Qualia just barely sensed those movements that could not be identified.
Sight, sound, touch, smell, taste… None of his feelings sensed those movements. There was only the reaction of the ancient magic stone on the radar system in Qualia’s right eye, which showed something that supposedly was not there, but had gotten very close.
Furthermore, there were the tattered magic dolls on the ground.
Something was there.
The reaction in his right eye approached Ace, who ran ahead first.
Ace did not notice it. She could not. And so, Qualia jumped in front to cover her.
As a result, the three lines carved Qualia’s back.
“What just happened? I cannot comprehend.”
“Analyzing situation. Detecting an unknown enemy imperceptible through the normal five senses.”
Ace got up, not surprised about the sudden attack.
Qualia also stood up, not even breathing heavily after being slashed in the back.
However, Ace opened her eyes widely after seeing the deep wounds on Qualia’s back.
“Why was your back wounded?”
“Request explanation. Are you damaged?”
“I have no damage at all. You are wounded.”
“Request understanding. The anomaly is only moderate, so it is possible to continue fighting.”
There was a reaction on the radar again.
When the reaction reached his position, Qualia jumped with Ace. This time, he only suffered a small cut on his left shoulder.
Qualia looked towards where the being he could not see was passing.
“Cancel.”
As if a veil had been lifted, the blurry shape of a beast person with cat ears entered Qualia’s field of vision. The claws on his right hand were stained with Qualia’s blood.
He turned around, showing the deep dark circles under his eyes.
“Can you see me?”
Not only did Qualia not respond, but his calculations froze for a moment.
The values he received from his face matched Ina’s too well.
“Target recognized. Liebe, leader of Azure Skies.”
“…Situation understood.”
After hearing Ace behind him, Qualia understood. If he was Ina’s older brother, it explained why the visual information matched her values.
But he had no time to consider how it contradicted Ina’s statement that he was decapitated in front of her.
Liebe was holding a black hole ancient magic stone.
If it was activated, that whole area would be wiped out. Preventing that was the number one priority.
“Request explanation. You possess a black hole ancient magic stone, so what do you plan to do with it?”
“You spotted that I’m holding an ancient magic stone? Who are you…?”
“This individual is Qualia, a member of the guardian knight chivalric order Hello World.”
Liebe’s right eye twitched.
“Qualia… So it’s you. You stopped the ancient magic stones in the upper area.”
“Request explanation again. You possess a black hole ancient magic stone, so what do you plan to do with it?”
“…You don’t have to ask, do you? I’m heading to the upper area with a bomb that can blow up the capital. And I’m going to make some beautiful fireworks.”
“Type GUN.”
As soon as he heard that answer, Qualia pointed a photon weapon at Liebe.
“If you continue your attack, Qualia will prioritize preventing large scale damage to the capital and stop your vital activity.”
This was the decision of a human holding on to his power of reasoning.
Qualia was ready to kill Liebe.
Shooting said ‘fireworks’ in the upper area would destroy it. Many smiles would be lost, and he would probably not be able to perceive ‘tasty’ in the capital again.
“You are wrong.”
“What’s wrong is a world that excludes beast people.”
Liebe responded immediately, and with resentment in his voice.
“…Do you think we beast people are looking for what’s right at this point? Do you think you humans are right to completely exclude us from society? Didn’t you even consider that it was inevitable that we’d seek retribution? You who took everything away from us!!?”
“That does not make you right. It is easily surmised that destroying the capital will not improve conditions for beast people. No one will smile.”
“Beast people don’t smile anyway.”
“Ina smiles at everyone.”
Said Qualia with a stronger tone.
“Ina is not the only one trying to create smiles. Lobelia also took on the duty to smile at humans, beast people, and magic dolls. There are more humans who don’t discriminate against beast people and treat them well.”
“…Ina…”
“Analyzing situation. You have never felt kindness from humans. That is tied to this behavior. Therefore, request that you stop this attack. Furthermore, there is a high chance that Ina is your sister. If you come in contact with Ina, you will feel that humans can be ki…”
“Don’t lie to me!!”
The beast person’s howl stopped everything. Qualia stopped talking, Ace stopped the action she was about to take, and Liebe stopped completely.
“Ina… Ina… Ina… Ah. Yes… Yes…”
Qualia saw Liebe, who was standing still as though time stopped, but was releasing dark aura as though his body was steaming.
“Analyzing situation. That is not magic energy. Request explanation. What is that dark matter?”
There was no response from Liebe. It seemed he could not even hear the question.
In that dark space, only his bloodshot eyes pointed at Qualia.
“Ina… Was gone three years ago. She’s dead. You’re lying.”
“Ina’s vital activities have not stopped. There is no lie.”
He did not hear Qualia, and walked as though he was despair wearing clothes.
“I finally escaped that cage. Before I knew it, I killed all those people from the ‘Truly wonderful fair skies church’… But Ina was gone. There was only blood full of her smell. I can’t even imagine what they did to her, but they killed her for sure. She was only twelve, and kinder than anyone else. She’s gone. My only family. Why why?”
“Gaia.”
Next to Qualia, Ace shined with a verdant green color.
The magic energy covering her whole body had an effect on the ground, as the ground filled with her Gaia skill began to pulsate a little.
“As per master’s demand, the beast person from Azure Skies will be killed. Reverse.”
Multiple cones sprouted from the ground, creating spears of earth that could easily pierce even a high ranking monster.
Like a tidal wave, they furiously drew closer to Liebe.
“Why?”
But they hit nothing.
Liebe used Stealth again, and disappeared from their field of vision.
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It seems like Qualia didn’t find the optimal solution here. The optimal solution would have been to knock out Liebe, hack into Ace, and then have Ace take the magic stone back to commander Kernel.