Thou, Lead The Dream With Thy Greed

“Huh? What’s with that way of putting it? You make it sound like I’m the ringleader of a bunch of weirdos.”

Tooyama took his hand off that strange great door and looked up.

A white hunting robe like something a shrine priest would wear, with purple hakama. But that thin cloth could not hide his muscular body.

A huge man dressed like a shrine priest, tall enough to make Tooyama look up at him. The second resident of Tooyama’s dream, Paper Charm Macho, was there.

“Hmm, I do not think that is wrong. What are you doing in a place like this?”

Paper Charm Macho tilted his head. His complexion could not be seen. A paper charm with Sanskrit characters flowing across it was stuck tightly over his entire face.

“Research. Research. I’m finally at the point where I’m seriously about to make a bakery. This is preparation so I can crush everyone with modern bread culture at the Dragon Festival.”

“Ohh, you are spreading your hands wide again. To think you would take over that woman of knowledge’s archive… Good, good. It suits you to be doing all sorts of things like that.”

“Who do you think you are, saying that? Paper Charm Macho, you told me not to open this door, right? Why?”

Tooyama pointed at the door with his thumb and questioned Paper Charm Macho. Strangely, the yearning curiosity he had felt toward the other side of the great door until just moments ago had faded before he realized it.

“Hmm… Well, how should I put it? Do you understand what kind of place this is in the first place?”

“The Bread Archive inside my dream.”

Tooyama pulled out a nearby chair and sat down on it. The lantern light softly illuminated Paper Charm Macho’s bloodless, pale-purple skin.

“Yes, a dream. In other words, this is a place defined by your heart and memories, by me, by that vampire, and by that one’s power and existence. Look at it. It is placed here as if hidden in such an out-of-the-way place, and it has this strange shape besides. Does that not mean there is something your heart chose to hide?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

At Paper Charm Macho’s words, Tooyama wrinkled the tip of his nose. He could not quite grasp what the man was saying.

“There are many things in this dream that neither I nor that vampire touch. The bottom of that great lake and the depths beyond this door are probably the same thing. I am not saying this to be cruel. You should not touch that thing too much.”

“Even if you say that…”

Being told not to approach a suspicious place by a suspicious guy was hardly persuasive. To begin with, this guy was an entity calling himself Relic Blade, but Tooyama still knew nothing about why he was here or what his true identity was.

“I am easy to understand, am I not? Watching you is amusing. So until you die, I shall behave as your power. After you die, I will take your body. See? Simple.”

Paper Charm Macho spread his thick arms and played the fool. However, Tooyama’s wariness did not lessen.

His words were clownish, but facing him made Tooyama understand this bizarre sensation.

When Tooyama stared at Paper Charm Macho, a strange feeling came over him. It was like the odd sensation he felt when he caught sight of a torii gate standing by the sea, or a deserted shrine in a grove he had casually wandered into.

“Yeah, the fact that you naturally have no ethics is scary after all. Wait a second, Paper Charm Macho.”

Tooyama shook off that sensation and rummaged through the low table beside the bookshelf.

“Hmm?”

“Oh, found paper and a pencil. Hmm, what should I do…? Good, good, and there. Okay, that should do it. Paper Charm Macho, take this.”

Tooyama moved the pencil smoothly and ran words across the old paper.

Scratch, scratch. For a while, only the sound of the pencil moving echoed.

After he finished writing everything, Tooyama grabbed the paper and thrust it at Paper Charm Macho.

“What is this?”

“A pledge. Even if it’s only for form’s sake, these things need to be handled properly.”

A pledge. Tooyama Naruhito recalled the memory of his first meeting with Paper Charm Macho.

In exchange for lending him power, he would hand over his body after death.

That exchange had been far too vague, and there was nothing guaranteeing any of it.

Even if it was an exchange inside a dream, this was his second time coming here. He could no longer think of it as just a dream.

“Ohh, a pledge… Something like an oath document, then. Hmm, hmm. ‘Paper Charm Macho, hereafter referred to as Party A, shall, for as long as Tooyama Naruhito, hereafter referred to as Party B, remains alive, spare no cooperation toward Party B. Furthermore, Party A shall not take any action disadvantageous to Party B through indirect methods or any method Party B cannot perceive. Should Party A violate this, Party A must promptly report it to Party B and then accept the penalty specified by Party B. After Party B’s death, death being defined as the complete cessation of Party B’s heart and the judgment by a qualified physician or an equivalent person that resuscitation is impossible by any means, while brain death or a state in which Party B loses the ability to express intent or bear responsibility shall not be treated as death, Party A shall obtain the authority to use Party B’s body in place of Party B…’”

Paper Charm Macho recited the document he had received. The content of the pledge Tooyama had briefly and concisely summarized was, in short, do not do anything on your own.

“It’s just a formal pledge with no one to guarantee it. But no matter what kind of being I’m making a promise with, it’s important to keep things proper, right? If you’re satisfied with the content, sign it.”

“Hmm. Very well. Relic Blade, then.”

“Wait. Write your proper real name. No, that’s not right. Write Paper Charm Macho.”

“…Well, very well. Here. Is this acceptable?”

Paper Charm Macho skillfully pinched the pencil with his huge fingers and smoothly wrote a stroke.

He tried to hand the signed paper to Tooyama, then twitched and stopped moving.

“Yeah, no problem. …What’s wrong? Hurry up and give it to me.”

Tooyama narrowed his eyes and reached out to receive the paper. However, Paper Charm Macho pulled the pledge back toward himself.

“Hm, hmm? …You wrote various things in extremely tiny letters in the right corner.”

“Ah, that’s the proviso section. But you’ve already signed it, so you can’t back out now. Okay, I’ll be collecting this.”

Snap. Tooyama snatched away the fluttering pledge. The signature had already been made. Even if it was only for form’s sake, Tooyama and this bizarre entity had exchanged a paper and defined their mutual interests.

“Ah! Hey! Wait! What a shrewd little… At least explain the contents.”

“It’s just a simple clause. Look.”

Tooyama slapped the paper flat and held it up so Paper Charm Macho could see it.

The giant body crouched down. Whether he could see it or not was unclear, but Paper Charm Macho stared intently at the paper.

“Hmm. Truly, the difference between lovable and unlovable children of man is extreme. Children like you are surely the ones who build villages, make use of us, and incite the people… Let me see. Party A, after obtaining control of Party B’s body through Party B’s death, must obey the following agreements. If Party A violates them, Party A shall promptly relinquish control of the body.
First, if the reason for Party B’s death is homicide, Party A must destroy the cause that brought about Party B’s death by any means necessary.
Second, no hostile acts whatsoever shall be permitted against the friendships Party B constructed while alive, or against allies and friendly forces within relationships of mutual interest. It is strictly forbidden to cause them any disadvantage in any form.
Third, as long as the above two are obeyed, Party A is otherwise free. Live however you like.
…I, see. You truly are shrewd.”

Paper Charm Macho read aloud the detailed agreements Tooyama had deliberately written in small letters in the right corner of the paper.

The paper-charm face silently looked down at Tooyama.

Tooyama quietly broke into a sweat. Deep in his ears, he heard sounds. Festival music. The sound of someone whispering.

Tooyama Naruhito’s functions as a human began to scream. Crawl. Bend your knees. Bow your head.

Awe.

It was different from what he felt from Drako and the other dragons, and also different from what he had felt when facing Stolu when she got serious or the old butler.

The sound of festival music grew louder and louder. Scenery he should never have seen began dancing behind his eyelids.

“…I understand very well that you’re some kind of unknowable guy, provisional Relic Blade. You don’t act purely out of goodwill. If anything, you’re more on the villain side. That’s just my intuition, though.”

Enduring his aching head and the echoing festival music, Tooyama simply looked forward. He understood at least that the thing before him was not a very good thing.

“Oh…? Master of my dream, wielder of my blade. I wish to ask. Though you understand that, and though you are so wary of me, why do you not take measures against me here and now?”

“What are you trying to say?”

Each of Paper Charm Macho’s words became a ringing in his ears. The festival music grew even stronger, and he could even hear the sound of bells.

“I am asking whether you are not afraid, mortal one. You people fear death, do you not? In other words, you fear your own disappearance.”

The paper charm rustled.

It was holding that thing back. It was an anti-vengeful-spirit weapon made with the power of the strongest spiritual defense mechanism in that country’s history, meant to calm that raging spirit.

A mechanism designed to stop that thing, built by adding to and weaving it since Himiko’s time.

However, because it had crossed worlds and worn away, it no longer had the power to suppress that thing completely.

Paper Charm Macho, that thing, laughed. It was the laugh of a transcendent being that made the pit of one’s stomach tremble.

“Are you not afraid? After you die, I shall become you. Tooyama Naruhito, that means it is a blasphemy against the dignity of the individual that is you. I am the unbowed one. I am the one who divides boundaries, the mist gathering on the plains, the mist spreading through the mountains. After your death, I shall steal your dignity. The definition of the individual, the absoluteness of the individual known as Tooyama Naruhito, I shall take from you.”

As Paper Charm Macho, Relic Blade, continued speaking, the mist gathering at their feet grew thicker.

Purple skin, bloodless skin, a muscular body floated alone in the sea of mist.

“Mortal one, answer me. Are you not afraid?”

It was a question from a great being to a small one. Under normal circumstances, only humans with suitable blood and special power should have been able to hear that voice.

Priests, rites, shrine maidens. Since ancient times, the people of Japan had found gods in the powers of the world that they could do nothing about by their own strength.

They worshiped them, feared them, respected them, and lived alongside them.

“I am scared. Just imagining someone else using my body and moving around after I die is disgusting.”

Awe. That concept, possessed within Tooyama as a Japanese person and as a member of that people, brought abnormalities to his body.

Honestly, Tooyama held on to consciousness by sheer willpower and answered without lying.

“Then.”

Paper Charm Macho, the unbowed one, the great being dwelling in the heavenly plain, heard the words of the small one.

If he spoke of fear, if he understood fear.

That thing would slip into the small one’s fear.

Just as Tooyama Naruhito had said, that thing was not a force of good. If it saw an opening, it wanted to take over Tooyama Naruhito as its vessel this very moment.

However, at the same time, that thing truly feared Tooyama Naruhito. Having watched Tooyama Naruhito’s adventure and life from up close, that thing truly feared that small one.

That was why it waited for now and did nothing unnecessary.

Well, even so, it would still meddle a little. Little by little, little by little, it would prepare for that time someday.

The great being tried to spin further words.

“But that’s a matter of risk. It’s the risk brought by your existence. No, the disadvantage, right?”

“…Disadvantage?”

Tooyama’s words interrupted Paper Charm Macho’s words.

Just as Paper Charm Macho was about to speak, he stopped moving.

Because he had seen Tooyama Naruhito’s eyes.

“Yeah, Paper Charm Macho. If you really are Relic Blade, then you’re power. You’re a wonderful power.”

That man was drunk. Even while drunk, that man knew.

Power.

He knew the name of the thing that was absolutely necessary to survive life, to advance according to his own desires, to obtain things, and to avoid having things taken from him.

“Power, you say?”

“Yeah. I’ll say it as many times as you want. It pisses me off to think you’ll take over my corpse after I die. It’s scary that I don’t clearly know what an unknowable thing like you is aiming for. The thought of you using my corpse to approach the people I know makes me sick.”

“Though you understand that, why do you accept me?”

“It’s simple. Even after more than compensating for all that, even after swallowing those disadvantages, Relic Blade, I need you.”

The mist distorted.

The mist that had wrapped around Paper Charm Macho and clung to him slowly flowed toward Tooyama Naruhito.

“–”

Paper Charm Macho merely watched that scene in silence.

The mist knew who its master was.

The mist knew the greed of that man who would swallow even a great being.

“You are power. For a tiny, empty man like me to live according to my desires, I need the power that is you. …There was a continuation to my adventure. It didn’t end there. There was a continuation to my modern dungeon life.”

He needed power. In this world, if he let his guard down, he would die cleanly. There probably would not be a next time. He wanted power that would let him not die even if he died.

Even while recognizing that distortion, Tooyama desired it. He knew the fate of those without power, and the misery of powerlessness.

Everything would be taken. If he stayed weak, everything would disappear. He knew the fear of that loss.

“In this other world, this time I will definitely reach it. My dream, my desire, I will definitely reach it. I’ll bring the ones I need with me, and no matter what methods I use, I will absolutely do it.”

Paper Charm Macho was clearly reflected in his chestnut eyes. Even seeing it did not crush his eyes.

Humans fear nature. Humans revere that thing.

However, at times, humans also make use of even that and make it their own.

A concept that did not exist in this other world. The one who created humans, or perhaps the thing humans created.

This was a reproduction. A retreading of the moment someone, somewhere in the past, had conquered it.

That always appeared among humans. There had always been those who laughed at that thing, overcame it, and stepped beyond it, just like Tooyama was doing now.

“I’m going to live in this world according to my desires.”

That was the only reason Tooyama had.

To every question, this man had only that single answer.

“Ohh.”

“But, you know, this was the same in the modern world, and unfortunately, this world has plenty of bastards too. Beasts everywhere, annoying people, terrifying monsters, villains with no value in keeping alive. Yeah, they’re all eyesores. With their unimaginative heads, they’ll try to kill me. They’ll get in my way.”

Tooyama Naruhito’s life had always been a life of having things taken from him. He was not one of the chosen, but he was not one of those who had nothing either.

He was simply someone who had been robbed. That was why he sought something to fill what was missing, no matter how far he had to go.

Desire. Tooyama Naruhito had known since childhood what was necessary to fulfill it.

“I want power. Money, connections, authority, supplies. To live amusingly in this world, no amount of power is enough. And Relic Blade, you are the most important existence among those powers.”

The mist gathered around Tooyama.

Within the white haze, only the giant with bloodless skin and the sharp-eyed man faced each other.

“Say it. Heh, heh, heh. I am a little, no, quite curious, mortal one.”

Paper Charm Macho chuckled with amusement. As if expecting something, he waited for the words.

“Violence.”

Tooyama grinned.

It was a filthy smile, an ugly face. Without pretending otherwise, he laughed with the same face he made when wielding that power.

“You are my power. My violence. Something absolutely necessary for me to survive this world. If I can operate you, I’ll swallow it all: the creepy contract, the humiliation of letting you use me however you like after I die, everything.”

The adventurer Tooyama Naruhito had only one code of conduct.

All according to his desires.

“So, for now, obey me, as a tool for my sake, Relic Blade.”

Tooyama had already decided how to operate that power.

The unregistered Relic, Relic Blade, was already a tool for fulfilling Tooyama Naruhito’s desires. Nothing more, nothing less.

He could no longer hear the festival music.

The mist slowly thinned. Tooyama looked up. That thing looked down.

It was a strange relationship in which each feared the other.

This guy is an existence capable of harming me. Tooyama and Paper Charm Macho gained the same recognition at the same time.

Silence drifted through the mist.

“…Ha, haha. Ah, good.”

The first to speak was Paper Charm Macho.

“Ah, I see. So what ‘the one of Kashima’ said was true. A small existence whose life was determined by ‘the one who lays the path,’ one that will inevitably perish someday, yet from the distortion born from the transience of that life, there occasionally appear those who even fascinate us…”

While stroking his paper-charm-covered jaw, he gazed at Tooyama and murmured.

“Kuhahaha. Ah, good. Good, good, good. Ah, I understand very well why that thing recognizes you as its master.”

He glanced briefly toward the round door, and his laughter echoed and echoed.

“Kuhaha. I shall swear anew, Tooyama Naruhito. My greatest natural enemy and my hero. This is a reward for making me fear you many times and admire you many times. Use my mist to your heart’s content. And I shall teach you one thing.”

“Huh?”

Tooyama turned his gaze toward him.

“When an enemy you absolutely cannot defeat appears. When an enemy you absolutely must defeat appears. At that time, I shall lend you my hand unconditionally, just once. …When you are prepared to stop being human, when you fight despair to the death, call my name and drive my blade into your heart.”

Ping.

“That’s scary as hell. I’d die.”

“Drive it in so that you do not die. Kuhahaha. Ah, today is amusing. I see. The path-layer and Izanagi truly did bring forth something interesting. Kuhahaha.”

The mist suddenly thickened. Paper Charm Macho turned his back to Tooyama while laughing with satisfaction.

Tooyama Naruhito sighed toward the back of the man who had appeared on his own and left on his own.

“Hey, Paper Charm Macho. I’ll overlook it this time. Next time, if you try to shake me up over something stupid, that’ll be a breach of contract. I’ll have you accept a penalty.”

“Ah… That is frightening. Truly frightening… Mercy, mercy. As my hero wishes.”

He waved his hand lightly and walked away with heavy steps. Beyond the bookshelves, Paper Charm Macho’s footsteps, along with the mist, could no longer be heard before long.

“…He vanished. Is he just here to have fun? Also, that guy is entering and leaving the Bread Archive like it’s normal.”

Fatigue hit him all at once. Even inside a dream, he could not let his guard down. A bespectacled girl who was constantly trying to suck his blood, and a suspicious giant macho man with a paper charm stuck to his face.

‘Gross. My dream has way too much personality.’

Tooyama rubbed between his eyebrows and brushed away the thinning mist.

Holding the slightly damp book, he sat down at a place where an appropriate chair and side table had been set.

He proceeded with his original purpose, preparing for the Dragon Festival.

Thanks to winning tonight’s host battle, he had prospects for participating with a stall.

It was also huge that he had drawn a compromise from Zeni, and apparently some of the upper-class people who had watched the host commotion would put in a good word for him.

All that remained was to lead that stall to success and obtain the glory of the Dragon Festival, the title of Market King.

“Found it… 1860, America, German immigrant food stall… 1916, New York, Brooklyn, Nathan’s chain.”

He continued reading the book. It was one of the powers Tooyama Naruhito had obtained through his deal with the Familiar of Knowledge.

“Late eighteenth century… Tomato, Naples, Queen Margherita.”

The possibility that might once have known even everything in this world was now narrowed down to only knowledge of “bread.”

“Pita bread, slums, eighteenth century, various theories about John Montagu…”

This was not the history of this other world. Only superior knowledge converged into the official archive of the Familiar of Knowledge.

Only the excellent bread knowledge from every possible history and world gathered in the Bread Archive.

Cultures that had not been born in this world. Possibilities that humans pruned by angels could not reach were now here.

Without being protected by anything, humans killed each other, ate, violated, slept, and then killed each other again. The culture that only humanity, which had survived the world that way, could obtain was now here.

“What I need is meat and vegetables and… an oven, huh? Would Lazaar know how to make one? No, worst case, I can hire those dwarves. But if it comes to that, once I think about rent and everything else, I’ll need a bit more money…”

Slowly, the world began to change.

However, that too was still nothing more than a retreading. The free world Tooyama Naruhito had lived in had changed in the same way.

“…I want it. I need more and more. Wheat flour, milk, right, come to think of it, I haven’t seen cheese since coming here… Should I shake down that money-grubber again? No, but…”

What slowly changes the world is always the desire of tiny humans.

Tooyama Naruhito gave a small laugh while turning the pages of the book.

If knowledge too was power, then it would surely help Tooyama Naruhito’s adventure.

A compromise with the Familiar of Knowledge.

A contract with the demon of mist.

Thou, lead the dream with thy greed.

“Now then, let the modern gourmet domination begin.”

The fun dream continued. Flip, flip. Each time he turned a page, the scent of freshly baked bread wafted up.

Tooyama Naruhito continued turning pages single-mindedly.

Crackle. From the distant fireplace came the sound of flames popping.

Until the moment he woke from the dream, only the sound of pages turning quietly, quietly filled the Bread Archive.

“So, how did it go? Were you able to at least scare him? Well, I probably don’t need to ask.”

The Familiar of Knowledge tilted her teacup. The tea liquid she spilled onto the floor, however, spun in circles just before falling onto the carpet and returned to Harvey’s cup.

“Hmph. Do not act so high and mighty. Judging by your state, you have been quite thoroughly won over too. This place once filled with those detestable books has become rather fragrant.”

The paper-charm giant appeared, making the mist obey him. He sat cross-legged on the spot and answered while yawning languidly.

After Tooyama Naruhito read books for a while and left the dream, they spoke in the masterless world of the dream.

“Hah. How was I supposed to predict that he’d choose bread knowledge over knowledge that could rule everything in this world?”

“Ah, yes, well, I do sympathize with you a little on that point. Still, he chilled my liver a little. As expected, he is worthy of being that thing’s owner. He is unquestionably insane. …Was he called to that door after all?”

“Probably. That thing was originally a creature that forms packs, right? It still believes he is a companion, family, or at the very least a member of its pack.”

“Hmm. So that is why it appeared when he nearly died that time. Hmm. I sank it to the bottom of the lake, but at this rate, it seems likely to come out again. Next time will be impossible. I do not think I can do the same thing again.”

“If you can’t, then we’ll just perish. But for that, you somehow look happy. It’s gross.”

“Silence. I do not want to hear that from you. …I have decided after all. I want this one. After he dies, I want to travel in his body.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? After he dies, he’s mine. He’s surely close to where I came from and where I came from. I won’t let something as trivial as death make him leave my research.”

“I could say I care not, but as long as that thing still exists, fighting with you would be foolish.”

“…I agree on that point only. At the very least, compared to that thing, it would be better for you to move his corpse. Your way of thinking is still closer to humans.”

“…Truly, what is fearsome is the law of beasts. No matter how attached it is, no matter how close it is, ah, because it is innocent, it is truly fearsome.”

“Well, if you hadn’t been there, I would probably have disappeared by now too. I have no intention of joining hands with you, but I’ll at least acknowledge that you can be reasoned with.”

“Hoho. I do not like being compared to that thing, but very well. …Hypothetically, if my hero were to die now, what would that thing do?”

“How would I know? But I can make a guess. It would probably do something below even our worst predictions, then break right through that too. Like owner, like that thing. …Well, it’s not like I hate that part of him, and anyway, he’s not your hero. He’s mine.”

“Wow, how easily won over. Are you a maiden?”

“Shut up, meat lump.”

“Hoho, do not be angry, do not be angry. Well, that is how it is. When my hero comes here again, I shall come to play.”

“Don’t screw with me, senile old fool. …Hey, you. What happens if that thing wakes up one more time?”

“I do not know. It would depend on that thing’s mood. Well, what I can say for certain is…”

“We would both be killed if that thing felt like it. Well, let us pray that does not happen and that my hero does not die. Ah, but if he does not die, I cannot receive his body. My, my, truly, this world never goes as one wishes.”

“…This is why I hate people with broken views of life and death.”

The conversation between the residents of the dream continued for a while within the mist.

In a place their voices did not reach, the round door of the Bread Archive, outside the Bread Archive, the perfectly round lake.

Inside Tooyama Naruhito’s dream, its amusing residents quietly entrusted their respective thoughts to their master and began to move.

Slowly, slowly, they began to move.