The next day, at 5 a.m. -

Guru came to the hall of the apartment to see off his sister and her classmates who were on a study trip. He hadn't slept all night because he had been investigating the "Sage's Spiritual Blood" with Nina Adillad last night, and he was sleepy with his eyes.

In fact, it was Nina as an assistant to assist her in a strange ritual of exploring magic. Even though it was just that, it was very tiring. I was almost discovered by Yukina several times in the middle of the way, and it took a lot of energy to perfunctory her. If she finds herself alone with a shallot-looking girl in the middle of the night, she really doesn't know what the consequences will be.

But probably, shallots should have whimsically thought that he had done something terrible to her.

Thinking of this, Gucheng couldn't help but sigh.

If you want to talk about the conclusion, after 3 o'clock in the morning, I still can't find the location of the "Sage's Spirit Blood". Because there are already many huge sources of magic that can be used as noise in the city of String God, the magic used by Nina is like a submarine probe, which can only detect the type of active target.

So far, there has been no progress.

In the end, I could only drag my tired body and go home to rest. However, just when the ancient city thought that he would finally be able to rest, he was ruthlessly woken up by his sister Nagisa again.

Nagisa gushed about the ancient city with her red-eyed eyes, dressed in a winter dress that was rare in the island of String God that was like summer all year round.

"Remember, Gucheng-kun? Be sure to put out the fire and close the doors and windows before going out. I'll finish my homework when I get back. And tonight's dish has been put in the refrigerator. Don't forget to take a shower and brush your teeth. And the alarm clock must be set, and you can't be late—"

"Ah, that's enough, who do you think I am!" Impatiently tapped his sister's head, and the ancient city ignored Nagisa's expression as he held his head and moaned and stared at him.

Then, he said again: "I'll pay attention, you can play with confidence!" ”

And Yukina, who was standing on the side, smiled and watched the brother and sister bickering.

"I know, I'll be back with a gift, you can look forward to it, Gucheng-kun - ah, wait, forget, forget something!"

Nagisa felt in her pocket and shouted, "Wallet! ”，

Hurriedly ran back to the elevator. This lively appearance is really unthinkable, she just finished her hospital life two years ago.

The second disadvantage of my sister is that there are so many things in terms of tidying up. So it's not a matter of forgetting to bring something, or wasting a lot of time, which really makes the ancient city feel extremely helpless.

It's just a matter of two or three days of accommodation and study, and she has to pack so many luggage, and it seems that when she wants to go to a long distance for a long time, she will have to be dragged away directly despite Nagisha's objections.

Otherwise, she will definitely do a lot of things.

In comparison, Yukina's luggage is only a brown travel bag. Maybe it's because I don't have the black guitar case I always carryed, so I don't have much luggage. Yukina wears a loose coat over her uniform and looks even younger than usual.

"That, senior. About the watchman who replaces me-"

Yukina said to the ancient city with a little hesitation.

The black and deep pupils of the ancient city seemed to fluctuate for a moment, because Nina Adillade's incident had forgotten about this problem, and a wicked smile appeared on his face: "Yes, because the black cat teacher's Shikijin has been damaged, it seems that there is no way to monitor me for the time being." ”

"Teacher Black Cat?"

Yukina muttered a little bewildered.

"Anyway, in short, if you want to recreate a Shikigami, you have to spend too much time on the ceremony, so it's better for the Takagami Forest to send a replacement person over."

"Did you send it from home?" The ancient city laughed evilly. It seems that he has more time than he thinks.

"Hmm. I've heard that it won't be until this afternoon at the earliest. ”

"This afternoon."

In an afternoon, if nothing else, and with Nina's help, it seems that there should be enough events to settle the matter.

"You look like you're full of energy"

As if she had seen through the determination of the ancient city, Yukina's eyes became sharp. She was still as intuitive as ever.

"Your delusion." The ancient city looked directly at Yukina's gaze indifferently, and looked at the girl with a wicked smile again.

"Whew, please don't stare at me like that." Accepting the scorching gaze of the ancient city, Xuecai's face was already flushed in less than three seconds, and a panicked look appeared in her eyes, and she was a little panicked.

However, she soon looked at the ancient city's face again: "But, senior, although I am definitely no longer an alchemist, there should be no problem. But sure enough, there is still a feeling of unease, so please be careful. ”

Yes, even though the girl didn't know about the 'sage', her ominous premonition as a sword witch still informed her of the danger.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Guro looked at Yukina with a smile.

Besides, when this time is over, there will be a gift for you...

"—I'm sorry, I'm waiting. Let's go, Yukina-chan. Goodbye, Gucheng-kun. Here we go! ”

Nagissa, who came back panting, took Yukina's hand and walked out.

With a casual wave of his hand at them, the ancient city turned back to his apartment.

Gucheng yawned and got on the elevator, and just reached the seventh floor of his destination, he seemed to hear a faint mournful sound. The source of the sound is Room 704. It is the ancient city of their rooms.

"-Nina!?"

The ancient city hurriedly unlocked the door and walked into the room.

Nina was supposed to sleep in the bed of the ancient city. It took a lot of effort to bring Nina in without Nagisha's knowledge. But now she was sitting on the bed, looking up at the ancient city with teary eyes.

"Ancient, ancient city ......"

The shallot-looking girl said in a shy and scared voice.

The girl tightly covered the chest of the T-shirt that the ancient city borrowed as pajamas. This pitiful appearance does not look like the woman who calls herself the "Great Alchemist". It's just like an ordinary high school girl-

"It turned out to be shallots." Aware of this, the ancient city felt tired in every sense. 、

If it were her, there would definitely be some unrealistic delusions, and it would take a lot of time to explain it to her.

"For... Why am I in your bed!? ”

"Obviously, you kicked me out of the room by yourself, and then fell asleep, what are you talking about until now!"

The time when the shallots lost consciousness happened to be when they took a shower yesterday afternoon. And when I woke up the next day, I was in bed in the ancient city—

Instead of explaining it to her, it is easier to save some time by talking nonsense with your eyes open.

Besides, he didn't return all night yesterday, which is clear to his sister Nagisha, and when the time comes, a confirmation.

For the shallow onion with an extraordinary mind, but whose emotional intelligence is equal to that of an idiot, it should be able to pass it soon.

"Really?" Shallot muttered quietly, believing it, but there was an unconcealable loss in her tone.

However, at this very moment-

A monstrous wave, no less than the magic fluctuations of the ancient city, made the ancient city suddenly look solemn. A loud explosion like thunder shook the artificial land of Xianjin Island.

"Is the 'Sage's Spiritual Blood' Active?"

Nina Adillard, who woke up at some point, said with a shallow face and voice.

However, the ancient city did not say a word. I could only stare blankly at the street.

Because, in his senses, the source of that huge magic is precisely in the coastal area of the eastern part of the artificial island...

The gateway to the airport pier is the gateway to the island of the string.

That's right, that's where Yukina and Nagisa go to the ferry terminal...

……

Standing on a huge crane at the harbor pier stood a teenager.

He wears the men's uniform of Caihai Academy. His hair stood on end, and he wore a pair of ordinary airtight headphones on his ears. A small capsule in his mouth.

"Have you started your activities?"

Kiki Yase bit the capsule and whispered to himself.

If you look down from the crane, the surrounding scenery has not changed. But Yase is an adaptor—a natural superpower who doesn't have to rely on magic. His sense of hearing was amplified by the potion, and he could sense even the faint vibrations and subtle changes in air pressure that occurred within a radius of several kilometers.

Even the stupidity of the liquid metal lifeforms that infiltrated the underground waterways of the artificial island was-

"Ahh Captain. The target is coming out of the underground waterway. Detachment 'Green' moved to B7 and Detachment 'Green' moved to Area B9. The second squadron cordoned off the seaside park"

Yase gave instructions with a mini microphone pinned to his chest. At the other end of the microphone is the security guard of the SAR Garrison. They have already deployed two squadron-sized combat forces around the perimeter of the port.

"Got it, heimdallr"

The captain's voice came from the end of the bone conduction communication. His voice was mixed with irrepressible anger. Not resentment against Yase, of course. The Captain's abomination is the manipulation of the metal lifeform known as the "Sage's Spiritual Blood" and the alchemists who manipulate it.

As a result of this incident, the SAR Garrison has lost 12 members.

The number of deaths caused by just one group of prisoners is the most horrific in recent years. Whether it's the attack on the Stone Gate in the Nexus, or the horrors caused by the Black Death Emperor faction—even those large-scale international events have not seen as many casualties.

Moreover, the prisoners this time are not fighting for faith and glory like the Annihilators of Rotalingia and the Black Death Emperor. It's a despicable thief who steals the sealed magic guide for his own **. So many of my friends were killed by such opponents. This fact fueled the captain's anger.

It's not good, Yase muttered to herself. It's good to have high morale, but it's bad to lose your cool because of it. Because this opponent cannot be defeated by brute force alone.

"The target is a liquid metal lifeform. Don't think that physical bullets can take him down. Gain time and wait for the Demon Raider to come."

Yase gave the order again. But this time there was no answer. Yase stammered. The situation is not good. I always feel that I have a bad premonition.

"Hey, hey, the 'Sage's Spirit Blood' is rampage. It's getting more and more interesting."

From the frowning communicator on Yase's wrinkled chest came a synthesized voice with a slightly sarcastic tone.

This is the voice of the artificial intelligence named Mogu Crooked by the shallots, the five-base supercomputer that controls all the urban functions of the island of the string gods. It seemed to plug into the wireless and listen to Yase's conversation.

"Nothing like that."

Yase replied lazily.