The Search Begins
"..Sleeping on the floor?"
"..Why..?"
"..Ah, no, well, because Lucia was originally the owner of this room..."
"..Huh?"
"If I move around in my sleep and end up waking you, that wouldn't be good..."
"..It's fine. Lumiel."
"Once I fall asleep, I don't wake up easily. You could even sing a whole song next to me."
"Pfft... what's with that..."
"So just sleep on the bed. It's big enough for two."
"...Alright.."
“Eep- hehe,”
“...If you like it that much, why did you say you wouldn't sleep on the bed?”
“..I, just...”
“..I'll turn off the lights. Oh, right—from tomorrow, you'll have to go to school with me too, so we need to wake up early?”
“U-uh-huh...”
Aion Academy, High School Division, 1st Year, Class C classroom. Since it was exam period, the teacher didn't come in. They had simply written "Self-Study" in large letters on the board and left. Most of the students were gripping their pens, staring down at their notes or wrestling with problems. Ah, a few were asleep.
Ding— ding— ding—
The bell signaling the end of class rang out. The final bell on a Friday carried tremendous weight. Some cheered, some stretched, and some were already packing their bags before the homeroom teacher even arrived.
“Serin, want to go to a karaoke place before heading back to the dorm—?”
“What? It's exam period—”
“We'll just end up lying around for an hour once we're back in the dorm anyway—think of it as going to karaoke instead—”
Students who usually hung out together were already gathering in small groups, chatting. Even during exam season, this was the perfect time to unwind—when the actual tests weren't quite that close yet.
“Lumiel—”
“..!”
A warm sensation pressed firmly against my shoulder, and my body flinched. For a split second, my hand reflexively gathered mana—only for it to dissipate just as quickly. Whether it was simply from being startled or from almost responding out of habit...
After living as a hero for so long, my senses had grown sharp. I suppose it couldn't be helped. After all, you never knew when or where an ambush might come from.
Well... it wasn't an attack. It was a person's hand.
Slowly turning my gaze to the side, I saw flowing dark grey hair. A collar unbuttoned just enough to skirt the academy rules—and grey eyes holding unusual gold, crescent-shaped pupils.
“..It was you, Luna. You startled me.”
“What, why are you so surprised all of a sudden?”
“..Lumiel, what are you doing this weekend? Can't you help me study at the reading room—?”
The girl in front of me spoke in a drawn-out voice, like a child begging their mother. She was my closest friend at the academy. After graduation, she'd said she didn't want to become a hero and disappeared somewhere... Now that I thought about it, it had been two years since I'd last seen Luna. We'd only kept in touch through messages. She'd always pester me like this, asking me to go somewhere with her. I'd refuse a few times, acting annoyed, but eventually give in to her relentless begging that lasted until the morning of the day itself.
..But this time, I couldn't. I had things I needed to do.
“..Sorry, I have plans this weekend.”
“What—! Why do you always have plans..! You say that, but I know you're just staying in the dorm—!”
“..You'll come out if I call you that day anyway. You always play hard to get like this first.”
After grumbling, Luna puffed out her cheeks in clear dissatisfaction. It wasn't the natural puff of someone genuinely sulking—she had deliberately filled them with air.
“..I'm sorry. This week really won't work.”
Since regressing, the first weekend had been spent in shock and confusion. But this weekend, I needed to devote every moment to finding my sister. Z-Zone, where Lucia had last disappeared, and C-Zone, where Trinity had first begun her activities. Those two places seemed the most promising right now. I'd probably split them between Saturday and Sunday.
...If I couldn't find her this week, I'd have to keep searching—maybe by asking others for help. At that moment, Luna, who had been tapping the floor with her foot while looking glum, spoke up.
“..Well, fine. Then I'm heading in first—”
“..Yeah, see you Monday—”
I waved at Luna as she opened the classroom door and disappeared. I should head out too. I needed to start right away. First, I'd need to get an entry permit for Z-Zone—
...Ah, I'm not a hero yet, so maybe I don't need one. Still, as a student of Aion Academy, which trains heroes... I'd never been to Z-Zone even once as a student. It was a dangerous place to begin with. When I heard that the last trace of my sister had been found in Z-Zone on the day she disappeared, I couldn't even begin to count how many times my parents had tried to stop me from going to find her.
Now, well. For some reason, my abilities from before the regression remained intact. Unless I ran into an extremely dangerous villain, I probably wouldn't face any major trouble.
...I hope I can find her. Even if I'm searching without a plan. Right now, there's no other way. The police and heroes won't look for people who disappear into Z-Zone. I can't ask anyone else for help either. Trinity's first attack happens a year from now... I couldn't wait that long. Waiting at her first terrorist site in advance would mean she'd already become a villain by then.
...No matter how late it gets, I have to find her within a year. This weekend is going to feel long. With that thought, I stepped out through the school gates.
“Good morning, Subject 26—”
“Yeah, good morning to you too, Subject 25.”
Before I knew it, nearly a week had passed since time had turned back. I'd even started getting used to the white grid-patterned ceiling I saw every time I opened my eyes.
...I hadn't realized it when I was younger, but the facilities here weren't as bad as I'd thought. After all, they had to experiment on children's bodies, so they kept us in good physical condition and even fed us decently. Rather than escaping right away and worrying about where to stay, it might be better to stay here, make my plans, and leave once everything was ready.
I could understand why Berry had no desire to escape. If you didn't think you were going to die... for kids who had originally been orphans, staying here was a much better choice than living in that hellish Z-Zone or other slums.
While I was lost in thought, a voice mixed with a yawn came from beside me.
“Hwaaam— Subject 26— I'm going to get breakfast first—”
“Don't be late and come right out—”
Berry, who had already gotten out of bed, gestured for me to follow and disappeared. Until recently, she'd waited for me to get ready, but since I took so long, she'd apparently decided to go ahead. Now I had to follow right away. If I stayed in bed after she'd gone to that trouble, she'd probably come back in a few minutes and drag me out. And if that happened, I wouldn't be walking—I'd be getting tripped and pulled along.
...Left with no choice, I got out of bed and headed outside the room.
The cafeteria. A space where test subjects ate meals at exactly 9 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. There were exactly thirty seats prepared, most tables seating two people. Usually, roommates sat together. Naturally, Berry and I were sitting across from each other.
..Just then, Berry, her mouth full of bread, spoke up.
“...Sho, wha' 'bout 'at 'hing?”
“...What?”
...Her voice was so muffled I could barely understand half of it. I had to frown and ask again. Only then did she realize, her face turning slightly red. She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed the bread stuffed in her mouth.
“..So, have you thought about what you're going to do?”
“...What are you talking about?”
“You know. That thing. What you mentioned four days ago.”
“Ah,”
Escape. I'd been thinking about whether I really needed to escape in such a hurry today. Whether she'd been waiting for this or had simply lost interest, she hadn't mentioned it at all until now—only to bring it up today of all days.
“...Well, I still haven't found it.”
I raised my hand vertically to cover one side of my mouth and whispered to Berry. I'd told her I was looking for evidence that the ventilation shaft led to the surface...
...Of course, there was no need to actually find it. I could just lie and say I'd found it when it was time to leave.
..After hearing my words, she nodded as if she understood. Then her eyes widened, as if something else had occurred to her. She covered her mouth with her hand just like I had and whispered back.
“..But they won't hear us talking here, right?”
...Was she worried about that? Well, to be fair, it would be a problem if the other kids or the researchers overheard. But... the kids were too busy making noise to ever hear our conversation. And there weren't any researchers here to begin with.
“..Do you think they'd hear us talking like this? It's fine.”
“..R-right..? Thank goodness. I got worried for a second there..”
Looking at her, it felt like a world-weary old soul and a whimsical country girl coexisted in the same body. Was she some kind of split personality? There was the smart Berry and the clumsy Berry.
“...Hmm, but where would we even find something like that—?”
“..Well, you have that ability you said you could use once or twice, right—”
“With that, you can even hack into computers, you know? I'll try pulling something out from inside. See if there's anything..”
“Conveniently, today's the day I'm getting experimented on,”
I brought it up without mixing in any lies. Before regressing, when I'd destroyed this place, I'd wrecked quite a bit of the building—and my powers had gone out of control, frying all the electronic devices inside. Even then, I'd only been able to obtain information that remained in documents. This was a good chance to try accessing the files myself.
“..Well, got it.”
“Now that I think about it, yeah. I was the last one yesterday—”
“..Wait, doesn't that mean you're first today? They'll call you soon—”
“..Yeah. It's 9:29 right now.”
Berry pointed at the bread and jam still sitting in front of me, as if to say, "What about the food you haven't finished?"
“...Then, can I eat this?”
...Ah. It seemed like we were dealing with the clumsy Berry right now. I never would've imagined she'd ask something like that. Letting out a helpless sigh, I pushed the tray in front of me toward her and stood up.
“..You eat it. I'll head straight back to the room after. Get ready for that card game you said you wanted to play.”
“...Huh, really?! Got it! I'll wait, Subject 26—!”
“..Yeah, yeah.”
Bzzt— bzzt— bzzt—
After answering, I turned toward the lab—only for the bracelet on my wrist to start vibrating at that exact moment. The small screen attached to it lit up, displaying red text.
Subject 26. Lab 4.
..How unfriendly. The screen was so tiny they couldn't fit anything more than that.
...After tapping the screen to stop the vibration, I headed for the lab.
“..Labs 1, 2, 3.. Ah, here it is.”
Standing in front of the door, I let out a long breath. I didn't know when I'd get another chance to enter a lab, so I could only hope I'd find something useful today. With that thought, I opened the lab door.