episode_0229

228

Even with umbrellas, it’s hard to stay completely dry. The group, pushing through the persistent drizzle, entered the ruins that loomed large in the upper part of the city. Even though it was a sturdy reinforced concrete building, it’s only natural that it couldn’t withstand the passage of time. No matter how special the construction methods were, a few hundred years was too much for it to bear. Cracks ran throughout, and unknown plants intertwined haphazardly. An old building whose very existence exuded a gloomy atmosphere.

The group cautiously began to examine the interior, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. The flow of magic they occasionally sensed made it difficult to distinguish whether it originated from the town or this place. The entrance was damaged; the automatic doors were half-destroyed, welcoming any intruder.

The scenery was almost identical to other ruins they’d seen before. A desolate research facility. Hanna activated the jamming device she had prepared, preventing any complications from the facility’s rogue operation.

“No sign of anyone.”

Levi concentrated, maximizing his senses in the chilly air, but felt absolutely nothing. It seemed there wasn’t even a small animal. It was so desolate that even animals avoided it.

“Um…?”

“What’s wrong, Hanna-ssi?”

“Ah, ah, nothing… nothing much… It’s probably my memory playing tricks on me.”

Hanna shook her head at Erina’s gentle questioning.

“It’s okay. Every piece of information is valuable. Please tell me right away if you remember anything.”

“The atmosphere is different from the previous ruins, the research facility…. It might be because the unpleasantness is distorting my memory, but the facility feels… different…?”

“How different?”

“No, it’s just a feeling… maybe we should check the inside further…?”

Levi nodded. To Levi, it was merely an oppressive place filled with gloomy energy. There were plenty of strange things, but they were all completely uninteresting to him. If Aries were here, she might have agreed.

Even Erina, who was an outsider, saw it as more of the same. More importantly than the ruins’ state or structure was Piki. To prepare for her unpredictable appearance, she was partially focusing on maintaining her divine power barrier, leaving her little opportunity to properly examine her surroundings.

To meet expectations, Hanna started walking down the corridor, carefully observing her surroundings. Even though there were windows, the rain-soaked sky was extremely dark, and they were obscured by vines, so the only light was the faint glow from the divine power barrier.

“We need to go inside a room to find something out…?”

“Let’s stick together.”

“I’ll lead the way. Tell me if you want to open any doors.”

With a bright smile, Levi took the lead. Hanna kept a close watch on the uncomfortable darkness. Then, she chose a nearby room. There was no particular reason; considering the door’s position and the size of the room judging by its location, it looked significantly bigger than the others.

“That, that room. But… will the door move?”

“Really? If it doesn’t move, let’s break it.”

Since Hanna’s jamming device was essentially a small-scale EMP device, it would naturally have stopped the automatic doors and, as expected, they didn’t work. Levi applied moderate force to forcibly open the door.

Thanks to his precise control, avoiding any damage, there wasn’t much noise.

“Is this… an office or a meeting room?”

A large oval table in the center, surrounded by numerous chairs. They were crumbling and decaying, but their shape was still discernible. Dust was messily piled up everywhere, making it undesirable to directly touch anything.

“Probably? Perhaps there’s something helpful here….”

“Hmm. There doesn’t seem to be anything here.”

“I guess so. Shall we look elsewhere?”

“…! Wait!”

Just as they were about to leave, Hanna found something familiar and exceedingly familiar. Despite being dirty and corroded like everything else, the intense familiarity instantly captivated her attention. Unconsciously, she hastened her steps to pick it up.

“What is that?”

Erina and Levi stared at the thin rectangular object Hanna picked up, their eyes full of curiosity.

“A laptop…. I don’t even know where to start explaining…. Simply put, it’s like… a whole library is in here?”

She had absolutely no idea where to begin explaining. She simply spoke vaguely. It would have been much easier to explain, professionally or otherwise, if Aries was here, but there was nothing she could do.

“That tiny thing?”

“Y, yes. I don’t know its performance, but it’s more than just a whole country’s worth of libraries, no, more than that.”

“Hmm. So that’s the technology from Hanna-ssi’s world, right? It’s too complicated for me to understand. Of course, I think it’s amazing, though.”

Hanna felt the same way. She used it naturally and yet, she found the technology and principles astonishing. She could assemble the parts to some extent, but she could never reproduce it from scratch.

The ruins, like Hanna’s arrival in this world, resembled buildings from her world. Somehow, they looked as if centuries or millennia had passed; nonetheless, to Hanna, it was a sight she could clearly see with her eyes closed at any given moment.

“The problem is… if it works… If the data remains, we might be able to use it…?”

“Ah… yeah. I really hope so.”

Levi laughed, giving a thumbs-up. His awkward smile shone beautifully in the dimly lit building. Hanna wiped off the dust and carefully put it in her bag. She had no idea how effective the jamming device was, but she could only hope the laptop remained in perfect working order. Beyond that issue, she doubted if the components could survive the amount of time the building had been corroded.

“Let’s go further inside.”

“Yeah.”

Leaving the meeting room, they moved deeper inside. Since there had been no threats so far, they flung open every door they encountered. They searched frantically, hoping to find anything. Sadly, all they saw were ruins; the fact that the laptop was intact could only be called a miracle.

They saw several remains of desktop computers, and Hanna wanted to collect as many parts as possible, but she could put that off for now. Theoretically, she knew that a storage device wouldn’t function properly after several hundred years, yet she couldn’t help but feel hope.

“There’s nothing on the first floor… It’s all just office space.”

“Well… isn’t that better? It’s much better than that creepy laboratory. The silence is much better.”

“Second floor…… there’s no guarantee that it is the same there…?”

The structure was completely different from the previous ruins. The previous ruins were designed as if to isolate test subjects; this place was extremely flat. Aside from the messy ruins, it was surprisingly simple. Erina was more concerned about Piki than that structure or any object.

Although there was no guarantee she was here, the sudden discovery of traces was suspicious.

“…?!”

The moment Levi took a step onto the stairs leading to the second floor, after a suitable exploration, he felt a chill. A crippling chill that stopped him in his tracks; an instinctive feeling of discomfort. Even a hero couldn’t erase such physical aversion.

“She’s here.”

“Here…? Seriously?”

Erina’s expression immediately darkened. Hanna hid behind Erina. Even though she had a custom-made gun, she lacked combat skills. It was difficult for her to aim even for someone who moves as quickly as Levi, Aries, or Austi. So, a surprise attack was the strategically correct approach, though hiding behind Erina wasn’t necessarily the perfect answer.

“Probably her, or something similar.”

His voice, unusually tense. Despite the relentless rain, his slightly strained voice issued a soft warning to the group.

“We can’t avoid it, can we? Let’s go.”

Erina said as she ascended the stairs. At each step, a strange sense of disquiet and unease enveloped her body. An instinctive aversion to facing it slowed her steps. It was still dimly lit by the divine power only; the darkness was intense. The second floor looked to be the same, but it felt as if even more darkness had accumulated.

Erina and her companions swallowed nervously in the oppressively dark abyss.

“Piki, are you there?”

Erina called out loudly in the darkness. A silence devoid of any echoes descended. Cautiously, she took another step.

“Hello~~~ every~~~one~!~~~.”

A voice, drawn out, belonged to a delicate girl yet was harshly repulsive, making her ears recoil. Although different from the voice she remembered, it was unpleasant.

“Come out! You lured us here on purpose!”

“Hee hee hee~~~”

Even with Levi’s shout, only a mocking hum could be heard from afar. And the moment she attempted to take another step…

“Hello. Long time no see. Hmmm. Not decades though. You don’t seem that old. Yep yep. Just right.”

A voice came from behind. She glanced back, and there stood the girl in question, Piki, smiling innocently.

‘…Is that how she looked? It is so long ago my memory is hazy, no. Certainly, her physique is different from when I last saw her. I’m having trouble reading the information properly because my intuition doesn’t work properly.’

The aura she felt was indeed Piki’s. However, her appearance was completely different from her memory.

“Ah, this body? It can’t be helped. It’s my business; you just have to put up with it. Um, Piki, right? I’ll use that name this time.”

The nonsensical introduction left the group dumbfounded.