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The Quest for Mana Crystals – Part 01

The announcer’s voice filled the room.

“Another mysterious rift leading to a different world has appeared right in the middle of Tokyo. This time, the rift seems to have closed quickly, but given it’s the second consecutive occurrence, there have been opinions suggesting it might be a different kind of rift than before, or that it led to yet another world.”

“That’s correct. Originally, rifts were thought to occur at regular intervals, but this time it completely ignored that cycle.”

“There hasn’t been a rift for a while, has there?”

“There might not have been any, or one could have appeared somewhere we’re unaware of. In fact, there have been rumors of unidentified individuals who might be from another world.”

“You mean the incident in Fujinota?”

“Many researchers have investigated the locations where rifts have appeared, but there have been no results or traces confirmed. It’s assumed that the appearance of rifts is not related to specific locations.”

“If it’s not related to the location, what could be the cause?”

“It appears to be related to people. In fact, the first rift appeared near a certain individual. The two recent rifts also reportedly appeared near that same person.”

“The Japanese government must naturally be aware of this.”

“They likely are. Information has it that the key individual has been summoned to the Prime Minister’s residence.”

“Speaking of the Prime Minister, in response to the series of incidents, a special agency concerning otherworld matters has been established, appointing Minister of Internal Affairs Okazaki as the head.”

“Considering Minister Okazaki’s career, it’s unclear if he’s the right fit, but he took immediate action regardless of the year-end holidays. It was apparently Minister Okazaki who summoned the key individual mentioned earlier.”

Click. The TV was switched off.

Hazuki sighed wearily, sinking into the sofa.

More than a week had passed since then—since encountering the rift with Lavia. Instead of watching the Christmas lights, they ended up spending New Year’s Eve holed up at home.

The high-rise apartment building where Hazuki lived offered a panoramic view of the city, but she couldn’t bring herself to even open the curtains.

Media had swarmed around the apartment. Did they think a rift would appear if they photographed Hazuki? Drones also buzzed overhead, giving them no privacy.

Civilians were using these drones, which was clearly illegal. Though the police were cracking down on it, people kept operating them anyway, including foreigners who didn’t care about Japanese laws.

The departure of the Four Eastern Stars was also significant. Their existence allowed Hazuki to live in peace, but with them gone, she was now handling all matters related to the other world alone.

It was true that Hazuki had been summoned to the Prime Minister’s residence. Both the Prime Minister and Minister Okazaki, in charge of interdimensional affairs, awaited her, bombarding her with various questions. Needless to say, Hazuki couldn’t offer any real answers. She truly knew nothing.

“Do you know when the rifts to the other world appear?”

“Do you have any idea what conditions trigger the appearance of the rifts?”

“Do you think the rifts only appear near you?”

“Do rifts appear near Serika Tanoue?”

“Are there any signs before rifts appear?”

They seemed to imply that Hazuki was hiding something.

The Prime Minister left mid-meeting due to a prior appointment, but Minister Okazaki’s questioning continued. With a muscular build and eyes like a snake peeking through his glasses, Okazaki was a cunning man who never smiled.

“Where did Serika go?” Hazuki murmured, staring at her silent phone.

The apartment was quiet. Both her parents had returned to their hometown for the year-end holidays. She had urged them to go, not wanting to involve them in all this uproar.

Though they worried about Hazuki, they reluctantly agreed when she told them she wanted to focus on studying. Hazuki would be a third-year high school student in April, so she was already preparing for university entrance exams.

“That reminds me, is Hikaru taking the exams?”

There was a stir, and she turned around. Lavia was at the living room table. Hazuki couldn’t leave her alone in the Four Eastern Stars’ apartment, where she might get hounded by the media, so she had brought her to her place.

The pages of the book on the table had not turned since she last looked an hour ago.

“…”

Lavia had been like this for a while now.

She had hoped that Hikaru would come to fetch her using the spell for crossing worlds, but it presumably failed, as the rift revealed only darkness beyond. Another rift had opened, but the result was the same.

Since then, not once had the spell been invoked. Hazuki felt really sorry for her.

Why did the spell fail? Why wouldn’t Hikaru try it again and again? What was he doing right now? Was he in a dangerous situation, where he couldn’t use the spell at all?

Despite her worries, there was nothing Lavia could do.

She had told Hazuki that a friend of hers named Paula was supposed to cast the spell, but there was none from her side either. All she could do was wait.

Hazuki understood Lavia’s feelings, for she had experienced something similar herself.

On the day when her best friend Serika was caught in a tanker explosion, only her presence was captured by security cameras. Her body had vanished without leaving a single trace behind, but because it was clear that she was there, she was officially declared deceased, and Hazuki attended her funeral.

Half of her had been grieving, while the other half felt a complex emotion, a blend of hope and uneasiness. What if she was alive somewhere? But how could she vanish without a trace?

Just as Hazuki was starting to move on, Serika suddenly returned.

“Lavia.”

Hazuki sat next to her, and Lavia looked at her with vacant eyes. She couldn’t even focus on her beloved book; her thoughts were elsewhere.

“I’m sorry I can’t help in any way,” Hazuki said.

“Th-That’s not true. If it weren’t for you, I would have been much more upset.”

When Hikaru disappeared, Lavia reached out to Hazuki, believing that if they were together, the rift would open near them. Though now that hope was fading.

“Is there any way we can reach out to the other world?”

“I don’t know.” Lavia cast her gaze down. “I hardly know anything about the spell for crossing worlds.”

Hazuki put her arm around Lavia’s shoulders, pulling her close. She wanted to comfort her but didn’t know how.

“I see. Ayano Sasakura connected this world and the other world, huh?”

“Yes. I have no idea how she did it, though.”

“Was she from the other world, then?”

“I’m not sure. She looked perfectly Japanese to me, but she spoke our language.”

Lavia didn’t know that Ayano Sasakura was Soaarunay Saak.

“Should we search her place?”

“What?”

“If she was from another world, wouldn’t there be some evidence?”

Lavia blinked. “I… hadn’t thought of that.”

“You can wait and trust in Hikaru, but I think it’s also not a bad idea for us to take action.”

“Y-You’re right.”

Hazuki was relieved to see Lavia’s eyes light up again.

People feel reassured when given something to do. Back then, after Serika disappeared, Hazuki felt a huge hole in her chest, with nothing to fill it.

“But um…” Lavia wore a straight face. “Wouldn’t that be trespassing? Breaking and entering?”

Hazuki smiled sweetly. “Well, she kidnapped someone. And a minor at that. An eye for an eye.”

“I-I see!”

Though it wasn’t clear what she understood, they began their plan of action.

---

Society never sleeps, even at the start of the new year. And when society is in motion, there is news.

Reporters, whose duty was to cover news, were scheduled to take turns coming to the office during the year-end and New Year holidays.

The man looked around the office. He usually complained about it being too cramped due to the constant bustle, but now it was practically deserted.

“Was it always this spacious?” he muttered to himself.

Hino, a reporter from Nitto Shimbun’s society department, was at the office today as it was his turn to be on duty. Starting tomorrow, regular operations would resume, and the floor would be crowded again. But for now, there were only four or five people around, including himself. Perhaps he should enjoy this quiet.

“But seriously, what’s happening here?”

Hino was staring at his computer screen that displayed footage from a video-sharing site.

The videos captured two rifts that had appeared in Tokyo that day. The first rift was barely recorded, but the second one was different. People had already noticed the strange phenomenon and many had their phones out, so numerous videos flooded the internet.

And some of them showed Hazuki. She always seemed to be near rifts leading to the other world.

When Serika Tanoue and the rest of the Four Eastern Stars appeared, the focus of public interest shifted entirely. Due to Hazuki being a minor, the government strictly cautioned against reporting about her. Serika, on the other hand, had given permission for her coverage, making it acceptable.

Hazuki was just an ordinary person who happened to be near the rifts. Actual interdimensional travelers or Japanese people who had been in the other world were deemed more newsworthy. It was natural that Hazuki was no longer the center of attention, but now the spotlight had turned back to her.

In the video clips, Hazuki looked bewildered. Hino suspected her surprise was about why the rift had closed so abruptly.

And these rifts seemed different from previous ones. It was evident because the other side of the rift was pitch-black, unlike before when the other side could be glimpsed faintly.

Moreover, there was someone beside Hazuki. The lower half of their face was obscured by a scarf, but there was no mistaking it.