Chapter 105
What kind of being is the Head Mod?
Felicie wondered as she looked down at Kelliarton from the top floor of the Tower of Magic, her chin propped in her hand.
“The owner of the gallery...”
Strictly speaking, the Head Mod was the gallery's administrator, but to Felicie, there was no difference.
The gallery itself was something beyond comprehension that should never have existed in the first place.
The Head Mod who handled it was surely no ordinary being.
That only made her even more curious.
“Head Mod, what do you desire?”
The Head Mod had single-handedly and effortlessly stopped the threat from ‘outside,’ twisting the predetermined order of destruction.
The Head Mod scattered tools beyond imagination throughout the world and transformed every civilization.
And after all that, what the Head Mod did was chat with ordinary races, collect memes, and browse the gallery?
Felicie couldn't believe it.
She thought that an existence of that caliber must surely be hiding some sort of purpose.
“If I had to wish for something, I would hope the Head Mod was a benevolent being.”
Felicie stared intently at the tea set.
The unique tea leaves sent by the Head Mod.
They were all excellent desserts.
The Head Mod was already becoming a part of Felicie's daily life.
She could only hope there were no dark ulterior motives.
“...!”
For an instant, the world was torn apart.
Her peaceful mind shook, and an alarm rang out within Felicie.
“This is...!”
Something that should never happen in this world.
A dragon's sensory ability, awakened in a crisis in which even a dragon might die, had sent out a warning.
-Crash!
The cup she was holding slipped from her hand and fell.
But she had no time to worry about that. The moment her pupils slit vertically, she transcended thought.
The apocalypse appeared before her eyes.
Red heat sucked up the earth and everything on it as it slowly rose into the sky.
Every civilization was ground into dust, and every living thing crumbled away before it could even perceive what was happening.
“Ah, ah...”
The entire world was dyed bright red.
It did not distinguish between friend and foe.
Magical beasts, humans, and animals alike were reduced from skin, to muscle, to bone, and finally even their forms, before simply vanishing as dust.
Just as everything was about to scatter into dust amid the eerie silence,
The aftermath of destruction was slowly approaching Felicie, who had been watching from afar.
-Boom!!!
And the moment the explosion reached her ears!
“Gasp!”
Felicie awoke from her dream.
When she regained her senses, red wings had sprouted from her shoulder blades.
Her hand had also transformed into a dragon's, and half the top floor of the Tower of Magic had been torn away as a result.
“Oh, come on! I worked so hard to build that tower!”
Leaving the Earthquake Mage, who was climbing up in confusion, behind, Felicie hurriedly connected to the gallery.
Felicie felt fear for the first time in her life.
Fear that she might die.
And she frantically left a chat message for the Head Mod, the only being capable of stopping this.
DragonsWillDie: (Stop! Dragon emote)
DragonsWillDie: No! Stop it!!!
*
A Nuke category had appeared in the shop.
If this was the system I knew, it wouldn't have released something like this for no reason.
I opened the category while thinking that, and
I received Felicie's frantic message.
DragonsWillDie: I don't know what you intend to do, but whatever it is, please stop.
DragonsWillDie: Nothing good will come from that future becoming reality!
Head Mod*: Yeah?
DragonsWillDie: So all this amusement you enjoy—do you want civilization to disappear in an instant?
And with quite a hefty dose of urgency added to it.
“How did she know?”
I could instinctively tell that Felicie was talking about nukes.
But regardless of her concerns, I had absolutely no intention of using a nuke—not even 0.1%.
Do you think the warmongers of the modern era refrained from using nukes despite possessing them for no reason?
“Because they couldn't handle them.”
The nuclear button was a suicide button.
I couldn't even properly handle magical beasts with chemical weapons; all they did was lay the surrounding area to waste.
So why would I use a nuke?
[Shop/Nuke]
[Little Boy]
1. 99,999,999p
2. Conditions unmet
3. Conditions unmet
[Fat Man]
1. 99,999,999p
2. Conditions unmet
3. Conditions unmet
.
.
It proved its existence with a single use.
Though a retired old soldier, its power remains unchanged.
“The price is insane.”
And I couldn't buy it in the first place.
Even if I suddenly snapped and glued on a mustache, I still couldn't use it.
100 million points—how was I supposed to save that much?
And even if I bought that weapon, I had nowhere to put it.
For me, buying 100 million cans of tuna would be a better deal than buying that thing.
“And even if I had the points, I couldn't buy it.”
Besides, all types of nukes had something in common.
Namely, the two conditions listed as unmet.
I didn't even know what those conditions were.
Head Mod*: I know what you're trying to say, but
Head Mod*: I have absolutely no intention of using it, so don't worry.
I sent Felicie a chat telling her not to worry, but received a dubious reply.
DragonsWillDie: Sorry, but that's hard to believe.
DragonsWillDie: I witnessed the future that your choice could bring about.
DragonsWillDie: I'm very afraid that future will come to pass.
In short, she didn't trust me.
Simply saying I wouldn't use it wasn't enough; Felicie seemed to have grasped the destructive power of nukes to some extent.
It would be hard to reassure her with words alone.
“Then I just need to convince her...”
How could I convince her?
I couldn't swear on a contract like the cultists who said they trusted me last time.
I didn't have even a little mana.
Nor was I particularly eager to enter into a contract with my life on the line.
“So this is what it means to influence someone.”
That was when Felicie made a proposal.
DragonsWillDie: Then give me a piece of your clothing.
She was asking for my clothes, of all things.
Naturally, I was about to cheerfully tear off a piece of my clothing... but I asked why instead.
Head Mod*: Why?
The otherworld was vast, and there was so much I didn't know.
To put it bluntly, what if I handed over a piece of clothing and Felicie used it to track my location?
Felicie claimed to be the Dragon Queen, no less.
She was powerful enough to sense a crisis and peer into the future simply by viewing the nukes.
“What if she was trying to kill me?”
That was why I was reluctant to hand over even a single piece of clothing.
Of course, Felicie was my blue slave, the Sub-Mod, and we had a certain degree of familiarity.
But just as Felicie couldn't trust my nuke button, I wasn't comfortable with threats from the reality beyond the gallery either.
It meant we weren't close enough to stake our lives on each other and trust one another.
Head Mod*: No, please don't.
DragonsWillDie: I don't quite understand what you mean, but it makes me uncomfortable.
DragonsWillDie: Hear me out first, then decide.
Head Mod*: Okay.
DragonsWillDie: Dragons can read their opponent's emotions.
DragonsWillDie: Even if we can't know their exact thoughts, we can tell what state of mind they're in.
For example, a dragon couldn't know what a mortal looking at it was thinking.
But it could tell whether they were trying to deceive it, afraid of it, or respecting it.
Because dragons could perceive the path of a target's life and thoughts as colors and scents.
Head Mod*: So you're going to smell me and learn my color?
DragonsWillDie: (Disgusted YongYong emote)
DragonsWillDie: What! I'm not interested in women!
DragonsWillDie: Enough. Just give me the edge of your clothing!
Felicie desperately wanted reassurance from me.
Because if she had really noticed the nuke and witnessed its aftermath...
Of course, anyone would want reassurance.
Moreover, Felicie was sincere.
[‘DragonsWillDie’ has proposed a Dragon Scale Contract!]
DragonsWillDie: If you don't believe me, read it.
A thick something flew over from Felicie.
Large enough to resemble a stone tablet, it was none other than Felicie's dragon scale.
Unreadable writing had been inscribed on the scale, making it seem to be quite literally a contract engraved into a dragon scale.
[Dragon Scale Contract]
A contract created for dragons to keep their promises to one another.
It can be made using the scale of Felicie, Queen of the Dragons.
If the contents of this contract are violated, the violator shall repay it with their life.
DragonsWillDie: I witnessed that scene and felt fear for the first time in my life.
I would prefer for that feeling to remain only a thought.
“Hmm...”
The gallery system didn't lie.
When I didn't know something, I simply said I didn't know.
After some deliberation, I cut off a small piece from the end of my garment with scissors.
Then I sent it to Felicie as it was.
Head Mod*: Okay, sent it. Check it.
DragonsWillDie: Thank you for trusting me :)
“Really, all I have to do is send this?”
It felt strange to think that a piece of clothing alone could reassure her, but a dragon wouldn't lie, would it?
Besides, there was nothing she could do with a piece of clothing anyway.
It was about an hour after I sent Felicie the piece of cloth.
DragonsWillDie: Good heavens.
DragonsWillDie: Just what are you...?
Felicie's reply came back.
And not just a little—in a tone that was utterly incredulous.
*
Felicie picked up the white hem.
“This is the Head Mod's...”
An existence that had never once revealed its face, whose gender was not even clear.
Within the gallery, rumors even circulated that it was an unidentified existence, perhaps even a ghost.
And to Felicie, it was an incomprehensible being with the power to make hell a reality...
“Just an ordinary piece of clothing like this.”
Ordinary fabric-made clothing.
Of course, one might question whether it was really ordinary if one considered the quality of its craftsmanship, but that wasn't what she meant.
“I thought you were going to be something more incomprehensible.”
Something transcendent in a material sense, for instance.
A demigod existing only as consciousness.
Or something like that.
Although she had called it a collar, she thought something special—something even she couldn't understand—might arrive.
But it was just ordinary clothing.
“Hmm, how novel. It's unique. I'm intrigued.”
That erased Felicie's boredom and prodded at her curiosity.
For some reason, she smiled with her eyes at the sense of familiarity, then quietly brought the hem to her nose.
Then she gathered all her thoughts into one point and drew in a breath.
“!”
She realized.
The Head Mod—the administrator of the gallery—was an unknown being from outside this world.