Volume 3 Chapter 72: The Delinquent

“Do you understand now why I don’t believe in God?”

“Yeah… if I’d known this, I would’ve understood sooner.”

“…There’s just one more thing I want to show you. Is that okay? Do you need some time?”

Tesea asked me gently, as if she was worried I might need to process what I’d just learned.

However, since I wasn’t particularly religious to begin with, while I was surprised, the shock wasn’t overwhelming.

I gave her a smile.

“It’s fine. I’m okay.”

“…Alright. This is the last page of the diary—”

Tesea flipped through the Creator’s diary again and stopped on a specific page. She handed it to me.

On that final page, written in characters I could read, was a message.

◇

I was born here, only to be used.
A void of a life, with no joy, no meaning.
Even giving birth was something I hated with every fiber of my being.

And yet, when I saw you,
what I felt wasn’t the hatred or disgust I felt toward that man—
but love.

For the first time, after bringing you into this world,
I felt like a person, not a tool.

I want you to walk a happy path.
A life filled with smiles, so different from mine.

But I’m sorry.
I’m so, so sorry.

I couldn’t escape with both of you.
Please forgive me for leaving you behind, just this once.
I swear I’ll call for help and come back.

It’s not that I didn’t choose you.
You were taken from me,
and to teach you Analysis as soon as possible,
this child was the only one left by my side.

The truth is, I wanted to escape with you too.

That man needs Analysis.
Until you’re fully grown, he won’t harm you.
In that time, I’ll save you too.

I’ll come back for you—just wait a little longer.
I promise.

—Tesea

◇

The message, written in what seemed to be her own blood, was from Lilia to Tesea.
Words from a mother to the child she was forced to leave behind.

She likely didn’t even have a pen. The letters were far from neat, unevenly scrawled.
But in their imperfection, her love for Tesea shone through.

Yet, the mother and daughter were never reunited.

I closed the diary gently, overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness. Tesea gave me a faint, melancholic smile.

“When I read this, it was the first time I learned my name. That man only ever called me The Child of God. I introduced myself as Aizon Sgehargen to you, Noil, because it was easier to explain my relationship with him. But the only thing that man gave me was knowledge of the surface world.”

“Knowledge of the surface world?”

“Yeah. Analysis translates itself into the easiest form for the user to understand. Does that make sense? The way it’s expressed changes based on the user’s knowledge. So, unless you have a certain level of understanding, it’s hard to communicate the information to others.”

“I see… So, Magis Gear that reveals information depends on the user’s perception and knowledge. Even if the information itself is the same, the way it’s interpreted differs.

“If someone has general knowledge or education, the expression aligns with that frame of reference.

“But if you do that…”

“Well, as I was given more knowledge, I started realizing just how twisted and abnormal this environment really is.”

Of course, she would come to that conclusion.

I finally understood why Tesea, despite being confined to the Floating City Pharmament and knowing no world beyond it, hadn’t fully absorbed the dogma of the Sacred Heavens, Lumelherc.

People are heavily influenced by their surroundings. Had she remained ignorant, Tesea might have accepted this reality as normal and lived her life believing that her role as a Child of God was entirely natural. She might have even reported this hidden chamber to Aizon as part of her duties.

That would have been far more convenient for Aizon.

But she didn’t.

It wasn’t because Aizon was careless, but because he was clearly a deranged individual.

“He assumes that everyone before me, and even I, embraced the role of a Child of God wholeheartedly.”

“So he didn’t think giving you knowledge would be a problem?”

In Aizon’s mind, the Sacred Heavens were the pinnacle of existence. Even if someone gained knowledge of other worlds, they would never harbor rebellious thoughts.

“Exactly. He doesn’t even understand why the fourth Child of God—my mother—escaped. All he did was start managing the keys to important locations more carefully to prevent it from happening again. But I still have a certain level of freedom.”

“Then there’s plenty of room to exploit.”

If we could catch Aizon off guard and steal the keys, we could escape from here. With me being seen as a god and Tesea not being considered a threat, we had a decent chance. It wouldn’t be easy, but the odds weren’t bad.

As I placed the diary back on the desk, Tesea looked at me with hopeful eyes.

“It was tough on my own, but now that you’re here, Noil… is it okay to say I’m glad?”

Even now, she was trying to be considerate of me, knowing I’d been dragged into all of this. Her expression clouded slightly, and I placed a hand on her head.

“It’s fine. Meeting you made coming here worth it.”

“…I see. Then I’ll be counting on you, Noil the handyman.”

When she gave me that shy smile, I couldn’t help but smile back and nod.

Normally, it was the Manager’s job to decide which requests we’d take, but this time was special. This was the first time since joining the handyman business that I genuinely wanted to take on a job myself.

“The ideal would be escaping without a fight and regrouping to gather more strength. But with my knowledge of the Floating City, they won’t be able to act as they have until now. And even if the worst happens and it comes to a fight, with your White Road, we should be able to force our way out. So—”

“Ah, wait a second.”

“Hm?”

I interrupted Tesea as she started stroking her chin and thinking deeply. I did intend to give it my all, but—

“I… can’t use mana right now. Do you know why?”

“Huh?”

I scratched my cheek with my free hand as I told her this, and her mouth fell open in shock.

“Also, even if I could use mana, I can’t use White Road on my own.”

“…Huh??”

Her voice trailed off in confusion before she suddenly activated Analysis and fixed her gaze on me. She squinted in concentration for a while but eventually deactivated it and let out a sigh of resignation.

“I… don’t know.”

“Figured as much…”

If it was something Tesea could figure out, she would’ve noticed it the moment she first saw me.

I removed my hand from her head and clenched my fist before opening it again, staring at my palm.

If this was the backlash from using Transformer, it was lasting far too long. While Transformer was an unreasonably powerful Magis Gear, even the overwhelmingly overpowered White Road didn’t have this kind of aftereffect.

That meant it had to be caused by something else… but nothing came to mind.

In any case, it seemed I’d need more time.

“…What do you mean you can’t use White Road on your own even if you have mana?”

“It’s a bit unusual. While it’s powerful, it’s a Magis Gear designed to be operated by two people.”

“That’s… possible?”

“Apparently so. I mean, the person who made it isn’t exactly sane.”

But when I stopped to think about it—

Do I even have a Magis Gear I can use on my own?

Am I just the ultimate deadweight?

The tools I used in battle usually relied on the powers of my companions within me, and even my ace, White Road, depended on the Manager.

My strength only worked because I relied on others.

If there was a contest for being the most dependent man alive, I’d be in the hall of fame.

When it came to leaning on others, I was unmatched.

But even with how pathetic I was, Tesea didn’t seem disappointed. Instead, she immediately placed her hand back on her chin and began thinking again.

“I see… in that case, we should definitely avoid a fight. Don’t worry. With your position, Noil, I can figure something out.”

“Sorry. I’ll do what I can.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

I felt guilty about how helpless I was after promising to get her out of here, but Tesea just gave a wry smile at my apology.

She’s strong.

If I were in Tesea’s position, I might’ve thrown a tantrum, yelling, “Idiot! I’m done with this!” and lashed out irresponsibly.

But don’t worry.

Those words I said to her? I won’t make them a lie. I don’t intend to.

Even if I can’t use mana, this time, I’m genuinely serious.

Just as Tesea and I were starting to plan our next steps together—

The hidden room’s door suddenly opened without a sound.

Both Tesea and I widened our eyes and turned to face the now-open door.

“Ugh, what the hell is this shitty excuse for a city? It’s like they slathered shit over more shit to make even shittier shit.”

Wow. She said “shit” a lot.

The person who appeared in the supposedly secret room, known only to Tesea, was an adorable-looking woman with rich silver hair streaked with green, styled in twin tails.

She was dressed like us, with a white cloth wrapped around her body, and was casually scratching her butt. Her sharp sapphire eyes had a thuggish squint, giving off a seriously rough vibe.

A delinquent?

That was the first impression that popped into my head.

“Oi?”

Noticing us standing there in stunned silence, the woman let out a gruff, threatening tone.

But the next moment—

“Oh, oh! W-wait, this isn’t what it looks like! T-the door just opened by itself, and I thought, um, I should report it to someone, so I was, uh, looking for help!”

“…Wow.”

Her sudden switch to a meek, overly sweet demeanor, coupled with her weirdly cutesy wriggling, left me at a loss for words.

This was peak “fake cutesy girl” energy.

The kind that makes you cringe just watching it.

If I hadn’t seen her initial attitude, I might’ve believed this was her natural personality. She was just that convincing in her performance.

But knowing what I knew, her act felt entirely over the top.

Her earlier rough demeanor was nowhere to be seen. She had transformed into a caricature of excessive cuteness.

With her pretty face, I could see how some people might fall for this act. But to me, her exaggerated sweetness was suffocating.

And let’s be real—her true self was definitely the one throwing around all the “shits.”

Thinking about that, I couldn’t stop myself from muttering:

“…That’s rough.”

“Hah!?”

Her reaction was immediate. She scowled fiercely, glaring at me with the same rough demeanor as before. But then, as if catching herself, she switched gears again.

“Oh, oh no! That’s such a mean thing to say! I might get mad, you know! Humph, humph!”

There’s no way she can keep up this act.

Placing her fists on her head and puffing out her cheeks like a chipmunk, she gave it her all, but I couldn’t help but think:

Yeah, no. This isn’t working.

“……”

“……”

“……Tch!”

As Tesea and I stared at her blankly, she seemed to realize how futile her act was. With an exaggerated click of her tongue, her expression instantly shifted back to her rough, delinquent self.

“Spit!”

She spat on the ground without hesitation.

Can I just say it again? Her vibes are awful.

Wait, I just did say it again.

She squatted down in the classic delinquent pose, glaring up at us with shifty eyes.

“Spit!”

She spat again, then growled at us:

“Oi, who the hell are you two?”

Who are we? Who are you?

Tesea and I exchanged confused glances. She shook her head, clearly just as baffled as I was.

“You’re not here to catch me, huh? So you’re not one of them. Answer me, dammit.”

“Catch you? Wait, are you someone who’s been imprisoned here? When? Did you escape on your own?”

Izon, as Tesea had explained, would frequently abduct talented individuals from the surface for his purposes—whether it was to seek superior bodies for himself, ensure backup for the Children of God, or create stronger offspring.

It was a vile practice, and while there were rooms meant to house prisoners, Tesea had told me that none were currently being held here.

“Who’s asking the questions here, huh!? I am!!”

Who even is this person?

The twin-tailed delinquent snapped at us, her voice carrying enough intensity to make both Tesea and me flinch.

“Tch, what’s this?”

She suddenly turned her sharp gaze on me, scrutinizing me with intense suspicion.

I instinctively turned my face away.

“Look at me, dammit!”

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

Her tone was so intimidating that I had no choice but to comply, reluctantly meeting her gaze.

She studied me for a few more seconds before her eyes widened, as if a realization had struck her.

“You… you’re that guy, aren’t you!?”

What guy? I had no idea what she was talking about.

People like her are exactly the kind I avoid, so there was no way I had any connection to her.

“You’re the Spirit King’s favorite, aren’t you!?”

“Ah… yes?”

Oh. That.

I guess there was a connection, huh? So she’s someone connected to Elle? Please, spare me.

Her hair, streaked with two colors, was a defining trait of a certain race.

The only race in this world capable of creating Magis Gear—the Creators.

“Heheh!”

What kind of laugh is that?

The twin-tailed delinquent cackled before standing up in a slow, swaying motion.

“This is gonna be fun… If you’re the Spirit King’s favorite, then you must know who I am, right?”

No, I don’t.

And based on this conversation so far, isn’t it obvious I don’t? Please, just realize that already.

“…Do you know her?”

Tesea asked in a small voice, glancing at me. I gave the delinquent another once-over before shaking my head.

“No, I don’t—”

“WHAT!? You don’t know me, you worthless sack of garbage!?”

I mean… yeah, I don’t.

“Tch!”

Clicking her tongue loudly, the twin-tailed delinquent scowled and placed a hand on her hip.

“Listen up, you piece of trash. I’m Alice Hellsight, leader of the Azure Dolls. You’d better remember that, because I’m a Creator.”

The delinquent Creator, Alice Hellsight, introduced herself with a glare and a voice dripping with menace.