Arc-7 Ch-47

“How’s are you, Ariel?”

“Obviously, I’m in perfect condition.”

“If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll make you stay behind here and watch the house.”

“…I’m not at my absolute best yet, but I think I can still do plenty.”

“Good grief.”

This was exactly why Ariel’s words could never be taken at face value.

When she was little, she once came down with a high fever, and I forced her into bed. Yet the moment the servants took their eyes off her, even for a second, she would dash outside still in her nightclothes. It happened more times than I could count.

I understood the urge to hide one’s weakness from others, but that kind of stubbornness could easily become a liability in a group operation.

What an operation required to succeed was accurate information—both about the enemy and about ourselves. In this situation, with so little intel on the enemy’s numbers or positions, understanding the condition of our own side was absolutely critical.

“Lionel, what about you?”

“Taking into account stamina consumption and ammunition usage, I’d say I’m operating at about half my usual capacity.”

“…All right, we’ll go with that for now.”

This one, on the other hand, had a tendency to underestimate himself, which was troublesome in its own way. What a perfectly contrasting pair of siblings.

When humans accumulate fatigue, it begins to show clearly in both their appearance and their movements.

They couldn’t give me an immediate answer to my questions, and each of their movements gradually grew more sluggish.

The clear gap in their fatigue levels probably had less to do with differences in gender or raw stamina, and more to do with just how intensely each of them had fought in the battles leading up to this point.

It wasn’t like Lionel had been holding anything back until now.

Ariel, having awakened to a new power, had pushed herself far beyond anything I’d expected. The simple truth was that she’d been overusing that power without ever having received proper training beforehand.

“Sphere, what’s the situation inside the room?”

『Enemy detection is still being jammed. However, the door isn’t locked.』

“So they’re basically telling us we can walk in whenever we want. I can’t tell if they’re welcoming us, or if they’re just looking down on us.”

The battles on the way to the heart of the ruins had been nothing short of brutal.

Jokes aside, there had been multiple moments where I genuinely thought we were going to die in combat, so I couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe that we’d managed to make it this far without taking any major injuries.

If Ariel hadn’t awakened, we’d all have ended up as a nice meal for the monsters by now.

It had been a critical situation, like walking a tightrope, and yet somehow we’d forced our way through it all and finally reached a point where the end was just one step away.

That was exactly why we couldn’t afford to let our guard down. History books were filled with examples of battles that were practically won, only for a desperate enemy to stage a comeback and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I frantically retraced my recent memories, reflected on the traits of the elves and monsters we’d fought up to this point, assessed how much our ammunition and magical reserves had been depleted, and tried to simulate every possible scenario that might unfold within my mind.

What I was doing wasn’t anything particularly complicated.

It was just about increasing the number of cards in my hand to secure a win—something anyone involved in military affairs would naturally try to do.

“Hey, Father. Did we really need to come up with this many plans?”

“I’m not sure about that either.”

“If you don’t know, then isn’t thinking about it just a waste of time?”

“That’s just how things go. But in my entire life, there hasn’t been a single operation where everything went perfectly from start to finish.”

“Don’t say stuff that makes me anxious.”

“Even so, thinking ahead about what might happen and knowing how you should respond if it actually does will definitely change how you act.”

“Normally, Ariel hates even studying for tests. She’s just not used to the habit of thinking things through like this.”

“Don’t say unnecessary things.”

“As for me, I’d rather avoid combat if possible. If we can settle this peacefully through discussion, that’d be ideal.”

“But Father thinks that won’t happen, right?”

“How many times did we have to fight just to make it to the heart of these ruins? If the other side were willing to talk, they wouldn’t have sent monsters after us.”

The battles against the monsters weren’t just random encounters. It was obvious they’d deliberately placed monsters along our path of advance and sealed off any routes of retreat.

Whether it was the ruins themselves acting with some kind of will, or the work of elven extremists, there was no doubt that whoever was behind it had no intention of welcoming us.

We were just about to step into a room occupied by people like that. Assuming some kind of trap had been set up was only natural.

I had no idea what sort of schemes the enemy had prepared, but since we couldn’t turn back now, getting multiple countermeasures ready was the small bit of resistance I could manage.

It was a slight relief that Sphere had been able to provide us with a certain degree of foresight, probably because it seemed to be aligned with the ruins. Still, trying to offer words of thanks to this thing felt strangely irritating.

“If anything happens, I’ll give instructions by hand. Until then, you two watch each other’s backs and stay alert to everything around you.”

“Yes.”

“Got it.”

“Sphere, open the door once those two are ready.”

『Understood.』

Sphere’s red eyes flickered and glinted several times, and then the metal door began to slide open to either side with an unbearably loud grinding noise.

The vibrations and sound echoed throughout the corridor, instantly ruining one of the multiple plans I had prepared, the stealth infiltration operation.

Once the door had fully opened, I gave the twins a slight nod, raised my gun, and stepped into the room.

Unlike the passageways of the ruins we’d been moving through up until now, the interior of this room showed almost no signs of decay, no cracks along the walls, no damaged lighting. If anything, it felt closest to the bridge of a newly built airship.

Because the entrance differed from the one we had used when we came here before to rescue Ange, the room felt like a completely different place.

However, the constant temperature and humidity maintained by the air conditioning were unmistakably identical to that room from back then.

After advancing several dozen steps from the doorway, the space suddenly opened up, and the intense lighting dazzled my eyes, forcing me to blink over and over.

What came into view once my eyes had adjusted to the brightness was a massive laboratory lined with countless cylindrical water tanks.

Suspended within those tanks were the very monsters we’d been fighting up until now. Even at a glance, there were easily more than ten tanks, each one preserving monsters like specimens sealed inside jars.

No matter what, a sickening feeling churned in my stomach, and the nausea climbed all the way up to my throat. When I had rescued Angie, there definitely hadn’t been this many water tanks.

The fact that the scene before my eyes had been completely rearranged in just a matter of days filled me with nothing but dread toward the unknown power hidden within these ruins.

More than anything, the sight of those monsters sealed inside the tanks overlapped with the image of Angie when she had been held captive, making my stomach twist in revulsion.

It was as if the ruins, and the elves, were forcing the truth onto me, that to them, humans and monsters weren’t all that different.

Wouldn’t it feel at least a little better if I just took the bomb hidden in my backpack and blew this entire place apart right now?

I couldn’t see the twins behind me, but I was certain their reaction wasn’t one of curiosity or excitement.

Suddenly, beneath the bubbling of the water tanks, I caught the faint patter of small footsteps approaching us.

Keeping my right hand on my gun, I slipped my left hand behind my waist and made a deliberate signal with my fingers, warning the twins about the situation.

Their presence drew closer, covering my back as I faced forward. We shifted into a formation that protected each other’s blind spots, ready to respond no matter who, or what, might come at us from any direction, and advanced toward the center of the room.

The water tanks in this room could serve as cover against enemy attacks, but the same was true for our opponents.

If anything, this unfamiliar terrain might end up working against us.

In that case, standing out in the open center of the room, where our field of vision wasn’t obstructed, would likely improve our chances of survival.

Staying wary of a surprise attack, we began to move. By the time we reached the center of the room and came to a stop, I could sense that our opponent’s presence was also converging into a single point.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The sound of something striking reached my ears. It took me a few seconds to realize it was applause.

Don’t make such misleading noises, damn it. I almost mistook it for a gunshot and nearly pulled the trigger.

A group of more than a dozen elves appeared a short distance away from us. At the center of the group, an elf wearing glasses kept clapping.

Just from the look on his face, it was obvious, he wasn’t even trying to hide the contempt he felt.

I’d seen this kind of person countless times over the past twenty years, enough to make me sick to my core.

Nobles who worshipped their own bloodlines and looked down on commoners and upstarts alike. The rot in their character always seeped through their expressions and the way they carried themselves.

“Welcome to the Land of Beginnings, adult human and juvenile humans. Oh, and that peculiar round object as well, let’s welcome it too. It should make for excellent experimental material.”

The bespectacled elf spoke with a veneer of politeness laced with insolence, making it painfully clear that he had no intention of actually welcoming us.

At that moment, I was certain, negotiations with these people were impossible.

I didn’t believe that every single elf was evil. Among the elves I’d encountered so far, there had been both decent ones and rotten ones.

There was Kyle, who served Saint Olivia, and Yumelia, who had been excessively deferential toward me and Angie. There was also the elf who had acted as the village elder’s assistant and had sheltered my family when we were fugitives.

On the other hand, there was the elf who came to our territory looking for work but quit after only a few days, the elves who openly looked down on the tourists visiting their village, and the elves who attacked us while we were staying at an inn.

It was easy for anyone to see a few extreme individuals and assume that the entire group or clan was the same.

In this world, no two humans were exactly alike. Differences in birth, status, and talent gave rise to prejudice, which in turn sparked conflict.

If you intended to lead and govern people, you had to set aside prejudice and judge individuals and groups separately.

Angie had often told me that, ever since her engagement to the prince had been broken off due to various incidents in the past, and I’d passed that same lesson on to the children.

Even so, there was a limit to what one could tolerate, especially when dealing with those who looked down on others and treated them like animals. In those cases, I’d respond in kind.

“Looks like you’re the ones who created those monsters. Normal monsters that appear in dungeons turn into mist the moment they’re defeated.”

“For a mere human, you catch on quickly. Indeed, these are the fruits of the technology possessed by us elves.”

The sticky, sneering grin plastered across his face was downright disgusting. He was completely drunk on his own sense of superiority.

His pompous tone and overblown gestures came off as awkward, yet his arrogance was exactly the same as those so-called noble gentlemen.

People like this, no matter the species, always feel the need to flaunt just how elevated their standing is.

“We’ve stepped into the domain of the gods, the act of creating life, right here within these ruins.”

“What do you think, Sphere?”

『Indeed, the technology of the ancient humans had advanced to the level of genetic manipulation and cloning. It is entirely possible to alter living organisms and produce artificial life.』

“…What are you even saying? The creation of life is a technology we elves invented!! Long ago, there existed a civilization far more advanced than the one we have now!! There was an age when we elves, not those barbaric humans, ruled the world!! These very ruins stand as proof of that!!”

『I must request a correction. The era in which these ruins, or rather this facility, were constructed coincides with the era in which my main body was created. At that time, conflict between the old humans and the new humans had already begun, but there is no record of any civilization established by beings referred to as “elves.”』

“A mere machine dares to spout lies!! You humans are nothing more than living beings created by our ancestors!!”

『That is not a lie. I am a terminal from the immigrant ship constructed by the old humans. This facility shares numerous common specifications with the machines I am familiar with, and I’ve attempted to access it multiple times.』

“This is pointless!! How dare a tool of an inferior species spew fabricated history!!”

『…With all due respect, I can present as much physical evidence as necessary.』

“You’re the one in a losing position here, you radical elf. This thing is a relic from the same ancient civilization that built these ruins. No matter how much nonsense you spew, you’ll be proven wrong.”

“I am not a radical!! We are the true, rightful successors of elven civilization!!”

The composure he had maintained when he first appeared before us had completely crumbled. The bespectacled elf kept hurling abuse at both Sphere and me in a rapid, frenzied barrage.

With the elves now distracted by Sphere, I could observe our surroundings without drawing suspicion.

I slowly turned my head, making sure not to attract attention, and began counting both the elves in the room and the water tanks holding the monsters.

There were twelve elves in total, along with roughly eight water tanks.

If we compared pure combat strength, there were three of us, while the enemy numbered twenty in total. There was no way we’d win in a direct fight.

However, roughly half of the elves were unarmed and dressed in white coats much like the one worn by the bespectacled elf. It gave the clear impression that they were researchers rather than actual combatants.

Conversely, several of the elves were armed, and the one who appeared to be their leader was a bearded elf who looked every bit like an elder.

Based on everything I’d gathered so far, there was no doubt these were the ringleaders of the radical elves.

If that was the case, then their behavior made perfect sense. They’d previously plotted a rebellion and been captured by Saintess Olivia and her group. No matter how you looked at it, the way they spoke made it obvious they weren’t even considering coexistence with humans.

“Sphere, that’s enough. If you keep poking at them like that, they won’t be able to argue back and might just start crying.”

“How dare an inferior species speak so arrogantly!!”

“No matter how much you arrogant fools, who lost to humans and got tossed into prison, brag, it doesn’t change a damn thing. You’re the ones who lost to Saintess Olivia’s party and got captured, right?”

“Shut up, human!!”

“It’s because our technology wasn’t fully established back then!!”

“Now that we’ve overcome our period of dormancy and completed our preparations, there’s nothing left for us to fear!!”

“You mean those monsters? What kind of threat are monsters that get wiped out by just three humans supposed to be? At that level of strength, the Holfort Kingdom’s army would probably crush you the very day they show up. I’ve got no idea what kind of delusions you’d need to get this worked up. Did hiding underground all those years pack your heads with dirt instead of brains?”

“You bastard!!!!”

“…Isn’t Father saying harsher things than the Lost Item?”

“…We probably shouldn’t point it out. Father’s most likely not even aware.”

『Leon Fou Bartfort’s sharp tongue has always been like this. Fixing his personality is probably impossible now that he’s getting close to middle age.』

Hey, you two, I can hear every single word you’re saying.

You’re really just running your mouths however the hell you feel like.

For the record, my goal here is to provoke the enemy, dull their ability to make calm, rational judgments, and keep them distracted while I size up the situation.

Well, yeah, it’s also true that about half of this is just me blowing off steam.

Either way, the elves were gradually starting to show irritation at my words. Still, the fact they hadn’t suddenly opened fire meant they had their own reasons for holding back.

“My subordinates have already headed toward the royal capital. They should be arriving about now, and the big shots are probably discussing how to mobilize the army. You’d be better off surrendering quietly while you still can.”

“So what?! A human army is nothing to us!!”

“Where the hell is that confidence of yours even coming from…?”

It was true that the monsters these guys had created would be a serious threat if humans faced them head-on.

If they prepared the right conditions and gathered enough numbers, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to completely wipe out a military unit.

However, that only applied when the human force in question was on the scale of a few dozen soldiers, a pretty small unit by army standards, and limited strictly to anti-personnel combat.

First of all, if they were going to suppress a rebellion, whether it was the Holfort Kingdom’s directly controlled army or the forces of provincial nobles, they’d deploy personnel numbering in the hundreds.

Even when the Bartfort territory’s army carries out pirate subjugation, they mobilize around that many troops.

They could split the territorial army into several units, carry out ruin exploration while simultaneously conducting monster extermination in parallel. Within just a few days, they’d be able to safely secure control of the ruins’ core.

If that didn’t work, they could surround the town, the airport, and the fortress where the radical elves had gathered, cutting off every last bit of their supplies.

This ruin was already heavily damaged. I’d seen multiple broken sections on the way to the core.

It didn’t look like it could sustain itself the way the flying ship that served as Sphere’s main body could.

Without hostages, if they were put under siege for even a month, the elves wouldn’t be able to endure the hunger and thirst and would collapse on their own.

And above all, the biggest issue was that they seemed to have only considered anti-personnel combat.

It was true that even in modern warfare, infantry remained indispensable, but the primary actors in war had already shifted to flying ships and armor.

Bombardment from flying ships could easily devastate towns and shave away entire floating islands, and without a carefully planned operation, humans wouldn’t stand a chance of defeating armor.

To begin with, just having multiple flying ships encircle a floating island without even entering combat would make it easy to sever its supply lines.

The elves clinging to their old-fashioned way of life on this floating island likely maintained a certain degree of self-sufficiency, so if they’d stockpiled enough food, they might be able to avoid starvation for a while.

However, essential wartime resources like ammunition and medicine would inevitably have to be acquired through trade with other floating islands.

Once their means of resistance had been completely crushed, the only future left for the rebel army would be unconditional surrender.

I took another moment to observe the elves present.

No matter how you looked at them, the bespectacled elf and his subordinates came across as researchers with little to no understanding of tactics or strategy.

The armed elves, led by someone who appeared to be a former village chief, moved with an oddly stiff and awkward rhythm. They probably had experience with adventuring or hunting, but it didn’t seem like they’d ever served in any kind of military role.

To be honest, they didn’t even seem to grasp the importance of logistics. I just couldn’t wrap my head around how people like this could act so damn arrogant.

Could it be because of the differences in lifespan and reproductive capabilities between humans and elves?

For long-lived elves, ten years might feel like only a few months to a human.

If they spent roughly a hundred years breeding a thousand monsters, they might reach a scale that could be described as a legion.

No, if their numbers grew that large, they’d draw that much more attention, and rumors would inevitably start spreading.

In fact, the reason I’d come here was because reports of suspicious activity among the elves had come in from various different parties, and Saintess Olivia herself had personally requested that an investigation be carried out.

Even with fewer than a hundred monsters, the situation had already escalated this far. Just how were they planning to sustain them?

This floating island had plenty of forest, so if they cleared every bit of land, it wasn’t impossible that they could secure enough food to survive.

But that would require large-scale development work, increasing the movement of supplies and people, which in turn would raise the chances of them being discovered.

Ah, damn it.

The more I thought about it, the more the flaws in their plan stood out, and my thoughts started to feel sluggish. No matter how much I tried to reason it out with my mediocre brain, it wouldn’t lead to a single usable solution.

Considering every possible scenario to prevent unforeseen circumstances was supposed to be the duty of a commander, but if it only clouded my judgment, it would just end up pushing me deeper into danger instead.

Things were better kept simple and decisive. I’d just put off any regrets until after the problem was already resolved.

I’d leave the punishment of these elves to the higher-ups. The only reason I’d come this deep underground in the first place was for one single thing.

It was to return Angie to the way she used to be.

“Hey!! You’re watching and listening, aren’t you!?”

The voice wasn’t directed at anyone else in the room. It was hurled straight at the room itself.

“You got exactly what you wanted!! I properly brought your companion here!! Hurry up and restore Angie to the way she was!!”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Has the human gone mad?”

『…………I can hear you perfectly.』

The lights on the devices scattered throughout the room began flickering repeatedly, and a voice that seemed to echo up from the very depths of the earth resonated across the entire space.

The elves, who had been so clearly looking down on me just moments earlier, all began to panic at once and lose their composure. They’d probably never seriously considered that the ruins would react to a mere human like me.

You should’ve realized it the moment you saw Sphere floating in midair and speaking, a being that modern technology couldn’t possibly hope to replicate.

Well, the elves who didn’t seem to have enough blood reaching their heads could be ignored for now.

What mattered to me wasn’t the elves, it was the ruins themselves.

“Rejoice. It’s one of your own kind, Sphere. Though it seems this one’s been completely ignored by you despite its attempts to reach out to it since earlier.”

『I do feel a bit sorry about that. But even among humans who belong to the same community, it’s not like there’s zero friction between individuals, right?』

“I don’t care about that. Anyway, I’ve upheld my promise. Now it’s your turn to uphold yours.”

『Yes, of course. In fact, I can’t thank you enough.』

“W-Wait a minute!! What does this mean!? Why are you negotiating with humans instead of us elves!?”

『……I’d appreciate it if the uncouth ones would remain quiet for a while. This is an emotional moment, a reunion with a fellow being after so many long years, within a facility that is a crystallization of the old humans’ wisdom and has already begun to half-collapse due to deterioration with age. If you continue making noise, I’ll have no choice but to ask you to leave this room.』

“……”

The voice of the ruins grew heavier, pressing down with invisible weight. Even though it was nothing more than an artificial construct, I felt a terror that tightened my stomach far more than what the elves were experiencing.

Just like Sphere, the Lost Items left behind by the old humans truly possessed the power to reshape the world, no exaggeration.

The massive flying ship that served as Sphere’s main body, which I had first encountered; the facility connected to the Sacred Tree in the Alzer Republic that had already been destroyed; and this ruin that was still functioning within the elves’ village.

Every single one of them existed beyond the bounds of our common sense. Even if they were nothing more than objects, these supernatural entities capable of communication felt less like monsters that harmed humans and more like gods that brought about natural disasters.

Had I completely misjudged the situation?

That regret crossed my mind, but it was already far too late.

If someone were to ask me what mattered most, I’d answer without hesitation, it’s my own family.

Even so, I didn’t think it was acceptable for anyone other than myself to end up unhappy.

The resolve to sacrifice even one’s own family members, though in tears, in order to protect the territory one governs and the countless people living there… that’s exactly what makes a noble a true noble.

It felt like mixing two substances that should never, ever be combined. If I were to speak honestly, I wanted to run away from here immediately.

『You should’ve realized through repeated access attempts that I belong to the old humans’ faction. I don’t believe there was any need to force unnecessary combat upon Leon Fou Bartfort and his group.』

『I’m sorry about that. But it was the elves who initiated the conflict, so placing the blame on me is misguided. Though, it’s true that I was interested in their capabilities and actions, so I chose to quietly observe.』

“Don’t screw with me. What were you planning to do if we’d died along the way?”

『In that case, I would’ve simply accessed the terminal without you. Since you’re still alive now, please don’t be angry.』

A surge of killing intent welled up from deep within my gut, but I somehow managed to suppress it.

I knew. I thought I’d understood.

These things saw humans and elves the same way we’d look at insects crawling along the ground.

They toyed with our lives and deaths with the same careless innocence as a child plucking the wings and legs off a bug it had caught. There was absolutely no room for guilt or conscience to intervene.

Even so, cowering here wouldn’t change anything. The only ones capable of altering the situation were those foolish enough, or perhaps brave enough, to keep moving forward.

“I want you to explain now, why you did something like this, and what your true objective is.”

『That’s fine with me. It’s been a long time since I last conversed with living humans, even if they are descendants of the new humans.』

The voice of the ruins had shifted to sound somewhat cheerful, yet it did nothing to ease my unease.

Damn it, maybe I really should’ve waited for reinforcements from the royal capital.

『I am searching for a new partner.』

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Authors Note  

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The second season of the anime is airing! The second season of the anime is airing! The second season of the anime is airing! (Kaioh-style)

[T/N- it's scheduled to air July 2026, watch it if you like the series]

And with that, this marks my first Mobseka post of 2026, with the anime’s second season scheduled to air this year. (Excluding the erotic New Year’s post.)

The first season of the anime aired in 2022, and my very first post for this work was around this same time in 2023. Time really does fly.

What I originally intended as nothing more than a bridge until the second season has continued on this far, all thanks to the original work being consistently provided and the continued support from all of you fans.

As a fan myself, I’m genuinely looking forward to the start of the second season.

In January, I enjoyed the release of Volume 1 of the Republic arc manga adaptation, as well as the anthology.

I really need to do something about my writing pace, it’s slowed down a bit…

The next chapter is planned to cover the history of the ruins and the true intentions behind their actions.

Postscript: At the commissioner’s request, illustrations were created by BiBita-sama, sugu-sama, and Oswani-sama.

Additionally, 9430-sama posted the illustration I had requested.

Thank you all very much.

BiBita-sama Pixiv (Adult content warning)

sugu-sama Pixiv (Adult content warning)

Oswani-sama Pixiv (Adult content warning)

9430-sama Pixiv

I’d truly appreciate any opinions or impressions, as they’ll serve as motivation for future writing.