For better or worse, we managed to arrive at the meeting spot in D.U. without being late.
Ako seemed to have a lot to say about the suddenness of Hina's business trip, our destination of Abydos, and my presence as her companion. But she swallowed it all and simply told us to be careful.
As soon as the clock struck eleven, our appointed time, an automaton that appeared to belong to Kaiser PMC approached us.
"Host of Trinity's Tea Party. I was not informed you would have a companion."
"That's my business☆ It's not something you need to worry about, so how about you just guide us?"
"...Understood. Please follow me this way."
As we rode side-by-side in a car bearing the Kaiser PMC insignia, I couldn't help but feel as if I were being kidnapped. I didn't feel this way when I was *actually* kidnapped, but I suppose it must be something similar.
There was no small talk during the ride. Neither Hina nor I felt the need to speak where Kaiser's ears could be listening.
After a long time passed in silence, the scenery around us slowly began to change. Sand began to scatter in the wind, dirtying the windows.
But... there was one problem. We weren't even inside the Abydos Autonomous District yet.
"...Mika, it seems the situation is far more serious than we expected."
"I agree. At this rate, it's a certainty that the desertification will spread outside Abydos eventually."
After entering the district and driving for some time along sand-covered roads, we arrived in the city center. As for why we didn't use the train, well...
Perhaps they were worried about information leaking to their rival company, Saint Nephthys.
Passing through the city, I could see Abydos High School in the distance. And near it, the signs of a fierce battle.
I had received a report on their engagement with Binah. The performance of the SRT's weaponry was below expectations. They had apparently avoided any damage from Binah's lasers by performing evasive maneuvers on Sensei's orders, but the real problem had been its massive body.
My worries had, in fact, become reality.
Binah wasn't a simple boss like in the game, who just repeats the same patterns and changes them when a new phase begins. It was a monster capable of thought, at least in combat, and knew how to use its strengths.
The vehicle passed Abydos and drove on for a long time, eventually entering the complete desert. Our visibility was now severely limited by the sandstorm.
...So this is why Hoshino told me not to come.
Considering the driver was a PMC automaton, there was probably no risk of an accident, but I could now see just how dire the situation in Abydos had become.
The fact that an incident of this magnitude was only mentioned in one or two minor articles in the outside world was a stark indicator of just how indifferent the rest of Kivotos was to the academy of Abydos.
This was by no means a natural phenomenon. It couldn't be.
"We are scheduled to arrive at our destination in approximately three hours."
Wow, this is seriously getting tiresome.
It was even more so because the only thing visible outside the window was blowing sand. I glanced to my side and saw Hina looking out with an expression just as serious as mine.
I reached out and took her hand. She blinked, looked at me, and silently squeezed back.
I discreetly took out my phone and left a quick Momotalk for Hoshino and Sensei, telling them I was in the Abydos desert.
Anyway, the thought of having to fight Binah in an environment like this was seriously unnerving. At this point, I doubt I'd even be able to see the snake moving.
The fact that Hoshino managed to drive it off with just three people, and that our rabbits and the Foreclosure Task Force had survived an entire engagement, felt beyond admirable—it was incredible. I'd offered to help, but can this thing even be caught?
I closed my eyes, leaned against the window, and slowly sorted through the situation.
The place the Kaiser President mentioned, where all of Abydos's glory began.
It must refer to the original campus that Abydos used before the desertification began in earnest, forcing them to relocate the school again and again.
A part of me wondered if there was anything left there, but at the very least, it was clear that it was a place with a decent chance of yielding a solution we could find on our own.
If, by some chance, we couldn't find a clue to solving the desertification there, then there was really only one option left.
In the end, all roads lead to Gematria.
***
"We have arrived."
I checked the time; it was already evening. I knew this would happen, which is why I'd bought a ton of beef jerky.
...And gas masks.
For the record, convenience stores in Kivotos sell gas masks. They also sell ammunition and explosives, so gas masks are hardly surprising.
The quality was pathetic compared to the ones used by SRT or Arius, but it was still more trustworthy than anything Kaiser would provide.
I had imagined a situation where I put on a mask they gave me only for toxic gas to suddenly spray into my respiratory system, so I'd decided to be cautious.
When we got out, my vision was obstructed, which was very inconvenient, but after moving a short distance, I saw a giant tent. The kind a traveling circus might use.
As the automaton led us beyond it, a massive excavation site, dug deep into the ground, revealed itself.
The first thing that caught my eye was a huge stone pillar engraved with various symbols. What was this called again... an obelisk?
Beyond it, a building that possessed a beauty that would not lose to even our Tea Party's own buildings rose up from the depths of the earth.
However, at a certain point, it seemed they had stopped digging downward and instead had simply punched a hole through the building's wall.
The inside of this area wasn't affected by the sandstorm, so I took off my gas mask and hooked it onto my handbag.
Just then, as if they had been waiting for us, someone approached and spoke.
"Are you the Tea Party Host?"
"...And you are?"
"I am a General of Kaiser PMC. You could say I am the director in charge of this excavation site."
An automaton with the appearance of a military officer wearing a PMC armband greeted us. The General's gaze, which had been on me, flickered to Hina before returning.
"I was not informed that Gehenna's Prefect Team Leader would be coming."
"Well, it just sort of happened, you know? The current situation in Abydos is something both our academies have an interest in."
"...It matters not. Follow me. I will explain this place as we descend."
Unless he'd intended to fight me from the start, there was no reason to mind Hina's presence.
We followed the General onto a lift that would take us down into the excavation site, and it slowly began to descend.
"When the President decided to honor his deal with you, he focused on exactly two locations. One was the building used just before the move to the current annex, which is essentially Abydos's last bastion... The other is this place. The original campus where the history and glory of Abydos, once the most powerful academy in Kivotos, began."
"And you've only excavated this one building because the campus itself is too vast."
"Correct. However, we deemed excavating only this one sufficient, as this was the building used by the Abydos Student Council. We cross-referenced the coordinates using various maps and equipment before beginning the excavation. Most of the important materials were already moved during the process of relocating the academy, but there are bound to be things left behind."
And I just have to pray that among those remaining materials is a clue that will lead to the information I'm looking for... information that must be found not just for Abydos, but for all of Kivotos.
We got off the stopped lift and walked behind the General. As I looked at the various symbols carved on the surface of the obelisk, something familiar caught my eye.
It was a symbol depicting a pyramid. Come to think of it, there might be a pyramid somewhere in that vast desert.
For some reason, below the pyramid, a canine animal with a long snout was drawn...
My interest piqued, I examined the symbols a bit more and found one depicting a woman with the head of a wolf.
...No matter how I look at it, these symbols seem related to Egyptian mythology. And speaking of wolves, women, and Abydos, one person comes to mind, doesn't she?
"...Tea Party Host, are you not coming? We have no time to waste if we are to look around the other location today."
"Ahaha, I was on my way even without you rushing me. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Insolent... *Hmph*. Never mind. Just follow."
*I think the truly insolent one is the person saying such things in front of someone who can crush you with her bare hands, and someone else who is just as strong, General...*
Anyway. I followed the General as he led the way through the hole in the wall, which seemed to be somewhere in the middle of the building, and stepped inside what was once used by the Abydos Student Council.
Please, let the information I want be here.
***