Chapter 10. Stubbornness and Arrogance (11)
"What are you planning to do?"
Ria asked me as I returned to the room and started packing.
"First of all, the Dwarven Kingdom isn't going to collapse all at once or anything like that."
I answered as I pulled out my entire suitcase.
"The key is the princess."
"Does the princess really have that much Mana in her body?"
"The Mana is one thing, but the princess's knowledge is what matters most. This is the Dwarven Kingdom that tried to create a Gate, isn't it?"
And they might have actually succeeded. If only they'd had a little more time.
"Let's go over it once more."
I opened my bag and checked the weapons inside as I spoke. I'd been maintaining the gun regularly anyway, and I'd made sure to bring all the ammunition.
I swapped the shield for a slightly smaller one. The riot shield that covered nearly my whole body was too big and heavy to keep carrying around, and it was cumbersome.
"Even just the Mana up there is enough to make Mana Orbs and harm people. If they simply wanted to wipe out the Dwarves, they could mass-produce Mana Orbs and invade this region, and that would be the end of it."
"So they want something more."
"Yes. They want the princess's 'knowledge.'"
They believed that with it, they could accomplish something.
......Saying it like that makes me sound overly self-important, but among those things they could "accomplish," there was probably something targeting me.
A power that nullified Mana. A power I could only imagine was connected to the Being Above.
To them, it would be both dangerous and alluring.
"......You think they can extract knowledge? Those ones you're talking about?"
"It's just a guess."
The novel described the princess as having been fused with a Mana Orb.
I was no longer skeptical about the concept of the Soul. I was here in this world, I remembered my Past Life, and above all, the Being Above who had sent me here was watching me.
In that situation, denying the existence of the Soul would be absurd. Even if it isn't the Soul, it also means there's some means of transferring information equivalent to it.
But separate from the Soul, a person's mind belongs to the body. People think with their heads, the heart pumps blood toward that head, and every other organ in the body exists to acquire energy to send to that head.
If the brain, the most important part, is damaged, the rest of the person stops functioning properly. If the nerves connecting the brain to the rest of the body are severed, the body breaks down and can no longer move.
What that means is, if there's some technique that can scan the brain, extracting the information stored in that brain isn't absolutely impossible.
I don't know how information is recorded in the Soul, or what happens to a Soul after it leaves the body, but at least I can make that kind of inference.
......Or maybe, since what they're dealing with is Magic that can't be explained by science, they might be reading the Soul itself.
"So, you think we just need to protect the princess?"
"That's right. Even if there is an enemy, they can't harm hundreds of thousands of people all at once."
If that were possible, Earth couldn't have remained intact. Even the Gate Crisis supposedly threw society into chaos, but in the end, it was stopped.
A society that had researched countermeasures and turned them into a system would be even harder to attack. In that sense, the kidnapping and alteration of the Dwarf Princess had been a crucial event: hundreds of thousands of revived Dwarf corpses had poured into our world afterward.
"......."
Clack.
After checking the gun one last time, I stood up and looked at Ria.
Ria's duty here was to guard me at all times except when sleeping. Naturally, she didn't need to check her weapons separately like I did. She just carried them with her from the start.
Standing not far from me, quietly watching my actions, Ria's expression was a little complicated.
"Yes, it's dangerous. Definitely."
Before Ria could ask, I said it honestly.
"It might be far more dangerous than what happened at the lake last time."
And besides, what I had in mind wasn't just sitting around next to the princess.
There hadn't been time to argue, so I'd returned to the lodging to prepare. In a few minutes, though, I would have to meet the princess again and persuade her to accept one thing.
No matter how little the princess cared about religion, it was an issue she would oppose on practical grounds.
Even if the princess accepted it, I didn't know how the other Dwarves would react.
"But you're going to do it anyway."
"Yes, that's right."
I nodded.
"Then I'm going too, obviously."
Ria said with a shrug.
"......."
"Why?"
"No, nothing."
My thoughts were complicated.
Ria is my friend. Since coming to this world, I'd met all the original characters and gotten close to them in my own way, but I'd never gotten as close to anyone as I had to Ria.
Of course, that didn't mean I didn't care about the others. I still hoped Lee Si-yoon and Han Yu-ri would end up together, and of course I hoped this story would ultimately lead to a happy ending.
But still.
If I had to fight, who would be the best person to fight alongside?
Thinking rationally, the person I needed most was someone who could fight well, who would go along with my personal requests, and above all, who was righteous.
......Having to think about people's lives in terms of numbers was not pleasant. With things having diverged this much from the original, how could I know what might happen to those kids?
I didn't even know how strong the ones who kidnapped the princess were.
Was it really right to say such things to people who trusted me and make them risk their lives in a fight?
"Anna."
As if sensing something from my expression, Ria placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't say you're going alone."
She said that, leaning her face close to mine.
"I was planning to go even if you said no. Whatever I do there, it has nothing to do with your intentions."
"......."
Considering everything Ria had told me before, the statement was contradictory in several ways.
But at the same time, it was very Ria-like.
"Okay."
I nodded and looked at Ria, speaking quietly.
"Thank you."
"......."
Ria blushed as she pulled her hand from my shoulder.
*
I managed to persuade the princess.
Actually, 'managed' was hardly the right word. The princess agreed readily.
"That might actually be better than me officially converting."
At the princess's words, I couldn't answer for a moment, then said,
"......You truly seem to trust me."
"If the other side is willing to take risks, then we should take risks too."
The princess said that and glanced up at the ceiling.
"Dwarves have their own code of principles. Humans are probably the same, but Dwarves place great importance on how they treat others. Of course, many nobles and those above have forgotten that by now, but at least I want to live that way. Half my blood is Gnomish, but the place I've lived is this Dwarven Kingdom."
The princess's gaze came back down and rested on me.
"My father also considered that important. If I weren't willing to take even the smallest risk for all of you, my father would certainly call me a 'wretched child.'"
"Ah, um."
At the princess's words, I once again couldn't say anything.
"Now that I think of it, we shared a drink earlier, didn't we?"
"......May drink make us forget all discourtesy. That was it, wasn't it?"
"Please forget my rudeness from just now."
I shrugged.
*
There was one problem.
I didn't know exactly when that incident would happen. I only knew it would break out around the end of July.
But that problem was minor. Ria and I had plenty of time. I wasn't planning to enter university right away, and there was no danger in taking time away from Hunter work.
Most of the people who had followed me either deeply worshiped the Being Above or were my collaborators. Staying here with me wasn't going to cause any serious problems for the Hunters' careers either.
Besides, I knew how to solve that "one problem."
It was a method I truly didn't want to use, but well, it was also necessary if I was going to do what I'd told the princess I would.
I prayed.
Kneeling on the floor with my hands clasped.
Honestly, I don't know how to pray. I was someone who had refused to learn such things systematically.
But whenever I tried to heal or protect someone, the Being Above always lent me power.
Then, this time too.
Bright light filled the room. There was supposed to be a massive mountain above this place, yet the light shone on my face as if it had passed through all of it without any trouble.
It was the light that appeared whenever the Being Above looked at me.
"......."
And then, I could hear it.
This time, not a lie—the voice of a real God.
......Well, I'm not sure whether it was Prophecy or not.
But I could at least tell that the event would happen in just three days.
Well, isn't that the kind of being everyone calls God?
If it didn't already know the villains' plans, I wouldn't have heard something like that.
Not that I have any intention of calling it that.
......And you don't seem to think I need to call you that, either.
Around the time I muttered that, feeling like I was losing for no reason.
A brief, quiet laugh lingered at my ear.
Somehow, it sounded utterly unconcerned, which only made me more annoyed.