“Well, let’s take a look inside.”
Finding even one or two useful pieces of information would be a win, Jin said as he began his search.
The floor was so littered with debris that there was nowhere to step. It appeared to be fragments of shattered shelving.
“What on earth happened here...?” Sion muttered, looking appalled.
“It’s awful. I wonder if the other rooms are like this too?”
Goose reacted to Marikka’s question by dashing out of the Repository to peer into the room across the hall.
“Ah, it’s the same here...!” he shouted.
They checked the rooms on either side just in case, but they too had been ransacked to varying degrees.
“What does this mean?”
“...Hmm. One possibility is that they had to abandon this place in a rush and packed up everything they could in a panic?” Goose wore a sour expression. It was understandable; he had come here with high hopes of finding precious records, only to be met with this.
“Or maybe thieves broke in and trashed the place,” Saki suggested. This seemed like a more likely explanation for the mess.
In any case, the disappointment of finding absolutely nothing was palpable. Everyone’s shoulders slumped.
“Hey, Onii-chan, is there a magi-brain here?” Hanna asked.
“A magi-brain... There should be one.”
In any base built by the Progenitors, there was usually an administrative magi-brain. However, the mana levels in this ruin had been throttled to the absolute minimum. If one existed, it was likely dormant.
“Yeah, based on the Progenitors' lifestyle, there definitely should be one,” Jin agreed.
“Is it possible they shut it down because the facility no longer needed maintaining?”
“But the air conditioning and basic lighting are still working,” Hanna pointed out.
“Maybe the roles were split up. Or the environmental systems are independent.”
“Since we’re here, let’s look for it anyway,” Jin said. No one wanted to leave empty-handed, so they agreed.
“In that case, it’s probably on this level or the one below.”
“Kufu, most likely. We’ve mostly searched this floor, so it’s probably downstairs, right?”
“I think so too... Marikka, can you check?”
“I’ll try.”
Following Sion’s lead, Marikka placed her right hand on the floor and cast Sonar.
“...Oh, I think there’s a void.”
She moved about ten meters and cast Sonar again. Then another three meters and cast it once more. Jin watched in silence. Marikka was doing exactly what he had intended to do. Even if her technique was a bit clumsy, it was proof of her growth.
“I found it!”
After several attempts, Marikka located a large void on the level below.
“You found it. Just as I thought... Let’s see.”
Jin used Sonar at the same spot. Indeed, there was a large cavity downstairs.
“Yeah, you’re right. Marikka, you’ve really improved.”
Marikka was his disciple, after all. Jin was as happy about her progress as if it were his own.
“Th-thank you very mashu!”
Marikka blushed at the praise but couldn’t hide her joy. Sion patted her on the shoulder, smiling.
“So, how do we get down? Should we look for a staircase, or just cut a hole?”
“Wouldn’t there be a maintenance staircase?” Hanna asked.
“True...”
At this point, Jin didn’t hesitate. He contacted Laojun and asked him to search using a Peeping Telescope (Peeper). A minute later, a report came through Reiko.
“Father, I’ve found it. This way.”
Reiko led the group to the specific location.
“It’s here.”
The spot was directly opposite the stairs they had used to reach this level. When Reiko pressed her hand against the wall, a section popped out to form a lever. She pulled it gently. With a faint creak, a door opened to reveal a staircase.
“Let’s go.”
Laojun had already confirmed there were no immediate threats, so Reiko led the way. Jin, Hanna, Goose, Saki, Sion, Marikka, and Nurse Alpha followed in a line.
The spiral staircase descended about fifteen meters. There was no door at the bottom; instead, a dimly lit corridor stretched ahead.
“It’s just ahead,” Reiko said, walking forward with certainty.
They followed her through a passage barely wide enough for one person. After twenty meters, they emerged into a space the size of a classroom. The room was empty save for a circular depression in the floor, about two meters in diameter and ten centimeters deep.
“There’s nothing here...” Saki sighed, her shoulders drooping in disappointment.
“That depression is likely where the magi-brain was seated,” Jin suggested.
“So it was removed?” Goose looked just as dejected.
“I wonder why they did that,” Hanna mused, tilting her head.
Sion and Marikka remained silent, looking troubled.
“Well, what now...?”
Jin thought for a moment, but it seemed their search had reached its end.
“Oh, I’ll try asking Testa about this later!” Marikka exclaimed.
Testa was the administrative supervisory magi-brain of Onogoro Island, the Progenitor facility Marikka had inherited. Having been active since the distant past, Testa might be able to shed some light on the situation.
“Right. Let’s head back for now.”
“Agreed.”
“Yeah, let’s.”
Everyone followed Jin’s lead.
“It’s a pity it turned out to be such a letdown,” Sion said apologetically. They had expected a grand discovery, only to find an abandoned shell.
“Don’t worry about it. These things happen,” Jin comforted her.
“Actually, finding out why it turned out like this might tell us more about the Progenitors than finding a few records would,” Goose noted.
“That’s right! In a way, this is a new discovery in itself,” Hanna added brightly.