I know something is there, but I don't know what that crucial something is.
　If I had to put the current situation into words, I'd say that's about it.
　And that thought was heightened the moment Allen and the others arrived in the room where Akira found Chloe.

　It's not that they found something.
　On the contrary, there was nothing.

　That's right, the hole in the floor that Akira had destroyed was not there, and the unscathed stone floor was there.

Hmm ...... for now, you are sure this is the room, right?
Yeah, definitely. There's not another room this big in the world to begin with.
It's true that the other rooms aren't this big. I guess that's why there's such a thing as a hidden room.
Speaking of which, you guys built this place, didn't you?　But you said you found a hidden room or something: ......
Uh-huh. To be exact, all we did was dig a hole to build the base, transport the materials, and do a little processing. I didn't get involved in building the room itself.
...... If you try to help Chloe and her friends build a room, there will be holes all around it.
Well, yes. That's why we didn't do anything but hard work.

　While talking about it, I walked through the room, occasionally tapping on the floor.
　Judging by the reverberations and textures, it looks like it's just a stone.
　It doesn't seem like there's some kind of strange material that could plug the hole by itself if left unattended.

　I walked straight to the place where the hidden room where I said I found Chloe was located--

Stay back.

　Immediately after saying this, Akira was holding the holy sword in his hand.
　It's obvious what she is trying to do by looking at her swinging at the top of the stairs.

　The reason why Allen wasn't surprised to see it was because he had a feeling that this was going to happen.
　Everyone else did as well, and none of them stepped back a bit without interrupting Akira's actions.

"Don't overdo it, Akira, okay?
I know. I'm just going to smash some flooring stones, you know!

　At the same time the sword is brought down and the ground explodes with a roar.
　The floor stone is shattered, revealing what was behind it.

　It's bare earth.
　There were no shadows or shapes of the hidden room that you had heard about.

"We've heard something like this before, but is there a mistake in the location?
I don't remember the exact location, but I'm pretty sure it was around here. At least it can't have been a blip.
"...... That means you're back?
I guess it's a safe way to think of it. I mean, it's a hidden room, but they were just digging underneath the floor, weren't they?
." "Yeah. Once I got to a certain point, I was going to dig deeper, and then I was going to dig sideways, and eventually I was going to dig upward and go straight out. ......
"Before that, Akira attacked us,

　We've heard about that before, so I won't bore you with it.
　What's important here is that the hole we were digging has disappeared.
　The corpse of the demon has vanished without a trace, just as the ground that Akira had broken has been restored to its original state.

　What in the world happened is exactly what Mirane said it would be.
　In other words, it was back to the way it was.

"Restorative ...... gift--or is it the power of the devil?
I know. A simple restoration would not explain the disappearance of the demon's corpse. I mean, this base itself is the subject of restoration, and if it's damaged or something, the passage of time will cause a restoration that involves the surroundings, right?

　That's easier said than done, but it's a pretty sophisticated one.
　Restoration is an interference with time.
　We're not fixing things, we're rewinding time back to its normal state, and as a result, things get fixed.
　I'm not saying that Allen can't do it, if the trick is on this entire base, but it must be quite exhausting if he tries.

　Of course, I didn't actually see the scene, so it could be something else.
　But given the circumstances, it's more likely to be something else.

　This kind of thing is said to be highly restricted and impossible to use against living things.
　On the contrary, the creature's mere presence is enough to prevent the time rewind from occurring.

　However, the demon that becomes a corpse is already an object, not a living thing.
　So it rewinds, and the corpse disappears with its wounds.
　That's because the corpse did not exist in the time before the wounds were inflicted.

　If the thing had moved, or something like that, it would have stayed that way, but at that point the corpse was a creature, a monster.
　Since it is impossible to turn back time for a creature, the only result is that the corpse disappears.

　As for the hidden room, it's even simpler.
　According to Chloe's story, she would occasionally go into the hidden room to dig a little hole in it.

　So the time didn't rewind, it rewound because Chloe was gone.
　That's all.

　Although there is a little bit of concern about ......, well, that's okay for now.
　It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you can get your hands on a new one.
　There is no way they would go to such lengths to create a disposable base.

Maybe they were seriously planning to destroy the Ad Astera Kingdom by attacking from here.
"Good work by ...... Akira?
Well. Maybe if you had taken out the demons, you could have said that, but you're letting them go. At least I'm not proud to say that.
For me, it's enough to know that you helped me, even if it was a result.
If I could have defeated those demons, you would have saved your friends with me, right?　It's still not enough.



　It's not something that comes from humility, but seems to be sincerely felt.
　As expected of a brave man ...... No, as expected of Akira.

　I'm not sure I'll ever be satisfied with this level of achievement.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

I'm sure you'll need to take a closer look at various things. This was my intention from the beginning, but I'm almost certain that something is there.
If the phenomenon of restoration is occurring even though the demon is gone, the power necessary to do so must be supplied from somewhere. If it's just leftovers, there's no problem: ......
"...... What if it's not?
"There's a good chance it'll be back here under the guise of a dump. Well, that's what you want to do, or at least that's what you want to do, to save yourself some trouble.
But in that case, we don't know if they'll be back here. We were brought here to build a base.
"Then you'll have to ask the demons for their whereabouts.　Well, we don't know what's going to happen yet,

　Talking about it, I look around the place.
　For now, let's start with an examination of the place.

　The largest room is the one that was intended to be used for a reasonable purpose.
　Chloe said there was a lot of stuff here, and since Akira's attack was so sudden, it's possible that he wasn't able to evacuate it all.
　As far as Akira is concerned, there are no other hidden rooms, but they may be hidden in places that would not be recognized by normal means.

　And there are three people here who can investigate such things.
　Then there's no problem.
　Rather, the question is whether they're really there.

　Well, I hope I really find them," he thought as he stared at the scene.