Chapter 165

When I woke up, the first thing I did was reach into my pocket.

Morning sunlight poured through the window, and I could even hear birds chirping outside—an environment surrounded by nature.

And yet, what I pulled out was something I’d barely touched since coming to this world: my smartphone.

“Ha… back then, checking this thing first thing in the morning was just a habit.”

It felt strange in my hand now—so unfamiliar that even the texture felt off. I tapped the screen and checked the battery level.

The display read 71%—which meant the battery had drained somewhat.

“So it’s because I was wearing it when that wish was granted, huh.”

Realizing that Sheele’s guess had been correct, I placed the one object that most strongly connected me to modern Japan back into my menu storage.

I probably wouldn’t take it out again.

“Well then… time to head to the royal palace.”

“See you later!”
“I’m off, Melt.”
“I’ll head to the guild this afternoon!”

After seeing Shizuma off to the palace, Melt began tidying up the living room.

Once she had put away the dishes and cleared the table, she started laying out various pieces of equipment.

“Let’s get some processing done while I can.”

She pulled out a single material—“Heart Silver of the Quartz Dragon.”

It was an extremely rare substance, useful in both blacksmithing and alchemy. It was also the reason she had ended up entering the blacksmithing tournament in Izbel—and the very material she’d wanted most.

“…Such incredible purity. It must’ve been taken from a very old dragon… I can’t afford to waste even a speck.”

It looked like a lump of pale blue silver. She placed it in a beaker and began pouring in various chemical liquids.

The contents hissed and frothed, giving off strange sounds and smells. Using her equipment, she filtered and distilled the mixture, occasionally glancing at a book while flawlessly carrying out each complex step.

“If the residue turns transparent… that means success.”

When she finally finished, a glittering blue powder—like glassy sand—had settled at the bottom of the container.

Carefully, she transferred it into a small vial, sealed it tightly, and stored it in her magic storage device.

“That’s one down… Still a long way to go.”

Apparently, she was refining ingredients for a potion.

Normally, this kind of alchemical processing required extreme care and patience—but Melt’s technique came from watching her grandmother, a legendary alchemist.

That’s why her precision and speed were far beyond what any ordinary person could manage.

“Now all that’s left are ‘Darkness of the Deep,’ ‘Light of the Blue Sky,’ and ‘Hamunchu Soul’… Those three will be much tougher to get.”

Those were ingredients listed in the recipe for a potion said to “instill a soul into matter.”

Melt had been secretly attempting to create it—
Because, as she’d told herself, “It might help me understand how to carry everyone’s hearts within me.”

After finishing her material processing, she set off for the main guild as planned—
eager to see an old friend again, and to test out the feel of her new sword.

Having set a clear goal for herself, Melt felt truly fulfilled.

At the entrance to the royal palace, I greeted the gatekeeper.

Thanks to my black hair and black eyes—a rare look in this world—he immediately recognized me.

“I’ll confirm it right away. You were summoned by Lady Koukri, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right. Thank you.”
“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

He swapped shifts with another guard and dashed off toward the palace.

Honestly, I couldn’t help but think—it wouldn’t hurt to use short-range communication devices here, at least inside the palace.

Before long, the guard came running back full speed.
He informed me that “Lady Kokuri is waiting for you in the research institute,” and guided me there.

It was a place I’d been shown once before, but now the increase in foot traffic and equipment was obvious.

The research institute—built within the royal grounds—was supposed to be a quiet, isolated facility. Yet now it was bustling with activity, almost unnaturally so.

Still, given the current state of the kingdom, I couldn’t say I was surprised.

The lights glowed even in daylight, illuminating a building filled with instruments I’d never seen in the city.

The staff moved briskly, all wearing matching white coats—a picture of order and precision.

Looking at it from afar, this research institute clearly felt like it was a step ahead of the rest of the kingdom—almost modern.

“Shizuma! Oh, I’m so glad you came! I didn’t expect you to arrive so soon.”

“It’s been a while, Kokuri-san. Same told me you had something you wanted to discuss.”

As always, Kokuri looked perfect in her lab coat.
Under the indoor lights, her hair shone with a faint mix of blonde and greenish hues.

Her hair color shifted subtly depending on the light and angle—it suited her mysterious aura perfectly.

Though she acted cheerful and easy to read, there was always something hidden beneath her words—something deep and elusive.

“…Impressive. I can tell you’re already thinking three steps ahead just from that brief exchange. Are people from your world all this perceptive, even at a young age?”

“How should I put it…? Well, in our world, people often call it an ‘information society.’ That’s how overflowing with information it is. A lot of people are very aware of that, too.”

“I see… fascinating. Just having knowledge and ways of thinking comparable to yours—”

Kokuri said this as we walked, heading down the stairs toward her laboratory, located in one of the quieter, lower floors.

“—just that alone makes someone worth keeping alive.”

She ended her sentence as she glanced toward the figure of my former classmate, confined inside the research lab.

That—right there—was Kokuri’s true nature.
She was someone driven purely by curiosity and the hunger for knowledge, capable of erasing her sense of “humanity” or “ethics” whenever necessary.
A brilliant, broken mind—a mad scientist in the truest sense.

“…I see. Well, when you think about it like that, it does make sense. Though—looks like there was one person who didn’t quite meet that standard, huh?”

Inside the cages, things looked a bit different from before.
There were beds, chairs, and even a table now—somewhat comfortable. The cages themselves were large, about the size of a small hotel room.

In them were two people: Hishida and Kazunuma.

…Only the two of them.
Muraki was probably elsewhere, undergoing treatment or experiments.
But one person—Samie, who had caused the most trouble—was nowhere to be found.

“Oh, that one, you mean? We gave her plenty of warnings. I had the three of them undergo various tests in the training facility for experimentation and verification… but she tried to escape. We had to dispose of her on the spot.”

“…Unbelievable. That idiot was beyond saving. Like I said earlier, people from our world vary a lot, depending on the individual.”

“So it seems. These two, though—they’ve been remarkably cooperative. Especially that girl, Hishida. Her intellect, her precision in thought and calculation… quite valuable.”

“I’m not surprised. Back in our school—our educational institution—she consistently ranked near the top of her class.”

“Oh? Funny, she told me something different. She said, ‘The truly exceptional one is Shizuma.’”

“That’s not true. I was always second to her. Couldn’t beat her even once.”

That was the truth.
You can’t beat someone who actually puts in the effort—it’s the simplest proof that hard work really matters.

“I’ve blocked sound both ways for now, but… do you want to speak with them?”

“Yeah… I’ve got a few things I want to confirm.”

Kokuri dispelled the soundproofing magic around the cages, letting me talk to them.

“Looks like you two are getting treated better now.”

“Shizuma… Samie… Samie’s…”

“I heard. She couldn’t be saved. Never realized she’d become a war criminal.”

“…Yeah… you’re right.”

Kazunuma’s face carried both grief and resignation.
He probably knew deep down that Samie had brought it all on herself.

“Hishida, don’t go praising me too much. You’ll just make it harder for us to work together later. You were the real top student, after all.”

“I went to cram school and studied every day at home. But you—you were working part-time and didn’t even attend cram school, right? You’ve no idea how frustrating it was. I spent so much time studying, and yet you were always right behind me.”

“Huh… I guess I can see that. For the record, I only opened my textbooks at home during exam week.”

“…I take it back. You’re not brilliant, you’re abnormal. Not in a bad way, but still.”

That was… quite the insult.

I shook it off and got to the real question.

“There’s something I need to ask you two. After you left that mansion in the forest, did either of you go back to the bus? Maybe to grab some of your belongings?”

This had been on my mind for a while.

That bus was a disconnected entity—cut off from the world that had lost its “information.”
Which was why the food inside hadn’t decayed.

If they’d taken something from the bus, it was possible that time itself had stopped for those objects.

“The bus? Yes, I went back and retrieved my smartphone. Muraki took a multifunctional wristwatch—something with a compass feature, I think. He wasn’t sure it still worked.”

“Ah, Muraki’s army watch. He used to clip it to his backpack strap.”

“And those items—they’ve already been collected here, in this country?”

“Yes. Kokuri’s been analyzing them.”

“I see. Thanks… I’ll restore the sound barrier now.”

The voice from inside the cage fell silent again.

“Kokuri-san, could I take a look at the belongings we recovered from those people we captured?”

“I don’t mind. There were a lot of interesting things among them, but I didn’t take anything apart. Hishida-san told me not to.”

“That was the right call. Once you disassemble this, it’s nearly impossible to restore it to its original state.”

I said, holding Hishida’s smartphone.
…Under Hishida’s prior authorization, I operated the device, which should have already been unlocked.

As expected—the battery still displayed 100%, completely unchanged.

“…Just as I thought.”
“Did you figure something out?”
“Yes. Actually—”

I gave a brief explanation: that this device existed in a state where it would never degrade or run out of power, and added that if they ever decided to release or utilize Hishida in the future, letting her use this would likely prove useful.

“I see. Those two do have their uses, and depending on their behavior and contributions from here on, I think it’s fair to grant them some degree of freedom. Since you recommend it, I’ll place Hishida under my supervision as an assistant of sorts.”

“I think that’s a good idea. As for Kazunuma… well, put some kind of safeguard in place to prevent escape and make him serve as a soldier or something. He’s actually quite responsible and rational despite everything.”

“Yes, I sensed that too. He was quite worried about the test subject—about the transformed one.”
“Ah, how’s that situation going?”

“Thanks to the research documents Silent retrieved, we’ve been gradually reversing the bodily transformation. It’ll still take time, but before long, we should be able to return him to human form—at least in appearance.”

I see. So the research data we retrieved from Golda Castle is proving useful.
If that’s the case, Kazunuma probably won’t betray this country.

“So then, you had business with me, right? I’ve been hogging the conversation with my own matters.”
“Ah, that’s right. Actually, I have a favor to ask of you.”
“A favor?”

“Yes. You see… I’d like you to test something. The unstable Dungeon Core you obtained from the artificial dungeon—could you try using it in this country’s artificial dungeon, through Same-san’s home terminal?”

…Right, I completely forgot about that.
And when I examined that core with my Insight Eye, there was a line that stood out:

“Recommended for use in stabilizing unstable dungeons rather than returning it to the earth.”

That was it.

I promised to return today and try it out immediately.

“In that case, could you stop by the Explorer’s Guild headquarters on your way back and report this? Tell them, ‘A major change might occur within the dungeon, so please prohibit any entry or approach today and tomorrow.’”

“Understood. I’ll deliver the message to the guildmaster.”

With that, I finished my business with Kokuri and headed for the Explorer’s Guild.

“—Ma!”
“Hmm?”
“—Zuma!”

Just as I was about to leave through the palace gates, I heard someone shouting from far behind.
I turned around to check—

“Shizuma! Long time no see! You been doing well?”
“Whoa! Captain Cres!?”

There stood the ever-smiling knight commander, Cres.

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