Saturday, July 3
Once the Sun Rangers could no longer be seen, Koutarou and the others began climbing down the mountain again. While they were tired from the beetle hunting, the unexpected meeting left everyone in a bright mood.
“Sakuraba-senpai, how is your body holding up?”
“Thank you for worrying, Nijino-san. Thanks to Clan-san's invention, I can still go on. Thanks to you too, Clan-san”
“W-We can't be too overconfident. It's still just at the prototype stage”
“Don't get so embarrassed, glasses. It's at times like this that you boast!”
“By the way, Aika-san, did you leave the band of knight's uniform to Theia-chan and Ruth-san?”
“Yes, I don't know Forthorthe's style. In fact, I thought it would be best that way”
“We're talking about Theia and Ruth-san, I can't tell what will come out, but it won't be anything useful”
However, amongst them, only Kiriha's expression remained dark.
To her, the meeting with the Sun Rangers wasn't just a reunion. The fact that the Sun Rangers, the surface defence force, was moving was proof that the radical faction was making moves. She couldn't simply smile and enjoy the reunion. As a result, she now had the expression of a commander.
“Nee-san, I've gotten a message from Karama Ho. The Sun Rangers are moving past where we were hunting beetles and heading deeper into the forest Ho”
“Have Karama continue following them”
“Roger!”
Kiriha was using the haniwas to follow the Sun Rangers and planned for the future.
Since they were using a close range spiritual energy sensor, they should have an idea of where to look. They either pursued them after a battle, or they had a clue from the start...
Kiriha predicted that the Sun Rangers had information that her enemies, the radical faction, were hiding in this area. The basis for Kiriha's line of thinking was because of the accuracy of their sensor. The accuracy of their sensor was far lower than the sensor built into the haniwas; trying to find them without any leads with that sensor was like searching for a needle in a haystack. It was more likely that they had a clue that lead them here rather than them just happening to search this area.
In that case, there was a point in following the Sun Rangers. Karama, who had a more accurate sensor, might be able to find the radical faction before the Sun Rangers did. With the radicals making moves underground as well, Kiriha couldn't pass up on this chance.
“I need to find something and make the first move...”
Kiriha normally didn't like fighting, yet she had to actively obstruct the radical faction. The situation was beginning to turn that bad that she had to accept that contradiction. If the radical faction had built a base on the surface, or if they were in the middle of a large-scale operation, the policy for dealing with them might need a major revision.
“Nee-san, this is bad Ho!”
“What is it?!”
And that danger turned even more real by the news from Korama.
“An emergency message from Chief Daiha Ho! Shijima Tayuma has escaped Ho!”
“What?!”
Shijima Tayuma, a young member of the radical faction. Among the People of the Earth, he was especially elitist and harbored a lot of hate towards the surface dwellers. Last year, Tayuma fought Kiriha and lost, and was sent to a prison underground. Yet now he had escaped. Kiriha knew just what that meant.
Kiriha's battle had right at this moment begun.