The Young Lady.
Kalakin, too, knew well who the one called by that name in the Ark was.
The meaning she held within the Ark, and the symbolism of her participation in this journey.
But now, the Young Lady had disappeared?
"...So, you're saying you're currently looking for the Young Lady?"
"You could say that."
He now understood why their return journey had been delayed.
However, in Kalakin's opinion, if she had fallen victim to the Sand Devourer, the chances of her being alive were slim.
There were many parts of the commander's decision that seemed questionable if it was merely due to her noble status.
"But... what is this about Carl Marcus disappearing as well?"
"Seems like Carl Marcus intervened in an attempt to rescue the Young Lady."
Kalakin's shoulders flinched.
That meant Carl Marcus had willingly entered that deathtrap.
"Is that the reason you believe the Young Lady might still be alive?"
"Well... the main reason is that it's hard to believe an ether adept of her caliber would die so easily, but that reason isn't irrelevant either."
'...If it's Carl Marcus, he'll be fine.'
He didn't know why.
But for some reason, Kalakin believed so.
If it was Carl Marcus, then he must be alive.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"Good. Then we're of the same mind."
Major Arden let out a light laugh.
Kalakin couldn't tell what that laugh meant, but there was one thing he felt certain about.
Major Arden, too, believed that Carl Marcus was still alive.
"Then what is it that we must do?"
"We need to prepare."
"Prepare for what?"
"For the second attack that's about to come."
Kalakin didn't ask what the attack would be from.
Instead, he simply followed Major Arden's gaze slowly.
"...."
Major Arden's eyes gazed into the deeply sunken abyss, like a crater.
Gwoooooooo───
The abyss looked as though it would swallow everything whole, like the gaping maw of a massive beast.
* * *
"I'm getting out of here."
"Oh my, what a coincidence. I was just thinking the same thing."
"...Say that after you get out of my sleeping bag."
As he said, the Young Lady had long since made herself completely at home inside my sleeping bag.
Like a caterpillar.
At this point, the fact that I was also inside with her didn't even feel like a big deal anymore.
"Hmm, being in here, it's actually quite cozy and warm. Were you using this amazing thing all by yourself?"
"I never said you couldn't use it."
"That's why I'm using it well. Mmm, very satisfied. And, I've been meaning to ask… have you been working out? Your body's kind of firm."
She said that casually while tapping my chest.
I didn't know whether to call it shameless or confident...
"So, how exactly do you plan to get out? I'd say it myself, but… I'm kind of low on energy right now."
"We're going to dig a tunnel."
"...Huh?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"A tunnel? How?"
"Like this."
At my words, as if on cue, Janus's bone tendrils began to slither out.
Almost at the same moment, the Young Lady let out a shrill scream.
"Kyah!"
Her reaction was so sudden and absurd that I froze for a moment.
"...You already knew about Janus, didn't you?"
"Janus? That thing's name is Janus? Knowing about it and suddenly whipping out tentacles are two completely different things!"
"Is that so."
"And how could you just whip those out when we're stuck so close together?! It feels weird!"
True to her words, when Janus revealed itself, its bone tendrils slid out along her body, which was snugly pressed against mine.
Still, I didn't expect her to be that startled.
"Hmmmm...."
She looked at me with a half-lidded, suspicious gaze.
But... not that it mattered much, considering how close we still were.
"Just to check… you didn't do that on purpose, right?"
"What?"
"Never mind. Forget I said anything."
"...."
I got out of the sleeping bag.
Partially to start the tunnel in earnest, but mostly because if I stayed entangled with her any longer, I was going to get a headache.
"Esther, have you confirmed the Sand Devourer's position?"
["Roughly, yes."]
"Which direction?"
["That way."]
I moved in the opposite direction from where Esther had pointed.
"What's the plan?"
"I'm going to dig at a slant. Think of it like moving diagonally upward."
"Hmm."
Ideally, digging straight upward would be best, but that kind of path would be difficult to move through, and if the Sand Devourer appeared, it would make responding harder. This method was more practical.
More than anything, I felt the need to get as far away from the Sand Devourer as possible.
'The vibrations are decreasing, but it's still not safe enough to relax.'
If our presence was discovered, the Sand Devourers would charge at us without hesitation.
Before that happened, I needed to put some distance between us and this place.
"Janus."
[Ki-gik!]
"Begin."
Janus's bone tendrils stretched out and began digging a tunnel at an upward diagonal.
['Burrowing' has been activated.]
The work wasn't particularly fast.
I held back on speed, thinking it might draw the Sand Devourer's attention.
"Can't you go any faster?"
"This is the best I can do."
"Seriously?"
[Ki-gik!]
By now, the way the Young Lady casually talked to Janus no longer felt strange—familiar, even.
I guess that's what happens after spending two full days together.
The digging continued.
Though the pace wasn't fast, we steadily progressed forward.
"Come to think of it, I've been meaning to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"Why did you save the soldiers? If you hadn't, you could've easily avoided the Sand Devourer's attack altogether."
"Wow, that's what's been on your mind?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
She looked intrigued.
"Want me to tell youuu?"
"If you don't want to, then don't."
"Aww, so boring. You're not very popular, are you?"
"Shut it."
"If you really want to know, I could tell you."
"I said shut it."
She was persistent.
Probably just wanted to tease me.
"Alright then, for the sake of unpopular Carl Marcus, I'll tell you. It's nothing special, really."
She said,
"Noblesse oblige."
An expected answer, if there was one.
And yet, it still caught me off guard.
"We, and I, are people in positions where responsibility is required. That's all there is to it."
Whether that was truly how she felt, I didn't know.
But it was a sufficient answer.
At the very least, I felt I understood her reasoning behind the action.
"Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah. It's enough."
"Good, good."
She chuckled.
Even in this situation, she could still laugh. Unbelievable.
Half a day passed.
As the work continued, Janus's movements started to slow.
[Ki-it....]
Janus's strength wasn't infinite.
Until now, we'd lived in areas littered with beast corpses, so we never had to worry.
But now, with no beast corpses in sight, it was a different story.
[Ki-gik, kiii....]
If I kept starving Janus like this, there was a chance that the monster instinct sleeping within him would awaken at any moment.
'No choice, huh.'
I had no choice but to order Janus to stop working.
If I pushed him any further, and he lost control to his monster instincts, he might try to devour me.
"Huh? Why did it suddenly stop?"
"Janus is exhausted. He needs some rest."
"...We are getting out of here, right?"
"We will."
"Hrnnn...."
I answered confidently, but considering the location Esther had informed us of, it was clear it would take a considerable amount of time.
'I just hope nothing happens before then....'
Unfortunately, that hope was shattered when another half-day passed.
Kuuuuuuung───!!!
A sudden tremor shook the ground.
The Young Lady curled her body tightly, while I raised Janus and summoned Aether in preparation for a potential collapse.
"This is...."
"A Sand Devourer."
The color drained from the Young Lady's face.
*
Another three days had passed.
During that time, we had no choice but to remain silent and wait for the Sand Devourer to pass by this area.
Boom!
Thud—!
Each time a faint tremor was felt, I could sense the Young Lady's breath trembling as she leaned against me in the sleeping bag.
The Young Lady, who seemed to have nothing to do with the emotion of fear, was now so vulnerable after losing her strength.
"…It'll be okay, right?"
"It will be."
The Young Lady's ether abilities still showed no signs of recovery.
No, to be precise, they were recovering little by little, but compared to the ether she originally possessed, it was like a drop of rain falling into a river.
"Here, eat this. It's today's multi-calorie bar."
"…Ah, yes. Thank you."
Perhaps the environment shapes the person.
The Young Lady, who had been so spirited not long ago, seemed somewhat terrified since the Sand Devourer revealed its presence.
"…It's looking for me."
"Who is?"
"The Sand Devourer."
It seemed that the Young Lady was frightened due to her partially recovered ether.
Ether can be the most powerful weapon when controlled, but when it's incomplete, it can also become a poison.
With the Sand Devourer's presence felt nearby, all we could do was conserve our strength in the sleeping bag while eating the multi-calorie bars.
"…I want to take a shower."
"You can take as many as you want once we get back."
"Will we make it back alive?"
"We will."
"Well… since you say so, I'll believe you this time. You meanie, Cal Marcus."
Uncharacteristically, the Young Lady whined like a child.
Sharing a single sleeping bag meant I could naturally feel her body heat and breath.
At first, I didn't think much of it, but doing nothing and just passing the time like this made it impossible not to be aware of it.
["Master."]
"What."
["…It's nothing."]
"Pointless."
Ignoring Esther's frivolous remark, I fed Janus the surrounding soil and the multi-calorie bars.
Compared to feeding it beast carcasses, the efficiency was abysmal, but without this, Janus would truly starve to death, so there was no choice.
'No… strictly speaking, before starving to death, its instincts as a monster would awaken.'
I could only hope that wouldn't happen.
At that moment.
Boom—!!
A massive tremor echoed.
By now, the tremors had become almost routine.
However, this tremor was much larger than usual.
As if the Sand Devourer had come almost right next to us.
'…Is it just my imagination?'
I had a bad feeling.
I hoped it was just a groundless fear, but…
Thud!
Rumble—!
The tremor that followed was distinctly different from before.
Until now, the massive tremors had merely been circling the area, but now they were clearly growing larger.
'This is…'
It wasn't a coincidence.
It was inevitable.
"…It seems we've been detected."
The Sand Devourer.
It had found us.