At this rate, Toa will....

　Masamune couldn't say the words beyond that.
　He took a deep breath, then turned to face Lucius once more.

'I met a star reader on my journey.
I don't need an explanation. That makes sense.
"...Yes. That's what I mean.

　Lucius understood everything that was said now.

''When....''
I don't know. By the time Nem grows up.
"You're a beastman, Nem," he said. Beastmen grow fast. Not much of a clue.
'Mr. Lucius is going to join the war,'
What is it?
I don't know. It's probably a human war.
Yeah. So that's why you kill people. That's why you kill people.
Yes.

　But that's not the only reason for targeting humans.
　Masamune doesn't want to talk about it.

'You mean you don't know if it's a war I'm going to start or not?'
The ringleader was Saeki.
Who are you?
He's an alien like me.
You mean I'm going to fight against this Saeki guy? I suppose you're right. Indeed. The possibility that I would feel bad enough about humans to join the war. Surely that can only happen with the Toa's death. Which means that the humans will kill the Toa, you believe that.
Yes. But I also think he's not even human.
What do you mean?
'I don't know. I don't.
'If you don't understand, you won't understand.
'I really don't know. Who ... why would the Toa die? But that's what the star readings said.
'The star reader is as mysterious as the abyss. It's not an exaggeration to say so. The mechanism is not understood, and even samples are hard to find. First of all, there are even statements that they are only born once every few hundred or thousands of years.
What I saw was very real.
Real?
It felt as if it were the truth.
'Of course. Otherwise you wouldn't have gone this far. But magic is almost always like that. Phenomena are illusory and seeds are mesmerizing. But that doesn't guarantee that this future can really happen.
The surgeon himself told me. It's a possible future.
That's what he says.
"...Are you saying I'm wrong?　So what would Lucius have done?　Are you going to continue to do nothing and wait for the Toa to get to that point because you can't be sure?
That doesn't mean this is too much. Of course I don't blame you. It's human nature. It doesn't matter to me. But you are the man Toa chose. Masamune, don't do this.

　Lucius admonished, looking at him as if he were a parent.

'It's the chaos of the world that leads to unexpected death. It could lead to.
There's one more thing.
What?
'That's why I kill humans. All the people I have my hands on are people who have mistreated other species. And the ones who live on the land. These are humans who have stood by and turned a blind eye.
I see.

　Lucius couldn't see it. But that didn't mean that he would have to do that.

'Cattleya is...'
Yeah.
For example, why did you attack Cattleya?
"....that country openly recognized slavery, to the point where the king was known as the Slave King. Its subjects were mainly beastmen, but there were demons and dwarves as well.
Raghu.
...Was it in the demonic newsletter?
Yeah.
Well I'm not sure if there was someone who missed it.
Why did you attack him?
Because he was related to the Yagis.
'What do you mean?' it was information Lucius didn't know either.
'Only humans live in that town. It's in a wasteland so far from any country that it's known as a resting place, and yet only humans live there.
Tell me in a nutshell.
We've been diverting the beasties.
...I see.
The non-human visitors to that town will never leave it again. Even those who have settled there will eventually........ The beastmen swarm in the same species because they are discriminated against by humans. That's why there is a horizontal connection. So it's a problem if we kill them immediately and a strange rumor spreads. That's why they have to do a fair amount of homework, they say, but no matter how long it takes, they'll always meet a diversion or get killed. Those with good looks will be sent to Pasquantin and become part of the Tong Paar collection. Others are sent to the King of Utopia - the Nats - who prefers the flesh of beastmen and other flesh.
...and demons?
'Of course. The beautiful demon race is Tonpar. Well, the demon race was sometimes sent to labor due to the high quality of their magic power. Did you know. The Nut King also eats the flesh of the demon tribe.
....
'It's not just beastmen. It just so happens that beastmen were the second largest in number after humans. That's why there are so many slaves of beastmen, they just stand out. And they are easier than humans. The slavers and residents of Raghu said that beastmen wouldn't have to get their feet wet. Anyone but humans. Well, some of them were human, of course.
'I see. That's why Yagi was... Hmm, why did Durms Ardan attack him?

　There was also an article about one of the Dames Aldan cases.
　But all that was stated in it was that Schneizel killed a child and was called a child murderer. That's all it said.
　However, a few days before that, a group of white-clad men had given a speech about Schneizel's backstory in the town, and the rest is up to the reader to decide, but Lucius and others took it as a sign that the blood of the Savior was involved.

'That country is the base of a certain criminal organization. The name is called Gateral. As it turns out, it is the Gaterals who are sending people to Lagos and other towns. In other words, it is the headquarters of the intermediaries who are diverting people to Pasquantin and Utopia. That's what it means.
Gateral I've never heard of it.
'I suppose. Ostensibly they are just a group of goons. Some are goons, some are a little larger than others. Well, there are many different organizations, and if they are small scale, they are everywhere, and if they don't cause any real harm, no one cares about anything. They are hiding in the middle of the ragtag crowd. Even they don't know that they are part of a huge syndicate. All they know is that they are only suspected by the local adults to be hoodlums. But each group has a few officers from the Gaterals mixed in," he said.
Wait, what do you mean by "syndicate"?
'Gateral is the other side of the Eightfold Kings, so to speak. Gateral is the back face of the Eightfold Kings, so to speak, and they do the work that they cannot do publicly. In other words, three are gone now and there are only four left. So it's a connected organization between these four nations.
''How did you find such a thing? It's not even in the demonic newsletter.
Occasionally.
By chance?
'I've found them eventually, or rather, I think they would have come to me from the other side if I'd done this. I'm a visual judge of who's not good for me.
...an abyssal ability.
''Yes. In the extreme, a shadow like black sand appears on the backs of those who seem to harbor malice towards the beastmen. What I mean by that is that those without shadows share a will with me in no small measure. One of the Chiefs of State of the Detritus Republic is a senior member of the Gatelar. He is now a member of our organization.
Oh, I see. I see.
Yes, sir.
So what are you going to do about it?
I will wipe out Gatelar and the Eightfold King. As well as the Empire and Sigma Deus.
...the netherworld. But what are you going to do about it?
Excuse me?
'That's what this world, this continent, has been doing until now, isn't it? Masamune, you are destroying the core of that cog and bringing this continent to a halt. What will happen if you do that, do you have any idea what will happen after that?
I don't think so.

　Lucius made a grim face.

'But it would be a better world in its own way, wouldn't it?
It's not fair. You're just playing with your powers. I'm beginning to think you're going to kill the Toa. There's nothing I can do to make me understand you.
'You don't have to understand it to become one. As long as a creature is alive, it has to try to live until it dies. After that, we'll try to live in the world after that, somehow. It's land clearing, Lucius.
What?
'We will begin to clear the land and create a world where everyone is not free to be oppressed. At that time, there will be no one there to oppress others because of their race. There will be no kings who will keep the bodies of beastmen in small portions in their refrigerators. There will also be no kings who would have a beastly woman dismissed as a collection. What will be left are precious lives in the truest sense of the word. There is no need for humans in another world.

　Lucius stopped talking once.
　He looked up at the sky and then stopped thinking.
　Masamune wondered how Lucius' mind had suddenly become so clumped up from the fact that he had been using his emotional sensing.

'I suppose it can't be stopped,'
''If you're going to stop them, you should stop those who are oppressing the beastmen and demons right now. Even as we speak, the beastmen are dead somewhere.
'No, no,' Lucius was expressionless. 'I'm done talking. I told you, you can't stop me. That's my conclusion. No matter how much I listen to you and understand you, my denial of you will only grow stronger. But the denial only strengthens my denial of you, because I am powerless against your mighty power. You must have been prepared to do it in your own way. Otherwise, you'd have forgotten about it the next day and stopped acting. But you've built an organization and you've done what you're supposed to do. I would have preferred that you didn't resign yourself to that kind of power, and that you took a different path, instead of such a violent approach. A way that would not make the Toa sad.... 'I'm going back,' Lucius turned away.
'I'm with the Toa. With Elektra and Lysana. There's nothing I can do about it anyway.
Mr. Lucius....

　Masamune had no thoughts of denying Lucius.
　The values were different. That was about the extent of his understanding.

　The gold ring earring in his left ear glowed, changing from a brown robe to a red shape.
　It was Nito's garb, based on the demon mask of the dwarf chief.
　There the figure glowed again, and then the figure changed to a broad-shouldered white robe.
　The head appears to be a full-face mask with two horns twisted out of its forehead that resembles a human skull in the mouth of a beast.
　-- was the figure of Ankh Amadeus.

'We will hold a meeting. All cadres must assemble at Enumasan Headquarters!

　Masamune called the meeting to order through a telegram.