Chapter 761: The Tale of the Mechanized God ③

<Author's Notes>

"If it's an insert, people might not notice the post."

Then, I thought  "I think I should update it at the same time as the latest chapter", so I'm updating Anima arc as well. Please note that Anima arc would be an insert……

It was still early in the morning in a big city lined with tall buildings, and a girl was walking through that city that was unnaturally silent.

The girl with wavy semi-short blonde hair, blue eyes, casually dressed with navy blue jeans, white shirt and brown jacket, stopped in the middle of the road, and approached a large machine set up on the side of the road.

After pressing a few buttons to operate the machine, the girl held up a palm-sized card and a freshly made hotdog came out of the machine.

As she took a bite of it and started walking again, she muttered to herself.

[……Hmmm, if asked if it's convenient, it sure is convenient. Everywhere is unmanned, payment is made with electronic money, and few people carry cash nowadays…… I wonder why though? Technology is undoubtedly developing day by day, but I couldn't help but feel like civilization is on decline instead. In the 20th and 21st century, I saw the expectations for the future by the people everywhere, but arriving in that future, all of it just ended up like this……]

After muttering, the girl stopped and let out a small sigh. In the next moment, the girl's figure blurred and disappeared from the scene. Even though it was early in the morning, there were still, more or less, people around. But strangely enough…… No one noticed that the girl had disappeared.

Before one knew it, the girl was standing on the roof of one of the largest buildings in the metropolis, looking out at the cityscape tinged with the morning glow, and as if she were talking to someone, she spoke.

[……Iris, it's been a long time since then. The world forgot about magic, and the era we lived in became a fairy tale…… And yet, I still haven't fulfilled Iris' last wish. Love is such a difficult thing to find…… Well, I'll carefully search for that right person. It's going to take me a while to get to where you are, Iris, but I'll have lots of stories to bring you as souvenirs……so wait for me over there, okay?]

Alicia, the Hero of Hope who once saved the world from the Great Evil God, still travels the world to fulfill her best friend's final wish.

Traveling through a changing world, weaving many bonds and losing them…… Still, she continued to walk forward. Little by little, she tried to escape from the feeling of resignation that was budding within her heart……

[Now then, I've been in this city for about five years, haven't I? I think it's about time to change my base…… I wonder which place I should go next?]

Muttering like so, Alicia took out a card-shaped mobile terminal and activated it. Thereupon, a display appeared in the air, showing a map of the world.

[Come to think of it, I haven't been to Asia in a long time. Let's visit a place somewhere around there…… I traveled by plane last time, so why don't I try riding a ship this time?]

On the deck of a luxury cruise ship, Alice looked out at the sea.

[It's good to have a clear sky on the first day of a several days boat trip~~. I can even see the horizon clearly, so it seems like this is going to be a fun trip.]

Muttering to herself, she leisurely gazed out at the sea glistening brightly in the sunlight. It's been several hours since the ship departed, so not a single land can be seen, and all she could see is the ocean.

After squinting comfortably at the sea breeze caressing her cheeks, Alice thought about having a meal in the ship's restaurant and was about to look away from the sea…… when her gaze suddenly turned sharp.

[Unnn? What is that…… an island?]

Alicia's eyesight is on a different level from that of normal people. She can easily see distances that a normal person wouldn't be able to see even with binoculars.

What her eyesight caught was a small island far in the distance…… and if that's all there is to it, it wouldn't have been particularly unusual.

[……What is that, I'm kinda curious.]

She had been traveling the world for so many years, and her intuition told her that there was something about that island. She could have dismissed it as just her imagination, but Alicia decided to trust her senses, and pulling her mobile terminal out of her pocket, she activated the map.

[……That's strange. That island isn't on the map. Putting aside if it was a map a few hundred years ago, it's an island that's not on the latest map of this era…… I feel like I'm smelling that nostalgic scent of an interesting adventure.]

A grin creeping out of her face, Alicia stuffed her mobile terminal back into her pocket and began to stretch her body, as if she were doing preparatory exercises.

[Ahh~~ It feels a bit of a waste since I'm riding the most luxurious boat, but this looks more interesting than that after all…… Well then, shall we go!?]

Immediately after muttering this, Alice jumped off the deck into the sea. However, none of the guests on the deck noticed her…… No, they couldn't notice her. Not only that, but all records and memories of "Alice being on this ship", including those of the ship's crew, had already disappeared in an instant.

"After running over the ocean", Alicia was able to reach her destination in a matter of seconds, arriving in front of the island…… or what seems to look like one.

If it were to be compared to something, just like how it's hard to think that mushrooms…… King oyster mushrooms…… were created naturally, the island is covered 360 degrees by cliffs with a warped shape, as if the island refuses anyone from docking their ships in this place.

[……I see, an "artificial island' huh…… Moreover, this is also one of the biggest I've ever seen. Moreover, it's amazing…… the cliffs are even equipped with machine guns and laser blasters…… This kinda feels like a fortress.]

Measured by eye, the cliff seemed to be about a hundred meters, and at first glance, they looked like ordinary rocks. However, when Alicia magically scanned the interior, she discovered a tremendous number of heavy weaponry installed in it.

Which means that there's something on this island that needs to be protected with the utmost care……

[I have a feeling this is going to be a bigger deal than I thought. It's been a long time since I've been this excited…… It's probably not a treasure trove, but it could be a secret military facility…… I'm looking forward to seeing all of it.]

Saying this with a smile, Alicia began "walking up the cliff". She walked as if the concept of gravity didn't exist, and landed on the island without triggering any sensors.  Thereupon, the next thing she saw was an iron wall.

[……Now this is amazing. Heat, sound, vibration and all kinds of sensors are all over the ground, and there are even mines all over the place…… Even if I dodge it and move forward, I'll only find myself surrounded by an iron wall with no entrance. I see, so they made this island only accessible from the sky…… Well, not like it matters to me!]

Seeing the island being tightly guarded, Alicia isn't particularly shaken and muttering in a light tone, she leapt…… far higher than the towering iron wall.

[Now then, let's see whether onis or snakes come out….. Unnn?]

What she saw were two more similar iron walls that felt like it would be quite spacious inside, and beyond those walls…… There was a small grassy field that looked like a garden, and a building that looked like a large box within that place.

And…… standing in front of that box, looking at Alice with a surprised look on her face…… was a beautiful girl with long, rust-colored wavy hair, gray eyes and a white dress.

As Alicia flew through the air, she used magic to scan the surroundings, but there were no biological signs of anyone other than the girl on this island, making Alicia know that she was the only inhabitant of the island.

While tilting her head at the turn of events that she didn't expect, Alicia fluffily landed in front of the girl.

[I was wondering if there was some kind of treasure in here, but it was just a girl…… What the heck is with this situation?]

[You're asking me what this situation is, isn't that supposed to be my line…… For you to suddenly appear from the sky, who are you? An angel?]

Hearing Alicia lightly speak to her, the girl asked back with a puzzled expression on her face. And just like that, this was the encounter that started it all.

[I'm not an angel, but talking about me appearing from the sky would take too long, so I'll just introduce myself first…… I'm "Alicia". A humble traveler and a slightly strange monster.]

The arrival of a Transcender, whose power she didn't wish for. A Hero girl who now uses the power she lost……

[Fufufu, I am…… "Makina". If I were to introduce myself in your way, I'm a bird caged from birth…… and a monster who doesn't know about the world.]

A girl who was born with a unique power that led her to become a God by her own will…… It was a story of a promise spun with these two as the main characters……

<Afterword>

The story of when Alice-chan hadn't given up on the world yet and still hadn't become twisted.