Sentimental Voice

by Shūsuke Amagi

  (Oh no, I asked something unnecessary again.)

  Having picked up Layfon's letter and read it, although she pretended not to have done so, Nina felt tired about it. She still wasn't sure what she was feeling now. Irritation and a bit of disappointment. She was angry with him but at the same time, she couldn't really get angry. She wanted to bellow, but somehow just couldn't.

  For reasons unknown, she wanted to understand Leerin......the sender of the letter.

  (Even if I ask, I wouldn't have known anything. Let's just leave it.)

  It was time to finish up. Layfon and Nina packed up their cleaning tools.

  "Speaking of which, Zuellni is behaving well recently," Nina said as she opened the door for the cleaning equipment. She didn't mean the city itself, but the city's consciousness – the Electronic Fairy.

  "Yes."

  The Electronic Fairy who used to escape from the center of the Mechanical Department once a week and play hide and seek with the workers had not appeared this week.

  Sure, the Mechanical students had no plans of playing hide and seek.

  Nina was concerned about Zuellni. The Electronic Fairy always escaped when it was Nina's turn to clean at the Mechanical Department, and it always ended up being Nina who shouldered the responsibility of finding Zuellni. Layfon helped out with Nina, so he also had had a few encounters with the Electronic Fairy. The Zuellni flying freely around with light emitting coolly from her body always gave off a mysterious feeling.

  "It can't be any filth monsters coming near again......" Nina said after confirming there was no one else around.

  The Mechanical students were thankful enough if Zuellni could stay where she was and behave, but it might feel strange for her not to act the way she used to. Perhaps the city had sensed a distant crisis instinctively. If the Mechanical students knew of this, who knew what expression they would wear?

  "Just what is happening?"

  "Even if you ask, I can't give you an answer. I've never come across a situation of the city's consciousness separating from its physical form in Grendan."

  "Yeah? Well, it's not like this kind of thing will just happen."

  "Yeah."

  Unlike Grendan, Zuellni hadn't encountered any filth monsters for a long time. That was before Layfon arrived at the city.

  "I suppose."

  "Yeah."

  The two of them said as if confirming with each other.

  "Oi, over there!"

  It was the head of the Mechanical Department, calling them with a tired face.

  "What is it?"

  "There's a phone call for you, from the Student Council."

  "The Student Council?"

  "Yeah."

  He handed the phone to Nina, mumbled "finally got rid of it" and left.

  Layfon and Nina exchanged a glance.

  "It seems something's happened."

  "Seems so."

  Chapter 3

  The Time of a Destroyed City

  The Student Council had only called Nina, but Layfon decided to accompany her to the Student President's office. The thing was, if it had something to do with Nina, then this might be connected to the fate of the entire 17th platoon.

  "What do you think happened?"

  "What? Judging by how that phone call was made, this isn't anything secretive."

  This was different from the last encounter with the filth monsters, in which Felli was the one who conveyed the secret information to Layfon.

  "I suppose, but well......oh, it's already morning. It must be something urgent for them to call us over at this hour," Nina mumbled as she lifted her head to look at the sky. Gloom shrouded the city. The streetlights were fighting as hard as they could to disperse the surrounding darkness.

  Layfon followed Nina's gaze. Purple rays gradually seeped through the horizon, spreading out to engulf the sky.

  "Don't overdo it."

  "Eh?"

  "No matter what happens, I won't let you face it alone," she looked at him.

  Morning light seeped through the gaps in between buildings, outlining Nina's face. Layfon couldn't make out her expression, and found that regrettable.

  "......Thanks," he said. "But, senpai, don't force yourself too much either."

  "What're you saying? You're my subordinate. It's natural that I'm to protect you, isn't it?"

  Layfon chased after Nina, who had suddenly picked up her pace. They headed for the Student President's office.

  Inside the office were Karian and Felli. Despite the early hour, both of them were in uniforms.

  (Did they sleep like that too?)

  Imagining the two siblings sleeping immobile like corpses, Layfon found Felli glaring at him from the sofa.

  "Excuse me. Did something happen?" Nina asked.

  "That's true but......excuse me, would you wait a bit? Not everyone's here yet," the female helper in the room indicated for the two to sit down, then she spread out food and drinks on the table.

  "It looks like this will take some time. You two haven't had breakfast because of work, have you? Eat up. We've already eaten."

  "OK," Nina reached out for the bread. Layfon did the same.

  He glanced at Felli. She was drinking tea.

  "What?"

  "Nothing. Just thinking about what's happened......"

  "You'll know soon," she continued to glare at him.

  "Yeah, still......" he could only shut his mouth.

  Someone knocked on the door as they finished breakfast.

  "Military Arts commander......And......"

  Standing beside Vance was someone as robust as Vance himself. Layfon remembered him.

  "Captain of the 5th platoon, Gorneo Luckens."

  "Thanks for coming."

  "What's happening so early?"

  None of the two carried with them the sleepiness of having just been roused out of bed. Karian nodded as if he was very satisfied with them.

  "It's very urgent."

  Under Karian's indication, the two sat down on the sofa opposite Layfon. Gorneo's sharp gaze swept over him in one split second.

  "Please look at this," Karian took out a photo from a drawer of his desk and placed it on the table.

  "This is......Did the drone take this?"

  "Yes, about two hours ago."

  "Two hours? Then isn't this urgent?"

  "A bit."

  "Um," Vance let it go and resumed examining the photo.

  In the photo was a mountain, its outline sharply captured. It didn't look that tall but the problem surfaced quickly. A huge shadow covered the upper right hand side of the photo. It didn't look natural. In the middle of the table-like thing were numerous tower-like objects that were connected together, and beneath them was something that was similar to a ball cut in half.

  Numerous multi-legs sustained this gargantuan thing.

  "Can this be a city?"

  "Yes."

  "A war?"

  "Who knows."

  Under the tense atmosphere, Karian calmly took out another photo.

  "This is the zoom-in photo of the city."

  "This is......" Nina swallowed. Layfon frowned at the tragic scene.

  It was a city in ruins.

  "So cruel......" Gorneo said softly.

  The metal plates covering the first level of the city were either broken or had been peeled off. Only half of the multi-legs were left and some looked to be broken. The buildings in the city seemed to have sustained severe damage. A number of mechanical plates were conducting auto-repair on the second level. Vines and moss covered the exterior of the city. Judging from the progress of the auto-repair, it had been quite some time since the city was attacked.

  "It seems the air purification system is working normally......"

  "This city's been attacked by filth monsters."

  "My thoughts exactly."

  The photo was taken at night, but there wasn't any light in the city.

  "......Meaning there're filth monsters around here?"
>
  "We've checked the information in the vicinity of the city and didn't find anything suspicious. We'll continue the investigation. Compared to that, what I'm more concerned about is this," Karian pointed at one of the photos.

  "About this place, Vance, does it ring a bell?"

  "......Ring a bell..." Vance stopped.

  "Wait......"

  "I'm not sure since this photo was taken at night, but the things scattered on this mountain look familiar."

  "Could this be......a selenium mine?" Nina lifted her head and saw Karian nodding at her.

  "Yes, this is Zuellni's one and only mine. It looks like Zuellni's trying to resupply."

  "Then that city was also......"

  "But why here?"

  "According to my speculation, that city might have deviated from its territory while fleeing from filth monsters, so it failed to reach its own mine."

  "Even a city can go mad with hunger."

  "What a tragic reality," Vance sighed deeply. Layfon couldn't tell whether he was thinking of the same thing as Karian.

  "Well then, Gorneo Luckens, Nina Antalk. Besides Vance, I called you two over for a reason."

  "Is it to investigate the city?"

  Karian nodded at Vance. "Looking at the numbers sent back from the drone, there're no filth monsters around the mine and the city, but that city was obviously attacked. We don't entirely understand the biological condition of filth monsters, and we don't know whether this city is a trap the filth monsters have set up to lure in more prey. Under these circumstances, we can't wait and do nothing, so I'm requesting your teams to enter the city and investigate the situation. Obtain some real proof."

  "......I've no objection with the mission, but I want an explanation on why these two teams were chosen."

  "Simple. Numbers. We don't have newly improved protective suits for outside city work to fit two teams with full members. Of course, I also did consider the strength of the teams shown in the platoon matches, so I believe you should have no objection to my decision. What do you think?"

  "We'll complete the mission."

  "......Roger."

  "I'm counting on you. Departure time is two hours from now. Gather your members in these two hours."

  "That's quite rushed."

  "I wish to save some time, as there's no way of stopping Zuellni from moving," Karian said and saluted Nina and Gorneo.

  "......Well, so that's how it turned out like this. Geez," Sharnid said at the exit located by the city's edge. He was the last to arrive and held the biggest complaint among the team. He jumped around, his unkempt hair showing his lack of sleep. "I was planning to sleep till noon."

  Nina watched him numbly. "You......It's not the weekend today. What're you planning?"

  "You can't imagine the night life of a handsome guy."

  "Whatever. It's better to live normally," Nina said, cross and tired as she closely examined her protective suit.

  "It really is light." She wore the protective suit beneath the normal fighting clothes. It didn't feel uncomfortable at all, as if she wasn't really wearing an extra layer of clothes.

  "Not bad. Ah, this is what I have to wear," Sharnid looked at this own protective suit meaningfully.

  "What is it?"

  Sharnid watched Nina and then Felli who was sitting in the back seat of the bike, his eyes serious.

  "......Really sexy."

  "Hurry up and get changed, stupid."

  "Got it," he took down the protective suit that was tossed onto his head, and dragged himself to the Change Room.

  Layfon had watched the exchange of the two with a sour smile. The check-up on the bike was finished. What was left was Harley's check-up on the Dites. Without meaning to......his gaze fell down on Felli, who was bending down on the bike.

  "What is it?" she said.

  "Um......Did senpai discover that city?"

  "......Fon Fon," she glared at him.

  "Aah, sorry. Did Felli discover the city?" he collected himself, not certain why she hated to be called senpai.

  "I found it by chance."

  "Of course, but......" What was surprising was that she used her psychokinesis power when she wasn't in a match. Even if this were chance, her action would just prevent Karian from transferring her out of Military Arts.

  "......" Feeling as if something had struck him, Layfon quickly turned his head away.

  The 5th platoon was going through their preparations a little distance from the 17th platoon. Unlike Layfon's team, none of the members from the 5th platoon voiced any complaints. They completed their preparation under the orders of Captain Gorneo.

  (Again......)

  The gaze came from the 5th platoon. The members of their team were discussing something with Gorneo standing in the middle of them. His back was against Layfon.

  (Strange?)

  So it wasn't Gorneo's gaze. He was busy talking with his team members. As a 5th year, he had the qualities that made him a captain. He could fully understand his members' needs.

  It was the girl sitting on the bike beside Gorneo who was looking at Layfon.

  Shante Leite.

  Judging from the color of her harness, she was also in her fifth year. She wouldn't qualify as a teenager since she was twenty, but she was shorter than Felli, with a face that looked even more childish than Felli's. Underneath her red hair, pupils stirring like a cat's stared straight at Layfon.

  (Eh? Eh?)

  Layfon appeared flustered; having thought it was Gorneo who was staring at him.

  Seeing how Layfon cringed at her hostile gaze, Shante looked away with satisfaction.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Ah, nothing......"

  Felli followed Layfon's gaze to the 5th platoon, and saw Shante grinding her teeth.

  "......How petty."

  "Hahaha......" Layfon laughed dryly and took the Dite that Harley was handing back to him.

  "Is this about the last match?" Harley said.

  "I suppose?"

  "The 17th platoon is pretty popular outside the Military Arts course, so there are many people who don't like this."

  "Ha......"

  "Winning matches elegantly. Every member is a junior. The captain is a beauty. Their opponents are elites. Don't you think that looks very interesting to the audience?" Harley analyzed.

  "......If we didn't have to rush, I planned to give you your new Dite," he continued.

  "......Did you guys come up with something yesterday?" Layfon ventured.

  "Well......something about a weapon specialized for combat against filth monsters," Harley's voice lowered. "The problem of the Dite not being durable enough remains. We don't want this problem to persist, but we still hope to avoid a Dite breaking in the middle of a fight."

  "Yes."

  "What we can do now is make a Dite that is more suitable for the user, meaning, you. The price of a lighter Dite is to forsake the combined Dites you previously used. When the new Dite's done, please come over and try it out. Even you wouldn't want your weapon to fail in a key moment, right?"

  "True."

  After Sharnid had finished changing and received his Dite from Harley, the 17th platoon had completed its preparation.

  Under the icy gaze of the 5th platoon, everyone from the 17th platoon mounted their bikes. Layfon and Sharnid were the ones driving Nina and Felli. They put their supplies in the spare space. Their helmets were connected to Felli's flakes, making the world before them more vivid. The gate to the exit opened.

  "Good luck, everyone. I hope you can bring back some good news," Karian's voice came through the transmitter as Layfon and others headed out into the desolate land.

  It took them half a day's driving to arrive at the destination.

  "Well......" Sharnid's shock came through the transmitter.

  Experiencing this in reality was much different from looking at the photos. Above Layfon's head was the surface of the broken multi-legs, and covering the mechanical plates in auto-repair mode
was moss that looked as if it could fall off at any moment.

  "Even if it was attacked by the filth monsters, does it have to be so over the top?"

  "It was just a guess."

  "The Student President's speculation......something doesn't look right here."

  "The investigation of the west side is completed. The parking bay is totally destroyed and the anchor rope doesn't look like it's been used."

  "This is the 5th platoon. We've finished investigating the east side. There's no parking bay and the gate outside is locked," the psychokinesist of the 5th platoon said.

  "Ah."

  "Doesn't look like we've got a way up."

  "We have to use a rope," Layfon said.

  Nina nodded. "This is the 17th platoon. We'll enter the city with a rope and begin our investigation."

  "Roger. We'll continue our investigation and let you know of the rendezvous later."

  Layfon took out his Dite. A green light followed after the keyword. The Dite in his hand disappeared to be replaced by a weapon with only a handle.

  Steel threads.

  Under Layfon's Kei, a countless number of steel threads connected Layfon to the city.

  "Layfon, we'll go together."

  "Got it."

  Wrapping Felli with the steel threads, Layfon was the first to reach the city. The feeling of the air shield passed by him. As he scanned the scene, the steel threads moved under his command, investigating anything within a 10 meters radius in detail...... and he completed that task the moment he landed.

  "I guarantee you it's safe here. Or are you more at ease unless you've checked it yourself, Fon Fon?" Felli said.

  "Of course I trust you, but this is my habit. I still want to confirm for myself," he retrieved the steel threads. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

  "How meaningless. Rather than wasting your energy, you should be more cautious."

  "......I'm sorry."

  Speaking of which......He was covered in chill sweat as he watched Felli.

  This wasn't his first time checking the vicinity with the steel threads, but such delicate and detailed work was a huge burden on his brain.

  (The brain structure of a psychokinesist really is different from ours.)

  Normal people would never think of handling a massive amount of information at the same time. Human, but not really human. Military Artist, but also a psychokinesist.