A Mercy Package for the Third-Rate
Keisha had been forced to pour her entire fortune into purchasing the Mercy Package for the Third-Rate.
"Y-yes!"
With a quantity of exactly one, it looked like something prepared just for her — which only made it worse.
Why is the product name—?!
And then, as if the Juddak's mischief wasn't enough, a brilliant announcement banner swept across the entire community.
She made a quiet vow to herself that she wouldn't so much as glance at the community for a long, long while.
Keisha hurriedly shut the community window and dropped her head. On the table sat the package she had purchased with her entire fortune of Karma Points, trembling faintly in her grip — and her cheeks quivered with shame, wobbling like jelly.
[Swift! Precise! One-Shot Kill! Auto-Targeting! Ultra-Compact Plasma Photon Cannon — Magic Wand Custom (Single-Use)]
[Perfect! Impregnable! Insulated! Sanitary! Full-Body Defense Suit (3-Star) — Magical Girl Costume]
[Hacking Chip (???)]
No! Why?! Why in the world—!
Countless questions raced through her mind, but there was nowhere to find an answer.
"Calm down.... That's not what matters right now. Besides, I was told how to use it."
Forcing herself to rationalize, Keisha donned the tent-like suit and picked up the magic wand — no, the ultra-compact photon cannon.
"Kh!"
She felt as though she would die of embarrassment, but for the greater good, she could surely overlook a little shame....
The door creaked open, and the Crown Prince froze mid-step.
"...."
"...."
Silence stretched between them.
"Well... I do respect your tastes, but... no, I shall wait outside."
He shook his head slowly and withdrew. Creak — thud.
She stared down at the wand in her hand.
...Should I just shoot myself?
Suddenly, she wanted to die.
"I am more open-minded than I gave myself credit for. I'll do my best to understand your tastes somehow."
"Do you want to die?"
"Well... there are limits to what I can say to the Crown Prince..."
"Be quiet!"
"...."
Keisha, clad in her cutesy pink, sparkly-shiny ensemble, marched along with her face blazing red as if it might burst. From the long, strident strides she took, it was easy enough to guess how desperately she wanted to get this over with, and the Crown Prince hurried after her as they made their way deep into the imperial palace.
"There may be no chance after this one. Wouldn't it be wiser to approach with a little more caution?"
"I considered it carefully, which is precisely how I found the courage."
"And... in that outfit, of all things?"
"...."
At the flash of fire in her eyes, the Crown Prince hastily shut his mouth.
"In any case, consider this the final opportunity. I don't know what proposal the fellow will bring, but he has suggested a private summit."
"...He will probably wish to discuss His Majesty the Emperor's condition."
Though no one else knew, she had heard from the Crown Prince himself what he suspected: that the Emperor had fallen to a mysterious illness and was no longer in his right mind. And the Crown Prince clearly suspected the Debra of causing it.
"It's likely a trap. But this is also our only chance to make our move without worrying about prying eyes."
The Crown Prince's eyes burned with resolve. He was prepared to risk losing his own throne — prepared, if it came to it, to assassinate that creature outright. And from the way he kept touching the front of his coat, it seemed he had prepared a trump card of his own.
"I told myself I decided because a chance like this would never come again... but is it not too hasty?"
She stopped walking and turned to face him.
"You know better than anyone that this can no longer be undone. Even if I wanted to delay, I no longer can. If the contamination accelerates any further, recovery will be impossible."
"You're right. It's just that..."
"What is it?"
"Your outfit... ahem."
Crack.
In the end, she kicked the Crown Prince squarely in the shin.
"Gwahk!"
Ignoring the prince as he clutched his leg and hopped about, she strode off without a backward glance. She could not bear to look at another living soul.
A man gazed up at a colossal pillar that glittered with light and rumbled with a violent vibration, an enraptured expression spreading across his face.
"Beautiful."
The great pillar — so wide that ten grown men linking arms could not have circled it — rose from the deepest levels of the earth and pierced straight through the ceiling above. He watched the light pouring from the pillar-shaped machine, his black pupils glittering.
"Etarinium...."
Etar — the miracle fuel hailed as the power of stars itself. Etarinium was the metal formed when Etar crystallized into ore, and processing the Etar this planet yielded into Etarinium was essential for storing it efficiently.
"My work here is nearly done."
It was true he had employed a crude method that devoured the planet's lifespan wholesale, but so long as he extracted the Etar and shipped it home, his task was complete.
"Is the end finally in sight for this interminable posting?"
What weary, endless years it had been. He had left Debra Planet, encountered an alien civilization for the first time, and been dispatched to settle there, chart a course forward, and survey the world.
The choice he had made was the conversion of the planet into a resource colony.
It had seemed the optimal judgment. The pace of these people's magical engineering did not lag behind his civilization's advanced technology, and the planet's Etar reserves were exceptionally rich. Even if these creatures thrashed and clawed their way toward continued progress, they could never touch Debra Planet — the speed gap was a little close, yes, but the true chasm between the two civilizations had already opened beyond any hope of crossing.
But the Etar reserves were another matter entirely.
The home planet was already resource-starved, its survey ships scattered to the far corners of space in a desperate search for more. Merely returning with this haul would let him live out the rest of his days in comfort and plenty — was that not precisely why he was enduring this barbaric, primitive backwater at all?
"An inferior species."
That had been his verdict on humanity. Greedy, irrational, and fracturing at every turn — physically frail and rank with a stench so foul they seemed fit for nothing, not even livestock.
"And needlessly paranoid, at that."
The creature who made everything an exhausting chore at every turn was even now on his way here, seeking a private audience. The man operated the machine and brought up a hologram — one of the many functions built into his ship, which had long since become a floating Etar warehouse.
"Hmph. Did you truly believe I would overlook your pathetic little schemes?"
How pitiful. The fool probably didn't even know that his every movement was being watched.
"Hm? But who is—"
Beside the Crown Prince walked a woman even the man recognized. Whatever those creatures were plotting, it was of no consequence — a second body was no problem at all.
"Hmm."
He stroked his chin.
"This should be entertaining."
He surveyed the devices suspended throughout the chamber — instruments cloaked in invisibility so complete that no human eye could ever detect them. From mana-nullification fields to layered defensive and interception systems, they were state-of-the-art weaponry through and through.
"And if it comes to that, there is always orbital bombardment."
There was not a single thing to worry about. He waited, placid and patient, for them to arrive.
The Crown Prince had to clench his fists just to quiet his pounding heart — uncharacteristic of him, in a way, though there was nothing to be done about it.
If I fail, it will not end with my ruin alone.
A crushing weight pressed down on his shoulders.
If we cannot dispose of that creature this time, the Empire marches straight to its destruction.
He could not allow that to happen. Resolve burned in the Crown Prince's eyes. A great many of the Empire's high ministers had already defected to the creature's side, and the Crown Prince worried for the Empire's survival far more than his own.
It must succeed.
He swallowed hard, thinking of the dagger hidden in his coat.
Magic did not work on the creature. That was why the Fang of the Venom Dragon now rested against his chest — an ancient relic from the mythic age, when dragons and gods still walked the world, its venom hundreds of times more potent than the deadliest poison of the present era.
All I need is to get close.
A mere graze would suffice. The Fang of the Venom Dragon would deliver death through even the smallest wound.
The Crown Prince and Keisha descended into the underbelly of the imperial palace — the creature's laboratory. As the prince's gaze fell on the wiring and pipes scattered sparsely along the corridor, his eyes darkened. The underground dungeon that had once held prisoners had been gutted and rebuilt wholesale, converted into the creature's workshop. The reality of the Empire struck home against his skin.
The rusted hinges of the thick iron door shrieked.
The moment the door swung open, the blue-skinned creature greeted them.
"It has been a while. Keisha, was it? My, you've dressed up beautifully today."
The creature's serpentine gaze lingered on Keisha.
"...What?"
For an instant, the Crown Prince's thoughts ground to a halt. Was the creature serious, or was it mockery? No — judging by its expression, it seemed to be neither. It appeared entirely sincere.
Kh! Truly an alien...! Fundamentally different from humanity at the root.
The creature's aesthetic sensibilities made him feel the gulf between their species all over again.
And from behind the Crown Prince came the voice of the woman who couldn't even lift her head for shame.
"Nnngh!"
At last, she screamed as if seized by convulsions.
"I'LL KILL HIM!!!!!!!!!!"
What did she say?
No — nothing has even happened yet—
KWAAAAAAAH—!
A blinding flash swallowed the space whole.
The Crown Prince found himself witnessing a Dragon's Breath — the kind of thing said to exist only in the age of myths.