[191] 5. Shelter of the Nor (6)
Still, the unease came from the way it sounded—as if Shirone had used her.
"Shirone isn't that kind of person! Even if Kanya weren't a subject, he'd have helped her just the same! Shirone's kind and—!"
"I know what kind of person he is. He's exactly that kind of guy."
When Canis admitted it, Tess had nothing left to say.
"Giving out the White Elixir was probably sincere. What I'm trying to say is this: Shirone acted out of goodwill, but he's not so stupid that he wouldn't have planned for the situation at all. Right?"
No one in the group could refute that.
If it was Shirone, he couldn't have been unaware of what Canis suspected. That meant he'd thought up some kind of strategy. At that moment, Shirone walked over with Kanya.
Kanya bowed her head and said, "I'm sorry you suffered a loss because of me. I won't forget this kindness."
Amy glanced back at Shirone over Kanya's shoulder. He shook his head slightly, as if indicating he already knew.
Sometimes an act of goodwill looks like calculation, and that was the case with Shirone just now. They didn't want to hurt Kanya, so they wanted to observe a little more.
Opinions flowed through the mental channel. Canis said he'd speak up, but the majority decided to leave the decision to Shirone.
After the meeting ended, Amy and Kanya were busy examining the fire spirit and the drone.
Watching them, Shirone realized that among the women in the party, only Arin had nothing.
"Sorry. I used up all the elixirs," Canis said.
"I don't need one. We didn't come here just to get something like that," Tess snapped, petting the drone.
"What did you say? Say that again."
"I don't need it. We didn't come here just to get something like that."
Tess ground her teeth as Canis added, "We didn't risk our lives here just for trinkets from Purgatory. Think about the drone you're hugging—it's the sort of equipment anyone in Heaven can carry around."
Canis was right.
If Purgatory was a market that sold goods, Heaven was a factory that manufactured them. It was obvious just from the fact that every principle of this world sprang from Heaven's laws.
Tess pouted and turned away.
Anyway, the drone was hers. Even if Heaven had stranger things, they were useless if she couldn't get them.
Her mood lifted and she stroked the drone again, then suddenly wondered how to use it.
She'd been careful not to handle it roughly for fear of breaking it, but shaking and tapping it produced no sign of life.
"Kanya, how do you use this? You said it was brand new, but it won't work."
"Give it here. I'll take a look."
Kanya took the drone and turned it over. When she saw a steel band fastened to the drone's flight mechanism, her face fell.
She knew they'd bought the drone with a White Elixir. But she hadn't expected such a thing to be sold. Equipment from the Mecha people with an unbroken band was useless.
"Um... you can't use this."
"What? Why? Is something broken?"
"No—it's the opposite. This is a brand-new unit straight from the factory. See the pattern engraved on the steel band? That's a Henna—a seal. You can't use it unless the seal is removed. But it can only be unlocked at the factory. So you can't use it."
Tess looked as if she might cry. They'd paid with a White Elixir and gotten something no better than a heap of scrap.
Shirone, who had been listening, realized why the merchant had been so eager to sell the item: he hadn't mentioned the seal.
Amy snatched the drone and said, "Give it here. I'll go and get a refund. Selling a defective item without explanation—this is fraud!"
"Right. I did commit fraud."
The merchant who had sold the drone walked over with Clove in tow and admitted it without fuss. Amy deflated.
They calmed their anger and waited for the merchant to continue. He said nothing. Instead, he pulled three Yellow Elixirs from his coat.
"What is that?" someone asked.
"That's the drone's original price. Of course I took my cut, but you won't find it cheaper than this even at auction. All Mecha items come locked. Sorry I didn't tell you the whole truth."
Arin relayed that this was partly true.
Amy guessed why the merchant had made a conscience confession. First, it was blatant fraud. Second, after seeing Shirone's skill, he figured the trouble would grow, so he wanted to fix things and at least return what was due. He wasn't a particularly bold merchant.
"Don't stare like that. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Then why are you giving them back?"
"As an apology. I felt miserable. I left Heaven and came into Purgatory believing there might still be hope. I don't want to abandon the pride of being a trader."
Shirone accepted the Yellow Elixirs as if understanding. Arin had said the truth was half and half, and he was tired of fighting over elixirs.
The merchant tried to console them in his way.
"Don't expect much. Usually ten Yellow Elixirs trade for one White. Drones in Purgatory are worth that much."
Tess shot back, "So what? We still can't use it."
The merchant had no answer for that. Mecha equipment wasn't a main item for him, and he'd come by it by chance, so he lacked information.
But Amy found a hint in his words.
"If it's valuable, doesn't that mean there's a way to unlock it?"
Tess turned, hoping, but the merchant only shrugged as if he didn't know.
Canis, who had been listening, sighed.
He was annoyed that they were hesitating with the key to the lock sitting right there. Should he tell them or not?
Finally, showing a sliver of camaraderie, he spoke.
"You really don't know?"
"Huh? Don't know what?"
"Think about how we came here. Use your head a little."
Tess tried to recall. They had escaped to Heaven through Geffin's Gate. Geffin's Gate? Wait a second—what did we do at Geffin's Gate?
Tess shouted over to Shirone, "Shirone! Quickly, quickly, unlock it!"
Shirone realized too.
Geffin's Gate was also a kind of ancient weapon. On the surface it was nothing more than a stone wall, but if the Immortal Function was activated it transformed into a dimensional gate. Maybe that's why it was nicknamed the Unlocker.
Taking the drone in both hands, Shirone focused his mind. Would it work? He doubted it, but he expected it would more likely than not.
When he activated the Immortal Function, the drone began to glow. The merchant watching widened his eyes.
A red pattern followed the Henna seal—different in shape, but the exact same phenomenon they had seen at Geffin's Gate.
With a ting, the Henna fell away and light leaked through the seams of the assembly.
Shirone smiled brightly and held the drone up. "Wow, it actually worked."
But the smile froze on his face.
Countless Nor were staring at them. Not only Kanya and Rena, but even Gardrak and Clove looked stunned, as if struck mute.
At first Shirone thought it was simply because he had broken the seal, but then he heard whispers.
When Arin attempted telepathy with a few people, their voices entered her mind.
Nephilim.
Many words were exchanged, but the common one was Nephilim.
As the voices grew louder, Shirone grew uneasy.
He couldn't tell whether being called Nephilim was a good thing or a bad thing.
Arin said their emotions were reverence mixed with fear.
When Kanya met Shirone's eyes, she flinched. But she remembered that not bowing would be sacrilege, and she dropped to her knees.
"A subject of Ra greets the Nephilim," she intoned.
Shirone couldn't figure out how the situation was unfolding.
Just then Gardrak approached, wearing a more serious expression than when they'd been chasing heretics.
"You aren't ones who fell into Purgatory. You opened the gate and came through."
"I don't understand. What exactly is a Nephilim?"
"Only angels can freely travel between Heaven and the earthly realms in this world. Among their duties is impregnating someone who will civilize the land countries. It must be a virgin who has never borne a child—this is called virgin conception. Nephilim are the descendants born of an angel and a virgin. In Heaven they're called Nephilim—those who are free from the Law."
Shirone remembered the priestesses Chief Kergo had brought to the feast. He'd said only virgins could bear a child who would be the heir of an angel.
Still, what didn't make sense was that Shirone himself wasn't a Nephilim. If he were truly a descendant of an angel, why had his mother abandoned him?
And besides, it seemed odd to call him a Nephilim simply because he could use the Immortal Function.
If all the world's Unlockers descended from a single bloodline, scholars would surely have discovered it.
"Nephilim are outside the will of Ra. Yet the faithful follow Nephilim. They stand at the highest position a human can rise to."
Shirone didn't like that. Just because one's ancestors were great, why should the faithful have to follow them?
Also, the Immortal Function was a level attained through challenge. To attribute a personal achievement someone took pride in to the luck of lineage felt absurd.
"Fine. Knowing that doesn't change anything, does it?"
"True enough. This is a land of heresy, anyway. But why did you come to Purgatory? To carry out an angel's mission?"
Shirone had a guess as to the angels' value. They were a means of communication that passed between gods and the faithful across dimensions.
"Yes. We came to enter Heaven. We have something to convey."
"I thought so. But why Nor's Haven?"
"It just happened that way..."
When Shirone looked back, Kanya had turned red and averted her face.
Her heart was pounding. Shirone wasn't a heretic or an imposter to be cast out. He had defeated the solitary revenant and given her Epines—he was a great Nephilim.
Shirone soothed Kanya. "Don't be so nervous. Honestly, I didn't even know I was a Nephilim. Just be comfortable."
"But... how...?"
Amy stepped in to help. Shirone's words were true, but the whole thing felt awkward.
"Yeah, be comfortable. Even if Shirone is a Nephilim, the rest of us are heretics. There's no reason for you to be anything but at ease with Shirone."
Kanya didn't think that way.
Anyone accompanying a Nephilim couldn't be classified as heretical. They were connected to the Nephilim, and the Nephilim were connected to angels.
Still, Kanya decided to follow Shirone's lead and be at ease. She couldn't refuse what the higher Law declared. But inside her a powerful resonance still spread.
Nephilim or not, Tess didn't care. Shirone was Shirone.
She grinned and inspected the drone, her chest racing at the hum alone.
Kanya stepped forward and held out her hands. "Give it here. I'll teach you how to use it."
The drone was a remote-control device that used a human brain as a control tower. It delivered information directly to the user's eyes via advanced retinal-vision tech, and depending on atmospheric conditions it could fly up to ten kilometers from the control tower.
"To use the drone you set a personal code. It uses a unique frequency known only to Mecha technicians. Anyway, to use it press here and then like this..."
When she put her hand on the reset button, the hemispherical drone split into several modules.
When Tess placed it on her head, the drone clicked and tightened, then began reading her brainwaves.