Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?

The Final Two Options ①

AN: Update resumption. The story up to here can be summarised in two lines! The reincarnators have a briefing! D-san puts out a mischievous announcement! A great battle between black and white!

Kush*tani’s perspective.

“Eh!?”

The suddenly appearing black-armoured man snaps Wakaba-san’s neck. That’s not all - he then disappears together with Wakaba-san. In the moment before he disappears, I see a different landscape behind him. It must be that Spatial Magic I’ve heard of. Spatial magic is rare, and I haven’t seen it myself, so that’s just a guess.

None of that matters now though. I need to worry about Wakaba-san’s safety.

“Eh? Eh?”

Beside me, sensei’s eyes are darting around in confusion. If I saw that as an outsider, I’d probably be having the same reaction as her. It happened way too fast. Why did that happen to Wakaba-san? Who was that man? Where did Wakaba-san and that man go? Is she safe? I was already confused enough by what God’s Voice said a moment ago.

A-anyway, I need to do something… Though, what can I do?

“…Sensei, that book.”

When I look around, the first thing I notice is the book that Wakaba-san gave sensei. Right after I heard God’s Voice, that man attacked Wakaba-san. From the timing, I can’t think of it as a coincidence. I’m sure that book will have some hint as to why things broke down. I know it’s wishful thinking, but I can’t think of anything else to do in the situation.

“Let me borrow it, please.”

“Ah, yes.”

Sensei seems to be recovering from the shock slower than me, as she’s still in a daze. That’s why she gave me the book so readily. I open it right away and scan over it. I’m not capable of speed-reading, but with Thought-Acceleration at maximum power, I can do something similar. Normally, I prefer to read books slowly, but now’s not the time for that. If I read this book, I’ll be able to do something about the situation.

“…There’s no way.”

However, contrary to my hope, the book has nothing written in it about the breakdown of the status quo. Rather, it leaves me with even more questions. However, I’m able to establish the reason Wakaba-san was attacked by that man.

“Sensei. For now, let’s go down. We’ll get everyone together, then…”

This isn’t a problem I can tackle on my own. We’ll assemble the other reincarnators and get their opinions. It’s not like this is a problem that can be solved though getting opinions, though…

That the world is collapsing, and to save it there are two options. That both options require huge sacrifices. That to save the world, we have to choose one of two options. One option is to sacrifice half of humanity. The other option is to sacrifice god. This reality is too heavy, and there’s no way I can carry it by myself. There’s Wakaba-san, who left it as a parting gift of bad news. In no way is it Wakaba-san’s fault that the world is collapsing, but I still want to complain to her.

It seems Wakaba-san has chosen to sacrifice half of humanity. In which case, that man who attacked her must be on the other side, the side of humanity. He must have heard God’s Voice earlier and taken action. Without us knowing, these two factions must have already been moving in the shadows to save the world.

There should be another person in this room besides myself and sensei, so I look around for her. Felmina, the young woman who looks like Wakaba-san’s subordinate. However, even though she was just here, I can’t see her. Perhaps she went to tell her other faction members that Wakaba-san was attacked. If that’s the case, then conflict has already broken out between the two sides.

…What can we do?

In the battle between Wakaba-san and the elves, we were left to the side. As an adventurer, I have some confidence in my abilities. However, there was nothing I could have done in that battle. I just swallowed the elves tales that the empire was attacking their village. As weak as we are, what can we do in the war for the fate of the world?

…No answer comes to me. Besides, it’s not like we have a duty to take part in this conflict. Personally, I want to run away from something so big. However, even if I run away, the result of the conflict will have a huge effect on the fate of the world. The future will change greatly depending on which side wins. Knowing that, can I really carry on like normal? I don’t know.

Either way, I can’t come up with an answer by myself. I need to get everyone together to discuss this.

I withdraw my hand from sensei’s and leave the room. Clasped tightly in my hand is the book Wakaba-san left behind.