Chapter 54: The Ruins of the Garden (２)

****

I stared at the flower humans.

Near the Gardeners, I could see something humanoid made of plants. I didn’t know what to call them, and I didn’t know what they were.

At least they’re easy to kill, thank goodness. But there’s no need to engage right now.

“They’re not doing anything dangerous. Keep them under observation for now, do not engage.”

They weren’t even coming this way. The anomalies were passing by the ruins and heading into the forest. No reason to provoke them.

“Maintain vigilance on the humanoids. I’m going to observe the ruins for a moment.”

I looked around a bit more.

The Garden’s ruins consisted of three concentric rings of megaliths, and above my head, colorful birds were flying around.

Parrots, toucans, white crows.

[Are those… people?]

A soldier’s voice came through my radio.

Walking flowers. Those aren’t people. At least, not according to the analysis from the last expedition.

“There’s no reason to think walking flowers are people. We dissected one—confirmed they weren’t made from humans.”

[I see.]

“There must be a way they’re made, though. They’ve been sighted all over the world.”

The walking flowers we’d been watching moved slowly across the clearing. The humanoid monsters soon disappeared into the forest.

Those things…

Where are they going, and what are they doing? I wanted to follow, but I couldn’t right now. I couldn’t drag the team into dangerous ground because of my curiosity.

I turned off my body cam. I collected some soil and plants near the ruins, recorded the site on video and photos, and took pictures of the flowers too.

I pulled out my notebook and pen.

The ruins—numerous megaliths forming three circles. Wait, not numerous. There has to be a pattern… The three central circles of the ruins consist of 144 megaliths.

I marked north at the top of the page. The positions of the megaliths: here, here, and here. If I think a little harder, I might figure it out.

This is a map.

The arrangement of the megaliths in the ruins matches the surrounding terrain features—the hills and such.

It probably represents the Garden’s macroscopic structure. What each megalith signifies will need more investigation.

I looked around again. The monsters I’d spotted earlier were long gone. We could withdraw safely now.

“They’re gone. Let’s move.”

[Move where?]

“I’ve largely finished recording the ruins. We’re heading back to the bunker as fast as possible.”

[Understood. Preparing to withdraw.]

The soldiers rose from between the megaliths and began to move. I gathered my equipment and moved too. I needed to get back to the bunker and write up my findings.

****

The way back wasn’t too rough.

We just had to follow the path we came on. That didn’t mean I had no concerns, though. Let me think. Something is deep in the Garden.

“…”

I looked at the surrounding environment again.

The stone towers should be visible by now. Wait. Something is seriously wrong. I fired a flare from my pack.

[Director. What’s going on?]

[Dr. Geum. Where are you?]

I grabbed the mic on my tactical headset.

“Where… exactly are we?”

[That’s…]

[Take cover.]

Fssssssss.

The soldiers of Recovery Section 1 threw smoke grenades ahead, and we used the smoke as a shield, snapping into combat formation in an instant. But—fight what?

I squinted.

Ahead… it was clearly not the path we came on, but there was a more serious problem than that. Things that shouldn’t be visible here were visible.

Wooden structures.

****

We’re lost. Well, honestly, that’s a secondary concern. I have no idea why or how people were living in this forest.

[Advance slowly.]

The soldiers of Recovery Section advanced slowly, rifles leading the way, using the dense forest as cover.

In front of the wooden structures’ doors, something like an incense burner was burning. Probably some kind of insect repellent.

[Dr. Geum. Please give the order. Do we search the interiors of those structures?]

I’m dying of curiosity. Of course I want to order a search. But I don’t know how dangerous this situation is, or whether these are people we’re allowed to kill.

“Hmm. Are you confident?”

[Begin the search.]

The soldiers of Recovery Section took the bait.

The Section Chief of Recovery Section 1 held a shotgun, and I loaded my rifle and followed behind him. The two of us waited at the door for the breach.

Too narrow for everyone to enter at once, and the wooden building would be pierced by bullets in no time. The remaining soldiers aimed their guns at the building from outside.

[Breach.]

The shotgun shattered the door’s hinges, and the Section Chief smashed through the wooden door and entered the building.

“Aagh, don’t shoot!”

Korean.

“Put your hands on your forehead. Walk out of the building.”

The person who’d been hiding did as I said. Why on earth are people living in the wild.

****

This is the person who was hiding inside the Garden’s wooden structure. For now, let’s call him Mister.

Following my orders, Mister knelt in the clearing in front of the wooden structure. The other soldiers aimed their guns at the prisoner from unseen positions, while some stood watch.

I set out a nerve toxin grenade and an anesthetic grenade first. Wearing my gas mask, I looked at my prisoner. He was a rough-looking man.

“From now on, for every question you refuse to answer, I will break one of your joints.”

“No, what are you talking about… I never said I wouldn’t answer anything?”

I frowned.

“Good to hear. Then, first question. State your name and affiliation.”

Mister swallowed.

Fortunately, he seemed thoroughly terrified. If this is all an act, then there’s nothing to be said.

“I’m a scientist at the Foundation. Researcher Seo. My employee number is 31537364. You can verify it when you get back.”

“Why are you here?”

“The Garden called us.”

Honestly, this was as expected. So it really is insane—should I kill him? He hasn’t done anything wrong, so killing him feels a bit much, I don’t know.

“Do you plan to go back?”

“Not particularly.”

“Are there colleagues in the forest?”

“Yes. I don’t know exactly how many.”

“How have you survived until now?”

“There are weapons in the house.”

Does that make sense?

We’ve nearly died several times just walking half a day in full gear. I pressed the bayonet against Mister’s face.

“W-wait! I’ll tell the truth!”

“Go ahead.”

“We… offer sacrifices to the Garden’s master every full moon. That’s how we received the Garden master’s grace and survived.”

Honestly, it was an obvious story. A subspace doesn’t just exist on its own—there must be something sustaining it. I nodded.

“Anything else to say?”

“No.”

“Understood… Go back to your home, Mister. Sorry about the door.”

“Y-you’re not going to kill me?”

Once a Foundation employee, always a Foundation employee. He knows the Foundation well. But I had no intention of killing this man.

What would be the point.

“Do you want to die?”

“No.”

“Then… live happily in the forest.”

I lowered my rifle, and Mister hurriedly fled back to his wooden cabin. There were some strange things going on, but we needed to keep moving. We still had a long way to go.

****

Before long, we found the path again.

I don’t know whether we genuinely lost our way, or whether there was some kind of spatial distortion. Either way, we found the path again—that’s what matters.

That aside. The fact that five thousand people live inside the Garden—did that mean they were scattered about in wooden cabins in the forest, like that old man earlier?

*Crackle.*

A long-range communication request on the radio cut through my thoughts. I raised a hand to halt the column, found a suitable spot, and sat down.

No idea who’s calling.

“Who is this?”

Surely Ganymede hasn’t been resurrected?

[This is Facility 82 helicopter. We’ve come to rescue Director. We’re going to land the helicopter now, so please wait a moment.]

“We’re in the middle of a forest here? Landing is impossible. We’ll find a suitable clearing and—”

[Take cover now.]

We—well, we did as the helicopter said and found a suitable depression to lie down in.

“We’ve taken cover.”

[Confirmed Director Geum’s position. We’ll create a landing zone at a safe distance.]

What the hell does “create a landing zone” even mean. I looked toward where the helicopter sound was coming from. Between the trees, something fell—

A massive explosion erupted.

A gray-white dust cloud shot high into the sky, and dirt sprayed in every direction.

What the—. I thought it was a tactical nuke for a second.

Through the forest, where the leaves had cast shadows, newly revealed bright sunlight shone down on us. A fresh clearing had appeared before our eyes.

Apparently they’d detonated a large bomb—something like a thermobaric warhead—to create a landing zone for the helicopter in the forest. I stared up at the sky with a blank expression. The helicopter descended lower and lower.

[Landing now.]