Here’s the chapter, enjoy~
ED: LonelyMatter
Part 3
As a substitute, Krone left the royal capital with Ain.
She was not yet Ain’s assistant at the time of the visit to the Magic City of Ist and could not accompany him, so she was happy to be able to accompany him this time.
It was late at night when the royal water train arrived at the Magic City of Ist.
“It’s quiet, isn’t it?”
Ain muttered as he got off the royal water train.
Not a single person was in sight, not even a light on at the station. The station was not even lit, which was a detrimental effect of the fact that it was powered by the magic power supplied by the Tower of Wisdom.
“I think there are only a few knights patrolling the city and a few researchers.”
Chris said as they got off the train together.
“The area is also badly contaminated with magic power.”
The area was not dark but glowed a dim greenish color. If it did not affect the human body, it would look magical.
“If this situation continues, monsters will come closer in search of the dense magic power.”
“You mean that if the situation continues, it will become a place for monsters to live?”
“Yes. When monsters’ corpses start to roll around, they react to the magic pollution and create a miasma. When this happens, it is no longer a place where people can live.”
“…..I’m glad we got here early, really.”
In the meantime, as he said that, Ain crouched down.
He put his hand on the station platform and activated Toxin Decomposition EX to check on the situation.
“Okay, it’s all good.”
Within a few minutes, the area around the platform had been decontaminated and was back to normal. Not a trace of the green glow from earlier remained.
“As expected of Ain-sama.”
Chris, with her arms crossed behind her back, looked delighted.
“I’ll be heading into the train for a bit. I’ll tell Krone later that we’re leaving on foot from here.”
“Yes, I’ll be waiting for you!”
As soon as he turned on his heel and got into the train again, he was met by Dill, who was on his way out.
“From what I could tell from inside, the decontamination went well.”
“That’s fortunate. So I will tell Krone that we are leaving.”
“Very well. I’ll be waiting outside.”
“Okay. ──Hmm?”
Ain noticed something unusual as he walked through the connecting corridor inside the train.
The inside of the train seemed hotter than usual. The air conditioning was working, as evidenced by the warm air pouring from overhead, but he felt the region near his feet was hotter than before their departure.
However, it was not a significant discomfort.
Yet it bothered him, and he tilted his head until he arrived at the lounge where Krone was waiting for him.
“It still felt hot.”
He muttered as he opened the door leading to the lounge.
“…You’re back early. What’s the matter?”
Seeing Ain appear, Krone, who had been sitting on the sofa, stood up and closed the distance between them.
When she saw Ain tilting his head, she looked at him strangely.
“It’s nothing serious, but I thought the floor of the connecting corridor was hot.”
“Yes, it does feel hot.”
“Could it mean there was something wrong with the furnace?”
“No, it’s because this water train was overworked. As His Majesty said, Lloyd-sama instructed it to run at full speed and without any hesitation.”
“Oh… that’s why it’s so hot.”
Even if it was the best train in Ishtalika, the royal water train, it meant that it has been so heavily used to come this far, that it overheated.
“But don’t worry, it’s an acceptable rate. I believe the information I was given beforehand was…”
Unable to remember where it went, Krone took out her notebook and flipped through a few pages.
“It seems to calm down within 30 minutes after the stop.”
Ain wondered what was written in the notebook.
“Can I take a look too?”
“Sure, but it doesn’t have anything interesting in it.”
“I don’t mind; it was interesting enough.”
A little rudely, he went behind Krone and looked at the notebook as if peeking into it. The same neat handwriting, as usual, made him admire it.
It contained more detailed information than he had expected, whether it had been informed by the driver or the engineer. The important parts were color-coded and easy to read, so much so that they could be distributed as reference material.
“It’s easy to read.”
“…Thank you.”
She then leaned her back against Ain sweetly and closed the distance so that they could read the notebook more closely. Whether it was because of the notebook or because she genuinely wanted to close the distance, she did not mention it.
Ain hurriedly turned his attention to the next page.
Among the many notes lined up as before is──.
“A cat?”
Suddenly, he spotted a picture of a cat.
Next to it, the word “important” was written in large letters and circled.
“──!”
The moment Ain noticed that, Krone suddenly moved away from him.
Holding the notebook with both hands and pressing it to her chest, she blushed and asked fearfully,
“D-did you see it…?”
“I wonder about that ── I mean, I saw it, you know?”
“Geez! Why did you rephrase it!”
“I thought it would be a good idea to lie, so I just did.”
What was written in the previous part was a note about the Tower of Wisdom, and it is possible to imagine why she was drawing a cat.
“Katima-sama told me to draw a cute cat, so I did! It’s not like I did any naughty drawings!”
“I thought that was it, so it’s okay. By the way, what did Katima-san say when she saw it?”
“She said… It’s cute.”
“That was also expected. I wish you would show it to me one more time.”
“…Will you not laugh?”
“Why would I laugh? I thought it was cute too.”
Krone reluctantly reopened her notebook and looked at the important part.
Katima said that it’s more efficient to proceed with the decontamination process by dividing it into hourly intervals.
“That’s certainly important information.”
He then took out a pen from his pocket, wrote the word “nya” on the picture of a cat, and circled the word “important.”
The corners of his mouth naturally turned up at his amusement.
“Ah… that pen…”
“This is the only pen I use right now. It’s so easy to use.”
At the same time, Krone felt a warmth in her heart as she realized that the pen was her birthday gift.
As she murmured, “I’m glad you’re using it,” she let out a voice of relief.
“We better get going. I have to go do my best to clean up Ist.”
“I’ll see you later. Don’t be reckless.”
Finally, Ain returned to the connecting corridor, accompanied by Krone’s smile.
The green light from the train window reflected in her vision, and Krone regained her composure.
◇ ◇ ◇
The first hour after the decontamination process began.
Ain was outside the Tower of Wisdom, in the building with the pipe that Katima had mentioned.
Sitting on the pipe that extended from the rooftop, he was working on decontaminating the surrounding area, and it was a pleasant sight to see the green light that had stained the surrounding area disappear.
All he was doing was sitting on the pipe and placing his hand on it, but the power of the Toxin Decomposition EX was certainly moving through the pipe.
“Let’s take a break now.”
Dill, who was standing by, looked at his watch and said.
He handed the water bottle to his master and looked at the results of one hour’s work, and relaxed his cheeks.
“This should be done by mid-afternoon.”
“I am glad to hear that everything is going well. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. I’m not really tired. If anything, I’m just bored sitting here all the time. It may be inappropriate to say this, but…”
“That’s very typical of you, Ain-sama. Even so──”
Dill turned around and looked up at the sky, his cheeks contorted as he looked up at the Tower of Wisdom towering just behind him.
“The Tower of Wisdom, which used to glow with light all the time, now looks like this. It must have been in a state of intense outburst.”
Now, only faint emergency lights and the light of the door seen through the half-destroyed gaps were visible.
The center of the building had been blown open from the lowest to the highest floors, and the facilities, magic tools, elevators, and stairs that surrounded it were still there in a state of near-collapse.
It was said that the reason why the tower was not completely destroyed was because of the sturdiness of the Tower of Wisdom.
It was still fresh in their memories, the wave of light that pierced the sky appeared from the Tower of Wisdom but flew high into the sky without bursting.
“It is fortunate that it did not collapse.”
“That’s a difficult story. Instead, it became magic pollution.”
Of course, the facility where Ain was located was damaged as well.
The majority of the damage caused by the Tower of Wisdom was concentrated on the tower itself, and only the aftermath of the blast or vibration that leaked from the Tower of Wisdom reached the surrounding area. The houses and other buildings seemed to be sturdy, perhaps due to the nature of the city, and not all the buildings were completely destroyed.
“Ain-sama! I’m back!”
Then Chris arrived.
She had been checking the decontamination status of the surrounding area.
“I heard the two of you talking, and I heard that the Tower of Wisdom was built with a safety device to prevent it from collapsing and becoming magic pollution.”
“Heh, why?”
“Katima-sama said that the glow the other day was a mechanism to prevent the release of energy into the city. If the Tower of Wisdom itself collapses, the energy in the liquefied magic stone pool underground will explode, and the people in Ist will be vaporized in an instant…”
“I see. That’s why there was still energy left in the Tower of Wisdom.”
The furnace has been completely shut down due to the activation of the safety device that Katima had mentioned. The liquefied magic stone had already solidified, but there was still magic power left in it.
“The result of the glowing emanations dancing down and the magic that flowed out through the pipe caused it to be contaminated.”
It meant that the system was designed to intentionally let the energy escape into the sky.
“Ain-sama, Ain-sama, I am now going back to the water train to report the progress to Krone-san. Is there anything you wish to tell her?”
“Tell her to get some rest if she’s sleepy.”
“Haha… I can imagine Krone-san’s reply…”
No doubt she would answer that she was not sleepy.
Thus, Chris took her leave once more.
“Let’s go one more time, shall we?”
“I’m in complete awe of you. It’s just that I can’t do anything about it.”
“It’s enough for me only to talk to you. It’s not like I’m doing much anyway.”
“If it’s no big deal, then my work is worthless.”
After finishing his light talk, he put his hand on the pipe again. The actual skill itself worked even if he didn’t put his hand on the pipe, but he felt it was more effective to do so.
“Then, let’s start another hour.”
As the sun rose over the horizon, Ain regained his composure.
He let out a single sigh of relief and set about decontaminating for the second time.
Thanks for the chapter
LikeLike
Thanks for the chapter!
LikeLike