434 430. Sea of ??blood.txt (2/2)

Sith, who was lying face down with a plastic bag, was hugged by Kounel for help.

Behind her, Serdra reports with a bit of pride.

'Kounel, I'm beginning to understand the regularity of the cleaner's language. Maybe that 'blood gnawing and counting place--' just now was talking about Fania's research institute, right?　There seems to be some special logic around the cleaning tools. The 'mop' has come up a lot.

Why is Seldora-sama trying to match the frequency with the bare minimum? It's a real pain in the ass.

Seeing Seldra trying to understand my language, Kounel looked uncomfortable and distanced himself from me. Kanami follows up with a follow-up, as if to make up for the breach.

'Seldra, you're pretty close to being right. I wish Kounel the best of luck, too, if possible. The words of the 'blood puppets' here may indeed sound esoteric and incoherent...' -- but there are certain laws (rules). The laws (rules) made by that person, within his or her realm, are working properly within him or her. There is no such thing as a meaningless word in the world. It's just that it's a bit of a challenge to adapt to them.

It's a bit of a stretch. ...... No, well, I'll do my best, but I'll do my best, since the chairman asked me to.

My cheeks loosen up.

It's like a close party, for what it's worth.

Even in this 'blood land', I can tell that they are having a fun 'adventure' like a family.

That's why I felt a little sad that only this one can understand the language.

Even if I wanted to join everyone's conversation, I could only communicate with one person.

''I think I can kind of understand why Fafner has gotten into the God of Light. 'Oyasama is a true believer because she can say these things with an honest face without shame. I was very moved by what you just said.

............. You're not being sarcastic, you mean it. That's not what I just said, I didn't mean to say that ....... But that's how it sounds. I have to be careful when I talk to Fafner.

”Preachy guy, he likes it, doesn't he?

He doesn't like me.

He chats with Kanami.

But the rest of the group cannot join them.

Kounel is frightened again, Sith's nausea increases, and Serdra continues to twist her neck.

Kanami realizes that it's not a good idea to talk to me all the time, so she regains her composure and claps her hands.

'Yo, alright. Now that we have one new companion, let's resume our quest!　Heading northwest!　We'll go straight to the area where Mr. Glenn lives!　As usual, Kounel continues to push the blood away. Serdra deployed sonic detection (sonar). My Dimension is thoroughly countered, so I'll walk on Sith's shoulders again.

Kanami turns her gaze to me while approaching the out-of-form Sith.

Thanks to our 'past vision' together, we had a 'connection' that we could communicate with each other eye to eye.

I received a message from the gaze to 'follow me' and nodded back.

Thus, with the leader's instructions, the party begins to act quickly.

Kounel stands at the front of the group, ”Mmmm,” he wrinkles his brow, and uses some special ability.

Instantly, the water level of blood around us dropped.

A five-meter radius of blood seemed to dry up and disappear, exposing the cobblestone streets.

It was like a round hole in a gaping red sea.

It was a 'safe zone' that always moved around Kounel.

He began to walk down the path, and right behind him, Serdra would escort Kounell to protect him at all times. In the back of his throat, the monstrous sound of performing sonar or something like that is constantly ringing.

I remember this. It's the same as the 'echolocation' that blind 'witches' used a thousand years ago.

I'm sure there's no one better suited to explore this ”Blood Land” than the duo.

It's a good thing that both of these scouting techniques are not magic-centered but make use of the characteristics of a 'magician'.

In a long term search, conserving magic power is the biggest challenge.

That's what the two of them are clearing.

And further behind them are Kanami, who is versatile and strongest in battle, and Sith, who specializes in recovery magic.

I nodded repeatedly in the rear to convince myself that this 'Primary Attack Team' member is truly the ideal.

I was going to teach them tips and tricks for walking through the blood pools, but there doesn't seem to be any need for that - and when I turned my gaze to the 'Blood Land' senior citizens' gaze, Kounel, who was walking at the front, seemed to sense that.

He really is a sensitive person.

Kounel consults the leader in a small voice.

''Oh no, that cleaner and that other guy, he's really following you ....... Chairman, are you going to keep bringing him along for the ride?　Oh, that's an unscheduled irregularity, isn't it?

''That cleaner is an employee of the Seventh Magical Research Institute and is acquainted with Fafner. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about it. Her 'homecoming' will be good for us.

What, you want to 'go home'?　I see. Then you might be able to use it in many ways to guide your way from here on out. To be honest, the geography in my head is not nearly as useful as it should be.

'Oh, no, I can't show her the way. It's not that she wants to go 'home'. The cleaner was happy with her life, and she was very 'happy' -

What?　Then why--

The differences in information about me make the conversation a little less engaging.

However, before that problem is exposed, another problem arises.

''--Oh. It's approaching from ahead. Those 'blood dolls', the three of them.

As soon as Seldra, the man in charge of the search, reports, Kounel cuts off his chatter and quickly leaves the lead.

He retreats to stand next to the Sith and bows his head vigorously.

''Teachers!　Please!

It's a move I've sworn never to engage in combat.

I smiled bitterly at that too swift move.

In contrast, the two people in charge of the battle, who were called teachers, seem to be used to it and start planning before the close encounter.

Serdra points a few hundred meters ahead and asks Kanami.

'There are three of them over there. ...... Kanami, I can fight them no problem. Still, would you do it again?

'There's still plenty of room to spare. To be honest, the amount of natural recovery is more than the amount of MP consumed. Since we can't use it because of the countermeasure against Dimension, we have to work hard here--

Before he could finish, Kanami started to move.

In one breath, she kicked the ground - and disappeared.

Not metaphorically, but truly gone.

It was too fast for my eyes to follow it.

I couldn't feel the magic kick in.

But it disappeared like magic, and when I noticed it, the figures ahead of me had increased to four.

I stared at them.

Kanami had finished thrusting its arms into the body of the 'Blood Doll'.

The same as I did.

By creating a magical 'connection' and reading its life, I know its 'unconsciousness', and by making it come true, I'm trying to make the 'blood puppet' lose its drive.

Soon, one of the ”blood puppets” returned to the sea of blood, like a water balloon bursting.

Following that, Kanami stabbed the second one. In just a second or so, it read through its compressed life and made it pop again. Then, to the third body--.

It's a simple thing.

It seems that they were preparing for the Winter's Other World (Wintry Dimension) for those who have a strong sense of 'unconsciousness', but there doesn't even seem to be a need for that.

Perhaps the 'blood puppets' whose souls are trapped in this 'blood land' and live freely are just dead people who are raising resentment towards this world.

Just by really listening to those dead people's resentment (・・・・・・・・・) and sharing their pain and sorrow, that 'unfinished business' disappears and the drive is lost.

By the time Kounell's expanding safe zone reaches the battlefield, it's all over.

The only one standing is Kanami, and the 'blood puppets' have not retained their form.

Kanami turned around to face us, breathing heavily.

While wiping her face, which was bathed in returning blood and dyed a bright red--

'Ha, ha, ha ....... If I don't work hard here, there's no place for me to be active, so let me do it .......

After everything was over, Kanami finished saying the rest of the story.

Seldora, who had no time to stop her, smiled bitterly at the leader who had gone off on his own, dumbfounded.

''I'm not worried about your magic, though, I'm worried about the state of your mind. ...... easily, but it's insane to look at decades worth of life every time.

'Sure, it's a bit tiring, but ....... I like to send them as generously as possible (・・・・・) this way while I can afford it. And the way you beat Seldora is wildly uneven.

Huh. ....... As much as possible. I'm not going to be the only one who can do that. It's the hardest thing for us 'logic thieves' to do when we don't complete what we can, and that's what we're 'not ready' to do.

'Yes. I don't want to leave any more 'unfinished business'.

Kanami responded to that with a wry smile.

I could feel the bond between the two warriors.

I realized that Serdra, like me, had finished sharing her life with Kanami.

Their hearts are connected, even if their words are few.

Behind the two of them, Quuner raises his hand timidly.

''Um, isn't it time for us to really take a break?　I'm getting tired, not only of the Chairman, but also of Atei. We've already walked quite a bit, right?　Because of the red fog, the time is not clear: ......

Seeing an opportunity for Seldra to talk to Kanami about her ”mental fatigue”, Kounel suggests a rest.

The leader puts his hand to his chin and examines the request from its members.

'Hmm ....... It's been twenty-three hours and seventeen minutes and a little over thirty seconds since you jumped off the battlements, to be exact. It's almost the second day. As reported beforehand, your sense of time is going to get crazy here.

'What?　You've already walked that much?　Mr. Chairman, please tell me quickly!

'I decided not to tell you until someone else gave up. ...... Surprisingly, quunelles can walk.

'I can't walk anymore!　We need to rest now!　We need to rest now!　Master Sith is like this too!

Kounel insists, pointing at the Sith who were lending him a shoulder.

However, the person in question holds up one arm and says, ”Wow, I can still go!”.

In front of the two of them, Kanami continues to pretend to be troubled, but halfway through, Serdra interrupts the conversation.

'Kanami, there's a house over there where we can rest. It's just about the right place to end our first day of exploration.

He turned his attention to a single house in the bright red city.

Hearing this, Kanami agreed to Kounel's request.

''That's right. The search for 'blood land' has just begun. Let's take a break.''

The moment he said that, Kounel said, ”Yay, we're camping!” with a delighted ”Yay, we're camping!” as he and Sith headed for the empty house. Behind them, Serdra hurriedly said, ”Wait, Sonar doesn't know exactly what's inside, unlike [Dimension]!　I'll lead the way! And while stopping, I followed.

Kanami, who was also at the back of the line, followed - and turned his face to the side.

She looks at me with only one eye and mutters.

'...... And I've already guessed the best 'future' today.'

I know what that word means, albeit in a dim way.

It wasn't an unscheduled irregularity that woke me, the perpetrator (...).

Now, I'm walking behind this party as a bystander.

I'm just following along - but I felt like I was standing on a stage.

There was a definite feeling of being held back and made to walk.