No Game No Life-Vol 4 Prologue

Preface

It was farther than the sea...

So far that it had become unreachable, a part of «fairy tales»—

In a certain place there existed a beautiful princess.

She had beautiful golden hair that even the moon would admire.

Her s.h.i.+ning eyes could overshadow stars.

Even the birds would be humbled by her amazing voice.

The fame of her beauty had spread across the seven continents.

Men from all over the world kept coming to propose to the princess.

The princess said:

"Whoever can give me the best present in the world—I shall give my love to

him."

Thus many a man came to propose with dazzling treasures.

Needless to say that there were gold and jewels.

The princess even received hundreds of territories, thousands of castles, and

tens of thousands ofslaves.

But the princess wasn't even one bit satisfied.

"I want things that are more beautiful, more valuable."

So there were more men who sent unique treasures to her.

Not to mention unique vows of love in the world.

The princess even received secret treasures unique in the world, heavenly

objects that didn't even have another among G.o.ds.

But the princess was still not satisfied.

No matter what degree the beauty, they could not rival the princess' beauty.

No matter what degree the love, they were like granted to the princess.

No matter what degree the treasure, the princess had already gotten them.

—There were no more treasures in the world that could amaze the princess.

Even so, the princess stillsaid:

"Someone come—is there a treasure that's even more amazing?"

—Things went like this until one day.

A prince came before the princess.

He was different from any man the princess had ever met.

He was young and strong, but dressed poorly.

Didn't seem like he was carrying any treasure too.

But the prince gave a "little treasure", and said:

"I am going to give the princess a treasure that she has absolutely never seen

before."

Upon seeing what the prince gave—the most beautiful treasure in the world.

The princess could not stop being amazed...

And thus she gave her promise of love to the prince.

And that treasure was——

......

"—That's it! It was 'true love'!"

«She» closed the book in her hands, and screamed.

In this manner, «she», in order to look for her 'true love', entered a long, long

sleep.

Waiting for the day that the man with that 'little treasure' in the fairy tale would

appear.

—Without any consideration for any possible consequences that might be

brought by her actions.

...What «she» had read was really a «fairy tale».

But the story of «her» falling into a deep sleep for the fairy tale, isn't a «fairy

tale».

That's farther than the sea, so far it was 800 years ago—

So silly that any of the Exceed would be laughed at for this—'history'.

Prologue - Easy Start

Part 1

The Werebeasts’ nation –– the Eastern Union. The countryside of Kannagari

City.

There is a building where the former Eastern Union’s amba.s.sador resides ––

Hatsune Izuna’s mansion.

In a wooden room which has architecture resembling a Chas.h.i.+tsu

[1]

, the smell

of incense drifted over the newly laid tatami mats.

The room was so silent, one would think that only unmoving plants were

present within. A single silhouette was seen s.h.i.+vering inside.

“……s.h.i.+ro, are you awake?”

The figure quietly climbed out of his bed, and whispered to his side.

……No reply.

Only her smooth and steady breathing could be heard next to him.

Confirming what he heard, the figure nodded his head, and snuck into action.

Despite being in a rush, he was holding his breath, while holding tightly onto

his pillow and not making any sounds.

Then, his hand grabbed the item he had targeted, and at once, he quietly

moved to the corner of the room.

“n.o.body on the right, n.o.body on the left. Other than s.h.i.+ro, no one else is

present.”

The figure recited these words, and begun his operation. His face began to

emerge through the darkness.

It was a black-eyed and black-haired teenager, who had dark circles under

his eyes which decreased his attractiveness greatly.

He was Sora, 18 years old, and Imanity’s latest King. He was one of the two

rulers of Elchea.

The king carefully investigated his surroundings. He used his left hand to hold

his tablet PC and his right hand to hold a box of facial tissues. He began his

declaration as softly as possible.

“Now is the time –– I can discharge the long acc.u.mulated toxins in my body!”

–– Truly a pervert.

If the citizens were to witness their 『King』 in his current manner, they would

probably sorrowfully cry out with a long “Oh……”

But, please first wait a while.

It has been two months since he and his sister had been summoned to this

foreign world named Disboard, a world where everything was decided by

games.

In that short period of time, not only had he ascended the throne of the

Imanity who were on the verge of destruction, together with his sister, he had

went through several death matches –– subduing those with the ability to use

magic, surpa.s.sing various cheats, and recapturing the territory of the Imanity.

Today, they merged their country with so many lands that they have become

the third largest country in the world.

Sora –– during these series of fierce battles with countless women –– not

limiting to the Imanity, but also including the Flügel, Elves, and Werebeasts ––

there had been several times where people were practically naked, be it in

games or during baths. During all these times, he was forced to turn his head

away. He was like a man playing in a sandbox. Within his tablet PC and

smartphones was the residue of these paradises in the form of videos he had

recorded. However, as he is always by his sister’s side, he had never once

had a chance to view these…

So it is to say…

He was never able to vent his urges ––!

For a man in such a situation, would accusing him of being a pervert be

reasonable?

–– Ahh, that’s right. Women, you can despise me for all you want.

But fellow men, you should be able to relate to this!

For an eighteen year old virgin to endure to this very day, just think of his iron

willpower! How can it not bring you to tears?!

That should be awe-inspiring enough, no?

That should be enough to call it –– 『Love』, no?

I need not speak for my sister who is stillso young.

In order to protect the several maidens around him, he had to resist all of his

urges ––

Such n.o.ble ambitions –– what would it be if not 『Love』?

……Is there anyone out there who can refute this –– No, there is not!

I think there isn’t… probably?

“I don’t care if you’re going to scold me as a pervert, I’m already at my limits

and on the verge of bursting –– No, this is indeed a n.o.ble act of the highest

order!!”

With such tragic thoughts in his consciousness, Sora… put his hand to his

crotch…

“Um, Um… Ex-Excuse me…”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Upon hearing that voice behind him, Sora let out a scream like a girl, so

scared that he fell on the tatami.

A sigh was let out –– there were three people who were responding.

“……Ni……Do it more quietly……”

Getting up and no longer pretending to be asleep, a pure-white haired sister

with red eyes coldly stared on at him –– s.h.i.+ro.

“Ugh… there are other people right, des? Izuna wants to sleep together,

des.”

Sticking her head out from the side of the ceiling was a black haired

Werebeast girl with animal ears –– Hatsuse Izuna.

“Who dares to offend my master? Can I cut it off? Can I cut off this thief’s

head!?”

Appearing out of thin air with an abstract halo floating on her head was a

Flügel girl –– Jibril.

The owners of these three voices had an air of discontent around them…

Sora, who had fallen on the tatami, could not resist shouting while he was

putting his pants back on.

“Doesn’t this world have any concept of 『privacy』?! I just suffered a serious

violation!!”

Then, when he was in the middle of pulling up his zipper…

“Who～～ are you to say that!? How dare you act like a sage while peeping

on others!”

While Sora was pointing and shouting in their direction, everyone else had

finally realized that something was amiss, and redirected their gazes onto that

person.

Only a figure could be seen. The person sat quietly on the floor, as if the

person had merged with the night sky.

The room was dark and hazy –– but even so, the person gave off an

unnaturalsense of lacking a shadow.

“Sigh…”

With light illuminating from her finger tips through magic, Jibril unhappily tilted

her lips to the side.

“I was wondering who was capable of approaching master this closely while

avoiding my notice –– a Dhampir, I see.”

“Dh-Dhampir?”

Upon hearing Jibril’s words, everyone looked towards that figure once more.

Through the illumination of light, a girl wearing a black dress emerged. It was

as ifshe was wearing the night sky on her body.

She had short blue hair, and her glowing purple pupils shone brightly through.

Her teeth were white, and on her back were small bat-like wings.

Although she looked to be around 15 or 16 in human age, that would not be

so since she was a Dhampir.

Her appearance matched Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s impressions of vampires exactly,

as it was completely like what was depicted in a regular vampire story.

–– 『Those who transcend death (Nosferatu)』, 『The rulers of the undead (No

Life King)』, 『Dominators of the night (Nightwalker)』……

As shown in these countless different names, they were a race that were

greatly feared by humans –– but, as for this girl’s case……

“…… I, I can’t do this anymore…… Please…… Please save me……”

Her face was haggard and she spoke in a weak voice which completely offset

any prior impressions of terror.

“You lot are still the same. Using your illusions to stay hidden ––

surrept.i.tiously sneaking around to hide from place to place, and using your

ability of bright eyes.”

“It’s such a pity…” Jibril then laughed as she sarcastically continued on.

“And I thought your race had finally made good use of your abilities, but

you’ve silently died out without a sound. Such a sorry state you’re in.”

“J-Jibril… you’re stillspeaking as sharply as ever.”

Even Sora could not help but find it terrible while he watched her scold the

dying girl.

However, Izuna lightly jumped down from the ceiling without making a sound,

and tilted her head while showing a puzzled expression.

“Izuna heard from grandpa, that the Dhampirs had already died on the

roadside, des.”

“…Eh?”

So Jibril’s bitter words were actually the blatant, unsparing truth.

But Izuna was merely using the wrong choice of words. She meant no ill will.

So that means… the race was supposed to have already perished…?

“…… the Exceed’s…… twelfth ranked race…… the 『Dhampirs』……”

Seeing Sora was at a loss, s.h.i.+ro stepped in to help.

She crawled out of bed, and began reading out the information she

memorized.

“……The race that…… sucks on the blood of the rest of the Exceed –– for

their souls…… to continue living.”

s.h.i.+ro continued to speak.

“And with…… the 『Ten Oaths』……”

s.h.i.+ro let out an exclamation and her mouth twitched slightly.

–– 『Ten Oaths』.

That was what the sole G.o.d had set, and these oaths were to be absolutely

obeyed in this world of Disboard.

One of which stated “All murder, war and robbery is forbidden in this world.”

If these were the vampires that Sora was familiar with, that would mean that

under these oaths…

Attacking others or biting them… would inflict harm on the other party, and

thus a race that needs to win in order to suck others’ blood would…

“Eh? Is that so? So that means the Dhampirs… would not be able to suck

blood without the other party’s consent, right?”

The dying girl did not even need to speak for Sora to know the answer.

…From this, Sora could understand why her face was so haggard. Jibril then

nodded and spoke.

“To add on to what master has said, if a Dhampir sucks the blood of

another…”

“They would turn into a Dhampir… Nothing unusual there.”

As a result, unless the other party wanted to become a Dhampir, it would be

impossible to obtain consent to suck anyone’s blood…

“……Huh? No, that isn’t the case.”

“Eh? That’s weird. It doesn’t always turn out like that?”

“Dhampirs obtain 『soul essence』 from blood and body fluids, and when

drawing these fluids, their own soul would be mixed with the other’s. That

would promote a Dhampir’s growth and enhance their strength, while the one

who gets bitten will have a mixed soul and catch a specific disease.”

So that means…

Jibrilsmiled and a.s.serted, “It typically does a hundred times more harm than it

does any good.”

“……How can there be such hopeless vampires.”

–– 『Let me offer to you the power to be ageless and the strength of the night.

』

Being unable to use this as a slogan to persuade others, they were just a race

that would bring about illnesses.

Hearing their helpless situation would make one weep. Sora turned to face

the Dhampir girl, and sighed with nothing to say.

I see… It’s not surprising that they would go extinct with the implementation

of the Ten Oaths.

But then… if that is so… Sora felt rather confused.

……Why haven’t they gone extinct yet?

“Pl…… Please …… I, I’m at the brink of dying…… give me your 『soul

essence』……”

The girl was practically begging. With disorderly breaths and a weak voice,

she sought the help of Sora who was currently in deep thought.

As she spoke, her voice got more hoa.r.s.e and weak. She was basically about

to die if……

“……No, after hearing that you’d catch some disease after sharing their soul,

only ghosts would agree to that. Are you an idiot? Just die already.”

He said that but… his conscience was not prepared to watch her die in front

of his eyes.

Sora was trying to find a way to save her but…

As he would become a sick virgin, it was particularly difficult for him to

promise her. Sora scratched at his head in great annoyance. Then, all of a

sudden…

“Ah! Master, I didn’t make myself clear. As long as you don’t get bitten, you

will not get the disease.”

……Ehh?

“Although without biting, Dhampirs would not be able to grow from their soul

essence without using their teeth to suck the blood. However, if it is just to

sustain their life… 『direct oral administration』 of the body fluids would suffice

for emergency situations.”

“……You mean?”

“Second to blood, the body fluid where the 『soul essence』 is most highly

concentrated in, and not biting to ingest the fluids, that would be the…”

……When he heard what Jibril was about to say next, Sora’s next action

was……

“s.e.m.e.n…”

“Miss, are you alright!? I’llsave you right now!! I definitely won’t let you

die!!”

Everyone present at the scene was stunned… –– not to mention s.h.i.+ro.

Even the vision of the Werebeasts or the Flugel could only catch his after-

image.

–– His att.i.tude changed so quickly that even a blink of an eye would suffice at

describing his speed.

Sora carried the Dhampir girl to the corner of the room, and carefully laid her

down there……

He nodded his head in deep acknowledgement.

“Now I see, you aren’t vampires, you are succubi!”

That’s why they haven’t gone extinct.

Who would let such a wonderfulrace go extinct ––!

Sora cried out in his heart, and prepared to undo the b.u.t.tons of his trousers,

but then……

“……What is s.e.m.e.n, des?

“…… Ni…… M18 scene…… NG……”

The two children under 18 years old looked towards him, and that would

mean……

–– The 『heart-pounding scene』 had just been force closed.

“…… Ah, not this again.”

Sora looked up to the sky with hope in his eyes, with tears almost about to

fall.

Eighteen-year-old virgin Sora, don’t tell me you’re going to do as usual and

not move any ground forward?

Having to turn my back countless times on these otherworldly paradises,

back to being a man playing in a sandbox…… Don’t tell me it’s really going

to stay like this forever?

(…… No, it can’t!!)

Sora bit his lip tightly.

Whatever the case, you must use this brain of yours to get out of all kinds of

difficulties for your survival!

The moment that I must concentrate all my brain juices to cross over a heavy

obstacle –– isn’t that time upon me right now?!

–– After this thought, he recollected on the events that had happened.

His sister looked on with resolute and cold eyes.

“…… s.h.i.+ro, please imagine a fully-clothed man drowning in a river.”

“…… Un.”

“Implementing the appropriate CPR, and removing the wet clothes that would

drop his body temperature to a fatal degree, and giving that person your body

heat…… would that be rated M18?”

“……………… It wouldn’t……”

“Right. And why’s that so? Because that is helping another, and saving that

person’s life. It’s the most n.o.ble of actions!!”

Sora nodded exaggeratedly in agreement with what he had just said, and with

very sincerely clear eyes, he looked to the girl lying at the corner of the room

–– She seemed so haggard and weak that no words could properly describe

how she looked.

“Indeed, for us humans, it can easily be deemed as irrational, but this is to

save a life… it’s a n.o.ble act! Therefore, your brother is forced to abandon his

shame, and entrust my entire self to the cultures of other races in order to

save her life!! And so, can you please turn around and avert your eyes～

～!?”

–– The most perfect and flawless reasoning has been stated!

–– That is, I am starting a rebellion!

“…… since it’s body fluids …… then 『saliva』 would also work……?”

s.h.i.+ro gently worded her speech, which immediately let his perfect reasoning

(laughs) end its life in less than a second. Sora could not help but freeze in his

place.

Jibril thought for a moment, and smiled with compa.s.sion towards the pitiful

race.

“I think there should be no problems with that. Though there would be less

soul essence within, but it should suffice for an emergency situation, I think?”

“…… Un, allow s.h.i.+ro to……”

In this way, s.h.i.+ro walked towards the Dhampir girl lying at her brother’s feet.

Then, she put her face close to the girl’s face –––

“Wa-Wait a second, s.h.i.+ro! That…… isn’t quite right! Nii does not agree to

this!”

“…… CPR…… a n.o.ble act……”

Sora hurriedly tried to stop her, but s.h.i.+ro coldly stared as she reb.u.t.ted him

with his own words.

Sora hurriedly used all his functioning brain cells to think of a valid argument,

but –––

(––– no, shouldn’t a kiss between girls be perfectly fine?)

It is not M18, and it is also in a very healthy zone. To top it off, it is a genuine

act to save a life.

Incidentally, Sora –– in fact had no discrimination towards the yuri genre, but

still……

(––– I just never want to see s.h.i.+ro do such a thing.)

––– And why is that so?

That question came to his mind in a flash, but Sora shook his head straightaway.

“No! A French kiss is not good for a child’s education! I veto against this!!”

Sora had yet to think what would happen after his statement, so he hastily

looked to his surroundings.

Izuna looked particularly bored, and s.h.i.+ro still had her eyes half-open, not to

mention –––

“Ji-Jibril! Your body fluids –––”

Izuna was still young, and s.h.i.+ro was a no-go, and it was greatly regrettable

that Steph was not present at this moment……

“Under master’s command, I dare not to disobey –– even though freely

bloodsucking mosquitoes are still above this pathetic race by a few points, but

to kiss –– though since you wish to save her life, master, I don’t really

recommend doing it this way.”

Her chillingly poisonous tongue made even Sora a little scared, but Jibrilstill

continued speaking.

“If I were to give her my body fluids, she would likely evaporate, as the

difference in the quality and concentration of our soul essences is too large.”

––High in their position was the mighty sixth ranked race of the Exceed.

This race of Flugel-sama is just so…… hax, totally hax!

“…… then…… let s.h.i.+ro……”

s.h.i.+ro used a finger to lift her hair, and inched her face towards the girl –––

“––––––––––Oh, oh right～～! There’s also ‘sweat’, right!!”

Sora’s brain was on the verge of boiling. He spoke the ‘alternative’ he just

thought of with no hesitation.

“Sw-Sweat is also considered a body fluid! Right? Jibril!?”

“…… It’s hard to say… Sweat contains the most minimal amount ofsoul

essence……”

“N-N-N-No other choice! We’ve got to at least give it a try!”

Before Sora could leap into action……

s.h.i.+ro slowly took off her sock, and extended her foot towards the Dhampir

girl’s eyes.

“……kneel on the floor…… and lick.”

Imanity’s queen, s.h.i.+ro.

–– She smiled a s.a.d.i.s.tic smile unbefitting of a queen.

“Oh my sister, although I had long realized how you hide away your S

tendencies, but for you to do so without any hesitation… your brother does

feelrather shocked……”

Sora’s cheek twitched, and he dejectedly collapsed onto the ground.

However, at the other side, the Dhampir girl, who looked almost like a

corpse, suddenly moved.

She sniffed a few times, and her eyes suddenly widened while she jumped up.

Awaiting the right time to pounce from her position, she popped s.h.i.+ro’s foot

into her mouth……

“–– This! What is this! What a delicious taste, so delicious!!”

…… Everyone who was watching the scene looked on with a cold gaze,

thinking:

–– the Exceed’s twelfth ranked race, the 『Dhampir』…

Although it was far from the sixth ranked Flugel and the seventh ranked Elves,

it was stillranked above the fourteenth ranked Werebeasts.

But, she was kneeling on the floor before a sixteenth ranked girl and –––

endlessly praising the taste of her foot.

“Does that sound right……?”

–– Indeed, this is not M18.

But yet for some reason, it feels like something is very wrong.

The Dhampir girl looked like she was a character in a comic book, tasting the

most gourmets of cuisine and with flowers filling the background as she wildly

licked his sister’s foot while endlessly praising it for being delicious.

“…… Jibril, are Dhampirs perverts?”

Sora directed his question to Jibril, as if his consciousness had just ascended

Mt. Everest

“Yup…… but since it is master’s soul essence, wouldn’t it naturally be

delicious?”

“––Eh? Why?”

“That, of course, is because master is…… tough, strong, and an extremely

rare, unique and n.o.ble soul that any common person who searches the entire

world for such a presence willstill never meet it.”

Upon hearing Jibril’s comments, Izuna, who was originally forced to watch

from the side, vigorously nodded her head in agreement.

“……Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s soul essence……does not have a contaminated taste.

I do not dislike it, des.”

However, Sora responded their remarks with a weary sigh.

“…… am I becoming delusional? I always get the feeling that people are

looping the words ‘stubborn’, ‘only concerned for his own good’, ‘an

abruptly changing character’, ‘withdrawn’, and not to mention ‘a virgin’!”

“None of that sort ––– doesn’t that just show that you possess 『unknown

soul essence』? There is not a thing that can compare to the greatness of

that…… honestly speaking, I also want to try a taste of it, fuhuhu～”

“………………Sora, Sora……Can I have a bite to try, des?”

The two looked up expectantly at Sora at the same time, with a stream of

saliva dripping from each of their mouths.

“I say, is there not a normal person in this room?”

“…… is Nii qualified…… to say that?”

––– the people with common sense (Stephanie) who were not present at

Izuna’s house, were being quietly ridiculed by s.h.i.+ro’s words.

––––––…………

With her strength restoring and her skin starting to become s.h.i.+nier, the

Dhampir girlspoke.

“Huu…… It really was very tasty…… thank you for the meal.”

“…… ugggh…… it’s wet…… need to wash it…… uggghh…… baths are

so troublesome……”

Compared to the girl with an absent-minded expression on her face and her

hands clasped together, s.h.i.+ro was filled with regret…… but first, leaving that

aside…

As he could finally begin to question her, Sora looked toward the girl.

“––– we’ve been at this for so long and we still don’t know who the heck you

are?”

“Ah, I was late in introducing myself. My name is Plum, and as you can see, I

am a Dhampir.”

Sitting in an upright posture on her knees, the girl –– Plum –– continued

speaking with a stern expression.

“I have something to, ugh…… request of you today.”

She stuttered while taking out a thing that looked like a cheat sheet.

“Ahem!” She cleared her throat.

Then she slowly bent her three fingers as if drawing a bow, and read her

script in a clumsy tone.

“P-Please forgive me for my laughable appearance in our first meeting……

the ones who joined with the Flugel and the Eastern Union, Elchea’s king and

queen, Your Majesties Sora and s.h.i.+ro ––– please save my race!”

……Having heard her words, Sora seemed to understand everything.

“Aaaahhh, being able to replace blood with s.e.m.e.n but requiring the other’s

consent to proceed ––– and now coming to us for help.”

The conditions to the entire scenario were like that of a fantasy.

––– And so? Is this fantasy upon us now?

Sora immediately gave his judgement, and a hearty smile appeared on his

face……

“The conditions are that you have to move to an H-game (somewhere else).

Bye. Be careful on your way back.”

“How did this even happen, aaaaahhhhh!? Wait a minute youuuuu!!”

…… Needless to say, the M18 scenario was immediately rejected.

Part 2

––– Long after the inter-racial war.

Sora brought up his grand plan to 『overturn the entire world』.

Within their world were very many races, which held a myriad of problems

just from their different histories, ideologies and cultures.

Yet, Sora wanted to break all the boundaries between races. She began to

realize how undoubtedly ridiculous his plot was.

And that was to produce 『a single country of many races』.

In a world where everything is decided by games, it is possible to achieve it in

theory.

But it is still only a theory at the end of the day.

“…… is it really okay to give it to them?”

As she thought about the two siblings who were planning to bring the races

together and obtain all their race pieces in order to challenge the One True

G.o.d, her mouth slanted to a side.

With that ridiculous dream of obtaining a 『piece』 in mind, would they really

be able to escape from this 『chess board』?

Would they really be able to fulfil every one of those conditions……?

The girl who was deep in thought had animal ears of a fox and long hair, as

well as two flitting gold tails.

She was the Eastern Union and the Werebeasts’ sole representative,

『Miko』.

Within the courtyard of her shrine, she was standing on a smallred bridge that

was built across a pond. As she looked across the railing to the reflection of

the moon on the water, she was engrossed in thought.

There are far too many obstacles.

Breaking the boundaries between races was a difficult situation even when it

was just between two races ––– the Imanity and the Werebeasts.

Even if all their citizens were from the same race, in order to unite them

towards the same goal, it was as impossible as ascending past the stars.

There existed countless werebeast tribes, and they had previously been in civil

strife for over thousands of years.

It was 『Miko』, who bet her everything and even forgot her own real name, in

order to finally unite the entire Eastern Union.

…… But because she had done this, she knew very deeply how long and

difficult that such a road would be.

In addition, containing sixteen different races within a single country definitely

cannot be achieved through normal means.

But if it were possible, then, by those two, it would have already been……

“Well whatever, I’ll look into it once more… hahaha.”

––– In the past, even she had found the dream of uniting the werebeasts to be

so ridiculously high and un.o.btainable, but she still managed to achieve it in the

end.

Compared to myself in the past, they might actually be a little more

conservative? 『Miko』 deprecated herself in that very thought, while she

poured wine into her gla.s.s.

“We’re playing together peacefully…… are we not?”

Miko recited the 『Ten Oaths』 while taking a sip of her wine.

––– In the past, when she had issued challenges, she had pretty much given

up on her dream.

Now 『those two』, who were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence, were already

speaking of how they would follow-up after their dream had been achieved

––– which was an even more distant future than what was impending on them

––– but in contrast, she had already given up on this new chapter.

But…

“If they’re looking towards G.o.d when there are only flowers before them,

they are most likely to stumble over a stone on the way.”

Anyone can dream big.

But if they wish to talk about their dream, they must be qualified to do so.

When they finally show all the cards in their hand to the public, while

displaying that they are fully qualified, and do all this in time……

『Miko』 raised her hand towards the sky, and something began s.h.i.+ning in her

palm…… The 『race piece of the Werebeasts』 had appeared.

That was what the One True G.o.d had allocated when he set the rules of the

world.

Along with the implementation of the 『Ten Oaths』, he had given each race a

chess piece.

Only the sole representative of each of the Exceed had the power to make it

appear. It shone brilliantly, as if it was woven from light itself.

––– She finally realized the true meaning of these pieces.

Miko placed her empty wine cup on the railing of the bridge, and played with

the p.a.w.n with her fingers. She looked up hopefully towards the sky.

––– In her heart, she looked forward to 『the moment』 that would arrive in

the near future.