Chapter 52: Rounding Off

"Haaaaaaaaaa!!"

A violent, crackling roar of lightning tore through the air, and the surrounding Lica units ground to a halt all at once. But then...

".....clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack."

"Damn it."

They reformed their ranks and surged toward us once again.

Stopping them was easy. However... these had once been the citizens of Paradise. That hesitation was exactly what had driven us into this corner.

And worse...

"Hah... hah... hah... hah..."

"Esil, are you alright?"

"I... hah... *cough*... I'm fine, but..."

This army was clearly targeting Esil.

Yellow and Scarlet had managed to handle things every time a situation turned critical, but they were reaching the limits of their mental endurance.

"Damn it!"

It would be so simple to give a single order. To tell them to kill.

But that would leave a scar on their souls that would last a lifetime.

They were different, yet they weren't. These Phantasm Girls were humans, just like us. Long after I was gone, they would continue to live through the eons, haunted by raw wounds that would never heal.

Yet, if we did nothing, we would die here. We would be swallowed by the tide, gone before we could even offer a prayer.

"Commander... please, leave me behind."

"I can't. There has to be another way."

"There isn't. They won't make it. They'll die."

I knew better than anyone what would kill them, so I couldn't bring myself to ask such a tasteless question.

You feel the same way, don't you, Esil?

Nothing changes; nothing is different. Not for you, not for Asuna... not even for Alter.

"Save Esil... Save... Esil!"

"Yes, keep trying."

Before I knew it, a single line of moisture traced a path from my eyes to my chin, dripping onto the ground as I gave the most wretched, most pathetic order...

"Leave Esil... behind!"

"Understood."

No one blamed me.

Even so, wanting to be condemned for my sin, I looked at her.

"Acknowledged."

She wore a smile more beautiful and gentle than anyone else’s—a smile that looked exactly like Asuna’s.

"Hah... hah..."

At long last, we arrived. The Paradise Command Headquarters.

Slow, deliberate clapping echoed through the space, which should have been empty of everyone but us.

"Another magnificent performance, Commander Amane."

"Alter..."

I muttered the name, my voice trembling.

"We shall now hold the final regular meeting of Paradise. Since it is a rare occasion, the Amane squad is welcome to join."

"..."

Led by that small back, we stepped through the doors...

".....!!"

The renowned leaders of the nation were there, bound and restrained on either side by Lica units.

"This is..."

"Now then, the regular meeting shall commence. I, Alter, will serve as the chairperson. Today's agenda is... concerning the conclusion of Paradise."

A color-coded map of the entire nation of Paradise appeared on the wall-mounted screen.

"This diagram represents the current population of Paradise."

A chill ran down my spine.

It was impossible. Because...

Almost the entire map was stained pitch black.

In the military, and in the preservation of human life, color-coding serves a vital role. At disaster sites, it's called triage; doctors determine the severity of an injury based on the color of the tag wrapped around a person's wrist.

Black means... deceased. No prospect of being saved. Which meant—

"You’re saying seventy percent of the people in this country... in Paradise... have been wiped out!?"

"Hmm. To be precise, it is seventy-four point nine percent... but if you round it off, it is all the same."

"Are you counting human lives like mere numbers?"

"What else would they be? Are you suggesting the weight of one life is the same as the weight of ten? What a truly tedious notion. It is a pity that no one has realized that for such an equation to even function, the value of a human life must be zero."

Alter sat down, crossing her legs, and fixed her gaze on me.

"The elderly tend to develop troublesome personalities, and I find myself fond of posing questions to the youth. What does it mean to be human? What is the truth? Today's agenda is... which life is more precious? These dozen or so pigs sitting here, or the remaining monkeys crawling through this country? Amane Kazuto, you do not have to answer. In that case, I will simply conclude that both are worthless."

"And the ones who aren't chosen will die?"

"I never said a word of the sort. It is simply what I believe."

I swallowed hard.

"C-Commander Amane! I am the one who has protected Paradise from threats until this very moment! I'm not like those commoners who have just lived their lives in idle comfort!!"

"Quiet."

A gun was leveled at the speaker. I almost barked an order to suppress the threat, but I stopped myself at the last second.

"I am currently asking Commander Amane. If you keep flapping your mouth, the weight of your precious lives might just tip in favor of the monkeys."

Now then, what will you do?