by Yuu Kamiya
“““Ooh, this race is scary!”””
Jibril tee-hee-hee-ed cutely as the faces of the three strained.
“That said, there are times when we have disagreements among Flügel. This is the game we use in such situations.” Jibril touched the crystal floating in the air. “The rules are simple. We take turns saying words that start with the end of the previous word.”
This really was just shiritori—but.
“A party loses upon repeating a word that has already been used, failing to answer in thirty seconds, or being unable to continue.”
Flashing a smile, Jibril further explained:
“‘The more knowledgeable shall win’—this is the solution upon which we who live to collect knowledge have arrived!”
“…Hmm, and are the words allowed to be in any language?”
“Yes; however, things that do not exist, are made up, or lack an image are not eligible for realization. In other words, nonsense words and ideas will not be recognized, so please take care.”
But, having heard those rules. Sora found something troubling about the loss conditions.
“—What do you mean by ‘unable to continue’?”
“After all, this is Materialization Shiritori—”
Jibril, with a smirk.
“If what you say is present, it will vanish, and, if it is not, it will manifest itself—certainly you can imagine…what such a game of shiritori would look like?”
…Ah. So, if you said gorilla, a gorilla would appear. While this was what he had been expecting, it did sound like a very entertaining game.
“By the way, what if I said female?”
Good question, said Jibril’s face as she answered.
“All nonplayer females—such as your sister and little Dora over there—would disappear.”
“Are you saying that all the females in the world would disappear?”
“Fret not. This game holds not such an extent of power,” Jibril explained with bashful mirth.
“We merely move temporarily to a virtual space in which words materialize or dematerialize.”
…Merely? It sounded like kind of a big deal. At any rate, Jibril continued. “It is not possible to act directly upon the other player to make them unable to continue the game.”
“Upon the other player, right?”
“Quite right.”
“Okay, Shiro. C’mere, c’mere.”
Tmp, tmp, pff, Shiro took her place—on Sora’s lap.
“We’ll play together, as usual. In this case, saying female will only make Steph disappear, right?”
“Uh.”
Steph with a face that looked shocked enough to make a sound effect.
“Also, if you’re saying not directly? What about heart, or water, which makes up most of our bodies, at least.”
At Sora’s care in grasping the finer points of the rules, Jibril smiled faintly in admiration and answered:
“It would only apply to that which is not presently possessed by the player. So, in the case of water, all water outside the body would disappear. The same applies to heart. As a Flügel, spirit corridors are a primary constituent of my being; however, eliminating them would not directly impact my continued existence.”
Hmm…well, then.
“Please also note that, when the game ends, everything will be put back the way it was, so feel free to display your knowledge without reserve.”
—Beaming indeed like an angel, Jibril spoke:
“Of course, since you are powerless humans, I suggest you enjoy yourself as much as you can without dying.”
“……Hungh?!”
Steph, apparently just now getting it, yelled in consternation.
“Wh-wha? We could die?!”
“The events of the game will not be reflected in real life. After the game concludes, all will be put as it was!”
“No, please, hold on a minute?!”
Dying? Uh. Hey.
“When you think about it, I don’t really need to be here, do I?! All I’m gonna do is be exposed to—”
However, not seeming to consider Steph consequential, Jibril put her hand to the crystal floating by her.
“Shall we—?”
Imitating her, Sora and Shiro put their hands to the crystal by them and responded:
“Yes—let the games begin.”
“…Bring it on…”
“Will you listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“…Steph, sit…”
By the grace of the Covenants, Steph was brought promptly to sit like a faithful dog.
“Gaaaaah! Now I can’t even ruuun! I haaate thiiiiis!”
The magic circles expanded until they enveloped the entire circular space.
—Probably, at that moment, they were transported from meatspace into an entirely secluded world. Which meant that the game had begun.
“And now, with that, I yield you the first play. Please select the word of your choice!”
“Hmm. Let’s see…then…”
Playing with his phone, Sora put a hand on the crystal and said it.
“Then, to start off… ‘Suibaku [H-bomb].’”
—So. The moment he spoke, a hunk of iron that really did reach twenty-seven tons materialized above their heads. Having looked up to see it, Jibril and, of course, Steph had no way of knowing what it was. Even if they did, they couldn’t conceivably have understood the meaning of naming it now. After all, it was what may be fairly termed—the greatest, and the vilest, error that humans in Sora and Shiro’s world had produced. Being, as it clearly was—a weapon of mass destruction.
Just as Jibril gaped up at it, already, the high-tech fuse had brought primary ignition by nuclear fission—to detonation. The nuclear heat it generated fused the lithium deuteride it carried, releasing light.
—Jibril did not know what it was. However, the instincts of Flügel, created by the gods to kill gods, told her. “A storm of light is coming that will burn everything to the ground.”
“—!”
Less than a few hundred milliseconds of conflict before the secondary explosion. Jibril put her hand on the crystal and formed words as if screaming.
“—‘Kú Li Anse’!”
The end of her cry at the final process of fusion occurred at about the same time.
—Light swelled with heat. The “second sun” born in this small room in the library volatilized everything in an instant with its super-ultra-high temperature. With a heat that meant instant death and the shock wave, it made the building literally “dematerialize”—turning everything in a one-kilometer radius to a plain of ash, in a whirlwind of overwhelming violence.
…Transformed into a mushroom cloud reaching the stratosphere, the library—“site.” In the center of a crater, the legacy of cataclysm—
—Stood Jibril, without a scratch.
“—Are you satisfied? There is no way to kill me.”
Ahead of Jibril’s exhausted eyes. Were a grinning Sora, an indifferent Shiro, and a slack-jawed, absent Steph. They too were without a scratch.
“You mean to explode on your first move? If it weren’t for my ‘good deed,’ the game would be over.”
—Indeed. The magic that Jibril had summoned was not to protect herself. Kú Li Anse, or “Eternal Fourth Guard”—the highest of all seal spells concocted by Elf. She had materialized and cast it to protect them. While she herself…had taken the explosion directly without a scratch.
“Good deed? Hey, hey, knock it off,” Sora answered with twisted lips. “You just figured that even if you did get our knowledge—it would be boring as hell for this game just to end in one move, and you took a gamble on your common sense that told you you couldn’t let that happen, right?”
In other words—before a ball of the unknown that materialized something that astonished herself. To end the game with nothing more. Or to continue the game by shielding them. This conflict Jibril went through in the span of a hundred milliseconds had been seen through, and so she smile
d self-effacingly.
“But, yeah, I figured as much, but it doesn’t look like we’re gonna be able to win on the ‘being unable to continue’ condition.”
On the landscape reduced to scorched earth. Sora, sighing at Jibril, who must have been assaulted with the same force.
“I am pleased to see you understand.”
“So we’re going to go for one of the other victory conditions. There are plenty of ways to win at shiritori.”
“…Heh-heh, what a fascinating fellow you are…” As if to commence stage two, Jibril spoke. “Well, then—I earnestly hope that you will maintain my interest?”
—The subtext of her words was evident even to Steph. Even with that level of destructive force, they were unable to make Jibril unable to continue. On the other hand, Jibril could make them unable to continue anytime she felt like it. Easily. Like glass.
This was the meaning of difference in rank. The desperate difference in abilities between races: a wall higher than the heavens. Reminded of this fact, Steph drew in her breath.
—Sora must have been trying to end it all in one blow. Using his knowledge of another world, probably the strongest attack he could think of. Prepared to die. Trying to finish it. And now that it hadn’t worked—
“Don’t worry; I’ll keep you entertained—‘Seirei kairou [spirit corridors].’”
But Sora, without regard for Steph’s concern, casually put his hand on his crystal and spoke. The source of all races that could use magic, though undetectable to humans. Vanished. Surprised once more by his play, Jibril.
“Well, I never—you got right to it.”
“Well, I just learned this word, and, plus, I’ve got no guarantee Flügel don’t have magic to read minds?”
Sora’s chattering, grinning face had none of Steph’s fear. It was filled with composure, that, yes, of one who had simply tried out a tactic he’d never figured would work. And, when it didn’t, had simply moved his thinking on to the rest of his master plan.
“Or, what, is it a problem?”
As Sora continued to talk smart, Jibril.
“No… All it means is that I’ll be unable to replenish my spirits, meaning that certain limits will be placed on my physical abilities and I’ll be unable to fly. But such things are unnecessary for a game of shiritori, so…no matter, I suppose.”
But Jibril, with a hint of fidgety unease.
“If I must, I might describe it as…yes, somewhat discomfiting.”
“Ah… Maybe like when you don’t have a phone signal.”
As if his words popped on a lightbulb, Jibril raised her head.
“What is a ‘phone’?! Does it have something to do with that thin box you were holding?! What kind of signal?!”
“Ask me when you win—too close, too close, your face is too close! Wipe your drool, man!”
“Hh! I-I’m so sorry…geh-heh-heh…forty thousand books from another world…eh-hehh…”
At Jibril, spacing out with a face like that of a maiden picturing a delicious cake.
“…Brother, this chick.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s like she’s gone all the way around until I think she’s cool again—Hey, Jibril. Hurry it up.”
“Hh! Th-that’s right. Then I’ll go with something safe—‘uma [horse].’”
The same moment, a horse appeared in the room.
“Eep?!”
Prrbbth… At the horse’s point-blank raspberry, Steph stepped back abruptly. But, without pause. Without hesitation.
—Sora said it.
“Fwip, ‘ma*ko [p*ssy].’”
““—…?””
Jibril and Steph. Both raised question marks as if they didn’t know what it meant. But, the next moment, suddenly holding down her clothes for some reason. A beet-red Steph yelled.
“—Wh-wh-wh-what are you trying to do?!”
But grinning Sora.
“What, the whole point of shiritori is to say dirty words, right? Relax.”
“…Hff.”
Not looking particularly concerned, Shiro. And.
“Immanity slang… No, even Dora didn’t seem to know it, so it must be some secret jargon of a tongue from another world closely resembling the Immanity tongue, to refer to the vulva—! Oh, I feel my knowledge growing…!”
For some reason calling to the heavens with apparent rapture, Jibril, and then Sora.
“…Well, she’s weird in her own special way, yeah.”
And Sora gently put his hand on Shiro’s hip.
—So? Was his meaning, which Shiro accurately grasped. Nodding once—yes, it was gone.
—If it didn’t directly make them unable to continue, you could act on other players.
“This…offers some interesting possibilities.”
—Sora secretly laughed to himself, which only Steph saw…
……
The game had been going on for about ten minutes. Jibril fired off the latest in the continuing rally of words.
“This dusty lot grows so tiresome—shall we enjoy ourselves a bit: ‘biichi [beach].’”
Instantly, from the crater ravaged by destruction. The landscape changed to someplace like a resort beach, lit brilliantly by the sun. Beautiful white sand and complex crags, putting any tourist destination from Sora and Shiro’s old world to shame. A sparkling coast with blue that could only be described as lapis lazuli. This must have been the image that beach conjured up in the experience of Jibril.
—However. Sora covered Shiro as if to shield her from the sun.
“Ngaah! It sure is pretty, but the sun is too much for a shut-in to take! ‘Chikubi [nipples].’”
“There’s some shade over there in which you certainly may take shelter; and there you go again with that nonchalance… I’m not sure what you’re after, but I am excited to see! ‘Bikini.’”
Instantly—her word materialized. To put all the girls in bikinis—.
—Well…technically… But Sora roared.
“Jibril, you don’t understand anything! If you’re going to put everyone in bikinis, obviously you need to dematerialize their clothes first! Don’t you know how hard it is at this point to come up with a word that takes off all their clothes except the bikinis!”
Yes, they were indeed all wearing bikinis.
—Under their clothes, that is.
“I-I see… I truly do apologize; I failed to read your intent—!”
“L-look here, you fools! Are you just going to clown around or are you actually going to take this seriously?!”
As Jibril gave her sincerest apologies as if Sora’s words were deeply meaningful, Steph snapped. But, as if he hadn’t even heard her, Sora, with a single cluck, continued.
“Oh, well… In that case—‘nimotsu [baggage].’”
—Sora, choosing his mental image carefully before speaking. To make sure he wouldn’t accidentally erase Steph. At his side, a heavy-looking backpack landed with a thud.
“Then…yes, how about ‘tsumuji [dust devil].’”
“Yes, Jibril! That’s more like it!”
At the moment Jibril said the word! Whish, with the speed of miracle, the siblings took out their phones and positioned them.
—The word materialized into a dust devil, a rising, swirling wind.
—…Carrying up Steph’s skirt.
“Hey! Wh-what is thiis!”
—Sora and Shiro started shooting Steph together in high-speed burst mode.
“Jibril, that was perfect! If it weren’t for the bikinis, it would’ve been R-18 because Steph didn’t have any panties! But, even with a bikini, when you look up the skirt, it’s, like, pretty hot somehow!”
“I am most honored.”
Ignoring Jibril as she responded with an amused smile. And Steph as she struggled desperately to hold her skirt down, Sora spoke.
“And now—”
With a grin, Sora.
“With this, it will be complete—‘jyoseifuku [ladies’ wear]—!’”
In
stantly—his word materialized. Dematerializing what was already present—that is. Causing all of the girls’ ladies’ wear, including their bikinis, to vanish—! Of course Steph’s, and on top of that Jibril’s, and even Shiro’s—. After a moment of lag due to failure to understand what had happened, a scream rang out.
“Eep—aaaaaaaaaah!”
Steph, face flushed, trying somehow to cover her body with her hands.
—Does this strike you as R-18? But, actually, there’s no problem. The reason being—!
“Haaaa-ha-ha! What do you think, my sister; we are in the world of three dimensions and still there are no genitals! Moreover, their shoes and knee socks, which are not ‘ladies’ wear,’ still remain—making it even more sugoi than full frontal nudity!”
Taking his Devil pose, arms spread wide, looking to the sky, Sora declared boldly:
“There can be no doubt that this is appropriate for all ages! Healthy and wholesome! Tastefully erotic! But not obscene! For this is—what I shall henceforth name: the Great Wholesomeness Space!”
“…Brother, omega, props.”
Giving each other the thumbs-up, the siblings photographed Steph as she made a scene.
“Wh-what are you even trying to dooo!”
“I said there were interesting possibilities, right? Don’t you think this is interesting?”
“That’s not how I would describe it at aaaaaalll!”
As Steph shouted, as if she had been a fool for ever expecting that they actually planned to defeat Jibril. Just the response expected from her, yet Jibril—
“…P-pardon.”
“Huh?”
“Y-you seem to suggest—your world has a rule that the nude body of the opposite sex is ‘unhealthy’?”
“Hm, your powers of deduction are remarkable.”
“B-but the method of propagation of the race is the same as the races of this world, correct?!”
“…Since you’re not specifying ‘Immanity,’ can we assume Flügel are the same?”
While Sora casually breathed sexual harassment. Still Jibril spectacularly disregarded it and worked herself up higher.
“B-but that’s— To say that the desire to propagate the race is ‘unhealthy,’ doesn’t that contradict the very premise of living things, to procreate! Oh, and ‘kurōbaa [clover].’”
