Chapter 72: At the Very Least, This Isn't a Diplomatic Meeting

—Autumn.

The season of sports, the season of reading, the season of food, the season of the arts, et cetera, et cetera...

Yeah, there's absolutely no consistency to it. Sometimes I even wonder whether you could make just about anything fit by turning it into the phrase “the season of ○○”... Autumn, in other words, is the season of chaos.

And then there's this world: “Chaos.” As its name suggests, it's a chaotic world where countless other worlds have gathered together without the slightest regard for order.

A chaotic world in a chaotic season. There was no way nothing would happen...

"Padron Zalfedahl."

"What's this? If it isn't Miss Limient. Weren't you supposed to be busy rebuilding the Machine City and the Great Forest?"

I was transporting supplies needed for the reconstruction effort when she approached me: Limient Cornerstone, the red-haired woman in a lab coat whose body was half mechanized, and the leader of the Machine City.

The scars left by the war between the Great Forest and the Machine City—the two worlds—were severe. After all, the final battle had practically turned into a full-blown kaiju showdown.

That said, apparently restoring the Machine City wouldn't be difficult as long as they gathered up the separated parts of the city and put them back together. The Great Forest would take more time, but even so, as the seasons continued to turn, its trees would once again grow lush and green.

“Even lands that have been scorched by war, where people say not even grass or trees will grow again, will eventually see flowers bloom. The vitality of nature is incredible, after all.”

Those were Miss Tierra's words.

At any rate, this woman was the very person who had started the war. She should have been busy with postwar affairs and reconstruction work. Surely she had no time to show up somewhere like this.

"Hmph. Is that all you understand, future lord of Zalfedahl?"

"What?"

"Do not underestimate our scientific capabilities. We have already established a perfect reconstruction plan, and everything is being operated through complete automation."

...I see.

The Fortress City of Zalfedahl, where I was born and raised, was one of the most developed cities in all of Chaos. However, when it came to science and technology, it couldn't hold a candle to the Machine City.

That city possessed the power to accomplish “miracles” that easily surpassed my knowledge and imagination.

It was frustrating. Purely and simply, it was frustrating.

I had no choice but to honestly acknowledge the fact that my beloved homeland was falling behind. With technology on the level of this city, Zalfedahl's convenience would improve even further, its economy would flourish, more lives could be saved, and smiles would spread across the faces of its citizens.

Until recently, I would never have been able to think this way. Even though I knew, as a matter of fact, that the Machine City possessed superior technology, I had blindly believed that Zalfedahl was the greatest city of all and never once questioned it.

...How foolish I had been.

But things were different now. As the future lord of Zalfedahl, I respected Limient, the leader of the Machine City. I genuinely felt there was a great deal I could learn from her.

It was precisely out of that respect that I set down the supplies I was carrying, met her eyes, and prepared myself to listen attentively.

...Well, as it turned out, that was a complete waste of time.

"To begin with, I'm basically weaker than a bean sprout when it comes to physical stamina, so in the current environment, I'm nothing but a nuisance. I'm currently enjoying the full NEET lifestyle."

"That's just them getting rid of you!"

"Can't be helped. The Machine City's proud, ultra-high-performance AI literally told me, 'You're seriously in the way, lmao.' ...I could cry."

"So you've chosen to become a sacrifice to progress itself!"

Give me back my respect!

Where had the woman gone who had been so dead set on her resolve? The one who had declared that “the Great Forest was a necessary sacrifice” and that “even if it meant abandoning all of Chaos, the Machine City alone would survive”?

...But I see.

Perhaps this simply meant that there was no easy, perfect “right answer” after all.

Even the Machine City, which had seemed so superior, had its shortcomings. Leaving everything to machines might make life convenient, but there could also be people who would have their purpose in life taken away from them.

There was no “right answer” for human society, or for this world. And that was precisely why governing was so difficult.

"So? You didn't come all the way here for no reason, did you?"

"............You're perceptive, Padron Zalfedahl."

"You came to speak to me when I was alone. I'm not stupid enough to think that was just a coincidence."

The lighthearted exchange we'd been having up until now...

In truth, it had been quite deliberate on my part.

After all, until just a short while ago, we had been on opposite sides of a war in which our lives were on the line.

That said, there had been no fatalities among either our companions or the people of the Machine City. Zero deaths. That was the outcome of that war—as far as the d-a-t-a was concerned.

Even so...

I knew. We all knew.

At the very end, that green-haired girl had lost something incredibly precious to her.

In hindsight, if the war had never happened, she would never have lost that something. And because that was an unchangeable fact, the relationship between Limient and our group could hardly be described as friendly.

Our exchange of seemingly casual remarks had been necessary to show one another that neither side harbored any intention of hostility. Both of us understood that very well: I, as the future lord, and she, as the current leader of her city.

"Her Excellency Limient Cornerstone, leader of the Machine City. I am Padron Zalfedahl, son of Paramore Qua Zalfedahl, lord of the Fortress City of Zalfedahl. As my father's representative, I shall hear your business. What brings you here?"

Limient had committed the worst possible failure for a leader: starting a war and losing it. And according to her, she was currently living the NEET lifestyle...

Even so, she remained the leader standing at the very top of the Machine City Mikania.

As for me, in reality, I was nobody of any particular importance. Having yet to accomplish anything myself, I was merely “one of the candidates for future lordship” who had been rejected by my own father.

And yet...

And yet, just moments ago, Limient had referred to me as the "future lord of Zalfedah."The leader of the Machine City herself had called me that.

In that case, at this very moment, this place was—unofficially, of course—a diplomatic meeting between representatives of the Machine City Mikania and the Fortress City Zalfedah.

That was why I had formally introduced myself. It was the declaration of someone who stood ready to bear the weight of Zalfedahl.

"...Well, you see..."

Limient's response to that declaration was—

"........................I want to eat ramen."

"........................................................................................................................Huh?"