The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Episode 318 Cat Pago (31) - Popuri's Diary "Month X, Day X. Rain. When I woke up from sleep, Mom was holding my hand with a worried expression. She said she came because she heard crying in the middle of the night, and I was crying while dreaming. I looked at Mom's face. Long ago, before I was forced to make that three-way choice. The face that was there was Mom's face as I ordinarily remembered it, the way it would have changed if time had passed. Mom seemed to have all the memories of 'Mom' as well. So from Mom's perspective, her daughter who had returned home after a long time went to sleep at night, then was suffering from nightmares so severe that she cried. I silently embraced Mom. Mom trembled her shoulders briefly, then embraced me, and this time it was Mom who burst into tears. In the end, what was the relationship between Mom and 'Mom'? What kind of anomaly, what kind of phenomenon was it? It's something I can't know now. Because Pago defined all those various things as 'his own illusion'. So I decided to believe that too. Mom was always Mom. I just saw her strangely because illusions clouded my eyes. That's fine, right? Pago?" "Month X, Day X. Very cloudy. I checked the exorcism diary. The content about Pago was clearly recorded. As a very malicious anomaly that uses and exploits people. I tried erasing the related content with an eraser and even tore out pages to burn them, but they kept restoring to their original form. When I got angry and tried to hit it with my baseball bat, the diary trembled and clung to my leg as if pleading that it couldn't help it either, so please understand. Since this would also be what Pago wanted, I had no choice but to leave it alone. If someone reads this diary in the future, they'll think of Pago as a very bad anomaly. That might be what Pago wants, but I don't like it. I was depressed." "Month X, Day X. Cloudy. People have to work even when they're depressed. I worked hard, very hard at beating down those anomalies. When you think about it, isn't it because of these bastards that I'm having such a hard time right now? Mr. Sato said that bringing minced meat doesn't count as capture. It's difficult." "Month X, Day X. Still cloudy. As I beat down anomalies, I learned several unusual things. Since anomalies are basically creatures that feed on human fear and anxiety, it's extremely common for them to use illusions, phantoms, and mental attacks, but their deadliness has decreased significantly. While I was originally not very susceptible to them, now even Mr. Sato and Hinosaka can overcome them through repeated training, and most importantly, the methods to break them have been standardized. Also, the anomalies' characteristic abilities like past alteration and reality alteration seem completely blocked. At most they can only change people's memories, and even that can be resisted by trained people. Pago, it's thanks to you." "Month X, Day X. Slightly cloudy. While doing anomaly extermination work, I got into a fight with some guys calling themselves psychics or whatever who were similarly trying to exterminate anomalies. They were spouting nonsense about how they were real, chosen, superior, and some new human species or whatever, so I swung my bat to break a nearby tree, then politely asked if those psychic powers might also be effective at preventing skull-cracking, and everyone went quiet. Honestly, it was a bit regrettable. If they had kept being cocky, I would have created many additional joints in their arms and legs in the name of self-defense. It was disappointing when Hinosaka said that wouldn't be recognized as self-defense. Why won't the world acknowledge that a world where everyone holds a baseball bat is what truly creates politeness? Up to this point I would have just dismissed them as weird guys, but after Mr. Sato investigated various things, it turned out those psychic or whatever guys actually do have some real power. He said he'd investigate the details further." "Month X, Day X. Normal. The investigation results came out. Those who had only grand titles but no real abilities in the world - priestesses, monks, shamans, ghost hunters, all sorts of people - have apparently begun to gradually manifest real power. Previously, talismans and sacred objects were all just placebo effects, but now they apparently have weak but genuine exorcism effects. While listening to that explanation, for some reason the exorcism diary and baseball bat made a humming sound. As if boasting that it was their achievement. When I was thinking whether I should exterminate these too if they were anomalies, both immediately stopped moving. I decided to overlook it for now. Pago had said. That a narrative was needed. That stories where humans don't just helplessly suffer from anomalies, but fight back, cause them trouble, and even overwhelm them in return, needed to be carved into the world. Then this would be exactly that result. One of the rules set by the god of this cruel world. The rule that humans can never possess special powers has finally been broken. Because I wrote the exorcism diary. Because I exterminated anomalies with a baseball bat. Because I achieved it together with Pago." "Month X, Day X. Slightly clear. New employees started joining the company. Those psychic guys who acted cocky toward me before and got suppressed. One used some kind of occult-like Western magic, and the other wore red and white priestess robes and used talismans. The former said he did some kind of magic research in his room, and the latter said it was a family business. Since they said these guys belonged to the enforcement division, basically like my subordinates and juniors, I decided to test their skills again first. They came at me confidently with summoned familiars and barriers made from talismans they'd steadily crafted for days, but when I just went thwack-thwack with my baseball bat, both broke. The kids cried. I'm worried whether they'll be of any use in actual combat." "Month X, Day X. Slightly clearer. Even though they seemed pretty pathetic to me, apparently they didn't seem that way to Mr. Sato. Unlike me, he said their abilities were techniques that, while requiring talent, could be learned and used by someone. Even if not used exactly as the original, with various applications they could probably be applied to modern weapons and such. When I asked if it was possible for a mere company to possess firearms, I got a reaction of disbelief for some reason. Hinosaka, who was serving tea nearby, explained that our company's sponsors weren't just the chairman alone anymore. The extermination requests the chairman had given me were actually a list with quite a few influential people mixed in, and while not all of them, quite a few had become new sponsors. If things continue like this, we'll probably be able to touch on most legal/illegal lines. Honestly, it wasn't a story that greatly interested me. Anyway, it would be good to become bigger and more powerful." "Month X, Day X. Clear and cool. The organization became bustling. Initially, excluding the first-floor convenience store in the 5-story building, honestly there was more unused space than used space, but now there are people visible wherever you go. Nominally I'm the representative, but Hinosaka is actually managing the people. I jokingly asked if it wasn't too much of a cheat for a high school girl to manage nearly fifty people without any problems, but for some reason everyone around me silently stared at me. Why, what, why. Hinosaka said with a laugh that my personality seemed to have changed a bit. That I seemed more honest in dealing with people than before. I decided to have some fun baseball time with the subordinate pair who were chattering about whether it wasn't that my true nature was revealed rather than becoming more honest. I don't know baseball rules that well, but anyway, you guys are the ball." "Month X, Day X. Clear. The awkwardness with Mom has almost completely disappeared now. After a long time. After a really long time, I went on a trip with my family. When I tried to show off my economic prosperity and play the role of a filial daughter for once, those anomaly bastards attacked again. I regretted leaving my bat behind because I didn't have confidence in explaining to my parents a reasonable reason for bringing a baseball bat to the beach. Now as I write this diary, I think 'Oh, I could have said it was for watermelon splitting,' but at the time it was really difficult. But from somewhere, a baseball bat came flying with a whoosh and landed perfectly in my hand. I think the hammer that the god of thunder uses in some movie did something similar to this. Anyway, I was worried because water spirits supposedly can't find peace unless someone replaces them, but after physically playing whack-a-mole about four hundred times, they all found peace on their own." "Month X, Day X. Thrillingly clear. I ended up exterminating an anomaly similar to the fortune teller I saw long ago. But that creature brought up a story about Pago. It said it would give me information if I didn't bother it from now on, so I agreed, and it told me about an elevator that could take you anywhere you wanted. After saying I understood, I switched with other kids from the enforcement division. The creature looked very indignant, but I didn't care. Because I didn't lie." "Month X, Day X. The sun is scorchingly strong. I found that elevator. The elevator had a touchpad-like input panel instead of floor buttons, and it was an anomaly that would take you wherever you wrote you wanted to go. However, true to information given by that malicious anomaly, this wasn't normal either. The probability of arriving 'exactly' where you wanted was 1/4444. Everything else was an evil game of chance that transported you to random or dangerous places. If a casino offered this kind of thing as a prize, it would be innocent to crack the dealer's head. But what was important to me wasn't that. Because this anomaly at least answered that it couldn't go to 'places it couldn't reach'. [Take me to where Pago is] ─Impossible. [Take me to a place where there's a way to revive Pago] ─Possible. That was enough. The essence of gacha. If you try infinitely, you'll eventually win." *** 「You, whom I once met in a dream, were my friend.」 「When I awoke from the dream, I realized you were a monster.」 「I did not deny this.」 「For that was my tribute to the kindest monster in the world.」 「And I have decided to add a new sentence here.」 「It doesn't matter if it was all a dream.」 「Because we will meet again in reality.」