Endless Silver Machine

The northwest area of ​​the Imperial Capital of the Bisi Empire is now the core area for the development of magic technology, and the headquarters of relevant companies in the field are concentrated here. And this area, which is rich in the source of the power of the Bisi Empire, is under the jurisdiction of the "Luo Xi" family of the Fu family.

Aika and the northwest area of ​​the imperial capital have some unclear origins. It was when he was chasing the Nemesis Society with Liuyin that he accidentally discovered that it was related to the Nemesis Society and the Bis Empire. The huge magic machine that directly or indirectly caused Lolo to lose his memory was built here.

The teleportation magic circle drawn by Olefill's fluid base sent Aika and Ling to a place in the northwest district of the imperial capital. Aika immediately recognized the road here.

"What we guessed before was correct. The Nemesis Society indeed has a nest in a place like this."

Having said that, it is very difficult to find someone in such a vast northwest area.

But it’s in situations of urgency like this that human intuition becomes sharper.

"Aika, did you notice?"

"Um……"

That is a sense of disobedience that only the holders of magic equipment will notice. It is the magic power fluctuation unique to magic equipment. The number of magic equipment holders can be counted on two hands. At least there is a high possibility that the other party is a member of the Nemesis Society, and they are somewhere nearby.

"If Lan Ming were here, he would know their specific location."

The intensity of the magic wave showed that there was more than one magic equipment holder there, and their magic equipment was all activated.

Why are their magic costumes activated now, but it doesn't seem to be to stop themselves...

Aika couldn't continue thinking for the time being, because at this time, another group of people was blocking them.

They all wore uniforms and held magic rifles in their hands. Aika has not forgotten that kind of uniform. It was the corporate security guard who stopped him and Liuyin when they were investigating suspicious buildings.

"Ling..."

"But, they are all ordinary people..."

By now, both Aika and Ling have been able to frankly admit that they are no longer ordinary people.

"Do you have a permit to enter the Northwest District? If not, please go back home." A man in his forties or fifties who looked like a manager walked out from behind the company's security guards. "This is an important military area, and no idlers are allowed here." Entering, as a citizen of the Bis Empire, you should know this rule, right?"

Perhaps neither Aika nor Ling knew him. That man was the head of the company that Liuyin investigated in the past. He was just a senior magician employed and an ordinary researcher with the title of "head". The company he managed had a close relationship with Lilicia.

At that time, it was not him who ordered the company's security guards to pursue Aika and Liuyin, but Lilicia, the second daughter of the "Kalu" family of the Fu family. She was the one with the actual say in the company.

Now the corporate security guards blocked them again. It was the man or Lilicia's order that only they knew internally.

"We don't have that permit. We will leave immediately after handling our matters."

"You can't enter this area without a permit. There has never been an exception."

"...I originally hoped that it would not affect ordinary people as much as possible, but if you insist on stopping it..."

Aika raised two silver-white pistols. Seeing this, the group of corporate guards also raised their magic rifles.

Ling saw it in Aika's eyes. He means it, and he's really going to pull the trigger to get through this.

Although Ling understands Aika's unwillingness to compromise, after all, the Nemesis Society he desperately wants to find may be nearby, but Ling must not let Aika take away anyone's life.

"Aika..."

In order to show no hostility to the group of alert corporate guards, she reached out to grab Aika's guns.

But the moment she retracted her sword of light and stretched out her hand, she could clearly hear the sound of bullets being loaded on the opposite side.

That was a fact that was detected with keen senses within a few tenths of a second. This time, Ling did not notice the intention of the group of people appearing in front of them. Their purpose of appearing here was to obliterate the intruders along with their existence.

In a few tenths of a second, countless thoughts ran through Ling's mind.

There is both confusion and regret.

Even with her superior athletic ability, she couldn't break through the speed of sound for a bullet fired. What frightened her even more was that Aika, who had not yet taken away the guns, also pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The thick rock, earth, and stone wall suddenly rose from the ground, and the next moment it turned into loose sand and collapsed under the cross-bombing of bullets from the corporate guards and Aika.

Perhaps the magic inserted at this time was to prevent attacks from both sides.

"Everyone put down their weapons!"

A solemn voice sounded behind Aika and Ling, and they both looked back in unison.

They heard the familiar tone correctly. Standing behind them was Senior Sister Lilith holding a staff-shaped magic tool.

Lilith-senpai is wearing a tight-fitting trench coat that looks like some kind of uniform. The calm tones make her different from the image of a gentle senior and a delicate eldest lady that everyone has in mind.

There are several national magicians in similar clothes beside her, but neither Aika nor Ling know the identities of those people yet. They are the national magician force directly under the "Roxi" family. As a subordinate force that governs the family, they have absolute command power when they appear here.

"We received an alert that there is a magic flashpoint here, and we must conduct a cordon search here. In addition, unsanctioned fighting in the public areas of the Northwest District violates the control law, and everyone here needs to be reviewed."

Senior Lilith said in a tone that left no room for doubt. She did not show any acquaintance with Aika and Ling, but she had brief eye contact while saying this, but neither Aika nor Ling understood what she meant.

The group of corporate guards seemed to be obediently giving up resistance, but that was just a facade. Naturally, neither Senior Lilith nor the national magician behind her could notice that at the same time that the corporate guard put down his firearm, the magic power of multiple magic equipment fluctuated between them.

"Be careful! Those people haven't given up yet!"

It was a mimicry magic outfit that was different from the magic outfit. Only Aika and Ling, who were the holders of the magic outfit, could sense and distinguish it. Unexpectedly, they would be ready to make a desperate move at this time, and all of them were equipped with mimicry magic equipment.

While Ling loudly warned Aika and Senior Lilith, Senior Lilith turned the staff in her hand, and natural elves flying like ice crystals appeared around her. Several natural elves formed the magic circle just by their mere existence. At the base point, the hexagonal ice shield opened to block the rough magic power that passed by Ling and was directed at her.

After blocking the opponent's sudden attack, Senior Lilith's ice shield rose and the evaporating mist dissipated. She was completely uninjured under the protection of the ice shield, and the natural elf dispelling magic that constructed the magic circle began to fly freely again.

There is a fundamental difference between the magic used by Lilith-senpai and Liuyin's elemental magic. Some of her innate characteristics are very compatible with the nature spirits hidden in nature, and she can summon the nature spirits around her to use magic with different attributes anytime and anywhere.

Because signing a contract with natural elves also relies on talent, contract magicians like her are as rare in the mainland as potion magicians who can use healing magic.

Behind Senior Lilith is the magician unit directly under the "Luo Xi" family of the Fu family. There is no doubt that all members are the most elite magicians in the Bisi Empire.

When the group of corporate guards bared their fangs at Lilith-senpai as the commander, they also took corresponding measures. The streets in the district, which had been temporarily calmed down after the appearance of the National Magician Troops, once again entered into an even worse melee than before.

Aika had no intention of staying here, and took advantage of the chaos to hold Ling's hand and prepare to leave the scene.

Only Senior Lilith noticed Aika and Ling's little movements. Maybe it was because they were caught in a melee and couldn't escape, or maybe she had originally planned to let them go, and the moment he left, there was only a moment of eye contact.

——I'll come right away.

While launching a counterattack against the company guards who resisted, Lilith-senpai spoke to Aika through lip language at the moment their eyes met.

Aika did receive the message left for him by Senior Lilith. Although Senior Lilith has never talked about the efforts she put in for Aika, she can easily imagine that there are many hardships that cannot be expressed in words without her having to say it.

Aika, who was originally thinking about using violence to break through the blockade, suddenly became a little calmer after seeing senior Lilith standing in front of him again after a long absence. That's because I suddenly thought of a lot of things I wanted to say to Senior Lilith face to face, but I didn't have time to convey them at the moment.

He could only accept Senior Lilith's kindness after calming down a little, and he took Ling's hand and turned into the path beside him amid the splashes of intertwined magic.

…………

After passing through an unknown number of streets and far away from the center of the melee, the magic power of the mimicry magic suit no longer fluctuated. However, the fluctuations in the magic equipment that I felt before became more and more intense, and it seemed that I was very close to my destination.

The surrounding scenery became familiar. Aika had followed Liuyin to this street in person. Aika still has a clear road map in her mind regarding the path leading to that underground space.

If the magic equipment they were chasing were gathered in that place, Aika could be sure that what he was looking for was there.

However, just when he let go of Ling's hand and was about to continue along the road map in his mind, he was unexpectedly grabbed by Ling's hand.

"Ling?"

Aika turned around and realized that Ling, who had been dragged along by him all the way, was crying silently.

If Ling hadn't suddenly pulled Aika and forced him to turn around, Aika wouldn't have noticed Ling's mood until now.

Ling used strength beyond Aika's imagination to pull his tie and push him down the wall on the street, raised her hand and slapped him without mercy.

The crisp sound of slaps echoed in the deserted streets, echoing in the ears of Aika and Ling, even clearer than the faint sound of explosions in the distance.

"Are you really desperate for your life? Luoluo and Wei Xi are not here. You are not the only one who is sad. We feel the same way as you!"

Ling pulled Aika's tie hard and never relaxed her strength.

"But... if you die, what's the point of rescuing them! What's the point of letting Luo Luo and Wei Xi return to this empty home!"

She pressed her forehead against Aika's chest and cried hysterically.

The burning pain on his cheek made Aika's chaotic mind gradually clear up.

Ever since Wei Xi, who was dying, lay in her arms and smiled like she was wet with tears, Aika had never seen an expression that could cover up that sad smile.

Before being able to rescue Wei Xi in time, and seeing Luo Luo being snatched away from her eyes, Aika didn't even shed a tear.

At that time, he thought that his heart had finally become as cold as stone, and that he could abandon unnecessary feelings and go on without any hindrance.

"Please, Aika... think more about us... If I really lose you, I don't know where to go..."

It was as if after that night of heart-to-heart contact, expectations and uneasiness about the future, as well as other unexplained complex emotions, were all integrated into the sadness of the moment.

"You said you like the time we spend together, right? I'm the same way... I just can't imagine the time without you..."

Ling, who had lost the restraint of her soul, lay on Aika's chest and cried like a child.

"My hope...our hope all lies in you! I don't want to see you lose! Please don't let me become desperate..."

Warm tears stained Aika's clothes and melted his frozen heart.

Aika did not push away Ling who was clinging to her, but carefully hugged her waist with trembling hands and stroked her naturally hanging golden hair comfortingly.

"sorry……"

I don’t know if Ling heard this apology, and Aika didn’t think that just one apology could repay her even a little bit.

Since when did I start doing many things that I feel sorry for them and let down their expectations...

Aika couldn't recall.

In the past, on the frontline battlefield, I rested on Wei Xi's knees and had her head gently caressed. That was a gentle rebuke from Wei Xi.

Now, the tight tie was strangling his neck and he was suffocating. He was woken up by Ling's raised hand, and his frozen heart was dissolved by the crying tone and the tears that stained his clothes. This was a helpless plea from Ling.

When did it start to go astray...

In order to achieve her only goal, Aika ignored everything around her.

If you can't even grasp the happiness around you, how can you even talk about reaching out to regain the lost happiness?

Ling was still lying on Aika's chest, clutching his shirt tightly, not even realizing that her nails were digging into Aika's flesh, and she still couldn't stop crying.

Aika endured the double pain of body and soul and gently hugged the weak and helpless slender body in her arms.

A figure that Aika recognized walked out from the shadows on the street corner. It was an outfit that Aika had never seen her wearing before.

She just made a "shh" gesture to Aika who noticed her, indicating that Aika should not worry about her now.

It wasn't until Ling had cried that she couldn't shed any more tears and left Aika's arms and turned around that he noticed that she had been silently watching the two of them behind him.

"I won't ask you any more questions about what happened to you before..." The Holy See's Blue Knight uniform was wearing a wide open white coat. Professor Cocona, who didn't know how to find the position of the two of them, moved his back away from the one he was leaning on. Street Lamp, "Anyway, let me go with you to find what you are looking for."

There was a smile on her lovely cheeks that clearly suggested that she "cares a lot", and she walked step by step towards the two people who were dependent on each other.

…………