With the explanation that they had already searched the student council building from the lowest floor to the upper levels, the General led us directly to the top floor.
Just as the Tea Party, Millennium's Seminar, the General Student Council, and Gehenna's Prefect Team all, without exception, use their top floors as the most important areas, it seemed that the Abydos of the past was no different.
The Tea Party's nerve center is now my office on the middle floor, but the symbolic importance of the top-floor terrace still remains.
The building was clearly massive from the outside, but it was on another level once we were actually inside. For a campus with a building of this scale to be completely buried in sand, it should be called a catastrophe, not mere desertification.
Upon entering the top floor, we saw PMC automatons bustling about, rummaging through various spots.
It seemed they hadn't been searching the building's interior for very long.
However, not only were the places that might have held documents empty, but most of the bookshelves were as well. I was told that whatever they had managed to find was already being checked for any information relevant to us.
"...Right ahead is the only place we haven't checked yet: the Student Council President's office. The President gave orders to wait for your arrival, Tea Party Host."
"Alright, then there's no need to hesitate. Let's take a look right now."
When I pushed on the door to the office, the tightly shut door refused to open. There was only the sound of a lock clicking into place.
Hmm... I guess I have no choice.
"It appears to be locked. Wait. In a moment, I will——"
*CRASH—!! CRACK.*
"...open it?"
"Hm? Why bother with tools? You said we didn't have time to waste."
I put my strength into a kick, and the door, half-caved in, came clean off its frame.
I couldn't read the emotions of the General as he stared at me, speechless. He was an automaton, after all; such things didn't show on his face.
Still, I'd like to think this was enough to inject a moderate amount of manners into him.
"Pfft. Let's go in."
Hina let out a small laugh, pushed the dangling door aside, and entered the office first. I followed behind her, ripping the door completely off and setting it to the side.
The first thing that caught my eye was sand trickling down from a corner of the office ceiling, forming a pile. The pile itself was large enough to bury an entire bookshelf, yet the sand flowed down at a barely perceptible speed. It might have been accumulating like that for a surprisingly long time.
"Hmm... General-ssi, could you check that bookshelf over there for me?"
"What...? Are you telling me, a General of the PMC, to do such a menial task..."
"Yes, you'll check it, won't you?"
I smiled sweetly at the General. After looking at me as if he were dumbfounded, he sighed and began clearing away the sand.
"...Mika, I'll check the bookshelf over here."
"Ah, okay. Then I'll start with the desk."
It seemed there were a few things left in this office, at least. The bookshelf Hina pointed to still had about three books on it.
I approached the desk and saw a large map spread across it. It was probably a map of Abydos from that era.
A quick glance showed various markings in areas that are now classified as desert. One particularly large oasis was marked on a scale that made it look more like a lake.
No wonder tourists from other districts came to see the Sand Festival. Even I would have wanted to see that at least once.
First, I carefully rolled up the map so it wouldn't be damaged and tucked it away. It was quite old paper, so I was being cautious just in case.
Most of the miscellaneous items scattered on the desk were meaningless, so I moved on to the drawers.
*Click.*
There was no key to open the locked drawer, so I roughly pulled on the handle with force, and the handle itself came right off. The drawer's structure was such that this created a hole big enough to tear the whole drawer out, so I was able to check the contents just by repeating the process.
It's something I feel every time: a strong body saves the brain a lot of trouble.
In the bottom drawer was a student roster. It was from decades ago, so I glanced through it, but there was nothing special.
Besides, if they were more powerful than Trinity or Gehenna are now, their student population would naturally have been in the five digits. It occurred to me that this might not be a simple student roster, but perhaps a list of students who held high-ranking positions.
I placed the roster on the desk and opened the next drawer, but disappointingly, it only contained an old pistol. Well, it was an object from decades ago, so of course it would be old.
One drawer left. Hoping there was something in this one, I tore it open, and as if to mock me, a key lying on top of what looked like a notebook caught my eye.
...Wait a minute. If the key is inside, how was the drawer locked?
It seemed to be a key for something else, so I pocketed it just in case.
I took out the notebook and opened it, and a monstrous scrawl assaulted my eyes. I'm not joking; it was so terrible it was hard to read.
Still, I decided to squint and try to decipher it. After struggling for a while, skipping over meaningless parts and battling the awful handwriting, I had turned about twenty pages when the first piece of meaningful content appeared.
[The Ruins Expl—tion Club... might have been the trigger for what they disturbed. They roamed freely in that place, a place where the words of the eld—s have been passed down since ancient times, saying that to touch it would incur the wrath of the ——. Because of the released steel ——, we are losing our place in the ——.]
Thankfully, it was exactly the information I was looking for. A mention of an incident presumed to be the cause of the desertification, and content that, from the context, seemed to be referring to Binah.
But it was too early to celebrate. I couldn't read the exact cause because the handwriting was simply too illegible.
[The storm beg—n. A cruel——— and chaotic storm... cov—s everything. The only thing that can ——— this phenomenon is... their ——. But the guardians... refuse our ———. The monster of —— is also clearly ——ing that place. But the biggest —— lies elsewhere.]
I turned the page, and a series of rambling entries followed. Most of it was related to the damage caused by Binah. The statement that it had become difficult to operate in the desert seemed to follow the same context as the first mention of Binah.
And then, the notebook ended with the most important information.
I quickly checked the back just in case there was anything else, then began to read the last page. Unlike the terrible script before, I could see traces of an effort to write as neatly as possible.
[Abydos has moved its grounds. But the records related to them will sleep here with me. I alone will remain here to fulfill the contract I made with them. This is all for Abydos. And I... will lose everything today.]
[The steel monster was under their control. The sandstorm, too, was born from their technology. The Nameless Priests... their objective is clear, but as the Student Council President, I must protect Abydos.]
[As long as no one sets foot near those ruins again, the sandstorm will remain silent until the arrival of the new world they speak of.]
[But... I do not trust them. Though the glory of Abydos may wane, starting with my generation, the day will come when all its light is reclaimed. For that day, I leave this record here.]
[I do not know if this will be after everything is resolved, or before. Or if these words will be forgotten in the sand forever, unresolved. But I earnestly ask whoever reads this: May the information I know be of help to you. May you be able to destroy... that Oparts, which used a 'god' as a sacrifice.]
The entry ended there. I tried to process the new information as much as possible, piecing together a picture.
The Ruins Explo...ration Club?
A club that was clearly a gathering of problem children triggered the event by causing trouble in some ruins. Because of that, Binah was released, and the sandstorm that covers the desert began.
From the context, these ruins belong to the Nameless Priests, as does the Oparts that created the sandstorm. If Binah exists to protect that Oparts and the ruins... does that mean Binah was also created with the technology of the Nameless Priests?
The Abydos Student Council President made a deal with the Nameless Priests, sacrificing themself to quell the advance of the desertification and Binah's rampage as much as possible. And it seems that in return, the Nameless Priests obtained the Mystery of the Student Council President at the time.
If that's the case... does that mean the solution to this situation is, as he said, to find these ruins and destroy the Oparts?
If Binah is the guardian of those ruins, we'll have to literally subjugate it, not just drive it away.
This means I can consider my deal with the Kaiser President concluded. But I should probably check out the other site just in case.
So Kaiser actually came through. I guess keeping them around was the right call.
"...Tea Party Host, there is nothing over here."
The General, who had scraped away the sand and then completely overturned the bookshelf to clear it, said with what sounded like grinding teeth. I decided to bury my question of how a machine could make such a sound.
"Mika, there's nothing particularly important in these books, but... I found something strange here."
Hina brought over a small, unidentifiable metal box and held it out to me. Was there a hidden compartment or something?
It had a lock on it, but I had just happened to find a key. Not that a lock would have stopped me even without a key, but easier is always better.
I took out the key and tried it, and the lock opened easily. And what was revealed inside was...
"...Hm?"
It was a cube-like object of unknown purpose.
I couldn't figure anything out by looking at it for now, so I decided to just hold onto it.
Many questions had been answered, but one still remained.
...In that case, what is the objective of Saint Nephthys, the clear culprit who worsened this situation?
***