Chapter 315: Questions ; Location (1/2)

Walking through the Fraxinus' corridors, I take a glance at Hibiki who is walking to my right, and say, ”So, what are you going to be doing, now that you are here?”

”Here?” the girl repeats as her eyes focus on my lower back for a brief moment.

Normally, I would be either suspicious or concerned about such an action, but from what I could tell, there was a glint of confusion in her eyes.

”Yes, here,” I reply with a smile, deciding to not mention her odd actions just yet, ”This isn't the Neighboring World, but Earth, you know?”

A look of realization appears on her face before she lowers her head and seemingly begins to ruminate over her situation.

”For the time being,” Kotori, who is walking to my left, interjects, ”She can continue to stay aboard the Fraxinus.”

While saying that, she gave me a warning look, which I take as her being suspicious of Hibiki, so she wants to keep her under watch here.

”Sorry to trouble you,” Hibiki says as she raises her head with a bittersweet smile on her lips.

Seeing her like this, I instinctively raise my right arm and place my palm atop her head as I say, ”Don't worry, you'll be fine. If you're concerned about not being able to go back to the Neighboring World, I will find a way to get you back there.”

My words are simply to comfort her and by no means what I actually plan to do. Even if I were to find a method to get to the Neighboring World, it would be in order to fulfill my objective.

And so, we continue to walk toward our destination as I ask Hibiki one question after another regarding the Neighboring World.

---

Shortly, the three of us reach the control room, immediately after which two pairs of eyes lock onto us.

”Commander!” a loud voice reverberates within the room as a certain blond-haired man walks over with excitement apparent on his face.

This guy, Kyouhei Kannazuki, is an odd one. Earlier, he seemed to control himself due to the importance of the situation, but now that Hibiki is confirmed to at least not be a direct threat, he is back to how he usually is.

Kyouhei continues to walk toward Kotori with seemingly no intentions to stop, but before he can get too close, I bring a halt to his movements by forming a force to weigh down on him through Vector Manipulation.

Speaking of which, I have noticed that the ability has become much easier to use recently. Previously, I would need to focus on more than a quite few things at once to use it, which in turn made it a little 'slow' to use, but now, the many things have seemingly merged into one 'point' that I can focus on.

To put it in simpler terms, it's almost as if Vector Manipulation has sub-effects, similar to Code Essences and Effects, and I just so happen to have 'found' one of them.

Bearing the sudden weight that appeared, Kyouhei lets out a groan as his expression contorts a little, causing Kotori to give him a curious look before shifting her gaze to me.

As a response to this, I simply shrug and say, ”He can say whatever he wants to stay from there. No need to get so close.”

Kotori simply nods her head before she looks back at Kyouhei and inquires, ”Did something happen?”

”Yes,” Kyouhei responds in a manner as if he is suffocating for air while his legs become a little shaky, ”The results for the anti-matter research are out.”

Seeing him struggle so much, I reckon that he has understood what shouldn't be done by now, so I revoke the force on him, after which the man visibly relaxes as he wipes a bead of sweat on his forehead.

”And?” Kotori says hurriedly, obviously very keen about the results the man spoke of.

”According to the data, it's highly likely that the enemy has made use of heavily frowned upon methods to obtain such a weapon.”

Hold on… Anti-matter? Wasn't that what was mentioned during my interrogation sessions? So, the Ratatoskr crew knew about it and has even been researching it?

Although I have a few questions, I continue to listen to their conversation.

”What methods?” Kotori questions with a frown.