“An escape craft.”
I might not know why they were destroyed,
but the reason Vimana was born was easy to grasp.
An escape craft to flee a perished world.
Which means,
when this world one day falls,
if we complete this fortress...
“At the very least, escape should be possible.”
Something
let go inside me. The tension slackened.
“When I lured those Demon Hunter guys, I told them I would somehow prepare a way to escape.”
What worried them most
was the fear that even humanity’s attempt to flee would be forbidden.
And would you look at that.
“The answer was this close all along?”
At the very least,
as long as we do not perish before we finish Vimana,
that feared situation where “even escaping is forbidden”...
will not come to pass.
“Haha... unbelievable.”
=Seeing that my lord is in good spirits is gratifying to this fortress as well.
Honestly,
I felt a weight lift off my mind.
If we keep pushing this fortress’s level up,
the odds are high that at least escape will be possible.
“Thanks. That makes me feel a little lighter.”
=If I have been of help, I am glad.
However,
that does not mean
“I plan to lean only on this fortress.”
No.
If anything, the possibility of escape through this fortress...
“I need to act as if it does not exist.”
If you believe there is insurance behind you,
you cannot be wholehearted.
Humans who tell themselves there is something to fall back on
do not survive this world.
Even with the thought that there is nothing behind you,
this is a world where you may still not make it, no matter how fiercely you live every moment.
“If the idea of escape makes us drop our guard, we will fail to avoid annihilation.”
Besides,
say we somehow succeed in developing this fortress,
abandon Earth, and run.
“In the world we run to... we will be treated like monsters.”
I do not like that.
“The objective needs to be set clearly.”
Depending on this fortress to run is only Plan B.
The top priority is
to endure this annihilation and live.
“One more thing.”
And
to do that...
“Can we obtain the technologies built into this fortress?”
We need more strength and more technology.
For example—
=You mean the technologies that go into developing the facilities.
“Right.”
The very knowledge housed in this fortress that left those Spirit Users aghast.
=Regrettably, that is not possible for now.
Which, well,
is only to be expected.
“Why? You just said all information could be disclosed to me.”
=Because that information has not been given to this spirit either.
Nothing in this damned world goes easily.
=The fortress has blueprints prepared for the various installations, but it does not contain the foundational knowledge that produced those blueprints.
“...”
=Providing blueprints may be possible, but making you understand the technology set inside them is impossible. That will depend on the capabilities of you and your subordinates.
Only the end-product blueprints exist.
There is no technical manual that would grant us the underlying technology.
In other words,
no matter what you say, the net result is—
“So you do not know much either.”
=...
At my words,
perhaps the Artificial Spirit’s pride took a hit.
=...However.
“Hm?”
=Even if you do not hear technology from me, I know a way to obtain this fortress’s technology.
As if to insist it was useful,
it said that.
=Also...
And that was not all.
Paaaaang...
“...!?”
A wave of unknown mana rippled out,
and something formed between me and the two Spirit Users behind me.
“What are you—”
=Do not be alarmed. Since this is a confidential matter, I merely took a small measure.
A transparent barrier
of unknown nature.
“A confidential matter?”
=Along with a way to obtain this fortress’s technology, there is one more area where this autonomous decision system can offer counsel.
“What do you mean...?”
=The way to achieve what you desire, my lord.
“...?”
What I desire?
I wondered what it was trying to say, but—
=Do you not desire escape?
“...!”
=Not from the world, but from this “sub-region.”
...You little—!
“How did you...!”
That I intended to leave the unit for a time and head to another region,
I had not told the other members, nor even my closest squad leaders.
=Please, do not be startled, my lord.
“Even if you say that, how could you know.”
=Since descending into this world, this fortress has perceived and recorded all incidents that occurred near it.
“You’re kidding me.”
“Recorded” is a polite way to put it.
It means it has been eavesdropping and secretly watching everything that happened inside the fortress.
“No, from the sound of it, this thing and the fortress are practically the same being.”
These were things happening on its own body.
It might be stranger if it did not know.
=Based on the disposition of my lord recorded thus far, I judged there is a high probability you are concerned for humanity in other sub-regions.
“...”
=When you have been trimming ingredients recently, your moments of odd, pensive silence have often been observed. This fortress judged that you were scheming that very method.
I hastily turned my head to Jung Sua.
She is one of our unit.
She likely has at least some measure of emotional reliance on me.
If she had heard this conversation,
I worried her trust might be shaken, but...
“...?”
Jung Sua met my eyes,
then only tilted her head, as if to ask what was wrong.
=This fortress fully understands your wishes, my lord. It will not allow anything that could harm the unit.
“Right... that mana just now.”
=One of the functions built into Command and Control. It is a technique that blocks sound from spreading into the surroundings.
So this thing can manage the fortress,
and it can arbitrarily activate features embedded in facilities like this.
“Well, inside the Shadow Veil, it was the one that triggered that autonomous defense system, whatever it was.”
By the way,
so Command and Control had a function like that.
=When you upgraded facilities, related information would have been provided. It seems you did not read it.
“Ahem. Right, that was a thing.”
I had been a bit busy.
Unless a facility was something directly related to me, like the Dining Hall,
I did not comb through every facility’s upgrade notes.
“I should probably review every facility’s functions again soon.”
Anyway.
Thankfully,
the two Spirit Users did not hear what it just said.
I let out a sigh of relief,
folded my arms, and looked at the spirit.
“So. You know a way to help with my escape prep.”
=Yes. My primary duty is to advise my lord. I possess sufficient performance to carry out that duty.
Is this because I said earlier it was useless?
Artificial Spirit or whatever, I had pictured a machine,
but it seems to have more pride than I expected.
“Fine, fine. I get it.”
I do not need it to brag.
What matters is the method.
=It is simple.
And
the counsel for that was, as it said,
truly simple.
=Carry out the assigned mission faithfully.
“...Mission?”
=In your terminology, “quest” might be more accurate.
A quest.
In other words—
[You have been granted a Perk Quest!]
[Condition 1 — All facilities in Vimana reach Level 10. (0/1)]
[Condition 2 — The ruling faction of Vimana possesses sufficient fame and influence. (16,842,583/10,000,000) (Complete)]
[Condition 3 — Activate Vimana’s operational AI. (1/1) (Complete)]
[Condition 4 — Supply Vimana’s operational mana. (0/10,000,000)]
The Perk Quest granted when Vimana reached Level 2.
It must mean this.
Of the Perk Quest’s conditions, two are already satisfied.
The rest is facility level-ups that will take time.
In short,
what it is saying is—
“Fulfill Condition 4?”
=Correct. You do not necessarily need to complete it. It will be enough to create a situation sufficient for completion.
“Let me ask first. Why? What changes when we complete it?”
=Your wish is that even if you are absent, no problems arise for the unit.
The spirit
spoke with confidence.
=The moment the mission is complete and this fortress advances to the next tier, that wish will be realized.
“...”
So the reward for that Perk
is something that lets me leave without worrying about the unit.
“I want to trust that.”
One way or another,
the [System] has stated this openly.
This thing was made to be loyal to me.
The System does not lie.
If so,
this thing has no reason to lie either.
What I have to do
has been clearly laid out.
[Condition 4 — Supply Vimana’s operational mana. (0/10,000,000)]
Namely,
achieve Condition 4.
=Among the installations that can be placed in Vimana’s underground levels, there should now be a facility called [Mana Reservoir].
At those words, I checked the facility list.
[B2 — Please select the facility you want!]
[1. Mana Reservoir]
Just as it said,
there was one additional facility available for installation.
=Fill that Mana Reservoir with mana.
I do not know how great it must be
to speak with such certainty, but—
“I ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) will try trusting you once.”
=You may look forward to it.
I decided to follow its advice just this once,
thinking I would let it fool me a single time.
Now then.
Fill the Mana Reservoir with mana.
Hmm.
It seems we need to pump in a tremendous amount of mana.
A grin tugged at my mouth.
“That should not be hard.”
It will take some time to construct the Mana Reservoir,
but as for filling it with mana,
I was honestly a little confident.
“I am a bit sorry to the mages.”
After stuffing them with my special dishes,
if I order them to vent as much mana as possible,
even that ten million figure
should be solvable in short order...
****
“Bleeergh...”
“Cough...”
“H-have mercy... Sergeant Shin...”
There was a time
I thought like that.
“...”
The result of gorging on the dishes I made “with everything I had.”
The soldiers’ mana spiked to an absurd degree.
They were retching and crawling on the floor.
“Ugh... Y-Youngjun...”
Our unit’s mages, already powerful to begin with,
accepted penalties harsh enough to make them vomit so their stats could be inflated,
then vented all that amplified mana, and yet...
“This is not it. Ghhk...”
“...Right.”
The quest demands ten million mana.
However—
“This kind of...”
The mana our unit poured in with everything we had—
[Condition 4 — Supply Vimana’s operational mana. (987/10,000,000)]
“How are we supposed to clear this.”
It did not even reach one ten-thousandth.
