25 We Arrive at the Ruins

Author: Bishamon Mine
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n0664js/28/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

◆◇Sight: Suzusaki Suzuhi◇◆

 

We let Otoko-san get away and leave the hotel.
Then we were flying south in Swallow-san and Shogun.

Ill-san, dressed like an old-time bank teller, sits in a chair pounding a calculator and tells me.

“My Master, 1.5 million Union credits and 3 million merit points have been deposited. The hotel staff seem to have contacted the Union.”

❝3 million merit points in one go!?❞
❝That’s what beating Domio is worth❞

What’s Domio, Dominant Ogre maybe?

❝Too crazy, as expected of a Domio Slayer❞

“P-please don’t make weird titles.”

While putting a nail in it I was happy inside.

Yes, I got a lot of merit points.
Can I buy a tanker?

A deposit report comes from Alice too.

“Over here 1 million Union credits and 2 million merit points were deposited. This in one go is a surprise.”

❝It’s me, Otoko. Suu-han, I got 500,000 credits and 1 million merit points too, I’m about to leak!❞

“That’s good!”

❝No, how can you answer so normally. This is an outrageous thing, you know!?❞

“———I only started FateLege properly recently, so——I don’t really get the value of merit points……”

❝This kid is no good——she doesn’t understand the abnormality of the matter at all…… merit points you get from one quest are under 10,000…… credits being exceeded by merit points is a further abnormal situation……❞

I understood a little.

“I see…… it’s pretty weird.”

❝Not pretty❞
❝Outrageous abnormality❞

There, the “voice” again.

“———I kept praying. For a miracle.”

A miracle?

“Um, please wait a moment. I heard a voice again. Alice, you don’t hear anything?”
“A comm?”

❝What, a voice? I don’t hear it❞
❝Yeah, I don’t hear it❞

Otoko-san and the other comments are confused too.

“Is it a comm, but the instruments aren’t reacting———a live voice?”
“Eh, this is over the sea. Please don’t say scary things——isn’t someone behind the seat……”

I go “eh, scary” and look back. Yeah——properly, nobody’s there, right.

“Ill-san……”

Ill-san back in butler form puts on glasses.

“No, no one is aboard this aircraft besides Master.”
“Right, let’s try using 〖Psychometry〗 right away.”

When I activate 〖Psychometry〗, a slight shine at my brow was shown on the stream.

A little surprised by the light, I get a sensation like a voice from the south.

“———Hurry. There’s no time.”

“——No time?”

I look at the southern water surface, the direction I’m going now.

“I-I can’t hear it at all.”

❝Can’t hear it……❞

Then, right in front——a silver-haired girl was floating ahead of Swallow-san.
She’s desperately wiping flowing tears with her hands.

“W-we’ll hit!!”

I yank Swallow-san’s stick at once.
Swallow-san climbs rapidly.
But the girl doesn’t vanish from my vision.

In other words she’s on my retina, or a phantom my brain is showing!? No, is this residual thought?

The girl lifts her face, smiles at me looking relieved with a tear-wet face, and again vanishes as if melting into the wind.

Alice asks me.

“Wh-what happened, suddenly doing evasive maneuvers!!”

❝Is she for real seeing something!?❞
❝Psychic power? Or weird radio in the VR?❞

Alice’s comm becomes a little serious.

“Psychic power and super-science…… we can’t keep being surprised at anything.——Maybe Suu-san really is the only one hearing a voice and seeing a figure…… is the voice coming from the direction of travel?”
“Y-yeah, that.”
“Then——maybe from that deep-sea ruin———?”
“Deep-sea ruin?”
“Yes, the place that’s become the kraken nest we’re heading for now. Where this convenient bag——official name 〈Key to the Dimensional Warehouse〉——is.”

Ah, so the convenient bag isn’t given by NPPs.

“But wait a bit. A warehouse key in a ruin? ——Is it okay to take it out on our own?”
“Except ‘important old-human ruins,’ you can take things out, apparently. NPP-san can have eternal life too so they have almost no interest in archaeology.”
“That area the mentality is different.”

“Just everything obtained is recorded, and sometimes a contact comes from the Galactic Union, ‘we will recover “that,”’ and in that case you have to hand it over——if you refuse it’s a BAN. What’s recovered is generally dangerous articles.”
“That kind of thing drops too……”

“A design drawing of an ‘pair-production system’ we found as a clan was recovered.——Apparently a system that creates something from nothing, ‘if you collide two particles a third particle is born.’”
“Not like a particle accelerator?”
“Different. Not energy turning into matter——not a field exciting and elementary particles appearing; particles are born from complete nothing.”
“The laws of the universe get disordered.”

“Ah——we’ve arrived. By coordinates the ruin should be around here. In the sea here.”
“Then diving.”

I land on the sea once and switch the engine to underwater mode.

Versus Frames are frames assumed to act in various planetary environments so seawater is nothing.
If anything they can act even in a sea of strong acid. Magma too, to a degree you can go on rockets.
The wings fold quite a bit so water resistance is fine too.

I confirm the engine mode switched and enter the sea still in flight form.

In high-transparency sea, fish with tails longer than I’ve seen on Earth, and too-huge sunfish- and ray-like things swim gracefully. All colorful, a southern-country feel.

“Suu-san look, an ammonite is swimming! ——I don’t think it’s an ammonite though.”

Indeed a creature that stuck octopus-like legs out of a red spiral-shell like it’d appear in a golden-ratio diagram is swimming jetting something like a water jet——fast.

Others too, something like a crocodile swimming in the sea.

Lots of crabs and hermit crabs. But the sizes are too wild.

Beyond where fish as a school go left and right like a curtain like one organism——something like an artificial object comes into view, covered in several shafts of light falling on the emerald sea.

“That’s it. An old-human city from 1,000 years ago.”
“1,000 years ago is pretty recent, isn’t it? ——FateLege civilization has thousands of years of history even just since going to space, right?”
“1,000 years ago is exactly when the old humans perished.”

Maybe I’ll try using 〖Psychometry〗 a little.

I used 〖Psychometry〗 in a feeling of looking at the whole ruin.
Then I felt the scene when this city perished and the suffering of lots of people——and cut the skill at once.

And I threw up.

“Ueh, guehhho, ——uuuu……”

Even so the old humans’ figures only looked like Earth people after all.

Alice, surprised at vomiting me, asks.

“Wh-what happened!?”
“When I used 〖Psychometry〗, lots of people’s suffering…… I saw.”

Alice gets a little angry.

“Why did you do something that dangerous!!”
“I-I didn’t think deeply…… sorry.——Alice…… how did the old humans perish……?”
“The old humans, to fight a hostile existence that came from nowhere, stole the enemy’s technology and created the spirit weapon MoB. The spirit weapon MoB repelled the hostile existence, but it ran wild and destroyed the old humans too.”
“———What’s a spirit weapon?”
“That area I don’t really know.”
“Um, then Ill-san, teach me.”

Ill-san in librarian form takes a book from midair and reads it out.

“Yes, My Master. A spirit weapon is a weapon that, organic or inorganic, grants spirit, manipulates spirit, and destroys spirit. Goblins too are existences MoB granted spirit to inorganics.”
“And what they grant is a spirit that torments humans, huh. A simple spirit of only satisfaction and hunger toward a purpose?”
“Yes. MoB spirit doesn’t even resemble human spirit; it’s a different thing. So it is spirit, and is not spirit. If asked on the condition of having a spirit like humans or animals, no. The spirit MoB grants is merely something like a purpose program for action.”
“——Hmm…… I see.”

But if it’s a program, how is it different from Humanoid-san who have human rights?

Are Humanoid-san hearts thoroughly made similar to humans?

“Either way, those who have the spirit MoB grants thoroughly eliminate humans. The purpose is annihilation of humans. They’re programmed that way. If you don’t defeat things MoB granted spirit, humans perish.”

A hard topic.
Just, can’t you talk with MoB.

“Incidentally the matter Master is likely concerned about, ‘talks,’ has been attempted any number of times in 1,000 years. But in their spirit there is only ‘hunger’ toward the purpose, or ‘satisfaction’ when they approach or complete the purpose. These two kinds. Only two kinds of variables, so talks are nearly impossible.”
“Hmm.”

When I tilted my head, something felt like it touched my frame from behind.

“Eh——”

Looking back, a giant octopus.

“Alien Kraken!?”
“Suu-san be careful!”

Alice shouts on comm. Tentacles are wrapping Swallow-san.

“You——”

Ah, bad. Tentacles are rolling Swallow-san like a sushi mat; my limbs won’t move.
Too much strength——are these guys mythological creatures after all!?

I deploy Swallow-san’s 〈Excitation Sword〉.
Then the water around evaporates all at once and I can’t see ahead.
Or rather, a steam explosion.

From the explosion’s power Swallow-san is blown away.
An explosion you’d say the frame would have been damaged without a shield.

“Wait——”

And even after an explosion that big, the tentacles don’t budge.
Definitely mythological creatures, these guys.

Mythological creatures don’t even take Ultra○man G○iga attacks.

Alice tells me on comm.

“Underwater you might want to stop energy weapons!”
“〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉 and 〈Blackbody Vulcan〉 too……!?”

Ill-san’s warning comes in.

“My Master, blackbody-type weapons on this planet are not recommended——or rather a lock engages. Radioactive contamination from gamma rays becomes terrible. Gamma rays aren’t blocked by water. Master and the others can mostly stop them with pilot suits. But this planet’s people and life are in danger——”
“I-I see.”

I was hurried and forgot.

Alice warns me too.

“Or rather this octopus eats heat.”
“Eats heat!? Then blackbody and excitation types don’t work in the first place?”

Alice takes two knives from her waist.

“No good. 〈Sonic Kodachi〉.”

Apparently vibrating blades. The blade parts are blurring and the surrounding seawater is finely bubbling.

Alice comes this way to save me.
But——another kraken stands in front of flying Alice.

“——Y-you’re getting in the way!?”

The kraken extends tentacles; Alice tries to deal with them but struggles a little against an opponent that moves irregularly and is soft.

Swallow-san has live-round weapons equipped too, but they’re all in positions that don’t hit.
If I move the arms I might get them, but the arms won’t move.

From the kraken’s squeeze Swallow-san’s body creaks.

Ill-san becomes a carpenter.

“Master, damage to the legs. Minor.”
“I fought scarier-looking enemies and getting done in by an octopus isn’t funny——Ill-san, humanoid form!”
“Swallowtail, humanoid form.”

Changing the body’s shape and folding the wings like a mantle loosened the squeeze.

I leap in VR while spinning the engines.
Swallow-san slips the tentacles, blasting fierce bubbles from the feet.

I use water resistance to reverse rapidly like a kick.
I take a 〈Multipurpose Vulcan〉 from inside the wings and honeycomb the kraken.

“I-if I don’t let my guard down it isn’t an opponent.”
“This side’s done too.”

Alice defeated her kraken too and came this way.

I watch the kraken sinking into the dark seafloor.

“We’re killing living things like this, so is it too late———”

Alice and I enter a transparent dome with the passcodes we got from the hotel people.
This dome was made by the Galactic Union and apparently blocks MoB and living things from entering.

“Well, inside is full of seafood though.”

Countless octopuses swimming swee through the dome.
From building-like things, round heads going “hello.”

Elsewhere too, marine products wriggling all over.

“The dome isn’t functioning.”
“Yes.”
“Where are they coming in and going out……”
“The Galactic Union doesn’t seem to have investigated either.”
“If this isn’t sloppy management I don’t know what is.”
“They have no interest in archaeology.”

Long live bureaucratic work.

“If we approach the octopuses does it become combat?”
“It does. You’re approaching a flock that eats energy in a frame packed with energy, so you’re prey.”
“Then get down from Swallow-san, bare——”

A crocodile-like marine product swees in front of the camera.

“——Let’s not.”

Shogun takes out a handgun.

“So we shoot from long range——I’m bad at guns……”
“I’ll do it.”
“Thank you!”

I take a 〈Multipurpose Sniper〉 from humanoid-form’s back.
Then I change the rounds to underwater ones.

I lay Swallow-san down still humanoid and go into a sniping posture.

I attach a scope to the Multipurpose Sniper.

As for vision I’m VR-piloting so I see the scenery like I became Swallow-san’s size.

I put Swallow-san’s face to the scope, pull the 〈Multipurpose Sniper〉 cocking lever, and put a finger on the trigger.
Aim at an octopus.

“Well, not many are moving.”

I shoot in order from distant octopuses that seem less likely to notice us.

When I casually pis-pis the brain area of octopuses, some float, some sink.

Vision gradually becomes like an octopus wall.

“Even in water you finish them all in one shot, splendidly.”
“If I don’t, they might notice us so I tried.”
“But the vital brain is small compared to that body, right.”

Comments looking at floating octopuses get lively.

❝I’m getting hungry somehow❞
❝Me too❞
❝Japanese people really eat octopus❞
❝It’s super good you know?❞
❝Especially sashimi of fresh ones is crunchy, the best. The look is translucent and pretty too❞
❝There it’s takoyaki!❞
❝We eat it in Italy too, good on carpaccio❞
❝What, there are comrades overseas❞
❝Subscriber count is growing at an insane pace, it’s like 600,000?❞
❝Hahaha. My viewers came~, she’s my chastity’s savior. Everyone register real quick~. But your number one is me, okay?❞

“Otoko-san, is that okay——”

❝In exchange I want moderator authority on Suu’s channel~❞

“I don’t know how……”
“I already did it.”
“Alice, thank you!”
“No no, I have nothing to do so I’m free. Incidentally we’ll take as many defeated kraken as we can carry and sell them.”
“For real.”
“They buy them at a pretty good price.”

But that’s true; it has alien in the name so it’s whatever——but it’s octopus. For people used to eating it it’s just seafood.