Picking Up the Spoils

The dice spun in the air before settling quietly in my palm. Looking down, I saw that the side facing up was that of the Qin.

Higashino Makoto looked at those two words, he recalled the Great Qin Lostbelt from his memory; there were quite a few good things there.

He put the dice away and prepared to get something to eat.

In the corridor, artificial light of dusk streamed down from the dome, spreading a soft halo across the smooth floor.

Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. He turned the corner and saw a figure standing at his room door.

She leaned against the doorframe, holding a book in her hands, her long, light blue hair falling over her shoulders, the ends gleaming softly in the lamplight.

She wore a white turtleneck sweater and a dark gray pencil skirt that accentuated her voluptuous curves below the waist.

She wore a light blue cardigan over her shoulders, unbuttoned and open, revealing a section of her fair neck at the neckline of her sweater.

His deep blue eyes lit up slightly the moment he saw Higashino Makoto, but quickly returned to their calm state.

She closed the book, tucked it under her arm, and straightened up.

"Higashino, I am Yukino Fuyumi, and I will be your secretary from today onwards."

Her voice was soft, with a clean and pure quality.

Higashino Makoto stopped in front of her, looked her up and down, and nodded.

Well, I have a pretty strong impression of the character's prototype from my past life; she's the heroine of the rather famous doujinshi, "The Widowed Snow Woman"...

Come to think of it, isn't something a little off?

Never mind, that was just a prototype.

Where is Utaha?

"She has gone back to rest."

Yukino Fuyumi turned to the side and pushed the door open.

"I've already tidied your room, and the black tea is ready."

Higashino Makoto entered the room, and sure enough, there was a cup of black tea on the table, still steaming.

There were no water stains on the rim of the cup, and the coaster was placed neatly.

He picked up the cup, took a sip—the temperature was just right—put the cup down, and turned to look at Yukino Fuyumi.

She stood at the doorway, not coming in, but simply watching him quietly.

"Pack up, we'll leave in an hour."

Where to go?

"The Great Qin Lostbelt, it seems Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others are there."

Yukino Fuyumi nodded.

What equipment do I need to bring?

"Need not."

Higashino Makoto put the empty cup back on the table.

I'll probably be back soon.

An hour later, Higashino Makoto stepped out of the spatial rift.

Beneath my feet were gray flagstones, and the air was thick with the smell of burning, mixed with the scent of earth and rust.

Traces of battle were scattered throughout the field of vision: scorched ground, broken stone pillars, and fragments of weapons.

Voices approached from afar, familiar voices.

He followed the sound, walked around a half-collapsed stone wall, and saw Fujimaru Ritsuka's back.

She was squatting on the ground, examining something, and Mash Kyrielight was beside her.

They all looked alright; they were a little dirty, but there were no obvious injuries.

Fujimaru Ritsuka spotted him first, and then the others stopped what they were doing and walked towards him. Fujimaru Ritsuka dusted off her hands and spoke first.

"Mr. Higashino? What brings you here?"

"Just dropping by to see you all, and also to see if there's anything good I can take with me."

Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled, a smile tinged with fatigue, as if she had just finished a long-distance run.

"You're too late. His Majesty the First Emperor has already been overthrown by us."

So I'm not here to just take advantage of what's already there.

He raised his hand, and the power of the small world began to surge.

The ground tremors came from beneath my feet and spread out in all directions.

The stone pillars began to crack, the walls began to tilt, and a dull, continuous sound of something collapsing came from afar.

Those that were not destroyed, along with the palaces and streets further away that were not damaged, were all drawn towards the center by the power of the small world.

The primary targets are Mount Li, the Epang Palace, and the Great Wall.

He turned around and faced the Epang Palace, the bronze city that seemed to float in the air.

The massive mechanized body of Qin Shi Huang, a colossal structure floating against gravity, is currently suspended quietly above Xianyang, with the flowing runes on its surface still slowly rotating, like a sleeping behemoth.

He raised his hand, and a miniature world surged from his body, spreading towards the Epang Palace.

An unseen giant hand reached out from the void, enveloping the bronze city. The city was slowly dragged into the space of the small world, quietly and steadily, like a ship being pulled into a harbor.

Then there are the frozen, dormant spirits of heroes deep within Mount Li, those historical figures preserved by Qin Shi Huang.

He didn't examine them closely; he simply moved them, along with the entire mountain range, into the small world.

Next came the "Great Wall 131,424 li" built in near-Earth orbit over three hundred years. It could transmit messages globally via magnetic light-speed focusing and was used to defend against alien enemies.

That's interesting, so I'll take it.

Then it continued to expand, engulfing the entire Lostbelt and settling it in a small world called Wisdom.

Fujimaru Ritsuka watched the Epang Palace gradually disappear from view, then turned to look at Higashino Makoto.

"Mr. Higashino, you..."

She paused for a moment, as if searching for the right words.

"Are you collecting Lostbelt?"

"Yeah, it's going to disappear anyway, so I might as well give it to you. Besides, you wouldn't feel good about destroying this Lostbelt, would you?"

He turned around and looked at her.

"I've already dealt with Russia and South America, and with this one, I've resolved three Lostbelt."

Fujimaru Ritsuka's mouth opened slightly, then closed again, and she spoke after a few seconds.

"That... isn't wrong."

Faced with a world that was originally peaceful, she felt a pang of reluctance to destroy it in order to save her own.

Leonardo da Vinci straightened up from the stone pillar.

So where do you plan to go next?

"I don't know, maybe Scandinavia, maybe Britain, it depends on how the dice roll. What about you?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced at Mash Kyrielight, then at Leonardo da Vinci, before looking back at Higashino Makoto.

"We're planning to go to the Greek Lostbelt; I've heard the situation there is rather complicated."

"Okay, let's split up then. Remember to use that if you encounter anything you can't handle."

He pointed to the silver necklace around Fujimaru Ritsuka's neck.

Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced down at the necklace, then looked up, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Knew."

Higashino Makoto nodded, turned around, and walked back the way he came.

Yukino Fuyumi followed behind him, the hem of her light blue coat swaying gently in the wind.

Fujimaru Ritsuka stood there, watching his figure grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared into the twilight.

Higashino Makoto returns to the small world and needs to deal with the new world.

Because of the long-term implementation of policies to keep the people ignorant and suppress their self-awareness, people in this world are not even connected to the Alaya.

Hopefully, we can gain wisdom as soon as possible in this Wisdom world.

The disposal of those heroic spirits is also a problem.

But it doesn't matter, most of the trouble can be left to the guardians!