CH 3

Part 1

The Governmental Sector.

It was the single large agency that presided over the largest of the islands in the floating archipelago <Lagoon> which could be lived on by people. It was an organization whose members were chosen by poll and it had the authority to oversee the administration of justice and the legislation.

“……But it’s pointlessly large.”

With one step into the Governmental Sector’s sector, Vaiel turned around with an disgusted expression.

It was a four floor structure with three aboveground and one below.

Its first floor’s height off the ground of two hundred ninety metres gave off a feeling of being low compared to Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>, but in return, that it was wider by that much was the Governmental Sector’s characteristic. Even just in the lobby, the far end was blurry.

“The building’s interior is also strange. It’s like an ant’s nest.”

Kagura was looking at the electronic screen posted at the lobby.

What she was displaying was the first floor’s floor map but just like a labyrinth, the paths converged and diverged in a complicated manner and then proceeded to converge again. Also, in the middle of a path were rooms of varying sizes randomly placed, making it difficult to even find one’s destination.

“……Hey, hey, who’s the guy who decided to make this into a maze?”

“It’s the Governmental Sector’s construction division. To lay out those paths took four years. However, I can’t deny it if you call it a maze.”

Beside Vaiel who let out a sigh, Yuragi answered with a wry smile.

“With a floor this complicated, the Yuugenshu would also get lost, right? Because of this floor layout, even if the Yuugenshu invade, we can safely evacuate.”

“……Yuugenshu also appear on this floating archipelago <Lagoon>?”

Ymy turned around with eyes of sadness.

She couldn’t make it so she didn’t hear that. Having allowed the Yuugenshu’s invasion ── for the Priestesses that governed over the barrier, that was a truth equivalent to failure.

“No, it’s a suppositional matter. This floating archipelago <Lagoon> is separated from the floating continent <Orbie Clar> so it’s hard for even a single Yuugenshu to find it.”

“I-is that so……I’m glad.”

Ymy cast her eyes down with an expression that showed she was truly glad from the bottom of her heart.

“Please do not concern yourself. We are also not slacking in countermeasures against the Yuugenshu everyday. ……Rather, that is exactly why we have today’s topic of discussion.”

Clack.

Yuragi narrowed her eyes to a state like a pin and stopped at the crossroads ahead.

“Ahead of here is the assembly room. Ymy-sama and the General Affairs Bureau Chief-sama who will be participating in the meeting, please head on forward. Ishtar-sama and I will both head to the waiting room on the right and Monica-sama’s group, please go to the resting area to the left.”

“O─kay, well then, Ymy-sama. The basics of negotiating is to relax─, relax.”

Ishtar’s sunny voice echoed in the hall.

“Y-yes. I’ll do my best!”

She put her hand on her chest and took a deep breath. After that, she gulped and Ymy nodded to herself. Not as his childhood friend, but as a Priestess supporting the floating continent <Orbie Clar>, she surrounded herself with dignity.

──Do your best.

Making a small agreement, Sheltis stared on at that back.

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Part 2

“Umm, the Governmental Sector’s first floor……this is the second building. That’s split narrowly again so this is section 60’s resting area?”

“It’s section 61. It’s registered as a free room according to the digital map so I think the furnishings have been changed to serve as a resting area for this assembly.”

“Ah, right, right. It was section 61……but this really is a maze.”

Circling the current location with red pen on the map, Sheltis stared fixedly at the map as he approached the sofa.

“I’ll supply the parts you don’t remember, okay?”

“……I only remember the meeting room’s location so I’ll rely on you for anything else.”

If he went to the crossroad after exiting this room and headed left, it would not be long to the meeting room. If something unnatural were to occur, he would be able to run to Ymy’s location in thirty seconds.

“But this room is a little troubling.”

Kagura let her body sink into the flexible sofa.

Putting the cup with ice floating in it to her mouth, she pointed at the room’s four corners.

“Look, this is a free room but it has soundproofing. We can’t hear anything from outside so don’t you think it’d be hard to tell if something happens outside? It doesn’t look like there’s any video surveillance equipment to watch the meeting room’s status either. Are we stuck in a spot and relying on the unit captain?”

“……Please don’t put pressure on me. It’s been a while so I’m nervous.”

In a corner of the room, Monica was sitting upon a hard wooden chair as she nodded with a wry smile.

She closed her eyes and put her hands together, bearing with it without moving at all. If one looked at her, even a child would noticethe faint green light hazily shrouding her body.

“Ah─ I see. Clairvoyance and telepathy.”

Both of them were territories of techniques that afforded super perception.

‘Clairvoyance’ would burn the situation of a distant location into one’s mind and ‘telepathy’ allowed one to communicate with a distance practitioner. Monica was able to handle these techniques because she had been an apprentice Priestess.

“You’re peeking in at the meeting room with clairvoyance and speaking telepathically with the Priestess-sama that’s in the meeting?”

“If I could do that, I wouldn’t be weary. ……It’s protected by the same arrangement as Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>.”

A reflective barrier.

By erecting a barrier in a special place, it was a technique that obstructed other shinryoku other than that.

In order to protect important secrets from the Big Three through clairvoyance and telepathy, Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>’s aboveground floors to its summit were covered with a large-scale barrier that the Priestess Meimel had applied.

“……It looks like clairvoyance is impossible. I tried sending a message through telepathy from my end as well but it was reflected by the barrier.”

Moving only her lips, Monica continued.

“Well then, there was no meaning?”

“No, just a little while ago, Ymy broke through the barrier……you could say it was done with pure force using her shinryoku quantity; that child hasn’t fixed the roughness of her techniques.”

The unit captain shook her head in reply to Vaiel’s mutter.

“In other words, even though I can’t reply from my end, I can hear Ymy’s reports.”

“That’s interesting. Is there any important information?”

“There’s been no progress. ‘……The conversation is stuck and doesn’t seem to be progressing.’ is what she said.”

“I bet.”

Matching up with Monica’s sigh, Sheltis stood up from the sofa.

……So the Governmental Sector won’t show a fault so easily.

The floating archipelago <Lagoon> that wasn’t on the territory map and the Yuugenshu being bred there. There was no way they could simply ask and get an answer.

“……It’s probably hard on Ymy who’s just staying still though.”

The monologue he said with a wry smile quietly dissolved into thin air. Choosing this time when a curtain of silence fell, Sheltis turned his foot towards the door.

“Monica, I’m going to go outside for some air.”

“Don’t go too far.”

“I’ll return quickly.”

Waving his hand lightly in reply, he set foot into the corridor.

“Oh, see. As I thought, it’s cooler here.”

He looked up at the giant circular pillar that extended above his height.

……He felt his flushed body’s heat dispersing into the cool rock pillar.

“On top of that──”

“On top of that?”

“ It’s easier to understand this way. ”

His eyes were focused on the crossroad straight ahead as he entrusted himself to the circular pillar behind him. ──No. Beyond the many diverging paths that lay past the crossroad. Deeper within this building.

── It’s here .

The gaze he’d felt since entering this building. No, it would be better to call it a sense of discomfort.

It wasn’t the presence of a dangerous animal or a Yuugenshu but ‘something’.

“It’s here. Probably……nope, definitely.”

He had experienced a feeling like this very long ago.

That was already close to ten years ago ── a little after Ymy and he had entered Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>, when he had coincidentally passed by a Sennenshi of that time.

A pressure that conveyed that they were ‘there’. An overbearing presence that prickled the skin almost to a painful point.

It resembled the feeling from that time.

“It doesn’t look like it’s nearby though.”

Somewhere within this large structure, there was somebody that was causing him to feel this.

“Was there some story about the Governmental Sector training a strong battle unit or something?”

“Mm〜 I wonder, shall we ask the receptionist onee-san?”

“……Answer me seriously.”

Flicking machine crystal <Ilis> who had answered nonchalantly, Sheltis stood still there for a short while.

.

Part 3

Kachii, kachiri……

The seconds hand on the clock on the digital screen slowly ticked down the time.

……It’s been three hours since the meeting started.

……It might be a good time to think of it as the first half of the battle for the first day being over.

The waiting room returned to dead silence. Remembering how tired she was from looking at closely packed notebook memos, Yuragi exhaled.

……I was resolved but having the time pass this slowly is painful.

……How many weeks has it been since I properly slept?

My lack of sleep is horrible to point of whiting out the inside of my mind.

Her intelligence activities as a member of the central division ── from early in the morning to late at night, she would be working as an executive secretary so to leak information to Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>, there was no other way than to diminish her own sleeping hours.

Above all, a Priestess came this time so for several days she was being worked to death with scheduling and business meetings.

“───”

She took out a few caffeine pills hidden in her pocket and carelessly threw them into her mouth before gnashing them.

Because she’d taken such a large quantity over a long period of time, their effects had diminished but this was also a kind of mental stabilizer medicine.

……But it’s unexpected.

……I thought that she would start talking since we’re free right now.

The companion sitting across the table from her. She was sitting there looking down at the ground without moving.

The Elite Guard, Ishtar.

She was the Priestess’ escort and she had been in this character that Yuragi didn’t know the entire time.

In contrast to her mature appearance was her young speech pattern. If it was just that, she could be interpreted as a childish adult but her fighting skills were said to be the same as a Sennenshi so it was troubling to judge.

“Umm, Ishtar-san?”

“…………”

“……Ishtar-san?”

“Fua? Ahh, yes, yes. Sorry, I was doing a little thinking.”

She scratched her face looking embarrassed.

“Is it about the assembly?”

“Ehehe. Well, putting that aside─, this is perfect. Ishtar also had something to ask.”

“Ask away.”

“Umm, I have two things to ask.”

On the hand that she held up, her index and middle fingers were extended.

.

“One. Does a fighter with strength rivaling the Sennenshi exist in the Governmental Sector?”

“Two. About the floating archipelago <Lagoon> case that’s including amongst the meeting’s topics, if someone were to forcefully obtain evidence regarding it, where would they need to infiltrate in the Governmental Sector?” [T/N: She says 一つ at the beginning of both. It marks them as “single” questions. Which isn’t used in English so I replaced it with “two”.]

.

“…………”

She unconsciously gulped.

“Say, say, how about iiit?”

“……Before that, I’d like to ask one more thing.”

She stared upfront at the Elite Guard that was using a light tone to the end.

“Putting aside the first one, what do you mean with the second one?”

“It’s as it sounds, you knooow? There’s no deep meaning.”

Ishtar had a smile on just like a child’s.

“So how about it?”

“……Unfortunately, one doesn’t exist. Even if I did know, it’s not something I could answer as a member of the Governmental Sector’s agency .”

She somewhat lowered her face and shook her head.

──She couldn’t answer as a secretary of the Governmental Sector.

──But as a member of Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>’s intelligence, there was an answer she could provide.

She didn’t know whether there was some kind of surveillance camera somewhere in this room. As an answer in this location, that was the limit to what she could provide. Now was the moment of whether this hidden meaning had been conveyed or not.

“…………”

Time passed and a few breaths weren’t taken either in this silence. Then.

“……That’s right. Then tell me if you change your mind.”

“I can’t have that either.”

Kusuu. For an instant, the Elite Guard cracked a wide smile and Yuragi also returned a business smile.

With that, they both sat wordlessly on their separated seats.

They didn’t look at each other and just left their bodies to the passage of time.

──The continuation would be after the meeting.

Ishtar who had caught onto Yuragi’s signal made a suggestion and she had assented to it.

“Now then……”

She opened her notebook to confirm the schedule. However, Yuragi’s thoughts started to turn to a completely different direction, the ‘confidential talk’ that Ishtar wanted to have.

──How serious was Ishtar-sama with the question just now?

She felt cold sweat on her cheek.

……Was she seriously thinking about doing it?

A solo invasion into the center of the Governmental Sector, even more, into ‘that place’ where the most important secrets sleep.

Also breaking through the defense system that awaits there.

……It can’t be that what she was thinking just now was that.

……Was she only thinking of that this whole time today?

“Now then, how will this turn out.”

She had certainly heard Ishtar whisper that while sitting in the chair.

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Part 4

Hotel, room 303, [Aster].

In the living room slightly lit up by sunlight, the high-pitched sound of a flute cut through the air without dying out and reverberated around.

“──Hah!”

He reverse gripped the dual swords shining in deep purple.

Standing upright in the center of the carpet, Sheltis drew out the blades.

From the shoulder to the elbow.

From the elbow to the wrist.

From the wrist to the fingertips.

His arm was using the least amount of strength required and his upper body bent like a whip, using the recoil to lash out with the swords. The blades severed the air creating a vacuum in empty space.

Lash out, sweep, thrust, turn……lash out once again.

He repeated the same process. At first, it was slow enough that a butterfly could sit at the tip of the blade and then the speed had risen little by little until the ‘dance‘ was sharpened to the point that it was invisible to human eyes───

“Okay, stop.”

The blade that was moving came to a complete halt. That was also at the same time as machine crystal <Ilis> voice or perhaps even an instant sooner.

“……Who is it?”

He could feel a presence outside the room.

From there, a little while was passed ── ring, came the door bell’s ringer.

“Sheltis, could I have a moment?”

The girl with the sakura-colored hair’s face peeked out from the door.

“Monica? I don’t mind but……huh.”

Sheathing his dual swords in his belt holders, he stared intently at the side of the girl who was getting closer’s face.

“Wh-what is it?”

“I might be asking something weird but, umm, did you already take a bath?”

The assembly with the Governmental Sector had just ended not too long ago. Continuing on from yesterday, today she had also made an appointment to meet Ymy and Kagura at the large baths ── he had heard such a thing.

“You just entered the bath not too long ago. I think it’d be fine if you take your time.”

She had returned too fast for having gone to the bath. Looking at her, there were no traces of Monica’s hair having been wet and it didn’t feel like she’d taken in any heat from the water either.

“Yeah, truthfully, I’m also talking about that matter.”

“Mm?”

“The matter about the appointment at the large baths is as you said but no matter how long Kagura and I wait, Ymy wasn’t coming so……when I went to her room……it felt like she was talking with Cadres Guard Ishtar about something. It was hard to call out to her, so I was just on my way back.”

The Priestess and her private escort and preparations the day before are also needed. If so, then we need to talk about the infiltration job by tomorrow night or it’ll be poor, you know?”

“I……understand.”

……Tomorrow was the limit.

……I have to decide by tomorrow night.

“…………”

“Sorry……could I get some rest?”

Without waiting for answers from the other two, she walked towards the bedroom──

.

While feeling her consciousness growing hazy, Ymy collapsed on the bed.