Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"Take a good rest, at least to ensure your physical condition, and then you can continue exploring."

"It's a lap pillow, Ella."

"Don't say unnecessary words..."

"Ashe, come sit down too?"

"As you can see, this body doesn't get tired, so don't worry too much about the individual Ashetherin."

"Ok."

Using her fingers to play with Ella's light pink hair, combing the hair that was messed up in the battle, Lunicia put the "Avenger" aside, with the hilt facing herself, so that she could hold it at any time and swing the huge white blade. Ashethelyn still had that expressionless look, and Ella's breathing gradually became stable from chaotic, and her cheeks that had turned pale due to severe pain and weakness also regained some color. Only then did Lunicia sigh as if relieved.

"Mrs. Luna, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just..."

After thinking for a while, a helpless smile appeared on Lunicia's lips.

"That just now wasn't really a fight."

"Yeah……?"

"Don't you think so, Ella?"

"Ashe doesn't think so either. Of course, Ashe's opinion on this topic is not of reference value, because the individual Ashelyn lacks a conceptual understanding of 'battle'."

"Well... that is to say, it's not like fighting a specific enemy with swords, divine arts and magic, technology and abilities... what exactly is that thing?"

"What is it? At least judging by its appearance, it might be someone who was once a member of the crew."

"But it wasn't a body."

"Ms. Luna seems to have explored it. Did you feel anything?"

"I didn't feel anything."

It is precisely because she can’t feel anything that Lunicia has a confused and distressed expression like now.

"I didn't sense the breath of the dead, nor any other known things... Hmm, how should I describe it? Although I can see it, and it seems that I can touch it, and I can hear the sound it makes, maybe it has properties similar to temperature, but there is actually nothing there."

"Nothing... is that right?"

Ella didn't seem to understand what Lunicia said all at once.

The time she had spent in contact with "that thing" was shorter than that of Lunicia and Ashethelin. Even though Lunicia was not very good at describing it in words, if even she couldn't explain it clearly, it would be even less likely for Ella to figure out the true identity of the enemy.

"Someone, something, has regulated the secret and strict standards of the world with His almighty laws."

Although Ashetherin had said before that she didn't need to rest, she now floated to the side of Lunicia and sat down against the wall, intentionally or unintentionally getting close to Lunicia's body. She recited poetry in a steady and calm tone, while looking at Ella's face with her golden eyes.

“Life is unraveled and woven into shadows, dreams and forms, which are interwoven languages. If too much of it is stripped away, what will be left?”

Lunicia tilted her head.

"I didn't understand."

"Don't mind."

"How can you not mind——"

"Because Ashe couldn't think of a better description. Isn't Luna the same?"

"That's right..."

"Ignore her, Lady Luna, and just treat her as nonsense."

Ella wanted to reach out and pinch Ashlee's waist, but then she remembered sadly that even if she did, it would be meaningless - did Ashlee really have a sense of touch? If not, she would not have any reaction at all.

"It was more like running for our lives than fighting."

After straightening Ella Hepper's hair, Lunicia couldn't help but let out a troubled sigh.

"Escape from that human-shaped hole."

Escape from that shattered face.

Chapter 9: The Quiet Corridor

"Come to think of it, I just realized now that this place is really dangerous."

Lunicia picked up the lamp, shook her body, and slowly stood up leaning against the wall.

"Look, it looks like you'll fall down there if you're not careful."

He stretched out his arm and projected the dazzling light to the side not far away, which was the direction the group came from. The place where they were now, judging from the layout, should be an ordinary corridor, but for some reason - perhaps because of the collision just now, or perhaps because of something else - it was completely broken from a certain position, making it difficult to guess where it once led to.

There is no way to get anywhere from there now, but if you look towards the broken spot, you can see the receding sea of ​​gray clouds outside.

It was almost noon, but the sun still could not illuminate the sea of ​​clouds. For people living on the earth, "sunlight" was just a concept that existed in myths and history books. Under the cover of this cloud cover, no one had ever really seen the thing called "sunlight". People knew the nature of the faint light that filled the sky during the day, but they still chose to attribute it to the miracle of the gods. Perhaps it was because of the so-called despair, the despair of only being able to see the gray sea of ​​poisonous clouds even if they flew above the sky. I don't know how many people forgot the appearance of the sun and the stars, and also forgot the color of the sky.

——The sun...the sky, the beautiful sky.

Even the saint cannot see the scorching sun that symbolizes the light of the Lord God.

However, I still remember the stars that filled the sky that I had witnessed in Muirand.

No matter how I control my desires, I seem unable to feel completely satisfied with this matter. It is a bizarre and ridiculous greed that is difficult to satisfy. I long to see the scene beyond the stars. I want to see the moon, I want to see the legendary sun, I want to see the warmth that gives life to all things in the world, like the glory of a father and a mother.

For me who can only see the sea of ​​clouds, it must be unimaginably magnificent and romantic.

For some reason, although one can clearly see the fault in the corridor and the clouds rushing past outside the fault, the inside of the corridor is not shrouded in toxic gases like the outside world. It is precisely because of this that Lunicia can choose to treat Ella Hepper's injuries in an orderly manner, analyze the situation, and even chat with her like now - if this place is also occupied by poisonous smoke, she will probably have to find a relatively closed cabin immediately to isolate herself from the pollution, and then consider it again.

"It's dangerous. Yes, it's dangerous."

"…What do you want to say, Ash?"

Ella's voice was still a little hoarse, just as her pale face showed. Although Lunisia treated her, her respiratory system, which was corroded by the toxin, would probably take some time to recover. Lunisia looked at Ella with some concern, and the latter gently waved her hand, indicating that she was fine, at least not so serious that even her speech was affected.

"Nothing. It's just that Ashe is now thinking that Luna will finally sense the 'danger'. After all, including the individual Asheserin, we have been here for a while."

"Ah, that's right."

"Hey, you are trying to insult Lady Luna in every possible way!"

"Really? Ash doesn't even know he's doing this."

"..."

"Ahahaha, are you calling me slow?"

"Ms. Luna, please don't take her words seriously."

"Dull? Well, in every sense of the word, pure and bright white crystal. Luna needs to become more alert."

Ashlee shook her finger.

"Oh, I'll try my best."

"Ms. Luna?!"

"Ella, do you feel safe here?"

"Ah, hey - although I don't know the exact pattern, it seems that there is a magic shield that is still in operation, so it can block the poisonous cloud outside. Lady Luna, are you having difficulty breathing now?"

"no."

"The air here is a bit stuffy... stagnant, heavy, and lacks flow. Even if there is an air circulation system, its current operation is not optimistic. If someone lives here for a long time, their health will probably be affected."

"Is it okay?"

Lunicia's expression suddenly became solemn.

"Ah, it's no problem, Lady Luna, as long as you don't choose to live here for a long time--"

"I'm talking about you. Is it okay for your body to be in a place like this?"

"Since Ella is an adventurer, this level of difficulty is not a problem."

"You are a robot who doesn't need to breathe, so you should have no problem with it more than me."

"That seems to be the case..."

Among the many courses that adventurers take, there is naturally training for the respiratory system. Although if you are exposed to a highly toxic environment without any precautions like Ella did before, even the well-trained lungs and nasopharynx will still be damaged, if the air is only dirty and stuffy, it will basically not affect the activities. Adventurers often set foot in ruins, relics, and uninhabited deep caves, and even dive to the bottom of lakes and offshore seas. These places are either full of miasma or the air is difficult to circulate. If ordinary people are unprepared, they will probably suffocate immediately. Only adventurers who have been trained and assisted by magic items or mechanical creations can venture into these ruins.

"But, a magic shield?"

"Yes."

"That is to say, this should be some kind of relic."

"It's possible."

Although they exchanged opinions like this, Lunicia, Ashtherin and Ella looked at each other, and in the end no one could give a definite answer as to where this place was, and if it was a relic, who it belonged to.

Even if the lantern is turned off, it does not seem to affect one's own safety - being trapped in darkness is not something that would happen here at first glance, after all, this place is always covered by light. The light seems to have penetrated every part of the wall, the ground, and the ceiling. Although there is no light source, this place is often filled with a hazy and faint white light, which is not too bright, but enough for people to see the things around them.

What lingers here does not include the breath of the living.

This atmosphere is often called death, silence, and eternal silence. Perhaps this was once a closed world where countless people wandered, but now it has become empty, just like the broken walls and ruins of the past that can be seen everywhere in this world. People set foot in it for the treasures and wisdom that may exist in the dust, but in the end they are all swallowed up by the dead silence, turning into part of eternity and dust, into stains of blood and pus smeared on the walls, and into ornaments called dry bones in those inconspicuous corners. There is more than light here. The environment that the living relied on in the past has become strange and suspicious. What remains is only the narrow and strange shadows born from the light.

You can imagine, imagine the scenes that may have existed here, people whose faces, clothes and customs you don't know strolling and talking in this corridor, stopping from time to time to greet someone familiar beside you, in this corridor with white, gold, black and blue as the main colors, imagine the meaning of the geometric patterns, imagine what those golden decorations symbolize in civilization, imagine the role of those now dimmed pale crystals, and those crystal circuits connecting various places. But if you pause for a moment and interrupt your thinking, you will be surprised to find that you can no longer recall many of the things you imagined before, those scenes full of life.

All that can be seen is the paused virtual image.

The pedestrians stopped walking, as if they were frozen in time.

Then, they turned around together.

Revealing a face that was as blurry and broken as the surface of water.

"..."

"What's wrong, Lady Luna?"

"No, nothing... I don't understand."

Even though it was just a short moment, the strangeness on Lunicia's face could not be hidden from Ella's eyes, but even Lunicia herself did not know what she had just seen - or heard. Such things were not uncommon for Lunicia. "Listening to the voices of all things" was the ability of the so-called "saint". It not only gave her the advantage of understanding any language, but also included the whispers of beings that she herself did not know what they were, perhaps indescribable sounds, perhaps incomprehensible words, perhaps bizarre or even terrifying illusions.

Someone wanted to convey something to her.

Hazy, blurred, indistinguishable, a fleeting dream.

"Ashe, can you try to connect to this structure's... network? Uh, it's called a network, right?"

"This may not be a mechanical product. If there is no prayer circuit steam mechanism here, even Ashe will not be able to read useful information from it."

Although she was saying words that sounded like rejection, Ashleelin immediately fired something like a dart with a rope from her wrist. The long black iron nail pierced into the wall on the side without any hindrance, and then emitted a faint blue halo.

"What's that, Ash?"

“Wired connection.”

Ashlee didn't explain much, and continued, "Although there is indeed a thin prayer mist here... it is just a byproduct of something similar to a mechanism, and it should be technically different from the prayer loop steam mechanism. No, I reject it, I take it back, there are no traces of large-scale use of mechanisms here, the walls cannot be scanned, and the existence of the prayer steam circulation network has not been detected. There is no complete network, and no information can be read from it."

"You fail sometimes, too, Ashlee."

"Because Ashe is only an expert in mechanisms."

Ashlee retracted the ejected cable again, the mechanism on her wrist clicked, and she returned to her original position in the blink of an eye.

"It's your turn, Ella."

"why me?"

Ella Hepper seemed particularly unhappy about being ordered around by Ashlee. Of course, she did not show it completely on her face. She just showed that cold, business-like expression, making it difficult to grasp her inner changes. It was just like the cold shell she was used to using to reject others. However, this little awkwardness could not be hidden from Lunicia and Ashlee. It seemed that Ella's thoughts were quite easy for them to understand.

“Because you’re an expert.”

“…Be more specific.”

"Although the results of the forced scan still cannot show its internal structure, it at least shows the tip of the iceberg. This structure is generally based on traditional 'magic', that is, it is a product of 'magic engineering'. Ella is better at this than the individual Asheselin, right? So I will hand over the scepter to you, crown you, and hold a crowning ceremony for you. Please, just do it for Luna, how about that?"

Ella couldn't help but roll her eyes at her.

"There are too many unnecessary words."

"So, what is Ella's choice?"

Ella Hepper did not answer. She just sighed and stood up with the help of Lunicia. She put her palm against the wall beside her, or to be more precise, against a crystal on the wall.

"Don't push yourself too hard. Take a break when you feel overwhelmed."

"As you wish, Lady Luna."

Ella closed her eyes and seemed to be in a meditative state, oblivious to everything around her. Ashlee didn't seem to want to miss this opportunity, as she floated over and hooked her arm around Lunicia.