Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

Signallers who were synchronized through Synchro Magic felt the same things and shared the same information through their Unique Magic.

Since they had predetermined ways of seeing things, their speech patterns naturally became similar as well.

It seemed that the Military State had reached the point of mass-producing even humans.

But that couldn’t be the case.

If it were, would they have bothered to confine the Signallers in the Windowless Room?

"Signallers can contact each other! So why didn't you help your colleague who was on the brink of death?"

It was an ethical criticism.

Facing such a problem for the first time after a lifetime of being confined in a room, I.A. hesitated for a moment before answering.

"That is the rule of the Signallers..."

"Shut up! The urgent matter first!"

I tried to prompt Y with my eyes... but it wasn't necessary.

Y was already administering the potion.

She tilted the card I gave her, held the Nine of Hearts inside her mouth, opened Z's mouth, and poured it in.

Everyone fell silent, watching the scene.

Y, who was desperately pouring the potion… suddenly convulsed and then collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Some were agitated seeing the scene, but most of it was from our side.

Even when one of their own collapsed, the Signallers remained calm.

"The potion is a lie."

"Poison? Or a drug?"

"This Module has no means to resist such an attack. Why would he lie?"

"He is known as a swindler in Amitengrad. Surely, this was to deceive our Module."

I.A. and the other Signallers were unperturbed.

They had anticipated this possibility, so Y collapsing only reaffirmed their belief that I intended to attack them.

But there was one exception.

"Liar!"

Only X, filled with intense anger, approached me.

Historia quickly moved to stop her, but I held her back with my hand.

They need to think and judge for themselves.

"Did you plan to eliminate us all from the start? Do you intend to continue attacking even after knowing who we are?"

X alone poured out pure anger at me.

I could have toyed with her more, but there was no need to complicate things.

I spoke frankly.

"The potion I used is Nine of Hearts, the Potion of False Death. It puts the person who drinks it into a state of suspended animation for a while."

"Suspended animation? Why use such a potion...?"

"Becoming a sacrifice means tearing out one's Spiritual World from its roots. Though she managed to survive, she will soon die. To restore her Spiritual World..."

I made a slicing motion across my neck.

"It's called a life review, I believe? When one faces death or a similar shock, their entire life flashes before their eyes."

Any device will reset and solve most problems if it stops and restarts.

So were humans.

When a great stimulus, like death, swept through the body, it rebooted the neural pathways, bringing back past memories and restoring the mind.

"So, once they die and come back to life, a large part of their Spiritual World gets restored. The phenomenon needs to be triggered, even using drugs. Would you like to check?"

Doubtful, X used her Unique Magic again.

Unlike Y or Z, her summoned Eimeder only opened a door and suffered no significant damage.

The relatively intact Unique Magic linked her with Y and Z.

"...! We’re synchronized...!"

Though incomplete, they were connected.

Part of the heavily damaged Unique Magic was restored.

X realized I was telling the truth.

Simultaneously, all the Signallers recognized it as the truth, thanks to their synchronization.

X quickly changed her attitude.

"...Thank you for your help."

"It's alright. I just had the right means."

The means to manipulate you all.

I hid my true intentions and gave X a friendly smile.

"Please take care of those two. You seem to be the most reliable person here."

Feeling gratitude towards me, X laid them down properly.

Someone had built a robust system for the Military State.

A method of governing the Military State using Signallers isolated from the world.

It was impressive from my perspective too.

But only impressive.

The idea of a Philosopher King¹ ruling the world was quite common.

Everyone wanted to be a Philosopher King, standing above others.

The Military State, filled with Signallers, was remarkable, but it couldn't overcome its fundamental limitations.

No matter how well they were made, in the end, Signallers were still human.

"By the way, I'm starting to get angry. You! The one who called me a swindler!"

I walked briskly towards U and shoved my face close.

U, suddenly the focus of my attention, recoiled, but I followed her quickly, shouting.

"Do you know who I am to judge me? Do you think a swindler from the back alleys can reach this far?"

"N-no. But according to the information I gathered..."

"Information you gathered? Whatever it is, did you see and think for yourself? Can you explain who I am with the information you have?"

Unable to respond, U shut her mouth.

She prided herself on her job, so even a small mistake felt humiliating.

Yes, that's it.

The slight differences in how they perceive the same situation.

Those small emotions…

The tiny cracks that humans have because they are emotional and impulsive.

Having finished shouting, I walked slowly and spoke.

"I have no intention of killing or harming you. From the start, I came here to affirm the value of humanity."

Everyone listened to my words.

The Signallers of one Module were synchronized in real time.

But do they all listen to it the same way?

"The Military State doesn't care about humans. It only oppresses, punishes, and rules. They don't rule with compassion. They imprison mothers who stole to feed their starving children alongside heinous criminals, and they trample on anyone who speaks out their thoughts if it contradicts the ideology of the Military State, without considering the heart behind it."

I walked slowly while speaking, and the moment I arrived before P, I suddenly turned my head and shouted.

"The same goes for the Signallers, who were slowly dying in their narrow rooms!!"

"Kyaah!"

P, particularly sensitive to stimuli, was startled and fell on her butt.

Signallers could maintain composure because they communicated through golems; without that, they were no different from ordinary people.

I gave her a mocking smile and moved my face close to R, who was next to her.

"I can't accept a country like this. A country with no unexpected joys, luxuries, and pleasures like a night's dream. A country that doesn't touch your heart or whimsically change your mind. A country that considers the heart before judging crimes. A country where people come before rules. That's the kind of country I want!"

"Why tell that to me...?"

"Have you never thought about it? When punishing a criminal according to military law. Is it right to punish someone who sold their conscience for petty cash the same as someone who stole a bit to save their dying family?"

R, who gathers verdicts and precedents among the Military State's Signallers, would take it more seriously.

I gradually told each Signaller different words.

Akin to using a sharp skewer to pry open the gaps and wiggle them.

"You are wrong! I don't know who taught you to be like this, but you're completely wrong! Surrounding yourselves with steel walls, talking only through golems, having secretive conversations among yourself? Do you think that makes you objective? No! That's negligence and abandonment! If you are Command of the Military State, you must not give up thinking!"

Maybe feeling something off, I.A., the administrator of this Module, stubbornly tried to cut me off.

"Your argument is meaningless. Since you cannot offer a better alternative, your opinion is–"

"Shut up! I don't care about your opinion, bystander!"

I slapped her… again.

I.A., who fell again, briefly showed a look of indignance.

Her Unique Magic bound several nearby Signallers... in other words, if this were a class, she would be the class president.

Her power was very strong within a close range, enough to bind all the other 25 Signallers here.

So I didn’t allow her to speak.

I pressured her to the point she couldn't even open her mouth.

How does that feel?

Frustrating, isn't it?

Good.

"You talk too much. Historia, block her mouth while I talk."

"...Is that necessary?"

"It's crucial. If you don't, I'll gag her."

Deciding that covering her mouth was better than using a gag, Historia went behind I.A. and covered her mouth.

The grip of a Star General was stronger than most restraints and smarter than a straitjacket.

I.A. was now completely helpless, only able to watch me speak.

"You are doing well. The fact that the Military State is still standing proves it. But you are also human, and you are not always right."

I raised my hand.

The broken Nine of Hearts card.

It should have been red, but the liquid inside had leaked out, leaving it with pale gray hearts.

I held it between two fingers.

"For example, like this. If I restore the broken card..."

After shaking the card between my fingers and blowing on it, the card turned red again.

Holding the restored card, I waved it proudly.

"Would any of you, who have spent your lives in that small room, know what trick I used?"

It was a phenomenon that couldn’t be explained logically.

Some Signallers felt curiosity... or a desire to observe.

Signallers developed voyeuristic tendencies due to being confined inside a room their whole life.

Trapped in steel boxes, they compulsively tried to connect to golems to see the world.

And those who had never seen magic were the easiest to deceive with it.

"There is no reason to pay attention. He has certainly used a trick. There is nothing remarkable."

Only one person, S, tried to block the Signallers' curiosity.

But the approach was wrong.

Claiming it was a trick only half acknowledged the magic's existence.

If they hadn't been interested at all, it might have worked, but such a claim only made them more curious.

1. A hypothetical ruler in whom political skill is combined with philosophical knowledge.