Chapter 174: Gallia Research Facility

Chapter 174 Gallia Research Facility

We headed east, a bit away from the facility .

[This way . ]

[Kairos, why are we going here?]

[Youll see when we get there . Just brace yourself for the smell . ]

Brace for the smell?

What is he talking about? Just when I finished thinking so, the answer appeared before me .

[The sewer . The facility drainage leads to this place . ]

[Are we really going through there?]

[Yes . Is something wrong?]

Kairos face told me that he saw nothing wrong with this .

On the other hand, Myne unusually scrunched her face .

[According to the information I got, the sewer is the least secure part of the facility . To make it easier for us, my collaborator will turn off the security of the sewer . ]

[Is that person trustworthy?]

[I knew youd say that . Then lets make it like this; trust in me who trusts that person . ]

He really talked fancy alright .

But theres something else . Something that strangely made me want to believe his wordsof sorts .

I guess theres a reason for how he could lead his people to revolt against Gallia .

I put one foot into the dirty water . Uuuuuuu!?

A chill ran through my spine .

[Proceed onward . We mustnt waste any time . ]

Kairos tried to proceed with the infiltration . But theres someone who wouldnt budge from where she stood!

[Myne, well leave you if you dont make haste]

[ . . this is impossible for me . My maidens heart cant take this]

I never thought that Id get to hear the word maiden coming out from her mouth . As a result, I unintentionally snorted a small laugh .

Gotsun!

And got poked with the flat part of the black axe

[Ooowww! What was that for?]

[Karmic retribution . ]

Shes still the same as how I remember her in this part .

How violent! This young warrior here was just an innocent bystander .

[No helping it . Come, get on my back . That way you wont get drenched by the water . ]

[Thatsembarrassing]

Oi oi, dont joke around now!

She was the kind of woman who would show up in front of me still wearing only her underwear without feeling shy . Back then she proudly showed her body off to me in fact .

Her current blushing face really puzzled me .

Could it be that, this Myne is a fake!? Yes, she must be a fake!

Its just somewhat weird . Shes still as expressionless as I remember, but at the same time shes more emotional .

Who are you!?

Seeing her still hesitating shyly, I finally said .

[Then just stay there . Ill tell Kairos-san about it . ]

[Wait, I get it . Ill do my best]

She clenched her hand and exclaimed .

Then slowly climbed up to my shoulder .

[Heavy!? Too heavy, well sink! No morewell sink]

[Excuse you! Saying that to a girl when she has resolved herself . ]

[Dont be mad . Dont get me wrong . Its not you . Its Sloth who is too heavy . Have you undone the accumulated weight from your previous fight?]

[ . I forgot]

Myne hid her face, embarrassed of her own blunder .

When we finally caught up with Kairos, he bopped our heads one by one .

[You guysdo you even remember that we are on an infiltration mission here?]

[ [ Yessir! ] ]

[Your replies are good, but this isnt the right time and place . ]

Afterward, we were told that if we make any more noise, hell submerge both of us in the sewer water .

Sorry about that .

Putting that into heart, we followed Kairos silently .

[You can do it if you try after all . Well, itll be troublesome for me if you cant . ]

Halfway through I finally saw another color mixing in . Kairos pointed toward the ceiling from where light leaked out

[Thats it . Were going up through that built-in ladder . Ill go first . ]

[Okay, Myne youre up next . ]

[Alright . ]

I couldnt climb if Myne was still piggybacking me .

Myne jumped away from my back . Climbing up without being bothered by her black axe .

Then I started climbing the ladder last, but suddenly Myne screamed when I looked up .

[Kyaaahh . . Youre not allowed to look up . ]

[But its hard to climb that way . ]

[Just climb while looking down . Or else Ill drop this axe on you . ]

Apparently she got scared that Id get to see her panties .

Again with this farce . Where have the majestic and uncaring Myne gone to?

As far as I remember, she didnt even flinch when I accidentally saw her panties once or twice .

[Youre still looking . Ill drop it now!]

[Uaaa, stop! Pardon me . ]

[I told you guys already, keep quiet!]

But Kairos voice came thundering upon us instead .

Upon finally climbing up the ladder, I was greeted by the sight of a woman in white lab coat . She had purplish white hair and tanned skin . Intelligent glint shone through her eyeglasses .

[Hello there . For everyone other than Kairos, pleased to meet you . My name is Mikuria . Im sure youve all heard from Kairos, but Im working with him . Come follow me . Kairos too . If you stay there any longer, the smell will spread . ]

[Yeah yeah . ]

[You neednt repeat your answer like that!]

[This woman is really strict in weird places . ]

Kairos was urged to another room by his neck .

We followed immediately .

[Please wait . ]

[That woman . she could treat Kairos like hes beanbag . Not bad . ]

Myne was more interested in seeing Kairos on the losing side for once .

From my point of view, he looked just like a kid that was about to get punished .

The room we got into next looked like a private room .

As if expecting my curiosity, Mikuria was quick to explain .

[This is my lab . And there is the bathroom, so itll be better if you all take a bath first before continuing . Your clothes will be washed in the meantime . No worries, itll dry in no time at all . ]

Kairos and Mikuria disappeared into the bathroom .

We were left alone in the laboratorium .

[Fate also smells bad . Better wash up yourself properly too . ]

[Im carrying a certain someone on my shoulder, thats why Im extra dirty . ]

I said so while pointing at my dirtied clothes . Then she responded to me with a slightly dismayed tone .

[That . . Thank you . ]

Oooooooooh . For real!?

That Myne actually thanked me?

No matter how I spin it, its really obvious . .

The Myne I knew loved money too much and often snatched my share of meals . But Myne in here was completely different .

She actually made me feel the urge to pet her head .

[Yoshi yoshi . ]

Actually, my hand already did just that .

[What are you doing!]

Uwaaaaaa, that was close!

I felt like shes going to bite me, so I immediately pulled my hand back . If I were a bit late, perhaps shed really sink her teeth on my hand .

Almost like a cat .

Sweet and gentle at times, but once her instincts flared up shell unhesitantly bite you .

This was truly nothing like the Myne I know of .

[Whats so funny? Why are you smiling like that while staring at me!]

My heart is pounding . No, I need to calm down .

Shes just too cute like this .

The vibe is too strong it left a lasting echo in my heart .

Then I heard a sound of coughing . It was coming from a smiling Mikuria .

[You two really get along well, dont you?]

[We, we dont!]

Myne escaped to the adjacent room .

Was it okay for her to barge into another persons room so freely? But when I looked at Mikurias face, I could tell that she didnt really mind .

[Its alright . Not like I put something I should be worried about in there . Its alright if its trashed!]

[Thats good to hear . ]

[Let me introduce myself once more . My name is Mikuria . Im the deputy director of this research facility . My relationship with Kairos? . . well, lets just say that a lot has happened between me and that rotten to the core guy . ]

[My name is Fate . And that little girl earlier is Myne . ]

[He was supposed to come alone, so Im a bit surprised to see he brought you two along . But nice to meet you . ]

She stretched her hand out .

So I shook her hand in response .

[Eh!?]

At that moment, a bright red image flowed into my head .

Mind reading skill shouldnt be activated . This isnt the real world after all .

But I couldnt even block it out since its forcefully poured into my mind .

The scene showed a burning facility, and the sight of Kairos about to kill Mikuria .

Kairos was crying . His eyes glowed bright red .

Mikuria, with the last of her strength, tried to say something . But because Kairos was strangling her, all she ended up doing was moving her lips soundlessly .

[Fate, is there anything wrong?]

[Nnn!?]

When I heard Mikuria calling my name, my mind was pulled away from the scene, and Im back inside the laboratory .

What the hell . . What was that?

Apparently from her point of view, I suddenly looked down and went silent for a while .

[Was it hard to get here? Kairos can be a bit harsh to his people after all . You can take a break if you want after taking a shower . I still need to do something else, so would you please wash up yourself in the meantime?]

Mikuria sat on the nearby desk and started operating the panel .

She was looking over some sort of research materials, performing some corrections .

When I stealthily took a peek at the panel, my eyes caught the words [Collective Lifeform] . Eh!? Collective Lifeform, as in, people like Shinn who we are currently fighting in the real world?

[Hey you, taking a peek at my research material is a no go . How rude of you]

[Pardon me . ]

I couldnt see much, but I managed to make out a few things about its method of diversion .

Is Mikuria trying to create something using the collective lifeform?

Judging from how she reacted earlier, theres no way that shed be willing to share the content of her research with me .

Sure enough, when I tried to take a peek at the panel again, she reprimanded me .

[Kairos seems to have exited the bathroom, go ahead quickly . ]

[Can I ask you one question?]

[U~n, alright . But make it short . ]

[Are you the one who created that collective lifeform?]

[Yes, I am . Okay now, hush hush . ]

With her actually standing back up and pushing me from behind, I had no choice but to enter the bathroom .

I was met with a refreshed looking Kairos on my way .

[Now that I got a good look, nothing much really changed . Still as refreshing . ]

[What do you mean?]

[Just get yourself some shower first . ]

Kairos pushed me from behind, forcing me into the bathroom .

I do agree with him that I really should clean up my body first .

When I first heard that we were about to infiltrate the research facility, I was a bit worked up over what would happen . But everything went smoothly, too easy even, that its disturbing .

Actually, its much harder fighting the monster horde that was on our way .

I took off the rest of my clothing, took a shower, then decided to take a short rest as told .