No Game No Life Vol 5 Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Try

Part 1

“Waaaaaahhhhhh!!”

- The capital of the Elchean Federation, Elchea

The last fortress of the Imanity - The lowest-ranked among the

「Sixteen Races」

Until a mere few months earlier, it was a country on the brink

of extinction, being forced down to its last city.

However now it had annexed the large maritime country, the

「Eastern Union」, and was expanding its territory at a speed

never-before-seen.

A sharp, loud scream of agony came from the capital of a

nation that was slowly turning from a 「Nation」 to a

「Federation」.

- In an instant.

The workers within the city that were extremely busy froze for

a moment as though time had stopped completely, but it was

only for an instant, and they soon resumed their work,

seemingly as if nothing had ever happened.

Yep – it was a normal occurrence, and everyone there was used

to it.

Everyone knew that 「That person」 was probably yelling

again.

And the reason why that person was causing a commotion was

probably due to a reason as normal as it could get.

Sometimes a sympathetic atmosphere would billow over the

entire city, although everyone still had to return to their own

workstations afterward.

“Argh!! Are you an idiot? You’re an idiot! You are an idiot,

right!?”

The red-haired girl skilfully reconstructed her sentence thrice,

and yelled again.

- Stephanie Dora, commonly known as Steph.

She was the head of the Dora family, possessing the t.i.tle of a

d.u.c.h.ess, and she was the granddaughter of the late king as

well, being a blue blood princess.

She would definitely be a ladylike woman with incredible

potential in the future – however those features weren’t present

at all at that moment, and she had absolutely no way to explain

away the situation she was in.

She sat on a chair, scratching her head furiously, looked up and

roared loudly.

“…Who’s an idiot, des?”

This query was raised by the Werebeast that was sitting crosslegged

on the floor beside Steph – Hatsuse Izuna.

Her age appeared to be in the single-digit range, being a young

yukata-wearing girl with huge fox-like ears and a bushy tail.

The book in her hand was upside-down, however Steph didn’t

bother correcting her.

“I mean Sora and s.h.i.+ro, no, it’s me!! What did I say – leave it

to me – argh!! Am I an idiot? I’m an idiot!!”

She continued yelling with her arms spread wide.

“Find the real reason why the Seirens Empress is hibernating

from the library of the late king!! Leave it to me!! Isn’t this

what an idiot would say!? How many books do you think there

are here!? And, what I want to say is!”

She stopped for a count, and surveyed the bookshelves that

covered all the surrounding walls.

“Why and how would I accept a task like searching for a book

which existence is unclear so easily!!”

They were in the secret room of the late king – his secret

library.

The late king had played the role of a foolish king in order to

research and find out the contents of the games of other nations

which involve magic or supernatural abilities, as well as how

the Imanity themselves could triumph over them.

The records that he had spent his life on – the inheritance of

this great man, was all displayed in this room, covering the

walls around them.

His great work was compiled in over a thousand books,

completely filling up the library.

Even though they were already arranged according to the date

written – there was yet to be any hint of when the late king had

approached the Seirens, so they could only inspect them one by

one. Steph let out an anguished cry upon realizing that was the

task they had to undergo, which was – what had happened

earlier.

And the worst part was –

Steph pointed towards Izuna with a pained expression on her

face but no tears to fully express it – the Werebeast who was

holding a book upside-down.

“What the heck does Sora think Izuna can do? She can’t even

understand Imanity!!”

“Steph-kou, you’re really loud, des. Doesn’t it look like I’m

learning now, des.” [1] - What?

“C-could you please wait? What did you call me just now?”

“…? Grandpa said that Steph is a d.u.c.h.ess before, des.”

“Why did you have to shorten it!? It makes me feel extremely

insulted!” [2]

“…Why, des? Steph-kou.”

Izuna looked over at Steph with her head tilted.

“Ah, aaaaahhhhh, don’t insult me with your round, ignorant

eyes!? If I open the door to a new world by accident while

sleep deprived, how are you going to make it up to me!?”

Steph banged her head against the corner of a table in

frustration, however Izuna replied coldly:

“Steph-kou, stop it, let’s get to work, des. Grandpa is still

waiting for us, des.”

“…Guh…y-you’re right, there’s no use lamenting like this.”

Yes, her grandfather – Hatsuse Ino was being held hostage by

the Seirens.

Izuna was tired as well, but even she was trying her best to

learn the Imanity language, so Steph had no right to complain –

Steph took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down.

After which she corrected Izuna.

“Speaking of which, Izuna…that book’s upside down.”

“…! I-I knew that, des. I-it was on purpose, of course. Des!?”

Izuna hurriedly flipped her book right side up, while Steph

continued to correct her.

“Also, even if you really didn’t mess up it’s fine, but the

Imanity language is different from the Werebeast language, it’s

read horizontally!”

“-? There’s a difference between reading horizontally and

vertically, des?”

Izuna widened her eyes with a curious expression on her face.

“…Izuna, I’ve never asked you before, but how old are you?”

Izuna began counting off numbers from her fingers slowly after

hearing the question.

She replied with an unconfident question:

“I…I’m supposed to start counting from zero, right?”

- Steph instantly understood.

It was completely reasonable that Izuna would be so close to

Sora and s.h.i.+ro, because they were essentially the same kind of

people.

They were geniuses at video games, however they knew

nothing else other than that.

Steph sighed and pa.s.sed her another book.

“…Izuna, you should start from this one.”

“What kind of book is this, des?”

“It’s a book that I used while I was still studying to learn the

Werebeast language, it’s in a game format between the two

countries –“

“Oh, I understand, des.”

Upon hearing the word game, Izuna immediately s.n.a.t.c.hed the

book from her and began flipping through it at a furious pace.

Steph approved of her newfound motivation, and knew she was

actually trying her best.

But if she read that fast she probably wouldn’t understand

anything – Steph looked up at the ceiling and let out a long

sigh.

“A…anyway I need to search one by one –“

Just as Steph was undergoing her solemn revelation…

Grumble~~~~

She heard a noise and voice that made her revelation instantly

dissipate.

“-Steph-kou, I’m hungry, des. Bring food, des.”

As though a switch within her had been flicked, Izuna spoke

suddenly to Steph and closed her book with a loud smack.

She was motivated, energetic, and wanted to save her grandpa.

But despite that, she actually said – bring food.

Izuna requested that with her huge round eyes that didn’t carry

any malicious intent.

The young female Werebeast scratched her large ears with her

feet while continuously waving her bushy tail from left to right.

Steph was forced to make a decision upon seeing her

unbelievably cute appearance.

One, forget everything and just collapse.

Two, make food for this inexplicably cute creature.

After struggling with herself for some time – her sleepiness

finally succ.u.mbed to Izuna’s cuteness.

“A-alright… you can’t do anything with an empty stomach

anyway… I’ll just make something simple to eat with the

ingredients I have at hand.”

“Mm, I really want to eat fish, but I’ll restrain myself, you are

forgiven, des.”

Just like that, Steph dragged herself slowly out of the library.

…Coming back to the main topic, you all still remember that

this is Elchea, right?

At that time Steph could have just collapsed without a care in

the world and leave Izuna’s meals to the chefs in the kitchen,

however she had completely forgot about this selection. Steph

lifelessly trudged out of the library, while Izuna followed her

with her tail still waggling, and no-one bothered to remind

them about it.

Part 2

Let’s switch the scene – to twenty thousand meters in the air.

Sora began thinking at an alt.i.tude almost three times as high up

as the Himalayas.

How should he describe the scenery in front of him?

- First, please imagine a Rubik’s cube.

Then hand this Rubik’s cube that requires a certain level of

intelligence over to someone that is pretty far off from that

certain level of intelligence.

After being forcibly taken apart by a pair of pliers, the splinters

of the Rubik’s cube would then be splattered all about the

floor.

Now resist the urge to complain, and repeat those previous

actions about a thousand more times.

So? Do you get it now?

The scenery was arranged in such a fas.h.i.+on – which was the

scenery around Sora.

“Welcome to my hometown located on the back of the

Phantasmas, the floating city – Avant Heim.”

With her back facing the small mountain of splinters of

Rubik’s cubes.

Jibril introduced her 「City」 with a sweet smile on her face,

while Sora responded dumbly:

“Um, I’m pretty sure that all the cities I know of at least have

roads in them.”

The scenery around them was knitted and woven with

countless gigantic cubes stacked upon each other.

In the eyes of a renowned artist, there would probably be some

meaningful theme to it.

However, regretfully, the eighteen-year-old mortal virgin Sora

could only describe it with one word.

Which was – chaotic.

“Anyway, Jibril – let me say this about the Flügel.”

“…「Un.o.bstructed s.p.a.ces」…are important…”

- Sora and others began working at the same time as Steph and

Izuna.

To discover the true conditions to awaken the Empress of the

Seirens – so, in order to carry out comparison and evaluation

with people that had underwent the same game, they had went

to the one place in the world that stored the most information.

Which meant – the city of the Flügel, Avant Heim.

“Ah, Master, don’t stray too far away from me, as the air here

is somewhat thin.”

Sora and s.h.i.+ro nodded complacently after hearing Jibril’s

words.

Also Sora had absolutely no idea of how they should proceed

from there.

“…Right, if only the Flügel stay here, there isn’t a need for

public transport services at all…”

In the 「City」 below them, there weren’t any doors,

windows, nor roads. To be honest, beings that could move

about without any form of restriction didn’t need those

things. Although they could understand that, the fact that the

entire place was constructed with huge, countless cubes denied

people any sense of perspective, and since they had nothing to

compare the place to they couldn’t gauge how exactly big it

was.

“…It’s not like a city…it’s more like a jigsaw puzzle…”

s.h.i.+ro expressed her easily understandable thoughts, after which

she mumbled while looking up:

“…The sky is…blue?”

At twenty thousand meters up the place should be at the doors

of outer s.p.a.ce, so they shouldn’t be able to see blue skies at

all…

“Avant Heim is a Phantasma ranked second among the

「Sixteen Races」. This race is ranked even higher than the

race that is the source of the Elemental Galleries in this world –

the Elementals, and they are organisms completely independent

from all normal forms of reproduction. To put it simply…

Avant Heim is another world entirely, that’s all you need to

know.”

Even though the air in the atmosphere didn’t seem to be

enough for her Masters – Jibril still continued to explain.

“”Hmm…I see – I don’t get it.””

Sora and s.h.i.+ro nodded as one with the same focused

expression.

“No matter the Flügel or the Phantasma, you lot completely

refuse to work along terms comprehensible by others, and that

for some reason makes us feel relaxed.”

After a line of sarcasm, Sora looked towards the horizon, and

saw something under a particularly tall tree – could it be that

his eyes were deceiving him… probably not, there was

something underneath that appeared to be a dragon skull, and it

was decorated lavishly and carefully as well, then left there in

the open just like that –

“…Jibril, I don’t understand the art direction of this city at

all.”

“What!? This place will eventually be the throne of the

Masters, to think that you’d actually dislike it, it really makes

me disappointed…”

Hearing Sora’s grumbling, Jibril replied somewhat dispiritedly.

“Speaking of which, you should probably save this girl

right?”

Sora spoke while pointing towards –

“Aaaaahhhh, the sun! The sun! I’m going to melt! I’m going

to melt, burn and evaporate!”

Plum was crouching down with her body scrunched up into a

ball and her hood covering her face while crying continuously.

“Ah, I’m sorry… I completely forgot about you, are you still

alive?”

“I’ll be dead in a few seconds! My power is decreasing

drastically!!”

For a Dhampir like Plum the sunlight was fatal to them; and

she appeared to be barely fending off the sunlight with her

magic, but that magic itself seemed to be siphoning off even

more of her energy.

“That’s it, Jibril, it’s not good to keep Izuna and Steph

waiting, so just fly us over to the place where all the

information is concentrated. Also, for Plum, it would be best if

it’s indoors –“

“OK, so please grasp my arms, and then –“

She appeared somewhat nervous – but yet her expression was

simultaneously unreadable as well, and she grasped onto Sora

and s.h.i.+ro’s arms and spoke:

“…Masters, I understand that it’s extremely rude for me to

raise such requests – but could you please agree to two requests

of mine?”

“…What is it, it’s rare that you’re this serious.”

“- Please don’t be disappointed, and please believe.”

…Sora didn’t understand her at all.

And Jibril merely spoke this one sentence, then shouted: “That

thing over there.”

“Y-yes!?”

Plum who was referred to as “That thing over there”, replied

with only her eyes showing themselves from beneath her hood.

“I don’t mind leaving you behind here – so could you please

hurry up?”

“Ah, I’ll be there right this instant, don’t leave me –“

Plum hurriedly stood up and dashed over, and in the instant she

grabbed onto Jibril – the scenery changed as well.

Part 3

There – it was probably within one of the cubes they had saw

from a distance earlier.

The place they were in was even more solemn and immense

than the Elchean National Library Jibril had hogged for herself

– it was a humongous library.

The high-perched ceilings appeared to stretch up to ten stories

high, and the interior was designed like an ancient ruin, with

stone-made pillars and stairs, intersecting corridors and curved

walkways with intertwining vines growing all over them.

And – those things that looked like 「Pillars」 were actually

bookshelves.

On the other hand, there was random memorabilia scattered

around the entire place as well, and stairs and walkways

arranged in impossible fas.h.i.+ons like a surrealist M. C. Escher

painting were all over the place – and what lit them up was,

gigantic fixtures of painted gla.s.s that were definitely not on

any walls, as well as infinite amounts of floating lanterns.

It was a dream-like yet elegant place – but it was a

blasphemous library completely incomprehensible to the likes

of the Imanity.

But leaving that aside for now, Sora spoke while pointing up at

something:

“…Jibril, that was probably your doing, right?”

It was probably the effect of the large amount of air that Jibril

had transported for the sake of Sora and the others.

The library (of sorts) appeared to be ravaged by strong winds,

and large amounts of books were dancing about in mid-air in

spiral patterns.

However Jibril looked over at that with a smile on her face and

spoke:

“Don’t worry about it, Masters, the owner of this place is

the creator of the 《Book Equality Law》.”

Sora looked up at the dancing books, and remembered why

Jibril had took over the Elchean National Library – or rather,

the reason why she had left Avant Heim.

Due to the fact that they had collected too many books, the

books were overwhelming Avant Heim – and they chose to

deal with it by pa.s.sing the 《Book Equality Law》 in the name

of eliminating unnecessary books.

“Her books are the Flügel’s books, I am a Flügel, so her

books are my books.”

Her triple conjugations proved her Takes.h.i.+ idealism, and she

continued with a smile on her face: [3]

“Even if this small accident here was caused by me – or was

it on purpose? I believe that she has to consider all these factors

before she can 「Decide」, but of course she is extremely kind

and tolerant, being able to forgive my mistakes, of course.

Even if there are books within the stash there that cannot be

copied, reproduced and are the only remaining copies in this

world, that’s how it is ♥”

So she could only damage those books because she owned

them as well.

- Speaking of which, regarding the 《Book Equality Law》

from earlier, Jibril really couldn’t forgive its existence.

After which –

“Aaaaaahhh~! The books! All the books I haven’t

finished~~~~!!”

Everyone looked towards the source of this outcry.

While the one standing there was –

“…Whoa…”

Even s.h.i.+ro couldn’t help but cry out in awe, and the person

standing there was – an extraordinarily beautiful young girl.

The halo spinning around on her head, and the wings stretching

out from her waist suggested that she was a Flügel just like

Jibril.

However the pattern drawn in the air by her spinning halo was

even more complicated than Jibril’s.

The largest difference between them was that she had a single

horn protruding from her jade-green hair.

Her wings that appeared to be woven from streaks of light

flapped in the air, and her appearance as she did so appeared

unbelievably sacred.

But her appearance as she was flying about and struggling to

collect all the books that were flapping about in the air, as well

as her expression that hinted she was about to cry, was

completely different from Jibril’s icy cold demeanour when

they had first met – instead she was extremely cute.

- Phew, phew…

She panted intentionally, then landed beside Jibril and spoke:

“Ugh~ Jii-chan you’re mean-nyan~”

A saddened expression appeared on her face which

immediately s.h.i.+fted to an angelic smile.

“Is this what I think it is-nyan? Is it those pranks that people

play on their loved ones-nyan? Aww~ Jii-chan I haven’t seen

you in so long~~ nyaaaaa!?”

Jibril brilliantly teleported away in order to dodge her flying

lunge towards her.

Upon seeing her crash into a pile of books, Jibril spoke blandly

from behind Sora:

“- Masters, I’ll introduce her to you, she’s the one that

approved the dastardly 《Book Equality Law》, the head of

the 「Council of the Eighteen Wings」 of Avant Heim, the

「Full Representative of the Winged」 that has the right to

make the final decisions regarding the country’s affairs –“

She sighed and continued –

“Azrael-senpai.”

- She introduced the motionless girl with half her body buried

in books to Sora.

…

“…How should I put this.”

“The Flügel…are interesting…”

That girl was the full representative of the race that was ranked

in sixth place, brought death with them wherever they went in

the past, and used to be G.o.d-killing weapons?

Sora and s.h.i.+ro mumbled to themselves, having had their

expectations completely crushed.

- At this time, the young girl that was buried in the pile of

books earlier, maybe because she had teleported, she had

already hugged Jibril tightly while rubbing her violently with

her cheeks over a span of time so short that no-one present had

noticed.

“Nyan~ Jii-chan is so mean~ I haven’t seen you for so long,

but you’re still as cold as ever~~~~ but! That’s fine too!!”

“Azrael-senpai is as annoying as ever as well.”

violently jerked about.

- Although Jibril would usually reply sarcastically, this time

she outright insulted her, which was rare.

“Nyan~ I’ve said I’m not your senpai, call me nee-san,

neeeeee-saaaaaannnn~~!!”

Azrael flew about in the air, drawing a figure-eight around

Jibril.

“Jibril isn’t a particularly good case but is it really ok for the

full representative of the Flügel to be someone like this?”

“…Nii…you have the right…to say that?”

s.h.i.+ro looked coldly at Sora, however everyone present ignored

that line.

On the other hand, Jibril spoke coldly while being pestered,

hara.s.sed, and having her cheeks rubbed:

“Azrael-senpai, I gave a request for today, please allow the

Masters to browse the library –“

“I refuse-nyan~ unless you call me Nee-san, I’ll deny all

your requests~ ♪”

Jibril replied in frustration:

“If you explain why you’re rubbing my cheeks, and allow the

Masters to browse the library, I’ll consider it.”

“Because Jii-chan is cute! Explanation over, and I’ve allowed

them-nyan!! Alright, now call me Nee-san ♥ -“

She spoke while lunging towards her, while Jibril teleported

away from her outstretched hand.

“So Masters, I’ve already acquired her permission, please

browse this place freely. This is the personal library of the

「Representative of the Winged」, among which countless

books have been acquired through the cursed law by taking the

books of others, so there’s not a single place with more

information than here.”

“Y-you’re mean!! Jii-chan went back on Nee-san’s promise

with you-nyan~!?”

Azrael appeared devastated, and her voice was layered with

immense shock.

Jibril replied with a flawless smile once again.

“I said that I’d consider it, and after some consideration, I’

m not going to ♪”

“Waaaah~ Jii-chan never used to cheat others like this-nyan~

- and whose fault is this-nyan?”

- Glare~~~~

Her tear-filled eyes shot over to Sora.

The power in those eyes appeared as if that gaze alone could

kill.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Sora, this is my sister s.h.i.+ro, please

take care of us.”

“…Take care…”

Those two completely ignored her gaze as they were used to it

from Jibril.

Upon seeing their reaction, Azrael let out an interested “Oh?”,

while Sora pointed at Azrael.

“What does she mean by Nee-san? Jibril, you’re the sister of

the full representative of the Flügel?”

“Yes-nyan ♥”

“Nope ♪”

Both of them replied without hesitation – and with truly sisterslike

smiles – they replied with completely opposite answers.

Jibril sighed and continued:

“The Flügel cannot reproduce, we have no sisters, no brothers

and no parents, there is only the order in which we were

created.”

“…Ah, so that’s why you call her Senpai.”

Which means, she was a being created even earlier than Jibril.

“Also, Azrael is the 「Representative of the Winged」, not

the 「Representative of the Flügel」.”

“…Is there a difference?”

“She’s merely the 「Senator」 of the 「Council of

Eighteen Wings」 with nine members, herself included.”

At this mention, Sora recalled what she had said earlier.

He remembered that before Jibril belonged to Sora’s posse,

she was a member of the 「Council of Eighteen Wings」.

“Basically she has the first say only when emergencies occur,

and another 「Right」 -“

Which meant – Jibril shook her head and smiled bitterly.

“She’s not great nor brilliant, so you don’t need to respect her

in any way.”

“…You’re really mean even to your own kind, huh, you

really haven’t changed at all…”

Probably because she was unhappy with her response, Azrael

puffed up her cheeks in reb.u.t.tal.

“That’s not how it is-nyan!! All of us were created by Artosh,

so our father is Artosh, and the earliest to be created was me,

Nee-san! The last one to be created, Jii-chan, is my imouto!

Isn’t this an unspoken fact-nyan!?” [4]

Upon hearing her words, Jibril’s bitter smile turned into one of

mockery, and she continued:

“- She raised a suggestion like that during one of the

meetings, which was completely rejected by all of the members

of the council, that’s how pitiful her intelligence is.”

“Be~cause~ if I don’t do that, Jii-chan won’t ever call me

Nee-san~ nyan~!”

“Everyone knows that, which was why they turned it down,

unless you’re telling me this is the first time you’re hearing of

this?”

Jibril’s tone was as cold as ever, while Azrael hugged her once

again and began showing off her little sister with a smile on her

face.

“Jii-chan she is~ among the children created in the Great War

she is the 「Final Unit」-nyan ♪”

She laughed cheerily, while Jibril on the other hand sighed

deeply in frustration.

“The children created in the later stages, since they were

created when Artosh-sama was at full power, have a power that

is completely indescribable by children like me created during

the middle stages of the war-nyan~!! However~ the strong

children were all fighting on the front lines – so everyone died

in the 「Final battle」…”

Azrael’s spirits momentarily dipped, and if the person she was

hugging happened to be an Imanity, that person would

definitely burst like a balloon. She continued while hugging her

only surviving sister.

“Jii-chan is the only final-stage unit that survived after the

「Battle」, and she’s the 「Final Unit」 as well-nyan!

She’s everybody’s imouto, and what a cute imouto she isnyan!

It should be made a law to call her that, so why doesn’t

everyone understand?”

She once again began flying about in figure-eight shapes

cheerily.

Jibril squinting her eyes in disgust was a rare sight as well, but

–

“…Jibril…to deal with her…disturbing…precious

recordings…”

s.h.i.+ro spoke while lifting up her smartphone, and began taking

a video of the angels.

On the other hand, Sora was pondering another question.

He closely observed Azrael’s innocent and cheerful smile –

“…This is a pain, at this rate I’ll need to change the plan…”

He mumbled to himself disappointedly.

- Glare.

Hearing his softly spoken words, Azrael kept smiling – but

then looked towards Sora with a powerful gaze.

“- So, are you the one that s.n.a.t.c.hed my beloved Jii-chan away

from us-nyan?”

“Huh, to say a virgin s.n.a.t.c.hed a lover from someone, your

question is pretty hard to answer.”

Sora replied indignantly, with his head lifted and chest

protruding, at the same time appearing dignified, tragic and

powerful.

Azrael stepped closer.

“Oh -….”

“…Huh?”

It was impossible to react to that, as it was a step that ignored

all boundaries of distance.

The step itself took multiple instants before Sora and s.h.i.+ro

realized what was happening, and they cried out in surprise.

- In that instant.

A silent shock emanated from Jibril’s body that caused the

library to quake.

Sora had initially suspected that she had used magic, however

after hearing what the two said after that –

“…Senpai, if you even so much as touch a hair on my

Masters’ heads – I’ll just say you might want to reconsider it.”

“Really now~ Jii-chan you don’t need to be so tense~ there

are the 「Ten Pledges」 anyway-nyan.”

- Sora realized, she had merely unleased a slight bit of

「Malicious intent」.

Just how much did Jibril restrain her power under normal

circ.u.mstances –

As they got an extremely small glimpse of Jibril’s 「True

power」, Sora and s.h.i.+ro felt cold sweat running down their

cheeks.

And Azrael didn’t seem to mind that 「Slight malicious

intent」, instead she turned around to face Sora.

With those jade-green eyes – eyes that were impossibly

different from Jibril’s – she spoke while glancing at Sora:

“I wish to make something clear.”

“- Yeah, what is it?”

- Her gaze this time, was completely incomparable to her gaze

from earlier.

A sudden crus.h.i.+ng sense of malice filled the room, causing the

air in the library to freeze, giving them the impression that the

very universe itself was being affected.

If they were to answer incorrectly – they would die

immediately.

This world has the 「Ten Pledges」.

Jibril was awaiting their orders by the sidelines.

- Despite this, they were unable to relax.

Azrael’s gaze gave them that impression, after which she

spoke:

“As long as you command it, Jii-chan will call me 「Neechan

♥」 right-nyan?”

…

…?

False alarm – no, Sora felt a sinking feeling that gave him the

impression that as long as he were to relax, his very soul would

escape him.

The very reason why he was barely standing was because s.h.i.+ro

was clutching his hand in fear.

However, Azrael ignored him and continued emotionally.

“E-even like she licked the feet of the E-Elves, she could like

mine – or shower with me or something! N-no, I won’t force

her to do something like that!! For example you could allow

me to watch or something –“

- How could she have known that? Sora felt suspicious,

however he took out his smartphone from his pocket and

replied:

“…If you want videos of Jibril showering, I have videos –“

“I’ll bet the Flügel’s race piece for that! Give it to me-nyan!!”

- An impossibly loud sound could be heard in that twentythousand-foot

high alt.i.tude.

“Azrael-san, please calm down, you don’t have the right to do

that. To bet the race piece, you need to consult the decision of

the「Council of Eighteen Wings」 right? I think your request

will be unanimously denied once again ♥”

“U-ugh~~…! – Nyan?”

Jibril’s tone of voice didn’t carry any sense of apprehension

despite her adding a small (giggle) at the end of the sentence,

however Azrael –

“Wait a second-nyan… noises of gears rumbling are coming

from my head! My brain is currently working at light-speeds,

it’s the most active it’s been in my, Azrael’s twenty-sixthousand

years-nyan!”

- Azrael let slip her incredibly long lifespan just like that while

appearing as though considering something.

Finally she raised her head up all of a sudden, seemingly

having got an idea.

“- Right-nyan!! You…your name is Sora right!?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’ll be your possession as well-nyan! My judgement dictates

that if that happens I can shower with Jii-chan!!”

“The worst idea you’ve had in twenty-six-thousand years,

great job on that hard work, Azrael-san.”

Jibril smiled a smile that couldn’t even be described with the

adjective cold, as it carried hints of disappointment as well, and

she mocked Azrael.

However – s.h.i.+ro glanced silently over at her brother.

Azrael had nonchalantly raised her personal freedom as a

condition – just as Jibril had said, she wasn’t the representative

of the Flügel, and so even if they were to acquire her, they

wouldn’t acquire the Flügel race.

Although it would be no easy feat to play against the Flügel.

Azrael even hinted that she would 「Intentionally lose」, also

it would be a rather beneficial decision to have her as an a.s.set.

Also her brother’s intention included absorbing the Flügel as

well.

On this train of thought, s.h.i.+ro looked over at her brother as

though to confirm her suspicions –

“…?”

She found that Sora had completely lost interest and had

calmed down, after which she looked over curiously at Azrael.

Her face still had that enchanting smile on it – an overly perfect

smile.

“…Ah…” – understanding what her brother’s expression

meant, s.h.i.+ro nodded slightly.

Sora sighed unexpectedly, turned around and walked away.

“…It’s rare of you to say such things, but this sort of thing

should wait until next time…”

“Eh~~… Jii-chan’s naked body –“

Azrael refused to give up, and Sora grasped s.h.i.+ro’s hand and

spat.

“…I bragged to Steph earlier that I would acquire three races,

but now I’ll have to apologize to her.”

Looking over at Azrael, Sora – glanced at her with a truly

disappointed gaze and said:

“- This one’s useless, Jibril alone is fine.”

Ignoring Azrael’s squinted gaze, Sora and s.h.i.+ro proceeded to

the mountains of bookshelves.

“So Jibril, we can browse the books here right?”

“…Yes, Azrael-senpai has approved of it.”

Sora nodded and surveyed his surroundings.

Books, books, books… it was a giant city made up of nothing

but books.

And within his line of sight, he could see that on the back of

countless books, there was – writing of multiple languages he

didn’t know.

“Since my original expectations were crushed, it looks like

we’ll have to tough it out… forget it, let’s try our best, s.h.i.+ro.”

“…Mm.”

The two agreed and disappeared in the piles of books, while the

two Flügel watched them go in silence.

Part 4

Azrael sat cross-legged on one of the piles of books and put her

head in her hands.

“Mm~ I wanted to use myself as bait to get Jii-chan, could it

be that the bait was too big-nyan?”

She coldly revealed the reason why Sora’s expectations were

crushed.

No doubt, Azrael’s thoughts were completely different from

her demeanour, as she didn’t believe nor trust Sora.

To get Jibril back, all she wanted them was to fall into her trap.

- As for why Jibril called them her Masters, she had no interest.

“…You really haven’t changed, Azrael.”

Azrael’s expression twitched slightly upon having her name

called directly like that, and she replied calmly:

“Jii-chan can even talk back to people such as me and Artoshsama,

so it’s impossible that you would serve under mere

Imanity-nyan. As long as it’s by the pledges, sealing one’s

intentions or making one a puppet should be easy-nyan.

Anyway those two must have won by pure luck, so you’re

being forced to follow them, right-nyan? To be honest –“

She looked directly into Jibril’s eyes.

“- Jii-chan has changed.”

Jibril replied Azrael’s words with a cold smile.

“Yes, I have changed…whereas you can’t.”

“…”

“As for how I was defeated in that challenge, you have

nothing to say – my expectations were all for nothing.”

Jibril smiled faintly in betrayal, and continued coldly:

“…The reason why I defied my late Master (Artosh) and you,

is because – I just can’t take your personalities anymore – too

stubborn, so…”

She hesitated slightly, should she say it? Or –

Jibril decided to go with it.

She knew Azrael would take offense more than anyone.

Despite this – she decided that she would tell her, so she did.

“Which is why we lost, and until now – you still won’t

change.”

Hearing these words, Azrael’s smile completely vanished.

To be honest – Azrael’s expression was like a cold puppet.

No, it was a completely different existence with Azrael’s

appearance – and it spoke:

“- 「Final Unit」, hast thou discovered the 「Answer」?”

Jibril looked at that existence with a gaze of pure hate, and she

spoke to it, almost spitting her words:

“- Yes, or more correctly, I found it long ago, it’s just that I

didn’t have concrete evidence.”

“…”

“So now I must help the Masters find what they need, so –

that’s it.”

Jibril turned away, leaving behind the silent existence.

- …

“…What do you think-nyan?”

- You had to ask.

“…Yes-nyan, but what if you’re wrong?”

- You don’t have to ask, you know already.

“…That’s right-nyan…”

- 「First Unit」, I completely trust in your decision, not just

me, but everyone else.

“I know, nyan…”

I know… she told herself that repeatedly.

Azrael was speaking in reply to – the will of the Phantasma

(Avant Heim) residing within her.

Azrael merely looked at the people who were searching

through the books –

She could only ask again when they made a move.

Part 5

“…No, we won’t make it at this rate.”

Standing before a gigantic pile of books, Sora realized that

their efforts were futile after a mere half-hour.

“s.h.i.+ro, how many languages of this world have you learnt?”

“…Only…the Imanity, Werebeast and Elven languages…”

s.h.i.+ro mumbled nonchalantly, and Sora caressed her head

lovingly.

For Sora who could barely learn the Imanity language, that

stunning learning pace just simply couldn’t be described with

「Only」.

But, despite that –

“Jibril, which languages are these?”

“It’s the Dwarven and Demon languages, I can vaguely

understand them…”

…Right, the only one that could understand all the books there

would be Jibril.

Even though s.h.i.+ro could learn foreign languages at

incomprehensible speeds, the books here alone were in the

millions, so relying on this few people to search for

information here would be impossible, which was obvious

from the very start.

“…Jibril.”

“Yes.”

“There’s no time, if we take too long, Ino’s life will be in

danger. Even if we have a lifeline, if the Seirens think we’re

genuinely running away, we’ll be in big trouble – can’t you get

some help?”

They had no time to sit here and slowly gather information, as

they needed to challenge the Empress once more as soon as

possible.

Because of that – Sora had originally intended to rely on

Azrael to gather help –

However his hopes were crushed as soon as he realized Azrael

didn’t have any intention of the sort.

The expression Sora saw on Azrael’s face, wasn’t that of a

knowledgeable Flügel – nor was it something like Jibril’s who

was a collective of both curiosity and intelligence, nor was she

a trigger-happy person.

It – was only –

“…I can get help, but I fear it may not be what you’re

expecting.”

Yes, that would be Azrael’s intentions, but –

“There’s no other way, so let’s do what she wants since we

don’t have the time to just sit here – s.h.i.+ro.”

“…Mm.”

- Sora made a once-in-a-blue-moon fidgety gesture – he

nibbled on his fingernails, and s.h.i.+ro replied as well.

“- Since your original expectations were crushed, we can only

adapt to the situation at hand, so we’ll need you to cooperate.”

“…OK…”

Part 6

“Hey, Azra…el?”

Sora decided to call upon Azrael, but froze momentarily

instead.

- Probably because she had turned the scenery in the Eastern

Union or the things within her knowledge into reality.

She was just like the j.a.panese hikikomoris Sora knew – which

included Sora and s.h.i.+ro themselves – exactly like that, she was

buried in a kotatsu-like thing, with her head covered within a

blanket, staring at a projector (television) that had only static

on it –

“…What is it-nyan…? What is it so important that you have

to bother someone useless like me-nyan?”

What a waste of energy – Azrael made the surroundings on her

appear dark and gloomy in an attempt to accentuate her

sadness.

Faced with her overly exaggerated acting skills, Sora instead

felt admiration, after which he spoke with a deadpan

expression:

“- Ah~ um, you know about the hibernating Empress of the

Seirens right?”

“Nyaaaaa…that idiot that was influenced by fairy tales and

pushed two races including herself to the brink of extinction in

the span of a single generation, leaving even the sh.e.l.lfish

speechless? Everyone knows-nyan~…”

Azrael replied under her blanket.

- While looking at her halo that was spinning about above her

blanket, Sora continued while experiencing indescribable

feelings:

“Y-yes, that’s her, we’re looking for the records of the

conditions she set before starting her game.”

“…If that’s you want, Jii-chan knows as well-nyan! It’s

「She will continue hibernating as long as she hasn’t fallen in

love」-nyan.”

“Yes, but – that’s fake.”

Hearing her words, Azrael’s eyes lit up with a sharp glint as

though forgetting her previous depressed act.

“Oh! Is that why everyone lost-nyan? So what’s the actual

conditions-nyan?”

- That fellow was a Flügel after all.

“That’s what I want to know, so I’m looking for all available

records of people that have carried out games with her, and the

exact words the players were told for comparison.”

“Oh~….”

Azrael stared into s.p.a.ce for a moment, after which she replied

coldly:

“About that, if you’re looking for records, they’re placed in a

certain somewhere, look for it yourself, and I’ll inform you

again if you have a definitive goal.”

But – no doubt, she was different from Jibril.

“Yes, but there’s too many books, we don’t have time, so

where are all the related records –“

“I don’t know at all-nyan! Ahahahahaha~”

…

“Because of the 《Equality Law》-nyan~ After lending those

books out countless times, even I don’t know where they arenyan~♪”

“Do you understand now? Master, this is exactly why I left

my hometown.”

Probably because she had forgotten she was supposed to be

acting depressed, Azrael laughed cheerily while Jibril was

completely solemn.

“…Since you all live to collect books, you should at least

keep them properly…”

“Hmm? That’s wrong-nyan, our aim is to collect

「Knowledge」, 「Books」 are actually nothing to us-nyan. I

even think that as long as we can memorise the contents of the

books, throwing them away is fine as well; but since the people

who haven’t read them would be angry, we didn’t do thatnyan~”

“Do you understand now? Master, this is exactly it! The

reason why I left my hometown.”

Jibril smiled a smile that indicated she would strike at any

moment as she explained to Sora once again.

- Sora now understood, all she was focused on was

「Knowledge」-

「As for what that meant」…Sora couldn’t restrain his

laughter, however he didn’t bother explaining it, and instead

asked Azrael:

“So, what should I do?”

“Hmm~ just let the people that are in charge of the books’

locations to search for them! There are some others that are just

as close-minded as Jii-chan, so as long as they’re willing to,

you should be able to get all of them-nyan~”

“Mm, so I’ll leave it to –“

“I’m not in the mood-nyan~”

Seemingly wis.h.i.+ng to appear sad once again, Azrael spoke

while burying herself under the blanket once more:

“I can allow my cute imouto’s toys to wander about

everywhere, but I have no obligation to take care of you all. I

have no value in being your companion, and even Jii-chan

called me an idiot, so I’m very depressed now-nyan~ I’m very

hurt-nyan~ So I don’t want to do anything-nyan~”

Sora slowly pa.s.sed her his phone.

“Even if I show you videos of Jibril in the shower?”

“----------No.”

“If you agree now, I’ll throw in the offer of her calling you

「Nee-san」 then?”

“---------------------------N…no deal.”

Azrael replied while sweating furiously, as though she was

engaging in mortal combat with something.

She squeezed out her words while breathing heavily, seemingly

undergoing some brutal training.

“I-I’m very~~ hurt now-nyan – something like that… ah, no,

I’m not dismissing Jii-chan as something beneath me-nyan! It’s

just that I’m too hurt, so I need something more than that – um,

you should know…what I mean right?”

Cheh – Sora grumbled silently.

He saw that amongst Azrael’s deception and lies – only her

devotion to Jibril was real, which was the reason why he

played his trump card but to no avail.

At this rate, his actions would be limited.

Facing an opponent such as the Flügel? Having the opponent

have the upper hand in a game still yet unknown to them? –

What a joke.

“- To be honest, I don’t care what happens to you, so if those

stupid fish, mangy mutts and bald monkeys want to go extinct

just let them, at the most we’ll just get a few more books

describing their downfall-nyan. For me, it’s advantageousnyan.”

Her gaze fell upon Sora.

“To someone immortal like me…people like you who die in

the blink of an eye don’t even deserve the value of a 「Fairy

tale」. You want me to help? Why do I have to-nyan?”

- But he couldn’t let her have the upper hand, as if she did it

would be all over.

If Azrael insisted on playing mind games – bring it on.

“So that’s how you really are, which is why I said you’re

useless, can’t you even detect my mockery? 「Dead

man」.”

Sora replied with determination but at the same time in pride –

and hearing his words, Azrael’s expression changed.

“A tool used by no one, a puppet with no value, I’ll a.s.sume

that’s a pretty enjoyable life you’re living there.”

“-…”

“It’s fine, since when we’ve taken over the world, people

like you would definitely say something like 「Please allow

me to join」 right? Because you all only know how to follow

along with where the wind blows. Jibril, we’ll think of a way

ourselves, so let’s go find your friends one by one –“

Sora stood up and turned to leave.

“…You dare to pick an argument with me, don’t tell me

you’re running away now?”

- She took the bait, Sora smiled to himself.

“Argument? Hah! Only equals can argue with each other.”

“Oh… I didn’t think that you’d be so self-conscious about it,

you’re worthy of some commendation after all.”

“- The one that’s on the lower rank is you of course, did you

get up on the wrong side of the bed today? Airhead.”

“….Very good-nyan, who’s afraid of who-nyan.”

After which she raised her hand and announced.

“「Kill and plunder for the things that you desire, for that is

tantamount to the decree of heaven」-nyan!”

…

-…Hearing her extremely cra.s.s words, Sora and s.h.i.+ro halfclosed

their eyes.

“…What kind of words are those…?”

“Ah, Masters, that’s a Flügel idiom so it’s fine if you don’t

know it.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Not an argument – but we’ll play a game-nyan, it’s just that

–“

Ignoring Sora and Jibril’s conversation, Azrael snapped her

fingers.

“「All of us」 will play a game together with Jii-chan’s

friends that you’re looking for, then you can ask for their

help.”

- In an instant.

Everyone present was teleported with a force that even Jibril

couldn’t resist.

And what they saw after the scenery had changed was –

- A long banner with the words ‘Kuuhaku「」 Autograph

and Handshake Fan Meeting’ written on it.

Countless Flügel were setting up the place –

“…We were tricked -!!”

As almost a hundred gazes fell upon them simultaneously, Sora

understood instantly.

- She merely pretended to be provoked – which means, he lost

in the mind games department.

But, as compared to this, the gazes that were upon him nearly

made Sora and s.h.i.+ro black out.

However – the questions that were festering in his mind caused

him to stay conscious.

It was a card that none of them had expected.

Although since Sora had already shut his ears and was prepared

to faint, he didn’t hear any of it.

It was probably the sound of a girl yelling for help, and the

sound covered the entire area like an explosion.

Under the countless approaching gazes, Sora asked in a

trembling voice:

“Hey, Jibril, what…is this? What is this-aaaaahhhhh!”

Sora yelled while frantically hugging s.h.i.+ro whose eyes were

already rolling up into the whites, while Jibril clapped her

hands once and replied:

“Ah, I forgot, in order for them to deal with the Eastern

Union, I took the Masters’ 「Bible (Observation Diary)」and

pa.s.sed it to them, in order for faster transmission of

information –“

Jibril giggled and continued:

“I even gave them complimentary autograph vouchers,

handshake vouchers, date vouchers and sleepover vouchers,

don’t forget all the various and dream-like special items –“

“Don’t use that sort of dirty methods!! Like that even if

repeated buyers increase, the buyer penetration rate wouldn’t

increase, right!?”

“…I see, I wanted to say that we would sell a large amount of

copies but there seems to be an eerily small amount of people

here, so that’s the reason. Next time I’ll think of an even more

profitable method – or rather, a more effective way of pa.s.sing

information.

Jibril’s face was full of determination, and she began furiously

writing down stuff on a notebook, however Sora continued:

“Wait a minute Jibril! You have to report to me when you’re

doing things like this!!”

- No wonder Azrael knew a suspiciously large amount of

information regarding them.

But since the reason for that was due to their own comrade,

how were they supposed to win at their mind games?

To make it clear, the hundred Flügel present there were all Sora

and s.h.i.+ro’s 「Fans」.

Looking over at them once more, Sora almost fainted again,

however Jibril smiled –

“No problem, Masters, you’ve won this time.”

“Huh? What?”

- Jibril spoke while looking sharply over at Azrael.

“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”

“~~~~~~~~~~~”

“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”

“~~~~~~~~”

- That was probably the Flügel language.

The two of them were conversing in a language that Sora and

s.h.i.+ro couldn’t understand.

But for some reason –

The hall that was filled with a woman’s screams of help since

earlier…

The atmosphere suddenly changed, and what replaced it was a

suffocating silence.

“- Um~ Jibril-san? I have a bad feeling about this, what are

you guys talking about?”

“Ah, sorry Master, we’re done talking so I’ll tell you now.”

Jibril turned around.

“Just as Azrael-senpai said, we’ll recruit these people’s help

to find our information.”

Jibril spoke with a smile on her face to the trembling Sora and

s.h.i.+ro.

“Essentially speaking, we just have to defeat all of them in a

game ♪”

“Jibril, do you know how much effort we put into just

defeating you alone – who can beat such a large amount of

Flügel?”

“…s.h.i.+ver.”

The two were demophobic and anthropophobic in the first

place…

Not to mention that they had to face off almost a hundred

Flügel in Materialization s.h.i.+ritori, so they would definitely not

be able to survive.

Just imagining it – made Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s faces pale in fear.

“No, that means 「Defeating all of them at once」, luckily

the opponent’s demands aren’t that huge.”

“Yep, you just need to play against everyone here-nyan.”

“If you win, everyone will help you collect the books that

you’re looking for. If you lose, I’ll let the Masters choose

whether you want the autograph or handshake events. These

are the conditions we set down earlier.”

d.a.m.n –

The hall was filled with women’s voices crying for help once

more, and Sora and s.h.i.+ro were at the verge of fainting.

“Jibril…do you want us to die…?”

“…Jibril…we…trusted you…”

The siblings were trembling non-stop like newborn deer.

“Please relax – the Masters won’t lose, and –“

Jibril looked over at Azrael.

Azrael clapped her hands once.

“We can’t possibly play s.h.i.+ritori with this many people, so

let’s play - 「Red light, Green light」.”

“- Jibril, let me ask you again – do you want us to die?”

“…Tremble.”

Playing red light, green light against the Flügel?

They could fly and teleport freely, so if there was a place

beyond their grasps…

That was basically hinting at 「The afterworld」.

While Azrael cut off his train of thought.

“But the normal version of red light, green light is too boringnyan,

so –“

“In conjunction with the nature of the Flügel – we’ll use a

「Word Game」 to play it.”

Jibril raised up her palm as she said this.

On her raised palm, just like a vortex –

Forty-six characters woven from light appeared on it.

Sora knew those characters – those were the forty-six –

katakana.

Jibril threw those characters over to Azrael.

“Hmm~? Are these the letters of your world? Are there

consonants?”

Azrael closely pondered the characters, then began moving her

hand about in a complex fas.h.i.+on.

- Although Sora couldn’t detect magic, the ground began to

shake about as if something was hoisting it up from

underneath, so they guessed that there was a gigantic spell

being activated.

“Alright, I’m done-nyan, so let’s get started-nyan?”

As she said this, the katakana – the forty-six characters from ア

(a) to ン (n), on Azrael’s hand – converted to light…

And they dissolved simultaneously, automatically distributing

themselves individually amongst the hundred Flügel females.

After ensuring that all the characters were a.s.signed, Azrael

then said:

“The rules are simple, I have just transported the characters to

a certain location on each of the women present.”

- Forty-six characters, and with the partic.i.p.ants almost entering

the hundreds, there was no way to tell who had which

characters.

“The game is Red light, Green light, so for your convenience

I’ve specially banned teleportation from being used within the

game.”

- After that…

“If you both get caught by these children you lose, and if you

manage to evade them for an hour it will be considered a

victory.”

“As long as you touch the s.h.i.+fting characters – that is if you

manage to do it while not getting caught, the characters will be

transferred to the Masters.”

Jibril spoke with a smile on her face as if to continue Azrael’s

explanation.

As she finished, she threw two characters over to Azrael.

“When characters combine they become 「Word Spirits」.”

Azrael raised her hand as an example, and the two letters -

「コ (ko) 」 and「タ (ta) 」, began spinning around on her

wrist, and she said:

“After you touch the 「Word Spirits」, their meanings will

become reality – no matter whether it’s a concept or an

object, you can even s.h.i.+ft their states at will.”

“”Oh.””

In the instant that she said that, Sora and s.h.i.+ro – saw th