Chapter 191: Nor’s Haven (5)

Even so, what caused her rejection was that it sounded as if Shirone had used her.

“Shirone is not that kind of person! Even if Kanya hadn’t been a citizen, he would have helped her anyway! Shirone is a good person and besides…!”

“I know. I know what kind of character he has. Precisely because he is like that.”

When Kanis admitted it without opposing it, Tess was left speechless.

“The fact that he handed over the white elixir was sincere. That’s why I want to say this. Even if Shirone acted in good faith, he’s not so stupid as to have not even thought about this level of situation. Don’t you think?”

The group could not refute it.

If it was Shirone, there was no way he had not considered what Kanis thought.

Then, one way or another, he must be planning a strategy. Just at that moment, Shirone approached walking with Kanya.

Kanya lowered her head and said,

“I’m sorry. Because of me, you all ended up losing. I won’t forget this favor.”

Amy asked Shirone with her eyes over her shoulder. As expected, he shook his head, a sign that he already knew.

Sometimes, actions done in good faith are perceived as calculations, and that was exactly Shirone’s situation. He didn’t want to hurt Kanya, so he preferred to observe a little longer.

Through the mental channel they exchanged opinions. Kanis said that he would speak, but by vote it was decided to delegate the matter to Shirone.

When the meeting ended, Amy and Kanya were absorbed examining the fire spirit and the drone.

While observing them, Shirone realized that among the women in the group, only Arin had not obtained anything.

“I’m sorry. I used all the elixirs.”

Kanis said,

“There’s no need. We didn’t come all the way here just to obtain trash like that.”

Tess, who was stroking the drone, flared up.

“What did you say? Repeat it.”

“There’s no need. We didn’t come all the way here just to obtain trash like that.”

Tess ground her teeth and Kanis added,

“We didn’t risk our lives to come here just to wander around purgatory. You should think that the drone you’re hugging is equipment that anyone can carry in the sky.”

Kanis was right.

If purgatory was a market where objects were sold, the sky was a factory where they were produced. It was enough to know that all the principles of this world came from the laws of the sky.

Tess pursed her lips and turned around.

In any case, the drone was hers. Even if there were extravagant objects in the sky, if she couldn’t obtain them, they were nothing more than an impossible dream.

Her mood improved again and she stroked the drone once more. Then suddenly she became curious about how to use it.

For fear of breaking it she did not treat it roughly, but no matter how much she shook it or tapped it gently, it did not seem to show any signs of functioning.

“Kanya, how do you use this? You said it was new, but it doesn’t work.”

“Give it to me. I’ll check it.”

Kanya took the drone and turned it from side to side. Then she saw that there was a steel band tied to the flight mechanism and put on an uncomfortable expression.

She knew that the drone had been bought with a white elixir. But she never thought they would sell something like this.

The equipment of the mecha race with the seal unreleased was absolutely useless.

“Uh… this can’t be used.”

“What? Why? Is it damaged or something?”

“No, on the contrary. It’s a new product, fresh out of the factory. Do you see the pattern engraved on this steel band? This is called hena. It can only be used after breaking this seal. But the seal can only be removed in the factory. That’s why it can’t be used.”

Tess had an expression on the verge of crying. Something she had paid a white elixir for was nothing more than a piece of scrap.

Hearing the conversation, Shirone understood why the merchant had been so desperate to sell it. He had not mentioned anything about the seal.

Amy snatched the drone and said,

“Give it to me. I’m going to ask for a refund. He sold a defective object without explaining it. This is a scam!”

“That’s right. I scammed you.”

The merchant who had sold the drone approached accompanied by Clove.

When he admitted it so easily, Amy was left without strength.

The group calmed their anger and waited for what he would say next. But he said nothing. Instead, he took out three yellow elixirs from among his clothes.

“And what is this?”

“The original price of the drone. Of course I took a profit, but in any auction you couldn’t get it cheaper. All mecha objects have a locking system. I regret not telling the truth.”

Arin conveyed that he was telling the truth.

Amy sensed why the merchant had made that confession. First, it was an obvious scam, and after seeing Shirone’s ability, he concluded that the matter would become big.

In the end, he wanted to fix the situation and at least keep what belonged to him.

For a merchant, he was someone without much courage.

“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t have any other intention.”

“Then why are you returning it?”

“As an apology. I felt miserable. I left the sky and entered purgatory, but I lived believing there was still hope. I don’t want to give up my pride as a merchant.”

Shirone accepted the yellow elixirs as if implying that he understood. Arin warned that it was half truth and half lie, but he was already tired of fighting over accounts.

The merchant tried to console them in his own way.

“Anyway, it’s not like I reduced it that much. Normally, with ten yellow elixirs you can obtain a white elixir. In purgatory, the value of a drone is that high.”

Tess replied with annoyance.

“And what’s the use? If it can’t be used anyway.”

The merchant had nothing to say about that. The equipment of the mecha race was not his main merchandise and, besides, he had obtained it by chance, so he had no information.

However, Amy caught a clue in his words.

“If it has so much value, doesn’t that mean there’s a way to remove the lock?”

Tess turned with a slight hope, but the merchant only shrugged as if saying he didn’t know.

Kanis, who had been listening, let out a sigh.

It irritated him that they were doubting when the key to the lock was right in front of them. Should he say it or not?

In the end, exercising a minimum of companionship, he opened his mouth.

“Do you really not know?”

“Huh? Not know what?”

“Remember how we got here. If you have a brain, think a little.”

Tess searched her memory. They had gone out to the sky through Gopin’s gate.

Gopin’s gate? Wait, what had we done at Gopin’s gate?

Tess turned toward Shirone and shouted.

“Shirone! Quick, quick, remove this already!”

***

Shirone also understood it.

Gopin’s gate was, in the end, a kind of ancient weapon.

At first glance it was nothing more than a stone wall, but when the Immortal Function was opened it transformed into a dimensional gate, a full-fledged weapon.

Perhaps that was why it had been given the nickname unlocker.

Shirone took the drone in his hands, wrapped it with both, and concentrated his mind.

Would it really work?

He hesitated for a moment, but calculated that in nine out of ten cases it would.

When he opened the Immortal Function, the drone began to emit light.

The merchant’s eyes, who was watching the scene, widened.

Following the locking mechanism called hena, red-colored patterns began to appear.

The shape was different, but the phenomenon was identical to the one he had seen at Gopin’s gate.

With a metallic sound, the hena detached and a light filtered through the joints of the assembly.

Shirone raised the drone with a radiant smile.

“Wow, it really works!”

Without losing his smile, Shirone’s body became stiff.

Countless nor were looking at him.

Not only Kanya and Lena, but also Gardrak and Clove had stunned expressions, as if they had lost their souls.

He thought it was only because he had broken the seal, but then he began to hear whispers from different places.

When Arin tried to communicate telepathically with some people, their voices echoed in his mind.

Nephilim.

Many words were exchanged, but the one that repeated without exception was Nephilim.

The more the murmur grew, the more uneasy Shirone felt.

He did not know whether the word Nephilim had a good or bad connotation.

Arin said that the emotions he perceived were a mixture of reverence and fear.

Kanya, when she met Shirone’s gaze, was startled.

But remembering that even that could be considered a lack of respect, she knelt down.

“The faithful of Ra pays homage to the Nephilim.”

Shirone could not understand where the situation was heading.

Then Gardrak approached.

He had an expression even more serious than when he was fleeing from the heretic hunters.

“So you were not simple fallen in purgatory. You were the ones who opened the gate and entered.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What exactly is a Nephilim?”

“In this world, the only ones who can travel freely between the sky and the earthly realm are the angels. They have several missions, and one of them is to engender someone who will guide and civilize the realm of the earth. It must be a maiden who has never conceived a child; that is called a virginal conception. Nephilim is the name given to the descendants born between an angel and a virgin. In heaven, the Nephilim are called those who are free from the law.”

Shirone remembered the priestesses that the tribal chief Kergo had brought to the banquet.

He had said that only a virgin could give birth to the child of a descendant of the angels.

Even so, something did not add up.

He was not a Nephilim. If he were truly the descendant of an angel, why would his mother have abandoned him?

Moreover, calling him a Nephilim just because he could use the Immortal Function made no sense.

If all the unlockers in the world came from the same bloodline, the scholars would have already discovered it.

“The Nephilim is outside the will of Ra. But the faithful follow him. Because he occupies the highest position a human can aspire to.”

Shirone did not like that idea.

That the ancestors were great was not a reason for the faithful to follow him.

Besides, the Immortal Function was a state achieved through challenge.

It seemed absurd to attribute that personal achievement, of which he felt proud, to the merit of a bloodline.

“Leave it. Even if I knew it, nothing would change, right?”

“That is true. This is the country of heretics. But then, why did you come to purgatory? To fulfill an angelic mission?”

Shirone could sense the value of the angels.

They were a means of communication that connected the gods with the faithful through the dimensions.

“Yes. We came to enter the sky. We have something to transmit.”

“I thought so. But then, why did you arrive at Nor’s refuge?”

“That was due to a series of coincidences.”

When Shirone looked back, Kanya turned her gaze away with her face flushed.

Her heart was beating strongly.

Shirone was not a heretic who had to be rejected, nor an impostor.

He was a great Nephilim who had defeated the unicorn oni and had granted Epines to her.

Shirone tried to calm her.

“You don’t have to get so nervous. The truth is that even I didn’t know I was a Nephilim. Treat me normally.”

“But… how…?”

Amy approached to intervene.

In part, Shirone was right, but she still felt uncomfortable.

“Yes, relax. Even if Shirone is a Nephilim, the rest of us are still heretics. If we can treat him normally, you don’t have to do anything different.”

Kanya did not think that way.

Whoever accompanied a Nephilim could not be classified as a heretic.

They were linked to the Nephilim, and the Nephilim was linked to the angels.

Even so, she could not oppose what the higher law dictated, so she decided to treat Shirone naturally, just as he wanted.

However, inside her a strong shock still resonated.

Tess did not care at all whether he was a Nephilim or whatever.

Shirone was Shirone.

She smiled from ear to ear while examining the drone.

Just hearing the buzzing made her heart beat strongly.

Kanya approached and extended her hand.

“Give it to me. I’ll teach you how to use it.”

The drone was a remote-control device that used the human brain as a control tower.

Through an advanced technology called retinal vision, it transmitted information directly to the user’s eyes.

Depending on atmospheric conditions, it could fly within a radius of up to ten kilometers from the control tower.

“To use the drone, you first have to establish a personal password. Use a unique frequency, although the principle is only known by mecha technicians. Anyway, to activate it, press here and then like this…”

When she brought her hand to the initialization button, the hemispherical drone split into multiple components.

When it was placed on Tess’s head, it emitted a mechanical sound as it adjusted and began to read her brain waves.

T/N:

I am going to pick up this series from where the previous translator had left it. If you notice changes in names or things, I will try to fix them as I go.