CH 186

Chapter 186

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : Each Choice, Part 8 — Conjecture

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

Gwendolf reminisces about the old days.

「What happened to him?」

「…He suddenly disappeared. He was the most enthusiastic about this project, and everyone insisted that he should be the one to take the central role in this project instead of a True Dragon. But he kept declining, and just before he disappeared, he kept muttering the same words, as if they were a habit.」

「…What did Aurangzebul say?」

「『I won’t make it in time.』」

Gwen’s words carried a strange weight. The conversation stops for a moment, but again, it is Miranda who opens the conversation.

「What do those words mean?」

「…I cannot tell you that. I also don’t know what it really means, and what I know now is that I can’t tell you, at least not on my own.」

「What’s that? Don’t you get the point after all?」

「I’m sorry, but that’s the code. I can’t tell you this yet. This is the most I can tell you.」

「Now let’s change the subject.」

Now Alfiris asks a question.

「There may be some overlap with the current question, but what does Gwen think their overall purpose is?」

「I can imagine a few things, but nothing definite.」

「Can you tell me what you imagine?」

Miranda raised her hand. The sudden statement made everyone look at Miranda without thinking.

「I think they are testing us. No, I mean the whole human race, not just us.」

「Why do you think so?」

At Gwen’s question, Miranda wondered a bit whether she should say something or not, but decided that there was no point in hiding it here.

「Actually, the Church Of Arnelia was attacked…」

「What did you say!?」

Lisa stood up without a second thought. This was new news to Lisa. Miranda didn’t want to add to her worries, so she didn’t tell Lisa either.

「Is Jake… are the littles one safe!?」

「Yeah, I heard it was nothing serious. But there were a lot of deaths. I think the one who attacked them was the guy who threw a kiss to Lisa earlier. I haven’t heard any details, and I’ve only heard a little bit about his name, Elsa, and a little bit from Azusa, so it’s just a possibility.」

「I know Miranda was trying not to worry Lisa, but please say a word, from now on.」

「I’m sorry. I will do so henceforth.」

「Then it’s okay. Miranda, I’m sorry. Please continue talking.」

Lisa sits down and encourages the conversation. Miranda also regains her composure and continues the conversation.

「And that’s when it happened. Even though some of them showed up at headquarters, they didn’t take hostile action and pulled out of the place. Of course, it is possible that the Church Of Arnelia outnumbers them and that they were wary of that, but the Master Bishop says that if they had wanted to, the church would’ve been reduced to ruins at the very least.」

「Are they that powerful?」

「Yeah, that seems to be the case. But perhaps in that case, the Master Bishop will hide in plain sight and go on a guerrilla warfare mission. Wouldn’t that be more awkward for them than a face-to-face fight? One could think they were wary of that, Kaede. Do you have any thoughts on the considerations so far?」

Miranda turned the conversation to Kaede. Kaede seemed a little surprised to be suddenly asked to talk, but she responded in a very precise manner.

「Well, first of all. I was one of those who were present at the time of the attack on the church, and the one who attacked the church was that boy who got involved with Lisa-dono, as you can imagine, Miranda-sama. He was easily defeated by Miliazar-sama. Also, Albert-dono fought with him more than evenly. What can be considered from this is that the Church Of Arnelia possesses a more competent force than they does.

Next point. When we almost beat him, it was Lifeless who stepped in to rescue him and the girl who came to pick up the big man at the end. They took that boy away, and Miliazar-sama allowed them to take him away. This decision was quite questionable, but only a few people saw the scene. Those who saw the scene were kept in the dark, and even the archbishops wasn’t given a detailed account of what happened at this time. We have told the people involved that we just failed to finish off the attackers. The consideration here is that…」

「I guess the Master Bishop decided she couldn’t win.」

「This is a personal guess, perhaps. However, this is the same judgment made by Kuchinashi-sama. So, I think it is safe to assume that all of us who were there share the same opinion.」

「Yeah, just as I imagined. Well, I’ll make the final decision after meeting the Master Bishop.」

Miranda nodded. Then, without waiting for the others’ opinions, she continued talking further.

「Here are my personal thoughts at this stage. Whether it’s Lifeless’ initial attitude or not, I feel like we are being tested by them. Even the Church Of Arnelia could’ve been destroyed by a more cunning raid. Of course, there are many possible reasons. For example, if they were to destroy the holy city of Arnelia, many countries wouldn’t remain silent and would form a coalition against them. Or maybe they didn’t want to make their presence too public, but if the Church Of Arnellia would put aside its shame and its reputation, they could make their presence public. That makes me think that their purpose was to test us.」

「For what purpose?」

「That… I don’t know.」

Miranda shook her head. Then silence enveloped the place. It was, as expected, Euthy who broke the silence. However, the content of the conversation was surprisingly serious.

「Hey, why bother worrying about a problem that doesn’t have much of an answer? Instead, let’s just decide what we’re going to do from here on out.」

「…That’s a decent opinion coming from Euthy. Do you have a fever?」

「I don’t have it!」

「That’s right, stupid people don’t catch colds.」

「What did you say!?」

「Alright, alright, that’s enough.」

Miranda stops Lisa and Euthy as they are about to start a scuffle.

「Let’s ask Alfie first what to do. Alfie is our leader.」

「Yes. But she’s a very unreliable leader.」

「Don’t say that, Lisa. I’m going to go with what Alfie says.」

「Like Nia, so am I. Where are Kaede, Euthy and Lanna?」

「If that’s what Miranda-sama says I would follow suit.」

「I’ll follow Alfie too. Well, I might run away if it’s really dangerous, right? But if I abandon you here, I’ll lose my fairy name.」

「I am the same as all of you. I have nowhere to go anyway, and I hope you will keep me by your side as long as possible!」

Everyone looks at Alfiris. Alfiris is a little puzzled, but she calmly thinks in her mind and comes to a conclusion. The conclusion she comes to is…

「…Here’s my personal opinion. I’m not looking for your approval. So please listen with that in mind.」

Everyone nodded silently.

「For now, we are in the form of being missed by Aurangzebul. But he will surely be a disaster for us. I mean not only for us here, but for humanity at large. I feel strongly about it. I don’t know what form it will take, or when it will take. What is certain is that we are the only ones who know about him, by any chance, and that he will not stop until his life is over. That’s why, I’m…」

Then Alfiris took one pause.