There was a lot of light in the room.
　The room is lit not by candlelight, but by pure light floating in the air.
　One of those many lights suddenly disappears.
　The man in the room, devoting himself to writing something on the paper on his desk, looks up as if he knew it when one of the lights went out.

"Oh? That light... what was it said he. ...yeah, black quartz? But why was it destroyed? There must have been nothing suspicious about it."

　Looking at the vanishing light, the man tilted his head.
　The man's black crystal must have been a very powerful magic item, though there are many specialities.

"With that receiver, we wouldn't be able to defend the Black Crystal, and above all, we would have added a defense function to the Black Crystal itself. If he tried to break the black crystal, he would normally die of consciousness... was he a very powerful adventurer?"

　The man looks at the vanished light and thinks a little.
　But he immediately shook his head and turned to the paper on the desk.

"Well, after all, the black crystal didn't perform as planned, and even if it breaks, it's that bad. ...but the question is this formula. Why do you only get this number? In theory, it should be three times as high as eight."

　The vanished light probably wasn't something that men should be so attached to.
　He concentrated again on the paper on his desk, muttering no, no.





"... Huh? This is..."

　Ray suddenly realized that he had no idea what he was doing.
　For some reason, I am wearing Emperor Flame's Red Armour, and I am reaching for an empty place.
　On Ray's shoulder, Elena, who had come close to him, reached out.

"Elena?"
"...!? Ray!"
"Oh, as you can see... What's the matter? I told you not to go down the stairs, didn't I?"
"It's too late, it's too late." ... in the first place, Ray. Do you understand what kind of situation you have been in?"

　Elena casts a strong look at her bewildered Ray.
　If there is physical force in the line of sight, it will make a hole in the line of sight is so intense that it seems like it will make a hole.
　Looking at Elena and seeing Marina, Vihela and Bune behind her, Ray finally understands that he had caused them anxiety.

"Oh... I'm sorry." I worried you."
"Not at all... Really, Ray..."

　Looking at Elena looking disobedient, Ray recalls once again what he was going through.
　Darkness... yes, I was in a place where everything was made of darkness.

(No, my body was here, and Elena was able to touch it, so was it my consciousness that I was in that dark space? And the darkness was eroding on me...)

　After thinking that far, Ray finally remembers what he was in.
　I was under some sort of psychological attack by the Black Crystal.

"I'm sorry. I've caused you anxiety. -- I'll explain it to you."

　She tells him so and releases the Emperor's red armor, which was still in operation, and Ray explains what he's been through.
　Being in a dark space with no lights or anything.
　I couldn't remember myself at all in the dark, and on the contrary, I couldn't understand my emotions.
　the attempt of darkness to erode one's body
　Then suddenly I heard the voices of Seto and Elena, and it was only then that I came back to myself.
　In the end, he used the Emperor's red armor to burn up the dark space itself.

"... and then I realized that it was the situation I was in."

　Ray says, turning his eyes to the spot where the black crystal was.
　It would have been strange if there had been no black crystals there... or remains of them, but there was not a single ash there.
　Is it because the Black Crystal was originally like that or because of the Red Armour of the Flame Emperor?
　Ray couldn't tell which one, but it was a definite event that the very existence of black crystals disappeared.

"The loss of the black crystal... well, I should have thought of it as a consequence."

　a muttering ray
　Having had the experience of being trapped in a dark space, I never thought of bringing back a black crystal myself.
　Originally, I was thinking of using it as a magic item, but if I made another magic item out of that black crystal, I didn't think it would be a good performance to use with peace of mind.

"I suppose so," But... to be honest, I didn't know there was something like this. I'm very curious about who made it."
"I don't think it's very likely, but if it was something that could mass-produce this black crystal, it could be a lot of trouble."

　In Marina's words, Ray imagines a scene where entertainment districts are built in many places, similar to those of Mejogo.
　Mejogo, however, is an entertainment district created by the people of Jaya and Lavrellina to make the most of their black crystals.
　Even if other forces get a black crystal, it doesn't necessarily take advantage of course.

"Come to think of it, this black crystal was the cause of the giant's birth, so now that Ray has extinguished it, isn't it all right?"
"... I see. I don't think it's going to be a problem from now on, but honestly I can't imagine what will happen to the pregnant women upstairs."

　Ray wanted to be saved if possible, but it was easy to imagine that the possibility was low.
　Elena gently puts her hand on Ray's shoulder.

"But we don't have to suffer any more casualties, so we can be proud of ourselves."

　Elena tells Ray not to comfort him but to tell him the truth.
　I think that Elena's words lifted Ray's spirits to some extent. After nodding a little, look at the place where the black crystal was.

"Anyway, I think the loss of the black crystal is a great damage to Jaya, right? Also, this underground facility was badly damaged."
"Well, I don't think Dusker will have any complaints about this. --but this case of black quartz is not only in the case of Jaya, but also in the case of Lesel."

　Marina's name, Lesel, came out of her mouth.
　I couldn't really ask the details because he died the moment he was about to say something, but I still heard that he was dispatched at the direction of the prime minister.
　In other words, Jaya is likely to have been part of the state's organization.
　No, let alone a part of it, there's no denying the possibility that it's actually a dark organization run by the state.
　Having attacked such a country's organization, the Lays were, of course, bound to be the enemy of the upper levels of the country.
　If they let the Rays go in this situation, they'll know their plan.
　. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"How does Levrellina come out?" At least the prime minister is certain to be the enemy."

　Vihela's tone of voice seems to be somewhat entertaining because she thinks she might be able to fight a powerful enemy.

(I don't think there's a strong enemy in Lavrellina. There would be a lot of giants.)

　Everything looks the same, so when I'm fighting against such giants, I feel like I don't have a sense of reality.
　However, it is Ray's opinion, and Vichela's happy appearance from Ray's point of view must be different.It was obvious in the first place, considering the time we fought against a herd of giants on the fourth basement.

"Well, I don't think they'll be able to do anything so soon,"
"Why?"
"It's a black crystal. It was the first time a giant had been born. That's all right, isn't it?

　Not only Elena, who asked why, but also others nod to Ray's words.
　For some reason, Ray continues to speak, feeling strangely like he has become a teacher.

"Don't you think black crystals are necessary to give instructions to giants, since they were used to give birth to giants, let alone to curl around them when we first looked into the fifth basement?"

　When Ray saw it, he somehow remembered the word charging.
　I wonder if giants can eat, but how much food they need to maintain that giant body... that goes without thinking.
　There are giants who, if they were one or two, would probably be more than a hundred... or a few hundred, if they were not good at it, they might be more than a thousand.
　It would have been no easy task to satisfy such a number of giants.
　But... if the roundness around the black crystal was actually like a charge...
　Of course, as long as no other giant is here, there is no doubt that every giant will be charged.

(Huh? If so, are you thinking too much about food? In fact, they look like that and eat too little...?)

　Ray had such doubts, but he was convinced that, apart from food, the Black Crystal had played some part in controlling the giants.

"Well, now that the Black Crystal has produced a giant, it makes sense to use the Black Crystal to manipulate it." Of course, there is a possibility that there are other magic items specializing in that."

　Marina muttered convincingly, listening to Ray's words.

"Anyway, there's nothing more to be done here, so why don't you come out now?"

　Vichela says, looking around the fifth basement.
　In fact, there was only a black crystal in the fifth basement, otherwise it was like a dug-out cellar -- rather huge.
　As long as that was the case, it was clear that there was no point in looking for anything here, given that the red armour of the Flame Emperor used by Ray had wiped out the black crystal itself.
　Also, the fourth basement is a huge hall, and the third basement is burned down by Ray's magic with all the pitiful remains of the giant's child and mother.

(Then there is no place to look into except the pregnant woman on the second basement and the room on the first basement... no, that's not true.)

　With that in mind, Ray recalls the word shipment again.

"Since you said you would ship the Giants, I think there is probably a hidden passageway or something that leads to the outside, either on the fifth basement or on the fourth basement floor... what do you think?"
"I'm sure there is. But isn't it difficult to find it?"

　No way, many giants will be able to make their way through the majors.
　What's more, it's clear that it's hard to bring the giants, who had gathered in large numbers on the fourth and fifth basement floors, to the ground.
　Then there's no doubt that there's some trick here.

"Do I look for it?"

　Ray has a search spell called The Thin Flame.
　With it, it won't be difficult to find hidden passages unless there's much left.
　...though there is a danger that strangers might panic when they see it, as the flames spread around them.
　Fortunately, however, the only ones here are Ray.
　If you knew it was such a magic, you could have done anything about it.
　But it was Bune who put a stop to it.

"Yes!"

　Searching for a hidden passageway is, needless to think, a job of thieves.
　For Bune, who seemed to have done little in his search for the underground facility, it was honest who would do it if he didn't.
　If the Reys were in a real hurry, they wouldn't have let Beune do it, and soon Ray would have magically searched for a hidden passageway.
　But now there is no particular reason to hurry.
　No, on the ground, Seto is working hard to prevent intruders into this underground facility, but I didn't think there was anyone in this country who could manage Seto.

"All right. Then..."

　leave to Bune
　Just as I was going to say so, the wall right next to the lays clang open... there were armed men there.