24 A Professor Talks

Author: Bishamon Mine
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n0664js/27/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

◆◇Sight: Third Person◇◆

 

In Fate Link: Legendia there is a system called a “clan” that makes it easy for people to make groups and communities.

In MMOs they’re often called clans or guilds.

In Fate Link too, without exception, people gather around clans.

Such clans sometimes have a theme or purpose set.
The reason is that if people with the same purpose gather, cooperating is easy.

For example there are rough purposes like “let’s have fun,” combat-purpose clans, exploration-purpose clans.

There are also clans with the special purpose of doting on animals or characters.

There are even clans whose purpose is roleplay.

If the game system allows it, clans whose purpose is crime are often made too.
Just, if you commit a crime in Fate Link it’s an instant BAN, so they don’t exist.

Here too there is a clan where people gathered for one purpose.
The clan name is “Biblio Vivre.”
The purpose of the players who gather in this clan is research.

Mainly they research Fate Link: Legendia.
And not only Japanese; research tryhards from various countries are gathered.

Biblio Vivre is one of the largest among research clans that exist in this game.

A research clan beyond this would be about NAXA, the clan NASA and JAXA made jointly.

And Biblio Vivre, in total merit points and held credits, far surpasses NAXA. In size it’s a top clan in Japan’s top four, and as a theory clan it’s the world’s largest.

The vice-master of that large-scale clan, commonly “Sensei.”
In real life, a person who is a professor at a famous university.
Real name “Hagimoto Eiji,” Stratos ID “Hagimoto.”

At the age of 50, he noticed immediately after starting Fate Link that Fate Link is being carried out in reality.
Further, from the positions and states of stars he calculated that Fate Link’s stage is a world tens of thousands of years after the present. NAXA and such have noticed this too, but they haven’t published it.

At first Hagimoto came to the Fate Link world intending to forget reality and enjoy game research, but once he understood this wasn’t inside a game but reality, he went back to being a researcher.

“So we still can’t warp-navigate toward Earth.”

Hagimoto asked a clan member looking disappointed.

“Yes. To perform warp navigation you need a huge warp-assist device near the transfer destination, and warp-assist devices in the Earth direction have a lock on them. They’re sealed by security so solid you couldn’t imagine it on our Earth; hacking is nearly impossible.”
“Understood.”

Hagimoto wanted to go to the Earth of the Fate Link world, but if he can’t use warp navigation he absolutely can’t go to Earth.

Even at near-light-speed Alcubierre Drive, Earth is a distance that takes nearly 19,000 years.

Hagimoto thinks the Galactic Union likely also possesses a faster-than-light navigation method, but that isn’t obtainable.

Through a large astronomical telescope in a building they made on Highlane, Hagimoto looked at the Sun shining far, far beyond the galaxy.
Luckily there isn’t galactic gas in the way, so the Sun is properly visible even with a normal astronomical telescope.

The Sun is healthy today too. Unchanged from the present Sun, it shines brilliantly and is operating normally.
No, this light is light from about 17,000 years ago.
Even so the Sun is surely still rising and setting on Earth today.

“Earth is definitely there——but I wonder what it is now.”

But Earth should have become a completely different figure.

Has it lost civilization and become a planet wrapped in nature.

Or does it still keep some civilization.

“Fascinating.”

What moves Hagimoto isn’t that FateLege’s science is terrifying, or a sense of mission for Earth’s sake.

What moves him is always intellectual curiosity.

“Sensei, is the Sun healthy?”

The player who told him going to Earth was impossible sensed what Hagimoto was looking at and asked.

Hagimoto laughed to him, “It doesn’t seem to have caught a cold or measles.”
He took his eye from the telescope, put on a coat, and put on a silk hat.
Then he hung a black bat-umbrella on his wrist like a cane and headed for the observation room exit.

“Oh, Sensei is going out? Unusual.”
“Yes. I have a bit of an appointment to meet someone.”
“Who is it?”
“A bit of a storyteller.”

Hagimoto tugged the little mustache people say looks like a certain king of comedy because his appearance is similar too, and winked mischievously.

 

The capital of planet Highlane. The place players visit first when they come to Fate Link——Starting Town.
In a corner of the town called the Town of Beginnings, there is a café that serves delicious tea, not well known to players.
Hagimoto’s favorite place.

Approaching the shop, a Showa-retro storefront comes into view.

Hagimoto goes in remembering his youth.

The interior too is décor as if you came to Japan’s 80s.

When Hagimoto looks around the shop that makes him nostalgic, he finds the woman he’s after.
She is enjoying something operating levers and buttons on the table.

“Oh, you’re here first today. Good evening.”

The woman is concentrating toward a monitor embedded in the table and answers without even lifting her face.

“Good eve~ning.”

The person who returned a drawn-out greeting to Hagimoto had pink hair.

A conspicuous color, but it isn’t only the hair that’s conspicuous.

The outfit is flashy overall. A fluorescent green pilot suit, and over it a jumper colored in various fluorescent colors.
On top of that the face riding it has a sleepy expression.

Still young——a girl of about 15.

From large simple headphones on her ears, shaka-shaka sound leaks. Apparently psychedelic rock.
That so-called electronic drug.

And the game displayed on the table the girl is absorbed in is one that was popular once.
A game whose content is aliens attacking to invade Earth.

On a screen of only white and black, aliens with dots fully exposed come from top to bottom, and the player’s craft placed at the very bottom shoots them down before they collide——a simple game——but,

“A~h, I lost again.”

The girl has her craft destroyed and faceplants on the table.

“Can’t make today’s clear goal again, Pillow-san?”

Hagimoto sits in the seat in front of the one he called Pillow.

“Nee~ Sensei. Why can’t I clear the goal in a game made with this tiny a program. What terrifying technology is used in this game.”

The master comes to take the order of smiling Hagimoto.

“Earl Grey.”
“Very good.”
“Coffee, refill~”

While Hagimoto orders tea and hangs his umbrella on the table, Pillow thrusts her empty cup at the master and challenges the invaders from space again.

The master takes Pillow’s cup and returns to the counter. Then he starts boiling two waters.

“Now, info-broker-san. Did you obtain what I ordered?”
“That’s why I contacted you~”

In the Fate Link world Pillow was roleplaying an information broker.
But to call it roleplay her skill was too good.

“Which information? The admin’s true identity?”
“That one’s still a mystery. For now I found out it isn’t the Galactic Union regular army running it. There seems to be a being giving orders to the regular army. Ah, this is 100,000-credit info.”
“Understood.”

Hagimoto puts out a window and deposits credits to Pillow.

Incidentally for Pillow, Galactic credits are the main currency.
Because Pillow already lives completely in the Fate Link world.
Pillow hasn’t returned to Earth in about two years.

“Then the other one? Why the old humans perished.”
“I brought that info~. From the route Biblio Vivre mentioned, I found something that-ish~.”
“You broke through that solid security?”
“It was work, though~.”

Pillow didn’t have the skill to ride fighters or humanoid weapons.
But she was a genius at programs.
Coming to Fate Link she immediately mastered this world’s programming.

At a speed you wouldn’t think human, she acquired complex quantum programming technology in no time.

Suddenly Pillow, her craft shot down by aliens again, sighs.
The languid way she exhales, if the right person saw it, they’d find it sexy.

To Hagimoto it only looked like her youth was enviable.

“Here, that’s the info.”

Pillow, eyes still on the screen, slides a small microSD across the table to Hagimoto.

“Wonderful. I’ll check a little.”
“Go ahea~d.”

Hagimoto inserts the microSD into his smartphone and checks the contents.

“There are two. One is a chronology from wartime.”

Galactic Year 2100:
Vector appears; war breaks out with Vector.

Galactic Year 2125:
By incorporating Vector technology, they turn to advantage.

Galactic Year 2130:
Mother MoB appears.
Due to MoB, the Star Cluster Empire falls to disadvantage.

Galactic Year 2133:
By the invention of Datanoids, they gradually begin to gain advantage against MoB.

There, a record of a war once fought in this universe was written.

“And a video——”

Playing it, in fairly rough footage, a large test tube is shown.
Inside it a blonde woman is floating.

“She is?”
“Apparently the person who became Mother MoB.”
“The rumored……”

Hagimoto too had independently arrived at this information.

Hagimoto checks the chronology and video and murmurs.

“I see. Because something called Vector attacked, this Fate Link universe had no choice but to make something terrifying called MoB.”
“Seems so~. I wonder what this Vector is~.”
“You read this report too.”
“I’m an info broker~.”
“About Vector, even you the info broker don’t know?”
“It’s a word that’s never caught in my net even once.”

Hagimoto drops his eyes to the game Pillow is playing.

“From the sound of it, is Vector something like the alien invaders in this retro game?”
“In my info net, info that aliens exist didn’t catch~.”
“Hmm, then the possibility mystery admin isn’t aliens either gets higher.”
“I see, it connects to that kind of theory.”
“And there are other unknown words. Pillow-san, do you know what the Star Cluster Empire Unileus that appears in this report is?”
“Ah~, that I know~.”
“As expected of Pillow-san. Please tell me.”
“Admin’s going to spoil it soon so 50,000 credits~. Star Cluster Empire Unileus is the unified state that existed when humanity in this FateLege universe hadn’t perished yet. In short the name of the unified state when old humans ruled the whole galaxy~. It’s said it was a country that advocated peace and equality~.”

Hagimoto doesn’t complain even about info that will come out soon, because haste has its uses.

“Peace and equality.”

But more than how to use this information, Hagimoto’s thought reached something else.

Hagimoto knows that what a nation advocates is always what it aims for.

If they raise a splendid slogan, realize it, and boast, he wants to give them a round of applause.

(I hope I can give this country called Star Cluster Empire Unileus applause) he thought.

But finishing the report, Hagimoto’s expression twisted sadly.
And he declares to Pillow.

“Let’s raise the reward price a little regarding who mystery admin is. If you find someone who knows, an NPP, or a written document, I’d like to offer a reward of 1 million credits.”
“About 10 million yen. Sensei, that’s generous. Suddenly why~?”
“I found someone I want to help.”
“Sensei? ——I thought you were someone with only knowledge-lust.”
“I’m surprised myself.”
“How much for Vector’s true identity?”
“I’ll buy that at 500,000 credits as well.”
“Amaaazing, so generous.”
“And this report doesn’t seem complete. If you find a complete one I’ll pay another 500,000 credits.”
“Nice~.”

Hagimoto puts his mouth to the tea the master brought and moves his eyes to the report.

“But we understand MoB in quite some detail.”
“We do~.”
“MoB is a weapon made only to destroy humanity. Among MoB there is what’s called Mother MoB; Mother evolves infinitely and can produce subordinate MoB infinitely. MoB have abnormal abilities.”
“Mother MoB is just like what fantasy games call a Demon King~.”
“A Demon King——yes, that may be apt. The ringleader of evil, that kind of place——”

Looking at the report, Hagimoto sighed.

“——But even after humanity perished, war didn’t end.”

Pillow lifts her face.

“I heard if humans perish war ends~?”
“Apparently in this universe it didn’t go that way.”

Saying that, Hagimoto looked out the window.
Dusk approaches, and a surprising number of stars twinkle.

“——If I’m to truly save the person I want to save————we may need the power of a truly, truly strong player.”
“Like merit-point rank 1, Miles Humor~?”

Hagimoto shakes his head.

“Likely stronger than him.”
“Then there isn’t one~. Miles is rank 1, you know~?”
“Yes, it may be physically impossible.”

Pillow didn’t know the name of the girl who hadn’t caught in her info net yet——who had only just begun to be known to the world.

But fate chooses.

When Pillow was about to leave the shop——Pillow’s phone vibrated playing a psychedelic song.

“Nn~? What~?”
“Who is it?”
“My partner~. Violence girl~.”
“There was such a person.”
“What~? A video~? Content an info broker should know~? Videos and things everyone knows don’t become product——”

Complaining, scrolling her phone looking like a hassle, Pillow shouted in the quiet shop.

“——Ugeh!?”

Hagimoto looked toward Pillow because she let out a somewhat vulgar scream.
Then in Hagimoto’s eyes he saw Pillow’s eyes go wide.

Eventually Pillow stands with her eyes still glued to the phone screen.

“Sensei! Sensei!”

Pillow beckons.

“——What is it?”

Hagimoto stands, called by Pillow.
Told to look at the screen, he peeks at Pillow’s phone even while finding it dubious.

Hagimoto watches the video playing on the phone a while, and before he knew it his eyes and mouth had gone slack and open.

Hagimoto stays speechless, unable to put out words.

Pillow asks Hagimoto, who says nothing, in a hoarse voice.

“We can, right?”

Hagimoto swallows, then answers.

“Yes…… if we can obtain the assistance of this person called Suu, we may be able to save her.”

The gears of fate meshed and began to turn.