Leave a comment

Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

“I guess one of us finally died.”

Monobe mumbled as he looked at the report. The war between Fraus and Nigel was raging on. With Fraus gaining the upper hand—thanks in part to the accomplishments of my classmates—there had been no casualties among us until now. But it seemed that had finally changed.

It was war; losses were inevitable. It was a miracle that no one had died until this point.

“So, who died?”
“Takuma.”
“Oh, him. What’s the cause of death?”
“It says unknown, but I think he may have reached his limit.”

I supposed that reaching one’s limit was, in essence, the same as their lifespan running out. In this case, though, it was a little different from simply dying of exhaustion. The summoning spell that had brought us into this world had a major flaw. Or rather, the hero summoning had been designed with a deliberate flaw for the greater good of the world.

They wanted heroes to defeat the Demon Lord. But once that was accomplished, they wanted those heroes to disappear as soon as possible. Instead of summoning powerful warriors outright, they had chosen to summon weak individuals and cast a certain spell on them. That is how the current hero summoning worked.

The spell that was cast on heroes allowed them to rapidly gain strength but at the expense of their lifespan. Not only did their bodies struggle to keep up with the rapid growth, but the stronger one got, the more their lifespan whittled away.

I believed it was a natural price to pay for us—ordinary high school students—to be able to defeat the Demon Lord, who even the world couldn’t do anything about. After all, we had been summoned by Fraus, not by a god who bestowed us with special powers like it usually happens in stories.

Fraus had forcefully called us into this world and recklessly infused us with power. That was why we had done our best to avoid getting stronger.

Still, our lifespans were shortened regardless. The lifespan of my classmates who even now continued growing stronger couldn’t be more than twenty years. Especially in Takuma’s case—he had been using rather ghastly magic in conjunction with the original spell. It was only natural for him to die, I was surprised that he had held on until now.

Then again, if rapid growth placed such a strain on the body, there was something else I had to consider about my classmates.

“If that’s the case, then it won’t be long before something happens to Ichinari as well.”
“Well, he did puke blood. But apparently, they managed to break through something, and they’re currently marching.”

Ichinari’s war results had always been reported. I had to admit, they were remarkable. His growth had been extraordinary. And that was precisely why he was puking blood. They called it a breakthrough, but perhaps they were simply looking away from the reality of death.

At any rate, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the war. And my impressions about Takuma and Ichinari were along the lines of, “Well, that’s expected.” Our preparations were also progressing steadily.

More significant than the results of my classmates’ battles was the discovery of a bloodstained sword in the village they had attacked. Even if the sword itself was just a common weapon with nothing special, that alone was not definitive proof of anything.

However, as Monobe pointed out, the fact that such swords were also being sold in the arms shops of the capital was significant. People were easily swayed by phrases like “That’s what they say,” or “Apparently.” If anything, it reminded me of how easily misinformation could spread on social media.

If I thought of it as an extension of that, it made a little more sense.

In addition, I now also had an idea of which noble would carry out my plan. They contacted us by using a route they believed we couldn’t trace, expecting us to do the rest of the work for them.

As for that noble, their daughter—who had served as a special maid—had been murdered inside the royal castle¹. It sounded eerily familiar, but I chose not to dwell on it. That noble’s family had always been ambitious. They had been gathering information not just out of duty but for their desire to lead the kingdom.

The materials were nearly ready. The manpower was also in place—to a certain extent. Not that it mattered. I could do something about manpower if needed. All that was left was to wait for the right moment.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the world shook. The earth rumbled, and screams echoed all around.

The place where we were shook, knocking over many things. Items fell from the desk, and the contents of the shelves were in complete disarray. It wasn’t like any of the items were important, but I couldn’t help but think how long it would take us to clean everything up.

“Monobe, are you okay?”
“Somehow.”

It would be a problem if he got hurt here, so I was glad to learn he was okay. It was noisy outside, but we didn’t go out to check. I didn’t want to risk the chance of someone finding out about us.

A short while later, a report slipped under the door. It was one of the emergency contact methods I’d set in place. I had come up with several others, but fortunately, we never needed to use them. It was Monobe’s role to read the report.

Because of his skills, he could read and comprehend faster than anyone else.

“The ground cracked outside of the capital. Other natural disasters have occurred in various places.”
“Could this be an omen of the world’s collapse?”
“I wonder about that. But it certainly can be.”
“Hmph.”

The collapse of the world no longer felt like some distant event. I was reminded of Monobe’s words—he had uncovered all the secrets of this country. I had thought we were safe for at least a few more decades, but now it seemed the end had already begun.

I didn’t know the exact cause, but we were likely the only ones aware of it. Not even the royal family seemed to suspect this outcome. Or perhaps it simply wasn’t the kind of conclusion that came easily to those who lived their lives dependent on the power of spirits.

Even if they had an inkling, they would rather believe it wasn’t happening yet. But that didn’t matter. The real issue was that we were living in a world that was already starting to fall apart.

(Ah, damn it. How did this happen?)

What were they thinking, summoning people out of their selfish ideals and dragging us into their affairs just as the world is falling apart.

“What should we do… Should we just kill them all…”
“Megi, your thoughts are showing.”
“Oops. But still, what should we do.”
“Should we start the plan? If we frame the kingdom as the cause of this disaster, we can probably manage the situation.”

I saw the logic in that. I didn’t know the full extent of the damage, but if Monobe said it was that severe, then it had to be. This was way beyond the scale of war or anything else. Cracks had formed on the earth, and one was big enough to swallow up towns and villages. That alone was enough justification.

Besides, if I was going to die anyway, it still wasn’t too late to take revenge on the royal family.

“Let’s do it then. Let’s mess up the Fraus Kingdom².”
“Sorry to break it to you, but we can’t move just yet.”
“I know. But we can start pushing the plan forward.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m fine with that.”

It was time to begin our final plan. Now that we no longer had to run, in a way, it seemed way easier to carry out.

1. Robinxen: Oh, so it comes full circle, this will be interesting to see unfold.
2. Robinxen: I like the sense of agency these characters seem to have in the greater narrative too.

Support Us

Unlock Early Access ------- Select Project ------- Project Gender Bender Project Necro ∴ Support your favorite series and unlock chapters before the public release.