Chapter 13 - In the End

Aiden was walking the streets at dawn, near the docks on the outskirts of the capital. A massive ship came into view through the bluish light.

Most of the weapons smuggled into the capital arrived on ships traveling the canals. This was also where today's incident would unfold.

-Quest Info

▶ Failure in any event listed here will incur severe penalties!

◈ Life Is Beautiful

- Katya Heinkel Craven desperately wants something from you. Do everything you can to help her fully experience 'sensation'!

- A related event will occur soon. (D-Day!)

★ Handling the event wisely will change how 'Weaver of Fate' applies to this target.

◈ Act 1, < Rift in the Capital >

- Your contact with important scenario characters is approaching a sufficient frequency.

- Your existence will soon be formally incorporated into the scenario. Your course of action will determine the scenario's direction!

- A related event will occur soon. (D-Day!)

♠ Main Quest

◈ Act 1, < Rift in the Capital >

- A group is smuggling weapons into the capital. Apprehend them all.

- Clear Condition: Do not allow any civilian casualties.

- If you fail this quest, you will die!

Wow.

Having a list of events all scheduled to happen today shoved in his face made his chest tighten. Especially the words 'fail and you die,' spelled out so clearly in the Main Quest.

Unlike that Side Quest he'd received before, this one seemed to be making a special point of emphasizing that success was mandatory.

'Exactly like it was in the game.'

Seeing that brutal, unprompted threat of 'do this or I'll kill you' really brought home the fact that he was standing in a game world. Except, unlike a game where he could try again after dying, one death would be the end of him.

Still, if there was any consolation, it was that today would be the last day he had to worry about these things.

'If I remember right...'

Aiden mentally retraced the course of the incident.

However secretly they brought the weapons in, smuggling enough for a coup was bound to leave a trail. The capital's city police catching wind of it and launching a raid marked the beginning of the 'scenario' that would sweep up the entire world.

'That's where you are.'

And among the police officers conducting that raid would be the person Aiden was after. Their illustrious savior, whose talents would awaken in the 'crisis' unfolding today.

The protagonist of this world.

At this point, they were just a rookie in the capital's city police, weren't they?

He didn't know what they looked like or what sort of person they were, but they would definitely appear here today.

No, they had to. For the sake of the world's future, if nothing else.

'So take some of the crap that's landed on me, too.'

That was closer to his true motive, admittedly.

Anyway, to take that first step, he'd have to meet up with the person he'd arranged to see. She'd definitely said she'd be waiting around here.

As he looked around, a face suddenly swung down from above.

It was Katya, hanging upside down like a bat with her legs hooked over a nearby streetlamp.

... His heart nearly stopped.

"Hi-ya."

The sight of her waving with a bright smile while hanging upside down instantly left him feeling stifled. She looked like an ordinary girl, but the pressure of facing her gripped his whole body, as though he stood before an enormous predator.

He felt something similar around Noel, but at least he had no real sense that she'd hurt him. Unlike this ticking time bomb.

"It's strange."

That predator in human form spoke the moment she saw Aiden's face.

"What is?"

"That you didn't notice a thing until you got this close."

"..."

"How can someone so very impressive that he uses the same divinity as me fail at something so simple?"

"..."

"You've got all this power, but you don't seem to have the slightest idea how to use it. It makes me want to drag you straight to the Holy Kingdom and cut you open for a look inside, you know?"

Her habit of suddenly hitting the nail on the head like this probably contributed a good deal to that pressure.

She couldn't have been more right.

Every supernatural power Aiden possessed was immensely powerful, but he hadn't the faintest idea how to put them to proper use in combat. To Katya, who'd been raised as a genuine fighter, he probably looked pathetic.

"Well, that's fine."

Katya dropped from the streetlamp and continued.

"As long as you keep your promise, little details like that don't matter. So, what do we do first?"

"There's someone I want to introduce you to. Let's meet them first."

For their illustrious protagonist, making Katya feel something right away would be child's play. Hadn't she joined as a 'companion' in the original precisely because she'd felt something from the protagonist at their first meeting?

Shortly after they met, the protagonist would somehow break through her congenital numbness and let her experience some kind of 'sensation.' That was how Katya's personal quest began.

He also distinctly remembered the scenes afterward, with her trailing faithfully after the protagonist.

Katya gave a little chuckle.

"I'm looking forward to it."

... Her words sounded cheerful enough, but he could also hear a warning: fail to keep that promise, and you're on your own.

▣

The raid was heating up spectacularly.

Not just figuratively. With bombs exploding and bullets flying, the temperature was genuinely high.

It was also incredibly loud, with the police's repeated calls for surrender over a loudspeaker, the criminals' curses, and the tearing reports of gunfire and explosions.

Wasn't this a bit much for a weapons-smuggling raid?

'Still, I guess it's a relief nobody's been hurt.'

They might not be regular soldiers, but the capital's city police were unquestionably elite as law enforcement went. Taking down a criminal organization like this shouldn't give them much trouble.

Meeting the clear condition about casualties didn't look likely to pose much of a problem.

Meanwhile, on the edge of that fierce battle...

"Do we really have to keep such a low profile?"

While Aiden's stress levels were skyrocketing just from being here, Katya, who'd been watching beside him from the shadows, sounded petulant.

Whatever she might actually do if she got involved, she clearly hated how 'boring' it was to stay out of things.

'Seriously, this girl...'

Since she had no physical sensations, Katya enjoyed all manner of bizarre antics to feel something, if only emotionally.

"Just be patient a little longer. There's nothing to gain from jumping in anyway."

"After boring me this much, if this turns out to be nothing special, I'm going to be really angry, you know?"

"..."

What kind of lunatic casually complained about boredom while bullets and explosives flew right in front of her?

But if she got angry, that heralded a catastrophe with casualties in at least the double digits, possibly even the triple digits. It wasn't something to take lightly.

'It should be happening any moment now...'

Fortunately, before Katya could complain any more, the event Aiden remembered began unfolding before his eyes.

"Everyone, get back!"

That's it.

Aiden nodded inwardly as one of the cornered criminals emerged carrying a box that looked dangerous at a glance.

"... A hellfire bomb?"

Dangerous enough that even Katya, who'd been watching without interest until now, let out a whistle.

"Weren't those too expensive to use much even during the Coalition War? What's something like that doing floating around the back alleys?"

As she muttered, Aiden began to pick out the ashen faces of the police officers. They'd likely realized that if it went off, it could easily wipe out the entire area.

"Wait, calm down—"

"Drop your weapons! Put every last one on the ground, or I'll set it off!"

Ah, he was even getting nostalgic. Wasn't this the very first cutscene after the tutorial?

And right here, their magnificent protagonist would appear and subdue the petty crook threatening to blow up the whole area in one fell swoop. The beginning of an epic story.

Yes, any moment now.

One.

Two.

Three.

"... Chief, what do we do?"

"Don't provoke him for now. You see how that bastard's lost it?"

"Hey! What are you whispering about? I said put your weapons on the ground!"

"Hold on, calm down, okay? I'm telling you, we'll put them down. We'll put them down."

"..."

They should be appearing.

No.

They should have appeared...?

A chill crept down Aiden's spine as he stared at the scene, which hadn't changed at all. His hands and feet grew cold.

Of course.

Because the person who should, of course, have been here was nowhere to be seen.

'They're not here?'

At this point, they had to be here. Amid all this chaos, there had to be one person willing to step forward first and show 'courage.'

But there wasn't.

Everyone merely watched and waited, afraid they might lose their lives.

There were only ordinary people here.

That shining figure who would shoulder the fate of the world, the 'protagonist' Aiden had intended to dump his burdens on...

Was nowhere here, right now.

"..."

Aiden squeezed his eyes shut.

In the end, the 'worst-case scenario' he'd wanted so, so desperately to avoid was taking shape before him.

"Hey."

And before he could even sort through those thoughts, a chilling voice reached him from his side.

"So, where's this person you were going to introduce me to?"

"..."

"Don't tell me it's one of those pathetic losers over there."

This was no time to admit honestly that they weren't here. If he did, he could easily lose his head on the spot.

No, considering Katya's usual disposition, that would be the expected outcome.

"—"

Once again, a switch clicked on inside his head. That survival instinct of his that kicked in whenever he was pushed to the limit.

"Aiden? Your answer?"

Katya spoke again, even the smile she usually wore like a mask beginning to fade. It was effectively an ultimatum. As if she were asking whether he'd really wasted her time on this crap.

Meanwhile, Aiden's mind was churning out assessments at a terrifying speed.

'The most urgent thing right now...'

What he needed to do here was somehow make this monstrous princess beside him feel pain. Unless he could break through all her 'divinity' and force some sort of 'sensation' into her, he would die right here.

'For that to work—'

He'd already worked out how to achieve that once before. He simply needed to land a single blow powerful enough to break through every bit of divinity she possessed.

What he had now was a single revolver he'd brought for 'self-defense' and several half-effective supernatural powers that, as Katya had pointed out, he merely possessed without knowing how to use.

A paltry weapon, and abilities as wasted on him as a pearl necklace on a pig.

With these, he had to deliver a single blow that surpassed the output of a monster on par with Noel.

"—"

Then, could he actually do it?

Was there a way?

His calculations were quick. His conclusion was quicker.

"Are you deaf? I'm asking you—"

"Shut up for a second, will you?"

There was.

Just one.

He'd reached this conclusion before, but it was something he absolutely didn't want to do.

Something he really, really didn't want to do.

"I told you."

To do it, there was someone he needed to call first.

Having spoken, Aiden reached inside his coat and firmly pressed something.

"To wait."

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

He kept counting. Ten seconds.

After that brief silence, the change came immediately.

"What the—?"

Someone sharp-witted at the docks spoke up. They had probably sensed something changing around them.

Though invisible, anyone with keen instincts would have realized that a violent air current was forming nearby.

Beginning as a faint stirring, it became a wind, then a storm, then a typhoon that seemed to send even quite heavy objects flying.

Then, from the sky, a human figure wreathed in pure-white mist plunged down like a meteor.

BOOM!!

KABOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

With a violent blast that dwarfed even the seemingly ear-splitting noise of the battle moments earlier, nearly everyone in the vicinity screamed.

Everyone except Katya, whose eyes began to sparkle, and Aiden, who had summoned the person responsible.

"Whew."

Noel adjusted her hat, knocked slightly askew by her violent landing, then lifted her head a little to survey her surroundings.

"Ah."

Spotting Aiden, she gave a soft smile.

"Did you call?"

It was an utterly composed greeting, entirely at odds with her terrifying entrance.

"..."

Aiden stared at her in a daze, fiddling with the switch inside his coat. It was the signaling device she'd given him earlier, telling him to press it if he was in danger.

'... When she said she'd come running if I was in danger.'

She hadn't been lying.