ALL NOVEL Chapter 11 - The First Trip Home
“Alright, then… It’s time to head back, but….. What should I do?”
Letting go of the hand she was shaking, she glanced at the door she had entered through. Naturally, the door she had passed through when coming in would be the one she’d use to leave. Normally, that is.
However, for Letty, it wasn’t necessary.
After all, she could just return using ‘Teleportation.’
But now, she had to bring Ellie along.
Her equipment would follow her just fine, but the question was: could a person come along as well?
No, not a person, but a doll, to be exact… But would that count as equipment?
As she was thinking this, Ellie gave her a curious look.
“Huh? We’re heading back, right? We just need to go through that door, don’t we?”
Ellie pointed at the door with her head tilted slightly. She seemed so certain, and Letty responded with a puzzled expression.
“Just go through it…? But there are still monsters on the other side of that door.”
“What!? Why is that happening?! Is it an enemy raid? What happened while I was in maintenance? No, more importantly, should I issue a counterattack order?!”
“Hmm…?”
Now it was Letty’s turn to tilt her head at Ellie’s panicked reaction. She thought over Ellie’s words for a moment, and then suddenly realised something.
“Ellie. When did you enter maintenance? What year was it? What was the month, and day?”
“Huh? Why are you asking about that at a time like this?” She then answered ”Well, it was May 20th, Imperial Year 897…”
“Ah, um… well, about that… It’s been… roughly 1,500 years since then.”
“…What?”
Ellie was so shocked that she froze completely.
There were several eras within the ancient magic civilization, and the last of these was when the Kalshbana Empire ruled the world. The empire had a vast array of magical weapons, including Mana Dolls, and with its overwhelming power, it dominated the world… until one day, it suddenly collapsed and vanished.
The final recorded year was Imperial Year 898. After nearly 100 years of unrecorded history, it is said that it took humanity another 1,400 years to reach the current era.
By the way, Letty knew this because of Greg’s teachings, who believed that “Knowledge of politics is sometimes necessary for assassinations. History is part of that.”
…She had a vivid memory of learning everything she was told in a single day, or else she’d go without food.
“Something must have gone wrong after you entered maintenance… As a result, this facility was shut down, the staff abandoned it… and you were left behind here.”
“Now that you mention it, there are no other staff members… and the lighting is dim too… Ah, I didn’t notice that before because there were no movements…. but are there some unfamiliar corpses here…? What in the world happened?”
“Ah, well…”
Letty, unable to come up with a clever excuse, briefly explained what had happened.
“I see, so that’s what happened… In other words, enough time has passed that this place became an ancient ruin, and while I was unaware, it turned into a monster nest?”
“That’s probably the case…”
That seemed like the most reasonable explanation at the moment. Ellie nodded a few times, appearing to understand, before furrowing her brow in concern.
“Does that mean… if Miss Letty hadn’t come here, I would’ve been trapped here forever…?”
“I can’t deny that… I don’t think there are many people who are capable enough to reach this place.”
“Is that really how things are now…?”
Ellie grimaced and looked at the door again. Letty glanced at it as well, then shifted her gaze toward the lifeless Curtis.
“Unless they’re someone like that man, who could easily slice through an Iron Golem, it would be difficult.”
“Huh? What is that? Is that man even human?”
Ellie looked sceptically at Curtis’s corpse, as though she were seeing something unbelievable. Then, suddenly, she raised her head in realisation.
“Did you say Iron Golem? Then… there’s a possibility the facility’s defense golems have gone rogue and are still active. Plus, the monsters may have been drawn here by the dense magical energy.”
“Hmm…” Letty touched her chin thoughtfully and described the appearance of the golems. Ellie agreed, confirming they were likely the defense golems of the facility.
After reaching that conclusion, Ellie beamed.
“If they’re the defense golems here, then there’s no problem! They’re programmed not to attack me, and even if they’re rogue, I can handle them.”
She puffed out her chest confidently.
“Right. In that case, I’ll leave it to you. I’m not great at dealing with large opponents…”
“Leave it to Ellie!”
Ellie gave a sharp salute, and Letty nodded in response before turning toward the door.
“Well, then let’s go.”
“Ah, but before we do, Miss Letty…”
Ellie tugged on Letty’s sleeve gently and looked up at her with an almost bashful expression.
“…Um, do you have… any food?”
“…Ah, yeah… It’s been 1,500 years, after all…”
Ellie’s embarrassed expression stirred something in Letty’s chest, a strange sensation that tickled in her heart….
**Next: That Doll is Dangerous**