“Situation report!”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. A high-temperature area appeared on the ground. At the same time, we detected an electromagnetic burst from the infrared band through the microwave band. Immediately after that, the probe craft was attacked by high-energy focused electromagnetic waves and exploded into fragments.”
It was exactly what everyone had seen, but speaking it aloud mattered.
The super-sapient entities, including <Ringo>, had already begun data analysis. Those results needed to be conveyed to Commander Eve.
“Firing point?”
“Estimated to be the ground. The high-temperature reaction area.”
In other words, something on or under the ground had carried out the attack.
And it was something with enough power to shoot down that wyvern in a single blow.
“The satellite?”
“Data is downloading. The resolution is low, but I will display the footage from immediately before and after the attack.”
A top-down view of the scene played in slow motion.
To prevent electromagnetic leakage, data transmission from the satellites was done only intermittently, with ultra-directional bursts. Because of that, there was inevitably some lag in receiving the data.
In the top-down footage, the investigation craft moved.
Then, at the same moment a single point on the grassland began to shine, the investigation craft also flared like a flash—then shattered into pieces.
“The entire airframe appears to have become high-temperature in an instant, igniting flammables such as fuel and causing an explosion. It is believed to be an attack by ultra-high-energy electromagnetic waves—likely a beam containing wavelengths from the infrared band through the microwave band.”
“So a laser or a maser?”
“No. It contained many wavelengths, like a powerful light, like white noise. In terms of attack efficiency, it is quite poor.”
Lasers and masers were electromagnetic waves with aligned wavelengths. By oscillating at a single wavelength, energy loss could be reduced and energy could be delivered efficiently to the irradiation point—meaning, heating.
If the wavelengths were not aligned, amplitude peaks would cancel, so efficiency in energy transfer would drop.
“Big Sis, <Ringo>. This is unreasonable fantasy. Arguing about scientific inefficiency is a waste of time! It was probably attacked by something magical! Otherwise, no matter how high the output is, I don’t think it could pierce that wyvern’s scales!”
Asahi insisted, eyes sparkling.
“...Yeah. I guess that’s true.”
Eve tried to object for a moment, then remembered the threat organisms they had fought so far and accepted it.
“There is no movement in the grassland. Is it hiding underground?”
At Ichigo’s report, everyone turned their eyes to the grassland in the long-range feed from behind.
The downed investigation craft was burning, but there was no other movement.
Come to think of it, the shot-down wyvern also seemed to have been left as-is. There was no sign of a threat organism showing itself to feed.
“...For now, I guess we can only observe for a while? Let’s keep drones up and focus on observation. It doesn’t look like the rear craft is being targeted.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Akane, prepare drones. Utsugi and Erika, continue surveillance until the handoff to drones. Ichigo, adjust reconnaissance satellite orbits. Do not allow gaps in monitoring intervals. Olive, revise the satellite fuel resupply plan.”
“Yes.”
“Okaaay.”
At <Ringo>’s instructions, the five sisters answered brightly and began their respective tasks.
“Asahi will do data analysis with me.”
“Yes, Big Sis!”
Since Asahi had not been assigned a role inside <The Tree>, Asahi became Big Sis duty. Or rather, Eve was Asahi duty. If Asahi was not kept in hand, nobody could predict what might happen.
◇◇◇◇
A full day passed after the investigation craft was shot down.
During that time, there was no movement in the grassland.
“Huh. Still no movement. Is it the cautious type...?”
Some kind of threat organism, presumed to be hiding in that grassland.
Since it had gone out of its way to shoot down a wyvern, it was assumed it would feed on it, but there was no movement at all.
The wreckage of the shot-down investigation craft was also left untouched.
“............”
By the way, even though Eve was receiving reports from <Ringo>, Eve was still in bed.
Because Asahi had Eve’s left arm restrained, Eve could not move.
No, Asahi was not sleeping, either—somehow Asahi had class-changed into a warrior who could fight for twenty-four hours, so sleep was unnecessary.
For Asahi personally, the act of sleeping with Big Sis was important, so it had been left as-is.
Also, right now, Asahi was apparently doing analysis about the threat organism hiding in the grassland.
Of the three Brain Units installed, one was dormant, one was analyzing, and the remaining one was controlling the body—according to <Ringo>’s report.
“At minimum, we will continue observation for one week. It is preferable to completely destroy the crashed investigation craft, but given the location, we cannot interfere for a while.”
The site was outside <The Tree>’s sphere of influence. Ideally, they wanted to destroy an investigation craft with no chance of recovery, but that might provoke the threat organism believed to be hiding there.
“Well, it’s not like there’s a hostile civilization. Leaving it alone for a while is fine. If something happens, we can always fire a missile.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am.”
The current time was 8 a.m. in <The Tree>’s time. It was about time to get up.
The other five sisters were not sleeping in the first place. They were moving around for grassland monitoring.
So it would not become Only Asahi Gets to Cheat. Instead, the sisters had pushed Eve and Asahi into the bedroom, saying they usually slept together anyway. Good girls.
“All right. Asahi, we’re getting up.”
“...Yes, Big Sis. And I want to tell you my analysis results while we’re at it!”
“Asahi, that will be after breakfast. Get changed first.”
Asahi sat up with a jerk, and <Ringo> pressed the uniform that had been held in hand into Asahi. That was fair. It was not urgent, and there was no need to do it in sleepwear.
Unlike Asahi, Eve needed food.
So—
“Thanks for the food.”
“Thanks for the fooood!”
Everyone was together for breakfast.
Although Asahi could only eat liquid food. But Asahi was smiling beside Eve, so there was probably no dissatisfaction.
“That grassland still hasn’t moved, right?”
As Eve poked at salad with dressing, Akane nodded.
“No. Not a single reaction.”
At the moment of attack, it had released that much heat—no, electromagnetic energy. There was no doubt a threat organism with stored high energy, or the ability to generate it, was hiding there.
“Rather, when comparing before and after, the total heat appears to have decreased. It could be because it discharged the energy it had stored.”
While tapping a boiled egg against the table, Akane continued.
“Asahi, can you think of anything?”
Asahi, sucking down a tube of nutrient paste, was addressed and nodded hard.
“...Nngh—puhah. Yes, leave it to ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ me!”
Since there was no need to chew or take bites, Asahi’s mealtime was already over.
Asahi finished a cup of water and hopped down from the chair.
“Listen while you eat!”
Asahi said that and flung both hands upward. In sync with the motion, multiple projection monitors activated.
“I considered a lot of possibilities, but Asahi’s top pick is this!”
The long-range footage of the grassland was enlarged further.
“This leaf! It’s covering the entire grassland! We can only do passive surveys, but this plant seems to have extremely high electromagnetic absorption efficiency!”
It was probably the result of analyzing reflectance across various frequencies. Reflectance was quite low outside visible light—especially outside wavelengths near green. If the grassland was captured outside visible light, the entire area would be recorded as dim.
As if only that place was wrapped in darkness.
And, scientifically—
If light was hitting it but it was dark, that meant electromagnetic waves were being absorbed.
“Suspicious, right? I’ve heard from Northend City adventurers that there are plant-type threat organisms, so maybe!!”
“...So you’re saying there’s a plant-type threat organism growing in that grassland that fires a beam cannon?”
