"Huh? That thing over there looks really strange," Ryuto pointed to something in the distance and said.

Crepes Clair followed Ryuto's gaze. "What is that over there, is it a canyon?"

At the outer edge of the factory, the ground made of piled rocks was split into two parts by a massive crack, resembling a huge canyon. The reason for the doubt was that the enormous crack extended from the ground all the way to two towering mountains in the distance, facing each other across the divide.

But...

"Isn't that strange, why do the profiles of those two mountains..."

Why do they fit together so perfectly?

Seeing Ryuto's suspicions, Crepes Clair calmly replied, "As Mr. Amagi thought, that is not two mountains, but one."

"One?"

After hearing this answer, Ryuto's voice changed slightly. "So you mean, those two mountains were originally one mountain that split apart?"

"Yes, that's right."

"So... this canyon-like formation..."

"Oh, it was originally ground, it just split into two halves from the center."

"Even the ground... extends all the way to those mountains over there?"

Ryuto said incredulously.

This is too bizarre, isn't it?

"Did a massive earthquake occur here in the past? Is that why the ground and that mountain underwent such changes?"

Ryuto could only think of crustal changes causing this situation because...

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem natural. If it was just the ground, it would be understandable, but that mountain...

Although connected mountains aren't that uncommon, the current situation was not simple. The two mountains were not connected from their peaks to their bases; they were separated by that irregular massive crack. Calling it two mountains didn't seem convincing; saying it was one mountain was more believable.

And that crack...

It looked as if it had been slashed with a giant knife. But how big would that knife have to be? Judging by the length of the crack, it was probably hundreds of meters long. Even with such a knife, no one could wield it.

Crepes Clair calmly replied, "Yes, there was indeed an earthquake in the past, to be precise, on a certain night three years ago, and since then, it has looked like this."

"Really...?"

Upon hearing the answer, Ryuto couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Hmm...

Was he just overthinking it?

"Well, since that's the case, let's keep moving quickly; after all, time is running out."

"Yes."

Saying that, the two of them began moving again, and later arrived at a more spacious flatland.

There were more people here.

"What are they doing...?"

As Ryuto asked in wonder, a foreman immediately approached with a smile.

"They are weeding."

Answered before Crepes Clair could, as claimed.

As the foreman said, the wide flatland was full of weeds, with people spread out in different areas, and there were multiple places on the flatland with piles of weeds.

"What's the purpose of weeding?"

"In fact, weeding itself serves no purpose."

The foreman answered again.

"No purpose?"

Then why bother doing it?

"Actually, weeding is just to clear this space."

"Clear it? Is it to build something new here?"

"Yes, we are planning to build another processing plant here."

"I see, building a factory does indeed require a lot of space."

"That's right."

He didn't address us as adults; probably because he saw Crepes Clair nearby...

This guy really knows how to show off.