Immun was still staying in Creta with Theseus.
He had succeeded in persuading Theseus, but the prince still seemed troubled.
Though he understood it intellectually, his heart remained unmoved.
Knowing this, Immun continued to persuade him relentlessly.
Of course, he had no intention of forcing his own views one-sidedly.
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
“It’s fine, but… is it really okay to reveal this kind of knowledge so freely?”
Immun used his knowledge to strengthen Creta’s defenses.
Starting with the soldiers’ basic armaments, he created a variety of installations.
All to ensure that, when the day came and Theseus chose to act, nothing would hold him back.
“These aren’t such amazing technologies. The truly important parts are impossible to figure out anyway. To outsiders, it’ll just look like we threw money at it.”
“Hmm…”
What mattered wasn’t the equipment itself, but the materials.
And Immun’s core skill was optimizing the process for producing those materials.
“Your Highness Theseus, the burden on your shoulders seems far too heavy.”
“I wonder… I’ve never really thought of it as heavy. If anything, all of this has become a kind of refuge for me.”
“I see. Still, isn’t that something remarkable? Trying to escape fear by saving others….that’s not something just anyone can do.”
“You’re flattering me far too much.”
Theseus gave a bitter smile.
Immun’s blatant flattery was easing his self-loathing.
Praise has the power to make even a whale dance. Even if it was empty words, it was only natural that it brought great comfort to Theseus’s heart.
“Mr. Immun. What do you plan to do once you find the old man?”
“I’ll start by asking him a bunch of questions. Why he did what he did, what his reasons were. And after hearing it all, I’ll make him apologize.”
“I heard the old man tried to kill you. Will just an apology be enough?”
“That’s exactly why I’ll make him apologize.”
If he would apologize… if he’d at least do that, Immun was willing to forgive Deus.
After all, he was once the one who had saved his life, so even if he had later tried to take it, Immun was willing to accept that.
To him, Deus was still a benefactor….someone worthy of respect, even if he had tried to harm him.
“And besides, there’s no proof that it was the Scriptwriter himself who attacked us that day. Whatever the case, we need to uncover the truth of the incident.”
“…And what if it turns out everything was his doing? What if there was no misunderstanding, and it was all done for personal gain or ambition? What if he refuses to apologize and acts shamelessly? What will you do then?”
Theseus laid out what he thought was the worst-case scenario.
It was the kind of dark thought that had always haunted his mind.
“Then I’ll have to bring him down.”
“……”
“People change. That change might not be welcome….neither to themselves nor to others. And if someone changes so much that they become unrecognizable, can we really say they’re still the same person?”
People change—
Sometimes drastically, sometimes subtly.
Some can accept those changes, while others can’t.
Everyone has a personal threshold.
And once someone crosses the line we’ve drawn within our reach, it becomes impossible to hold them back.
“When I was little, I loved my parents.”
“……”
“But when I realized they had abandoned me, I came to hate them. But you know what? Even in that hatred, there are times when love resurfaces… and that’s what makes it all the more sorrowful.”
He was sad because he’d been abandoned.
He felt betrayed because he had loved them.
“I don’t long for the memories. The emotions I felt back then haven’t disappeared. They’ve just… changed.”
And when you recognize traces of those old emotions. That’s what we call nostalgia.
“I will stand against the changed Scriptwriter, if only to honor the one I remember.”
The past and present are not the same.
Even if someone becomes a different person in the present, it doesn’t erase the past.
The Scriptwriter that Immun once respected was a man who knew how to stay within his own moral bounds, and Immun had stepped into those bounds.
Even if Deus from the past had walked out of the line he had once drawn, Immun still remained inside that line.
That’s why he would desperately reach out to the one outside.
But his hand could never reach beyond that line.
To bring someone back inside the boundary, the one who left must be the one to return.
If, when he hears that call, the other person can reflect on the past—
If he can return to the person he once was….then that would be a joyous thing.
But if he can’t…
“If he has truly become someone different from who he was… then I must not hesitate.”
Letting him go—
That too is a path.
***
Kwarrrrrrr!!
The change was explosive.
It gave no time to comprehend what was happening—
The entire city twisted and tangled in chaos.
It took barely thirty minutes for the trade city of Creta to be swallowed whole by mysterious mechanical devices.
“……”
“……”
Theseus and Immun who had been patrolling the city froze in place. They were completely unable to respond to the dramatic turn of events.
Because they already knew who was capable of wielding such technology.
– Ah, can you hear me? Well, I’m sure you can.
A voice echoed from all directions.
It was as if the city itself was speaking for him.
– You must be shocked, right? Naturally. Sorry about that.
The voice making light jokes belonged to the Scriptwriter Deus. But somehow, it sounded mechanical and emotionless.
– I’ll be borrowing the city for a while. Don’t worry, I don’t intend to harm anyone. Creating enemies is just a hassle.
The people inside the city were terrified, but none were harmed.
Deus didn’t hate people. He was simply a man who dreamed.
Even if his flesh had been replaced with cold metal, that hadn’t changed.
– If you want to run, go ahead. The gates to the outside are open. If you want to leave, you’re free to do so.
To him, there was only one kind of enemy.
– But if you try to interfere with me, then I’ll have no choice but to eliminate you.
An enemy was anyone who stood in the way of his dream.
For the sake of that dream, he could become utterly ruthless.
There was only one difference from the past.
– So please, treasure your lives.
There was no longer a line he refused to cross.
***
I stood by Lobelia’s bedside and said just one thing:
“You did a fantastic job.”
“Ahem…”
“Well, I have to say I’m impressed. How did you know something like this would happen and get yourself bedridden just in time? You really do have that imperial politician’s instinct.”
…Okay, I said more than one thing.
There was no way I could end it with just one line.
The final boss of the Ex Machina route, Deus Ex Machina, is the kind of enemy you have to overwhelm with sheer force.
That’s because any and all tricks you prepare will be completely blocked.
Even traces of Dietrich’s power are neutralized, so the only way to win is with overwhelming firepower.
“What are we going to do about that?”
In that sense, Lobelia’s strength is something special.
Her raw firepower is already protagonist-level, and even if that weren’t enough, she alone possesses the authority of “Destruction”….the one true variable.
But that very variable had ended up bedridden.
By Cradle standards, it was a critical injury.
Frankly, it wouldn’t be surprising if she were hooked up to an oxygen tank.
Of course, Lobelia was so tough that even in her condition, she could still talk calmly like this.
“Well… yeah. Actually, maybe this is for the best. I didn’t think he’d go so far out in the open like this. At this point, the Emperor will have to act, right?”
“Who knows…”
What do you mean “who knows”?
Things have gotten this bad…how could he not act?
***
The Emperor did not act.
Rather, he released a statement saying: “Since Creta is a trade city granted free trade rights, we respect its autonomy. Even in a crisis, we trust it has the ability to self-regulate. Therefore, we will not interfere recklessly.”
Wow.
The same guy who erased every other country from the map is now pretending to care about autonomy?
Seriously… what a pathetic excuse.
“Why isn’t he doing anything?”
“Who knows? Maybe it’s a warning to others, or part of some political maneuvering.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.”
I mean, without something like that, this whole disaster wouldn’t make any sense.
Is there really not a deeper reason behind this?
We’re looking at a possible world-ending crisis, and he’s ignoring it for the sake of politics?
Well… maybe he really doesn’t know the full scale of what’s happening. But even so, this feels like a dangerously naive response.
“Or maybe the Imperial army just isn’t ready yet.”
“That’s possible too.”
It hasn’t even been a few months since the war against the Spear of Winter’s Flame.
Remnants of barbarian forces are still causing trouble in various regions, and the Empire is still in the process of rebuilding key institutions.
Maybe it’s not that he won’t act. It’s that he can’t right now.
Knowing the Emperor’s personality, he probably doesn’t want to show any weakness, so he’s covering it up with that official statement.
The truth is probably something only he knows.
“Ugh…”
I don’t even know where to begin with this mess.
More than anything, I didn’t expect the Scriptwriter to make his move in Creta of all places.
Is that what broke Theseus’s spirit?
Now that I think about it, when Deus was alive, Creta was his base of operations.
Most of his experiments were conducted there too.
There’s no reason for him to abandon all those carefully constructed facilities just to start over somewhere else.
I hadn’t even considered it, but there was more than enough reason to suspect it.
It was simply my own incompetence.
“Johan, sighing like that will only make you feel worse.”
“Ariel.”
“Her Highness may be bedridden, but I’m still here, aren’t I?”
“That’s…”
True.
In terms of firepower alone, Ariel is stronger than Lobelia.
She is an Archmage, after all.
Not only can she unleash large-scale annihilation spells capable of facing entire armies alone, but with her telekinesis, she is formidable in one-on-one combat as well.
But still…
“Will you be alright?”
Recently, Ariel has been worn out from being constantly called from one place to another.
Because of the nature of her telekinesis, she often ends up semi-voluntarily participating in various reconstruction efforts.
She’s no longer just Ariel the individual…. she’s practically become the face of the beastkin.
She has to be cautious with every move she makes.
“I’ll be fine.”
“But this might draw the Emperor’s attention to you.”
Now that she holds the title of Archmage, there’s no avoiding the Emperor’s gaze.
With the Emperor having publicly declared that he wouldn’t intervene, her heading to Creta could be seen in a very particular light.
“Well, Creta is a trade city, isn’t it?”
“…What?”
“There was something I really needed, but thanks to the terrorist attack, its whereabouts became unclear. What a mess.”
A pretext for involvement.
It’s flimsy, no doubt. But it was better a weak excuse than none at all.
“A valuable item meant to be presented to Her Highness… I do hope we recover it as soon as possible.”
Ariel smiled playfully.
That expression of hers… it almost looked like she was hoping for praise.
“Well, it’s passable enough.”
It’s definitely an excuse.
The Emperor will see through it right away. But since her excuse includes a “valuable item for Her Highness”, there may be some room for leniency.
Of course, she’ll actually have to offer up something valuable… but if it’s the Ether Duchy, that should be doable.
“Then, could you spare some time for this later?”
“If it’s something you want, Johan, I could make time right now.”
“I’ve got a few things I need to prepare first.”
“Oh…I didn’t think of that.”
Arranging a carriage to Creta, gathering the right people, pushing my own skills further…
If I’m going to face the Scriptwriter Deus, I’ll need to be thoroughly prepared.
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