The Victims' Alliance
After a long descent from the igloo, the village at the foot of the mountain turned out to be larger than I had expected.
And whether we could call it luck or not, the place was in the middle of something called the "Starlight Lantern Festival"—a name that alone sounded like it would overdose you on pure romance.
The moment we stepped through the village entrance, the savory scent of frying oil and the sweet perfume of fruit hit our noses. Thousands of orange lanterns blanketed the night sky and filled every corner of our vision.
"Whoa…"
A soft gasp of wonder escaped beside me.
I glanced sideways at Kyra. Both of us were wearing perception-dampening robes just in case, but the color of her hair spilling from under the hood was impossible to hide.
Half of it was a deep black-teal like a night sea; the other half was a brilliantly shining gold. The two colors mixed in a perfect fifty-fifty ratio, creating a strangely harmonious blend.
If Pleasure's usual personality was the one that went wild with insane energy, right now it felt like the main body's reason was holding the reins at just the right tension.
"Erevan, look over there. Those lanterns—they're not magic. They're using real flame moss, aren't they?"
Kyra whispered, gripping my arm tightly. Her voice was calm, but her hand had plenty of strength in it.
"In terms of mana efficiency they're a complete waste… but that analog warmth is something magic just can't imitate. They're so beautiful."
Her eyes sparkled like a child's.
I let out a quiet chuckle and nodded.
"Yeah. They look even warmer than the lights you made for the igloo… Headmaster. No—Kyra."
"Oh my, you shouldn't compare those. Mine use top-grade mana stones."
She pouted as if offended, yet the corners of her mouth were climbing so high they might reach her ears.
We slipped into the crowd and began walking the festival streets.
Bustling people, loud music, merchants hawking their wares. Normally those noises would have annoyed me, but today every last one of them felt like background music.
"Try this! They say it's a northern specialty! It must have appeared while I was away."
Kyra stopped in front of a skewer stall, her golden hair swaying as she bought two. One spicy, one sweet.
She seemed to hesitate for a moment over which to eat, then promptly held the spicy skewer up to my lips.
"Here. Say 'aah.'"
"What? No, I'll just eat it myself."
"Tsk! Didn't you send us those letters because you wanted to date? Then you should enjoy this as much as possible! Who knows when the other crazy… transcendents might show up."
"…"
I could feel the stares of people around us boring into us, and my face burned, but I had no real comeback. Reluctantly, I opened my mouth.
"…Oh. That's good."
"Right? The sauce blend is excellent. I think they used fruit enzymes…"
She took a bite like a gourmet analyzing the flavor, then seemed to decide that none of that mattered. She took another huge bite of her own skewer and puffed her cheeks out with pure happiness.
"Mmm~! Delicious!"
The elegance of the teal and the playfulness of the gold burst out at the same time.
She chewed contentedly, then latched onto my arm completely and urged me forward.
"Over there, let's look at that too!"
"Let's take it slow. You'll get indigestion."
"I won't! There's just too much to see. After becoming a transcendent… no, even before that, these were things I only ever dreamed about. Actually doing them for real is so exciting I could die!"
She shouted and dragged me all over without rest.
At a stall selling cheap accessories we picked out matching bracelets for each other. Of course she complained that the mana array was a mess before buying them, but she bought them anyway.
We also stood dazed watching a bard's performance in the plaza.
Then, at some point, we found ourselves sitting on a bench on a quiet hill at the edge of the village.
The lanterns of the town below glittered like a galaxy that had fallen to earth.
"Haa…"
Kyra leaned back against the bench and let out a long breath. White vapor rose from her lips.
The gold in her hair had faded a little; the calm teal had deepened. Even the silver-gray strands peeking through looked completely settled.
"Did you have fun?"
I asked carefully. She turned her head to look at me.
Her eyes were so deep and still that for a moment it felt like my breath caught in my throat. It was as if I was seeing another side of a transcendent.
"Yes. Truly."
She answered quietly.
"You wouldn't know, Erevan. This is… the first time in my entire life."
"…The first time? For a festival?"
"For festivals, for dates. No… for blending in and playing with someone on equal footing like this at all."
Kyra gave a bitter smile and pointed down at the village.
"I always looked down from above. From the top of the academy tower, or from the window of my laboratory."
"…"
A transcendent.
One who observes the world.
A piece of the stage's background and machinery.
The words she had spoken earlier suddenly came back to me.
Kyra gazed at the people of the village with a distant look before continuing.
"When I saw people laughing and chattering, I just thought, 'Ah, Crowd Member 1 and Crowd Member 2 are moving.' I couldn't join in, and I didn't want to. They were beings from a completely different dimension than me."
Her hand came to rest over the back of mine. Warmth seeped through.
"But today was different. I was inside those lights, eating delicious things, picking out silly little items… and next to me was someone who answered when I spoke."
The corners of her eyes grew slightly damp.
"Ah, so this is what living feels like. This is the happiness people talk about… that was the thought that came to me."
"……"
I said nothing in particular and simply took her hand carefully in return.
Something in my chest ached.
The continent's strongest archmage.
The woman who had seemed to have everything was moved by something as small and ordinary as this.
And I had only wanted to use a woman like her out of jealousy and envy toward the protagonist…
Even after hearing the entire truth through Truth Binding, Kyra had still understood me. I felt overwhelmingly grateful to her.
"…We can come again often."
The words slipped out before I knew it.
It wasn't because of Truth Binding. It was my real, honest feelings coming out exactly as they were.
"Once the igloo is finished, whenever we're bored we can come down. Buy more skewers, buy more bracelets."
"……"
"So, uh… don't think you're alone. We're accomplices now. And I know I shouldn't say this so boldly, but… even if the others catch me… I'll try to love you the most, Kyra."
At my words Kyra's eyes went round, then she burst into a loud laugh.
"Declaring a harem so boldly—you just ruined the entire romantic atmosphere."
She laughed and wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes.
Then she leaned toward me and rested her head lightly on my shoulder.
"Fine. The world's chosen protagonist gets a harem, so why can't an extra have one? Of course, I have no idea how the remaining four will react… or whether we can even deal with all the Outer Gods before that."
The scent of her hair washed over me.
The cold air of a snowy winter night mixed with the sweet smell of cotton candy.
"Thanks to you… today was the most perfect day of my life."
She murmured, nuzzling her face against my shoulder.
Her hair—gold excitement and teal relief intertwined—tickled my cheek.
We sat like that for a long time without speaking, watching the sea of lanterns spread out below us.
Tomorrow hellish training would be waiting again, and before long the calamity known as the Outer Gods would arrive.
But at least for this single moment, neither the world's causality nor a transcendent's duties could interfere with us.
We could simply enjoy life in the snowfield like an ordinary couple who had just started dating.
At that same hour.
Thanks to Kyra Bell Arenas's large-scale transfer magic, the survivors who had not been swallowed by Argentina's annihilation had gathered.
Among them was Leon, who that day—as usual—had been enjoying life by eating with his girlfriends when disaster struck.
There were also the students and faculty who for three years had blocked countless Outer God attacks and protected Argentina.
Finally, every major and supporting character the world and the author had created were assembled in the territory of House Kentauret in the southern Roelina Empire, grinding their teeth as they talked.
"Aaaaagh! My graduation project! My magic engineering blueprints!"
A fourth-year magic engineering top student wailed while beating the ground.
"It took me six months to make that! Materials alone cost three thousand gold! All gone! Without a trace!"
"You think you're the only one? My entire transcript evaporated! I have a royal court mage interview next month! Without a certificate of grades it's an automatic document rejection!"
"Insane… I had a recommendation letter from the Magic Tower ready, and both the professor and the letter vanished together! The professor survived, so where the hell did the letter go?!"
The great banquet hall of Kentauret territory was pure pandemonium.
They had kept their lives, but their entire lives had been completely shattered.
Job seekers, soon-to-be graduates, professors who needed research results—everyone's mental state had been ground to powder as they poured out their rage.
"Hic… Leon! What do I do?! There's a cut on my arm!"
In one corner, the woman known as the Fire Sword, Rihela Leonhart, sobbed and clung to Leon.
A thin scratch from debris marked her arm.
"What if it scars? If I can't get married, are you going to take responsibility?"
"No, that would heal if you just put on a healing potion…"
Leon soothed her with a troubled expression while inwardly shedding tears of blood.
He too had suffered massive losses.
My holy sword, Laevateinn…
The legendary-grade weapon he had carefully stored in his dorm room—his very symbol. He had left it behind in his rush to the cafeteria, and by now it had surely been dismantled into some subspace and vanished forever.
"My laboratory! My thirty years of research data! I didn't even make backups!"
"My luxury robe! It was this season's new arrival!"
"My girlfriend's photo! It was in my wallet and I lost the wallet!"
"You still have the girlfriend, you crazy bastard! Stop rubbing salt in the wound!"
Professors and students alike abandoned all dignity, thrashing on the floor.
Because of one unknown culprit named KJH, the life plans of thousands of people had been completely reset.
"This is all that… KJH bastard's fault!"
Someone screamed, voice raw with fury.
"That's right! The transcendents invaded because of that guy's love letters!"
"If we catch him I'll kill him! Give me back my job prospects! Give me back my diploma!"
The arrows of anger were aimed with perfect precision at one target.
The atmosphere grew so ugly that a riot seemed imminent. Leon could no longer stay silent.
"Everyone! Please calm down!"
Leon climbed onto a table and shouted.
At his cry the excited students gradually closed their mouths one by one.
After all, he was still the academy's hero and the student council president (provisional), so his influence remained intact.
"I understand how unfair and angry you feel. I lost my holy sword, Rihela got hurt, and Chloe's staff was broken."
Leon clenched his fist with a grim expression.
"But nothing will be solved if we just sit here crying. The academy is gone, but we survived. And…"
His eyes sharpened.
"It's not over yet. The threat of the Outer Gods still exists. With the barrier gone, we have no idea when they might invade again."
"Th-that's true, but… how are we supposed to stop them without a school?"
"Exactly. We lost all our weapons and equipment."
The students murmured.
"That's why we have to move first."
Leon unfurled a map.
"First, we must capture KJH, the root cause of this entire disaster."
"KJH?"
"Yes. The fact that the transcendents came after him means he might hold some important key. Or at the very least…"
Leon ground his teeth as he added,
"If we catch him and hand him over to the transcendents, wouldn't they at least give us compensation for the damages? Her Majesty the Empress, the Elf Queen, or even the Demon King."
"Ooooh…!"
The light in the students' eyes changed.
The words "compensation for damages" struck their ears hard.
Job placement, diploma issuance, item restoration.
With the power of transcendents, none of that was impossible.
"Then how do we find him? We don't know his name or face."
Chloe asked, fiddling with her broken staff.
"I've gathered the rumors."
Leon gave a signal to a student from the intelligence division.
"According to reports, that day five transcendents gathered in the academy headmaster's office—the Empress, the Demon King, the Elf Queen, the Dragon Lord, and the Headmaster herself."
"All of them?"
"Yes. And there are eyewitness accounts that at the end a massive flash of light occurred and the Headmaster and someone else vanished. But whether the Headmaster took KJH with her, or KJH kidnapped the Headmaster, or they both got caught up in something together is still unclear."
"He kidnapped the Headmaster? Is that guy insane?"
"It's possible. If it's KJH, he might be capable of it."
Leon rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"For now, we have information that the transcendents have returned to their respective domains and begun large-scale searches. So we need to split into teams and move as well."
He drew circles on the map with a pen.
"The Empire, the Demon Realm, the Forest, and even the northern snowfields at the farthest edge of Rahelon. While watching the transcendents' movements, we will track KJH's trail."
"Can we really find him before the transcendents do?"
"We have to. Our lives are on the line."
A blazing fighting spirit burned in Leon's eyes.
Of course some sense of justice was mixed in, but his true purpose was a desperate desire for revenge over his lost holy sword and his ruined school life.
"KJH… whoever you are, I will chase you to the ends of the earth and make you pay for my holy sword."
"Waaaaaah!!!"
"Jobs! Graduation! Restoration!"
"Catch KJH!"
Into the night sky above Kentauret territory, the bitter cheers of thousands of job-seeking students and soon-to-be graduates rang out.
At that same moment, Erevan, sleeping peacefully in the northern snowfields, had no idea—not even in his dreams—that the enemies targeting him were no longer just four transcendents, but now included a furious alliance of thousands of victims as well.