“As for why… duty?”
The girl who’d called herself Francesca cutely tilted her head. Excuse me — is it against the rules here to wear a skirt or trousers? Bring me whoever’s in charge — I’ll commend them!
That said, this is bad for my mental health. Has to be fixed.
“Right… Francesca, was it?”
“Yes. Please call me Cesca.”
Francesca would normally shorten to “Fran” — but whatever, doesn’t matter right now.
“Could you put something on, please? Where to look becomes a problem…”
“I am wearing panties?”
Yes, you’re wearing panties — that’s not the issue!
…Calm down. Calm down. Just think of it as a swimsuit. It’s a swimsuit, it’s a swimsuit…
Peek.
It’s NOT a swimsuit! Panties! Unmistakably panties!
“You just peeked, did you noT?”
“Sorry!”
Caught.
“WelL, if you insist, I’ll wear something.”
From who knows where, Cesca pulled out a black skirt with white frills and started putting it on. If you have one, wear it from the start!
”…You’rE not going to do anythinG?”
“No. Nothing. So put it on, fast.”
“You can touch a little, you knoW?”
“Just! Put it on!”
I want to cry. Cesca pulled on the skirt; now we could actually talk. Already exhausted, though.
“Right — got a lot of questions, if that’s all right?”
“Yes. PleasE.”
“Where are we?”
“The Hanging Garden of BabyloN. Some call it NiraikanaI.”
Hanging garden? I looked around — sure enough, a garden — though more botanical garden in feel. Above us, the sky beyond a glass dome. Following Cesca, I came to the garden’s edge — a glass wall.
Beyond it, a sea of clouds. No mistake — we’re floating in the sky. …Ahh — Hanging Garden, then.
“What is this place? What’s it for?”
“A garden the Doctor built as a hobbY.”
“Doctor?”
“Doctor Regina Babylon. Our creatoR.”
Creator? Strange way to put it. As if she herself were created — wait, surely not?
[Master. This one is not human. I sense no flow of life from her.]
“Hah——!”
Sango spoke aloud what I’d been thinking. “Knew it” mixed with “surely not” warring inside me.
“I was constructed by the Doctor as the management terminal of this garden. 5,092 years ago.”
“F-five——!!”
Even Leen is 612 (self-reported) — this one is 4,480 years older than her!?
…Constructed — so, a robot? Android — or in this case, a gynoid?
“So Cesca’s a machine?”
“Not entirelY machine. I incorporate biological parts made by magic and a magic-furnace, sO — a hybrid of magical lifeform and machinE.”
Golem, homunculus, artificial human — somewhere near those. She really doesn’t look anything but human. In every way a girl…
”…I cannot bear children, but the act itself is possiblE?”
“Not asking! Wait — don’t lift the skirt!”
Is shame not programmed into this one!? Whoever built her is an idiot!
“But it’s brand-neW.”
“Not asking!”
Cesca dropped the skirt back down dissatisfied. I feel like I’m getting a sense of her creator’s personality. Unwell, this Doctor.
[Such a strange one~]
Kokuyō muttered, swaying. Same here.
“Still — 5,000-plus years of continuous operation, that’s something… Cesca aside, this garden itself — didn’t anything degrade or break?”
“This garden is reinforced everywhere with magiC. As for me, I said 5,000 years, bUt — I entered sleep mode for maintenance and remained in standby except for emergencieS. The garden’s management ran on aut0.”
…Wait. If Cesca is now active, then this is — an emergency? I asked; Cesca nodded faintly.
“Emergency if anything. Our first visitor in 5,070 yearS. By the way, your namE?”
“Ah — Touya. Mochizuki Touya.”
“Lord Touya. You have been recognized as a CompatibleE One. Henceforth Unit Number 23, individual designation FrancescA, is transferred to youR ownership. Please look after me — for a long time tO comE.”
“Eh?”
Compatible One? No, wait — transferred?
Cesca pointed at the circle I’d transferred in on and began to explain.
“That circle cannot be activated by ordinary peoplE. It does not accept magic from multiple sourceS. Meaning — only one who carries every elemenT can activate it. One with the same nature as the DoctoR.”
The Doctor who made Cesca was an all-element user too, then. They existed 5,000+ years ago. Without that aptitude, you couldn’t even get here.
“Before her death, the Doctor decided that we — those left behind — were to be transferred to the first Compatible One who came through the circlE. That was 5,070 years agO.”
“Compatible One — that means all-element holder, then…”
”? It does noT.”
“Wait, what!?”
Flatly denied. Not the all-element thing? Then what defines a Compatible One?
“Touya-sama, even after seeing my panties, instructed me to coveR. So you are a Compatible OnE.”
“That’s the standard!? What is this compatibility test! Makes no sense!”
“It’s importanT. If you had assaulted me with lust, I would have thrown you out to the grounD. If you had simply left me in panty form without comment, you would also have been classed as incompatible and politely sent back to the grounD.”
Eh — seriously? That panty-display had that much meaning? Hard to believe, honestly.
“Kindness to others. Without it, we and Babylon could not be entrusted to thaT. The Doctor designed this method on that basiS.”
“Right. So this Doctor’s deeply unwell.”
“I will not denY.”
She didn’t deny. Yeah, the Doctor is unwell.
“In the end the Doctor said it was a matter of personal judgmenT. Said her ideal was not the overly-gentle feminist-poser who’s used to women — rather the closet-pervert who peeks but holds back and pretends not to care was safest.”
That’s how a Compatible One gets chosen… Closet-pervert, excuse me! Rude. And “safest” stings too.
“And sO, I am now your propertY. Please look after me, MasteR.”
“Haa…”
Feels like I’ve been dragged into something hugely bothersome. I can practically see the smug expression on the Doctor I’ve never met.
For now — get the others here. Better we talk this out as a group. I explained the situation to Cesca and opened a [Gate] to the surface.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“A Hanging Garden… So this counts as a legacy of the ancient Partheno civilization.”
Leen took it in as she looked around.
Ancient civilization Partheno. The super-civilization that produced the spectrum of magics, and the artifacts derived from them.
Babylon is one of that civilization’s legacies — and is itself an artifact. By that logic, Cesca might also count as an artifact.
Everyone wandered the garden taking it in. According to Cesca, the garden is the size of four Partheno Domes. First, I have no idea how big a Partheno Dome is. Big, anyway, that’s clear.
The garden has a botanical-garden section, fountains, stepping stones, flowerbeds, ponds — anyone into gardening would lose their mind here.
A garden’s a thing for walking through and admiring, so it makes sense that everyone’s giddy. Frio-san would love this place.
In one corner, in a gazebo by a pond meant for resting, Leen, Cesca, and I had settled to talk.
“So — the thing you were hoping to get. Is it here?”
“Couldn’t tell you. I’d been hoping to find some ancient magic; what we found vastly exceeded that.”
Right — Babylon itself is essentially a crystallized work of ancient magic. A garden that has held up for 5,000 years; flowers that don’t wilt; a barrier that hides it from external observation — every ancient magic imaginable, all in one place.
The one who made it, Regina Babylon — undeniably a genius. Even if she did force her creation to display her panties — pervert that she was.
“Cesca — is there anything more here besides the garden?”
“No, nothiNG. Unlike the others, this is merely a private garden adrift in the skY. No treasures, no weapons. Just a lovely floating gardeN.”
“Mind you — this place’s existence is treasure enough.”
“Thank yoU. However, this Hanging Garden of Babylon is already MasteR’S.”
What? Meaning?
“This Babylon is controlled and managed by mE. And I am the master’S. So my Babylon is the master’S, tO0.”
”…Is it now?”
“Yes. Wedding dowrY.”
Hell of a dowry. And — I have no intention of taking you as a bride. Wife situation is already plenty complicated as it is.
“Hey, Cesca — wait, this part. You just said unlike the others. So — others exist?”
Leen sharpened her gaze at Cesca. Right — unlike the others means there are others?
“Babylon is divided into several modules and drifts through the skY. Besides the garden I manage, there are also a Research Tower, a Hangar, a LibrarY, and others — managed by my sisterS. Together, they are BabyloN.”
…What?