The following day, after replying to Amadio Salmon that she needed some time.
“Ma’am. I have an urgent situation to report.”
“Hmm…? Is it an emergency?”
＜Ringo＞ called out to Commander (Eve), who was groaning and agonizing in the living space.
“It’s not an immediate problem, but I would appreciate it if you could address it as soon as possible.”
If ＜Ringo＞ said so, it probably meant there was an urgent issue. The matter with Amadio was also important, but it didn’t need to be decided today or tomorrow. Well, it was a problem that couldn’t be left unattended for a week, though.
“Understood. Should I go to the Command Room?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I’ve already notified the sisters, so everyone should be gathering.”
In addition to the original Five Sisters, Asahi was also at ＜The Tree＞ today. It would be a rare occasion for everyone to be together.
“Okay. I’m glad I had a seat prepared for Asahi.”
Initially, there was only a seat for the Commander in the Command Room, but now there were seats and consoles for all six sisters. As Humanoid Machines (Androids), they didn’t need physical consoles, but it was a matter of aesthetics.
In the Command Room, after confirming that everyone was quietly seated, ＜Ringo＞ projected a satellite image onto the front screen.
“This image was taken at 10:32 AM this morning. And this one was taken 22 minutes later. We regularly take these images over the Demon Forest, mainly to monitor Wyverns.”
And there was the displayed image. The first one clearly showed a Wyvern in the center. However, in the second image, the Wyvern was nowhere to be seen.
“Did it just go out of the shooting range?”
“The cruising speed of a Wyvern is less than 150 km/h. In 22 minutes, it can only travel about 50 km. Our reconnaissance satellites monitor an area of several hundred kilometers around, so for a Wyvern in the air to not be captured is an abnormal situation.”
“I see…”
The reason ＜Ringo＞ had hurried to report was clear. The Wyvern that should have been there had suddenly disappeared. If that giant flying creature, a walking embodiment of irrationality, went missing, there was a high possibility of a serious problem.
“We tracked the Wyvern’s flight path. It seems this individual has expanded its territory and was flying over areas it had never flown over before.”
“Onee-sama, do you think another Threat Creature has appeared?! Like, a huge mouth popped out of the ground and swallowed it whole!!”
“Ehhh… please no.”
Asahi voiced a random hope, and Eve made a genuinely disgusted face.
The Wyvern battle had been quite fierce, but she absolutely didn’t want to face a Threat Creature that could swallow a Wyvern whole.
“Ma’am. Asahi’s opinion is not entirely off the mark. Please take a look at this.”
But, alas, her wish was in vain, as ＜Ringo＞ displayed a new image.
It was a magnified and filtered satellite image.
“…A grassland in the middle of the forest? And this sparkling thing is… a Wyvern?!”
A relatively large grassland had spread out in the middle of the Demon Forest. Since the image was displayed with the scale adjusted, the size could be grasped to some extent.
And at the edge of that grassland, it was there.
Traces of a crash from the sky to the ground. At the end of the dirt road drawn on the grassland, the giant body that had created it lay.
A Wyvern.
“Ehhh, it crashed? No wonder it was lost. I’m impressed you even found it…”
“Wyverns also reflect visible light, so it was immediately apparent in the analysis. Positionally, it is also presumed to be the same individual that was lost.”
Immediately, multiple images were analyzed, and a 3D projection of the crashed Wyvern was created.
“Analysis is complete. We have confirmed an external wound on the abdomen. This is the only noticeable wound, so it is believed that this was the fatal blow.”
“Seriously? That means there was an attack that shot down the Wyvern.”
“Yes, Ma’am. That is highly likely.”
Eve stared blankly at the projected 3D image. Apparently, that Wyvern had been shot down in just 22 minutes. And the attacker was unknown.
At least, in the images transmitted from the reconnaissance satellite, nothing that attacked the Wyvern had been found.
“Onee-sama, should we dispatch an information-gathering unit?”
“Onee-sama, if it’s a flying type, it won’t take much time.”
Prompted by Utsugi and Erika, Eve hmm’d and read through the proposal.
Dispatch a large transport aircraft with variable rotor direction capabilities. It could also hover in the air, which would certainly be ideal for investigation.
“That’s right. Let’s dispatch it. Nothing will progress if we leave it as is. It’s a little scary, but any losses are a necessary expense.”
After adding some conditions to the proposal, Eve pressed the execute button.
She increased the number of accompanying machines and built a backup line.
This was to ensure that even if the investigation unit was shot down, they could confirm everything from behind.
“Alright. Then, I’ll leave the operation to Utsugi and Erika.”
◇◇◇◇
“In the first place, why does a grassland suddenly appear in the middle of the forest?”
Eve muttered as she watched the incoming video feed.
“There are several possible reasons, but the main cause is that trees cannot grow.”
“…Ah. That’s right. It’s because the environment doesn’t allow trees to grow, huh? Why can’t they grow?”
A grassland suddenly opened up in the middle of the forest.
Normally, trees would gradually grow and eventually become a forest similar to the surrounding area.
Why couldn’t they grow?
“It could be a swamp where trees cannot grow large. The ground could be regularly overturned by some kind of natural phenomenon. Poisonous gas could be erupting, allowing only specific species to grow. Something like that.”
For example, groundwater could erupt every two years, stirring everything up. In that case, only plants that grow in two years would be found.
“Well, in any case, it means the environment is different from the surrounding area. We’ve dispatched the investigation unit, but is this really an event that should be investigated?”
“…Is it like stirring up a snake in the grass?”
“Hmm. It’s outside our sphere of influence, but if that Wyvern has a natural enemy, we should know about it. Well, we’ve already dispatched it anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
About two hours after the investigation unit took off.
The investigation unit arrived at the site, about 800 km from the nearest runway.
“First, we will investigate the outer perimeter, then approach the Wyvern’s corpse.”
“Starting the rotation~”
“Starting ground scanning~”
The investigation unit reduced its speed and banked to circle the outer perimeter of the grassland.
The stubby aircraft, loaded with investigation equipment, slowly began to rotate.
Behind it, about 3 km away, the accompanying aircraft watched over it.
“No strange reactions here.”
“Increasing the transmission intensity~”
To acquire terrain data and estimate the constituent materials, the sensors mounted on the investigation unit irradiated the ground with a composite wave of multiple frequencies. By analyzing the reflected waves, a large amount of data beyond visible light could be acquired.
“…It doesn’t look strange at all.”
“Just normal ground?”
The transmitted data was immediately analyzed by ＜The Core＞.
Looking at the analysis results, Utsugi and Erika also tilted their heads.
The reason why the grassland was a grassland could not be found from the constituent materials of the ground.
“Hmm, oh well. Next is the Wyvern’s…”
Dozens of seconds after starting the rotation. Just as they judged that the primary investigation was not going well and decided to continue circling to approach the Wyvern’s corpse, it happened.
“High temperature reaction!”
“Detecting radiated electromagnetic waves, high output!”
Utsugi and Erika screamed.
“Eh?”
And, as Eve watched.
In the telescopic image from 3 km behind, the investigation unit exploded in a flash of light.