coming off the floor.

“That’s dangerous, so I think we should avoid that. You’re our ace in the hole. I’d like you to listen carefully to say about what you should do, and refrain for any foolish actions.”

Kento’s tone was slightly different than it had been before. It was as if he was being respectful of her, but also that there was something more. Kei leaned forward and sat up in her chair.

“Alright. If you say so, Kento. You’re probably right.”

“I am, Kei.” He smiled at her. Then, Kei seemed to remember something.

“Oh, right. Aren’t we supposed to call each other by our code names? Don’t call me Kei, USD. People will think there’s something going on between us, even though we’re both men,” Kei said, and laughed. Kento’s expression was hard to describe.

“You’re the one who didn’t use my code name to begin with, Esper.”

“Is that right? I try to keep my personal life and my work separate. Right, Kento?” Kei gave him a look that was clearly meant to be meaningful.

“Stop that. People will think we’re in some kind of special relationship.” Kento shook his head, but Kei’s gaze only became even more meaningful.

“Who cares what people think? It’s important to get along with your co-workers. And anyway, don’t you think The One is just itching for a chance to betray us? ’Cause if we help another Empress, and they get the power of the Jeweled Branch, then the one who actually uses it will be... you know?” Kei looked around the room.

Kento coughed a little, and The One just laughed.

“Hahaha! Your one flaw is that you sometimes act like you’ve really got the psychic powers that your name implies.” But Kei just grinned back at him.

“I’ve got exceptionally good intuition. I’m working for Kento. And I’m willing to do anything for the sake of my job. Listen, One. I’m not going to let you betray us.”

The One shuddered, but in a clearly sarcastic manner.

“This is the only place I have left. I’m going to do whatever I can to ensure humanity’s survival.”

“Enough of this talk.” Kento cut them off. “...Humanity is in greater danger than it’s ever been before.”