Strike the Blood - Volume 22 - Chapter 4.4

4

Nagisa Akatsuki stood still in the corner of a dimly lit room resembling the bottom of a very deep well.

She was inside an isolated block hidden under Keystone Gate.

Above her, walls spiraled upward. Carved upon the walls were strange symbols in lines like some sort of spell. The unfamiliar characters carved into the stone’s surface covered the entirety of the walls.

These were characters that had never existed in all of human history.

These were the records—the memories—left behind by someone inhuman.

Looking up at these, Nagisa’s eyes showed no hint of fear. What she felt was the kind of reserved curiosity of a girl peeking into someone’s private diary.

“Hello, Nagisa Akatsuki. Welcome to Cain’s Coffin.”

A mechanical, synthesized voice echoed through the center of the room. It was a little girl’s voice.

“Hello. Um, so you’re the AI Asagi told me about?”

Looking up at the strange 3D image hovering in midair, Nagisa tilted her head a little, seemingly unsure.

If she had to put it into words, the 3D image was like a dog with a beak growing on it, a very strange look for a plush toy. She wouldn’t exactly call the design creepy, but at the very least, it wasn’t cute. She thought there were a few…minor issues with Asagi’s sense of aesthetics.

The AI avatar ignored Nagisa’s impressions and smiled.

“Yes. I am Version VII of the Spriggan Series—please call me Kikimora.”

“Got it. Nice to meet you, Kikimora. So what should I do? Er, also, why did I have to change into a swimsuit?”

Looking down at herself, Nagisa voiced that question while blushing a little at the competition swimsuit she was wearing. The outfit had electrodes and sensors all over it, but even if no one was watching, she felt a little embarrassed by how the skintight outfit accentuated her body lines.

Kikimora calmly evaded Nagisa’s question.

“Master has instructed that it is faster to explain to you through experience than through words.”

“Er…meaning what…?”

Nagisa brought her eyebrows together and glared at Kikimora. That moment, Nagisa felt a cool sensation on the soles of her feet through her high socks. Unbeknownst to her, at some point a large quantity of water had begun coursing into the sealed chamber Nagisa was in.

“Wa…Wait a… Water? Why is…? Er, it’s cold?! Wait, hold on, what’s the big idea?! I’m not exactly good at swimming actually…!”

Nagisa was very nervous as she closed the distance with Kikimora. She’d been told the room known as Cain’s Coffin was actually part of a huge submarine. Any way she thought about it, having the inside fill with water was a fairly bad situation to be in.

“Connection to the Gate, complete. Throughput stability confirmed. Entering synchro mode with ‘Glenda.’ Beginning memory projection—”

In contrast to the consternated Nagisa, Kikimora spoke with an emotionless, mechanical air, seemingly checking off items on an unseen list.

During that time, the volume of water inside the room increased further, reaching as high as tiny Nagisa’s chest. The flow of the water undermined her footing, making Nagisa tumble. She sank to the bottom.

Her long, bundled-up hair came undone, spreading and hovering within the water.

Freed from the forces of gravity, she lost her sense of what was up and down.

Strangely, even though she was floating inside water, she didn’t have any difficulty breathing. She didn’t feel the cold of the water. It wasn’t dark. The walls faintly glowed, projecting an unknown landscape from afar. Nagisa knew this feeling. The vague memories of her prior experience came into the back of her mind.

“This is…like back at Kannawa Lake…”

Someone’s memories flowed into Nagisa’s mind.

They were unclear, haphazardly connected memories, like some sort of jury-rigged contraption, but this was all the girls had to offer. These were girls kept asleep in a fresh, newborn state.

At least until someone granted them genuine joy, genuine sadness—

“—Do you love this island, Nagisa Akatsuki?”

“This island? You mean Itogami Island?”

The AI’s abrupt question threw off Nagisa a little.

She hadn’t wanted to move to the island. Heavily injured by a demon attack, she was told she needed the technology of a Demon Sanctuary to heal her. She’d spent a lot of time in bed. It had only been lately that she’d been able to walk freely. Even in the present, she felt pangs of fear every time she passed a demon on a city street.

The sunrays were too strong, and the artificially constructed skyline lacked elegance. The sea breeze made her hair stick, and she had to admit, it rained too much. Even so, asked whether she loved it, Nagisa did not hesitate to answer.

“Yeah. I love it… Even though I’ve been through a lot, I still…love this place. I mean, I got to meet everyone, Asagi, Yaze-cchi, Yukina, Kano, everyone else in class…and…yeah… December and Avrora, too—”

Nagisa’s vision was filled by a soft light. The strands of her hair floating in the water became pure white spiritual essence, stretching who knew how far. The warm feeling filling her chest spread out like a wave. She felt like her own thoughts were being conveyed to girls whose faces she did not know in a world unfamiliar to her.

“He has been waiting for you all this time—for a priestess whose heart has reached the Kaleid Bloods. Cain the Sinful God has awaited someone who can bestow false memories, and hope for the future, to the pitiable Numbers—”

Kikimora’s robotic voice overlapped with hundreds, thousands of girls’ voices. They were the voices of those who had passed down Cain’s will over a span of time great enough to boggle the mind—the voices of the Priestesses of Cain throughout all of history.

“Cain’s…hope…I see…now I understand…what I can do…”

Amid that light, her hazy vision became more vivid.

An unfamiliar landscape floated up. Beneath her eyes, all was buried by a white sea of clouds. Above her head spread the surface of a limitless sea. Upon its twinkling waves floated an artificial isle greatly resembling Itogami Island.

“I just need to send this to the girls, huh?”

Murmuring, Nagisa slowly stepped forward, steel-colored hair swaying behind her.