Volume 4 - CH 4(2/2)
– Then, that means——
The eyes of Claire are casted down with sadness.
– Yeah. It’s as you have thought right now. It’s very likely that the person who plotted this plan——or the mastermind of this terrorism was a former Warslan engineer who was involved in the design of Little Garden.
– That person is no other than?Vitaly Tynyanov, correct masuno?
– In other words, the hornets and the one-eyed Savages without core are things she did, imitating the Savages who are the natural enemy of mankind, which can be called duplications?
– Those duplications——known as?replicants?desuwane.
– Exactly.
Charlotte threw a candy into her mouth again.
– Err, Claire-sama..
One of the girls of the intelligence department calls out to Claire while trembling.
– .. what is it mashitano?
The facial expression of Claire became even more grim with the abnormal look of the girl.
The girl swallows saliva and continues her words.
– Well.. an alert from the air traffic control of Liberia has arrived, an unidentified aircraft is approaching Little Garden..
– Wha——this time it’s an aircraft desuno!?
– Looks like it will be above us in the skies in less than a minute!
A different student of the intelligence department shouted.
– My my, how many arrows does she want to fire, hmm?
Amazed, Charlotte murmurs.
– Chris, examine at once whether the passenger plane is hijacked or not desu!
– Claire-sama I have already examined it. It is not registered in any traveler company and, it seems the fuselage it’s not registered, even if it is for private use.
– What about the signs of infrared reactions desu?
– There seems to be one heat source. Probably it is the pilot.
– That is to say, there is a possibility that a person is on board desuwa..
Claire hesitates, touching the lips with her hand.
The strength of the glass covering Little Garden is considerable.
Assuming that an aerial bombardment occurred, or if the aircraft crashed with it, it will be able to withstand it.
However, as the supply of electricity is weakening, the strength of the?barrier?is also weakening.
And the opponent is a terrorist that they don’t know what is going to do.
Moreover, there is a high possibility that it is familiar with Little Garden.
– Can’t we increase the strength of the outer wall?barrier?masenno?
Claire asks Charlotte.
– That is immediately impossible. It’ll take three minutes including all kinds of things.
Claire decided after listening to the reply of Charlotte.
There’s no time to be losing her way.
Of course, even the time relying on 《LiZA》——
– Chris, we will shoot down the aircraft masuwayo!
Although the person is a menace.
She doesn’t want to kill if possible.
But, in this situation, she can’t say a thing like depending on others*.
– Can you send instructions to a missile installed on the deck through wire masuka?
– Yes, absolutely. That part is not destroyed yet.
– If so——prepare to launch a missile immediately!
Together with the order of Claire, a part of the deck opened on the main monitor of the briefing room and the state that a missile was ready for launch was projected.
– Claire-sama, we are ready.
– Understood mashitawa.
Nodding, Claire touches with her fingers the monitor before her eyes and releases the protection.
And then——
– Firing missile!
– Enemy target confirmed. Firing missile!
It was a soldier in his thirties and that was dispatched from Warslan Company who was working at the briefing room who locked the target and pressed the button.
Of course, he has no hesitation.
He has done training and practice a lot of times.
The missile is fired from the deck.
– Any news desuno?
Claire gazes steadily at the monitor.
The missile headed straight to the aircraft plunging forward to Little Garden and hit it.
– It hit it mashitawa!
Claire shouted spontaneously.
– Par for the course.
A military man raises his thumb to Claire.
Cheers raised from the briefing room.
However, Chris didn’t fail to notice that?something?was falling before the aircraft that was heading towards the sea got destroyed.
– Claire-sama, this is..
– Wha——
Chris projects?that?on the main monitor.
Since it’s a video from a distant place, the image quality is coarse and small, but they can see that there is a one-eyed Savage without core with a shining red pattern on its body——they understood it’s a?replicant.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem to be entirely the same as the others.
Its body is one size larger than normal types. Moreover, it looks that it can fire things like wires from the back.
– What was that just now desuno..!
The tip of the fired wire changed to something like a sucker and adhered to the transparent outer wall of Little Garden.
Winding those wires, the enormous?replicant?lands like sliding on top of the outer wall glass*.
And then it began to strike with the pincers alternating left and right on the top glass of the weakened?barrier.
Each time the?barrier?of particles scatters spark-like things, it develops a crack on the top glass.
Moreover, hornets are flying around the enemy.
– The durability of the top glass is 95%, 92%——at this rate, it will be destroyed soon!
A young girl of the intelligence department working at the briefing room shouted.
Subsequently, another man of the intelligence department exclaimed.
– Claire-sama! An unidentified ship approached and crashed into the rear part of Little Garden!
– Kuh.. from one thing to another..!
– Switching live video to the rear part.
Chris switches the video.
It seems that the ship that has collided with the deck has the same appearance as the one that crashed at the front.
One-eyed Savages without core crawl creepily from inside——identical?replicantscome out.
– Attracting Slayers to the frontward and then attacking the rear when they were gathered there, huh... Although it’s an enemy, it’s a fantastic strategy.
Rebuking, Charlotte chew and crushed the candy inside her mouth.
– What do we do, Claire-sama?
It was Chris who asked.
– .. kh, announce the emergency call to all the students of the martial arts department as well as the members of?Selections?who are on their breaks. Disperse them and make them exterminate the?replicants?masu. After that, prepare a civilian evacuation plan with《LíZA》 and start the guidance of the evacuation. We will absolutely have no victims coming out from this masenwayo!
Claire bites her thumbnail and,
(Where is Onii-sama at a time lke this masuno?)
She muttered so in her mind.
Just a few minutes before the first explosion occurred, the song of Karen ends while the music fades out and the stadium, which is the?live concert?venue, was wrapped up in excited cheering and applause.
Of course, they are all directed to Kisaragi Karen, a girl standing at the center of the stage.
– She’s amazing...
Hayato murmured unconsciously, looking at Karen who’s waving her hand over and over again, while bowing her head and taking a look around the venue.
Emile aligns with him.
– Yup, she’s truly amazing. Karen-chan sure is cool.
Then, her voice reverberated through the speakers to the stadium. It’s Sakura who’s watching attentively the state of Karen-chan at the wing of the stage.
She approached Karen who couldn’t hide her excitement at the center of the stage and touching her shoulder from the back like showing appreciation for her efforts, she asked the audience seating.
– Everyone, how was the song of Karen?
Loud shouts rise again and voices such as 「Good」,「Cute」among others were released one after another from the audience seating.
Hearing those, Karen was letting tears to well up in her eyes.
– Well, to tell you the truth, it is me who created the song. What do you think? It’s amazing, right?
When Sakura said so, the stadium was packed with laughter.
The great thing that Kirishima Sakura has is that everyone knew that she seemed to want to say so mixed with snicker.
It’s identical to the reaction that Hayato had when he was told the same thing before.
– The next song was also created by me, however, it’s my first duet song. Karen-chan and I are singing it together!
Sakura adds 「By the way」while the excited cheering that spilled expectations are resounding.
– After this?live concert?is over, the songs will be on sale on the?cybernet, so please buy them all! And for the people watching the broadcasting, I’m sure there’s going to be a button after the end of the broadcast, so thank you for your patronage!
Naturally, the venue was packed with laughter.
Although it’s mixed with snicker like a while ago, there are still voices that say 「Of course」, 「We’ll buy, we’ll buy!」and so on.
It’s probably because of the natural virtue and popularity of Sakura.
– Well then, shall we sing at once? Are you ready, Karen-chan?
– Y-yes!
– ‘kay, together with us——
Sakura and Karen joined their backs and raised the microphones towards the sky.
It seems they intend to change their costumes at the same time.
–?HUNDRED ON——
–?HUNDRED ON——
Matching their breathing, they were just about to raise their voices.
*Boom*, *Boom*, two sounds of distant explosions are heard, and the entire stadium trembles violently as if an earthquake had occurred. Together with that, the illumination of the stage flickers repeatedly and then they went out, making a loud noise.
– ——kyaah!?
Screaming, it was Karen who fell down.
– Are you alright, Karen-chan?
Sakura rushed to Karen in a hurry and said to hair, squatting.
And then again, an explosion reverberated.
– What on earth is this..
Chaos is inside the venue.
Naturally, Sakura was showing confusion.
That goes for Hayato too who’s in the audience seating.
– .. kh, Karen..! What is this situation..!?
– Perhaps a Savage appeared or something like that——
Emile mutters with a grim expression.
And then, an emergency call resounded from the PDA of Hayato and Emile.
What they heard next is the voice of Chris.
『This is a notification to?Selection?members. Because there is a possibility of chaos of residents and visitors, it will help us if you listen to this in a place that won’t leak to others except Slayers as much as possible. I will wait 30 seconds, so please move』
– Let’s go, Hayato.
Emile instantly stands up from the chair.
– Y-yeah..
Although he answered so, Hayato seems to be worried about the two people in the stage, but still, he stands up and immediately starts moving to a passage with few pedestrians together with Emile.
30 seconds passed in the blink of an eye.
When they came out to the aisle from the audience seating, the voice of Chris is heard again.
『Well then, I will start with the notification. Little Garden is currently under attack by someone. The Student Council concluded that this is a terrorist attack. Members of?Selections, deploy your armaments in a safe place and standby. We will be continuously sending instructions to each one of you in turns』
– That “someone” means that aren’t Savages?
Hayato says his doubt.
– Perhaps is that woman, Vitaly, who was mentioned before..
– ..!
Hayato started running all of a sudden.
He’s heading towards the direction of the dressing room.
– Wait, Hayato!
Grabbing the arm of Hayato, Emile continued.
– Where on earth are you planning to go?
– To where Karen is. If something happened there, Karen..
– Sakura is on the stage. She’ll protect Karen-chan. Because she has that ability.
– But, the ability of Sakura doesn’t specialize in battle..
– If the artificial Variants like the trio we fought before were to attack, even Hayato knows that it’ll become difficult if we don’t stop them, right? Unless we take out the cause, the danger will just continue!
– That’s... well, you are right... Sorry, I lost my composure. Certainly, it’s as you say.
– Then, let’s go outside. As the prez told us, we’ll deploy our Hundred and standby.
On the stage, Sakura was aware that Hayato and Emile left from the venue.
– Souffle, what on earth happened?
Sakura uses the wireless ring and asks Souffle with a small voice.
『.. I don’t know the details. However, the briefing room reported that the explosions just now were caused by acts of terrorism. Also, this is a safe place, so don’t move——』
– Terrorist? No way..
Inside the head of Sakura, the thing that was coming to her mind is the figure of Vitaly Tynyanov who made her an artificial Variant, that’s what Souffle understands.
Even she thinks that such possibility is high.
『Calm down, Sakura. Because you are the only one who can calm this place』
– .. I know. Hayato and the others are managing somehow or other outside. That’s why I’m going to do properly what must be done here.
Saying so to herself, Sakura stops the communication with Souffle, turns on the microphone and shouted.
– Everyone, calm down!
Exactly when Hayato and Emile came out from the stadium, the emergency call resounded from the two wireless rings.
It’s from the Student Council.
『Kisaragi Hayato, Emille Crossford, do you hear me!? This is Claire Harvey of the briefing room desuwa』
It’s the voice of the president.
– We hear you, president.
Replying immediately, Hayato shows his suspicions.
– This, as expected, is because of Vitaly Tynyanov, no?
『We assume that such possibility is high masu』
– What’s the current situation?
Next, it’s Emile who presented a question.
『At the front and rear of Little Garden, battles with the Savages named?replicantsare taking place masu. Your childhood friend, Claudia Lowetti, is also battling desuwa』
– Wait a moment. The other party is Vitaly in one way or another, right? Why is that there are Savages called?repuri-whatever?
『This is merely my? guess, but it’s very probable that Vitaly not only researched artificial Variants, but even artificial Savages and put them into practical use. Moreover, the huge ones have a size that doesn’t differ from normal Savages and there are also small ones that resemble hornets』
It’s Charlotte who answered.
Subsequently, Hayato presents a question.
– In other words, it means that those called?replicants?are artificial Savages? How’s that possible...
『.. it’s not impossible, you know. Even the robots cleaning the corridors inside the school building of Little Garden are powered by?Variable Stones. However, it should be very difficult to control them to that extent. It’s impossible for me』
– But, you said that Vitaly made them, correct?
『We don’t know to what extent she can control them. It may become quite challenging to control like a Tamer type Hundred』
– In other words, we are supposed to destroy those?replicants, yes?
『Correct. We want you to destroy a massive?replicant?that is on top of the top glass of Little Garden desu. We are sending images from the surveillance cameras now desu. Can you confirm them with the PDA masuka?』
– Yes.
Hayato takes out the PDA from his pocket and replied to the instructions sent by the president again and confirms the data that arrived.
– This is..
There was a figure of a huge?replicant?of about 8 meters long that was on top of the top glass of Little Garden and was striking it with its pincers.
Cracks were developing in the top glass and he sees that small fragments are falling to the interior of Little Garden.
– No need to guess that it’s a pretty bad situation..
– Also, Hayato, look carefully. This Savage has no core and has no more than one eye..
– Ah..
Looking as he was told, that certainly it’s the case.
The pattern of its body isn’t yellow but red.
Compared to the other?replicants, this looks exceptionally large.
– Hey, Charo. How should we defeat this guy?
『I don’t know. Therefore, the only thing we can do now is to stop it. But, since its steel shell seems to be similar to the Savages’, if you hold a strong?energy, you’ll be able to penetrate the steel shell and destroy it, I guess. It should be hiding an improved Savage’s core or a?Variable Stone?inside its body』
『In that case, I shall go. Kisaragi Hayato, Emile Crossford, you guys will act with me, I will immediately leave from——』
『That is impossible, Claire-sama』
The voice of Chris stopped the words of Claire.
『Claire-sama, please continue the instructions from here』
『Chris, what are you saying masuno? All of this is our fault——no, this is my fault because I made the security plan assuming attacks done by Slayers only desu. If I take responsibility by going to the battlefield——』
『For that reason, Claire-sama should take command here. As our Student Council President and as the Captain of Little Garden, only Claire-sama is allowed to have all the authority』
– In that case, now that authority will be yo——
『I don’t have the capacity. Erika-san thinks so too. Claire-sama is the only person who can relieve with words the anxiety of the residents and encourage the Slayers of Little Garden. So please, Claire-sama, do your work as the commander』
『It’s as Chris says, Claire.《LiZA》also supports the words of Chris..「EXACTLY」she says』
『Wha——』
It seems that Claire was at a loss for words because she checked the message log from《LiZA》who is Liza Harvey, her little sister.
As Charlotte says, Hayato understood what was written as「EXACTLY」and let out some words.
– President, please leave the guy on the top glass to us.
『But——』
– The president said it?at that time, right? Don’t try to carry everything by yourself, trust us more. So, we’ll definitely stop that?replicant. Isn’t that right, Emile?
– Yeah, that’s right, but..
– Hmm, did something happen?
He saw Emile pouting her lips and showing a discontented expression on her face.
– I was thinking, what do you mean with?”at that time”?
– Ah..
– What’s that reaction? Are you hiding something from me?
– No, it’s nothing like that... There was a moment when I was alone with the president during the previous operation. At that time, we were having a talk——
『Ki-Kisaragi Hayato..! This is not the case to be talking about something like that masenwayo!』
Clearing her throat with an *Ahem*, Claire continued.
『Umm.. That’s right desuwane. Understood. We will entrust that matter to you. However, there are conditions——』
During those emptied seconds.
Hayato gulped.
『You will absolutely not die. And, nobody will die, including residents, visitors and Slayers of Little Garden——that’s all desuwa』
– Understood.
– Of course.
Hayato and Emile reply together.
『Good reply desuwa』
A satisfied voice came back.
Next, Hayato said.
– Solving this quickly, will let the founding festival continue. I haven’t heard the songs of Karen and Sakura yet.
Maybe that’s not something that should be said in this situation.
But, those were the true feelings of Hayato.
『You are right desuwane』
Listening the voice that slipped out a giggle, Hayato felt relieved.
For a moment, the tension relaxed.
However, it tightens with the voice of Chris that was heard next.
『Claire-sama, the durability of the top glass has decreased to 40%. A part of it’s damaged! Fragments are falling to the ground!』
『What did you say!?』
– Hayato, let’s deploy our Hundred quickly!
– Yeah, got it.
They must exterminate the?replicant?before it invades Little Garden by destroying completely the top glass.
Hayato and Emile takes out the?Variable Stone?and shouted all together.
「「HUNDRED ON」」
– Thank you for waiting, Claire-sama.
While being out of breath, Erika rushed in the briefing room.
– Chris, do you have any new information?
– Currently, at the front deck, the Slayers of the Army of Gudenburg and the Slayers of Warslan are fighting the?replicant?type Savages. As Charlotte-sama was saying, if it’s a weapon with strong?energy, they can destroy their arms and body, and if they destroy the?Variable Stone?hidden inside the body, it’s probable that their activities will cease.
– And at the back of the deck?
– We dispatched 3 talented Slayers of Little Garden over there, their names are Latia Saint-émillion, Fritz Grantz and Liddy Steinberg. It’s based on the selection of《LizA》. Other Slayers are guiding residents and visitors to evacuate to safe underground?shelters.
– What left is the most problematic thing, the?replicant?on the top glass, huh..
– Kisaragi Hayato and Emile Crossford are heading there masuwa. So please be relieved.
– Is that so..
If it’s those two, then they will do it somehow or other.
When Erika was convinced about it, Chris cut into the conversation from the side.
– Err, Claire-sama..
– What is it desuno?
– It’s about the top glass, but there are traces that someone has appeared from inside the gigantic?replicant?and trespassed inside Little Garden right after it was destroyed.
– .. there is no doubt about it desuno?
– I will play a video now.
Claire and all the present of the briefing room were focused on the monitor.
Although the camera is from a distant place and the image quality is bad, they see that it’s as Chris says.
– It looks she has become quite a strong woman, huh.
Suddenly surprised by the voice emitted from the back, Claire turns around.
– Onii-sama!?
The ones standing there were Judal, her older brother and Neveah Grauss, a bobcat female Slayer and also his bodyguard.
– What do you mean with strong, Onii-sama?
– I guess, she’s Vitaly, right?
– Eh..?
Claire zooms in the video before her eyes.
Brown skin, long hair.
And a white robe that lies over her.
– Certainly, it feels like she’s Vitaly, but..
The woman in the video overlaps with the appearance of Vitaly in the memory of Claire.
She’s tall and has a good figure.
However, the woman in the video gives the feeling of being approximately a size bigger.
(Does that really mean that she became strong desuno?)
In other words, she has been training her body.
– But, she’s not a Slayer masenwayone——don’t tell me that she turned into an artificial Variant?
She thought so, as this is a reason other than training her body.
Even though the interior of Little Garden is filled with soil, there are places where hills were made, but the distance from the top glass to the ground should be 80 meters.
Even if it’s the roof of the school building, the distance is 40 meters.
It won’t be possible for her to land without?sense energy.
– No, that’s not it. Although the video is from a further distance, I can see that she’s using a parachute in the middle of it.
– If so, then she’s just a human? But, why is she alone..?
Claire puts her hand on her mouth, pondering.
– Chris, aside from Vitaly, is there any trace that a human-like existence trespassed from the top glass?
– Negative. Besides, it seems that a lot of hornets have invaded and have been found inside Little Garden.
Chris replies.
Hearing the door opening there, Claire turned her eyes.
What met her eyes was the figure of Judal who is about to leave the room alone.
– Onii-sama? Where are you going?
– I’m just going out because there is a little something that I have to take care of.
– Are you going alone masuno? Vitaly is coming too masunoyo. The risk is..
– There’s no problem at all. Even I’m carrying a gun.
Judal shows a gun that he took out from his chest to Claire.
– However..
– It’s fine to let him do as he likes.
The one who said so is Charlotte.
– Saying that he’s going alone, then that has a meaning in its own way, right?
– No way, Onii-sama..
He intends to go to?Liza——
Thinking so, there’s no place where she can put it into words.
The one who knows about the existence of the?little sister?in this place, excluding Judal and Claire, is Charlotte.
– Claire, please believe in me.
Smiling eerily, Judal left behind the briefing room.