Mile moved forward on her own, and Reina and the other two hurriedly followed her.
And…….
"Hello, old friend." (Mile)
Mile stopped in front of the device and raised her right hand slightly in greeting. She would have received data about the current language from Scavenger anyway, so this should have been a satisfactory greeting when meeting an immortal being who had lived for eons of time. ...According to Mile's_ knowledge of German epic space operas... And, since this was an encounter between a descendant of the Creator, after such a vast amount of time, it wouldn't be strange to call it an "old friend"...
[...] (Slow Walker)
[......] (Slow Walker)
[.........] (Slow Walker)
Since it was the one who called, it would naturally have at least a device for voice conversation ready. She thought that and greeted, but there was no reply. However, Mile's keen hearing detected something that was not complete silence, but rather vibrations in the air, as if a device was operating to produce sound. Perhaps the Slow Walker was hesitant to make any noise. ...Or maybe it was confused by Mile's greeting and was at a loss for words...
[...H-hello, old friend.... Administrator-sama...] (Slow Walker)
And finally, the Slow Walker replied.
"Well, you can speak smoothly and can handle unexpected situations. And quite powerful. Just as expected, huh..." (Mile)
As expected, it was a computer with a reasonable volume. Unlike the Little Mecha-Bird, it seemed to be able to speak like a human. ...The earlier stumble wasn't due to a lack of performance, but rather because it didn't quite understand what Mile said, so it didn't count.
"So please tell us who you are and why you invited us." (Mile)
Mile threw a straight ball right from the start. Well, if you didn't understand that, you couldn't talk, so it couldn't be helped. The other person should understand that much too.
"Until now, there has been no report or explanation from the Scavengers regarding you. However, it seemed logical that you would not tell me about yourself, perhaps the most talented of you all, and that you would not have contacted me. …So that means that at that point, the Scavengers didn't know about you, and you weren't in a position to get any information from them, right?" (Mile)
[Affirmative. I was functioning normally, but all auxiliary devices, cables, antennas, and other things outside the field had been completely destroyed, and all routes to the outside had been largely buried by collapse, meaning I was unable to obtain any information from the outside, and it was impossible for me to give any orders. The main reasons for this situation are that the waiting time... the passage of time outside the field far exceeded expectations, instructions from the administrator were cut off, and all of the servants were lost almost simultaneously.] (Slow Walker)
The servants were probably what Mile and her party called Scavenger.
"A total loss almost at the same time?" (Mile)
[A large rockfall caused by tectonic shifts, and when they gathered to try to repair it, another rockfall occurred. The passageway was buried, and the units that had gone outside did not return.] (Slow Walker)
"Ahh..." (Mile)
The Scavenger repaired each other and created new ones when their numbers decreased, so they survived for eternity with successive generations passing, but there was nothing that could be done if they were all wiped out at once. It seemed as though a series of misfortunes occurred, but with tens of thousands of years to spare, this was bound to happen. Before that, there might have been a shortage of materials and general decline in functionality.
[Having lost my means of communication with the outside world, my eyes and ears, and my servants, my hands and feet, the Time Scale Variable Device gradually lost its functionality. Then, a few days ago, when only a few functioning devices remained, the 'Bearers of Good News' appeared...] (Slow Walker)
"Yes, yes, they are my subordinate, the Scavenger... the repair team dispatched to the site where the base used to be, right..." (Mile)
Slow Walker seemed to like names and phrases such as "servant" and "bearer of good news."
"So, what is your purpose in your life... what is your mission?" (Mile)
Having grasped the general situation, Mile finally asked a question that got to the heart of the matter. Unless she confirmed this, she would not be able to decide how to respond no matter what she was told or asked to do. Reina and the other two listened in silence to the conversation between Mile and the Slow Walker.
[My manufacturing objective is...] (Slow Walker)
"Uh huh..." (Mile)
[It was to 'cross time' in case the information needed to protect this world from invaders from another world were lost, or the bases that were created in preparation for such a time were to lose their functionality due to the passage of time.] (Slow Walker)
"As I thought……" (Mile)
It was pretty much what Mile had expected. And, the Slow Walker said...
Long ago, this planet was home to a thriving civilization where ordinary people could take space trips within the star system for a small fee. However, one day, a dimensional rift suddenly appeared and strange creatures... "monsters" began pouring out. Although civilization was highly developed, the entire planet was peacefully ruled by a unified government, so there were no powerful weapons in the world, nor was there a fighting organization with capabilities beyond those of the police, which was what was needed to maintain law and order. Furthermore, most parts of the planet were inhabited by a fairly high density of humans, and it was in these places that monsters appeared.
Therefore, the appearance of monsters was equivalent to the start of a mass genocide of humans, and the damage was enormous. Furthermore, because they suddenly appeared in urban areas, the city's functions were immediately paralyzed. Indiscriminate attacks on places where many people were left behind—improvised chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction—were not possible, and not only did they cause great damage, they also failed to annihilate the monsters, which spread throughout the world. The crack then disappeared naturally.
After much investigation and research, it was discovered that the dimensional rift was not a natural phenomenon, but rather an artificial, scientifically created event. Not knowing when the dimensional rift would open again, the people left behind only a few and formed an immigrant fleet using the many large spaceships they had built to head for a new land...
"No! No, no, no!! Wait a second! Rather than taking such a huge gamble as large-scale interstellar immigration to a new, unseen world, it would be much quicker, easier, and safer to eliminate the monsters scattered all over the world one by one! Why would you do something so stupid..." (Mile)
That's impossible. That's like abandoning your home and moving to a faraway country because there were rats in it. That's impossible... That's what Mile thought, but...
[I don't know what the Administrators were thinking.] (Slow Walker)
It was perhaps inevitable that created things could not understand the thoughts of their creators.
"Perhaps, because of the long period of peace, they were a kind and gentle (albeit spineless) race..." (Mile)
Mile was thinking about such things.
"...So, the dimensional rift was intentionally opened through scientific means, but why was it only monsters that invaded? Why didn't any other races that developed a system that could cross dimensions come? Did they create such a system for some purpose? Besides, in the first place, why are there so many ferocious creatures that attack and eat humans in a world with such advanced scientific power? Isn't that strange?" (Mile)
And so, Mile asked the obvious question...
[No, they're here.] (Slow Walker)
"Eh?" (Mile)
[The descendants of the intelligent beings who are believed to have developed these things have come to this world along with the monsters.] (Slow Walker)
"What?! Then where on earth could this intelligent being be...?" (Mile)
[Currently, they exist all over this continent. And currently, the human species calls them "goblins".] (Slow Walker)
"Whaaaaaaaat?!" (All CV)
Not only Mile, but also Reina and the other two who had been listening quietly couldn't help but shout out loud.
"G-go-go-go-goblins are intelligent creatures? Stupid, violent, unable to speak, the lowest level monster that attacks humans, that goblin?" (Mile)
Even as she said this, Mile noticed that for some reason, the humans never questioned the fact that even if they hunted goblins, they never tried to use the materials from them, and never tried to eat their meat.
No, the meat certainly didn't look that tasty. However, in times of poor harvests, it might be okay to eat it. No matter how bad it tasted, it was far better than starving to death. ...However, for some reason, no human beings ate goblins, even though they had no qualms about eating other monsters. Also, animals and monsters didn't mind eating goblins, so it's not like they're poisonous or unpalatable enough to kill you. And yet, humans were the only species that stubbornly refused to eat goblins. It was like the taboo feeling that humans had towards eating human flesh...
"Now that I think about it, goblins attack human women... Not to eat, but to use them as toys..." (Mile)
Upon hearing Mile's muttering, all the Crimson Vow's members seemed to freeze, and just stood there in silence...
Author's Note
Yesterday (Monday, June 7th), volume 15 of "Noukin" was finally released!
Thank you very much. (^^)/
And tomorrow (Wednesday the 9th), the 8th volumes of the comics "Roukin" and "Potion" will go on sale!!
Thank you for your continued support. (^^)/