NOVEL ONLINE FREE If I had to summarize the world I see from above in just one word…
Silence…
The truth is, I’ve never looked down. All my senses were focused on Rion, who had her mouth tightly shut and her eyes squeezed shut.
This escape method was far from ordinary danger. To put it metaphorically, it was like two people bungee jumping at the same time, relying solely on a single rope.
And I wasn’t even tying that rope; I was just holding it with my hands.
The gloves of Aabi Eshuh, which were gripped so tightly that the veins were bulging on the back of my hand, were that rope.
Fortunately, thanks to Toki’s effort in placing her arms for support, we at least had somewhere to sit.
Rion’s black hair was whipping around like crazy due to the wind, occasionally smacking my face, which was a bit annoying, but not unbearable.
“Rion-chan, you won’t fall, so relax a bit!”
Yelp!
I shouted a little louder, worried it would be drowned out by the wind. The moment she heard me, Rion startled and placed one hand on my arm that was wrapped around her waist, leaning forward.
…This resulted in Rion’s hair hitting my face even more often. At least I was fortunate enough not to drop my gun.
Right now, it didn’t seem likely that any words would calm Rion down, so I turned my head to gaze at Eridu.
The shape of the city had long vanished. There was a cylindrical something in the center, surrounded by a gigantic band…
Ah, right. There was something that slowly ascended into the sky, resembling a circular space station I had seen in some SF movie long ago, replacing Eridu.
“First, I’ll take you both to where Neru-senpai is.”
Thanks to the altitude lowering, the wind noise subsided a bit, and Toki immediately began to speak. Thankfully, it seemed Neru had already made it out of Eridu ahead of us.
“…Once we land, I need to try contacting Himari again. The only one with the capacity to prepare for the current situation, as far as I know, is her. There are alternatives, but getting back to Millennium comes first.”
It seemed Rion had come to her senses to some extent, straightening her previously hunched body again. Being taller than me, and now sitting on my legs, she blocked my view with her back.
By the way, our Rion seems to acknowledge Himari as her equal.
A self-proclaimed genius who enjoys solitude, and a people-loving genius who thrives in social situations. They were natural rivals in every aspect, but maybe that contradiction led them to subconsciously acknowledge each other.
In fact, these two surprisingly got along quite well.
I had no assurance that Himari would come up with a definite solution, but if she did, it would definitely be Himari.
Or perhaps she would come together with Rion to figure something out.
“Trying to take down that ark seems a bit far-fetched. Given that it has distorted an entire city like Eridu, its size is just too massive. If we could strike precisely where the power source is, things might be different, but…”
Rion trailed off. She knew what the answer to that statement was.
We had no information at our disposal. We didn’t even know how it flew in the sky, let alone how to find its power source.
“Ah, found it. I’m landing immediately, so both of you, please prepare.”
After a moment, Toki’s voice echoed. It seemed they had spotted Neru. I couldn’t see him yet.
Despite the request to brace ourselves, Toki landed incredibly smoothly.
As we stepped out onto the asphalt with Rion still in my arms, she immediately wobbled as if about to fall over. As I instinctively supported her, I heard a clear voice.
“What the heck! I was wondering how you’d bring her out, and it’s hotter than I imagined?”
Turning my head, I saw Neru, who seemed to have been leaning against a motorcycle he used to tail me, grinning.
“Neru-chan…”
“Hey, Mika. Man, it’s so damn good to see you.”
“Thanks for worrying about me!”
“What the heck are you talking about? More importantly, Mika, aren’t you going to say something to Rion?”
“…I don’t really have anything to say.”
“Seriously?!”
I peeked at Rion, who was clinging to me, blunt and somewhat shamelessly claiming she had nothing to say. I then reached out and poked her in the side.
“Hey, Rion-chan, you owe her an apology… No, that’s not a priority right now, so it’s better to save it for later. Alright, properly apologize to Neru-chan and get her forgiveness. This is homework, so don’t think you can skip it.”
“…Got it.”
Seeing Rion comply more than I expected, it seemed she learned something from this incident. The worrying situation had already escalated, but…
In any case, our Rion could become a better person starting today. Everyone has a moment in their lives that triggers significant change, and for Rion, that moment was today.
It’s a problem, though, that the catalyst for that change is the awakening of a being commanding an army of Nameless Priests leading the world towards destruction.
“But I understand your feelings.”
“What?”
“No, just a foolish person…”
“…I understand, but I’m certainly not saying you did well; so please don’t misunderstand.”
Why are both of them looking at me like I’m a strange person when I say I understand? Despite the results brought about by Rion’s careless actions being wrong, her worries weren’t unfounded, were they?
There’s a reason I don’t view Rion negatively.
Aside from her attempt to destroy Aris’s Halo in the original story, she immediately threw herself into solving the problem as soon as things began to spiral out of control. That alone is worthy of recognition.
If someone were only focused on preserving their life while forcing others to sacrifice, they wouldn’t display such words or actions.
What Rion needs are two things. To learn to listen carefully to others, and not to get too caught up in ‘rationality’.
With today’s event as a turning point, Rion would surely change.
“Anyway, Rion-chan, how’s the communication network?”
Hearing my words, Rion pulled out a communicator from her pocket. It was the same type of device I received from her in the past.
Rion fiddled with it for a moment and then nodded.
“It seems we’ve escaped the influence of that ark. The network is reconnected… Ah.”
As she continued speaking, Rion paused as if she remembered something and took out my cellphone to present it to me.
What’s this, some sort of Doraemon pocket? I wouldn’t be surprised if a tablet PC was stuffed in there too.
“…Sorry.”
“Really, Rion-chan. If you keep apologizing like this, the listener gets tired, you know?”
“Hah, an apology without sincerity…”
I glanced over and saw Neru pouting, clearly displeased. It seemed Rion had a long way to go before receiving forgiveness from Neru.
“Sigh. First, contact Himari-chan. I need to report my survival status. Neru-chan, what about you?”
“Ah? My phone is back there.”
After hearing my words, Neru pointed with her finger. Over there stood Toki, still wearing Aabi Eshuh, looking somewhat dazed.
“That idiot took it. Hey, Houbae, hand over my phone so I can contact my senpai.”
“I’m sorry. It seems to have vanished during the flight.”
“…What the heck? Seriously? You, who claimed to be a perfect agent! Where’s the perfection when you can’t even keep track of that?!”
“It was a light joke, Neru-senpai.”
…I should probably leave those two alone. They’ll figure it out themselves. No matter what, they’re still in a senior-junior relationship in C&C.
Moreover, since Neru had managed to win against Toki in her Aabi Eshuh’s mode 2 state, it seemed their hierarchy had somewhat settled too.
Upon turning on my phone, I noticed dozens of missed calls stacked up. Of course, Momotalk must have long since hit 999+.
I couldn’t possibly check each one in this situation, so I quickly decided to create a group chat and leave a message.
Naturally, the invitees would be my Husbands.
[Sorry for not being reachable. I’ll explain the details later. For now, there’s an urgent matter requiring everyone’s help.]
As soon as I finished typing, notifications from Momotalk exploded, showing everyone was worried about me, which made my heart ache.
[A crisis has occurred in the Millennium Autonomous District. If everyone doesn’t help, Kivotos could face destruction.]
[Mika-chan, we’re already aware of that!]
[…Huh?]
Before I could explain, Noa jumped in.
[Thanks to collaborating with Himari since your disappearance, we were able to act. So, you don’t need to specifically request our aid.]
[As of now, the student council members that can be dispatched are already leading the charge into the Millennium Autonomous District, Mika-san.]
[…Aco, I was about to say that.]
[Oh? Head, don’t you think this report should naturally come from your aide?]
[…]
[It was just a light joke, Head. Please stop glaring like that…]
…Never thought I’d live to see Aco and Hina bickering over something like this. While they’re bound to be together, sending messages that could’ve been said verbally is quite the malicious act, Aco.
[Our Gourmet Research Club is also en route to the Millennium, Mika-san. Please wait a moment. I may not be much help… but…]
[Here, the seniors of Heungsinso 68 are ready to provide support too. So, uh… how’s your health?]
Following this, messages from Haruna and Saori popped up. I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with emotion, realizing I had such good people by my side…
[Mika, the Arius Squad is heading your way via helicopter. Misaki is traveling with the Rescue Knights as well… ]
[…Huh? Wait, why is the Rescue Knights involved?]
[Not just the Rescue Knights, Mika-san. The Justice Realization Department has also mobilized some forces. They’re deployed under a different pretext from the Gehenna student council.]
The moment Nagisa’s message came through, I immediately understood what that pretext was.
Considering the situation, as the student council president of Trinity, I had gone missing without a trace, and the circumstantial evidence pointed to the Millennium student council’s involvement…
“Haha…”
In the end, it seemed Trinity was ready to go to war.
I really can’t handle this, Nagisa-chan. Of course, it was exciting to think that such a decision was made without a second thought for me.
Just then, I received a sudden phone call. The caller was Wakamo.
I thought it might not be right to take only one call in this situation, but I had no reason to decline.
When I answered, I was met with surprisingly shocking news.
“The ship of Utnapishtim is now operational…?”
Only then did I recall the words of that Black Suit from before.
The ship of Utnapishtim was a weapon comparable to the Ark of Atrahasis, a space battleship. Even though it couldn’t go to space, nor was it truly a battleship.
So it clearly meant it would definitely be of some help in this situation.
But that Black Suit guy had told me we wouldn’t have to face the Ark of Atrahasis, huh? Clearly, he hadn’t anticipated Rion’s impulsive behavior either, right?
Well, that’s the thing; unexpected actions are called unexpected for a reason.