I harvested results that exceeded expectations, but questions still lingered. There was a necessity to find out the purpose of Saint Nephthys’s activities, separate from resolving the situation.
After finishing my business at the Student Council building, I stepped outside and took as many pictures of the obelisk’s patterns as I could. It was something that had caught my attention.
Linking wolves with Egyptian mythology and tying them to women and Abydos… doesn’t that outright signify Shiroko?
In a world where prophecies truly exist, it was essential to document this. Especially since Shiroko becomes a key figure in the narrative I’m unaware of, it demanded more attention.
In that sense, I made full use of the 400 million pixel camera attached to my Hyudaepon. I typically utilized it well anyway.
So… hmm, should I consult Himari for an interpretation? Or maybe Rion would be fine too. At this point, she’s probably building a city with the embezzled money she has, anyway.
After leaving the photos behind, I got back into the car to move to the second excavation site. I hadn’t noticed it when I entered, but coming out, I saw a series of container-like structures lined up outside the tent.
“Hey, what are those containers?”
“…They’re temporary shelters to protect the tanks from the sandstorm.”
Heueng?
Wondering what protecting from a sandstorm meant, it turned out they were just there for the convenient management of the tanks. In any case, that cleared up my curiosity.
“So, the reason tanks are stationed here is because of the desert monsters?”
“Correct. There has only been one skirmish at this excavation site so far, but since it’s not unusual for them to show up, we’ve recently expanded and dispersed the forces of the Great Decagramaton Battalion.”
“…Great Decagramaton Battalion?”
“I don’t have clearance to access detailed information on that matter. I only know that the entity referred to as Vina is the monster we organized our forces against, known colloquially as the Great Decagramaton Battalion.”
…This is a bit interesting. I can’t quite remember whether there was originally a Great Decagramaton Battalion on the Kaiser PMC side, but nonetheless, the upper echelons of Kaiser are aware of Decagramaton.
Did Gematria deliberately pass on such information, or did Kaiser discover it on their own…?
If it’s the latter, Kaiser might be far more formidable than I anticipated.
Unfortunately, thanks to me exploiting their weaknesses, their scale has shrunk significantly, and they are now in a position where they must focus all their resources on Abydos.
“…Mika.”
“Hmm?”
Hina, who had poked me, pointed to my phone screen. Seeing that it was showing Momotalk, I realized she wanted to communicate something, preferably without being overheard by the automaton affiliated with Kaiser.
[It seems like the Kaiser side has a lot of battle records against that monster… If we can obtain them, it might be helpful?]
[That’s reasonable, but Kaiser Corporation is not the type to freely share things with us.]
[If you can’t get the information you wanted, it might not hurt to leverage that as a way to extract information.]
[Oh, I found that earlier.]
Hina looked a bit startled at my casual reply and quickly composed her expression.
[You hid it on purpose, didn’t you?]
[Not on purpose, more like I intended to look around first and discuss afterward. I was planning to let you know that the deal was over once I discussed that area.]
[In that case, using the logic that you didn’t obtain anything at all to extract information is…]
[Hmm, well…maybe.]
If that Black Suit wasn’t watching me, it would be worth attempting. However, I hesitated considering the partnership between the Black Suit and Kaiser.
Those in power exploit those without. Those with knowledge exploit those without.
It’s not impossible to brazenly utilize such logic from the Black Suit or even to implement the understanding that the strong exploit the weak. In fact, after tearing apart the Kaiser using the adult-like method employed by the Kaiser President, I had even managed to extract information using threats grounded in power dynamics.
But, could it be that the President, whom the Student Council President was wary of, wouldn’t anticipate me discovering information on my end and keeping quiet? There were indeed concerns about employing such coercive tactics to acquire information.
[Now that I think about it, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be straightforward. We found out that the Kaiser side has some significant business regarding Abydos during the Kaiser Gate, which means resolving this situation would benefit them as well.]
[It indeed depends on how we initiate the conversation, but it seems they genuinely want to hunt Vina, so your point may hold true. Given that the entire autonomous district, except for Abydos High School’s site, is owned by Kaiser, they might be quite desperate.]
[Yes. With Kaiser effectively losing all their bases outside Abydos, their only place left to stand is here. In fact, in the worst-case scenario, they might be even more desperate than the students of Abydos, who could opt to transfer to other academies.]
It seemed typing back and forth was tiring for Hina, as she lowered her phone and stretched her fingers. I subtly reached out and took her tiny hand, giving her fingers a gentle massage.
“…Thank you.”
“Ahaha, it’s no big deal.”
So, what was it Kaiser was searching for… Was it an ultra-ancient weapon?
Anyway, as long as that exists, Kaiser would want someone to deal with that annoying Vina. It’s evident they’ve fought in many battles without ever managing to subdue it, which indicates Kaiser wouldn’t be able to do it alone now or in the future.
Even if, due to our involvement, Kaiser does manage to find it, I wouldn’t mind at all.
Because of me, Kaiser’s strength has been shredded to pieces, and on top of that, there’s the RABBIT Squad backing Shalle, along with our reliable defense office manned by Kaya. If Kaiser can’t seize Sanctum Tower, that weapon would be nothing more than a useless burden.
…By the way, could that ultra-ancient weapon belong to the Nameless Priests? Since their oupach was the one causing phenomenons in this desert, if it turned out Kaiser were excavating items from the Nameless Priests… just the existence of it becoming known could trigger conflicts.
Or it might just go out of control. That possibility seems quite high.
“Hey, Mika… you can let go now.”
“Hmm?”
Oh, I got so lost in thought that I forgot to release Hina’s hand. But then again, I didn’t necessarily need to let go. We’ve almost shared everything we needed to.
Noticing I was still fiddling with her hand after hearing all her words, Hina, looking resigned, leaned into me without saying anything.
Honestly, for someone who seemed resigned, she looked too happy. It seemed Hina was enjoying the situation herself, so she didn’t let go of my hand until we arrived at our destination.
Once we reached our destination, we were greeted by a familiar yet unfamiliar face… the director of Kaiser PMC, commonly known as Park Min-cheol, a stately-looking gent.
“I’ve been waiting, T-party Host. I will ensure you have no discomfort from now on.”
…But this person. No, this robot.
Surprisingly adept at social pleasantries, the level of subservience was remarkable. I honestly hadn’t thought of it like that…
*
As expected, there was nothing to gain from the second excavation site. In fact, the very fact that we found something on the other side was strange, and it would be reasonable to consider this normal.
Past 11 PM, I emerged from the Kaiser vehicle in front of Abydos High School’s site.
After the vehicle dropped us off, as I approached the school gate wearing a gas mask, a sudden clunk sound rang out.
“Um… halt. Identify yourselves.”
Siroko aimed at me with a gun, sending a bold look my way. I had really wanted to see this face at least once, but Hoshino had advised against visiting, and now I finally see her.
“Hello, so you’re Sunaokami Shiroko!”
“You know me?”
Siroko tilted her head, her wolf ears perking up. The difference in eye colors, her heterochromia, shone vividly even in the dark.
“Ahaha, I heard a bit about you from Hoshino. Oh, we’re not your enemy, so no need to be too cautious☆”
“…Oh. Hoshino-senpai mentioned you would be coming today. I get it.”
“Yep, I’m Misono Mika. By the way, could I borrow a spare dorm room? I feel a bit uncomfortable with all this sand and would like to clean up… Oh, sharing a room with one other person would be fine too.”
As I stepped closer to Siroko after removing my gas mask, she twitched her ears and lowered her gun. She seemed a bit warily suspicious of me, which made me feel unexpectedly sad.
“Um… just follow me this way. We have plenty of spare rooms, but this one is—”
“No, Siroko-chan. We’re fine with just one. Yep, really.”
“…? I don’t fully understand, but okay.”
Since the current time was a little past 11, Hina’s birthday hadn’t passed yet. That meant I still had the responsibility to satisfy our little demanding president.
And above all, I wanted to avoid starting meetings right after arriving and dragging them late into the night…
