62. Relief

※Below was translated by Sephallia. Thank you very much.

“Please, raise your heads.”

Philine-sama commanded us softly. In accordance, we raised our heads to face her.

There before us, Philine-sama sat on her throne. Her blonde hair was even more lush and beautiful than in the past. Her eyes now held a calm but firm determination, she looked much more mature than she had in the past. Not only that, but the presence she exuded as she sat on her throne were reminiscent of the late Empress Dorothea. Behind the throne was an actual portrait of Dorothea-sama, and seeing her portrayed just as sharp and dignified as she had been in life made me feel nostalgic.

We had relocated to the Audience Hall in the Naa Empire’s Imperial Palace. Lily-sama, Simone, and I had come here as the Academy’s representatives.

After Philine-sama rushed to subjugate the monsters at the teleportation facility, she personally guided us and our fellow students to safety. According to her, the Empire was short on hands so not even she, as the Empress, could afford to just sit back on her throne. But still, was chaperoning us really a task for Naa’s current Empress?

But in retrospect, the coordination the soldiers had just displayed made sense now that I knew Philine-sama herself was in command.

Just as we barely managed to settle into the lodgings we’d been provided, the three of us received summons from Philine-sama. We changed our attire to something more formal, and here we were. That said, none of us packed proper formal wear, so we changed into the closest thing: our academy’s uniform. Our academy put a lot of attention to tailoring its uniforms, so it didn’t feel too out of place.

Placing one hand on her cheek, Philine breathed a heavy sigh.

“Your travels were met with quite the disaster, weren’t they. To think your trip to Naa had to begin in this way… I swear on my name as the Naa Empire’s Empress that your stay will suffer no inconveniences.”

“Your grace exceeds our station.”

The three of us again bowed our heads.

“I’m sure you’re all confused at this sudden turn of events. If you will, allow me to explain some things to catch you up.”

“That would be much appreciated.”

“Then,”

With that, Philine signaled to an older retainer who seemed to be her chamberlain. The chamberlain brought over a world map and spread it open. Pointing toward a location on the map, Philine-sama continued onto her explanation.

“At present, not only Naa and Bauer, but multiple other countries suffered attacks as well. We’ve judged the attacks to be simultaneous.”

“S-Simultaneous!?”

“The other countries have mobilized their own armies, and we’ve mobilized ours to reinforce and support them as well, but it hurts that the enemy’s first move was to bring down the gates.

Philine-sama expression briefly sank.

“Were the gates broken?”

“Yes. However, it’s not your fault that they’re broken, am I clear? As long as we remained unable to respond to their surprise attacks from underground, this would’ve happened sooner or later.”

Though she said that, I couldn’t help but feel responsible having been right there. But rather than dwell on that, it was more important that I listen and comprehend our situation.

“Because the gates were damaged, our ability to plan and coordinate action across different countries has been severely limited. In recent years, we’ve become too reliant on the gates to transport both people and goods, so without them, we’ve been paralyzed.”

We lost access to a device that allowed instant transportation across large distances. The effects of that were by no means small.

“But still, isn’t the old infrastructure we used before still in place?”

“Of course. It’s embarrassing to say, but these gates were taken out of commission in the middle of the very crisis we tried to prepare ourselves against by implementing them. It would appear the demon forces have managed to infiltrate our countries’ distribution and defense networks.”

Philine-sama shook her head, lamenting the current situation.

“There’s no use fussing over what has already happened. In the face of such a dire situation, what does the Empire intend to do? If necessary, we will do what we can to help.”

It was a state of emergency, I was sure they’d want as much help as they could get. I was, of course, also concerned about the situation in Bauer, my mothers, Grandfather Dor, and Mei were all over there. I was sure they’d be able to handle it.

“Thank you. You’d already saved the world in your childhood, I’m ashamed that we adults must turn to you for help once again, but…”

“Please, there’s no need to hold back.”

“Then I’ll take you up on your kindness. Were you aware that Naa has ruins left behind by the Science Loop?”

“… I remember hearing something about them.”

The two different societies that alternated, forming a loop where they each mended the world in preparation for the other. The current loop we lived in was a culture that relied on magic, and it was said the other one relied on science. It seemed that ancient ruins leftover from the science loop were stationed here in Naa.

“With time, we will be able to restore the old logistics channels to reconnect our countries. That, however, is surely within the demon army’s expectations as well. That’s why we intend to catch them by surprise and take the opposite approach, repairing the gates.”

“T-That’s possible!?”

“I’m sure it would be difficult if it were just us, but fortunately for us, the leading expert of Magical Artifacts is currently here in the Empire. Please enter.”

The one answered Philine-sama’s call was none other than―

“Hello, everyone. It’s been a while hasn’t it. Simone, I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Dad!?”

“L-Lambert-san!?”

Simone’s father, Lambert Orso.

　◆◇◆◇◆

“As it turns out, I’d come to the Empire to retrieve a part necessary for Yunette’s repairs.”

It seemed that Yunette needed a part that could only be found from one of these ruins.

“I needed permission to excavate the site, but as you might expect it wasn’t so easily granted. The discussions didn’t seem to be going anywhere, and then all this happened. Just as I was wondering what I should do, I received summons from Empress Philine.”

Philine-sama had called Lambert-san hoping he’d be able to fix the gates.

“Lambert promised that he’d fix the gates in exchange for the permission to excavate the ruins and find the part. As such, the next step would be to excavate and gather required parts but…”

Conveniently, the parts required to fix the gate could also be retrieved from those same ruins.

“And that’s the task you’d like to entrust to us?”

“Correct. Could I ask for your cooperation?”

“Of course.”

Returning to Bauer over land would take us days. If repairing the gates was possible, that sounded like a much faster option.

“I’ll be accompanying you as well. If it’s just the three of you, you wouldn’t know how to discern which parts I need.”

“Yes, then we’ll leave that part of it to you, Lambert-san. Please leave all the manual labor to us.”

“I’ll be in your care.”

“L-Likewise.”

Just as the discussion seemed to be wrapping up, I realized that Simone really hadn’t said much. When I turned to face her, I realized her expression was rather stiff.

“Simone?”

“W-What…?”

“Is everything okay? You seem a little off.”

“N-No, nothing’s off, I’m normal”

Was that really true? As I tilted my head in confusion, Lily-sama softly moved behind Simone.

“Simone-chan, you’ve been feeling anxious, haven’t you?”

“N-Nah, that’s not…!”

“Lily thinks, especially in times like this, it’s okay to rely on your father a little more.”

As she spoke, she gave Simone a soft push on the back. Pushed forward, Simone took two, then three steps before regaining balance. Standing there, in front of Lambert-san, her expression was even stiffer than before.

“Simone…”

“N-Nah, I’m fine, got it!? I mean the unexpected situation got me a little rustled, but it’s no big deal!”

Face to face with his daughter who continued to force a strong front, Lambert-san spread his arms wide and said,

“Come here.”

Lambert made the effort to speak as gently as possible. I saw Simone’s expression briefly twist, but she looked down to the floor for a moment before burying herself in her father’s embrace. Her pained sobs were muffled in Lambert-san’s chest as he gently stroked the back of her head over and over. From my perspective, I thought Simone had been fine. I’d always seen her as strong-willed and resilient, but come to think of it, we were far from home. After being tossed out of the gates to an unfamiliar place, we’d been attacked by monsters. Of course she’d feel anxious

Simone had been putting on a front this whole time.

“You were scared weren’t you. It’s okay now. Dad’s here with you.”

Lambert-san held her tight in his arms until she stopped crying.