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Last Embryo Volume 6 Chapter 2 Part 8

Ayato, Asuka and You got closer together and began to share their own impressions of her while maintaining the maximum of secrecy from the other Players.

「What do you think about her? She has black hair, but I do not think that she is Japanese like any of us. I originally thought that she might be Chinese, but looking at her now. . . . .I am not so sure anymore. As far as we know, she might be Western European, but of what descent specifically? Latin, maybe?」

「That is a possibility, but for the time being we have no way of knowing tat for sure. And come on, in today’s day and age the color of your heir is no longer any viable indication of one’s ethnicity, because you can easily dye your hair to hide it, am I right? But what we can definitely say for sure is that the style of the clothing that she is wearing is much closer from you guys’ age not mine.」

「Yeah, I also think that guessing someone’s ethnicity based on the color of their hair alone is not going to cut it anymore, and in case of someone who could easily become our next enemy, such approach seems all the more dangerous.」

This is going to be a pretty obvious statement, but the way in which people might try to conceal their true identities is heavily dependent on the age of one’s origin. For example someone who hails from an era beyond 2000 A.D, they are going to have a much easier time and many more ingeneous methods of achieving that goal than the people who have been born in medieval or ancient times, where the concept of disguising one’s identity from your enemies was either nonexistent or still heavily underdeveloped.

「Okay, so I the hair color is out of the question as a clue, then we have no choice but to keep on searching. Let me see, what else is there . . . . ..oh, I know! See that pattern on her t-shirt? Could this actually be the flag of the country she is from, or quite possibly even the flag of the Community that she belongs to?」

The eyes of the three concentrated entirely on the t-shirt that the woman was wearing. The pattern that has been put onto it was the one of the three circles, a crown and a key.

「Hm . . . . You know what? I think I actually know what that is. If I remember correctly, then I think this is a pretty well-known illustration from my times that has nothing to do with any country, Community or Little Garden at all.」

「Oh really? How can you be so sure of that?」
「Because that is how fashion works in the Outer World of my times. It is not entirely uncommon to draw a patterns on clothing that does not make any sense and does not possess any kind of hidden meaning at all, so that is why I think it is highly irrelevant to the identity of this woman as well.」

Thinking that this woman came from roughly the same timeframe as Ayato made the most sense, because in the Outer World of her day, historical and mythological elements were often utilized as a part of pop culture or fashion, so the symbols that once could have hold a deep religious meaning devolved into little more but eccentric patterns on clothes or posters. However, the influence and borrowings were not limited to just that. In the modern day that Ayato knows, mythology and folklore could be serving as inspiration of source of naming for pretty much everything, from sculptures, books, TV shows, names of the bands and even as names or codenames for the weapons of mass destruction. That is why she believed that if this woman hailed from roughly the same timeframe as her, then trying to deduce anything about her from the patterns on her clothing would be a dead end as well. However, the one who questioned that possibility was none other than Uesugi.

「Is it really okay for us to be jumping into such a conclusion that easily?」

「What do you mean by that?」

「In the 2nd War for the Sun’s Authority, Sponsors are the ones standing behind all of the Player’s actions. With that in mind, do you think that most of them would be fine with their champions not wearing anything that would be connected to them even in the slightest bit? We have to remember that Investors are Gods and other powerful deities, and that means that they are filled with an incredible amount of pride as well, and that pride of theirs would have been the first thing to be hurt if someone was amazed by their champion but they would be unable to trace them back to their Sponsor with as little as a single glance.」

It might have sounded like something grand and monumental, but truth to be told, the relationship between Sponsors and the Players they have chosen as their champions is no different than the ones from the sponsors and the people who receive financial support from them in the Outer World. It all boiled down to the fact that the more active role the Players took in the War and the more recognition they received from everyone who was spectating the 2nd War for the Sun’s Authority, it meant that the fame and recognition of the ones who decided to sponsor these Players would rise accordingly as well. And of course, since just like Uesugi mentioned, Gods and Deities who played the role of Sponsors were all extremely prideful creatures, they would definitely get furious if their champions decided to start wearing clothing with mythological symbols that differed from the ones associated with their Sponsors.

「Ever since the ancient times, the forgery of the Flag of other country or organization so that you could use their fame and reputation for your own selfish gains has been considered as one of the most cowardly and despicable acts that could have been committed not only on the battlefield, but also outside of it. And it is the same in Little Garden.」

「In other words, what you are trying to say, Miss Uesugi, is that the patterns on the clothing of this Girl have something to do with the Sponsor she is getting backed by and their Community?」

「Yes, that is indeed what I was trying to say. What about you, Lady Ayato? Have you ever seen such a design somewhere before?」

「Eh? N-No, I cannot say that I am familiar with that design at all. . . . 」

Ayato said while sounding incredibly evasive, and that is because she knew what that design was very well. Before, when she described it only as a pretty well-known illustration in the Outer World, she was hoping that she would be able to just leave it at that, but now that Miss Uesugi asked her for her input into their brainstorming session as well, the easiest escape route has been effectively cut off for her. That crown and the key. . . . .  there was no one in Europe who would have ever mistook that iconic crown for anything else in the world, and there is a pretty high chance that if you were to ask just a random passerby in Europe what the official designation of that crown was, they would have likely given you the answer without a second thought.

「Ayato. To be honest, I am familiar with that crown as well. And probably I would not be the only one. You could have asked Homura, Suzuka and even Izayoi, and all of those three would have probably been able to tell you what it is either. That crown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . it is a 「Tripple Tiara」, correct?」

「「「Tripple Tiara」? What is that?」」

Asuka and You asked at the same time, not knowing what Ayato and Uesugi were talking about. They were unfamiliar with these words themselves, and truthfully speaking it was the first time in their lives when they heard that the crowns can have different names for them depending on their type and not be collectively called just 「Crowns」.