The Tower of Evolution

Even though quite some time had passed since I'd finished talking with Huey and come back, the guy still showed no sign of returning. Whatever it was he had to think about, it was taking forever.

"…What on earth did you two talk about for Master to be this late?"

"Beats me. Softhearted idiot's probably got a mountain of things on his mind."

We spent a good while longer trash-talking Huey together with Lucy when—

"I can hear every word. You two are really going to town on me the second I'm out of earshot, huh?"

"Oh, you're back?"

"You're late, Master."

Huey approached with a face even more exhausted than before, a vein standing out on his forehead.

"Let's go."

He glanced at me for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh and said that.

What the hell. Is he pissed?

"So, have you thought about what favor you're going to ask?"

Watching Lucy take the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lead with perfect tact, I jabbed Huey's side with a wing and asked quietly.

"…I'll use it properly later, so just keep that in mind."

He grumbled, but still said he'd make a proper request later.

"I was planning to smack you one if you asked for something lame or said you wouldn't use it. Shame."

"What was that, you little—?"

Leaving the guy fuming behind me like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard, I hurried after Lucy with quick little steps.

"Is the conversation finished?"

"Yeah. Thanks for worrying."

"If you're grateful, let me use your wings later."

"Sure, whatever."

Of course.

She was doing a lot of things today she normally never would.

"You two whispering again without me?"

"If you're jealous, hurry up and catch up."

"Honestly, does a cute little beauty like me really have to take the lead? It's dangerous."

"…Have you two gotten even closer already?"

We left the passage we'd been in and I spoke while looking around the corridor we'd seen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yesterday.

"So, what do you think is waiting for us here?"

"Who knows. Your wings are healed—why not try flying down?"

"No way. I still can't actually fly yet."

"Well, we'll find out when we get there."

Just as we were about to head down along the corridor path—

"…Seriously, why is only this place randomly SF genre?"

All of a sudden the mana flowing down the walls turned red, and the movements of the flying machines buzzing around us changed.

"Well, at least things won't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be boring from the start."

They were clearly hostile toward us.

"Lucy. Can you fight?"

"If I could see the floor, maybe, but not from here. What about you, Ren?"

"I could manage if I pushed myself a little. Let's watch for now."

Right after that, the flying machines closed the distance, red mana gathering in front of them.

*Fwoosh!*

"Ren!"

"Danger…ous?"

A heat beam shot straight for my head.

"Oh."

I tilted my head lightly to the side, dodging the red line, and couldn't help admiring it.

"What are you admiring?! That was dangerous!"

"Come on, dangerous? This little thing? You two are seriously underestimating me, huh?"

"…Fine. You're amazing."

Sure, I'd gotten weaker, but that didn't mean I had to just stand there and take hits like this.

That aside—there was a way to use pure mana for attacks other than Aura. Interesting.

"I should watch this carefully. Might be able to apply it later."

I was just about to focus and analyze how the attack was fired when—

*Crack! Boom!*

"Huh?"

White lightning shot from Huey, and the flying machines that took the hit exploded.

"Whew. Good thing they weren't that sturdy."

"Tch. Waste. I wanted to watch a little longer before smashing them."

"No need to worry about that. More are coming."

Just as Lucy said, more flying machines—at least twice as many as the ones we'd just destroyed—were rising from below, appearing out of nowhere.

"…For now, we run."

Seeing that, Huey decided that since things had come to this, we might as well break through all the way in one go and start running.

"Sounds like a good plan."

"Besides, the option of running back the way we came seems to have disappeared."

The passage we'd come out of had somehow been sealed off, so I agreed and prepared to sprint downward.

"Let's go!"

To cut straight to the conclusion of our roughly two-hour marathon: avoiding combat as much as possible while running downward had been the right call.

However…

"Why the hell are they only shooting at meeeeee—!!"

Fighting against the crushing gravity that had started weighing down my body at some point, I yelled up at the flying machines that seemed unable to come any lower and were now circling regretfully overhead.

Those damn flying machines.

They completely ignored Lucy and Huey and just kept targeting me the whole time.

"Thanks to you, I got a nice show."

"Every time you smash one, twice as many come flying back, so I couldn't even destroy them. Haha."

"Dodging dozens of simultaneous shots… you really are something."

I glared at the two of them—who had clearly been strolling down like they were on a casual walk from the midpoint onward—then grumbled as I struggled under a body that grew heavier the lower we went, as if I'd fallen into a sea of gravity.

"Ugh. This is so heavy I'm gonna die."

"If you'd just jumped down without thinking, you'd have been flattened for sure."

"…You're saying that after already jumping once?"

"Ahem."

I'd decided I couldn't take it anymore and jumped the moment the floor came into view—only to use one of the flying machines Huey called "drones" as a foothold to dodge an attack. Watching that thing get crushed flat had honestly startled me.

"Never mind Ren almost getting flattened. Everyone stop."

"Calling that 'never mind' is a bit much, don't you think?"

"That… looks a little dangerous."

I was thinking the same thing about whatever was down there, so I stopped complaining and looked below.

At the base of the pillar standing in the center of the corridor, a massive mass of mana was glowing.

And kneeling before it as if standing guard, silent, was a single doll.

Clad head to toe in sleek white armor, it slowly rose to its feet the moment we stopped.

And then—

A deep, resonant male voice echoed through the entire corridor.

The calm tone carried no emotion whatsoever.

Except for one thing.

A powerful yearning, as if it had been waiting for something for a very long time.

"…What do we do?"

"What do you mean, what do we do? We don't exactly have a choice other than going down."

"Ren is right. Let's go."

When we finally reached the floor of the corridor, we felt the crushing gravity lift from our shoulders and approached the knight who had been bowing toward us.

"……."

The white knight looked at me for a moment.

Through the empty helmet, I somehow felt a strong sense of dissatisfaction directed at me.

"What. Why. Got a problem? Spit it out."

I ignored the looks of disbelief from Huey and Lucy and said it anyway.

"It is nothing. I was merely thinking that the harpy race has always been rather lacking in manners, no matter the era."

"What did you just say?"

I snapped at the knight who had picked a fight out of nowhere, but he ignored me completely and walked toward Lucy instead.

"It is an honor… to meet you. Might I ask your name?"

"Luciella."

Huey and I were both stunned.

Normally Lucy would hem and haw about whether to tell someone her name and only reluctantly give it up. This time, for some reason, she answered with a gentle smile.

"What's gotten into her? She just gave her name right away when asked."

"Right? Even her expression is different from usual."

We'd tried to keep our voices down, whispering close together, but she still heard us. Lucy glared at us with narrowed eyes.

"Luciella… is it. You truly remained the same until the very end."

And as if none of that mattered in the slightest, the knight dropped to one knee before Lucy.

"Lady Luciella. My name is Evan. I am the administrator of this tower you now stand in."

"A tower?"

"Yes. The Tower of Evolution. A space our Queen prepared for the day you would one day come."

Evan answered Lucy's question with clear pride.

"For you, who will become the new Queen."

Queen? Who?

…Her?

Wondering if I'd heard that right, I looked at Huey. He was staring back at me with the same confused expression, clearly not understanding either.

"Her as queen… whatever country that is, I'm already worried about its future."

"…Ren. Please."

I muttered it out of sheer disbelief, and Huey's scolding voice came at the same time as a thick killing intent began radiating from Evan's direction.

"How dare a lowly familiar speak that way of the one who will become Queen."

"What, got a problem?"

"I should have killed you before you came down."

"Aha. So you're the one who made those things up there only shoot at me?"

"Hmph. The Queen once said: from ancient times, nothing good has ever come of associating with winged creatures."

We were still facing off when—

"…Evan."

"My apologies, Lady Luciella."

"Master, Ren. Please. Give us a moment to talk."

Lucy let out a long sigh and asked, saying things wouldn't progress like this.

"…Ugh."

"Yeah. Let's go, Ren."

"Fine. I'm going, so get your hands off."

If I kept standing my ground, Huey looked ready to grab my wing, so I had no choice but to back off this time.

If those fingers touched me, I'd definitely let out another pathetic scream like earlier.

…Damn body.

"I get how you feel, but if you pick a fight for no reason, we're the only ones who lose."

"That's not it."

"Hm?"

"For some reason, just looking at that Evan guy puts me in a bad mood."

Being singled out for attacks was one thing.

But from earlier, my chest had been strangely restless.

One thing was certain.

This wasn't my own emotion.

"Tch."

I clicked my tongue at the unpleasant feeling of experiencing someone else's emotions in my place, then quietly watched Lucy and Evan talking up ahead.