Akatsuki Translations

The search party for Harold was organized on the very day Erica and the others arrived. The members were selected, the search routes decided, and they were set to begin the search the following day.

That said, the collapse Harold was believed to have been caught in was enormous, measuring several dozen meters in diameter and more than a hundred meters deep. There were even buildings in places that were still burning, making a direct descent to the deepest part extremely dangerous.

That left them with only a limited number of options. In the end, they decided to descend through one of the mine shafts that had suffered relatively little damage from the collapse.

The search party proceeded cautiously through the still-accessible mine shaft. Apparently, members of the Knights who had entered during the preliminary investigation had confirmed beforehand that following this route would allow them to descend to roughly halfway down the deepest point of the collapsed area.

It was certainly a dangerous course of action, as there was a possibility that the shaft could collapse due to the damage caused by the disaster. But they had no other options available to them, so there was no time to hesitate. Members of the Knights who had conducted the preliminary investigation had apparently installed lanterns at regular intervals along the walls of the shaft, so visibility was not an issue. They continued onward without encountering any remaining monsters, either.

After several hours, the search party finally reached the interior of the collapsed area.

“Harold-sama is somewhere around here…”

Somehow suppressing her impatience, Erica took a step forward. Compared to the upper portion of the collapse, the slope here was gentler, and the ground was stable enough for them to secure their footing.

Even so, finding a single person within a collapsed area of this enormous scale would be an extremely difficult task.

“Then, as planned, we’ll split into two groups. Keep a close watch on your footing, anything that might fall from above… and any possible attacks from an unknown assailant.”

Vincent’s words were a final reminder, prompted by the information he had given them the previous night.

Under normal circumstances, Cody should also have been dispatched here to Baston. However, he was nowhere to be seen, and his whereabouts were unknown.

And the situation did not end there. They had also confirmed that nearly ten other members of the Knights had similarly gone missing.

They did not know what this meant, but Vincent had sensed something ominous about the situation and determined that they needed to be on guard against possible interference from someone—or something—during the search.

With his friend Cody missing, Vincent must have been deeply worried himself. Yet he showed no sign of it, instead continuing to lead the search party.

Erica could only admire his composure and dedication.

Despite these thoughts, the search for Harold, once it began, proceeded far from smoothly. The unstable terrain meant they had to carefully check their footing with every step. Moreover, they needed to stay together to some extent in case of a sudden attack, which made the search considerably less efficient.

Still, the search itself was only happening so quickly because they had chosen to prioritize speed. It would be difficult to disregard safety any further.

According to the information they had received beforehand, Harold was supposedly the only “human” caught in the collapse. But…

“C-Captain! Monsters!”

It wasn’t as though there were no remnants of the monsters that had emerged in large numbers from the mine shafts.

There were countless mine shafts connected to the collapsed area. Three monsters leapt out from one of them and lunged at the search party—

Only to be pierced by arrows of water before they could attack.

The arrows were created by Water Fan, a technique using a bow and arrows that Erica excelled at.

The three water arrows, fired outward in a fan-shaped spread, each struck their targets precisely in a vital spot. From the moment the monsters were spotted to the moment they were dispatched, barely a few seconds had passed.

“No way…”

Those who, like Irene, were unfamiliar with Erica’s abilities stared at her in wide-eyed astonishment. Even though they had been told beforehand about her skills, perhaps they simply could not have imagined such strength coming from someone who looked every bit the refined young lady.

Magic was undoubtedly Erica’s greatest specialty, but her skill with a bow was also beyond question.

“Excellent archery.”

“Thank you.”

Erica responded calmly to Vincent’s praise.

Her expression remained stern. There was no joy at the compliment, nor any relaxation that might come from having just defeated the monsters. To anyone who knew the normally gentle Erica, it was immediately obvious just how deeply troubled she was.

Erica herself was aware of it, but no matter how hard she tried to suppress her impatience, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain her composure. The more she thought about how Harold might be here, perhaps waiting for help in a situation where every second mattered, the more her sense of urgency grew.

Even so, Erica did not rush ahead. She continued the careful search at the same pace as the others, remaining vigilant against attacks from monsters or other enemies while also taking into consideration the possibility that people other than Harold might have been caught in the collapse.

Nearly two hours into the search, “it” suddenly appeared before Erica and the others.

“C-Captain! There’s a door over here!”

Sid shouted.

Hidden in the shadow of the remains of a collapsed building was a door that was clearly not part of anything above ground. It appeared to lead into the interior of a mine shaft. There was nothing particularly unusual about its appearance, but that was precisely what made it seem so out of place given their current circumstances.

“What in the world is this…?”

There was no way to know where the door led without going inside. Yet opening such an obviously unnatural door made them hesitate.

It seemed as if everyone besides Erica felt the same way. They all stood before the door, holding their breath.

Even so, they could not simply leave it unchecked. Vincent slowly reached out and placed his hand on the doorknob. He gave it a gentle twist, and contrary to their expectations, the knob turned with ease.

“…It doesn’t appear to be locked.”

Vincent exchanged a glance with one of the knights and silently gave him an instruction. It was probably a precaution against an enemy attack or some kind of trap being triggered the moment they opened the door. Erica, too, heightened her vigilance, preparing herself to respond to whatever might happen.

After a brief pause, the door finally opened.

Beyond it was a passageway completely unlike the mine shafts they had seen before. It was clearly an artificial structure, constructed with materials that could only have been deliberately manufactured.

There were no lights on the walls or ceiling, and being built deep underground, there were naturally no windows either.

And yet, they could see all the way down the passage. The reason was that some of the materials making up the walls and floor were emitting a faint light of their own.

“Is this… Lightstone?”

Liner spoke the name of the naturally luminescent stones they had encountered from time to time in caves and ruins during their journey. Erica remembered seeing Lightstones that emitted a similar glow.

“It doesn’t really feel like stone, though…”

Sid grunted as he ran his hands over the glowing wall, gently patting and feeling its surface.

It was some kind of luminous material, but unlike Lightstone. Was it something completely unknown to them, or simply a material that existed but was not widely known? It was certainly intriguing, but that was not what mattered right now.

“What do you suggest, Captain Vincent?”

Whether they should continue down the passage, resume their search through the collapsed area, or split into two groups. No matter which option they chose, they could not avoid some degree of risk, making the decision a difficult one.

“May I say something?”

Before Vincent, who was deep in thought, could say anything, Ventos spoke up. He prefaced his words by saying that he did not know whether the information would be useful in making their decision, then continued.

“I remember seeing something similar at his laboratory.”

“When you say ‘his,’ you mean…”

“Yes. Justus. It looks like the same material that was used in part of the facility where he kept us under his ‘control.’”

Beside him, Lilium nodded vigorously, as though confirming his words.

“So there’s a strong possibility that this is a facility connected to Dr. Justus.”

The emotion welling up inside Erica was not surprise, but rather a sense of confirmation—as though this was what she had expected all along.

They still had no idea what Justus’s objective or methods were, but judging from the circumstantial evidence they had gathered, it was almost certain that he was involved both in the attack by the massive horde of monsters and in the large-scale collapse that had devastated this town.

But what was his objective? Was he trying to kill Harold, or did he have an entirely different goal?

As Erica considered this, something Ventos had said earlier caught her attention. He had seen this glowing material at the laboratory where Justus had “managed” him and the others.

What if this collapse had been deliberately caused to target Harold, and the entire thing was actually a trap designed to subject Harold to the same experiments and modifications they had undergone? If Justus possessed the means to accomplish such a thing, then rather than simply killing Harold, it would surely be more useful to keep him under his control as a valuable pawn.

And if that were the case, it meant that Harold could be subjected to the same horrifying acts that Ventos and Lilium had told them about.

(I can’t panic. Precisely because this is an emergency, I must keep a clear head.)

Erica released the anxiety that was urging her to hurry with a deep breath. Come to think of it, something similar had happened before.

When Harold had been on the verge of execution over the incident in Bertis Forest, she had desperately tried to do everything within her power to save him. Erica had far fewer abilities at the time than she did now, but thanks in part to Cody’s words, she had managed to avoid being consumed by panic and had done everything she could.

The reason she was able to remain relatively calm now was probably because of that experience.

“…Let’s split into two groups. There’s certainly a risk, but given the circumstances, we have to assume that every second counts.”

“Then I will go inside the facility.”

“Given that we know neither the layout inside nor what dangers may be waiting for us, I would prefer to keep anyone who isn’t a member of the Knights from entering, but…”

“We don’t have time to send someone in ahead of us. The best course of action would be to proceed with a small group of our strongest members.”

“Yes. You’re right.”

Erica understood perfectly well that Vincent had his own position and concerns to consider. In particular, given Erica’s status as the only daughter of a noble family, she knew that his true preference was probably to keep her out of harm’s way.

But they did not have time to take the safer approach. If they had no idea what dangers awaited them inside, then sending in the members with the highest chances of survival was also a perfectly rational decision.

Although she had more or less managed to push the matter through, it was ultimately decided that Erica, Vincent, and Liner would be the three to enter the facility.

The remaining members would continue searching the collapsed area. Even so, if anything happened on their end, they would need to report it immediately. And if that happened, those members would also have to risk their lives by entering the facility themselves. In that sense, neither group was any less exposed to danger.

“Then, let’s go.”

Steeling herself, Erica stepped inside.

The footsteps of the three echoed through the dimly lit passage. Most of the walls and floor were made of stone, but the glowing sections scattered throughout the passage were made of a material different from Lightstone, just as Sid had pointed out.

“Come to think of it, what kind of facility is this?”

As they continued forward cautiously, Liner suddenly voiced the question that had occurred to him.

“If the Doctor is involved, it might be some kind of research facility.”

“Whatever they were researching in a suspicious place like this, I seriously doubt it was anything normal…”

“Perhaps we should prepare ourselves for anything, so that we won’t be caught off guard no matter what appears.”

Given who they were dealing with, it would not be surprising if something completely beyond their expectations appeared. The unknown was frightening precisely because they had no way of anticipating it.

For that reason, they had no choice but to proceed carefully, and even covering a distance of only a few dozen meters took a considerable amount of time. But as they continued onward, they finally caught sight of the end of the passage.

There was a staircase leading even farther down. It was narrow, only wide enough for a single person, and beyond the stairs they could see a different kind of light spilling out—unlike anything they had seen in the passage up to that point.

There was no doubt that something lay beyond.

Holding their breath and making as little noise as possible, they descended the stairs one step at a time. What awaited them at the bottom was a breathtaking space of gleaming white.

The floor, the walls, and even the towering pillars all shone pure white.

The atmosphere was completely different from the dim passage they had traversed. Its beauty was so otherworldly that the scene hardly seemed real.

The gleaming white chamber was circular, easily measuring several dozen meters across. On the wall opposite the staircase stood an imposing, massive door. And when they looked up at the domed ceiling, they saw enormous clusters of crystals sparkling like a magnificent chandelier.

“Whoa…”

Liner could not help but voice his amazement.

But faced with the sight before her, Erica was reminded of the contents of a certain book. It had been about ruins said to have been left behind by an ancient civilization.

According to the book, some ruins had spaces deep within their lowest levels that were filled with pure-white Lightstone. There were apparently very few ruins that possessed such spaces, but this place seemed to be one of them.

More importantly, however, there was one detail they could not afford to forget: the book also stated that such beautiful spaces were guarded by sentinels whose purpose was to eliminate intruders.

“Liner, get back.”

The moment Erica called out to him, a deep rumbling sound, like the trembling of the earth, began to echo through the white chamber.

Then came another ominous sound, as though something overhead had begun to crack.

The source was directly above them.

“Above us! Something’s falling!”

“Waaaaah!?”

Liner, who had been cautiously edging toward the center of the chamber, hurriedly backed away. Thanks to that, everyone—including Liner—escaped unharmed.

But what came crashing down was not merely a collection of crystals.

A tremendous roar and impact shook the chamber. The source was a metallic-looking sphere, roughly three meters across, that had fallen from among the shattered crystal formations.

The sphere began to transform with a series of loud mechanical clanks.

Two arms and eight legs, apparently stored inside the sphere, unfolded from within.

What stood before them was clearly not a living creature born through the natural process of evolution, but a monster that had been artificially constructed.

“Ah, that thing! Could it be the one Hugo said he fought in some ruins!?”

Before becoming Liner and the others’ companion, Hugo had been an adventurer. It would therefore not be surprising if he had encountered this monster before.

“Ruins… I see. Then perhaps that is a Crust Orb.”

“You know what that is?”

“I’ve heard about them. Apparently, some ruins have monsters that serve as guardians deep within them.”

That must have been the true identity of the spherical monster before them.

Erica had never heard the name Crust Orb before, but despite its unmistakably artificial appearance, there was a clear hostility in the red glow of its eyes.

“So that means the only way for us to proceed is to defeat this thing!”

“Well, that would certainly be the quickest way.”

Liner and Vincent readied their swords, while Erica drew her bowstring taut.

“I’ll leave command of the battle to you, Captain Vincent.”

Perhaps the request had caught him off guard, because Vincent’s eyes widened for a moment.

From Erica’s perspective, Vincent was the strongest person present and the one most capable of making sound decisions in the heat of battle. That was why she had chosen to entrust command to him.

After a moment’s hesitation, Vincent apparently understood exactly what she meant. His expression changed, once again taking on the stern countenance of the commander of the Knights.

“Understood. Leave it to me. Then—shall we fight our way through?”

Apologies for the long, long break! I will do my best to translate all the remaining chapters!