The irrigation gate referred to an aqueduct used to carry water to the fields. It may have been called a “gate,” but it was just a reinforced stream with a simple hanging door that was opened by pulley. Right now there was a wooden latch on it, high enough up that children couldn’t reach it. Yuuta and Ana must have slipped out before it was secured.
So, full disclosure. I, Anti Kythera, am built like a kid.... W-Well, no, let’s say I have a “youthful physique.” I’m about a head shorter than everyone else in my class. And as for my chest, well... it’ll grow in time. My rear... isn’t large.
Uuuuugh.
Grr, in other words, I could fit through the irrigation gate!
Sob, sob, sob...
T-this is no time to be standing around acting like an idiot!
I removed the latch and spun the pulley. With a plunk sound, a small hole opened up in the wall.
Well, there was no avoiding getting wet at this point.
My hair was still done up with my gears, so it wouldn’t get caught on anything.
“Hup...!”
My back ended up getting soaked, but I made it through relatively easily.
Once I passed through, I felt a crushing anxiety in my chest...
“Grr, that idiotic hero! Once I find them, I’ll give him a real thrashing, and—?”
I noticed something was out of sorts as soon as my gaze fell upon the forest.
A light was spreading a little ways off, partway up the small mountain.
“It’s... burning...”
The mountain was ablaze.
We called it a small mountain, but people from the big city would probably just say it’s a hill. Though, because of how dense the forest is, it gives the impression of being a proper mountain. Of course, there were monsters there, so that was a place I’d normally never go.
For the people of Cardiff, the northwest forest and small mountain were the most frightening places around. And now, one of them was burning. Why was that happening? Was somebody carrying a torch or something? No, but it was too soon for a search to get that far out... And there’s no way they’d go all the way to the middle of the mountain like that, right?
I mean, the bergbear... the bergbear?
“I tried! I tried to stop them! But they didn’t listen, and Yuuta... he was all, ‘I’m not a fake!’ He said he’d beat it... with a Fire magic stone from the kitchen... then he and Ana ran off!!”
“...He said he’d beat it with a Fire magic stone.”
Gah... so this is what it feels like when all the color drains from your face...
If our little “hero” started that fire... then this is the worst-case scenario. It would mean he’s already encountered the monster...
Agh, that idiot! That dumb idiot!
Before I realized it, I had broken out running like a fool myself. When I got my wits about me, I was surrounded by forest. Amazing, I don’t even remember that...
I could hear my lungs go thump, thump, thump. Ah, no wait, that’s not my lungs... it’s my heart!
Ah, if I swing my arms up like this, my body floats up.
Fwa-thud, whack.
I took a serious spill. Did I get caught on a root?
It’s so far off... What’s that burning, and why won’t it stop? And why can’t I feel my legs from the knees down?
Haha, huh? Am I having a panic attack?
“C-Crown, analyze the fire.”
[--Analysis complete.
--2 kel mels ahead.
--Conflagration range: Average diameter of approximately 8 mel.
--Currently expanding.]
Oh, man. 8 mel? That’s bigger than our house. I’ve got to hurry.
That monstrous bear, and the fire... Those two runts were building up a pretty nasty tab.
It was no good. It wasn’t just my knees: my whole body was laughing at the idea.
What should I do? What can I do?
I wanted to fly along like whoosh, like you could in a carriage. If only I had wheels...
“Crown, attach gears to my feet.”
[--Order analysis complete.
--Concept judged to be to increase movement speed.
--Action unadvised, due to terrain.]
“Just shut up and do it, right here.”
Two gears appeared beneath each of my ankles. I fixed the gears in place.
“Crown, make them spin.”
[--Action unadvised.]
“Make them spin.”
[--Action unadvised.]
“Please.”
[--. --Ready. Beginning rotation.]
R-r-ruuuummmbbllleee!!
The gears made an unpleasant sound as they scraped up moss and forest floor.
Ah, see? I’m moving fast, right? The vibration sure is something, though. The ground is really bumpy, I guess.
Ah!
..........
My left shoulder really hurts.
I seriously smacked right into a tree.
“How... far... did I... get...?”
[--Analysis complete. 58 mel, 28 celchi.]
“See, that was fast. Let’s go again.”
[--Dangerous. Unadvised.]
“Let’s go again.”
[--Dangerous. Unadvised.]
“Now listen here...!!!” My partner may have been trying to protect me from danger, but I flared up. “All I’ve got going for me is this magic or whatever the heck kind of skill it is!!! So do you think, just because of that, I can just do nothing right now... write the day off, head home, laugh things off... and just keep on living?!”
[---.]
“...Crown, when I saw them earlier today... If I had gotten angrier, like seriously beaten the point into them... then this probably wouldn’t have happened. I should’ve scolded them better! So they couldn’t just think I was being a bother! Or that I was just kidding around!” I screamed out into the moonlit forest.
My shouting could’ve attracted wolves or something, but right now, I didn’t give a damn.
“And besides, if I do that... when tomorrow comes, and everything is over with... I’ll think, ‘Agh, argh, I want to return to last night! I want to go back... and do it all over again!’... right?”
[---.]
“Crown, I won’t always... say stuff like this. Even I’ve... broken a plate... and thought I can just clean it up later, or knocked over the sugar... and said I’ll handle it some other time... so I just sweep it up against the wall. But you know...!” Ugh, why am I yelling this stuff? I’m the only one in this forest. Just me and my skill. “In exchange for those times when I goof off...! For when I’m lazy...! When there’s something that really can’t just be put off for later, I won’t just let it slip on by!!!” I shouted, and shouted, and shouted as loud as I could. “Sometimes... when something’s gotta be done, you can’t just give up because it’s dangerous... or you don’t know what to do... or you tell yourself you can’t do it!!!”
[---.]
“Ugh... T-that’s... now. For me, that time is now. If I don’t do this... then tomorrow I’ll wake up in hell. A hell where I’ll never be able to forgive myself!!”
Everyone would probably forgive me. They wouldn’t blame me for what happened.
But it was something I could never forgive.
“Crown... I’m not the kind of person who can accept comfort. And I’m not some fine, upstanding person worthy of forgiveness. So right now, I can’t let myself give up.”
I was a fool, terrified of that guilt, and so... so...
“Right now, I’m thinking. As fast as I can. I’m 100% willing to do this!”
[---.]
...Vrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
“You and me, we can do it. Just watch! We went forwards 58 mels in an instant, didn’t we?! That’s no small feat! Just a bit more of a push, Crown!! Right now, you can’t give up... on the potential you’re showing!
Crown! Take me to where that fire’s burning!”
Now, let’s go! My one and only partner!
We’re here now, the both of us!
[--Ready: Over, Anti.
Overwriting entry priority for ordered action.
Self-analysis complete. Standardized conceptions, recomposed.
Pattern frame selected based on past measurements and calculations.
Standing by. --Beginning deployment.]