Volume 16, Prologue — The Hermits Awakening

Volume 16, Prologue: The Hermit's Awakening

The pair of icy cold eyes opened.

The stiffly closed lips parted. A breath flowed slowly. The soft sound became an airflow, making the air vibrant.

"Nina has left the plan. What's going on?"

The sound making the vibrant was low and heavy. A male's voice. The voice sounded dry like an eraser rubbing against something. Perhaps it had been a long time since he last spoke.

"That's an event difficult to judge," a female's delicate voice replied. "Zuellni obviously wants to act independently."

"In this kind of situation, a mere Electronic Fairy? Though the environment you arranged for her is very special……"

"It's still hard to decide if such an arrogant action should be stopped."

The slightly opened eyes widened, capturing the voice of that owner. It was a very beautiful half-bird, half human. The Electronic Fairy living in Senou City. She was the mother of all electronic fairies, Schneibel.

It was obvious that the type was different. The light Schneibel exuded seemed to be swallowing its surrounding darkness, but there was nothing in the depth of that darkness. It simply existed in this dimension.

Except the voice of the owner whose eyes were closed.

He was like a man carved from stones. There wasn't any redundant muscle. Each piece of muscle was smooth as if it was polished. He looked like an elder, but his skin was in contradiction. It even seemed to be bouncing off Schneibel's light. However, his hair was white, the same as his beard. The gaze from the slightly opened eyes was intense and sharp, as if another life was in this body.

A very strange old man.

As if he was some furniture. Just like a delicately carved piece of wood.

"She doesn't trust you."

"Is that so?"

Schneibel looked flustered at the old man's words, and then a bitter smiled appeared on the old man's face. Wrinkles not of a human's showed up on the corner of the mouth. The dry voice broke.

"Let me ask you. What have you seen in that child?"

Moisture slowly seeped through that voice. The change was low-key, but the voice was strong.

"I don't know. I don't understand what she's thinking."

"Fu………"

The owner of the voice squinted, a smile through the eyes.

"As if that child is in her rebellious phase."

"And perhaps that is the case."

"Uh?"

"Since that child became independent, she has been having a deep relationship with things outside this world. She has already touched that darkness before she knew of my plan."

"And so her core has changed? Changes were happening that you weren't aware of?"

"Perhaps."

"Uh."

The old man's body was slowly changing.

Schneibel's light illuminated lustrous skin, skin that was moist like a human's. The tension between the two allowed no cracks, but now amidst it was a space. His joints moved. The old man's body was bathed in light, but the furniture-like texture of it began to return to life.

"Can I ask you to take action?" Schneibel asked, as if she was begging. The half bird, half man. One that looked yet not looked like a human being, but it had flesh. It was a half-life organism created by electrons. The master of all electronic fairies, Schneibel, was looking at the old man like a girl praying sincerely.

"Uh, I have to. I cannot not take action, but I don't know if the result will be like what you envision."

"That's…………?"

"I must confirm if Zuellni has pulled Nina into the wheel of fate."

"Then, you are really going to…………"

"If she's in it, then I must take her back."

"Gill."

"She's necessary."

The old man stood.

He was no longer a dry and stony wooden statue. His gaze now suppressed the darkness, his skin had moisture like a human being's, and he exuded power and authority. His breath shook the air for a long time.

In here stood a warrior.

"I can't not investigate Zuellni's plan for you."

The old man stood, his heavy sigh continued. His golden Kei brushed apart the darkness. He stood as a fighter in front of Schneibel. His pose as he held red metal in his right hand no longer was that of a dry tree branch.

His presence was that of a domineering warrior.