– DIVE TO GAME –

A world where the Grand Empire exists.

In this world, a number of people have awakened to new powers.

They are skills -special powers.

A world where the Grand Empire exists.

In this world, everything is made into numbers.

A world where the Grand Empire exists.

A world that is not ‘here’.

—A wrong future.

The Empire, that began their invasion to the whole world, continued their powerful advance, and the result was that they were able to get in their hands around 60% of the world.

That’s because their technology was at a whole other level.

Also because there were many ‘power users’ who had awakened to their new powers.

Overwhelming technology and power users —those two wheels had driven the Empire mad and pushed them.

As a result, the most cruelest, worst, and extravagant nation in the world was created; the Grand Empire.

However, the Grand Empire’s attack stopped after obtaining 60% of the world.

Their territory had become way too big.

Of course, the countries that had become vassal states were not going to stay silent, and terrorism and coup d’etats were running rampant.

And then, with many clashes for interest on the inside, the divisions got more pronounced, and the Grand Empire, like a whale pulled onto land, couldn’t handle its own big body and was unable to move.

If you look down, you would see a hell where there would be terrorism happening like an everyday thing; if you look up, you would see repeated gatherings of foolish high officials thirsty for a bigger slice.

At that time…

A single man had presented a ‘proposal’ to the higher ups of the Grand Empire.

A really amusing game.

A really happy game.

It would bring smiles to the ‘Divine People’ of the Grand Empire, and would bring salvation to the ‘People’ of the vassal states.

The Grand Empire that likes extravagance, instead of ‘brutish’ oppression and slaughter…would use this ‘game’ to bring down an iron hammer on the vassal states that have lost their heads, and shape up their plans to tighten the inside.

That’s right, the participants of this game are not only the civilians, but also the higher ups that have messed up, and even high officials that have lost their standings.

The winners of yesterday might be send first in line to the game if they mess up.

It was a hellish picture where there was no mercy for the ones up or down.

It is said that the name of the man who drew this plan and presented it was Kunai Hakuto.

Later, he would be called the Demon Lord of the Grand Empire.

■■□□■■□□

—Holy Light Country, vicinity of the national border.

(I was asleep, huh… I remembered something nostalgic.) (Maou)

Maou, who had fallen asleep from the pleasant shaking of the carriage, woke up.

Must have been because he couldn’t sleep a wink last night. On top of that, this big carriage is made in a way so that you can rest by laying sideway. You could say it is a carriage that has a simplistic camp specialized for adventurers.

Maou raises his upper body and he notices that there’s a slight weight on his lap.

“Oi, why is this person sleeping on my lap?” (Maou)

“Even if you ask me, I don’t know.” (Mikan)

Yukikaze was deeply asleep on the lap of Maou.

That sleeping face was like that of fleeting snow, and it was like a beauty that came right out from a painting. And in the eyes of Maou, she looked cuter than the idols that showed up in TV.

If Maou were to learn about the gender of Yukikaze, even he would change the color of his face.

(No good, my head is still hazy.) (Maou)

Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to him, Maou was making a sleepy expression as he looks outside the carriage.

What he saw there was unchanging dried land and dry air.

He normally would look at numbers in order to tune his eyes when he has just woken up, but sadly to say, he left his wristwatch in the village. He was fearing the fact that it might get damaged when in the dungeon.

“You are Mikan, right? What year and month is it now?” (Maou)

“…What?” (Mikan)

“Just answer.” (Maou)

“What’s with you… 7th day, 10th month, year 2,000 of the Holy Calendar!” (Mikan)

“…Year 2,000, huh. Haha!” (Maou)

Maou makes a dry laugh as if he were nostalgic about something. Mikan didn’t know at all what he laughed at or what he was nostalgic about.

She was already in a bad mood, but it dropped several levels down.

(What a mysterious thing. The year, month, time, and even the language are the same.) (Maou)

Hiragana, katakana, kanji, and english. <The first three are japanese writing.>

Their way of mixing those was the exact same as Japan, as if they had carbon copied it. For Maou, this was incredibly convenient.

However, what surfaced in the mind of Maou was something completely different.

(How to say it…this is quite the sloppy work.) (Maou)

Whether the direction of that thought is correct or wrong, for this man, that was the ‘answer’ that clicked with him the most. This was basically like a simple job of just copying the basic information of Japan and pasting it.

“If I remember correctly, you said this is currently a ‘warring time’, right?” (Maou)

“…”

“Did you not hear me, Refrigerated Orange?” (Maou)

“Who are you calling refrigerated?! You, for awhile now you have been questioning too much!” (Mikan)

Mikan waves her red hair and bites at Maou. With her red eyes, her groaning, and her slender body, it made him compare her to a doberman.

Her brown skin, her clothes that show so much of her shoulders, as well as her short skirt that shows her legs were giving out a charm of fitness.

“It would be a pain to be asked many times, so I will be answering all at once, okay?! The northern countries are in warring times from the 4th to the 9th month! The 10th to the 3th month is the armistice time! Understood?!” (Mikan)

“Sorry, but you were speaking so fast I didn’t understand what you were saying.” (Maou)

“Geez! Such a pain…! The northern countries *blah*blah*.” (Mikan)

“Sorry, but I couldn’t hear you because of the breathing of Yukikaze. Once more please.” (Maou)

“Yukikaze is sleeping silently though!” (Mikan)

Mikan’s red hair stood on its ends, and Maou laughs with his shoulders shaking.

This man likes to tease girls like Mikan. Of course, it is nothing but a pain in the opinion of Mikan though.

“In the first place, are you really human? Defeating Carnival in that way…I can’t think of you as a human at all.” (Mikan)

“Don’t say such a rude thing. I am human.” (Maou)  

“Just to clarify, a human is—wah wah!!” (Mikan)

Mikan stood up aggravated, but maybe the carriage passed on a rock or something, it shook lightly. Mikan had lost her balance and fell, and the red underwear she had on entered the sight of Maou.

For a while…silence reigned the inside of the carriage.

“…You saw.” (Mikan)

“Hm?” (Maou)

“Right now, you saw my underwear…didn’t you?” (Mikan)

“What my eyes have always seen since before to here on…has been the blue sky only.” (Maou)

Maou says nonsense with an attitude filled with confidence.

Hearing this, Mikan trembles.

“Don’t give nonsensical excuses! You had the ‘eyes of a warrior’ for a moment there!” (Mikan)

“Well, the ‘sunset’ is also counted in the sky.” (Maou)

“Y-You even saw the color of it clearly!” (Mikan)

“I am talking about the sky though. Just what have you been talking about for a while now?” (Maou)

Maou shakes his head and goes ‘Good grief’.

This man excels at derailing the conversation when he is being condemned. He had firmly saved the ‘red’ of a while ago in his internal folder and was now making a face as if nothing happened.

Truly an unforgivable evil being.

“Why are there only this kind of people around me…?!” (Mikan)

Mikan held her head, and that voice of hers woke Yukikaze.

That figure of hers looked like a snow fairy who had just woken up.

“…Oji-sama’s lap was really hard—muh.” (Yukikaze)

“Lick this so that you don’t say any weird stuff.” (Maou)

Maou must have learned. Before Yukikaze could say anything more, he puts a candy inside her mouth.

In the game, it is a trash item that only heals 5 health, but because you can pick them up in stacks of 10, they are used pretty often as emergency recovery.

As usual, these also had a pointless variety of flavors like strawberry and cola.

“…Fuuh, Oji-shama’s ish shweet.” (Yukikaze)

“This is what you call adult wits.” (Maou)

Maou laughs pridefully and throws another candy to Mikan.

He didn’t really do it on purpose or anything, but the candy was orange flavor.

“…I can’t trust what you give.” (Mikan)

“It is a sweetness that women like though.” (Maou)

“So you are trying to distract me with sugar? I am not such a cheap woman.” (Mikan)

Mikan rummages through her bag and brings out one magic tool.

It was a strange doll that was holding a red flag and a white flag respectively. Maou looked at this doll with interest, and lets out a voice of pity.

“You…haven’t graduated from playing with dolls yet?” (Maou)

“Idi—you see, this is <<Use this for stranger danger-kun!>>! That you don’t know this, just how much common knowledge are you lacking?” (Mikan)

“I think that name is what’s lacking common sense though…” (Maou)

“Huh? It is a good and easy to understand name.” (Mikan)

Mikan makes the doll face the candy that’s on her palm.

In time, the doll raises the white flag grandly and shouts: OK!

That display made Maou stumble while sitting.

“What is with that mass of nonsense?!” (Maou)

“Hmph, you are the mass of nonsense. You see, this is an important thing that tells you if food or drinks have dangerous things in it.” (Mikan)

And in reality, this magic tool is incredibly popular.

It has the same effect as the [Angel’s Spoon] that the ones in sacred professions utilize. For adventurers that don’t have people like that in the party, this is an item that they would wish for.

“Is that also something you obtained from a dungeon?” (Maou)

“No, this is something that I went all the way to the City-State to buy. It was worth the high price though…Wa, so sweeeeet!!!” (Mikan)

Unwrapping the candy, Mikan had put the candy in her mouth and shouted reflexively.

In this world, in terms of sweetness, the leading one would be sugar. Another one would be fruits, but there’s no way things like candies exist.

Mikan’s face loosens at this brand new taste.

“This tastes like orange. My taste…” (Mikan)

“…My taste. Mikan is a pervert.” (Yukikaze)

“You shut up!” (Mikan)

With the two making a ruckus at the corner of his eye, Maou was thinking about another thing.

About this place called City-State. Because there’s no such country in the modern era Earth, he couldn’t imagine how it would be at all.

“Can you tell me a bit about this City-State?” (Maou)

“I don’t want to explain to you ever again!” (Mikan)

“…Oji-sama, I will answer. If I answer, I want to licky lick again.” (Yukikaze)

Mikan looked the other way, and Yukikaze said something weird, but Maou didn’t retort to it and continued with his question.

The time he can remain ignorant has been long gone, that’s how he must be thinking.

He asks about the outline of the City-State from Yukikaze, and it didn’t enter the head of Maou well. Each one of the cities is a country, and the combination of them all becomes a big state.

Each city has their own government, and their laws are different, but it is calling itself as a single nation.

Of course, this is a kind of protective measure to defend themselves from the battle of the northern countries, but this wasn’t a system Maou was familiar with.

(Would it be something like; the Tokyo country, Saitama country, Kanagawa country joining together and calling themselves the ‘Kanto Kingdom’? A problem that individual territories wouldn’t be able to solve would be different if many territories gather.) (Maou)

What surfaces in the mind of Maou was obviously the map of Japan.

With that serving as a rough outline, Maou left it at a corner of his mind. This was simply a tentative outline.

He is someone that only trusts what he sees with his own eyes, hears with his own ears, and what he smells with his own nose, when deciding something.

At a glance, he would look like a composed man, but that’s not the case.

It means that he sees everything and decides on things with him as the center.

He would decide himself, and would place importance on his own decision.

Depending on the time and situation, it would be the type that would easily fall into self-righteousness.

But, whether it be fortunate or unfortunate…he is the Demon Lord.

For a ‘dictator’ that stands at the top, that’s one of the characteristic qualities. Always judge on your own, pushing through with only your own will.

In history, when this kind of people grasp political power, it would create big results and give birth to damage from both the good and bad side.

“I should try going to this so called City-State.” (Maou)

“…Oji-sama, at that time, I want you to bring me too.” (Yukikaze)

“I won’t be going, got it?! Definitely not!” (Mikan)

The noisy journey in the carriage continued, and in time they passed the Yahoo city, and then passed the fortress at the national border too.

Normally you can’t pass the national borders in these times unless you have quite the matter, but with the letter that Madam had given to Maou, they were easily able to.

It truly is the power of ‘personal connections’.

• Chapter 55: Rookie

—Certain place underground.

“Damn dragon… I won’t let it end like this…”

Since then, Utopia hasn’t been able to hide his anger.

The three upside-down crosses that took a long time to make had been expended, and on top of that, no results were made. A strong Mid Devil, Carnival, had been defeated, and even the High Devil considered the Duke of Darkness, Oluit, had been defeated too.

The Devil was having a nightmare.

In the plan of Utopia, it wouldn’t manage to go as far as destroying the Holy Castle, but he expected them to bring heavy damage to the barrier covering it.

And yet, his plans were made a complete mess by a ‘Demon Lord’ and a ‘Dragonewt’ which only sounds like a joke.

This must be how it feels to not be able to laugh even if you want to.

Of course, Utopia doesn’t believe that the Demon Lord has revived.

It is basically a fairy tale existence, but if someone like that had come back to life, it would have long since shown itself in the demon race territory, and would have governed the demons.

And then, it would be conquering the countries about now, making blood rain.

Actually, rather than the man calling himself the Demon Lord, for Utopia, another existence he can’t ignore at all had appeared.

He had no choice but to concentrate on that side.

That’s right, the other being.

If it were only once, he would have been able to wrap it up as a rumor, but this is the second time.

In his eyes, dragons are beings he wouldn’t get bored killing.

They may act like they are neutral, but in essence, they are beings that stand at the summit of the beast race. Dragons would regularly intervene in the conflicts of demons and beasts.

And then, in the end, they would go: ‘My dwelling has been attacked’, and would take the side of the beastkin, crushing several thousands of demons with their overwhelming power. On top of that, they granted their blood to a ‘Dragonewt’ to serve as a leader for the beasts.

The excuse they gave was: ‘It is to gather the wild beastkin as one, and make it so that they don’t create any stupid conflicts with the demon race’.

For the demon race, having a being with the power of a dragon being sent to only one side would no doubt make them want to shout: ‘What’s neutral about that?!’.

That’s why, there’s no way he could ignore the existence of one other Dragonewt. Thinking about the standing of the demon race, it was nothing but a new assassin sent by the Dragons.

“Utopia, where did you get this group from?”

Walking speaks to Utopia while he was deep in thought.

There were men and women young and old gathered. They were all thin, and they seemed to not even have the strength to complain, and it looked like even moving was too much.

“There’s no need to worry. I am granting them ‘salvation’.” (Utopia)

“…Salvation?” (Walking)

Walking asks Utopia in wonder.

In his opinion, Utopia has been acting weird lately. Until now, he had been acting with a composed attitude as their great leader, their guide, but lately, he has been strangely angry and would raise his voice at small things.

“Just like how happiness has many forms, salvation also has many forms.” (Utopia)

Walking sighed inside his heart at the words that sounded profound.

He had no intention to answer properly.

Many Satanists died in the battle before. Within those, there were many who didn’t agree with Walking.

In this Satanist group where there’s even lunatics, he is the type that advances things in a calculative manner, that’s why he sticks out in the group.

Within the shouting of ‘kill’ ‘destroy’, he alone made careful plans, and used Hell to catch the Holy Maiden by surprise. And in reality, he managed to corner them with only one more step left.

If you only see the result, it ended in failure, but it is because of the irregular factor that is Zero, and his plan was by no means wrong.

And yet, what happened was him being labelled as ‘a coward who ran back’.

It is the usual, ‘returning alive is shame’ that closed groups normally follow since time immemorial. And it is basically ‘falling together with your comrades is beauty’.

(How stupid… What will dying accomplish?) (Walking)

But because Walking has a deep rooted desire to make this country better, he doesn’t follow that thought pattern of theirs.

If he dies, that would be it, and he wouldn’t be able to change the country after all.

(Just where in the world are we heading to…?) (Walking)

Walking directed his gaze at the throne and thought about this.

■■□□■■□□

—Holy Light Country, Dona Dona’s residence.

When Azul opened the door, his graceful face distorted slightly.

A robust man was riding on top of a girl and was swinging his fist down with brute strength. Not only her face, but her whole body had bruises here and there,and it felt like she was a meat punching bag.

“Milligan, did you kidnap a girl from the lower class?” (Azul)

“Don’t make such a scary face. This is playing, playing.”

The girl has long been dead.

But the man didn’t care about that at all and was beating her corpse.

“The reputation of Master will fall. Didn’t I tell you that before?” (Azul)

“Don’t be so stiff. Boss Dona is the one playing the most, you know.”

The name of this man is Milligan. He is one of the mercenaries that Dona had hired a long time ago, and his standing is lower than that of Azul, but Azul doesn’t have the authority to order him.

Dona likes the brutal nature of Milligan and is letting him do as he pleases.

It is like having at least one savage dog at hand.

“I will tell you the order of Master. Head to the Rabi Village and investigat—” (Azul)

“Yeah! I can finally play with the Bunnies?! That’s great!”

“Milligan, I said investigation.” (Azul)

“Boss Dona wouldn’t be so petty. He means ‘go play’, right?”

The eyes of Azul change.

His looks and outfit could only be seen as that of a butler, but he is an assassin.

“Investigation. It is troubling to arbitrarily interpret the words of Master.” (Azul)

“Tch, got it. What unbelievable eyes ya got.”

Milligan clicked his tongue as he left the room. Azul rang a bell and called a butler. He probably didn’t want to show this tragic sight to a maid.

“Give her a burial. At the very least, provide her respect.” (Azul)

“Yes.”

The butler is also used to this, so he rolled her body in a black cloth with swift movements, and carries her outside the residence.

His face didn’t show any discernible emotion.

He is probably killing his heart in work for the sake of money.

In reality, working in the residence of Dona pays well. At first, he was happy about it, but in time, his face darkened, and in the end, he became expressionless.

In the opinion of Azul, this place is a ‘faceless residence’ filled with gold.

(I am also one of the faceless though…) (Azul)

Distorting his mouth in self-derision, Azul thinks about the Rabi Village.

The village where the man calling himself the Demon Lord is.

For some reason, this man is heading to the north and has crossed the national border.

His master Dona heard this and moved at once.

‘Making contact with Maou was prohibited, but if he is absent, there shouldn’t be any problem in investigating the village, right?’, is the kind of childish logic he was using.

And in reality, there’s no one who can stop his childishness. The reason why Dona is stopping at the very limit of the line is because of White.

(He might have even received a secret order of stealing anything in the village that’s similar to the music box.) (Azul)

Having the music box taken away from in front of his eyes must have been quite the humiliation.

Dona insults Kakifry every day.

If he wanted it that much, he should have paid 100 big gold coins, but that kind of special vision of nobles is incredibly difficult to understand.

A reading battle that only happens once and winning against your opponent at the very limit of that line.

That gracefulness is what defines a noble, that’s what a victory is. If a number like a 100 big gold coins were to be read, the surroundings would be unamused.

Not only would it not bring respect, you could be frowned on.

(Milligan, huh… No matter how I think about it, he will be causing something.) (Azul)

Azul thought that, but he couldn’t stop it.

Milligan is directly under Dona and doesn’t need to listen to the orders of anyone after all. Dona could only wish that the incident will be a small one.

Of course, there’s no way such a naive way of thinking will work.

That village has a man that the Demon Lord trusts deeply, and a scary witch.

■■□□■■□□

—Vicinity of the Barrow Republic’s national border.

The carriage of Maou was approaching the target city.

It is located at the southeast area of the northern countries, and comes into contact with the beast race country with a mountain separating them. It is the most lively of the cities within the Barrow Republic.

“Is that really the name of a country?” (Maou)

“Isn’t it a nice energetic name? You complain too much.” (Mikan)

When Maou heard the word Barrow, he was reminded of a certain child detective, but even if he were to tell Mikan, it wouldn’t make sense to her. <Baro is a short and more playful way of saying Baka Yaro, which means stupid bastard. Detective Conan uses this word often.>

“What’s the name of the city? Don’t tell me it is Conan.” (Maou)

“…It is a city called Rookie. There’s a dungeon called the Prison Dungeon.” (Mikan)

“Rookie, huh. So it is a city where novices gather.” (Maou)

“…Oji-sama, sharp.” (Yukikaze)

Yukikaze claps, and Maou looks outside the carriage playing cool.

Mikan goes: ‘Are you an idiot?’ and throws a candy in her mouth. She may be complaining, but it looks like she liked the sweetness of the candy.

“Wait, what is this?! The inside of my mouth feels breezy!” (Mikan)

“Hoh, so you got the peppermind taste. I mean, the peppermint taste.” (Maou)

“…Breezy. Mikan, going commando?” (Yukikaze)

“Geez, can I leave already?! I can, right?!” (Mikan)

Calming down Mikan who was trying to leave, Maou asks questions again as they approach Rookie city. This Rookie City was founded because of the Prison Dungeon.

It originally had a different name, but because many rookies gathered in the Prison Dungeon that’s said to be suited for beginners, its name was changed to reflect this.

“Anyways, Prison isn’t a peaceful sounding name.” (Maou)

“…That’s because there’s something similar to a real prison at the depths of the dungeon.” (Yukikaze)

“Hoh, does that mean this was once used to keep someone or something locked?” (Maou)

“…I don’t know. The prison of love. Love Prison.” (Yukikaze)

“What is up with your language base?” (Maou)

The questions of Maou continue. This man is normally half-assed, but when he thinks something is necessary to know, he would try to learn it to a persistent degree. It is similar to the people that would leave the daily cleaning of the house to the weekend where they would be incredibly thorough with it.

Why are there many things dropped in the dungeon?

Why don’t they deteriorate?

Where did the monsters of the dungeon come from?

Why are the monsters not getting hunted down completely?

Do the monsters reproduce between themselves?

In other words, the questions of Maou were all matters that dealt with the basis of things. Yukikaze and Mikan were unable to answer those questions.

Or more like, the two didn’t question those things. For the people in this world, this is just how things are, and it wasn’t even questioned.

Conversely, if an otherworldler were to go to Earth and saw a telephone pole and electric cables, they would want to thoroughly question about it.

“…Oji-sama, are you the type that likes to be locked up in prison?” (Yukikaze)

“What are you even talking about?” (Maou)

“…Or the type that likes to be confined in prison?” (Yukikaze)

“Neither. I hate restraints.” (Maou)

“…Oji-sama, so cool.” (Yukikaze)

Yukikaze looks at Maou while blushing.

He didn’t really say anything remarkable, but with his appearance and the atmosphere he gives out, it made each and every one of his words heavier.

Watching this from the side, Mikan drinks water with a scowl.

Looks like the mint taste still remained.

“Whaat’s with that ‘I hate restraints’? You are already restraining me.” (Mikan)

“…Mikan likes to be tied up. Also likes candles.” (Yukikaze)

“Hoh…I won’t repudiate special fetishes, but keep it moderate, okay?” (Maou)

“You people!! I can’t take this anymoooore!!!” (Mikan)

The voice of a single person reverberated in the carriage as the Rookie City grew visible.

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