Chapter 352 - On Hold
"…"
"…"
After returning home, we were dead.
As for me, I had even forgotten to question Arshe for rolling into my room as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
As for Arshe, she was lying on the sofa, more drained than I had ever seen her, staring blankly into space.
It was all the fault of Representative Yotsuya, who alternated between being casual and the exact opposite to a degree that could give you whiplash. Did that man do anything but drop bombshells?
"…Haru."
"What is it?"
"Are you okay?"
"Mentally, I might not be very okay."
Unlike Arshe, who remained relatively expressionless even if not her usual self, I was still struggling to digest my rather genuine shock.
Starting with 'him'—Yotsuya Tsukihito—we had been bombarded with all sorts of vague stories, and the meeting had ended after about an hour, but…
Well, how do I put this… the creepy-crawlies just won't go away.
"His son is one thing, but…"
"Yeah."
"The 'someone' currently running things… I think it's probably what we're thinking…"
"…I suppose so."
My choice to be vague with 'probably' might have been a subconscious attempt to protect my own psyche.
In that virtual world, which was a fantasy world in itself, it might have been different… but to face that kind of thing in the real world, well, it was only natural to be overwhelmed. My self-defense shouldn't be laughed at.
"A normal person… and even if they weren't a normal person, managing that world alone is absolutely impossible. Even with existing online games other than [Arcadia], I don't think it's realistic."
"…Well, there's a chance he was bluffing about a lot of things, like maybe they're using those insane AIs like the NPCs as a workforce…"
"If it's the former, that's scary in its own right. I don't think the latter is a possibility."
I glanced over at Arshe, who had stated her opinion so definitively. The princess was staring at the ceiling, her thoughts and words running in parallel.
"He stated upfront that there was much he couldn't say. If he wanted to hide things, he could have just remained silent. And there's no merit in lying to deceive us."
"No merit, huh… no, I guess not."
I mulled over her thoughts myself, but I couldn't come up with a counterargument. She was right. If he didn't want to talk, he could have just stayed quiet as he had before.
Even if it were a bluff, there would be no point in saying such things just to plant seeds of doubt in our minds.
Which meant the most likely scenario was—
"Considering he emphasized that it was 'a single person'… that 'someone' is…"
…unlikely to be human.
Having muttered a conclusion that was vague yet not vague at all, her dark eyes turned to me.
"Haru."
"…Yeah?"
Sinking into the priceless-looking sofa in a truly rare state, in a slumped posture that would make the titles of 'princess' or 'queen' weep, Arshe called my name.
She beckoned me over with a little wave, and I peeked over the back of the sofa—only for the hand that had summoned me to be offered out.
What was this? Was she asking me to pull her up?
Thinking so, I obediently took her hand… but was instead pulled forward, which suggested that wasn't her intention at all.
"…What's wrong?"
Her usual responsiveness was nowhere to be seen. She held my lightly gripped hand captive beside her small face, closing and opening her eyes without giving an answer.
This mysterious moment continued for a while, and just as my awkward posture was starting to strain my back, Arshe spoke again.
"One thing is reassuring, and one thing is incomprehensible."
Tilting my head at that equally 'incomprehensible' statement, I prompted her to continue.
"From his attitude of actively providing information where possible, I felt an atmosphere of wanting 'cooperation' rather than 'use.'"
"Well, yeah, that makes sense."
That man is a doting father through and through.
I had already placed a certain amount of trust in him from the start, figuring he wasn't the type to deceive me, a person on good terms with Sora, or Arshe, who was on good terms with me (?).
So, for me, this meeting had actually deepened that trust a little… and it seemed Arshe felt similarly.
"So, that's a little reassuring… At least, it seems he will faithfully carry out his duty to protect you."
"To protect us?"
"I… no, my family, the Whites, are not so weak as to need protecting by someone else."
"Hah… Heh, I see…"
"…I see now that you still have little interest in me."
"Wha- no, that's not…! Wait a minute, that's a misunderstanding—hey, stop it! Stop! Where are you trying to lead my hand?!"
Did you think I was the type of person to brazenly search for information on an acquaintance's private life, no matter how famous they are? Even if it's public information, there's something weird about looking it up yourself…!
"Seriously, what's gotten into you? You're not acting like your usual self."
Although I managed to prevent my hand from being led away somewhere, I had to give up on shaking it free from her frankly unladylike grip.
My back was killing me, so I knelt on the floor and rested my chin on the back of the sofa, going along with her mysterious behavior… but she, too, wore an expression as if she didn't quite understand her own actions.
…No, wait, maybe it's this.
That 'incomprehensible' feeling was perhaps—
"Actually, were you also… not really okay?"
"…"
Haha, bullseye.
No, I have no intention of laughing or teasing her. Even now, I've got goosebumps from the suggestion that fantasy might exist in reality.
No matter how steely the mentality of the [Sword Queen], it's been proven in the past that she's not immune to being shaken or troubled.
She did briefly mention it earlier when we were talking about AIs—the word 'scary.'
"…I understood that [Arcadia]'s technology was abnormal, but…"
"When one facet of that abnormality is presented so clearly—well, vaguely, but concretely… it's a different story from just having a vague feeling about it."
It's only natural for humans to fear the unknown.
As we trembled before the unseen… and perhaps never-to-be-seen 'Operator-sama,' the conclusion we, as mere players, finally reached was—
"—Alright, let's just pretend we didn't hear any of that."
"—Thinking about it is pointless, isn't it."
—to jointly kick the useless information out of our minds.
More importantly, let's play the game.