Chapter 11. Summer and the Sea (7)
The first thought that came to mind upon hearing there was an intruder was, naturally, wondering which bold bastard had decided to break into this facility.
It was true that most of the facility was empty. Ria had chosen the schedule and location with my swimsuit in mind, so the only people "playing" here were us. Since Ria had spoken to her "uncle" about it, there was a strong possibility that the Association hadn't sent anyone while we were here.
But even so, there was no way a facility this large had no one managing it. Even if they didn't patrol the building while we were playing, there were people guarding the entrance. They probably patrolled at night too.
The number of people wasn't large, but there would be CCTV inside the building, and some kind of security system would be running. A building that sat empty for much of the year was a prime spot for strange people to sneak in and settle.
So in a way, it was only natural that the first thing I thought upon hearing that was, "Who on earth?"
And the thought that came right after was—
Did I mishear?
She might have mistaken the footsteps of the patrolling staff for an "intruder." Maybe a stray cat had gotten inside and was wandering around, or maybe there was a hallway with an open window and she'd mistaken a sound caused by the wind.
"Who was the first person to hear it?"
I had changed out of the slightly thin, comfortable nun's habit I wore for sleeping and back into my everyday nun's habit. When I asked, someone cautiously raised a hand.
Davi.
Glaria's maid.
Hm.
I didn't know what kind of person Davi was. She was someone who hadn't even appeared in the original work.
But she didn't seem like the type to lie. She was also someone who had managed to save Glaria even in that situation, and more than anything, the novel frequently mentioned that elf senses were superior to ordinary human senses in some respects.
"......It was a sound, like something squirming."
And what Davi offered was a sound that seemed somewhat removed from an ordinary situation.
"You said intruder."
When I asked that in response to "a squirming sound," Davi flinched.
She looked much better than when I'd first seen her, but she still seemed highly guarded. Well, if her duty was to protect Glaria's surroundings, that was understandable.
And what she'd experienced when first crossing into this world had been terrible too.
Someone who has been badly hurt by another person tends to react sensitively to suspicion or hostility directed at them.
Even so, seeing her stand slightly in front of Glaria, Davi seemed to remember well what she had to do. That was probably why she'd reacted so quickly upon hearing that sound.
"I don't know much about what species exist among the ones humans know. I am studying on my own, but I've never encountered a world with this many Gates before."
Glaria explained on Davi's behalf.
"There are Demonfolk with snake-like lower bodies. There are so many kinds of Magical Creatures to begin with that there are countless individuals that can't even be classified as a separate species. The beings we classify and name are mostly ones that managed to survive and take root in the land."
And beings that took root in that way somehow came to possess certain biological characteristics. Such beings couldn't survive in environments with too much Mana. Just as all life on Earth originally lived in the sea before moving onto land.
"So that means it could be a Magical Creature."
"We're near the sea, after all."
Hm.
I looked at Ria.
As if she'd already figured out how to handle it while listening, Ria shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, then there's only one way."
Ria said with a smile.
"Obviously, we should call in the experts, right?"
At Ria's perfectly sensible idea, I smiled and nodded too.
*
In novels featuring hot-blooded youths, when the characters are too young, they sometimes ignore established "procedures" or "expertise."
They say the less people know, the more they think they know everything. No, maybe it happens because they don't know that they don't know.
Without telling anyone, they insist on going to dangerous places and landing in danger, getting beaten bloody here and there, or stubbornly doing things experts absolutely tell them not to do.
Well, I understand. If the protagonist were someone who listened well, no incidents would occur in the novel. And such novels are boring.
But everyone here is an adult. Including me, most of us still had somewhat youthful faces, but under this country's laws, we were legal adults starting this year. Glaria and Davi might have been treated as adults from an even younger age.
And being an adult means being a creature that must take responsibility for its own actions.
My going to the Gnome village and suffering, or going to the Dwarf Kingdom and suffering, was suffering I chose for myself. I gained things from it, and I lost things too.
And being an adult also meant being a creature that didn't go out of its way to take responsibility for other people's actions.
We called the security guards. Unexpectedly, there were quite a lot of people stationed at this facility, and the number that gathered quickly approached thirty. It seemed they really had just been absent from around us.
They were called "security guards," but they were all Hunters belonging to the Hunter Association. It was just that their assigned post was here.
After all, if a Magical Creature appeared from the sea, someone had to deal with it.
Right. With experts already here, did we really need to check this entire massive facility ourselves? People who had worked at this facility for years could check far more reliably than we could.
Those experts moved around checking the situation with some kind of equipment in hand. No, it seemed the building itself had an enormous number of devices measuring Mana levels.
People were also going out to the sea and moving around even more diligently. Like when Ria had given me a ride, they rode something like hover bikes while measuring the Mana on the sea side.
As the situation grew bigger and bigger, Davi's face gradually turned pale.
Glaria kept glancing at Davi. After all, Davi was the only other elf in this world, different from herself. Even though I'd never seen the two of them openly chatting in a friendly way, she couldn't help but be concerned.
"Um...... As a result of our check, we don't see anything particularly unusual."
The man who seemed to be the leader among those on guard duty said that.
"We'll need to search the building a bit more to be certain, but for now, it doesn't appear to be a Magical Creature problem."
At those words, Davi's face stiffened further.
"What about the possibility of a person or a living creature?"
Glaria asked.
"That will require a bit more investigation."
The man said with a nod.
"For now, we'll conduct further checks during the remaining time. We'll also station people on alert in front of your rooms."
"Thank you."
Ria bowed with utmost politeness.
Throughout that exchange, I watched Davi closely.
Davi, who had shown a somewhat flustered expression from the moment she heard it was nothing, was trembling faintly by the time Ria gave her thanks.
I imagined it. Suppose our country had a princess, and suppose I were the princess's maid, and my mistake had woken the princess from her sound sleep in the middle of the night—
Hm, honestly, I don't quite understand. Most atheists believe in human equality in their own way. I know it can't be fully realized due to practical issues, but the idea that I possess some biological superiority over other humans is nonsense. The concept of superiority and inferiority itself was created by intelligent beings in the first place.
Biological "superiority" is about surviving. Surviving and leaving offspring.
......Though I suppose I'm in a somewhat ambiguous position.
I crept over toward Davi. Davi saw me approaching and her face went pale again. No, maybe "paler" would be the more accurate expression.
"Don't worry too much."
I said quietly.
"Being careful never hurts."
In the first place, I wasn't in a position to criticize Davi. How could I judge someone over a single warning when I'd gone around spouting fake prophecies and crawling into genuinely dangerous places?
......And since I already knew from the original work that there were people who would come after the Saint, having someone be extra cautious wasn't a bad thing.
But Davi still just trembled faintly at my words.
Glaria had an expression that said she didn't know how to soothe Davi.
Hm.
There wasn't anything I could do for her right now, but if I kept bringing her along, maybe she'd improve a little.
Watching Davi fidget restlessly, I thought that.
*
In the end, nothing particular happened until the next day.
Since we were scheduled to return to Seoul a bit late in the afternoon today, we decided to go into the sea in the morning and play a little while we were at it.
And to me, Ria—
"Hey, want to ride that one more time?"
—asked if I wanted to try riding the Mana motorcycle.
"......Why would I?"
"You seemed scared yesterday. I want to enjoy that expression a bit more."
Was she doing this because I'd teased her?
I tried to refuse. It was obvious she was saying this because she wanted to get one over on me.
"Why? Scared?"
I know it's a provocation.
Because Ria had said it with a beaming smile—
"......Fine, I've already ridden it once, so nothing special will happen this time."
But honestly, when Ria says something like that, it's a little hard to hold back.
So I turned back around and answered while glaring at Ria.
I'm not sure why.
Was this relationship, perhaps, following the original work too? Was I being influenced by that plot as well?
Watching Ria smile like a carnivore eyeing its prey, I gave it some serious thought.