The Hope They Left Behind (Premium)

by Sakon Kaidou

  But he also knew that, were he to activate it right away, the incarnations would surely discover it and destroy it. That was why he made it go into sleep mode and set the plant to produce Prism Soldiers slowly and in secrecy. Then, when certain conditions were met, it’d send its soldiers out to capture more sources and fight the incarnations.

  Thus, just like the other ruins, the Prism Soldier plant was left behind to become the hope of future mankind.

  Now, the reason why this plant eventually became an error was a major flaw in Flagman’s genius design.

  Specifically, it was all in the machines’ targeting setting.

  The ruins had been left behind two millennia ago, and the list of humanoid races was as old as they were.

  Naturally, that was more than enough time for tians to start to differ from the list, especially with how heavily the incarnations had altered the environment. For one thing, the amount of atmospheric magic had never been the same since.

  Just as people in colder climates gradually evolved to have more body hair, so did tians slightly change to better fit their environment. There was nothing strange about this.

  Alas, it just so happened that the primitive program of the Prism Soldiers couldn’t understand those minute changes — if a species was even slightly off the humanoid list they were provided with, it was not human.

  A true Prism Person would’ve had the intelligence to see the nature of these changes, but the mass-produced Prism Soldiers were too lacking in intelligence.

  And so, though built to protect humanity, they now saw them as nothing but hostiles or energy sources.

  ◇◇◇

  Prism Rider, Ray Starling

  The moment I told Azurite that the machines saw people as nothing but fuel, she turned pale and eyed the metallic remains.

  She had come to these ruins hoping to find something that could save the kingdom from its dire state, only to find a factory of murder machines that used people as sources of energy. She had every reason to be shocked.

  “If that is true, then this place and the Gouz-Maise Gang are much alike,” commented Nemesis, and I could see exactly what she meant.

  To these things, all lifeforms — monster and tian alike — were just a source of energy. That was why they wandered about, gathering creatures they could use as fuel for their brethren.

  If I hadn’t come on time yesterday, Shirley might’ve suffered the same fate.

  Just imagining that made a cold chill go down my spine.

  Then again... for all I knew, some people might’ve already been turned into fuel.

  “I’m gonna be sick,” I muttered.

  To these machines, people were but tools, and their lives were nothing but fuel. Nemesis was right — they were like Maise, the Lich from the Gouz-Maise Gang.

  He, too, had only seen children as materials or money. That was the main reason why this realization disgusted me so much. It was all a bit too reminiscent of those memories I loathed so much.

  I sighed and unconsciously looked down at my feet.

  “Ah!” I gasped as I saw something with a close link to what I had just been thinking of: the Grudge-Soaked Greaves, Gouz-Maise.

  The Gouz-Maise Gang had once been an existence that all of Gideon feared, and even after dying, it had continued to be a major threat as the Revenant Ox-Horse.

  These things on my feet were what it had become, and, according to Gardranda — a fellow special reward — they had no will of their own now. They, too, reminded me of that awful time back in the basement.

  “But...”

  But without these Grudge-Soaked Greaves, I couldn’t have won Franklin’s Game.

  As bad as Gouz-Maise originally had been, it had gone on to become an item that, combined with the pre-ancient civilization’s Silver, could defeat the RSK. Its existence had once been nothing but vile, but there had been a future that it alone could open up.

  “Just like the Gouz-Maise Gang, huh...?” I murmured.

  The power on these greaves was the same as that Revenant Ox-Horse’s, but what it did was the complete opposite.

  Perhaps the same could eventually be said about these ruins?

  “Azurite,” I spoke up.

  “Ray.” She turned to me, looking somewhat meek.

  “Can I give an opinion about this place?”

  “...Please do.”

  “I think we should stop the factory and break all the machines that are still moving.”

  “That... seems to be the only thing we can do here...”

  These ruins were far too dangerous. As long as the factory here was active, it would only become more of a threat the more time went by. And that, of course, meant that more and more people would be captured to be used as fuel.

  Not to mention that this place worked fast, too. The fact that the monsters inside were alive meant that the machines had started going outside only recently — most likely after the landscape change leading to the discovery of these ruins.

  The machines were using some paths to the surface to go outside and start collecting more sources. And the factory had produced this many machines in such a short time. If we left it active, their numbers would grow even larger, perhaps resulting in an all-out invasion of the surface.

  We had to stop the production as soon as possible. And then...

  “And then you can try to find out how you can put the technology here to good use,” I said.

  “...Eh?” Azurite voiced her surprise. “We’ll use this technology here?”

  “Well, yeah. I mean, you’re investigating this place from that angle, right?”

  “Yes... But the power in these ruins is dangerous and fearsome, no?”

  “I know that much. That’s why I’m saying that we’ll destroy all the active machines and stop the factory, even if we have to break it.”

  That much was set in stone. I couldn’t ignore the man-eating machines here. The aftertaste in my mouth would be way too bad.

  “But there’s nothing stopping you from searching for ways to use this tech for the kingdom... for the good of the people... right?” I asked.

  It was doubtful that the whole “monsters wearing them” thing was an option, and getting tians to use them was just plain wrong, so this would definitely call for some rethinking.

  Nevertheless, this place was a treasure trove of pre-ancient civilization tech — a thing that the ancestors of the current tians had left as a hope for the people of the future. There was no way that this place didn’t have anything that could be used for good.

  Or perhaps that’s just what I want to believe, I thought.

  “But that is far too dangerous,” said Azurite. “We don’t know if we can use the technology properly.”

  I knew full well what she was trying to say.

  In fact, a large part of me agreed with her.

  This place was seriously dangerous, and perhaps it was best to just blow it all up until there was nothing left.

  However...

  “Yeah, you can never be sure if you can use any power correctly... but no matter what the power is, trying to use it correctly is never a mistake.”

  “...!” Azurite gasped.

  The machines these ruins were making were just sickening, but that didn’t mean that this sickening technology couldn’t become a key to a better future. We had Gouz-Maise as a great example of that.

  “By itself, power isn’t good or evil,” I said. “I’ve come to realize that those things only apply to the will of those who wield it. That’s why we’ll destroy the system — the will — that’s running this operation fueled by life, and then the kingdom’s will can take the power and decide how to use it.”

  “Power... and will...” She repeated the keywords.

  “Basically, it’s all about whether those who use the power are wrong... no, wait... it’s all about what they want to do.”

  She silently looked at me and Nemesis. Then she looked at her own sword, just as she had last night. “Th
e same goes for you, I assume?”

  I felt like that “you” included more than just me and Nemesis.

  She was probably talking about all Masters and their powers, their Embryos. Masters with wills belonging to Dryfe had used these powers to ravage the kingdom, but there were also Masters who’d used powers of a similar nature to stop them.

  Yeah, I guess we’re the same in that regard.

  “I understand,” Azurite said at last as she turned around and walked towards the hallway. “Let us return to the surface. I must talk to the countess... while considering your opinion, of course.”

  “Yeah!”

  We left the room, got on Silver the same way we had to come here, and headed back to the surface.

  “Ray,” Azurite muttered from behind me. “Thank you for giving me hope. Both this time... and back then.”

  I didn’t really know what she meant by “back then,” but her tone was definitely lighter than before.

  ◇

  Once outside, we went straight to the adventurers’ guild.

  We did that so that we could tell them about those constructs, and create two quests — one for the destruction of the machines wandering the surrounding area, and one to get someone to keep watch over those ruins.

  Apparently, Azurite held the right to start quests in the name of the kingdom, and because of that, those quests could be put up as “urgent.”

  She had a private talk with the top of the Quartierlatin guild, and before long, the quests were available to be picked up.

  The wandering machine destruction quest was aimed at Masters. It had no people limit and the reward was great, so the Masters in the guild quickly jumped on it.

  The guild’s own, experienced tians were tasked with keeping watch over the ruins.

  “One by one, those machines aren’t much for a battle-focused Master with a high-rank job,” I muttered. “And when the machines that gather the fuel are gone, the production of new ones should stop, too. This buys us some time.”

  Looks like I won’t have to worry about the machines kidnapping people for the time being, I thought.

  Azurite also set up a quest to search the ruins for a path leading to the factory.

  The room we’d arrived at was a dead-end, and we hadn’t run into any more machines on the way back. Therefore, the factory was probably on a route other than the one we’d taken, or it could only be accessed from another entrance.

  To stop the factory, we first had to know where it was.

  “I guess all we can do is wait for someone to find it, huh?” I said.

  “Indeed,” nodded Azurite. “If someone finds the factory tonight, we can send people there to stop it tomorrow morning. We must talk with the countess about this, so let us head there after that happens.”

  “All right.”

  Azurite looked far better than she had back in the ruins, which was probably thanks to the fact that she’d created a countermeasure to all that was happening in the ruins, and now felt hopeful about the technology there.

  After leaving the adventurers’ guild, we went back to the countess’s mansion.

  This time, I could join the conversation right from the start, and we started out by telling her about the machines in the ruins and how dangerous they were.

  “I see,” the countess said in response. “What a coincidence. Just today, I was told of odd mechanical constructs wandering the surrounding area. I believe they were the same as the ones you saw in the ruins.”

  “That means that the unit you said you destroyed yesterday was not the only one to leave the ruins,” said Azurite as she faced me.

  “Or maybe the few units that were already functional secured enough creatures to activate more units,” I said. “If that’s true, their numbers will just keep increasing until... hold on.”

  “Ray?”

  As I spoke, I was hit with a realization.

  Their numbers were growing because they were securing more fuel.

  Their fuel was living creatures. They couldn’t move unless they got MP from a life form.

  Which meant that...

  “Hey,” I spoke up. “At first, they didn’t have a single creature they could use as fuel, right? So... how was the first unit able to function?”

  “Wh—!” Azurite gasped.

  It shouldn’t have been able to. However, the reality was that it had. The first unit had been functional, their numbers had increased, and their numbers were still growing.

  Did they happen to capture some animal that accidentally wandered into the ruins? Or...

  “Maybe there’s a unit that can move on its own?” I pondered.

  Like... a unit with a reactor, just like Silver.

  “A commander unit, of sorts?” asked Azurite. “Would you assume it exists?”

  I was silent, thinking about it. I would.

  It wouldn’t be surprising if that horde of machines was led by a non-mass-produced leader unit. Which would make stopping the factory far more difficult.

  That idea made the mood turn sour.

  Munch munch! Crunch crunch!

  But Nemesis was just chomping on cookies as if it were none of her business.

  “Nemesis...” I muttered disapprovingly.

  “H-Hey! We were in the ruins for most of the day, so we didn’t have any lunch!” she argued.

  Well, that’s true.

  “But wait, we had a light meal at the tea party before we went in, right?”

  “Exactly! A light meal! That’s not enough for me!”

  Man, she always found the strangest times to become the embodiment of appetite.

  Also, I couldn’t help but feel that it was starting to happen more often.

  “Hee hee,” the countess giggled, clearly amused by our exchange.

  Azurite was smiling wryly, too.

  “Sorry about my glutton,” I said.

  “‘Glutton’ sounds rude! I am a lady! Call me a ‘gourmand’!”

  Ladies. Never. Eat. That much. Ever.

  “Oh, no need to apologize,” said the countess. “Surely she only wanted to lighten the mood.”

  I sincerely doubt that.

  “Y-Yes! That’s exactly it!”

  Come on, now.

  “I baked those myself,” the countess told her. “How did you like them?”

  “They were delicious!” Nemesis smiled wide.

  The countess’s own cookies, eh? Had she perhaps baked them for the orphans she’d invited today?

  “I’ll try one, then... wait, there are none left.”

  The plate that had been full of cookies at the start of our conversation was completely empty now. There weren’t any crumbs, either. It was as if the cookies had never been there to begin with.

  Nemesis...

  She looked away and whistled like she had nothing to do with this.

  You’re the only suspect, you know?

  “We still have some left,” said the countess. “Would you like to take them with you?”

  “Certainly!” Nemesis instantly replied.

  ...Leave some for me this time.

  ◇

  The visit had come with an unexpected comedy skit, but we’d told the countess all we needed to. Thus, I was told to go rest at the inn, while the countess and Azurite thought about countermeasures in more detail.

  Just like Azurite’s private talk with the head of the guild, it was probably something that an outsider like me couldn’t hear.

  Anyway, Nemesis and I went back to the inn. The place was significantly more empty than yesterday, most likely because a lot of people had gone outside to do the urgent quest. Even the dinnertime cafeteria was relatively free of people.

  However, in the lobby next to the cafeteria, there were two notable people who hadn’t left to do the quest.

  One of them was Tom.

  From what I could tell, after leaving the ruins, he and Grimalkin had gone to wash away their fatigue in the hot springs before going to eat dinner.

&
nbsp; Now, he was relaxing in the massage chair, saying, “Ahhh, this massage chair is basic, but it takes away some of the tiredness from all the hard work I dooo...”

  The other person was Veldorbell, the musician I’d met at the countess’s mansion. He, too, was relaxing in the lobby alongside his Embryos.

  I asked why he was here, to which he replied that the countess had recommended this place to him.

  Incidentally, Tom’s Grimalkin and Veldorbell’s Wind were glaring at each other, completely still, which probably had something to do with the fact that they were both cats.

  “Hm?” Shirley made a confused sound. She came to the lobby alongside Lefty and the hostess, bringing tea and snacks. “So many guests are refusing dinner. Did something happen?”

  “Dangerous monsters are leaking out of the ruins,” I answered. “There’s an urgent quest to destroy them, so many are too busy with that.”

  “You mean... monsters like the one that attacked me?”

  “Yeah, the same kind.”

  “That’s kinda scary,” she said, no doubt remembering the events of yesterday.

  “No need to worry, young lady,” Lefty said calmingly. “The Masters are sure to make short work of them.”

  “I’ve gotta say, it’s good that there’s a quest for them nooow,” Tom said, still enjoying the massage chair. “I mean, there are so many of theeem.”

  I had no idea how to feel about hearing that from the one who’d taken care of all those machines and traps in that room and the path leading to it all by himself. He was the reason why we’d been able to reach that place and figure out the true nature of the ruins, so, in a way, Tom was today’s MVP.

  “So, lots of people took that quest, huh?” said Shirley as she looked around, noting how empty the inn was.

  “Yes,” I nodded. “The reward is good, and since the machines don’t disappear when they die, many Masters think they can make some serious money selling them. The kingdom’s started buying them, too, so... Hm?”

  My words reminded me of a question I’d considered back at the ruins.

  Nemesis and I had wondered about Tom’s reason for going to the ruins. After all, he hadn’t even collected the machines he’d destroyed.