Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 11===

Quenser and Froleytia hid behind the short trees on the mountain slope.

They could hear multiple sounds.

They could hear the sound of the leaves of the trees rustling and they could hear the sound of large, richly colored birds flying through the sky.

However, those sounds seemed to be forced away by another sound.

That was the sound of an Object travelling in the distance.

Quenser and Froleytia strained their ears to pick up exactly where the low, echoing noise was coming from.

“Is it coming from the right route?”

“Sounds like it.”

The echoing made the noise sound like it was coming from every direction, so it was difficult to pick up on the precise direction. However, when they listened closely, similar noises were slowly building up in order. The direction they heard it from first had to be the direction the Mass Driver conglomerate Object was coming from.

They had only one chance.

If they chose the wrong route and failed in their surprise attack, no one could stop the advance of the Break Carrier.

Baby Magnum and the rest of Quenser’s unit would be slaughtered, Bilany and her unit would blow up the dam, and countless civilians would be sacrificed downstream.

Froleytia grabbed her radio.

“It seems the princess is headed our way. She wants to know which of the three routes to lie in wait along. I’m going to tell her the route to our right, is that okay?”

“No…”

Hearing that, Quenser stood up in a sudden realization.

He called up the offline map on his handheld device.

“Something isn’t right. We’re surrounded by Object noises. This isn’t just an echo.”

“?”

“…It’s Baby Magnum,” muttered Quenser in a daze. He looked back toward Froleytia. “Both the Baby Magnum and the Mass Driver conglomerate Object use static electricity to hover off the ground! Baby Magnum is approaching to prepare for its attack, so the sound of both Objects approaching is mixing together!! The noise we’ve been hearing was not just the Mass Driver conglomerate Object. We were hearing a mixture of both Objects, so we can’t accurately determine the direction from this!!”

In a normal room, a human would be able to distinguish between two noises coming from two different sources.

However, if the noises were almost identical and then echoed again and again and again, no one would be able to tell the accurate source of the noises. They had no hint.

Sounding impatient, Froleytia said, “We have no time! If we let it get too close, we won’t have time to hide and prepare for the surprise attack. If it spots the Baby Magnum, the Mass Driver conglomerate Object can just fire that high power railgun straight through the mountain!!”

“But we can’t do anything if we can’t tell which way it’s coming from.”

Quenser thought for a second and then raised his head once more.

There were three possible routes and there were two of them.

“Let’s split up,” suggested Quenser immediately. “We’ll both wait at separate routes. If the Mass Driver conglomerate Object passes by one of us, we’re set. If it doesn’t pass by either of us, we know it’s taking the third route. We’ll be sure to know which route it’s on that way.”

As he spoke, Quenser manipulated the offline map. The mountain slope they were currently on was along the center route. A geothermal power plant had been scheduled to be built on that mountain, so a few tunnels had already been dug. A tunnel just a bit up the slope led straight through to the other side of the mountain which was the left route.

After a short silence, Quenser said, “Froleytia, you head through the tunnel. Equipment for construction of the power plant should be there. According to the data I have, one of those is an electronic slide lift, so it should only take a few minutes to reach the other side of the mountain.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll stay here.”

That was partially due to his sprained ankle. However, he secretly also wanted to send her to the left route because it was the least likely route for the Object to take.

However, Froleytia shook her head.

“No, I can’t approve that. With that ankle, what are you supposed to do if the Object passes by? Even if it doesn’t notice you, the shock of it passing by could cause a landslide. You could be killed needlessly just because you can’t move. I can’t allow that.”

“Ha ha. I had a feeling you’d say that,” Quenser laughed weakly.

Even standing was painful, so he sat back down on the mountain slope.

He rubbed at his swollen ankle and asked Froleytia, “Sorry, but I’m about at my limit here. It might help with the pain if I set it so the joint can’t move. Could you grab that thick branch over there?”

“Honestly…”

Froleytia turned in the direction he pointed in, but she could not see a branch.

With a puzzled look, Froleytia turned back toward Quenser.

“Hey, Quenser. Where is this branch you-…?”

Froleytia trailed off.

Quenser was nowhere to be seen.

She could only hear a slight crunching noise a bit away. Then she realized what had happened. Quenser had rolled down the slope to get away from her. By heading for the center route himself, he was forcing her to head to the left route.

He would be easier to spot on the flat path at the base of the mountain as opposed to hidden in the forest on the slope.

And that was likely exactly where the Object would pass through.

Quenser had put himself in unnecessary danger to force her hand.

(That bastard…!!)

Froleytia gritted her teeth, but it was too late. Even if she headed down after Quenser, it would be difficult to drag him back up. The Mass Driver conglomerate Object would pass by while she was trying.

She had no choice.

She headed for the tunnel about 10 meters up from her current location. She could teach that insubordinate youth a lesson afterwards.