Chapter 141
"I don't know... but finding out what happened to Kagami-chan comes first right now. Honestly... someone could've just told me, no matter who it came from."
Takako sighed and looked down at the Earthclear device directly beneath them. Though she was frightened by the thought that she had once been one of the people sleeping inside it, she also wondered if she might have been happier staying asleep there.
As Kagami had angrily pointed out, the world of Earthclear had been deliberately designed. But that also proved there was an enemy they couldn't defeat otherwise, and Takako worried that a danger unlike anything she'd ever faced awaited them.
"Takako-san... are you all right? You're sweating so much."
"...Thank you, Kururu-chan. I just got a little worried about whether we'd make it back safely. At a time like this... if only David-san were here...!"
Perhaps to dispel her anxiety, Takako's cheeks flushed and her expression turned dreamy as she began imagining David riding a white horse. Watching her only made Kururu more uneasy, so she went expressionless and quietly made her way over to Tina, who was also gazing down below.
"If the Earthclear we lived in was a virtual world, and half its purpose was to give humanity a peaceful place to live... why wasn't everyone born into equal circumstances, Kururu-san...?"
"...Tina-san."
"I can sort of understand. I'm sure... they wanted to create living conditions just as they were. The world must have been much the same long ago, when this place was still Earth. But... but this is just too cruel."
Tina had lost her parents and been raised as an orphan by the church. As she recalled the harshness and sorrow of the life she'd lived, she felt furious that all that suffering had taken place in a deliberately created world. Tears of frustration welled in her eyes.
Seeing her like that, Kururu realized why Tina had been so extraordinarily shocked by the sight below them.
"Maybe there was no God after all... What do you mean, 'peace'?!"
Raised as an orphan by the church, Tina had believed in God and thought she had been saved by God's guidance. But in reality, she had simply lived in a fabricated world managed by a system. Tina knew there were many other orphans seeking salvation. They had been born into a world they never asked for and made to endure painful days. They hadn't asked for humanity to evolve, either.
"It's not like you to cry, Tina-chan."
Just as tears of frustration spilled down Tina's cheeks and she was about to choke back a sob, Parna gently patted her on the head.
"It was all made up, you know? Our world! It was all lies... created to evolve our bodies and save this Earth!"
"I don't see it that way. Not all of it was a lie, was it? Look, isn't the fact that I'm here proof?"
As she spoke, Parna gently pulled Tina into her arms, as if to show her that she was really there.
"Maybe I have no right to say this, but the time we spent together wasn't a lie, was it? Kagami brought us together, and that's how we all came here. Were those memories lies, too?"
Tina, nestled against Parna's chest without resisting, gave a small shake of her head.
Then Rex stepped up beside them. As if agreeing with Parna, he gently patted Tina's right shoulder and smiled.
"Parna's right. If I hadn't met Master in Earthclear, I never would've made it here or become as strong as I am. I hate to admit it, but if I hadn't met Master, the Demon King would've killed me... without a doubt. But I'm alive now! The days we've spent together weren't lies, even if the world was."
Encouraged by Rex's heartfelt words, Tina looked around. Everyone was gazing at her with warm, gentle eyes. Not only Rex, Kururu, and Parna, who had been in a party with her, but also Menou, Alice, and Takako, whom she had once faced as enemies, wore kind expressions as if to tell her there was nothing to worry about.
"We demons are able to be here with everyone thanks to meeting Kagami-dono. And we've come here now to lend him our aid. Don't say something so sad as 'it was all lies,' Tina-dono. We don't know what lies ahead... Let us steel ourselves and press on."
Menou's words made Tina suddenly feel embarrassed about crying with her face buried against Parna's chest. She hurriedly pulled away from Parna and wiped her tears with the hem of her clothes. Then, with her eyes slightly swollen, she smiled and said, "You're right... we're companions, after all." She felt reassured that the companions standing beside her now were real.
"Ah, there you are. Are you the new heroes who've arrived in this world?"
At that moment, the scene below them was suddenly cut off, and the entire room plunged into darkness. Then—
With a resounding bang, the door behind them flew open.
A blinding light streamed in as a woman with a rough, masculine way of speaking stomped into the room where they stood.
"Oho! Amazing! This is the first time so many have shown up at once, isn't it?! I'm getting pumped... I'm getting pumped, Merry-chan!"
"I'm not pumped... What's got you so excited?"
From behind the petite woman who had entered first, a tall woman about Parna's height bounced into the room with light, nimble steps. The light streaming in made it hard to see them clearly, but the two women, or so they seemed, came to stand before the group.