"..."
[Silent Magical Energy Drain Feedback]
"..."
(Silently maintaining guns)
"Senpai, Nightingale-san. What are we doing from here..."
""Treatment.""
"——...Y-Yes..."
"This is bad~! I'm late! Nail Esthetic Salon JK Polish Suzuka-Milla, if we don't open soon, it's gonna be bad!"
"...Why do I have to do this too...?"
"You wanna be beautiful, right? We just gotta do it together with max hype!"
"Haa... Someday, maybe..."
Thorough Treatment!
"...You're here."
Standing motionless at the entrance of the President House, Karna's eyes acknowledge the bike approaching from the distance.
They soon come to a stop right in front of Karna.
"Hello! Karna!"
Cheerfully returning the greeting is humanity's last Master, the one harboring a dragon, Rikka.
"Thank you for your hard work, Hero of Charity, Karna-san."
"You are suffering from an illness too."
Mash and Nightingale follow suit.
"...I suppose so. I too suffer from the illness of needing to be loyal. Is your ability to instantly see through the pathology of those you look at due to your innate nature as a nurse?"
"No, you are just easy to understand."
"......Is that so."
Karna becomes visibly depressed, to a level understandable even to bystanders. His radiance is somewhat sorrowful.
(He was worried about it...)
(He's drooping tremendously...)
"...Right. My illness is innate. I do not know if it can be cured, but I shall struggle. More importantly..."
Regaining his composure, Karna turns to face them.
"You grasped it, didn't you? The light filling this continent, the 1% inspiration."
"Yeah! Now we just have to combine it with the 99% perspiration Edison has piled up!"
Hearing those words, Karna smiles slightly but certainly.
"——I see. Then our paths truly converge now. I shall guide you to the throne. Thanks to your severe medication, Edison is on the verge of death. ...His illness will not be cured unless he is nearly dead."
"Thanks! ...Huh? Come to think of it, why is Karna-san cooperating with Edison?"
Turning his back to Rikka's question.
"Because he asked me first. He bent his knee to a useless man like me. That is reason enough to lend a hand."
"——Yeah! That's reason enough to lend a hand, isn't it!"
Rikka nods deeply at Karna's answer.
Because she too lived by the creed of answering with her all if asked or relied upon.
"Now——are you prepared? Now is the time for this country to become one in the true sense."
『Are you okay? Rikka... do we have a chance of winning?』
"We do! If there is a will, I will definitely win! Right? Mash, Nightingale!"
At Rikka's smile, the two nod.
"Yes!"
"Doctor, let us go. It is time to save the patient."
"...See?"
『——Fufu. I was an idiot for asking.』
『If you resort to forceful measures, call me. I'll turn the President House into a campfire for you.』
Jeanne Alter laughs cacklingly. This is her way of encouragement.
If you fail, I'm here. Go all out. That is her way, as an Avenger, as her pride.
"Thank you! Marie, Alter!"
"...I shall keep a sharp eye out to ensure you do not resort to hasty plans."
Harboring their own thoughts, the group headed towards the throne of the President House...
"Look, Edison. They're here! Shape up!"
Arriving at the throne, they find a girl holding a book, Helena Blavatsky...
"U, umu. ...They're here..."
...Encouraging a lion who is curled up, sitting hugging his knees on the throne.
『Wow, it's working... Rikka-kun's medication is working tremendously...』
Edison's face clearly lacks vitality. ——It's no wonder. He was told "Uncool" by a child who had read his own words, his biography. For a hero, it is a medicine more severe than death.
"Doctor Rikka. We will treat him here. Is that acceptable?"
"Yeah! ...Edison! Stand up!"
Edison stands up unsteadily.
"...I am sad. Being this sad hasn't happened since the unemployment rate exceeded 30%."
His voice clearly lacks tension. He looks less like a lion and inferior to a cat.
"Is it because you didn't cooperate? No. Is it because you sided with the Resistance? ——No. ...It is because I failed to notice the true meaning of your words."
Edison looks down. The sorrowful atmosphere is unmistakable, genuine.
He is lamenting. That he disappointed a single girl.
Above all——that he himself couldn't realize it.
"Even with these strong limbs, health bursting at the seams, and sharpened intellect. ——Even with all of that, I didn't understand. What about me disappointed you? Disappointed the children of future generations who read my biography and loved me..."
Edison holds his head.
"If I don't understand that, I have no business calling myself President! It is a disgrace to the name of the King of Inventors, Thomas Alva Edison!"
——The pathology has been laid bare. Now, all that remains is to thrust it before him and excise it.
"Tell me, Rikka...! Dragon Spirit Girl! What about me, who stood up to protect America, do you call 'Uncool'——!?"
『Rikka, tell him. If he's half-dead, it would be a mercy to kill him outright so he can be reborn.』
Jeanne Alter believes in Rikka's words and urges her on.
"Yeah! ——The reason you're uncool is because you're trying to protect only 'America', Edison!"
Now, the Dragon of Dialogue bares its fangs. To massacre all deception and anguish, and pluck out the true reality.
"Wh-What——?"
"You knelt to despair and tried to do something about only America! Saying, 'Since it's hopeless anyway, at least America'! ——Despite being Edison, you gave up first thing!! That's why you're uncool!!"
"————!! Th-That is...!"
"The Edison I know never gave up on anything difficult! If he failed 99 times, he grasped success on the 100th! If he failed 999 times, he managed something on the 1000th! That way, you didn't give up——and created many inventions!! And those are helping the lives of everyone living in the world! You're 'Saving the Entire World'! If you weren't there, most of the life I know wouldn't exist! That's the Edison I know! That's my favorite 'King of Inventors'!"
"Edison, King of Inventors——..."
"But the Edison in front of my eyes gave up first thing! Facing the despair of no future, the helpless reality, you took the easiest way out saying 'It's hopeless', deceiving yourself saying 'I am doing well', 'I am the Great President King', lying, and puffing out your chest! That——is way too uncool!!"
"Guh—ffffffffff!!"
Sliced open without anesthesia, Edison spills out his agony.
(This is effective... Being told 'What are you doing' by a human from the future, of course it hurts...)
(...Merciless... Truly, this is what they call touching the dragon's reverse scale...)
Helena and Karna nod quietly.
And then, Rikka slams in the decisive blow——!
"You aren't the Edison I know!! Give me back the cool Edison I know! You Lion-Imitation!!!!!!"
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
Shaking the atmosphere, Edison lets out a death cry.
"L-Lion imitation... Not even Edison, but a lion imitation..."
Muttering continuously, Ediso—Lion Imitation.
"Ouch..."
"...The wound is deep. Be disappointed, Edison..."
Karna looks down in sorrow. He cannot find words to say to Rikka's overly severe criticism.
"Alright! I said what I wanted to say! Nightingale! Touch!"
"Understood. I will make the incision and excise the exposed affected area."
Giving a high-five, she walks up to the slumped Edison.
"Hebuah!!!"
First, Nightingale slams in a wake-up slap.
"Stand up. I have not finished saying what needs to be said, the excision is not complete."
『It's not over yet!?』
『...If I were told that, forget hysteria... I'd go straight to depression...』
Ignoring the comments from the peanut gallery, the Angel of Crimea grabs the collar of the trembling lion and glares at him.
"M-Ms. Nightingale——"
"I will correct your irrationality."
"I-Irrationality...?"
"Yes. With your method, you cannot defeat the Celts."
She stated the fact bluntly.
The fact that he had continued to avert his eyes from, no, that 'They' had continued to avert their eyes from.
"The Celts are monsters who spent their lives fighting until death. As you can see from Cú Chulainn at the top, the humans of this era are left behind from the starting line. Furthermore, Queen Medb, whom they revere, possesses the Holy Grail and is infinitely producing warriors. That is why you cannot win, you cannot possibly win."
『——Their proliferation requires no resources other than the Holy Grail. I see. It's simple once you realize it. The idea of competing with numbers was already...』
Roman mutters as if realizing it.
『Mass production without purchasing materials or incurring production costs... No way. A merchant's business cannot stand... I have but one word: are you underestimating the market?』
Laughing, Caster of Midrash reveals her anger.
"But you did not yield on that. No, you did not want to lose in that mechanism. Because——'Mass producing, making better things cheaper', that is the genius you, Thomas Edison, pride yourself on. And that aesthetic of yours robbed you of your original intellect. 'I won't lose on my home ground', you unconsciously became stubborn. Because you were thinking sluggishly like that, you were contaminated by the illness and disappointed the Doctor."
"Wh————B-But——Wh-What a thing to say——I cannot, deny it..."
Edison declares, stunned.
"Certainly, I was obsessed with production capacity. Even though resources would run out, saying it was fine because we would win in the end..."
"Exactly. What is the point of winning only in production capacity? AND! SO! ALSO!"
Snap, she points her finger.
"Your biggest mistake is your body! There is no record that Edison had a lion's head. Furthermore, he could not possibly possess such powerful strength. Then, you have a power other than yourself. The desire (dream) trying to make you a 'King'."
"Is that the Holy Grail?"
She shakes her head at Mash's question.
"No. The Holy Grail is 'something that grants wishes', not 'something that creates wishes'. Edison, your wish was not born from you."
"...That is correct. My name is Thomas Alva Edison. And the Great President King of this America. Past, present, and future. The one given power by the Presidents of this country. Because that is rational."
Edison speaks. Of his own incongruity, the truth of his body.
"They reached the conclusion that even if they were all summoned as Servants, they would be defeated by the Celts. Then, they should concentrate their power on one person. On a hero boasting worldwide fame. ——They entrusted the future called America——"
"——What was attached to you wasn't 'Power'. It was the 'Arrogance' saying 'Be like that'."
Slowly, Rikka muttered.
——Because she understands that way of being better than anyone.
"That is the illness. There is a mission to heal, to save this world. ...E Pluribus Unum. You, a nation formed from many ethnicities, are equal to a child of all nations. Then, you have an obligation to save the world. Because you averted your eyes from that and tried to save your own country——Edison suffers."
"Nu, gu——"
Nightingale gouges it out.
"And because of that——"
Now, she swings up the final blade——
"You disappointed the Doctor, a child who looked up to you, and as a fellow genius inventor, you are defeated by Nikola Tesla. You are."
"GAOHOOOOO————!!!!???"
Slammed with the accumulated spells, Edison collapsed with a thud——
"——Procedure complete. Doctor."
"Nice! Nightingale!"
『Mash, check Edison's pulse.』
"...He's alive! Survival confirmed!"
Twitch, twitch, Edison convulses. ——He is alive.
"His life is not in danger. ——Now, Doctor."
"Yeah! Edison."
Rikka asks. To 'Thomas Alva Edison'.
"What do you want to do?"
"Gu... mu..."
Slowly, he stands up.
"——Right. It is as you say. Entrusted with power by the successive Kings, I derived the fact that I still could not win rationally. I stepped off my own path just a little..."
[A little?]
At the chaotic aura welling up, Edison rephrases.
"Greatly! I stepped off... It seems I was wandering in a maze of foolish thoughts..."
"It does not matter if you were lost. Because you have now stood at the starting line."
At Nightingale's words, he looks down deeply.
"...After forcing sacrifices on the citizens to this extent, finally at the starting line... This is harsh, harsh... What should I do from now on..."
"It's decided."
Rikka holds out her hand to the Lion.
"Let's 'Challenge' it together with us!"
"Challenge..."
"That's right, Edison. Failing countless times but never giving up, causing trouble for those around you but shrewdly standing back up yourself. That is your life, isn't it? Right, Thomas Alva Edison."
Softly, warmly, the acquaintance affirms him.
"Blavatsky... It sounds like I'm being praised and insulted at the same time, but... Thank you. You are my friend after all. Winning in the end is enough. That was my life's conclusion. However——I am a loser cat. A coward. A King of Lawsuits. To lead this country once more is..."
"That is wrong. Your struggle, your failure, was just 'bad timing', Edison."
What illuminates Edison again is the warm shine of the sun.
"You lost your way, but the place you were aiming for was correct. That is why they came here again. Saving those whose names you do not know, trying to shine a light in a dark world, I declare that these are desires you can have confidence in. No matter how much debt you have to yourself, how much twisted self-loathing you have, or if you sometimes commit evil deeds out of cowardice. ——Your inventions have illuminated and saved someone."
"Karna-kun..."
"Your 99% perspiration is now to be rewarded. Grasp the 1% inspiration before your eyes right now. ——For a flawless ending, your power is needed right now."
Heh, Karna smiles.
"——'Go. Someone is surely waiting for you, who is no one else'."
He spoke thus.
Even if ugly, shallow, fleshly, lazy, porky, foolish, and miserable.
Even so——just like that time when he protected the woman who was an irreplaceable human and flew towards ruin.
"——I see. So you say that for me. You, from a world where inventions were alien..."
『Master, Master. Please let me say something too.』
In the control room, the 'Daughter' who nurtured a bond with Babbage, Fran, appears.
"Sure! Go ahead!"
『Thank you. Ahem. Nice to meet you, Edison. I will convey Babbage-sensei's words to you.』
"Y-You are Babbage-kun's irreplaceable beloved daughter!? The Frankenstein's——whom he lectured in Morse code for at least 12 hours and made write 120 pages of thesis——"
『Indeed. Listen well, Lion.』
Suu, she inhales.
『It's not a loss until you go bankrupt!』
She states Babbage's view on life.
That was the trigger.
"——If so, yes! If so! The Great President King does not die, he must stand up again and again!!"
He stands up. As a human.
"The dream of a prosperous world! Revives here!! Karna-kun, Lady Blavatsky! I caused you trouble!!"
"It's fine, we're friends, right?"
"...It is presumptuous, but we are friends. Having come this far."
His two irreplaceable treasures smile gently.
"——Fu. I am always blessed with good friends. In this alone, that eccentric fellow cannot match me! It is a treasure solely mine!!"
"Yeah, yeah! If you have one friend, the world is saved! If you have two, you can do anything! Right, Jeanne! Marie!"
『...Right. Yes. That is exactly right.』
『——Yes. I guarantee it. As long as you have friends, you can do anything.』
Jeanne Alter and Marie deeply, deeply chew on those words.
『I want you to add love there too~♥』
『I-I-I won't deny it! Yeah!』
The two playfully interact with a smile.
"Right. ...I apologize for my unworthiness that disappointed you, and I thank you for sticking with me without abandoning such a me, Lady Rikka."
"It's okay! Now, let's get it together! This is something precious only to us, for which we're filing a patent application! It's the 'Future of the World'!"
Laughing cheerfully, Rikka grasps Edison's hand.
"Let's go! Let's become 100% geniuses together! If it's us, we can create the great invention that 'Saves the World'!"
"——I am grateful. And reassured. That's right. I had forgotten something terrible."
Slowly, he is pulled up to stand.
"A President is always accompanied by a Vice President. Sometimes, one more capable than the President himself, you know."
"Edison-shi, then!"
He answers Mash's admiration with a roar.
"I am Thomas Alva Edison! Now, piling up effort and inspiration, I want to achieve the great invention that saves the world!! Of course, Dragon Spirit Lady Rikka! As your Servant!"
"Likewise!! ——Yeah! The Edison I know has finally returned!"
Rikka smiles brightly.
"In my country, it's common knowledge everyone knows! That 'Edison is a great person'!!"
"Thank you. Truly... Together, let us save the world! My Master!!"
"Yeah!!"
——Here the treatment was fulfilled, and Western America became one!
"I'm glad he was sensible. If he had rampaged, the [Nine Lives] would have exploded."
"Eh."
"I am also relieved. That we were able to save you without killing you. As expected of Dr. Rikka. It was an appropriate procedure."
"Nightingale was nice too!"
"...You narrowly escaped death, Edison."
"U, umu... Thank goodness..."
"——The me over there seems to be quite helpful."
"——Then, we cannot let him be killed. ...I wonder if the King of Heroes will lend me his wealth..."
-------------------------------
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