I longed for games.
Board games or whatever else, it didn’t matter. I simply longed for games that several people could play together.
Because games, too, are a form of communication.
‘At last, the day has come when I get to play a card game.’
I’d been determined that I would try one someday.
Sitting at the table, I burned with enthusiasm.
“Could I perhaps see the rulebook?”
“Hoeeng.”
“?”
Ah—
The zombie handed me the rulebook with her mouth hanging open in a daze.
It seemed her zombification had progressed so far that she had lost most of her language functions.
“Riet. Maintain your dignity as a mage. What is this hoeeng, hoeeng?”
“Hoeng. Hoeng. Hoeeng.”
“She’s cute, so just leave her be, dayo.”
“Seria. You should stop ending every sentence with dayo as well. Isn’t it strange?”
“It isn’t easy, dayo.”
As I read the rulebook and listened, a question occurred to me.
“May I ask how you ended up becoming zombies?”
“The fact that you ask that proves you must be from another world after all.”
“That’s right. I came from a place called Earth.”
The zombies all looked at me at once again.
“Poor thing, dayo. You came to this ruined world only to suffer, dayo.”
“If possible, you should have come when Aistrea was at its most radiant. As we are now, we no longer have even the means to properly receive a guest.”
“Awawawang.”
“?”
Riet, who had been sitting beside me, opened her mouth wide and tried to bite my arm.
Oh dear. If she bit me, her teeth would break.
Just as I was about to slip away, the zombies restrained Riet by pressing her down with magic.
“Riet. Regain your reason. Even if you must die, you should die as a mage.”
“What rudeness toward a guest. Come to your senses.”
“For Riet, holding out this long was already impressive, dayo.”
“Awawawang...”
I could sense the mana circles rotating ever so faintly.
I had wondered how they were maintaining their reason even after becoming zombies, but only now did I feel their tenacity.
They were enduring by forcing their infected bodies, whose control they had lost, to move through their mana circles.
“Sorry to show you such an unsightly scene. Could you step outside for a moment? If it’s Riet, she’ll surely regain her reason.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I’m truly sorry, but going outside would be helping us. Right now, your body looks far too delicious to our eyes.”
“Eek.”
- What...?
- This bastard just said Yuyeon looks delicious...!
I see. To the zombies, my body, brimming with vitality, must seem like an incredibly fresh meal.
Maybe Riet lost her reason because of me, too.
“I’ll be outside. Please call me back later.”
“Do that. I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine, so don’t worry about me.”
I hurried outside.
And after confirming there was no one around, I cried.
“Hing-ing-ing.”
- (Waaah waaah priest emote)
I wanted to try playing a card game. But it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to.
***
After Riet regained her reason, I entered the Magic Tower again.
As expected, the card game had apparently fallen through, and the cards on the table had been put away.
But it was fine. I had already cried my tears out beforehand, so I was invincible.
“My greeting is late. I am Eldrion, master of the Aistrea Magic Tower.”
“I’m Han Yuyeon.”
“It seems you have many questions. How about we ask each other one at a time?”
“Sounds good.”
“First, I’ll answer the question you asked earlier. This world has been changed in a great many ways by a bizarre life-form that fell from space.”
A bizarre life-form that fell from space?
In order to understand the theme of this trial, I listened attentively.
Eldrion showed me a photograph of a grotesque organism.
“This is the monster we provisionally named the Omega Seed. When it first crashed, we thought it was a small meteorite, but it gradually expanded and began mutating every living thing.”
“!”
“The creatures mutated in that way began acting as if they were slaves of the Omega Seed, and in exchange for gaining power on a completely different level from before they mutated...”
Eldrion paused and looked at Riet.
“Hoeeng.”
“Their intelligence drops, as you can see.”
“Oh dear.”
“Awawawang.”
“It also becomes extremely difficult for them to maintain reason, and their violent tendencies increase.”
Riet tried to bite me again, but Eldrion stopped her with magic.
“The form of mutation differs slightly depending on the organism, but humans generally end up in this state. We decided to call mutated humans zombies.”
“I see.”
I understood the zombies of this world.
They hadn’t become zombies because some zombie virus had spread from a suspicious laboratory, but because of a biological virus from space.
“I think that should sufficiently explain how we became zombies. May I ask my question now?”
“I’m Han Yuyeon, and I’m a maid.”
“I heard that earlier. I want to hear where you came from and how you came here.”
“Mm.”
“Did you come from space? Was there another civilization besides ours in the universe after all? Or was it dimensional travel? If so, how did you cross dimensions?”
I hadn’t come from space, and since I came through the Tower, I supposed it should be considered dimensional travel.
Or maybe it was more like briefly entering a world inside a simulation.
It was something I couldn’t know either, so I couldn’t answer simply.
As I was thinking, Eldrion suddenly trailed off and changed his question.
“No... no, that isn’t it. I’ll change the question. What matters isn’t where you came from or how you arrived here. What matters is why you came.”
“?”
“Why did you come here?”
The voice of the zombified Eldrion was dry and parched.
His bloodshot eyes, his dark reddish skin, even the mana circles being forced to turn.
I could feel the loneliness of a human driven to the brink of death, and I found myself wanting to help him.
“To be honest, I came because I wanted to become stronger, but I’ve changed my mind.”
“......?”
Boom—!!
Suddenly, the ground shook, and I felt a thunderous sound drawing nearer.
At the rhythmic tremors, like a giant approaching, Eldrion and the other zombies held their breath.
“Oh no...! A Predator is approaching! Quiet your mana circles!”
“? What’s a Predator?”
“A mutant that cannot be killed. It was granted transcendental regenerative power by the Omega Seed, becoming a monster that recovers faster than it burns even if you set it on fire—”
Boom—! Boom—!!
The footsteps drew closer.
“The mutants... track traces of magic... so hurry... quiet your mana circles...”
As the price for quieting their mana circles, the zombies’ complexions grew darker and darker.
Because they had been prolonging their dying bodies through their mana circles.
- Hmm, this won’t do
- Yuyeonmon, do it for us
At this rate, it looked like everyone would lose their reason.
There was no time to delay, so I moved.
“...What... are you trying to do...?”
“You can rotate your mana circles.”
“Surely... you’re not going to face the Predator...”
I came out of the Magic Tower and looked at the Predator.
The Predator looked like a troll with mushroom fungi plastered all over its body, and staring straight at it gave me a slight chill.
Seven meters. In front of the Predator, who had the ideal height I had wished for, I spun my mana circles even more powerfully and filled the area with my magical power.
“Hello. I’m Han Yuyeon.”
Sensing my magical power, the Predator caught its breath.
“Ruaaaar—”
“?”
- ?
Then it ran away.
Terrified, it hurriedly thudded off.
I caught the Predator with telekinesis.
“Let’s communicate...”
“Ruaaaar!”
“This is Maid Cosmic Triple Flame Tornado Peace.”
“Ruaaaar!!!”
Since they said its regenerative power was outstanding, I also unleashed a secret technique of the Maid Peace style with powerful firepower.
Fwoosh. After burning for one second, the Predator turned to ash and disappeared.
“???”
- Why... do I feel bad for it?
Oh dear. It seemed that had been a bit too strong for the Predator.
When I turned around and flew back, I saw the zombies staring in stunned silence.
“J-Just what is that magical power of yours...?”
“V.”
“I believe you are far stronger than Lord Eldrion was in his prime...”
“VV.”
“The Predator burned to death, dayo! So Predators were monsters that could die after all, dayo!”
“VVV.”
“No, how did you do that as well?!”
“Your mana control is astounding...!”
“Hoeeeng...!”
- Yes, yes, worship her
- This is our Yuyeon
“To answer the question you asked earlier, Eldrion, I came to help. As much as I can.”
“Help... us...? Why would a being like you...?”
“It’s my turn to ask a question now, isn’t it? How would you like me to help?”
I didn’t want to see them meet their deaths as zombies.
I didn’t want to see them be destroyed because of some alien life-form that had suddenly fallen here.
To prevent that, I would have to help them with many things.
I was ready to help with anything.
***
After we returned to the Magic Tower.
Eldrion no longer asked why I was trying to help.
Instead, he spread out a map and began explaining what kind of help he wanted and why that help was necessary.
“Where we are now is the Aistrea Magic Tower. It is the foremost Magic Tower of the Isrein Empire.”
“Oh.”
So the place I had come to really was the Aistrea Magic Tower.
I felt guilty that I had smashed the door of such a place to pieces.
I should make them an even better door later.
“The problem is that the mana core of this Magic Tower has gone out. In order to activate the Magic Tower again, we need to bring the mana cores of other Magic Towers.”
- Aha, so it’s an errand-running trial
- Figures. No way Hell would let us cheese it
So to clear the trial of the eleventh floor, I had to bring the mana cores of other Magic Towers.
I continued listening to Eldrion’s explanation.
“If the Aistrea Magic Tower is activated again, the mutants that sense the mana will begin to gather here.”
“So we have to fight a defense battle.”
“A defense battle? I have no desire to make such an unreasonable request that would only bring losses no matter how much you hold them off.”
“?”
“The reason I want to activate the Magic Tower again is to retrace the current location of the Omega Seed.”
Eldrion brought over additional documents he had compiled about the Omega Seed.
Ugh. Ugh. Too long. I worked hard to take in the letters, which had no summary.
In short, the Omega Seed was continuously moving while absorbing the planet’s energy.
“With the magic you used just now, you should certainly be able to burn the Omega Seed as well. I want you to use the moment the mutants gather at this Magic Tower to find the Omega Seed and burn it.”
“Then what will you do while I’m gone?”
“Ha ha. We will, well, meet our deaths with dignity as mages.”
“???”
“There are two reasons we have held on despite becoming zombies.”
Uuuugh. He brought more documents.
I somehow maintained my dignity and stubbornly read through them.
They were about the seed vault the Isrein Empire had left behind for future generations, and the predicted patterns of the Omega Seed after it had absorbed all the planet’s energy.
“The first reason was that we hoped to eliminate every risk factor threatening the Isrein Empire and human civilization, then activate the seed vault so that future humanity might continue our line.”
“The second reason was to prevent the Omega Seed, after absorbing enough of this planet’s energy, from invading another planet and spreading the same disaster to another civilization.”
Eldrion seemed to place more importance on dealing with the Omega Seed than rebuilding the Isrein Empire.
It felt as though the research results stating that the Omega Seed, after finishing its planetary erosion, had a high probability of moving to another planet and spreading the same calamity were what allowed him to cling to his last reason.
“We have almost no strength left now, so even if we give up on rebuilding the empire, I want to devote everything to eliminating the Omega Seed.”
“That is right. At the very least, no one else should have to suffer such a disaster.”
“It’s best for this shitty mess to end with us, dayo.”
“Hoeeng.”
Their sense of duty, wishing that the same calamity would not be repeated upon others, kept them alive as mages.
To think I had almost fired a shotgun at such admirable people.
My conscience hurt so badly that it was hard to stand upright.
“So shameless though it may be, I ask this of you. Once the Magic Tower is activated and the mutants gather here, track down the Omega Seed and eliminate it.”
“Then what about rebuilding the Isrein Empire?”
“...If we must give up one of the two, then even if we abandon rebuilding the empire, eliminating the Omega Seed is the right choice.”
“Why do you have to give up?”
“...Mm?”
When you lack power, there are times when you must give up and compromise.
But why should I compromise? I had power.
“I don’t understand why we have to give up when we can do both. Rebuilding the empire and eliminating the Omega Seed.”
“I know you are strong. But aside from Predators, there are far too many mutants that could be called the natural enemies of mages. If you try to face them all, you won’t accomplish anything.”
“???”
Maybe he couldn’t calculate properly because I hadn’t shown him all my strength yet.
It seemed I needed to show him a little more.
“Eldrion. Is the reason you need mana cores to activate the Magic Tower because you need an enormous amount of mana?”
“...That’s right.”
“Then I can just activate it myself, right?”
“It would be impossible for you to activate the Aistrea Magic Tower alone...! Your power is desperately needed, so please, do not overexert yourself...!”
I rotated my mana circles and poured the mana that filled me endlessly into the Magic Tower.
Continuously. Until the Magic Tower activated once more.
“Stop...! If you collapse from this, then even the faint hope we have gained will disappear... no?!”
“Th-The Magic Tower is activating again, dayo!”
“Hah...! I thought we would only barely be able to activate it by bringing every mana core from the other Magic Towers...!”
Flash— Flash—
Lights began turning on throughout the Magic Tower.
I flashed a peace sign with one hand and said,
“There is no such thing as impossible for me.”
I knew that since we had not known each other for long, they could not have much faith in me yet.
Even so, I found myself wanting them to believe in me and rely on me.
“Everyone. When things are hard, try making a peace sign. If you make a peace sign, you’ll feel better.”
At first, it would be enough if they made peace signs in order to become happy.
But later, I would help them make peace signs because they were happy.
“I’ll help with rebuilding the empire and eliminating the Omega Seed. In return, once it’s all over, please play a card game with me. I’ve always really wanted to try it.”
I wanted to see them happily making peace signs.