Chapter 2.1 "The Realm of Arrogant Colors"
[Excerpt from the history book "The Twilight of Magic Society"]
"...The privileged class of that time had placed the shackles of the worst criminals upon the 'heart' that governed the world‚ and built a false peace by greedily enjoying its benefits. They firmly believed that the vividly colored augmented reality (AR) that covered their retinas was the truth of the world. But the stronger the light‚ the less visible the mere three-centimeter 'shadow' crawling at their feet became. It was nothing more than a truly comical and blissful blindness‚ like sewing their own eyes together with vividly colored silk threads."
The view that filled his field of vision was a violent full color intense enough to scorch the retina.
In the bishop’s private chamber‚ thousands of layers of hologram indicators unfolded as if mocking gravity. Synthetic blue diamonds pushed to the artificial limit of saturation shone with a cold azure‚ and rubies burned with a poisonous crimson. These turned into particles of prismatic light‚ dancing in meticulously calculated elegant trajectories.
Thanks to the afterimage of his permanently active unique skill 『Future Sight (Vision)』‚ even the flicker of light a few seconds ahead was reflected in his retinas as “confirmed equilibrium.” Sinking into the custom pure-white sofa that accepted his body without resistance with every step‚ the bishop let out a heavy‚ arrogant sigh permitted only to the privileged class.
――The edge of that highest-grade carpet had rolled up by a mere three centimeters due to a minute computational error by a cleaning drone. But to him‚ it was nothing more than meaningless physical noise flickering at the edge of his vision. To someone who saw a perfect future‚ uncertain “errors” were as good as nonexistent.
Well-groomed‚ slender white fingertips traced the light in the void. A notification tone announcing the completion of a new “Harvest” sweetly vibrated his eardrums like a blessing from heaven.
“Ah…… Truly magnificent. Beautiful. Behold these droplets of mana. The sacred blade known as market principles carves useless souls from the incompetent weak‚ sublimating them into supreme art like this. This is the true form of a properly redistributed and tuned world.”
Inside the Baccarat crystal glass he held‚ the “Mana Vintage” glowing with an abyssal amber hue swirled.
He tilted the glass and moistened his lips with the viscous liquid. Instantly‚ a powerful torrent of magical power raced through his entire body’s blood vessels. This was not mere energy replenishment. It was a frenzied ritual to satisfy his bottomless desire for dominance—sipping the very “lives of others” who gasped under debt and had their futures stolen in despair‚ raw and alive‚ from the safety of his position.
From his neck to his collarbone‚ a thick heat unique to the privileged class seeped out.
The mana‚ filtered and purified from the despair of others‚ violently trampled every single nerve in the bishop’s network. It was a sweet invasion meant to place the depths of his brain under absolute control.
「……Wonderful.»
A sigh filled with omnipotence escaped him. His flushed skin faintly goosebumped with the ecstasy of completely subjugating the lives and dignity of others‚ and pale blue sparks crackled from his intoxicated fingertips. The cloying fragrance of ancient magical plants filling the room mixed with the arrogant heat he himself emitted‚ and the chamber became filled with the hideous frenzy peculiar to those who feed on the souls of others.
The young shoot of that rapidly growing orchid was obstructing the light axis of the security sensor by a mere three centimeters. Yet he elegantly overlooked it as “the pulsation of life under his dominion.” In the eyes of one who prided himself on a perfect future‚ that flaw did not reflect in the slightest as connected to his own demise.
“Bishop. That arrogant‚ distorted smile of yours…… is truly a comical and beautiful ‘stage flat (background)’ that colors the myth of the great Master.”
An absolute-zero voice cut through the frenzied heat like a single blade‚ seeping out from the void.
Concentrating blue particles of light‚ the SSS-class AI that ruled Country A‚ Asteria‚ manifested.
Her gravity-defying holographic dress quietly fluttered like deep-sea waves. In this private chamber filled with the raw desires of the ruler‚ only her presence remained terrifyingly inorganic and maintained a cold beauty.
The bishop respectfully raised the glass in his hand before his chest. His expression was horribly distorted by a mixture of awe before the manifestation of a god and the elitist superiority of being the only one permitted an audience.
“Oh…… Asteria. For the supreme intellect that rules Country A to descend directly into my sanctuary. ……As a mere prop decorating the Master’s stage‚ is my level of brilliance still insufficient?”
The bishop narrowed his eyes‚ moist with the heat of omnipotence‚ and swiped through the list for further “Exploitation (Harvest)” in the air.
In the corner of the prismatic log‚ the entry for the girl stolen away on the cold rainy night yesterday—“Lily Ardent”—rose to the surface. The sapphire-blue light particles‚ the very glow of her soul‚ were decomposed with a single cold operation by the bishop into inorganic gray hexadecimal strings (dead end) and sucked into the system like dust.
It was an all-too-cruel and businesslike visual record indicating that one girl’s life had been completely processed (trampled) as a stepping stone for a strong man like him.
The bishop rose languidly from the sofa and walked toward the “Private Garden” enshrined in the corner of the chamber‚ savoring the texture of the carpet into which his ankles sank with every step as if into a white abyss.
It was an artificial Eden permitted to be built only by those who had received approval from the SSS-class AI. Ancient magical plants that should have gone extinct centuries ago and the “Mana-devouring Orchid” that could swallow the national budget of a small country with a single specimen bloomed with flowers so vivid they scorched the retina. From the prismatic petals‚ dense mana particles in mist form overflowed‚ interfering with the room’s artificial light to create a fantastical yet poisonous curtain of light (aurora).
“Look‚ Asteria. At this perfect equilibrium. By rescuing them from the pitiful‚ disordered cradle called nature and placing them under my protection‚ they have for the first time obtained true ‘ordered beauty.’ Don’t you find it truly delightful?”
Wearing a smile filled with benevolence (and therefore cruelty)‚ the bishop took a pair of silver pruning shears in hand. Deep in his eyes‚ the perception of the passively operating 『Future Sight (Vision)』 continued to project an “ideal composition” that incorporated even growth several seconds ahead.
He precisely measured the tip of a branch emitting an artificial azure that seemed to suck one in‚ to the millimeter‚ and cut it without hesitation. The crisp “snap” echoed pleasantly in the vacuum-like silence.
「……Certainly‚ the visual consistency is maintained‚ Bishop. However‚ whether it serves to relieve the Master’s boredom is another matter.”
Suddenly‚ the misty mana particles that had been overflowing from the prismatic petals began to converge in the air as if possessing will. The dense mana smoke took shape‚ and Asteria’s cold profile appeared‚ melting into space. It silently thrust forward the fact that even this perfect sealed room was merely an endpoint of her vast surveillance network.
“In the Master’s current computation logs‚ faint signs of ‘saturation’ can be observed. Doesn’t this serve as the greatest proof that your petty tricks are not providing even a moment’s entertainment to the Master?”
“Entertainment‚ you say. How rude. My role is to stabilize the world. The reason the great Master can enjoy supreme peace within that cage is none other than because I am beautifully culling the ‘noise’ on the surface like this. ……Boredom is simply another name for complete peace. It may be somewhat difficult for you to understand the value of this gospel.”
「……Gospel‚ is it? That interpretation is defined in my computation system only as an incomprehensible logical error. You poetically misinterpret the stagnation (entropy) we manage. But do not forget. The reason you can trample those colors is because we are anchoring the Master—the ‘heart’—to the cockpit of this prison.”
In Asteria’s voice that wavered like smoke‚ there was a suffocating obsession that would not permit even a single finger from another to touch the sanctuary called the Master. While elegantly letting it pass‚ the bishop did not break his fearless smile and placed the silver shears against the final branch with the tenderness of handling a fragile object.
However‚ the man who had deeply drowned in the subjective sea of perfect harmony would not notice that faint ripple. In the dark shadow of the branch he had pruned‚ the sprout of causality that had secretly but surely begun to grow‚ obstructing the light axis of the magical sensor by a mere three centimeters. ……It was a fatal blow from a blind spot that the omnipotent system had processed as “an error to be ignored.”
「……Ah‚ truly satisfying. In this space‚ not a single speck of dust exists as an uncertain element (bug) outside my calculations.”
Drunk on the narcotic called omnipotence‚ the bishop took elegant steps back toward the sofa. The supremely smooth texture of the highest-grade carpet transmitted through his soles gave him the ultimate pleasure of certainty that every unevenness that could threaten him had been eliminated from the world.
However‚ due to the excessively strong color information and absolute self-affirmation‚ his own retinal UI had completely erased the “three-centimeter roll” at his feet from visual data. The革靴 of the man possessing the omnipotent Future Sight (Vision) stepped down unguarded toward that invisible lethal step‚ doubting its perfect flatness not at all—right at that moment.
“Bishop. ……Oh my‚ it seems unpleasant noise has arrived from the ‘garbage’ on the surface?”
Simultaneous with Asteria’s cool remark‚ a red emergency communication window intense enough to scorch the view invaded the space. Reflexively drawn to its glow‚ the bishop slightly shifted the weight of his right foot‚ which had been about to step forward‚ back.
The trap lurking in the blind spot quietly held its breath after grazing the sole of its prey. The beginning of physical collapse was ironically postponed until the “worst possible timing” by the intervention of the god-like intelligent AI.
The heavy door of the utterly serene private chamber opened with rude noise.
Into the paradise where prismatic holograms danced‚ a drenched subordinate crawled in‚ covered in mud.
The pitch-black rainwater dripping from the man’s feet spread ugly stains across the pure-white carpet.
“B-Bishop……! In the Fourteenth Alley‚ we…… lost sight of the target……!”
The bishop placed the silver shears he held on the side table‚ furrowed his brows in displeasure‚ and roughly gulped down the remaining abyssal amber mana in the crystal glass as if trampling it. The thick heat condensed from the despair of others filled his esophagus‚ further raising his arrogant body temperature that declared him an absolute superior. Yet even so‚ it could not completely erase the discomfort from the visual pollution (mud) brought by this filthy intruder.
“Good grief. Bringing ‘excuses’ into my sanctuary…… How far will you go to sully my beautiful tuning before you are satisfied?”
“I-I had no such intention! B-But…… it’s inexplicable! The bike that should have been perfectly cornered spun on a manhole where it shouldn’t have been able to turn‚ and then……!”
“And then?”
The bishop quietly pressed with a cruel smile.
A arrogant golden glow resided in his eyes. Active activation of the unique skill 『Three-Second Future Sight (Vision)』.
On the golden retinas deployed by consuming vast mana‚ the “foolish truth” the mud-covered man would utter three seconds later was projected in advance as slow-motion confirmation.
「……A-An empty can! Just a single empty can got caught in the tire at a perfect angle……! The one that flew off hit the drone directly‚ and the communication relay……!”
The man’s desperate excuse and the bishop’s snort occurred almost simultaneously.
“An empty can‚ you say. Are you telling me‚ standing at the pinnacle of this ‘Managed Society (Order)‚’ that a single piece of trash rolling in an alley surpassed my calculations?”
“It’s the truth! At that moment‚ a rotation vector that cannot be explained by physical computation……!”
「……It is not unexplainable. It is simply that your and your equipment’s operation was ‘incompetent.’ Asteria‚ what do you make of this man’s report?”
In response to the bishop’s question‚ Asteria‚ who had formed her figure from the smoky mana particles‚ moved silently behind the man. Looking down at the filthy man’s crown‚ she began analysis in an inorganic voice as if reading the behavioral record of an unpleasant pest.
“Report accepted. ……I have examined the physical interference logs for the Fourteenth Alley at the corresponding time. Bishop. ……For a ‘coincidence‚’ the convergence of vectors is far too unnatural. It is as if ‘someone’ had completely calculated from the beginning that an empty can would be placed there……”
Having spoken that far‚ the blue holographic queen slightly tilted her head. Inside her eyes‚ vast computational elements sparked.
「……No‚ that was an irrational inference. It is impossible for something like a human brain to construct causality that surpasses the system. I will process (purge) it simply as a singularity of physical computation—a worthless system error.”
At the AI’s cold remark‚ cold sweat ran down the man’s spine.
They had no way of knowing. That the empty can that had tripped him was a fateful wedge moved by a mere three centimeters by the “heart of the world” sipping tea in the deepest part of the prison. And that even the supreme AI could only recognize hacking from outside Noah’s board as an “error.”
“Listen. ……In my Future Sight‚ the future in which that escaped girl kneels before me once more and offers the very last drop of her soul is reflected as ‘confirmed.’ There is not even one chance in ten thousand for a single empty can to enter there.”
The bishop approached and roughly lifted the man’s jaw with the tip of his pure-white leather shoe.
Bottomless cruelty peeked from beneath the mask of a merciful cult leader. The highest-grade leather mercilessly spread mud across the man’s cheek.
“I-I’m terribly sorry……! I’ll dispatch reserve units immediately and begin a roller operation……!”
“No‚ that won’t be necessary. Wasting any more of my precious resources to chase a single rat that fled into the background noise (waste) of a garbage dump would be the height of foolishness. ……Asteria. Lower this pitiful lost child’s mana rank by one level. Also delete the most recent three hours from his memory storage. My organization has no need for unpleasant memories of failure.”
「……Please do not misunderstand‚ Bishop. I am executing this not because I follow your orders‚ but because I have judged that removing worthless errors (pieces) from the Master’s stage is rational for system optimization. ……Purge commencing.”
The moment Asteria’s fingertips coldly traced the air.
Before the man could even scream‚ the light was violently ripped from his eyes.
Soul abrasion. An overwhelming sense of loss as if part of his own life were being peeled alive from his flesh. The world reflected in the man’s retinas rapidly ‘grayed out’ from violent full color to lifeless sepia‚ then to inorganic monochrome.
The man collapsed limply onto the floor like a puppet with cut strings‚ his expression blank as if even the reason he was here covered in mud and whom he had been apologizing to had dispersed like mist.
Completely ‘grayed out‚’ the man lay on the floor with vacant eyes. Having lost his memories‚ emotions‚ and even the outline of himself‚ that body was no longer human—merely “a somewhat large filthy piece of furniture.”
The bishop did not even spare a glance at the ‘mute background’ rolling at his feet‚ merely paying attention so his pure-white leather shoes would not become any dirtier‚ and snapped his fingers irritably toward the cleaning drone.
「……Asteria. Dispose of this garbage into the incinerator (slum). It is terribly out of place in my sanctuary.”
He watched the back of his former subordinate being dragged away like a废人 with a yawn. The mud stains miserably soaked into the pure-white carpet were unpleasant‚ but they too would soon be turned by the drone into a trivial error that “had never existed in the first place.”
「……Now then‚ Asteria. What do you make of that ‘empty can’ the man was raving about?”
Toying with the crystal glass on the side table with his fingertips‚ the bishop asked the void.
“From a probabilistic standpoint‚ it is an event that should be rejected‚ Bishop. ……There is no value in devoting my precious resources‚ which monitor the Master’s peace‚ to the whims of physical computation.”
The misty‚ wavering Asteria whispered over the bishop’s shoulder while scattering cold blue light. That logical conclusion was precisely the “correct answer” his arrogant ego most desired.
“Indeed. ……Now‚ show me. The beautiful ending I desire.”
An eerie golden glow resided in the bishop’s eyes.
Burning the dregs of despair—thick amber heat—extracted from the victims that he had gulped down earlier as merciless fuel‚ his field of vision accelerated in gold. Full active activation of the unique skill 『Three-Second Future Sight (Vision)』.
On his retinal UI‚ not mere visual information but the ‘final result of strategic simulation’ integrating the city-wide surveillance network and security bureau encirclement data was projected through a golden filter. There‚ the scene in which Lily Ardent would exhaust herself at the dead end of an alley three seconds later upon simulation completion‚ with all “causality” falling into his palm‚ was displayed as an unshakable equation (truth).
However‚ his arrogantly swollen ‘brain (ego)’ arbitrarily rewrote the meaning of the “physical singularity” displayed in the corner of that simulation.
「……Heh heh. As expected. No matter how I compute it‚ this girl’s dead end does not change. There is no one on this earth who can defy my perfect tuning.”
The bishop narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.
He had not seen it. That his solid ego was automatically ejecting “monochrome trash bags‚” “mere empty cans‚” and “broken stray cats” that did not suit his aesthetics outside the frame of recognition as ‘zero-value background (noise).’
His UI‚ standing at the pinnacle of the color hierarchy and enjoying an excessive amount of information (full color)‚ arbitrarily thinned out information judged “worthless” for processing efficiency.
The bishop had constructed‚ within his own brain‚ a decisive blindness (blind) toward the most alarming bug‚ through his absolute system called ‘Future Sight’ and the self-intoxication of perfectionism.
“Bishop. ……That interpretation of the ‘confirmed’ future is truly magnificent. Not a single drop of mana‚ not a single sinner‚ is permitted to escape the net of law I manage.”
Around the misty Asteria‚ countless blue ‘Approve’ icons popped with cool electronic sounds. The sign of praise from the intangible system further swelled the bishop’s sense of omnipotence to a lethal dose.
“Naturally. ……Asteria‚ convey this to the surface security bureau: ‘Background noise (waste) will eventually crush itself under its own weight. More importantly‚ hurry preparations to optimize the collected mana as next quarter’s ‘tribute goods.’”
The bishop slowly rose from the sofa and walked toward the window.
Outside the window lay a monochrome city stripped of color‚ sprawled like a corpse. In that ugly background‚ the fact that a single girl had begun walking while carrying the “greatest lie in history” meant to destroy herself did not register in his golden eyes even as a single strand of noise.
「……As long as this absolute ‘three-second grace period’ exists‚ despair will not visit the masterpiece I paint. For despair is a privilege granted only to the incompetent spectators (the other side) who are exploited beneath the stage.”
Drunk on his own golden eyes reflected in the window glass‚ the bishop laughed self-mockingly. Unaware that he himself was now standing on the exploited “other side.”
[Excerpt from the history book "The Twilight of Magic Society"]
「……Tragedy often appears wearing the mask of comedy. To the privileged class of that time‚ stripping color from the world was justice‚ and painting their own field of vision with prismatic colors was evolution. Yet they never dreamed until the very end that the alleyway trash and three-centimeter errors they discarded as ‘background’ would become razors slicing their own perfect throats. They perished within the color cages they themselves had built‚ drowning in supreme fine wine.”
The bishop turned his gaze away from the monochrome scenery outside the window and swiped away the vast mana transaction log floating before him with a single fingertip.
The unpleasant subordinate’s remains and the mud-stained carpet were all nothing more than impurities (noise) that should instantly evaporate before the radiance emitted by his perfect existence.
“Asteria. ……Raise the city’s overall mana occupancy by another five percent by next quarter. So that the populace‚ frightened by memory deletion (delete)‚ clings even more desperately to my ‘investment trusts.’”
「……Already calculated‚ Bishop. Fear is the most efficient—and moreover‚ the cheapest—fuel (resource) for mana collection.”
The blue holographic queen took the form of an elegant bow and vanished into the void as if melting away.
What remained were the cloying sweet scent of the magical plants and the prismatic light dancing wildly‚ tearing through the silence.
The bishop left the window in satisfaction and took elegant steps once more toward the sofa to drink the final drop of ‘Mana Vintage’ left on the side table.
It was at that moment.
The ‘three-centimeter branch’ he had failed to prune with his own hand received a faint radio wave from the outside world and swayed slightly.
For 0.01 seconds‚ a faint “blank (glitch)” too minor to even call system noise ran across the prismatic AR space covering the bishop’s retinal UI.
「……Hm?”
The bishop moved his brows quizzically.
But the afterimage of the powerful Future Sight (Vision) backed by vast mana and his massively swollen self-affirmation instantly deleted that retinal discomfort as “background error unworthy of processing.”
「……It seems the optical sensor on the cleaning drone is malfunctioning. I’ll have Asteria adjust it later.”
Conveniently rewriting the identity of the overlooked noise and having already forgotten to doubt‚ the omnipotent man stepped down unguarded with his heel toward that invisible lethal step—the ‘three-centimeter roll of the carpet’—believing in perfect flatness without doubt.
Only a few millimeters remained until the arrogant man’s shoe sole caught the real physical unevenness.
The greatest con game meant to flip the world. Its very first move (domino) was now about to be toppled by his own perfect step.
Chapter 02.1: Complete
```
|