Chapter 99: The Script Part 2

“No, before anything else, let me ask you one thing. Why me? Are you one of those lunatics who think I’m some kind of Oracle?”

– Oracle? I don’t believe in crap like that. And even if one did exist, the future isn’t changed by visions. It’s changed by the great ideas of great inventors!

“…Right.”

I was wondering if he’d gone mad in a different way, but no, he was exactly as crazy as I remembered. So then why did he come to me?

– I came to you because several necessary factors aligned.

“What kind of factors?”

– First, you have ties to Ex Machina.

“You mean my relationship with Emily and Coran Lekias?”

– Correct.

If that’s the reason, I guess it’s not entirely incomprehensible.

– Second, you’re not affiliated with Ex Machina.

“Huh?”

– Meaning you’re not one of my people whose selfishness has reached its peak.

“Ah, now I understand perfectly.”

Well, at least he was aware of the kind of personalities he gathered in his organization.

Actually, wasn’t he the one who recruited only people like that in the first place?

Selfish lunatics…

– I can see what you’re thinking. But listen, kid. Invention comes from free ideas, unbound by others.

“That’s not freedom, it’s indulgence.”

You people never take responsibility for the messes you make.

That’s just common sense, isn’t it?

– Either way, who cares?

Oh right. This bastard was the most selfish of the lot.

For a second, I forgot and thought I could reason with him. But no, this guy only thinks about himself.

– Back to the point. The third reason is that you specialize in alchemy and specifically, pharmacology.

“…What?”

– I read your thesis on a treatment for the transcendence syndrome. The way you just slapped down the results without caring about cost was quite impressive.

Creaaak!

The Scriptwriter’s body creaked.

Then, what looked like red molten metal began to flow down, and soon it gathered into one mass and formed something.

– You are qualified.

Intricate gears and finely engraved patterns appeared. They were symbols of Ex Machina.

“…To think I’d earn not only the mark of a social misfit but now also the mark of a madman.”

I had just received the second-most unwanted gift, right after the one from Lemegeton.

Still, compared to Lemegeton, this one was much more tolerable, and strangely enough, it didn’t even feel that bad. Receiving this meant I was being acknowledged as standing among the ranks of geniuses.

Well, aside from all that…

“If you thought I’d be happy about getting something like this, then you’re gravely mistaken.”

– Why is that?

“I mean, isn’t this basically a criminal brand?”

– You’re still shackled by the rules of criminals. Don’t you realize those laws and regulations are what’s binding your feet?”

“I’m a law-abiding citizen.”

– Law-abiding citizens don’t hide and protect members of Ex Machina, Eden, or Under Chain.

“No, wait…”

The fact that the Scriptwriter knew about all that wasn’t even that surprising.

He was a scientist who used nanomachines. Just by scattering them across the Empire, he could’ve built up mountains of data.

What bothered me more was how he evaluated me.

Eden?

Well, sure. I had let Jeff escape on purpose before, so I could see how that looked.

Under Chain?

Jeff and Melana were practically a set, so I could understand being lumped in there too.

Ex Machina?

There were Emily and Coran Lekias. In fact, I was still in contact with Emily, even recently.

The Scriptwriter hadn’t mentioned it, but I’d also been chosen by the Book of Lemegeton.

Great warrior Vidar had even given me an Out-of-place artifact as a gift and entrusted me with a promise.

I had a cooperative relationship with Andvaranaut, too.

Yeah… that was all true.

“None of that is wrong, but…”

Before I even realized it, I’d found myself standing on a dangerous tightrope.

At this point, wasn’t I basically the mastermind behind everything?

I had ties to every terrorist organization.

Compared to the ties on the main character’s side, this one was actually tougher.

– If you don’t want it, I won’t force you. But how about I give you a solution to the problem that’s been bothering you?

“I’ve got too many problems to count. Which one are you talking about?”

Ha, damn. Which one, indeed?

– The Phoenix’s Heart and the Frost Giant’s Blood.

“……”

– I’ll give you the proper synthesis method. You can’t keep experimenting by relying on dumb luck like last time.

Technically, it was synthesized using the power of Maxwell’s Demon.

Whether he knows the truth or not, it’s clear that I need what he has.

“What do you want from me?”

– Now you’re making sense.

If it were anyone else, I would’ve doubted them right away, but this was the Scriptwriter talking. That made it a different story.

He was someone who had mastered all knowledge and sought to create a god with his own skills.

Compared to other faction leaders, he was relatively moderate…

He was just selfish. He didn’t blame or hate others.

– Stop the Second Prince, Loki.

“Goodbye. And let’s never meet again.”

Is this guy crazy?

A person’s got to have some conscience. This was basically telling me to go kill myself.

– Won’t you at least hear the rest?

“I don’t want to.”

It’s going to be that kind of story. You hear the whole thing, and you can’t walk away.

Does he think I don’t know that?

– What the Second Prince Loki is after is the First Prince, Theseus.

“Then he’ll self-destruct on his own. Problem solved. No need to help.”

Even if Loki threw all his forces at him, he wouldn’t be able to beat Theseus. That’s how vast the gap between them is.

– Do you really think the Second Prince intends to face the First Prince head-on?

“……”

Yeah, that’s not it.

The First Prince Theseus was so powerful, he would’ve been the next emperor already if not for his own refusal.

It was only because he strongly rejected the throne that the current succession struggle was even happening.

– The Second Prince is trying to break the First Prince’s mind.

“……”

– Though he gave up the throne of his own accord, the First Prince remains one of the most overwhelmingly supported successors, given his nature. I don’t even need to explain why, do I?

He claims to stand for absolute good and goes around helping people.

The highest of the high lives for those at the very bottom.

Just that alone makes it sound like a textbook hero story.

– The Second Prince plans to strike at that part. He wants to shatter the First Prince’s convictions and shake his very mind. Now, what do you think would happen if the First Prince lost control and went on a rampage?

“…A huge disaster.”

– No, that’s not it.

The Scriptwriter quietly shook his head. Then he muttered in a voice sunk deep with gravity,

– My lab over there would blow up. The First Prince recently settled near the area where my lab is located.

Ah, right. I forgot for a moment.

This guy’s not the type to worry about others.

I’d gotten so caught up in the flow of the story that I naturally started thinking along those lines.

“For such a selfish reason…”

– But there’s a nuclear warhead in that lab. Oh, you probably don’t understand it like that? Hold on, I’ll explain in simpler terms…

“Wait, hold on. Did you say there’s what?”

– Hmm?

“You’re telling me you left a weapon capable of wiping out the entire Empire in some unguarded lab?”

– Oh, you caught on. Now I understand why people around you call you an Oracle. You figured it out just from the name. Do you also know how it works?

“That’s not the point right now!”

– Isn’t it?

“The nuke is!”

– Hmm… No matter how I think about it, this still feels more important. You’ve got strange priorities, kid.

Can someone please come lock this lunatic up already?

Just imagining a lunatic carrying around a nuclear warhead nearby makes my skin crawl.

– It’s not something to worry that much about.

“Is that so?”

– Even in the worst-case scenario, only about a third of the Empire would be wiped out.

If the worst-case means a third of the Empire gets blown away, isn’t that exactly when you should start worrying?

“Have you really been in possession of such a weapon of mass destruction…?”

– What a barbaric way to put it. That thing is merely a byproduct created during the research process.

“But you still have it, don’t you?”

– I plan to dispose of it once this problem is resolved.

Well, at least you do have some conscience.

– It’d be a hassle if it blew up the other labs too, you see.

Nope, he was still crazy.

***

What in the world am I supposed to do with this?

If I hadn’t heard it, I could’ve ignored it. But now that I have, I just can’t.

Even someone like me, who usually doesn’t care about anything not directly related to myself, can’t just shrug off news about a nuclear warhead.

“Shouldn’t we report this to His Majesty?”

How about being a good, law-abiding citizen and turning this dangerous thing over to the state?

– What a ridiculous suggestion. Do you really think that man would quietly dispose of it? Or would he try to take it and use it for himself?

“……”

No.

Even I have to admit. If it was Emperor Abraham, he would only use it for evil.

– And don’t even think about telling the Third Princess.

“Why not?”

– Because in the end, you’ll be the one handling it anyway. It’ll only make things more complicated, and both you and I will end up worse off.

“……”

Well, the fact that the Scriptwriter came to me for help means I was the only one who could fix this.

If Robelia finds out, what would she do?

She’d probably show up with that old contract and blackmail me with a smug smile.

Just like the Scriptwriter said. If I go through with this, it might only lead to more trouble.

– Have you taken a moment to think about why I’m entrusting this matter to you?

“Honestly, I wasn’t planning to accept, so I didn’t think that hard about it.”

– Because the Second Prince’s scheme involves poison. To stop the plan, we need an antidote… but that process is going to get very complicated.

“So that’s why it has to be me…”

– Exactly.

How many people in the world would listen calmly upon hearing someone claim to be the scriptwriter of Ex Machina, take the story seriously, be open to cooperating, and even possess alchemical knowledge that could help with the plan?

Maybe my instincts had dulled after all the horrible experiences I’d been through lately, but at this point, it really did seem like there was no one more suitable than me.

“Are we making an antidote? But wouldn’t it be faster if you made it yourself? You’re smarter than I am.”

– That’s true. But I can’t step away from the experiment I’m currently running. I don’t want to divert any resources from it.

“So, it’s a selfish reason. Then, do you just need me to make the antidote?”

Well, that was a task I could accept.

The Second Prince Loki’s poison was a deadly poison, but I already knew the recipe for the antidote.

That’s right. It had already appeared in the game.

Even if I didn’t remember the exact recipe, I still recalled the key ingredients, so making it wouldn’t be difficult.

I never thought I’d see the day where this game knowledge actually came in handy…

– No, I have my own circumstances. I can’t walk around outside in my real body. But if I show up like this, I’ll probably get attacked before I even get close. So you have to take care of it.

“Can’t you just show up and create a proper form like you did just now?”

– Is the antidote supposed to be delivered by the mailman?

“Ah.”

Nothing ever went smoothly.

I absolutely needed to know how to synthesize the Heart of the Phoenix and the Blood of the Frost Giant.

If Ariel didn’t become an Archmage, I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise to the Grand Warrior and if that happened, our territory would be reduced to ashes.

Even if that weren’t the case, I wasn’t nearly optimistic enough to sleep soundly knowing there was a nuclear warhead nearby.

“I really shouldn’t have listened.”

I knew it.

I suspected from the start that once I heard it, I wouldn’t be able to say no…

– Seems like you’ve made your decision. Then let me explain the situation.

“……”

Boom!

It was the moment I gave up on everything and got drawn into the scriptwriter’s script.

Someone flung open the workshop door with force.

“Big brother Johan, are you okay?”

It was Emily with her expression blank and calm.

Her face and voice looked like nothing was wrong, but something felt different.

Judging by how her hair and back were stuck to her skin with sweat, she must’ve rushed over in a hurry.

Was she really monitoring me in real time?

Did she panic and come running?

– Tsk, this just got annoying. You’ll understand everything if you go to the place I marked earlier.

At Emily’s arrival, the scriptwriter scattered like dust.

He must have turned into nanomachines and dispersed back into the surroundings.

“Big brother, are you okay?”

“I’m not okay at all.”

I was seriously exhausted.

Why did these things only ever happen to me? What did I even do wrong?

“Who did this to you?”

“……”

You, for starters.