Chapter 111『The Hero's Empire and the Observed Computation God』
Imperial Calendar 1287. The poetic beauty held by the words "white silver" is effortlessly blown away before this absolute violence.
The great power dominating the northernmost edge of the world—the 'Holy Empire' that inherits the bloodline of the Hero. They were now engaged in an endless war of attrition against two massive enemies: an unending cold wave that had continued for over a hundred years‚ and the threat of demonic beasts growing increasingly ferocious along with it.
Beyond the raging blizzard‚ the fortified city *Valheit*‚ boasting a jet-black grandeur‚ towers tall. On the other side of the ramparts‚ a horde of demonic beasts with twin horns like icicles raised starving‚ frenzied roars. The imperial soldiers atop the towers gripped heavy ballistae with frozen hands‚ enduring the body heat mercilessly stolen even through their leather gloves.
The breath they exhaled froze instantly‚ and even their eyelashes turned white in the extreme cold. Still‚ from the city streets protected by the thick walls‚ soot-stained white smoke rose continuously. The people clung to each other's body heat and the smoldering coal‚ simply living through yet another day.
The uppermost level of that fortified city. In the main floor of the Imperial Central Magic Observation Bureau‚ dozens of observation crystals emitted a pale blue glow‚ continuously outputting the magical flows across the entire northern region as cold‚ numerical data.
"...It's already turned into lukewarm mud water not even five minutes after I poured it. Has even the laws of thermodynamics frozen solid in this country?"
At the central analysis console‚ the young man let out a deep sigh while staring resentfully at the mug of substitute coffee that had gone completely cold.
Elk Neumann. 24 years old. Second Observation Team Leader belonging to the Imperial Central Magic Observation Bureau. A young observation officer who wields equations and magical waveforms as weapons instead of a sword. His battlefield was this room with a fireplace. He analyzed the front lines of the cold wave‚ predicted the probability of demonic beast hordes appearing‚ and issued optimal formation instructions to the frontline units. It was a plain duty‚ an outlier in the bloodthirsty empire that would never leave a name in the military's glamorous heroic tales.
"Chief‚ we don't have time for complaints. Another sharp increase in magical reaction near the Northern Seventh Rampart."
The female observer adjusting the dials on the crystal panel beside him reported in a scolding yet unmistakably fatigued voice.
"I know. This year is especially bad."
Elk set down the mug and drew red caution lines on the magical distribution map with chalk.
"The cold wave front is arriving three days earlier than predicted. At this pace‚ if the demonic beasts push south‚ the pioneer villages in the Seventh District won't have time to evacuate. ...Immediately request reinforcements from the Ministry of Defense. Also inquire about permission to operate the magical train cannons."
"Understood."
In the midst of the tense exchange‚ another young staff member suddenly muttered as if breathing out the words.
"...The kingdom far to the south is probably enjoying nice warm sunshine right about now. Peaceful‚ warm‚ and no demonic beasts. Honestly‚ it's utterly enviable."
At those words‚ the taut atmosphere in the observation room loosened slightly‚ and dry laughter leaked out. The kingdom located to the south. That nation‚ promised rich soil and a warm climate by the protection of the Saint‚ was truly a paradise from a fairy tale to the people of the empire enduring frozen days.
"Don't be ridiculous. It's precisely because we‚ the descendants of the Hero‚ are holding back the winter here that they can remain peacefully complacent. Have some pride."
Elk replied with a bitter smile—exactly at that moment.
Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—!!
Suddenly‚ every alarm device installed in the observation room let out a deafening scream that threatened to tear eardrums. The pale‚ gentle light of the observation crystals instantly inverted into a horrifying deep crimson‚ and countless error logs flooded the observation panel in a lethal avalanche.
Elk stood up so forcefully he kicked his chair over.
"What the—!? Simultaneous anomalous resonance (howling) across all observation instruments!? Where is the origin point!"
The young staff member who had been clinging to the panel turned around with a face drained of blood. His voice carried a hollow tone‚ not so much of terror as of someone confronting a physical phenomenon beyond the limits of understanding.
"I-It's the Kingdom...! An unmeasurable ultra-high-density magical reaction from the entire territory of the southern Kingdom...!!"
With that single statement‚ the air in the observation room completely froze. None of them yet knew. On this day‚ at this moment. That the 'Computation God' who would rewrite the very common sense of the world from its foundation had descended upon the board called history.
The deafening alarm shook the empire's proud stone observation bureau to its core. Dozens of observation crystals burned with a blood-like deep crimson and flickered violently‚ while bundles of parchment reporting parsing errors spewed out like a blizzard from the magical computation panels lining up near the ceiling. The Imperial Central Magic Observation Bureau‚ which had maintained cold records even during the appearance of Dragon King-class demonic beasts and large-scale natural disasters since its founding‚ had now fallen into an unprecedented state of panic.
"Sixth Observation Crystal has entered the mana saturation zone!"
"Second Computation Furnace has exceeded processing limits! Cooling can't keep up!"
"It's no good—the observation formula itself is collapsing from the inside! Re-computation is impossible!"
Amid the screams flying back and forth‚ Elk leaped to the central analysis console and held both hands toward the violently vibrating main crystal.
"Calm down! At least stabilize the phase waveforms! Don't let the records cut off!"
"It's impossible‚ Chief!"
The young observer clinging to the console shouted in a voice that sounded on the verge of tears.
"It's not mana!"
"...What?"
"The very 'calculation formulas' that serve as the basis of observation are being rewritten by an unknown interference!"
For an instant‚ every sound—figuratively and literally—vanished from the observation room at the height of the uproar. No one could understand the meaning of those words. There were spells to observe powerful mana. There were theories to analyze unknown attributes. However—a being that "rewrites the very mathematical formulas composing the world" had never once even been hypothesized in the empire's long history.
Deep within the crystal dyed deep crimson‚ an ice-like cold pale light suddenly began to appear and vanish‚ drawing geometric patterns. Its computation speed had reached a divine-domain clock that even the empire's highest-ranking mages‚ let alone the proud magical computation furnaces‚ could never hope to match.
Eventually‚ an overwhelmingly simple string of characters appeared on the computation panel.
『Target Analyzing...』
『Class:Unknown(分類不能)』
『Calculation Density:NaN(計測不能)』
『Mana Mass:ERROR』
『Composition:ERROR』
『Threat Level:Uncalculable(算出不可)』
"...Unknown?"
Someone's hoarse mutter fell. In the empire military's threat classification system‚ the appearance of this string was impossible. Dragon species. Demon Lord-class. Divine beasts. Or super-grade magical weapons from other countries. The absolute observation system that should have covered every possible phenomenon had now completely 'abandoned judgment' before this existence.
"Observation impossible... That shouldn't be possible under the laws of physics."
Pushing through the frozen staff‚ one elderly researcher slowly approached the central screen. The white-haired man was Heinz Gregor‚ Chief Advisor to the Imperial Magic Institute. He was an authority who had continued researching the world's magical flows for over forty years‚ and could be called the empire's brain.
He remained silent for a while‚ staring at the geometric patterns rampaging deep within the crystal. Eventually‚ he quietly removed his reading glasses with a trembling hand.
"...No‚ that's wrong."
That extremely quiet statement completely stitched the air in the observation room shut.
"Your eyes are being deceived. This is not emitting mana or anything of the sort."
The old man pointed at the crystal‚ as if afraid of something—or like an artist who had encountered ultimate beauty.
"It is *computing*. ...The world itself‚ adjusted to the scale of its own body."
The next instant‚ the central observation crystal let out a high-pitched‚ glass-scratching scream as if it had exceeded its own information capacity.
*Crack—.* One line. Then another. Countless cracks spread across the entire crystal that should have possessed absolute strength. The observers didn't even have time to gasp.
A roar. The central observation crystal exploded from the inside. It was not violent destruction‚ but the final moments of a program that had exceeded its limits and self-destructed. Particles of pale light scattered into the now-silent observation room like unending winter snow.
No one could move. The observation system that the empire had built over more than a hundred years with absolute trust could not‚ in the end‚ comprehend even a fragment of the computation released by a single boy far to the south.
While gazing at the blue fragments melting on his cheek‚ Heinz quietly muttered toward the void.
"...First Hero. A hundred years ago... did you foresee this unfathomable future?"
A deathly silence fell over the observation room. Only the faint‚ glasswork-like scraping sound of the shattered crystal fragments sliding across the stone floor echoed.
Not a single person opened their mouth. The magical theories the empire had spent over a hundred years building. The absolute observation spells inherited along with the Hero's blood since the nation's founding. All of it had just now been fundamentally denied by a single 'existence' that had appeared far to the south.
"...Director."
Eventually‚ a young observer at the communications console timidly squeezed out a voice to break the silence.
"Optical remote projection (telemetry) image records have arrived from the Western Relay Observation Tower. ...Shall I play them?"
The white-haired observation director nodded heavily.
"Project it onto the main screen."
The spare projection crystal installed in the center of the room emitted a faint light‚ projecting a three-dimensional image into the dim space. Everyone present gasped at the scene displayed there. It was the tragic state of the proud white city—the capital of the Kingdom.
The entire royal capital was enveloped in black smoke and reddish-black flames reminiscent of the end of the world. That was not all. The earth had melted under absolute high heat‚ the historic cobblestones had transformed into a horrifying plain of glass‚ and the very concept of a city had been trampled along with the laws of physics.
"...This is..."
"The Demon Sword Ragnarok... the Principle of Termination..."
Elk muttered in a trembling voice. Even in the empire‚ which always lived alongside death in the extreme cold‚ records of Demon Lord-class disasters remained. However‚ there had never been a record of the laws of space itself being so forcibly rewritten and carved away.
Furthermore‚ the footage continued. Above the melting royal capital‚ a pale hemisphere—a super-wide-area barrier large enough to cover the entire city—had been deployed.
"Radius... 20 kilometers...?"
"No‚ even larger. A barrier of this abnormal scale—even the First Hero couldn't..."
While the staff murmured‚ only the elderly researcher Heinz quietly and swiftly began operating the magical slide rule in his hand. Distance correction‚ mana density‚ inverse calculation of attenuation rate. After cross-referencing all the values‚ he finally muttered as if groaning.
"The maintenance duration of this super-wide-area barrier... estimated at 7 minutes 43 seconds."
Once again‚ the air in the observation room froze. Seven minutes. The number alone might seem short. However‚ maintaining a barrier of this scale under the pressure of such hopeless collapse was something that could only exist in the realm of myth. Moreover—
"Everyone‚ look closely at the 'inside' of this barrier."
At Heinz's instruction‚ the focus of the image was enlarged to the interior of the city. Collapsing ramparts. A burning church. Crumbling houses. And the countless people fleeing in panic between them.
Elk stared hard at the screen and eventually noticed one abnormal fact.
"...There are no contact marks (interference bugs) with any structures?"
Someone gasped. Heinz nodded heavily.
"Exactly. This barrier did not protect the 'city' as an urban entity. It discarded the collapse of structures from its calculations‚ protected not a single piece of rubble from being crushed‚ and purely and flawlessly continued to safeguard only the coordinates of the fleeing 'humans.'"
An unfathomable shudder ran through the room. Simultaneously grasping the dynamic coordinates of hundreds of thousands of moving bodies and continuously deploying optimal protection for each. That dizzying computational precision was something that could never be achieved even if a hundred of the empire's finest magical brains were gathered.
The footage finally reached its final stages. The jet-black wave expanded‚ and the barrier that had exceeded its limits shattered into particles of light. In the midst of the raging apocalypse‚ the image showed a boy in black clothing slowly collapsing like a machine that had finished its role.
The footage faded to black. No one could speak. On the main screen‚ only the cold‚ inorganic final observation results were displayed.
『Target Individual(対象個体)』
『Mana Signature: LOST(魔力反応:消失)』
『Life Signs: UNKNOWN(生命反応:観測不能)』
"...That impossible computation..."
In the darkness‚ Elk quietly spilled the words.
"Was it all... borne alone to protect the world?"
There was no one in the Imperial Central Magic Observation Bureau who could answer that question.
Holy Empire Central Palace *Valgrants*. Only a heavy silence dominated the jet-black marble corridors that pierced the heavens. The portraits of successive emperors lining the walls quietly looked down with their cold golden eyes upon the modern descendants who could misstep the nation's course with a single mistake.
In its deepest part‚ the Round Table Chamber. There‚ the nation's brains and powers that constituted the empire's Supreme Council had gathered. The Minister of Military Affairs‚ the Commander of the Imperial Guard‚ the Director of the Imperial Magic Institute‚ the Director of the Cold Wave Countermeasures Bureau‚ and the Archbishop‚ the highest rank of the Hero Church. Seated at the center of these outstanding figures was the 17th Emperor‚ Albert von Valheit.
Not a single person raised their voice. In the center of the round table‚ the magical three-dimensional image (hologram) projected the devastating record from directly above the Kingdom's capital that had just been transferred from the Central Observation Bureau‚ frozen as a still image. The burning white city. The jet-black Demon Sword *Ragnarok* attempting to repaint the world along with its physical laws. And the boy in black clothing who single-handedly received the pressure of that apocalypse and quietly collapsed—.
Emperor Albert's blue eyes were fixed on the jet-black Demon Sword in the image.
(...It bears a striking resemblance. To the shadow of the 'King of Termination' recorded on the forbidden pages of our Holy Empire's founding myth.)
Eventually‚ it was the battle-hardened Minister of Military Affairs who broke the taut silence.
"Your Majesty‚ the conclusion is clear."
The old general pointed at the screen with a strict yet confident gesture.
"That boy is an irregular magical weapon the Kingdom had concealed. A strategic-grade article that could collapse the existing balance of power overnight. Fortunately‚ he is currently estimated to be non-functional—incapacitated. If we are to eliminate the nation's concern‚ we should move to eliminate him immediately."
The atmosphere in the conference room grew increasingly tense‚ as if creaking. The Commander of the Imperial Guard also followed suit.
"While our nation bleeds against the cold wave and demonic beasts‚ we cannot overlook the southern arch-enemy possessing power in such a 'divine domain' from the standpoint of imperial national security. We should immediately mobilize the special operations units infiltrating the Kingdom and bury him amid the chaos in the capital."
"—Now is not the time."
It was a low voice that rumbled like the earth. The heavy ministers of the council all held their breath at once. Emperor Albert‚ without averting his gaze from the screen of light showing the arch-enemy's miserable state‚ spoke with absolute dignity.
"Gentlemen. I am not questioning your blind eyes. I am asking whether you have truly observed the 'essence' of this footage."
No one could reply.
"Was it this boy in black who melted the Kingdom's capital?"
"...No. It has been observed as a wave released from the jet-black Demon Sword."
"Then‚ was it this boy who involved the citizens in the rampage of the barrier and massacred them?"
"...No. According to the data‚ casualties have been kept to a minimum."
"Then the answer is one."
Albert slowly stood up. With the portraits of his ancestor Heroes towering behind him‚ he walked step by step toward the round table. Only the sound of his military boots echoed coldly in the wide stone chamber.
"An unknown monster harbored by an enemy nation... it is certainly a threat. However‚ gentlemen‚ look at the traces of the computation this boy performed. While maintaining a divine-domain barrier large enough to cover the entire capital alone‚ he engaged head-on with the law of destruction that would end the world itself. In that extreme state‚ what protocol did he refuse to discard and continued to maintain until the very end?"
Silence. Everyone knew the answer‚ yet they were overwhelmed by the emperor's intensity and lost their words.
"What he protected was not the national foundation called the 'city.' It was the 'lives of the people' living there. Without crushing a single piece of rubble‚ he precisely continued to protect only the fleeing humans."
The emperor's blue eyes looked straight at the collapsed boy on the screen as a single warrior.
"A weapon is a tool that eliminates emotion and expands territory according to the master's orders to slaughter enemies. But this boy was different. He voluntarily rejected the most rational choice with the highest survival probability—'using the capital as a shield to survive alone.' He chose to stop the collapse of the world rather than destroy the enemy. ...I will not call such a person a weapon."
Albert declared firmly.
"That is not an uncontrollable beast. He is a single human who rewrote the end of the world with his own firm will."
The moment those words were spoken‚ the cold current of air called "vigilance toward other nations" that had dominated the conference room was instantly dammed.
Heinz‚ the Chief Advisor of the Magic Institute‚ bowed deeply with respect.
"Your Majesty... as you command. Even from the perspective of magical theory‚ a clear 'will' was involved in that computation. Defining that as a mere disaster or weapon would be an insult to the empire's scholarship."
The Director of the Cold Wave Countermeasures Bureau also nodded‚ shifting his thinking.
"In response to the abnormal magical reaction in the Kingdom's territory‚ a temporary 'attenuation' was also observed on our northern cold wave front. The life or death of this being called the Computation God may become the greatest key to solving the mystery of the cold wave that determines the empire's survival."
Only the Minister of Military Affairs stubbornly pressed on with a grim expression.
"However‚ Your Majesty! If by some chance... that computation ability beyond human knowledge were to bare its fangs against our empire one day‚ the nation itself could be destroyed!"
The emperor slowly turned around and gazed at the fierce blizzard spreading outside the window. The unending white silver world that had bound and frozen this country for over a hundred years.
"Then at that time‚ I—this empire—will take up the sword with all our might."
Albert placed his hand on his waist. There rested the absolute holy sword *Excalibur*‚ which only the legitimate emperors inheriting the Hero's blood had been permitted to inherit since the founding of the Holy Empire.
At that instant—the golden blade faintly and sharply resonated (bugged) inside its sheath‚ as if responding to the lingering echoes of the Computation God sleeping far to the south. The emperor received the faint vibration transmitted to his palm‚ showed a bold smile‚ and released his hand.
"Until then‚ I order the entire army and all institutions of my Holy Empire. No one is permitted to make unnecessary moves toward the Kingdom. From this moment‚ treating the Computation God as an 'enemy' is strictly prohibited."
That absolute imperial decree would open a new page of history that would determine the fate of the world for the snowbound empire of the frozen north.
Imperial Calendar 1287‚ winter. The Holy Empire officially recorded the 'unknown' far to the south in history not as a weapon threatening the nation—but as a 'single human' with firm will.
Later‚ the empire's history books would call this night:
—The Day of the Computation God's First Observation.
By the time the historic Supreme Council ended‚ the imperial capital Valheit had already sunk into the depths of deep night. From the sky‚ snow continued to fall as endlessly dizzying as ever. The faint light of the magical lamps illuminating the streets was absorbed into the white silver cobblestones‚ covering the city's clamor with a thick blanket of ice.
Elk‚ who had left the Imperial Central Palace‚ walked alone atop the ramparts of the fortified city with the collar of his thick coat worn over his military uniform turned up. His exhaled breath was white‚ and the blowing north wind mercilessly stole body heat‚ stabbing his cheeks like blades.
Far to the north lay the domain of the hundred-year unending cold wave and demonic beasts. Far to the south lay the abundant kingdom protected by the Saint's blessing. And even further beyond‚ in the white city at the center of the world—a 'unknown boy' who had borne the world alone and collapsed.
"...Computation God‚ huh."
The grandiose title he uttered himself still felt somehow unreal to Elk. An abnormal computational ability great enough to rewrite the world itself. A super-wide-area barrier that perfectly covered the entire city. And the reproduction of the myth of engaging the law of termination head-on. Every single one far exceeded human understanding. Without a doubt‚ it was power belonging to the divine domain.
However. Only the final fragment of the observed footage was clearly understood by Elk's eyes—and anyone's eyes. The figure of the boy who had exhausted all his power‚ fallen to his knees‚ and collapsed as if spent. That figure alone was not that of an inorganic god or weapon‚ but unmistakably that of a 'human' who knew pain and limits.
It was then. The military portable observation terminal hanging from his belt vibrated with a hard sound.
*Beep—.*
It was the signal that a new analysis record had been transferred from the Central Observation Bureau's main server. Elk opened the terminal with his freezing fingers. On the small screen emitting a pale light‚ the moment he saw the displayed string‚ he involuntarily gasped.
【Kingdom Territory Mana Reaction: Final Update】
Target Individual: Computation God (Unregistered)
Mana Reaction: Complete Disappearance
Life Reaction: ——Observation Impossible (UNKNOWN)
"...Observation impossible."
Not death. Not confirmation of survival. Even with the empire's proud highest-peak observation spells‚ they could not see beyond that 'point.'
Elk closed the terminal.
"Damn it... after a battle like that‚ I won't accept an ending like this. Stay alive."
Those words spilled out so naturally and sentimentally that even he was surprised. A boy from a distant foreign land. He didn't know his face‚ his voice‚ or even his real name. Even so—.
"Even if you are fated to one day become the greatest threat to this empire‚"
Elk placed his hand on the rampart and glared at the other side of the raging blizzard.
"Even then‚ a life that can be lost all alone like that... there shouldn't be even one such life in this world."
The blizzard grew even more intense. Elk let out a deep sigh and looked up at the northern sky once more. The cold wave would not stop. The demonic beasts would not disappear. The battle borne by this Hero's nation was not over yet.
But that night. In the extreme-cold empire‚ unknown to anyone. The world had certainly advanced its needle greatly toward a new future.
Beyond the thick snow clouds‚ a single golden star twinkled. It was as if it were speaking to someone far away that nothing had ended yet.
＊ ＊ ＊
—And at the same time. Kingdom‚ Magic Academy. The perfect birdcage *Special Training Room* with no windows. At the very moment the world called him a god and the empire engraved his existence into history.
In that room at the center of the world‚ there was no sound‚ no scent‚ not even light. On the highest-grade chaise longue. Above the head of Louis Adel‚ who had fallen into a deep sleep‚ only an inorganic green system window invisible to anyone's eyes continued to blink indifferently.
『System Rebooting...(システム再起動中)』
『Louis-Adel.cfg : Status - Archive (Warning)』
『Recovery Progress: 12.5%』
Touch
FAILED
While the entire world watched for his awakening. The 'five senses' of the boy who had become a fully automatic debug system were being fatally stripped away‚ unknown to anyone.
Darkness. A green window. And—.
A voice no one could hear.
『...Louis.』
One second. Silence.
『I'm sorry.』
End.
Chapter 11『The Hero's Empire and the Observed Computation God』End
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