Nonimora shook her head.
“That’s not what our traditions say. The people can leap into the faceless power using a ship that travels to the stars with the aid of the Jeweled Branch. The Faceless Power can only do good things with guidance of a good heart. Otherwise, it will destroy their entire race.
“Is that... a legend?” Akuto asked. Nonimora shook her head again.
“It’s the words of our first elder. So it’s not a legend. The ship that goes to the stars exists, too.”
“But how can it go to the stars when...”
“That’s right. All projects to go past the moon, or past the planets that circle the sun, were stopped. Nobody thinks about space anymore. There’s probably something like a wall out there in space, far away. And if you go out there you can touch it. That’s what they think.”
Nonimora’s words matched the impressions Akuto had. Boichiro Yamato had once talked about an invasion from the outer universe... Maybe there was something out there beyond that wall.
“I’m not sure what counts as a ‘good heart,’ but maybe we can work together,” Akuto said, looking over to Keena. But Keena seemed unsure. She put her finger up to her cheek.
“But then, couldn’t we make her empress anyway?”
“Nonimora doesn’t like people who don’t fulfill their great duty. You have the three sacred treasures, don’t you? Those are the symbols of the Empress.”
“That’s true, but... I didn’t want to be one in the first place.”
“Oh...” Nonimora stood in front of Keena and put a hand on her hip.
“...Then I’ll take them. I’ll get a nice bonus, too.”
“A bonus?” Keena tilted her head, confused.
“Him.” Nonimora pointed at Akuto. “I could tell when he protected you. You’re restraining his power with the three treasures, right?”
“Oh!” Keena gasped. She knew what Nonimora meant. Giving up the treasures meant giving up her relationship with Akuto.
“I refuse. I’ve changed my mind.” Keena shook her head.
Nonimora looked disappointed.
“Hmm... I see. And Nonimora liked him, too! I’d love to have him by my side. But the Marlay know that people aren’t things. So how about this? I don’t need to be empress, but I want your help protecting the Faceless Power. And he has the right to decide, too. You and Nonimora can both do Hem-Hem with him, and he’ll decide who he likes better.” Nonimora slapped her hands together as if she’d just come up with a great idea.
“Hem-hem?” Keena and Akuto asked.
Nonimora’s mouth hung open a little in shock.
“You don’t know Hem-Hem? It’s human instinct! You came here naked so I was sure you’d know it.”
“Huh? But I don’t. You use different words.” Keena said. Nonimora sighed and held up a finger.
“Hem-Hem is when you put a boy’s ryun-ryun in a girl’s pakku-pakku and make babies.”
“Huh?!”
“Huh...?”
Akuto gasped and Keena went bright red. Nonimora seemed confused by their reactions.
“Why are you acting so weird? It’s natural. It’s the best way for girls to compete over a boy they like. If he likes us both, then all three of us can be together.”
Maybe it was natural, Akuto thought, But...
“Hang on. Nonimora, you’re sure you’re a girl?” He’d thought she’d sounded feminine, but it was hard to tell.
“That’s right. How rude. Now, it’s Hem-Hem time. Let’s do this!” Nonimora spun her arms in a circle like a pitcher warming up.
“No, wait. Hang on a minute!” Akuto frantically waved his hands.
“What’s wrong? Why not give it a shot? It’s not like the old days when you could get sick. And there’s magic to stop you from having kids, too,” Nonimura said, unperturbed.
“T-That’s not the issue.” Akuto shook his head.
Keena was grabbing on to Akuto’s arm and glaring at her.
“Ackie doesn’t do stuff like that!” she yelled, but Nonimura was unmoved.
“It’s not right to try and keep a man all to yourself! You can have a favorite, but you should still lend him out at least once a week!”
—Our values are so different we can’t even communicate...
Thankfully, help arrived.
“You! Kid! AKUTO IS MINE!”
Normally it was a bother when Fujiko said things like that, but this time, he was glad to have her. Fujiko came into the lounge, with Yoshie behind her. They must have been monitoring the situation.
“Oh, there’s a lot of people here now! So your name is Akuto, huh? You’re really popular. If you and I can Hem-Hem at least once... no, maybe twice a month, I’m sure you’ll like me too, though.”
Fujiko looked angry for a moment, before reconsidering. She began to nod her head.
“Hmm... Yes, you’re right! Akuto is kind, so of course he’ll start with a rotation. But gradually he’ll start to choose his favorite! That’s a great idea! I think for four... no... five days out of the week, he goes to me. Then he gets one day to spend with the others, out of pity, or perhaps duty. And then he gets a day off.”
“Ooh! That won’t happen as long as Nonimora is around! Nonimura is much better at Hem-Hem than you!”
“With your tiny body, you couldn’t use any techniques! But with my ample proportions, I can do all kinds of things to him...” Fujiko ran her hands across her body to emphasize her point.
“I’m really good at Suppo-Suppo, too! I can knock out a demon beast!”
“Come on, that’s enough of that guys...” Akuto tried to get them to stop, but then another voice shouted over him.
“If you choose me, you’ll be able to perform all kinds of terrible acts that no human body could endure.”
It was, of course, Korone.
“Please stop making this worse,” Akuto turned to her.
“What Nonimura said is worthy of serious consideration. The decision you made earlier is likely to be respected, Akuto, but the government has decided that it’s going to handle this matter.”
“If nothing dangerous is involved, we’ll just have to obey, then,” Akuto said, but he couldn’t shake the bad feeling he had.
○
Several days after Nonimora came, the government announced that they were forming an expeditionary unit comprised of the Empress, Akuto, and the royal guard.
Akuto had thought that, while he’d be extremely busy, the rest of the students at the academy would be doing nothing. But in fact, Student Council President Lily Shiraishi was forcing them to participate in a certain job.
“Lots of off-the-books money is being used, so somewhere someone is doing something big with magic. Why can’t you understand something so simple?”
Lily had gathered Fujiko, Yoshie, Junko, and Hiroshi in the student council room. The others were seated but she’d forced Hiroshi to stand in front of his desk while she lectured him. Hiroshi looked apologetic, but he was pouting slightly as he defended himself.
“I’m the only person here who’s not from a priest family...”
For some reason, his household had been given the Brave Suits, but unlike the others they weren’t high-ranking priests. Lily had told them to investigate what C-MID8 was doing, but he knew nothing about the various churches.
”But you’re the only one who can do anything really illegal. We can’t send you telepathic messages during the operation, so you’ll just have to use your own judgement.”
Lily was speaking to him like she was his instructor. Hiroshi felt like he was just being bullied for no reason.
“But even if we know they’re using the money, we don’t know where. I mean, we do know that C-MID8 is getting more active lately. We know that USD, the guy we met one time before, is planning something too. But I don’t know what to investigate...”
“I already explained that. All the diet members connected to the churches have secret meetings with corrupt priests. Infiltrate the meetin
g areas and gather information.”
“But I don’t know who these corrupt priests and diet members who are doing something dangerous are.”
“I just gave you a list.”
“But there’s too many people on it!”
“You’re just gonna have to figure out when the people on the list are going to do something. It’s gonna depend on that information.”
“But I don’t know what that information is!”
“That’s true, I guess.” Lily sighed and crossed her arms. “But still...”
Yoshie, who’d been silent up until now, interrupted.
“...I don’t think that Miwa’s going to be able to find out too much. That USD guy seems to have learned the secrets of the Brave suit from Boichiro Yamato himself.”
“But he hasn’t done anything to stop Hiroshi yet. If we’re lucky, he might come to see him again. And then we can get information from him directly.”
There was a thin grin on Lily’s face. Hiroshi could tell that she was trying to make herself cross a very dangerous bridge.
“But USD is staying in the shadows. The guy’s got a ton of money on his own, anyway. So why would he be using government money if he wanted to keep things a secret?”
“I get that, but now that that little Marlay girl showed up, it makes sense that C-MID8 would be using government funds on her,” Fujiko said.
“Yeah. But it’s too much money to just be investigating the Marlay. And we know they aren’t actually doing that, either. Thanks to Keena, we’ve got access to all the information the royal guard has.”
Yoshie’s explanation was, Fujiko felt, convincing.
“That’s right. But there’s a lot of money being used here... Which means maybe it’s not USD’s plot at all.”
“In these days, the only things that need money are teleporations that eat up large-scale energy, and magical experiments based off of them. The exception being guys like Akuto Sai, who can just consume the energy on their own. Which means I don’t know what they’re up to...” Lily folded her hands above the desk.
“What if C-MID8 is split into different factions?” Junko mused aloud. Everyone turned to look at her.
Junko flailed her hands a bit, surprised that her comment had attracted so much attention.
“Well, um... the Suhara Church wasn’t exactly all on the same team, you know. So I thought that a group like C-MID8 might be the same way. Especially after Boichiro Yamato died.”
“That’s quite possible. Which means that we’ve been thinking about this the wrong way all along. We should be looking at the other members besides USD...” Lily said, and then turned to Hiroshi.
Hiroshi stood up straight and stiff, like a student who’d been napping just before being called on by the teacher.
“Well... I kind of knew you were going to say that.”
“Don’t be like that. I’ll give you a starting point, at least. Here’s a list of people to check.”
Lily pulled up a name list on her mana screen and slid it towards Hiroshi. Hiroshi took it, his shoulders twitching a little when he saw the names. There was a huge number of them.
“This is a little too many...”
“Of course it’s a big list. It’s a list of everybody who goes in and out of C-MID8’s building, even those who don’t work there. It’s all the subcontractors, too. Subcontracting is a perfect camouflage in this business.”
“But when am I going to have time to go on a date?”
“You horny little boy. Don’t say that with her big sister right there.” Lily tilted her head in the direction behind Hiroshi. Hiroshi had just totally forgotten. The idol he was dating, Yuri Hoshino, was actually Yuko Hattori, Junko’s little sister.
“If you start having a bad effect on Yuko’s work, I’ll kill you instantly...” Hiroshi heard a blade being drawn behind him.
Without looking behind him, he awkwardly stepped forward.
“O-Okay, I’m getting off to work.”
“Thanks.” Lily waved a hand and watched him go.
○
Hiroshi wasn’t slow to act, but things were moving fast. Now, a dog and a seductively charming boy were watching a single ship. It was a large, flying ship, and one made with every imaginable bell and whistle.
“The Imperial Airship, huh? I’ve always wanted to ride it,” the seductively charming boy, C-MID8 Code name “Esper” (AKA Kei) said.
“Dogs enjoy different things than humans do, so I don’t agree,” the hairy dog said. This was codename “The One”.
The imperial airship was moored to the palace courtyard. The two of them were watching it from atop a building in the city’s center. The courtyard was covered with trees and impossible to see into, but the ship itself was too high for them to hide. The hull was white and curved, its surface reflecting the light of the sun. On the other side of the mirror finish were detailed and intricate patterns that changed color and even shape depending on the angle you viewed them from. It was a ship of fantastic beauty.
“It’s going to the Marlay village along with two ships of royal guards, right?”
“That’s right. And Morlock is already aboard,” The One said, his doggy mouth opening and closing as he spoke.
“I’m jealous. I’m sure it’s one hell of a ride.” Kei crossed his arms behind his head. There wasn’t much enthusiasm in his voice.
“He’s not a normal person either, so he probably has different ideas about what makes for an enjoyable ride, too,” The One said, and then looked up at Kei. Since The One had the face of a dog, it was impossible to read his expression. But his voice was low, as if he was sharing a secret.
“By the way, that scared the hell out of me. Publicly talking about betrayal, even if it was a joke. You’re not going to tell me you can’t betray USD, are you?”
“It was a joke. And a good one. And USD already knows, so who cares?” Kei said, his voice low as well. But his tone was perfectly clear, and there was a seductively charming smile on his face that didn’t seem to befit a young boy at all.
“...But even if he’s noticed your betrayal, he probably doesn’t think I’ll betray him. Well, I guess betrayal is just another form of love. Isn’t that what they say?” Kei grinned, and The One shivered.
“Since I’m an alien, I became very good at figuring out what it is that humans are thinking... but I have no idea how to tell what’s going through your mind. I thought you agreed to have your body modified for USD’s sake. The project to strengthen you was his idea.”
“Hey, from your perspective, does it look like Kento loves me?” Kei asked, suddenly serious. The One nodded.
“It seems that way to me. At least, I hope he does. I need him to believe that you’d never betray him.”
“Heheh... I see. That makes me feel a little better.” He stretched out his arms and his expression quickly changed. Now he looked like he was really having fun.
“Okay, I’ll go meet Kento now. We have a meeting. He’s thinking that in addition to the Marlay, there’s another candidate for the royal title who’ll be coming.”
“A meeting, huh? Between two men.”
“Even aliens are prejudiced, huh? Well, whatever. I’m doing this because I have things I want to do.” And then he waved his hand and said goodbye to The One.
Once he was gone, the look on The One’s face became cruel, so cruel that you could tell what it meant even though he was a dog.
“I don’t understand human psychology, huh? But there’s nothing so logical as psychology. Humans either obey their desires, or submit to threats...” No human being was watching his expression as he spoke.
○
“Ackie! Look! They’re giving us free food! Free food!”
“I don’t think Empresses are supposed to talk like that.”
Keena and Akuto were aboard the Empress’s personal ship. Keena was just having a great time, but Akuto was searching the place for intruders. Since Keena had released the restraints on some of his power
, he was able to detect even the slightest mana disturbance. And even the Royal Guards had their lifelogs constantly read by the Gods. He was able to see what they’d be doing, as well as all their most personal secrets.
—So there’s no sign of anybody sneaking onboard, huh? I hate to do this to the knights, but I had to be sure. Akuto apologized to them, at least in his mind. He knew he had to do it, but he still felt guilty.
“Nothing seems out of the ordinary,” Korone said. She’d just now walked up beside him.
“Then it should be a fun trip,” Keena said, hanging off of Akuto’s arm with a bright smile. On the other side was Nonimora, who was pulling on his sleeve.
“Don’t forget about me! There’s no point in going without me, after all!”
The four of them were all onboard the ship, heading for the Marlay village. The Royal Knights were bringing two ships with them. There were barely any guards aboard the royal craft, at Keena’s insistence. The knights had been surprisingly willing to accomodate this, their reasoning being that it was easier for Akuto to respond to danger if there were no knights around.
“I’ll explain our flight plan. We’ll leave the capital and head south. This location on the map here is the island.” Korone displayed a map on her mana screen.
“At the center of the island is the Marlay village. It’s far larger than you’d expect a village to be. It’s approximately the same size as the capital city’s downtown area.”
“So it was a pretty big theme park, huh?” Akuto said.
The inside of the ship was luxurious, with carpet on the floors, and rooms the size of luxury condos, with all of the amenities you’d expect from one. Akuto was sitting on a circular sofa in the center of the cabin, listening to Korone’s explanation while trying to bat away Keena and Nonimora, who were leaping all over him like playful dogs.
“That’s right. But the island itself is very large, and the majority of it is covered in jungle. The jungle’s trees are the type that absorb mana, which is why it took the imperial mainland so long to find it. Of course, they were planted artificially.” Korone’s explanation continued.
“But Nonimora said that people from the village had come to the mainland, and they’ve built themselves a magical civilization, so they were still under the influence of the Empire, right?” Akuto asked. It was Nonimora, not Korone, who answered.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 11 Page 3
