“Sorry Qualia. I think your big sister here was too weak-hearted.”
Lobelia said as she poked her own head, chastising herself.
Meanwhile, Qualia thought back to what she said when they were on their way to the capital.
“Analyzing situation. You asked ‘what would you do if I did something, or gave you a ‘wrong’ order’. That matches this situation.”
“Oh? I meant that you should stop me if I went berserk or something…”
Lobelia said with an awkward smile while scratching her cheek.
“Your exhaustion led you to pick a wrong choice. Thus, Qualia responded to uncle Kernel instead.”
“…Thank you. I have to keep working hard too.”
“That is not recommended. You should work towards recovering from your exhaustion.”
“I can’t sleep at a time li… Oh…”
Lobelia stumbled, and Qualia caught her.
Not having slept at all was weighing down on her. Even Spirito, who was with her the previous day, went to her room when she got home, and had not come out yet.
Dealing with politics was exhausting, even if one did not physically move.
“…Well then Qualia. I give you an order as the one in control of Hello World. Save the magic dolls and beast people. And bring back Ddos! Ah, if it comes to that, give Ddos to uncle Kernel.”
“Request accepted.”
As Lobelia still stumbled, another girl supported her body, Ina.
“Hum, I’m sorry about before…”
“Don’t worry about that Ina! It was uncle Kernel who got too personal! You did a good job answering, even though it was clearly tough.”
“It’s been three years since my brother died… I can’t drag that with me forever. And I’m also curious… How did Azure Skies grow to the point of causing that incident? Why was there someone using my brother’s name…”
It seemed less like Ina was concerned about it, and more like the wave of confusion still had not washed away.
A question blocked Qualia’s thought circuits. Was it all right to leave her and go do his job as a part of Hello World?
Ina attempted to recompose herself and appear well, as though she could feel Qualia watching her wavering eyes.
“But there’s something more important going on! Please go, and save the beast people and magic dolls!”
It felt like Ina was a balloon filled to the brim with something, and would burst at the slightest poke.
Qualia had recently learned what ‘putting on a brave face’ meant, and felt those words applied here.
He moved his eyes away, and Lobelia whispered, moving only her mouth.
“…I’ll calm Ina down.”
“Qualia will now execute his duty as a member of Hello World.”
“Please do.”
Lobelia said with a salute.
She watched Qualia run off, and whispered.
“Ina, I don’t know what happened, so I don’t know if this will be of any comfort, but I think your brother was at least good enough that you loved him so much. After all, you still cry for him even after three years.”
Ina looked puzzled, and Lobelia winked after Ina turned her face to her.
“I’m a big sister. I’m more or less in the same position.”
“…Thank you.”
At the very least, Ina’s face seemed to have loosened a little.
“…Princess Lobelia, you speak to that tomb every day as well… I’m sure Love would be happy.”
“Well, thank you too.”
The two girls who both lost family began to talk and smile, but then…
Completely out of nowhere, Anonymous fell to their side.
“Eh!?”
“…!?”
Both Ina and Lobelia exhaled with their whole bodies.
It was beyond simply not noticing. Anonymous fell from above as though he ignored the continuity of time. And there was no impact at all.
“Firstly, let me thank you for stopping the ancient magic stones.”
“…And you are…?”
“I commend you for getting so much information out of that letter. No wonder Love worked for you.”
“…Anonymous?”
The word letter led Lobelia to the identity of this person.
The person called Anonymous said nothing in return. All Lobelia could tell was that he was a boy about the same size as Qualia. And that he was very well hidden.
His body was covered by an indigo blue raincoat, and its hood covered even what his hair looked like. And his face was hidden behind a mask modeled after a fox.
Nothing could be seen. All Lobelia could do was look on with confusion.
“Ddos is the main offender behind this incident.”
Anonymous jumped right into it.
“He acquired magic dolls, and is planning to sell them at a high price to serve as guards. This is meant to be a demonstration. He’s taking advantage of a market that’s very sensitive when it comes to safety due to the incident with Azure Skies, and purposefully fanning those feelings of insecurity by letting beast people go.
He wants to swoop in and play the part of the hero by having several magic dolls take them out, and get better publicity than anyone could dream of.”
“…Where did you get this information?”
“This is just what I know. I have no evidence.”
“Then… How come you know?”
There was no answer from Anonymous. Instead, he continued to provide information.
“But even if you contain Ddos, he can challenge your authority, and Kernel’s too. To stop him, you need to do something about the magic dolls.”
“What do you mean?”
“This incident is backed by Princess Root.”
Lobelia’s breath was taken away for a moment.
Kernel was aligned with the side of King Wirgin. Princess Root had the political and military power to match Wirgin’s, and Lobelia did not expect her name to be brought up here.
“And of course, the ‘Truly wonderful fair skies church’ the princess is affiliated with is involved behind the scenes. Going against them directly will guarantee a clash between the Wirgin and Root factions.”
“Why…”
Anonymous once again did not answer, and looked up.
“If you take away the magic dolls, they lose their trump card.”
“Take away?”
“…I will come again. To Love’s place.”
“Wait! Just who are…”
And then, Anonymous vanished, shooting up to the slightly cloudy sky at an abnormal speed. But even as they looked at the white clouds, Anonymous was nowhere to be seen.
Lobelia then looked down, and saw Ina’s face turn pale again.
“…Ina?
“‘Truly wonderful fair skies church’…”
The trauma was palpable in her tone.
Lobelia understood without needing to ask.
It was this ‘Truly wonderful fair skies church’ who took her brother from her.
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