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Volume 5 Chapter 4 Part 2

「. . . Okay. And what does that spiritual mentor of yours have to do with me?」

「He. . . Krishna asked me to try to persuade you.」

「Persuade, huh? Persuade to do what, exactly?」

「Persuade you to hand the girl suffering from Albinism over to him.」

Homura listened to Arjuna’s words without any particular change to the expression on his face. Truth to be told, he pretty much expected to hear something along those lines as soon as the word 「Krishna」 left Arjuna’s mouth. That would also explain why Arjuna came to visit him alone, and not with the company of that “friend” of his. He waited until he was done drinking his tea, and then he leaned forward and asked him:

「Why should I do that? No, scratch that. Why should I ever even consider doing that? Why does he want her so badly? What is his reason and why is he apparently so desperate that he even sent you to try and coerce me into doing it, especially since I think that we both know what is going to happen to the girl if Krishna gets his hands on her, right?」

「. . . . yes, I do realize that. When Krishna comes into her possession of that Albino girl, is most definitely going to die. But on the other hand, the sacrifice made from her life may be what is necessary for all of humanity to escape the ultimate ruin that awaits you if nothing is going to be done to prevent it.」

Arjuna spoke with a preaching tone while looking at Homura with eyes that shone with silent determination, and Homura listened to him without as much as a twitch of his eyebrows.

「Back in my times we believed that everyone is born with a mission, a duty that they must fulfill that has been given to them by the Gods the moment they came to be. The duty of the royal family was to lead its subjects, the duty of a warrior was to fight against his nation’s enemies, and a duty of a scholar was to research the various secrets and mysteries of the world so that they could bring them onto the light.」

Royal family was fulfilling their duty to ensure the prosperity for the people they ruled over, and warriors were fulfilling their duty so that the country could be protected from destruction. Following that logic, since Homura was born destined to become a researcher of the Star Particle Bodies, it would have to mean that his duty, and the mission he would have to fulfill would be to successfully bring his father’s research to fruition so that it could be used for the benefit of humanity. That made him crack up a dry smile, but he quickly returned to his default, emotionless expression.

「Arjuna. What you are saying is very educational from a historical point of view, but that does not answer my question at all. Moreover, we also have this exact belief in the current day and age. Do you want to know how it is called? Predestination. A doctrine that Gods has already ordained all that happened, happens and will happen. But you know what? Nowadays, I the times where humanity turned away from religion and Gods in favor of scientific progress, predestination cannot and will not be accepted as somebody’s reason for doing anything, be it a good or a bad thing. So if you continue saying that this Albino girl’s duty is to die so that mankind could avoid ruin, then I will continue to say that without a solid proof to confirm your theories, they are nothing but a load of bullshit. You want me to believe what you are saying? Then give me a proof, that is all that I ask. Why does this girl have to die? Why it will be too late to save humanity if she does not die? Who decided that she has to die in the first place, and where that someone is right now? You have to make all those things clear to me with simple, honest words, because otherwise, I am afraid that I will not be able to believe anything you might try to tell me from this point onward.」

Homura said while shaking his head. This approach of his might seem like it was too academical and pragmatic, but that is simply how it works for scientific types. Without solid, definitive proof, pretty much anything can be dismissed as either falsehood, superstition or a scam, three of the things that scientists absolutely cannot tolerate.

Arjuna looked at Homura with narrowed pupil and then let out a small sigh.

「. . . . You are right. I should have known that the words of someone who lived in ancient past will not be enough to convince someone hailing from a modern, advanced society. My words and your times are simply not compatible with one another. However, those are the only words that I know, and I had a very good reason for speaking with them.」

「I see. . . . so, what now? Can I assume that whatever you are going to be saying from now, it will not be in an attempt to win me over to your side? Are you done with that little mystical talk of yours?」

「Yes. From now on, whatever I am going to say, it is going to be for the purpose of trying to win you over to our side by using a separate method based solely on a provision of information, in an attempt to keep up with how humans of your time talk business and strike deals. And by provision of information, I mean the ones pertaining to the secrets of the Lost Continent of Atlantis.」

Hearing something that he was not expecting to hear from a guy like Arjuna, Homura’s eyes became wide with surprise. He honestly was not expecting someone like him to be holding any kind of secret information, and on the very continent they were now having a Gift Game in no less. In the meantime, Arjuna took another sip of his tea and then smiled with a self-deprecating smile while sinking his back deeper into the backrest of the chair he was currently sitting on.

「Since you have made it this far, I assume that you are already quite familiar with 『The Bull of Heaven’s』 incident, and understand that its appearance was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one. Consequently, you must have also learned what the purpose of that incident was: to demonstrate to the general public of the Outer World that despite the obvious dangers associated with Star Particle Bodies they can be of great benefit to humanity and to increase the support for and worldwide acceptance for their research so that it could have proceeded more smoothly.」

「Yes, just like you said, I already knew about that. But I am also aware of the fact that the hidden meaning behind that experiment was also to demonstrate the same Star Particle Bodies which were used in the process of dealing with 『The Bull of Heaven’s』 smallpox virus can also be used to create and weapons capable of causing destruction on a natural disaster level and promoting the solution towards that particle issue.」

「Fufufu, as expected of someone who was made into a researcher at such a young age. You really are smart, almost frighteningly so. In that case, I wonder if you knew about that as well? That 『The Bull of Heaven』 was not the only super-beast created with the use of Star Particle Bodies that was supposed to have gone berserk in the Outer World.」

Homura’s face grew deathly pale in an instant when Arjuna spoke these words.

「Wait, what. . . . what do you mean by that?」

「Exactly what I said. Originally, there were supposed to be three beasts rampaging throughout the Outer World at the same time: 『The Bull of Heaven』, 『The Giant of Demise』 and 『The Youngest Child of Gaia』. However, apparently their emergence there has made too big of an impact on the Outer World, because as a result of that, 『The Youngest Child of Gaia』 has been sealed, and 『The Giant of Demise』 has been defeated by the strongest warrior in Scandinavia on the very same day it has awakened in Iceland. Good grief, say what you will about the Pantheon of the Norse Mythology, but their Chief God is as shrewd as ever.」