06 Edelweiss 2

It feels strangely intriguing to have this kind of conversation with her.

When I learned Mio’s true nature, I couldn’t help but imagine a humanoid form.

Yet— I never expected to be able to communicate with her like this.

Not in an ability-based sense, but emotionally.

And now, I feel closer to her than to any member of the Second Fleet.

“Was I always meant to be at Mio’s side, from the moment I was born?”

‘That’s how it is.’

“…What’s that like?”

Being predetermined from the start.

For Jin, there was never any path outside the military.

Even if asked to imagine a self beyond that, I couldn’t. I don’t believe I possess any such potential.

How does it feel, to be destined from birth?

I asked, but Edelweiss offers no reply.

Is she deep in thought?

Or is she offended?

Reading it through a literal iron face is difficult.

It was good that dialogue had become possible, but still, it was different from human communication.

Proud.

Proud?

I was entrusted with a role worthy of the next king—by the current king. I felt proud when I realized that.

...I see.

What of you, mighty warrior?

Stop calling him that fierce hero. His name is Tohgo Jin.

Then, Jin. What do you make of your current position?

I am...

Reconsidering the question posed.

When there was no other path forward.

When there was no one guarding from behind.

When the one they wished to protect came into being.

At the moment it was lost.

And when the time came to protect someone.

And now.

That's right. I like who I am now.

Fortune and misfortune are like a twisted rope.

Happiness and misfortune come in turn, one after another.

Jin's life had been exactly as it should have been.

That is why I believe, without doubt, that happiness will follow this battle as well.

"Come to think of it, Edelweiss once helped me, didn't she?"

"She had been praying all along—'Please save Father.' She may not have realized it herself, but the plea was desperate."

Another sound, like a sigh, escaped.

"Because the wish was so intense, we reluctantly searched for you."

"I can't believe you found me at all..."

The universe isn't small enough to be stumbled upon by random search.

As I wonder how they managed it, they reveal the truth.

"In our midst, there is one who excels at tracking a person's etheric resonance. We had that one locate Jin."

"Huh..."

"Thanks to them, we were able to jump there."

"Jump? Like an Overlight?"

"That's what people call it, apparently."

Jump by marking specific etheric points as reference, using them as launch coordinates.

Jin realized that was why the Terminus people could handle high-precision Overlights.

At the same time, humanity today cannot replicate it—and there is no reason to attempt it.

For humans, who use it primarily for movement, there is no way to know what etheric presence exists at the destination.

Inter-convoy communication might improve significantly… yet that would require too much individuality.

Fundamentally, humanity has not yet achieved the observation of human etheric wavelengths—what one might assume to be the soul.

In short, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

“Still, I’m grateful. Thanks.”

‘No need for thanks. I merely fulfilled her wish. Offer your gratitude to her.’

“I’ll tell her next time we meet.”

Next.

When next they meet, what should Jin say first?

No—there is no question.

It has already been decided.

It comes down to whether she’ll be allowed to say it.

‘…When we fought the old Hugle.’

‘Huh? You mean the planet Merse? The place where me and you met for the third time.’

‘Yes.’

After speaking of the two previous encounters, the next one— the third— follows naturally.

‘Those Hugle were aiming for that one.’

‘…So that’s how it was.’

‘Not us— rather, the Emperor and that one are the Hugle’s ultimate prize.’

‘Is that so?’

‘You heard the name Terminus from the Emperor, didn’t you?’

‘They say it’s been passed down through generations. But does such a title even mean anything?’

Jin thinks the reason Seventh and Mio stand as queen lies in their overwhelming combat capability and their ability to bear new life.

Edelweiss shakes her head at the words born from that intention.

Her movements are growing more human by the day.

"Not a title. Something acquired as tangible authority."

"What kind of authority?"

"Authority representing our people, the Terminans. Without it, we would fall—like Hagle—into mindless beasts."

A vague understanding begins to form in Jin's mind.

"So, put differently. If Mio or Seven were consumed by them—"

"Hagle can regain intelligence, just as we have."

Seven had once said that, unlike Hagle, the standard ASID had forsaken intelligence in pursuit of some eternal dream.

From that, one might infer... regret.

"Generally speaking, there is no harm."

"Yet hearing you speak, I find that hard to believe."

"It's simple. The Emperor and that one can command even other queens' flocks. Therefore, now that awareness has returned, resisting them is easy."

Still... he added.

『If the opponent is a queen, the matter changes. Even we cannot command another queen. Thus, we exist to protect her from that point onward.』

『Your words suggest you would obey the enemy queen’s orders as well.』

『That is precisely where Hagle and we differ. Because we possess intelligence, we can resist such commands.』

A moment later, Jin realized the comment might have been a joke, but the timing had already passed for a smile.

『That day. She was utterly distraught. Praying not for herself, but for others. Begging to be protected. Begging to be saved.』

『That was surely Higaki.』

Recalling the sight of him, severely wounded that day, Jin felt his blood run cold.

He had been certain it was too late.

But now he understands.

That was Mio.

She seized control of the nanomachines meant to transform humans into ASID units. Redirected them. Repurposed them for healing.

It began back then.

When Mio started to notice ordinary things.

That is, when she began to suspect, however vaguely, that she was not ordinary herself.

Regretting that he had not realized it sooner—though it is too late now.

‘Even in that situation, she thought of others. Precisely because of that, we await her as the next sovereign.’

‘Is that so…? Then what was it that attacked us back then?’

‘That’s poorly phrased. You were the one who initiated it.’

‘Was I?’

Perhaps I was.

‘Back then… yes, that was your misplaced anger. Why you couldn’t protect her. Why you were there yet still failed. You vented your frustration—why you weren’t in a place where you could protect her.’

‘I was inadequate. I’m sorry.’

Calmly.

Speaking of the moment they had fought to kill one another.

No anger rises—because the tenderness in Edelweiss’s words, faint as it is, reaches toward Mio.

It wasn't anger at himself.

It was anger at Mio.

Everything about her—about ASID, about the Terminus people, whose males were nonexistent, making this inevitable—centered on Mio, and that centeredness stirred within Jin a feeling that blended delight with unease.

‘But this time, I could do nothing. The one we met in your nest spoke to us in her true form. “Do not follow.”’

The pain of rejection.

The voice that carried it.

‘I did nothing too.’

Both of them lowered their shoulders.

‘But next time—absolutely bring her back.’

‘I intend the same.’

For Mio.

Their understanding aligned.

That alone was reassuring.

Jin suddenly thought.

‘If we ever get Mio back.’

‘?’

‘Come visit us once. I want you to see her usual self.’

‘Your nest is too small for me.’

"Can't we just make our bodies like Mio's?"

"...You say that easily, but that's not simple even for her."

Mio appeared to do it effortlessly, but in reality, it was quite advanced.

Perhaps only someone of queen-level capability could manage it.

"Is that so. I thought it was a good idea."

"But let's try it."

Another promise added. The thought that this might be the first of its kind in the universe made Jin feel an odd sense of unease.