"I see that you didn't know about it either…"
That's only natural.
After all, everything in that storeroom was collected by my grandfather, and I had nothing to do with it.
But from the look of that coffin, I thought maybe there was a real mummy in there…
"I-I mean, there's no way I'd think a living person would be in there…"
"I agree. Everyone was surprised."
Only Yuti was as excited as usual, but from the looks of everyone else, even Ouma-san didn't seem to notice.
Rather, how long has she been in there? How was she even still alive?
I'm confused by the situation. And I can't stop thinking about it.
But then another bomb was dropped on me.
"Well, Yuuya. There is something else I have to tell you."
"Y-yes?"
"It's about Night and the others…"
"Night? Huh? Speaking of which, where are Night and the others?"
If everyone was here, it was not surprising that Night and the others were here, but for some reason, not only Night but even those who go at their own paces, like Akatsuki and Ciel, were not here in this storage room.
While I looked around, Kuuya-san continued, looking like he was having a hard time explaining.
"Night and the others… disappeared."
"…..Huh?"
I couldn't understand what Kuuya-san meant, so I just kept asking back.
"What do you mean by disappeared…?"
"It means exactly what it says. Night and the others were in this room with us. But a piece of the mask that was hanging there fell on them, and when they touched it, they disappeared."
"Eh."
There are indeed some creepy masks hanging on the wall in the place Kuuya-san pointed out.
However, the number of masks had decreased.
"Disappeared, you say? Where?"
I never had much of a feeling about it, but Ouma-san and the others said that this room was a dangerous place where various powers swirl around.
And one of them, the mask, was not considered normal, of course.
If something happened to Night and the others…!
I panicked, but Ouma-san opened his mouth.
"I can understand your concern, but I'm sure they'll be fine."
"H-how can you be so sure?"
"Night is a Black Fenrir, comparable to me, you know. Besides, Akatsuki is also a special being, and even the Luan Ciel is with them. No matter what happens, I'm sure they'll be fine."
"M-maybe, but…"
I know that Night and the others are also strong.
But there was another concern besides that and my feelings.
"More importantly, you have a lot of work to do right now, don't you? The same goes for the little girl sleeping there, but isn't there something going on in the other world as well?"
"….."
Ouma-san was right, and Iris-san asked for my help.
But I still don't know what it meant.
Then Kuuya-san put his hand on my shoulder.
"For now, just do what you can, one thing at a time. I'll look into the masks with Ouma. Don't worry; Night and the others will be fine."
"I agree. Night and the others are strong. Besides, if Yuuya disappears too, we will lose control of the situation."
If I touched the mask on the wall and something happened to me, I would end up neglecting Iris-san, who came to seek my help.
Besides, we still don't know anything about the woman sleeping there.
…All right.
Sure, there are a lot of things in this room.
But none of the things in here have ever brought me bad luck.
There have been times when I've found some extraordinary things lying around, such as the blueprints for weapons on Merl's home planet of Amel, but it's all been good, such as my meeting with Kuuya-san.
Most of all, I would like to think that no matter how big of a collector Grandpa was… he didn't collect dangerous things.
"I understand. I would appreciate it if you could do some investigation on the masks."
"Umu, you can leave it to me! I will ask Reimei-sama about it."
"It was my carelessness as well. I will do my best."
Kuuya-san and Ouma-san said they would investigate the mask.
When I was relieved, Lexia-san called out to me.
"Hey, Ouma-sama mentioned earlier that something happened in the other world… that's our world, right? What happened?"
"Well, actually…"
"──Master! Iris-sama is awake!"
When I was about to talk about Iris-sama, Meiko came to call me; it seemed that Iris-sama had just woken up.
Stella and I immediately went to see Iris-san, and Lexia-san, Luna, and Yuti followed us.
Ouma-san and Kuuya-san seemed to be keeping an eye on the mysterious woman.
Then Lexia-san noticed Stella at my feet.
"Come to think of it… you haven't really introduced me to the child yet."
"Well… I'll introduce her to you later." [T/n: Well, I'll just assume Stella is a female with that name :D]
"Nyaa."
"S-so cute…"
Upon hearing Stella's greeting, Luna's cheeks flushed red, and she murmured softly.
When I went to Iris-san like that, she tried to move her body vigorously as soon as she saw me.
"Yuuya-kun! Ugh…"
"Iris-san!"
But it seemed that she had not regained all of her strength, so I hastily took Iris-san in my arms and laid her down again.
"Please take it easy."
"I'm sorry. I was in a hurry and…"
"That Iris-sama is in such a state… What in the world happened?"
Although her wounds had healed up, her clothes and other things were in tatters, and it was obvious at a glance that she had been involved in a fierce battle.
So Luna, who was well aware of Iris-san's usual strength, asked her in surprise.
Then…
"There was a declaration of war."
"A declaration of war?"
As I tilted my head, not understanding the meaning, Lexia-san opened her mouth.
"Did a country start a war?"
"If so, I don't quite understand why Iris-sama is in such a state…"
"Strong. Iris is strong. And since she's a Holy, she shouldn't have anything to do with the war."
Iris-san nodded as each of them said this.
"Yuti is right; the enemy is not a country."
"Not a country… Then what in the world are we up against? I thought we defeated the Evil before… but don't tell me that the Evil has returned with the power of the Evil cult?"
"──It's the Holy!"
""""!?""""
Our eyes widened at Iris-san's words.
I thought it was possible that the remnants of the Evil cult had resurrected another Evil from another era, but that was not the case.
Surprisingly, the opponent was the same Holy as Iris-san.
"W-why did the same, Holy… Could it be that they received the power of Evil just like before?"
"No. It was not the power of Evil… It was a power similar to the Divine Authority we had acquired."
"Huh?"
Divine Authority was the power we acquired to defeat the false god under the Observers.
As the name implied, it's a god-like power, but while the Observers could do anything with it, our Divine Authority can do small things like instant movement and body enhancement.
However, in order to acquire this power, we had given up being human, and even though it was not perfect, it was a power worthy of the name Divine Authority.
"The opponent was using Divine Power… and while ours was imperfect, theirs was like the power of a perfect God."
"P-perfect… Does that mean they are the same as the Observers?"
"No, I think it's more mysterious… and that's what a real 'god' is like."
Certainly, the Observers were just denizens of the dimension above, and although their power was tremendous, they were different from God.
However, the Holy who possessed Divine Power, as described by Iris-san, were beings similar to the God we know.
"The Holy who possesses this Divine Power have declared war on the world. They want people to surrender to their control. And if anyone refuses… they will kill them."
"….."
We were horrified.
"H-how could they do such a thing…?"
"…They only want one thing. They want to take control of the world and create a world where no more Evil is born."
"Huh?"
It was so far-fetched that I couldn't keep up with what was happening.
"How is the management of the world related to a world where no Evil will ever be born?"
"As you probably know, Yuuya-kun, Evil is an entity that collects the negative emotions of all beings living in this world. That's why, in order to eliminate the negative emotions of all living beings… they want to manage the emotions of all humanity."
"No way! That's ridiculous!"
Lexia-san shouted at Iris-san's words.
"Of course, what Lexia-chan said is true; it's a messed up idea. It is true that we, the Holy, have received the power from this planet to fight against Evil. But controlling all the beings on this planet to destroy the Evil is unacceptable."
"I have a question: How can they act so ruthlessly and not be stripped of their Holy power?"
When Luna mentioned the question she had in mind, Iris-san shook her head.
"Normally, they would be stripped of their power. But these people… Maybe it is because of the influence of the Divine Power, the power of the Holy is still intact."
From this planet… Argena-san, I also received the power of Holy Evil Creation.
As the name suggests, this power can manipulate the two powers of Holy and Evil.
It was true that Evil was a threat to the creatures of this world, but the Evil aspect itself was necessary for the world.
Trying to erase it completely, let alone manage people who had nothing to do with it, was…
"So, you mentioned a declaration of war. Is that against some country?"
"No, the whole world. This must be the power of the Divine Power… They projected themselves into the sky above the whole world and told the world from there."
"So what happened?"
When Lexia-san asked this, Iris-san had a difficult expression on her face.
"Regardless of whether they are part of the Holy, no country would accept such a ridiculous idea of managing humanity. So right now, the situation has begun to divide into two main groups: those who are just standing by and watching the situation quietly and those who are organizing a strike force. As I recall, the Kingdom of Arcelia has been quiet about this…"
"Father…"
The Kingdom of Arcelia, ruled by Lexia-san's father, Arnold-sama, seems to be watching the situation for now.
They are in no way obeying this Holy; they are just working to understand the situation.
"Iris-san. Who is this Holy who is trying to control humanity?"
"The Katana Saint… Shu Zakuren."
With an expression of disgust on her face, Iris-san spoke the name.