Chapter 292: Fugitive, A Gaze Toward the End
Gaming is a hobby for me.
If you trace the bloodline, it seems like both my dad's and mom's sides of the family are full of hobbyists. Go to my dad's family home up north and there's my grandpa tearing around in a gleaming, meticulously maintained sports car. Head over to my mom's family home out west and there's a whole detached building my grandma put up just for her plastic models. Grandpa's gotten drunk and told me, "When I kick it, the car's yours, kid" — no idea if he meant it or not. I should get my license one of these days... or wait, should I start with a racing game for practice?
Anyway. The point is, me and my sister are basically hybrid hobbyists born from a mysterious biological cocktail of obsession-crazed bloodlines. Feels like if I take one wrong step in life, things could get real bad. Rumi's already starting to show signs.
So with all that, gaming for me is "the goal." That's why the current situation — where I'm using gaming as a "means" of escapism — is a pretty rare case for me.
The whole thing started with, well... Rei-shi, aka Saiga-san, spectacularly self-destructing at school.
Saiga-san is, to put it mildly, a perfect superhuman. Ask ten people what kind of person she is and nine of 'em will give you the same answer. So when someone like that up and says to a male student, right in the middle of the hallway, "I have something important to talk to you about" — well. As a student, my grades meant I couldn't just leave school early without permission, so the Rakuro Hizutome Capture Squad, which somehow roped in the track team's aces, caught me. Getting interrogated was a done deal.
I tried arguing about human rights violations, but the judo club's Massive Arms had me locked up and showed no sign of letting go. As a last-ditch counterattack, I exposed the fact that Germy Lucky-Ear Piercing-kun writes poetry during class, but... yeah, that didn't get me anywhere.
???: "Okay, since the Inquisitor, Germy Lucky-Ear Poetry, has fallen in the line of duty — passed out cold — I'll take over as his proxy."
Rakuro: "And my lawyer?"
???: ".........?"
Oh, come on. I had no idea there were barbarians in this school. The proxy inquisitor — my classmate — just tilted his head like, Why the hell would a dead man walking need one of those? I glared at him while racking my brain for a way out.
Just denying it — saying, No, Saiga-san and I aren't a thing — that's easy. But if I do that, the next question flows perfectly naturally:
So what was the important talk, then?
Let me say it again. Saiga-san is a perfect superhuman. Ask ten people what kind of person she is, nine of 'em will give the same answer. But I'm the one guy who can't. I know her secret.
The fact that Rei Saiga has, for all intents and purposes... thrown her life away... as a total degenerate gamer!
Privacy matters. Without it, neither me nor Katzo — and especially not Pencilgon — could run wild in games the way we do. So I'm a man who guards other people's privacy to the bitter end. My lips are sealed. The blessings of a law-abiding nation are way too precious to throw away!
???: "Ghh... this man, even at a time like this, his eyes are so damn clear...!"
Rakuro: "Man, could you all just conveniently hit your heads and forget all this?"
???: "Right, zero grounds for leniency. Hey, weren't you the guy who's weirdly good at folding futons?"
???: "Oh, leave it to me."
Rakuro: "Hold on! My spine? You're planning to fold my spine?!"
Your spine doesn't have joints, okay?! You break it, it's done!
............
Rakuro: "My little sister's wedding's got a lot going on, so I'm putting my best friend, Serinun Germy Piercing, in as a substitute..."
???: "You, selling out a friend without a shred of mercy in a situation like this — you're the very definition of depravity, Hizutomelos..."
???: "Little sister... I heard this guy's sister is a reader model. That true?"
???: "Yeah, for real. She's cute, normal cute."
???: "Defendant Hizutome. Give us your sister's contact info and there may be room for clemency..."
Rakuro: "Like hell my little sister's in the same league as you. Go reroll your life and try again."
???: "CARRY OUT THE SENTENCE!"
Shit... this is it...!
Teacher: "Alright, enough screwing around, take your seats. I'm gonna be throwing out a ton of key vocab today — it'll be on the test."
Rakuro: "Woo! I love studying! Ha! See, we gotta study like good students — now let go of me, dammit!"
???: "Teacher! Can't you hold off on class until this guy's execution is done?!"
Teacher: "The footsteps of historical greats are more important than the lives of you punks. Request denied."
And this guy's a teacher. Can you believe it?
Psyger-0: I truly am so sorry for all the trouble...!
Sunraku: Nah nah, don't worry about it
Psyger-0: This was my mistake, and I really am sorry for causing you trouble...!
Sunraku: Like I said, I'm not bothered at all
Sunraku: So, getting back on track — what's the important talk? SLF related, right?
Psyger-0: Y-Yes... actually, it's about the Divine-Demonic Sword Antinomy and the Twinface Armor I possess...
Sunraku: Ah, those
Psyger-0: Well... the thing is, regarding those... I actually haven't finished the Unique Scenario yet
Sunraku: Oh damn
Sunraku: "So basically, Rei-shi's out there seriously being the main character in a SLF-style story, is what you're saying."
Emul: "Hohyaah!? Wh-why ah you pullin' mah cheeeks!?"
Sunraku: "I'm being treated like some divine warrior thanks to a certain someone — any idea who that might be, hmm?"
Emul: "Hyofaaaah!?"
Squishing Emul around in my hands, I think back to my chat with Saint-chan — Eristella, the Saint of Love — the quest she laid out, and the massive problem standing in the way. Time to move.
◆
Eristella: "On the New Land... a dragon that gnaws at the world and the Sky Ruler Dragon King are at war..."
Sunraku: "Huh. I see..."
Something felt off for a second there, but the next words made it clear.
Eristella: "And before long... a coup d'état will take place in this kingdom."
???: "........."
I glance over at Josette. She gives a single nod, like she's confirming my unspoken question.
Sunraku: "How can you be so confident about something that hasn't happened yet?"
Eristella: "...I am able to see and hear... far more than most."
Maybe I need to rethink the way I've been underestimating them, just 'cause their clan's called "Saint’s Divine Guard." She's not just some NPC. If her "prophecies" are all on the money...
Sunraku: "So she's basically got the leaked schedule ahead of time..."
Eristella: "...Is something the matter?"
Sunraku: "Oh, no no, nothing at all, goodness me."
I figured these people were just hopeless NPC romantics. Nope, not even close. They've got a massive advantage — they can figure out what's coming in this world even faster than the Library or the front-line crews. And they're hiding it all behind the smokescreen of being hopeless romantics!
Josette stares at Saint-chan, her expression practically screaming: ...she's a little flustered, that is way too cute.
...Yeah, okay, maybe the smokescreen's not entirely a smokescreen. I watch Josette, eyes glued to Saint-chan, with an indescribable expression. Anyway. The question is why they called me — a jobless drifter with no guild — in on all this.
Eristella: "The mastermind behind the coup is this kingdom's First Prince, Alex..."
Sunraku: "The First Prince is staging a coup?"
The hell? Sit tight and the throne comes to you anyway, so why run a coup? What's the point of souring public opinion? No, hold on... don't tell me this is why they called me here...!
Sunraku: "Ahh, I get it. I'm a throwaway piece, then."
Eristella: "...? Oh, no, that's not—"
Huh? And here I was sure they wanted me to secretly assassinate the First Prince. I'm good at assassination runs — it was practically my main thing on the deserted island, and I was planning to off Demon Lord Pencilgon that way too at first. Although, uh, that one ended with everything blowing up.
But if that's not it, then what's the goal? If they just need a pioneer with no strings attached, they could send someone to the New Land and be done with it. Why specify me instead of one of the pioneers Josette already has under her wing?
Eristella: "The coup... will succeed. And officially, the reason given will be 'the throne passes to the First Prince, and the former king embarks on an inspection of the New Land'..."
Sunraku: "Ahh, I'm getting the picture now."
NPCs don't respawn. If the king "unfortunately" dies on the New Land, well, nothing you can do about that. But then again, he could also be "fortunately" saved by a pioneer who happens to be there.
Sunraku: "Possibility of assassination aboard the ship?"
Eristella: "That scene was... unclear. If such a thing were to occur, I believe it would be after arriving on the New Land..."
So her precognition relies on sight? The more certain the future, the clearer it appears? These precognition tropes show up across totally different stories with similar patterns. Could be fun to dig into.
Eristella: "That is precisely why I turn to you. I ask that you protect the former king, whose life will be threatened on the New Land, and escort him to a church of the Three Gods Faith to be built there."
Sunraku: "Now I really get it. You need a pioneer with thin ties to the kingdom."
Eristella: "Yes. And furthermore... someone who holds connections to that country."
.................................Right. Do not break character.
Sunraku: "Oh my. Are you acquainted with my aniki?"
Eristella: "I had the honor of meeting him once."
I glance over at Josette, careful not to be noticed. She doesn't seem to know what Eristella's talking about. All right... how do I handle this with a degenerate player sitting right next to me?