"To put it bluntly, the Emperor thinks that if I leave Holy Terra for the dark side of the Empire, I will need Konrad Coetze—to be precise, the nature of his 'judgment,' and my soul to form something-"

As Rika Fujimaru had just spoken, and was about to start a tirade, the Imperial Regent interrupted her with a simple gesture and then tilted her head slightly in the direction of the door. The girl turned her head a little dazed, but only had time to catch a glimpse of the corner of the staff in the hand of the scribe of the sub-regiment who had slipped out of the door smoothly, and then the door of the room closed smoothly and silently.

“…… Is it necessary? Fujimaru Rika turned back to Kiriman, who had managed to clear the scene with just one look, but he didn't speak, but looked back at her with a serious expression.

In fact, Kiliman didn't know if it was necessary. First, he didn't know what Fujimaru Rika was going to say next, and second, no matter how much he blocked the news, for the core management of the current fleet, it was impossible for Conrad Coetzes who came back from the dead and the five thousand cubs he was inexplicably caught to hide. But the conversation was clearly about some detail, and Kiliman instinctively felt that the less specific things were known, the better.

Fortunately, Rika Fujimaru didn't care about this either, after all, one of her most important listeners was still sitting on the bed, clearly exuding a black aura that was recognizable to the naked eye. After a short pause, she continued to tell the story:

"Again, to put it simply, the Emperor thinks it is necessary to form a mystical echo between my soul and his essence."

Due to the lack of upfront information, Killiman did not understand the necessity of this move at all, but Colacs seemed to understand something, and immediately retorted: "I can probably understand that this necessity exists, but I still have to question the candidate." ”

"Excuse me, I don't get it." Naturally, Killman interjected, "What exactly do you mean by 'necessity'?" ”

After glancing at Killiman and making sure he really hadn't noticed anything, Corax inexplicably showed a complicated expression: "You're still exactly the same as before. ”

"What?"

"This girl doesn't have a subspace projection of her own." Instead of answering the question, Koraks took it upon himself to explain the previous one, "This should have been completely impossible - even untouchable people, when viewed from a subspace perspective, can see a structure similar to a black hole." But for her, even that doesn't exist. ”

Killiman's expression was visibly confused: "But it can't be - I mean, many of my think tanks have been in contact with her. If there was such a glaring irregularity in her, they would-"

"—that's because she 'looks' projected." "A small patch of black mist, on a scale similar to that of any mortal, is inconspicuous, so that no one pays much attention to it," said Koraks. But it wasn't her own, it was added later, and while it was largely in sync with herself in the real world, if you could observe both at the same time, there would always be a subtle delay difference between them. I felt a little incongruous the moment I saw her, and now that I think about it, maybe that's the problem. ”

He paused, then reluctantly continued, as if it made him uncomfortable to say the name: "That little projection belongs to the essence of Conrad Coetzes. ”

With a blank expression, Kiriman looked in the direction of Rika Fujimaru. He wanted to get some further explanation from her, but found that her own expression was just as dazed as his.

"I never knew about it, I mean that a little bit of Conrad's essence was faked into my 'subspace projection' part." She said, "I thought I had always looked like I was 'no projection', but everyone felt that this level of 'wrongness' was not worth mentioning in me, who was 'very wrong' in every sense, so everyone didn't specifically say it......

“……”

“……”

"Wait a minute." After a brief pause, Corax asked again: "If not for this 'falsified projection' reason, what exactly do you mean by 'necessary occult echoes'?" ”

"No, I think she should first explain why-" Killiman turned back to Rika Fujimaru from the direction of Coraks again, "-no subspace projection?" ”

"It's simple, because I'm not a person of this universe. This was clear to the emperor from the beginning, or rather, it could be said that this was the premise of everything. "Although there are only some 'understandable' 'normal' differences between me and ordinary people in this world in terms of appearance, structure, and genes, the very fact that I 'exist' in this universe is very unreasonable from the occult point of view because of the fundamental differences in the rules of operation of the two universes. If I do nothing, I will soon be excluded from the universe itself because of this 'unreasonableness'. In order to stay, it's a ...... to connect with someone important in this universe Contingency measures, a cover for 'unreasonable', probably like this. ”

"Then why can't it be Kiliman?" "I don't know why you didn't count my father in this question, but even if it's just a selection from the Primordial, isn't the 'Imperial Regent' obviously more important than a long-dead renegade?" ”

“…… Actually, I didn't have a choice. It was chosen by the emperor. Fujimaru Rika began to shake the pot with a blank face, "Another reason is that the emperor feels that Conrad's essence can be a kind of insurance when 'accidents' happen. ”

"What 'accident'?" Koraks asked. But judging from his demeanor, he didn't really want to know the answer to the question, but instead acted like "I'd like to hear what else you can say."

"You see, I don't have a subspace projection." Rika Fujimaru said, "This is because there was no subspace in my original universe, and there was no subspace projection for human beings. But if I'm stuck in this universe for a long time and have to adapt to the rules here, maybe my soul will gradually form my own subspace projection - the Emperor thinks that this possibility needs to be countered in advance, because to be honest, my soul ...... There are a lot of cows, ghosts, snakes, and gods. Allowing them to become subspace entities without restriction could have some disastrous consequences, and the nature of Conrad's 'trial' should theoretically limit this to some extent. ”

This sounds like a fantasy: a little girl who is certainly not an adult, or even about fifteen or sixteen years old in appearance, claims that "there is a monster in my soul", and most people will laugh it off when it is said in public. But Fujimaru Rika even turned her head away weakly when she said this, and did not look at anyone present, which basically proves that at least she herself does believe in the truth of this sentence.

Killiman looked at Corax in confusion again, and this time, even Corax shook his head at his brother with an "uncertain" expression.

"Why didn't my think tank have-"

"—because the point of 'probing souls' is not necessary in many cases, and it is offensive to think about it." Fujimaru Rika replied, "Usually, it's normal for everyone to use spiritual energy to secretly listen to each other's moods, surface thinking, and the like, and it's completely enough in terms of practicality, and it's not only easy to find out when you put in the effort to probe the soul, but you can only do it openly, and unless there is a special ritual need, there is often no reward for doing so." ”

"What's in your soul?" Corax followed up and asked, and Fujimaru Rika showed a slightly embarrassed expression: "Do you have to say it?" ”

Kiriman settled his mind and decided to look at it differently: "So at least let us know how much damage would be done if that 'catastrophic consequence' happened?" ”

"I don't know." "It's not that I don't want to say it, it's just that I'm going to have to speak like a prophet: there are countless possibilities for the future, but no one can be sure in what direction it will go until it progresses to the point where it can be contained." All we can do now is add weight to the future itself, trying to deflect it in a better direction, but whether it will actually deviate in that direction, no one can say. ”

Colax was thoughtful, but Killiman only gave him a disapproving look.

Miwoo (six o'clock)

(End of chapter)