White light slowly faded away. It took several seconds for his vision to return. レイド was standing on a stone-paved plaza. The sensation beneath his feet came first. Cold. Hard. But completely different from the soil of the Suimei Forest. The joints between stones transmitted through the soles of his shoes. Next came the air. Something filled the back of his nose. Low humidity. Dry yet clear. And—something dense. If the atmospheric mana of the Suimei Forest—the magical essence drifting through the air—was like "mist," then this was closer to "liquid." Just breathing drew something flowing into his body. And then he looked at the sky. "...What is this?" His voice escaped before he could suppress his emotions. In forty-two years of life, he had never seen a sky this color. Purple. To be precise, not the red-purple of dusk, nor the purple before a storm. A deeper, quieter hue. Like amethyst layered upon itself. Within it, two suns—or rather, sun-like objects—hung parallel, as if drawn toward each other. One large, one small. The direction of their shadows slightly misaligned. Two light sources. He had never seen them anywhere in the Empire. The stone plaza beneath his feet was covered in moss. Green pushed up from the gaps between stones, thinly but certainly covering the surface. Each step gave slight resistance. The soft accumulation of plants over long years. How long had it been since human hands touched this place? A ruined city. As far as he could see, the remains of buildings stretched on. Tower ruins exceeding thirty meters in height stood piercing the landscape in places. Crumbling, yet still standing. This scale and style—not Imperial technology. Compared to the architecture of the capital Verga, the stone precision was different. The joints were invisible. Walls that appeared to be single slabs continued for tens of meters. And nowhere carried the presence of people. レイド looked at his left arm. A pale blue scar—the mark of damage from magical fusion—held faint warmth. The "movement toward filling" he had felt in both the Suimei Forest and the Ash Corridor was stronger here. Something flowed into his body. The dulled magical circuits slowly, but certainly, responded. "...Raid-san. Where is this place?" アイラ's voice came from beside him. Her reddish-brown long hair swayed in an alien wind. Sharp green eyes quickly scanned the full view of the ruined city. Her sword wasn't drawn, but her right hand stayed near the hilt. The knight's body naturally positioned itself that way. Her respectful tone remained, but beneath it lay barely concealed confusion. "I don't know." "You don't know?" "I've never seen it. Not in the Empire's eastern settlement zones, not in the Great Magical Realm <Ash Veil's Abyss>. That sky color and those two light sources—such geography wasn't even in the Tomon Academy textbooks." アイラ looked up at the sky. The purple canopy. Two suns. Confirming the sight, she pressed her lips slightly together. "The transfer device flew an unexpected distance." "That's what it amounts to." There was no way to return. That fact fell silently between them. Like a pebble dropped on stone, it sank without sound. "Um..." リリア's voice came from behind. Turning, he saw the silver-haired short-bobbed girl crouching on the stone plaza. Her usual heavy load—bundles of specimens, dried herbs, several rocks—sat secured at her chest. Despite the impact of the transfer, she hadn't dropped a single item. Before レイド could process his surprise at that, リリア spoke. "I'm hungry." A beat of silence. "...You're saying that now?" "Of course. Two suns or not, hunger doesn't care." レイド thought for a moment, then nodded. "I'm hungry too." アイラ made a face that said "eh?" Her brisk, composed expression flickered with confusion—"where is this going?"—for just an instant. But reality didn't stop. Her stomach, if she traced back her memories, hadn't eaten anything in quite some time. "...I am as well, somewhat." The word "somewhat" was characteristically precise. リリア immediately began rummaging through her pack. She pulled out a bundle of dried herbs, and a pungent green smell spread. Something obtained around Kazami Village, famous for herb gathering, with supposed strengthening properties, though whether it counted as food was a matter of opinion. "Here." リリア offered the bundle to both of them. アイラ raised an eyebrow for an instant. She looked at the bundle. She looked at リリア's face. She looked at the bundle again. "...Thank you," she said formally, accepting it. The sight of it made レイド feel his mouth twitch. There was no need to wrap it in self-deprecating humor. It was simply amusing. Three people crouching on the stone plaza of a ruined city, chewing dried herbs while beginning a return strategy meeting—the image was quite something. "H-how is it?" "Bitter." "Right? But it's good for you." アイラ took a bite. Her expression shifted subtly. A refreshing bitterness spread between her teeth. "Do you...keep this on hand regularly?" she asked, her voice maintaining its courtesy. No matter how confused the situation, her respectful tone never wavered. "I do. It's nutritious and light." "...I see." There was no prospect of return. Where Calva and Golth had gone in the transfer was unknown. They had weapons. The only thing that could be called food was dried herbs. The gap between the gravity of the situation and the current scene created an indescribable atmosphere. "First, we explore." レイド stood up. Chewing the dried herbs, he surveyed deeper into the ruined city. "We confirm whether there's an exit. We grasp the scale of this city. We search for anything usable. Then we discuss again." アイラ stood smoothly. She tucked the herbs into her pocket and placed her hand on her sword hilt. "Understood." リリア also stood, picking up a rock and adding it to her pack. *** The ruined city was vast. The stone-paved road leading toward the center stretched straight, half-covered in moss. Abandoned buildings continued left and right. Only window frames remained; all glass was gone. Carvings appeared on the walls in places. Geometric patterns mixed with what looked like writing. Not Imperial script. Not the language of the magical races either. Something older—truly ancient, something else entirely. "The stonework here is amazing." リリア approached a wall and traced her fingertip across the surface. The joints between stones were nearly invisible. "Imperial stonework is rougher, right? Like the stone cottages in Kazami Village. But this is like...it was melted and hardened." "If shaped by magic, that would explain it. Considering the scale, it exceeds the Tomon Academy's technical level." "How old is it?" "The Empire's oldest records go back four hundred years. This appears to be even earlier than that." リリア's face filled with wonder. She continued tracing the stone surface, rolling something in her mouth like she was confirming syllables. A quiet movement, as if verifying sounds. アイラ was examining the entrance to a partially collapsed corridor. Her sharp green eyes looked up at the ceiling, checking the stone's stability. She tapped the wall with the back of her fist, testing for hollows. A habit acquired from knight corps training. "It's passable. There's risk of ceiling collapse, but if we walk along the edge, it should be fine." "Let's go." The three entered the corridor. It was darker than outside, but the stone itself emitted faint light. A fluorescent glow, quiet and steady. The same type as the Ash Corridor, but the color was slightly different. Where that had been bluish-white, this carried a pale green tint. The footing was treacherous. Part of the stone plaza had caved in, making it uneven. アイラ, walking along the edge, confirmed her footing with each step. レイド walked slightly behind. He naturally watched the feet of the person ahead. It wasn't a conscious choice—watching the footing of the person in front was a habit acquired from mountain marches. On the next step, アイラ's right foot caught in a gap in the stone. Her balance broke in a fraction of a second. レイド's hand moved by reflex. He caught アイラ's left arm. The pulling force was minimal—just enough to stop her falling momentum. But in the narrow corridor, that distance closed instantly. Through her armor, body heat transmitted. The firmness of her arm and the certain human warmth between cloth and metal. "...I apologize." アイラ quickly regained her posture. レイド released her hand. The original distance between them returned. But something small remained in アイラ. In her chest, on the right side. Not hot or cold, just "there." Her heartbeat, for just one beat, struck a rhythm different from usual. Something personal mixed in, something that couldn't be classified as task-related confirmation. (What was that?) アイラ faced forward. She fixed her gaze on the corridor ahead. As a knight, she saw what needed to be seen. Emotional processing could wait. For now, exploration. But her fingertips still remembered the outline of the body heat felt through cloth. レイド said nothing. He confirmed アイラ's profile beside him once, then faced forward again. His expression showed nothing. Forty-two years of composure kept his face perfectly arranged. リリア watched the two backs ahead from behind. She said nothing. *** Exiting the corridor, they emerged into an open plaza. The center of the ruined city. A circular plaza roughly fifty meters in diameter. At its center, an intricate magical circle was carved into the stone. レイド stopped. Magical circles—geometric patterns for channeling magical power through the body's internal circuits to manifest spells—were handled by the Tomon Academy. But this was different in scale. Within a circle exceeding ten meters in diameter, dozens of concentric circles and radiating lines were carved, with what appeared to be fine characters marked at each intersection. The precision carved directly into stone far exceeded what normal carving could achieve. "This is..." アイラ's words trailed off beside him. The knight corps' basic magical training covered magical circles. But this scale and intricacy lay beyond that knowledge. Then his left arm grew hot. レイド looked at his arm. The pale blue scar glowed in the same color as the pattern carved at the circle's center. A sense of resonance from deep within his magical circuits. The "filling sensation" he had felt in the Suimei Forest intensified here. For three years, his circuits had only moved in the direction of depletion, but now they were definitely moving in the direction of "becoming full." リリア approached the edge of the magical circle. She crouched down and stared intently at the carved characters. "Ah." "What?" "I can read this." アイラ turned her head. "Is it the same as the Ash Corridor?" "Yes. Somehow, when I look at it, the sounds just come out—ah, these characters here. I can read the rest." リリア began tracing the characters with her fingertip. Syllables connected. A language with sharp, angular sounds—not Imperial, not the magical races' tongue. The stone surface responded to リリア's voice, its light shifting slightly. レイド listened silently. His left arm's glow intensified in sync with リリア's recitation. "..." リリア stopped reading. She fell silent for a while. Her expression had grown somewhat fixed. "Rilia." "Um..." リリア looked at both of them in turn. Beneath her silver short bob, her mismatched eyes wavered slightly. One pale purple, one pale amber, both catching the light of the ruined city's purple sky. "This place...seems to be called the Magical Continent." Silence fell. "The Magical Continent." "Yes. It says something about it being the continent where the source of magic is, and it's a completely different place from the continent where the Empire is. Valtan Continent, I think?" アイラ opened her mouth. "How far away is it?" リリア tilted her head slightly. She looked at the carved characters agai