How This World Came to Be

This world is a continuation of the world you once lived in, Lord

Souma. In the old calendar, it would have been the start of the twenty second century.

The steady progress of technology saw humanity acquire the ability to

freely change the mass of atoms that make up objects. To put it simply: this

was the technology Tiamat and her kind—the dragons—used when

changing the size of their bodies. With the acquisition of this technology,

mankind saw the same explosion in progress that must have occurred with

the discovery of fire in ancient times. Any object could be increased in size

with the same density of atoms, and any contraption, no matter how

intricate, could be shrunk down to a size too small for the human eye to see.

The former was used to solve the issues of energy and food, while the

latter was used to create all-purpose objects called "nanomachines" that

could do anything. These discoveries served to massively increase the

population of humanity, which had begun to decline. It's fair to say that this

is the era where mankind was at its most active.

With the issues of food and energy resolved, and nanomachines being

put to work improving the soil and maintaining people's health, problems

that had been with mankind for all of our existence, like war and disease,

were solved. Everyone watched these developments with excitement,

wondering, "What will happen next?" and "What new bright future

awaits?" Their hopes probably manifested with the uptick in the birth rate.

Furthermore, thanks to new ways of maintaining health through the use

of nanomachines, the death rate plunged. That wasn't all. By manipulating

genes at the embryonic stage, people were able to significantly extend their

lifespan... Yes, that's right. That dark elf standing next to you. Her race,

along with other long-lived races, is the product of that process. Naturally,

just extending human lifespans on their own would result in explosive

population growth, so they lowered the fertility of these new human races.

With mankind increasing their numbers through these sorts of adjustments,

eventually, they grew to more than their previous highest population. And

the expanded population resumed the expansion into space that had been

delayed by their declining population.

Did mankind fight a war in space, like in manga and anime? That did

happen at the beginning of the advancement into space. But during this new

expansion, they had nanomachines. There was no need to build giant

stations for humanity in space; they could spread nanomachines on a planet

to give it a climate similar to Earth in a short period of time. In other words,

terraforming. That said, as a matter of efficiency, they needed to start from

zero when terraforming the moon, Mars, and other planets of the solar

system. But when terraforming outside the solar system, they would choose

planets that were already similar to Earth.

That's right... This planet you're on now is an extrasolar planet that's

been terraformed. And it's also a place where many experiments were

performed.

They did it to find the human race best suited to this planet for when our

population overflowed out of the solar system. As I said earlier, the

terraforming on this planet wasn't as complete as the terraforming they did

on planets in the solar system. That's why they ended up doing experiments

on a planetary scale.

◇ ◇ ◇

"An experiment site..."

I'd heard about the northern test site and the southern test site before.

Were those relevant here? There was a lot to think about. I'd just been fed

more information than I knew how to respond to, and I felt like I barely

understood the situation at hand.

I turned to gauge everyone else's reactions. Most of them were cocking

their heads to the side.

"Madam Juna... Did you understand her?" Aisha asked.

"About half of it, yes. I lost her when she started talking about planets,"

Juna replied.

"If Juna doesn't get it, then the rest of us never stood a chance," Naden

added.

Beside them, Tomoe turned to Ichiha and asked, "Did you understand,

Ichiha?"

"Just barely... I got the gist of it, but I'm not sure I'm convinced," he

said. "I feel a bit...of dread at the idea that this planet was birthed by people

who would be His Majesty's descendants."

"Yeah... When you put it that way, it's not funny," Yuriga chimed in.

"We're being treated like animals for their experiments."

Tomoe, Ichiha, and Yuriga had been keeping up with the story

surprisingly well, perhaps due to their flexible thinking. And it seemed

Ichiha in particular had an accurate grasp of the situation. He seemed to be

feeling a sense of what you might call "cosmic horror." The fear that there

are entities that created us, and that may one day destroy us, has been

demonstrated in works like those of the Cthulhu Mythos.

"There was mention of test sites. I remember you called this half of the

planet Madam Tiamat's test site, correct? Is that related somehow?" I asked,

and Mao nodded.

"Dividing the test site into the north and south hemispheres was just

another part of the test. In order to test what would result from differences

between the administrators."

As Mao said this, the world map as we recognized it was projected. It

showed the continent of Landia with the Star Dragon Mountain Range at

the center, as well as the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago and the two

islands of the Spirit Kingdom, with a number of dots. What did the dots

represent?

"Investigating what kind of human race was most suitable for this world.

That required the use of samples to see which modifications were best."

"Samples?"

"The races you call beastmen, kobolds, dwarves, elves, and other demihumans. We were investigating which of them has best adapted to this

planet. And the 'test tubes' we used in our experiment were what you call

dungeons."

""Dungeons?!"" Ichiha and I cried out in unison.

So dungeons are part of this too, huh? Did that mean that Genia's theory

that life originated in the dungeons was correct?

Mao continued her explanation.

◇ ◇ ◇

I believe you're aware that, so long as they have a dungeon core,

dungeons will create a certain amount of life and maintain an ecological

system inside them. Nearly all extant dungeons have malfunctioned, so they

produce rejects... In other words: monsters—but they were originally test

tubes used in the search for well-adapted demi-humans.

The original purpose of the dungeons was... Well, to give you an

example: in order to see if that wolf beastgirl you have with you is suitable

for this world, it would create her race, then create an ecological system

inside the dungeon where they could multiply. If the race grew successfully,

they would eventually find the inside of the dungeon too constraining. The

bravest among them would venture outside, and if they could survive in the

world, they would lead their race out with them.

That would mark the end of the dungeon's task for a while, and it would

set about the next breeding experiment. This repeated process led demihumans who could successfully breed and emerge from their dungeons to

proliferate across both the north and south hemispheres.

Tiamat and I were the ones who managed the dungeons that created

demi-humans.

In the northern hemisphere, I watched over my charges as a disembodied

AI. Meanwhile, in the southern hemisphere, Tiamat was given a body—and

in exchange for going through a process of death and rebirth, was allowed

to leave her own descendants, managing the test site over many generations.

Tiamat's kin—the dragons—and the dragonewts born through their

intermixing with the other races, were created at this time. That's why they

don't exist in the northern hemisphere.

Myself and Tiamat... Be that we live eternal lives or limited ones... Live

in solitude or in clans... Investigating the impact of these sorts of

differences was part of the experiment. This was all for the time when

humanity, having grown too large, would one day come to this land...

◇ ◇ ◇

Everyone was speechless.

There were simply too many shocking revelations. The purpose for all

the demi-humans living in this world, the meaning of Madam Tiamat and

Mao's existence... If word of this spread, it would throw society into chaos.

It was a good thing I limited how many people came with me.

Still... Test subjects, huh? Were the monster and dragon bones we

discovered in the royal capital traces of the dungeons creating life long ago?

And they had destroyed themselves so long ago that no records remained

other than fossils...maybe? So, basically, the bones we used to make

Mechadra weren't from dragons of the Star Dragon Mountain Range, but

had been created for an experiment in a dungeon? Was that why no one got

mad at us for using them to fight a giant creature?

Mao continued speaking.

"The environment of this planet gradually developed. Its inhabitable

stature was proven when you were sent here from the past, Souma. You,

who haven't received special demi-human abilities."

Well, if the environment hadn't been ready, I guess I would've just died

when Albert summoned me. I shuddered a little thinking about it.

"But no matter how long we waited, old mankind never came..." Mao

said, her expression saddening.

They never came? After putting a considerable amount of effort into

terraforming the planet and going to the trouble of performing an

experiment with elves, beastmen, and the like?

"Maybe...there was a war between those living on Earth and those in

space...or something like that?" I asked. Like in anime.

Mao shook her head. "No. It's far less bleak, but more stupid than that."

"Less bleak, but more stupid?"

"Yes. Old mankind simply lost their motivation."

◇ ◇ ◇

Once they had completely remade the moon and Mars in the image of

Earth, mankind had an epiphany. From here on, it would just be the same

thing ad nauseam. No matter how they increased their numbers, spreading

their seeds across the universe, it would just be a rehash of the things they

had done up to this point—a remake of their past history.

Mankind had been coming up with new ideas all this time in search of

things they were lacking. Under capitalism, the wealthy prosper, and the

desire to be wealthier than others is what drives people. Under socialism,

wealth is divided to eliminate poverty. Both systems have their light and

dark sides, but at their root, they both address the question of how people

should live, and what will create the greatest happiness in a reality where

there are differences between people.

But what if scientific progress made it so everyone was satisfied? So

that every single person could live a life of plenty? What if, in the quest for

greater wealth, there wasn't much higher to go? What if there was no

poverty? What if the only differences were as small as having two or three

extra grains of rice to eat the next day? Would you go to war over such a

tiny difference? Would you set off to distant stars just because of that?

Would you try to grow your population to be superior to other nations?

Would you want to make children in a society where you could control your

own lifespans?

If there were some project that couldn't be completed in your own

lifetime, you might entrust it to future generations—but in a world where

most things could be done in your own lifetime, would you want to make a

family?

Do you understand what I'm getting at...? People try to do things

because there are things they can't do. It's their nourishment in life. It drives

their emotions and causes them to influence others. Lord Souma, there's a

difference in how long you and your dark elf and dragon wife will live. I'm

sure you struggle with that. There's a difference between you who will

leave them behind, and they who will be left behind. You don't want them

to feel tied down to you. You want to at least leave them a family to be

with. Those very human emotions are born from your struggle against

reality.

However, mankind, once they were satisfied, ran into a dead end there.

The human psyche needed to grow alongside scientific development, but

the growth of the human spirit was too slow to keep up with science. As a

result...mankind turned into shut-ins in the area around Earth.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Huh? They turned into shut-ins?" I couldn't help but echo that

unexpected development back at her.

Mao nodded. "In the sense that they've lost the desire to go outside, and

are satisfied to remain in their home, they've become shut-ins."

"Uh, listen, I get what you're saying, but..." This reminded me of how

once you got used to delivery, you had less desire to go shopping as often.

"The whole human race though, turning into shut-ins? That's hard to

imagine..."

"Science had gone as far as it could at that point, after all. They could

even utilize the energy flowing through their bodies—the beating of their

hearts—to create machines which could maintain themselves, so there

wasn't much reason for humans to work at all. In fact, it was a world where

some saw their only value in life as acting as a battery for machines."

"Okay, yeah, this is starting to sound like a utopia for shut-ins."

We'd gotten to the point where the things being told were hard for me to

imagine. I crossed my arms and cocked my head to one side.

"But if they had run out of inconveniences in their lives, wouldn't they

look to the outside to find more things that were inconvenient?"

In my own time before being brought here, there were people who grew

tired of life in the city and went camping to enjoy the inconvenience of it.

Mao got an awkward look on her face. "You're right, but with the

development of VR technology, they were able to create virtual worlds that

engaged the five senses in a way that was indistinguishable from reality. If

they wanted to experience inconvenience, they could go to a virtual world

to do that without risk to life and limb, and experience whatever

inconvenience it was they liked as many times as they pleased. Whether

that was living in a world of sword and sorcery like this one, or spending a

lifetime in the Reiwa era you came from."

"So... What are you saying?"

"I'm sure that mankind on Earth is providing their machines with energy

while living in whatever virtual worlds they desire. Not in a dystopian way,

like is depicted in your movies, but because they themselves have chosen to

immerse themselves in worlds of falsehoods."

Wow, what a bunch of shut-ins... Was that really what happened to

humanity in the future? Was there anything they couldn't do in a virtual

world?

"Oh! What about family? Even if they fell in love and had children in a

virtual world, that data isn't a real child, right? Was there no one who

pushed back against that?"

"Virtual realities can be shared, so if they share sperm and eggs with the

people they meet there, they can engage in romance in that virtual world,

and have a real child created as a result. Although, because lifetimes are

longer than they were in your era, they placed less importance on blood

ties."

"Right..."

"There were people who opposed this, of course. They would move to

terraformed planets and begin living there. Those were the Lunarians that

Lunarian Orthodoxy speaks of, and the ancestors of the humans living on

this world. That said, due to intermixing with demi-humans, they have

already become a new race distinct from the old humanity."

I had no more objections. If I delved into this any deeper, I was going to

start worrying that this world might be fake too, and that if Madam Tiamat

or Mao told me otherwise, it was just because they were programmed to, so

I decided it was best to stop. Besides, old mankind wasn't what Mao really

wanted to talk about.

"I understand that old mankind never came. Now, I'd like to hear what it

is you have to say," I said. What are the demons? And what are monsters?

Mao nodded. "Because old mankind never came, this planet-sized test

site was left to continue on as it was."

◇ ◇ ◇

I've already mentioned that experimental planets like this one were

prepared with an eye to expanding the active domain of humanity due to

explosive population growth. However, that prediction was off base, and

humanity constrained itself to Earth and its immediate neighborhood,

leaving planets like this alone. Even after being abandoned, we

administrators continued the experiments because they were our reason for

existing. That means we created dungeons, birthing races suitable for this

planet for centuries, millennia, longer than you can imagine... Over and

over...

Eventually, dungeons started to malfunction. They spewed out life that

was clearly warped. That is what monsters are.

The monsters' bodies were rotting or appeared to be like patchworks of

other creatures because the malfunctioning dungeons have lost their ability

to properly assemble life. Tiamat, the administrator of the south, was

allowed to produce her own bloodline and renew herself over generations.

Between generations, she succeeded in removing the program that made her

create dungeons.

That must be why there's a limited number of dungeons in the southern

hemisphere.

In the northern hemisphere, I was given the task of administering the

region permanently, so I still create dungeons that malfunction, spewing out

monsters. Worse yet, they've created a number of massive, powerful

monsters of a sort that don't exist in the south. The north doesn't have a

large continent like Landia; instead, it consists of countless islands, both

large and small, but the intelligent lifeforms that are my children still found

their domain gradually being eaten away by monsters. In the end, they were

chased down to one last island. I couldn't bear to just watch anymore...

While it may be due to a malfunction, I was the one who gave birth to

the monsters, so I didn't have the authorization to harm them. I could use

that robot weapon to intercept the children of Tiamat, but I didn't have

permission to attack monsters. That's why...clinging to one sliver of hope, I

moved to the southern hemisphere with the surviving intelligent lifeforms. I

hoped that Tiamat would destroy me, who was bound by my programming

to keep on creating malfunctioning dungeons.

If I'm destroyed, at the very least, there won't be any new dungeons

created in the north, and we can close the gate between the north and south.

◇ ◇ ◇

"...That is how we came to appear in this land," Mao finished.

That was an incredible story. Oh! That's why she attacked the Star

Dragon Mountain Range, huh? In order to have Madam Tiamat destroy her.

"You're saying you had that Jangar, but you still couldn't handle the

monsters?" I asked.

"That Jangar wasn't meant for combat to begin with. Don't you think it

would be strange for a weapon meant for practical warfare to look like a

robot out of your anime?"

"Good point."

"That was a mock-up, one made to recreate the anime robot. Think of it

like a museum making a replica of a trebuchet. Even if it's functional, it's

just an antique, out of place in the modern era. That Jangar replica and that

strange 'mobile fortress for siege warfare' were the only weapons at my

disposal."

A replica, and a bizarre weapon... That's what the combined forces of

mankind led by the Empire lost to? What would Maria think if she were

here? They were made with tech from the far future, so they were still

plenty threatening in this era. And despite having those things, the demons

couldn't use them against the monsters.

"That means...the demons have been fighting the monsters directly?

With the kind of old equipment they were wearing during our staredown

with them on the coast?"

"Yes..."

They must have struggled more than I could imagine. It had to have

been agonizing for Mao, being unable to lend them a hand. She was an

eternal being, so she would've had to bear that pain for an incredibly long

time. I could see why she was so desperate in the Star Dragon Mountain

Range.

Mao looked hard at me and said, "And yet, ten years after coming to the

south, I found hope."

"Hope?"

"By that, I mean you, Lord Souma."

Me? My companions all turned and stared in my direction.

Mao continued, "You were called by the summoning system in

Parnam...so you can stop me."

◇ ◇ ◇

The Parnam summoning system was originally created to transport the

large volumes of material and immigrants that were expected from Earth.

To put this in terms that are easy for you to understand, Lord Souma, think

of it as a massive 'Anywhere Door' with a time travel function. It could

move people, material, and massive weapons like Jangar instantly here

from Earth.

That said, most of the nanomachines that powered it have ceased

functioning and now sleep deep underground. With the energy remaining

around Parnam, it can only summon one person every few centuries. That's

right. Using the rite of hero summoning is what called you here.

However, as I said before, the system was never used for migration

because mankind on Earth turned into shut-ins. The system is no longer

needed, but the humans who came here because they rejected the virtual

world, and became the ancestors of the current humans on this planet,

decided to leave it in place.

The original Tiamat, the other administrators who are remembered as

god-beasts in various regions, and I are what we call the "old ones." We,

and other systems, like the dungeons, are protected so that test subjects

can't influence us. If the change of generations caused humans to lose their

administrator rights, they would have no ability to deal with a system that

malfunctions like I have.

Because they were concerned about that possibility, the migrants built a

city over Parnam, allowing it to amass energy through the daily lives of the

inhabitants, and summon a human with administrator rights in times of

crisis. In order to ensure the summoned individual would be able to

communicate with the locals, they even went so far as to prepare a system

that would let the person understand the local language, and made it so

others could understand what the person said.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Ah! So that's how it is, huh!"

"Whuh?! Sire?" Aisha exclaimed, surprised by my own sudden

exclamation.

"Oh, sorry. Listening to her story, something she said stood out to me."

"It...did?"

"Yeah. In the past, I've thought about why my language ability is

warped."

The language ability the summoning system gave me wasn't working

quite right. I could understand the written language in this world and could

read and write it. But spoken language was different. I could understand the

local language, and Liscia and the others could understand my Japanese too.

But they couldn't pick up words that didn't have equivalent concepts in this

world, and they didn't understand things communicated through song.

When Juna sang the songs she'd listened to from my phone, she was just

reproducing the sounds verbatim. That meant it worked on the brains of the

people I was speaking to. If it made it so I could speak the language, like

how I could write it, there wouldn't be any need for such a roundabout

system. It seemed the summoning system desperately wanted to keep my

language intact.

That was something I was able to infer when Mao said "supported

language detected" in the Star Dragon Mountain Range. It made sense to

me now: the reason for the hero summoning system, and why I was called

to this world.

"Was I called here to do maintenance when you started acting up? And

my Japanese was left intact because it requires a language from Earth."

"You were called by the people of this world, not at our behest, but the

rest is more or less as you've surmised. That's why I invited you here. To

have you terminate my functions now that I've developed a bug."

This was why she'd asked me to "come north" back then? It sure took

me a while...

"Is there any reason I was chosen? It sounds like anyone would have

done."

"While it's true that you were called here by sheer coincidence, you

were chosen due to a number of preexisting conditions. Firstly, the kind of

people sleeping on Earth now, where bodily modifications have advanced

so far, are not suitable as administrators. That said, it would be pointless

calling someone from so long ago that they can't understand what we're

talking about."

I nodded, and she continued.

"That means we need the person to be from the twentieth or twenty-first

century, and a young person with no relatives who will cause minimal

impact if they were to disappear. There might also be some fine tuning for a

high level of communication ability or other factors in order to ensure we're

able to understand one another too."

So I was just chosen at random from a list of people who would fit this

world's needs? I was a product of coincidence, not destiny.

"That's...not really fair, now is it?" Juna said, looking at Mao harshly.

"Even if he had no family, His Majesty had a house and a family grave, and

probably friends too. It's just too cruel to tear him away from all that and

write it off as a 'coincidence.'"

"Yeah," Naden agreed, nodding. "I'm glad he came to this world and we

got to meet him, but it feels bad hearing about why it happened."

Aisha looked somewhat dissatisfied too. I was grateful for their concern.

Mao cocked her head to the side and looked at them. "We weren't the

ones who called Sir Souma here though?"

"""Oh."""

Come to think of it, she was right. It was the former king who called me,

and Maria who put him up to it. Mao had no involvement in that at all.

Albert and Maria were already part of the family too, so I was kind of out of

people I could get mad at over it.

Whatever the case, I more or less knew what Mao wanted to use me for.

"I understand that granting your wish will lead to solving the problem of

the Demon Lord's Domain. So what is it you need me to do first?" I asked.

Mao brought up a projection of the coastline. In the middle of the beach

and ocean scenery, there was one space that looked all warped and wobbly.

"That is the gate we used to come south. This city was built for the same

purpose as Parnam, but I used its functions to transport the city itself. The

hole that opened up in the process is still calling forth monsters from the

north."

"Ohh, that's what they referred to as the gate to another world."

Back at the beginning, I was told about a gate that appeared at the

northernmost point of the continent and started spitting out monsters.

Mao nodded. "The northern and southern hemispheres were separate test

sites, and normally it would be impossible for them to interfere with one

another. The end of the northern sea is unexplored territory, but there is a

perception interference field that prevents travel from north to south and

south to north."

"So our map was just the southern hemisphere..."

"Yes. And opening the northern gate twisted that law. Lord Souma.

Please say, 'I authorize you to close that transportation gate.'"

"What happens if I do...?"

"I will be able to prevent monsters from the northern hemisphere from

coming through. That should also bring an end to the periodic outbreaks of

monsters that you people refer to as the 'demon waves.'"

"Huh?! The demon waves?!" Yuriga cried out in surprise.

"I can't believe they can be solved so easily..." Ichiha said, blinking.

Come to think of it, when Ichiha and Yuriga lived in the Union of

Eastern Nations, their countries were both on the verge of being destroyed

by the demon waves. I could end that horror by giving her permission...?

Mao had said, "The demon waves are a threat to us as well. Because I

gave birth to the monsters, I cannot stop their invasion. Since I cannot use

weapons like Jangar, the survivors from the north have been desperately

hanging on in this one city." That must have been frustrating for her. Even

if Mao here was an AI, she was made to have humanlike emotions, so she

must have struggled with it.

I looked over to Madam Tiamat, just to be sure it was okay, and she

nodded. I felt like she was saying, "Please, make her wish come true."

"Got it... 'Mao, I authorize you to close that transportation gate.'"

"Thank you."

With that, the distorted area in the image instantly vanished. Now, all it

showed was the beach and the sea. This was the moment when one of the

problems confronting mankind disappeared without a trace.

"Was that...good?" I asked.

"Yes. It will do for now. The largest threat to my children's lives is taken

care of. Thank you so much," Mao said with a smile.

Whoa, hold on. Did she just say "for now"? I thought. "Um... By 'for

now,' you mean?"

"The malfunctions I'm experiencing need to be dealt with one by one.

We've dealt with the most pressing issue, but if we don't move on to the

others, another even larger issue may eventually rear its head. This hasn't

changed the fact that the number of dungeons in the northern hemisphere is

growing, and it's turned into a crucible filled with monsters. If something

were to open another gate, it would be the same thing all over again."

"""......"""

Didn't that mean this was a deep-rooted problem that would take a long

time to resolve? Mao smiled as I stared at her, speechless.

"It's true that the problem will be hard to solve in the short term. But

that doesn't change the fact that the immediate crisis has been averted. You

all must be tired, so please, stay in this city for a time. I'm sure you're

concerned for your wounded."

"Huh?! Oh, yeah! Are Carla and the others okay?!" I asked.

Mao turned her palm upwards and gestured like a guide on a tour bus. "I

will show you. Please, follow me."

She led us to another wide-open space, different from the one before.

The ceiling was high, and it was as spacious as Genia's dungeon laboratory,

but the massive thing occupying the center of the room made the

atmosphere feel strangely oppressive.

Is this...a fishbowl? There was a tank that looked like a massive version

of one of the roundish fishbowls that looked like an upside-down jellyfish.

It was big enough that Naden could have fit in there in her ryuu form if she

coiled herself up.

The massive tank was filled with a translucent green liquid, and there

were countless people floating in it. Some wore Friedonian uniforms, others

wore the pirate-style armor of the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, and

yet others wore the nomad armor of the Great Tiger Empire. Carla, who had

gone down while protecting me, was in there with them.

"Carla!" I shouted, rushing over when I noticed her. Weren't they

supposed to be treating her?! This is like they're preserving her in

formaldehyde!

As I was thinking that, Mao appeared beside me.

"Please, don't worry. These people are being treated."

"Treatment? That's what this is?"

"Yes. They are suspended in a breathable liquid medicine while

nanomachines and a specially cultured chlorella algae are treating their

wounds. This recovery system can heal a large number of people all at

once. There may be scars left behind, but it will save them even if their

hearts had recently stopped."

"Okay then..."

I had no idea how this future tech worked, but if Mao said that she could

handle it, she probably could. I felt bad at the bit about there being some

scars left, but as long as Carla survived, that was good enough. After all, if

she died, I couldn't apologize or let her get mad at me.

Relieved, I bowed my head to Mao.

"Please, take care of them for us."

"Yes. You can count on me... Now then." After giving me a firm nod,

Mao cocked her head to the side. "I am treating the soldiers of the other

army at the same time as yours, Lord Souma, but are you sure you wanted

me to do that?"

"Yeah... Please do. Heal Fuuga's soldiers as well."

If I only had her treat my people, Fuuga wouldn't take that lying down.

It might get used as propaganda to say we were in bed with the demons.

More importantly, letting Fuuga's men experience the benefits of the

demons' technology might help prevent trouble in the future.

Aisha began counting on her fingers.

"Erm... We closed the door to the monsters in the north, and we've

checked that Carla and the others are all right. The battle with the demons is

on hold at the moment... Was there anything else?"

When she asked that, I crossed my arms and twisted my head around.

Things that were resolved, and things that weren't... I felt like there were

very few objectives that existed between those two categories that we could

act on now.

"Now that we know the state of the northern hemisphere, closing the

door on it's not going to solve that problem, but...it does buy us time. It's

not something we're able to do anything about immediately. I don't want to

rush Carla and the others' treatment either... So, if there's one thing we can

do now, it's put an end to hostilities and talk about what we can do in the

future. Both of those will have to wait until we've joined back up with

Excel and the main force though."

"Um," Yuriga raised her hand, "I think we need an explanation for my

brother. There's going to be problems if we meet up as is."

She had a point. I didn't want him ruining the chance for dialogue.

"Let's contact him via broadcast... That's all we can do for now, I

think?" I said.

"We're suddenly out of things to do, huh?" Juna said, putting a hand on

her cheek.

We all looked at one another awkwardly. The problems we faced were

unbelievably massive, yet we were already done with everything we could

do about them immediately. It felt like we had too much time on our hands.

Mao chuckled and said, "Please, rest in these lands awhile, if you don't

mind. We obviously don't have space for all those soldiers to stay, so they'll

need to camp outside the walls—but a number of you will be welcome to

come walk around the city."

"You sure? I'll give strict orders to my people not to cause trouble, but

we did fight a war with you in the past, remember?"

"Yes." Mao nodded. "I expect my children will walk at your side for a

long time to come, so I'd like to slowly build mutual understanding. To that

end, you need to learn about us, and we need to learn about you."

"Got it..." I looked over to my companions. "You heard her. I'm going to

go back to the carrier and contact everyone with the jewel. Aisha and Juna,

you come with me."

"Yes, sir," Aisha said with gusto.

"Understood." Juna put her hands together over her heart and nodded.

Naden raised her hand, looking at me with some dissatisfaction. "Hold

on, Souma... What about me?"

"I have a favor to ask of you, Naden," I said, plopping a hand down on

top of her head. "I'd like you to guard Tomoe, Ichiha, and Yuriga. I've got a

job for them to do. I'll send Hal and Ruby with you as well, so protect them

for me. Tomoe, Ichiha, Yuriga...you heard how it is, okay?"

"""O-Okay."""

The three of them stood at attention, smiling wryly.

"I want you to go on ahead and scout out the city. You're all adults now,

so instead of having you tag along with someone more mature, I want you

to walk around on your own, learning what interests you, and what you

think you ought to know. What you see and hear, and what you think about

it, will have a direct influence on our national policy. Keep that in mind."

They weren't kids anymore. They weren't just tagging along with us

either. It wasn't fair to expect them to stay where we could watch them. We

were still bound together as family, but I was going to have to rely on the

three of them as individuals in the future. It made me feel intensely aware

of how time was going by—but, well...that was nothing to be negative

about. It was proof that the next generation was growing up.

"I'm counting on you three."

"Yes, Big Brother."

""Yes.""

They all gave firm nods, and I turned to Mao, satisfied.

"Come to think of it...I haven't heard the name of this city yet, have I?

What's it called?" I asked.

Mao looked straight into my eyes and answered. "This city was to be the

'door' that welcomed people from the mother planet, and so it was named

Haalga."

"Haalga..."

"Yes. I believe, if you trace them back, your Parnam derives from the

same word."

"Wha?! Parnam was supposed to mean that?"

Language drift turned it from Haalga to Parnam? That's...a pretty

shocking development, isn't it? If Haalga meant door, like Mao said it did,

then even if I was summoned by coincidence, it was an inevitability that

someone would be summoned to Parnam. Thinking back to when I was

summoned, I was struck by an uncanny feeling I couldn't put into words.