Chapter 1329 Who Is That? Part 2

「First of all, let’s pour the whole bottle of whatever seems to be the most expensive shit in this entire joint down this mug right here……」

「Pointing out: But if you do just that, Master, then wouldn’t it be most difficult to define this…… drink that you are making as a mere cocktail anymore?」

「Relax, it’s just like your typical family restaurant cocktail. It’s a technique devised by a man called a Family Restaurant Drink Bar Guru who’s been perfecting this technique for years now…… Well, not really. I just happened to make it all up on the spot.」

「Master, you do realize that when it a bind, even a bottle like that one can be brandished as a primitive blunt weapon, don’t you?」

「Now, now, I would be really grateful if you would stop saying such dangerous things while looking so serious.」

Since this is a game, I don’t think that I would be able to drink something like that, or that it would possess any unique characteristic, but if I already started to do something, I might as well stick with it to the very end. …… Well, the fragrance is not all that tempting to begin with, but I am sure that you would find enthusiasts of shitty concoctions like that if you were to look hard enough. Probably.

「Now then, let’s get onto the main subject of this discussion: what is of the utmost importance in this battle is to understand the way in which Orchestra is moving about, its strategies. Without understanding that in the first place, there is going to be very little that can actually be done about it.」

「Procuring answer: but would it not be the will of mankind just before the Era of the Gods took place? Was it not that which fueled Orchestra and made it act all this time?」

「Yes, I guess that this would be the correct answer here under any normal circumstances. But since the circumstances here are not normal by any means, this answer seems to be correct in only about thirty percent or so. So in other words, that answer constitutes only about one third of the being we know as Orchestra of the Gloomy Melody. First of all, it is to give us a glimpse of the lives of those who lived before the Era of the Gods took place, those who lived during the Era of the Gods, and those who came after that all the way into the present times, going beyond the Era of the Gods. That…… is Orchestra’s very first intention.」

That much can be deduced from the Pseudepigrapha Route of the Orchestra, its many branching paths. And that id because the common theme in every single branch of the Orchestra is to make the Player currently facing against it fight. I don’t know the exact motive for taking an action quite like that, but it is certain that some force, either be it humanity or something else entirely, wanted the future generations that were to come to witness the world and humanity before the Era of the Gods came about.

「The second of Orchestra’s intentions, and pay in mind that this is only a wild guess on my end, but maybe…… That would have to be Andrew Jitter Doll’s intention. So those two things would actually happen to be interconnected.」

Yes, Doctor Andrew Jitter Doll, the one and only. Although on the surface level he seems to be just your typical Virgin Otaku who is constantly obsessed with the idea of female Idols, which seems to be a total overkill in my opinion, you have to remember to give someone credit where the credit is due. And what would this guy’s credit be? Well, he may be the way he is, but that does not change the fact that he is basically one of the great geniuses of the Era of the Gods period, and without his part in it there would never be the “Preservation of Culture” Plan that was ultimately conceived by the greatest minds of that time.

We have Doctor Julius Shangri-La. We have Doctor Alice Frontier. We have Doctor Edward Old Kling. Yes, even that chump who got probably eaten by monsters or zombies counts. And as much as it pains me to give this crybaby Edward any credit, it is without a shred of a doubt the former geniuses from the Era of the Gods are still able to influence the present times in some way or another, which is quite the accomplishment when you think about it for a moment or two.

Not to mention that the Conquest Dolls were approved by the other great geniuses as something that should be the part of the “Preservation of Culture” Plan, so they are infact an essential part of it all. As unlikely as that might sound. Now, the Conquest Dolls are all fashioned after the members of the “Sternbloom” Idol group of the past, or could even be said to be the remnants of the group for sure. And even though when it comes to the Conquest Dolls there is still a clear “Master-Servant” relationship between the Player and the respective Doll, there is still a mutual bond of trust and “likeliness” that basically transcends the mere bond that is “ownership”…… At least that’s what I think. And seeing that the appearance of the Conquest Doll during the Orchestra battle was more than enough to invoke a change and issue a challenge to the Player in terms of the music influence duel, this has to be the right track of thinking. Now it’s just a matter of following it.

「Well then. Having said all that, this brings us to the main subject of the discussion at hand, something that is going to be pivotal for everything else that we do…… The Orchestra’s third intention. Or, if you would really like to put it in another, much simpler way: the idea of the true identity of the Orchestra.」

「Orchestra’s third intention…… Orchestra’s, true identity……? No way, you don’t possibly mean……」

「Alright, nice going, Sigma. I can see that you already have an idea what the correct answer might be here. So, if you would be so kind as to give me that answer, I would really appreciate that.」

「Procuring the answer: Could it possibly be the personal intention of Elise Jitter Doll herself?」

Hearing Sigma delivering the answer that I also happened to arrive at at some point, I could not help it but to grin broadly like a complete idiot under my Bird mask. It’s a good thing that this mask covers my face, I can make expressions like that without running the risk of other people seeing me like that. Next, I open up the beak part of the mask and pour the contents of the glass I was holding in my hand right into my mouth: a huge drink that looked very similar to the cocktails that you would see getting served to the costumers in family restaurants all over the place. The drink mixing with the air before it eventually passes down my throat and into my stomach, its taste is really bland and it makes me think of a fizzy drink that’s been carbonated way too much. It’s certainly not the best thing that I have ever drank in the world, but it is also not the worst thing by any means.

「I don’t get it! I don’t understand it! Not at all!」

「…… Huh!?」