Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

“They say Costa Rica alone has millions of different insects and other animals.”

“What are you talking about?”

Utagai Karuta frowned while the girls tugged on his hand and forcibly added him to their team, so tanned and silver-haired Riho laughed loud. She did not have any tan lines from a school swimsuit, so she must have had a full-body tan.

All this attention from a large group scared him.

But they were all ordinary people and he could remain relaxed here.

Or as relaxed as was possible while on a foreign beach with girls in their swimsuits. He saw only soft, healthy skin everywhere he looked. His soul would have been eaten away if he were not in his public mode. It was still plenty bad for his heart, though.

“Noah’s ark supposedly carried two of every animal, right? But how many would that be with just insects? That boat would’ve been crawling with bugs.”

“…”

That was not a pleasant mental image, but the swimsuit girl had a reason for saying this. A blue butterfly fluttered by in front of them and it landed on the hibiscus decorating Riho’s pink-colored drink. There were also hummingbirds coming to a stop in midair and quetzals with beautiful green feathers flying in the enclosed blue sky.

Needless to say, those animals were not native to the Arctic. The domes of the Crystal Beach could maintain this pleasant 28 degrees and less than 50% humidity even if nuclear war covered the entire world in a new ice age. Riho stepped back while opening her mouth wide and looking overhead.

“It’s just so incredible! Hot!?”

She gave a sudden hop, jiggling her small chest, because she had pressed her back against a large metal box. It was taller than she was, but it was not a vending machine. It contained one of the smoke exhaust buttons that were placed all around this enclosed dome.

Karuta sounded exasperated.

“This is supposed to be a tropical beach, so the sand and metal are going to be hot.”

“Why did they have to recreate that part of the experience!?”

Riho complained while Sanae pressed something against her back. It appeared to be a drink, but it was colorless. Was it that personal one she had made in cooking class where she only added a bit of salt to ordinary water?

Sanae tilted her head in a gentle way.

“If this system becomes more common, will they be able to create any environment anywhere in the world? Um, like underground, deep underwater, or at the top of Mt. Everest?”

“And outer space too.”

Alice apparently had more of an imagination than Sanae, but Karuta made sure to anchor them to reality as soon as possible.

“The tech isn’t that all-powerful. First of all, it uses a massive amount of energy. Supply that with ordinary petroleum and supplies will dry up in no time.”

“Wait, then how do these ones exist???”

“An obvious but good question, Riho.”

Her Crystal Blossom’s communication must not have been enough for her because Riho had two phones strapped to her thighs, so maybe he should have complimented her for facing the question herself instead of immediately searching for the answer.

“Iceland is one of the world’s most volcanic countries. It’s a treasure trove of hot springs and the heat of the endless magma bubbling up from underground spins the turbines.”

Karuta pointed toward the ground.

This was an artificial island, so he was actually pointing much further down than that.

“If you wanted to build a similar-sized facility underground or on the ocean floor, it would need to be at a location with plenty of geothermal energy to absorb. But at the same time, it would have to be in a safe zone that would not be caught in earthquakes or in volcanic blasts. Access to the energy doesn’t help you much if a large eruption wipes your city off the map like Pompeii or Saint-Pierre. Meeting both conditions is easier said than done. And outer space would be even harder.”

“Ehh? Yeah, there’s no magma up there, but wouldn’t sunlight provide endless energy?”

“The solar panels wear out, Alice. The sunlight in outer space is very powerful since it is not weakened by the atmosphere and various types of debris will wear down the surface of the panels like a sandstorm. A solar furnace that uses a bunch of mirrors to focus light on a single point, raising the temperature to around 3000 degrees, would be more realistic, but I doubt even that would work. And in a spaceship, you would have to worry about other resources than energy, like air, water, and food.”

“Hmm?” Alice placed a finger on her slender chin and stared up into the artificial blue sky. “Then wouldn’t the moon or Mars be good?”

Her imagination was harder to deter than he thought. There would be other bottlenecks for developing these facilities on other celestial bodies, but discussing that would be straying too far off topic.

“This is off the record, but you will probably be asked to submit a report on the final day of the trip. If you’re afraid you’ll get too caught up in playing on the beach to remember everything you’ve learned by then, I recommend using your phone to record everything that catches your attention. Take short videos instead of photos, record your own voice, and keep the location data for where you filmed it. That will make it a lot easier to bring it all together later on.”

“For real!? Those thoughtless teachers are going to force us to finish off our trip with schoolwork!?”

He nearly said “well, it is a school field trip”. This had given them an excuse to have lots of fun out here, so he felt like they should thank those theory-focused teachers.

“Um,” whispered Sanae while shrinking down. “Should you really have told us that?”

“I don’t see why not. It’s traditional for upperclassmen to teach their underclassmen ''what will be on the test''. You might not interact with other years much in class, but clubs and committees are a different story, right?”

Of course, Karuta and Marika had been hit by the First Out Incident before they could experience any of that themselves. He honestly did want to experience that school life he never thought he would return to.

Riho put on a mischievous smile.

“Hehh heh heh.”

“?”

“I notice you made sure to tell just us in secret. I see what’s going on here, Senpai. We’re your favorites, huh?”

“I never said I was only telling you. I know if I let a few of you in on the secret, word will get out in no time.”

“Not happening. We’re keeping this to ourselves to make all this easier for us!”

She was like a selfish princess, but he could not help but laugh. He was actually fond of that way of thinking. You learned how the rules worked and then took advantage of them. That was exactly how he had managed to take on those monsters he never should have been able to defeat.

“Then how will you stop me from telling some of the others?”

“We just have to pin you here.”

Riho grinned and left her hibiscus-decorated drink with a nearby salesperson.

Then she grabbed a plastic ball she had bought cashless.

“Sanae, Alice! Surround him! We just have to play with him so much he’s too exhausted to say a thing!!”