The tiny die-sized cube was partially see-through, so everyone could plainly see the tiny table trapped within.
I was capable of altering the size of the prison, and everything inside it would shrink proportionally. It was basically an inescapable jail or an impenetrable shelter.
I could even tweak it so only certain things could pass through. For example, I could prevent the flow of air through the space, forcing the person to choke to death inside, or I could allow it so cooked meals and water could pass through, so anyone I kept trapped would be fed and watered. I could even tweak it so only one sex could pass through. Blocking all males from entering and making it a female-only space, for example.
The only trade-off to this tweaking was that the larger the prison, the weaker the effect it had.
“[Release].”
The moment I said that, the die shattered to bits and vanished, causing the table to reappear where it was, in its complete original size.
“There are different methods you can set to open the prison, too. If we take the Sovereign Core and put it in here when we get it out, we should be okay.” Everyone sighed in relief. Even Yumina seemed appeased by this answer.
Using my new spell, we’d be able to make sure Prince Yamato was okay.
But the real question would be what to do with the core when we had it.
If the Phrase were after it, there was always the option of just handing it over to them and hoping they’d retreat.
But it wasn’t like the Mutated Constructs would leave if we did that. They were completely following the wicked god, after all. In the worst case scenario, the wicked god’s group would steal away the core from the Phrase after I handed it over to them. I really didn’t want to make a situation where the wicked god grew any stronger.
There was always the option of just handing it over to Ende. After that, he’d take the core with him to another world, and the Phrase would follow. That would ensure they’d leave this world alone, but the wicked god would still be an issue.
Plus, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of just forcing the issue away on to another world.
“That’s not something a future world patron should be doing...” I sighed quietly and decided that using [Prison] on the core and figuring it out later was the best course of action.
I needed to speak with the king of Belfast, and his wife. I could hardly do anything to their little boy without warning them beforehand. I didn’t really want to admit it, but there was a tiny chance something could go wrong in the extraction... I didn’t want to risk anything without them knowing.
I let out a small sigh. I really didn’t know what to tell them...
“What do you mean?! Does this mean the Phrase were trying to kill my son this entire time?!”
“Not exactly, no. The Phrase have no idea that their target is inside him. But once they are aware, they’d definitely target him.” If I had to make a guess of it, it was a case of bad timing. The Sovereign’s previous host must have died around the same time Prince Yamato was born. According to Ende, the new host was typically selected as random, so this was all just a terrible coincidence.
Queen Yuel was visibly shaken, she held her infant close. Just to be sure, I’d cast [Prison] around the room we were in, in order to prevent any outsiders from listening to this sensitive information. The only people in here were Yumina, myself, Yamato, and their parents. As far as I knew, the only thing other than myself capable of breaking down the [Prison] would be the wicked god itself.
“Father, please calm yourself. Touya can remove the core from Yamato. We just came here because we obviously couldn’t do such a thing without your consent. Please understand.”
“I-Is that truly the case? Then... You can save my boy?”
“Well, to be honest, even if we left the core inside of him he’d grow up healthy and happy. There’s nothing indicating that the Sovereign has any negative effects on him. But it would be better to remove it. Even so, I can’t guarantee that he won’t be completely unharmed by the procedure... Is that still okay?” He was still a baby, so his parents had final say. I didn’t even want to consider the worst case scenario, but I felt like they deserved my honesty.
The king of Belfast stared into my eyes, and slowly he spoke.
“...Very well. We ask that you do it. Little Yamato is in your hands, Touya.”
“Very well... In that case...” I disabled the barrier around us and opened a portal to a barren wasteland in the middle of Yulong. This might’ve been seen as an overreaction, but I didn’t want to take any chances. If the Sovereign’s signal was released in Belfast, that could have spelled disaster for the entire nation.
I then activated [Prison] once more, sealing the five of us inside. The protections around the box would hopefully prevent the Phrase from immediately noticing the Sovereign.
“I’m gonna do it, then.” I channeled my divine sight and looked toward the sleeping prince. I clearly saw it, hidden in a tiny corner of the boy’s heart. It was a tiny, regular icosahedron, about the size of a cherry. Alright... That should be exactly where it is... Now or never...
“[Apport].”
The tiny crystal then appeared in my right hand. I quickly used my left hand to apply Healing magic to the baby, while using my divine sight to check the inside of his body for any abnormalities. There weren’t any. I decided to cast [Recovery] as well, just to be safe.
I let out a sigh as relief washed over me. The baby just cooed and babbled as if nothing had happened.
“Okay, it’s fine now. I got it out.”
“You did?! Amazing! You hear that, Yamato?” The king ran toward his son and gently grabbed the little guy by the hands, running his fingers over them. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. Queen Yuel and Yumina also had teary eyes. I was glad everything went okay.
Whew, that was actually way easier than I thought. Guess I got worried about nothing!
Now all I had to do was handle the Sovereign Core, and everything would be fine.
“Wh... What?!”
Or so I thought. When I opened up my closed palm to look at the crystal, it was transforming... Or rather, growing.
Crystal structures began to spread out from the core like icy outcroppings, rapidly expanding. I threw it to the ground before it took hold of my hand.
“Touya... What is happening?!”
“I think the Sovereign is waking up?! Either way, this is bad news!” I couldn’t release the [Prison] or the Phrase would immediately discover our location.
I had no other option. I changed the settings of the box to remove Yuel, Yumina, Yamato, and the king from it, then warped them back to Belfast through a portal. I stayed alone just outside the box, watching the crystal structure continue to grow inside.
The crystal lump in front of me was already the size of a small child, and it wasn’t slowing down. Gradually I could see nuance in its form, and it began to take the shape of a humanoid body.
It was a female, with soft curves. Crystal material wrapped around her and took the form of a regal dress. She had long hair that draped down past her shoulders.
The transformation was almost complete. What was standing in front of me was a feminine Dominant Construct. She looked about my age. The dress she wore sparkled as a dull white-blue light emanated from her body.
I’d seen a few Dominant Constructs so far, but none of them had nearly as much elegance and poise as this one. She was the very picture of royal grace.
Her eyes, an icy blue, slowly opened up.
She blinked once or twice, then stared at me. Eventually, she seemed to register me as another lifeform and opened her mouth.
Her mouth moved, but I heard nothing. That was my fault, though. The [Prison] I’d erected was soundproof.
The Sovereign noticed that I hadn’t reacted to her words, so she just tilted her head, and then shrugged. She didn’t seem hostile, at least.
“...If I remember right, Ende said she isn’t much of a fighte
r.” I worked up my resolve and took a step inside.
As I got closer, I couldn’t help but notice the girl was a little nervous as well. She fidgeted with her hands before trying to speak again.
「@#......@$n/※o、#h@jimem@◇sh⊇i＊t≒e」
What? What is she saying...? Oh, right... She does come from another world entirely. Ney and Gila used words like that one, if I recall...
I could use the [Translation] spell to give her knowledge of my language, but that required physical contact.
I didn’t know if the Phrase understood the cultural importance of a handshake, but I held my arm out anyway.
She seemed wary of me, so I smiled to show her I wasn’t hostile. That might’ve worried her more, given my smile was kinda forced.
Somehow my gesture worked because she reached out and grabbed my hand with both of hers. Her hand was cold, but definitely soft.
“[Translation].”
I quickly activated my translation magic, passing my own magic power through her hands, creating a neural link that should’ve triggered a shared recognition.
“Can you understand me now?”
“Hm?! I... Yes. Yes, I can.” The Sovereign, with a shocked expression on her face, slowly began to talk. I was glad that the spell worked.
“I’m Mochizuki Touya. I am a grand duke, and I rule over one of the countries in this world.”
“...Oh... Then I do beg your forgiveness. It seems an introduction is in order on my part. My name is Melle. I am the Sovereign Phrase, former world leader of Phrasia, a far-off Crystal Planet.”
There was no doubt about it. She was the one they were looking for, standing right in front of me.
The Sovereign.
◇ ◇ ◇
“How’d it go?”
“No good. She didn’t react to me at all, she’s just despondent.” The Phrase Sovereign, Melle, was currently in Babylon. She was living inside the Rampart castle.
This might’ve seemed a little rash, but we were currently keeping her confined. Her castle room was closed off by a [Prison], preventing her from leaving, and preventing the Phrase from detecting her.
The [Prison] was imbued with my own divinity so it wouldn’t fade away even if I went to the Reverse World. It was basically a shelter with no entry or exit points for anyone I didn’t want to have them.
I wasn’t really worried about her escaping, though. I was more worried about her mental health.
After I met her, I told Melle the whole story of her people up until that point.
I told her about how a faction that didn’t follow the new Sovereign splintered off from Phrasia, composed of the individuals she’d left behind to govern the place. About how they’d also gained the ability to cross through worlds.
About how they had committed genocide on countless worlds, all in the pursuit of either claiming Melle’s power or to bring her home.
About how Ende and Lycee had been crossing worlds along with her, keeping a secret eye on her.
And about how, after arriving in this world, the Phrase known as Yula gained a new power, and used it to corrupt members of his own species to a new goal.
When I finished my story, I noticed that Melle looked utterly horrified, and it seemed the psychological toll on her was far too great. She became despondent due to shock.
She was a Phrase, so it wasn’t like she’d die if she didn’t eat or drink, but seeing her in that state made me think I’d said too much, too harshly. Nah, scratch that. I’d absolutely said too much, too harshly.
“Where are you, Ende... It’d be really nice if this was one of those moments you’d pop up out of nowhere like you usually do...” Ende wasn’t showing up on any of the maps when I used my searching magic, he was probably in the gap between worlds or something.
It wasn’t like all of this was Melle’s fault, but it was true that it originated from her actions. I didn’t want to tell her that this was her burden to shoulder alone, or that she needed to pay me reparations for the grief she caused, but it was still undeniable that countless people had been murdered by the Phrase.
To be honest, though, the ones that were directly responsible for this mess were the stalkers that had been trailing her this whole time.
If it were possible, I’d want her to persuade the Phrase to leave this world alone, along with other worlds too. She’d completely revived from the Sovereign Core, so it wasn’t impossible.
But if she continued to sit there, depressed and unresponsive, it didn’t seem like a likely course of action...
“Touya... What do you plan to do with her?” Yumina frowned gently. I’d told the king and queen of Belfast that I’d successfully sealed away the Sovereign. That wasn’t exactly a lie, to be fair.
“What do you think, Yumina? The Phrase race is our enemy, right? Should I kill her? Should I seal her away somewhere forever?” I asked her a question that had a bit of a harsh tone to it, but I didn’t want to seem like I hadn’t been thinking about the hard stuff. I needed to figure out what to do with Melle.
I valued Yumina’s insight, too.
“I... I think I understand how she might be feeling. I fell in love with someone from another world, as well. I think in her case... She was desperate. Desperate not to be separated from her beloved. She became so engrossed in being with him that she failed to see the bigger picture. She lost sight of what it would do to her people. I think that while the situation is tragic right now, it’s not like we can’t fix it.”
Yumina reached out and grabbed my hand as she spoke. I looked at her face, and she softly smiled. Her mismatched eyes stared back up into mine.
“She came here on a path that caused chaos in its wake, that much is true. But you can help her, Touya... I’d like to see you try.”
“Alright. I’ll try my best, then.”
“Please do, Touya... It goes without saying that we’ll support you, too.” I smiled at Yumina, but couldn’t help but think she’d seen right through me. She really did have me wrapped around her little finger. Part of me worried I wouldn’t be wearing the proverbial household pants much in the future. Well... It wasn’t like I didn’t already know that.
I wondered if I’d make a good god if I couldn’t even make a call as simple as that without help.
“Oh, also... If you see Ende, please give him a stern talking to at the very least. A man can’t just leave his beloved alone to suffer like this... That’s no good at all! Actually, hit him for me.”
“...I don’t know if it’s as simple as him just bailing on her.” Yumina’s reaction was understandable from her perspective, but it wasn’t really fair. It wasn’t like Ende knew she was here, and that was partially my fault.
That being said, I was a little annoyed at him for other reasons, so maybe smacking him around a bit would help me work through some stress.
Either way, Melle was in the care of Liora for the time being.
I’d used [Program] and my own divinity to create special restraints and instructed Liora to use them to hold Melle back if she attempted to commit suicide. But I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
There wasn’t much more we could do with her for the time being, at any rate. I just had to hope she’d get better in the future.
My business with the spirits was concluded, too. If the two worlds ended up coming together, which they likely would, then there wouldn’t be any major environmental issues.
There were still a couple of issues, so I headed out to the farmland to speak with uncle Kousuke. Of all the gods in Brunhild, I trusted his words the most.
It wasn’t like the other gods weren’t trustworthy, but he was the most down to earth.
“Well, it ain’t like the worlds’re gonna overlap on each other or somethin’. They’ll just be connected an’ right next to each other. Probably accessible by the sea.” Kousuke took off his garden gloves and laid them down neatly as he spoke. He set them side by side as if to demonstrate a point.
I see... So none of
the landmasses will actually touch, they’ll just be in parallel, and accessible to everyone.
“If it wasn’t fer that wicked god feller, it’d just be brushed off as suddenly discoverin’ a new continent... Well, I guess it’d be hard to explain why the landmass was an exact mirror image.”
“So... You think it might not be as confusing and catastrophic as it could be?”
“Sure... But that’d only be if there weren’t a wicked god about. See... Once the merge goes ahead an’ happens, the world ain’t gonna be under the old man’s protection no more. The wicked god an’ its ilk are gonna be able to pour through without much stoppin’ them.” There’d be a mass attack from the Mutated Constructs. At the very least we’d be able to use Melle to keep the regular Phrase at bay.
The Mutated Constructs made themselves stronger by absorbing the regular ones, so it’d be better to have them clear out as soon as possible.
“Well, I wouldn’t worry much if I were you, son. If you think yer gonna shoulder this all alone, that’s the only thing that’d be yer downfall. Think about it. You planted plenty of seeds in this world. Seeds of hope an’ trust. Now they’ve grown up, an’ will bear fruit. The wicked god won’t have an easy time fightin’ you, I’m sure.” I was happy to hear that from Kousuke. He was pretty wise and worldly, but I guess he was a down-to-earth kind of god. I wished that the annoying drunk and the chatty love goddess had more of his insight.
“Still... I am a teeny bit worried. Y’think the folks in that there Reverse World can defend themselves from the Phrase and the other ones? Those Gollems good enough at fightin’?”
“Well, there are some Gollems that can defeat them, I think. I’m not sure overall, though...”
I hadn’t really thought about it. The crowns and certain other Gollems would be able to beat Mutated Constructs, but if an Upper Construct somehow got into the mix, I wasn’t sure if they’d be able to win. With that in mind, I decided to head to the Reverse World and see if I could arrange more allies.
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 14 Page 13
