Some time passed after Jae’s other ability was revealed, causing a bit of a stir, and it was now April 10.
“Is the commander not coming?”
“...She’s a student, after all.”
No matter how much she was the captain and commander of Fraxinus, Itsuka Kotori was still a middle school student, so she could not avoid the start of the school term.
“She really is a child.”
Jae nodded, thinking that if Kotori had heard him, she would have gone into a fit.
“...You’re thinking something strange again, aren’t you?”
Reine, who had been teaching Jae and had roughly figured out his behavior and thought patterns, was only uneasy about his conduct.
In fact, that unease was justified.
“It wasn’t particularly strange.”
But Jae was forthright.
Thinking a child-like person looked like a child was not strange at all.
Reine vaguely grasped what Jae was thinking and slowly shook her head. He was still a being broken in many ways.
“...Anyway, unless something happens, Kotori won’t be coming.”
For example, if a [Spacequake] were to occur.
For that reason, the only people left aboard Fraxinus were the crew, excluding Itsuka Kotori, and Jae.
Jae had no assigned duties yet, so with nothing else to do, he was about to turn back toward the lounge.
Then Jae suddenly turned to Reine and asked, “...Hmm. Interpreter. Do you not feel something odd?”
Something felt off all of a sudden.
Jae’s intuition, sharpened beyond compare by the fire he carried within him and unmatched in sensing abnormalities, was exactly right.
“...It’s the advance of a [Spacequake]. Your ability is amazing, Hyun.”
To sense the advance of a [Spacequake] by intuition alone. He was practically a living [Spacequake] radar.
Whenever Jae had lived aboard Fraxinus so far and said, “I feel something odd,” it was usually the advance of a [Spacequake]. No one knew what mechanism allowed him to sense it.
Even when Reine, the interpreter, asked him, he only said that he had a strange feeling.
Still, since it was not a bad ability for dealing with [Spirit]s, no one said much about it.
“Another [Spacequake].”
By the time Kotori arrived at Fraxinus, she sat down in her seat as if she were used to it.
Jae also stopped heading for the lounge and looked back at the central monitor in the command room.
After a little time passed,
KRRRRAAASH!
With a deafening roar, part of the city was carved away. Unlike the sound of an explosion, not a speck of dust or debris scattered; before that overwhelming disaster, the space itself simply vanished cleanly.
At a sight that sent chills and fear through anyone who saw it, Kotori turned her head and looked at Jae.
“...”
As expected, Jae showed no reaction.
He had been wearing armor ever since he first appeared, so his face could not be seen in detail, but the fact that he made no sound made it clear enough that he was unmoved.
In the first place, it could not be helped.
Even such a disaster could not kill Jae. He was an undead, one who would rise again before a bonfire even if not a single fragment of his body remained, a being denied death.
His emotions were broken now, but even if they had not been, there was no reason for him to fear a [Spacequake].
So Jae calmly focused on the screen.
On the enormous display, the figure of a girl appeared.
“[Princess]...”
Identification name—[Princess].
Since there would surely be conflict with the [Spirit] while escorting Shido, the most important person in the upcoming operation, Reine had also told Jae about the existence of the [Spirit]s and their identification names.
And so, among all the [Spirit]s Jae had seen since falling into Tengu City, the one he had seen most often was [Princess].
The girl with the sword-shaped angel had manifested once again.
The manifested girl looked around her.
All that could be seen was a city destroyed by the [Spacequake], and a boy sitting down, staring blankly at her.
Itsuka Shido, the protagonist of this world and the person Jae was to escort.
He faced the manifested [Princess].
KRAK!
[Princess] launched a slash the moment she saw Shido.
Fortunately, the slash that barely skimmed past Shido’s side cut the streetlamp behind him clean in half.
“...Are you here to kill me too?”
The words were spoken softly.
For Shido, who had lived an ordinary daily life, what was happening now was utterly bewildering.
“Commander. That boy is definitely the one I’m supposed to escort, isn’t he?”
Watching the screen, Jae asked about the situation at hand.
He had joined Ratatoskr on the condition that he would escort Shido in exchange for being taught the language and culture of this world.
So why was he not being given an order to deploy, let alone an order to stand by?
The answer to that question was simple.
“It’s not time yet.”
Not yet. It was not yet time for Jae to move. This was not the time for him to step in.
Jae silently nodded at Kotori’s answer.
No further questions were necessary. In any case, when the time came, Kotori would clearly give the order. Then he would simply follow it.
Jae focused on the screen again.
By then, an anti-[Spirit] unit had appeared and surrounded [Princess] and the boy. The unit commonly called AST raised their weapons to subjugate the girl [Spirit].
“We’ve confirmed the manifestation of [Princess]! Begin subjugation!”
At the woman who seemed to be the captain’s command, various firearms spat flame.
And then a girl charged at [Princess] with a sword made of magical power in hand.
The white-haired girl protected Shido while matching [Princess] blow for blow.
“They’re holding back.”
The reason a human girl could match a living disaster like a [Spirit] was simply because the [Spirit] was showing mercy to her.
Jae’s view, formed from watching battles between [Spirit]s and AST so far, was that it was nearly impossible for humans in this world to defeat a [Spirit].
And that was an undeniable fact, except for a few exceptional cases.
As Jae watched the screen impassively, the swords of the white-haired girl and [Princess] clashed.
Then came a violent burst of light. At the same time, Itsuka Shido was recovered back to Fraxinus.
“Just in case, Reine, take Shido to the infirmary. And Hyun, wait in the lounge.”
“...Understood.”
“Very well.”
As if this situation had been within expectations, Kotori quickly gave her orders, and Jae and Reine nodded before heading to their respective places.
Reine to the transfer device. Jae to the lounge.
“Ah, and Hyun.”
“What is it?”
Kotori called out to stop Jae, who was about to leave for the lounge.
“Please stop installing whatever bonfire thing it is in the lounge! I’ll make you a separate room, so cut it out already!”
Up to this point, the number of times Hyun had secretly installed a bonfire in the lounge and been caught: 102. Kotori exploded just before Shido arrived.
“I will consider it.”
“Aaaagh...!!”
Of course, for Jae, that was not something worth worrying about.
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