Tale of Discovery

Chapter 312: Interruption ; Fun-Time

While scratching the back of my head, I walk back to the chair as I think of what Reine just said.

Apparently, Dominion is present within the DEM industries' main building. For what reason? That, I can't figure out.

"Based on your expression, you know what happened?" Reine's voice reverberates within my ears as I settle down on the chair.

"Yes, to an extent," I respond nonchalantly before an idea suddenly pops up in my head.

"That thing you encountered," I say in a low tone, "I have a strong feeling that if I make contact with it, all issues can be dealt with."

My issues, that is. After all, if I settle the matter with Dominion and realizing her intentions, I could deal with whatever is left before taking my leave from this Platform.

This is all assuming I don't lose my current body in a confrontation with the cryptic lady in case she turns out to be hostile

At this moment, I sense an abrupt change in the atmosphere. Upon checking out the anomaly, I notice that the specks of odd energy in the air have become unstable, changing form and convulsing in varied ways.

Before I can relay this information to the two girls, an extremely sharp sound reaches my ears, causing me to block them with my hands as I struggle to get rid of remnants of the noise within my head.

Taking a glance at the other two, I notice that they're doing the same, with Kotori being on her knees, a pained expression covering her face.

After a few minutes, I regain full clarity of mind and proceed to get up from my chair before walking over to the two girls.

"Are you okay?" I say as I reach out to Kotori's head and rub it gently.

"Yeah, somehow," she responds in a vexed tone as she grabs my arm and uses it to pull herself up in order to get back on her feet.

"What was that?" I question while shifting my sight over to Reine.

"It's the same," she mutters.

"The same? What are you talking about?" I say hastily, growing a little impatient due to the abnormality of the situation.

"That noise," Reine explains, "It's the same as the one that appeared over there."

Oh, right. She did mention something like this during her recount of the failed rescue mission.

She said that right before she was suddenly assaulted and forced to retreat, some annoying sound had rendered her immobile for a few seconds.

In which case, whatever happened is most likely related to Dominion.

"Stay here," I state in a firm tone, "I will go check outside."

Having said that, I get up from the seat and begin to make my way out of the ruined building.

--

Once outside, I immediately notice that something is off. Using my senses, I run a quick scan of the area, only to be stunned upon noticing the body of an unconscious girl that seems to be sixteen years old lying at the center of a somewhat large crater.

Despite the situation, the girl has no signs of injury over her body, and the white dress she is wearing is spotless.

Intrigued, I begin walking toward the crater that's about a hundred meters away from where I stood while keeping my 'sight' on the mysterious young girl.

Shortly, I find myself crouching right beside the girl and using Corporikinesis to check whether she is alive or not.

{Warning: Unable to initiate entity analysis due to interference from unstable energy. Please leave the location as soon as possible.}

Great; just what I needed.

Hmm What do I do with her? For starters, I should probably make sure she is not a certain person.

With that in mind, I reach my arm out to her delicate face and use my fingers to gently peel her eyes open and look at their colors - Blue.

Both irises are blue, unlike the ones I had seen before, which were red and blue.

Releasing a sigh, I slide my arms underneath the girl's body and lift her from the ground as I rise up.

Following this, I turn around and walk in the direction of the car we took to get here is at.

---

"So, are you going to explain this anytime soon?" Kotori says in a displeased tone as she glances at the unconscious girl's face.

Currently, Reine is driving back to the city, while Kotori is seated at the passenger seat beside her.

As for me, I am sitting in the back, next to the window, with the head of a certain unconscious girl on my lap.

"Well, yeah," I respond as I think over my words for a few seconds before saying, "When I left you two, I came out and found her a short distance away, lying on the ground while in this state."

"Could she have been here before, and we just missed her?" Kotori questions.

"Impossible," I respond as I shake my head, "If she were there earlier, I would've definitely noticed her."

After all, something like a crater with a girl lying in it isn't something easy to miss.

"So, what do you plan to do?" Kotori says as she furrows her brows, "Don't tell me you want to bring her back home and give her the only room left"

"Perhaps," I say in a dubious tone, "But, first, I need to make sure that she's safe. As such, I will have her board the Fraxinus."

"Hey! Don't use the Fraxinus as your personal little prison!" Kotori exclaims in a miffed tone.

"Sure, sure," I say as I gaze outside.

---

In the end, even after reaching the flying vessel and moving the girl over to a special room with an energy container at its center, she still wouldn't wake up.

Oddly, even after we had exited the facility's premises, AI was still unable to analyze her properly, with the only result coming up being that the girl is not a human.

As simple as that may sound, it means quite a lot. Even so, it mostly made me wonder what she could be.

So, out of curiosity, I inquired about AI's analysis concerning the race of the spirits I have encountered so far, to which she surprisingly responded with 'human' for all of them.

For that reason, I tried to figure out the nature of the unnamed girl's existence through Corporikinesis. Unfortunately, no matter what method I used, her body was similar to that of any ordinary human's body.

"Shido," a voice calls out, bringing a halt to my thoughts, "Are you sure this is the right place?"

Focusing back on reality, I find Kotori with a doubtful look on her face as she points at a building in front of us.

Right now, the two of us are standing in front of a small building that was chosen by me as the location of our date for the evening.

I had been dissatisfied with the way things turned out earlier, so I proposed a continuation of our date to Kotori while aboard the Fraxinus, which she 'reluctantly' accepted.

Regrettably, Reine refused me when I invited her as well, claiming that she had a lot of work to do.

Shaking such thoughts away, I glimpse at the building.

"Yes," I respond nonchalantly as I look at the numerous devices inside, "We're going to be spending some time in this arcade."

"Who suggested this?" Kotori says as the corner of her mouth twitches.

"No one did," I respond while shrugging, "I just thought that this place is a suitable one for our date."

Hearing this, Kotori just releases a sigh as she lowers her head and presses her palm against her forehead.

As a response to her actions, a smile forms on my lips as I pat her back and say, "You'll understand why in a few minutes."

--

"Ooh, this is better than I thought," Kotori utters excitedly as she pulls the trigger on the fake assault rifle she's carrying while pointing the muzzle at some spider-like monster on the screen.

"I told you, didn't I?" I say before chuckling and approaching her from behind.

Most likely sensing me, Kotori hurriedly says, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I say as I wrap my left arm around her waist and pull her close to myself.

Following this, I raise my right arm and place my palm atop the hand that's holding the fake assault rifle.

"How about this," I say in a low tone as I move the fidgeting Kotori's finger away from the trigger and placing mine in its place, "You aim, and I shoot."

Before Kotori can respond to my words I continue, "However, whenever you miss, I will give you a 'point' as a penalty. Once we're out of here, I will give you kisses on whatever part of your body I desire, in accordance with the amount of 'points' you have."

And so, ignoring the deeply flushed Kotori and the few bystanders casting glances at us, I look over at the screen displaying a 'you lose' message before smiling and telekinetically inserting a few coins into the machine.