Tale of Discovery

Upon finally reaching the control room, I am met with the sight of a bustling crew as they work around with data appearing on their computer screens.

While this is going on, two individuals - a man and a woman - are standing beside the commander's seat, looking over the rest with sincere looks on their faces.

Looking at the two, I feel a little uncomfortable thinking about the way the male acted the last time I interacted with him.

Nevertheless, I shake my head in mild exasperation before walking over toward them.

"Hello," I say nonchalantly once I am close enough to the duo.

"Ah, Shin," Reine utters as a response to my greeting before looking behind me and saying, "And the commander?"

"Kotori? Well, she will be here soon… probably."

Hearing this, the two of them both furrow their brows a little, but I heed that no attention as I turn my head to the right and say, "How has she been acting?"

My question revolves around the girl that's currently being displayed on the large screen present in the control room.

From what I can see, she is in a state of confusion as she motionlessly sits on the bed in the room I had left her in.

"Nothing," Reine responds, "She has been like that ever since she woke up."

"Is that so?" I say as I begin to ruminate over the reasons the girl hasn't attempted anything yet.

Could she not have supernatural abilities? I doubt that, after all, she was recognized by AI to be 'inhuman'.

According to how it usually is, she should be capable of some feats, so it's odd that she hasn't tried to at least break out of the room she is in.

"I will talk to her," I state.

"Understood," Reine responds, surprising me a little due to how easily she agreed with my statement – not like doing otherwise would've changed anything.

---

Due to having been there once before, I easily made my way to the room that the girl is in.

However, I am then faced with a slight issue – the inability to open the door that leads inside.

Fortunately, someone from the control room seems to have noticed my 'plight' as the panel attached to the wall beside the door displays a single message, 'override', as the door slowly opens.

Following this, I adopt a small smile as I step inside the room, after which I directly set my gaze upon the girl that's still sitting on the bed.

AI, are you able to make any further analysis?

{Affirmative.}

{Threat level: 1}

Oh? That's lower than I expected.

Nevertheless, for AI to provide this information, it should mean that she has been able to the girl's parameters or something along that line.

A few seconds later, the girl notices my presence as she raises her head and turns it to face me.

Our eyes lock as the surrounding air seems to become tense.

"Reine," I say as I move my finger to the intercom, "Unlock the barrier's 'door'."

Shortly after I do so, the panel attached to the white door leading inside the energy barrier shifts colors from red to green as a beeping noise reverberates within the room.

My expression remains unchanged as I slowly begin walking again while keeping my eyes locked with the girl.

Unexpectedly, even after I get past the barrier, the girl displays no signs of apparent hostility, nor does she make any movements.

She couldn't be... 'empty inside' or something, right?

Deciding to put this thought to the test, I create a small stool and take a seat on it.

This time, the girl finally moves, even if it's just her eyes, as they are now focused on the stool I just created.

"Impressed?" I say as the smile on my lips grows a little.

The girl doesn't say anything for a brief while before she opens her thin lips and asks in a soft voice, "Who are you?"

Good. She at least seems to not be empty like I feared her to be.

"No one important," I respond, "Just a person with some irrelevant supernatural abilities who found your unconscious body and decided to provide you a place to stay temporarily."

The reason I responded to her in such a manner is for two reasons. First, the way I am stating it along with her confused mental state would make the story plausible and most likely result in her stopping from inquiring any further into the matter.

As for the second reason, it would be to lightly look into how much the girl knows and whether she is used to the 'supernatural' as I have been calling it as such.

Expectedly, the girl takes in the info and focuses on a certain part of it as she utters, "Supernatural abilities?"

"Indeed," I respond as I feign excitement and raise my right arm before utilizing Telekinesis to raise a few objects nearby into the air.

"Isn't it amazing?" I say while forming a proud smile on my lips.

"Ah… Yes," the girl responds after being dazed for a few seconds.

"Don't be like that," I say as I slowly shake my head, "Do you know how easier it is to prepare coffee in the morning with this ability?"

"Coffee?" the girl repeats in a low tone, but I can hear her clearly regardless.

As I expected. This girl… she is not from 'here'. It's possible that she is from the other side, in other words, the Neighboring World.

"Where are we?" the girl suddenly asks.

"Aboard a ship," I respond with a smile, "A flying one."

Hearing my response, the girl's brows raise as she looks around for a few seconds before asking, "What are these?"

Knowing that she is referring to the energy barrier, I shrug and say, "Something to keep anything harmful from getting inside here."

And vice versa, but I don't need to tell her that, because I am sure she would figure that out herself if she is even a little thoughtful.

"Alright," I say as I clap my hands, "How about we introduce ourselves?"

The girl nods once as confirmation.

"I'll go first," I say as I press my fingers against my chest, "My name is Victor, and I am a male Spirit."

The girl didn't react to my name in any meaningful way, but she sure as heck reacted to the words 'male spirit'.

Shock and confusion were what I saw within her sapphire eyes as she seemed to deliberate on something.

"Your turn," I say, my expression remaining unperturbed.

"Ah, okay," the girl responds a little hurriedly, "I am Hibiki, a Quasi-Spirit."

Quasi-Spirit? Incomplete Spirits? Either way, this is an intriguing discovery.

"Say, Hibiki (Hibiki-chan)," I say in a friendly tone, "Do you have any idea how you ended up in the state you were in when I found you?"

Upon hearing my inquiry, Hibiki's face darkens as she slightly lowers her head and mutters something unintelligible to herself.

"Hibiki?"

"Queen," she says in a low tone with hints of fury and hatred, "She suddenly appeared and attacked me."

"Who is this 'Queen' individual that you speak of and why do you think she attacked you?"

"Her title is White Queen, and she usually remains within her Region, Binah, but for some reason, she intercepted me while I was on my way to meet Ariadne."

There are a lot of unfamiliar terms contained within her statement, but I can sense that there is no falsity in her words, which is strange.

To be frank, I find it strange that this girl is so cooperative…

Unable to hold my curiosity back, I interrupt Hibiki and ask, "Do you not find me suspicious? I mean, I am glad that you are responding to me earnestly, but nevertheless, for you to share information so easily…"

For the first time since I have seen her, the girl's expression changes 'completely' as a bright smile forms on her lips.

"It's okay; I can tell that you don't want to harm me."

Even so… Well, whatever. Still, for this girl to be able to sense malicious intention; she must either have some rough history or a special ability of sorts.

"Shi-i-do!" a furious voice reaches my ears as a figure with fiery-red hair stomps into the room.

Turning the stool in order to face the comer, I smile and say, "You're finally here, Kotori."

Giving me a sharp look, Kotori hastens her steps and comes to stop once she is less than a meter away from me.

Following this, the obviously displeased Kotori glares at me and says, "How could you leave me in there and leave by yourself?!"

"Why not?" I respond casually, "You're the commander; getting a door to open on your ship should be a breeze."

"A breeze, you say?" she responds in a shaky tone, "Do you know how embarrassing it was to explain why I was stuck in the storage room, alone?"

Huh? Couldn't she have just said 'I was ditched in here by Shido' and be done with it? Or perhaps, that's the part she was embarrassed about?

"Um…" a perplexed voice reaches my ears as Hibiki, who is unsure of what's happening, utters, "Can we leave this room? It's a little uncomfortable here."

"Sure," I respond as I turn my head to face her, "I hope you will answer more of my questions while we do so."

After all, there are quite a few things that I am curious about.

"Of course," she responds in a tone so bright that my eyes were tricked into 'seeing' her glowing.