Editing Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi:Volume6 Chapter2 (section)

===Part X===
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Madame continued to expand.

She had been contained within the school grounds the previous days, but at this moment, her body had swallowed the school building and was almost overflowing the grounds.

There were more than three hundred embrasures from what she could see, and an unprecedented variety of cannons she had never seen before.

Fortunately, there was no footing beneath the wall as she was this big, and it seemed impossible to move. Instead, there were three long-range cannons the size of buildings on top of the outer wall, and beside them, small monsters moved hurriedly like ants crawling on a giant tree.

…It would all be over if they antagonized this thing.

Ai knew that she had to avoid this, and walked through the door to the courtroom.

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"Eh, Ai?"

Dee was sitting alone at the counsel's table, flipping through her papers, and sounded bewildered.

Ai walked in, took the seat she did not enter the previous day, and took a deep breath.

"—I've come to ask you for a favor."

She bowed her head.

"Please let me be the defense lawyer—I want to help Mr. Alice too."

"……"

Dee stopped with her breakfast scone in her mouth.

"? Miss Dee?"

"…Ohhh, ooohhhh!"

The rebooted Dee was so happy that it shocked Ai. Dee wanted to hug Ai, failed, but Dee continued to beam away.

"Yep! Yep yep! This is how Ai should be!"

"M-Miss Dee!"

"Okay! Of course I'll support you!"

She quickly pulled herself away and gave a thumbs up.

"Ai, you've made up your mind."

<i>…I didn't do anything</i>. The mumble was too soft to be heard by the excited, yapping Dee.

"Yep! Let's do our best together. In that case, let’s begin our strategy. Ai, lend me your ear—"

Dee hugged Ai and whispered the "strategy" into the latter’s ear so as to avoid Madame who truly had ears on the walls and eyes on the shutters. <i>Whisper whisper.</i>

After hearing what was said, Ai stared at Dee in disbelief.

"…………Can we do that?"

<i>Of course you can! </i>Dee assured, but Ai was left with only anxiety.

Just then, <i>kan kan!</i> The sound echoed throughout the entire courtroom. Looking over, all the actors were present. Dee and Ai were at the defense table, Destructive Fist, Dust Believer, and Noellfaen were at the jury table, a hungover Shaun at the presiding judge's table, and a smiling and affable Madame at the prosecutor’s table.

And finally Alice staring forward with the exact same expression as the previous day..

<i>Kan!</i>

The gavel sounded.

"Court is in session!"

Then the second day began.

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"Ehh, let me start by explaining the parts that I couldn’t explain yesterday because of a lack of information—"

Like the previous day, the second day began with a verbal battle between Madame and Dee, with Dee asking trivial questions and Madame giving trivial answers. That was how it all progressed.

At this point, the battle was divided into three forces.

The first was Madame and her group, who wanted to seal Alice and the black surface.

The second was Dee, who was trying to protect the black surface at least.

And finally, Ai, who wanted to protect Alice.

The dialogue was primarily driven by Madame and Dee.

"It just doesn’t make sense, does it?"

Dee tapped the desk in a tone as if she were bargaining for potatoes.

"You want to seal both Alice and the black surface? You gotta be kidding. We're talking about probation at best. There's no precedence for this case after all."

"There is a precedent! There was a case once where not only the defendant but an entire city was sealed—"

"Oh, that's right. I think it was because of that that a new Deformed was created?"

"That!"

The dialogue was generally carried out at Dee's pace. In fact, Madame, who was a straightforward person at heart, was caught by Dee's traps at every turn and had to be restrained from proceeding.

"—No, Your Honor! The defense's questions are inappropriate! This is the place to discuss the punishment to be meted out, not whether the punishment is valid!"

"Ahh, so be it."

"Please apply the penalty!"

"Ah? What is that anyone? (On page 14.) Ahhh, this? Eh, ‘If the defense attorney repeats the same point again, it shall be deemed a deliberate delay, and the attorney shall be disqualified ‘."

"Oopsie, that's scary. Understood, Your Honor. I'll never ask the same question again."

"Oh, please do."

Madame's face flushed with victory for a moment, but then her shoulders slumped when Dee asked her many more questions.

Since the previous day, Dee had been stalling for time consistently as a strategy. This was strange to Ai. While it would be troublesome that they could not pass judgement immediately, further delay did not mean there would be reinforcement.

"That's right. If this keeps up, things are going to get worse. We'll lose the case when the judgement comes."

In the short time they had in the morning, Dee had compared their negotiations to playing cards.

"For example, my "I'll give up Alice if it comes to it" card is really weak, like a 7 or 8 on the strength scale. If I play it now, there’s no chance of winning, or rather, I don’t think there’s a chance of winning. As for the opponent’s card, I can already see ‘Madame's use of force’(Jack of Spades), ‘jury’s guarantee’ (Queen of Hearts). It hadn’t been used, maybe they’ll use a ‘Witch’s Direct Support’(Joker). It’s like trying to get a straight flush with a dead hand."

<i>So why don't we do something about it?</i> Ai asked, to which Dee replied, "I'm working on it."

Ai did not understand. The tactic of buying time would only be effective if there was hope for reinforcements, or an improvement in situation. Buying time for the sake of it was meaningless.

"But that might not be the case in reality~. Here’s a hint: ‘the strongest card in a negotiation is neither the ace nor the joker.’ What do you think it is then? "

<i>I don't know.</i> Ai replied at that moment.

"We'll see. We have a chance of winning. There are many ways to win, whether we have a bad hand or they have the best hand."

Dee chuckled at that.

It was the smile of a Ghost who had tried to destroy the world with merely words.

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The time passed quickly and it was afternoon.

"—Hey Miss Dee, shall we have a little heart-to-heart talk?"

It was just after the two o'clock break when Madame, without leaving her seat, turned to Dee and spoke.

Ai was so startled that she dropped the fries she was picking. At the same time, Dee, who was nibbling on a cookie next to her, was emitting a shimmering heat.

"…It’s finally here."

Dee said, slowly getting up. Ai did not understand what had finally come, but it seemed Dee had been waiting for this.

"What's the matter, Madame? Saying that we need a heart-to-heart talk. You’re making it sound like I'm not being honest with you. I don't like that at all. Or are you talking in the physical sense? Uuuu, I'm pretty sure I don't have a flat stomach. But I'm not fat at all!"

"Yes, yes. I am saying, enough with the nonsensical talk."

Interrupting her somewhat roughly, Madame put a small hand to her forehead.

"I don't understand…"

Madame glanced at Alice.

"What is the situation here? We're a little confused because we thought this was going to be an easy trial."

Madame said, as though she was addressing both Dee and Alice.

"We've already got a group of people on their way here with supplies for reconstruction. We're going to have to ask them to wait outside."

"What's that about? Is the outcome of the trial already decided? I think I’ll have to pursue this matter later—

"I said, enough with the nonsensical talk.

The air in the room froze. It was a break, but no one had left their seats. They all stayed in their seats in case something happened.

"It seems that Master Alice's request was not the consensus will of your people—I shall formally ask again, Miss Dee, what do you want?"

"Well, who knows?"

"There is nothing to hide now, is there?"

"Well, I don't know. Is there really no benefit? Maybe while we’re talking, I have many unexpected benefits you didn’t dream of. And what I want might not be what I need. But what if those are what I really want?"

"…It does not work."

Madame furrowed her brows.

"Your whispers shall not work on me. …"

Her voice sounded slightly shaky.

(Could it be that Miss Dee is trying to—)

Ai finally understood it.

The strongest card in negotiations was the ‘card that could not be seen’.

Madame's hand was like a straight flush. It was a strong hand that could win 99 times out of 100. But conversely, it was a hand that can be beaten 1 time out of 100..

At this moment, Madame was frightened by this improbable possibility.

It was because Dee’s hand was not seen by anyone else. She did not show her hand, and there were countless terrifying cards scattered onto the table.. The ‘ex-Ghost’ card might not seem impressive to those allied, but it was a different matter to the opponent. Nobody in the past would have expected her to go back to <b>not being the Ghost</b>. Also, she ‘survived the fatal hits from Destructive Fist’, which was also another terrifying fact. It was similarly abnormal for someone normal to survive a Deformed. The card of ‘time wasting for indiscernible reason’ ensured that Dee’s playing cards were many more than they actually were. Just as Dee was terrified of the ‘Witch's Entry’(Joker), Madame was terrified of Dee's hand.

Ideally, Dee wanted to force her opponent to forfeit. In that case, the ‘cards that could not be seen’ would truly become the ‘strongest card’, and the authenticity would not be an issue.

That would be the way to defeat a straight flush with a band hand.

In that case, ‘simply stalling’ was no longer ‘just stalling’.

This was what Dee was aiming for.

"…Amazing."

Ai exclaimed, impressed.

But that was not the extent of Dee's goal.

"It's not enough. We can't win with just this."

"Eh?"

Dee whispered, still facing the front.

"… Madame is too weak a player to make her opponent drop. But her hand is too powerful. If we call with…she’ll go all in."

"What is the matter!? Do you not want to talk with me anymore!?"

Madame raised her voice at the sight of their private conversation.

"Well, let the show begin— I'm going to pull my opponent off the board."

Dee licked her lips flippantly.

"I'm sorry, Madame, but it's kind of awful when you ask me to be open with you and you’re the one asking questions, isn't it?"

"…What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, I'm just trying to ask a simple favor."

This time Ai thought the moment had come. In the morning, Dee had announced that she would eventually bring up this topic. She declared that she would find a chance for direct negotiation (though Ai had no idea how she was going to do so), and decide this battle beyond the card table.

Beyond the card table. In other words, it would be beyond the game of ‘Trial’ prepared by Madame.

Up until this point, Dee's strategy had been based on the rules of the game. In contrast, Dee was intending to deal directly with the dealer outside the game.

Dee was no longer a player in this game of ‘trial’ that they had been forced into. She had become a game master, making the rules of the new game.

Moreover, Madame had no idea what Dee was doing. She did not understand that she went off the rails, away from her assured path to victory, and was playing another game with her opponent.

"…Well, it shall depend on what this ‘request’ is."

Madame said with a lot of caution. But it was too late for that, She was worrying if her shoes were worn properly while falling off a cliff. She was being wary of the wrong thing..

Nothing, it’s simple. I'm just trying to collate the questions you were asking, Madame…actually, there’s a lot I don't know about, can I?"

"…If I can answer."

"Thanks, but first—"

When Ai saw Madame nodding with caution, she felt sorry for her despite knowing she was the enemy. It seemed Madame was oblivious of the fact that Dee had taken command of the conversation.

"Tell me what your priorities are, Alice, black surface, and Ostia's protection. Tell me which ones are important and which ones aren’t. And then we’ll answer, and we'll tell you."

"I guess so…first..."

Dee asked as she led the conversation flawlessly. It was the first time Ai has consciously seen Dee's strategy. She never realized so when they went to the World Tower, and at Ostia, Dee was…somehow…well…harsh.

Ai only noticed as she had been paying special attention…but what if it had been usual?

(…This person is …)

Ai could not help but click her tongue. She felt what she heard in the morning was ridiculous, but it was all happening. Dee then told Ai of what would happen next.

(They're definitely going to want to prioritize protecting Ostia, then sealing Alice, and then the black surface. They've always been big on people and politics, but they don't care about what's happened.)

But here, for the first time, Dee's prediction was wrong.

"<b>The most non-negotiable thing is the sealing of the black surface.</b> After that will be the sealing of Master Alice, and then the protection of Ostia."

"Hmm."

On the surface, Dee did not appear rattled.

"If you don’t mind, I'd like to know why. It's not what we expected."

"The reason? It's because the black surface has already devoured at least a thousand living people."

"……Erm, is there, a misunderstanding?"

Dee sounded a little impatient, and Ai could not tell if it was an act or not.

"Well…Madame, did you think the black surface forced a thousand people to disappear? That’s not what happened."

"It has nothing to do with us."

"No, it does, right? They’re looking at another world beyond the black surface..."

"I am saying that these things do not matter to us. It does not matter to us what is beyond the black surface, and where the people who disappeared went to."

"W-What?"

The surrounding exchanges started to be louder. Ai wondered if Dee was pretending not to understand, or if she knew and was just playing dumb.

"The problem we have here is that they simply disappear."

"???"

"We shall not back down until this matter is resolved—<b>even if this body is to be shattered</b>."

"Wait, wait a minute. What’s going on? Is that thing something worth being that serious over? Once you feel that you can’t win, like whether it’s against me or others, won’t you immediately leave it to the jury and let the accused off? Why are you so serious this time?"

"We are always serious!"

"Lie! You hyenas! You're the worst of the worst, ruining miracles weaker than you, wagging your tags at miracles stronger to you! If you're so scared, why don't you just turn tail and go home like you always do!"

"W-what!? This…this…this…fool!"

"…No, fool…I’m sure you were a really good girl when you were alive, right Madame? I had enough, please insult others with more excitement, will you?"

"Grrr!"

Surely this was another one of Dee's advanced strategies.

When the situation ended up as insults "Stupid! Ugly! Trash", tugging on each other’s cheeks and and all the "Grrr" noises, gone was the serious mood.

"E-erm..."

Ai had no choice but to slowly raise her hand.

The entire courtroom gathered their stares upon her, and she could not help but shrivel

It was the first time for Ai to realize how painful it was to assert something to the world without any dreams or aspirations.

Still, she pushed herself to her feet. At the very least, she tried to speak loudly.

"…Well, I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but isn't the reason Miss Madame can't let the black surface go, because the world is still being ended?"

And Ai returned to the world.

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"'It's the other way around, Miss Dee, the other way around."

"Th-The other way?"

Dee shook her head between Ai and Madame, not knowing who to look to.

"It's not the missing thousand that Miss Madame cares about, it's the other way around. Miss Madame cares about those other than the missing thousand."

<i>Is that right?</i> Ai turned to look at Madame, who looked over with a wary face. It was the first time she looked at Ai.

"?? What do you mean, Ai?"

"Those people who aren’t the thousand who vanished, in other words, all the Living left in this world might vanish beyond the black surface, right?"

"Ah!"

Dee must have thought about it. If the black surface continues to remain unmanaged and swallow the Living, what will be the outcome?

She thought of the possibility of all the Living disappearing into the black surface.

"B-But that's not a bad thing, is it? They can be saved…"

"It’s the opposite, Miss Dee. The ones saved here aren’t the thousand people, or the Living people besides the thousand."

"???"

"It's the rest of us that Miss Madame is worried about."

"The rest of the…"

"The Dead."

The word ‘Dead’ made Madame jump.

"After all, isn’t Miss Madame a Dead?"

"…Yes, but that has nothing to do with our policy."

"I know."

Ai looked at Dee, thinking that Madame did not need to be so cautious towards her.

"Miss Dee, that black surface won’t let the Dead through, right?"

"!"

Finally, Dee seemed to notice.

There was no Dead who went through the black surface. What would be the meaning here then?

"The Living are fine, since there’s a new world beyond. But what will happen to the Dead who are left here?"

"That's—"

They probably would face the same thing, destruction. Death was supposed to be the great equalizer. This was supposed to be fact even in this world where life and death were almost no different.

And yet, the situation was that only the Living could go to the new world. What would happen if such news were to spread throughout the world?

"—In a way, it would only hasten the process. The world would become a place of only the Dead."

Ironically, the supposedly reformed Dee was still fulfilling her role, the role as ‘Witch of the West’ who was trying to hasten the oxidation of the world and end it..

"…Those in the know already know of the existence of that black surface."

Madame then looked at the jury box. There were Noellfaen and Dust Believer, who had been silent since the start.

"… So that's it."

Dee chewed her nails.

"So that's why Ortus and Fellmigora were backing this…"

"? Ortus aside, isn’t Fellmigora the land of the Living, isn't it? Why would they be opposed?"

The black surface should only be harmful against the Dead, and beneficial only to the Living.

"…The upper echelons of Fellmigora are afraid that their influence will diminish, Ai. They want to preserve their authority, and they don’t want to redo everything again, in a world where everything is ‘reset’. They want their people to obey them."

"What! But how!?"

It was a frightening thought.

"Were they really thinking of such a horrible thing..."

"They’re more terrified of the black surface. "

"It is not just Fellmigora, you know—Diamantos, Uppapose, and the rest of the ‘Northern’ countries have agreed to this. What we have here is the result of their coordination."

Madame glared at Dee as she rattled off the names of the major powers.

"…Are you threatening us?"

"You can take that as a threat—but in my heart, I am confident this method shall be the least disruptive method."

The black face might indeed save billions of Living.

But at the same time, it will bring despair to billions of Dead.

If they sealed the black surface and concealed its existence, they could mention the status quo at least.

"…Everyone, why do you think our maximum penalty is not annihilation, but sealing?"

Madame said abruptly.

"Who knows…"

"We do indeed go around judging miracles, but that does not mean that we have full confidence that we are correct. We do believe we may be wrong at times, that we may make the wrong judgement. We may think we are judging those who are destroying the world, but we may be hindering those who are saving the world. We always go about our work with this anxiety in mind…and thuse we abolished the annihilation penalty."

"…Hmph, you've never officially released anyone from a sealed sentence though."

"So far, yes, that has not been the case."

Madame was no longer devastated.

"But we shall always be ready."

"Heh, tell me more about this 'readiness' then."

Dee, in a calm voice, winked at Ai as she probed further. It seemed she had completely recovered. Ai heaved a sigh of relief, and returned to her seat. Dee would be invincible whenever she spoke, but once she realized her mistake, she would end up so rattled like she was before.

Ai simply needed to support her from the side. Ai heaved a sigh of relief and stared at the hall, ready not to miss out on any clue.

Hope was in the air.

She was beginning to think that perhaps they could save Alice at this point.

Dee was talking more and more and dominating Madame. A complete victory might not be a dream at all. Perhaps the black surface could remain free, and Alice could escape punishment.

"Can I interrupt?"

But Ai knew that was not going to happen.

For the biggest obstacle to that still remained untouched.

"If that's what you're talking about, I’m getting involved."

With that, Alice slowly stood up.

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