Another Miracle (2)

The three Apostles offered up the first prayer of the year on the Japanese mainland. It would be no exaggeration to say that a holy ground had been born there, however briefly.

"Where many possibilities exist, the likelier course is the favorable one. That is the state of the Japanese archipelago at present."

Wanting to conduct experimental research in a place like this, then, could hardly be called strange. Contorting oneself for even a sliver of better odds was not a story that belonged to gacha players alone. Even an institution known as the military seemed to be no exception: the US Forces Japan unit under Colonel Rachel Evans had been tasked with developing a new weapon.

"Of course, when we say we're the ones doing the research, all it really means is that the original team has been formally reassigned to this side — attached to Leviathan."

In short, their names existed on paper and little else.

"But if they mean to observe what a sacred domain actually does, shouldn't they come to Japan in person?"

And before that — if the research team was not in Japan, then where exactly were she and the others headed? Han Seoyeon turned the question over as she looked at Colonel Rachel.

Rachel only grinned.

"Simple. If they'd been here from the start, there'd be no reason to move them, would there?"

"From the start? Then why weren't they under US Forces Japan until now?"

"We're moored here for a good long while at the moment. It hasn't always been that way."

"...'Moored'?"

Rachel rapped the glass twice with the back of her hand. Seoyeon's gaze drifted that way before she quite meant it to.

If a problem looks impossible to solve with money, consider once more whether the trouble was simply that you did not have enough of it. A joke, founded on the creed that money is almighty — that with enough of it, most problems can be made to yield one way or another. In the hidden world, however, it does not remain a joke.

Among anomalies, the word impossible applies to a single statement and no other: that the impossible exists. In the hidden world, theoretically, everything is possible. If it does not feel that way, the reason is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one of two. Either you do not know the method, or you lack the funds to attempt it. And since even the first of those can usually be answered with time and budget, then so long as sufficient capital is assured, nothing in this world is impossible. Granted that, it was only natural that the nation which would lose to no one in a contest of capital should close its grip on supremacy.

"...I think this every time I see it, but is the United States preparing for a war with aliens?"

Even in the surface world, that country's military was famous for developing weapons of a grade never meant to be turned on humankind. The research-and-development team assigned to the hidden world was, it seemed, no exception.

"So... to summarize..."

"An amphibious battleship that maximizes firepower projection, built around four quasi-scenario-class anomalies."

"...I'll speak plainly, if I may. You are fighting aliens, aren't you? That thing is a space battleship."

"Operations beyond the thermosphere aren't in the design."

Seoyeon's eyes went sharper still. She had wanted, at the very least, to hear that it could not fly — or to be given the word atmosphere.

She let out a long sigh... and then her eyes went round, as if something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had struck her as wrong.

"...Four? Everything I've seen until now was three. The initial proposal was the same."

Outer armor realized from the Central American dragon-god, Quetzalcoatl. An engine built from the twin hounds of the Norse. Metal forged by the smith-god of Greece. Each was an anomaly one could tell, from the name alone, was anything but ordinary. Even quasi-scenario-class was an understatement — these were monsters with an actual record of triggering anomaly scenarios.

In the development of a weapon, whether an existence of that grade was added or not was a gravely serious matter. It was not, at the very least, the sort of thing one simply tacked on without a plan to see what happened.

"What on earth were you thinking?"

"The Doctor was very firm that a space battleship has to have a warp function."

"Ah. Then it can't be helped."

The words that followed convinced her at once. If it was that man, it truly couldn't be helped. One does not casually argue common sense with a mad scientist. Better to count it a mercy that he was content to attach himself to a superpower and quietly do his research. She wiped the matter from her mind almost immediately.

"So. What is this fourth anomaly?"

"Ah. That's all compiled in here."

Colonel Rachel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠handed the file over, and Seoyeon skimmed it at speed, the pages fluttering past.

"Hmm."

A peculiar expression settled over her face.

"...Do you happen to know a game called Half-Life?"

"Famous one. I hear the fans have been waiting forever for the fourth installment."

"I'll be praying very hard that we don't end up like that."

"A prayer from an Apostle? I'll take it gladly."

Seoyeon handed the documents back and, empty-handed, turned her hat over between her fingers.

"In any case, tell me what I'm meant to do today. I'll finish as quickly as I can and go back."

"Is something the matter?"

"No. It's just..."

At Rachel's question, Seoyeon offered a small smile.

"She bought a cake, and asked me to come home as soon as I could."

A regrettable truth: if merely wishing with all one's heart were enough to make a thing happen, the world would not look like this. Seoyeon had meant to finish the work as fast as possible and go home... but by the time she could return, the sun had long since set, and then some.

Miss Ninomae said she'd be waiting. She told me to hurry back...

It couldn't be helped. However much she wanted to get home, she could hardly abandon military business on a whim. True — if Ninomae's safety were at stake, she would not care if a country or two went under. This was not that sort of matter, and Han Seoyeon was not a woman who cast her duty aside for anything less.

...At this hour, she's already asleep.

Overhead stretched a night sky with spring all but at the threshold, the winter constellations yielding their places toward the west. Seoyeon looked up at it and sighed. A thin breath bloomed in the dark.

Ninomae had said she would wait, so she could wish her a happy birthday. At this hour, though, she would surely be asleep. Midnight was nearly upon them, and Seoyeon had already sent word that the work would run late. It couldn't be helped... and yet, thinking of it now, the regret sat heavy. Ninomae had gone out of her way to mark her birthday, only for it to slip away like this. It was a terrible shame.

I suppose I'll have to be content that a Super Chat wished me well on stream...

She sighed again and steadied herself on that. Still, she could take comfort in the fact that Mary herself had called her by name and wished her a happy birthday. That alone had been enough to make her feel as if she might float away. Maybe she ought to clip it and play it over for a few days... Turning the thought over, Seoyeon carefully opened the front door.

And in that instant—

"Shion, s—hyaaaah?!"

"...Ah."

Something burst in the dark the moment the door came open — a crack like a gunshot. Seoyeon slipped aside on pure reflex and drove straight toward the source.

Only after scent and a scream told her the source was Ninomae did she realize she had already collided with her. Ninomae's body folded under the sudden blow. Afraid she would be hurt like this, Seoyeon caught her hard and spun them both. Tangled together, they went over, and the whole affair ended with Seoyeon striking the floor on her back.

"Miss Ninomae?"

"U-uwaah... Y-you scared me..."

Ninomae's voice leaked out against her, nearly a whimper.

Only then, her eyes grown used to the dark, could Seoyeon make out how she was. Finely shredded confetti lay heaped across the generous swell of Ninomae's chest, rising and falling with her breath. The source was not hard to find. A small party popper was still clutched in her hand.

"That popper... ah. So that's what it was. I'm sorry."

"No... I'm sorry for startling you over nothing."

They traded apologies, and then, with no telling which of them gave in first, a soft laugh broke from them both.

"Ahaha, what even is this?"

"I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sorry."

"Ah-ah, no saying sorry! Today's a happy day, isn't it?"

With that, Ninomae drew her in tighter still, then looked up at her with a shy little smile.

"...Thank you. Miss Ninomae."

So saying, Seoyeon held her close and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Ninomae's cheeks flushed enough to show even in the dark, and still she laughed, bright and helplessly pleased — ehehe.