by Sakon Kaidou
Until a few years ago, my sister had been learning arts and crafts from our maternal grandfather. What had led her to this was the death of Dylan, our pet iguana.
It had made us both very sad, so our grandfather had tried to cheer us up with a handmade plaster figure that looked exactly like Dylan. Though our grandfather hadn’t been good enough at this craft to be a recognized artist, my sister had liked the result very much — enough to try her hand at it herself while having our grandfather teach her. She continued making plaster figures even after he passed away.
The day before she disappeared, all the figures she’d made had been shattered, along with everything else our grandfather had left behind.
The one who did it was our father.
“How long can you keep doing this?! You’re already arranged for marriage! He won’t like the smell these things make!” he’d shouted as he shattered them one by one.
Standing before the pieces, my sister looked at him with the coldest eyes imaginable, left a letter, and simply walked out.
My father became furious, while my mother released the resentment she’d been holding in.
“This is all because she got involved with your old man and this stupid hobby!” yelled my father.
“No! It’s all because you were never considerate of her feelings!” shouted my mother.
And so, this incident led to the obvious conclusion — divorce.
I was left in my mother’s care, and the two of us moved to live away from him. From that time on, I was haunted by a certain thought:
I should’ve protected them.
Perhaps it was a childish idea, but I truly believed that things wouldn’t have turned out this way if I’d been there for my mother and sister.
I sincerely wished that I could be someone able to protect them, like one of those noble princes or knights from the theater plays my mother often took me to. But at that point, I was already old enough to know that my wish would never come true, so I locked the desire away within me.
◆
However, a few years after the divorce, a certain thing actually made my wish come true.
It was a game called Infinite Dendrogram.
In its promotional line, it promised to “provide you with a new world and your very own unique possibility.”
I, Yuri Gautier, entered this world and became Hugo Lesseps — a High Pilot from the Dryfe Imperium.
Hugo was tall and always acted like a noble young man. I based his behavior on what I’d learned from the plays I saw, and I put a lot of effort into making it work. I also might’ve inherited some of my mother’s acting talent.
I wanted Hugo to be the realization of the wish I’d had since I was young: to be a knight that protected women and defeated any tragedies threatening them. I wished for my role as Hugo to be that of a beautiful flower’s thorn.
If there were no knights to protect women from tragedy, I’d become one myself.
That wish of mine might’ve been warped, but I’d continued playing this role for the entire month — or three months in game time — since I’d started Infinite Dendrogram.
But now, I’d become part of a plan which forced me to discard my role.
The plan was the result of cooperation between The Triangle of Wisdom and The Dryfe Imperium’s prime minister faction.
It was a wide-scale project that covered the entire city of Gideon, bringing tragedy to the innocent people living there. It even involved the kidnapping of a princess.
Normally, Hugo — the symbol of my ideal — would’ve avoided participating in the project even if it meant quitting the clan, but I had two reasons why I simply had to get involved.
The first was the fact that the success of this plan would greatly reduce the number of victims in the long term. If it caused the kingdom to give up, the war between it and the imperium would end without any more bloodshed. If this plan didn’t end the kingdom, the lives lost in the upcoming battles would be numerous. After all, about half of the imperium really wished for that to happen.
The country was split into two... or rather, three factions: The prime minister faction, the field marshall faction, and the imperator faction.
Prime Minister Vigoma was responsible for the country’s internal affairs, and he was deeply troubled by the drop in national power due to the money they’d spent on the previous war. Back then, the imperium had gone crazy spending money to buy as many Masters as possible. That had resulted in Dryfe’s victory, but it certainly hadn’t been good for public finance. Not to mention that the kingdom had remained unconquered, meaning that the imperium had gotten far less than what they’d paid for.
And with the bar now being set, the reward couldn’t be lowered. If Dryfe were to do that, the Masters would be as displeased as the kingdom’s Masters had been when they hadn’t been offered anything, which would result in a significant drop in participants. However, a reward like before could only be prepared one more time, and even if Dryfe ended up winning, the state of public finance would be horrid.
Therefore, the prime minister’s faction had prepared this plan for the purpose of ending the war before it could restart. The Triangle of Wisdom had become a part of it because the imperium was their sponsor and they didn’t want its economy to crash.
The faction led by the one in charge of the army, Field Marshall Barbaros, had a different opinion about what would be best.
It was nearly completely certain that war wouldn’t end with just the kingdom and that Legendaria or Caldina would instantly become Dryfe’s new enemies. Therefore, he believed that the best course of action was to demonstrate the imperium’s might and military prowess while showing off the great rewards the country could give its Masters.
With that, Dryfe would attract new Masters and, in turn, increase its battle potential, deterring countries like Caldina from attacking them. The field marshall also believed that the money spent could be made up for with the kingdom’s national treasury.
The one taking his side was the leader of the devil army: Hell General, Logan Goddhart. But he was merely a man who wanted battles where he could show off, so what interested him more was the method, rather than the goal.
Those two ideas had torn the country in half.
The third faction was the one led by the imperator himself. However, this faction didn’t seem to have any solid ideas regarding the situation, nor did they comment on the two other factions, so that only served to polarize the country even further.
“The imperator doesn’t care which faction wins this,” said my clan leader. “To him, what matters isn’t the process or the result, but the goal.”
I didn’t know what he’d meant by this, but eventually, the two factions had come to an agreement.
The prime minister’s faction would go first, and if their plot worked and ended in the kingdom’s annexation, the field marshall’s faction would accept the results. However, if it failed and the war continued, the field marshall would get all the rights to restart the invasion.
If that happened, then the kingdom would surely suffer. Even if Dryfe won, they probably wouldn’t stop at killing just the army or the Masters. It was entirely possible that the kingdom would lose far more than they would during the plan.
Therefore, I had to choose between a tragedy in the present or a calamity in the future.
I chose the former.
The plan would’ve happened even if I hadn’t gotten involved, so I’d joined with the intention of increasing its success rate and ending it all right here and now. That was the first reason why I’d participated in the plan.
The second reason was extremely personal in comparison.
While the first reason was based in my role as Hugo, the second reason was completely my own.
It was because I greatly respected the main mind behind the plan, the one that most in Infinite Dendrogram knew as “Mr. Franklin.”
“He” was the one who’d invited me to this world, who had instantly taken me
to the clan, and who had helped me out with getting started. Not to mention that I myself wanted to be at Franklin’s side and give him the help he needed.
My own feelings were half of the reason why I was standing here as one of the main parts of the plan.
That meant that, while half of my reason for getting involved in this tragedy was obligation, the other half was nothing but my own ego. This fact troubled me greatly.
Then he had come to me and promised that the player killers and the monsters would only attack Masters.
The monsters were designed in a way that limited their targets to Masters, while player killers wouldn’t go for tians because they didn’t want to get on wanted lists. With those facts, he promised that loss of tian life would be reduced greatly.
To him, harm done to tians didn’t matter all that much, yet he promised this to me out of consideration for my feelings. Because of this, I’d decided to believe him and do my best to make the plan a success and to prevent the calamity from happening.
For the sake of being at his side and because of the trust between us, I — Hugo Lesseps the machine knight of ice and roses — had become a cog in this tragedy.
◆
And so came the day of the plan. It began the moment Figaro and Xunyu’s duel in the central arena reached its conclusion.
The player killers in Gideon started hunting Masters as the few monsters released began destroying the city.
To take my mind off all the turmoil, I closed my eyes and silently sat in the seat of the Marshall II R that he’d given me.
About ten minutes after the plan began, I heard the sound of hooves galloping on the pavement. Then there were voices.
“That’s a Magingear from Dryfe!”
“It’s there to stop us from saving Her Highness!”
There was quite a bit of distance between us, but I could hear the contents of their conversation due to one of the Marshall II R’s skills: Sound Collection.
I looked through the monitor showing the camera eye’s output and saw that they were Paladins from the Royal Guard. Everyone in that group was a person of this world, not a Master. Therefore, they weren’t my targets.
I moved the Marshall II R’s arm and pointed at the sign I’d set up before the plan began.
“‘No Master shall pass beyond this point...’ That means we are allowed, yes?” asked a woman clad in flashy armor of pure white.
According to the information I’d been given, I was looking at the Vice Commander of the Royal Guard, Liliana Grandria. She was the exact same person to whom I’d explained the situation yesterday after bringing the children we’d saved from the Gouz-Maise Gang.
“Mh...” Not saying anything, I made my robot nod and moved aside, letting them pass through the gate.
“Very well,” she said. “Then we shall pass and wait for Franklin in the Jeand Grasslands.”
“Lady Grandria!” shouted one of her subordinates. “Can we really leave this Magingear here?!”
“Fighting in the city puts us at a disadvantage, not to mention that we would be caught between this Magingear and Franklin, once he arrives,” Liliana told him. “Moreover, this Magingear is strong enough to be ordered to face Gideon’s Masters all by its lonesome. Even if we emerged victorious against such a foe, we would most likely not have the strength to save Her Highness.”
“...Understood.”
After that exchange, the Royal Guard began going towards the gate while passing by my side. Some were wary of a potential surprise attack, some were tense, while others looked at me with nothing by hatred in their eyes.
This treatment wasn’t unexpected. I knew and had already accepted the fact that I was doing something worthy of such reactions.
At the end of their unit was Liliana herself.
Before passing through the gate, she stopped next to my Marshall II R and began speaking. “You are the same person who helped Ray save the children from the Gouz-Maise Gang, yes?”
Though I hadn’t said a word, she somehow knew who I was. I couldn’t begin to understand what had given it away, but I was somehow able to hide my perplexity.
“You have my sincere thanks for that,” she continued. “Also, as myself, rather than the head of the Royal Guard, I have another thing to say...”
She momentarily fell silent and looked at my Magingear’s camera eye, staring at me through my monitor before continuing.
“Please don’t upset Ray.”
Unable to say anything back, I merely bowed lightly.
The Royal Guard passed the western gate and began preparing their formation for “his” arrival at the Jeand Grasslands.
Though I couldn’t help imagining what would happen to them in the fight, I could do nothing but turn away.
Franklin came right after I took care of the Masters that followed the Royal Guard. He told me to let Ray Starling pass, saying that he wanted to take care of him himself.
I’d imagined that I would be the one to fight Ray. I’d already told him that “It’s west.” If, by the time the plan began, he remembered the name of the clan I was part of, he would certainly realize that there was more to me saying that.
The reason I’d said that to him was my own hesitation. A single day with him as my comrade had been enough for me to know that he was like me — a person who couldn’t tolerate tragedies and considered the lives in this world to be worth as much as those on Earth.
In this plan, I’d chosen to be the one bringing about the tragedy, and I’d revealed the part of the plot to him exactly because I’d known he would try to stop it. Though I was part of the tragedy, I felt guilty enough to try and help stop it.
I had entrusted my hesitation — my wish to stop the tragedy — to him.
I’d made him the representation of these feelings, to see which side would win.
I was fully aware that it was much like using him as a coin toss. What I’d done was warped, selfish, and ugly, but it was something I just couldn’t avoid doing.
After talking to me, Franklin passed the western gate and went outside. It wouldn’t be long until he began fighting the Royal Guard.
Looking away from it, I tried my best to ignore the inevitable result of their battle.
A short while later, he finally arrived.
◇◇◇
Paladin, Ray Starling
The best word to describe the scene before me was “hellish.”
The many ice sculptures littered all over the pavement made it somewhat reminiscent of a snow festival I’d gone to when I was little, but the fact that they were actually people frozen solid made my reaction a far cry from the joy I’d felt back then.
All of them had crests on the backs of their left hands, meaning that they were Masters, just like me. Normally, the sight would’ve left me feeling nothing but fear. However, I’d seen a humanoid frozen in this manner just yesterday, so I had the capacity for other sentiments.
Wordlessly, I looked at a nearby sign.
“‘No Master shall pass beyond this point’?” Nemesis read, her voice resounding in my mind. “I reckon this is a warning.”
Most likely. And I suppose the ice statues are what became of the Masters who ignored it, I thought.
Still, a part of me believed that it wasn’t a warning. I felt as if it carried the meaning of “I can’t and won’t let you pass, so please, stay away.” However, I might only be seeing it that way because I knew the one who’d created the hell before me.
The meaning of this sign contradicted his inviting me here, but I had a feeling that he was completely aware of that.
“Did you want me to come or not... Hugo?” I called.
“...I’m not sure about that myself, Ray.” In the middle of the hell stood a mechanical frame, almost five meters in height and clad in bluish-white armor of frost. Each of its hands held ice blades reminiscent of crosses.
The entity bearing the overall appearance of an icy church was none other than the Type Maiden/Chariot Embryo known as
Cocytus, while its Master was the man with whom I’d defeated the Gouz-Maise Gang, Hugo Lesseps. He and I had met again on this very day’s afternoon and separated on good terms.
His tone now was very different compared to back then or yesterday. It seemed as though he was feeling very cornered.
“Where’s Franklin... your clan leader?” I asked.
“Beyond the gate,” he answered. “Right now, he’s... fighting the Royal Guard.”
“Hh...!”
Liliana’s people are fighting him? I thought.
That certainly wasn’t unexpected. Franklin had kidnapped the princess, so it was only obvious for them to face him. If it meant protecting what was dear to her, Liliana would ignore any dangers, no matter how great they were. I had known that part of her character ever since my very first day in Infinite Dendrogram.
“If that’s how it is, we’ll be passing through,” I said.
“You can pass, but I can’t say the same for your friends,” he said as he made his Magingear point at Rook and the three girls behind me. “That is my role in this.”
Wait... “You can pass?” What? I thought. “Why am I allowed?”
“I wasn’t the one to decide that. ‘He...’ the boss... wants to fight you himself.”
I was astonished. Franklin wants to fight... me? But the only link between us is the dog ear drug he gave me yesterday. Not to mention that I’m a newbie and there are many people stronger than me, so... why is he singling me out?
“Why?” I asked.
Hugo said nothing. Perhaps not even he knew the reason.
“...What matters here is that you can pass,” he spoke up. “If you wish to stop him and save the princess... then go.”
Hugo then moved to the side, clearing a path for me.
If I went on ahead, it would mean leaving Rook and the others behind, not to mention that...
“Go on ahead, Ray,” said Rook, as if he knew what I was thinking. Of course, he probably did, and that was exactly why he’d said it.
“You’re troubled by two things at once... by what’s going on here and beyond the gates, yes?” he continued. “Then you should hurry up and go. I will fight this person in your stead.”
