The existence of this cave felt deliberate...
A cave leading underground, conveniently located directly above the Earth Crystal—it was like a girl deliberately letting her skirt slip, luring me deeper inside.
Something was wrong.
After reporting what I had found to Sun Ji, I slung my broom over my back and entered the cave with Terra. Compared to the sun-baked surface, the temperature inside was lower. It was pitch-black, but both my combat suit and Terra's spacesuit had lights. As we went deeper, the temperature rapidly dropped until it was below freezing again.
"Miluno, we've lost contact with the satellite."
Terra reminded me, "Shouldn't we get the reconnaissance team to explore with us?"
"No. If something can make me sense danger, bringing anyone else along would only increase the casualties. Just keep guiding me."
"...Do you really have to go?"
What a strange question.
"Of course. Why else do you think I came all the way to the moon?"
Terra had been acting strangely ever since we landed on the moon, as if she were hiding some secret from me.
The cave was made of pitch-black rock, yet there were no forks inside. The moon was supposed to be a hollow, porous structure, so this really didn't look like a naturally formed cave. Yet there were no signs of artificial excavation either. Only a god could accomplish something like this.
"Keep going down. We're not far now."
Terra grabbed one of my hands from behind. Her eyes were closed as she scanned the surrounding space, and she was probably holding my hand so she could walk...
Oh, no. Her long hair had just covered her eyes inside her helmet again.
"There's a huge space below... Oh my God, is this really the moon?"
"...What are you talking about?"
When I