Chapter 702: Who is that ?

Author's Preface
My hand slipped.

"Noooooooooo!!?"

The price for trying to look cool was a death sentence via falling......!!! Damn it, don't mess with me, if I die here the footage will be preserved in Library for generations to come!?

"Aaaahhhh, I'm counting on you, final secret stash!!"

The very last secret stash I received from Library! I knew for a fact I'd end up using it, but I never expected it to be in this final phase!!

I'm counting on you, Disposable Magic MediumMagic Scroll!!

"【Air Cushion】!!"

Bo-mun! A sensation as if my entire body were being softly crushed inward, using me as the core. I'm begging you, anti-impact mitigation magic! It reduces fall damage, right!!?

Bo-mun! (Crashes into the pillar of the collapsing highway)

"Ogueh."

Bobobobobo! (The sound of rubble particles shaving away the Air Cushion's durability)

"W-w-w-wait a min—"

Beshan!!! (Slammed against the ground like a dropped slime)

"Buh."

A... am I alive? My HP is...... no way, 10% remaining. Isn't Air Cushion amazing!? This is a definite "buy," without a doubt───

Gonk!!!!

"Pebuh!!?"

Stars scattered across my vision. A strike that caught me completely off guard. Even after the Air Cushion spent its entire durability mitigating the damage, the fist-sized chunk of asphalt that nailed me directly in the head delivered enough impact to stun me.

"Kuo......"

Hurry up and end, stun, hurry up and end, hurry up and end...... Hiii! This is bad, this is bad, this is bad! I seriously don't want to get crushed to death at this point!!

"N-Namu-san......"

However, the god of salvation reached out a helping hand from an unexpected place. Just a fraction of a second before a massive pillar could crush me, the world, which had reached a state of fatal collapse, suddenly vanished.

It wasn't on the level of burning out or turning to ash. Literally everything vanished cleanly without any warning or lingering traces.

The shattered sky, the ground with its bare textures, the skyscraper, the highway, and even...... "Sunraku."

There were four entities remaining in this place. Me, Saina, the Meteor Iron Mirror...... and the strange mask "Sunraku" had been wearing, which was now lying on the ground.

"O-Oooh...... Stun recovered."

"ContractorMaster."

"Yo, Saina...... Looks like this is the real conclusion, without any plot-armor intervention this time."

The "Diva"...... Elma Sakishima was nowhere to be seen. Did she disappear along with that world, or did she vanish with "Sunraku's" defeat? At the very least, the song that had reached such a fever pitch just moments ago was no longer echoing. It was quiet.

"Question: A qualitative shift into a scenery different from the initial state."

"Yeah...... Feels exactly like some random bar."

I see. So this is the final mystery.

It wasn't the spacious, theater-like colosseum space from when we first entered Orchestra's domain, nor was it the simulated night view that expanded as a result of the song battle. This dimly lit place with no electricity looked exactly like a closed-down bar.

"Well, grab a seat, Saina. You can sit anywhere you want."

"......No, but that mask is—"

"Whoa, hold on, hold on. Haste makes waste. An obvious shortcut is almost always a dead end, that's just how these things work."

There are drinks lined up here, but I wonder if I can drink them...... Oh, I can grab them and open them. Alright then, Sunraku-san's gonna put his back into it and mix up a cocktail.

"First, we pour the most expensive-looking bottle of liquor into this mug."

"Observation: It would be difficult to define that as a cocktail."

"It's a Family Restaurant Cocktail. A technique developed by a man named Family Restaurant Drink Bar...... Well, that's all a lie, but whatever."

"Shop OwnerMaster, I request one bottle highly suitable for use as a blunt weapon."

"Don't do a Dom Pérignon Attack."

Since it's a game anyway, there's no actual alcohol involved. I randomly picked something, randomly mixed it, and randomly took a sip......... Hmm, if it tasted a bit more like iron, it might've had that Saba-Gan flavor.

"Now then, to the main topic. What's important in this conquest of Orchestra is determining what Orchestra's core driving force actually was."

"Answer: The dying wish of humanity prior to the Divine Age?"

"Correct, but I'll give you a 30 out of 100 for that. That only accounts for one-third of what constitutes Orchestra...... First, the primary intent is to observe the ways of life of those living in the present, beyond the Divine Age and the Antiquity Era."

This can also be inferred from the Apocrypha route; the common denominator across Orchestra's branching paths is forcing players to fight. I don't know the exact motive, but it's a fact that the pre-Divine Age humans wanted to see that.

"Then the second one, this is just a guess, but...... the personal will of Andrew Jitterdoll himself."

Andrew Jitterdoll. He may be an idol otaku who went way overboard, but at his core, he is one of the Divine Age geniuses who staked his life on the "preservation of culture."

Just like Julius Shangri-La, Alice Frontier, and Edward Oldcling. Even Edward, who seemed like total stepping-stone fodder, is influencing the present in some form. The Divine Age geniuses are just like that.

Even setting aside the fact that a Conquista Doll is required and that he's listed as the owner, there's the lingering shadow of Sternenblume that reeks of blatant "favoritism"...... At the very least, his influence is heavily ingrained in this system where Orchestra imposes trials on players in the form of music.

"And here's where we get to the real subject...... The third will, the true identity of Orchestra."

"The true identity, of Orchestra...... Could it be,"

"Yes, Saina. Let's hear your answer."

"Answer: The will of Elise Jitterdoll?"

At Saina's answer, a wide grin formed under my bird mask. Opening my beak wide, I poured the Family Restaurant Cocktail into my mouth, skillfully avoiding spilling it while pretending I was drinking overly-carbonated water mixed with air, building up the suspense as much as possible before declaring:

"Incorrecccccccct!!!"

"......!?"