Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?

Oshiete D-sensei! Lesson 3

D「Welcome back to Oshiete D-se

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M「Oh my? Oh my my! Your neck has dropped off so skillfully! Perhaps this could be used as a regular trick at parties? 」

D「It hurts so I shall refrain.」

M「Since you can talk with just your head, I guess your body is not needed then? Okay, finely chopped…」

D「Ahh! My beautiful body has become a corpse that cannot be shown without using mosaic censorship.」

M「Even though you have been reduced to just a head it is highly aggravating that you are so composed.」

D「I have perpetual youth and longevity after all.」

M「First of all, as a punishment for your mischief you shall be a freshly severed head until this corner ends. Okay?」

D「How callous.」

M「O K A Y ?」

D「Yes Ma’am!」

M「Very good.」

D「Starting once again, it is time for the third “Oshiete D-sensei”. Since I am a freshly severed head the tension is somewhat lowered.」

M「Of course it is. If it was not then it would not be punishment.」

D「Sigh. Nai wa. My perfect body has been left in such a cruel state. Nai wa.」

M「Hurry up and proceed.」

D「Yeah, yeah. Well, so that my beauty is unimpaired even as a freshly severed head, cameraman, please use an angle so that anything below my neck does not show.」

M「There is no cameraman. If you do not hurry up and proceed how about I step on you?」

D「Well then, I shall pull myself together and get the show started. For the explanation this time, I wish to roughly cover the Past Arc. Well, to put the Past Arc in a single phrase, it is generally Potimas’s fault! The end.」

M「How blunt.」

D「But it is practically true as well. The stage for the Past Arc is the same planet as the main story but from long ago. At that time it consisted of a scientific civilisation that was slightly superior to that of the current Earth. In that sense there was not much difference to Earth, but there was in fact two large differences. That was the existence of the stray angel Sariel, and the existence of the dragons.」

M「They were nearer the gods in other words.」

D「Indeed they were. That being said, only a few humans knew that Sariel was a god though, and the dragons also quietly passed the time in order to not provocate Sariel, so they did not have a big influence. As a mental image, perhaps you could consider it as being like Earth where Godzilla actually exists.」

M「I have a feeling that that is a bit off though.」

D「Well, I am not really sure what you mean, but for now imagine that there is this ridiculously strong creature there. The dragons cannot be beaten by mankind. If they are not provoked then they stay quiet. However, if you make a move on them then things become terrible. While that much is considered common knowledge, the fact that dragons are gods, or the fact that they came from outer space is not generally known. Such things might have been vaguely conveyed to the oddballs who worship the dragons though.」

M「There was a Dragon Religion, right?」

D「Yes. They probably went behind Sariel’s back to instil the idea into people that the dragons are the supreme race. The people who took that literally became believers.」

M「From the point of view of humans, dragons are higher ranked creatures after all. It is perhaps inevitable that they would gather a certain amount of religious faith.」

D「As a result of those beliefs, not just money but their entire fortunes were taken. Blech.」

M「Please do not say blech with a serious expression. It is frankly disgusting.」

D「How dare you use a word like disgusting against this freshly severed head of a transcendentally beautiful girl!」

M「Just being a freshly severed head is disgusting.」

D「Sob sob.」

M（So irritating.）

D「Well anyway, that is enough about the dragons. The one who had an eye on the mysterious power of the dragons, was the Primary Perpetrator that everyone knows, Potimas Hyphenath. He was being consumed with not wanting to die, and was researching perpetual youth and longevity. But, of course such a thing could not be realised. But since he could not give up, he had an eye on the magecraft that the dragons used. And dareingly, he kidnapped a baby dragon. He began an analysis of the dragons.」

M「This incident was the trigger that led to the encounter between Sariel and Gyurie was it not.」

D「Yes. Gyurie the young dragon. And, Sariel the guardian of mankind. It was a chance meeting between these two. At first they were in opposition, or rather a relationship where Gyurie just one-sidedly criticised her, but before he noticed it that relationship changed.」

M「It was more or less entirely on Gyurie’s side though.」

D「You should not point that out. Well, while those two were going through a slow and awkward stage, Potimas continued his investigation into magecraft, and discovered the power that cannot be seen, MA Energy. The energy he had discovered, was in fact the life force of the planet. It is a dangerous energy to use, as it would push the planet into decline, and eventually cause the planet to collapse. However, even while knowing that, he still made the existence of MA Energy known to the world. The reason being, is that if MA Energy is used, then it would be possible for mankind to evolve. The evolved humans would have elevated physical abilities, and prolonged life spans. Indeed, it was a glimpse of the perpetual youth and longevity that Potimas was seeking.」

M「That being said, it was neither perennial youth nor longevity, and what Potimas was seeking still seemed a long way off.」

D「Indeed. For that reason, Potimas had to perform even more research. However, his repeated and cruel experiments on living people were eventually discovered, and he became an internationally wanted criminal. His research had required an enormous amount of capital, and dependable facilities. Because he had to obtain those no matter what, he required the assistance of various countries. For that reason, he announced the revolutionary energy called MA Energy, and using that as bait he was able to receive support from various countries behind closed doors. He hid the inconvenient aspects about MA Energy.」

M「How dirty. Truly, how dirty.」

D「Presumably the reason why he also announced the method for evolving mankind, was not simply to grasp the hearts of the rich, but perhaps also with the goal of clinical experiments.」

M「I guess all you can say is “as expected of Potimas”.」

D「Naturally, the dragons did not stay silent about this. Of course the dragons knew the truth about MA Energy, so they immediately informed mankind that it must not be used. However, mankind did not comply with that. As a result, the dragons set out to exterminate mankind.」

M「That is how dragons are.」

D「Indeed, that bunch look down on all other creatures after all. For them it was no different to performing pest extermination. Even though they themselves are just vermin who came from outer space.」

M「The discussion is digressing.」

D「Oops. Well then, we should return to the story. Mankind had no way of opposing the dragons, and they sustained heavy damage, but this is where everyone’s goddess Sariel took action. She saved mankind from the evil influence of the dragons. Whee, so awesome.」

M「Indeed.」

D「Well, the ones at fault were the humans who were using up the planet’s life force like crazy, so from the standpoint of having to safeguard the planet no matter what, you could say that Sariel’s actions were both right and wrong. However, while Sariel’s actions made the situation more complicated when seen objectively, from the point of view of mankind she was surely their saviour. If Sariel had not been there then all joking aside mankind could have gone extinct.」

M「Certainly. When Sariel’s actions are seen from various angles, they look completely different I guess.」

D「From the point of view of mankind she was their saviour. From the point of view of the dragons she was a hopelessly faulty angel who was protecting the insects. I guess you could say that the dragons were completely fed up. Serves them right.」

M「If they had only cried themselves to sleep in frustration they could have been loveable.」

D「It is futile to expect such things from that lot. Indeed, the dragons made the situation worse. They snatched up the remaining MA Energy and fled into space – how outrageous! That lot stole something completely outrageous.」

M「You simply wanted to say that, right?」

D「They truly did run off with something completely outrageous though. That started the countdown to the planet’s collapse. The only way to stop that was to replenish the lost energy. And, then method that was considered for doing so, was to offer up Sariel as a sacrifice. And of course, the one to propose this method, was the Primary Perpetrator that everyone knows, Potimas. Not only that, but this method would not actually succeed, and Potimas was contriving to run off with the energy gained by decomposing Sariel.」

M「How dirty.」

D「Mankind chose to repay the kindness that was received in saving them with ingratitude. At that moment, the Goddess of Salvation appeared! In other words, me!」

M「Salvation (LOL) indeed. Yeah, as if.」

D「That is not the case at all-l. A proper path for salvation was in fact provided-d. The Primary Perpetrator for the current situation was Potimas after all-l.」

M「It is frustrating that you are not technically wrong.」

D「Upon my magnificent arrival, life-support was provided for the planet and Sariel, and Sariel was used as the nexus to activate the System. This System would recover the power inside the souls of living creatures upon death, and that would be used to supplement the lost MA Energy. Also, so that it could be recovered again and again, with this kind plan people would be reborn on this planet after dying.」

M「How is that “kind”……」

D「The power inside souls increases due to fighting. For that reason, the people of that world will continue to fight. Until they have finished repaying the debt.」

M「Hearing it that way, it sounds like gladiator slavery.」

D「It is somewhat similar. And so, that’s the rough flow of events in the Past Arc.」

M「Wait a moment please. You have left out an important matter.」

D「What would those be?」

M「Why do you think you have been turned into a freshly severed head? Is it not the case that the reason why the general Primary Perpetrator in Potimas Hyphenath was deliberately left alive was because you wanted it? If you had not said something strange to Gyurie, he would have quickly killed Potimas and that planet should have been saved in a much nicer way. Why did you do something like that?」

D「Eh? Obviously because it would be more interesting that w…

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M「Well then, this is it for today. Good-bye.」