秘密入口

"I already said it, I don’t have any other reason whatsoever. Also, these rocks are more than just fakes for me. I wanted to ascertain my knowledge, and I did just that. Though I admit, it was quite a pricey lesson."

I mean, sure, they weren\'t worth that much. Personally, I was pretty excited to learn about a composite ore made out of silver, iron, and steel. There was no such thing in my previous world, after all. 

"Hmm~, if you say so… Speaking of which, where\'s this abandoned mine?"

Fey posed another question, a faint smile on her lips.

Tsk. Of course, she would ask that. I wanted to keep the location a secret since it would be a pain if they tried to go with me, but now it seemed like I was asking for too much. Even if I tried to keep the specifics of the request from her at this point, she would be able to easily figure out the details since she already had the gist of it.

"...It\'s near Dragreid, the Rootzenia Mining Ruin. I\'m only a nominated explorer. At best, I’m just hired help for this request. To put it bluntly, I can\'t burden them while exploring the ruins. So, for all that is holy, don\'t attempt to follow us. Got it?"

Since it was already too late, I might as well call them out and stop them from causing trouble.

"Ahahahaha!... No way, it\'s Rootzenia? I got it, Allen. Besides, I have my own stuff to do. So relax, I’m not gonna ask you to take me with you."

 ...Huh? I thought she would pester me no end.

Still, once she learned that the ruin was located in the capital of her territory, she backed off quite easily.

"Anyway, leaving that aside. Allen... why haven\'t you visited Al yet?"

Caught off guard by the sudden change of topic, I looked away.

"...Whoa, that really came out of nowhere. I doubt you need to know that, however."

Al was currently hospitalized in the Royal Capital\'s hospital. Well, it was near time for him to be discharged. Though he won\'t be coming back to the dorm. Rather, he was going to stay in Viscount Engraver\'s residence in the Royal Capital for now.

With what had happened, he needed time to adjust himself into his new normal life. It was an obvious decision, I guess.

"Don\'t you know? I\'m just that gossipy, I just like to jump between topics of interest. Anyway, so?"

This time, however, she was persistent, a contrast from her earlier attitude.

...Well, for the record, I had been to the hospital to visit Al… Or at least, I tried to. 

I was about to enter Al\'s room when I heard his sobbing from outside. I stopped to take a peek from the crevice of his room\'s door, and felt a tremor running through me. 

Sunken cheeks, chapped lips, and with a vacant look in his eyes— Al sniffled from time to time as he quietly sobbed. He obviously wasn\'t crying due to the pain from his wounds. That was clear from his expression. 

...Depression was a natural outcome in such a situation. Al was only human, after all.

And here I thought Al would just jump up to his feet like any other time. Faced with such a situation, I recalled what Dan had told me back at the Roma port. 

«Many will sympathize with Al. But you, Allen, should be the last person to show it. If you do, there would truly be no saving Al\'s spirit.»

Once I remembered those words, I just couldn\'t bring myself to enter his ward. 

"......I didn\'t want to pity him."

A vacant expression appeared on Fey and Jeu\'s face as I replied.

"Don\'t want to pity him...? In the end, it was bad luck. An accident caused by the actions of others. I don\'t think a friend would mind some concern."

I, however, quietly shook my head.

"When I say I don\'t want to, it’s because he really doesn\'t need it. We\'re talking about Aldol Engraver."

Fey tilted her head in confusion, not understanding the nuance of my words.

"Anyway, this just means you have that much faith in Al, right? Then why haven\'t you said all this to Al yet? I\'m pretty sure he’s waiting for you, you know?"

"...For one, he won\'t break. There\'s no way a ball of optimism like him would let himself be held back from a game (future) he picked himself. My consolation words would merely be wasted on him." 

I was speaking from my heart here. I believed him that much. 

But I guess such words were a little too casual for some people. 

"Hmm... I know showing through action and not through words is your motto, Allen. But I believe that the occasional words of encouragement could be a far better elixir in some situations."

Fey said. I pondered for a moment, but I shook my head in the end.

"...I have no faith in myself, and I think I might end up saying some sympathetic words out of concern after looking at his face. I bet he would laugh at me for that. I don\'t want to become the butt-end of a joke. 

Al will surely rise again, no, he’s going to sprint after this. Mark my words, he’ll have everyone who\'s shown pity, concern, and all that to him take them all back magnificently. He has an indestructible blazing soul. No one knows him better than me! And this is what makes him Aldol Engraver!"

As I replied to Fey, Al\'s image appeared in my mind, causing me to raise my voice an octave louder without me noticing. 

Fey and Jeu both were both stunned for a moment, but they eventually burst out laughing.

"Fine. I get it, Allen. I get how much you like him. I just wanted to confirm some things. Alright, let\'s go, Jeu. Allen is too busy to entertain us."

"Hee hee. A boy\'s friendship is so simple, yet so intricate… A small part of me is envious, to be honest."

◆◆

Fey and Jeu stepped out of Allen\'s room, turned to a corner slightly further away, and once again turned on the audio recording magical tool. 

"Now then... you heard him, right, Al? You must be wondering what\'s all this about, so let me give you a short rundown. Allen is currently all gung-ho about reviving one of the treasured relics of the Dragoon family, a golem."

Noticing Fey whispering her words to the audio recording magical tool as she swept up her bangs, Jeu showed a surprised expression. 

"I was sure Allen-san was up to something, but not what… But a golem, huh? If I remember right, it\'s the fabled magical tool of the Dragoon family, but it was sealed away by Moon Dragoon — the ancestor of the Dragoon family and one of the founding heroes of the kingdom — and had never been passed down."

Fey nodded in affirmation.

"Yes. Allen had long since been interested in this technique. In fact, that automatic cleaning robot from the Runpo-kun series is clearly an off-shoot of his golem research though it might look nothing more than some unimpressive toy at first glance… I had been tackling the research myself using funds from the Dragoon family, but I was lacking one thing."

Fey showed an unconcealed look of excitement as she explained. 

"...It\'s the ore. It\'s that missing factor that Allen is chasing after."

"After going through the historical records, I’m sure this ore was excavated from the Dragoon region. Though it doesn’t exist anymore in the present era. Maybe it was mined to its last chunk, or maybe that material was something else, like a part of an extinct monster. Those were some of our theories."

Jeu used her wit, and followed up before Fey could explain.

"So Allen-san thinks that this missing ore is somewhere inside the Rootzenia mining ruin, huh? That maybe it\'s something that exists, it\'s just that no one knows of its true value yet... Is that right?"

Fey chuckled.

"Haha, who would have thought it\'s Rootzenia, right under the nose of Dragreid… I still have doubts, but there may be a chance if Allen is studying it with such fervor. Once we have that critical component, that unknown magic metal, it’ll only be a matter of trial and error before we can come up with something like a highly capable artificial arm that can be moved with a mere thought.

Though he\'s probably trying to lie low now. He wouldn\'t want to give Al a false hope. And I bet once he manages to find that crucial ore, he would say that he \'just happened to find it\' or something along that line."

Jeu, too, broke into a chuckle.

"Fufu. Allen-san is often so blatant with his theatrics."

"Anyway, how\'s it going for you, Jeu? Has Allen talked to you about limb regeneration yet?"

Jeu shook her head in dismay.

"He... hasn\'t. A magic that can regrow a missing limb is but a fairy tale. It\'s not something that can be tackled by just being freed of today\'s common sense. But after seeing Allen-san dressed in those black clothes while trying to figure things out alone, I may have some ideas. 

\'You don\'t wait for things to just conveniently become better for you. What you need is the conviction to claw your way out of any hurdle.\' This was what Allen-san said to Leo-san when he regrouped with us during the first scenario in the outdoor classes...... I, too, have found my determination."

Jeu said with a broad smile on her face.

"Hey, you heard that, right, Al? Jeu and I have found our determination too. So… we\'re waiting for you, Al."

◆◆◆

«We\'re waiting for you, Al… If you continue to be tardy, maybe you’ll end up with three arms. Three-Armed Al… Pfft, ahahaha!»

Al smiled wryly and turned off the audio recording magical tool. 

The magical tool contained voice messages from each of his classmates. 

It was a choice he made of his own will. As much as he believed in himself, he still couldn\'t help but get depressed as he dealt with not only his lost arm, but also the loss of his Ice Attribute Conversion talent as well as him getting dropped from Class A. 

Since Allen had not paid him a single visit, a storm of anxiety was building inside of him. 

But just as he was about to lose himself in despair, these messages became his anchor that prompted him to look forward.  All of them were heartfelt, devoid of any fallacy, and exuded pure concern for him. 

Tears would stream down his face every time he listened to them. 

Al once again turned toward the basin of the waterfall, and sat straight under it in a cross-legged position. As the torrent of water crashed on him, a keen eye would spot glistening tears in his eyes. 

"All of them are waiting for me..."

He repeated, the light in his eyes gradually gaining a fiery touch, burning in a sort of impatience.

"Allen is waiting for me!!"

He said in a move to motivate himself. A blue demonic fish leaped into the air as if feeling Al\'s determination and dived back into the water.

E/N - Well, I was right. Allen was going for the prosthetic arm. As for why he went for this route instead of regrowing Al\'s missing limb, I bet it\'s because a robotic arm is cooler and is a man\'s romance. Also, man, this chapter hit me right in the feels.