Chapter 15
"Play an ostinato for me."
The conductor of the Imperial Orchestra, who had been urgently summoned by the Crown Prince, was bewildered by his abrupt command.
"An... ostinato, Your Highness?"
"Yes. An ostinato that holds an eternally repeating love."
The conductor wondered if the Crown Prince had eaten something strange, but he couldn't voice such thoughts.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. An ostinato refers to a musical technique of continuously repeating the same melody. If you have a particular tune in mind, we can perform it as an ostinato for you."
"...You mean there is no set melody?"
"That's correct, Your Highness."
*Sigh*
The conductor inwardly sighed.
He had rushed over with all their instruments when summoned by the Crown Prince, a core figure of power, hoping for increased support for the orchestra. But now this sudden talk of ostinatos?
'I suppose it's the same as always.'
For the nobility, music was nothing more than a hobby to appear cultured, nothing more and nothing less.
Especially these days, as magi-engineering became highly advanced and new media emerged, the position of traditional music grew increasingly precarious.
Just as he was feeling disappointed, thinking this would be another case of false hope—
"Then teach me."
"...Pardon?"
The conductor doubted his ears.
"I said teach me music. So that I can play an ostinato. Don't worry. In return, I promise full support for the orchestra."
It was hard to believe.
While it wasn't uncommon for nobles to learn instruments, it was usually just a hobby.
For a member of the royal family, the Crown Prince himself, to request lessons and promise support...
But this was just the tip of the iceberg.
"Is this how you hold a violin?"
"This ostinato is difficult..."
"Surely I should be able to play an ostinato for my beloved lady!"
A violin craze swept across the continent.
[.....]
The wave was so massive it reached even the God of Music.
* * *
"Would you care to dance with me, my lady?"
"Of course, my frog prince."
In the ballroom, countless couples paired up to dance.
A familiar melody played repeatedly for them.
The men wore slicked-back hair with masks, while the women tied their hair like the Saintess.
Within the ballroom, they were all Ian and Kate.
After the dances ended, the men carefully folded the candy wrappers received from the women and tucked them preciously into their breast pockets.
This was happening across the continent.
* * *
Divine Realm
Domain of Ren, Goddess of Sacrifice
Goddess Ren sat cross-legged after finishing a round of training.
Having resumed training to make up for the long period lost to Sloth, she had completely transformed from before.
Flash!
Her closed eyes flew open wide.
"Who's there!"
In her domain where no one else should be.
Ren pointed her sword in one direction.
"....."
Rustle
From behind a pillar emerged a familiar-looking man.
It was a mercenary with a rugged appearance and unkempt beard.
"As expected of the Captain. Even though I hid with all my might, you found me. Seems you haven't gotten rusty."
"H-Hans...? H-How...!"
Ren's eyes trembled.
"Is... is it really you...?"
Ren approached him with a shaking voice.
"Hahaha. Who else would I be but Hans, the Captain's loyal follower, the manliest of men?"
The man laughed heartily even as Ren grabbed his cheeks and touched him all over.
"H-How...?"
Two streams of tears flowed from Ren's eyes.
Whoosh
Ren spread her arms wide and embraced Hans.
"Hans!"
"Oof! C-Captain! You can't do this! The others will kill me!"
Hans pushed Ren away with a reddened face.
Though the Captain's post-training sweat had a pleasant scent, this wasn't right.
If the others found out, he would surely be beaten to death.
Above all, the Captain was the Captain. A tree he could not and should not climb.
"What do you mean by that? Don't tell me..."
"That's right. All the others have been revived too. And as Constellations with vigorous divine bodies!"
* * *
Ian Kali-Yuga's Laboratory
Ian, the Constellation [Magi-Engineer], had created a new device to replace the one that had been destroyed.
A Divine Condensation Device, improved and enhanced in many ways from the previous materialization device.
It was meant to gather and condense recognition and faith about his beloved to materialize and resurrect her.
Crackle Crackle
Ian filled the massive blackboard with equations.
"Calculate the ratio of users who cleared the story versus those who only encountered the character among total [Akashic Archive] users..."
After organizing the equations for a long time to obtain the result, Ian approached the device's lever.
"Please."
After completing maintenance and countless checks, he placed his hand on the lever.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Ian applied force to his hand
Click
Whirrrr
As the lever lowered, the device activated.
The device rapidly gathered the divinity permeating the Divine Realm.
Within it, magi-engineering and divinity combined to create a transcendent reaction.
"!!"
Seeing a completely different sight from previous devices, Ian unconsciously clenched both fists tightly.
The divine-magi-engineering reaction he had only theoretically perceived but not yet proven had manifested in reality.
In that moment when divinity and magic intersected
It materializes what was impossible with each power alone.
The existence of Saintess Kate, known across the continent.
When that materialized concept gathered and condensed
Boom!
"Ugh!"
The device exploded with a cloud of smoke.
Ian blocked the blast with his arm.
As the smoke cleared, what he saw was...
"Why!"
Just a pile of device fragments scattered everywhere.
"Why did it fail again!"
He had verified it countless times.
This was the moment when she was most strongly recognized by the entire continent due to the new character release.
It was only natural that Kate's existence would gradually fade from their minds after this point, so there would be no better timing than today.
Therefore, it had to succeed today no matter what...
"Why did it fail again, I say!"
Bang Bang Bang
Ian stomped on the device fragments.
The wrath filling his head clouded his reason.
[Break it]
[Crush it all]
[Destroy this world that won't bend to your will]
Normally he would have gathered the fragments to restore and reactivate the device before more time passed, but in his current state he couldn't make such judgments.
"Give me back my Kate!"
Just as he raised his foot to stomp on the device's core
Pinch
A delicate hand appeared from somewhere and grabbed his cheek.
"Uh, uuh?"
In that moment, all the voices of wrath that had been filling and consuming his mind vanished.
His mind suddenly became quiet.
"My little frog. Have you gotten more temperamental?"
No way. That's impossible.
The experiment had failed, hadn't it?
Ian slowly turned his head.
At the end of his gaze, following from the hand holding his cheek.
A woman in priest's robes was smiling as she held his cheek.
"I wonder if this is a new pouch of mischief?"
She played with both his cheeks.
The divine-magi-engineering reaction had clearly stopped.
Since it hadn't crossed the critical point, it should have been impossible for her to be revived.
Therefore she couldn't be here.
It must be an illusion.
But why...
"K-Kate..."
Ian grabbed the wrists of the woman holding his cheeks.
Why could he feel pain in his cheeks and her warmth in his hands?
"What's wrong, Ian?"
The woman tilted her head slightly with a mischievous smile.
"H-How are you here...?"
At that, the woman pouted.
"What's this? That's the first thing you say when we meet?"
[The Magi-Engineer Consumed by Wrath sheds tears.]
No.
It can't be.
He had wished for it countless times.
Imagined it countless times.
A world where he could meet her again... where he could see her.
Ian embraced the woman tightly.
"...Oh my."
He had run forward seeing only that one dream.
"I missed you... Kate."
Finally, the dream had come true.
A false dream born from virtual reality had led a desperate wish into reality.
[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath smiles brightly.]
As he cast off the dream of reality that had been consuming him.