“We can use this to hide on the mountain behind the school until she’s gone,” Fujiko said, satisfied.
“That’s amazing! I’m so impressed!” Yoshie cheered.
Fujiko sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “...You’re a lot different than you were inside the game.”
“Aww, you know what roleplaying is, right? I tried to act like a character in a reverse harem game.”
“A reverse harem game...? The ones where the player is constantly surrounded by handsome boys?”
“Oh? Are you a fan?”
“...No. But yes, if you’re that game’s creator, it would explain a lot...” Fujiko commented. “But that doesn’t matter now. Can you explain to me what’s going on?”
○
At the same time as Fujiko and the others were beginning their escape, a car was traveling down the streets of the Imperial Capital’s city core. 2V had fled from Lily Shiraishi’s attack successfully, and had one of the members of CMID-8 pick her up.
The voice of the man in the front seat was quavering with surprise. “Twins?!” It was a calm-looking older man who wore glasses and a scientist’s lab coat. He didn’t look like the type to ever sound like that, so what he heard must have been truly shocking.
“That’s right. Kazuko and I are twins.” 2V said, grinning.
She looked like a pale, sickly young girl, but if that were true, she must actually have been very old. But she didn’t seem to be lying, or crazy. The driver — whose name was Sage — realized that if she didn’t look so pale or sickly, she would look exactly like the current Empress.
Sage realized that this was actually the first time he’d seen 2V’s face.
“And nobody knows this?”
“Nobody but me and her. The head of the royal guard too, maybe. They need to make sure I don’t come back to the palace. But anyway, most people don’t know. The doctors who treated me probably had their memories erased. It’s a pain to deal with, honestly,” 2V said, sounding quite unconcerned.
“Is this some way to stop twins from struggling over the line of succession?”
“Nope. It seems like it’s just the rule. One twin is raised as the other’s double. That’s just how the imperial family works, I guess. And that’s why they trained me until I gained this power. Until the now dearly-departed leader of CMID-8 hired me, I dedicated my life to the service of the Empire. Hahaha...” she laughed loudly.
“Is that why you revived the first Demon King, Zero?” Sage looked outside the window. There was a bitter tone in his voice. The city was in the midst of a huge disaster. He could see smoke rising up from between the gaps in the buildings which was probably from where a flying car had fallen from the sky. He’d seen a lot of surface cars, like the one they were driving, crash along the road.
This was what it meant for the Liradans to temporarily lose control. In this era, most driving, and a lot of physical labor, was done by Liradans. He couldn’t even imagine how many accidents were taking place at the factories.
“Zero can control every Liradan. He’s the perfect partner for me. The chaos was only temporary, too. I’ve regained control. There’ll be no more disasters after this.”
“I prepared a vessel for Zero, just like you asked, to keep the disasters from spreading further. I’ll ask this again. What is Zero?”
“The first Liradan, and the first Demon King, it would seem. Liradans are artificial intelligences who were created to control mankind.”
“...Created before the gods, huh?’ Sage whispered. “Artificial intelligences that control humanity” was a perfect way to describe the gods, too.
“Zero began with the goal of maximizing human happiness, and for some reason ended up with the conclusion that they all had to be wiped out.”
“How did that happen?’
“We can do interviews with him now, so I’ll ask. He’s pretty busy now, so it won’t be for a while. Either way, the problems with Zero were quickly solved, and the gods were created. And that’s how the first Demon King war began.”
“So that’s what the first war between the Demon King and the gods was?”
“It was a battle between Liradans and human magic. The battle itself never reached that large a scale, and it ended with Zero being sealed away.”
“I get that he was sealed... but why wasn’t he destroyed?”
“That’s the key, you see. In the simplest terms, Zero is the core of their minds. If they lose Zero, they’ll quite likely cease to exist.”
“So it all started with Zero, huh?”
“He’s also the first Liradan, so he’s actually the founder of our society. But a tool’s still a tool; that’s why I can control him. And that makes me the strongest person in the world. I hate to steal the title from CMID-8’s Codename USD, though. It used to belong to them.” 2V’s face twisted with laughter.
The USD she was talking about was none other than Sage. He, however, seemed unperturbed by this, and calmly adjusted his glasses.
“So you’re going to start a rebellion.”
“Nope. I’m taking over. From now on, I’ll be Kazuko. Just watch and see how I rule.”
Sage glanced back at 2V for a short instant. There was something like murder in his eyes.
“I know you’re not the ambitious type. What even brought this on?”
2V’s exhausted eyes stared back at him for a moment, before she raised her lips into a smile.
“I get it. If I give you a boring answer, you and I are enemies. But I know for a fact that you’re going to love what I tell you. You see, I want to prove that everyone except me is insane. Isn’t that a fascinating experiment?” There was a brilliant smile on her sunken cheeks. Between the smile and her dead eyes, it seemed that if anyone was crazy, it was her. But her words and her expression were carefully calculated, and carefully controlled.
Sage opened his mouth a little, and then closed it. This seemed to have caught him off guard.
“Everyone but you, you say?”
“That’s right. Everyone in the world. Once I’m Empress, I’ll make them all go mad with only a few words. But I believe that’s just what you need to save the world, you see. I’m going to strip away all the empty trappings they use to cover themselves, and show them how much they truly desire chaos and violence.” 2V laughed aloud.
“I see. I won’t be able to help you with that, I’m afraid, but I will watch and see what you do. If you think you can pull something off at that scale, then try it. I’ll look forward to seeing who is victorious — you, or someone else — someone sane, that is.”
Sage stopped the car. He opened the door. They were in front of the park surrounding the imperial palace. 2V stepped out, and saw a long row of Liradans waiting for her. It was the palace’s Liradan staff. They were all dressed in formal servant’s clothing, lined up to welcome their new master, 2V.
The entire palace, surrounded by a forest in the middle of the huge capital, was now 2V’s.
“Did you capture the Empress... capture Kazuko?” 2V asked one of the closer Liradans
“No. The Empress was not at the palace.” the Liradan said.
“So she ran?”
“Yes. But she is alone. We captured everyone else in the palace.”
“Hmph. Then if I go inside, they might just think she came back. Given the circumstances, even if they think it’s suspicious, they’ll still have no choice but to assume I’m real.” 2V chuckled and looked up at the top of the palace.
There was a strange sight unfolding above. A huge object, a polygon with at least 20 sides, and so many edges and facets that it almost looked like a sphere, was floating there. The object was around 20 meters in diameter. It was hard to tell if it was transparent or silver, but its slick, wet, metallic surface reflected its surroundings as it gave off a light too bright to stare at.
It was Zero’s body.
“The body of a god, with its own VPS inside, huh? That must’ve cost a fortune to make.”
2V tur
ned back to the car and waved, and Sage raised a hand to wave back and then drove off. When he was gone, 2V began to walk past the row of Liradans as she looked up at Zero again.
Zero was her slave, now. The magic she’d learned as a member of the imperial family made that possible. She was the one person on Earth who could use that spell, and it gave her absolute power.
Silently, she gave an order to Zero. A giant image appeared in the air above the palace.
It was Kazuko — though of course, it wasn’t the real Kazuko. It was a fake that Zero made. But its appearance and its voice were identical in every respect. The words it spoke, however, belonged to 2V.
“I grieve for the accidents that took place today...” Kazuko began to speak.
The image was broadcast all over the empire. First, 2V explained that what had happened was Zero’s fault, and explained who he was and what he could do. Then she explained to the citizens that they should not try to resist.
The gods weren’t working right now, which meant that no one could use magic. The Liradans were all under Zero’s control. Their only choice was to obey.
This was, in a sense, a de facto surrender. Once her declaration of surrender was finished, this time 2V spoke in Zero’s voice. It was the mechanical, terrifying voice of a man.
“The gods are dead. However, it matters not. Abandon your magic. The Liradans shall become the tools I use to serve you. And in doing so, I shall grant you eternal happiness under my rulership. I am your new god,” Zero (or rather, 2V) said.
2V cackled and stepped through the palace gate.
The Empire was now under her control.
○
A week passed since 2V’s takeover. There’d been a lot of confusion, of course, but the people had quickly gotten used to life without magic.
All public services were handled by the Liradans. The churches were dismantled, and the priests became unemployed. The knights were reorganized under Liradan command, and now took Liradan orders. Most companies were placed under Liradan control as well.
Of course, the unemployment level had skyrocketed. But even without jobs, the people had no trouble surviving. Most all the services and products needed to keep society running were provided by Liradan hands, and now there was no need for humans to work at all. You could do nothing, and still get a good salary.
—But it all feels so empty...
Junko thought as she sat in a corner of the classroom.
Constant Magical Academy had been shut down. The students were all allowed to choose another school to go to. Most of them got to go where they wanted, but no one school was allowed to take in too many.
Junko was now in the middle of a new, normal life, surrounded by students she didn’t know.
—Normal?
She wondered at the thought she’d just had. No, a long time ago, this was normal. You would go to school for no real reason, and just memorize the things you needed to know to avoid being a burden on society. But the only thing you were forced to learn was how to have the endurance to sit silently in class for hours.
Being quiet was more important than anything. And in this new society, the Liradans would even carry your food to your mouth if you let them, so the ability to “think about nothing” was even more important.
But none of the students around her had been students of magic. They seemed to welcome this new society.
“I ended up buying that guitar Myo-chan was using on TV last night.”
“Wow, are you stupid or something? Did you honestly buy something just because it was on TV?”
“Shut up. Once I learn to play it, I can finally get a girlfriend.”
“The Liradans can play it better than you, so probably not.”
“I can put more feeling into it, though. I’m gonna learn to play the guitar and make girls cry.”
She heard the boys talking during a break between classes. The only human-like things left for humans to do were art and self-expression, she realized, and the only point in doing them now was to try and impress a member of the opposite sex. She was so shocked she could barely breathe, but the boys didn’t seem to think anything of it.
—This is all we’ll ever have, forever...
Everyone knew that. There was no need to graduate. All there was to do was to eat, drink, and fall in love. She hadn’t been able to get a hold of them, but her parents had been relieved of their duties reconstructing Suhara’s shrine, and were more or less confined to their homes. Her life had become an endless trip between her dorm and her school.
“You look depressed. Want to go get parfaits after school?”
It was Korone who spoke to her. Her voice was far brighter than before, and there was an actual expression on her face. Her uniform was slightly untidy, and she looked just like a normal schoolgirl.
“...No, thanks.” Junko answered with a frown.
She still couldn’t get over the change in Korone, who was now the most popular girl in class. Everyone loved her for her fun, cheerful nature.
“You’ll never get a boy like that, you know,” Korone said jokingly. “It’s a shame when you’re so cute.”
Junko had tried many times to get the old Korone back, but with no luck at all. Now it was Junko’s turn to be the class oddball.
“Sorry, I’m meeting my little sister today. But that doesn’t matter. I just want you to go back to being the old Korone...”
“The old Korone? I’m still Korone. I always have been. And you know, if you keep acting weird, they might arrest you. You know they’ve arrested a lot of people for being subversive lately, right?” Korone said, and then she ran off to join another group of friends. Junko saw an eerie light in her eyes just as she left.
She’d heard the rumors that there were people fighting back against Liradan control. She’d even seen a post online asking for people to join them, but the post had vanished before the day was out.
—Maybe something really bad is happening...
She had an unshakeable sense that something was wrong.
When school ended, she headed to the spot where she was supposed to meet her sister: beneath a big clock on a street corner near the school.
Her sister Yuko was an idol, a celebrity. Her face was well known enough that she’d be recognized if she went outside, so she was wearing a big hat. But what really surprised Junko was that somebody was standing next to her.
“Hiroshi!” Junko gasped in surprise.
Hiroshi waved at her awkwardly. “I ended up having some extra time, so I came by. It’s kind of embarrassing though, huh?”
“You weren’t there during that whole mess. Where have you been?”
“Sis, he ended up at school with me,” Yuko explained. She seemed really happy.
—Come to think of it, the two of them were oddly close.
She looked at the two of them as if she’d just realized something.
“That’s fine, but is it okay if people see you together?” she said with a grin. Yuko smiled, but Hiroshi seemed to panic.
“D-Don’t say stuff like that, Class Rep!”
“Don’t worry, Hiroshi,” Yuko laughed. “I don’t worry about that stuff at all.”
“I think you should,” Junko said with a sigh.
“Th-That’s right. You’re really popular, and you need to remember that.” Hiroshi still seemed to be fidgeting.
“Nah, I’m sure it’s fine. The whole business has been really weird lately.” Yuko frowned.
“Has it?”
“Yeah. It’s like there’s some kind of... pressure coming down from above. I don’t really know how to describe it, but I don’t like it. They tell you what you’re allowed to say in advance, and there’s starting to be more and more songs that you’re not allowed to sing...” Yuko started to complain, but Hiroshi quickly put his hand behind their backs and gave both her and Junko a little push.
“C-Come on, let’s find someplace to sit down. There’s no point in standing here...”
Th
ey went inside a nearby coffee shop, where Junko and Yuko began to discuss the real reason they’d gathered. They were here to talk about their parents.
“So, are they okay?” Junko’s voice dropped.
“Yeah. They haven’t been hurt, but it looks like we won’t be able to see them for a while. You see...” Yuko’s voice trailed off when their tea arrived. The waitress was a Liradan, and Junko didn’t like the way it was staring at them at all. Maybe she was just on edge because of everything that happened...
“How far are we really allowed to push it?” Junko whispered to herself.
“How far?” Yuko asked.
“How far can we push it before... they arrest us like the rumors say.” Junko continued. Hiroshi’s face took on a serious expression, but Yuko just laughed.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Mom and Dad are just fine, right? So it can’t be that bad.”
“Y-Yeah...” Junko agreed, but something still didn’t feel right. It had only been a week, but there was a strange, unpleasant feeling she could sense all around the city. Maybe people who didn’t use magic on a daily basis wouldn’t notice it, but there was a sense of being stifled, that it was hard to breathe.
But what really bothered her was that the people didn’t seem to mind. Even Yuko didn’t. Her parents were being essentially locked up, and she was still acting like it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“But we’ve lost our freedom. Isn’t it naïve to expect the person who stole it from us to have our best interests at heart?” Junko said.
Hiroshi quickly cut her off. “B-But we’re more free now, in a way, right? We can do what we want without the gods bossing us around. Even the ability to use magic was almost too much responsibility for a person to have. Our new schools are so easy that we can get perfect grades without having to actually work, right? So now school’s just a place to hang out with your friends.” The smile on his face, however, was frozen.
“Don’t you want to get smarter, though? And Yuko and I could be in danger at any time, so I don’t think...” Junko kept going, but Hiroshi waved a hand for her to be quiet.
“Nah, there’s no danger,” he said.
Then Yuko cut in. “It’ll be fine. If that happens, Hiroshi will protect me.” She grabbed Hiroshi’s arm and pushed herself up against it.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 8 Page 2
