It was an old story, and of dubious credibility, but the quiet scene it evoked in my mind had left an impression on me, so I had always liked that story. Where did the soldiers in that unit go? How long did they march? I’d pondered those questions time and again.
Now here I was, spiriting away soldiers myself.
The operator directing traffic on the other side of the gate signaled to us. The line of waiting vehicles slowly advanced, passing through the gate one by one. There were two vans and two trucks, each bearing the mark of Torchlight’s other face, Tomoshibi Engineering. Once all the vehicles had passed through, it was our turn.
“Well, shall we be on our way?” Migiwa said and then stepped through the gate. Tsuji and Runa did the same. The two of us went in last, and then Toriko opened her hand. The space she had forced open closed shut like waves crashing together, and with that the move was complete.
This basement where the Round Hole was set up was darker than the parking garage at DS Research, and the air was chilly.
“Ahh. Ahh, ahh.” Runa put her hands to her ears, and made sounds like she was testing a microphone.
“Is something wrong?”
“Don’t your ears pop when you go through here? Like in an elevator.”
“Yeah, they totally do. It’s the difference in air pressure. This is the mountains, after all.”
“Is the difference that great?”
“I mean, DS Research is in Tameike-Sannou. The name alone tells you it’s low lying.”
“It does?” asked Toriko.
“I think the ‘Tameike’ means there must have been a big pond there long ago. Even by Tokyo standards, it must be close to sea level. Not that I’ve looked it up.”
How big was the elevation difference between central Tokyo and the mountains of Saitama? Tens of meters? I wouldn’t have ruled out it being more than a hundred. I’d already gotten used to it, so I didn’t think about it anymore, but I got a clogged-up feeling in my ears every time we did this. It was maybe a little late to be realizing it, but using the gate repeatedly over a short span of time might not be great for our health. People who were sensitive to air pressure changes would probably get sick immediately.
There was a ramp that went up one of the walls. That was the ground level service entrance that had recently been completed. Now that it had been, we could finally ship vehicles and construction materials in through the Round Hole.
It was made much easier by the fact that Runa’s cult had already begun the work before abandoning it, but if not for that, the amount of equipment we could bring into this tight space was limited, so it would have been a fairly difficult project. I was told that they had repaired a broken power shovel and used it to open up the tunnel.
The vehicles slowly climbed the ramp. We followed behind them.
We tread over the brand new concrete, and through the wide-open shutter. Once we headed out to ground level, the summer air rushed in to greet us.
“Didn’t you say something about it being cool, Runa?” I asked.
“It’s hot in the sun. I mean duh. It’s summer.”
Runa was the only one who’d brought a rechargeable handheld fan. It had never occurred to Toriko or me to bring something like that.
“Does that thing help?”
“It’s better than nothing. Can we get into the shade already?”
She didn’t have to ask us twice. We followed the line of cars from the service entrance at the back side of the building around to the front side. The Farm had three buildings. The Residence Building in the center, the Factory on the right, and the Cattle Barn on the left. There was an open space in the middle, which they surrounded on three sides like a square bracket.
The building we’d just come out of, with the Round Hole in the basement, was the Cattle Barn. The Residence Building was three stories, with rooms laid out like a school. Contrary to its name, it wasn’t a place people could live, but there were gates to various places on the Otherside there. The Factory felt like it had actually been used for something in the past, and there was broken industrial equipment left abandoned there.
The open space in the center was covered in a very thin layer of tiny gravel, like I had seen in some parking lots in the countryside. There were weeds peeking through the hard ground everywhere. The train of vehicles had stopped here, and they had begun unloading the materials.
Sasazuka, who was directing the work, turned as we were approaching and said, “You can stay in the shade.”
“Okayyy,” Runa replied selfishly, then marched off in the direction of the Factory.
“Huh...? Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yes, setting up is our responsibility. We’ll be hauling around some big construction materials, so sorry, it would be better for everyone if you’d stay where it’s safe for a while.”
“We’ll be setting up our own tent. That’s fine, right?”
“Oh, of course you can do that. I’ll call you when things settle down here.”
It was true that I couldn’t do much in the way of grunt work, but being treated like I was a guest rubbed me the wrong way. Because, fact was, this was my turf.
As I walked off to follow Runa, feeling a little upset, Toriko looked at my face and smirked.
“Wh-What?”
Toriko pointed at me. “Sengoku Warlord.”
Oh, shove off.
Once we entered the Factory, the heat vanished like it had never been there at all. Even the sounds outside felt somewhat distant. Turning to look back, on the other side of a large door frame with no door, it looked like a summery scene had been cut out and framed. It wasn’t far away at all, and nothing should have blocked the noise, but it was like we were in another world.
“It really is cool...” Toriko said, her voice echoing off the high ceiling.
The inside of this building was the very picture of an abandoned factory. The abandoned machinery and tools were covered in rust, and the paint on the walls and floor had discolored to the point where I couldn’t even guess their original shade, while cracks ran through them like dried skin. The windows were pretty much all broken, and this had allowed plants to creep in.
“Isn’t it just great? Makes you want to put together a ruins photo album, doesn’t it?” Runa said as she looked around.
“Was it like this from the beginning?”
“Yes. It was love at first sight. I wanted to shoot a promotional video here someday.”
“A promotional video? But for what?”
“For one of my song covers, maybe?”
I shouldn’t have asked.
After getting my hands on the Farm, we had only been visiting the Residence Building where the gates were, so it was my first time coming here in a while. Here in her familiar old haunt, Runa kept on walking ahead of us. I wondered what her guardian was up to, but there Tsuji was, her arms crossed as she looked around.
“You sure you want to let her do whatever she wants?” I asked.
“Hm? Ohh, that’s right,” Tsuji replied, as if only noticing the issue now that it was pointed out. “Urumi-kun, don’t wander too far or you’ll get lost.”
“Huh?! I’m not a child. Besides, this place is practically my house.” Her response pissed me off.
“You heard her,” Tsuji said to me.
“‘You heard her.’ Really...?”
I couldn’t help but think, Is this person all right? But Tsuji’s attention seemed preoccupied with something else. She was looking around, thinking about something by herself.
“Is something the matter?” I asked.
“Kamikoshi-kun, I forget, do you have a strong sense for spirits?”
It was a strange question to get in response.
“No, not at all.”
“And you, Nishina-kun? Do you see them?”
Toriko also shook her head. The two of us only had incredibly mundane senses. Once you set aside the massive abnormalities that were my right eye and her left hand.
“Is there something going on?” I asked.
“Yeah... I do sense those sorts of things, and—Kamikoshi-kun, do you believe in ghosts?”
“No, not at all.”