kscans

Chapter 819 - Shine Forth, O Chosen One. Art Thou Worthy of Entrusted Love? Part 3

"—Rankers are terrifying… I mean, I knew that, but still…"

The battle was far away, yet the rumble of the earth and the pressure of the sounds still reached her, proof that it was taking place in the same space.

If the worst happens, I'm going to get swallowed up by that, aren't I…? She averted her eyes from a potential future she wanted to avoid from the bottom of her heart. She watched in terror as a flash of water danced through the fray, followed by a line of flame joining the pandemonium of the brawl.

"Ngh… come… on…!"

This was, without a doubt, the highest level of phantom fatigue she had ever experienced. Forcing her avatar, now at maximum sluggishness, to move, she scraped together every last bit of energy from the corners of her being and slowly pushed herself up.

She couldn't stay down forever. Of course not.

The raid… and her role in it, were far from over.

"All righty then…?"

After one last look, searing the image of the light dancing on the battlefield—a desperate, life-or-death struggle—into her memory, Milmarinus (the Sapphire Fairy) turned her back as if to shake it off, her sapphire gaze fixed on one thing.

A laptop—a jarringly out-of-place object from the real world that didn't fit the setting in the slightest.

She knew it the moment she saw it with these `eyes`. The shell itself had no function; this, too, was a type of magical manifestation. Tapping on the keyboard, which was even meticulously printed, would likely yield no response.

It was the embodiment of a power that accurately input, organized, and managed data. Like all of Arcadia's magical theories, its form was designed to reinforce its authority through imagery.

Therefore, what she needed to touch was not the outside, but the inside.

"Shall we have a little… talk?"

Green Connect, Jehatreglie—the sentient software housed within the hardware of a PC.

She didn't know what she had to do. But she knew what was being asked of her. All they had to do was help this child.

To that end, she just had to thoroughly investigate and figure out what she could possibly do.

This child knew what needed to be done. And a strange, indescribable conviction filled her chest, telling her that it should not be stopped.

In Arcadia, one should never underestimate an inexplicable 'hunch'.

Following that occult-like theory, Nia mustered her strength and deployed her formula once again. With a puzzle, she challenged the green crystal displayed on the LCD screen.

It was at that very moment.

"—Whoa-AIEEEE!!?!"

"—Gah, whaaah?!"

Two meters directly to Nia's side.

A jet-black anomaly appeared at the same time the PC screen flickered, tumbling and sliding across the floor while scattering a magnificent scream and sound effects. After interacting with the floor for over a dozen meters, trailing the Doppler effect behind it, it came to a limp halt and stopped moving.

""…………………………""

Several seconds of silence passed between Nia, who had let out a shriek that was just barely permissible for a maiden, and the motionless, suspicious person… and then, the former, having figured things out, briskly looked away from the black lump and turned back to her task.

"A-Aren't you going to say you're worried or something…"

"This is no time for gags!"

"My life-or-death entrance was treated as a gag…!"

And so, right next to Nia, who was now truly deploying her formula, the figure who had been a rolling black dust rag in the distance a moment ago had job-changed into a suspicious person, a ninja—one of her own.

Hayagake, who had appeared alone, hung his head with a truly pained expression.

"…"

However, the ninja wasn't completely oblivious to the situation. It wasn't as if he couldn't feel the perilous atmosphere. And so, he immediately raised his head—

"………………………………………………………………???"

He looked forward, then backward, then forward once more, and finally, after one last look behind him, he uttered a single phrase.

"What is this, hell???"

"That's right!! We're practically one step away from the climax!!!"

"Forget one step away, isn't this it?!"

Correctly grasping that he had jumped into a truly incomprehensible depiction of hell, his black-clad body trembled as he let out a bewildered cry.

"Uh, me, what, what should I…"

"Figure it out yourself!!"

◇◆◇◆◇

"Ehh…?"

Hayagake stood there looking lost, as if he'd just been scolded by his cousin's best friend who had just laid down the law and returned to her focus. The sound he let out, however, was a prelude to thought.

He was bewildered, but not confused.

He was shaken, but he wouldn't let that stop him. Even if his crown had been taken, he was still the former fastest. He was used to running in environments where he had no one to rely on but himself.

He looked forward. A girl he knew was challenging some piece of modern technology that was extremely out of place in a fantasy world, but he had no idea what she was doing.

He had slightly above-average skill in `Mako`, but of course, it was nothing more than a hobby. His ability was a far cry from the top artisans, including the Milmarinus (Sapphire Fairy) before him.

It was clear that even if he tried to help, he wouldn't be able to increase her work speed by even ten percent. In the worst-case scenario, he might even get in the way.

So, he looked behind him.

Even more incomprehensible.

It was a hellish scene that elicited no other thought than, 'What is that, it's terrifying.' Two rankers versus a whole bunch of what he presumed were boss enemies. The numbers and the visuals were beyond his comprehension. All he could tell was that it wasn't a realm he should step into half-heartedly.

"………………………………………………………………"

He crossed his arms, made a grim face to feign seriousness, and thought.

Isn't the correct answer to just stay put?

He had run to a distant location he believed no one else could reach, based on the changing situation. He had gone to the dungeon entrance, to the very back, and back again, then back to the end again, making two round trips in total with reports in between.

He had received the order to charge from the [Sword Queen]-sama herself and had passed through a portal that had been left wide open at what seemed to be the boss room's dead end… but now, what to do?

He had run faster than anyone else—with a few exceptions—and had continued to map the terrain and the dungeon, leaving markers along the way.

He should have fulfilled the important role entrusted to him in the previous clear attempt to the best of his ability this time as well. Therefore, he should trust his objective judgment that he 'shouldn't do anything unnecessary' and prepare to move in case a role for him emerged later… he should….

"…………………………Ahh…"

But that's what he thought.

The order he received from the Princess was, "Go. I'll leave the rest to your judgment"—words of trembling trust. So, this must be her fault.

It was her fault that he turned on his heel, faced what was behind him, and his feet took a step forward on their own.

A flash of water was dancing. He could clearly see the pale azure figure dashing through the ground and sky in a cheerful instant.

It was just his own assumption. —But he couldn't help but feel like he was being called.

Not by him. By this stage.

"…Well, I'm a man too, I guess."

It wasn't as if there was truly nothing he could do. In that case, it was fine to challenge himself to some fun for the first time in a while.

"Sometimes, you just gotta show off a little to the world—right?!"

With a desperate-sounding cry of fighting spirit, the black figure vanished.

For this moment only, he felt like there was no need to hesitate to run.

---

Run, run, and keep on running. A way of life defined by just that.