episode_0300

The signal announcing the prelude to battle was the ear-splitting explosion of Violet’s cruise missile. Boom! “Air raid!” The Violet cruise missile, plummeting at a near-vertical angle, cleanly wiped out those guarding the entrance. Though some managed to survive the explosion, they were severely wounded by the shockwave and debris, allowing them to be quickly subdued.

“A missile? Which clan is this, for heaven’s sake? Damn it! This wasn’t in the plan!” As we charged into the entrance, we saw the enemy hunters, confused by the air raid, scrambling around. Strictly speaking, it was a self-destructing aircraft, but the guys who could have told them that were already dead or injured by the explosion. Even as we were already breaking down the door and entering, the faces of those who came running with weapons were as pale as a sheet of paper. “A missile! Aaaah!” Was our missile that shocking? Listening to their shouts, it seemed the fact that we used a missile was more shocking than the missile’s destructive power itself. “Section Chief! Which clan did we provoke?!” “I’m going crazy, where? Is it Luminexa? No way! It can’t be!” Even in clan wars, they usually conserve expensive equipment and weapons. From their perspective, it must have felt like a major clan was suddenly invading.

Gunfire! “The weapon test was effective. Attack!” “Squad 1, Squad 2! Shield team, advance!” We subdued all the fools inside and thoroughly searched the building. A report came in while the search was underway. Violet’s 5th squad quickly headed to a room at the eastern end of the building. “This is it!”

As we tore open the security device at the entrance and stepped inside, a large room and smaller rooms lined up on either side came into view. It felt like a hospital ward. The distinctive regular sound of an electrocardiogram machine was faintly audible. Looking through the window, two girls were lying on beds lined up. “Found them!”

** Unfortunately, the rescue operation was only a partial success. Trinity’s friends were all in poor condition. Even after shaking them, there was no response; they showed no sign of waking, as if fallen into a deep sleep. “Wake up!” Should we just be grateful they were alive? Outwardly, there were no abnormalities, and their breathing was normal, but the hospital only kept repeating that they didn’t know the cause. Even though Daphne was quickly brought by helicopter, the situation didn’t change much.

“These children are a bit thin, but overall healthy. I did my best… but it’s questionable if they’ll wake up.” Wondering if the Vitalis Clan guys had done something, we interrogated them, but they clearly looked unjustly accused. “We didn’t do that to them! We don’t know why they’re like that!” “You’re lying! Water Splash!” “Cough… We really don’t know! They were like that when we brought them!”

Looking at the black box secured from the prisoners, I rubbed my head and sighed. The sight of the sleeping children being pulled out of cryogenic devices from a truck was clearly visible. “See? We didn’t do anything! We just brought them as ordered!” “Who ordered it?” The enemy hunters tilted their necks as if to show off. What came into view were faintly engraved anti-disclosure runes. “Sigh…”

Besides the two people, we found nothing else in this building. There were no documents, nothing else noticeable. All that remained were encrypted electronic data and useless records. In the end, Enrica had to face her friends lying there with their eyes closed. The gloomy sight of Trinity was pitiful.

Her body, wrapped in a thick protective suit and coat, looked very small as the strength drained from it. “Liz has always been unwell. Roberta also looked very tired when I last saw her. They’ll be okay, right? They’ll wake up, won’t they?” I answered confidently.

“Yes! They’ll wake up. I know a lot of people! I have many rich and powerful friends. I’ll find a way for you to see them wake up!” No improvement even after admitting them to a large hospital and spending a lot of money? If ordinary medical staff or healers can’t do it, we’ll have to try another method. I called three experts from the modest Violet research lab together. Since they were experts, they must know a way.

“Well, I’ve ended up playing doctor all of a sudden.” Bernike looked at the medical chart with sharp eyes and clicked his tongue. “The brainwave patterns are similar to a sleeping state, but atypical and irregular wavelengths are observed intermittently. It looks like a lockdown. Didn’t the doctor say their consciousness was tied down?” “Tied down consciousness? Lockdown?” Ah, now that I think about it, the doctor mentioned something similar. He said it was similar to symptoms of fainting due to excessive mana use causing issues with maintaining consciousness.

“Simply put, it’s a phenomenon similar to when you, Violet, often faint while making vision memory chips. If you forcefully draw out too much mana, your brain shuts down when it reaches a certain limit, like a circuit breaker tripping.” Professor Albert’s explanation made me immediately understand. The professor floated dozens of magic circles above Trinity’s friends, then waved his hand in the air and mumbled. “I don’t know about medicine, but this is the kind of state you’d see in rookie hunters who’ve pushed themselves too hard with magic and collapsed. Usually, they’d wake up right away, which is strange. Did they intend to raise their phase magic level independently? No… they’re too young for that. This is closer to a trace of someone forcibly trying to activate these children’s latent abilities.”

White mechanical tentacles opened their ‘mouths’ like petals and grazed their heads, necks, and spinal cords as if searching. “So they conducted enhancement experiments. But there are no traces of the procedure. It doesn’t seem to be something within my field.” The professor asked a question like a professor assigning work to a graduate student. “Now, Mr. Pereira. Does anything come to mind? It seems they used a more brutal method.”

Mr. Yurik frowned. “Professor’s right. Looking at the medical chart and aether measurement data, it seems a large amount of mana was forcibly injected. The imbalance in mana flow and the inflammatory response from full-body aether exposure support this. The lab likely aimed for overall ability enhancement, such as aether control or reserves. Like—” “Like forcibly inflating a balloon.” I asked out of curiosity. “So what does that have to do with their coma?”

Professor Albert answered instead. “It’s a guess, but the lab that had these children seems to have forcefully conducted some experiment to enhance their abilities, and as a result, they’ve fallen into an unconscious state.” In the end, it seemed unethical and evil human experiments had caused trouble again. “Gasp! So they could die?”

Professor Albert and Mr. Yurik answered in turns. “There’s no need to be so pessimistic, Violet. While we don’t know for certain about these children, their current state, to use a computer analogy, is like one that overheated and shut down. They might wake up soon.” “…The catch, however, is that it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact timing. The most important thing is to find out the research data or the specific cause from the lab where these children were confined.” Research data, huh. We should be able to find that with time.

Indeed, the experts’ advice was different. It was confirmed that Enrica’s friends’ lives were not in immediate danger. For now, all we could do was wait patiently. By the way, what kind of experiment did they conduct?

“Bad lab!” “Ponytails will definitely live!”

** Enrica, who had been gloomy, seemed a little brighter after meeting her friends. Her anxiety seemed to have somewhat lessened after hearing about her friends’ condition from the experts. “That’s a relief. Those people seemed really smart.” “Right, they’re doctors!”

The chocolate ice cream she was holding also played a part in easing Enrica’s anxiety. It was already her tenth. Enrica seemed to feel better, crunching down even the remaining cone of the chocolate ice cream. “They’re doctors, right? So they’ll find a way to wake up my friends, won’t they?”

“Yes, we’re also looking for the lab’s location through people I know, so we should be able to find the necessary research materials or important data!” “Really? I hope they find it quickly then. I need to wake up my friends, and I’m worried about what will happen if my medicine runs out!” “Medicine?” At my question, Enrica laboriously rummaged through her thick coat pocket with her gloved hand and pulled out a plastic medicine bottle. It was a white medicine bottle with nothing on it but a radiation warning symbol.

“I have to take two pills every day. The director said so. If I don’t take them, my body could explode, and the radiation wouldn’t be suppressed.” “Gosh, I see.” Only then did I begin to wonder if bringing Enrica outside was the right choice. If something went wrong, an aether bomb could explode on the street, or a nuclear accident could occur.

“It’s fine! We got confirmation from the professor and the aunt, didn’t we? Sophieel Unnie also said it was fine.” “That’s true.” The Violets took out new chocolates from their inventory and handed them to Enrica. She ate frantically, as if possessed. Due to her unstable mana reactions, her calorie consumption was severe, so she constantly got hungry even when staying still.

The radiation detector on her waist was blinking green. “What’s wrong? Violet, I’m still okay!” “Oh, I just looked. It’s fascinating.” It’s rare for someone to carry a radiation detector every day. And there’s probably no other beautiful girl in the world who wears one on her waist and another on her left wrist like a wristwatch besides her. Her current attire, to begin with, was a thick protective suit and a radiation-blocking coat.

Clothes meant not to protect the wearer, but to protect outsiders. “Well, she should be fine for now.” Strictly speaking, she was fine. We had received safety confirmation from our Violet lab personnel and Sophieel Unnie before visiting. In an academy city, handling radiation poisoning or contamination was trivial.

“And the lab people even gave me clothes like this. They told me to wear this whenever I go outside! It’s very comfortable and cozy. It gets cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold!” “Wow, they even give you clothes. They don’t hit you there? Do they feed you?” Enrica asked, looking puzzled. “Hit? Why? They gave me food every day.” “What?! Gasp!” What I heard was quite shocking. They even gave her proper meals on time and didn’t hit her.

“Ah, I didn’t like this! The food was bland. They said I needed to be healthy, so they only gave me fried food or hamburgers once or twice a year. The lab people would nag me to study and learn magic whenever they saw me.” Oh my goodness, to think there was such a humane research lab. “They care about human rights!” “…Hea-heaven, isn’t it?!”

“Heaven, you say! They only let me play games for thirty minutes a day! And they wouldn’t let me go outside. The lab was boring! That’s why I like Violet’s house. I can play games all day every day, can’t I? And I can eat lots of frozen food!” “That’s true.” Enrica, who had been giggling, suddenly seemed to remember something and took out the staff strapped to her back, unfolding it.

“Oh right. There was something fun! I always wanted to do that!” “What was it?” “Fighting! They taught me all sorts of things called combat training, and I even went to a place called a dungeon. It was so exhilarating! Blowing things up!” “Dungeon? Which dungeon—”

A siren wailed! A siren wailed in the city. People quickly evacuated as if accustomed to it, and soon, a text message arrived. [Emergency disaster — Abnormal spacetime distortion and unstable aether wave detected — Level 3 Emergency Alert | Citizens near 43rd Street please evacuate immediately] I wondered where it was, but the area around a small park two or three blocks away was shimmering with a bizarre light. No matter how I looked, it was a spatial distortion. To use a more precise term, the word ‘gate has opened’ would fit perfectly. “Want to go?”

At my thoughtlessly thrown out remark, Trinity’s face brightened, and she gripped her staff tightly. “Yes! I want to go! I want to fight!” As nearby police set up a blockade and helicopters carrying hunters and armored vehicles approached, we stealthily slipped into the deserted park.

Although a gate had opened, what appeared today was different from the dungeon entrances I had seen before. Rather than a huge gate or a shimmering portal appearing, it was more like the space itself was distorted. Perhaps because it was a low-grade one, there were only low-level demonic beasts.

Growl? “It’s a Scraxx.” I can handle this much alone. I took out my one-handed sword and assumed the Polaris swordsmanship stance, but Enrica poked my back with her finger.

“Wait, Violet. I’ll show you something fun!” Then she tapped my sword with her staff. Green and blue energy overlaid the sword blade, which was imbued with red mana. “Now swing it. It’ll get stronger!” Aha, that’s it. This must be Trinity’s passive skill. A support skill with a few side effects.

When she saw the prey, Unit 125 smiled broadly and swung her sword wildly. What formed on my sword was a buff that enhanced a single attack unleashed by a comrade. “Die!” I lightly swung my sword towards the Scraxx that was rushing towards me, having pulled out a nearby metal bar.

Bang! When I thrust the sword, the ash-colored dwarf that should have simply been sliced in half exploded instead. The unstable mana that had wrapped around the sword disappeared, leaving only a red sword energy. “Haha! This is it!” I can’t help but keep tasting metal in my mouth, but this much is enough.

“I’ll show you something even more amazing!” Enrica, encouraged by my reaction, seemed even more excited as she aimed her staff at the demonic beast. I was looking forward to it. Attack magic was truly her forte. “Show me! Show me!” “Okay! I’ll prepare!”

As Enrica’s spell activated, a blue glow emanating from the tip of her staff illuminated everything around, and strong winds raged. Even amidst the exhilarating excitement, a sudden chill ran down my spine. “Enrica. Isn’t that a bit too powerful? It seems excessive against a Scraxx…” “Oh, right? Huh? Oh no? I can’t control my power! Aaaack!” “Aaaah! We’re doomed!”

The signal light on the radiation detector instantly changed from green to red. “Aaaah! Get down!” What burst forth from the tip of her staff was a dazzling sphere like the sun. The moment it shot out from the tip of her staff, I quickly grabbed Enrica and threw her down.

Bang! An ear-splitting roar shook the earth. We were swept away and sent flying by the explosion. When I barely managed to open my eyes and get up, nothing remained where the park had been, except for the distorted space. Only one thing remained: a mushroom cloud rising from the center of the park.

Enrica, having come to her senses, looked at the spot and smiled brightly. “Ugh, I made a bit of a mistake… Hehe, how was it?” Engulfed in shock, our Violets gazed at the mushroom cloud, which rose in excitement, through Unit 125’s eyes. “Yahoo! It exploded!”

Even while fallen and bleeding from the nose, Enrica raised both arms in joy. “The lab people called me a destroyer when I first used it! Isn’t it amazing?” “Yes, it’s really cool!” I simply nodded silently. What unfolded before my eyes was a truly astonishing explosion created by human power. A scene like a beautiful piece of art unfolded.

As the distorted space disappeared and the curtain gradually lifted, I sensed something amiss. Someone was approaching us. Black dots rapidly approached from the distant sky, and siren sounds drew nearer. “They’re hunters! The police are coming too!” Oh no, what have we done? The park completely evaporated.

“Let’s escape for now!” I, who belatedly grasped the situation, grabbed the excited Enrica, who was bouncing in place, and ran. “No one will know, right?”

Fortunately, by hiding nearby and lying flat, the emergency situation quickly subsided. While the clan people and police were bewildered, we secretly slipped away and returned home. “It seems no one was hurt.”

As the worry and fear subsided, our Violets suddenly wanted to do something fun. Namely, hunting with Enrica. “Let’s go to the dungeon! I want to go on a picnic!” “It’s a slaughter tour! No, an explosion tour!” “Let’s take Levi too! We couldn’t take him on the last pirate slaughter tour, remember?”

We should do that. Although he had recovered safely, Levi still looked a bit gloomy from the aftermath of the mental attack. To awaken the soul of a blood warrior and ignite fighting spirit, what’s needed is a pile of enemy corpses to serve as kindling. How fun would a battle be, with explosions and hymns of screams echoing? Thinking of my friends and me eating lunch boxes and playing in a dungeon where blood and fallout flew, I quickly wanted to make picnic plans.

“By the way, no one will know about the park incident, right?”