Endless Silver Machine

When I left the Great Library, it was not completely dark yet.

As the seasons change, the proportions of day and night gradually change. If he hadn't looked at the time, Aika would have thought it was just afternoon.

"It's almost time to go back."

Aika knew the exact time from the PDA. It was actually almost dusk, but the red sunset could not be seen in the horizon.

The clouds are very thick and the sunset should not be visible today.

"It hasn't rained in a while, so it's almost time to come."

It was obviously a rainy spring, but the sun was shining brightly for two weeks, so Aika had such a premonition.

He quickened his pace, closed the PDA screen and prepared to put it back into the pocket of his uniform.

Suddenly, he noticed the "rustling" noise again, and it came from the PDA in his hand.

Aika quickly opened the screen, but it was still the familiar main interface, and no programs were started.

"It's weird, is it broken because of the moisture?"

In this humid weather, precision instruments such as machinery are most vulnerable to damage, so preheating is often started to prevent sudden failures.

Aika seldom uses the PDA, and it may become malfunctioning because of his neglect of maintenance.

The noise goes away for a while, but comes back every few hours, and it's been like this lately.

"anyone there……"

"Um?"

This time I heard it more clearly, and there was indeed the sound of someone speaking.

"...Can you hear my voice?"

A strange girl's voice came through the PDA's speaker, and the volume was louder than normal communication. Aika had never set up her PDA like this.

But if you listen carefully, the voice on the other side of the PDA seems a bit familiar...

The person on the other side didn't seem to know that Aika was staring at the PDA screen. Normally, of course he couldn't see it...

"Hello……"

Aika tried to respond to the voice. I just didn’t know if the other party would react if I just said this, so I just said hello briefly.

"It seems that the connection was successfully connected."

"Aha..."

"Are you a descendant of the 'Qianze' family?"

"Eh?"

"……Eh?"

"..."

There was an awkward silence, Aika didn't know how to answer the other party.

"Yes" or "no", although this answer was enough, the other person was an unknown person, so Aika hesitated.

"...Did I make a mistake... Cocona clearly said that she was only connected to the 'Chise' house... Sorry, if not, then goodbye."

"Wait a minute..." The girl's voice mentioned Professor Cocona's name with an ancient tone and address that is almost no longer used in modern times. Aika tried to confirm, "You are the person who warned us in the Imperial Capital. ?"

"Warning... Speaking of which, there was such a thing. It was so long ago that I can't remember it clearly."

"old?"

Aika, who was already at a loss, was even more confused by her incredible words.

"Don't worry, the time in my world flows at a different speed than the time in your world. Then you are a descendant of the 'Qianze' family. I have not admitted my mistake, right?"

"Um."

It didn't feel like the conversation was going to end soon. The courtyard near the big library happened to be unused at this time, so Aika walked there and sat down.

"Well, first open the monitor of this carrier."

"Carrier? Monitor?"

"This is the machine I borrowed for the conversation with you. Cocona said that this machine also has a monitor, right? Without a monitor, I can't see the outside world."

The girl opposite the PDA slowly explained, while Aika tried her best to understand her words.

The carrier probably refers to a PDA, a monitor... a surveillance camera... In that case, it probably refers to a camera.

After understanding, Aika turned on the PDA's rear camera.

"Um...where are you?"

"Am I right here?"

"But I only saw nothing on the ground."

"So that's what it means..."

Aika switched the camera from the rear to the front so that her face could be photographed.

"Well... you are the face of a passerby."

"Can I turn off my phone?"

"Don't worry," the girl didn't seem to understand the reason for Aika's anger and was silent for a few seconds. "I found you. I can see you in the imperial capital occasionally. A descendant of the 'Qianze' family, what is your name?"

"...Aika."

"Aika Chise... Then as a courtesy, I have to tell you my name. You can call me Inili."

Aika had read this name in a book when she was a child, and vaguely remembered that it came from some myth and legend, so it was definitely not her real name.

However, Professor Cocona also said that the identity of the other party is very mysterious, and there may be reasons why he cannot tell Aika all his names.

"Inili, thanks to your warning a few days ago, we managed to escape. Thank you."

Regardless of the fact that the other party easily knew Aika's whereabouts and hid her name, it was a certain fact that she helped everyone, so Aika must thank her for this.

"Aika, you know etiquette very well. You are different from the man from the 'Qianse' family."

"'That man'?"

"Put that question aside for now," Inili cleared her throat and confused, "Actually, I made an agreement with Cocona."

"Are there any conditions for helping us?"

"Well, only the fact that his head turns quickly is very similar to that man's."

"So, who are you comparing me to..."

"I promised Cocona to provide assistance to you. The corresponding reward is... I want you to take me to see the current world."

"Inili, can it be said that...you are not in the same world as us?"

Inili also said just now that the flow of time in her world is very different from this world.

There is more than one world, and the dimensionalism that was once called utopian philosophy has been confirmed by the existence of barrier magic.

"It can be understood this way. I can only watch the unchanged Bes Empire through the monitor, but I have never seen the other world."

The originally excited voice suddenly became low. But it only lasted for a moment, and Inili immediately returned to her original tone.

"So I made an agreement with Cocona. In return, you will take me to travel around the world!"

"Professor Cocona made a decision for me without authorization again..."

"Don't you want to..."

Aika's words seemed to hurt Inili, and her tone turned sad.

"No, no, I'm just saying that it would be easier to accept if you told me beforehand."

"Then you mean to agree to my request? Great!"

Aika had already guessed that the tone just now was fake.

"However, even if you say you want to visit this world, I don't know where you are going."

The places Aika has visited over the years may not be one in a hundred billion of the world.

"We have enough time. Is the place where you are now called 'Shimotsuki Academy'?"

"Well, Inili should have heard of it, right?"

If you haven't heard of the existence of Shimozuki Academy, I'm afraid Inili really comes from another world.

"I have indeed heard of this name. It is said to be a place without borders or racial differences, so there are no disputes."

"That's probably it. I'm not sure if there are any disputes, but there is indeed no racial discrimination here."

"It's great...if only there could have been a group of people like this back then..."

"Inili?"

"Ah haha, just talking to myself. Without further ado, please take me to visit this incredible academy right away!"

"Let me remind you in advance that it's almost night now, and don't you have to use the camera to see what's going on outside? If there is only streetlight lighting, the lens will be gray, so you can't see anything clearly, right?"

"...That's right. It seems inhumane to let you hold the carrier all the time. Then take me to Cocona."

Although Inili gave up the idea of ​​visiting Frost Moon Academy at night, she still ordered Aika to move with her.

"If I go to Professor Cocona now..." I need to take a detour, and I may go home later than planned, but I promised Inili that I would repay her for her help, so I have no intention of refusing, "I'll tell my family first. Will go back later."

"Family? Are they the group of little girls who surrounded you when you were in the imperial capital? Speaking of which, you are really popular. You don't even notice your face even if you are just walking on the street."

"I'm sorry, I'm born with a passerby face, so I'm very helpless."

Although the girl's voice keeps ringing, the PDA can still operate normally, so how is it connected?

…………

Along the way, the girl did not reveal any personal information. Most of the questions were about getting an overview of the neutral zone and Frost Moon Academy. Aika told her everything she knew.

The detour was equivalent to going around Shimozuki Academy. Aika finally arrived at the door of Professor Cocona's research room before it got completely dark.

Inili seemed to have asked all the questions she wanted to know now and remained silent for the last few minutes.

"Reached?"

I don’t know how Inili judged that she had stopped, but she asked this anyway.

"Well," Aika held up the PDA and pointed the rear camera at Professor Cocona's research room, "This is where Professor Cocona lives. Are you friends with her?"

"Friends? Well... we have become friends."

"oh……"

Aika knocked on the door politely. After all, she came to Professor Cocona's research room outside the scheduled time and could not open the door and go in by herself.

Professor Cocona seemed to happen to be in the hall, and immediately opened the door for him after hearing the knock on the door.

"Eh? Aika, what's wrong, it's so late?"

She was also wearing an ill-fitting white shirt that showed striped underwear. Maybe he had just finished taking a shower. From this distance, Aika could smell the sweet smell of shampoo and shower gel.

Professor Cocona seemed a little flustered, probably because she did not expect that the visitor would be Aika.

"Actually, it's like this..."

Aika explained the situation while restraining herself from paying attention to her body.

Even if I wasn't myself, I couldn't open the door dressed like this...

Although there are basically no dangerous people in Shigetsuki Academy, you should at least be on guard.

Of course, Aika was just looking for an excuse because she was panicked when she saw Professor Cocona's outfit. These were just thoughts in his mind. What he needed to explain to Professor Cocona was about Inili.

…………