Hyouketsu Kyoukai no Eden

“Yuragi-chan, sorry─”

With those first words from Ishtar, Yuragi widened her eyes in surprise.

……Sorry? For what?

Today was the second day of the conference. They were currently in the Governmental Sector’s waiting room and the a.s.sembly in the morning was also on time. The Priestess and General Affairs Bureau Chief were already on standby in the meeting room and the Cadet Guards serving as escorts were also ready in another room.

Everything was going perfectly according to schedule so there shouldn’t be anything to apologize for──

“You’re getting eye bags, you know?”

“Eh……”

Ishtar smiled teasingly with a finger against her cheek.

“It seems like Ishtar made you stay up all night searching for something.”

“……Yeah, I thought I’d hidden it well.”

She had fairly heavy foundation around her eyes and the rims of her gla.s.ses were perfectly lined up with the darkened parts so it should’ve been hard to notice.

“Putting aside the bags and gla.s.ses, it’s really hard on you, Yuragi-chan. You said that your eyes were a little strange last night as well. That they were bloodshot.”

“Yes. So I looked for how to get to the hospital……it took some time to find a doctor that was open late into the night. That’s why it’s not Ishtar-san’s fault.”

“Fu─n, it’d be great if you get better quickly. You already know the way to the hospital?”

“Yes. I was thinking about going tomorrow when there’s no congestion. As planned.”

She put a fingertip to the powdered part of her face and nodded.

……It’s fine if I don’t stress when I talk with this person.

If you just took away the wheedling tone, it gave off the feeling of talking with a competent female secretary.

──It looks like I had you up all night investigating ‘Mikuva’s Crimson Eye‘?

──Yes, it takes a while to find the exact location.

──Do you already know the way?

──We can infiltrate late tomorrow night. As planned.

For ‘Mikuva’s Crimson Eye‘, she inquired about what she diagnosed as bloodshot eyes.

Furthermore, to remove any unnatural aspects, she initially made the corners of her eyes the subject and deftly dropped the keyword ‘red eyes‘ naturally. [T/N: She didn’t say the “keyword” directly in the j.a.panese either.]

……Quite the tactician.

……It’s becoming more and more clear that her innocent speech pattern is to give others a sense of childishness.

“Did Ymy-sama sleep well yesterday?”

“She woke up once─. She took a walk in the hallway to fix her mood but came back in about thirty minutes. She also got up on her own before Ishtar went to wake her so I think it’s fine?”

Resting her head on one hand propped up on the table, the Cadres Guard was gazing somewhere far into the distance.

“It was a pleasant miscalculation. To have regained your footing that much on your own, I’ve changed my opinion of you.”

“Eh?”

“Ahh, nothing, it’s nothing, okay─? It’s just Ishtar talking to herself.”

Waving her hands, she didn’t say anything else.

In front of the meeting room, in the break room for escorts.

“Sheltis, I’ve been wondering for a while but……are those circles under your eyes?”

“Eh. Ah, that’s right.”

Having it gently pointed out by Kagura, Sheltis honestly nodded.

“Did something happen?”

“Well……I couldn’t sleep yesterday and pretty much ended up just doing practice swings with my swords? It’s not really anything major. My body’s not burnt out either.”

It was true that he had done practice swings.

──There’s no way I can sleep after seeing Ymy’s crying face.

She wouldn’t leave his mind even after she returned to her room so since he couldn’t sleep, he decided to just practice until morning.

“But it looks like there’s someone sound asleep over there.”

“Huh?”

Sitting in a chair, arms crossed with a complicated expression and eyes closed ── at first glance it might have been someone thinking hard about something but it was just a man sleeping soundly.

“……It’s a big-shot, there’s a big-shot here.”

“Yes. Sheltis should learn from his example.”

“……Va……Va……”

Her usual calm expression completely red, the unit leader’s fist was shaking.

Then.

“Vaiellllllll, clench your teeth!”

“Ahhn? What’s thi……guhaaa!?”

Monica’s iron fist of anger plunged into Vaiel’s flank without deviation.

“You! Isn’t it unfair if you say to clench my teeth and go for my stomach!?”

“M-my hand just slipped! And you──”

In the break room whose rowdiness had just shot up.

“……I’ll go wash my face. The circles will disappear if I warm my eyes with warm water, right?”

“Take your time. It will be noisy here for a while anyway.”

Leaving a few words to Kagura who was tinkering with the machine pearl , Sheltis left the room.

……Tonight, they would secretly a.s.semble in Ymy’s room. It would be a business meeting with Yuragi.

Only a vague and lifeless sense of tension swirled within his heart.

Room 700, ‘Asterhythm‘.

“Departure is late tomorrow night. ……I’d like to pick a time at the latest possible moment so I’ll send you the exact time tomorrow at noon.

Yuragi’s voice echoed in the living room.

There were no wiretaps installed. She had denied that herself and was also keeping her voice down for the off-chance there were.

“The ones carrying it out are you and I.”

“──Yeah.”

Feeling her gaze through the gla.s.ses, Sheltis expressed agreement.

“Ymy-sama as well, do we have your consent?”

“……I chose him. Since I heard there was a skilled Cadet Guard from the Cadet Guard Instructor, Yumelda.”

Ymy indifferently spun together the absolute minimum of words required.

“Monica has the role of an older sister that looks after everyone. In truth, the one pulling up the unit’s level is a single dual swords user. It’s a boy with a long history of training……if it’s just about battle ability, he alone could defeat the opposing unit in the final selections.”

The final selections for mission 16, ‘Expedition to the Governmental Sector‘.

Monica’s unit and Nash’s unit ── this was something from when Yumelda had brought the examiner, I’sa, along to make an advance report before the two units battled. Without the exchange at this time, it would still be unnatural for a priestess like Ymy to recommend a mere newcomer Cadet Guard like Sheltis.

……Usually she just orders me alone to do harsh training.

……All of this is thanks to Instructor Yumelda, huh.

He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

“He received a high appraisal from the Instructor, so I’m recommending him for the mission this time.”

“Understood. ──Then let’s continue. First, about the defense allotted to the meeting at noon, I’d like to continue it. It would be unnatural if the General Affairs Bureau Chief’s guard were to decrease in number and above all, we would lose everything if an emergency situation were to occur at that time. ……This next part is important.”

Yuragi’s fingers went into her breast pocket.

Without skipping a beat, she drew out a silver card key.

“When you entered the Governmental Sector’s governmental office building, I believe each of you received an authentication card.”

“……The one we were lent when we entered and had to return when we left yesterday and today, right?”

“Yes. These electronic card keys show when you ‘enter‘ and ‘leave‘ the lobby.”

Guards’ badges were also used as an electromagnetic card and those Guards could be traced to wherever they went as long as they were carrying it. It was basically a surveillance system like that.

“After the meeting, the three members of Monica-sama’s unit will take their card keys and pa.s.s the lobby to ‘leave‘ but Sheltis-sama will stay within the Governmental Sector’s office building.”

“……Huh, but wait. Won’t my card key be left like that?”

Only three of the escorts’ card keys would be returned. It would become suspicious if the one in charge of recovering them were to notice.

“Yes. That’s why, Sheltis-sama, please secretly hand me your card key when the meeting ends. I’ll pa.s.s through the gate with Sheltis-sama’s and my own card key. Like that, ‘you left the Governmental Sector according to the electronic surveillance system but are actually still in the Governmental Sector’ will become the situation.”

“Oh─, I get it. It’s something we can do because we have an insider like Yuragi-san. The procedure is simple but I don’t think the electronic surveillance system will discover it.”

“To tell the truth, this is something that Governmental Sector staff do. If it seems like one will be late to work or one wants to go back at a certain time no matter what, that person will entrust it to a friend.”

“After that is……a place to hide?”

Even if he stayed around in the Governmental Sector, there was a lapse of ten hours to the time of the operation. If he didn’t hide somewhere, it would be a pain if somebody found him.

“That’s right, I’ve concluded that you should be fine hiding in the men’s restroom. Hang up an ‘Out of Order‘ sign and hide inside, please.”

“……I have a bad feeling.”

In so saying, Yuragi made a mature smile and,

“This is also information. From my point of view, it would be easier if you were to hide in the women’s restroom.”

“Sheltis? The women’s restroom is the holy grounds of women. No matter the reason──”

“That’s no good, you know?”

“……I haven’t even said anything.”

Being glared at by machine crystal and Ymy, Sheltis sighed reluctantly.

“……I’ll wait patiently in the men’s restroom.”

“Then the plan is decided. After that is clothing. Until you reach your destination, you should be able to pa.s.s yourself off as ‘a colleague of Yuragi‘ so please choose something other than Tenketsu Palace ’s formal wear. Do you have anything?”

When she asked that, he immediately thought of his usual black jacket.

“Umm, if it’s something that won’t be thought of as formal wear, then somewhat.”

“That will be fine. Please get changed while in the men’s restroom. I’ll hold onto your formal wear after you change.”

In other words, there were no preparations to be made beforehand.

It would be fine if he just waited until the end of tomorrow’s meeting.

“That’s all I have to say. Any questions?”

“Ah, just one. It’s not related to the mission but I felt like I had to ask.”

While looking around the living room.

“The Cadres Guard isn’t here but has this conversation already been relayed to her?”

“I will inform Ishtar-sama afterwards. She knows the contents of the mission but she has not been told that you are the one that shall be carrying it out. ……She should be waiting for me at the intersection outside this room.”

Audibility was not limited to this room. Her role was to divert anybody about to come close to the room.

“I see, then that’s all I had to ask.”

“Then I’ll be counting on you for tomorrow. That will be all for today.”

The female secretary closed her memo book.

With that as a signal, the Priestess in her vestments was the first to stand up.

“Umm……I don’t think I’ll get a chance other than now to say it, so I will.”

Her jade green eyes wavered with unease.

She gulped and then.

“Make sure you come back. n.o.body will blame you even if you fail……so come back safely.”

“──Roger that.”

Replying with his outstretched right hand, Sheltis left the Priestess’ room.

He pa.s.sed the door and entered the hallway. Walking straight down the hallway with a thin carpet, he finally came upon the intersection that led to other guest rooms.

“Ah, are you fiiinished?”

In the middle of the intersection, a female Guard stood still with a metal spear in hand.

Her strangely colored clothing that was bound with belts in various places made her silhouette that stood out against the light seem even thinner ── no, it looked sharpened.

“Yes, it’s fine if you return to the room now. The Priestess-sama is also waiting.”

“Is that sooo? Ah─ that’s great! It feels meritless to be standing guard in a hallway with thi─s few people. Ishtar was so unoccupied, she felt like she’d fall asleep.”

Faa, she yawned loudly.

……It looks like I can safely avoid making unnecessary conversation.

With just a small greeting, he tried to pa.s.s by her.

“The only one I had to send back was Monica-san.”

He should have just ignored her and continued on.

He should’ve known that in his head but his feet had stopped and he’d turned around before he even realized.

“I think that was about thirty minutes ago? Monica-san looked pretty serious asking, have you seen a member of my unit, Sheltis? Well, thanks to that, Ishtar also realized ‘Ah─, so that’s who Ymy-sama chose‘.”

“……So then,”

“I just told her the necessary part. There’s a special mission being given to him so he’s in the middle of a conversation in the Priestess’ room, is what I told her. Really, it was just the part that wouldn’t be a hindrance.”

A large smile.

There was just a tiny bit of thorniness to that expression.

“You covered for Monica and took on the job yourself. I didn’t say any such thing so don’t worry, okay? Monica-san wouldn’t be able to remain calm if I said that.”

“…………”

What she just smoothly told him was something that couldn’t be conceived without knowing that he was better than Monica at stealthy activities.

……As I thought, has she realized my ident.i.ty?

“Shall I reveal the source of the trick? I’sa-chan said it.”

Ishtar moved one step closer.

“A dual swords user who’s as cheeky as he is strong. That there’s a guy who’s not so strong he makes you want to run away, he’s so strong that he makes you not want to lose. If I’sa-chan goes that far in saying it, you have enough ability to cover for Monica-san and take her place. It’s natural to think like that, isn’t it?”

……What I’sa said to her as the basis.

……So does that mean she hasn’t discovered my ident.i.ty yet?

“But you’re really silent. Are you nervous? Or are you thinking about something?”

She smiled with a finger against her lips.

“Well, it’s fine whichever it is. Ishtar doesn’t mind after all─. Ishtar doesn’t have any interest in it. Not in any of the other Guards or the Priestess-sama.”

“────”

“See ya─, I’ll leave Monica-san up to you.”

Waving her hand with a cheery expression, she left in a manner that looked full of openings at first glance.

……Not a single thing has changed since four years ago.

“Well then, boy, why don’t you try asking by force?”

Not a single thing had changed since that time.

She still hadn’t become a Sennenshi and she still had no interest in the Priestesses. She didn’t hold any interest in whether the Elite Guards around her became Sennenshi or even if they were to retire.

“Are you thinking about something?”

“……No, let’s go.”

It happened at the same time machine crystal agreed. As Sheltis was about to take the first step, the silhouette of a person appeared from a corner of the intersection.

“……Sheltis.”

It was a girl with her eyes wide-open, her sakura-colored hair fluttering.

“Ah, hey, Monica──”

“Don’t speak.”

“……Eh.”

“It’s fine if you don’t say it. Just listen……I’ll even want to stop thinking about hitting you.”

Her slender shoulders shook a little at a time.

She bit down on the edge of her lip and also breathed deeply to remain calm ── that painfully conveyed it to him directly.

“I heard about your mission from Cadres Guard Ishtar. I don’t have the right to ask what kind of mission it is but…………truthfully, I’m against it. I think it’s a given that you’d be chosen based on ability. But you’re my……important……important……”

Gulp.

He clearly heard her gulp.

“Member of……my unit, and I won’t let you go on a mission I don’t even know the reason for, even if it’s an order from the Cadres Guard. ……Because that’s how it is, right? If I can’t even be informed of what the mission entails, it’s the same as saying that it’s dangerous.”

Her intuition was correct. That’s why Ishtar didn’t beat around with half-baked lies and had no choice but to tell the truth.

“No, it’s not like my opposition means anything. Anything a Cadet Guard like me says would just be overruled……”

A lifeless smile appeared on the unit leader’s face.

“So come back safely, regardless of whether the mission succeeds or fails. That’s all I wanted to say as the unit’s leader. The scolding will come after that.”

“……Don’t worry. I’ll return in the early morning.”

I don’t have any intention of being beaten by a mission or two like this.

To begin with, ‘Mikuva’s Crimson Eye‘ is just a means to an end. The goal is still to find the objective behind the Yuugenshu breeding water tank and to stop the person behind it, which is why we came as far as the Governmental Sector.

“Well then, let’s go back. Our paths are the same for a while anyway.”

“……Yeah.”

Pushing on Monica who had an awkward expression, Sheltis started to walk again.

The third day of the conference.

“Jeez, now Monica has circles under her eyes?”

Same as yesterday, Kagura’s sigh pierced through the break room’s silence.

“……I tried to hide it though.”

“Just the area around your eyes is caked in foundation. It’s easy to understand that you’re hiding something around your eyes. Please practice using cosmetics a little……ah─ah, this is so thickly coated. Come on, stay still.”

Kagura took out powder from a travel-use cosmetics kit. While she was applying that to the area around Monica’s eyes, her hand stopped.

“Yesterday was Sheltis and today Monica has circles under her eyes? Surely you two aren’t having clandestine meetings every night, are you?”

“I was just thinking about escorting matters and couldn’t sleep.”

Monica closed her eyes with a glum face.

“Rather than that……I’m happy that you’re fixing my make-up, but I’d rather it be at a different place.”

“n.o.body will come.”

“No, I mean here is……”

Her cheeks went red with embarra.s.sment.

“……It really is kinda of embarra.s.sing in front of guys.”

“It’s fine. Showing these kinds of openings every little while is also a technique.”

“It doesn’t matter what a woman with no appeal does.”

With that sentence from Vaiel who was reclining in a chair, both of the ladies’ eyebrows rose.

“Ah─ you said it! Then please look. Come on, Monica, stay still and we’ll show that blockhead my high-cla.s.s techniques──”

“Y-you idiot, Kagura! Stop, don’t use my face as an experiment!”

The unit leader fratically stopped Kagura who pulled out strange small tools.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it.”

“She has strength.”

“Monica probably spent the entire night thinking about you. She’s a kind person; I understand why Ymy calls her senpai and is emotionally attached to her.”

“……I’ll do my best not to worry her.”

Looking up vacantly at the ceiling, Sheltis’ unfocused eyes wandered.

──It’s almost noon.

The meeting is scheduled to end at five in the evening. At the same time, I start with meeting up with Yuragi and handing her my card key. Then I slip away and hide myself.

……After five hours.

He had polished and replayed the same image in his head countless times. Even though what he had to do itself was simple, he couldn’t settle himself no matter how many times he repeated it.

Ten at night.

The Governmental Sector’s surveillance system obtained the number of people remaining in the office building by doing a simultaneous scan for all electronic card keys. Buildings with n.o.body left in them had their lights turned off. At the same time, areas with n.o.body in them had pa.s.sages set in them so that non-staff members could not pa.s.s through.

……With this, the first issue is cleared.

Masking his breathing in a stall in the men’s bathroom, he had been doing deep breathing for several hours.

The area he was hiding had its lights turned off all at once. In other words, it served as proof that an outsider like Sheltis had been recognized by the surveillance system to have ‘left the building‘.

“It looks like Yuragi-san did her part.”

“……Now we just have to wait.”

He was biding time.

Whether one or many areas had their lights turned off, until infiltration became easy.

“……Ilis, I think it’s fine if we talk a little now.”

“In a low voice, sure. If we’re too loud and get found, all our hard work up until now will come to nothing.”

Restraining his voice to the limit, Sheltis continued on in what was pretty much talking to himself.

“……There was something I changed my mind about yesterday.”

“Are you nervous about the infiltration that’ll be happening right now or something?”

No ── Sheltis wordlessly shook his head at machine crystal who was shaking at his chest.

“See, I was glad that Ymy and I could come here together for this mission but……maybe I shouldn’t be happy with that kind of thing.”

“……Because your goal lies further ahead of that. Being together on a mission is a nice point of contact but it would be bad to be satisfied with that?”

“That’s what I think.”

The impetus was last night. When Ymy came to him with a request. He was happy that she’d come to consult him. Certainly, he had thought that the day before yesterday, but that was wrong.

“It really was wrong of me to make Ymy cry back then.”

Maybe if he wasn’t a Cadet Guard, but a Sennenshi.

Maybe if he was……not cursed with a mateki-ridden body, he should have been closer to her than anyone and comforted her before she had come to worry that much.

“You’re starting anew to become Ymy’s Sennenshi. Don’t forget your initial resolution.”

“Right……sorry, that’s all I wanted to say.”

“Okay.”

The curtain of silence once again descended──

How much time has pa.s.sed since then?

It’s easily close to ten hours since the meeting.

When the feeling of waiting ceased to be a feeling and his sense of time froze.

──Clack.

In the unlit men’s restroom, the sound of high heels that shouldn’t have been present rang out.

“It’s Yuragi. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“……I’m a little tired; it’s the first time I’ve ever holed up at a toilet so long.”

He saw a woman he recognized through the open door.

“Everything’s an experience.”

Wearing a business smile, the secretary turned around.

“Our destination is building four, section 31, where we’ll sneak into the underground with an elevator on the eastern end. By the way, our current location is building two, section 61. It’s a long way from building two to building four……let’s get walking?”

“It’s fine even if it takes time, so please use a safe route.”

“Of course. I also wish to avoid the surveillance cameras to the best of my ability so please follow me exactly as if tracing my footsteps.”

Oozing resolve from behind her gla.s.ses, Yuragi started walking. Sheltis followed after her with his breathing suppressed.

Click──clack──

Footsteps echoed in the corridor. Sometimes they would pa.s.s through large meeting halls and sometimes they would use the emergency stairs.

……It’s more complicated than a real labyrinth.

……Rather than the security system or security workers, this is the best defense system.

I should memorize the route as much as possible. Realizing just how naive that notion was, Sheltis inwardly clicked his tongue.

“────”

Yuragi, who was continuing on ahead wordlessly, came to a stop just before reaching the intersection.

“You’ve been peeking backwards since a little while, so are you wary of being followed?”

“No. You’re not the one catching my interest.”

The woman turned around with a rare bitter smile.

“Your footsteps are so quiet that it makes me uneasy……even though I came here with boots that have low sound output, I’ve only been able to hear my own footsteps for a while.”

“This is also part of an escort’s job. It would bother the protege if the escort’s footsteps were too loud, right?”

“Ah, that’s my line.”

“Because─, if Ilis doesn’t talk about something, it feels like she might die of boredom.”

“I’ll remember that. But please try to refrain from talking.”

She cleared away the wry smile on her face. Just when he thought she was going to start walking, she pulled out the card key in her breast pocket.

“There is a door just ahead of this intersection that serves as the connection to building four. It is a combination of Tenketsu Palace ’s Mechanical Bureau and Shinryoku Theory Bureau which a.n.a.lyzes the Priestesses’ shinryoku information……you could say this building itself is a research organization. The other buildings take precedence over it publicly but it likely trumps the other three buildings combined in terms of cla.s.sified information.”

A steel mechanical door was illuminated by a green emergency light. It was ma.s.sive and solemn. Without Yuragi’s explanation, it would give off the overwhelming pressure of the entrance to a jail.

──Counterfeit check……’Normal‘──

──IC level check……’Second cla.s.s‘──

──Unlocking the gate. Please enter within twenty seconds.──

In response to the card key that Yuragi held out, the door’s central portion lit up. Just like the sea splitting apart, the tightly shut mechanical door began opening to the sides.

“This is section 1 and section 31 is further in.”

“Can I ask you one thing? I don’t think section 31 was on the map we received in the lobby.”

“It is as you surmised. I’ll explain as we walk.”

Just as her words indicated, she walked not too slowly and not too quickly.

“It’s a ‘stray section‘ that shouldn’t exist. There are many areas in this building called that by the staff that work here. On the map, it looks like there was simply a planning error resulting in a blank s.p.a.ce or it’s just a garbage collection area……amongst them is a room that contains secrets of the highest confidentiality which regular staff can never come to know of.”

“And that’s section 31 in this building?”

“Yes. As for how many of them are in each building, probably only the elder of the senate knows everything. I don’t know anything except the count.”

They walked straight north and more north.

They mindlessly continued down the empty corridor devoid of sounds and people.

“It’s a little late but I must confess that it was unexpected.”

He thought about the implied meaning in her words a little and──

“That I came along and not Monica?”

“Yes. I thought it would be Monica-sama and bet a lunch on it……but it’s a pity. I lost to Ishtar-sama.”

“……Does that mean”

“Yes. Ishtar-sama bet that it would fall to you yesterday. She also added that Ymy-sama would select you herself. Pardon me, but are you an acquaintance of Ishtar-sama’s?”

“……I shouldn’t be.”

“Is that so……it’s nothing, I was just a little curious.”

A little childishness showed through in her smile.

However, that smile was also wiped away in an instant and she suddenly came to a stop ahead of him.

What stopped her was ── a giant door lit with emergency lights.

“It’s an emergency exit.”

“Would this kind of suspicious authentication device be on a normal emergency exit?”

Poking out on the side of the door was a box-shaped device.

“Please imagine a revolving door. Without a pa.s.sword, it’s just an ordinary emergency exit but only when authenticated with a special staff member’s authority, it will connect to the elevator within.”

──Counterfeit check……’Normal‘──

──IC level check……’Second cla.s.s‘──

──Unlocking the gate. Please enter within twenty seconds.──

From behind the door came the sound of a large motor. With a little rumbling underfoot, The sound of two things joining together roared out.

“Fuu. Now then, Sheltis-sama.”

Looking fixedly at her card key, she pushed it against his chest.

“Please take this.”

“……But this is Yuragi-san’s card key.”

“The elevator ahead of here is for a single person only. Furthermore, you must have a staff member’s authority to move it ── that is to say, you require the authority that my card key possesses.”

She bowed with a smile.

That lonesome gesture conveyed everything. She would only come this far.

“This is as far as I can guide you. Please make sure to return my card key, okay?”

“……Thank you.”

He held fast to the card key given to him.

Turning his back on Yuragi who still had her head bowed deeply, Sheltis walked on.

──She was staring up at the night sky.

The night celestial sphere could be seen through the dome made of gla.s.s. She wasn’t looking at the stars or the moon and was just in the mood to aimlessly stare at the sky to put everything out of her mind.

……It should be right around now.

……Sheltis should be infiltrating the Governmental Sector around now.

“Ymy-sama is romanticist, huh─. Have you come to like this room?”

A voice that was casual and sweet no matter the place.

Coaxing? No, it’s like the kind a mother uses to placate a child……it’s that kind of voice.

“Ishtar-san, do you not like the starry sky?”

“Mm, I don’t hate it but I don’t think about wanting to look at it forever. I’d rather see I’sa-chan than stars and if I can’t have that, then I’d choose to train.”

Ishtar was holding a towel that was a little wet. Ymy thought she had gone to the bathroom but not even a few minutes had pa.s.sed before she returned. Her clothes were the same formal wear as well.

……Come to think of it, it’s been the same for three days.

“You’re fast at taking a bath.”

“I always take a quick bath─. Ah, but I haven’t really taken a bath in a few days? I’ve just been wiping myself with a wet towel.”

That was the first she’d heard of that. She had thought she was at least taking a quick shower.

“……Are you also holding back on taking a bath?”

“Until we get back to Tenketsu Palace . We don’t know when an enemy might attack.”

“You haven’t been sleeping enough since we came here either.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m looking forward to going back home─. I want to roll around in bed.”

……She’ll go that far to guard me?

……Even though she’s not a Sennenshi, and even though she only came along specially for this regardless of her will.

“Is it strange? Well, if I had to say the truth, it can’t be helped that guarding’s a pain. Umm, that’s not specifically directed at Ymy-sama or anything, okay? I don’t want to act out the role of a Sennenshi. That’s why I remain as an Elite Guard.”

“……That’s unexpected.”

Rather than shocked, she was more surprised.

“In that case, you didn’t have to accept being my escort……”

If it was a mission on the level of guarding a Priestess, not even an Elite Guard could refuse. But they could be exempted if they had prior business and there was even more a.s.suredness if they were to claim to be in bad condition. A Guard of Ishtar’s level should also know that.

“This time is special. Ishtar also has an ulterior motive.”

She rested a tuft of her hair in her palm.

“I have a goal. If I didn’t escort Ymy-sama like this, I wouldn’t have a chance to come to the Governmental Sector. Well, in reality, even if Ishtar comes to the Governmental Sector, the chances of her goal being conveniently accomplished are low.”

“That is──”

“It’s, a, secret. This is something Ishtar’s even keeping secret from I’sa-chan, so it’s also a secret to Ymy-sama. ……Ah, but there’s another reason that Ishtar’s doing a relatively firm job of guarding Ymy-sama.”

“I’m understanding this less and less.”

The inside of her head seemed to have become mixed up so Ymy made no efforts to hide a frown.

“Umm……so the truth is you didn’t want to guard a Priestess but Ishtar-san, you had an ulterior motive that motivated you to come here to the Governmental Sector? But the reason that you’re looking after me so well is……for a different reason?’

“That’s it─. If Ymy-sama goes to sleep obediently, then I guess I’ll talk about it?”

Shiver. With it pointed out so accurately, she took a step backwards without thinking.

“She was busy thinking about Sheltis who had headed to the Governmental Sector and couldn’t sleep. That took no small amount of mind reading. Really, this Elite Guard is discerning in everything.

“……I get it. I’ll do my best to sleep.”

That’s why I want to know. Why is someone who so openly states that guarding a Priestess is a pain guarding me so attentively like this?

“It’s for distinction.”

Unexpected words leaked out from the Cadres Guard’s lips.

“Are the Priestess-samas satisfied with the Guards in the tower right now?”

“……Eh?”

“Ishtar isn’t satisfied at all. I’sa-chan who just became a Regular Guard is out of the question. Everyone else is weak, too weak. I’ve thought the same thing for many years……but just a little, there were also kids amongst them that stood out. Like Holn-chan or Leon-kun.” [T/N: That’s ホルン which is pretty much how you say “horn”. Holn look more like a name though.]

The third Sennenshi, Mechanically Armored Soldier Holn Nova.

The fifth Sennenshi, Great Sword User Leon Nestrius Ohva.

The names she had just given had both already become Sennenshi.

“Ishtar knew one more that was better than or at least on par with those two. There was a disparity between his strength and emotions but it was a child that would have become a Sennenshi within a few years.”

Who would that be? Who is the Guard that could rival those two that she’s talking about?

“The reason Ishtar is properly guarding Ymy-sama is in deference to that child with a little bit of a feeling of atonement. Because I pushed something troublesome onto him.”

“…………”

The person that she had pushed something troublesome onto. Is her guarding me sincerely connected with atonement to that person?

……That would mean.

……With that manner of speaking, the one that comes to mind is───

“Ishtar-san, what are you thinking?”

“You’ll come to understand. You’ll also come to know Ishtar’s goal when the time comes.”

She turned around.

Her side profile was coldly sharpened to the point that Ymy’s spine froze up.

The Holy Hall.

It was a giant room and corridor.

If you looked, the stone floor to the point that you could see each individual strand of hair reflected in it. There were numerous large lights on the ceiling that filled the room with a blinding amount of light.

“……Now then, what’s gonna come out?”

“What would you do if it was a cute girl?”

“No way. On the contrary, if someone like that came out here, it would actually be weird……ah, but maybe.”

“So a girl really would be good?”

“If it’s one that I can talk to.”

Biting his lips shut, he leered at the light-filled pa.s.sage ahead.

──There’s n.o.body.

Examining the surroundings for presences, he continued on step by step.

“Hey, Sheltis, what do you mean by talk to? With somebody from the Governmental Sector? Having come this far?”

“……There’s what we talked about Yuragi-san just before. About Ymy.”

That Ymy relied on herself and entrusted the ‘Mikuva’s Crimson Eye‘ to him.

“When we reach Mikuva’s Crimson Eye, the mystery from that time we went with Leon to the floating archipelago will be solved too, right?”

“Most likely. The outline of the Governmental Sector’s plans as well.”

“Can we investigate things outside of the Governmental Sector too?”

“What do you mean?”

“……No, sorry. I just wanted to try asking.”

Within his swirl of thoughts, there was one suspicion that was continued to be lodged and wouldn’t flow.

“Last night, I thought about something while talking with Ymy. How to put it……is this really the work of the Governmental Sector?”

With him a.s.suming the position of Ymy’s consultant, he felt a calm that wasn’t there until then and was able to sort out the information related to this case.

The floating archipelago that lay on the boundary of the areas under the Governmental Sector’s surveillance. The research facility and Yuugenshu that were there.

“I also understand that it’s clear that the Governmental Sector is suspicious. I think the chances of that are still over ninety percent.”

“What about the remaining ten percent?”

“……I don’t know. But I wonder what it is. Maybe it’s the Governmental Sector’s att.i.tude. For the meeting, why did they have the confidence to call us all the way here to their territory?”

The Governmental Sector had confidence. That might be the confidence that even with the conference, they could manage to hide it or maybe there was some other plan.

……It’s just that if that’s true.

The ident.i.ty of that golden spellcaster, Maha, might become more of a mystery.

“…………”

“In response to your earlier question, if you specify the time and place, it is possible to search the ‘Crimson Eye‘. I think the chances of it displaying nothing are high though.”

“I got it, thanks.”

At any rate, just continue on. If he didn’t find the all-important item, then all the hard work to arrive here would come to nothing. ……Above all else, he would have failed Ymy.

“Straight ahead?”

“Since there are no other paths to take. Whether it’s a trap or anything else, we have to keep going.”

The ten metre-wide hall stretched on endlessly.

Along the sides of the corridor were countless stone pillars with arches at the top that supported the ceiling. The design was highly reminiscent of a temple or something similar.

……This large size is curious.

There might be several hundred metres in a straight line. He had snuck in quite deep since separating from Yuragi at the elevator but it was just like having a giant underground cave.

“Ilis, it’s a little late to ask but are there any security devices?”

“Not as far as I saw. It’s an area known only to a handful of Governmental Sector insiders so there might not be any so as to not leave behind visual data.”

“I see, well that makes sense.”

It was a place called the Holy Hall. To protect their secrets, they couldn’t set any security devices precisely because this place was so important. It was difficult to get here but after reaching the Holy Hall, all they had to do was proceed.

“……A door.”

It had been several minutes of walking while surveying the surroundings.

Before his eyes, a solemn and shiny door crafted with bra.s.s and silver could be seen.

“It doesn’t seem to require anything like a key.”

“Roger. It looks like a regular door that opens to the sides so I can open it…………”

His breathing caught before he decided that in his mind.

──Somebody’s here[/b].

A heavy pressure that overwhelmed others just by being there. It was somebody with an absolute existence that he’d felt only a few times even in Tenketsu Palace .

……It’s the same one as that time.

On the first day of the conference, the presence that had enveloped the entire of the Governmental Sector’s office building.

“Ilis, construct the swords.”

He ordered machine crystal to construct the dual swords and did nothing but stare ahead. Towards the direction that he could most feel the crushing pressure from.

“An intruder……hasn’t it been a long time?”

The large figure of a person appeared from the stone pillar ahead and to the right without a sound.

No, that wasn’t the figure of a person ── it was a fully metallic mace longer than an adult. The cylindrical handle was thicker than a grown man’s arm and the cylindrical pommel atop it was such that it was debatable whether Sheltis could wrap his arms around it. He couldn’t imagine how much it weighed altogether.

“Surely there’s no way you don’t know of the treasure that lies ahead of here? If so……”

A defective product way too large for a person to use.

He was carrying that easily with one hand.

“From here on is the inviolable, absolute Holy Hall. As the ‘number one‘ of the secret military force ‘Heaven’s Wheel‘ tasked with guarding the Holy Hall, Zeadoll, I shall eliminate you ── overcome me with your magnificent skills.”

He was a large man that towered over Sheltis.

The gray longcoat worn over a thin black overshirt could not hide the man’s muscles which could be seen swelling within.

His scorched-earth-colored hair was cut short and bristled up and his grey eyes forcefully conveyed his gallantry.

……He’s the Holy Hall’s guardian.

He could feel the cold sweat traveling down his cheek.

The secret military force ‘Heaven’s Wheel‘, an executive unit of the Governmental Sector’s. ……I knew they’d have a secret military unit like this. It was something I had a vague image of. In case Golden was part of the Governmental Sector, I made the resolution to fight with whatever unit he would belong to.

……Maybe I should be happy that Maha’s not here?

It was easy to imagine his battle form. Without technique, schemes or traps, he would just use the premieval method of pulverizing his opponent with his own power. Moreover, Sheltis was also bad at planning.

Now then, what to do.

First, he would ascertain Zeadoll’s movements and then move to counterattack──

“…………”

“…………”

But the guardian made no indications of attacking whatsoever. On the contrary, he was casting a questioning look over with expectant eyes.

“…………It’s your move.”

“What?”

“State your name.”

He swung his extremely heavy mace around and lined it up with Sheltis’ line of sight.

“Although I have named myself, it would be lacking in manners. Name yourself.”

“……Sheltis.”

“You idiot, why did you say your real name?”

“……Ah, cra──”

His voice came out without thinking in response to Ilis’ reprimand. If that man knew the names of Tenketsu Palace ’s Guards, then he would know his goal and his background. However──

“I see, so Sheltis. For having the ability to infiltrate up to this Holy Hall, first allow me to praise you admirably.”

……Eh, perhaps.

……Did he ask for my name just to say that?”

“Furthermore, you have seen through my strength and naturally readied your swords. That is also praiseworthy.”

“……Haa, why thanks.”

“However!”

Zeadoll’s bellow shook the atmosphere throughout the entirety of the Holy Hall.

“This Holy Hall is absolute holy territory with me here. Not a single intruder has permitted to date. That’s why, Sheltis ── overcome me with your magnificent skills. If you take even one step past this border, I will stay silent and overlook you.”

“……Is that okay?”

“I swear on my honor. I have never deceived an enemy within my lifetime.”

“…………”

Looking at his eyes, it was clear that he was not lying.

This man had the full intention of allowing him to go to ‘Mikuva’s Crimson Eye‘ if he acknowledged his loss. That was because he knew that the adversity of not being allowed to lose would cause further growth for himself.

……Sheesh, his calculations are completely messed up.

……It’s the type I’m worst with.

Feeling the man’s intimidating air, Sheltis let out an honest wry smile.

“This is troubling……it would’ve been a lot easier with some crafty type. It’s unexpected that someone like you would be in the Governmental Sector.”

“Fumu. But your eyes don’t seem to be saying that?”

“────”

“There is no deceit within those eyes. Judging from your dignity and conviction, you came to the Holy Hall prepared for a confrontation with me, did you not? The way you act says so.”

They were words that shook the air.

Wordlessly taking them on ── the corners of Sheltis’ lips raised. It wasn’t the wry smile from before but the childlike smile that he showed to those he knew in Tenketsu Palace .

……Of course.

……Despite saying how hard it is.

“I’m not good with those kinds of stances.”

“Is that so?”

“Jeez……like this, Maha would’ve been better. Enough that I wish he’d switch with you.”

But there was no reaction to Maha’s name.

……Is it a princ.i.p.al of not speaking to allies? It would be a given with this man’s personality.

“Fumu. Then let’s start.”

The instant he prepared his swords again.

A storm and rumble in the ground shook the sanctuary at the same time.

A heavy pressure seemed to be weighing on the back of his head. A chill down his spine stiffened him up to his fingertips.

──So fast!?

He crouched low enough to skim the ground. An instant after that. With the force of a cannonball, the silver mace stormed through the area directly above his head. That force pa.s.sed by Sheltis and went towards the stone pillar behind him without stopping.

Crush.

The towering stone pillar had been reduced to countless fragments by a single hit from the mace. And it was done as easily as putting a spoon into pudding.

“An admirable reaction.”

The treasure guardian pulled out the mace planted into the stone pillar. Just a moment ago, he should’ve been ten metres ahead but now he was standing leisurely ten metres to the rear.

Looking at the rubble of the stone pillar, the destructive power made him gulp.

……So this is why there are no surveillance cameras.

He already had the unrestrained large-scale destruction force and bizarre mobility to be called a weapon. Even if someone tried to take a picture of him obliterating the enemy, the dust that would show up on the camera would make it completely meaningless.

“Let’s go.”

By the time that voice reached him, the guardian wasn’t at that place anymore.

Stomp ── a gale stirred up at his feet and Zeadoll’s giant body had already moved to right in front of him. A normal person would have undoubtedly gotten the mistaken impression that he had warped.

“Sheltis!”

Machine crystal let out a warning.

……I can’t stop it with the dual swords.

It was like stopping a cannonball with a knife. It wouldn’t even deflect.

“──Tch!”

The mace was swung down with a roar. He calculated the path it would take and shifted over by half a step, moving in towards Zeadoll.

“Hoh.”

The guardian’s eyes widened slightly.

The center of the swirling gust that the mace had stirred up ── it could even be called the eye of the hurricane, the place closest to Zeadoll was a safe zone. Only the dual blades made unilateral sense.

Phew. Breathing out, he gathered strength into the grip on his two swords without a break.

The target is the tip of the chin.

It would deliver a shock to the spine if struck horizontally with the tip of the sword and paralyze the brain’s nervous system control. It was a strike that would cause a person to faint no matter what.

……It’s decided.

Matching with the mace’s downswing, he swung his sword up to counter. Perfect timing, it can’t be dodged. With that a.s.suredness, he would strike the tip of the chin with the back of his sword. At the same time──

Scraaaape!

With a dull sound, the dual swords forged with Hyouketsu crystals was deflected.

“……Wha!?”

It wasn’t the sensation of a human body. The chin’s bone? No, that’s not it; it was heavier and more solid, a tough metal. Like a giant lump of steel or an even greater impact.

“There are no openings in my Sanctuary Arts.”

With spear-like vigor, Zeadoll swung down his left elbow.

The strike that should’ve defeated him had been meaningless. The momentary opening that surprise caused wasn’t overlooked and he felt the guardian’s counterattack sink into his flank.

“Guu……!”

He barely defended with his left elbow.

Crunch. His face distorting from the impact he felt from his bones, he still looked up. The guardian closed the gap with flowing movements and swung the mace sideways in succession.

Smack.

Pressing on his numb left elbow with his right hand, he jumped up.

Watching the cylinder at the end of the mace, Sheltis stepped on the back of the cylinder. Landing sideways on the curved cylinder, he then flew up tracing a triangle until just about grazing the ceiling.

……Did he say Sanctuary Arts?

……As long as I don’t know how he did that defense earlier, I’ll have to start with getting rid of his attack options.

He would cut that mace with his swords.

When Zeadoll stopped moving after a miss, he would focus on the thinnest part of that mace. Accelerating through free fall, he swung the sword in his right hand with all his might──

“I’ll take it.”

Seeing that, Zeadoll’s smile deepened.

Would he pull back the mace or swing it up? It wasn’t either of those two options that Sheltis expected ── the treasure guardian swung up his own bare hand.

“His own arm!?”

His sword’s momentum wouldn’t stop. The blade of Hyouketsu crystals would cleave that trained right arm. That b.l.o.o.d.y image flitted through the back of his mind.

Screeeeeeeee……eeee……chh…………hh…………!

A sound without literary equivalent echoed through the Holy Hall.

Just like a crystal handbell would make, it was a cold and high-pitched sound.

“……No way.”

He descended silently with his dual blades in hand and this time Sheltis was truly without words. There was no issue with the swords’ blades. Not a single……not one drop of the blood that should have been clinging to it was there.

The swords that he’d swung down with all his strength had been completely stopped by the point of the man’s elbow.

“Mu.”

Staring at the torn part of his coat near his elbow, Zeadoll put a finger to it. His brown arm was showing from the gap in the coat’s fibres. It was just slightly but something red was oozing.

“You broke through my defense with a small sword like that……?”

“……Broke through?”

He furrowed his brows at the unexpected words.

This was the second time. The feeling transmitted through his swords was solid and it was not a defense that could be pulled off using the hardness of muscle or bone. Something more firm……diamond? No, stronger than that. Something close to the solidity of Hyouketsu crystals.

And then there were the words he used to describe his arts.

“Manifesting the properties of shinryoku in a tangible form is of the Worship line of spells.”

“……The same style as Monica, huh.”

Monica applied a coating of silvery-white crystals infused with shinryoku to her crossed rods and used that to fight.

This man was likely of that type. The difference was ── as opposed to Monica who manifested it as silvery-white, he hadn’t manifested the shinryoku as a special material.

“Then is it a conceptual materialization?”

“Hoh, so you know of my Sanctuary Arts.”

With an affirmation made with admiration, Zeadoll narrowed his eyes to needles.

Conceptual materialization.

Imagining and manifesting the shinryoku was the same as with Monica. The difference was in how it was done. Instead of imagining something concrete, this man was likely manifesting shinryoku with a vague concept like ‘something hard and firm that’s also colorless and transparent‘.

“……It’s the first time I’ve seen something like it aside from the Hyouketsu Kyoukai; so it really exists.”

“I would think so. It’s an extremely high-level technique.”

The primary example of conceptual materialization was actually the Hyouketsu Kyoukai created by the five Priestesses.

Whatever the concrete image used was a private matter of the Priestesses’ but the manifestation of ‘Hyouketsu crystals‘ into the world was also an application of conceptual materialization.

“Casters that apply this to battle are exceedingly rare so I’ve only seen two others in the past myself. To begin with, it’s not a spell that can be used by just anybody.”

In Tenketsu Palace , only somebody on the level of the Priestesses could use it and none of the Guards could. So to speak, while it was a technique that was forgotten, it was still being pa.s.sed down here in the Governmental Sector.

“A secret art pa.s.sed down to the protector of the sanctuary.”

“Indeed. However, the successive generations of guardians were too dependent on this ability and neglected to train. ……You understand what that means, do you not?”

He held the mace that exceeded his own body weight with one hand. Holding its tip in his direction, the current generation’s guardian declared as if in song.

“That technique’s just an extra?”

Jumping lightly from that spot, he flew over the rubble underfoot.

“I would say so. No matter how much you factor in the conceptual materialization, it’s still an unusual amount of endurance. It can’t be explained away with just the spell so there’s no other way but for his body to have been forged to the limit to begin with.”

This man’s strength was not in the Sanctuary Arts.

He was a seeker of strength.

He was not haughty about his exceptional body, had no shred of self-conceit, instead spending each day training to conceive this result. Even if the Sanctuary Arts had not been pa.s.sed onto this man, he would have discovered a subst.i.tute for it on his own.

“Let’s go.”

“He’s coming.”

Before machine crystal ’ warning, Sheltis had already jumped directly to the side. Instantaneously reacting, Zeadoll read his route and kicked up rubble.

“Hah!”

He blew back the countless fragments of rubble with his swords. A single fragment became ten and ten became twenty. He launched an attack on Zeadoll with the might of a machine gun. In front of the barrage of boulders, the guardian calmly picked up speed and came charging.

In the face of this man’s defense, pebbles wouldn’t e