No Game No Life

Chapter 3 - Charmer/ssǝɹdɯƎ

ǝɥ⊥

Part 1

- 「Oceande」...the underwater city where both the Seirens and Dhampir

reside.

It did not carry out trade with any other nation, being a truly self-providing

hermit country.

Being at the bottom of the sea, it cannot be reached through normal means.

And exactly because of this, a bunch of people came forth with abnormal

means.

Jibril parted the sea, and the place she teleported to was a tower high enough

to overlook the whole of Oceande.

The depth was about two hundred meters, and if that amount ofseawater

were to flow back in...

“Something like this would happen...”

Miko, who was standing behind Sora let out a sigh, and what she was looking

at was – the other side of the air bubble Jibril had created.

The sand and rocks at the bottom of the ocean were violently tossed and

turned as though they were in a gigantic blender.

No matter how powerfulJibril was, she would be unable to use violence due

to the limitations of the 「Oaths」.

If the 「Oaths」 did exercise their power, then no harm should have been

caused to anyone...

“...You’re sure that this won’t hit the city or anyone else, right?”

“No, not at all. The 「Ten Oaths」are absolute, so it’s fine. There won’t be a

problem... probably.”

Sora attempted to comfort himself as the tides calmed around him. The sand

settled, and the seawater became clear once again.

“- Oh, this really is something.”

“...Beautiful...”

Sora and s.h.i.+ro spoke their thoughts regarding the huge and wide city below

them.

Completely different from how fairytale-like and simplistic Sora thought it

would be, it was really a great 「City」.

Immeasurable amounts of buildings that appeared to be built from stones from

the bottom of the sea stood side by side.

The walls that were giving off a pearly glow had sh.e.l.ls and corals pasted on

them like bricks, creating wonderfully bright and fresh colors. Possibly due to

the buoyancy of the water, complex formations and reverse cone-shaped

buildings could be seen – which was when Sora spoke:

“...Hmm? Why isn’t everything blue?”

At the bottom of the sea, only blue rays of light from the sun should be able to

reach. The person to answer his question was s.h.i.+ro.

“...Nii, it’s probably... those.”

s.h.i.+ro pointed to the countless glowing seaweeds and jellyfish – completely

natural 「Streetlights」.

- It was no wonder that the city itself was glowing.

“Oh come on, don’t treat me like an idiot. Anyway, isn’t this a great-looking

city?”

“...Hah, thanks for the compliment...”

Plum replied with a bitter smile that carried hints of defeat and humiliation.

“Because this place was built and maintained by the Dhampirs... haha...”

...Sora couldn’t find any words to say to her, and instead turned around.

Jibril, Izuna and Steph were surveying their surroundings curiously, while

Miko appeared as composed as ever.

And –

“- Sora-san...what is the meaning...of this...?”

Ino asked painfully, apparently impacted by the noise from their teleportation.

“I did adhere to your request since Izuna and Miko appear to be fine, so you

have to thank Jibrilfor this!”

“...Ah~ I have no problem with that, but could you just let me say

something?”

Miko looked at Sora, s.h.i.+ro and Jibril in turn, and took a deep breath.

“- You people, there’s got to be a limit to your ignorance...”

“Eh?”

“...Is there...a problem?”

“Oh, does the carnivorous subgenus of a mutt have something to say?”

The three ignorant people tilted their heads in curiosity at once.

While the few with some common sense – Steph spoke loudly as though

representing Miko:

“P-parting the sea like that, no matter how you look at it it just seems like an

act of hostility doesn’t it!? So, how are you planning to get us to their queen

at this rate?”

“They invited us in the first place, and it was they as well who made us wait,

so since we’re running out of time and in a hurry we came here ourselves.

Considering Jibril’s hard work, they should be thanking us and receiving us

with song and dance, shouldn’t they?”

Miko and Izuna’s senses told them that Sora was spouting lies yet again, and

they shut their mouths half-heartedly.

The remaining Werebeast – Ino continued to rub his ears while moaning in

pain.

“...Ah~ about that don’t you worry... look over there.”

But as they heard Plum speak, everyone looked in the direction she was

pointing at once.

Countless people began darting out of the city and hurriedly began

proceeding in their direction.

- Females with the lower half of their bodies covered with scales and

resembling fish tails, and the upper half of their bodies human-shaped.

Their b.r.e.a.s.t.s were s.h.i.+elded with small wraps of cloth, and their necks and

hands had what appeared to be leftover jewelry on them.

Their resemblances were exactly the same as fairytale beings - 「Mermaids」.

“...Ah, so those are the Seirens? Great, luckily everything’s going as

planned.”

If the things that came out were beings like Cthulhu Sora would be more than

ready to flip tables, but he felt relieved at this development.

[14]

“G-guys look over there, all those people are panicking... they really must be

angry.”

Steph spoke uneasily while looking at the Seirens standing in front of their air

bubble, after which –

“Eh, eh...?”

Steph opened her eyes wide in shock.

The Seirens were gracefully swimming while spinning round and round in the

water, displaying their glittering scales.

Their incredibly colorful jewelry made of corals and pearls displayed on their

smooth, snow-white skin swayed about along with the current.

No fixed rhythm could be detected from their movements.

The glowing jellyfish were lit up by blue rays of light, the schools of fish of

varying colors, not to mention the mermaids gracefully swimming –

Such a dreamlike sight would attract anyone’s attention, which probably

meant –

“...Nii, this is their grateful and welcoming...dance.”

“- Apparently so... l-look here, Steph, didn’t I say there wasn’t a problem!”

“These people really are magnanimous as the ocean is deep...”

After a while, a Seiren that appeared to be wearing the most beautiful jewelry

swam forth –

She waved both her hands, and her mouth opened and closed randomly.

Observing her motions, Steph tilted her head, not understanding what was

going on, while Sora realized what was going on.

“We’re in the air Jibril created for us, and they’re out there in the water –

sound probably won’t travel.”

“Yeah... I’ll go explain and drink some blood along the way so I can use the

power from that to cast a spell that will allow all of you to breathe in the

water, so please remove this air barrier after that...”

As she finished her sentence, Plum immediately sprinted forward, broke

through the air bubble and swam into the water.

They glanced at her as she left.

“Even if we really are saviors of their species...”

“- They still welcomed us this warmly after the gates to their city were forced

open with an attack like that?”

Hearing Jibril and Miko’s whispers with sharp glances on their faces, Sora

laughed coldly as well:

“...The Seirens, are they really idiots? Or –“

Part 2

“h.e.l.lo~ everyone~, hehe ☆ I am Her Majesty the Queen’s representative,

Amira~! Everything’s OK~ ☆”

They’re idiots.

Sora managed to swallow his blatantly honest thought.

After Jibrilremoved the air bubble, a Seiren had rushed up immediately.

「This Person」 who called herself Amira, if her words could be trusted – but

the scary part was they probably could be – she was the sole representative

over all the existing Seirens at the moment.

She had silky green hair, snow-white skin that was almost transparent, and

clear blue eyes.

She wore coral jewelry all about her, but she didn’t give off a vulgar air.

Considering she was a mermaid, it would probably be a legitimate form of

dressing, but her personality was –

“Thank you allfor coming specially, like really thanks a lot~ ☆ ~~~Really,

the only way I can express my feelings right now would be through a kiss~!

Fufu ☆ Right?”

“...No thanks, I’ll cherish your well wishes though...”

It wasn’t a matter of honorifics or anything like that, although what she spoke

could be considered as Imanity, everything about it was strange.

Sora and the others were gaping in shock, while Amira continued to swim

around busily.

“Even in the depths of the ocean, rumors of the conquests of both of you have

reached here as well~ ☆The miraculous king here to save the Imanity sounds

like an incredibly handsome person just by hearing about him, and your looks

suit Amira’s preference as well~!! Right ☆”

“...Oh, really?”

It was the first time that he was called handsome by a girl... but why was it?

He wasn’t happy at all... thinking of those miscellaneous things, Sora nodded

in agreement.

“Aha ☆ Your voice is so cool as well!! Amira’s so wet~ ah, because I’m in

the ocean~ hehe☆”

Sora glanced at Plum wordlessly, while she silently returned his gaze while

shaking her head in sadness.

Amira didn’t seem to mind that sort of att.i.tude at all, and instead continued

with a smile plastered on her face:

“Oh~ we’ve prepared a feast, hehe ☆ Would you like to have the food?

Or•perhaps•have •me? ♥”

Amira shook her body in an attempt to seduce Sora.

While Ino accidentally revealed a lecherous expression on his face, and his

temperature rose –

“First let us see 「The Empress」, your welcome can wait until after that.”

Hearing Sora’s obvious rejection, Ino perked his ears up in surprise.

But Amira didn’t seem to mind.

“Ah, you really are as focused as they say ☆ But ifso Amira might like you

even more, you know ☆”

“...Really...anyway please lead us there.”

“OK~ ☆ So let’s swim into the city~ follow me, over here~ phew~ ♥”

With Amira leading the way, Sora and others descended the tower and

headed in the direction of Oceande.

Sora heard Ino speaking behind him.

“...Sora-san, it’s amazing that you could reject her so quickly.”

“Huh?”

“No, in the ocean even the senses of us Werebeasts will be limited, so I can’t

grasp Sora-san’s true intentions... but considering that even when being

seduced by such an attractive woman you still can remain composed, Sorasan,

do you have superhuman self-control –“

However Sora glared at Ino coldly in response, and he spoke as though

spitting:

“Old man, are you that desperate, even though I’m a virgin, what do you

expect me to feel about someone of that standard... let’s go, s.h.i.+ro.”

“...Mm...”

Leaving behind the speechless Ino, Sora swam towards the city while

carrying s.h.i.+ro –

Part 3

Immediately as they stepped into Oceande, they were welcomed by

extravagant cheers.

Every single Seiren had joyfulsmiles on their faces, and were dancing

seductively while playing completely out-of-tune music.

As for the language – there was probably no need for them to speak Imanity

anyway, as although they couldn’t understand the Seirens, they could

definitely sense their welcoming intent.

In the midst of the joyfully frolicking crowds of Seirens, what appeared to be

female Dhampirs could be seen occasionally.

Their facial expressions were in contrast with the Seirens, not all that different

from Plum’s.

Those were pitiful... tired smiles, and their expressions as they welcomed

Sora’s bunch seemed to say 「Thank you for coming this far」.

- In exchange for a constant source of blood from the Seirens, the Dhampirs

were to a.s.sist the Queen in reproducing.

Before their Queen was hibernating the two races were in a state of perfect

mutualism, but now their relations were like a candle in the wind – however –

“I’m curious, how can these people remain so cheerful and lively even when

their race is nearing extinction?”

Yes – leaving out the Dhampirs, the Seirens didn’t appear gloomy in the

slightest.

“- Didn’t I explain before ... they completely don’t understand what is

happening to them.”

Plum replied with a weary smile, while Jibril continued:

“Because the Seirens are so incredibly dumb that their stupidity has reached

legendary status, and in the languages of all the nations the very mention of

their species have become synonymous to 「Idiots」, and even that term itself

has been used to refer to the 「Seirens」as well, even being used as verbs in

sentences.”

Sora and others walked along the sea floor with Amira leading them.

- Walking in water.

It didn’t feel like walking nor swimming, which caused s.h.i.+ro to feel curious at

this new sensation, while Sora walked forward while carrying her just the

same.

Ino and Izuna, not to mention Miko – they truly were Werebeasts.

They had quickly mastered the act of walking under these circ.u.mstances, and

were bounding forward naturally.

Even when in the ocean Jibrilstill 「Flew around」.

“- Or should I say, Imanity are even more inferior to the idiot Seirens?”

To be perfectly honest, the ones there that were clearly unsuited to moving

underwater were obviously Sora and s.h.i.+ro.

“Before I met my Masters, I would reply 「Yes」 - but to put it more

eloquently, they’re only ranked higher because they have special abilities, but

otherwise they’re a really stupid species.”

Jibrilspoke allsmiles, while Plum continued wearily:

“These people only know how to eat, sleep, have s.e.x and play, nothing

more... fish do contain nutrition that can make people smarter, but the fish

themselves are rather stupid... isn’t it unbelievable?”

- This world really doesn’t have species that can get along with each other...

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Sora thought and looked into the horizon.

“...That’s true... even their representative is someone like this.”

“No... the fact that Amira-sama can speak Imanity is already good

enough...”

Good enough - Sora looked towards Plum sympathetically.

When faced with Sora’s gaze, Plum’s expression immediately turned into that

ofsomeone that has accepted his/her fate and spoke:

“Because we’re all in the same boat... I sincerely plead Sora-dono and

others to help them find ways to solve this problem – even the ones that

suggested previous methods were Dhampirs... since the Seirens don’t have

any sense of urgency, they’re only good at mating... hahah... sigh...”

“...It’s really been hard on you...”

With Amira at the lead, they entered a particularly tall building in Oceande.

During the course of their journey, Sora raised a question that had come to

him suddenly.

“Speaking of mating, Jibril, the Seirens mate with males of other species

right?”

“Yes, you’re absolutely right.”

“The sixteen races don’t have any 「Hybrids」 between races?”

- Although Sora and s.h.i.+ro were only in this world for a short period of time,

but regarding things like half-elves commonly seen in fictional worlds -

「Hybrids」, they had yet to hear of.

“That’s perfectly normal.” Jibrilreplied.

“The reason why they don’t exist is because although the sixteen races all

have certain similarities with each other, their souls are completely different.”

- Souls again?

「Souls」 that were yet to be proven to exist in Sora’s original world,

appeared to be commonplace knowledge in this one.

Those were probably something like chromosomes, Sora told himself, and

continued:

“But don’t the Seirens mate with other species? Won’t their offspring be

Seiren hybrids?”

“No, their offspring will be pure 「Seirens」.”

“Even though they are two different types ofsouls?”

“It’s just like how the Dhampirs absorb souls by drinking blood, Seirens

obtain souls from mating and carry out 「Metamorphosis」, creating their own

clones, so their methods of mating are even more ineffective than 「Living

beings」, sapping the other party dry in the process as well.”

“...That really is lethal.”

“Really? According to textualrecords – the act itself brings 「Joy paralleling

a.s.sumption」.”

“So they really go through a.s.sumption quite literally... and it’s a 「Journey of

no return」.”

But forget it – no matter how you put it.

“Because of that, to produce hybrids – to produce offspring carrying

characteristics of two different species is impossible.”

Sora thought for a moment, and figured – Tet probably let there be 「Sixteen

Races」 since they can’t produce hybrids.

“- Jibril, is there something on my face?”

Sora noticed that Jibril was staring at him intently.

“I think I’ve told you before that the Flügel aren’t 「Living beings」.”

“Yeah, you said that your species aren’t 「Living beings」 but 「Life」 right.”

“Yes, and it’s because of that that souls have no fixed shape, so as long as

you extract a part ofsomeone else’s soul and combine it with mine, you could

produce an offspring belonging to the other party’s species – it’s like physical

coitus, but in theory it’s still possible to transcend species and produce a

hybrid.”

“- I still don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

At this point she lowered her head reverently, moved her halo to the back of

her head, and folded up her wings –

This was a gesture of loyalty to her Master alone, and Jibril clasped her hands

together tightly and spoke as though a prayer:

“As long as Master wishes to have a child, the inferior Jibril is willing to do it

anytime –“

“...Jibril...shut up...”

s.h.i.+ro’s razor-edged words, forced Jibril to shut her mouth.

“We’re~~~~ here~!”

Sora heard a loud and bright voice all of a sudden, and looked up.

“Sorry to keep you all waiting! This is the Empress’ room~ ♪”

Amira stretched out one hand and pushed open the door slowly –

- Light spilled out from the opening.

The Empress’ room was rather wide, and the carpets and atrium were pink.

Faintly glowing seaweeds were placed on the walls, and what appeared to be

decorative woven patterns lit up the room.

Painted gla.s.s was etched onto the tall ceiling, causing sunlight that had

reached the floor of the ocean to spill into the room.

Although the faint sunlight seemed unnecessary – as on the glowing throne

right below them, there was a gigantic, beautiful crystal glowing noticeably.

No, it was a pretty-looking transparent imitation crystal... a block of ice.

“-......”

Everyone was speechless when faced with that sight.

At this point Amira solemnly – or at least attempted to act solemnly –

announced:

“Now I will introduce to everyone... this is the Empress of the Seirens...

Leila•Lorelei-dono.”

- A beautiful woman was sleeping within the block of ice.

Wave-like blue hair fell on her youthfulface.

Her snow-white body was decorated with blinding strips of gold and the

lower half of her body had attractive scales on it.

Those scales reflected the light in the room, appearing extremely colorful.

The 「Empress」 ornamented in light and gold and encased within the coffin of

ice, silently sat on the bivalve throne with her eyes closed.

Plum and Amira were quietly discussing behind everyone who was still

speechless.

“A-Amira-sama... regarding them awakening the Empress... Sora-dono and

the rest said that they wish to challenge everyone here to a game... is that all

right?”

Hearing Plum’s words, Amira appeared momentarily troubled, but then she

replied:

“Alright, no problem☆ But do you have any issues over your side?”

“Nope... s-so I wish to get the help of about thirty people to help with the

spells involved.”

“Mm.” Amira nodded her head.

“OK ☆ So I’ll be off to make preparations for Her Majesty’s awakening~

☆ Since you want everyone to use magic at once, you’ll need blood right~

Hehe ☆ Amira will go get everyone else, so I’ll leave everything to Plum for

now ☆”

“Alright... t-then I’ll make preparations for the spell to enter Her Majesty’s

dream state...”

She took a bow and left the room with Amira.

- But everyone else didn’t seem to have noticed her departure.

They were merely focusing on the block of ice with the Empress sleeping

within.

“W-what a beautiful woman...”

Steph seemed to have forgotten that she was a woman herself, and

complimented her pa.s.sionately.

When faced with her stunning appearance, no elaboration was needed for

Ino’s reaction, while Jibril, Miko and even Izuna felt the same way.

Their gazes were blindly attracted to her, but –

“Hmm...? Is she that pretty? s.h.i.+ro?”

“...I...don’t really understand...”

“”What!~~~?”

Everyone else was stunned by their reactions.

“A-are the both of you not right in the head!? I-if this woman isn’t a beauty,

then who is!?”

“...You’re the one that needs to calm down, she’s not beautiful to the extent

where you have to be this shocked right?”

Faced with Steph’s protests, Sora merely spoke with his forehead wrinkled in

impatience.

He looked at the Empress once again.

- Leila Lorelei, the Empress of the mermaids asleep within a coffin of ice.

Her appearance was certainly beautiful.

But Sora could confidently say – she was 「Different」.

For example, her beauty was different from Jibril’s that could shame even a

work of art.

It was different from Miko’s bewitched, almost holy beauty under the

moonlight as well.

It was different from Izuna’s pure, untainted cuteness as well, not to mention

–

“...? Nii...?”

Sora looked beside him – at his confused-looking sister, and he confirmed his

thoughts.

“- She’s no contest at all, or should I say, even Steph is superior to her?”

“...F-flattering me that obviously, even I’ll get angry you know!?”

“No, what use is there even if I flatter you...”

Sora looked at her in irritation, while Ino patted him on the back.

“Sora-san, no, it’s fine, don’t worry.”

He continued kindly:

“Don’t worry about it at all – impotence is curable, I’ll take you to eat softsh.e.l.led

turtle steamboat next time...”

“It’s not like that at all, stop ruining my reputation!!”

Sora pointed to the block of ice and yelled.

“Can you all calm down!! I’m not calling her ugly, but when compared to the

likes of Miko-san, Jibril, Izuna and s.h.i.+ro, is she really something to fawn

over!? I mean what I say, everyone here are allsupreme beauties!!”

Steph and Ino continued to look at Sora pitifully, but –

Hearing Sora’s words, only Jibril and Miko came back to their senses.

“Amazing, Master... this is what I was referring to earlier, the Seirens’

「Ability」.”

“- Ah?”

Miko and Jibril tore their gazes from the block of ice, and Jibril continued:

“The Seirens don’t have special bodies or magic, but the fact that they’ve

managed to survive for this long can be attributed to their greatest and only

weapon, which is –“

Jibril took a deep breath.

“As long as they’re in the water – they have 「The ability to attract anything」.”

“The Seirens are a species that have received the blessings of the water – the

reason why they stay in the ocean and cannot leave it is because of the large

amount of Spirits in their bodies... 「Water Spirits」, and they can 「Attract」

all other spirits.”

“...Ah...”

“Ah, I see.”

Sora and s.h.i.+ro nodded their heads in understanding, seeming to have

understood what was going on.

Before the 「Ten Oaths」, the Seirens reproduced by consuming males of

other species.

Since they didn’t have any superhuman strength nor any magic and couldn’t

leave the sea, how did they survive?

The answer was – they 「Seduce」 others and attract them.

This would explain why they could swim along with the fishes and could

withstand the water pressure of the deep sea without magic.

“Isn’t that like seduction magic?”

“Yes, to put it simply they control the movements ofspirits – something like

using magnets to attract them, which is the ability of their species... which

wasn’t something particularly important originally, but –“

Jibril glared over at the Empress, and once again averted her eyes.

“But, this mermaid over here – the amount ofspirits she possesses can be

considered an 「Anomaly」.”

Jibrilspoke unhappily as she was unable to resist the Empress’ charms.

While the other person who should’ve known what was going on as well –

Miko scratched her head with a helpless expression on her face.

Changing the subject –

“But... why doesn’t it work on the Masters?”

Jibril asked curiously.

“...Hmm...? Jibrilsaid it herself...we don’t have...spirits.”

“Yeah, you did say that, everyone in this world has spirits within them, but

s.h.i.+ro and I don’t.”

When they had first met, to prove to her that they were from another world,

they had let Jibrilscan their bodies for spirits.

If their ability was to attract spirits like magnets, the fact that it didn’t work on

Sora and s.h.i.+ro should have been obvious, but –

“No, as long as there are souls, there should be spirits presents. Maybe

Master’s spirits are too faint for me to detect, or maybe your spirits are

undetectable – but ifso, why would there be no effect – this is strange.”

Jibril muttered to herself, with her interest once again returning to Sora and

s.h.i.+ro, and she looked at them excitedly.

- While Ino who was standing beside her spoke:

“Or is it simply because Sora-san can’t get erect as a man?”

“You shut the h.e.l.l up, old man, you only think about the lower halves of the

body, don’t you, but I am a man of reason.”

“Sorry to keep you all waiting~!”

- Plum and Amira returned noisily.

Was the spell to enter the Empress’ dream state ready?

The two of them approached the block of ice where the Empress was

sleeping.

“So now we’ll use Plum’s magic to let you all into Her Majesty’s dreams.”

That cheerfulsmile was still on her face.

Amira nonchalantly continued:

“To all of you who wish to awaken the Empress, please 「Swear to the

Oaths」 and bet all that you have, then touch the crystal~”

-......

“Huh? Hey, what did you say?”

Steph broke the silence and asked.

Amira replied with another question in shock:

“Eh? Is there a problem?”

“Of course there’s a problem, what are you talking about!?”

...Bet all that you have?

Does that mean in the sense where the person’s wealth, ident.i.ty, freedom, life

– everything is put on the line?

“Is there a need for that? We came to help you upon your request!!”

“Sigh~ Plum, did you bring them here without telling them everything?”

“Um... I’m sorry...”

Amira prodded her cheek with a troubled expression on her face, while Plum

insistently apologized.

While the one that interrupted them was –

“Calm down, Steph, you’re the one that doesn’t understand.”

Sora’s tone was calm as always.

Seeing how calm he was, Steph turned around and observed everyone’s

reactions.

Not just Sora and s.h.i.+ro – but Miko, Jibril, Ino and even Izuna had

expressions of understanding on their faces.

“We were invited here to – awaken the Empress through the 「Empress’

Game」, right?”

“The third of 「The Ten Oaths」 states that in games, wagers will be made on

what both parties decide to be of value – while the Empress 「Swore on the

Oaths」 to hibernate, since the requirements of the 「Game」 to awaken her is

to make her fall in love with the other party, a 「Bet」 of equal value is needed

for her love – right?”

“Completely right, handsome man, not only your appearance, but your brain

is handsome as well!”

Amira laughed and nodded her head in agreement, but –

Only Sora had noticed, which was when Miko and s.h.i.+ro revealed thin smiles

on their faces.

Steph who hadn’t noticed still couldn’t agree.

“T-that sort of thing is just too weird –“

- She continued to question them.

“They’re the ones that are on the brink of extinction, we’re here to help, so

why do we have to face that kind of risk!?”

Sora replied as relaxed as ever.

“Plum did say earlier, to interfere with relations.h.i.+ps and dreams should’ve

been impossible under the 「Ten Oaths」, it was only possible because the

Empress agreed on it – but her agreement is merely within the game itself.”

- Which is to say –

“If we don’t begin the 「Empress’ Game」, allsorts ofspells wouldn’t be able

to be used, so there would be no other way to awaken her, and to obtain the

rights to play a game against her, the 「Bet」 she requires is –“

Sora looked over at Plum and Amira and spoke in a joking tone:

“「If you want my love you must have the drive to sacrifice everything!」...

something like that right?”

Steph remained stunned, while everyone else appeared defeated.

Only Amira continued to ramble on.

“Co~rrect~ an~swer! Ah~ I really don’t want to give you to the Empress,

are you sure you don’t want to be with me instead?”

Ignoring Amira, Sora spoke:

“Anyway since we have magic that will allow the Empress to fall in love with

us, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Y-yes! I can confirm it, leave everything to me!”

“S-something like that – what if the magic doesn’t work!?”

Steph still couldn’t lose her sense of apprehension, but –

“Just leave that to Amira~”

Amira spoke clearly:

“Even if you guys can get into the game successfully, the Empress in charge of

the bets is still hibernating, so her possessions will be in my care! If the magic

doesn’t work I’llreturn everything, so there won’t be any risk ♪”

“No, that sort of verbal promise –“

Sora interrupted her mid-sentence.

“OK, there’s no problem – let’s begin the game.“

Steph felt something was amiss.

She felt that something wasn’t right somewhere, why would such high-risk

conditions only be mentioned now?

Steph looked at Sora, why didn’t Sora feel any suspicion about the entire

affair?

This wasn’t like the usual Sora, to accept such a suspicious-sounding game –

Steph once again surveyed her surroundings.

Aside from her, everyone else didn’t seem to have any queries, and didn’t

have anything to say.

(W-what’s going on...? What’s happening here?)

Plum then began explaining the rules of the game.

“So – after all of you bet everything you have, please 「Swear on the

Oaths」and touch the block of ice... after which the Dhampirs under the

platform and I will cast a spell and lead all of you into Her Majesty’s

dream... to perform the 「Love Magic (cheat)」 I’llfollow you as well...”

Plum began planning out the spell accordingly while explaining at the same

time:

“Since it’s a dream, the surroundings can be set according to whatever all of

you want... so – Sora-dono will decide right? I will try and go according to

Sora-dono’s imagination and construct Her Majesty’s dream

correspondingly... no matter the situation – the victory condition remains.”

Sora helped Plum continue her sentence:

“As long as someone makes the Queen fall in love with him and awaken her it

will be a 「Victory」, but if you get dumped it will be considered a 「Loss」-

while the loser will leave the game and give away 「Everything」 according to

the bet – so we just have to swear to the oaths along the lines of this right?”

“Y-yes... b-but...”

Sora interrupted her in understanding:

“I get it, we have Plum’s love magic (cheat), and even if we lose we can just

get everything back from Amira – that’s what you were planning to say right?

Take it easy.”

Sora smiled fearlessly.

Steph sensed something amiss about that smile, however, while Sora

continued:

“With our current lineup and the conditions provided the possibility of us

losing is zero, so hurry up and start the game already.”

“A-alright – so Sora-dono, please imagine how you want the dream world to

be like, and then –”

Hearing her words, Sora began imagining it.

As long as dating games were mentioned, he wouldn’t make the normal kind.

“Please swear to the oaths!”

“ - 「Aschente」!”

Sora, s.h.i.+ro, Steph, Jibril, Miko, Ino, Izuna and Plum.

As all of them spoke that single word at once, their surroundings turned white.

◇◇◇

◆◆◆

◇◇◇

- After which it turned from white to blue instantly.

As though just waking up from a dream, they slowly regained their

consciousness.

Throughout their lethargic bodies, blood began circulating normally, their

senses returned to them, and –

“Aaaaahhhpfffffftttt!?”

- They were drowning.

In the middle of the sea, Sora and s.h.i.+ro, Izuna, Ino and even Miko were

being tossed around by the waves.

They could only smell the burning odor of the tides, and pain a.s.saulted the

deepest parts of their nostrils.

As their calm thoughts were being flung into a distance – a video began

playing within their subconscious.

“-With every end there is a beginning-“

There were overly flashy special effects, and sound effects that sounded like

stars collapsing.

A narrator that sounded like it was reading off a script continued blandly.

“There are meetings and there are separations –“

“THIS ISN’T THE TIME TO BE PLAYING THE OPENING CREDITS,

RIGHT!?”

Sora struggled to raise his head above the water level, and roared angrily.

“Which b.l.o.o.d.y universe’s version of 「Toki〇 Memorial」 starts with the

protagonist drowning? My heart isn’t exactly beating hard right now!”

[15]

No, their hearts were beating violently.

But Sora didn’t want to use the term 「Heartbeat」 to describe the dying

throes of one’s heart when faced with a life-threatening situation.

“Ah, s-sorry... I confused Sora-dono and Her Majesty’s imaginations of

what the dream world should be like, it takes time to create the scene...

please wait a while more...”

Thinking closely, this was rather unavoidable.

Since they were able to interfere with the Empress’ dreams, this world

couldn’t have a 「Schoolyard setting」 like in Sora’s world.

Of course, Sora’s imagination needed to be combined with the Empress’

knowledge, and –

“...Nii...I lived...a good life...”

“Plum~! My sister’s already giving up on survival, so hurry up already~~!”

s.h.i.+ro closed her eyes with a blissful expression on her face, while Sora

hugged her and yelled loudly.

“- Ah, ah, the spell is complete, I’ll construct the setting now!”

- In an instant.

The original 「Setting (scene)」 of them drowning in the ocean was removed,

and changed immediately like flipping the pages of a book.

The 「Stage」 switched from the ocean itself to the sea floor, and unnecessary

「Settings」 like breathing were removed.

Like flipping over poker cards face down one by one, various changes to

make the game run smoothly were implemented, and the dream world was

able to accept 「Unreasonable」 settings.

“- Master, are you alright?”

Hearing Jibril’s loud cries, Sora returned to his senses – not realizing that he

was now on solid ground.

“...T-that was...horrifying...”

In the clear blue ocean, Sora spat out 「a single breath」, and wiped off 「the

sweat on his brow」.

s.h.i.+ro was s.h.i.+vering in fear due to nearly drowning early, and Sora hugged her

while complaining dissatisfiedly.

“The game hadn’t even started and we were already facing a death end, can

you please not use that sort of weird plot settings here?”

“...I still...hate the ocean...”

“The 「Sea」 that caused the Masters harm... it appears there is a need to

remove it completely.”

“Wouldn’t it be fine if you were to just learn to swim...”

At this point, Steph who appeared to be the only relaxed one spoke with her

eyes half open.

But Miko and others beside her – all the Werebeasts in frustration – agreed

with Jibril’s words.

“...Yeah, who cares about the ocean, who created these weird puddles

anyway?”

“I have to agree with Jibril-san for once, just let the sea dry off already.”

“Also the sea is so stinky... if only the sea could just disappear and leave

behind all the fish.”

Everyone had completely entered the dream, and even though they were

cursing, they were gradually returning to their usual calm selves.

- Sora, s.h.i.+ro, Steph, Jibril, Miko, Ino and Izuna.

They stepped on the floor individually, and the 「Setting (scene)」 in front of

them constructed slowly.

Even though they were at the bottom of the sea the sky could be seen, and

clouds were moving about on the water’s surface.

The uneven terrain was re-flattened, and 「School buildings」 appeared on the

sea floor originally filled with rocks and corals.

The schools of tropicalfish swimming around them gradually transformed into

nameless normalstudents (NPC).

In the blink of an eye a virtualstage known as the 「Underwater school」 was

built.

That was a 「High school」 built in the same style as the other buildings around

Oceande –

Glancing at their surroundings, beside Sora –

“What shocks me is that Her Majesty actually knows about 「Schools」... did

she read about them in books?”

Plum who had appeared to have snuck into the game (dream) successfully,

spoke.

Understanding the meaning behind Sora’s glance, Plum smiled wearily, and

explained bitterly.

“Haha... Oceande doesn’t have anything like schools... what would those

people need to learn anyway.”

As the scene around them stopped changing, Sora and others began showing

changes instead.

First – countless signs lit up, entering their field of vision.

“...? What is this?”

Steph wanted to touch the signs that appeared, but grabbed air instead, and

Sora explained:

“That’s the UI (User Interface)... the 「Command Selection Screen」.”

- It was exactly like a status screen in a standard dating simulator.

It brought back memories, like the t.i.tle screen of 「Toki〇 Memorial」, but

Sora complained instead:

“...Since you could generate something like this this perfectly, then you

shouldn’t have let us drown in the first place.

“Because this only causes any effect on the players... when the scenes are

being constructed, it’s actually the process of combining Sora-dono and Her

Majesty’s memories, something that took us quite a lot of effort to do, but –“

Plum spoke in shock all of a sudden:

“Where did Sora-dono get your information? I’ve never seen anything like

that before.”

Plum didn’t know that Sora came from another world, and indicated curiosity

at how he was able to imagine such things – but Sora merely ignored her.

“Speaking of which since what you’re doing is reflecting the imaginations of

the players, the settings should be rather easy to change right?”

“Ah, yes, because the spell is being constructed... so as long as Sora-dono

wishes it anything can be changed.”

Plum continued:

“But one’s appearance, age and s.e.x are unchangeable... please take care.”

- The Empress was hibernating in wait of a 「Prince」.

Ifshe were to fall in love only to realize that the person that had awoken her

was completely different from the character in her dream, like a photo scam –

she would probably resume hibernation.

They didn’t have any problem with that, but what was important was:

“Since we can change our names, please set my name as 「Ko〇man」.”

“...Nii, setting all base stats...to 573 is cheating...”

[16]

Facing his sister’s accusing gaze with her eyes half open, Sora shook his hand

while chuckling in denial.

“Using official cheats are technically allowed according to the rules, and also if

this cheat is used as long as you perform any actions you will be afflicted with

neurosis, causing you to miss the entire first year and all the flags in it... so it

does have its negative side effects!” (TL note: See what I mean by negative

stats?)

“...Then s.h.i.+ro will... use the name「Se〇ponume」.”

[17]

“Um... is there any particular reason for that...?”

As they were conversing – Sora and others’ appearances changed according

to Sora’s imagination made reality by the spell.

Sora’s dressing was merely an extra uniformed suit over his usual T-s.h.i.+rt

saying 「I ♥Humans」.

“...Oof, this clothing is rather stuffy.”

Wearing a male school uniform as well – a ninety-eight year old man with

bulging muscles spoke beside him.

“...A uniform that bulges tightly due to overly large muscles...I think I’m

going to have nightmares tonight.”

Sora spoke while averting his gaze from h.e.l.l(Ino) over to heaven

(playground) – which was essentially the female members of their posse.

s.h.i.+ro who was standing on the other side of him wasn’t wearing her usualfull

black uniform – but instead a brightly colored female uniform.

- Maybe because it was mixed in with the Empress’ impressions as well, it

was a sailor uniform slightly more revealing than Sora had expected it to be.

And around her were Izuna, Jibril and Miko who were wearing the same

uniforms –

“...Miko-san’s sailor uniform, really does look amazing...”

“Do you have something to say about it?”

Stroking her long golden hair, Miko spoke while wearing a sailor uniform

identical to s.h.i.+ro’s.

Her twin tails lifted her skirt slightly as they shook about, and her beautiful

legs underneath were extremely attractive, but –

“...Miko-san, how old are you?”

“Didn’t anyone tell you that asking for a lady’s age is extremely rude?”

“Oh, right... speaking of which the one that created the Eastern Federation

was Miko-san right?”

Miko’s ears twitched slightly.

“You kept saying things like since you were matured or whatever, Izuna’s

eight years old but she’s already matured, while the Eastern Federation

prospered rapidly within fifty years (half a century) – even when you leave out

the time taken to take care of the entire Eastern Federation, you at least have

to be about fifty-eight –“

“Let me give you a piece of good news OK? Imanity (bald monkey).

Werebeasts – especially in their 「Blood Devastation」 form, age extremely

slowly.

Miko interrupted Sora’s accurate deduction, and spoke with a dazzling smile.

- After which a dangerous smile appeared on her face, and she spoke clearly:

“If you dare to call me 「Auntie」, you know what will happen, don’t you ♥”

“- Phew... and I was the one about to tell Miko-san some good news.”

Sora met her smile head on, and replied:

“Looks are everything! Miko-san gives off an air like she’s older than she

actually is because of her actions and tone of voice, but appearance-wise you

look no older than a beautiful twenty-year-old lady –which means actual age

is no more than a t.i.tle, which is what we Imanity believe.”

“...That is what you believe.”

Despite clearly hearing Steph’s words, Sora excellently ignored her, and

pointed beside him.

“Also there’s someone here who is 「Over six thousand years old」, so there’s

nothing to worry about right?”

“Ah, Master, to be precise I’m 「Six thousand four hundred and seven」 years

old.”

Jibril who was looking at her garb curiously since earlier, replied with a smile

on her face.

Her s.h.i.+rt was lifted up slightly by the wings on her waist, revealing a short

s.n.a.t.c.h of bellyb.u.t.ton, while the rest can be omitted.

On the other hand –

“...Speaking of which, may I ask a question?”

“Hmm – is there a problem? Steph.”

“Why am I the only female along with you and Ino – that’s wearing male

clothes?”

- That was true.

s.h.i.+ro, Jibril, Miko and Izuna.

They were all wearing sailor uniforms, but only Steph was – wearing a male

uniform identical to Sora and Ino’s.”

Sora nodded his head meaningfully, and explained his reasoning.

“Good question – this is what is known as 「To kill a general, first shoot his

horse」.”

“...What?”

Sora spoke with a serious expression, and everyone’s eyes were on him.

“- First, there are 「Two」 reasons why I didn’t let everyone wear male

clothing.”

Sora continued while lifting up a single finger.

“First, if we’re going to conquer the female lead, I want to have help from her

friends – the girls.”

“...You really say all these dastardly things without hesitation.”

Miko spoke her thoughts on everyone else who was glaring at Sora coldly.

However Sora ignored her and raised another finger:

“Secondly – I considered the possibility that a trap like the Empress 「Never

was interested in men」 in the first place might exist.”

“...I did say earlier that the Empress was looking for a fertile male...?”

“There’s insufficient evidence to prove that.”

Sora reb.u.t.ted Plum who objected while staring daggers at him as well, and

continued:

“Next up is the reason why I let specifically Steph wear male clothing – Steph

has strong communication skills, so she can be our scout for information.”

If they were only looking at political power, Miko could be a stand-in for her

as well.

But according to Sora’s instinct, Steph was the correct choice as she could

make friends easily.

“I want a male comrade that has the socialskills and ability to collect

information like Saotome-kun – but...”

[18]

Sora turned to Steph and sighed.

“...But compared to Saotome, you’re more of a... someone like Ijuuin...”

[19]

“- What? I don’t really understand...”

- A redhead with rather proper looks.

She looked like a rather high-cla.s.sed handsome teenager – the male-dressed

Steph tilted her head in confusion.

Her att.i.tude was nonchalant as she hadn’t particularly noticed her

appearance, but she was proficient in both physical ability and studies, even

being a decent homemaker.

She had socialskills, a drive to get things done – and had a set of determined

blue eyes.

And deep in her eyes, one could even get a glimpse at her overwhelming

gentleness and resilient personality – she was quite literally a model teenager.

- To be honest.

Sora wanted to punch her, as she was the enemy of unpopular people (the

world) – once again glancing at her riajuu appearance, Sora sighed.

[20]

“...Ijuuin? Who’s that?”

“...It’s first-gen... don’t bother about it...”

[21]

“...Speaking of which, how about we not bother about Gramps over here

and just let Steph go talk to the girls?”

“What? No, for me to go talk to the girls – and about that... S-Sora and I –“

“...Ah, it appears the spell is complete.”

Part 4

“Hmm, so let’s play the opening cutscene all over again – after which I’ll

infiltrate the Empress’ subconscious.”

Following Plum’s announcement, a giant screen appeared in the middle of the

air.

The badly made advertising clip that had just played in their minds once again

made an encore accompanied with relaxing background music.

Following the narrator’s descriptions, after photos of the school buildings and

cla.s.srooms were shown on screen, the image cut to the courtyard, where a

giant madder-red colored piece of coral that seemed to have branches

extending in all directions was shown with the camera angle slightly tilted.

The narrator explained calmly.

“Marinal Kagayaki High... there is a legend that as long as one confesses

under the magical coral, one will acquire 「True Love」.”

[22]

Hearing these recycled words, Sora complained with his eyes half-opened:

“...Hey, I wouldn’t care if it was like a magical tree or something, but what

the h.e.l.l is a magical coral...?”

To confess under an ancient tree was somewhat understandable.

Confessing in the midst of bells ringing or on a slope with Sakura blossoms

blowing around would be acceptable as well.

But no matter how you think about it, 「Under the magical coral」 just seems a

bit too over-the-top, don’t you think?

“Even if you say that I can’t do anything about it... there aren’t any trees in

the ocean...”

- Speaking of which stuff like corals would probably look disgusting up close.

The opening cutscene continued to play, disregarding Sora’s inner thoughts

and protests.

- After a while.

The boring narration ended, and pop music began playing.

Under the pink-colored 「Magical coral」, a mermaid with blue hair flowing

along with the waves appeared.

- The empress.

The uniform-wearing empress – Leila swam quietly under the giant red coral

as though dancing.

Her colorful uniform covered up her firm body that was shaking from side to

side unpredictably in the water brought out her naturals.e.xiness and charisma

even more, and the very action of her scaly tailsticking out from her short

skirt while flapping about in the water was attractive.

The Empress’ eyes carried a hint of melancholy, and she stretched her hand

out to the sky as though earnestly waiting for something –

“La - ♪”

She began singing.

- Upon hearing her voice, everyone simultaneously inhaled sharply.

“Ah...!”

“Oh, this is... she really is a beauty, even her voice is exceptional.”

Steph and Ino began praising her.

An Empress that could bewitch anyone through a single glance.

Her beautiful voice brought a sensation to the listener’s soul that was almost

like taking drugs.

...Except for Sora and s.h.i.+ro.

Sora and s.h.i.+ro stared at the screen in boredom.

“Even I’m beginning to think that there’s something wrong with our taste...”

Ignoring her voice for now –

The song and video that was playing were completely mismatched with her

sensual actions and melancholic expression.

But before that, the Empress wasn’t suitable to wear sailor uniforms at all

because she’s too s.e.xy.

It was like a thirty-year-old woman (laugh) pretending to be a female high

schoolstudent –

“Well it’s true that everyone’s preferences are different... but you want me to

conquer her?”

I can’t seem to get excited... Sora took a small breath.

■「The First Day」■

- All of a sudden, the words 「The First Day」 appeared in front of everyone.

Sora and s.h.i.+ro were undoubtedly already used to it, but Plum continued to

explain it to the others.

“Um, I believe a few 「Commands」 should have appeared in front of

everyone, if you use those you can perform specific actions... like giving

presents and things like that.”

Hearing Plum’s explanation, Sora tilted his head in curiosity instead.

“It’s like that in theory, but this is a realistic romance game right? So there

shouldn’t be a hidden affection meter...”

“...Nii.”

As Sora was complaining, s.h.i.+ro quickly pa.s.sed something to him.

“...Command...present...Nii, did your affection gauge rise?”

s.h.i.+ro’s eyes appeared to be expecting something, while Sora smiled bitterly

and replied:

“Sorry, sis, my affection for you is already at maximum levels, so even if you

try nothing will –“

“So Master, if you allow me to, I will –“

Jibril gave him a gift as well.

Plum looked away from them and continued her expression.

“Also...among the commands displayed, there should be two heart shapes as

well.”

Everyone carried out individual confirmations and found them almost

immediately.

It was in the lower-half corner of a screen with multiple signs on it.

There was a normal heart shape and another heart shape with a 「+」marked

on it.

“That heart is the confession command...it’s up to you how you wish to

confess, but if you choose this and get 「Dumped」, it will be regarded as a

「Loss」... while the one with a + on it is...”

“Your 「Love Magic」 right – a cheat command right, OK, I think I’ve got

it... yep.”

Sora had figured out the system since earlier, and turned towards Ino.

“So Gramps, since you’ve married thirty wives, the amount of people you’ve

slept with must be more than that right? So how about you use those skills

that even Ka〇 Taka can’t beat to quickly conquer the Empress and get her

heart.”

[23]

“The way you put it is rather displeasing...”

Ino wrinkled his forehead, but after that –

“I’m looking forward to your lover’s skills that seem to be your pride,

Hatsuse Ino.”

“...Good luck Grandpa, des.”

“Yes! As Miko-sama orders...!”

Hearing the two women’s encouraging words, Ino replied respectfully and

turned towards Sora.

“...But Sora-san, I was quietly listening to you since earlier, all that stuff

about shooting generals and horses, helpers, scouts for information and others

seems pretty hard to comprehend.”

“...What?”

Sora replied with his forehead wrinkled, and Ino shrugged his shoulders and

continued:

“...Could it be that Sora-san believes that ignoring women’s preferences and

forcing one’s own preferences onto them – even stooping to the point of

changing one’s appearance to suit them is 「Love」?”

...He got me, Sora thought.

“To be precise, that’s how it is in a 「Romance Game」.”

Noticing that Sora was unable to answer, Ino looked at him solemnly.

“Phew... so that’s how it is, it was a good idea after all to leave it to me after

all, it seems that just like how being good at fighting games doesn’t make one

a good fighter, mastering romance games doesn’t allow one to talk about real

romance and love.”

- He was right, but Sora somehow felt angry as he realized that his selfconfidence

probably came from the fact that he’d slept with many women.

“Sora-san do you know why you’re a virgin – an unpopular, antisocial,

incurable man now?”

“...Old man, don’t make me get Jibril to teleport you to the ends of the

universe.”

Ino didn’t appear to be the slightest bit threatened by Sora’s devilish glare.

“Some say that 「Love is the art of reading hearts」- ifso, why can’t Sora-san

do it?”

“...Hmm?”

- If it was 「Reading hearts」.

Then Sora who was way above himself (Ino) should be able to do it.

Ino’s words carried absolute confirmation at Sora’s ability with it as well,

leaving Sora speechless.

“I see, there are many different ways to love, but... the end result is always to

「Convey one’s feelings to the other」, and –“

Ino stared at Sora sharply.

- His eyes didn’t carry any hint of condescension.

It wasn’t a look ofsarcasm, hate, pity, nor underestimation.

It was a look that Sora – knew all too well.

With the look in his eyes that Sora never wanted to see again in his original

world – Ino continued:

“The words spoken by a liar that lives on mountains of lies do not have the

power to convey one’s feelings at all!”

No doubt about it, it was – a look of 「Distrust」.

“But, it’s true, if it really is about reading hearts, there’s only one way, which

is –“

Ino spoke while glancing towards his own command screen.

“「Seize the upper hand」.”

Unhesitatingly choosing the 「Confession Command」- Ino dashed forward.

“”Eh-!?””

Leaving behind Sora and others who were stillfrozen in shock –

Using his physical ability as a Werebeast