第4話

あらすじ

日本語の要約がないため、Englishで表示しています。

出典に基づく · バージョン: v1 · オリジナル

Riko and Reg awaken deep in the first layer after descending from Orth through the night. Riko is delighted by the light carried downward through the Abyss’s force field and by how quickly they have passed landmarks that once seemed unreachable. After breakfast, her Star Compass falls into the depths, but Reg produces an envelope secretly placed in his belongings by Jiruo. It contains copied expedition material and a warning that pursuit will begin at dawn, which Riko interprets as a final test of whether they can survive. They leave their camp, evade a silkfang, and race toward the second layer. A lone pursuer catches them with ease, but he is Hablog rather than an orphanage search party. Nat and Shiggy asked him to escort the pair as far as Seeker Camp. Riko refuses because accepting help would undermine the lesson she believes Jiruo intended. Hablog respects the decision, gives them a vaccine and food, and warns them about Ozen the Immovable, the White Whistle who once carried Riko to the surface. Riko and Reg cross into the Forest of Temptation, where no rescue will follow a Red Whistle, and realize that the wilderness itself is now pursuing them.