Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey

The sudden voice undoubtedly startled the boy, sweeping away most of the drowsiness that had filled his mind.

He abruptly opened his eyes, and the first thing that entered his sight was a pair of golden "amber" eyes pressed right in front of him.

"..."

Xiu Er calmly watched the "overreacting" boy and slowly stepped back a few paces.

Now fully awake, Fujimaru Ritsuka finally noticed that the few staff members who had been maintaining things inside had already left. Only he and Xiu Er remained.

"Is it over?"

the boy asked blankly.

"..."

Xiu Er seemed to consider what he had asked.

"Affirmative. Observation of the device 'Chaldeas' has been completed."

After "looking" over the system report's analysis progress, Xiu Er said so.

"How long did I sleep?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka asked instinctively. He seemed to have been so groggy that he had even forgotten to answer Xiu Er's earlier question.

Xiu Er did not find it troublesome and simply acted as a timekeeping device.

"The local time is 10:32. You have been 'dormant' for 1h24min3s."

"Wow, I slept that long..."

The boy scratched his head awkwardly.

After all, he had been the one who wanted to come along. Although Xiu Er had only allowed it because she needed to find a "guardian," falling asleep on his own still made Fujimaru Ritsuka feel rather embarrassed.

"..."

Apparently, Xiu Er did not mind.

Seeing that, Fujimaru Ritsuka's embarrassment finally eased.

"So where do you want to go next?"

Since she had chosen to wake him now, that probably meant she wanted to leave.

"..."

Yet strangely, Xiu Er did not answer. She merely stared silently at Fujimaru Ritsuka.

"Huh?"

Xiu Er's behavior left the boy somewhat confused.

"W-What's wrong?"

"..."

It seemed the boy truly had not realized what was wrong.