Having come out of the Galura Canyon after a few days, Dannoura Tomochika and Takatou Yogiri finally arrived at the Meld Plains.
The two people had made it until here by riding on the armoured vehicle.
And now, having stopped at the intersection of the plain and the canyon, they continued to stare at the plain that extended from there.
"It's quite different from what I had expected..." (Tomochika)
Observing the plain from the driver's seat, Tomochika complained.
A carpet of greenery was spread out, which reminded Tomochika of fields with beautiful scenery.
The Meld Plains certainly were beautiful. However, it was a different and strange beauty.
The things that were here were all like crystals.
Something similar to grass that was growing from the ground, the trees were growing here and there, the lizard-like animals were crawling on the ground, and even buildings were in spots akin to something of a town. Everything was sharp, they had formed crystal-like things.
Looking up at the sky, there seemed to be something like webbing made of crystals there, and the sun's light had been completely scattered.
Thus, the view was wonderful. It wasn't known if the horizon was distant even though this should have been a plain. With the effect of light being reflected by the crystals, it resulted in it being covered in something similar to a thin haze.
"It seems to be called by an alias of 'The Crystal Plains'." (Yogiri)
Yogiri wasn't as surprised as Tomochika, probably because he knew the state of this place.
"Wouldn't it have been better to say the alias before now?! Why does Takatou-kun know such a thing?" (Tomochika)
"When I accepted the map from the concierge, I feel I received an explanation like that." (Yogiri)
Said Yogiri without any sign of shyness. Tomochika reconsidered whether or not it really was that important of a thing.
"I wonder whether or not people live in those village-like things?" (Yogiri)
"If they 'live in that', I think they wouldn't be an ordinary human." (Tomochika)
Just about everything was made sharp. Flesh and blood human beings wouldn't be able to, by any means, live.
"I know. Perhaps, people resembling crystalline humans live over there. Look, it seems that something dog-like is walking that way." (Yogiri)
He saw something moving in the vicinity of the town. It was a tetrapod made up of crystals. Judging from its movements and figure, it looked like a dog.
"It doesn't seem like it will go wild and attack. Since it's nice I don't feel like killing the dog at all." (Yogiri)
The dog-like animal seemed cautious of Tomochika and the others that were inside of the armoured vehicle that had turned up suddenly, but it appeared to be because of mere curiosity.
"Do you like dogs?" (Tomochika)
"I'm raising one. Because it was an old man's, I was just a little worried." (Yogiri)
"Our household also has dogs. Because my older sister loves animals, we raise various animals other than dogs, too." (Tomochika)
『Hmm. The Dannoura family has been raising akitas for generations. The Dannoura-style even has a fighting technique for dogs!』(Mokomoko)
Said Mokomoko as she materialized between the two.
"...Such a technique as going around and biting the nape of someone's neck, my older sister hadn't taught me such a thing..." (Tomochika)
Certainly, Tomochika had continued to believe she was merely giving an idea of such a technique from her eccentricity, but it appeared that she had done it with the household.
『It is so. It isn't a joke story about dogs at all. It's fine, but be careful since something is causing a mildly dangerous atmosphere in this place for some reason!』(Mokomoko)
"But you don't appear like you are being careful with your excessive nonchanlant-ness?" (Tomochika)
『That is so. It is also called a kind of curse. The vicinity of this region has been filled with it. Well, it should be at a level we are able to cope with.』(Mokomoko)
"Takatou-kun, don't kill something arbitrarily again?" (Tomochika)
In the not-too-distant past, Yogiri had completely and inadvertently killed the source in response to the miasma. Whether or not it had become a similar case this time, Tomochika was bearing the anxiety.
"I have been careful since then. Besides, about that curse? There isn't a clear source. I have a vague feeling, but I think it isn't something dangerous right now." (Yogiri)
Tomochika agreed it would be safe if that was the case.
"Well, nevertheless! We have no choice but to go forward, but I wonder if we can go through this by car." (Tomochika)
『Since it is an armoured vehicle, isn't it strong against punctures?』(Mokomoko)
"I wonder if it's possible to go forward while killing obstacles in the direction we travel. Well, I think so if it's to the extent that we crush grass-like things." (Yogiri)
Yogiri was imprudent towards killing anything if it was a hindrance. He took things into consideration this time. However, there was a point which somewhat differed from Tomochika's common sense.
"Even if we assume this is really grass, I have a feeling it won't continue to grow again after that!" (Tomochika)
"If we assume this is grass, however, I think it will continue to grow again if seeds take root. It is grass that is able to be killed." (Yogiri)
"We~ll, with the feeling I got from seeing the map, I have an impression that the plain doesn't seem to be wide; I wonder if it's fine to arrive there all at once. It doesn't appear to be complicated when looked at, unlike the canyon." (Tomochika)
The railroad line which went through the canyon also cut across the plain as is. They expected to finally arrive at the royal capital by finding and following the track.
If they avoided the plain, it would become a considerable detour.
『But that how it is. It doesn't seem like we are able to pass through a place that appears to be something like this?』(Mokomoko)
"Well, this place is something like 'the stage after the canyon' if this were a game." (Tomochika)
"I wonder if the tracks are there if we go to the right-hand side from here. Although, there is also something that resembles a station." (Yogiri)
Said Yogiri as he looked at Tomochika's map. The plains were wide in the west and east, but not particularly much in the north and south. It looked like they could go through and escape if they travelled for one hour by a vehicle.
"Well then, shall we try to proceed?" (Yogiri)
The engine of the armoured vehicle started, and they started to move smoothly. Tomochika's driving really had become a familiar thing.
The grass that had become crystallized continued to be crushed easily, with the reason being Yogiri dealing with it. It seems they didn't have to worry about punctures.
With them travelling while relying on the map, they had seen track immediately.
It appeared it hadn't around the track hadn't changed into crystals, contrary to what one would expect. As for the building that appeared to be the station, the model had been retained although traces of some crystallization could be seen.
"Shouldn't we better keep an eye on the station while approaching it? Although I want to so I could get accustomed and tell the circumstances, as there is that unique feeling in this area… I wonder if we are being treated like wanted men." (Tomochika)
They appeared to be targeted by the sages, but Tomochika and others weren't captured by Ryouta who was a sage's follower. They were in a state where they didn't know what way they would be dealt with in this world.
"It can't be helped, as we've found ourselves having to move sneakily. Although we are going to the royal capital after this, will we run away and hide then as well?" (Yogiri)
Yogiri seemed to not mind much even though it was said they might be being chased.
Tomochika prepared herself just in case.
She arrived near the station with the armoured vehicle and stopped.
The station was a compact building. It was just that sort of place. There wouldn't be many people getting on and off the train here.
The two people stepped down from the armoured vehicle.
"It's cold! What's with the sudden change!?" (Tomochika)
Tomochika, who felt a sudden change of temperature, instinctively raised her voice.
It had been a warm climate until they arrived here, it would be due to the environment of this place.
It wasn't known whether it was related to the climate or not, but this place that was covered in crystals seemed to be chilly in some aspects.
"But it doesn't seem to be 'made of ice'. Well, let's go inside for the time being." (Yogiri)
Yogiri opened the door of the station.
It became the waiting room shortly after they entered. There was a home-heater placed in the center, and a benches of wood placed so that it surrounded it.
There was also a door on the opposite side of the entrance, and there would be platforms and ticket gates on that side as well.
"There isn't anyone, huh." (Tomochika)
"An unmanned station...that can't be it. It has heating." (Yogiri)
"Well then, let's try to look inside as well." (Tomochika)
Coincidentally, when Tomochika thought of that, the interior door opened.
A young man wearing a uniform entered, but he was in a strange condition.
He was grasping his abdomen with a pale face, and he was bleeding to such an extent where he wasn't able to stop.
His manner of walking was helpless, and his eyes hadn't settled and were dizzy.
"Eh? Are you okay!?" (Tomochika)
Tomochika attempted to run up to him in a panic, but Yogiri restrained her by holding her shoulder.
Bang!
There was a dry explosive sound.
It was a gunshot. Tomochika realized it immediately because she had heard it many times over at her home.
The young man collapsed, and blood began to overflow onto the floor. It seemed he had been shot in the heart from behind. It was instant death.
"You thought you could run away? How disappointing~!" (???)
"Damn! It's my defeat. That's not right. But even so, he kicked the bucket quickly!" (???)
"Huh? They won't just be able to die immediately from being shot in the stomach." (???)
"But, you're unjust. Weren't you going to spare him if he led us to those fellows' place?" (???)
"He wasn't desperate if he didn't wish to live, so it wasn't a gamble." (???)
Then, five men wearing military-like clothing went and entered into the waiting room in a rude manner.
Everyone had a revolver in their hands. Whether or not it was a weapon that was developed in this world, Tomochika didn't recognize the gun's appearance.
"Oh? Although it was only a story from the old man, they were he~re. Well, we got lucky~, huh?" (One of the Military Men)
The men noticed Tomochika and the others immediately.
The eyes of the men gathered on Tomochika. Their eyes were wicked ones which had been turned towards them many times since they came to this world.
"Die." (Yogiri)
When Yogiri said so, the military men collapsed on the spot. As their faces were grinning broadly, it appeared they had died without understanding at all what had happened.
"Unngh~, how could you do that in this situation..." (Tomochika)
As she couldn't follow the sudden development, Tomochika complained.
"The man who was shot was already dead, there wasn't anything I would have been able to do. We don't seem to have been the cause of it." (Yogiri)
It was a verbal argument of considerable blunt refusal, but Tomochika wasn't able to blame it on him. It was because she had a similar feeling as well.
It seemed cold-hearted, but her emotions didn't stir much even when unknown people died from coming out abruptly.
"Well, even if it's like this, we are completely ignorant to what's what. Isn't it better to confirm what they planned to do?" (Tomochika)
"Although it's like that, because I believed those guys were going to shoot me to death immediately, it didn't seem like there was time to ask for a story." (Yogiri)
Yogiri was able to perceive danger and killing intent. It appears there was a strength to the threat, but it seems it was decided as imminent in that situation.
"So it's like that, it's like they did before, they threaten to kill one person at a time among other things...don't become awfully wicked or something, me! It's separate from the current conversation!" (Tomochika)
『Don't be too disturbed by this situation, remain promising as a Dannoura successor!』(Mokomoko)
Mokomoko folded her arms and nodded.
"Ah~...for just a bit more, I wonder if I had better continue to go 'kya~ kya~'..." (Tomochika)
As she was being evaluated like a hero taking a stroll, Tomochika had become miserable.
Yogiri was examining the men who had collapsed, so it seemed he hadn't heard Tomochika's utterance.
"Let's take the guns. Mokomoko-san, you also know such things very well, right?" (Yogiri)
『Hmm. The structure seems to be identical to what I know, so the way to use it should be similar.』(Mokomoko)
"The feeling I got from having seen them, because it seems they don't have that much luggage, there also might be something resembling a main army, huh. Although I think there isn't any people living in the area around here at all." (Yogiri)
"Aren't they soldiers of the royal capital?" (Tomochika)
When it came to soldiers being near this place, it was the royal capital that immediately came to mind.
"I can't say anything for sure because I don't properly know about such things like the royal capital and this country. As for what to do, it seems better to move quickly." (Yogiri)
Yogiri was going to leave the station as he had decided to abandon it quickly.
Tomochika wasn't minding her feelings as she thought those people hadn't been killed for something bothersome.
Around the time they had come out of the crystallized area, huge castle ramparts came into sight.
The tall and lengthy walls were persistently continuing as far as could be seen. If it was said the royal capital was inside, it seemed to be considerably sized.
"I wonder if it is a so called 'fortified city'. It looks like it is inconvenient and dark even during the day when you are close to the wall like this, huh." (Yogiri)
Yogiri was being carefree in the passenger seat, but Tomochika couldn't get used to such a mood.
"Sorry. Although I thought I had grown accustomed to it, this has totally drawn back from reality..." (Tomochika)
She was thinking that she shouldn't try to look, but she continued to look in the rearview mirror as she was bothered by it still.
There was a mountain of corpses there.
『A murderer would kill one person, but there's a phrase saying 'what else but a hero would kill thousands of people?'. In accordance with that, how has it been decided that this youngster is a hero?』(Mokomoko)
The number of soldiers that had collapsed in the plain was an amount close to thousands.
Tomochika and the others who left the station had travelled in the armoured vehicle along the track.
Thereupon people wearing the same military uniforms as those who were killed at the station had appeared, and they had continued to wage attacks on the armoured vehicle.
Naturally they were intercepted by Yogiri, but the soldiers came out one after another no matter how many he killed.
The car was being forcibly driven to the end of its limits, and as a result, the group that seemed to be an army in some regard was destroyed.
Still, it was abnormal to continue to attack until they were annihilated, and Tomochika and the others didn't understand their motives.
"The people who continued to attack were bad. Moreover, it wasn't a situation where we could spend time in such a place. The class might already be in the royal capital." (Yogiri)
It appeared that the flow of time was disordered around the circumference of the tower which had sealed the Devil, so it had unexpectedly taken a fair amount of time to come to this place.
Also, the train appeared to have its service restored, as Tomochika and others witnessed it pass by them several times. If she assumed they had ridden that, their classmates probably have arrived at the royal capital already.
"I am going to lie down as I have become somewhat sleepy." (Yogiri)
Yogiri started to sleep immediately after he said so.