"Come on, let me check whether you're developing normally."
Inside the medical car of the Astral Express, the little fairies they had brought aboard lined up to undergo Herta's examinations.
They noisily climbed into the medical pods, reaching out with their little hands and tapping all over the holographic interfaces.
"Wow—it's so spacious! The beds here are so comfortable!—"
"Are we flying in the sky right now? Even higher than the floating islands? The Winged Guard's airships can't fly this high..."
The Starsea Empire's technology was far more advanced than anything on this world. Everything around them was completely unfamiliar.
Whoosh—
The Angeloids assisted Herta in scanning the Leprechauns one by one.
They confirmed each individual's information, then issued them identification cards to make it easier for them to travel within the Starsea Empire in the future.
"Mm..."
After scanning and examining the first batch of fairies from the Fourth Warehouse.
Herta frowned, bracing one hand against the table as she spent a long time thinking.
The cat ears and tail on her head and behind her twitched from time to time as she concentrated fully.
"How is it? Are they all right?"
Gudako asked.
She thought of the little girls from the Black Bullet world. There weren't as many Leprechauns as there had been Cursed Children, and their living conditions were comparatively decent.
Nygglatho was a responsible guardian, gentle and considerate. They never lacked food, clothing, or shelter, and although their freedom was restricted, they were occasionally allowed to visit the marketplace.
"Uh... the Leprechauns' situation is a little more complicated than that of the Cursed Children..."
Catgirl Herta carefully examined the report before hopping down from her chair.
"Commander, strictly speaking, Leprechauns aren't truly living beings."
"They are fundamentally different from children born through reproduction between parents. They are beings formed by injecting the lingering souls left behind after humanity's extinction into special vessels."
"Most of these souls belonged to young girls who died prematurely in wars or disasters. After being placed into these bodies, they obtained new lives. If I had to make a comparison... this could be classified as a form of necromancy."
"Necromancy?!"
Himeko jumped in surprise.
No matter how she looked at them, she couldn't connect these adorable little fairies with necromancy.
Setsuna, on the other hand, wasn't particularly surprised.
Leprechauns were originally dead people. It was only through necromancy that their souls returned to the world and regained the ability to live once more.
Tracing their origins even further back led to the soul of the Visitor who had been shattered several centuries ago during humanity's campaign against them.
It was no wonder the Winged Guard and merchant nations treated them as weapons. The fairies lacked any true sense of being alive and had no fear of death.
They were completely indifferent to any injuries they suffered, as well as to their own lives.
In battle, when facing difficult enemies, the fairies would burn their magic to the absolute limit without hesitation, sacrificing their own life force and directly triggering massive explosions to take the enemy down with them.
Because they weren't attached to life and didn't understand its value, this seemed perfectly natural and ordinary to them.
"Exactly. That's why their souls can resonate with ancient Dug Weapons. Their combat strength far surpasses that of ordinary people in this world, making them the only effective weapons against the Beasts."
Herta laid out several ornate longswords.
"The Winged Guard handed over the Dug Weapons equipped to the fairies as well. Chtholly uses Seniorious, while Nephren uses Insania. Their names are also derived from the Dug Weapons they wield."
"Oh."
Setsuna casually picked up one of the longswords.
They were unlike conventional "holy swords." Rather than being forged as a single piece, they were assembled from fist-sized steel fragments connected by spell-force threads, fitting together like a puzzle to form the shape of a sword.
Various talismans were etched into the steel fragments. All of them were technologies from before humanity's extinction in the previous era, techniques that had long since been lost to the current world.
"Interesting."
Crack!—
With just a light touch from him, the Dug Weapon Seniorious shattered like glass into dozens of separate components.
"Ah—"
Chtholly jumped in fright.
"That Dug Weapon is really valuable! It cost millions just to salvage it..."
"It's nothing important."
Setsuna smiled and swept his hand over the fragments of the Dug Weapon.
Hum—
Magic drew the spell-force threads together, reassembling Seniorious into its original form.
"Its power level isn't anything impressive. It doesn't even qualify as an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. At most, it's something we could take back as a collectible."
"If you want stronger weapons, just grab some from the armory, or I can make a couple for you to use for now."
Using the authority of the Herrscher of Reason, he casually constructed two swords and tossed them to Chtholly and Nephren.
"Commander, Leprechauns have extremely short lifespans. Using Dug Weapons in battle accelerates the process of death and causes their souls to collapse."
"Even if they never participate in battle, the instability between their souls and bodies will still cause them to slowly fade away."
Herta reminded him.
"And because of the influence of those soul fragments, memories from their previous lives will gradually erode them. Their current consciousness and memories will slowly break down."
"Treating them will be much more troublesome than treating the Cursed Children. It isn't only a matter of their bodies. We'll also need to reconstruct their souls."
A so-called fairy was something born when the souls of children who had died young remained unable to leave this world.
As living beings, they were fundamentally incorrect existences, merely natural phenomena formed when ignorant souls took shape through illusion.
Thus, as the little fairies' bodies and minds fully matured, memories from their previous lives would gradually awaken and become mixed together with reality, interfering with their minds.
If those previous-life memories completely replaced their current selves, it would be equivalent to the death of who they were now.
"Mm..."
The fairies themselves didn't seem particularly concerned and continued chattering and playing noisily.
"Death? What's that? Is it like taking a really long afternoon nap?"
"I'm not scared! I'm not scared! It's fine, hehe—"
Several of the younger fairies couldn't understand such complicated matters.
"Mm... I was originally supposed to fight the Sixth Beast, so I only had a little over ten days left to live. Now I can probably live a few more years?"
Chtholly counted on her fingers for a while.
"I'm fifteen this year. If I'm lucky, maybe I can live until I'm twenty! I've never even heard of a fairy older than twenty!"
...
"Ah..."
Elysia and Himeko felt their hearts clench sharply.
Simply gaining a few more years of life was already something worth celebrating for them. Even their wishes were heartbreakingly small.
Elysia quietly tugged on Setsuna's sleeve.
"Commander, you have a way, don't you?"
"Modifying their bodies won't be difficult. Once we return, the Life Sciences Department can perform Meta-Morph surgery and genetic ascension."
Setsuna beckoned Chtholly and several of the little fairies over.
"As for their souls... I'll figure something out."
He had originally considered letting Haruhi Suzumiya try, but after thinking it over, Haruhi had never dealt with the concept of "souls" before, and this was another world. Recklessly manipulating information here could easily cause problems.
It would be better for him to handle it himself.
"Here. Lie down."
Setsuna pointed at the medical bed and gestured toward Chtholly.
"Huh? Me?!"
The girl was startled.
"You're the most special one among them. We'll start with you."
Setsuna tilted his chin toward the bed.
"Mm..."
Chtholly awkwardly climbed onto it and lay down, nervously looking at everyone around her.
Tap—
The next moment, Setsuna touched a finger to her forehead and sent a strand of his consciousness into her.
Whoosh—
Chtholly's tense body instantly relaxed.
She felt her mind and soul being drawn out of her body and carried into an unfamiliar space.
It was as though she had been placed in the middle of the universe. Beneath her feet stretched a vast platform extending from one side of the starry sky to the other.
"Where is this?..."
"This is your dream and consciousness space. At a deeper level, your soul is connected to someone else."
Setsuna's body—or rather, his consciousness—appeared beside her.
"We need to deal with her first. Come with me."
The two of them continued forward.
Before long, they reached the other side of the platform.
The place had been arranged like a child's bedroom.
A large pale-pink bed occupied the center, while all kinds of adorable toys lay scattered messily across the floor.
Clouds drifted through the air, schools of fish swam from one bank of clouds to another, and numerous picture frames and dolls floated throughout the surrounding starry sky, making the place resemble a fantastical world from a fairy tale.
"Hop—"
A tiny girl noticed the visitors, jumped down from the bed, and pattered over to the two of them.
She had red hair and red eyes, with long, fluffy hair trailing down beside her feet. She wore a pure white dress, and her expression was innocent and adorable.
The aura emanating from her was completely different from that of fairies or humans. It belonged to something far more ancient.
"Hello, my name is Elq."
The girl's voice sounded somewhat childish.
"You're the Commander, right? I've seen you lots of times! Ah, you're the first people who've ever managed to find me."