Chapter 84 [Makina]
The mechanical palace floating in the sky. From the balcony, the scenery stretched out endlessly blue, azure, and deep cerulean – a vast sky that seemed to swallow you whole.
It was probably something that would strike the heart and make it leap for anyone who saw it. But to me now, it just looked like a faded, inorganic landscape.
The wind enveloping me felt like chains tightening around my entire body, and the unpleasant scent of iron woven throughout the palace filled my lungs.
“Orchestra……”
The name that passed my lips strangely dropped heavily into my chest. Somehow nostalgic and familiar to my body.
As if filling a hole that had been hollowed out within me.
“Your Highness, is something the matter?”
Leaning against the dusty wall of the room, a single knight stood on guard.
A maid girl and a knight who looked like he stepped out of a picture book. An odd combination.
“Your Highness, you say……”
A dry laugh escaped me involuntarily.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Just that being called a princess in this rundown makeshift palace is so ridiculous, so absurd.”
“But you are the one who inherits the blood of the Orchestra royal family.”
“I don’t really feel that way though. I was just using this ‘Orchestra’ thing for my own desires.”
“No matter what thoughts you may hold, you cannot escape your duty.”
“Duty, huh……”
That word is deeply tied to my existence. My existence cannot escape the chains of duty. Because that’s the kind of existence I am. Because I’ve come to know that’s the kind of existence I am.
“It seems you’re troubled by the chains of duty binding you.”
The voice that had captivated many female students back at the academy echoed through the dilapidated room.
Appearing soundlessly from the shadows was Loretta Garland.
Now one of the [Children of Six Emotions] overseeing [Joy].
I was surprised to learn she had become this, but even more astonished when I knew the true nature she had hidden inside. At the academy, she had many fans like Luche and was very popular.
“I understand the feeling. I was in a similar situation myself. Ah, but it might be rude to compare my circumstances to yours? That parent of mine could just be killed, but in your case there’s nothing you can do.”
Loretta’s father, Simeon Garland.
It seems he was brutally murdered by Loretta’s own hands when Al and the others left for the Purification, seizing that opportunity.
In other words, Loretta had already cut the chains binding her with her own hands. In the worst possible way imaginable.
“When you saw [that], your expression…Ah… I really wished I could have seen it with my own eyes. You must have felt such sweet, poisonous bliss melting your body like honey.”
“……Hah. What an interesting hobby. So? Did you come all this way just to flaunt your twisted fetish? These so-called [Children of Six Emotions] must have too much time on their hands.”
“It seems I’ve upset you. My apologies, Your Highness.”
There is a saying that other people’s misfortune tastes like honey – many humans take delight in the misery of others.
“My purpose here……I thought you would understand without me spelling it out.”
This girl Loretta Garland is truly the embodiment, the personification of the human nature to delight in misfortune. The [Night Witch] or Lucille chose her well – remarkably so. The Night Witch seems quite knowledgeable about the negative aspects of human nature. One could even offer her wholehearted praise for her keen insight.
“The time has come for you to obtain what you desired.”
Led by Loretta, I proceeded down the corridors woven like spider webs inside Orchestra.
……This is the second time I’ve walked this path.
And it’s the second time I’ve seen what lies beyond these heavy steel doors.
“Heheh……I’ve seen it a few times since coming here, but it really is quite a sight, isn’t it? Magnificent.”
“………………”
She really does have interesting tastes to call such a thing magnificent.
“It just makes me nauseous though.”
It was a vast research space filled with rows upon rows of magitech machinery.
In the center was an ornate capsule-like coffin, surrounded by similarly shaped capsules arranged around it.
……This is the second time I’ve come to this room.
The first time was…..the night before the Purification Operation began in the Garland Territory.
☆
“—-Makina, I know your desire. And I know how to grant that desire. It’s quite simple.”
“……..ugh……”
Over and over, Lucille’s words echoed endlessly in my head. My base thoughts wouldn’t stop. For just a mere maid to say that. When I’m not even in Al’s line of sight.
“……ugh……uuuhhh…………!”
I clutched my chest. It hurt. There were no external wounds, but my heart ached so much.
As I slouched over clutching my chest—-
“—-ah……”
Through my vision from atop this mansion’s roof, I saw Them. Al and Charl,
walking hand-in-hand through the beautiful moonlit garden…….They looked so perfectly matched.
“That’s…..weird………it should be a good thing but……why……”
My chest tightened. Something black and unpleasant welled up inside me.
Over and over, Lucille’s words reverberated within me, drowning out my mind.
“…………Go away. These feelings, go away. Go away. Go away……”
Like always. Just like usual.
(Am I allowed to be by Al’s side?)
Don’t think unnecessary things.
(Can I tell Al how I feel?)
Of course not.
(Can I stop being jealous of Charl?)
Go away. Go away. I want these feelings to go away, but…….
“Why………………won’t they go away……?”
The path I choose.
It surely—-only lies in the shadows.
“—-Don’t say such sad things like ‘go away, please.'”
“…………ugh……!”
Cold hands enveloped me, like comforting a close friend.
An overly saccharine scent. A voice reminiscent of a demon’s whispers.
“Lucille…………”
“It’s okay. You can love Alfred. For a person to love someone is a wonderful thing.”
Lucille’s hands coiled around my body. A cunning serpent. Dull shining chains.
“What…have you come…to do……”
“To console Makina. And to let you know what you should know.”
An obvious lie barely even trying to hide some other motive.
“The answer…will come after the Purification, right?”
“Yes. I won’t hear your answer…….But there is still something you should know. It wouldn’t be fair for you to decide without knowing that.”
Speaking of fairness with that mouth of hers.
“Something…I should know……?”
“Yes. Your roots. Your truth. Something that can let you know what kind of existence you are. A wonderful toy box.”
“Such a thing…………”
“‘I may be interested in the past, but I’m not fixated on it’ —-was it? Yes, I understand. But now it’s different, isn’t it? Now that you know royal blood flows within you.”
“…………ugh……”
“I’m sure you want to know too. If royal blood really does flow within you. Because it relates to your love.”
I cannot refuse her. I cannot even struggle.
“Won’t you come with me, Makina?”
And so I took the demon’s hand.
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We slipped out of the mansion at night and were led to those ruins where the Earth Spirit dwelled.
Ignoring the miasma-polluted Earth Spirit, we went underground through a hidden passage inside the ruins. And there, buried beneath the earth, was—-a mechanical palace.
“This is……”
“The [Orchestra]. An ancient magitech superpower, a nation of fools who defied our mother, now fallen into ruin and erased from history.”
“………………ugh…………!”
Orchestra. That name struck something deep inside me.
I knew it. I knew the name Orchestra…….
“It’s currently sealed so we can’t activate it, but……well, what I really wanted to show you isn’t this.”
I entered the dormant mechanical palace buried underground.
Without even needing to follow Lucille, my body was naturally drawn to this dilapidated scrap heap of a palace.
“……So you want me to get this junk moving for you? That’s why you want me to defect?”
“You don’t have to be present to fly this. However…to utilize the functions we need, the authority that comes with you being the Princess is required. For you to use that authority, you’ll have to become the [Princess Makina-Orchestra ].”
Princess Makina-Orchestra .
“…Hah.”
It doesn’t suit me. Me, a princess?
While feeling that way, there’s also something about that name that fits oddly well.
“So if I refuse your invitation, the plan falls apart, is that it?”
“You won’t refuse. Even if you know it’s a foolish choice, you won’t turn down my invitation.”
Lucille, who had stopped, turns around.
“Because—love drives people insane.”
An ominous, bewitching smile was plastered on her face.
“People change because of love, become fools because of love. Love is the greatest power humans possess, and their biggest vulnerability. In fact, it’s because of your love for Alfred that you’re dancing the fool right now…Ah, let me tell you this too.”
At a distance where I could slit her throat in an instant if I wanted, Lucille didn’t stop smiling.
“Of the children chosen by our Mother to govern the [Six Emotions], I, who rules over [Love], am the strongest.”
“……………!”
Lucille was implying this:
Even if I changed my mind here and challenged her to battle, I could never kill her. Rather, I would be the one killed.
“…Well, that matter can wait for now. What’s important is Makina, isn’t it?”
The heavy iron doors swung open. Lucille motioned “Please” for me to enter, and my feet naturally carried me into the room.
“I only discovered this place just recently. When I did, I thought, ‘Ah, I must show this to Makina right away!'”
It was an immense research space. Magical machines lined up tidily everywhere.
In the center was a grandiose capsule-like casket, surrounded by similarly-shaped capsules arranged around it.
“What…is this…?”
My memories were still completely blank – a pure white void.
But strangely, my body felt at home in this place.
A vague impression floated into my mind – is this what it felt like in Mother’s womb?
“Take a look inside one of those capsules. You’ll see something interesting.”
“………..”
With stumbling, uncertain steps, I approached the central casket-like capsule and peered inside. Through the transparent glass on its surface, a girl slept peacefully.
“——Eh…?”
The girl with closed eyes, sleeping like a princess in a storybook, had…the same face as me.
No doubt about it. No chance of a mistake—the girl named Makina.
“Why…? Why…face…me…same face…”
I instinctively backed away, but wasn’t allowed to simply collapse.
Lucille was behind me, gently grasping my body to support me, not letting me escape.
I couldn’t look away, wasn’t allowed to look away.
“Look, over there too.”
“Ah…?”
Lucille must have operated something to supply magic power, as the countless capsules filling the room all began glowing with a faint light, clearly revealing what was contained inside each one.
“Ah…ah…ah, aah……..”
Inside every capsule, a girl slept quietly.
I knew their names. I recognized them. They were the girl [Makina].
Every single one. Each and every capsule. No matter which one. They all contained…Makina.
Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina. Makina.
—Countless mes.
“Me…why…so many…my face, all…why…?!”
I don’t understand. I don’t understand. Why. How. It’s sickening.
The same face. Sickening. Me. Me. Me…!
“Ugh…Uegh…!”
The rising nausea wouldn’t stop.
My body folded over as I kneeled on the cold floor of the lab, barely holding back the contents trying to come up from my stomach.
Sickening. Sickening. Sickening. Sickening. Sickening.
The exact same faces, without a single flaw, mass-produced like industrial products in uniform quality – me existing like that is just sickening…!
“The data mentioned it, but seeing it in person is quite the spectacle.”
“What…is this…? What’s…going on…?”
“Hm? Didn’t you say you were curious about your past, but not obsessed with it?”
“…Please…tell me…please…!”
I clung desperately to Lucille from my fallen position on the floor, forcibly moving my body that couldn’t even stand properly.
“What…am [I]?”
“Don’t worry. You are…the sole completed product.”
“That’s not…what I mean…”
I don’t even want to consider the meaning of those words – “the sole completed product.”
“You are Makina. The Princess Makina-Orchestra .”
“No…no way…I, I am…”
“It’s not a lie—you’re just not the real one.”
Not the real one. Those words struck me with the force of a physical blow. At the same time, I realized this body acknowledged it as the truth.
“Let me tell you a story from long ago.”
Seeing my turmoil, Lucille seemed to deliberately draw it out before beginning to speak.
“Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called Orchestra. Powered by the world’s most advanced magical technology, that kingdom flourished in prosperity befitting a true paradise. But one day, a threat known as the [Night Witch] assailed the world…And so, the beautiful and valiant Princess of Orchestra rose up. Alongside her fellow heroes, she confronted the Night Witch in a desperate battle. However, in order to protect the other heroes, she sacrificed herself as their shield, and died an abrupt death.”
It was like reading from a picture book, that gentle storytelling tone.
Yet that aura of tender affection felt all the more unsettling, more dreadful.
“The King who remained behind mourned and grieved. No matter Orchestra’s great technology, the dead could not be revived…And yet, the King, who was also the kingdom’s foremost researcher, never gave up and continued his work. All for the sake of his beloved daughter. Eventually, he discovered a way to save her…”
Lucille paused dramatically before twisting her lips.
“By creating an artificial human virtually identical to her, and implanting the daughter’s memories into it.”
“————————”
My mind went blank.
I wanted to deny it, but this body was acknowledging it.
Acknowledging the words Lucille spoke as truth.
“The one in that central casket is the real Makina-Orchestra. And you are—the sole successful end-product out of these countless failures filling this room. You have no memories? Of course not. Because you are…an empty doll, created for the sole purpose of having memories implanted into you.”
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