Translator: Nigel
Editor: Deus Ex-Machina, Skythewood
“What are you scheming?”
It was Rory’s turn to speak with Hardy after she was done with Itami.
“To make this world a more beautiful and wonderful place?”
“You could have just said you wanted to throw it into chaos.”
“That would not be inaccurate,” Hardy chuckled, like the sound of silver bells.
“On that note, the place where the worlds were joined doesn’t seem quite appropriate. Why did you make a hole there?”
“Pure coincidence, of course. Also, the culture and artefacts from the other side of the Gate have done a marvellous job of shaking up the stagnant, rotting Empire. Now that the Empire understands that there is a nation stronger than them out there, the Empire built by humans and for humans can no longer stand. From now on, all races will be able to raise their heads and improve their lot in life. These are interesting times we live in.”
More like troubling times, Itami thought. Did all those people in Ginza die for that? However, Hardy did not care one jot about that sort of thing. Telling her would probably be a waste of time.
“If that was the reason for opening the Gate, then what are you doing now?”
“I want to witness humanity’s decision firsthand, and what they will do next.”
“Decision? Do next?”
“Indeed. In order to fulfil my duties as Queen of the Underworld, I must destroy the structure at Arnus. Does that not mean I must destroy the otherworld army that has conquered Arnus and guards the Gate? However, Giselle alone would probably not be enough for that. You won’t help me either, Rory. So I needed to increase my forces. That was why I awoke the Flame Dragon.”
Yao was stunned. The question which had been asked earlier was finally answered.
“Just, just for that? If you just wanted to shut the Gate, then could you not have just told us? We would exhaust ourselves to carry out your will. There would be no need for a Flame Dragon…”
“Ah, is that so? Would you really have understood?”
“Yes, all you had to do was find someone willing to listen and tell him.”
“Do you really believe what you’re saying? You’ve experienced it before, haven’t you? Pleading with all your heart and soul and receiving no help in return?”
After hearing that, Yao could not respond.
She had humbled herself and begged others to help her protect her tribe and defeat the Flame Dragon, but nobody was willing to aid her. Even Itami — who had set out to make a move — had not done so for her sake.
Then, Hardy glanced at the silent Yao and said, “Well, in any case, it’s your problem now. Since you interfered with my plans, you need to take responsibility for it.”
“Take responsibility… What do you want us to do?”
“Go see what happens when you leave the Gate alone, and then decide what you will do next. I will simply be watching from the side.”
She sounded like she was looking forward to something exciting. Itami could not help but put up his hand.
“Then, in that case, do we need to come back here and report to you?”
“No need for that. I will send Giselle with you, and you can deal with her. All you need to do is view it with your own eyes and then contemplate what actions you will take next.”
“But I can’t contemplate or anything. It’s not like I’m an expert.”
“Then bring someone knowledgeable along. It needs to be someone who can visualize the consequences…”
If the earthquakes were only the first of many bizarre phenomena that resulted from the existence of the Gate, then it was their duty to investigate. Still, he was hoping that Hardy would go into more detail. Should he bring a seismologist along, then?
“Your face suggests that you understand and that you do not understand. Did I get my point across?”
“Youji’s face has always been like that.”
“No, I’m having a bit of trouble digesting it with just that. It’s still a little hard to take in…”
Itami scratched his head as he said this.
“That’s fine. If that’s the case, I am willing to give you a little incentive for motivation.”
“An incentive?”
“Yes. You’ll understand if you personally benefit, no?”
“What sort of incentive are we talking about here?”
“I can’t entirely resolve the problem that has been troubling you so far, but I can take care of a large part of it. What do you think?”
“And what exactly is troubling us?”
“The problem that you’re griping about, of course.”
As Hardy said this, she cast the goblet in her hand.
It traced a neat curve and struck one of the curtains in the restaurant with a high-pitched sound. No, the source of that sound was the cup striking the head of someone hiding behind that curtain.
The man tore through the curtains and collapsed to the ground.
Gray and Shandy nervously approached the fallen man. Their conclusion — from his clothing and the dagger he held — was “He’s probably an assassin”. The realization of what that meant made them tremble. They had not announced their movements, and they had travelled to Belnago via the HMV, which was impossible to outpace. Yet how had the assassins found their way here.
“You mean you can’t help us finish them all off?”
Itami wondered if she could just directly get rid of all of them.
“Of course not. I can only take care of the ones who came to Belnago. I’ve given prophetic dreams to the ones who want to kill these girls, and so the anxious ones who don’t want others to get her first will come here. Of course, some of them have not responded. They will probably be the hardest to deal with. You’ll have to take care of them yourself. Think of it as a trial.”
“Prophetic dreams… so you were the one who called them here.”
Rory bared her teeth as she glared dangerously at Hardy. If Itami had flat-out denied Hardy’s request from the start, then she would simply have hinted to all the assassins that they were in Belnago. In other words, there was no room for them to refuse.
However, Itami held Rory back and thanked Hardy.
“Forget it. It’s still a load off our backs. Fleeing will be easier once there are fewer people hunting Lelei. It should be easier for her to attend the conference in Londel now.”
If Hardy could deal with most of the assassins, then investigating the oddities would not be a problem. In addition, she had told them that they could go when they were free. Since they would be gallivanting all over the countryside for their mission, they could simply head over when it was convenient to do so.
“Don’t scare me like that, did you honestly intend to continue running?”
“I plan to run until I can’t run any more… is that bad?”
As Hardy heard Itami’s answer, she looked at Rory with a look on her face that seemed to say you’d better think of something.
“I say, Rory. You’ve been following him all this while. Why didn’t you teach him that important fact of life?”
“There was no need to. He is Youji. That is enough.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Hardy muttered. Then, she wagged her index finger at Itami, like she was his teacher.
“Is that really a good thing? The more you try to run from your problems, the more they tend to catch up with you and wait at the place where you have to return. If you continue running in spite of that, you may end up losing the path behind and ahead of you.”
He might not like her, but this was still a divine revelation. Itami nodded.
“...Aye. That might be true. I’m painfully aware of that.”
“Which means you know that and you still intend to run?”
“Yes. I dislike pain and suffering, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.”
“Someone like that beat the Flame Dragon?” Following that outburst Hardy open-mouthedly stared at him, her hands on her cheek.
“When Youji decides to get serious, pursuing him is quite the task.”
“Is, is that so… he seems a lot different from how Giselle described him.”
“Ah, what did she tell you about me?” Itami nervously asked. He was quite worried about what sort of rumors were spreading around him.
“She said you were a battle maniac who insisted on fighting any foe he encountered, and that you possessed frightening power that could desolate an area of 50 yuns in a single blow.
(TL Note: ユン is yun and seems to be a unit of measure)
The demigod Giselle seemed to have exaggerated Itami’s abilities quite greatly. While some people inflated their opponents’ strength to excuse their loss, she seemed to have gone too far.
“That’s totally off.”
“That’s right, it’s completely the opposite. Youji’s the kind of man who’ll run if he gets the chance.”
As he heard Rory needling him, Itami replied, “Leave me alone, besides, I’m a coward.”
“That’s fine. Youji, you may say that you’re afraid, but when push comes to shove and you have to defend something important to you, you’ll rise to the challenge. We’ve all seen that. I hope to see more in future.”
Yao and Tuka nodded as Rory said this.
“But…”
Then, Hardy spoke up.
“You cannot run from the trial which awaits you. Your enemy has drawn up battle lines and awaits you. It is time for you to stand firm and choose. Will you let this girl present her thesis at the conference?”
As Hardy said that, she put her hand on her… on Lelei’s chest.
“...If, just if… we didn’t go for the conference and just fled right away, what would happen?”
“Do you still not understand? Your enemies will not back down. If you run, you’ll probably run back to Arnus, where you live. In the end, the people important to you will be involved in this, and many more people will have to die. That’s how it is.”
“As I thought, huh?”
Itami clicked his tongue, his brow a mess of wrinkles.
In the darkened interior of the Chinook, Lelei studied Hardy’s hair by what little light could enter through the small window.
Strictly speaking, it was also Lelei’s hair.
After being possessed by Hardy, her hair had grown out until she could sit on it. She had tied it into a braid and then cut it off below her neck. The density of the weaving had shortened it somewhat, but the braid was still around the length of Lelei’s arm. It was the same familiar platinum blonde, but it seemed have retained part of Hardy’s divinity, and it glowed like a translucent gemstone.
“Since you are not a priestess, but have offered your body to a god, I shall reward you with the right to use divine magic, using this as a catalyst. However, once you do so, the magic in question will be fixed and you will not be able to use any other kinds of divine magic, so you must choose carefully. Also, I ate a li~ttle too much because I haven’t eaten in so long. You might be worried about losing weight afterwards, sorry about that. I thought of moving the fat to certain parts of your body, but that might change your body to the type that man doesn’t like, so I did not do so. I’m pretty wise, right?”
And with that, Hardy departed Lelei’s body.
“When the priestesses of Belnago saw this hair, you could see their desire to possess it written all over their faces.”
From the priestesses’ point of view, the hair Lelei had grown out was essentially part of their goddess’ body. It was a sacred relic which should have been placed in a holy sanctuary. However, it was a gift from Hardy, so they could not just steal it from Lelei. All they could do was suggest that she should “make herself look a little better”. This resulted in Lelei’s somewhat unsightly haircut, as though it had been hacked off with a knife. Then, they tried to gather up the leftover strands which remained.
It would seem that the priestesses intended to weave the strands into a holy tapestry and place it within a reliquary.
After this, events proceeded as described.
After leaving the Belnago Shrine, Lelei returned to Londel under the protection of Itami and the others, to present herself to the conference.
Most of the assassins targeting Lelei had been drawn to Belnago like moths to a flame and captured by the shrine’s warrior monks. However, the Piper — never one to sully his own hands — could not be dealt with. Shandy had fallen for his scheme and made a big disturbance at the conference hall. In order to get him off their backs, they entered the Imperial Capital and discussed matters with Zorzal to resolve things.
Still, there was the matter of the agreement with Hardy.
They had to go to Kunapnui in order to fulfil their promise. Lelei felt quite depressed at having to inconvenience everyone for this.
“Don’t worry about it. We gave everyone a lot of trouble too, didn’t we?”
Tuka urged Lelei not to worry about it. According to her, the back and forth of “loans” and “exchanges” were a natural expression of interpersonal relationships. Avoiding troublesome things like that might be a relief, but they were also signs of a sickness called “loneliness”, which would plague one until death.
“I like you too, Lelei. So go ahead and share the things which bother you with me. Maybe if we can share our worries with each other, we can help each other deal with them.”
Rory nodded. She was seated on the other side of Lelei, sandwiching her between them.
“...Thank you.”
Lelei nodded as she quietly replied.
“We’re about to take off. Everyone, please strap in.”
Itami’s call was the signal for Kurata and the others to squeeze into the cramped interior — packed with cargo — and take any empty jump seats.
Itami was the last to enter the helicopter.
“Arunusu tower, Juliet Golf 5044, request IFR clearance.”
(TL Note: This part is in Engrish)
Fragments of chatter between the pilots and Arnus Control Tower filtered out from the cockpit. Just as they were musing about the conversation that had ended up as shouting at each other, there was a loud noise, followed by the sound of a fierce impact. Itami stepped up to see what was going on, and saw the co-pilot grabbing his head.
“Ah, crap…”
The co-pilot was mumbling to himself, and the captain seemed to be looking down on him with pity.
“What, what happened?”
In response to Itami’s question, the captain muttered “How shall I put this…”
“Well, this guy said that Control’s English pronunciation was a little weird, so Control said Japanese was okay.”
“Control to JG5044. Cleared to Kunapnui. Ready to copy?”
As though to validate the captain’s words, one could hear Japanese through the incomprehensible English babble coming from the speakers.
“Ready to copy. Go ahead.”
“Oh, isn’t that Lelei-chan? Your Japanese is as good as always. Can you keep up with our English? I’ll feed you the data.”
Lelei recorded the control tower’s English weather data in fluent Japanese. It made the others feel sorry for themselves and that they were imposing on her.
“Don’t feel bad. It’s best not to worry about her. The truth is, she’s so smart it feels like she’s cheating, and she makes everyone else seem stupid in comparison. The right thing to do is hand off troublesome things to others. As the saying goes, it’s better for a stupid man to sleep than think. There’s no point in agonizing over things. It’s better to change your thinking.”
Itami had said this to encourage the other man. However, the copilot took it as a trampling of his pride, and his head drooped even lower as he moaned “Gueeeehh...”
“You’re not helping, Itami! Stop rubbing salt into his wounds.”
“Ah, sorry. It just slipped out…”
However, what Captain Tsuchiura saw was Lelei’s eyes, staring hungrily at the co-pilot from behind Itami.
“If you don’t feel up to it, I can take your place.”
Tsuchiura had half a mind to take her up on her offer when he saw the state of his co-pilot, but if he did that, his fellow airman’s pride might never recover.
“Ah… no need for that. It’s fine.”
Lelei’s words perked the co-pilot’s head up, and he hurriedly rushed to complete the flight preparations. In all likelihood, he must have felt that he could not keep wallowing in depression. It was less that he had pulled himself together but that someone had lit a fire under his ass.
Forget it, Itami thought. It would be fine as long as he could fly.
As he glanced back into the cargo hold, he saw that the window seats had been taken by Rory, Piña and the other aviation virgins. The other members of the team fit themselves in the spaces between them.
The professors were having a heated debate about the distortion in the world that Itami had described in his report; specifically, what form it would take. Perhaps that was why there were empty seats beside them, and Itami took one of them.
“According to the report, it appears there is some sort of astronomical displacement going on.”
In response to Youmei, Shirai said:
“Actually, questions about changes in stellar topography have come up in Japan.”
“What did you say? Why did nobody mention this in public?”
Youmei and Urushibata asked that question in the same voice.
“That’s because our astronomers are still verifying the matter. They feel the deviation is a matter of mechanical error. After all, this sort of thing would normally be unthinkable. How could the positions of stars and galaxies shift in such a short time? Actually speaking these doubts out loud would call one’s own abilities and vision into question. However, if it were to slip out at a drinking party… well, it would spread like wildfire.”
“Is that so. That would mean the same phenomena have appeared on both sides of the Gate.”
“U~mu,” Youmei grunted, stroking his beard with his fingers.
“In truth, I reasoned that the Gate must be the cause as soon as I read the report.”
“Then what about the earthquakes?”
“Well, there are earthquakes in Japan every day, including the ones we can’t feel.”
“Well, we can’t regard an increase in earthquakes as statistically significant… can we?”
As the engine’s output increased, the incredible roaring of the engines filled the Chinook’s interior.
The helicopter took off, filling everyone with the sensation of floating. The virgin team plastered their faces to the tiny windows of the cabin, entranced by the sight of the ground receding beneath them.
“Uwah, uwah, uwah~!”
Hamilton clung to Piña as the helicopter shuddered in the wind. However, Piña seemed quite nervous too, and her expression was ghastly. She kept silent, as though her right to shriek had been taken away by Hamilton.
“What a shameful display!”
As Youmei snorted in anger, Professor Urushibata tried his best to smooth things over.
“Give them a break, Professor Youmei. After all, this is their first time on an aircraft.”
“Granted, it is only expected for primitives to be astounded when exposed to the trappings of civilization. But we are not tourists. Why must we bring these girls with us on a scientific expedition? What is the JSDF thinking?”
“Don’t get the wrong impression, they’re apparently important figures in the Imperial government. Our destination is Imperial territory, so you might compare them to travel passes.”
“Oh… Well, it can’t be helped, then.”
The cameraman filmed Piña and the others, who were staring intently out of the windows.
“Is that red-headed girl really a princess of the Empire?” Kuribayashi’s little sister asked Kurokawa.
“Yes, that’s correct,” came the reply.
“The Empire is the enemy which attacked Ginza, am I right? Why are we treating them so kindly? Why haven’t we taken them as prisoners?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Can you tell me a little about these complicated matters?”
As she saw the younger Kuribayashi waiting with her notebook out, Kurokawa realised that she was trapped.
The clouds were like a white veil, and the Chinook ascended through them.
There was hardly any time to enjoy the sprawling view of Arnus beneath them, as the view outside the windows was soon little more than a sea of white. Droplets of what seemed like rain splashed against the window.
However, the droplets stopped splashing within moments. Right after that, the mighty rays of the sun flooded the darkened interior of the Chinook.
Piña and the others exclaimed “Uwah!” as they beheld the dream-like view before them.
“This, this is what Heaven looks like, your Highness.”
“Do the gods live in such a marvelous world?”
Rory sighed as she heard their conversation. “It’s nothing like that at all…”
It would seem she had been to Heaven before.
“Itami-dono. I wish to try walking upon that fluffy surface! Please allow me to dismount!”
“I want to go too!”
Piña and Hamilton pleaded as one. In particular, there was no trace of fear in Hamilton, who had been bleating in terror just now.
However, Itami shook his head. “Haaa~ It can’t be done.”
“Why?! Can’t you think of something, Itami-dono?”
“Those are clouds. They’re like fog. If I put you on them, you’ll pass through them and then fall until you hit the ground. It’s veeeeerrry scaaaary~ It’ll hurt so much when you hit the ground. Just thinking about how all your bones will be crushed to powder frightens me.”
Hamilton clutched her ears shut and trembled, as though imagining what Itami had just described, and Piña froze as she felt a chill down her spine.
Still, she insisted: “How, how will you know if you don’t try?”
It would seem she imagined that it was like walking on freshly-fallen snow.
“Ahhh… if you do that, you’ll die. You’ll die for sure.”
“Really? Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, you can give it a go if you want. Still, do it when I’m not looking. I don’t want to watch a suicide take place before my eyes.”
“Gggk. Does that mean the residents of the celestial realm do not want us mortals around?”
Piña and Hamilton grit their teeth and clenched their fists. Such was their sorrow that even the onlookers could not help but share their depression.
The professors glared at Itami, as though their eyes were saying, “What did you do to them, you fiend?”
Kurokawa exchanged malicious whispers with Kurata; something like “Hey, Kurata, did you hear that? The el-tee did something terrible to Piña-denkadono. I think he deceived her or something.”
“I think it was something like jump down into the world of the gods, like he was telling her to go kill herself.”
“How is that my fault?” Itami said as he pointed to himself.
“It’s not?”
Rory feigned ignorance.
“Cheh… Fine, fine. If you’re so dead set on it, how about skydiving? We can’t do it today, but we can arrange it when we next go to Japan.”
“You… what did you say? Sky… die… ving?”
Piña blinked.
“Yup. There’s a thing called a parachute; it can slow your speed of falling so you don’t get hurt. Solo jumping needs a certain degree of training, but if it’s just for entertainment, you can jump with an instructor holding you from behind… although it won’t be cheap.”
“Let’s do it, let’s do it!”
Piña and Hamilton’s faces changed. Perhaps one might describe this behavior as manic-depressive.
“Itami-dono, I would be delighted to walk the sky!”
“Oi… is it just Piña and her?”
Rory and Tuka looked unhappy. Lelei was quite restrained, but she still made a noise of displeasure.
“Fine, fine. You can come too.”
“Yaaay~!”
Was falling from the sky really that enjoyable? Itami thought. He was a man who did not take pleasure in throwing himself out of a perfectly good aircraft, so he looked upon the girl’s simple joy like he had found a surprising lifeform.
They must be feeling happy because they were looking out at the sky from the window.
Things would probably be different without that infinitesimal barrier between them and the sky.
They would be directly exposed to the limitless abyss before them, and their moods would change instantly. The wind would rush across their bodies and the earth would loom far beneath them. Their smiles would probably freeze up and their faces would twitch in fear.
Itami smiled evilly as that thought came to mind. However, that made him recall his own fear-filled experiences, so in the end he could not smile.
The Chinook skimmed over the ocean of clouds, like a boat sailing over a ripple-less lake.
They slowly descended as they drew near Kunapnui. Soon, they sank into the clouds, as though falling into a hole beneath them.
Depression spread through the passengers as the movie-like scene of fluffy white clouds floating by was suddenly interrupted.
“The window’s gone white again,” Piña said. Itami replied:
“Yes, we’re descending. The weather outside doesn’t look good.”
In fact, mist-like water droplets were condensing on the windows.
The helicopter lurched up and down and side to side. It was unstable, and visibility was poor.
The members of 3rd Recon understood that a sudden change of air pressure caused by a sudden descent might cause their ears to pop. They had prepared themselves for this by adjusting the pressure in their membranes. However, given that there was no ear popping, they realized that their descent was actually quite slow.
“They’re taking a lot of care in setting us down.”
“Well, there’s a lot of people aboard who are new to flying, so it’s probably a consideration for them.”
The conversation between Kurokawa, Kurata and the others went along those lines, but that was not the case.
This was not familiar airspace, but territory they were visiting for the first time. The prospect of descending through the clouds in such a place filled the airmen with dread.
Even in Japanese airspace, there had been cases where rescue helicopters had crashed into mountain peaks under poor visibility conditions. Moving through the clouds robbed them of their sense of balance, which resulted in the pilots not knowing how to properly orient their craft.
“Settling with power.”
“All we can do is believe in the map and what they say about there being no high peaks around here.
If Itami knew that the two pilots were gritting their teeth and paying careful attention to the controls in case the ground suddenly leapt out at them, he might feel that jumping out with a parachute might be a better option.
In fact, once they broke through the cloud cover, a steep slope resembling the sides of the American Grand Canyon appeared before them. Though they were a good distance away and perfectly safe, the sheer size of the geographical feature deceived their senses, and the pilot hurriedly pulled up on the joystick.
“Ah!
As the helicopter shuddered, the passengers clung tightly on so as to not be thrown from their jump seats.
As they looked out the windows, they saw fog and rain lashing the steep slopes beneath them.
“What — what’s that?” the cameraman muttered as he placed his lens to the window. The rain and fog floating within the valley was not the white color they were familiar with.
Instead, it was black, resembling a cloud of ink poured into clear water. its surface was a flat plane, like a pool of still water. The black mist filled the valley and covered the land, and scattered peaks poked from the obsidian sea.
“I hope it’s not a poisonous gas.”
“Aye,” the professors said to each other with bitter expressions on their faces.
The airmen seemed to feel the same way, because they avoided touching the fog, choosing instead to hover at an altitude.
They abandoned their original plan to land within the valley, and began looking for a place to set down.
“What’s wrong?”
The pilot answered Itami’s query into the cockpit with a change of plans.
“Lieutenant Itami, I’m sorry to deviate from the plan, but we can’t land here. We need to pick a spot somewhat further away.
“I’ll leave it to you then, Captain.”
“Oh… frankly speaking, that helps a lot.”
One could describe the personality of JGSDF members as “thorough and stubborn”. They disliked changing their plans, and thus their pilots and operators were trained to accommodate that quirk of theirs. However, Itami was more casual in many ways, so he did not sweat the small stuff. He decided to leave the selection of the touchdown location to the pilots.
“Tsuchiura-san, how about that peak over there which looks like a mountain? Let’s land there.”
“Not in that area. The instruments aren’t reliable.”
“The instruments?”
“Maybe it’s the magnetic field in the area or something, but there’s a difference between what I see and what the instruments are telling me.”
The pilot’s instincts — honed through long years of flight experience — told him something other than what the values on his instruments said. In the face of this unprecedented occurrence, he decided to avoid setting down over there.
Incidentally, the pilot was a Captain, equivalent to Itami’s superior. However, Itami was in overall command of the operation. The reason for this was similar to the extreme example of why military medical officers, despite their high rank, could not command troops.
The pilot found a shelf-like region some distance from the black fog, and landed the Chinook there.
“Onee-sama, we’ve been waiting quite a while for you.”
There were no signs of habitation from the air, so everyone thought that this place was uninhabited. Yet, a voice greeted Itami and the others as they came down the helicopter’s ramp.
They squinted, and saw a draconic woman with bat-like wings hovering above them, her grey hair soaked by the rain.
She looked to be around 20 years old. Her deep blue skin was covered in tribal tattoos. She wore a sleeveless white goth priestess’ outfit, and her gold-pupiled eyes seemed filled with depression as she looked at them.
Itami and the rest of 3rd Recon immediately brought their rifles up as they saw her. This was because that woman was accompanied by countless Wyverns. They covered the sky, baring their sharp teeth and fangs.
“Who is that? Do you know her?” Pina asked.
“Please don’t stand behind me, it’s very dangerous,” Yao said, a LAM on her shoulder. Then, she proceeded to give a summary response.
“What, that person is…”
Giselle landed, holding a massive scythe like that used by the Grim Reaper. She looked around herself, like a punk looking for victims among the crowd. Then she jumped as she realised Itami was there, before slowly backing off.
“I-I suffered greatly in the past because of you. But, but today, this, this will be your end…”
“I’m leaving.”
However, Rory simply turned and left. Giselle’s tone suddenly changed to one of begging, and she hugged Rory from behind while saying, “Ah, please wait, Onee-sama!”
“That’s why you’d better fix that attitude of yours. I’ve been thinking that it doesn’t match someone who claims to be a priest. Belnago’s rules might be relaxed, but surely they’re not that relaxed. Are they?”
Giselle’s blue skin broke out in a sweat.
She had tried speaking in a proper tone in the past, but after being infected by Hardy’s way of speech, her tongue tied up in knots every time she tried to sound formal. Asking her to switch back was too much.
Her mouth opened as she attempted to say something, but the words would not come. A pitiful expression bloomed on Giselle’s face, as though she had forgotten how to speak.
“…………”
Rory patted the teary-eyed Giselle on the back.
“I get it, I get it. As long as I can see you’re trying.”
Giselle hurriedly bowed to her.
However, after feeling everyone looking sympathetically at her, she snapped, “What are you lot looking at?”
The subtext of that was “How dare you people look down on me?”
“Gi~se~lle? What was I just saying?”
“Ye-yes… I’ll behave myself.”
The demigoddess forced herself to curb her unruly tongue and with great effort, squeezed those words out in a polite tone.
After seeing all this, Itami and the others felt that there was no point keeping their heavy weapons at the ready, so they lowered their weapons without being commanded to do so.
Even the nearby Wyverns scratched at their heads, almost as though to say “Good grief.”
“So, is that the anomaly you wanted to show us?”
“Ah, er, yes. If you want to observe it more closely, you’ll need to go down the mountain… so please ride these, onee-sama.”
Giselle whistled over several Wyverns and bade them carry Rory and the others.
“We, we’re going to ride these?”
Giselle frowned as she heard Professor Youmei’s panicked voice.
“He’s a nervous wreck... ah, no! Ah… well, they understand, and they won’t let you fall, so please do not worry and mount up. Ah, also, each one can only take two people.”
After Rory glared at her, Giselle’s fumblings were quite comical.
Rory, Lelei, Tuka and Yao immediately set about playing rock-paper-scissors.
“Jan-ken-pon!”
After three consecutive draws, victory was decided in the fourth round. Having shown scissors and won, Yao triumphantly pumped her fist in the air while going “Woohoo!”.
“Kuh,” the other three went in unison.
And so, the Wyvern assignments were Rory and Tuka, Lelei and Youmei, Urushibata and Shirai, the younger Kuribayashi and her cameraman, Piña and Hamilton, and Itami and Yao.
Kuwabara and the others remained with the Chinook at their landing zone. Their job was to pitch camp and stand sentry.
“I didn’t expect I would win. Looks like my luck’s taken a turn for the better.”
Yao squeezed Itami’s hand. However, Itami looked back at her with a regretful expression.
“Yao, sorry to bother you, but the truth is I can’t handle this sort of thing. I’ll leave the reins to you.”
“Eh? You’re a man in green, who slew a Flame Dragon, and you’re cowering before something like a Wyvern?”
However, that did not sound like a joke at all. Itami’s pale face was deadly serious.
“I’m only saying this because it’s you, but… but I’m really scared of heights.”
“Eh?! But you were fine on the helicopter, weren’t you?”
“Well, it was all right in there. Even if there was an accident, I’d have something to hold on to. But look at that.”
Squatting before them was a lifeform with savage eyes and sharp teeth. It made one think, “Is that some kind of giant alligator?” Perhaps touching or maybe even sitting on it would have been fine, but he would obviously be afraid to entrust his body to it and take to the skies. In addition, he did not know how to ride one. Muttering all this and more, Itami swallowed his pride and asked Yao for help.
“First things first, you have to keep this a secret. I’m only telling you because it’s you, Yao.”
Is it really okay if I take the reins? Yao wondered, distinctly ill at ease.
Yao felt that it would be very dangerous as she thought back on her bad luck.
However, Itami had already revealed his fear of heights, and he had gone pale when looking at the Wyvern. Forcing him to control it would be too much. I have to help Itami no matter the cost, Yao thought.
“It’s okay. My luck’s been getting better of late, and bad things haven’t been happening. I won the rock-paper-scissors just now, right? Her Holiness gave me that talisman too. It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine.”
Yao clutched her 5-yen coin as she cheered herself up, then mounted the Wyvern.
“Come, Youji-dono. We’re setting out immediately,” she said as she smacked her waist.
Itami nervously climbed up the Wyvern’s back.
“Please hold on to me so you don’t fall off.”
“Is, is this alright?”
“Tighter. Until you can’t let go!”
Itami did as Yao said, wrapping his arms around her slender waist and plastering himself to her seductive back.
As Tuka saw this, she glared at her right hand and grumbled, “Why did I make paper, dammit?”
“Kuh, I’m so jealous,” Rory said, staring at Yao like a vengeful spirit.
Lelei’s eyes were fixed on her hand.
Youmei asked, “Miss, is there something wrong with your hand?”
“I miscalculated,” Lelei answered.
How had it turned out like this?
“I should have won on the fifth round.”
Lelei claimed.
“You-Youji-dono, I can feel your breath on my back…”
Her body-hugging leather armor transmitted the heat from Itami’s breath directly to her body. With that heart-racing sensation behind her, Yao could not help but lean backwards.
“Ah…”
However, Itami was beyond caring, clinging as he was to Yao. Since there were no safety belts here or parachutes, all he could do was entrust his body to Yao.
“I’m so glad that I ended up with you, Yao.”
“Eh? Why’s that?”
“I can’t hug Rory, Lelei or Tuka like this, can I?”
Itami’s words referred to their frames. The other three were shorter than Itami, so it would not be less of hugging them from behind but putting his arms around their necks. Thus, Itami had to find someone around his size. In that respect, the tall Yao was ideal.
However, Yao did not interpret Itami’s words that way. To Yao, it sounded as though Itami was saying that he was embracing her precisely because it was Yao.
“Ah, so, so you mean, it’s okay because it’s me?”
An elated Yao straightened her back up as she puffed up with courage.
“I understand. Please leave it to me,” she said as she gripped the Wyvern’s reins. Her luck had been bad all this while, so she had been quite reserved. Now, Yao displayed the cool confidence that only she possessed at this time. She lightly kicked at the Wyvern to get it standing.
“Ohhh, uwawawah!”
Itami could not hold back his shrieking. After all, the sight of looking down those sheer cliffs would strike fear even into those with stable footing. That fear was multiplied tenfold when one was on the shifting back of a beast.
Yao looked back to Itami, reassuring him.
“It’s fine, Youji-dono. Please do not let go of me. I’ll be fine, so please enjoy my breasts as much as you like. It’s embarrassing to be groped in public, but I have no objections if you wish to take advantage of me during the confusion.”
“Don’t say that! It’ll sound terrible if it gets out! Do I look like I have the time for such things now?! Just fly it safely” Itami shouted as he squeezed his eyes shut.
And so, after their preparations were ready, the Wyverns spread their wings, like planes preparing to take off from an aircraft carrier.
“We’ll have dinner waiting for you when you get back.”
Kurata waved “Bye~bye~” to them as they left, like an air marshal.
“Then, we’ll be setting out. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
After verifying that everyone else was ready, Giselle spread her own wings.
Then, she stepped off the edge of the cliff, like a glider. The Wyverns followed behind her, gaining speed from their sudden plunge.
Unlike aircraft, riding on the backs of animals had a unique instability. As he felt his organs push up into his body from the fall, Itami screamed once more, and clung to Yao with all his might.
“Huhu! What ever will I do with you?” Yao smirked. However, in that moment, Tuka and Rory (who were flying ahead of them) transfixed Yao with their gazes. The two of them seemed to be muttering some terrible imprecations, and a chill ran down Yao’s spine.
In truth, Tuka was going, “Calm down, right hand, calm down!” while clenching her fist, and Rory was incanting a prayer along the lines of, “My Lord Emroy, please forgive her sins. That woman knows not what she does”.
The two of them looked like they were cursing her. Of course, that was not the case, but it seemed that way to Yao. It caused Yao’s rapidly-soaring confidence to shrivel up, and the uneasiness that had been eclipsed by being chosen by Itami reared its ugly head.
“Ahhh, my hand’s moving by… the wind!”
Worse, the vile aura around the blonde Elf’s right hand emitted an elemental spell, slicing the string which held the protective talisman (the 5 yen coin) that hung before Yao’s chest.
The 5 yen coin looked like it was about to fall off. Yao saw this and shrieked: “Ahhh! Why’s this happening?!”
In that moment, Yao let go of the reins and lunged for the 5-yen coin, throwing herself off the Wyvern’s back.
“Look out, Yao!”
Itami was holding tightly onto Yao and was carried along by her. However, Itami grabbed at the Wyvern’s body with his legs and barely managed to stay seated.
However, Yao seemed to view Itami’s lifesaving hands as a nuisance, and tried to shrug him off.
“Youji-dono, let go of me!”
“Idiot! If I do that you’ll die! Grab the reins!”
“I can’t! Without that, their curses will—”
“Stop struggling, you dummy! You’re sliding off, if that keeps up you’ll fall!”
Itami was trying to hold onto Yao, while the latter was freaking out, and so her body slowly slid down. He attempted to keep her in place by embracing her slender waist, but Yao kicked and thrashed wildly, twisting in his grip, until she was face to face with Itami.
However, that meant Itami’s face was buried in her ample cleavage.
“I, I can’t breathe…”
Yao’s thrashing was compounded by his breathing difficulty. Her waist felt like it was going to slip from Itami’s arms. While he managed to hang on with his thighs, the fearsome view below his head and the fear that Yao might slip from his grasp at any moment only made him scream:
“Ahhhh! The reins! Grab the reins! Hurry!”
The Wyvern’s reins hung within Yao’s reach.
However, Yao was frozen from losing her 5 yen coin. It would seem she had not realized the gravity of her current situation.
“No way, no way, no way. Bad things will happen without that talisman! I’ll slip! I’ll fall! I’ll lose my purse! I’ll have bad luck!”
“Idiot! I’m the unlucky one now!”
The Wyverns flew by their own will, ignoring the fact that their passengers were not holding onto the reins. They soared through the air high above the slopes, and then down into the deep valleys between the steep cliffs.
After about 30 minutes, they reached a large clearing.
If the black mist was a lake, then the Wyverns had landed on the lakeside. Everyone had dismounted safely, but Yao and Itami were in a pile to the side, unable to stand. Itami was thoroughly exhausted and panting heavily. However, nobody paid them any heed.
“This is it, Onee-sama.”
Professors Youmei, Urushibata and Shirai, as well as Kuribayashi Nanami, were speechless as they beheld what was before them. The cameraman set up his camera and began filming the tragic sight before them.
“This, this is…”
This was the scene occluded by the black fog. They could see it from the sky, but at such close range, they understood the severity of the situation.
After dismounting from her Wyvern, Tuka had gone to one knee, staying clear of the fog — well, it was less of a fog than mist or smoke — while she examined the plants. Then, she gave a mournful cry.
“It’s terrible…”
“What happened?”
“They’re all dead. Every living thing here is no longer alive…”
All the plants whose roots had been covered by the black fog had withered away while still appearing green.
If their leaves had turned red and fallen off, it would have been explainable as a natural process. However, the leaves were still green even as they had fallen off. This was an extremely abnormal sight.
The black mist spread like ink. Tuka found the corpse of an insect on the other side of the fog, and picked it up with a pair of twigs, as though she were using chopsticks. The insect’s body looked fresh, as though it had just died. It was still moist, even.
“Did it just die? Or is it that the bugs and the plants which die in this black fog do not rot away?”
In other words, even the micro-organisms responsible for decomposition had died.
Youmei, Urushibata and Shirai, who possessed knowledge of modern science, studied what Tuka was holding up. “Radiation?” “No, maybe it’s a gas,” they said as they hypothesised the cause of death.
As he heard those dangerous words, Itami hurriedly withdrew his Geiger counter from his NBC protection gear pouch.
He pointed the device everywhere, and read out the values. “All normal,” he said. Then, he took out a gas detector, and poked its head into the black fog to test for toxicity. However, when he compared the change in the detector’s color to a chemical defense field guide, there was no proof that there was any toxic gas in the air at all.
Giselle pointed to a stone peak protruding from the sea of clouds and said:
“I came here a month ago on Mistress’ orders… At that time, the fog only extended up to there. But now it’s all the way here.”
“Could, could this be the Apocryph?” Rory muttered.
(TL Note: JP term is アポクリフ, as in the apocrypha)
“Apocryph?”
“Tens, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of millions of years later, the gods will leave and humans will vanish from this world. At that point the fog of the void will swallow the world and return it to primal chaos. That fog is called the Apocryph.”
“But aren’t you and the gods still around, Rory?”
“Indeed. This is why this sort of thing should not have appeared yet. It should be far, far in the future.”
As Rory said this, she fell to her knees, as though she had been dealt a heavy blow.
“Urushibata-kun, what do you make of this?”
“At a glance, it looks like some kind of smoke…”
Urushibata advanced down the slope and reached out to the surface of the black fog, but Giselle stopped him.
“Careful. If your hand goes in too deep, you’ll lose your fingers.”
As she said that, Giselle plucked a leafy branch from a tree that was not dead yet, then thrust it into the fog and waggled it around. Then she withdrew it and showed it to Urushibata.
The green leaves at the tip of the branch crumbled into powder at the merest touch, as though they had been thrust into liquid nitrogen.
Youmei plucked several leaves and inserted their tips into the mist.
If it were some kind of vapor or fog, then there should be some sort of ripple if he stirred it up. But the black mist remained still, like a shadow. It stayed in place and did not move.
“VIsibility extends about four to five centimeters beneath the surface.”
Urushibata produced a convenience store’s plastic bag. He took out the food and drinks from the bag, emptying it. Then, he knelt down and tried to scoop up the black fog.
However, no matter how many times he tried, the black substance did not stay within the plastic bag, even when the black smoke had entered the bag.
“Umu. This is neither a gas or a liquid. In fact, it cannot even be considered matter.”
“Indeed,” Shirai and Urushibata said as they heard Youmei’s words.
The three wise men cupped their chins, observing the black fog like children gazing into a pond. The black fog filled the bag once they put the bag in. But when they took it out again, the fog did not stay behind, leaving nothing in the bag.
“Could this be something like a shadow?”
“A shadow?”
A microphone suddenly extended over. Nanami stood beside it, a smile on her face as she awaited Youmei’s explanation. The camera hovered beside her.
As they saw her face, the scholars nodded and began their explanation.
“We cannot be sure yet, but I believe this might be some kind of extra-dimensional shadow.”
“Di-dimensional? Sounds like SF stuff…”
“Umu. It most likely sounds like pseudoscience to you. I too felt that way. But that fact is that this is a perfectly legitimate branch of science. They have used the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva to prove the existence of the fifth dimension.”
“Ha, is that so… but still, can something which looks so fluffy and has thickness like this be considered a shadow?”
“Umu. That is a good question. To we who live in the third-dimension, shadows are flat surfaces to us; in other words, they are two-dimensional.”
“Yes, yes.”
“However, since this appears to be a substantial — in other words, three-dimensional shadow — that alludes to the existence of a extra-dimensional entity of some sort.”
“H~m…”
Nanami nodded, as though she understood. Youmei smiled like a kindly grandfather as he saw her reaction.
Then, she smiled and said, “I don’t get it.”
“Ah, you foolish woman! I’ve explained so much and you still don’t understand!! Did all your nutrients go to your bosom instead of your brains?!”
Youmei rapped on Nanami’s head as he scolded her roundly. Nanami rolled around on the floor, clutching her head.
“Nooooooooo, I, I’m, sorry, But I really don’t get it.”
“Forget it, Professor Youmei. Calm down. There’s hardly any students in this day and age who can understand without a thorough explanation. In addition, this is the first time I’ve encountered the theory of a three-dimensional shadow implying the existence of an extra-dimensional entity.”
“Of course. I just came up with it myself.”
Urushibata and Shirai had nothing to say.