Chapter 62
I moved toward the city's edge with Spandal. The farther we moved from the source, the fainter the red glow became. We could also see the ghouls' corpses—bodies that looked as if they'd been left unattended.
"Senior Spandal. The ghouls' corpses here are still intact."
"Yeah. It doesn't seem like its power has reached this far yet."
It seems the vampire angel's domain isn't very wide yet.
"Did it just descend recently and not have enough power?"
"Quite possibly. It probably gets stronger in proportion to the number of vampires or ghouls it infects. That's usually how it works."
Seriously.
To an unimaginable degree.
It's extreme evil.
Is that insanely sinister vampire angel planning to turn everyone in the world into vampires and ghouls?
Just imagining it is insanely horrifying.
Why the hell is it doing that?
"..."
A fundamental question.
If that vampire angel is truly the same existence as me, then why is it trying to increase the number of vampires?
Even now, as I was being swallowed by strange confusion, I was feeling a fierce murderous intent toward vampires. I wanted to kill every vampire and ghoul in sight. If that thing were the same existence as me, it should surely feel the same way.
But acting in the opposite way... does that mean it's not, after all?
Was it really the fake Bureau's misunderstanding? They even said it wasn't registered in the database to begin with. But there had to be some basis for deciding it was me.
My duplicate, or me from another world?
Either way, there's also the possibility that it isn't.
"Grong. If we get past this fog, we can get outside the city."
It was the fog barrier we saw when we first entered the city.
"So now we're going out to summon that devil."
"Yeah."
"But what about Team Leader Jaaldi? They're alone back there."
This is a place where vampires and ghouls are roaming around. On top of that, even an extremely evil angel is out there. No matter how capable Jaaldi is, it'd be dangerous to leave them alone.
Spandal crossed their arms and said.
"As you'll see once we get out, we've got a large-scale suppression of perception in place around this city."
"Huh? A large-scale suppression of perception?"
"If civilians learn about this incident, chaos beyond imagination will break out. Then even more anomalies will occur. Very powerful anomalies, too."
"Why is that...?"
"Because some anomalies get stronger the more people know about them. If a great many people learned that anomalies really exist... that would be a special-grade emergency. It'd be on a level completely unlike anything now."
"So that's why."
That's why the Bureau controls information.
"Besides, groups that worship that bizarre devil will appear too. And that will become its power."
"Worshiping some vampire angel or whatever!"
Those bastards all need to be wiped out!
"Anyway. For perception suppression, Team Leader Jaaldi is serving as the anchor. Until this situation is over... Team Leader Jaaldi can't leave that place."
"...I see."
Jaaldi was making the sacrifice.
"So they're making a sacrifice to resolve the situation."
"That's right."
I had no idea how I was supposed to understand the concept of the Bureau.
There were too many suspicious things about our Bureau. Questions about the Reality Re-recognition Device. And the seniors who had turned into monstrosities there. It was obvious this Bureau hid some serious secret.
But as Spandal had just told me, at its core it was trying to protect the human world. It was a suspicious group through and through, one that even summoned devils, but in the end it was trying to protect humans.
The fake Bureau was the same.
It seemed like they had ripped out my brain and were slaughtering everyone caught up in anomalies, but the people they killed this time were the cult fanatics who had summoned the evil angel.
On top of that, they fought the vampire faction even at the cost of their lives. That was an undeniable fact. They were fighting aberrations for humanity's sake. Even if their methods were extremely radical.
In the end.
Both the real Bureau and the fake Bureau are fighting for humans. At the same time, both have suspicious aspects.
Of course, the fake Bureau had ripped out my brain, and since I was in the real Bureau, I couldn't exactly look at this objectively.
How am I supposed to look at this neutrally?
Should I join the fake Bureau?
Honestly, it's unrealistic. Besides the hatred from having my brain ripped out, I'm already an agent of the real Bureau. They'd never accept me if I tried to switch sides. I'd just have my brain ripped out again. Either way, it's impossible in this lifetime.
I need to learn more about both groups somehow...
"Huh?"
As I crossed the fog while thinking that, I saw a large number of people.
No.
These are a lot of agents.
And allied agents at that.
"Senior Spandal?"
"They're the summoned agents... there really aren't many of them."
There looked to be about ten of them.
One of them approached us.
"Senior Spandal. The preparations to summon the devil have begun. You can head to headquarters."
"Got it. Keep managing things here. Don't go in."
"Yes."
"Let's go, Grong. You and I are the key. You're the only one besides me who directly witnessed that bizarre existence here."
So that's why Spandal and I were chosen.
"I guess if you're going to use a devil to kill something, you need detailed information about the target."
"That's right. Good intuition. I thought you'd be the type to rush ahead on enthusiasm alone and die quickly. Maybe you can survive to the end after all. Come on, get in."
Spandal said, opening the driver's-side door.
I got in the passenger seat right away.
The drive began.
It was just Spandal and me.
What should I ask?
"Senior Spandal. Is the Bureau really that short on manpower?"
"Hmm?"
"Come to think of it, there are some hard-to-understand points. How many Bureau agents are there? If the number is low, it'd be really hard to respond to nationwide or even worldwide anomalies. Isn't the number far too low?"
Just the Comprehensive Response Team alone is only four people. The Suppression Team is maybe five or six? For such an important organization, that's way too few.
"It is small... If it were a normal day, I probably would've teased you that you'd all be dead, Grong."
So Senior Spandal's vicious remarks really did depend on the time and place.
"I would've been really shocked by that joke. Anyway, what's going on?"
"There used to be far more of us—think over ten times as many."
"Ten times!"
That's a pretty huge scale!
"But where are they all?"
"The second dimension."
"What?"
"They were dispatched to the second dimension. There... they're fighting something of unknown identity."
"S-so you mean about 90% of the Bureau agents went to the second dimension to fight something?"
"That's right."
"For what?"
"Obviously, for the sake of this world. We don't know what would happen the moment the defenses are breached."
"What exactly is it...?"
"This is a story beyond your comprehension."
"Still, please explain a little. I'll understand as much as I can."
No wonder the number of Bureau agents seemed so low. More than 90 percent of their forces were over there fighting in another dimension.
In other words, what was left here was basically the leftovers.
"Honestly, I don't know everything either. But... the Bureau has now used all its technology and resources to create a fake Earth in the second dimension. To lure those unknown entities there."
"Oh."
"They turn that place into a battlefield and fight there. Ah, Kurosna is there too. An indispensable force."
This definitely goes beyond my understanding.
"So it's dangerous enough that they need to mobilize most of the Bureau's agents."
An enormous army is coming?
Are monster legions of a hundred thousand or a million invading?
"We've arrived."
"That was quick."
We'd returned to our Bureau building. I looked outside through the parking lot window. Cars and people were moving around. An ordinary scene. The perception suppression seemed to be working very well.
"Ah, ahh...! You're here!"
"Dejure?"
Dejure scampered over.
"Dejure. The devil?"
When Spandal asked, Dejure replied with a very frightened look.
"I-it already started...! If you go this way, the devil will appear...! B-but what if it asks for another offering!"
"I'll decide that myself."
A sacrifice?
"Let's go, Grong."
"Yes. But a sacrifice? Don't tell me it's something like offering a sacrifice to the devil and making a wish?"
"Something like that."
"Then the sacrifice is...? Don't tell me it's human?!"
"No, no...! H-human, what are you talking about!"
Dejure cut in.
"Then what is it?"
"P-pigs...! Pigs!"
"Pigs?"
"Yes!"
You're offering pigs as a sacrifice?
Then isn't that pretty cheap?
"About three million of them, though..."
"What? How are you supposed to offer all of those?"
Dejure said, glancing around nervously.
"W-well... by causing foot-and-mouth disease... and offering the pigs' carcasses..."
What in the world?
* * *
After that, foot-and-mouth disease actually broke out.
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of pigs, and then over three million, were culled.
Once the devil was taken out of the isolation room, it was said to have accepted those pigs as offerings. All three million of them.
"The pigs are a little pitiful, but honestly, this is incredibly cheap."
"That's true. Honestly, it's a little shocking, but it's basically a steal. If causing foot-and-mouth disease and killing only three million pigs is enough to take out a religious anomaly, that's more than manageable."
"For now."
For now?
"The price changes next time. We might not be able to use it anymore. Anyway. It's about to begin."
"You mean the devil's descent."
"Yeah."
Together with Spandal, I moved to the designated location.
It was a wide open lot.
And flesh-colored at that.
The lot was covered in severed pig heads.
There were thousands of them. That was why the lot looked flesh-colored. A lot made of pig heads.
In the middle of the lot stood a giant cube. That devil was inside it.
"Doesn't this... seem like an extremely evil sorcerous ritual?"
That was my honest impression.
Is there really no other way to catch that vampire angel besides this evil sorcerous ritual?
"That's true. But there's nothing we can do. When a religious anomaly like that appears, there's no other way. It's like a last resort."
I accepted that there was no choice.
"It's about time to begin. Just do as I told you. Got it?"
"I'm a little nervous... what if I make a mistake?"
"Haah... honestly. Team Leader Jaaldi is alone in there. And you're scared of just this? Even though you're my junior..."
"My hands are shaking like crazy! My whole body is too!"
"S-stop moving! Fine! I get it!"
As I shook all over, Spandal slightly spread both arms.
"Seriously... why do you keep making me, your senior, so troubled..."
I naturally leaned into that embrace.
Nice.
As expected, Spandal really dotes on juniors. My habit of constantly asking for hugs had finally paid off. Now that Spandal was used to it, they readily opened their arms.
"Are you calm now...?"
"Yes."
As my anxiety settled, my head started working rationally.
That meant I'd calmed down.
This thing.
Must not succeed.
If it succeeds, it'll be fixed in place.
I can't let that happen.
I have to deliberately ruin this situation. If I die, it'll have to be after this. Once I regress, I'll start over. I don't know how the 2,000-point penalty will work, though.
I can't let this proceed like this.
So let's shatter everyone's sacrifice and hope.
For a better future.
"Grong. It's starting now. Just do as I told you."
I have to be the one to make the wish.
Because I had observed the vampire angel in greater detail.
"You can't just wish for anything. There are clear rules and regulations. You mustn't wish for anything outside them. Understood?"
"I've heard it countless times. Don't worry."
At that, Spandal gave a faint smile.
"You really do make things difficult for me as your senior... but there is a dependable side to you, at least."
ㅡSsshh...
As the cube split apart, smoke poured out. The whole world was instantly swallowed by smoke. In a world made entirely of smoke, it was like a wisp of straw.
A form so gaunt and thin... so long it seemed as though it could stretch to the sky.
It wavered and billowed.
[You have come face to face with the 'devil worshipped by the ancients'.]
From all around came the frenzied screams of pigs. Instinctively, I knew the three million culled pigs had been made thin and long inside that thin, long being.
The pigs' screams merged into some kind of voice. That voice pierced my mind.
'Tell me your wish.'
I said inwardly.
'I don't wish for anything.'
The scenery changed in an instant.
There was no devil and no pig heads.
Only Spandal and I were in the lot.
"Is it over?!"
"Yes."
"Phew...! That's it! Somehow, it'll work out!"
For once, Spandal was overjoyed.
ㅡFwoosh!
And then Spandal pulled me into a tight hug.
"If we're lucky, we might be able to save Team Leader Jaaldi. Well done, Grong. It's all thanks to you making contact with that anomaly and returning safely. You really did well... really, truly..."
I...
The fact that I had tricked Spandal...
was truly uncomfortable.
Why do I keep tricking people, driving them to their deaths, and only repeating things that bring about destruction?