Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Travel

The girl silently marveled at the puppet's power.

The faint smile on her face went unnoticed by the others. Only in such moments of leisure did she have the spare thoughts to ponder these things.

"That's true. If it's Xiu Er..."

Fujimaru Ritsuka folded his arms and said with certainty. After all, he had witnessed that puppet's way of doing things countless times already.

"If you're that curious, why not use the device Xiu Er gave you to try contacting her?"

Da Vinci, who was fiddling with something off to the side, joined the conversation. In a teasing tone, she offered Fujimaru Ritsuka an entirely reasonable suggestion.

If he was really curious, couldn't he just "call" and ask her directly?

Besides, the device Xiu Er had given them possessed communication functions to begin with. Not long ago, they had relied on that function to contact Xiu Er, who had been transferred to a different location.

The boy nodded upon hearing that, but he did not choose that option.

After their brief time together, he had already gained a rough understanding of the puppet's habits and personality.

"That's a perfectly normal choice, but Xiu Er doesn't like being disturbed when she's doing 'serious business.'"

As he said that, the boy even revealed a lingering look of fear, as though he had experienced something too terrible to revisit.

"Hehe~ That's true~"

Da Vinci covered her mouth and chuckled softly. It seemed she understood that as well, and the look in her eyes made it obvious that she knew what the boy had gone through.

"Are we still going to take a look at that holy city next?"

Da Vinci raised her head alongside Fujimaru Ritsuka and looked toward the clear sky. It was already afternoon, and they could quickly estimate the time