From the very beginning, Riku did not like Su'er's plan. He disliked it from the bottom of his heart. In the past, even under Su'er's persistence and firmness, he ultimately agreed to the man's plan, but even so, it would not change Riku's view.
It was not because his position as the leader of the settlement was taken away, nor was it because of the six principles he had once proposed... Well, those principles might have a tiny bit of weight, but a struggle for status and power was the most impossible thing, and it was also something that Riku scoffed at the most.
The reason for his resistance was only one—his loved ones, his family, would suffer a pain that he could not even imagine because of this.
Su'er.
The boy who was so ignorant and bewildered at the very beginning, who, even though his eyes were shining with a clear light, was so stumbling and clumsy that he seemed not to belong to this world. The boy who once followed behind him, listened to his teachings, discussed things together, and studied together how Imanity could survive on the fringes of this cruel world had, at some point, gained a stronger and more resolute heart than anyone else.
And he had even used this heart to convince many people... Was it persuasion?
What he said was perhaps what all Imanity who were still alive and were unwilling to accept the status quo desired the most in their hearts. It was their most genuine thoughts from the bottom of their hearts.
So he succeeded, like a heated steel passing through oil, turning into a bright beacon, attracting the followers of all the people who agreed with him. He did not encounter any resistance, not only because of what he said, but also because he himself did it—he paid everything.
The scenes that flashed through his mind made Riku even more pained.
Yes, one thing he could never deny was that he had indeed thought about it, and he had even truly conceived of how he could destroy Su'er's plan... only because he could not bear the pain that almost pierced his heart.
His family, the people he cherished the most, had turned into that appearance.
However, the plan that was formulated in the impulse of the late night was burned to ashes when the lights came on again—he couldn't bear to do it.
Including his family, all the people who had followed him and sacrificed their lives for that dream-like ideal... How could he do something so cruel?
If he were to stop it, wouldn't all the sacrifices that had been made be wasted?
When he came back to his senses, Riku found that he had been tightly wrapped in invisible threads at some point, and he was almost unable to move. He could only watch helplessly, watching his loved ones... walk into the abyss.
No matter how Schwi calculated, the probability of Su'er's plan succeeding was infinitely close to zero. It was incredibly difficult to even reach one percent. To be more precise, the logical probability of every step in this plan, which was stretched over such a long period of time, succeeding was simply zero.
For a while, Riku was almost tied up by Schwi directly, but he ultimately managed to persuade Schwi.
"The calculated probability cannot be wrong, but the process of calculation can be. The result you calculate can change out of thin air because of a sudden piece of news or a condition. The possibility can suddenly rise from zero to a hundred, or suddenly drop from a hundred to zero... As long as a miracle can be triggered, probability theory will become nothing but a far-fetched theory."
"We just need to awaken a miracle."
At that time, Riku looked at Schwi with great firmness, as if this was what he believed in the most. And this logic was undoubtedly an overstatement, but for some reason, the Ex-Machina who always acted based on calculations gave up her rational thinking that she had been using all this time and embraced Riku's answer with her emotions.
Going against her own logic, she simply became interested, and in the end, it evolved into an emotion called longing. Schwi wanted to see the future that Riku and Su'er wanted to achieve. She struggled because of the need and the desire, and she changed herself because of this desire, with the ideal as her goal.
When she realized this in her logical mind, Schwi suddenly realized a fact that was incredibly surprising—could this be the Heart?
The thing she had been searching for.
The answer that could prove that she was no longer a cold machine that existed only based on logical calculations.
The treasure that Imanity possessed.
"Schwi... also wants... to see a miracle..."
This was the answer that the small-bodied Ex-Machina gave at that time, an answer that almost made Riku cry.
Only he himself knew, and he would probably never tell Schwi, his thought—that for so many years, only something called a miracle could make him blur out everything he saw, hoping that the miracle called victory would heal all the wounds.
Imanity are foolish. They sharpen their wisdom because of their foolishness. They are stubborn because of their foolishness. They can create miracles because of their foolishness. So... please let that most foolish person succeed.
His younger brother—Su'er.
His heart was filled with thoughts like a tide. Although he had been to this hidden cave countless times, no matter how many times he came, Riku could not soothe the pain in his heart. As long as he saw it, he would be unable to accept it. As long as he saw it, he would be unable to bear it.
[Since you've returned... why don't you come in?]
An ethereal voice drifted out from the cave. The familiar male voice was now tinged with a non-human color, a voice that was not vibrated from the vocal cords in his throat.
As if she was scared, Schwi, who was standing next to Riku, suddenly reached out and grabbed Riku's forearm.
Taking a deep breath, Riku suppressed the discomfort in his heart. He touched Schwi's head with his other hand and slowly walked inside with her.
It was soft, as if he was stepping on wet and soft grass. This cave was no longer the pitch-black appearance that Riku had once seen. Light that did not carry any heat illuminated this place, lighting up the darkness.
From the moment his and Schwi's feet stepped on it, a bright blue tide of light quickly rolled toward the depths of the cave. As if it was breathing, the places the light tide passed through were awakened. Blue, green, and red, like glowing seaweed on the seabed, swayed throughout their vision. Although there was not a single breeze in the sealed cave, they were gently swaying, as if they had independent lives, telling Riku and Schwi that they were welcome.
The pitch-black cave was instantly illuminated in every tiny corner. However, such a light was not at all dazzling. Riku could clearly see the man at the very center of the cave.
That... person.
If his appearance at this moment could really be called a person.