Chapter 7
[Exodus]
After being shown the Aerial Ship [Ark] Tatsuya was guided by Kurebayashi to look around the facility to be relocated.
Although Tatsuya had already grasped the overall picture with [Elemental SIght] earlier, he would have to use decomposition in each of the facilities separately. The reallocation needs to be done quickly, so neither the Hozumi nor the government are able to catch wind of it. So, to save time, Tatsuya went through an extensive reading of the [information] pertaining to each of the facilities that were to be relocated, one by one.
The preparatory work continued until nightfall. It was not too late to return to Tokyo, but with the main operation scheduled to begin at midnight, Tatsuya would stay at the Main House for the night. He wouldn't be able to get more than a shut-eye, though.
Tatsuya returns to the mansion after finishing his preparations and takes the opportunity to talk alone with Hayama.
"Hayama-san, may I have a moment of your time?"
"Of course, Tatsuya-sama."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to talk with you as a Senate manager. Please," Tatsuya gestured for the still standing Hayama to take the seat across from him.
"If you excuse me." Hayama made no unnecessary show of restraint. "If you don't mind me asking it directly, what are your plans once the Main House is relocated to Miyakishima?"
"About that…" Tatsuya didn't think Hayama was trying to hide his intentions as much as trying to find the right words to express his thoughts.
"I suppose, with the Senate split on how to handle the Yotsuba family, it's not going to be the same as before."
"Indeed. I very much agree with you, Tatsuya-sama."
Hayama openly admitted he was in a difficult position. For many years, he had been sent alone into the midst of what is essentially an armed group to keep an eye, in case they were to become adversaries in the future. And for that, he was certainly a man of exceptional determination and courage.
"I have a proposal, Hayama-san, why don't you effectively join the Yotsuba family?" Because he was such an exceptional man, and his time with the family, that of an ordinary man, that this proposal had to be made.
"In other words, you wish for me to cut my ties with the Senate?"
Hayama's eyes widened in astonishment. The straightforwardness and directness of that question struck even a sly old fox like Hayama as unexpected.
"Yes. What do you say about that?" Tatsuya did not evade the pointed out underlying implication.
"…May I have some time to consider my answer?"
"Of course. Don't feel rushed to answer."
"Thank you, and my apologies." Hayama bowed his head toward Tatsuya. Per his words, Tatsuya did not broach that subject afterwards in their conversation.
◇ ◇ ◇
Back from university, Miyuki was greeted by Hanabishi Hyougo.
"Has Tatsuya-sama gone out?" She already knew he wasn't there the moment she opened the front door.
Not because she actively or passively was looking for his signature magically. Less even through some presence reading like those in martial arts are able to, as she had never trained to perceive others as such. She simply could, unconsciously, feel Tatsuya's signs.
But her question showed some uncertainty, if he had actually "gone out somewhere." It was not unusual to see him tucked away in his private lab at the basement of the building. And especially with the race against time to finish the counter-magic against [Gjallarhorn], there was a strong possibility that he was there, trying to get something done while the joint research was suspended.
"Tatsuya-sama left for the Main House. I was asked to stay behind and provide assistance to Miyuki-sama in the capacity of Next Head of the Family."
"Did Oba-sama summoned him in regards to yesterday's incident?"
Miyuki's natural conclusion would be that the summon was in some way related to the attack on the underground passageway leading to the Main Family's village. "While I may confirm the correlation, I'm afraid I'm not privy to details."
"So, that 's it…"
In her mind, Miyuki was venting her dissatisfaction to the Main Family, "How dare they try to take advantage of Tatsuya again," "Can they be more selfish". But she kept her feelings to herself.
"Did the Main House have any instructions for me?"
"No, not at this time."
"I understand. Then, I will call for you if I have to." Miyuki was, in other words, ordering Hyogo to stay in another apartment until a need for him arises.
It wasn't a matter of arrogance on her part. Even if Hyogo is Tatsuya's trusted confidant, he remains a stranger to Miyuki. And, besides, it was expected for them to avoid being alone together in a private space.
"Yes, ma'am," promptly replied Hyougo. A man of his stature would know to read these unspoken words.
About the time Miyuki thought about preparing dinner, she received a phone call from inbound from the Main House.
In the videophone screen, the all too familiar face of her fiancee was displayed.
"Tatsuya-sama!"
It was expected he would call.
But, even then, Miyuki just couldn't contain her delight as she spoke his name. All she wanted to do was to hug him and buy her face in his chest right now… It was with such passion and sadness that Miyuki stared at Tatsuya on the monitor.
[I'm sorry I didn't tell you.]
"No, you don't need to. I was in the university, and you must have been busy, I'm sure."
[Yeah, sorry but I couldn't help it this time. A big job came in that even I didn't expect to be this great. I'm calling now that I finally have some free time.]
The indirect tone from Tatsuya, with excuses, was quite an unusual sight from him. Not so unusual for Miyuki, though.
"You said it's a big job… The kind that you can't discuss over the phone, right?"
"Yes," Tatsuya responded with a nod.
"When I get back ─probably tomorrow, I think─ I'll explain everything."
Miyuki noticed it was a serious topic based on his tone of voice.
"…So it is something really important, right?"
[Let's just say that it'll have a big impact on our future.]
"I understand. Then, I'll be looking forward to seeing you back home tomorrow."
At dinner time, Lina came over as usual.
Despite her having no reason to worry about cooking, since her apartment is fully equipped with automatic cooking appliances, Lina still insists on showing up to Miyuki and Tatsuya's apartment for dinner. Less because of Miyuki's cooking, but for the company of the individual over a meal.
"Then Tatsuya isn't coming home tonight?"
"Yes. It seems he has some very important work to do."
"Important, huh…" Lina repeats the term suggestively.
"This doesn't seem like a hit job. 'Cause he could just do it and call it a day."
"Why do you think so?" Miyuki asked with a slightly curious look on her face to a Lina, nodding in a know-it-all facade.
"Taking out an enemy is easy work. For Tatsuya, that is."
"…Every case is a unique one, sometimes isn't as simple as just doing it, you know?" Miyuki agreed with Lina's theory with one hand, and with the other pointed out the issue that she could not agree with.
"But worrying about that isn't Tatsuya's job, I don't think." This time, however, Lina's straightforward view had more merit. "Considering the political risks, weighting gain & loss are things for the people at the top to think about. The man in the field is just there to pull the trigger where they're pointed at, not to worry about what'll happen afterwards."
Lina spoke with the conviction of a soldier.
It seemed there was a lot of unspoken resentment built up inside of her.
Miyuki felt she ought to take these words to heart, and never forget them, as she will most likely be "someone at the top" once she takes charge as the Head of the Yotsuba family.
◇ ◇ ◇
It was about an hour before midnight when they finished working out the details of the decomposition of the target facilities and the timetable for the transportation.
The relocation operation would begin at 1:00 am, and probably last all night.
Tatsuya decided to take the opportunity and take a nap for an hour in the room he was provided. It was a Japanese-style room with no bed, but there was a couch.
Since he was just getting some shut-eye, he didn't bother changing clothes or laying down a futon. The sofa was large enough, so that would do. He just grabbed a blanket he borrowed, closed his eyes, and let his entire body relax.
From a viewer's perspective, Tatsuya was now fast asleep.
About 30 minutes went by.
With closed eyes Tatsuya was met with the sight of rows of cherry trees with their pinkish-red petals dancing in the air.
It is October, and he is indoors. It was obviously not real.
"A dream, hmm…" Tatsuya thought, realizing this was an illusory attack.
He wasn't even sleeping, just relaxing and resting his body.
And he doesn't dream, to begin with. He hasn't since he was a child, after his own mother remodeled his mental structure. Besides, he recognized this scene. It's not happening now. It was a happy moment in spring, two and a half years ago.
Tatsuya is a stranger to forgetting. He can replay scenes from his past in his mind whenever he wants without the need to be under the influence of hallucinations.
Tatsuya opened his eyes. It was not difficult for him to raise his eyelids.
A presence moved behind the sliding door.
The next instant, he felt a flutter. The fusuma sliding door opened, and from the other side a needle flew out.
A glass needle.
It was thrown so fast, that, with the lights he turned off before laying down, even a metal needle would've been inconceivable for the human eye to see.
Normally, it would be impossible to block, let alone avoid.
Tatsuya dared to block it by catching it with his right palm.
The glass needle pierced right through.
After it did, the needle crumbled into dust, and the wound vanished from his palm without a trace.
"[Hornet's Sting] won't work on me, Kuroba-san," Tatsuya said while standing up from the couch.
Kuroba Mitsugu was in the hallway, at the launching point of the needle.
"It would seem so," Mitsugu spits in frustration. [Hornet's Sting] is a magic that infinitely amplifies the pain of a small wound created until it kills the target. It has a bad compatibility with Tatsuya's [Regrowth], which instantly eliminates the wound itself.
Instead of another glass needle, Mitsugu grabbed a bead-like object that was wrapped around his right wrist and held it out toward Tatsuya.
It didn't look like a rosary or Buddhist prayer beads. It was a string of one hundred and eight small black magatamas in bead fashion.
Tatsuya looked at it and thought, "Is that a Relic?" The beads Mitsugu was holding were different in color, but emitted vibrations similar to that of the "Ni-no-Magatama", which was the model for the "Magistore", the Artificial Relic that preserves magic sequences.
Mitsugu pours psions into the magatama bangle.
Tatsuya just watched as he did so.
"…What's the matter, not going to shoot back?"
Mitsugu taunts Tatsuya, but his voice betrays signs of anxiety.
"Do you want me to?" It was not that Tatsuya saw through Mitsugu's bravado and was trying to understand why would Mitsugu want him to attack.
" ─If you're not going to, then I for sure am!"
Like an electric current coursing through an electrical circuit, psions flow across the one hundred and eighteen magatama beads.
Pink petals danced across Tatsuya's field of vision.
It was the same vision he had seen earlier.
He knows what happens next. It's a reenactment of that day, when Tatsuya was at his happiest. It is said that people can endure misery, but buckle under happiness. (but not happiness.)
Usually, a person wouldn't be able to deny themselves a moment of happiness.
─But Tatsuya has other higher priorities than his own happiness.
Not that he has to put above his happiness.
But ones that he willingly put it above his own happiness.
So he has no time to indulge in fantasies.
Tatsuya activates [Gram Dispersion]
Erasing the vision before it could spin a dream story around him.
"Gah…" Mitsugu groaned and fell to one knee. His forehead was thickly covered in sweat.
".…So even [Yumechi-gaeshi] doesn't work…"
So the name of that illusory technique is [Yumechi-gaeshi], "Way Back to Dream." And from the way Mitsugu was talking, that was the last card he had left to play.
"Now, Kuroba-san, may I ask what exactly you were trying to accomplish with this?" Tatsuya finally questioned Mitsugu.
"I believe Mitsugu-san was seeking to die by your hand."
The answer came from the other side of a fusuma sliding door.
The door slid open, and there stood Maya accompanied by Hayama and Shirakawa.
"Tatsuya-san, you may not know this, but secret methods of inflicting deadly curses have been handed down by Maaya-sama, your great-great-grandmother, among her descendants in the Shinonome family for many generations." As soon as Maya revealed herself, she started telling Tatsuya a story about her ancestors that at first glance seemed to be quite out of place at this time. "One of which is the assassination magic that my late father, your grandfather, Yotsuba Genzou, was a master of, [Grim Reaper]."
Tatsuya didn't interrupt Maya's seemingly irrelevant story. He somehow knew she would link that topic with this context at some point.
Maya shot Mitsugu a sidelong glance while still facing Tatsuya, "And, I wonder if you know, Tatsuya-san, that Mitsugu's wife is from that very same Shinonome family."
"No, I don't believe I did." Still, that wasn't a surprise to Tatsuya. It was not uncommon for magicians to have consanguineous marriages.
"My point is, I'm sure Mitsugu-san has learned the secret techniques of the Shinonome family from his wife, which were never passed on to the Yotsuba family."
"So, you already knew about everything…" Surprise and resignation filled Mitsugu's voice as he muttered. With surprise being dwarfed by the sense of resignation.
As if reacting to that voice, Maya now turns to him.
"A magic that inflicts spiritual death on the person who inflicts a mortal wound on you, at the price of your own life."
"……"
"I believe it's called [Yomichi-gaeshi], isn't it?"
Mitsugu does not answer Maya's question. Don't try to deny or affirm.
Nonetheless, his silence now was as good as an affirmation. "However, [Yomichi-gaeshi] is a retaliatory hex, which can only be activated when, and only when, you are attacked by an opponent. And, I believe you set up the [Yumechi-gaeshi], an illusion to induce the opponent to attack you. Am I correct in my understanding, Mitsugu-san?"
"…Not quite. [Yumechi-gaeshi] is not just a way of inviting an attack.
It's originally a technique that only traps the enemy in the world of dreams. It can be used to create nightmares that would elicit an urge to kill."
Although it would seem Mitsugu is refuting Maya's assertion. He was near to expressly confirming he intended to both try to kill and be killed by Tatsuya.
At least, that is Tatsuya's interpretation of this exchange between the two.
"So, Mitsugu-san, are you convinced now?"
"…I'm sorry, of what?"
"No need to hide it, Mitsugu-san. You already knew that you just don't have the power to kill Tatsuya-san."
"……"
"But you still couldn't accept that reality, so you came here to clarify things like this, didn't you?"
"…No. I am here on orders of Hozumi Asuha, to kill that man. To remove the embers that threaten a firestorm, and the root cause that has put the House of Yotsuba in danger." Mitsugu drops to one knee in front of Maya. "Now that the matter has come to this, I will neither run nor hide. I will accept judgement with no reservation. All that I ask is that you show mercy to my family, I acted on my own initiative, this betrayal is mine, and mine alone."
Mitsugu lowered his head, offering his own neck to Maya.
"It's fine Mitsugu-san, no need to play games with me. I know your intentions."
Tatsuya had a clueless expression during this exchange. He had no idea what was being discussed in the between-the-lines, but at least Maya and Mitsugu seemed to be on the same page.
"Hozumi Tokika is coming to break the village's wards, correct? Then, now is our chance. You should keep your character and pretend that you still have turned over to the Hozumi's side."
"As you command."
Mitsugu bowed to Maya again, this time with a different nuance than the last one, then got up and left the room.
With Tatsuya in the bystander seat for the entirety of the conversation, it seemed that Maya and Mitsugu had reached an agreement.
He could have remained there, but Tatsuya did not.
"Haha-ue, How far did your scenario extend?" He used "Haha-ue" to keep the play, since butler Shirakawa was present, Somehow, he felt like it was also part of her "scenario" to have him ask this question.
"This is not my scenario. Mitsugu-san was the one who came up with it and decided to do it on his own."
"Was Kuroba-san involved in the surprise attack by the Hozumi family?" Mitsugu's use of the word "betrayal" suggests that he may have an involvement, to the extent of facilitating yesterday's attack on the Main House. Tatsuya also seemed to be implicitly asking if the attempted assassination against himself moments ago wasn't wouldn't also classify as an act of treachery.
"Mitsugu-san must have thought it was in the best interest of the Yotsuba family. Therefore, I do not consider it to be an act of betrayal."
Tatsuya thought on questioning "So, the actions don't matter as long as the intentions are good?", but choose not to.
"If that's what the Head of the Family has decided, then I have nothing further to add," this is what came out of his mouth.
If Maya, as the person in charge, decided not to condemn the breach of trust, then it was not Tatsuya's place to question it. And Maya appeared to have given Mitsugu some sort of important assignment. If that was to make him atone for his past treachery with his upcoming task, then it was reasonable.
If everyone is even at the end of the day, I guess it doesn't matter ─That was Tatsuya's final conclusion on the matter.
◇ ◇ ◇
At 1:00 a.m. after the change of the date, the reallocation operation ─or, more aptly, the " evacuation operation"─ of the critical facilities began.
From the site where it stood the former Fourth Magician Research Institute, and where the village of the Yotsuba family has been established since, every key facility is to be relocated to Miyakishima, which is now effectively a self-governing territory of the Yotsuba family.
Since Tatsuya had already "seen" the "information" about the targets in advance, he could disassemble everything all at once, as a single target and reconstruct it in Miyakishima anytime he wanted to.
However, there is a time lag between decomposition and the process of loading the decomposed material, which could result in the loss of important elements. To avoid this risk, it was decided to proceed with a combined methodical process, where the rate of decomposition would be dictated by the speed of loading.
Immediately after being decomposed, the components of the facilities would be packed in containers, which would then be loaded onto the Aerial Ship. And this sequence would repeat several times.
Partnering with Tatsuya and tasked with loading the decomposed dust into the containers is Shiiba Hidetoshi, the eldest son of the Shiiba family, another of the Yotsuba branch families.
Hidetoshi is the grandson of Yotsuba Eisaku, the previous head of the main family, of the same age as Shibata Katsushige, who was one of the candidates for successor to the Head of the Family. When considering his bloodline and age, he would be just as suitable as a candidate like the aforementioned Katsushige. He was not eligible for a reason.
To be the Family Head, one must be a magician, and Hidetoshi is not. He is, in fact, a psychic. A rare occurrence, but not so scarce that it is impossible to find one.
Modern magic began with the study of psychic abilities. Magician development started, not just in Japan, with copious use of genetics in an attempt to reliably tap into the factor that makes a psychic. Shiba Hidetoshi was an example of a psychic factor manifested through atavistic inheritance, where a characteristic reoccurs after skipping generations.
Hidetoshi's ability is of the psychokinesis variety. He is adept not only at moving objects but also at drawing objects together. In magic terms, he is able to flexibly manipulate convergence and movement magic limited to solid objects.
It may not be the most flashy or destructive of skills, but when it came to transporting things, it was more useful than magic for the same task. And he made a powerful demonstration of his usefulness in this particular operation.
The two of them rode around the village in one electric cart together.
As Tatsuya arrived at a designated spot, from the cart, he [decomposed] the targeted facilities into a dust of its component materials.
A moment later ─not a metaphor, a literal "moment"─ Hidetoshi, also from the cart, telekinetically levitated all the newly formed dust and loaded it into the containers positioned in advance strategically next to the target facilities.
Only a few dozen seconds was all it took, from the point where Tatsuya activated [Decomposition] to the dust being packed into the containers.
After confirming the containers were loaded, the duo moved on to the next location.
Another team was responsible for transporting and loading the full containers onto the Aerial Ship.
For the underground facilities, starting from the ground level, the material above is decomposed first, and Hidetoshi dumps the unneeded resulting dust of the floors and structure on an open space. Then, the same process of decomposing and loading the target facilities in containers, in layers.
In this way, without spending time getting out and back in the cart, Tatsuya and Hideyoshi finished their task together.
First stage of decomposing and storing the facilities for relocation was completed.
After that, Shiiba Hidetoshi joined in the still ongoing work of loading the containers into the Aerial Ship [Ark]. Tatsuya moved next to decompose the facilities that are not part of the reallocation and will be abandoned.
Taking into consideration the reconstruction step, Tatsuya took care to use a level of [Decomposition] where the resulting materials were inert for the most part, lest there be any combustion or other reaction. However, the same amount of care was not needed with the facilities to be abandoned.
He was the one to advocate for the disposal of the abandoned facilities. Arguing that the possibility of data being recovered was not a risk they could ignore.
Switching from the electric cart and taking off with flight magic, he aims at the facilities to be disposed of from above with his favorite pistol-shaped CAD.
He used [Elemental Sight] to make sure nothing, even inside the mansion would be left unnoticed, then activated [Decomposition] to delete everything necessary, leaving the mansion itself unharmed.
When Tatsuya returned to the Aerial Ship after completing the final cleaning up job, the last of the containers had just been loaded. 4:00 a.m. The Aerial Ship "Ark" took off from the Yotsuba family's village.
Aboard are Maya, Tatsuya, Hidetoshi, the magicians who worked on the container loading operation, and servants who work immediately for the Main House. The other villager inhabitants have evacuated from the village as of the previous night.
"…The technology on this ship is quite remarkable. It might be even beyond next-generation," Tatsuya exclaimed in admiration as he looked over the pre-dawn scenery from the bridge deck window.
They had just left the Yotsuba family's village and were yet to reach a suburban area. All that can be seen with the naked eye is the illuminated highway and scattered dots of light in the ground amid the darkness. It was still clear, even from their high altitude, the Aerial Ship was making its way slowly through the air. The cruising speed was in the order of 40 km/h. About half of the average speed of a conventional airship. So, in general, the experience and the view wasn't anything to write home about.
What was impressive is all of that in the context of the sheer scale of this Aerial Ship. 320 meters in length, 80 meters wide and 24 meters tall, is comparable to that of a large aircraft carrier, though with a less than half height.
Its load capacity is commensurate with its size. It can take off and land vertically, remain stationary in the air, and even float in water due to its structure. The slow speed is due to a prioritization of maintaining stealth performance, remove that restriction and it would be able to travel as fast as a helicopter.
There is no flight deck, so it cannot operate fighter aircraft, but it can accommodate combat helicopters, tilt-rotor VTOLs, and lift-fan VTOLs. In so, it was the closest thing to a flying aircraft carrier. When Tatsuya called this a piece beyond today's technology, it was not an over-exaggeration.
Maya didn't share the same excitement however, instead she let out giggles of amusement at seeing Tatsuya's.
"To me, the Stellar Reactor was more of a futuristic invention."
From the easygoing tone in her voice, one wouldn't expect Maya to actually be maintaining the magic camouflaging the airship.
From the ground, the Aerial Ship appears to be a cloud. This effect wasn't so apparent due to the darkness of the pre-dawn sky. But, in brighter daylight, the ship would appear as a white cloud being swept away by the wind.
Yotsuba Maya has a particularly strong interference power with "light" phenomena.
As exemplified by her trump card, [Meteor Line], which interferes with the distribution of light. By skewing the distribution of light within a limited space set up by her, Maya defines a thin line through which the light must pass through, and which no object is able to intercept such a path. As a result, anything in that bounded space, be living or not, would appear to be pierced by the convergent light.
The magic currently being maintained by her are simple processes of dampening electromagnetic waves, including visible light, across the surface of the vessel and then diffusely reflecting them back, giving it the appearance of a white cloud from the ground.
Since the Aerial Ship was built of wood that was reinforced with engraved magic, it already has an inherent low susceptibility to detection by radar. Added Maya's magical camouflage, and this ship was "nothing but a cloud" to a ground observer and military radar alike. "The Stellar Reactor is simply an application through magic of long theoretically well-established nuclear fusion reactors. You can't really call it futuristic, or even 'next generation.'" There was no need for Tatsuya to argue with Maya's banter. He at least responded with a light-hearted thought, so as not to spoil the mood by not answering.
"You say that, but in the Stellar Reactor you're not putting any energy in the system to start it up, right? Wouldn't this be, in other words, like creating energy out of nothing? If that's not straight out of science fiction, then I don't know what is."
"Haha-ue," he blankly stated in exasperation. They were not alone, the bridge crew was there, so he played along with their public relationship. "When you put it like that, then magic as a whole is pure science fiction."
"So as this ship."
Just then Tatsuya realized why she was having fun with his earlier amazement. "…You got me there," he admitted, raising his hands in a gesture of mock surrender.
It was conveniently lightly overcast in the Kanto region that day. The Aerial Ship arrived at Miyakishima at 10:00 a.m. undisturbed and without detection by any airspace surveillance.
It did not land, instead it hovered at an altitude of 20 meters, at a fixed position over a vacant lot adjacent to the Yotsuba family's compound.
"Then, if you excuse me, I'll be going," Tatsuya said, bowing to Maya.
"Thank you for your incredible job today." now unburdened by the camouflage magic, Maya relaxedly nodded at him in a composed, but easy going manner.
Tatsuya exited the bridge and headed for the lower levels of the Aerial Ship.
Arriving at the lowest level, Tatsuya jumped down from a side hatch.
Flight magic wasn't necessary at this height, just a simple [Deceleration] and he landed on the ground without a hitch.
Next to where he dropped stood Shibata Katsushige, the next head of the Shibata branch family, leading his men.
"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting," Tatsuya spoke to him with a light bow.
"Not at all, you're practically right on time. Shall we get started right away?"
"Agreed."
A shallow rectangular space was dug into the ground. Fifty-two meters wide and 252 meters long. A size smaller than the Aerial Ship [Ark].
Katsushige was standing in the middle of one of the borders.
Tatsuya moved to the same position opposite to Katsushige on the other side of the hole.
Katsushige raised his right hand to signal, and Tatsuya responded by raising his own.
Then, the two of them simultaneously activated their magic.
─The ground before them was hollowed out along the defined rectangular frame.
Tatsuya's [Decomposition] breaks up the bonds between the soil, while Katsushige [Density Manipulation] changes the distribution of the soil and sand so that the formed powdered sand is compressed into a hardened mass along the frame line. The extremely compacted sand bonds again, becoming a solid earthen wall.
The process is repeated a meter at a time.
Before long, a neat, rectangular hole was cleanly dug into the ground.
When the two were done with their magic, the resulting underground structure was 50 meters wide, 250 meters long, and 20 meters deep.
The bottom of the Aerial Ship slid open, followed by the cargo hatch.
From there, out came the first container along with Shiiba Hidetoshi, riding on top of it.
The container slowly descends into the hole.
Hidetoshi moves the container he's on top of standing at ground height next to Katsushige.
They are close in age, with Hidetoshi being only a year older than Katsushige. And having known each other since they were boys, so for more than a decade, they have always been close friends. Even now, Hidetoshi is exchanging friendly words with Katsushige. All the while the former is suspending a load as large and heavy as a railroad container in the air.
Not forgetting that he was still in the middle of the job, Hidetoshi wrapped up the small talk with Katsushige after not too long and moved the container to the center of the rectangular hole.
Telekinetically, Hidetoshi opened the top of the container and flipped it over.
Dust spills out of the container.
Tatsuya followed his lead, extending his left arm toward the falling dust. In his left hand he held his second pistol-shaped CAD, of the same Silver Horn Custom [Trident] model. The muzzle-like end of the CAD was pointed at the dust piling up at the bottom of the hole.
Tatsuya pulls the trigger.
The next instant, the falling dust regained its original shape as a facility at the bottom of the hole.
Moving away the now empty container outside, Hidetoshi then shifted the restored facility to the corner of the hole.
The next container is dropped from the Aerial Ship. Hidetoshi's telekinetic power caught it in mid-air, and the same procedure is repeated.
The newly restored facility is placed next to the first one restored.
And the next. And then another.
And, as such, the facilities and equipment originally from the Main House village were neatly lined up in a hole dug into the ground.
Thanks to Tatsuya's [Regrowth], everything that was listed to be relocated has regained its form in this new location.
Once the buildings that will house these facilities have been completed, they will go through the same process of [Decomposition] and [Regrowth] again. They'll then be properly installed in a building, where they will be easily accessible, have power, data lines, and other necessary infrastructure set in place.
Until then, they'll be stored in this underground warehouse.
Only after the three young men were finished with storing the facilities, the floating Aerial Ship [Ark] finally makes its final descent and rests on the ground, landing on top of this temporary underground deposit, where it'll act as a lid. ─Thus, the first stage of the relocation of Yotsuba's Main House house was completed.
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