Yerna and her group had managed to delve deeper into the facility, taking advantage of the loosened internal security caused by the alarm that echoed throughout.
“So, the alarm wasn’t actually done by Gordon?”
“Right. If it had been me, I would have contacted you beforehand. That was just a real occurrence that happened by chance. It means something has changed.”
“Then….”
Could there be new intruders besides themselves?
If so, who could it be?
For now, it seems that it is not from the mercenaries, since Gordon doesn’t know about it.
But it doesn’t sound like an intrusion from another criminal organization either.
Considering the armament state of this place, there wouldn’t be many organizations daring enough to intrude.
After all, what reason would individuals fully armed with staffs and robes have to charge into this facility packed with combat personnel?
To be honest, for Aires’ criminal organizations, which mostly engage in financial misconduct, an armed presence isn’t that critical.
A small cane in the form of a wand is sufficient to deal with people; it is cheap, easy to manage, and well-concealed.
Therefore, a staff designed for large monster waves or for anti-tank purposes is too inefficient and difficult to handle.
However, making such an investment indicates that this place is indeed an ‘important facility,’ and if another organization is intruding into such a significant facility, it means they are ready for full-fledged battle.
Then, the opposing faction must have brought weapons like tanks or explosives to match that armament, yet there are no signs of such a battle occurring.
So, what was the alarm earlier for…?
At that moment, Dayton spoke up.
“Well, that doesn’t matter. What we truly need is just one thing.”
She always had a lot on her mind.
But that wasn’t a bad thing.
Thinking a lot means making many assumptions, and the result of making numerous assumptions and choosing could often lead to rather decent outcomes.
Thanks to her meticulous personality, many forest keepers had received help from her.
However, being deep in thought also means she can’t see even simple matters simply.
Even something that could be thought of straightforwardly grows into a worry.
Even a situation where no answer can be found, she inevitably spends mental energy on it.
“Yeah, what’s important to us isn’t the information about why those people left their posts. We just need to grab the necessary information quickly and escape. Then it won’t concern us anymore. So let’s focus on the present.”
“True… What we need is information on the distribution route and Luke…”
Yerna nodded.
As he said, once they obtained that, they wouldn’t care what happened to this facility.
“Gordon, where should we go now?”
“The information room is nearby.”
——-
Upon finally reaching the information room, Yerna and Dayton subdued the personnel guarding it, confiscated their staffs and weapons, and tossed them into the cleaning supply cabinet.
Yerna handed Dayton the robe and staff taken from the subdued personnel.
“Here, take it. Now you are armed too.”
“This robe doesn’t fit me…”
Dayton scratched his head, looking troubled.
He’s a giant who can’t find a suitable size even when buying a simple t-shirt at a regular clothing store.
There’s no way a robe tailored for regular-sized people would fit, and putting on a cloak leaves him looking like he’s wrapped in a knee blanket.
“…Heh.”
“Don’t laugh.”
“Ugh, sorry, you just look like a kid who wet the bed in a blanket…”
“What did you say?”
Just as Dayton was about to retort to Yerna, a telepathy message came through.
“Save the bickering for after work; let’s focus on gathering information first. Sigh, this is why couple pairs shouldn’t be assigned to jobs together.”
“…I know.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Turning their attention to the mobile filing cabinet packed with files, they began pulling out and checking a few folders.
“These guys did a massive amount of animal testing.”
“This facility is related to medical research, after all.”
Animal testing conducted in a medical research facility isn’t particularly unusual.
New spells can’t immediately be used on humans.
It may be unfortunate for extreme animal lovers, but appropriate levels of animal testing are not only not prohibited but are rather encouraged by the government.
“Well, it looks like they’re experimenting on orcs and trolls too. There are even ogres.”
“Experiments on monsters aren’t illegal either.”
‘Though, whether all the data indicates real animal testing is questionable…’
If all this data turns out to be akin to Luke’s case…
That would be a pretty horrific event.
As Dayton and Yerna compiled the data, they finally found the information they were looking for.
“Yerna, I think I found it. A cat, this definitely matches with the horns and eyes.”
“Really? Let me see.”
“Here.”
After comparing it with a photo of a horned cat they had brought beforehand, Yerna nodded.
It was undoubtedly Luke.
Yerna immediately gathered the file folder and said, “Alright, let’s get out of here….”
It was at that moment.
-“Rumble!–”
The entire facility began to tremble violently.
“What’s happening, an earthquake?”
“Is it another magic storm?”
Such questions lingered for a moment.
-Clank!
A steel wall, like a fire barrier, descended from the entered door.
They had been completely isolated.
“Wait…!”
“The door!”
-“This is an urgent announcement for the entire facility. From now on, code name ‘Nidhogg’ is hereby issued.”
“Nidhogg…?”
The situation was starting to feel inexplicably strange.
———–
At that time, Gordon, who had seized control of the monitoring room and was surveilling, sensed something was off.
“This is strange; all forces are gathering over there. Yerna, can you hear me?”
For some reason, he was unable to make contact.
From the connection status, it didn’t seem like it was disconnected on their end.
‘Is it due to the magic storm?’
The Rienne Forest had intermittently felt the effects of magic storms ever since the artifact runaway incident caused by Dillon, making communication interruptions common.
However, the movements within the facility didn’t seem typical enough to merely attribute to that.
-“This is an urgent announcement for the entire facility. From now on, code name ‘Nidhogg’ is hereby issued.”
With the announcement, all exits were sealed off.
“Nidhogg?”
This broadcast and isolation measure did not originate from the monitoring room.
This indicated that a truly urgent situation was occurring somewhere.
Moreover, facility isolation; this was a measure to prevent someone from escaping the facility, wasn’t it?
‘Damn, something’s definitely wrong.’
“Yerna, Yerna! Respond! Damn, can you not hear me?”
If it came to this, there was no choice but to personally go there with his old body.
——-
While a flustered Dayton was left behind, Yerna slowly surveyed her surroundings.
For now, the ventilation duct was too small for a person to enter, and the walls looked sturdy enough that the staff they currently had wouldn’t be able to open them.
Even trying to squeeze through a gap in the door, the wall that had descended outside was completely flush against the door, leaving no small gap visible from inside.
-Tap, tap.
After knocking on the wall blocking the exit like a door, Yerna said, “This is strange; it’s a door that can’t be opened from the inside. This isn’t a fire wall meant to stop a spreading fire. Someone installed this to prevent escape.”
“What you mean is…?”
Yerna nodded at Dayton’s words.
“We’re trapped here without any means of leaving.”
“That’s bad!”
“Stay calm. We won’t be trapped forever.”
Even though they were trapped for an unknown reason, if it was due to awareness of intruders, someone would eventually open the door.
Unless they intended to starve the intruders to death from the inside.
“When the intruder comes in, we can subdue them and escape.”
“…Isn’t that really dangerous?”
“I don’t have any other ideas.”
“That may be true, but…”
Always battling monsters, Dayton lacked much experience in such missions.
He had no choice but to trust what Yerna said.
But as he sat quietly and over-thought, he felt regret.
‘Maybe I should’ve taken a staff? If I had, I could’ve broken through the wall to escape.’
It would attract attention with noise, but it would be better than having no method at all.
Or maybe he shouldn’t have taken his time and should’ve searched for the materials more quickly.
If he hadn’t been joking with Yerna and instead diligently searched the documents, they wouldn’t be trapped now.
In the meantime, Dayton suddenly had a thought.
‘But what is Yerna thinking right now?’
“Dayton, can you hand me your staff and robe for a moment?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I’m going to make a makeshift sticky bomb out of the staff.”
Yerna explained, stating that the illegally modified staff is prone to overload, unlike the certified ones approved by the committee.
“I’m going to wrap it with the robe and chant as many heating spells as I can. That should produce at least around 2000 degrees. I’ll use that to melt the wall. If the staff holds up long enough, maybe we can create a hole big enough for a person to crawl out.”
“…That’s actually a good idea.”
Dayton was impressed by Yerna’s opinion.
Always filled with thoughts, she was clearly thinking of something even now.
While he could only think of regrets, she was searching for a way to solve the situation.
Dayton looked at Yerna with an admiring expression.
“Alright, let’s do it!”
“Then, first take off your robe.”
“Yeah, got it!”
It was at that moment.
-Bam!
-Bang!
-Crack!
An unknown commotion began to stir outside the walls.
At this, Dayton and Yerna froze.
“I can sense magic; what’s going on?”
“It seems the enemies may have arrived first! Put on your robe quickly!”
“Ugh, okay!”
As Yerna and Dayton hurriedly donned the robes they had just taken off…
-“…Clank-.”
“What’s going on? Couldn’t you wait till I had a nice time with my spouse? Looks like I miscalculated the timing.”
“Gordon…?”
“How?”
