Dudududu.
The helicopter settled down on the base parade ground.
We had left after lunch, yet the sun was still high in the sky. It had taken more than a day to go down, but coming back had been over in no time.
As I got off the helicopter, I felt the gazes of the guards on me.
Ignoring them, we headed straight for the large tent in the center of the base.
The base was in an uproar.
The helicopter carrying the Assistant Secretary of State had arrived, yet even the deputy director of the NIS was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s probably because General Park died. His predecessor died, so there’s no way the place he was in charge of would be quiet.”
True enough. The moment the person in charge stepped down, there had been a terror attack. There was no way the base would be calm.
It would be noisy for quite some time with inspections and audits.
“Don’t worry. I’ve made all the preparations. I’ve had all the items to be transported brought to the ruins, too. We’ll have to reduce the load a little because of those things you’re carrying, but I’ll make sure the transport fee doesn’t decrease.”
She said this while pointing at the luggage I was holding.
They were all things we had bought at the department store during the day.
It was a grateful remark, but it did not move me as much as it would have before.
Because the value of money to me had fallen a great deal compared to before.
On the way to the tent, I felt people’s gazes on us. Even the soldiers guarding the tent widened their eyes when they saw Magreta.
She had changed clothes in the helicopter, but her makeup was still the same.
She had to take out her ID and have it checked.
We got into the elevator inside the tent.
There were three people in the elevator: Magreta, me, and the guard operating it.
Clunk.
The elevator moved.
It was an elevator I had ridden several times already. But this time, it felt different.
The vertical passage that had been dug several kilometers down in such a short time no longer seemed wondrous.
All I could see was the desperate effort of people.
My mood sank as much as the elevator descended.
To change my mood, I spoke to Soph.
[Do you still have something left to worry about?]
Ever since he had heard the deputy director’s words, Soph had remained silent.
It seemed he, too, had gained a lot to think about, just like me.
Until now, I had not disturbed his thoughts.
But I could not keep waiting forever.
[Please don’t worry. It will take time, but I’ll look into whether Soph’s descendants went to that planet.]
Soph had once wondered where the people who left the planet had gone.
Back then, too, Soph had wanted to know about the planet the advance party had supposedly gone to.
Now that he had heard about that planet, it was only natural for him to be curious.
[I am curious about that as well, but that is not what I was thinking about.]
[It isn’t?]
It seemed I had guessed wrong.
[This is troublesome. I knew black stones were necessary, but I never imagined we would need this many…….]
Contrary to what I had thought, Soph was worrying about us.
[Can’t we just hunt steadily, one by one?]
[Not even close. You know that too, do you not?]
[……Do we have to hunt the Akzar after all?]
That was something I had deliberately been turning away from all this time.
I turned my head and looked at the spear slung over my backpack.
The violet jewel hanging from the spear tip.
After using it on Earth, I knew.
The black stone of an Akzar could not be compared to the black stones possessed by native creatures.
It would be better to catch one Akzar scout than to catch hundreds of native creatures.
[It’s impossible. That thing isn’t a monster we can hunt.]
[I know. I know it is too much for you. Even if your skills improve, it would be difficult for you alone.]
We could not rely on the terraforming ruins as we had before, either. Last time had simply been good luck.
Moreover, if we used the terraforming ruins as a refuge, we could not fight there.
[Besides, catching scouts will not solve the problem. You will have to catch ones stronger than them.]
[You mean the Control Objects?]
[There are Control Objects too, but there is an even stronger being. That demon we sealed away…… that thing possessed a truly extraordinary black stone.]
‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.’
We could not even handle a Control Object, and now there was an enemy even stronger than that.
Since he said it had been sealed, it should be fine to ignore it.
For now, we had to deal with the scouts and the human-like monster first. The Control Object was a problem to think about afterward.
[They said more support is coming, so let’s think about it then.]
There were still a few years left.
It was a short time, but rushing on my own would not solve anything.
Clunk.
While I was talking with Soph, the elevator reached the bottom.
We walked through the cave where heat rose from below, and the ruins came into view.
Looking at the ruins, I asked Magreta,
“Are the ruins that go to the other planet in America?”
“The ruins that go to that planet are in America.”
At her unexpected words, I turned to look at Magreta.
Could it be that there were ruins leading to another planet besides that one?
Seeing Magreta smile, it seemed she had told me on purpose.
It did not look like she would say any more.
I filed those words away in my head for now.
When we arrived, the technicians operated the mechanical devices attached to the ruins.
Energy flowed out from the black stones attached to the machines and seeped into the ruins.
Holograms appeared in midair, and a translucent opening began forming on the altar.
The portal was beginning to open.
[I said they were handling the spatial transfer device in a brutish manner, but it seems I must take that back.]
It was just as Soph said.
I also understood why the technicians had attached machines to the semi-permanent ruins and sharply reduced their lifespan.
It was because they did not need a longer lifespan than that.
Beside the ruins, luggage was piled high.
There was far more than before.
A Korean and an American stood beside the luggage, and the American handed Magreta some documents.
After looking at the documents, Magreta frowned.
“What is all this? Gunpowder, plastic equipment, even polymer chemicals. You know all these items will become useless during spatial transfer.”
The American who had handed over the documents pointed to the Korean standing behind him.
“It was requested by Korea. They say they need to confirm it for themselves as well.”
“We can’t waste capacity on things like this. There’s already so much to take.”
The Korean who had been waiting looked displeased.
But he said nothing.
“If we remove this, and this too…… This should do, right?”
The luggage Magreta had sorted out had decreased compared to before.
In truth, there would have been no problem even if I took everything.
I did not know where the limit of what I could transport lay.
Until now, I had simply carried as much as I could hold.
I nodded at her words.
There was no need to reveal the full extent of my abilities here.
I put the luggage into the new backpack I had obtained and held the items Magreta had sorted out in both hands.
Altogether, it seemed to exceed two hundred kilograms, but lifting it was not difficult.
People stared at me in surprise.
[You said you would not show all your abilities, yet you are showing them quite well.]
Thinking about it, producing this kind of strength on Earth would not be easy.
It could not be helped. I could not take it back now.
I had no choice but to insist this much was possible.
Because in fact, it was.
As I climbed onto the altar with the luggage, I remembered the weapons and explosives still left inside the box.
I had carried them around because it felt like a waste to throw them away, and I still had them now.
They were evidence of terrorism, so I could not just discard them anywhere.
Since I had kept carrying them around, in the end I was going to spatially transfer with them still inside the box.
I checked with Soph again.
[If I leave items inside the box during spatial transfer, they disappear, right?]
Backpacks and other items had remained in place without disappearing.
It would be troublesome if the weapons inside the box did the same.
[That is correct. It is because the expanded spatial coordinates of the box and the spatial coordinates of the spatial transfer equipment collide.]
[Then I don’t need to worry.]
It was a waste, but I could not take them out and leave them here.
[If you left items inside, you will have to clean out the inside of the box after the transfer. I hear residue sometimes remains.]
That much was not a problem.
Once I got to that planet, there would be plenty of places to throw things away.
After I climbed onto the altar first, Magreta followed.
Before my eyes, I saw the magic circle leading to another planet.
It had been the same when we came down in the elevator, but these ruins and this magic circle felt different from before.
We were not leaving for another planet to do forced labor.
The work itself was no different, but there was a definite purpose.
‘Still, nothing will change.’
I would simply continue hunting monsters to extract black stones, and searching for relics and ruins.
‘But will that be enough?’
The black stone of the Akzar scout attached to the spear tip came to mind again.
I shook my head and drove the thought away.
It was not the time to think of an enemy I could not handle.
“I’ll go first.”
“I’ll follow right after you.”
Carrying the luggage, I stepped into the magic circle first.
Fwoosh.
The world grew bright again, and within that bright light, I could feel the surroundings changing.
It was something I had not been able to sense before.
Just as I looked around in wonder, the light vanished.
What I saw after the light disappeared was another set of ruins.
The ruins of Planet Trappist-4.
We had arrived properly.
But the ruins we had arrived at were strange.
They were too quiet.
It seemed Magreta, who had followed me, sensed the same thing.
“Why is no one here?”
It was not merely quiet.
Even the technicians who guarded the ruins were nowhere to be seen.
Moreover, unlike before, I could not feel any wind, only stagnant air.
Magreta’s expression hardened, and she drew out her whip.
“It looks like something happened. We need to check.”
She launched herself from the altar.
Unlike on Earth, she leaped an enormous distance and ran off like the wind.
I was about to chase after her too when I remembered the luggage in both hands.
First, I decided to put the luggage I was holding into the box.
However, before that, I had to check the residue Soph had mentioned.
First, I put my hand into the box.
Just as Soph had said, something remained.
I pulled out what was left.
Then I stared at the items I had taken out with dumbfounded eyes.
“You call this residue?”
[It is residue. Still, far more remained than expected. It seems more than ten times as much remained compared to what I had heard.]
What came out of the box was a gun that had been cut in half, part of a plastic explosive, several grenades, and an intact recoilless rifle.
Compared to the weapons and explosives originally inside the box, it was only a tiny portion, but still, I had brought over usable items.
“Crazy mages.”
The bitter words slipped out before I knew it.
To call this residue.
[You are the special one. Originally, unless a proper spatial mage casts the spell, not even one-hundredth remains. The remaining items are only broken things, so no one used it that way.]
Unlike usual, Soph made an excuse.
Even after hearing Soph’s words, my thoughts did not change.
Damn mages.
If I had known in advance, I might not have had to suffer so much until now.
No, it was fortunate that I had found out even now.
This changed the situation.
Though it was only a portion, if I could use Earth’s weapons, then I could fight the Akzar monsters too.
I shoved the weapons and the rest of the luggage into the box, then began running after Magreta, who had gone ahead.