Chapter 2: Episode 1 - The Chamber of Observation
The giant warship Fraxinus floated high above Tengu City.
The warship belonging to the organization called Ratatoskr was, as always, observing the [Spacequake].
A [Spacequake] was a disaster that had appeared one day.
It was a terrifying calamity that blew away everything around it.
One girl who was observing that [Spacequake] said, “No one’s showing up today.”
Itsuka Kotori, captain and commander of the Fraxinus.
Seated in the Fraxinus command room, she had a lollipop in her mouth as she watched the huge monitor installed at the center.
No [Spirit wave] anomalies. No advance of the [Spacequake]. It was, by all accounts, a peaceful situation.
“Looks that way.”
The blond man answering beside Kotori was named Kannazuki Kyohei.
As vice commander of the Fraxinus, he also acknowledged that things were peaceful right now.
Originally, a [Spacequake] was a phenomenon that appeared when a special disaster-designated life-form called a [Spirit] manifested in the human world.
In other words, it was not an unknown disaster itself, but merely the trace left behind when an unknown disaster appeared.
In any case, the fact that no [Spacequake] was appearing meant no [Spirit] had manifested, so peaceful was the right word.
“...! Commander!”
That should have been true.
“What is it?”
At a crew member’s urgent call, Kotori reacted, and the crew member who had called her quickly displayed their screen on the central monitor.
Fwoosh!
On the screen, flames flickered in midair.
[...Here is.]
And then, a being appeared.
“...Am I seeing things?”
Kotori blinked at the strange being that had suddenly appeared, a figure clad like a medieval knight.
Even after turning her head to check the other readings, there was still no change in the [Spirit wave], and no advance of the [Spacequake].
And yet that being had appeared out of nowhere, with flames in the air.
Unable to make sense of the situation, Kotori even dropped the lollipop from her mouth.
“If I can see it too, then I don’t think you’re seeing things.”
“I know that.”
Kotori frowned at Kannazuki’s words.
She knew that much herself. She knew she wasn’t mistaken.
She had simply been denying reality for a moment because she couldn’t believe what was happening.
“Any [Spirit wave] anomaly?!”
“None! No advance of the [Spacequake] has been observed either!”
Even the crew member was saying there was no change in the [Spirit wave] and no advance of the [Spacequake].
In a situation filled with nothing but questions, Kotori stared at the screen.
The knight-like being was still standing motionless in place.
Then it looked around and let out a low murmur.
“Mood value dropping sharply!”
The mysterious being’s mood value began to plunge.
It didn’t seem to be a [Spirit], but the situation still couldn’t be explained unless it was something like one, so they were checking its mood value.
And then, all at once, that value dropped straight toward the bottom.
Not only that, it plunged past zero and kept going into the negative.
“Oh no...”
Kannazuki let out a hollow breath.
If the newly appeared [Spirit] was suddenly that despairing, then it meant a major problem was about to happen.
But then the being’s value suddenly changed again.
“Mood value rising sharply! It’s back up to zero!”
The despairing [Spirit] had, for some reason, become calm.
No, it was closer to having no emotion left at all.
“...Hoo.”
Still, Kotori felt relieved.
It was a relief that the [Spirit] was no longer despairing.
She didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if it kept spiraling into despair.
But she couldn’t afford to relax just yet.
She didn’t know how that being had manifested without a [Spacequake], or whether it was a [Spirit] in the first place, but it was definitely dangerous.
“For now, don’t let that guy out of the camera’s sight.”
“Yes, sir!”
So Kotori decided to observe that being.
Wondering what it would do next.
It was March 21st. The day the undead appeared in Tengu City.
#
Jae moved forward.
He did so to learn about the world he had come to.
The transfer he had already experienced once, and the heart that had grown empty after returning just before breaking, had left him calm.
“...Peaceful.”
That was his assessment of this world.
The world he had emerged into from the mountains, after finally making his way out of them, was peaceful.
Unlike the world before, it was not collapsing, and people were not turning Hollow. It was a world where everyone laughed and talked.
Perhaps it was similar to the world he had longed for beyond his shattered memories.
How much time had he spent as ash in that bleak world?
How many times had he died and been brought back, how many times had he gathered himself when his heart was on the verge of breaking?
And yet he had never returned to the home he longed for, so despair had been only natural. Even so, fire had rejected despair, leaving him unable to despair completely.
Joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure were already gone, and even the rest of his emotions had faded to the point that barely any trace remained, yet he stared blankly at the scenery.
Like someone looking at something beautiful, he simply kept watching.
And then he began moving again.
He had no destination. He would simply go wherever his feet carried him.
But the closer he came to a place where people lived, the more all eyes turned to him.
His armor, scorched as if by fire, the ominous air he gave off, and above all the longsword at his waist were enough to draw attention.
“Um...”
That was why a patrol officer walking nearby spoke to him.
He couldn’t ignore a suspicious man wearing a sharp sword.
“......”
Jae’s emotionless gaze fixed on the officer.
“Eek...!”
The officer let out a shrill cry before he could stop himself, then hesitated over whether to run, but for the sake of doing his duty, he forced out a trembling voice.
“T-that... the sword at your waist...”
Jae did not understand the officer’s words.
He couldn’t possibly understand them when he couldn’t even read the writing around him.
But he could tell that the officer’s gaze was directed not at him, but at the longsword at his waist.
Following that, Jae’s eyes also moved to the longsword.
The longsword, its edge still unblunted, was a problem in a peaceful world.
“......”
After a moment of thought, Jae drew the longsword.
Shing
As the cold ring of steel sounded and Jae pulled the longsword free,
“......!”
the officer backed away warily.
He had no idea what the sword-wielding madman might do.
The officer, now at a distance, was about to press the button on his radio to report the situation to his colleagues.
Clang!
If Jae had not dropped the longsword to the ground first.
For some reason, the madman had abandoned his weapon.
Jae thought,
“The people here have no will to fight.”
He felt none of the killing intent his enemies in the previous world had possessed.
They had only spoken to him while afraid, simply because it was their duty.
There was no reason to attack someone who had no will to fight.
There was no reason to make a scene in such a peaceful world.
So Jae discarded his weapon.
He had countless weapons to begin with, so losing one longsword did not matter.
“Th-then...”
The officer was confused as he looked at the dropped longsword.
How was he supposed to take this?
The madman had simply dropped the sword at his waist on his own.
He had disarmed himself, so there was no real problem.
Still, as an officer, he needed to investigate him.
It was also part of an officer’s duty to investigate anyone creating an atmosphere of fear.
But before the officer could act, Jae was faster.
“......”
With a small nod, Jae kicked off the ground hard.
Boom!
The ground he stepped on cracked slightly, and in an instant Jae’s figure vanished.
“W-what...?”
The officer toppled backward in shock.
He couldn’t help it.
The ground had suddenly thundered and a person had disappeared. How could he not be startled?
Leaving the officer behind, Jae continued walking once more.
He walked on without a destination, wary of this new world.
Everything he could see was new.
But beyond that, he felt nothing.
His emotions had already worn down to the point of exhaustion, no longer functioning as they should. With both hope and despair gone, there was nothing left to feel.
He only sought a place where he could rest.
He had endured everything in order to return home, even enduring death until he finally brought one world’s journey to an end.
But what awaited him was another world, so even for Jae, cursed with immortality and the inability to die, rest was necessary.
Dropping the longsword in front of the officer had also been an act to avoid having his rest disturbed.
As long as he carried a weapon, it was obvious that others like that officer would interfere with his rest, so he had thrown it away.
Jae walked on endlessly, searching for a place where he could rest for a while.
Unaware that someone was observing him, he simply kept walking.
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