–+–
They had lost real-time navigation, but they couldn’t stop here.
The Ethereals inside a Hollow wouldn’t wait for anyone.
The longer they stayed, the more would gather.
To save their strength and deal with any unknown dangers that might show up, the group kept moving under Pulonia’s cover, doing their best to avoid fights they didn’t need.
Time slipped by, second by second.
They moved in fits and starts, and the pressure inside the Hollow grew heavier with every step.
Even the air seemed to thicken around them.
“Timer’s up again, huh.”
Billy leaned against an abandoned train car to rest.
His voice sounded dull as he glanced at the timer, then started the next countdown with a helpless sigh.
“That makes four full rounds of the ‘recommended safe activity time inside a Hollow’…”
No one answered.
Anby kept watch over their surroundings, her hand never leaving the hilt of her blade.
Her face was grave.
Nicole crouched off to the side, staring at Eous in her arms.
The Bangboo was still malfunctioning, and no one knew what she was thinking.
On the other side, though, the mood was completely different.
Sandrone was checking the seams in Pulonia’s armor, calm and focused.
Columbina stood beside her with a quiet look, like some fine porcelain doll.
She didn’t look like she was in danger at all.
“Hey.”
Nicole finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.
She raised her head, looking drained.
“Sandrone, Columbina, how are you two not nervous at all? We’ve been stumbling around blind for ages! Keep this up, and we’re all gonna turn into Ethereals!”
Sandrone was checking Pulonia’s readings on her terminal.
At that, she looked up.
“Hm? Oh, it’s already been four rounds?”
She turned to the girl beside her.
“Columbina, we should be close, right?”
Columbina closed her eyes.
The wing-like ornaments on her head trembled a little, as if she were sensing something.
A few seconds later, she opened her eyes and gave a soft nod.
“Very close.”
“What are you talking about?” Nicole was lost, but she still didn’t forget to crack a joke.
“What’s close? Our death date?”
“The commission’s destination.” Sandrone pointed ahead, her tone certain.
“We should be very close to where that mutated Dullahan is.”
She felt like she and these two were running on completely different circuits.
“That’s true,” Anby said all of a sudden.
She had been silent until now.
She straightened up.
“There’s a heavy feeling in the air. It’s the same feeling as when we ran into high-risk Ethereals before.”
Billy’s jaw almost dropped.
“What? We’ve been getting closer to the target this whole time? Without navigation? How did you even do that?”
Nicole seemed to realize something.
Her eyes lit up, carrying a spark of hope.
“Sandrone, don’t tell me you’ve got a Carrot?”
Sandrone shook her head.
“We don’t have a Carrot, and we can’t find the exit.”
“Huh?” The tiny hope Nicole had just raised died on the spot.
“Then how did you find the destination without a Carrot?”
“Trial and error.”
Sandrone turned around and spread one hand, her voice steady.
“To put it simply, we spent enough time wandering around this area over the last two days while looking for Pulonia’s parts. Columbina has some memory of the… routes here. But reaching that spot still takes trial and error.”
The mutated Dullahan was most likely somewhere near the place where she and Columbina had met Anby before.
And the five boxes that had held Pulonia’s scattered parts had, whether Aha meant it or not, formed a ring around that area.
Since the boxes were scattered around a center point, they could use their positions to work out the rough center of the circle.
The exact center still took trial and error because the space was warped, but the general direction wouldn’t be wrong.
“Relax,” Sandrone said lightly.
“With your Ether aptitude, you should be fine for another one or two rounds of the recommended time.”
“Uh… Boss Sandrone,” Billy said, raising a weak hand.
“I don’t think the main issue is how much longer we can last, right? The real issue is how we get out!”
Just then, Anby’s eyes sharpened.
She had been keeping watch, and she moved behind cover at once.
“Hide.”
“Wh-what?” Billy jolted in fright and raised both guns.
“Those monsters are back?!”
“Shh.” Anby lifted a finger.
“Not Ethereals. A Hollow Investigative Association team.”
Through the cracks in the ruins, they could see more than a dozen figures in standard protective suits, all well equipped and moving in formation.
“Oh, it’s just investigators.” Billy let out a breath and was about to stand.
“Wait—investigators!?”
His eyes lit up at once, like he had just seen salvation.
“We’re saved, Boss Nicole! They’re from the Association, so they’ve got a Carrot! We can ask them for help and follow them out of the Hollow!”
Nicole closed her eyes and waved a hand in despair.
“We’re Hollow Raiders. Even if we leave with them, we’ll just get arrested and locked up.”
“Maybe we would, but with that thing…”
Billy pointed at Eous.
“Public Security’s new policy says that if you report a Proxy, you can make up for your crimes…”
Anby also turned back and calmly analyzed the situation.
“Given our current circumstances, Billy’s suggestion is highly feasible.”
Nicole frowned.
For a moment, she fell into a dead silence.
“Hey, Sandrone, Columbina.”
Nicole suddenly turned to Sandrone.
“Don’t you two have anything to say? Those are officials. If we follow them, we’ll get out for sure.”
Sandrone stood by Pulonia’s leg, putting away her toolbox.
Her hands didn’t stop for even a second.
“Nothing to say.”
She didn’t even look back.
“I don’t know Phaethon as well as you do. What they’d do if something like this happened, and whether they’re worth waiting for—you know that better than us.”
Nicole looked down at the Bangboo in her arms.
It still showed no reaction.
She fell silent again.
“Boss Nicole… we’ll follow your call,” Billy said, handing the choice to her.
A few seconds passed in silence.
“Whew…”
Nicole let out a soft sigh, stood up, and gave Billy a light smack on the head.
“Quit yelling… This isn’t a good place to stay. We’re moving. Avoid them.”
Anby and Billy looked at each other, said nothing more, and followed her at once.
Sandrone watched their struggle and hesitation without a word.
She only nodded, the faintest curve touching the corner of her mouth.
They had some loyalty after all.
In truth, she wasn’t worried about getting out.
If things truly reached the worst point, they still had Columbina.
Columbina had marked a Teleport Waypoint at home.
She could take all of them back outside the Hollow together.
For now, though, it seemed that “spatial teleportation” was not a power this world was supposed to have.
It would also consume a great deal of Columbina’s strength.
To avoid needless trouble, it was better not to use it unless they had no other choice.
Sandrone looked away, patted Pulonia’s heavy armor, finished her inspection, and packed up her tools.
Then she took Columbina’s hand and followed Nicole’s lead.
“Pulonia, take the rear.”
Pulonia rose in silence and followed at the end of the group, staying alert to everything around them.