Following the guidance of the welcoming Scavenger, Mile and her party passed through the entrance. The Little Mecha-Bird was still on Mile's shoulder. Although the entrance was narrow, that was only for Golem. For Scavenger and Mile, it was easy to pass through. The only narrow part was the entrance; once inside, the place was wide enough for two Rock Golems to walk side by side while standing.
After walking a little while, they came across a recently installed luminous stone that, although not very bright, provided enough light to walk around comfortably. So, Mile canceled the light magic. The dim light would have been enough for Scavenger and Golem, and for Mile and her group, it was bright enough that they wouldn't have any problems walking through the well-maintained cave, even on downhill slopes and stairs.
Even if it's a little dark, there's no need to worry about monsters suddenly appearing from the darkness, so in that respect it's reassuring. The cave was managed by Golems and Scavengers, and even if Golems and Scavengers were not there, there would be no monsters this deep. Even though they were monsters, they still needed food and water, so there's no way they could live in a place like this, where there's nothing and it's inconvenient to go hunting or to the watering hole. Even if they were to use a cave as a roost, it would only be a few dozen meters from the entrance. That was enough to protect them from the wind and rain.
...Then the group continued into the cave, down a steep staircase, and continued walking downhill.
"It's deep, huh... Much deeper than before..."
"Yes. Along the way, there were places that looked like they had been dug up after being buried by a rockfall… Well, just because it's deep doesn't necessarily mean it's from the ancient time..."
Yes, it would be more natural to think that the differences in depth of underground ruins indicate not how old or new the ruins were, but rather their importance to their builders. It was unlikely that any crustal movements that occurred after construction would have had any effect. If such a large-scale crustal movement had occurred, the ruins would have been completely flattened.
(Even underground cities don't go that deep. Even the time tunnel, which was a major national project, was several thousand meters underground in the Arizona desert...) (Mile's mind)
Mile simply said "Several thousand meters underground," but to travel at that altitude using stairs and downhill slopes, rather than traveling vertically in an elevator, how much walking would one have to do...? After all, Tokyo Tower is 333 meters high and Tokyo Skytree is 634 meters high. "Going down several thousand meters" would be quite difficult without an elevator or similar means of transportation. ...And while the downhill journey was fine, Reina and the other twos still didn't realize that the way back was all uphill...
"Are we there yet...?" (Reina)
"Phew, phew..." (Pauline)
Reina began to complain, while Pauline was already unable to speak properly. Mile and Mavis still seemed to be fine, but it seemed to be tough for the two rear guards. Going downhill was less physically demanding than going uphill, but it put a lot more strain on the knees, and also joints and muscles.
And so, with many breaks in between, the Crimson Vow continued walking for hours on end...
"Looks like we've arrived, right...?" (Mile)
When the road became flat instead of downhill, Mile decided that they had reached their goal.
"Haa haa..." (Mavis)
"Phew, phew..." (Reina)
"Sniff, sniff..." (Pauline)
Mavis and Reina were still standing, though with shaky knees and wobbly legs, like newborn fawns, but Pauline was nearly dead.
"Pa-Pauline-san, you did a great job, didn't you! We've finally arrived!" (Mile)
Pauline was aware that she held everyone back when it came to movement, and that her own movement speed was the upper limit for the Crimson Vow, so she always tried her best. Everyone understood that very well, and when Mile spoke to Pauline with words of encouragement, Reina and Mavis nodded enthusiastically, breathing heavily, but...
[At this rate, we'll arrive there in about three hours...] (Bird)
Thump!
Pauline finally collapsed after hearing Little Mecha-Bird's unnecessary explanation...
"It looks like we've really arrived this time, right..." (Mile)
"…………" (Other 3)
There was no reply. It was just a corpse...
When Mile and her group reached the end of the cave, they found themselves in front of a vast space like a dome stadium. And near the center, within a circle with a radius of several meters, there was what appeared to be some sort of sophisticated electronic device. It was not a lump of red rust or powder, but something that appeared to be in a normal state... What was strange was that there were several circles drawn on the ground radiating outwards from the center, and in each circle there was some sort of machine-like device placed. The inside of the ruins looked relatively clean, but as you went outwards it rusted and lost its shape. The ones near the outer edge were just lumps of rust or rust powder. Just like the ruins that Mile and her party had seen before...
"This is..." (Mile)
"What?" (All 4)
All the Crimson Vow's members tilted their head at the situation before their eyes, which clearly had a pattern, but...
[Slow Walker...] (Bird)
"This?" (Mile)
Mile let out a voice of doubt at the little robotic bird's words.
"The inside is newer and less weathered… Or rather, judging from what little robobird said, the electronics in the center are still intact and working. But as you go out, the deterioration, or rather the weathering, is more noticeable. ...And then there's the Slow Walker... Hmm, walking slowly, walking slowly... Wait, is it a stasis field!?" (Mile)
What if there was an electronic system that could last for 100 years without maintenance? And similarly, if there was a device that could generate a time stagnation field that would last for 100 years. A time stagnation field generator, set up so that the user himself was within its range of effect. And outside of that, they set up yet another time stagnation field generator. And outside of that too, and outside of that too... Yes, like matryoshka dolls[1]...
If a device could reduce the rate of time passing within its effective range to 1/100th the normal rate, then after 10,000 years, when the outermost device was destroyed, the next device would have only deteriorated by one year. And when the second stage device breaks down 9,900 years later, 19,900 years would have passed outside, and the next, third stage device would have deteriorated by 0.01 years + 0.99 years, or one year. Furthermore, when the third stage broke down after 9,900 years, 29,800 years would have passed outside, and the fourth stage device would have deteriorated by 0.0001 years + 0.0099 years + 0.99 years, equivalent to one year of deterioration. This process was repeated over and over, making it possible to survive for many years...
And since they were a scientifically advanced civilization, a device with few physical moving parts would likely last for over 100 years without maintenance, and they probably had autonomous machines for maintenance like Scavenger and spare parts for repairs. Also, the time stagnation ratio might be 1 in 500 or 1 in 1000. If that's the case, it might have survived for a much longer period of time than Mile could have imagined. While battling against wear and tear and the depletion of resources, they prepared for the day to come, following the orders of their creator...
"Ah, wait a mo-..." (Reina)
Mile ignored Reina's warnings and approached the device in the center. The Scavenger who had guided them this far remained stopped. However, the Little Mecha-Bird that was perched on Mile's right shoulder remained where it was...
Author's Note
Volume 15 of "Noukin" will be released on Monday, June 7th!
It includes major additions and a newly written short story. (^^)/
The bookstore specials are as follows:
1: The Battle with Oneself [BOOK☆WALKER]
2: Sword Technique [WonderGOO]
3: Transformation [Melon Books]
4: Variation [Gamers]
5:1 in 7 [Online bookstore]
6: Weapon Development [Animate]
7: Are you making clothes for "Crimson Vow"? [Toranoana]
8: Masked Girl [TSUTAYA + Fair Individual Stores]
Also, a special story written for the official website, "Full speed on both sides, Kragon, departing!", which shows the status of Reina in the color pinup of Volume 15, has already been released.
In addition to being able to access it from the official website, the URL is also posted on the SQEX Novel Editorial Department's official Twitter account in a post dated May 31st.
Well, I think it's okay to post it here, but the "Narou" rules state that "URLs or links to sales pages, etc. are not allowed"...
It's fine because it's just a short story page, but I'm a worrier... (^^;)
I think if you google it you'll get a hit straight away.
In addition to "Noukin," the issue also includes short stories from "When Four People With Negative Skills Gather, They Create a Synergy and Form the Strongest Party," "I Reincarnated as a Dragon's Egg: I Aim for Nothing Less Than the Strongest," and "The Sealing Magician Who Hates Boredom," which were released on the same day.
I would be happy if you could read it. (^^)/
And on Wednesday, June 9th, the 8th volumes of the "Roukin" and "Potion" comics will be released!
A FUNA-related book, Jet Stream Attack!!
Thank you very much. (^^)/
And finally, on Friday, July 2nd, the 6th volume of the novel "Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement" is scheduled to be published!
The illustrator is Motoe Keisuke, who is in charge of the comic adaptation.
Let's send a message of encouragement to Motoe-sensei's Twitter, who is dying from the concentration of work on his manga serialization, comics, novel covers, color frontispieces, and monochrome illustrations! (^^)/
...I don't have Twitter so I can't send it.... 〇|￣|＿
Translation Note
[1] I would say, "recursive"; Just in case for those who didn't know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll