Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

On this side, Lei was pulled over by Ester and Restia for a chat. After all, as sword sprites, neither of them had ever encountered a holy war angel of Lei’s kind, so they were quite curious about her. Similarly, Lei had never seen sword sprites, so both sides ended up having a lively conversation.

However, things weren’t as good for Ruiko, who had been dragged aside by Kuroko Shirai for a scolding ever since they returned. The lecture included things like how she shouldn’t act on her own, should inform them if something happens, and always be cautious... Ruiko listened with a pained expression, having no choice but to appeal to Fang Zheng for mercy.

”Alright, alright, it’s my fault this time. Next time, I’ll equip each of you with a personal terminal, Ruiko was just unlucky.”

Seeing Ruiko’s pleading look, Fang Zheng came out to mediate. He wasn’t wrong—had Ruiko had a personal terminal at the time, she definitely would have contacted the others immediately. Unfortunately, she really had no means of communication back then. Yet if it weren’t for this incident, Lei probably wouldn’t have formed a contract with her, so whether Ruiko’s luck was good or bad...

It was certainly good.

”Thank you, Mr. Fang Zheng!”

A grateful Ruiko hurriedly thanked Fang Zheng for his assistance and then curiously asked,

”So Mr. Fang Zheng, what about the investigation you’ve been conducting? Any results?”

”I’ve got a bit of a lead.”

Fang Zheng shook his personal terminal. After scanning the abandoned core of this mobile city, he indeed gathered another set of coordinate manufacturing information. However, due to the core being dead, most of this information turned into gibberish, forcing Fang Zheng to use divine power to barely activate it and decode it successfully. Nonetheless, though troublesome, he got the information he needed.

”Then we should get going... What about her?”

”Eh?”

Noticing Fang Zheng glancing toward Lei, Ruiko became anxious.

”Are you planning to leave her here, Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”Of course not. I mean, does she have anything else to do after she wakes up, or should she stay with you?”

Fang Zheng recalled something about Lei wanting to go somewhere in the animation, but the worlds were clearly different, so he wasn’t sure about Lei’s current situation. Ruiko seemed to realize something and hurried over to Lei’s side, whispering to her. After a while, Ruiko looked up with a troubled expression toward Fang Zheng.

”Um... Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”Hmm?”

Before Ruiko could say more, Lei appeared in front of Fang Zheng, looking up at him intently.

”I want to go to Edil Courtyard.”

”Edil Courtyard?”

Everyone exchanged puzzled looks at the mention of this name, and Lei nodded.

”That peaceful place in the sky, among the clouds, unseen, where being is non-being and non-being is being, resplendent and carefree, creating new wealth, laying a new foundation...”

”Uh...”

Faced with Lei’s description, everyone was perplexed. Fang Zheng frowned and looked at Feli.

”Have you ever heard of a place called Edil Courtyard?”

”No, I’ve never heard of such a mobile city.”

”But from Lei’s description, it sounds like it’s in the sky. We should be able to help Lei find that place!”

”That’s not a problem, the issue is...”

Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders and said,

”We don’t know where this Edil Courtyard is, do we?”

”Uh...”

This time, Ruiko was at a loss for words. Indeed, Feli, who was a local, had never heard of such a place, so it was even more unknown to the outsiders like them.

”I...”

However, at this moment, Lei spoke up.

”I can feel... it’s calling me...”

As she spoke, Lei directed her gaze toward the north.

”Well, it seems we have a human radar here.”

Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders and then focused seriously on Lei.

”Well then, Lei... may I call you that? I want to tell you something.”

”... What is it?”

”Firstly, you must know that a very, very long time has passed since the era you originally came from—one hundred years, two hundred years, even longer, understand? Look, nowadays, no one knows what a Holy War Angel is, nor does anyone know who you are.”

Upon saying this, Fang Zheng pointed at Feli, and everyone suddenly realized, although Lei currently behaves no different from ordinary people, thinking about it carefully, she was discovered by Saten in the storage area of this city. According to Feli, this city had been overrun by the Contaminated Beast nearly a hundred years ago.

This meant that even though she looked about the same age as them, this girl was at least a hundred years old!

”So, the Edil Courtyard you are looking for has very likely also been destroyed like this city, do you understand?”

”...”

Upon hearing this, Lei hesitated for a moment and nodded.

”Even so, do you still want to go?”

”Yes... regardless of everything, I must go.”

”That’s fine.”

Fang Zheng didn’t mind, as he thought that if it’s this world, then that courtyard likely has the core record he is searching for.

”Then, let’s set off now. You can feel it from time to time, and if there is any deviation, you can directly point it out, understand?”

”Okay.”

”Alright, then let’s go back, things here are completed.”

After receiving Lei’s confirmation, Fang Zheng had nothing more to say, since they are going to search anyway, having a human radar at the moment makes things more convenient, doesn’t it?

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, the girls responded, and Saten Reiko seized the opportunity while others were not paying attention, quietly running to Fang Zheng’s side, and looked at him mischievously.

”Uh... Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”Hmm? What is it?”

”Can I accompany Lei as she goes? You know, she saved my life, and haven’t we already... contracted anyway? I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it implies that my fate is already intertwined with hers, right? Besides, she is all alone, having slept so long probably without any relatives or friends...”

Saten Reiko spoke softly, looking at Fang Zheng with a pleading expression, as she was really afraid Fang Zheng would no longer take her because of this matter, and Reiko was indeed worried about Lei.

”Sure, no problem.”

”Really?”

”Of course.”

Seeing Saten Reiko’s excited expression, Fang Zheng chuckled softly. He wasn’t going to tell Reiko that regardless of finding Edil Courtyard or not, Lei likely will not leave her; and by the time Reiko takes Lei back to Academy City, if INDEX sees them...

When the protagonist gathers a harem, the members often get jealous.

Let’s see how you handle this mess.

Reiko didn’t realize Fang Zheng had this intention, relieved upon knowing she could go with Lei to find the courtyard, and she happily hummed a song as she returned to Lei’s side.

During this, Mikoto and Kuroko were also very curious, even considered suggesting Fang Zheng to search the whole city again for anyone who might have had a similar encounter with Lei, but Fang Zheng had already scanned the entire city and found nothing, moreover, it’s unrealistic with just a few of them to search the entire city’s ruins.

In fact, after they questioned Lei, they were surprised to find out that Lei had no idea where this place is because, in Lei’s memory, Mobile City didn’t even exist. As for why she ended up in this city’s storage, Lei herself had no impression at all.

This surprised Feli, realizing that if Mobile City didn’t exist, Lei’s world might be over five or six hundred years distant from the present...

Afterwards, as they journeyed, Lei shared stories of her era, apparently filled with turmoil. Various creatures caused many sacrifices, which led to humans adopting numerous methods to protect themselves, including capturing the Holy War Angels and forcibly contracting with them to gain power.

Even though Holy War Angels could exert immense power after contracting with humans, without users, Angels themselves had no unique features. Like Lei, if she wasn’t contracted with Reiko, she’d just be an ordinary girl without any combat ability, arguably even less than Reiko, perhaps on par with Hatsuharu without a computer.

That was why humans captured Holy War Angels then, and Lei’s dislike for humans came from this.

Feli silently calculated what Lei said and quietly informed Fang Zheng, if Lei wasn’t lying, she lived in an era six hundred years ago known as ”Edge of Apocalypse,” after which the earth dried, Contaminated Beast rose everywhere, forcing people to rely on Mobile City for movement and survival.

However, as for Holy War Angels, Feli had never heard of them, nor did she know anyone could transform into weapons. So many years have passed, perhaps the Holy War Angel race—Lei could be the only one left.

Fang Zheng showed no reaction, simply nodding. Conversely, Feli felt an inner excitement, she always wanted to escape the cage of Mobile City to explore the world outside, and unexpectedly just upon leaving, she’s already encountered something so fascinating... what might she find next?

At this moment, Feli was filled with anticipation for the journey ahead.