In the morning, the Violets were busy.
Although all the luggage had been packed into the inventory, there were still plenty of tasks to handle.
There were materials about the environnt of the dungeon they were heading to, and various information that needed to be checked multiple tis.
Once preparations were complete, the Violets loaded everyone into the car and departed.
"Let’s go!"
A truck led the way, followed by an SUV.
Delivery Violets riding motorcycles carefully escorted the vehicles to the destination.
Their target was the Arc Light Ruins Dungeon in the southern district. According to the guide, it was a vast area consisting of gentle hills and plains under a milky sky. Its scale was about the size of a small town.
Looking at the pictures, the ruins of large and small buildings could be seen scattered all around. Unique wave-patterned walls and twisted, spiral-shaped columns stood at various spots.
This was a style of architecture that was completely unlike anything seen on Earth. It was truly impressive.
"Exotic!"
"Wouldn’t ’alien’ be a more appropriate term?"
Who could have created these ruins from another dinsion? What kind of beings lived beyond this dinsion? It almost felt like the remnants of victims who had been invaded by monsters.
Well, those are things we can’t know for sure right now. Few people have ever ventured beyond the gate.
During the ride, I had a brief conversation with Irene, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck. The topic was about the fire incident involving the Helios Clan and the forr mbers who had resigned.
"...Uncle is building up his own faction. He’s kicking out everyone who followed my father."
In the past two days, Irene had t with employees who had voluntarily resigned—though, in reality, they had been forced out by Rigel.
Following behind Irene, I noticed various people. So had refused the eting until the very end, while others vented their anger as soon as we t. So spoke reluctantly.
"Ugh! Is this a purge?"
"I guess you could say that."
And Irene had also t with a man nad Kress, whom she had been searching for. He was a middle-aged man with a calm deanor and black hair.
-How did you know to find here? I didn’t expect you to…
-Mr. Kress, there’s a lot I want to say, but I’m running out of ti. So please, tell honestly. What is happening inside Helios?
-That’s...
To summarize the long conversation, her uncle had greatly expanded his faction. He had even allied with unknown outsiders, and it seed several of Irene’s relatives were involved in the situation.
"What could the outsiders be?"
Irene kept repeating a few words as if sothing didn’t quite click. Outsiders, factions, relatives, shares. Suddenly, I recalled the cyborg weapons that had appeared during the ambush. ṙÄ₦ổВΕŝ
"Oh, speaking of which, rember the weapon that appeared back then? Stregonics..."
"Stregonics? Is that the na of the weapon?"
"Yeah. I heard about it from an informant."
After turning the ga lore into mysterious intelligence, I continued.
"From what I heard, the four great clans are collaborating to research the weapon. It’s a weapon that modifies awakened individuals."
"The Four Great Clans? You don’t an Magna Nabis, do you?"
I shrugged at her response. While it wasn’t out of the question, Stregonics was a weapon created through the collaboration of the four great clans, each contributing their own expertise. It could very well be soone else.
"Whoever it is doesn’t matter for now. First, we need to gather the people who were with my father, investigate our relatives, and find more people within Helios who will be on our side..."
"That’s a good idea. If you need more help, just let know. I’ll assist you!"
"Thanks to you, I’ve been able to do a lot. I appreciate it."
Hearing my friend’s gratitude made feel good.
"By the way, a cyborg awakened one... what an unexpected idea. Using people like that... it’s insane."
"Exactly!"
I shook my head.
As we continued talking, the truck arrived at the entrance of the dungeon. Beyond the exit, I could see a small, spherical gate shimring in the distance. When the vehicle stopped, a grim-faced hunter at the checkpoint knocked on the car window. I rolled it down.
"Where are the docunts?"
"Here!"
I handed over the prepared docunts. I had made sure to slip a few high-denomination bills between the papers as well. As the guard examined the docunts, his harsh expression softened a little.
"Everything checks out. Have a good hunt."
As expected, the bribe made the tedious security check go by faster. After parking the vehicle, I had the team disembark and we rushed through the gate.
Now, it begins.
The work of a hunter involves many tasks, but surprisingly, many of the jobs in this specialized field for awakened individuals are closer to those in primary industries than one might think.
Just looking at the aning of the term "hunter," it’s clear that much of their work is similar to hunting and gathering. The only difference is that instead of stone axes and spears, they use reinforced high-tech tools and super-alloy weapons.
However, dungeon business is tricky. The type of monster that appears and the environnt of the dungeon greatly influence the way money is earned.
Catching monsters and sending them straight into the grinder is an easy task. It could be that a particular monster’s unique material is the key. Or sotis, the monsters are just obstacles in the way.
In the latter case, a request is made.
"Catch two Ruskrin monsters?"
"Yeah. The base reward is for two, and they’ll pay more the more you catch."
This dungeon was inhabited by a monster called Ruskrin. Despite its appearance, it wasn’t a dragon, and it didn’t breathe fire.
The clan’s excavation and artifact collection had been repeatedly interrupted by these monsters, and after many of the workers were killed, they issued a public notice to recruit applicants.
"It’s a sha we have to walk."
Inside the dungeon, other hunters who had co to fulfill requests were often seen.
Unfortunately, vehicles were not allowed in this dungeon because the gate was too small. So, we had no choice but to walk to our target location.
"It’s boring..."
After walking for about twenty minutes, I felt the boredom creeping in. It reminded of when we used to march in the past. Back then, it was just as boring, but how did I manage to endure it?
"Singing! I sang to pass the ti!"
"Alright, shall we sing then?"
I asked the team for permission.
"Is it alright if I sing while we walk?"
"We’re far from the monster spawn points, so go ahead."
Starting with Irene, I silently gained the consent of the other team mbers. The Violets, feeling confident, cleared their throats and ward up.
Soon, one by one, they harmonized, as if performing an a cappella song.
Each of them took on the role of an instrunt and began to provide accompanint, filling the quiet hills with their voices.
"La la la~ La la la la~ La la la la~"
As the song grew louder, the surrounding friends turned toward us with curious expressions. They’d probably never heard a song like this before.
"Bom bom bom!"
I reminisced, digging through my mories before my reincarnation, and finished the accompanint. Soon, the Violets began singing the adapted lyrics at the top of their lungs.
"Braving the sea of flas from cannon fire~ for our friends and the peace of Academy City~"
As the clear voice spread around us, our teammates, who had been moving about busily, froze in place. Lucian scanned us with a puzzled look, as if he’d seen sothing bizarre.
"What’s with that song now?"
"It’s a song to boost morale! You’ll probably never get to hear it in your lifeti."
668, who wasn’t participating in the singing due to guiding us, offered an explanation.
That guy… why does he keep nitpicking everything I say? I felt like sending him off to a place where he could sing this song as much as he wanted. Why doesn’t Academy City have conscription?
"Is it a military song? I don’t recall any federation military anthem like that."
When the others asked, 668 continued explaining.
"This? It’s a song I heard sowhere a long ti ago!"
The copyright might belong to another world, so I could just ignore it, but I felt guilty and decided to be vague about its origins.
"Under the torch of revolution, we risk our lives!"
We even managed to finish the chorus without a hitch. A perfect rendition, with not a single discordant note!
I wondered how my friends would praise us. Then, Irene spoke up.
"Hey, Violet. What does ‘revolution’ an?"
"Uh?"
668 looked at Irene, failing to understand the question.
"You don’t know? It ans to eradicate communism. You know, communism."
"...?"
Judging by her reaction, she looked at blankly, as if hearing it for the first ti. Perhaps she had kept her distance from politics or current affairs.
Suddenly, Kalia chid in with a question.
"Hey, Violet. What’s communism?"
"Uh…? You don’t know socialism?"
"Never heard of it."
Kalia blinked with a confused expression. When I heard her reply, my mind went blank. How could they not know about socialism or communism?
Puzzled, I looked around. My friends were acting as if they had just seen an alien.
"Socialism? Is it sothing like anarchism?"
"Never heard of that ideology before. It sounds like one of those futuristic philosophies."
Hearing my words, Daphne pondered for a mont before whispering to Irene. anwhile, the siege weapon duo tilted their heads in bewildernt, failing to understand or even approach the concept, muttering words like "mass-produced goods?" under their breath.
Lucian, on the other hand, shot a strange look before scolding my friends.
"She’s probably spouting nonsense again. Why are you analyzing it so seriously?"
"It’s not nonsense."
We all turned our heads in unison.
Seeing our synchronized movent, Lucian flinched slightly before muttering, "Well, if you say so…" and fell silent.
Suddenly, a realization struck as I observed my friends’ reactions. Academy City had no concepts of communism or socialism.
"When did the first dinsional invasion occur?"
"Almost a century ago. If you compare it to Earth, it’d be around the late 19th century level of civilization."
Violet started thinking. When did ideologies like socialism truly erge? Wasn’t it the mid to late 19th century?
Of course, you can’t directly compare Trist to Earth. This isn’t Earth, and there are no bearded n with sickles and hamrs or bald revolutionaries here.
Reflecting on it now, the ideologies in Academy City seed simpler than on Earth. Perhaps the monster invasions had stifled the ergence of diverse philosophies.
At least there’s no Nazism or imperialism, so maybe that’s fortunate.
"Instead, we’ve got crazy clans and massive corporations that treat people like expendables!"
"Ugh!"
It’s a brutal world. Maybe the monsters invading before society matured properly led to the ss we see today.
Once upon a ti, it was said that businessn wouldn’t hesitate to use rcenaries with machine guns to deal with unruly workers.
In such a world, when monsters invaded, exploiting and oppressing people might have beco justified under the banner of "humanity’s survival." That’s what the big clans seem to be about.
It’s truly a terrible world.
That’s why we can’t back down. To create a happy Violet paradise, we must keep pressing forward. One day, we Violets will carve out our destiny freely.
Soday in the distant future, we might even buy a small island and establish a Violet-only nation. A modest, peaceful, independent country.
A nation by Violets, for Violets, with only Violets!
In this country, where only Violets and a few of our chosen friends could reside, there would be no kings or presidents. Every Violet would be equal, ard if they wished, and rewarded based on their work.
"Wow!"
"That’d be amazing!"
No, wait. A nation? I’m getting ahead of myself when we can’t even handle a single clan.
I shook my head to clear out those fanciful thoughts. What mattered now was their opinion on our song.
"So? Isn’t it impressive?"
How would the debut performance of the Violet Choir be received? One by one, my teammates, starting with Irene, shared their thoughts.
"It’s a song I’ve never heard before, but it’s not bad. Feels like we sang well."
"There are so parts I don’t quite get, but it’s okay."
"I don’t really get the song, but you sang well!"
"Not bad, I think."
"Well… it’s intense, I’ll give it that."
The result was a resounding success. Relatively positive reviews.
"...It’s good. Though I wouldn’t sing it myself."
Even Lucian acknowledged our song. But why did he say that? Perhaps he sensed the spirit of the place the song encapsulated. I chuckled inwardly.
Shortly after, we encountered a group of monsters blocking our path. They looked like humanoid figures clad in a crude armor of interwoven white rock fragnts. According to reports, these monsters were called Spartoi. They were said to be formidable foes.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
The Violet group and the six boys and girls engaged in combat.
Reviews
All reviews (0)