Ch.60Combat Preparations

Foreign entities began to move.

‘Orchestra of Mud and Flesh.’

I don’t know who this is since it wasn’t in the original work.

If I calmly make some guesses, they would be as follows:

1. Laplace’s Forces twisted causality. Therefore, things that should exist disappeared, and things that shouldn’t exist appeared.

2. My existence got mixed into this as well.

3. Butterfly effect.

If a Laplace-type foreign entity has intervened, it wouldn’t be strange for events to proceed in a completely different direction from the original work.

How should I deal with this?

“……”

I made my decision.

I’ll publish the paper as planned.

A mere foreign entity can’t stop my plans.

***

Thud!

When I returned to the dormitory, I was greeted by Sonia’s dropkick.

“Where have you been wandering around until now?”

It hurts so much I can’t even scream.

Groaning in pain while rubbing my waist, a dark shadow loomed over me.

Deep blue short hair.

Colorless eyes.

Sonia was looking down at me, adjusting her katyusha.

“You deserve a beating.”

“Ack, aaack!”

A sharp pain races down my spine.

After beating her master like a dog on a hot summer day, Sonia pulled me up and dragged me to the kitchen.

A feast was laid out on the well-organized table.

“Eat.”

“After beating me up, you’re telling me to…”

“Eat. Now.”

Intimidated by her flashing grayish-white eyes that looked ready to devour me, I hurriedly picked up a fork.

I dip the cold karaage and chew it in my mouth.

Though cold, it’s delicious.

Her cooking skills are truly exceptional.

“I prepared a meal with all my heart and even drew a bath for you, but you just ran away. How shameless. Next time, please tell me where you’re going.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Don’t just say ‘yes, yes.’ Apologize properly.”

“I’m sorry…”

Keeping secrets is truly difficult.

But what can I do?

When a first-year high school student submits a gravitational bomb paper as the first author, of course foreign entities would be interested.

Just by trying to publish it, one bastard is already making a fuss about watching me.

Look at that. There’s already an irregular polyhedron.

Its yellow glow reminds me of Seti’s eyes.

“……”

I had resolved not to be intimidated even if I was discovered, though staying hidden would be best.

I stared back at the irregular polyhedron.

Thoughts of wanting to touch it, wanting to assimilate with the foreign entity, began creeping into my mind.

Mental induction, huh.

Of course, I don’t touch it.

I’ve already been fooled once; I won’t be fooled twice.

[“You worm.”]

Then a clear resonance seeped into my mind.

[“Get lost. This human is not one you can handle.”]

The yellow irregular polyhedron that had been approaching as if pulling space toward itself suddenly stopped.

Swish.

It began to retreat again, trying to hide behind the curtain.

Just then, Sonia noticed it and approached the irregular polyhedron with a frown.

“I must not have cleaned properly. I, Sonia, have made a grave oversight.”

“Ah, wait…”

“Excuse me, but I’ll throw this out the window.”

Sonia picked up the stone and threw it outside.

Usually, it would reappear even after that.

“……”

Several minutes passed, but the golden irregular polyhedron never appeared again.

“…what the.”

Why did it come here?

Irregular polyhedra usually only appear before people they’re determined to possess, but this one fled.

This too is a different flow from the original work.

It seemed clear that my existence was creating significant changes.

As I had resolved during my previous conversation with Cartesia, knowledge of “killing foreign entities” was not necessary at all.

I decided to think about the topic for my next paper with peace of mind.

“……”

Wait a minute.

I have a bad feeling.

I got up from the table in the middle of eating.

“Where are you going now?”

Sonia rushed over like she was having a fit.

“It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere this time.”

“Are you finished eating?”

“No.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“I need to use the computer.”

I stuffed the remaining nuggets into my mouth and sat down at the computer.

I need to send an email.

If my thoughts are correct, something terrible will happen during the final exams.

***

“Honey, a student sent an email?”

“Yeah.”

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know.”

Naiere frowned.

How could a grown man not properly read work emails?

Naiere kicked Isaac’s backside.

“Stop being lazy and sit down here!”

“…Yes, dear.”

Married right after graduating from college and living under his wife’s thumb for eight years now, Isaac knelt down, mourning his lost freedom.

“Look at this.”

Naiere displayed the email on the screen.

Isaac’s eyes widened.

“This… it’s from student Eidel!”

“You know this student?”

Isaac nodded.

Isaac and Naiere, both top-grade inspectors, had previously mentored Eidel and Rustila respectively.

“He’s the first-year valedictorian. He’s an average talent with the sword, but he’s very intelligent.”

“Why would he email you?”

“We’ll have to read it to find out.”

After reading the email, the Clarke couple couldn’t help but be shocked.

[There’s a high possibility that a foreign entity will appear during the final exams.]

“Straight to the point.”

“I understand what he’s saying. He’s asking for our help.”

Isaac recalled the student named Eidel.

A student he had sparred with daily around the midterm exams.

An average talent without natural aptitude for swordsmanship, but with solid fundamentals.

And he was tough.

No matter how many times he was beaten, he would quickly get up, and his wounds healed fast. In fact, the more he was hit, the tougher his body became.

Moreover.

“…This student is somewhat frightening.”

Isaac’s shoulders were trembling slightly.

[— The constellations of the background constellation ‘Sagittarius’ are tense.]

When they first met, there was only a simple strangeness.

But occasionally, when recalling Eidel, the constellations would vibrate frantically.

An inexplicable phenomenon.

“What’s wrong?”

“The constellations are trembling again.”

“Why are they doing that?”

“I don’t know. Let me just take a deep breath.”

After regulating his breathing and organizing his thoughts, Isaac spoke.

“Eidel is no ordinary student. This can’t be a joke.”

Considering the state of the Aether Belt, it makes sense.

The Aether Belt is still under investigation without being repaired.

If they wanted to, a foreign entity could slip through that gap and cause havoc.

“We need to stay alert.”

“You’re just realizing that now?”

Naiere tapped Isaac’s heel.

“Don’t forget why we’re here. To subjugate foreign entities. We need to take down at least one monster to save face before returning.”

“…Hmm.”

“Why are you standing there blankly? Get ready.”

Late at night.

The two, changed into military uniforms, strapped on their swords and left their quarters.

***

“What the hell… is he?”

In a nameless newborn black hole far from the galaxy where the Laniakea Federation is located.

A young foreign entity that had just been born there showed signs of discomfort as it shifted its body.

“Children.”

Swish!

Four avatar bodies gathered without being commanded.

“Oligos, Meirem. Yodel, Lüzlaktia.”

They were the favored minions of Populus, a newborn foreign entity belonging to Maxwell’s Forces.

“I have a task for you.”

As Populus waved his hand, space rippled and a clear mirror appeared.

What was reflected in that mirror was a life form.

A homo sapiens with black hair and golden eyes.

“Go to the galaxy I’ve designated and find and kill this inferior life form.”

“Will the main star not go personally?”

“I’m already overwhelmed with expanding this region. There are too many enemies nearby.”

Even foreign entities fight among themselves.

To expand their territory. To create more forces as if from a factory.

The place where Populus was born was a wasteland with several black holes nearby.

Naturally, the avatar bodies didn’t understand.

There are ranks even among avatar bodies.

The four avatar bodies Populus called were small black holes directly connected to Populus’s own bloodline.

They were on a different level from low-grade phenomenal bodies that mindlessly destroy everything.

In other words, they were the elite forces.

Sending such forces all at once to a peripheral galaxy made no sense.

“Main star, what could possibly be in such a remote place?”

“You can gather quite a lot of enthalpy there. Galaxies with life have plenty of useful energy.”

“Even considering that, it’s too far.”

At least tens of billions of light-years.

Even warping at full speed from here would take a week.

“But it must be done.”

Populus said while waving his tentacles.

“Gravitational bomb.”

“Gravitational bomb…?”

“That boy is trying to cultivate the power to annihilate us, which doesn’t match his civilization’s level.”

The avatar bodies fell silent.

That was a valid reason.

It’s right to eliminate potential threats as quickly as possible.

“But main star, if we’re at the mission site, who will protect you?”

“I’ll manage on my own.”

Populus answered, swaying his head.

The movement resembled a snail’s tentacles waving.

“Anyway, that galaxy is useful, and no one else has discovered it yet. It’s far, but it’s an excellent place.”

“Ah.”

Populus’s gaze turned back to the mirror.

The black-haired, golden-eyed boy.

Eidel von Rheinland.

“Another foreign entity currently resides in this life form.”

“…!”

“But it’s not strong. Looking at its abilities, they’re mostly mental manipulation.”

“…So its physical power is inferior.”

“Yes. I’ve even confirmed that it doesn’t communicate with other black holes. In other words, it’s an isolated main star.”

Sometimes foreign entities settle in empty black holes in peripheral regions.

Without separate notification, they stay put and act like the boss of that galaxy.

In other words, they don’t expand.

It was evidence of weakness.

The avatar bodies nodded and spoke in turn.

“Main star.”

“We will kill that life form and erase the traces of that fool who nested there first.”

“After driving it out, please move your residence there!”

“Ah, there are too many cruel beings here. I, I think it’s better to finish quickly and escape…”

Populus waved his hand. The avatar bodies disappeared.

Left alone inside the black hole, the foreign entity fell into thought.

‘Get lost. This human is not one you can handle.’

It was laughable.

Was that supposed to be a warning?

More than the resident of that place, Populus feared the black-haired, golden-eyed boy.

Populus lifted a bead containing the flow of time.

It stored the entropy accumulated over a certain period.

[“Ah, I need to write a paper.”]

The disorder in space-time created by the boy who resolved to develop a gravitational bomb.

Using Maxwell’s Forces’ ability to reverse it.

The murky bead becomes clear again, and the boy’s mouth returns to its original position.

A new ensemble was formed at this moment.

Even in the virtual ensemble, the boy was still-

[“Ah, I need to write a paper.”]

Resolving to create a weapon that would bring them down.

An indescribable madness could be felt.

Populus split the timeline once more.

[“Ah, I need to write a paper.”]

Rewinding, rewinding, rewinding.

[[[“Ah ah ah, paper paper paper, need to write need to write need to write…”]]]

Rewound hundreds of billions of times like that.

“……”

Gave up.

[“Ah, I need to write a paper!!!!”]

It seems a fixed point that cannot be changed has been created. This universe is at least the world line where the boy has confirmed his intention to develop a gravitational bomb.

Gravitational bomb.

A single word so frightening it made even the main body sense death.

After deeply feeling such an unfamiliar sensation, the foreign entity Populus soon smiled wickedly.

It’s just an empty dream anyway. What good would it do even if he made it?

“Heh, heheh.”

He’ll cross a path of no return, consumed by madness.

He decided to at least offer condolences.

“…Farewell, inferior being.”

Because he is a superior life form who knows what a funeral is.

“Oligos, are you there?”

Tsk tsk tsk!

“You called?”

“Do you know why I called only you?”

“……”

“It’s because I trust you the most. Now…”

A crystallized jewel emerged from Populus’s hand.

A golden irregular polyhedron.

It was Maxwell’s Forces’ possession stone.

“If it’s difficult to kill the one I’ve designated directly, observe carefully and use this on someone close to him.”

“…A possession stone. What are you planning?”

“I will personally parasitize that person’s brain.”

Populus cackled.

Family, lover, or friend.

If he loses someone close to him, that youngster will surely break his hollow beliefs and crumble.