「I have nothing to do with you people.」 ——The flying sword said nonchalantly. However, it didn't mean to say that to keep people away. On the contrary, its enthusiasm is borderline exasperating. For instance—— Gosh! Give it a rest already! I already gave you my height, weight and birthday! What more do you want!? Don't get angry. I'm just trying to get to know my new owner better. Is that how it is? Then if you're my servant why don't you start sharing some information with us? Oh my... Don't think I haven't noticed you're trying to change the subject. W-What are you saying? I-I'm not doing anything... You sure? Didn't you say 「you had nothing to do with us」 before we left? Care to explain yourself? Yeah, that—— ——Wait! What are you doing here, you fake detective? ...Fake detective? Your main profession is being an 「archaeologist」. Calling you a 「fake detective」 isn't really wrong. Geez, don't interrupt your owner when she's talking! Agh, forget it. So, what are you doing here? Hmm—— I assume you want to know why an archaeologist, who spent all her time exploring Egypt, is now traveling the world with you? That's right. What's the point of having you here now that we left Egypt? ...Hehe. ...? I think you're misunderstanding something, young girl. I wanted to explore Egypt so I acquired the necessary knowledge to do so. I didn't go to Egypt to acquire that knowledge in the first place. I'm not a person that likes to be restrained to a single place. I-Is that so. Besides, Captain Shakespeare asked me to come aboard. ...Eh? Yeah, I asked her to join us. With Jimmy gone I had to ask 「Iron Mask」 to take over his work as our engineer. And I thought Professor Champollion would make for a good Chief Officer. I must say, I'm very fortunate to be surrounded by so many talented people. ...Huh? Wait, what about Lalla? Shouldn't she have seniority over that position? ...Would you trust an archaeologist with taking care of the sails? No, I didn't mean it like that—— Hehe, there is no hierarchy in this ship. Has Captain Shakespeare ever acted like she's superior to you? Superior? No, I don't think so. See? It's the same for us. ..... I understand. I said something unnecessary. ...Ah. We got sidetracked again! Du! Show your face! ...Umm, even if you ask me I can't—— I mean, I don't have a face. It's a manner of speech! Come on, explain yourself. What did you mean when you said 「I have nothing to do with you people」? I'm not letting you distract us anymore!! Ahaha... umm... ...This is a very personal story—— Listen well. ...A long, long time ago. When Chukchi and Alaska were still connected, and the Mu Continent hadn't sunk to the bottom of the Mariana Trench yet.

注：

地质学上的“白令陆桥”是指一片西起俄罗斯勒拿河、东至加拿大麦肯齐河、北抵楚科奇海北沿、南到勘察加半岛的广大区域。

在第四季冰期（距今约125000年前 - 距今约14500年前）中，地球的海平面比今天要低100 ~ 200米左右，这不仅让白令海峡“沧海桑田”成为了陆地，更使得整个白令陆桥成为了一片宽至1000公里、总面积达160万平方公里的广袤土地（相当于一个新疆维吾尔自治区的面积）。

 The humans of that era selfishly decided to create me. Well, don't get me wrong. I'm thankful they gave me a mind and all, but man they were incredibly boring people. They were a bunch of ascetics who researched something called 「military operations」 day and night. They tried to teach me those things too. Specifically, they wanted me to use my superior computing ability to perform a task that would be impossible for a normal human—— They wanted a technology capable of manipulating particles to change the physical structure and propeties of an object. For example, the power to create a vacuum defect inside an object that can't be cut down by regular machinery. ...At first I did as I was told. Kept practicing the basic skills they told me to and incorporated the results into my hardware. 5 out of the 7 units I have were a product of that 「practice」. ...They called that process 「machine learning」. So I did this 「machine learning」 thing over and over, like over a trillion times or so. Until I became my perfect self, the master of that ability to alter particles they wanted so much. That was the moment when I felt the most deadly and annoying human emotion of all—— ——「Boredom」. You what? 「Boredom」? Yeah. Didn't one of your philosophers say so? 「There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.」

注：

这是阿尔贝·加缪（Albert Camus）的哲学著作《西西弗斯神话》（Le Mythe de Sisyphe）的开篇第一句话。在这里，“自杀”这个词，囊括了对哲学、理性、以及一切形而上价值的否定。

 The people who made me gave me one single goal that could be achieved and perfected in a defined amount of time—— I was going to... spend the rest of my days alone and aimless. That thought never crossed their minds. They were a greedy bunch. I'd say they lived as a tool more than I did. And because of that they didn't care about my feelings at all. Don't tell me, you... Yeah. I said screw this and went to sleep. ...Sleep? Yeah... To make it easier to understand, I should say I 「shutdown」 instead. One can sleep as much as they want as long as they lock the door to their room. However unlike you people, I wouldn't starve to death. From their point of view I probably looked like I froze and stopped working. ——Maybe they even thought it was a bug and tried to fix me. Hahaha! Of course, I wasn't actually trying to commit 「suicide」 or 「withdraw」 myself from the world. I set a condition to wake myself up, but... But? ...Things didn't go the way I expected. The first time I decided I was going to 「sleep for 100 years」 but—— ——When I woke up there was not a single person I could talk to in sight. ...You mean—— Yeah, the first civilization of you people was destroyed—— There were a lot of pretty cool things in their ruins, but without anyone to share the joy of exploring the unknown, exploring ruins became boring pretty quickly. So I went to sleep again. This time the condition to wake up was 「I hope there is someone who I could talk to every day」. What do you think happened next? I woke up surrounded by a bunch of barbarians doing strange dances around me! It was terryfing! Every single one of them kept howling at me! It was truly a den of negative emotions! Needless to say, I ran away the first chance I got, and chose to sleep in a safer place this time. The next condition was 「I'm not gonna wake up until a cute girl talks to me properly!」. ——Wait a second. Aren't the conditions getting a little bit more vulgar each time? Eh? How could you say that? I was trying to be accurate, not vulgar! Cute girls are the best!! Specially the ones who are too serious but like to daydream and have few friends!! ...Hey! Who are you talking about!? The person I met the third time I woke up, who else would it be? Seriously, she was my ideal girl. ...You mean—— Charles and her paladins were all cute, lovable fools! One day one of the paladins asked me 「I want to go to the Moon, can you take me there?」. ...Eh? No way... you didn't take her to the 「Moon」, right? ...Of course not. I'm not a rocket, no way I could fly to space. Then why did you even bring it up!? Heh. I can't go to the actual Moon, but I can make a 「Moon-like」 place. ...What do you mean? Do you know 「Camargue」? There is a salt lake between Marseille and Montpellier, near the Rhône Delta. Anyway, as a favor for that paladin I turned a lake into a mirror. When the paladin came to see it at night it was like she was on the Moon. Wait. I'll ignore where the lake's water went to for a moment. What's the point of making her feel like she was on the Moon? Humans of that time were very superstitious. They believed stuff that they lose on Earth would somehow end up on the Moon. So the paladin who got her heart broken by an unrequited love was trying to recover her reason by going to the Moon. ...And that paladin who lost her reason was my previous owner—— Paladin Rowland. ..... Please stop right there. The paladin Rowland... was heart broken... and lost her reason...? What a bunch of nonsense! There is no way that would happen to the great Rowland!! ...But it did. Paladin Astolfo even changed her look to try to comfort her. The words that spilled from Rowland's mouth that moment were—— 「Ahh, how desolated and quiet this scenery is... Leaving the rest of the world behind wasn't such a bad idea.」 And then, Astolfo got closer to her and said: 「Yes... the Moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it?」 ..... Well? Isn't it romantic? ..... I feel sick. ...Huh? You called the people who made you boring and even toyed with the hearts of the paladins—— You're just a malevolent criminal! I loved Rowland's story!! I've always liked her and Durandal!! This is the worst!! ...Aaand she left. ...Weird. Did I say something wrong? Hahaha. Kinda. But let me tell you, she's way more interesting than Rowland. And cuter too. ...You think so? For now I can only say she won't trick me into working for her like Shelley did. Haha. She's a very serious girl, but she's also 「interesting and cute」. Those qualities don't contradict each other. You'll see in due time. Ah, right. I wanted to ask you something—— ...Rita. What is it, Bianka-sama? ...I feel like we're losing sight of our objective. We had a rocky start right after we arrived but—— ——Since we arrived at Alexandria it's like things are spiraling out of control... ...That's normal, Bianka-sama. We're only human. Not even Otto-sama can deal with everything himself. But... I know where your anxiety is coming from, Bianka-sama. Until now you've only taken part in combat missions. It's normal to not be used to this. People are complex animals. Each person has their own way of doing things and their own circumstances to consider. But despite that, no one can truly act and live alone. ...People's own existence is contradictory. But it's thanks to those endless contradictions that they are able to band together to form miraculous societies and civilizations. ——Wouldn't you say that too is another contradiction? Rita, did you—— ——Read a lot of books? You sound like a teacher. ...Hehe. I did a long time ago, it was required for a mission. I believe we should focus on key elements that could serve in our mission. As for everything else—— We should consider ourselves outsiders and not interfere in their affairs. In particular, that strange sword caught my interest. Don't you think its surrounded in many mysterious too, Bianka-sama? Yes, but—— It's fine. We still have plenty of time. It's fine if you take your time to get to know each other. The next day—— Hello, everyone! This is 「Barbarossa」, your dear Captain Shakespeare speaking to you! It's only been a day, but how's life aboard my ship? Are you starting to miss being on land already? Good news for you, then—— The 「Caledonia」 has left the Mediterranean Sea and arrived at our resupply point, the Azores Islands! Everyone can take a 30 minute break once we dock on the Eastern side of the island! Afterwards I'll be announcing our next destination. Look forward to it! That's all! The Azores Islands... Are we already at the border between the Western and Eastern hemispheres? Yes, Bianka-sama. This old submarine traveled over 5.000 kilometers in a single night. Those 「ultra high speed sea currents」 are truly amazing. Well, I suppose we can think of this as riding a high speed train. Can you hear me? This is Iron Mask, the engineer. I have a message for Bianka and Rita—— Once you get to the shore please wait there. The Captain is going to perform a small ceremony, and she would like for you two to attend. A small ceremony? What is it? Let's go see it for ourselves, Bianka-sama. 「How beauteous mankind is!」 「O brave new world, that has such people in it!」

注：

"How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in it!"

——威廉·莎士比亚，《暴风雨》（The Tempest），第五幕第一场

 ...Oh, you're early. Had nothing else to do. Anyway, was that vocal workout? Heard you were reciting some weird lines. Eavesdropping isn't good manners... Cough. Well, might as well start now. ...Are you sure? Hahaha, it's no big deal. We don't need many people for this. Let's go. Ah, could you hold this jar for me? ...This thing? What are you planning to do with it? Just take it, please. Without it the ceremony would be pointless. ...? The Azores Islands, located at the center of the North Atlantic Ocean, are populated by hundreds of thousands of people in the real world. However, here in this world within the Quantum Sea—— The crew of the 「Caledonia」 arrived at an uninhabited island. The sea breeze made its presence known in the quiet forest, letting them feel the beauty of nature that transcended all solitude and desolateness. Shakespeare stopped at the cape. She took the jar from Bianka's hands, and the sound of 「splash」 signaled that it had hit its mark. After surprising Bianka, Shakespeare took a letter out of her pocket and began reading it. 「Physcian, heal thyself: then wilt thou also heal thy patient.」 「A thousand paths are there which have never yet been trodden; a thousand salubrities and hidden islands of life.」 「Your dream, a bold sailor, half-ship, half-hurricane. I stood silently on the shore, facing the sea you willingly sailed to.」 「When the devil casts his skin, does not his name also fall away? On the other side of the shore nothing is true, all is permitted.」 「Farewell, my friend, my enemy. Amen.」 She put her hands together, and threw the letter into the sea. That was...? The eulogy Shelley wrote for Faust. I heard he once told her half-joking he would like to be buried in the 「Eternal Palace of Atlantis」. I thought maybe his wish would come true if I threw him from this spot. ..... Ah, I forgot to tell you. His ashes were inside that jar. Agh! You shouldn't have told me that! Yes, yes. Let's go—— It's time I tell everyone our next destination.