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Proofreader: Rawrbert
Lunch was over, and the discussion resumed.
“Firstly, I’d like to say that there is no way to stop the fusion of the worlds.”
That’s what Miss Rebel started off with.
“When the fusion begins, the two worlds will be reconstructed as one new world. If we try to forcibly separate them, both worlds will collapse.”
“So, how do you plan to stop the otherworlders’ invasion?”
“We’ll fight them and win, of course.”
“….what?”
Her words momentarily stunned me.
No, isn’t that a contradiction?
“Well, didn’t you say that …… we wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight?”
“Yes, I did.”
Miss Rebel answered my question normally without changing her expression.
“Then–“
“More accurately, I told you that if the ‘migration’ took place, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“……”
“Before the ‘migration’ takes place, you have a good chance of winning. Of course, you’ll have to prepare a lot of things.”
“……?”
What does that mean?
Miss Rebel smiled at me as I tilted my head.
It’s that, isn’t it? That’s a characteristic of people who like to talk a lot.
They like to beat around the bush and use roundabout ways of saying things, and they never conclude anything.
“Please tell us without talking in a roundabout way…”
“Of course, I’ll explain everything step by step. The first thing you need to know is that before the ‘migration’ takes place, an advance team of otherworlders will be coming to this world.”
“An advance team ……?”
“Yes, so to speak, this is a field survey before a full-scale invasion. Who wouldn’t be anxious to be suddenly transported to an unknown world? In order to solve that, we’re supposed to investigate this world once and bring back information.”
A reconnaissance unit.
Well, it’s only natural if we consider their perspective.
“You will have to fight them. If you can win that battle, there is hope for you.”
After saying that, Miss Rebel took out something from her pocket.
It was a round crystal that emitted a purple light.
However, I could tell at a glance that it was not just any crystal.
It was about the size of a baseball, but it gave off a sense of intimidation, as if you were facing a giant monster.
Ichinose, who was sitting next to me, gasped.
“Is that ……?”
“A master key to interfere with the system.”
“Wha……!”
Everyone gasped at those words.
It was a very important item.
“You can use this to tamper with the system my master created….. But, there are some restrictions.”
“Wait, wait, wait. If it’s so useful, then–“
“Why didn’t you use it first? Is that what you want to say?”
She interrupted me and continued,
“I told you, there are a lot of restrictions. It’s not that easy to use. It takes an enormous amount of energy to reconfigure just one system. Oh, don’t touch it carelessly, okay? If you touch it without a barrier, it will instantly suck out your life force energy and turn you into a mummy.”
“……”
It doesn’t look like she’s joking.
Even now, his skills are warning him about the crystal.
“…… So you’re saying that the otherworlders used this to rewrite their system?”
“That’s what I’d say, but it’s not exactly true.”
“……?”
“There are ‘two’ master keys that Master made. One is a spare that I have. The original is controlled by the people over there. It is the original that has been altered.”
“What did you say……?”
There are two items that can tamper with the system?
And one of them is in the possession of an otherworlder……
“It was originally meant to help with fixing any bugs. They really did something ridiculous.”
Miss Rebel said as she spat.
“But, they’ve altered it so much to suit their needs that it’s almost out of energy. So you can be sure that they won’t be able to do anything more with the Master Key.”
That’s the only thing you can be assured of, Miss Rebel reminded us.
“That is why I’m here,” she said, “In order for people from other worlds to enter this world before migration, they need this master key. If you don’t have it with you, you can’t transfer to this world. In other words–“
“Are you saying that the …… advance team has the master key?”
I was the first to speak, and she smiled at me.
“You’re right. If we can get it, we can monopolize the modification of the system.”
“I see. That’s what you mean……”
The story finally began to make sense.
If we can monopolize the modification of the system, even if the otherworlders invade, we’ll be able to take advantage.
“There is a limit to the amount of alterations we can make, but we can still prevent a one-sided overrun. If we do well, we can bring about the harmony Master wanted in the first place. But from that point, it’s up to you.”
“Huh, what are you talking about? Isn’t it a blessing to have a glimpse of hope?”
There was a smile on Mayor Uesugi’s face.
Everyone else’s dark expressions brightened slightly.
“So what we have to do is fight the advance team and get the master key, right?”
“That’s what I said. And since there is a limit to the number of people that can be transferred, the number of people sent will be at most ten. But I’m pretty sure that the ones they will send are the elite of the elite.”
She did not stop there.
“There are some advantages for you. For starters, they don’t know that you can use your skills to benefit from the system.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, when they altered the system, I was able to override some of it. They didn’t want me to find out, but I managed to make a few changes to the system so that people in this world could use the skills, and I incorporated some of the original skills. It was hard to get them to not notice, but I’m glad it worked out, because they don’t know everything about the system.”
“Ah…”
That’s when I remembered the moment I met her.
–The “Four Skills” are skills that I created.
–I’ve done everything I can to help the people here survive……. The way you and this place look now, I’d say it’s paid off at least a little bit.
That’s what she meant when she said that when we first met.
I wonder how much she has done for us.
Her late master must have been that important to her.
She must have inherited her will and was willing to even betray the people of her own world to make it happen.
“And the second thing. Where and when the advance team will appear. This can also be predicted to some extent.”
Miss Rebel held up two fingers
“The reason for this is because you have defeated the divine tree ‘Peony’. You know that Trent has been given the skill of ‘Otherworldly Assimilation’, right?.”
“Ahh.”
I nodded my head.
I think there was a skill with that name that I heard about from President Igarashi when she appraised Trent’s status.
But at that time, it was a mysterious skill that I couldn’t find out the details of even if I used my Right to Ask questions.
“In my world, Trents were monsters that could be found commonly throughout the world. During the fusion process, the system used them as adapters to connect this world to the other world, so my master gave them the ‘Otherworldly Assimilation’ skill. In order to build a network for the system, they were spread everywhere in this world……. Well, it’s a skill that will disappear from their status once the world is fully fused.”
So you literally ‘put down the roots’ in the world.
“And of all the Trents, the ‘Divine Tree’ had the greatest influence. If it were to disappear, there would be some degree of ‘distortion’ between the two worlds.”
“Is that okay?”
“No problem. Even though the influence of the ‘Divine Tree’ is strong, the number of other Trents are huge. We can compensate for that as much as we want.”
“The only problem is that this will have a slight effect on the transfer between the two worlds. The system will try to correct the distortion and direct the flow between the two worlds to the center. This means that the destination is limited. That means that the place where the advance team will be sent is–”
“–the town we were in?”
“That’s right. If it’s just one person, you can adjust it a bit like I did, but if it’s ten people, the destination will definitely be limited. And you won’t have the energy to adjust that.”
What a mess.
I had no idea that defeating Peony would have such an impact.
…… No, we should think that defeating Peony gave us a chance to defeat them first.
“Okay, so we know where they will appear. And when will it be? You don’t think it’s right now, do you?”
“The advance team will come to this world just before the Chaos Frontier enters the second stage of continental fusion. If I had to guess, I’d say it will be about six months from now.”
“Six months…….”
It is mid-June right now.
So the decisive battle will be in December?
“For the time being, I want to secure the owners of the unique skills as a force. And in order to make more use of the technology of your world, we need to expand this area – the ‘safe zone’.”
……There’s a lot of work that needs to be done.
But we have to do it.
I will not allow myself to be taken advantage of by the otherworlders.
“Yeah, let’s do it…….”
“Yes, I can’t let the otherworlders do this to me.”
“Well, well, I’ll do my best.”
“Hahaha. Natsu, you’re too nervous.”
“Hey, Ri-chan, don’t tease me.
“Haha, you’re still the same as always, Rikka. Well, Rikka is as reliable as ever in times like this.”
“Woof!”
“Kyuuu–”
“…… (woof woof)”
All of us stand up with high spirits.
Now that we have a clear idea of what we need to do, all we can do is give it our all.
Before the winter battle, we must have enough strength to compete with the elites of the otherworlders.
We need to restore modern technology. And find the owners of the unique skills that have been awakened or will be awakened in different parts of the world.
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