Chapter 87: So This Is the Assignment Site, Right?

[Objective priorities set. Analyzing the surrounding environment. Currently scanning...]

"Um... Senior. We probably shouldn't talk while it's scanning, right...?"

[Momo can. In fact, Momo prefers it. When Momo gets bored, Momo's body becomes cold.]

'...You're already a machine, so you're cold.'

I knew Aia made all sorts of bizarre machines, but how should I put it... She really had managed to make one with a personality just like her own.

Even if it was natural for a child to resemble its parent, I couldn't quite understand why she had gone out of her way to make a machine with her exact voice, speech patterns, and personality... Still, we desperately needed the help of this machine called Momo right now.

Since Bunny and Black Rose's mascots had apparently passed out as well, there was nowhere left to get any information about the Abyss. In that situation, the existence of a machine that looked capable of conducting some kind of professional...? analysis was extremely important.

That woman. Her personality might be strange, but her abilities were undeniable.

"Come to think of it, Ms. Momo, how did you come over with us? Didn't you come out from around Alice's waist earlier?"

But there was still one question I couldn't solve.

Why had this thing come over with me? I had definitely never received anything like this from Aia.

'...Could that woman be using this machine to stalk me or s...'

[Before you were sucked in, the main body threw Momo toward you at a speed of 220 km/h.]

"...What is she, a baseball player?"

[Didn't you know? The main body has even thrown the first pitch at a baseball game. However, the ball turned a passing pigeon into what had once been a pigeon, so the main body hasn't thrown a ball since.]

"Ugh... Senior. I don't know which parts are serious and which are jokes..."

"When talking to Aia, letting half... no, 80% of what she says go in one ear and out the other will make conversation easier."

"You can still have a conversation after ignoring that much?!"

[You can.]

"Why are you agreeing with that?!"

[The scan is complete. I shall report the results.]

"Did you ignore me?!"

Hmm. Black Rose was gradually becoming influenced by Aia, too. See? It wasn't that I was the strange one.

-Thump, thump

Anyway, it was a relief that the scan was over. We should get some kind of result now.

"...So. What are the results?"

[The results are astonishing.]

"What are they?"

[...This place... is not Earth.]

............

-Squeezeeeeeze

[Eeeekkkk... Momo's repair parts are expensive. Please release Momo.]

"Not facts we already know. Give us more meaningful information."

"S-Senior? Wouldn't it be a big problem if that broke?"

[It was a joke, a joke. They say laughter brings good fortune even in difficult situations. And it isn't entirely meaningless, is it? I know you weren't certain, either. There is a difference between 95% and 100%, you know.]

"...Haa."

I loosened my grip on Momo. That was certainly true, at least.

[This is an inference based on the movement of celestial bodies and analysis of the surrounding air. This place is not Earth.]

-Throb, throb

"You have solid evidence, right?"

[If I explain it along with the scientific evidence, listing it all will take about 14 minutes. Getting you to understand it will take at least three hours.]

"Haa... Never mind. Let's say that's the case."

I had already believed that this couldn't possibly be Earth, but now I had received definitive confirmation. I had gained certainty, but since it wasn't certainty in a good direction, it only gave me another headache.

"But... I understand that Lady Aia threw Ms. Momo to us, but what kind of machine is Ms. Momo? She seems to have quite a lot of functions... And since she has Lady Aia's voice, she doesn't seem like an ordinary machine..."

"Black Rose, don't expect common sense from Aia..."

It wouldn't have been strange for that woman to give some bizarre machine a personality like this. Still, judging by how desperately she had thrown it over, it was probably a useful machine, but it likely didn't have some incredibly special significance. She must have sent it to help us survive.

[Good question. Momo is the main body. Momo is Aia's first machine and the most Magi-cal machine among the many machines responsible for all calculations, output, implementation, and so on in Aia's use of magic.]

"...Wait a minute."

Her first machine. The first thing she had made. The machine she had made after becoming a magical girl.

And it was responsible for all the calculations, output, and implementation involved in Aia's use of magic. Put simply, that meant it was the central core and support of her magic.

-Chill

Magical girls all had something that served this role. Granted immediately after forming a contract, it was the first thing any magical girl obtained, regardless of what abilities she possessed, as well as the central core and support of a magical girl's magic.

"...A wand?"

[That is what they are also called.]

"...Are you insane?! You threw your wand to someone else?! To people who might not know when they'll return—or no, to people who were practically going to die?!"

"Your wand?!"

Only then did Black Rose seem to grasp how serious this was, and she began to panic as well.

"Ah, no... You mean she threw her wand into the Abyssal Hole...? For our sake...?"

".........Ha. What on earth is that woman thinking?"

I was grateful that she wanted to help. I was, but... she should have thought about what would happen afterward, too.

A magical girl without her wand could be considered to have nearly half her usable power. Not when she simply hadn't summoned it, but when she had actually lost her wand for some reason. Normally, that happened when an Abyssal One smashed it and it had not yet been restored, or when an Abyssal One took it and she could not summon it back into her hands immediately... but that woman had thrown it straight into the Abyssal Hole. This was different.

I tended to rely heavily on Alice's magical power, so the wand's influence was significant, but Aia also handled dozens, even hundreds, of machines. What did it mean for the wand assisting those calculations to be gone?

[Without Momo, the main body's number of operable machines will drop to 33% of normal. If ranked, she would probably be around eighth or ninth among the S-ranks.]

"What?! That's serious! The strongest magical girl left on Earth right now...!"

"...That must mean she wants us to come back as quickly as possible, no matter what. That troublesome woman, seriously..."

[Wait. Hide. Something is approaching. I recommend hiding in the bushes.]

"There could be an Abyssal One in the bushes, too..."

[There are no scan results indicating one. If you can trust Momo, then trust Momo.]

"...Let's go."

-Rustle

I didn't completely trust Momo, but it was Aia's wand. A machine of that caliber was worth trusting.

And even I couldn't detect anything in the bushes in particular, so... if it was an Abyssal One that neither Momo nor I could detect... there would be nothing we could do. Hiding from whatever was approaching had to take priority.

I hid in the bushes and lay flat. To conceal my conspicuously white hair and clothes, I covered myself with the surrounding grass and peeked out between the blades with only the narrowest view of the outside.

-Shh.

-Nod.

-Roll

After I exchanged gestures with Black Rose, Momo also rolled slightly, as if it understood.

We waited like that... and then some things appeared to the sound of footsteps.

At first glance... they were definitely not human. If they were brought to Earth, nine out of ten people would think they were Abyssal Ones, while the remaining one might ask, 'Is this a cosplay?' Then they would lose their life.

So... those Abyssal Ones looked like...

-Flutter, flutter

'...Trump?'

They looked like playing cards. The cards had arms and legs, and for some reason, the upper central part—where a human's head or neck would be—was cut out in a U shape. Each one held a spear and walked along, its body fluttering.

There was nothing visible that served as eyes or a head, but Abyssal Ones were beings like that to begin with. There was no need to find it strange.

The suit was hearts. Their numbers were two 2s and one 5.

The cards all looked more or less alike, but the 2s had rather meager equipment and seemed weak, whereas the 5 had more elaborate equipment and force in its steps, so it appeared to be some kind of higher-ranking... something.

<Hurry up, hurry! Will you take responsibility if Sir Knight gets angry because of you?!>

<Eek! We're sorry!>

<We'll run!>

Even though Bunny was unconscious, it seemed the function that translated the Abyssal Ones' language was still working.

As expected, 5 really was superior to 2.

And if they meant a knight, they must have been referring to the knight who called himself Redgrave. Considering the relationship between soldiers and knights, roughly speaking... the knight would be the higher-ranking one. In fact, they were running along as hard as they could, fluttering all the while.

<Now, I shall explain it again. Once you receive the piping-hot hearts from Sir Knight, you two are to head straight to the Garden of Hearts. After that, you must decorate the hearts there, but another soldier will be managing the place, so you don't need to know the details for now. No questions about that simple sentence, I hope!>

<None!>

<R-right!>

<Good! Now, once we get past this bend, Sir Knight will... not be here.>

-Flinch

Black Rose's body, which was hiding beside me, trembled.

Come to think of it, she probably couldn't understand what was going on, either. Knights, gardens, hearts, and whatever else. I was the only one who had fought that knight and spoken with him, and even if she had overheard us, Emerald was probably the only other person who had. Black Rose, who had tumbled down here and ended up in the Abyss, had no idea what they were talking about.

-Grip

For now, I reached for my wand... not Momo, but mine... or rather, Alice's wand.

If they found it suspicious that Redgrave—the knight they had mentioned—had not arrived and began searching the surroundings, the bushes here would very likely become a search target as well. And even if we weren't discovered, they might call a large number of soldiers over, claiming that an emergency had occurred.

I had to be ready to blow them away at any time, so that I could prevent that from happening...

<Damn it! Did I misread today's date?! This isn't the place! Turn back!>

<Yes! Understood!>

<You lot! If I'd misread the date, shouldn't you have told me in advance?! You useless fools! Did your number going up by one make you feel like you'd conquered the world?!>

<We're sorry!>

<Hmph! We don't have time to waste like this! Run! If the wind blows you away, don't expect me to catch you, so fend for yourselves!>

"..."

"..."

.........The card Abyssal Ones really did disappear, dragging along those fluttering bodies.

'...This is the Abyss?'

The image of the Abyss I had in mind was being shattered quite thoroughly.