Editing Leviathan:Volume 8 Chapter 1
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===Part 3=== |
===Part 3=== |
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| − | "Although Princess Yukikaze proudly declared she would lead us to her domain, the buildings and rooms here are so desolate." |
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| − | Orihime seemed a bit disappointed. |
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| − | "As one would expect, these are ancient runes constructed by the dragons, right?" |
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| − | Hearing Asya's comment, Hal also voiced his opinion. "Really? I doubt they'd construct buildings with staircases. Perhaps these were left behind by an ancient alien civilization on the Moon?" |
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| − | "Aliens? I've heard of them. They look similar to an octopus, right?" |
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| − | "Unfortunately, that's a Martian." |
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| − | "And the H. G. Wells version to boot. Like ''War of the Worlds'." |
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| − | Hal and Asya spontaneously shared in a joke. |
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| − | Princess Yukikaze brought the group to a corner in her "castle." |
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| − | There were twenty or thirty towers resembling square buildings, standing randomly on a lunar plain. Hal and company were currently inside one of these towers. Built completely from stone, they were a gloomy white in color. |
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| − | This tower was four stories tall. Hal and company were on the top floor. |
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| − | Judging from the use of stairs to move between floors, the building structure quite resembled architecture on Earth. However, there was no partitioning within individual floors. Each entire floor was a single room. Very plain. |
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| − | Hal, Asya and Orihime, the three Earthlings, were gathered here. |
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| − | After bringing them to the Moon, Princess Yukikaze said "make yourselves comfortable wherever you like" and flew away. |
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| − | The trio had no choice but to find a random tower to serve as their temporary accommodations. |
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| − | "If I were to critique from a science fiction angle," Asya wagged her finger and observed, "This is clearly a mysterious historical site on the surface of the Moon, yet you can breathe normally inside, experiencing gravity identical to the Earth's, how implausible... Terraforming here must have taken place on an absurd scale." |
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| − | "I gave up on critiques back when I visited the Dragon Palace at the bottom of the sea." |
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| − | "Now that you mention it, there was no consideration for water pressure or being in the sea. Everything was handled with 'magic takes care of everything because this place is related to dragonkind'." |
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| − | "May I ask a question, Asya-san? What was that terra- something you just mentioned?" |
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| − | "Terraforming. It's a word invented by science fiction writers in the past, basically modifying another planet's environment to become more like Earth's." |
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| − | "Insistence on this issue is an indicator of science fiction mania." |
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| − | "Yes indeed. Like a loyalty test, even if you don't go to the summer and winter comikets, you have to attend the annual SF Convention." |
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| − | "By the way, a recent Japanese anime used Mars as a setting, but unbelievably, the gravity was identical to Earth's. They must have erred on purpose." |
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| − | "Not surprising. No matter how much detailed research or fact checking you put into it, you're not going to be pleasing modern audiences much. I would've done the same." |
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| − | "Sorry, you two are delving into a world unfamiliar to me." |
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| − | The trio chatting looked like it could have been a scene on Earth. |
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| − | However, if one were to lean out of a window, where there was no glass, and look up at the sky— |
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| − | "Hmm—The Earth is blue as ever." |
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| − | "We have absolutely nothing to do here. No giant step for mankind, that's for sure." |
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| − | "I never thought I'd have a chance to leave Earth." |
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| − | Following Hal, Asya and Orihime came to the window. |
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| − | Over the trio's heads was a sky filled with stars. |
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| − | There was no air on the Moon, hence, nothing to scatter sunlight to make the sky look blue. The view overhead was a jet-black sky filled with stars. |
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| − | Mankind's cradle, the blue Earth looked about the size of a basketball. |
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| − | Blue oceans covering 70% of the Earth's surface, white clouds, greenery and the earthen color of land stood in stark contrast to one another. But this was also a view that felt surreal. |
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| − | "Is it because I'm witnessing this without going through astronaut training like certain brothers?" Wondered Hal in a tone that even he himself found unmotivated. "What a pity that I don't feel touched." |
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| − | "I guess it's the same principle as 'catching your own fish tastes better'," answered Asya poignantly. "But Haruomi, since dragonkind's return around 2000, the Moon and the satellite orbits have essentially been their territory. I heard there are many Raptor lairs in that zone, but monitoring work hasn't progressed very much. Perhaps we could earn some pocket money by making detail records of the situation here." |
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| − | "Oh—NASA or JAXA might be willing to buy information from us, right?" |
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| − | "More importantly, Asya-san, now that Princess Yukikaze has left, it's about time you tell us in detail what happened." |
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| − | Hal and Asya were going off on a tangent about economics completely removed from the dreams of space, Orihime clapped her hands once. |
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| − | "When exactly did you learn to use the Rune of the Chain?" |
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| − | "Yes—as I mentioned earlier, I simply stole a flint from Pavel Galad's stockpile and drew out the Rune of the Chain. In the process, I did cheat a little, asking that rumored person to give me a hand." |
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| − | "That rumored person—You mean Sophocles?" |
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| − | "Yes. Just as I had heard, he's an extremely suspicious man. I can't believe he came all the way into the barrier... Anyway, that's what happened." |
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| − | Asya extended her hands. |
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| − | Proof of her identity as Hal's vassal, the Rune of the Bow, originally imprinted on the back of her left hand, but had disappeared without a trace now. Replacing it was the new rune in the center of her right palm. |
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| − | The magical symbol resembling the "巳" character— |
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| − | This was the Rune of the Chain that they had seen during the summer holiday excursion. |
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| − | "I am now the successor to this rune." |
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| − | Even Hal's childhood friend, whom he had known for more than ten years, had inherited a dragonslaying rune. Hal was planning to complain about this, but swallowed his words before he could speak. |
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| − | In truth, he had been using multiple spells of investigative magic while they were chatting. |
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| − | One spell had provided intriguing information. |
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| − | "What is this?" |
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| − | "Haruga-kun, what's the matter?" |
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| − | "Nothing really. I used runes of Ruruk Soun to create an Eye to observe this historical site and the surrounding geography. By the way, expressed in lunar landscape terms, our location is the northeastern part of 'Sea of Showers' in the northern hemisphere." |
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| − | "Huh? We're in a sea!?" |
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| − | "So-called seas on the Moon are ''areas whose surfaces are covered by dark basalt.'' When viewing the Moon from the Earth, these areas look black." Hal explained to the surprised Orihime. |
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| − | "Why don't you try using visualization magic too? We're currently on the Moon's surface. From a bird's eye view, you can clearly see famous lunar features like the Sea of Tranquility and the Aristoteles crater. Moreover, something unusual is happening in this historical site's vicinity." |
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| − | "On the Moon's surface?" |
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| − | Just as Hal nodded in response to Asya question... |
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| − | The wand he had been holding in his right hand the whole time, the magic gun, said quietly, "Hey brat." |
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| − | Hard, cold, heavy, the touch of steel. Apart from the soul residing in this magic vessel, no one else on Earth would address Haruga Haruomi as "brat." |
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| − | Using Hinokagutsuchi's child-like voice, the magic gun spoke haughtily, "I know not whether this could move you, but should you desire to see something interesting, why not investigate that anomaly in detail?" |
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| − | "What do you mean?" |
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| − | Intriguing words, but— |
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| − | Hal jumped in surprise just as he was about to lean forward. The building they were inside was shaking violently. |
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| − | Next to the window, Hal hastily poked his head out. Then he understood. |
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| − | A dragon king's gigantic body whooshed past the sky above. Ten-odd meters in length, it was a white dragon with massive wings outspread. |
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| − | The white dragon king, Princess Yukikaze. |
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| − | This was the lively young beauty's dragon form. |
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| − | 'Haruomi, I, Yukikaze, must speak with you! Come out!' |
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| − | The huge voice came from the sky. |
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| − | Booming like thunder, nevertheless, it was clearly the princess' adorable voice. |
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| − | The dragon king flew past in the sky over the tower containing Hal and company, then slowly flew back. |
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| − | Her flying was quite vigorous, worthy of a king's. |
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| − | Deciding that pretending to be absent would be highly unlikely to work, Hal grumbled. |
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| − | "And collecting information is so important too." |
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| − | These were his honest thoughts as a treasure hunter, not a warrior. |
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| − | If possible, he wanted to rush over to "a certain scene" as quickly as possible. If he were to answer the dragon king's summon, the anomaly could end in the meantime. |
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| − | "So, Juujouji, I've got a favor to ask of you." |
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| − | "Eh? Me?" |
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| − | Orihime stared wide-eyed. A white furry fox-wolf was lying prone on the ground behind her. |
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| − | As big as a thoroughbred horse, with nine tails to boot—Akuro-Ou shrunken down to minimum size. In case of emergencies, Orihime had summoned her ahead of time. |
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| − | As expected of a leviathan whose appearance resembled a canid fox, Akuro-Ou not only had a sharp nose but also sensitive hearing. |
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| − | "Crouching" on the stone floor, she stared at the ceiling—towards the sky—growling in a warning voice. |
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===Part 4=== |
===Part 4=== |
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