Chapter XXIX: Reasons for Action
Perspective – Teenager
INTERVIEWER What is beauty?
After the incident, I asked my brother.
“………… Huh?"
Probably didn't expect me to ask this question suddenly, that old brother rarely lost his mind. Was it an illusion, at that moment his eyes seemed to be looking far, far away.
"Uh, uh-huh. Beauty—isn't it? Very boring question. Why are you starting to think about these useless things? ”
- Nothing, just ...... Some vibes.
I said vaguely. I didn't tell this person anything about this incident, not because I was resistant to mentioning the similarities of Jin Ji and Grey - I simply thought that these things should never be said to Jun Aikawa.
"Hmph, "resonance". In a way, that is the essence of beauty. ”
As if he had seen through my thoughts, the red boy snorted boredly and said.
"Because of the resonance, so pleasant. Because of the resonance, so intoxicated. Because of resonance, so sublime. Beauty is such a concept – not profane, not daring to touch, not to be imagined. To put it bluntly, it's just an overflow of feelings, a boring thing that you won't think about. ”
Bored.
What kind of scenery does he have in his eyes?
I can't help but be a little curious.
- Why is it boring?
By the time I came back to my senses, the question had already been blurted out.
- Is it because you don't understand it, or is it because it's troublesome not to think about it? If you define what others are pursuing as boring based on this alone, then the so-called strongest is just a façade.
I'll admit that half of my words are looking for death, and I think that in the next second, an unidentified orange flying object will appear over Europe. But I didn't care at all, but shrugged my shoulders and accepted.
"Although it has nothing to do with being the strongest, isn't it true that titles like Apex are all like this? It's just a single concept that convinces anyone - well, although I don't say it's boring for no reason. ”
- So.
Because beauty is evil. ”
- Evil?
"'Calm', 'tranquility', 'shock', 'blank' - it is no longer a concept that can be described by feelings, cannot be stopped or tasted, it is already a murderous existence. No matter how much you pursue it, you will not be satisfied, and no matter how many beautiful things you depict, you will not be able to reach beauty itself, nor will you be able to reach it, because the moment you reach it, that beauty will lose its meaning. So those people will be imprisoned in that 'moment' for the rest of their lives—do you think such and such things can be "good"?"
It's like heaven and hell in religion. Both are just the end of life that they have prayed for and dreamed of. If we were able to learn concepts while we were alive that we should have understood after death, then almost all religions and ideas would be meaningless.
INTERVIEWER Perhaps the person who possesses absolute beauty is hell itself.
"That's cheap hell. ”
As always, sneering.
I remembered the face of the golden hime.
It's not a metaphor, its existence is to kill people, and even if you don't do anything, you can ravage the whole world. If you give a definition, it is "the worst". Tear everything apart and shatter everything, involve everyone around you, and that being is hell.
However.
Ah, even now, I still have doubts about it.
What would you think if you accidentally reached the true (root) - the golden queen of Hell itself?
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Perspective – Grey
- still alive.
The moment I regained consciousness, I felt the same thing as my body.
From the touch, I was lying on the ground. Tried to move my lower limbs - good, all there. It seems that his luck value is still very high.
Relieved, I couldn't help but mumble complainingly.
"Really...... Won't you show mercy?"
"If I had kept my hand, it would have been the whole forest that would have been blown away. ”
“!!!???”
I snapped my eyes open and saw the boy looking at me strangely.
"Ahh......h Hmm,......"
"Are you alright? Twisting around like a caterpillar just now, if it weren't for the only bruises on your body, I would have thought you had something wrong with your brain. ”
“~~~~!!!”
Just now, those were all seen!?
"But I didn't expect you to say anything like that. How so...... Something cute?"
Ahh I'm so ashamed that I want to find a hole to get into.
"Say, speaking of which, here are ......"
I wanted to change the subject, and I looked around—
"Ah, don't ...... over there"
The teenager reminded too late.
Absolutely, it blew my consciousness away.
This is probably the first time I've come so close to death. At the end of my consciousness being shattered, I seemed to see a dim "sea" like a netherworld—nothing, nothing.
Everything has returned to its original form.
At the moment when the Absolute, all the things that are not completed are enough, and all the things that are unnatural are gone. This is comparable to the miracle of the saint who once parted the sea and led thousands of people to flee from Egypt.
At the same time, it is also a reappearance of yesterday's scene.
“……”
In just a few seconds, the miracle was over.
Standing there was not the golden Ji who was killed, but the silver Ji.
“…… I see, [projection]. ”
Not far away, the dark red woman, the Grand magician, Aosaki Orange, muttered to herself.
Originally, during the magic ceremony, the mirror image of the prototype that was not prepared was materialized through magic power in just a few minutes—magic and nothing more. This is a difficult and magically consuming magic trick that is not proportional to the meaning, and magicians hardly pay much attention to it.
But only just now.
At this time, the master appeared from the side, nodded slightly, and said.
"It's really discerning. On Bai Yinji's face just now, the golden Ji when she appeared at the party was projected. —by my apprentice, Rhaenys. ”
"Hmph. You built the technique, and the ritual was prepared by the two men from the Meyastia faction, and I have nothing to be proud of. ”
Rhaenys covered her eyes and raised the corners of her mouth.
"I'm ready to come to my senses. It won't let your efforts go to waste. ”
He supported my body with one hand and cast his gaze on the woman.
"Miss Aosaki. ”
He called out the name.
"Hmm. I'm really surprised, so what are you going to do now? ”
"If you're surprised, there's room for negotiation. ”
Master said dryly, and then continued.
“…… Moreover, you should have already [understood] when you saw the one just now. ”
“…… Well. ”
Orange was silent for a while.
"It can't be like that, is it? Your performance was also an answer to me. ”
"I'm afraid it's as you can imagine. ”
Master nodded.
I don't know what that means. Whether it was the master who asked Orange what he didn't understand, or the reason why Orange said something and then accepted it, I was completely confused. They spoke the same language as me, but it felt like a special language that only these two people could understand.
Even so, I know that there is some kind of consensus between the two.
"In the meantime, although this is my speculation, I think the reward that your client promised you is-"
"—yes. If it's what you think, it's meaningless. Alas, I feel like I've been deceived. But the other party didn't lie, I made a conclusion too early. ”
Orange shrugged helplessly. Then he looked at the teenager.
"I'm sorry, boy. I've lost my position to kill you. ”
"Can you say this with a look of pity, old woman, it's terrifying. Or do I have a grudge against you? Or do middle-aged and elderly women like little fresh meat to such a perverted level?"
"Good, there's finally a reason to kill you. The next time we meet, you'll wait for me to die. ”
"Why!?"
This man is an idiot, right?
Leenys and I half-squinted at the trembling teenager.
"Uh-huh!"
Master coughed a few times.
"Anyway, except for the boy who can't move at all, let's go to the foyer of the Moon Tower together, of course, [all members]. ”
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Perspective – I
Everybody's gone.
There were still some attackers lying on the ground, but it probably wouldn't be long before they disappeared like they melted into the air.
So I'm alone in a sense.
"Hmm...... [all staff]...... That means me?"
Saying this, I looked at the body, which was no longer bleeding, but definitely not even a rag. If a kid throws a stone at me at this time, there must be someone to talk to.
"—then, time to ask yourself. ”
I put it this way.
"Will I go to the Tower of the Moon for Uncle Ermero's words? It's dangerous, but as an otaku, you can experience the two-dimensional plot firsthand, isn't it something you dream of?"
I answered that question right away.
“NO。 Absolutely not. And I forgot if I was an otaku or not. ”
Maybe I'm just an athletic teenager who likes to read light novels and play mobile games, and even if "I'm" awake, I wouldn't go for that reason.
Simplicity is not stupid.
"So in order to find out the true murderer of the golden girl and the maid, and also to lose the two poor beauties who have both lost their sisters, will I be driven by curiosity and a sense of justice?"
I had an immediate answer to that question.
“NO。 Are those two people who I am? What does it matter to me whether I die or not and by whom I am killed. ”
But if it's me, that's enough.
In that case, I continued to ask.
"What if it's because of the commission? Lyness's commission, as a guard, should still be in effect. So as part of the commission, or as a preferential service, should I keep up?"
So is the answer.
“NO。 Those things will disappear in the process of shielding her from the wind and rain, and it is already my righteousness to not let that mercury maid be snatched away by that group of people. And judging from the various situations and situations encountered from the beginning to the present, the content of the remuneration must be properly settled. ”
But even so, the fear of her mood was real. But it's not worth taking a risk because of this kind of thing.
I really can't die again.
"And what about Grey? she's cute. Even in the clouds, he unswervingly followed Uncle Ermelo. Isn't that very impressive? Besides, I also hurt her, and a girl's skin is precious. If I'm guilty, should I make amends? and if there's any danger, I'll suffer. ”
I answered.
“NO。 That holy spear alone is enough for me to toss, and if I come to liberate it again, the aftermath alone can throw me to the chatter. Besides, with her regenerative ability, the wound is long gone. ”
And I'm sure we're not at the point where we writers can write that kind of plot.
"And then there'...... Aozaki orange bar. NO。 ”
My brain circuits haven't been short-circuited to the point where I go to kill my own person and give them their heads.
- No, no. No matter how much you think about it, you can't find a reason to go. Not only will I get nothing, but I will also be in danger of putting my life in danger.
“…… Ahh ”
I remembered - in vetoing the reason for going for Lyenys, mentioned her mercury maid, but the name was too long to remember all the time. What's it called?
Forget it, anyway, because of that mercury maid, I remembered someone.
Maio Brissan Klenelles.
The reason why he even remembered his full name is simple, because he is the real murderer. The murderer who killed the maid. As for the real culprit of Jin Ji, it is probably Byron. As for how do you know? You know it from the moment you first see the body. But there has been no evidence, so it's hard to say.
In short—it's that Mai O. He's probably going to die. Judging from the memories of the party that came from that "me", he is not the type who will be caught when exposed. I'm sure I'm going to take hostages to escape like some unruly villains, and nine times out of ten I'm going to threaten Orange Aozaki. In that case, there really would be no other end than death.
“…………”
He probably didn't want to die. Even if you kill someone because of something, no matter how perverted and inhumane you are, you will want to live when you really want to die. Although he deserved that kind of retribution, it was probably the only time in his life that he [didn't want to die from the bottom of his heart].
“………… Call. ”
I exhaled.
It was a deep breath – and then I asked myself one final question.
"If it's to save Mai O, to respond to that desire to live. Am I going to drag a body that can't even afford a rag to go against Orange Aosaki, or even to Grey?"
I answered my question right away.
“YES。 ”