NOVEL NEXT “I guess you’ve realized what I’m going to ask of you.”
“Being crafty and underhanded is just like Rion. It’s partly my fault for being caught in an imbalance of information, so I can’t really complain. I acknowledge my defeat.”
“Continuous losses, huh? It’s a bit tragic for someone who claims to be ‘omniscient.’”
“…That has nothing to do with this, right? The previous situation was just because Mika-chan couldn’t see things clearly from the start.”
“Well, I thought I was being fairly objective…”
“Wow, Mika-chan. Congratulations! Soon, there will be five of us. I hope Rion’s bad traits don’t rub off on you.”
“…It’s not like that.”
Rion frowned at Himari’s joke and replied, looking serious. Frowning like that, does she want to hurt my tender heart…?
“Enough of those useless discussions. Himari, you’ll be working under the Seminar’s Special Phenomena Division from now on. This prophecy-related work will be handled within the Special Division.”
“Being treated like a leashed dog is humiliating… How did I, the only Venus in Millennium, end up in such a state?”
“I think it’s due to a lack of ability.”
…Ah. It wasn’t just that I got caught up in this situation.
When the theme of ruin is approached in the relationship between Rion, who has a tendency to control information, and Himari, who is her complete opposite, their ways of handling the situation would likely be polar opposites.
However, since things have turned out this way, Himari must approach this crisis of ruin according to Rion’s leadership. As Himari said, it’s no exaggeration to say she’s been leashed.
While it’s the same that Himari is now part of the Special Phenomena Division, unlike the original work where a collaboration between the two was premised upon the Decagramaton, here, a clear hierarchical relationship has been established with Himari working under Rion.
“And Mika.”
“Yes?”
“You’ll have to take on the role of external advisor for the Special Phenomena Division.”
“…Huh? Me? Why me? Does the position of external advisor even need to exist?”
“Hey, Mika-chan. Why are you suddenly speaking in such an irritating tone? I’m the one listening—”
“Huh? That’s Himari-chan’s tone.”
“…”
After promptly shutting down Himari, I looked at Rion quite seriously.
“Well, I don’t plan to ask you again like before, but I’m still curious. Why do you want me to take on such a role? You know I’m quite busy, right? I’m going to get even busier soon.”
“So, that’s why you’re an external advisor. Since you can’t devote much time to the Special Phenomena Division, I’m offering this position as a way of saying I need your help when necessary.”
“The only help I can offer is probably just brute force… doesn’t that sound more like a contractor than an external advisor?”
“Sometimes, it seems like you tend to underestimate yourself too much. That realization will come to you eventually, so let’s skip that. If you really don’t want to, you can refuse. This is mostly a personal request from me.”
Rion… is making a request?
No matter how I think about it, there didn’t seem to be any reason for Rion to think so highly of me. I’m really curious about the source of this puzzling trust.
“How did she know I’m weak against requests? sigh”
“That’s—”
“Okay, I’ll take it. I have a feeling I might get kicked out of T-party before I know it.”
An unofficial vice president of a Gehenna-affiliated club, an external advisor for the Millennium student council club, and somehow being treated like a senior in the SRT, along with being the president of the Trinity student council?
What an awful hybrid this is.
“The Special Phenomena Division, as the name suggests, was established for the tracking and research of phenomena that are difficult to scientifically prove. And this prophecy falls into the realm of the unprovable. You will delve into the prophecies dealt with in this material, eliminate or prevent their threats before they arise.”
As Rion tapped on her tablet again, several photos and her interpretations began to appear. One of them was an unidentified machine, which was none other than the Nameless Guardians, but surprisingly, Rion had even written information calling it ‘Technology of the Nameless God?’
It seemed she was ready to share more knowledge than I had imagined.
“Um… hmph hmph hmm.”
“…What’s with that? I have no idea why you’re making that creepy smile.”
“Rion, you can’t figure out the sequence, can you?”
“…What?”
“Well, who am I? I’m the owner of the utmost intellect in Millennium, with only three degrees in Millennium history, the ‘omniscient’ one. The pinnacle of reason, me, the super-genius girl Akeboshi Himari. What can I say? Unlike Rion, I’ve perfectly deciphered the sequence of the symbols left in this material.”
With that, Himari casually flicked the air with her fingertips, showcasing her interpretations. As she swiped to the side, the images quickly arranged themselves in order.
“…”
“hmph…”
“Hey, Mika-chan. This is the time to praise me, isn’t it? Why is your reaction so bland?”
“No, no, I’m surprised. Yes, I’m extremely surprised.”
“…It doesn’t look like that at all. You’ve completely lost your excitement. You should take responsibility for that.”
“This is… did you approach it from a mathematical angle?”
“Of course. Each symbol corresponds to a number. For example, this character…”
Leaving the two engineering geeks, who were engrossed in unintelligible discussions, I closely examined the symbols arranged in order.
The symbol Rion had pointed out as possibly related to the ruins of Millennium was around the 7th to 80th position among the 108 symbols.
This means that the ones before it are likely threats that have already passed or been resolved. While it shouldn’t be entirely dismissed, it stands to reason to leave such research to those smarter than me.
More importantly…
The position of the symbol depicting a woman with a wolf’s head is the only one I recognize.
…Is it the 100th?
There were several more symbols following it.
A storm that overwhelmed the world. A massive sphere rising in the sky. An angel standing alone in a world turned upside down. A girl with a gigantic structure behind her. A lightning strike falling on a massive tree. An opaque test tube containing something whose contents are unknown.
Two more ambiguous symbols that I couldn’t quite figure out.
…Could these scenes be related to the “Color Invasion” dealt with in the original history?
“Mika, from your perspective, it seemed like you were convinced it was a prophecy. Was there a clear basis for that?”
As I continued examining the symbols, Rion unexpectedly threw a question my way. I generally dislike lying, but this was a tough question to answer honestly. Yet, I hesitated to cover the truth ambiguously as well.
It seemed that Rion was trying to trust me to some extent, so blatantly deceiving her wouldn’t be… well.
“…Could you tell me what that basis was?”
“Basis… Yes, there was something like a basis. No, it’s better to say there used to be one.”
Where should I start and how far should I go? Trying to figure that out, I carefully began my explanation. More than anything, Kuzunoha’s message indicated that I needed to open up to some extent.
“The Arius Branch, which was incorporated under my leadership into Trinity… the current Arius Faction has been under the control of an adult from outside Kivotos for nearly ten years.”
“An adult from outside Kivotos? What’s that about…”
“She’s fundamentally different from the teacher at Shalle. She was quite a dangerous presence, ideologically speaking. She even attempted to raise students into murder weapons and allegedly succeeded in some cases. Yes, there were testimonies about Arius students who were destroyed by Halo under her orders.”
“Destroying Halo… how could someone do such a horrific thing? So, at the current point where Arius merged into Trinity, is that issue already resolved?”
“Yes. I expelled that grotesque woman and embraced Arius. In that process, she attempted to offer the mystery of the students as a sacrifice to borrow the power of an entity from outside Kivotos through some ritual. Something mysterious called ‘Color.’”
“…Color. It’s a concept I’ve seen fleetingly. I’ve heard there are records of joint research conducted at various academies in the past.”
“Oh? Then Trinity might have relevant materials. We might need to look into that later. Thanks for the good info, Rion-chan.”
Thanks to Rion, discovering new facts wasn’t too shabby of a finding. The concept of Color had always been very vague to me, so knowing there could be more information out there was great news.
“Anyway, Color is a very ominous… I’ve heard that just being exposed to it can upend our very essence. Plus, if Color were to descend upon Kivotos for any reason, Kivotos would face ruin that day. Even the organization that adult is a part of, Gematria, had forbidden research into this Color, but the fact that she conducted rituals against it and was ultimately executed by them speaks to how dangerous a concept it is.”
…Though I hold 90% of the responsibility for Beatrice’s execution, let’s set that minor detail aside.
“Oh, I’ll explain more about Gematria later. For now, I thought the threat of Color was all resolved. It’s only natural since the sole individual conducting related work was executed, and even the existence of Color was known to so few.”
“So, is that the secret you’ve been hiding from everyone, Mika?”
“That’s right. And one of these symbols depicted an event that I knew would occur during Color’s descent, and that’s how I became convinced that this was a prophecy. However, there’s one problem that emerged. Just a few days ago, when I visited the Hakgwiyaeng Autonomous District, I heard a story implying that the crisis is not yet over, despite having thwarted the threat of this Color there. It was from none other than Kuzunoha herself, who supposedly contributed to the founding of Hakgwiyaeng.”
I have no idea why Kuzunoha chose to tell me such things. I don’t even know if what she said was related to Color or not.
But one thing is certain.
“Since then, I can no longer dismiss the possibility of Color descending. Even if that’s not the case, I understand that the likelihood of some crisis emerging is high. My reason for being so candid is that I don’t have confidence in preparing alone for this uncertain future… so I’m asking for help from two of the most competent individuals I know.”
As it has been before and continues to be now, I don’t need to face everything alone.
And I believe that’s true for Rion too.
No, I hope that’s the case.
In the future Rion envisions, there wouldn’t be a happy ending for her. Extending a hand to a liar who deceives herself, claiming to be satisfied with that, is the only thing I, an adult child who knows a bit more, can offer.