Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume1 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 3===

As soon as he heard the term “unlicensed doctor”, Shiroyama Kyousuke ran out from Aika’s apartment.
The digital clock on the Ferris wheel’s main support said it was ''10:30 AM''.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do for her sister, so I understand wanting to try anything. But if she shows up uninvited with an Ultra-C difficulty request she’ll probably just be kicked out.”

Lu Niang Lan was (abnormally) knowledgeable on the subject and she had that to say, but Kyousuke had different expectations.

Renge and Higan were twin sisters.

As their genetic information was so very similar, the compatibility of their organs would be overwhelmingly high.

And Higan was suffering due to the pressure that the fragments of the White Queen were placing on her blood vessels and organs.

Simply put, if they had a full set of replacement organs, Higan could be saved without a clash with the White Queen.

However, that would mean…

“Dammit!!”

He ran. He sometimes even jumped down from one giant bridge to another as a shortcut to get him to his destination as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, he did not need to search at random.

Lu Niang Lan had told him the name of the “merchant” she had told Renge about.

Block C had been built to recreate a film set modeled after an outsider’s view of a Chinatown. If an unlicensed doctor was lurking there, they had likely been drawn in by the ''unrealistic'' image of the place.

He caught a glimpse of the unique shrine maiden outfit mixed into the usual crowd of colorful costumes.

He approached from behind and grabbed her slender shoulders. Before she had time for surprise, he dragged her into a nearby alley and slammed her back against the building wall.

“Do you really understand what you’re trying to do here!?” he yelled at close range.

The girl’s shoulders shook and she seemed to shrink down like a small animal.

But even as the boy held her against the wall, Renge glared back at him.

“This is the only way.”

She was forcing out the words.

What did that mean? It likely meant she had been properly weighing her own life on the scales.

She had worried over this so much that she had lost sight of the correct answer.

“We’re up against skilled summoners led by the ultimate White Queen and no Material can defeat that monster!! There’s no way we can defeat the White Queen in just a few hours to remove those three thousand objects from Higan’s body. So what else can we do but give up on that direct method!?”

“Even if you’re twins, you can’t skip past the tests as a shortcut to the surgery. You have to test for compatibility, infectious disease, immunosuppressants, and more. Organ transplants aren’t the same as replacing a clock’s gears. And I can tell just from looking at your hair and eyes that you’re fraternal twins. Unlike identical twins, you have different genetic sequences, so you’d have to start at the very, very beginning with a blood test. There’s simply no way you could complete all of the surgeries before the time limit.”

Renge smiled thinly after listening to all that.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“What?”

“Higan and I ''aren’t just twins''.”

He did not know what she meant.

He was caught off guard, so she brushed off his hands. But not to run away. She opened the neck of her shrine maiden outfit to show him something.

He assumed dazzlingly white skin would reach his eyes.

He was not wrong about that.

But a moment later, Meinokawa Higan ''opened'' her chest at the center of her ribs.

“…Eh?”

Shiroyama Kyousuke had seen plenty of psychedelic worlds, but his thoughts briefly ground to a halt.

The ribs that opened like a strange umbrella or flower were made of wood polished to an amber color. The contents were far removed from soft masses of dark red. There were shells shaped like the different organs, but they did not look alive. They looked more like handmade leather bags.

They pulsated, but there was no heartbeat or mechanical noises.

The gears moved so smoothly they produced no noise. That indicated the skill put into their construction more than any craftsman’s signature could.

He recalled some useless trivia about western automata being created by clockmakers.

“What is…this…?”

[[Image:BloodSign_v01_299.jpg|thumb]]

“It’s known as the Joruri Method. Although after creating something that looks and talks just like a human, I’m guessing they were hesitant to directly call it a toy or a machine.”

There was a somewhat self-deprecating tone to her answer.

And she kept her bizarre internal structure exposed all the while.

“Didn’t you find it odd?” asked Renge with her chest truly “opened”. “Could a lone summoner separated from her vessel really escape an organization like Guard of Honor so easily? Could I really do that if I had become nothing but a normal human?”

He could not definitely say she could not.

Take Lu Niang Lan of Illegal for example. That Perfect Dragon hated the summoning ceremony and exterminated skilled summoners entirely on her own, so she might be able to do it.

But it would have been impossible for Shiroyama Kyousuke himself.

He might have been able to lose them for a short time, but he would have ultimately needed to rely on a vessel and Material.

Even Alice (with) Rabbit would need that.

“But…”

His tone made it clear he still could not believe what he was seeing.

“What even are you? I’ve never heard of a wholly artificial summoner. For one thing, the summoner and the Material vanish from all cameras and sensors while the Incense Grenade is in effect. No unmanned weapon or missile should be able to see them.”

That was why manned weapons like the Repliglass soldiers were still used even if they could not directly combat the Material. With the exception of primitive optical devices like glasses and binoculars, anything beyond the naked eye was useless as one’s eyes or ears.

And yet…

“My family has long worked in this field.” Renge, who existed outside that assumption, readily answered. “Repliglass is modeled after insects and other animals, but you’ve heard that it was originally developed as a container for the White Queen, haven’t you? This is the same. Before Repliglass became widespread, we secretly built Joruri Method vessels. We originally specialized in ''doll funerals'', but after we gained an interest in machines that moved on their own…well, I guess you could say the hunter became the hunted. …The ideal form was to have a human summoner and a Joruri Method vessel to control the Material with no interference whatsoever.”

That was the ideal form, but in reality, Renge was the summoner and Joruri Method while Higan was the vessel and a human.

Or was Meinokawa Higan also not human?

“That girl is human. That is why she has suffered through so many unreasonable things.”

“?”

“Even if it was through an irregular method, the Meinokawa family found its social significance by producing stable and skilled summoners. I was the machine produced later and Higan was originally the only heir. Now do you see the problem she faced?”

“I do. No inborn talent is needed to become a summoner, but it is to become a vessel. But then those with that talent can’t become a summoner.”

The Artificial Sacred Ground created by an Incense Grenade was basically an area where it was a little easier for ghosts to make an appearance. The vessel acted as a contact point, so if they tried to be a summoner themselves, the Material would hijack their body. The very fact that a pair was needed for the summoning ceremony proved that the vessel needed the support of a third party to maintain control.

An excellent vessel was a type of genius.

But she had not been given the opportunity to use that genius in the small Meinokawa world.

“Blonde hair and blue eyes. I’d thought you seemed pretty different for twins…”

“Did you think we were a half or quarter non-Japanese? She is entirely Japanese-made. She just ended up ‘like that’ as they messed with her body, trying to medically remove the trait that allows the Material to possess her.”

That attempt had presumably failed.

The trait had only been partially removed and yet she was still such an excellent vessel.

So how great a vessel had she been originally? Kyousuke recalled how famous ukiyoe pictures had been balled up as cushioning for decorative plates during the Meiji period. That was exactly what had happened to Meinokawa Higan’s life.

“That is why I was made.” The Joruri Method in a shrine maiden outfit spoke quietly. “The skeletal structure, arrangement of organs, and other basic features of Higan’s body were combined into the ‘ideal Meinokawa Higan’ that the entire family felt should have been born. That is Meinokawa Renge. That is me. And that is why I’m treated like the elder twin despite being made later.”

That explained some things.

Kyousuke had never heard of a third party hijacking the contract between a summoner and vessel, but this meant that the connection between Renge and Higan was not normal. Had that irregularity been caused by the powerful bond created by a being that did not exist in the natural world?

“I…still have a hard time believing this. Higan showed no sign of hiding something like this. She even ran from safety and toward almost certain doom to save you. If she had been forced down by you and covered in hatred, she never would have done that.”

“She…” Renge hesitated to speak, but she did so anyway. “She does not know the truth. Or rather, she can’t see it. After all, I’m the ideal form of Meinokawa Higan. Her hair and eyes may have changed, but I might as well be her mental image of what ‘Meinokawa Higan’ looks like. She must see a truer version of the Meinokawa Sisters when she looks in my face than when she looks in a mirror. …That is why we are twin sisters even if we look so different.”

Summoner and vessel.

Ideal and reality.

Older sister and younger sister.

It had all been flipped upside down, so what had Meinokawa Renge thought while living alongside Higan? She was an artificial creation, she was being used by humans, and she had gained trust based on a false understanding. The more Higan smiled her way, the less she would have been able to accept it.

Even so, she had refused to run away and she had continued to protect Higan. That was why she was here now.

And that was why she had made the decision to throw away her own life.

“Thanks to this, the normal theories of organ transplants don’t apply.” Renge kept the inside of her opened chest on display. “We don’t have to think about rejection or immunosuppressants. I was created as the ideal Meinokawa Higan, so her body will accept my artificial organs better than any others. …We can make it in time this way. Defeating the White Queen might be unrealistic, but we still have a way to save her.”

She would protect her sister.

She had lived with only that in her heart and it had led to this decision.

That desire may have saved her as well. Kyousuke did not know how many years it had been since Meinokawa Renge had been created, but she had been burdened with a definite purpose from the moment of her birth and that purpose came from the destruction of the dreams held by the very person who idolized her. How could she have remained calm when faced with that?

So saving her sister may have also saved herself.

But…

“That won’t work.”

Her feelings, her resolve, her determination, her devotion, and her love had all led to this dark red conclusion, so could he really say they were right?

“Why not? I’m a Joruri Method machine while she’s human. Protecting her is my only reason to continue functioning. The optimal answer is right before my eyes. We don’t need to bet on the ridiculous possibility of defeating the White Queen. I can save her like this! So…!!”

“That may be logical. When weighing the value of your lives, maybe we should choose the human life. But Higan told me something in her own words. When you were separated by that battle at the harbor, she could have abandoned her sister and hidden in safety on her own, but she said something else!”

“What are you talking about!?”

“She said that isn’t what she meant when she asked for ‘help’!! And then she returned all on her own! She returned to the battlefield to bring you back!!”

Renge stopped breathing.

Her despairing thoughts came to a stop.

And Kyousuke’s shouted words slipped in through that gap.

“Higan was separated from you back then. Death was approaching her too and most anyone would honestly speak the ugly thoughts deep inside them. But then! At the very, very end!! When she spoke the thoughts deep inside her, it was a desire to save you!! So can you still say that throwing away your own life would save Higan!?”

“That’s…that’s only because she doesn’t know the truth. That’s only because she can’t see reality! She’s being deceived!! I mean…I’m just a Joruri Method…I’m just a machine…and I stole everything from her…!!”

“So what? Even if she doesn’t know the truth of this world, I’ll still follow the dream in her eyes. It might be silly, but that resolve came from her heart. She spoke the ‘cursed words’ to me, so I’ll help her. I may be reluctant and I might not gain anything from this, but I’m not going to accept a half-assed conclusion now that I’ve agreed to this!! What about you? After coming this far and protecting her for so long, are you going to accept an imperfect conclusion in the very, very end!?”

“…”

She fell silent.

Renge fell silent.

She too had to know what the most ideal answer was. She had decided to be Meinokawa Higan’s sister, so she was not a machine that could only obey her source code and she was not a shell of a human that could only repeat the same action again and again after losing during the summoning ceremony. But she had realized how difficult it would be to achieve that, so she had fled to another answer.

She could not do it. The Meinokawa Sisters could not do it even if they worked together.

But…

“Say it,” said Shiroyama Kyousuke. “I will defeat the White Queen myself. That will remove everything eating into Meinokawa Higan. I will use everything available to me, I will cheat in every way I can, and I will sweep aside everyone who stands in my way. Freedom Award 902, Alice (with) Rabbit, swears it. …So say the cursed words. That will complete this.”

Meinokawa Renge remained silent with her head lowered.

Finally, she bit her lip a little. She closed up the unnatural and grotesquely lacking contents of her body. Now that she was just a girl once more, she slowly gathered all of her courage and spoke the decisive, triggering words.

“…lp…us.”

At first, it sounded more like an escaping breath than a voice.

It slowly but surely grew into the words that could shake the human heart.

“If you’re going to say all that, then help us.”

A certain tone filled her scratchy words.

It was a heated emotion. It was a raw torrent of mixed emotions that could not be easily identified as any single one.

“Higan doesn’t have much longer. I don’t have time to be picky about my methods! The White Queen is hopelessly cruel and powerful! She’s so frightening that not even gathering up all the summoners around here would be enough! In fact, I can’t even break through the protection of Guard of Honor that serves her! I might rely on luck or pray for a divine miracle, but the White Queen reigns beyond even the Divine-class! So! When I find myself utterly helpless and sink into the bog of despair, no final prayer is going to conveniently solve everything! It won’t do a damn thing!”

Renge’s carefully-prepared words were falling apart.

Her tone was shaking and sobs mixed into her voice.

“But…”

At some point, her tear ducts had opened.

“If you’re going to brag that you can make the impossible possible…”

She cried.

Her face grew red, she did not wipe away the clear liquid dripping down her cheeks, and she threw her words at him from close range.

“If you think you can help us, then prove it!!!!!”

Shiroyama Kyousuke narrowed his eyes little.

The individual before his eyes was only a girl. It did not matter if she was a Joruri Method or an artificially-created summoner. She was nothing more than a girl driven to absolute desperation in her desire to save her sister.

He did not need to give it much thought. He did not need to say anything grand. All of that would be entirely superfluous.

There was only one thing he had to say.

He only had to make the one announcement to the crying girl before his eyes.

“As you wish.”

The contract had been updated.

The giant gears that moved Alice (with) Rabbit heavily yet quietly began to turn once more.