Lily watched him leave the room, and then quickly passed out.
Brave went outside, and using his recharged energy, he began to wipe out the out of control demon beasts who were attacking the citizens. The people began to cheer Brave on as he protected the Empress from the Demon King’s army.
Meanwhile, the helpless priests were arrested by the knights and Liradans. None of the people could imagine what Brave’s face looked like beneath his mask as he hunted the demon beasts to thunderous applause.
“I have captured the rebels who tried to harm our Empress! I will defeat the others, too, eventually. But in her benevolence, the Empress has agreed to forgive them! Everyone, remember to hate the sin but love the sinner!” Brave shouted.
○
It took a day and a half for the shuttle to get back to Earth. They’d originally only planned for it to carry Keisu, so there was no food onboard. Keena, Junko, and Yoshie were forced to subsist on a small amount of water. But given how depressed they were, though, even if there was food, they probably wouldn’t have eaten it.
“The dock’s refused to allow us to dock with them,” Keisu said as she closed to the communication channel.
The shuttle had entered orbit around the other. It was extremely rare for someone to be refused permission to dock, particularly given that it was the same people who’d helped them on their way up.
“Kazuko got to them in the end, I guess.” Even the always cheerful Yoshie was sounding glum.
“Then I guess...” Junko almost said something very dark, but stopped herself. “Let’s get back down to the surface. The shuttle was always capable of reentry on its own. The problem is, planes don’t need runways anymore, so I don’t know where we’ll find one to land on... Oh, there’s that crater in the capital. It’s not exactly even, but it’s better than landing on the ocean or in a forest,” Yoshie ordered.
Keisu nodded. “Understood, master. Everyone, get seated and put on your seatbelts.”
The shuttle descended to Earth, using its wings to glide through the atmosphere and land in the crater. They could see that the shuttle was surrounded by Liradans and knights before they opened the hatch.
“Do we have to fight again?” Junko said with a dry chuckle. But her face tensed up when she saw who was in front of the shuttle.
Hiroshi was floating in the air. “Don’t resist. I won’t hurt you,” he said.
“You...! You betrayed us?” She clenched her fists. But Hiroshi just turned away silently. “Say something, damn it!” Junko yelled, but Hiroshi didn’t turn around.
Yoshie grabbed Junko before she could leap at him. “It means we’ve lost. If we don’t fight, he might not kill us. Look.”
Yoshie beckoned for Junko to look at the town. Past the crater, daily life had returned. But there were Liradans standing everywhere, controlling the people. Nobody was stopping to look at them, because the Liradans had told them to move away.
When she saw that, Junko sensed utter defeat. “So it’s all over?” she lamented.
○
“Don’t blame him,” Lily said, actually bowing her head for once.
“I know what you’re saying, President, but...” Junko looked upset.
Several days had passed since the shuttle had returned. Lily, Fujiko, and the other girls were being kept in the girl’s dorm of Constant Magical Academy. Supposedly it was still being decided what would be done to them.
All of them were legally minors, and all of them except Yoshie were students. The school’s principal, who’d stayed out of the fight, had asked that they’d be kept there until an official warrant was issued by the court. Of course, all of them knew that something was up.
“We’re going to be brainwashed too, right? Are you telling us to forgive him because he was brainwashed first?” Junko asked.
“It’s not that. He isn’t brainwashed,” Lily insisted.
Everybody was limply sitting in the cafeteria. There was nothing else to do. They just kept rehashing the same arguments, over and over.
“It’s hard to be a hero, is all. He’s trying to find his own way of being just.” Lily shook her head. She was looking at a mana screen that was showing Brave’s heroics. He was capturing the few remaining priests that were resisting, and defeating rampaging demon beasts with a single strike.
“...From what you’ve said, I can kind of understand that. He’s trying to do his best for everyone, even if not as much as Akuto. I hate to say it, but if it weren’t for him we would’ve been killed.” Even Fujiko was defending him to an extent.
“I know that, but... I just can’t believe that nobody knows the truth, and everybody’s fine with being ruled by an insane empress. I just can’t... accept that.” Junko slumped in her chair as she watched the news on her mana screen. The announcer was excitedly saying that Kazuko would soon hold a ceremony announcing that order was restored and that she was taking over.
“Everybody thinks something’s wrong. But nobody can do anything, so it just keeps happening. They know the truth is out there, but their desire to know is abused by liars who claim to know the truth, and sometimes they end up believing two incompatible pieces of information. If you asked them, everybody would say the same thing. There’s probably something wrong with the Empress being a dictator, but if it works, then who cares? Even though it’s no different than a world ruled by Zero.” Yoshie sighed.
“That’s because when things go south, they know they can rely on the Liradans. Even if the Empress says she’s in control, Zero and the gods are probably going to end up having the most influence. Humans will just be kept pets, like we saw during that month. Keisu, the only one who can seal Zero, was taken away from us. There’s nothing we can do.” Lily looked up at the ceiling.
“We can’t count on Hiroshi?” Yoshie asked.
But Lily just frowned. “He’s probably waiting for his chance. But he’s more concerned about the people than anything, and that’s tying him down. It’s tough, being on the side of order and justice. He’s forced to obey an invisible monster, one called ‘popularity’ and ‘respect’. No matter how rotten somebody is, as long as they’re popular, he’ll have to obey them. Otherwise, he can’t protect the people.”
Yoshie chuckled. “Then we’ll either be brainwashed, or forced to spend the rest of our young lives helpless. Well, I don’t mind spending my life locked up in a room, though.”
“The diet’s probably going to make a house of lords by the next election, right? Not that the place has ever been anything but a way for the different churches to have their power struggles, but it still feels like democracy is getting further away,” said Lily.
“From the people’s perspective, nothing that goes on in the halls of power really matters to them. That’s why we needed to release their magic as soon as possible,” added Fujiko.
“That’s right. Everybody here has a different way of thinking and a different position. It’s really a joke that we’re all here chatting like this.”
“But at some point, we’re going to have to fall silent,” Yoshie said. And then nobody spoke.
The silence went on for a while. But it was Keena, who’d said nothing until then, who broke it.
“No! You can’t say that! We can do more than just shut up!” Keena slammed the table and stood up.
“But what do you want to do?”
“We’ve tried everything we could.”
“We’ll have to just wait and leave it to Hiroshi.”
“I don’t know what Brave can do, but yeah, we’ll have to wait.”
Everyone disagreed with Keena. She shook her head violently. “No! Nobody will do anything if you just sit here! You need to talk to the people who are amazing, the ones who are doing their best! If you don’t, nothing will happen! You need to tell them that you’re watching!” Keena said, and started to take her clothes off.
“Hey, what are you...” Junko reached out a hand, but Keena slipped past it.
“I have to do something
!” she called out. A moment later she was naked, and then she disappeared.
“Wait. You can’t just vanish. I mean, you can leave here, but...”
“We’ll be the ones who take the blame... Well, not that it matters now. Why don’t we let her do whatever she wants to do?”
There was no answer from Keena. She’d probably already gone. A few seconds later, a window near the ceiling opened.
“Oh, there she goes.”
“She’ll get hungry and come home. She always does, and she ends up crying and eating a ton of rice, too.”
“The sky’s so blue... On the other side of it, he’s probably still fighting...” Yoshie said to herself.
○
But even after several days passed, Keena didn’t come back. A search party was formed, but it didn’t get anywhere.
The rest of them were kept locked up until the day of Kazuko’s ceremony. They were outfitted with shock bracelets that would electrocute them if they moved a certain distance away, and were forced to attend the ceremony.
“I feel like a prisoner...”
“Well, you are a prisoner.”
“Are we supposed to be an object of ridicule at the ceremony?”
“We’re probably supposed to give a speech to the people about how we’ve changed our minds and want to work with Kazuko. Either that, or we’ll be executed. I can’t imagine them executing us at the ceremony, though. We’re all cute girls,” Yoshie said with a laugh.
The Liradans took the girls to the center of the city. The crater at the palace had been filled in, and was being used as makeshift ceremony grounds. There were seats for the attendees to sit in, and simple decorations. The place had been chosen as a symbol of the city’s reconstruction. There was nobody left to oppose Kazuko, and everything was going exactly as she’d planned.
Just before noon, half the seats were filled with priests. These were the priests who hadn’t participated in the resistance. Half of them had laughed at the resistance and the other half were ashamed at their own failure to participate in it, so there was very little in the way of conversation.
By this time, though, it was well-known that Kazuko had dictatorial control over all the Liradans, so no matter which side they were on, there was very little they could do. A system both huge and logical, but also capable of ignoring the will of the individual due to its efficiency, was controlling every aspect of human’s lives; a system put into practice by people with power.
No one had an answer to this strange situation. The only thing they could do was let the Empress do as she liked as long as she had the people’s backing, and put into place a system where everyone could share their opinions with her. It wasn’t “justice,” but the priests had no choice but to believe that this was the best thing for the people.
Both the primitive political system that relied on the story called the “Empress,” as well as the political system of cold mechanical logic that existed in order to escape from it, were broken. Even if a dystopian society was coming, all they could do was pray.
Soon, the people started to gather too. The only chance they got to see the Empress was her birthday and New Years. This declaration was a rare event, and something they could enjoy. For them, it was also a chance to celebrate the end of the latest Demon King war and the Liradan rebellion. There were food stalls lined up on the streets, and the whole place was in a mood of celebration.
The girls were sat in the front row. The Liradans ordered them not to say a word. As they’d suspected, they were going to be forced to play the role of girls who’d been manipulated by the Demon King, but repented.
The four of them sat in silence until noon, when the ceremony began. When Kazuko appeared, the excitement reached its peak. The people shouted in excitement and waved the imperial flag. Illuminated by mana lights, and surrounded by the people, she appeared.
“Until today, our country has been in a sad state. The first Demon King, who controlled the Liradans, Zero. He awoke by accident and started a rebellion...” Kazuko began to speak, and the people listened to her intently. Despite the huge crowd filling the streets, it was was almost completely silent.
“And then the Demon King, who was waiting for a chance to destroy the world, grew angry at Zero’s appearance, and they began to fight. They risked the people’s lives with a blast powerful enough to destroy the imperial palace.”
Kazuko began to change history in a way that was convenient to her. Those who knew the truth had no conclusive evidence, and so couldn’t even speak. And the people became fearful as they listened to this terrible history.
“But we... yes, we... triumphed. I say we, because I had a powerful helper in my struggle. His name is Brave!” Kazuko raised a hand upward. Brave was floating there. He was welcomed with loud cheers from the people.
“He banished both the Demon Kings to the moon. Yes, the one above our heads. Now they are no threat to us. And the Liradans have regained their freedom.” When she said this, the Liradans surrounding the platform she was standing on waved.
“There will be no more Liradan rebellion. But to make sure of this, the Empress must take personal control of them,” Kazuko said. She raised a hand and summoned the Yasukuni-no-Magatama and Ame-no-Murakumo: the mana balls and sword of light.
“These are the Yasukuni-no-magatama and Ame-No-Murakumo, the secret spells of the imperial family. These spells can only be used by a true heir to the imperial family, and to use them, the sacred treasures within our bodies must be passed from one person to the next. And this is the last magic: the Yata-no-kagami.”
Kazuko put her hands together to summon a mana mirror. “This is the power that lets me speak to the gods at the core of the Liradans. As long as I have it, the Liradans will not rebel. And we will no longer leave it to the priests to talk to the gods. As in our ancient, beautiful traditions, I shall help our society by speaking to the gods directly!”
There were cheers when she said this. Even if this was a declaration that she’d become a dictator, if no one raised their voice in protest, it meant that she had the people’s approval. To the girls, it was like torture. Lily was biting her lip so hard it was bleeding. In the middle of the festive mood, they alone were miserable.
“In ancient times, the gods were nature. And the nation was the family. Now, things are much more complicated. The gods control our lives, and everything is artificial. But there are still things that do not change. My responsibility is to speak with the gods, and consider the people my family. And as the head of this nation’s family, I will carry out that responsibility,” Kazuko declared.
Despair weighed on the girls’ hearts. Even if there was hope, it was nothing they’d won for themselves. All they could do was wait for a miracle. Was it over? Was there no hope? Would there be no miracle?
“A question, then. When the head of the family is wrong, what should the family do?”
There was a question. The voice that asked it was loud enough drown out Kazuko’s voice on the mana screens that were being played all across the Empire.
“What...?”
“It can’t be...”
The people recognized the voice. It was the voice of the man who’d terrified them with that gigantic explosion.
“It can’t be...” The girls were saying the same thing as the people. But it meant something different to them; to them, the voice was a miracle.
“No way...”
“Did someone record his voice?”
“Is it a fake?”
The three whispered among one another, and as if in answer, all the mana screens began to show him. There was a man in the sky, looking down at the people, as if to prove the existence of miracles.
“I’ll tell you. A child doesn’t get to choose the head of its family. So when the head of the family does something wrong, it’s time for them to retire,” Akuto said.
The people gathered in the city center were screaming. They were terrified and looking for a way to escape.
; Kazuko shouted in an even larger voice than Akuto had used to calm them down. “The head of a household may do something wrong, but the Imperial family is always right! Fret not, everyone! Brave will not lose to that monster!”
She called out to Brave from the dias, pointing to the girls in a way that only he would notice. The girls were fitted with electric shock bracelets, a fact that she’d already shared with Brave.
Brave nodded and flew up into the sky. There was no fear or hesitation within him. He could attack Akuto with everything he had, because he knew that even if he did, Akuto would defeat him.
“You’ve made enough miracles already. You can defeat me easily, right?” he said in a voice only the two of them could hear, grinning under his mask. Then he charged at him.
But Akuto shook his head. “Sorry. I’m not the one who made the miracle. Instead, I want you to fight the person who did,” he said.
“Huh?” Hiroshi gasped in surprise.
A naked girl had suddenly appeared in front of him.
“Uwah!” He came to a sudden stop, but he was moving so fast he slammed into her.
“Oww!” Keena yelled.
“Play with my hostage!” Akuto shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, and then he slipped past Keena and Hiroshi. As he moved by Keena, he threw his cape over her.
“...I get it.” Hiroshi said. He pretended for a moment to be deciding whether to go after Akuto or save the hostage, before flying over to drop Keena in a safe place. It was an act, a way to maintain Brave’s reputation while keeping Kazuko from complaining.
Once Akuto saw what he was doing, he began to descend towards Kazuko.
“Can’t... can’t you see them?” Kazuko said telepathically to Akuto. She was pointing at the girls.
“Shock bracelets? That’s a nasty little trick you thought up, isn’t it? But they won’t work,” Akuto said calmly.
“Impossible...” Kazuko said, and waved her hand. But nothing happened. “...Why?”
“Because I’m controlling the mana,” Akuto said, as if it were nothing.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 9 Page 11
