episode_0005

-Yes! Noble sir will make good friends at Libra. Of course, I’m included in those friends!

-Dealing with new friends can be tricky… to put it bluntly, they’re a bunch of difficult people, but they’ll surely appeal to Noble sir. Yes!

Hardship brings wonderful encounters, doesn’t it?

-It won’t hurt much. It’s just restoring abnormality to normalcy, so you can relax. It really doesn’t hurt, you know?

“Aaaah!”

Elaiza screamed as she woke up from a nightmare. A dream where she merged with the night sky

(Hail Satla)

and a nun appeared.

“Could it be a condition where you faint and wake up screaming?”

Without even glancing at Elaiza sitting in the passenger seat, Meisa spoke.

“Here….”

“If you ask where ‘here’ is again, I’ll turn the wheel and crash into the wall, so keep quiet.”

“…..”

Following Meisa’s advice, Elaiza closed her mouth and looked around.

It was a strange driver’s seat, not the van she had been with for five years. Between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat was an item that looked like a military radio, and behind the passenger seat was a small space filled with various items and trash, not a luggage compartment made by tearing out the seat.

“Um….”

This time, a crackling sound from the radio interrupted Elaiza.

『Hestia, this is Discordia. I reported finding an unidentified vehicle an hour ago and handed it over to the previous shift worker, but why haven’t we heard anything yet? If there’s no response within ten minutes, we’ll consider it missing』

The voice, presumed to be Peter’s, was businesslike, differing only in gender from another businesslike voice.

“I completely forgot to report the results… Oh, I don’t know how to use the radio.”

Meisa looked at Elaiza with a superficial glance and spoke.

“Do you know how to use the radio?”

Elaiza shook her head.

Meisa nodded as if not expecting much and opened the driver’s window, shouting.

“Victor! How do you use this radio?”

“Just press the button on the handset and speak!”

“Got it!”

“I’ve used the radio only once or twice, and I can’t remember how to do it…”

Meisa closed the driver’s window.

“Got it? I can’t use the radio while driving, so you do it instead.”

“….Okay….”

Following Victor’s instructions, Elaiza pressed the button on the handset and responded on the radio.

“…N-nothing happened.”

「???? What’s with this sudden cute voice!」

Startled, Elaiza dropped the handset, and Meisa slammed on the brakes.

“Damn it!”

(Victor, who usually doesn’t swear much,) ignored his swearing, and Meisa picked up the handset.

“Morion? Are you okay, Morion? Why are you here when you’re supposed to be at the Minbyungdae headquarters without showing your face?”

「Hestia, this is Discordia. I’m not actually at the Minbyungdae headquarters; I just playfully hijacked the signal from a facility in a hut」

“I caught on to your unpleasant tone right away. Damn it, why are you always so consistent…”

「Rather than that, Hestia, who is the passenger? Where did Victor go, and why is a little lady answering the phone? Did you kidnap someone?」

“Victor had to get on the baggage compartment to restrain the chasing Eileneis herd. The girl rescued from the problematic vehicle is sitting next to me… probably. And…”

Meisa glanced at Elaiza briefly and continued on the radio.

“She’s not very young, but she’s a bit short.”

「Hestia. Please report in more detail. If you come off as uncooperative, we’ll be in trouble.」

“Stop with the damn hypocrisy before I kill you.”

「Is that so? Before making Meisa’s already twisted personality even more complicated, let’s stop here.」

“Would anyone else be as messed up as you?”

“Thank you for the compliment, Meisa. But Meisa, who exactly is the person we traveled with? Can you change the walkie-talkie for me? I want to have a sincere conversation between just the two of us.”

When Meisa turned off the walkie-talkie, the voice inside the van abruptly cut off.

“…Wh-who is that person anyway? I feel nauseous… Ugh…”

“Oh, she sounded kind of girly just now.”

“Sigh…”

Eliza sighed and looked out the window. The residential area in ruins had disappeared, replaced by a wasteland filled with tall buildings from the city center.

The truck was driving on an overpass cutting through the forest of buildings.

“The unidentified vehicle… Is that my van?”

After a brief silence, Eliza cautiously asked Messiah.

“That van?”

“Yes. Are you telling me it’s still there in the same spot?”

Meisa scratched her head awkwardly.

“Victor doesn’t know how to drive. He can’t even ride a bike, let alone drive. And Deck was rambling nonsense like he’s gone mad. I couldn’t drive both at once, bro. I had to leave them behind. But I promised to find them, so don’t worry…”

“A chain! There was a chain in the luggage compartment that could connect the cars! If we had used that, we could have easily brought it along…”

Meisa said with a hint of annoyance.

“We didn’t know such a thing existed. Even if we did…”

“Isn’t it because you didn’t look properly that this happened!”

“…It was impossible to connect due to the Aleynis charging at us like crazy to devour us. Just surviving that was a miracle in itself.”

Ignoring Eliza’s almost screaming protest, Meisa concluded.

Eliza lowered her gaze under Meisa’s intimidating stare.

“You’re right. I apologize. I spoke disrespectfully to those who saved our lives.”

“We express our gratitude to everyone who struggled to save people in perilous situations.”

With these words, Eliza bowed deeply.

Meisa felt sorry seeing her like that.

The girl sitting in the passenger seat

(‘She’s not a girl, she’s a boy, you idiot.’ Meisa corrected her perception)

Had clearly lost elements that made up ‘me,’ although it was unclear what had happened to him at present.

In other words, he had lost his sense of self.

Things could get worse than they were now. In fact, the fact that a normal conversation had taken place was a miracle in itself. Meisa had seen countless people who had lost their sense of self and gone mad.

(No, no. I haven’t seen them. You have. I haven’t. Besides, you didn’t even think about helping those people. I would never have done that. You didn’t even help those people.)

“Um, are you okay?”

Eliza looked at Meisa with worried, teary eyes.

“I’m fine. Just a little headache. And my name is Meisa, not ‘hey.’”

“You didn’t introduce yourself, so there was no way to know.”

“That’s true. So, what’s your name, bro?”

Meisa asked in a cheerful tone to change the somber atmosphere.

“I’m Eliza Rusta. I’m the eldest son of the Marquis Bahk of Amehain.”

Meisa repeated Eliza’s name three times.

“Got it! I’ve memorized it now. By the way, are you really a noble?”

Eliza smiled wryly and answered Meisa’s question.

“In fact, my noble status is utterly useless. Our family was stripped of its noble title, and all family members were executed. I am the last survivor.”

“Impressive. Does Amehain punish traitors like that?”

“If it were treason, I might have been less ashamed than I am now.”

“Not treason? Then what is it? Did you try to poison the water supply and massacre all the Amehain people but got caught in the act?”

Ellaiza opened the passenger seat window and gazed down at the forest of buildings. Once a functioning heart of society, it now stood as a ruin that could crumble at any moment in the face of adversity.

Yet, even in such ruins, life persisted. Giant flies basked on the walls of the building, and anyone could see the calf-sized mice hunting these flies.

Ellaiza spoke slowly, “Do you happen to know the story of Cinderella?”

Maysa paused for a moment before shaking her head. “No, it sounds like some fairy tale just by the name.”

“It is indeed a fairy tale. It tells of a youngest child who suffers at the hands of a wicked stepmother and stepsisters. As is often the case with such tales, the youngest child receives help from a fairy, catches the prince’s eye at the royal ball, and marries him. Of course, the stepmother and stepsisters face consequences. We were the stepmother and stepsisters.”

Silence.

“So, how did the eldest brother survive?” Maysa asked cautiously.

After hesitating for a while, Ellaiza replied, “He treated Cinderella well. That’s the answer.”

As soon as Ellaiza finished speaking, gunshots suddenly rang out from the back of the truck, followed by an explosion. Maysa quickly opened the window and called out to Victor, “Victor! Is it Elenis again?”

“Yeah. He was trying to crawl under the car to attach something to the bottom,” Victor replied.

“Ugh, just the thought of it is dreadful.”

Maysa admired Victor’s marksmanship every time she saw it. Despite being the son of an innkeeper, Victor had a keen interest in shooting and practiced at the nearby quarry whenever he had time. Maysa had accompanied him a few times, and she was always amazed to see how he transformed from looking unassuming to a sharp predator when shooting.

“This area was relatively safe. There were only giant centipedes to worry about besides the Elenis,” Victor remarked.

“Well, those Elenis keep coming back no matter how many we kill.”

While Maysa responded as if there was nothing serious to worry about, Victor’s tone remained grave.

“The residential area earlier was strange too. I heard there wasn’t even an ant there before the military swept through. It’s odd to hear that there are not just one or two but a bunch of Elenis lurking around. Of course, they might have settled after flowing in from somewhere…”

“Then let’s go back and report to the military. There’s no point in us racking our brains over it. Dealing with them is best left to the authorities,” Maysa suggested.

“…You’re not wrong.”

Victor agreed with Maysa.

“The ride around here was surprisingly pleasant. Manchester, among the six cities of the Merbia Federation, paid particular attention to the territory’s security. By deploying a strong military force, they thoroughly cleaned up the ‘Grand Road,’ the main trade route of the six cities. Thanks to this, nearby cities like Kansas and Amehain benefited greatly. The ‘Grand Road’ connecting Manchester with Kansas and Amehain became safer, leading to a significant increase in merchants’ traffic and easier transportation of goods.”

“Thanks to that, the eastern part of Merbia opened its gates wide to hell. The monsters that used to live in the west crossed over to where the authorities didn’t pay much attention to security. While the situation here is still a dying hellhole just like before…”

Victor and Maysa took turns explaining.

“I’ve heard from my father that unlike the western three cities, which heavily rely on products from external settlements, the eastern three cities can produce essential goods themselves, so each city doesn’t pay much attention to security in the east. The cities themselves are safe, but I’ve heard that nearby military outposts struggle to make it through a day,” Ellaiza added.

“In Encaderium, it is said that they cultivate crops in deep underground caves, mine ores to craft weapons and tools. I’ve heard of such things. While I haven’t heard much about the other two cities, Lleu and Yggdrasil, they likely possess unimaginable technologies as well.”

Victor responded with a tone that seemed almost wistful.

“To be honest, I don’t think there’s much to worry about within Merbia. The western region, at least where there’s significant traffic, has become safe, and the eastern region is living in its own way. The relationships between each city are really quite good.”

“Does that mean there’s something to worry about outside of Merbia?”

Maysa replied to Victor’s words.

“…Saintess Ray.”

Eliza uttered the ominous name.

“……”

Silence fell among the three.

Victor and Maysa, residents of Libra where trade flourished with the outside world, along with Eliza, who had more information about the southern political situation as a prominent noble of Amehain, knew the name of the individual rapidly expanding their influence in the south and central regions.

“Even if it’s that Rayder fellow, isn’t he just a nobody? It seems like the monsters on the way to Libra would devour them before they even reach there.”

“People shouting for a return to the Divine Order aren’t ordinary Rayders.”

Maysa, speaking as if dismissing the significance, received a serious response from Victor.

The faction led by the ‘Saintess’ Ray, known as the “Sacred Nation Ara,” aimed to rebuild a divine-ruled state, a theocratic nation.

Before the Days of Hardship, the continent, once known as Nebuchadnezzar, housed numerous theocratic nations, but as time passed and people’s consciousness evolved, along with the advancement of technology (engineering, magic, alchemy practiced by Eliza’s mother), capable of opposing the ‘Wings,’ entities claiming to be the creators of the theocratic nations, these nations vanished into history.

However, when the Days of Hardship arrived and the world was engulfed by the Sea of Flames, the boundaries between science and religion, reality and myth blurred.

In such circumstances, figures like the ‘Saintess’ Ray were destined to emerge.

“Rumors say the Saintess’s army is marching towards Merbia from the southern depths. They plan to burn Merbia, execute all the rulers, and establish ‘Alas de Gloria’ in their place.”

Eliza spoke.

The staff head of that rod, meaning ‘Wings of Glory’ in the old southern language, depicted an idol carved from Karen, derived from the image of ‘Karen’s glorious and noble sacrifice.’ It was a symbol favored by the sects worshipping the ‘Wings,’ the chosen creations of Elenis.

Before the Days of Hardship, the southern Nebuchadnezzar was notorious for its fanatical worship of the ‘Wings.’

“Why bother stirring up trouble with the damned South and Central regions? Why target peaceful Merbia?”

“They simply don’t like Merbia itself. Although the political systems of the cities differ, they don’t center their rule around a deity. That kind of nation might be irksome to them.”

Victor responded seriously to Maysa’s question.

“…Damn. Are they really coming here just for that?”

“In reality, there are likely complex factors involved such as food shortages, territorial expansion, resource acquisition. Even if they are an extremist group, they wouldn’t march all the way to distant Merbia for just one reason.”

Eliza said this to Maysa, but…she herself harbored doubts about the credibility of her words.

“If those bastards attack, we’ll be the first ones to suffer. Damn it…”

Victor and Maisa’s hometown, Libr, was the largest and safest gateway connecting Merbia with the outside world and, unless the sea monsters living in the northern strait suddenly disappeared, it remained the only gateway.

The army of the “Saintess” Ray had a high likelihood of attacking through land routes, and in such a case, Libr would be the first settlement to suffer bloodshed.

“….”

Eliza gazed at the setting sun through the window, contemplating the future.

The future of Merbia, the future of Libr, the future of Victor and Maisa.

And even her own future.

Inside Eliza’s van were various necessities, alchemical tools, tokens brought from Libr for assistance, and precious items adorned with the crest of her family, all of which were dear to Eliza.

Eliza had lost that van.

Physically, Eliza possessed a body and face that men admired and women longed for, fitting to be called a handsome youth. Through innate lineage and Eliza’s efforts to sculpt her physique, she possessed an exceptional body.

Eliza, who held the hand of Aeleneis, or Lisa Plague, lost the masculine body she had cultivated for 23 years and instead received the unfamiliar female form.

Influenced by a pragmatic father and a mother who believed in myths, Eliza viewed the world with a unique and logical perspective. While he revered judging the world based on the logic of reality, he did not treat believers in myths as fools, as he himself had a religion.

In a world where Lisa Plague, or the ageless stranger, revealed the unified cycle of the cosmos in the night sky…

“….Huff….”

Eliza barely swallowed back her tears.

Crying was futile. What was lost would not return. She chastised herself.

“…How long can I endure? How long can I refuse to give up everything and sink into despair? I don’t know… I don’t know…”

Whether Eliza mourned or not, the truck continued its journey on the “Great Road,” and night fell.