Chapter Two / 05 : 17 / Disaster

The day had broken. A long, enormous silhouette extended towards the dawning sky dyed in blue and orange.

It was a tower. An enormous pillar that towered over its surroundings. It stretched from the surface all the way to the heavens— It was the structure known as the Pillar of Heaven.

Looking down from above, one could see an enormous gear which the base of the pillar passed through. The “roots” of the pillar extended outwards below that gear.

The pillar was in Sakuradamon Grid—the city with the highest elevation in Tokyo. It was a small city that was several kilometers in diameter, but as the Pillar of Heaven occupied the majority of its surface area, there were no civilians who lived inside this grid.

However, in the center of the city—inside the castle that enclosed the Pillar of Heaven, there were a few residents. A family whose imperial lineage traced all the way back to the ancient era along with those who worked for them.

There was a deep trench encircling the castle which isolated it even from its own host city. As it is the nature of gears to constantly turn, the same holds true for the world’s cities which rest upon them. This place was one of the rare exceptions. It was motionless.

In one quarter of the still castle there was a space adorned with vibrant greenery and water above the castle gate. The scenery wasn’t artificial. It was a plaza filled with real nature. It was a hanging garden.

There was an observation deck by the edge of the garden that let one survey all of Sakuradamon Grid and more.

—A young woman was standing there. She was wearing a light pink silken blouse under a hand-tailored black pantsuit with heels. Her glamorous, flowing black hair reached all the way below her waist.

Given her looks and outfit, one might mistake her for a normal girl working an entry-level job after college. Only her eyes attested to something more. The young woman had keen, lucid black eyes that an ordinary girl could never have, they projected a will that was as tough as steel.

Her sharp gaze was currently focused on the military deployed below, right before the castle gate.

—Currently, this palace was under siege.

●

For the most part, Houko correctly grasped the chaos and crisis presently befalling the nation.

Yet, there is nothing I can do about the situation... that, too, irritates me... “—Things just will not go the way I want them to, huh. I’m so powerless,” Houko muttered in self-reprimand as she turned her gaze downward and pulled back her left sleeve to reveal a silver wrist watch. It was a plain, functional model. The letters “MARIE” were engraved on the clock face in a small, subtle font.

The time was 5:17. There were forty-three minutes left until the declared time of the military’s raid.

On February Eighth— The Akihabara Terror Incident had occurred late at night and an unknown, enormous weapon had appeared at dawn. The electromagnetic weapon had made Akihabara Grid stop functioning and annihilated the military forces that had gone to intercept it.

A national state of emergency had been declared, and the prime minister had been stripped of his authority. He had been indicted for inciting domestic unrest and conspiring with foreign enemies. Furthermore, the minister of defense was also accused of the very same crimes.

—It was around then that a news station discovered the existence of the enormous weapon and reported the scoop.

Now that it had come to this, riots had simultaneously broken out in all of Tokyo’s grids. The residents had fallen into a great panic upon learning that Tokyo was at risk of collapsing. It didn’t help that this followed right on the heels of the shock from the Akihabara Terror Incident.

The police, unable to handle the chaos by themselves, had asked the military to declare martial law. However, a unit centered around a group of young officers had defected from the military, and thrown its entire chain of command into disarray. After defecting, they had immediately attacked the garrison in Ichigaya Grid. After plundering the equipment in the garrison’s armory, they had then closed in on Sakuradamon Grid and surrounded the palace.

—That was the gist of what would later be called the Uprising of 2/8.

“...At this point, we can’t leave it up to the brass,” a young captain said from his seat at the negotiation table. “Neither the government nor the military is even trying to fulfill its duties of resolving this national crisis.

And that’s hardly the end of it, considering that both had tacitly consented to the research on electromagnetic technology which led to this crisis in the first place. The incident in Kyoto was just a few months back, and now this— We won’t stay silent about this any longer.”

Well, he’s right, Houko thought. At the very least, the upper echelons of the government and military are nonfunctional at this point. And it’s also true that they were the ones who brought about this crisis.

The young captain added, “We don’t have much time. The threat of the enormous weapon is still looming and the request for authorization of the use of Tall Wand that the prime minister submitted to the IGMO has not been withdrawn.

We must swiftly seize power and begin negotiating with the group behind that enormous weapon. There’s also the diplomatic inquiries of the various foreign countries to think about. However, for any of this to happen, we need a symbolic gesture to prove that we truly possess the authority of the nation— Your Highness.”

So you mean the Pillar of Heaven, Houko thought. His reasoning is correct in one respect. Even if they use military might to defeat the current administration, if there is no entity that acknowledges their legitimacy, they would merely be looked upon as rebels. The only ones who can do such a thing, even if it is just a formality, are we, the residents of the palace.

And, it’s only natural that they wouldn’t choose the bedridden emperor. The imperial prince is also still too young. That only leaves the one officially substituting for Father on the throne, me—Imperial Princess Houko Hoshimiya.

However, just how convincing will that symbolic gesture really end up being—?

“This country has become rotten! The situation must be rectified! I know there can be no excuse for intruding upon His Majesty’s personal residence, but please, Your Highness! Could you lend us your hand for the sake of the nation right now?”

—Honestly, from a personal standpoint, I very much understand how they feel. I even think they’re right. If times were better, or if the situation at hand was a little different, I might have bestowed them with the Imperial Standard.

However, reality is not as sweet as daydreams. That’s exactly why it’s obvious how I should reply, “—It’d be pointless. I humbly refuse.”

The young captain’s face twisted. Houko gazed through all the captains that sat before her. “I think it would be best if each of you cease this meaningless pursuit and immediately return to your original stations. You each have duties to uphold. You probably will not go unpunished, but I promise that I will write a formal petition under my name to lighten that punishment as much as possible.”

“Your Highness! Please reconsider!”

“I have already given plenty of thought on the matter. This is my conclusion.”

The captain’s face flushed red as he said in a low growl, “We cannot afford to withdraw. To be clear, we are prepared to use force to get a yes out of Your Highness if you insist on maintaining your position.”

“There is no helping it. In that case, do as you like, captain.”

“...Do you think it’s an empty threat?”

“No. I am sure that you have your own design. However, I too have beliefs and duties that I cannot afford to compromise.”

And so, the negotiation broke down. After that, the rebels made several more inroads—but in the end, there hadn’t been enough time. 6:00 a.m. on February 10th— That was the deadline that they gave her highness to change her mind before they would storm the castle...

“—So you were here, Your Highness.” Being addressed from behind, Houko turned around. There, she saw a small old man wearing a black tailcoat.

“Mr. Kusunoki.”

“Given the present situation, it is dangerous for you to walk alone.”

“Killing me would accomplish nothing. In fact, considering their goal, they would want to avoid me dying at all costs.” Breaking into the palace with the sword is already dangerous enough as it is. If someone in the imperial family dies on top of that, it would be forever impossible for them to assert their legitimacy to the people.

However, Grand Chamberlain Kusunoki replied doubtingly, “That might be the case for their leaders... but I doubt that everyone who is caught up in this momentary fervor are as wise as Your Highness.”

“True.” Houko nodded. “I wonder. If everyone were wise, would the situation have come to this?”

“I do not know. ...However, perhaps if someone like Your Highness stood at the top, then—”

“I wonder about that. In the end, I too am powerless.” Houko smiled self-deprecatingly as she returned her gaze to what lay below the observation deck. Gazing fixedly at the deployed forces, she muttered, “They too must be doing what they think is right.”

“It is a gathering of fools. Breaking into the palace—absolutely blasphemous.”

“Perhaps. Still, while we may call them fools, it is not like we can do any more about the situation than they can.”

Kusunoki gasped. “Your Highness—are you suggesting that they are in the right?”

“No. I said this at the negotiation table as well, but there would be no point in me affirming them. In the first place, doing so was out of the question at the point that they decided to revolt. Especially so, when there’s a clear threat looming over Tokyo.” Houko paused for breath. “Even if I hypothetically do agree with their position and therefore acknowledge their legitimacy—what would change?”

“Your Highness, that’s...”

“I am not making light of my imperial authority. However, even if the citizens accept it, just how much respect would foreign countries—and those operating that enormous weapon—recognize what would be, in the end, nothing but a pretext.”

“According to the reports, they are Shiga’s ex-military and their goal is a coup d’état of the government... If that is the case, I do not think they would take the authority of the imperial family lightly, no?”

“—Is that really the case? I am a little suspicious regarding that as well.” Houko narrowed her eyes, muttering, “—Speaking of reports.”

“Yes...?”

“Have you made any headway regarding Marie Bell Breguet’s whereabouts?”

Kusunoki made a conflicted face. “About that... as you know, she is officially dead, so tracking her is very difficult. We have yet to get any leads on her at all. If Your Highness hadn’t noticed the resemblance from that photo, we surely would not have even thought of her name.”

“Still, it is certain that she is involved with the Akihabara Terror Incident in some capacity.”

“Does Your Highness think that she holds a key of some sort?”

“More precisely—I think she is the ringleader of it all,” Houko said as she wrung the guardrail of the deck with her hands. “Seizing an entire grid and manipulating it freely is impossible even for the clocksmiths of the Imperial Guard stationed here. I cannot imagine that a clocksmith in the security force could do it either. I do not know of any other clocksmith with the otherworldly skills necessary to pull such a feat off.”

“...If I recall correctly, she was your friend at school, yes?”

“Only for a month, but yes.” Houko smiled faintly. “I had the chance to get to know her during my studies abroad in Europe. I remember her well. She had a sense of justice many times the size of her small stature and burned with a passion like fire itself. And, of course, she was one of the best clocksmiths, if not the best, back then as well...”

“...Are you suggesting that a person like that is the ringleader behind this disturbance?”

Houko shook her head. “I feel like the Akihabara Terror Incident does not fit with the rest of the occurring events somehow. The coup d’état would have succeeded even without it—rather, was it not thanks to the terrorism that all the residents were able to evacuate safely before the enormous weapon appeared?”

“Then is Your Highness suggesting that the Akihabara Terror Incident and the coup d’état were carried out by different parties?”

“Yes. Of course, it is nothing but a fuzzy conjecture. However, if it turns out to be true...” She paused for a breath. “There might yet be another incident. That is the feeling I get.”

Of course, that is probably nothing but my personal fantasy. It would be way too convenient for it to be true. I am not so naïve as to believe that reality is as sweet as daydreams. Rather—I thought I was not, and yet...

—However, at the time, Houko still hadn’t known that just a mere ten minutes later—852 seconds to be exact—not just Houko herself, but the entire world would be reminded that lacking imagination is what’s truly naïve. That the world they were living in has never been cut and dry. That they were in fact living such a fantasy. That reality has always been stranger than fiction.

●

At that same time— Outside the palace.

Sakuradamon Grid was filled with a tense, imposing atmosphere. It was just moments before the scheduled raid of the palace. The soldiers felt the zeal of justice, pre-battle excitement—and at the same time, guilt from the transgression they were about to commit. News helicopters were peeking at the army surrounding the palace that was moments away from waking from its dormancy.

The air was suffocating— As everyone present got that feeling...

“—Ahh... Finally, some fresh air after almost forty-eight hours. Exquisite. Actually, I am not equipped with any mechanism equivalent to human lungs, but even in spite of the riff-raff who have still yet to evolve past their flea-like brains tarnishing the sight before my eyes, this invigorating sensation is most definitely real.”

What was slowly approaching from behind the back lines was “reality.” It was a small group.

The one leading in front was a silver-haired girl wearing a formal black dress. Her springy steps matching the graces of her good mood, she gave the impression that she might start elegantly dancing at a moment’s notice.

What had blossomed out of her flowery lips was a cool, bell-like voice. The maidenly automaton’s topaz pupils filled with vigor as she showcased her first performance of verbal abuse in quite some time.

Behind her, a black-haired boy and a blonde girl were following in a leisurely stroll. Furthermore, between the two was a young girl wearing red and white armor. Nonchalantly, but full of confidence they boldly advanced through the middle of the road.

In their approach, the girl wearing the black dress turned to look at the boy with a smile that could enchant an angel. “Master Naoto? Though I am merely a humble clockwork servant, even I should have the right and dignity to at least choose whom I pay my respects to.

My head is neither so light nor so cheap that I would lower it to those whom even single-celled organisms would be nonplussed by. I would like to point out once more that I find this order exceedingly objectionable.”

“Right, no, I get that, but, see—” It seemed like they had had this exchange many times already. The black-haired boy nodded, looking fatigued.

However, the girl continued, as if she couldn’t contain her discontent. “I understand your reasoning. I see your point, shoddy as it may be, that I should take care to distinguish between the beasts who do not even comprehend the word ‘man’ in ‘manners’ and those who can at least make do. I will obey your orders, but nonetheless— I still find it exceedingly objectionable.”

Catching onto her true voice hidden beneath that flowery smile, the boy replied with a bitter grin, “Yeah, we have to put on an extravagant show, so please bear with it for now— I’ve even prepared a reward for you, so...”

“—I am Master Naoto’s belonging. Giving a reward to a follower... Please remember your place.” Contrary to her words, her face was filled with glee—however, it was something that only the boy could detect.

“How about you AnchoR? ...Are you all ready?”

“...Yes, if that is Father’s order— I mean, request, then...” Having her head patted by the boy, the young girl in red and white nodded with a smile.

And lastly, there was the blonde girl smiling bitterly in self-abandonment. “Is the word ‘nervous’ not in your vocabularies? ...This is gonna work, right?”

Contrary to her words, her voice didn’t sound all that anxious either. Perhaps the boy and the girl in black picked up on that, because they replied with cheerful smiles.

“That depends on you, Marie. After all, there’s no way that RyuZU or AnchoR will fail.”

“Mistress Marie, I do not know if... Well, if Master Naoto says it can be done, then it is only logical that even challenges that would confound the gods would prostrate themselves and yield— Of course, that is only if a certain dull-witted fool does not drag him down, but...”

“...Fine, fine I’ll leave it at that. Curiously enough, even your venomous tongue feels reassuring to me right now RyuZU. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to vent my anger and really cut loose.”

A small-sized mobile weapon was lined up alongside a car as an impromptu barricade to block their way. As they approached it, the boy was muttering as he carefully listened to the sounds of the army encircling the palace.

“There are eighteen heavily armored multi-legged tanks, thirty-two heavily armored soldiers, as for the heavily armored and lightly armored automata... argh, distinguishing between them is too troublesome. Just know that there’s sixty-eight of them altogether. In addition, there are ninety-eight cyborg soldiers as well—”

The boy, who had easily grasped the full makeup of the force laying siege to the palace, casually asked, “Marie—if the world’s most powerful troops were to do the job, how long would it take to annihilate this entire force?”

“Without causing any collateral damage to the palace whatsoever? It would be near impossible with that condition, but let’s see...” The blonde girl looked down slightly as she considered it.

The girl was a clocksmith, not a mercenary or a soldier. And so, typical of a clocksmith, she calculated and compared the capabilities of the opposing forces to answer: “Hypothetically, if you supply troops seasoned in urban warfare and subjugation with the next-next generation equipment. Lightly and heavily armored automata along with cyborgs as well... With four companies, I think a conservative estimate would be fourteen minutes.”

Hearing her answer that was based upon an impossible premise in the first place, the boy readily declared, “In that case, RyuZU, AnchoR—your time limit is seven minutes. Easy-peasy right?”

“Master Naoto, I think Mistress Marie asks more than enough dumb questions for all of us, you need not join her.”

“...Destroy all... of that? I’d like an order... May I, hold back some...”

“Sure, hold back as much as you can. Don’t kill anyone. That’s an absolute condition, got it?”

—If there were any outsiders listening in on their conversation, what would they have thought? Would they have laughed their butts off? Maybe they’d chide this pack of cheeky kids for their ridiculousness. At any rate—

“Well then, RyuZU, AnchoR—as planned, draw their attention with a bang, I’m counting on you.”

“Understood... Excuse me then.”

—Now then. Over the course of the year, Japan had faced an unprecedented chain of incidents following the attempted purge of Kyoto.

The Akihabara Terror Incident, the Akihabara Magnetization Crisis, the Kasumigaseki Convention, the authorization request for the use of Tall Wand, the Uprising of 2/8, the Mutiny of 2/9, the Battle at the Palace Gate...

—As if to mock all of that, something happened. A massive upheaval that wrapped everything up as an epic crime perpetrated by a single terrorist organization.

That something—was the last incident in this chain of events. A grand conclusion that tied all of the preceding incidents that had occurred together under one neat name. It was also the very first of the incidents in a chain of numerous others to follow which would shake the very foundation of this world.

This grand incident was what would later be known as the Uprising of 2/8. But it had another name. And that other name was the Second Ypsilon.

In this year, on this day, at this hour, in this second... 5:59 a.m. Japanese Standard Time, on February 10^th in the 1016^th Year of the Wheel—

Hearing a loud rumble all of a sudden, the soldiers all turned towards the source. What they saw was a building that had been sliced into a jigsaw collapse into pieces. Amidst the roar of the collapse, a clear voice, like that of a music box, resounded.

“—Your attention, please ♪.” Standing before the collapsing building, the girl in a black dress gave a single elegant bow. Crudely mimicking her big sister’s gesture, the young girl clad in red and white armor bowed as well.

“How are you all faring on this day? I am the First of the Initial-Y Series, RyuZU YourSlave.”

“U, Umm... I’m the Fourth of the Initial-Y Series, AnchoR the Trishula , o-or the One Who Destroys. N, Nice to meet you.”

—It all began with the greetings from two automata.

“Gazing upon germs, who, failing to discern their place, always busy themselves with some crude ploy is, to put it mildly, great comedy. Given my master’s orders as well as a little bit of my own personal resentment towards what has been done to me— Frankly, I am just rearing to vent my anger upon you, but...”

“U, Umm... p, please let me apologize, in advance... I, I’m sorry... ngh”

With the smile of an angel, the girl in black revealed two obsidian scythes that extended out from the hem of her skirt. Meanwhile the young girl in red and white looked sorry as she twisted her solid gear cube and pulled out an enormous sword from the void.

All those who had just heard them name themselves—doubted what they had heard. However, as if she didn’t need them to believe her, the girl in the black dress said with a smile—

“I am not sorry in the slightest, and though this is much too high of an honor for those brains of yours which are sorely lacking in specs, savor the supreme bliss of having heard my voice—” She paused for a breath. “—as well as the taste of dirt in your mouth as you grovel in worship of my name.”

“I, I’m sorry... ngh!”

—Immediately after, forget resisting, all those who had heard those words couldn’t even perceive what was happening. In an absurd turn of events whom none could defy, everything down to the handguns of the armored soldiers broke into pieces and fell to the ground.

As the latest bits of mythology proved their existence and overwrote what the people knew, the people who lived atop the Clockwork Planet were forcefully reminded once more— Just what kind of world it was that they lived in.

In other words—that which is called reality trivially annihilates the boundaries of mundane fiction.

●

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” ...Who was it that said that again? In any case, that truth applies to everyone, even those who witness history being made firsthand.

Take for example—Captain Sumitada Hikoshima of Tokyo’s central intelligence unit, who just turned twenty-eight this year. He was a young officer who had climbed through the ranks as fast as had been possible for someone his age.

The role of the central intelligence unit that he belonged to was to process information pertaining to the missions of the military and support the operations of other units. And so, after the Akihabara Terror Incident had occurred and an enormous unknown weapon had appeared...

“—A joke, an absolute, complete joke! Okada died for something like this? ...Ghh!” Captain Hikoshima slammed his fist onto the table in rage, shaking the tent walls of the makeshift command center. Seeing the sharp, threatening look on his face, the other officers who happened to be gathered around him gulped.

First Lieutenant Tsutomu Okada had been his friend. He had been a member of Tokyo’s security force. He had been deployed to intercept the enormous weapon... and he had been killed in action.

Even as the military’s chain of command fell into chaos as conflicting reports surfaced on the situation, Captain Hikoshima, whom many looked to as a young hope, was roused to take revenge for his friend. That was when he learned of one of the military’s top secrets:

That research on electromagnetic technology had been tacitly approved by the brass and ultimately led to Shiga Grid’s purge in an attempt to conduct a cover-up— That their attempt to turn their wrongful past into an opportunity to recover political ground was what led to the current situation.

—In other words, my friend was killed by politicians attempting to scrounge for votes...! Those bastards, I’ll never forgive them.

He was certain that he couldn’t leave this matter in the hands of his superiors. Seeing the brass fracture into factions as they tried to shove the blame onto one another at a time like this— He gave up on them and immediately contacted some colleagues whom he trusted.

All of them were promising young officers he had toasted with before vowing to give their all for the nation. Captain Hikoshima’s righteous indignation had spread like wildfire, igniting the hearts of many young officers. The result of that was this mutiny— No, this noble mission.

He was extremely disappointed in the princess’s reply, but even his friends chided him, saying, “You can’t blame the imperial family for being conservative.”

Captain Hikoshima understood it in his heart of hearts as well— That there was no way that forcefully seizing political power could possibly be right. That they weren’t on the side of justice.

—However, we’re in a state of national emergency, we’re facing a crisis in which the fate of the nation hangs. At times, there are things which must be done even if it means straying from justice. Why can’t you understand that...!

Considering the true intentions of those inside that weapon—obeying the brass who are simply squandering away valuable time would be no different from committing a tortuously slow suicide. We must immediately consolidate our power and rally the military’s forces. We don’t have a second to lose.

However... attacking the palace just because of that? Ludicrous, if I may say so myself, Captain Hikoshima thought, shaking his head. We can’t just atone with the results from our hard-line approach. ...Frankly, in the end, this too is nothing more than meaningless internal dissension.

Indeed, the truth is that we have neither the time nor the luxury to spare troops for something like this. I didn’t want it to come to this, but I have to finish things up here quickly.

The hour of battle was drawing near. Just as Hikoshima was about to give a final warning to those inside the palace— An explosion rang out. And not just a single one either, a second, then a third blast rang out after it.

“What’s going on! Who’s the idiot that jumped the gun—?!” Assuming that an antsy squad must have decided to begin the attack, Captain Hikoshima clicked his tongue.

—This is bad. Although we did give an advance warning, starting the attack without a final warning will become a problem later.

Actually, an even bigger problem is the fact that there are idiots here who would begin the attack without orders.

“The seventh squad has been wiped out! It appears that we’re being attacked from the rear!”

“...What did you say...?”

However, what the communications officer said next would shock him even more. “The self-propelled artillery positioned in our right flank has also been destroyed!”

The captain’s eyes opened wide in an astonished stare.

“I’m not getting a response from the second armored soldier unit! As for the third and fourth units—they’ve also gone silent!”

“—Impossible, who are they?! Which squad is attacking us?!” he angrily shouted at the communications officer as he hectically tried to figure it out.

The military brass? No, those incompetents are still engrossed in the blame game even now.

The mobile police squad? No, they’re not it either. They don’t have the luxury of attacking us. They have their hands full just trying to maintain the public order.

S.W.A.T? Impossible. They don’t have enough men to assault an army of this scale.

In that case—the imperial guard force huh... Tsk.

The members of the imperial guard were the Technical Force who managed the Pillar of Heaven. Because of that, Hikoshima had judged their combat strength to be low.

But at the end of the day, they’re still the unit that’s charged with protecting the Pillar of Heaven—did I underestimate them?!

They most likely used something like an underground tunnel below the palace to ambush us. In that case, what if we respond to their attack with our main force and send a flying column to storm the front during the engagement?

It’s different from what I planned, but with this, we can keep the damage done to the palace at a minimum—!

“Give me a report on the scale of the enemy forces!” the captain yelled as he turned around, however...

“—Come again? To give me an order... I see that you are quite bold. You are free to determine the value of your life at your own discretion, but if you think you have the right to aggravate me without reproach, you had best think again—”

What answered him was the clear voice of a girl—and silence. The members of his squad all fell face-flat upon the table in the command center. The large amount of equipment that had just been operating was all turned to scrap.

What just happened? When exactly? How—?

As the wind lightly lifted the flaps of the slashed-up tent, the scenery outside suddenly became visible. As Hikoshima looked about himself, he spotted the four-legged Komainu tank that had been positioned behind the command center—or rather, what was left of it.

It had become an unrecognizable heap of scrap metal. Atop it, stood a girl in a formal black dress. She was revealing two scythes from under her skirt with a confident smile.

“............Haaaaaah?” Captain Hikoshima’s eyes seemed empty as he let out that questioning sigh. It was a model case of how humans react when encountering an impossible situation.

“Hoooly... ah, well, so, I’m guessing that you’re the one in charge?”

Whirling around, the captain saw a blonde girl who looked like she just happened to be passing by.

“Well, I can understand how you feel... I’m sorry, just... pretend that you were caught in a natural disaster or something, alright?”

Peeking inside the tent, the girl looked like she sincerely sympathized with him as she closed her eyes and made the sign of the cross.

Bracing himself, Captain Hikoshima mustered all the strength he had to bravely question the girl: “...Wh—Who, are you?”

“—It’d be, to put it mildly, exceedingly tiresome to introduce myself over and over again... We’ve left one of your transmission devices over there untouched, so could you do me a favor and relay this to all of your troops for me? That’d make this so much quicker.”

—Suddenly, a violent gust swept through the command center. This time, the entire cut-up tent was whirled up by the wind. At the same time, three heavily armored soldiers were sundered in one blow before having any chance to retaliate.

The girl donned in red and white armor—the one who had brought about this inconceivable tragedy—suddenly noticed Hikoshima.

“Ah, umm... Nice to meet you. My name is... AnchoR.”

“And I am her elder sister, RyuZU—we are Initial-Y Series automata. Thank you for your meaningless work. Have a nice day.”

And just like that, they were gone. Captain Sumitada Hikoshima was left in a daze.

—Captain Sumitada Hikoshima had just borne witness to history. If someone were to ask him what had happened, I wonder what he would say?

Absurdly, unreasonably, off-handedly, abruptly—his revolution, which had burned with righteous indignation, was incomprehensibly squashed before his very eyes.

Would he describe it as a battle? An incident? No— It had been a phenomenon that could only be described as an “accident” and nothing else.

At any rate, deriving meaning from an interpretation was not the job of a witness—but a historian.

●

—The scene had been like one big punchline. It hadn’t been a battle. It was just one side being completely mowed down. But it wasn’t a natural disaster either... In short, it had simply been a stomp—just another case of the strong trampling the weak.

“...I knew what you guys were capable of going in to this... but really, your powers are totally unfair,” Marie muttered in sympathy for the young officer who appeared to be the commander.

“It’s obvious that RyuZU and AnchoR would be capable of this much,” Naoto replied with pride.

They were talking as they ran around the moat of the palace, making their way to its drawbridge. All the while, enemy forces were being annihilated around them. Yet another pair of lightly armored automata aiming their guns at them were shredded during that short exchange.

About a second later—a self-propelled artillery that had been positioned several hundred meters away was annihilated in much the same way.

Both these cases had probably been RyuZU’s work. Marie couldn’t be sure. After all, she was completely blind to RyuZU and AnchoR’s movements.

RyuZU was continuously moving at an ultra-high speed while maintaining a defensive perimeter around Naoto. Anything that threatened her master was minced to pieces. In other words, the destruction being done in their near field of vision was most likely the work of RyuZU.

As for AnchoR— “...Oh, no... my kick... ngh,” AnchoR said in a slight fluster.

From what I can see, I’m guessing what happened was that after she swung her sword, she couldn’t bring the blade around in time to deal with the Komainu behind her— So she kicked it with her heel instead. She was probably trying to hold back as best she could, but...

“Hey Naoto... Komainus are incredibly heavy; they weigh in at about 38.4 tons. Did you know that?”

“Really~? That’s surprisingly heavy~”

“Yes... they certainly are. And yet here they are flying in the air... Is this some kind of joke?” Seeing 38.4 ton lumps of metal fly in the sky, Marie let out a dry laugh. Those tanks weren’t supposed to fly.

—The C & S 22 Type 22 four-legged tank—Komainu, also known as a Guardian Dog. These multi-manned four-legged tanks were jointly developed by Seiko and Citizen.

Even if they weren’t at the level of the Five Great Corporations, these were still the two largest clockwork corporations in Japan. They possessed advanced technology that received worldwide recognition.

Their current flagship model should have been the successor to the Komainu, the A-un—but given the abrupt nature of the revolution, the rebels probably couldn’t get their hands on the military’s newest equipment.

However—Guardian Dogs were masterpieces of design that still made their appearance on the modern battlefield. As a clocksmith, even Marie couldn’t help but admire their design.

Despite being manned weapons, the units possessed a 360-degree field of vision. More impressive still, was their loading capacity—in addition to the basic 1200mm cannon and 300mm auto cannon, they were also capable of fielding four additional armaments and possessed the ability to switch out their loaded configurations during combat in real time.

Even so... “Ah... ngh, Father, Mother, I’m sorry.” AnchoR suddenly flew so quickly in front of Naoto and Marie that it was as if she had teleported. She casually swung the back of her hand.

Immediately after— Marie heard the burst of an explosion far above her. A second later, Marie grasped what had occurred: AnchoR just effortlessly diverted a shell that was closing in on us with the back of her hand...

Retracing the trajectory of the shell, Marie saw the Guardian Dog that had fired—its body was split vertically in two. AnchoR was currently apologizing to its flabbergasted operators who, still sitting in their positions, were having their hair tussled by the wind.

Seeing such a spectacle, Marie couldn’t help but put on a strained smile. The level of equipment possessed by Japan’s militaries were by no means shoddy. If anything, it could be considered top of the line.

This was especially impressive considering that they equipped themselves by and large with domestically manufactured technology. However, all of that equipment had been reduced to this.

“...Hey Naoto, think you could pinch my cheeks for a sec? I think I’m dreaming.”

“Sure thing— Hey, why are you punching back?!”

“Even absurdity should have its limits...”

“Oww... That’s my line... god...”

Witnessing the tempest of violence firsthand, Marie finally understood. RyuZU calling herself the weakest of the Initial-Y Series wasn’t out of humility in any way whatsoever.

“...Looks like I should have taken the fact that RyuZU, the self-proclaimed ‘weakest’ of the Initial-Ys, was capable of cutting through current-gen military weapons like butter a bit more seriously...”

Now that I think about it, RyuZU had also casually, effortlessly shredded the Vacherons’ latest manned weapon, the Goliath. That enormous spider shrugging off her attacks had been an exceptional case. The absurd truth is that it is perfectly natural for the Initial-Y Series to reduce modern weapons to nothing.

All the more so when they aren’t up against the “weakest,” but the “strongest...” Seeing AnchoR mow down three Guardian Dogs with a single swing of her massive sword, Marie suddenly seemed very tired.

“...Hey Naoto. What do you think ‘Y’ had in mind when he gave that child such incredible combat capability? —Even aliens would turn tail and run if they saw a scene like this...”

Naoto looked confused. “Isn’t that the point? AnchoR’s here to make those who would threaten the Clockwork Planet scurry away in fear, no? You sure do ask some obvious questions sometimes Marie.”

—A moment later. “Marie, I found it.” Naoto had been searching for the enemy without his headphones this whole time. “The heavily armored automaton Cz35C Black Tortoise—there’s no mistaking it. I found it.”

They could have just invaded the castle now while humming away freely if they wanted to. However, that wouldn’t be good enough. They had to crush the entire force gathered here before they could begin to retreat.

Under Naoto’s plan, they had to destroy all of the forces here as absurdly, overwhelmingly, and unreasonably as possible—in other words, at a speed that would be impossible for even the strongest military force in the world.

—And there was one additional condition as well. “Okay, on to the next phase then...!” Tightly hugging the brain pod she was carrying in her arms, Marie pursed her lips in firm resolve.

Looking to the skies she saw multiple news helicopters darting about as they fearlessly covered the storm of destruction below their feet. Confirming that one said news helicopter was pointing a camera her way, Marie raised her left arm and swung it in a large arc.

●

The imperial guard had established their emergency headquarters in the palace parlor. The upscale furniture had all been cleared, and things like transmission devices and an enormous screen took their place.

Just minutes ago, the imperial guard had been enveloped in a heavy air as they resolved themselves to honorably defend the palace to their last breath. The others inside the palace had been trembling in hopeless fear. But now, everyone’s eyes were glued to the live footage being played on the enormous screen.

“—E, Everyone please take a look at this incredible sight...!” a female reporter exclaimed. She seemed astonished herself, her voice was unevenly shrill.

That was understandable. The video being captured was, indeed, truly incredible. After all, the military force that had surrounded the palace was being destroyed by “something” making its way clockwise through them.

“Their true identities are uncertain! H, However, one of them is—ah yes, that boy over there! There is Naoto Miura, the suspect believed to be behind the premonitory broadcast announcing the Akihabara Terror Incident! And according to eye-witness testimony, two automata who claimed to be from the Initial-Y Series have appeared during the incident as well— Oh!”

Her eyes fixed to the screen, a young, black-haired woman—Houko—muttered, “What... is this?”

A nearby young Technical Force officer of the imperial guard replied, “W, We don’t know... There shouldn’t be any weapon capable of this, but...”

“Is the video being played in real-time? Is it not possible that the video is being edited?” the princess cautiously asked.

The officer considered it for a moment.

“Since it appears that this is indeed being broadcast on live television, no one would have had the time or the technology to prepare such an intricately doctored feed. And not just that, no one would have had a motive to do so in the first place.”

—But of course. Who would gain anything from fabricating footage like this? In the first place, it was something that was happening within a stone’s throw from the palace. Things were such that the people inside the palace could likely confirm the situation with their very eyes. As long as they had a window, any effort to alter the video feed would be pointless.

“In that case—this video is accurate then, yes?” Houko asked to confirm.

The officer who couldn’t quite bring himself to express it in words nodded in reply.

—This was reality. The same reality that surpasses and even tramples upon fiction—a fact that even Houko herself had almost forgotten.

Shuddering in fear, she returned her eyes to the screen—upon which she noticed something. Beside the boy being reported on, Naoto Miura... was a blonde girl looking directly up through the screen. Her emerald eyes were gleaming as she raised her left arm as high as she could behind her head.

“——”

Houko inadvertently turned her left wrist over revealing the face of her silver watch engraved with the letters “MARIE.”

“A, An anonymous tip has just come in! ...Wha? Ah, no, excuse me! According to the report, a, apparently, they’re—”

As she heard the announcement that followed, Houko’s eyes widened. She was the only one that understood what those words were— The magic words that would resolve everything.

“—the criminal group behind the Akihabara Terror Incident, and also the ones responsible for both the manufacture and the activation of the enormous unknown weapon that halted Akihabara Grid... The report appears to be yet another declaration of responsibility from the criminals themselves—!!!”

●

“Hoo... hell yeah! Finally! Haven’t felt alive without this suit, it just isn’t the same without it.”

—A road near the palace. On the rooftop of one of the buildings was a woman in a rubber suit smoking a cigarette. She stood by the edge of the roof, gazing at the boisterous scene below her.

To be precise, “she” wasn’t a woman. Strictly speaking, “she” wasn’t even human. “She” wasn’t a full-body cyborg or an automaton either. The man who had had his brain pod forcefully connected to the body of a female automaton heard his named called out over a resonance transceiver.

“Vermouth, according to Naoto, the target seems to be in a unit of five at 2 o’clock from your position.” The resonance transceiver built into his body was transmitting Marie’s voice.

S-he stood up lazily, stretching his-her arms. “Alright, as expected of the kid I fell in love with. Tell him that I’ll stuff him full later as a reward.”

“Naoto said— ‘Stay away, I don’t want to be infected by your gayness.’”

Vermouth cracked a bitter smile as he vaulted off the building’s edge and leapt through the air— He jumped from one rooftop to another as he made his way towards the designated position.

Over the transmission, Marie seemed anxious, or perhaps unsatisfied. “—I know it’s too late to change the plan now but... you really can pull this off right?”

Damn right it’s too late, Vermouth internally sneered. “What’s the matter honey, getting cold feet? You’re the one who tuned this body, you know. If you don’t even have faith in your own work, then you’re just as much of a bitch as I thought—”

“How am I supposed to have faith in it? I did the best I could, but—that body isn’t an artificial body. Do you understand what I’m saying? It isn’t something that was made to be connected to a human brain!”

“—Seriously?! That’s news to me! In that case, would you mind telling me just one more thing princess? Who was the bitch that linked my brain to such a thing again?” Vermouth spat, shutting Marie up.

—She didn’t need him to tell her that. She was well aware of it herself. However... “There’s no need to worry, I’m feeling pretty good. You did a great job Missy.” Vermouth wasn’t lying. His body’s shock absorbing mechanism was cushioning his landings with ease.

Vermouth’s new lascivious body was like that of an actress or a top model. It was typical for a love automaton. But miraculously enough, despite the difference in height, he hadn’t needed to adjust much to get a feel for it.

As for its power output, it couldn’t compare to the original—a military-grade artificial body. On the other hand, perhaps because it was specialized for dancing, his new body was capable of some surprisingly supple maneuvers that his original body hadn’t been capable of.

—Indeed, it was. And because of that, he felt almost no lag in response time from this body. No one but Marie could have tuned this body to his brain so well. Even if they had used high grade parts for everything.

I see. Sure enough, this is the work of a genius— Vermouth privately thought. “After all, despite being a lady love machine, it comes with such a big cock—”

“I’ll really kill you, you know?” Vermouth’s jest had been met with a freezing voice full of murder.

“No, but really, why’d you go out of your way to deliver me a package?”

“I didn’t! It was there to begin with! I didn’t want to touch the wicked thing so I just left it!!”

Vermouth’s eyes widened. He could just imagine how Marie’s face must be flushing red right now. “Oy, this is the standard model? You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me! So this is ‘Cool Japan’? I mean, I’ve heard the rumors but... Wow, the Japanese always live in the future regardless of the era don’t they!”

Vermouth laughed, seeming fully amused, but upon sensing an ominous air from his transceiver—he abruptly turned serious. Lighting a new cigarette, he said in a quiet voice, “—You know, these cigs taste great.”

“What do you mean by that? There’s no way you can taste with that body— Actually, that goes for your original body as well.”

Vermouth bitterly laughed. You don’t get it at all. As he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he visually confirmed his destination. Just as Naoto had said, there was a unit of five machines at 2 o’clock. Vermouth verified that the target was in the unit.

“For example, princess, people say crap like ‘the air here tastes great,’ but what does that actually mean?”

“...”

“Like air could have any taste. What they mean is that the air puts them in a great mood.”

—The heavily armored automaton Cz35 Type C Black Tortoise. Made by Citizen, it featured both thick composite armor and heavy firepower. Featuring two 40mm autocannons, one for each hand, and a thermobaric buster as its main cannon on its shoulders, it was additionally equipped with a high-precision, high-speed artificial intelligence.

...Vermouth couldn’t help but crack a bitter smile at the fact that a young officer was able to field such a powerful weapon for his mutinous antics.

But it seemed like the commander couldn’t get as many of them as he had wanted. The manned units accompanying it were three Iron Demons, and a four-legged tank, a Guardian Dog. By their feet were several cyborg soldiers and lightly-armored automata as well.

As he looked down at them, Vermouth recalled Naoto’s demand inside his head. Let me repeat your order. Destroy only the AI of the Black Tortoise and eliminate all of the units supporting it without killing anyone.

Will that complete your order? Would you like some fries and a drink with that? Vermouth stifled his laughter. That brat gave a scumbag like me such an impossible task.

“And yet... right now, these cigs taste like the best thing in the world to me!”

“—This is something that only you can do, no?” That’s what that kid told me.

“...And what does that mean?” Marie asked, befuddled.

Hearing that, Vermouth kicked off from his rooftop perch and leapt downward. He descended in a zig-zag between the walls of a six-story building on the opposite side of the road and the original, and made his way to the ground.

“I’ll crush them for pissing me off” —Recalling Naoto’s eyes when he had said that, Vermouth puffed out a large breath of smoke and bit down on the filter of his cigarette with a daring smile.

“—It means that there’s no way I’ll screw this up!” Vermouth sneered as he headed towards the chaotic battlefield—running out from the shadows of the buildings.

He charged in a straight line toward a cyborg soldier who was vigilantly scanning the surroundings. Naturally, the soldier discovered Vermouth. “Wh, Who are y—” Bewildered by the love automaton charging at him, the soldier readied his rifle.

But Vermouth accelerated even faster and closed the distance— And at the same time, he threw out a kick. The tip of Vermouth’s kick connected with the rifle, causing it to spiral out of the soldier’s hands.

As the rifle’s original orientation reversed Vermouth grabbed it and fired. A gunshot rang out as a bullet pierced the right leg of the cyborg soldier. Passing the soldier by, Vermouth unloaded three more rounds into the soldier’s abdomen to incapacitate him.

As the enemy soldier keeled over, Vermouth flashed a smile. “What do I look like to you? I’d very much like to know.”

“—There’s an enemy here!!” Hearing the sound of what were in total four gunshots, the other cyborg soldiers in the area responded.

“Ah, nice, things’ll be easier if you bunch see this passing basket case of a dutch wife as an enemy.” Vermouth laughed.

Enemies showered him with bullets from three different directions, but Vermouth kept his feet moving. He evaded the rain of fire with skillful, dancelike steps.

He was weaving through the blind spots of the enemy cyborg soldiers and automata as he took advantage of their formation in order to bait friendly fire. All the while, Vermouth continued advancing with a slick glide.

Though they were only shooting at him with rifles, if the body of a love automaton eats even a single bullet, it’d be fatal damage—and yet, there was no fear in Vermouth’s expression. He continued moving with a sardonic smile.

Right then— “I’ll be borrowing your head for a sec, little boy.” —Vermouth stepped on the head of a cyborg soldier and leapt into the air. What stood before him was an armored walker—an Iron Demon.

Landing on the armored walker’s shoulder—which was roughly eight meters from the ground—Vermouth clung on tightly. Though it was no match for a military-grade artificial body, the strength his current body possessed still far exceeded human limits.

Losing track of the enemy that had caused a melee by its feet, the Iron Demon assumed a cautious, defensive posture—but it couldn’t find its target. Vermouth was very much aware of the fact that none of the eight cameras on an Iron Demon covered his position.

Vermouth stretched his hands out, and opening the hatch hidden by the machine’s nape, pulled the emergency release lever inside, twisting it clockwise.

Immediately after, the Iron Demon stopped moving. As the sound of turning gears and cylinders rang out, the hatch to the cockpit was parted like a fully-opened backpack. The pilot of the Iron Demon looked like he had just graduated from a military academy.

“......Hah?” The officer stared in blank amazement at the target he had been looking for.

Shoving the muzzle of his rifle right up the officer’s nose, Vermouth grinned. “Hey kid, that’s quite the sexy car. By the way, did you know that this beauty’s a single-seater? Shocking, I know.”

While keeping his rifle firmly in place with one hand, Vermouth used his other to cram a cigarette inside the pilot’s mouth. “Whaddya say you trade me this babe for that cig? I mean we’re friends, aren’t we? You can tell me your thoughts on your journey through the air afterwards, alright?”

Grabbing the head of the bewildered officer, Vermouth forced him to nod. Satisfied, Vermouth pulled the ejection lever under the pilot’s seat. Immediately after—a fwoosh rang out as the pilot’s screams echoed up to the high heavens as his seat blasted off.

“Thanks mate.” Unnecessarily blowing a seductive kiss in the pilot’s trajectory, Vermouth slipped inside the cockpit. “Now then—guess I’ll show everyone that I can answer li’l Naoto’s expectations by acting like the scumbag I am.”

Since the seat had been ejected, a portion of the steering system was lost. However, unlike a fighter plane, the cockpit itself was still there. Vermouth clutched the joystick and some torn wires—and was able to grasp the steering system of the Iron Demon with just that.

If Marie saw these skills of mine—just what kind of face would she make? As he thought about that in a corner of his mind, Vermouth went over the remainder of the mission plan in his head. At the same time, seeing the armored walkers and the four-legged tank before his eyes acting flustered, he scoffed.

Hah— Can’t even override your machine’s recognition of this unit from ally to enemy? You juveniles aren’t even fit to be called amateurs.

Despite having had an Iron Demon stolen from them, the enemy had yet to retaliate. Due to a mechanism that prevents friendly fire, they couldn’t use their armaments against the stolen Iron Demon until they changed it to an enemy in the settings.

Much the same, the military automata, including the Black Tortoise, couldn’t change alliance settings at their own discretion. The automated condition required for them to alter that setting for a unit—was detecting not just one, but two attacks from that unit towards a friendly unit.

In other words—until Vermouth attacked them twice, no one could open fire on the Iron Demon that Vermouth was piloting aside from the foot soldiers with their rifles.

If that’s the case, how should I play this?

—The one I have to crush first and foremost is definitely the four-legged Guardian Dog. With the light plating of this Iron Demon, not to mention these incomplete controls—it’d be game over if that unit takes a shot at me.

In that case—I’ll crush the Guardian Dog in one blow and right after that—destroy the Black Tortoise’s AI.

There’s no other way.

If I can’t take out the Guardian Dog in one go, the instant I land a second hit, the autocannons of the Black Tortoise will turn my Iron Demon into Swiss cheese.

That said, if I go for the Black Tortoise’s AI first and the crew of the Guardian Dog manage to change its alliance settings—that’s game over as well.

So in that respect, the best odds would be to incapacitate the Guardian Dog first, then take care of the Black Tortoise. After that, while they’re surely pissing bullets all over me—I’ll have to take out another two Iron Demons.

And—without killing a single person at that.

Easy enough to say, but this mission easily makes the top ten in difficulty for my career.

But— Vermouth made a ferocious smile that looked out of place on a love automaton’s face— It’s fun as all hell.

Vermouth kicked the floor of the cockpit, saying, “Hey there you piece of junk—know what Code D3 is?”

Naturally, there was no response. As the pilot’s seat had been ejected, the system of this unit recognized its current status as unoccupied. However, even if there had been a response, the system would surely have answered no. After all, Code D3 was a combat order that Vermouth had arbitrarily named himself.

“You don’t? Well, that figures. How about the one that the ghost princess taught me then?” Vermouth said as he operated the wires in his hands with precise micro-movements. The wires he was manipulating were connected to the cylinder that controlled the Iron Demon’s power output.

The command which Marie had taught him how to execute before the mission started was— “Release all limiters—in other words, shake those hips for me as hard as you can, like your life depends on it. Got it, you pathetic virgin?”

As if responding to him, the few gauges that were left in the Iron Demon lit up. A countdown of the operational time left read “162 seconds” on the screen in front of him.

“Hah—two and a half minutes for your first time? No need to worry ya touch squirt. I’ll show you a technique that’ll make all the ladies come two minutes in—!!” Vermouth yelled as a rallying warcry from within the tremoring machine.

Marie’s fed-up voice sounded from his resonance transceiver: “...You have a disease.”

“Oh? What, you were listening in ya little shrew? —I’m hardboiled right?”

“...Are you seriously saying that? I’ll gladly stuff some sense into your head if you are, but—”

“Hahah! Did you get confused? You’re on the side that gets stuffed!!”

With that, Vermouth pulled on the wires like the reigns of a horse—and the Iron Demon heated up and began to sprint. It unsheathed a high frequency oscillating blade with its right hand as it charged towards the Guardian Dog as planned.

In an instant, his unit closed the distance at a speed near its functional limit. Vermouth bitterly smiled.

AnchoR and RyuZU—those cheats dealt with them casually—but normally, a four-legged tank, even an outdated one, is a monster on the battlefield.

Challenging one with the capabilities of an armored walker is basically equivalent to suicide.

However, even if he didn’t understand the unit’s design like Marie did—Vermouth still understood their weaknesses inside and out.

There were three weaknesses to a multi-legged tank. The supporting AI, the power spring, and the cockpit found on its underside where the armor was thin.

However, the first two weaknesses were protected by sturdy armor that couldn’t be pierced by the power of an Iron Demon without exception. As such, the best option was to slip underneath the unit and kill the crew.

However—Naoto’s order had stipulated not killing anyone. Because of that, Vermouth chose to go for its “fourth weakness” by process of elimination. It was a vulnerability that was present without exception in all multi-legged tanks—no, in all manned weapons. Cutting the steering control that existed in all human-piloted weapons.

But that too was protected by tough plating, though not to the extent of the first two weaknesses. The only part of the plating that was thin enough for his Iron Demon’s blade to penetrate—was the back of its waist. That spot was right above the cockpit.

—Incapacitating the tank by piercing its armor there without damaging the cockpit directly below it. He had been given this ridiculously difficult task.

“—This is something that only you can do, no?”

Recalling the boy’s expression as he had said that, Vermouth grinned as he pulled in the wires in his hands and pushed the joystick all the way forward. At the same time, the Iron Demon’s boosters propelled it at max power as it kicked off the ground and soared in the air.

The burst that surpassed the unit’s power output limiter made the actuators throughout the machine cry out under strain. But that didn’t matter. Vermouth adjusted the Iron Demon’s posture in midair and measured his aim.

Like driving a nail using a 14.2 ton nail gun with gravity’s help, The Iron Demon thrust its high frequency oscillating blade into the back of the Guardian Dog’s waist——!!

“God daaaamn—!!” Feeling the impact of the strike coursing through his body, Vermouth loudly cursed. “It fucking hurts!! So you’re gonna contest the power of my cock, huh? You shitty mongrel—!” Vermouth roared as the recoil of the impact hit his hands.

The blade was creaking as it distorted, but Vermouth continued pressing down as hard as he could.

Marie’s voice sounded from the transceiver again. “...Just so you know, the vulgar way in which you speak—is actually the antithesis of being hardboiled.”

“Ngh——?!” Shocked by Marie’s words, Vermouth choked on air as he finished his maneuver and jumped backwards. At the tail end of the swing, Vermouth had felt the resistance against the controls give way. He figured that the blade had finally managed to go through—if only barely.

As proof of that, the Guardian Dog’s knees gave out and it collapsed on the spot. With this, it should be out of order until it gets repaired—a few hours at the very least.

...But, more importantly. “Wait, what?! ...Huh? Masterfully applying words like ‘fuck,’ ‘shit,’ ‘damn,’ and ‘bitch’ to a situation is what makes a man chic, isn’t it?!”

Upon completing its swing, his Iron Demon’s right arm had burst apart, and upon landing back onto the ground, its legs were damaged as well.

Meanwhile, all the automata in the area adjusted their recognition of his Iron Demon from “ally” to “target for reevaluation” —and focused their attention on it. At its feet, foot soldiers were showering his unit with bullets—but Vermouth ignored them.

“...Are you from America or something? I mean, even the hooligans in gangster movies spit out more elegant lines these days, don’t they?”

Sensing veracity in Marie’s fed-up voice, Vermouth said, “—Seriously? So what that bastard told me was a lie?! I’m gonna kill him if I find him in hell.” After cursing Amaretto, his deceased colleague— Vermouth stared down the Black Tortoise in front of his eyes.

In just one more hit—the instant I land a second attack, I’ll be exposed to a shell-storm. As such, the target of my second attack is, of course—the heavily armored automaton Black Tortoise.

Vermouth unsheathed the remaining blade of his Iron Demon with its still functional left arm and fiercely accelerated forward. Ignoring the annoying malfunction reports popping up on his screen, he closed in on the Black Tortoise—

—Suck on th—

Just then, his unit heavily swayed. One of the remaining enemy Iron Demons tackled his unit without using its armaments. Even without adjusting the alliance settings—a tackle was possible.

“Fuckin’ A— Looks like there’s a virgin here with a working brain after all!” Vermouth growled through gritted teeth.

Even though the enemy unit’s the same, it’s not much for mine now that all its limiters are released.

With that in mind, it should be possible for me to ignore this guy and attack the Black Tortoise, but—I wouldn’t have the necessary precision to only destroy the AI while being grappled from behind—I need to eliminate it first.

Vermouth hesitated—but only for an instant.

“Hey, were you telling the truth earlier? Despite how it may seem, I’m an authentic Neapolitan you know?! At least, I think so. On my family register—actually, I don’t have a family register or any memory of my youth, but it should be true you know?!”

“Whatever the case, aren’t you just a punk from the cesspools of society?”

Resolving himself, Vermouth spent his remaining free attack on striking the waist of the enemy Iron Demon.

“Oy bitch! Apologize to all of Italy! Italy is, you know—number one in the world for luxury cars and ball games! And by ball games, of course, that includes bedtop sports as w—”

“Maybe you should just die.”

The Iron Demon that had had its power spring destroyed collapsed onto the ground. However, at that instant, Vermouth felt himself surrounded by an artificially murderous intent. Naturally—that applied to the prize in front of him as well.

“—Ah~ well, careful what you wish for.”

The Black Tortoise turned its thermobaric buster towards him. Forget a direct hit, if his unit was even grazed by a shot from the enemy’s thermobaric buster, he’d have a guaranteed ticket to heaven.

“—Vermouth?!” Marie cried out.

Vermouth shouted with his entire body, “Hey bitch! There’s no mistaking it, I’m an Italian after all. That’s what my soul is telling me!!”

For a split second, Vermouth was staring down the barrel of the cannon but— “Fuckin’ A!” Vermouth snarled. I still have a chance to win. Pulling on the wires, he made his unit step to the left. The next moment, the shell from the thermobaric cannon flew right past him.

...I just have to stay out of this guy’s line of fire! I can withstand the shots from the lightly-armored automata for the time being but...

“—After all, it’s screaming at me to act cool in front of a girl even at a time like thiiis!” Vermouth intuitively moved his unit further to the left. Shortly after, autocannon shells showered where he had just been.

—The attack had come from the last enemy Iron Demon.

“So you finally learned how to alter the alliance settings eh? But—I wanna thank you, you know? I truly appreciate it.” Vermouth sneered as his unit continued veering to the left.

The enemy’s autocannons howled as they chased his Iron Demon with continuous fire—however, Vermouth had swiftly made his way to the right flank of the Black Tortoise.

He took a position where he could use the Black Tortoise as cover from the enemy bombardment as the cannon fire that had been chasing him from his side fell into the plating of the Black Tortoise, producing sparks.

Vermouth snickered. “If you’re gonna alter the alliance settings, change only the one you’re supposed to. Let me guess, you’ve self-studied a billion times but never had any experience with an actual woman?”

All the automata in the area now recognized the other Iron Demon as an enemy as well. —With this, there are only two enemies I have to deal with now.

The Black Tortoise’s AI hesitated for a moment in deciding whether it should prioritize the new enemy threat or the old one.

A momentary reprieve, but— Vermouth curled his lips. He swiftly slid his unit from the Black Tortoise’s flank to its rear and thrust his blade where the AI of the machine was stored. Sparks scattered as his blade pierced deep inside the plating.

“On the battlefield, hesitating for less than a fraction of a second can be the difference between life and death. Was this educational for you, cherryboy?” —The resistance that his hands felt disappeared. The reason Naoto had said that this was something that only Vermouth could do—was this.

If only knowledge was required, Marie could have done it as well.

Where the actuators of the AI were bundled, how their processors and control systems were positionally arranged, where the weakest spot in the plating was, and what amount of energy would be just enough to destroy the AI and leave the rest of the machine untouched—Marie knew all of that.

However, she wouldn’t be able to execute the necessary actions in combat to realize it—what amount of power would be just enough, and what amount of power would be too much? Even if Marie could say the correct value, she didn’t have the finesse to precisely apply that value while being fired upon in a commandeered war machine.

After all, the Iron Demon’s oscillating blade was massive, measuring two and a half meters long. It was on a completely different scale from a clocksmith’s handheld tools. If she were to accidentally destroy the unit’s circuitry along with the AI, they would have to repair the Black Tortoise afterwards.

Just like cute lil’ Naoto said, this is something that only I could have done. Vermouth boasted to himself. Due to “a certain reason,” Vermouth had experience in destroying over a hundred models that followed the same design philosophy as this Black Tortoise.

Seeing the Black Tortoise which had ceased operating in front of him, he became certain. —That should do it, I’ve destroyed just its AI as ordered.

The only things left to take care of are the enemy Iron Demon, which, like mine, has been recognized as hostile by the enemy automata, and the fodder on the ground. However, it’d be difficult for lightly-armored automata to take down an Iron Demon by themselves.

So much so that in the worst case, the enemy Iron Demon could prioritize taking me down first. The pilot could always try and figure out how to reset the alliance settings for his squad’s automata after.

Furthermore, with that attack just now, my unit’s left hand is a mess. My unit has lost both of its blades as well. Even if I get out of this unit, it’d be difficult to escape from the fodder with my current body’s capabilities.

—In that case. “Still one more unit left on the hit list... Hey there, you piece of junk. Remember what I said about Code D3?” Vermouth looked at the gauges. Sixty seconds left huh. Well, that should probably be enough.

Tugging on a single wire—Vermouth hooked it to a lever by his feet while muttering, “‘Die for my sake’ —See ya. We got along well, but pumping and dumping is my way of life. No strings attached.”

“Really, you’re the worst.” Chuckling at Marie’s comment, Vermouth jumped out of the cockpit.

Immediately after—at an aberrantly swift speed, the Iron Demon that Vermouth had been piloting grappled the other one before freezing in the midst of the firing automata. Both units were locked in a hail of gunfire.

Meanwhile, Vermouth was also assaulted by shelling from cyborg soldiers and automata on the ground. If even one of their shots hit him, the commercial automaton’s body he was using would immediately turn to scrap. However, Vermouth evaded the enemies’ shots with graceful somersaults as he headed towards his destination.

Glancing at the sky, he zeroed in on his target. “—Welcome back buddy. How was your flight? You promised that you’d tell me your impressions, right?” Vermouth kindly smiled at the silhouette that floated down from above.

—It was the pilot who had been forcefully ejected from the Iron Demon earlier.

As Vermouth deftly untangled the parachute and restrained the pilot, he nonchalantly said, “The car I borrowed from you broke down. It was definitely defective, no doubt about it. As such, give me back my cig please.”

Vermouth snatched the cigarette from the pilot’s mouth and took a drag— “Hm? Does your mouth feel lonely? Try a taste of this then.” In a flash, Vermouth swiped the handgun from the pilot’s holster before the pilot could even react. He then stuffed the muzzle of the firearm in the pilot’s mouth, locking the pilot’s dropped jaw in place.

Now behind a hostage, Vermouth flashed everyone around him a big smile. “Now then... if you guys don’t want this guy’s head blown off—even an idiot would should know the drill, right?”

“F, Fggh... ngggh.” The hostage floundered about in his arms, but Vermouth’s hold didn’t loosen.

One of the cyborg soldiers who had their guns pointed towards the two of them spitefully said, “You dirty little crook!”

“Haah? A crook? Reaaaally? ...That’s weak, man. Yes, and?”

—Crook. A cheat and a swindler, but also a term that typically implies some manner of success at it. Vermouth chose to focus on the latter point. Yeah, you’re perfectly right— Vermouth laughed.

Paying no mind to the countless guns pointed towards him, Vermouth took a deep drag of smoke and blew it out. Naturally, the automata in the area couldn’t fire at Vermouth, one of their designated allies was in the way.

Five, four, three... as Vermouth mentally counted down, he said, “Work on your vocabulary a bit more pal... Hoo—— And zero.”

Right then— The Iron Demon that Vermouth had piloted converted all of its remaining energy to heat and exploded. With a thunderous roar, the air shook as the shockwave’s hot wind flew past Vermouth. Shrouded by dazzling light in the distance, the enemy Iron Demon collapsed, a hole having formed in its abdomen.

Vermouth had set his Iron Demon to self-destruct in twelve seconds. It had done so by converting the remaining forty-eight seconds worth of operational energy to heat— But, just as planned, it had only been enough force to destroy the abdomen of the remaining Iron Demon.

Confirming that the pilot of the freshly incapacitated Iron Demon had successfully bailed, Vermouth blew out another puff of smoke. “Hell yeah... The cigs today really are delicious... Mission accomplished— Oh.”

Then, with his gun still stuffed inside the pilot’s mouth, Vermouth showed the cyborg soldier who had accosted him a filthy smile. It was a total mismatch for his bewitchingly beautiful face. “Give me a more fitting adjective next time, got it Japanese? Like, for example—”

—Just then, a chain of black flashes broke out. All the fodder in the area were minced. Cyborg soldiers were incapacitated, automata were made irreparable, only assorted piles of humans and scrap metal remained.

The girl who landed in the midst of the wreckage—RyuZU—scoffed, “What a cowardly, sleazy way of fighting. Really, I am impressed even.”

Vermouth laughed. He bumped the back of his hostage’s head with his elbow to knock him out and released him. “You get it don’tcha Miss Dolly... Yes yes, call me ‘honorable’ in that tone of voice.”

At that, Naoto, AnchoR, and Marie also turned up. Marie immediately gasped, “...I can’t believe it. You really pulled it off? —With that body...?” Her voice was filled with true astonishment—as well as relief.

Her reaction satisfied Vermouth, who took another deep drag with a smug smile. “—What Missy, were you worried about me? So that’s why you kept yakking over the radio. Let me guess, is it love?”

“Die, pervert. It was because if you screwed up, Halter would be in trouble.”

“Hah— That so. So the Master’s your number one huh. Guess there’s no helping it then, I can’t compete with the Master.” Vermouth laughed as he raised both hands in resignation.

As Marie ran off towards the Black Tortoise, Vermouth called out to her from behind, “—Confess your love for me already ‘Missy.’ If you screw up, I’ll comfort you, ya ‘bitch.’”

“I managed to pull off a miracle.”

“Now it’s your turn to show me that you’re the real deal Missy. Or are ya some self-proclaimed genius who’s really just a bitch?”

Picking out Vermouth’s meaning between the lines, Marie smirked at his way of cheering her on.

I see. He may be an uncouth, infuriating man, but he did finish the job like he said he would.

“RyuZU, AnchoR, and especially you, Marie— I’m counting on you guys okay?”

Obeying Naoto’s words, a pair of legs intersected in a curtsey before turning on their heel and kicking off from the ground. RyuZU tore open the back plating of the Black Tortoise whose AI had already been destroyed by Vermouth.

Then, AnchoR carried Marie up to the freshly exposed internal mechanisms of the automaton and said before leaving, “...Mother, do your best... ngh!”

“Ugh, I told you to stop calling me that,” Marie grouched before sighing. She put down Halter’s brain pod and laid out her tools. Nodding, Marie opened and closed her fists to warm her hands up.

—I’ll make Naoto’s plan a success.

To that end, we have to destroy the entire enemy force absurdly, overwhelmingly, unreasonably, and at a speed which would be absolutely impossible for even the world’s strongest army.

—And, there’s one more thing too.

As she ferociously began her work with Halter’s brain pod in front of her, Marie recalled the details of last night’s meeting...

●

“Link Halter’s brain to a heavily-armored automaton— What, are you screwing with me?!” Marie cried out.

As Marie listened to the plan—no, it was questionable whether this crackpot idea could even be called a plan—Naoto proposed the above solution to the problem of finding a new artificial body for Halter.

Given his abundance of fighting experience, Halter’s absence hurt their overall strength considerably. However, connecting him to a cheap artificial body would actually be more dangerous.

In that case, Naoto figured that they could just seize the enemy’s main weapon, the heavily-armored automaton Black Tortoise, and hook him up to that. That was what Naoto was saying— But.

“...Now look here—and I won’t let you tell me that you don’t realize this—human brains are things that control human bodies! A heavily armored automaton’s body is completely different from an artificial body that’s made to be compatible with human brains!” Marie preached.

Despite having the most basic common sense shoved in his face, Naoto tilted his head in confusion. “...I mean, I think old man Halter can do it though, you know?”

“—Because you figure Halter has experience operating manned weapons? Well yeah, of course he does. But that’s completely different from having his brain linked to an automaton!

Have you ever taken in a panoramic image all at once like insects do with their compound eyes? Could you handle operating eight legs like a spider? The information that artificial skin and touch sensors send are completely different you know? A human brain can’t process that kind of information.”

“Nooo? You’re wrong about that, Missy,” the one linked to a love automaton that was hanging on a workshop hanger—Vermouth—interjected. “I feel like you’re looking down on the brains of veteran soldiers—I’m talking about the ones who successfully trained themselves until their weapons became like their own flesh and blood.”

“...Don’t be ridiculous. In the first place, there’s no precedent for such a—”

“But there is. Countless examples, in fact.”

As Marie was left in mute amazement, Vermouth scoffed, “If a human brain is directly linked to a weapon, one can avoid being limited by the inflexible algorithms of an AI while also avoiding the major shortcoming of manned weapons, the control lag. There are those who were forced to do it—and those who chose to do it on their own, you know?”

Hearing Vermouth insinuate that countless such human experiments were being conducted, Marie glared. “Don’t screw with me! That’s a violation of human rights—it’s totally illegal!!”

“Hahhah—! That one-liner’s a masterpiece. To speak of human rights of all things on a battlefield! Just where is this goddess of yours who respects something like that, because unfortunately, I’ve never met her!”

Ignoring the flabbergasted Marie, Vermouth sarcastically laughed as he shifted his gaze. “So— Brat, as I thought, your craziness is sublime. Moreover, you suggested this because you realized it right?”

“Ah, so I guessed correctly? I had heard that the old man’s artificial body was a verification unit, so I figured—”

“I love it. I love that scummy, keen perception of yours! On the other hand, I’m surprised that you don’t know anything about it, princess.”

Marie sullenly asked with a sigh, “...What are you talking about?”

Vermouth answered her question with a wide, exceptionally repugnant sneer on his face. “I told you didn’t I? There are those who chose to do it on their own— Master Halter is one of them.”

Hearing his answer, Marie muttered, practically suffocating “.........You must be joking...”

“I’m genuinely surprised that you didn’t know. It’s a famous legend in our line of work, you know?” Vermouth erased the sneer on his face before continuing.

“—The Scarborough Fair Incident. Oberons. The absolute war machine Overwork. Only an imposter or an amateur scumbag wouldn’t know of the legendary mercenary who brought about a miracle in that desperate, hopeless predicament. The master hooked himself up—in the middle of combat you know?”

Vermouth continued in a somewhat boastful tone— “He linked his own brain! On the spot! To the heavily-armored automaton that he captured from the enemy!” —As he shouted with pride.

“The master supposedly said this back then you know? That ‘no AI can ever match the brain of a human who has survived the battlefield.’ And with that, the master destroyed twenty-seven heavily-armored automata of the same model as his linked one and survived. He provided the truth of his words,” Vermouth fervently preached, it was like someone reciting a legend of his favorite baseball team.

“...That’s a lie. If there were any such cases, there would have been papers written on the subject already, but there aren’t any,” Marie replied.

“Scarborough Fair was an unofficial operation. It was something that happened before you were born, princess. By the way, should I tell you why I said I was surprised that you didn’t know about this when lil’ Naoto managed to sniff it out?”

The words that followed— “Listen, princess. A verification unit basically means a test model.” —truly made Marie choke on air this time.

“Savvy? Normally it might be a human rights violation, but what if the subject was someone who couldn’t be more suited for the job?”

...Vermouth doesn’t look like he’s lying.

It’s true that I don’t know the original reason that Halter was hired by the Breguet Corporation to begin with.

But, if what Vermouth’s saying is true, then that’d mean that Halter’s a test model—

Marie doubled down. “Even theoretically... that’s impossible. If a military grade automaton feeds its sensory information to a human brain—the brain would be ruined.”

“It’s just as you say. That’s the reason that such ‘weapons’ aren’t mass produced. It’s also the reason that there are countless idiots who ended up losing their own names after trying to follow in the Master’s heroic footsteps,” Vermouth sneered. “—You know, like me for instance.”

Shocked, Marie stared at Vermouth. The man who had lost everything except his brain smiled impishly. “—I told you didn’t I? That I’m the Master’s humble fan.”

Marie looked down and sank into silence as she pondered—letting out a deep sigh, she lifted her head. “Very well. But I have a condition. If you call yourself his fan then you should know the unit that Halter connected himself to, yes?”

“HS-FK2, ‘Oberon’— It was an antique model even at the time. This country doesn’t stock it, and even if you did find one it’d be useless on a modern battlefield,” Vermouth replied after deducing her line of thought.

She probably wants to use the same model as the one that the Master connected to back then to lower the risk as much as possible, but...

However, Marie was muttering to herself while staring into space. Satisfied, she nodded calmly. “—Oberon, huh. I see, I can see how it was possible then. So Halter didn’t actually go for broke without any consideration back then.”

“Hah?”

“An Oberon—it’s a model that has a ‘flawed design’ due to concentrating its control system and processors in one spot. In a live fire test, it would shut down if it was simply hit in the back by an anti-materiel rifle, so its back plating was reinforced. But because of that, its center of gravity became lopsided. So to stabilize it, the designers overloaded it with frontal armaments. That’s the kind of failed creation it is.”

Mouth agape, Vermouth stared at Marie. “—Oy, don’t tell me that you have the blueprints of all the weapons of the world—”

“Memorized? But of course,” Marie readily affirmed, smirking. “Don’t underestimate an ex-Meister for your own good alright, Mister Dutch Wife? But if that’s the case, we might be able to solve the problem.”

“Err, what do you mean?” Naoto asked with his head tilted.

Marie explained, “It’s true that concentrating a weapon’s control system and processors in one place is a design flaw overall, but it does have the benefit of making maintenance of the unit easier. There are quite a few weapons that employ this type of design...

For instance, there’s a model with a similar design philosophy as the Oberon currently in service in Japan as well—the Cz35C, ‘Black Tortoise’—Naoto, can you tell where the Black Tortoises in Tokyo are with those magical ears of yours?”

“So my hearing is magic now, huh... Like I could tell from just their model number, I need to hear their sou—”

“—Okay, you’ll know if one’s turned on then right?” Marie asked with a serious look. She repeated her query for confirmation. “—Right?”

“Yeah. If there’s one that’s turned on, I’ll find it.” Naoto looked right back at her, nodding.

Evaluating his credibility from the expression in his eyes—Marie nodded in return. “I see.”

What am I doing? I don’t have the luxury of doubting this guy’s plan at this point. And doesn’t Naoto always pull through?

“Then that’s what we’ll target. We need to make the necessary preparations for connecting Halter’s brain to that specific model—Vermouth.” It was the first time she’d called the man in front of her by his name. “Answer me honestly. ...What do you think the chances of success are?”

Halter was completely unresponsive right now. He didn’t even make a peep when connected to a voice device. He was currently unconscious, essentially in a vegetative state.

Will this really work? Will Halter really wake up?— As Marie was feeling anxious...

“Let me tell you something good Ms. Marie Bitch Breguet.” Vermouth showed her a daring smile. “Soldiers are those who live and die by the battlefield. Even if he did change his job to being your babysitter, his soldier blood will stay in him for the rest of his life. If the master gets even a whiff of the scent of a battlefield—”

He paused for breath.

“He’ll wake up even if he’s dead—and in the best possible way at that—by being in the worst mood ever.”

●

—Connecting a human brain directly to a heavily armored automaton. Facing a task that any clocksmith would laugh off as impossible, Marie too laughed mockingly.

The high frequency oscillating blade that Vermouth had off-handedly thrust into the unit had destroyed only the AI as planned. No more, no less. Perfectly. Precisely.

I see, he’s a vulgar and irritating man but it looks like he’s not all talk—he did his job. In other words, he answered Naoto’s magic with his own no less than miraculous feat.

“Well then... next up is me I guess—”

—Thirty seconds. That was the time limit that Naoto had given her. The maximum amount of time that AnchoR and RyuZU could lure the enemy to one spot while defending the group around the Black Tortoise from the increasing number of enemy attacks—was thirty seconds.

“Sure— Just watch me! Piece of cake I tell ya!!” Deliberating putting on a great show of confidence—Marie howled with a ferocious smile.

Right then— Time slowed down. At least, that’s how it felt to Marie. Intensifying her focus, the clamor all around her faded away as she looked over what was in front of her. Tossing Halter’s head into the air, Marie spread out her tools like a bird unfurling its wings.

Dismantling and removing the processors that had been destroyed—2,876 parts in total—she finished all the necessary preparations. As Halter’s brain fell before her eyes precisely 2.4 seconds later, the automaton’s control system was prepped for a recreation of history.

—The operation itself is simple. Repairing RyuZU was much harder. However, the nervousness she felt now was on a whole other scale from that time. All the bones in her body creaked, her muscles spasmed. She felt as if her blood was boiling.

If she messed up a single procedure or calculation going into this, Halter would not wake up. That’s an understatement. She would have struck the final nail in the coffin—Halter’s coffin.

Facing the immense pressure of such a terrifying possibility, Marie wore a mystifying smile. It’s doable. It’s doable if you’re the one who tries, Marie—!

Immediately after she had finished the preparatory cleanup, Halter’s brain pod fell back into her hands—27.6 seconds remained. She swiftly yet carefully began to connect his brain pod to the control system—

This’ll take 7.6 seconds. From there, it’ll take me 6.1 seconds to test the automaton’s nerve-circuits, 4.9 seconds to tune the control system’s algorithm to the one closest to human cognition, 3.3 seconds to reboot the unit externally, and at least 4.1 seconds for Halter to awaken.

That added up to 26 seconds in total. The buffer she had to deal with any unexpected situations was less than two seconds—Man, I have two whole seconds to spare...!

In that instant— Marie got the false impression that time had stopped. Her heart began to rapidly beat. Sound faded away. She felt like her body temperature had suddenly taken a nose dive. As her tension and focus reached their limits in a quick burst, Marie felt as if her very consciousness had ascended to a higher plane.

Marie felt herself touch something like the imaginary domain that only RyuZU was allowed to tread in this universe. What she felt was just like Mute Scream, the sensation of the interval between the present and a second later being stretched out infinitely.

The only difference was— My hands are so slow— Ngh! Get moving already...! Her body wasn’t able to keep up with her mind in that infinite second. She simply felt irritated that her whole body felt heavy and slow, as if she had sunk into a sea of tar.

—However, from the rest of the gang’s perspective, her display was already in the realm of magic. All sorts of parts and tools danced in the air of their own volition before settling into their proper places.

It was as if there were special gravitational forces that existed between them, a dictated orbit that decided where they should go—that was how it looked to the others. If this spectacle wasn’t that of a divine work, then just what was it supposed to be?

“...I can’t believe it... Oy lil’ Naoto—is that girl really human...?” Vermouth muttered, bit by bit.

“Yeah, that’s genius,” Naoto replied. “See that, AnchoR?”

“...It’s, more amazing, than amazing... So Mother’s, a genius,” AnchoR said in admiration as she turned around in the midst of a battle with the shells, bullets, and enemies swarming her.

“Make no mistake, AnchoR. That—is merely the limits of a human,” RyuZU responded, “...at least for now.”

RyuZU’s voice seemed to harbor mixed feelings—but, without any regard for the things going on around her, Marie became sharper, faster as she further immersed to reach a level of focus beyond focus still. In the depths of her trance, Marie recalled Vermouth’s words:

“—I feel like you’re looking down on the brains of veteran soldiers—I’m talking about the ones who successfully trained themselves until their weapons became like their own flesh and blood.”

Yeah, it’s true that I underestimated human prowess. I get what he was saying now. After all, currently, my mind fully grasps all the machinery that my hands have touched just now.

The gears, cylinders, wires, screws, springs hidden beneath the heavy-duty plating, the power mechanism that they make up—I understand everything about them. Everything.

If I felt like it, I could name the kinds of parts being used in every one of its junctions, in what numbers, even the condition they’re in. Forget just that, this mechanism that I’m touching, this enormous power mechanism too—

—Even this city that I’m standing on———!!

——ngh Marie’s expanded consciousness perceived danger. A self-propelled artillery roughly three kilometers away was about to bombard her position.

It seems like the others haven’t noticed it yet, having their hands full dealing with the enemies close by...

Marie tried to warn them, but nothing came out. She couldn’t breathe. She was sinking into the sea of tar. Her ascended form remembered that it was perhaps human after all. Her honed awareness was dulling.

No, I can’t—not yet! She still had work to do. She still needed another second to tune the control system— No, she screwed up. She needed two seconds to recover now.

There were eight seconds left. She pulled back her receding consciousness and continued to focus— Done!—The unit began to reboot.

One, two, three— Success. There were five seconds left. However, immediately after, she saw that the self-propelled artillery had taken aim from the corner of her dulled awareness.

This is bad. I don’t have any more time— Move. Move move move move move move move— I said move— Halter!!

She should have done everything correctly. However, the unit that had had its power turned on showed no response whatsoever.

—The only thing left to do was wait for Halter to wake up. That should have been the case, but—

The self-propelled artillery fired. As she was right now, she even perceived the shell spinning in the barrel as it accelerated against the rifling.

Why hasn’t Naoto noticed?— She wondered, before immediately answering her own question. That guy—can’t hear anything faster than sound— Marie finally remembered something that she should have realized much sooner.

Estimated time left until the shell hits—twelve seconds. The trajectory is stupidly accurate. It’s shooting towards me in a straight line. In twelve seconds, the shell will rip through my body and into the exposed internals of the unit where Halter’s brain pod is, pulverizing him.

She could see a clear vision of that future— However, in that instant— Her footing shook. As her expanded consciousness was pulled back into real time, her posture crumbled. She was flung into the air from the impact of the shell that had landed to her side.

Marie just barely managed to comprehend what had happened. The unit narrowly moved to the side—incredibly enough, just that was enough to make the shell that had meant certain death for me miss.

Immediately after, the Black Tortoise rotated violently, its feet tearing up the earth as it nimbly caught Marie’s body with its right arm. Then, with an unmatched accuracy and speed that astonished Naoto—no, even RyuZU and AnchoR—the Black Tortoise vaporized the self-propelled artillery with its main cannon, the thermobaric buster on its shoulders.

Without even a momentary pause—the Black Tortoise turned the wheels affixed to the inner sides of both its feet—actually drifting—as it traced a large arc and unleashed a volley with its 30 cm autocannons.

The autocannon shells burst forth like a sudden shower, and yet, they had the precision of a sniper rifle. The Black Tortoise was absolutely annihilating the enemies that even RyuZU and AnchoR couldn’t fully contain on their own anymore.

“—M, Mother!” AnchoR cried out as she hurried to catch Marie, who had been flung into the air from the abrupt maneuver of the Black Tortoise.

Ignoring her—the Black Tortoise continued its rampage all the while, as if it had gone mad. As it barraged the area with its side cannons— No, as it sniped targets with its fusillades, it spun round and round with its large legs, plowing the lightly armored automata in the vicinity around.

Seeing what looked like the frenzy of a vengeful god, Marie’s eyes widened as she dumbfoundedly muttered, “...Hal...ter...?”

The only thing emanating from the Black Tortoise that was connected to Halter’s brain was stone cold murderous intent. The desire to mow down and trample everything in its sight—that was it. There was no air of human emotion whatsoever.

“Could it be that... I screwed something up—” Marie muttered in a trembling voice.

Naoto responded with a blank look, “Screwed something up? Wait, you screwed something up Marie? The old man seems to be perfectly back to normal though.”

“—Hah?”

“Allow me to explain so that even someone like you, Mistress Marie, whose deficiency in mental faculties is enough to engender a sense of pity in others—or in the layman’s terms, so that even a monkey could understand. Namely, please visit an eye doctor if it looks to you like any of his attacks are hitting us.”

Marie turned to see RyuZU take a break from her attacks to smile at her. Marie finally realized it after having it pointed out to her. It’s true that we haven’t been attacked by the Black Tortoise at all. But then, what is that terrifyingly systematic destruction all about...?

As if for good measure, the Black Tortoise fired two shots from its main cannon. Heavily armored automata several kilometers away were hit and vaporized—upon which, “...Goddammit... Oy, which one of you bastards was the one who woke me up when I was sleeping so comfortably?”

Hearing the Black Tortoise—or rather, Halter—unhappily groan through the static of the external speakers, Marie’s eyes welled up. In an attempt to try to hide her truly heartfelt relief, she yelled out, “Halter! Halter, do you hear me?!”

“Aahh? ...Oh, it’s you princess. What’s going on here... Wait, what the, what’s with this nauseating field of vision— Am I seeing through compound eyes? Oy, so you hooked me up to an automaton? What the heck have you been up to?” Halter muttered, the tone of his voice changing from angry to baffled as he grasped the situation.

Marie retorted with a teary smile, “That’s my line— Making me go through all this trouble— What the hell were you doing?!”

“Yeah, sorry about that... I was taking a little nap.”

Marie repeated those words in shock. “—A little nap...? ...Don’t tell me that the reason you didn’t respond when I hooked you up to a voice device was because—”

“Oh, that happened? No, see, when my sensory organs are cut off I get really sleepy somehow... I’m sorry, really. Feels like I got some sound sleep for the first time in a long while.”

“——”

Marie’s body shook as it emanated a menacing aura.

Are you kidding me? In other words, this guy was sleeping like a baby while I worried my brains out? —I’m going to slaughter him when this is over, Marie vowed.

“Missy, I told you didn’t I? That the master would wake up— in the best possible way, the worst mood ever,” Vermouth laughingly interjected.

“A soldier who’s rudely awoken by a night raid loses all sense of rationality as he retaliates. His body and mind are strung to their limits—in other words, the perfect condition for him to perform a massacre. That’s why one of the few rules that is actually respected on the battlefield is— ‘No night raids.’”

Not entirely satisfied with Vermouth’s explanation, Marie sighed in frustration. Meanwhile, Halter nimbly tilted his giant mechanical head upon seeing an unfamiliar face “—Oy, you’re that greenhorn? What, did you awaken to that kind of thing?”

“Hardly. This little number is something that your princess gave me. Despite how it looks, it comes with a pretty big cock. If I felt like it, I could give the brat that I fell in love with over there a good dicking.”

“—Deary me,” RyuZU interjected, her voice cutting like a knife. “Is this perversion that pierces the heavens-level deviant a homosexual man—excuse me, a homosexual doll—as well?”

The scythes of the reaper grated against the ground as RyuZU began to walk towards him. Despite that, Vermouth daringly continued, “Calm down, Miss Dolly. It was just a figure of speech. I’m just looking forward to your master flipping this world upside down as one of his fans, that’s all.”

“...Is that so. In that case, you are correct in your evaluation of Master Naoto. I shall interpret your statement that way and let you off the hook. But should you ever look at Master Naoto with lecherous eyes—”

“Give a guy a break, will ya? Geez. I’m straight, okay? ...Oh, right, I guess you missed it. I gotta say though, that kid in drag—Naoko-chan—was quite the jewel you know?”

RyuZU froze. Like an old iron gate in need of oiling, RyuZU slowly turned her head towards Naoto with an audible creak. “———Have you finally gone and awakened to that particular kind of sexual fetish while I slept, Master Naoto?”

“RyuZU, I’m used to others looking at me this way but you looking at me like I’m utter trash seriously hurts you know?! It was a disguise okay? A disguise!”

“Father... had a lot, of fun... He was... cute, you know?”

“——So, everyone except me and that magnified piece of patchwork over there witnessed it?” RyuZU asked. Her voice was slightly trembling.

Even Marie understood how RyuZU was feeling from the sound of her voice. How novel, it’s astoundingly hard to believe, but it appears that RyuZU is—sulking. Marie let out a sigh. “If a photo will do, I have one that the woman who dressed up Naoto took. More importantly, right now—”

“Understood. I shall take it from you even if I have to kill you,” RyuZU said with a wide stare, cutting Marie off.

Ah, she’s serious. Seeing the intensity of her stare, Marie reflexively resolved herself for death.

Meanwhile, AnchoR was tugging on RyuZU’s sleeve. “Big Sis... here...” AnchoR presented several photos that she had retrieved from her pockets to RyuZU.

RyuZU accepted them with trembling hands. She scrutinized and absorbed every last detail in them before hugging them to her chest and sighing, “Ahh...”

Having attained her prize, RyuZU quickly stuffed the photos down the collar of her dress with a smile like that of the Holy Mother. “AnchoR— Exceptional, simply exceptional work, if I may say so myself as your eldest sister. Do you realize that you have just saved a human life?”

“...You aren’t talking about my life, right?” Marie muttered in a trembling voice.

AnchoR showed her sister a broad smile. “And... And also, I had a date with Father! It was really fun!”

The saintly smile disappeared from RyuZU’s face. “...Is that so. It was a lot of fun, huh.”

“Y...Y, eah...?” AnchoR rigidly nodded while feeling the sudden change in the wind.

RyuZU formed a smile with her lips, but her eyes were dead. “I see, that is good to hear, AnchoR. However, should you two partake in such activities next time without me, I shall be forced to take the appropriate measures—so be warned. More specifically, measures of force. Discipline...”

“Oy RyuZU?! I won’t allow any sisterly figh—”

“...I, I’m sorry... but, I don’t want to fight you, Big Sis... I would, probably win.”

“What are you saying, AnchoR?! The one who would be put to the sword is obviously Master Naoto.”

“—Wait, meee?!” Naoto cried out.

Coldly looking down on her master, RyuZU said, “It is with extreme regret that I must inform you of this, Master Naoto—but while I can accept you having a ‘sister sandwich,’ I too must be part. That is the most I can compromise.”

“I—I’m so sorryyyy! I’m a failure of a husband to have gone on a date without my wiiife!” Naoto exclaimed as he dived to the ground and prostrated himself before RyuZU’s feet.

Halter, who was watching this conversation from above, sighed. “—Hey, could someone answer my first question already? What’s the situation?”

Oh, right, Marie thought as she shook her head. Due to the relief from Halter’s return, Marie had almost forgotten the situation they were in herself. Just as she opened her mouth to explain the circumstances that led to the current situation, Naoto stood up to interrupt her—his answer was extremely concise: “It’s a fun situation.”

Naoto smiled wickedly. “We’re gonna beat the hell out of the fools who wrecked you, old man. We’re gonna take revenge for what they did to RyuZU, and all of Akihabara, until they cry. And after that, we’re going to stuff them in a crucible. We’ll send anyone who gets in our way flying and silence all loudmouths who think they know anything. That’s all there is to it.”

—Naoto asserted all Halter needed to know.

“I see, well that certainly sounds fun indeed. Do let me take part.”

“That’s why we put you in that unit. How do you feel?”

“Perfect. —Thanks, princess. I wouldn’t expect any less from you. You did great work,” Halter said, adroitly giving Marie a thumbs up with the Black Tortoise’s hand.

Looking up at him with an exasperated smile, Marie puffed out her chest. “But of course. Just who do you think I am?”

“Haha— Well then, Naoto. It seems like the commander of this operation is you, so what’re your orders?” Halter asked with a low laugh.

RyuZU and AnchoR looked at Naoto as well. Vermouth too. Even Marie’s ears perked up so that she wouldn’t miss what he said.

Naoto, RyuZU, AnchoR, Vermouth, and lastly—Halter.

When I first heard Naoto’s plan, I thought it was idiotic. I thought it was idiotic when we decided to do it, I thought it was idiotic after we started doing it, and to be honest, I still think it’s idiotic even now.

But for some reason, I feel like no matter what Naoto tells us to do right now—I’ll believe that it’s possible.

In response to everyone’s gazes, Naoto daringly smiled. Surveying the enemy force that encircled them from a distance, he muttered, “...Hm, I see that you guys rounded up the remaining forces like I asked.”

If they had left Marie behind and continued to subjugate the enemy instead, they could have kept the battle at a distance and ironically enough, let her work more safely. The intention behind them having paused their advance for thirty seconds was this—

“To start things off— Annihilate the 378 enemies here in the remaining thirty-eight seconds without killing anyone ♪.”

Hearing those words, Halter chuckled. “Talk about anticlimactic— That’s a piece of cake.”

Everyone smiled a little at his bravado— And so— 22 seconds passed. That was the time it took for the gang to annihilate the weapons and armaments of the 378-man strong force.

After neutralizing all remaining threats, they entered the palace as Naoto flipped off a news helicopter in the air behind him.

●

Opening up the enormous palace gate, the gang went deep inside the palace. The passageway was large enough that even Halter could walk through it comfortably in his current form. After advancing straight ahead for some time, the passageway led to a courtyard-esque hall. There were people there waiting for them.

Several tens of imperial guards stood in a line before them. They were poised behind a sorry excuse for a barricade as they warily studied the intruders. Behind them were two slightly out-of-date armored walkers.

It seemed like they were aware of what had happened outside, because they looked afraid of Naoto’s company. Even so, it was apparent that they were hyping themselves up, as if to say, “We won’t give up without a fight.”

What should we do? Just as Marie was thinking that, someone came forward alone from behind the line of imperial guards—it was a young woman. She walked straight to the front, brushing off the hands of the soldiers trying to stop her.

Marie smiled. Thankfully it looks like she remembers me. “Wait here.” Marie made her way to the front of her group as well.

When the two came within two meters from each other, they stopped.

Marie elegantly bowed. “—Nice to meet you, Your Highness Princess Hoshimiya.”

“Yes... I believe this is the first time we have met, Ms. Terrorist.” In response— Houko lowered her head in kind.

After the two had exchanged their spoken and tacit greetings, Marie continued, “Well then, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Maëribell— The ringleader behind this country’s current crisis, and the most nefarious terrorist in history——————is my boss.”

Marie pointed a thumb over her shoulder at Naoto. Upon which Naoto glared at her. “—Oy. Oy you bastard! You dodged your responsibility just now, didn’t you?! You just tried to make a contingency plan in case things go sour, didn’t you?!” Naoto howled.

Marie simply ignored him as she smiled at the princess.

Houko seemed to be a bit at a loss. “Well then, Miss Maëribell. Have you come here for the reason I imagine to be the case?”

“It might be a little different.” Marie shrugged. “We came here for our own sakes. That’s all.”

Houko furrowed her brows. She followed up with another question, “...Are you really certain that this is what you want?”

“Of course. This is the path that we chose for ourselves. ...Also, I think you’re misunderstanding things so allow me to restate my position. That idiot over there—is truly the ringleader behind the chain of incidents this time.”

Upon hearing that, Houko’s eyes widened. She deeply bowed her head to Naoto this time as if to correct some sort of mistake. When she raised her head, she castigated the entire group in a stern, elegant voice, looking at each of them in turn:

“In that case—all of you terrorists of whom this is my first pleasure of meeting, allow me to express my sincere resentment towards you.

You wreaked unprecedented havoc upon this nation in your attempt to subvert it. Now, you even threaten my very life for your own gain.

I shall surely never forgive your nefarious crimes my entire life. I have conviction that you all will be met with due punishment one day.”

Her obsidian eyes filled with a sharp, powerful will of steel as she asserted, “Now then, pray tell: What do you hope to achieve?”

The one who replied to those resolute words—was RyuZU.

“Yes, let me see... For now, I think a deep cleaning of the palace is in order, much like the landscaping of the grounds we did outside. Master Naoto?”

“Yeah, we’ve advertised ourselves plenty by now. Let’s give everyone watching the last push—I’ll leave it to you.”

Upon those words, RyuZU reverently bowed, then touched the clock by her chest. If she had used this method from the beginning, forget seven minutes, it would have taken her a wink to annihilate the forces outside—but she deliberately chose not to.

As for why... it was because an advertisement should be easily understandable. An advertisement that no one could understand would be meaningless.

However, now that they had destroyed the outside forces in seven minutes—now that they had completed that “impossible” demonstration—all that was left were the two words that would perfectly top things off for the grandest finale ever... As her formal black dress transformed into a white bridal gown, RyuZU said:

“——‘Mute Scream’——”

A new “advertisement” that was absurdity itself, a display exhibit beyond anyone’s understanding, abruptly began—and abruptly ended.

Six minutes and forty-eight seconds after Naoto’s initial declaration—all enemy forces, both inside and outside the palace, were completely neutralized.

●

“—As we first reported a little while ago, the criminal identifies himself as Naoto Miura—”

This news report was on live TV, broadcasting to the entire world. The footage was so compelling that everyone living in Tokyo, no, everyone living in Japan—no, everyone living in the world was glued to the screen.

The ordinary citizens of Tokyo walking the streets were obviously watching, but also the politicians who had been embroiled in their fruitless meeting and the police and military who had been busy handling the unrest. Even foreign businesses were watching with astounded eyes.

Among those assorted groups of viewers, the military and the arms manufacturers—took the footage being shown the hardest. Of course they did. After all...

“Furthermore, according to testimonies from the survivors, the ones who caused the vast majority of the damage were two automata who referred to themselves as Initial-Y Series automata—”

—This is it. It was the report one such person had been scouring the channels for.

I see, the rebel army that had surrounded the palace was nothing more than a ragtag force in the end. Their leaders were delirious youngsters whose degree of proficiency was nothing to boast about.

As far as equipment goes, our reserves and old weapons made up more than half of what they had. But, even taking that into consideration—

“I repeat! It’s been an hour since the terrorist group occupied the palace, but there haven’t been any confirmed casualties so far...”

—Seven minutes. Strictly speaking, six minutes and forty-eight seconds. That was the amount of time it took for a terrorist group whose member count didn’t even reach the double digits—to annihilate two battalion-sized military forces.

Had there ever been such a force to be reckoned with in this world? It would be easy for an elite army to do something similar if their lives were no object and they used more time.

—However, no one could produce such a result in so short a period of time. Those in the know of military matters and clocksmithing understood that fact all the more, painfully so.

Not to mention, no matter how many times they replayed the footage taken by the news helicopters in slow motion—they still couldn’t even get a clue as to how the terrorists annihilated the imperial guard force. In other words, they had done “something” at a speed that was faster than even a single frame of video.

In the group that produced such an impossible phenomenon were two who called themselves Initial-Y Series automata. Legendary automata that the one who had recreated this planet once upon a time—‘Y’—had left behind.

The common perception among ordinary folks—was that they were legendary things, fairy tales, an urban legend.

Those well-versed in technology had thought—that if they really did exist, they would be world treasures.

Those well-versed in politics knew—that they did exist, but that none of them were in operation.

Still further into the dark side, those who knew secret intelligence and highly classified information that would never be divulged to the public, for example, people at the top of the Five Great Corporations or a small group of politicians—understood. They do indeed exist—and that if they were ever to be activated, they would become the most terrifying weapons in history.

The understanding of the Initial-Y Series among these different groups of people were either altered or made certain by the news broadcast. The series of footage that was broadcast was unmistakably impossible to reproduce with any current technology. That was the greatest proof that there truly were Initial-Y automata among the terrorists.

Just then, noise suddenly flooded the live footage that the whole world was watching. At the same time, a severe quake centered around Tokyo broke out.

All communication mechanisms in the area ceased functioning and the resonance gears began turning irregularly.

The gears of Tokyo’s core tower that coordinated municipal functions began to behave in unprecedented ways.

It wasn’t a malfunction. It wasn’t a fault caused by degradation over time either. Everything about the system’s operation was normal. Only, for some reason, the mechanisms wouldn’t obey the orders of the superintendent.

The people of Tokyo remembered a phenomenon that was very much alike to this one— Two days ago, as Tokyo’s denizens simply looked on, petrified in their helplessness, they had been thrust with a boundlessly cheerful claim of criminal responsibility from the devices all around them—

And now...

“Ladieeeeeeeeeeessssss annnnnnnnnnnnnnd gentlemen!! As well as you insignificant others that I’ll skip naming, do y’all remember the voice of little old me?!

It’s been a while hasn’t it? Maybe a couple days or so? Did you miss me? Were you lonely maaaaaaaan ♡?

Sorry for making you wait but check it—I’ve been stirring up trouble for a few consecutive days now! I love you baby baby babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!”

Once again, the voice and face of nightmares was broadcast as the entire world watched on.

●

“So by popular request! For all you nincompoops who fell in love with me after the last broadcast! Today’s my grand face reveal hehee~! Let me guess, you’re head over heels right? I’m such a stud right?!”

As that maniacal voice prattled on, someone was pacing the transmission room of the headquarter building of the current ruling party in Kasumigaseki Grid.

“Sure looks like they’re having fun over there.” One of the few people who understood the true intent behind this broadcast—Yuu Karasawa—smiled bitterly.

...Dr. Marie must be pretty upset. This broadcast’s far too close to entertainment for her tastes. I’ve no doubt that the expression on her face right now is something that she hadn’t ever shown during her time with Meister Guild.

If possible, I’d have liked to see it. Take a picture for posterity’s sake, but—“Work work work— Good lord, laborers sure have it hard.”

Karasawa turned his gaze from the TV back to the plain door in front of him. The door had no doorplate; instead, the words “Transmission Broadcast Room” were painted directly onto it. It was not a room equipped for short-range transmissions, but rather, for super long-range ones that could reach the opposite side of the planet.

“Well, grumbling about it won’t help. Guess I’ll get to work—as a consultant...” This is definitely outside my role’s official duties though, Karasawa thought as he took a short breath— Exhaling, he kicked the door in front of him with all his might.

“—!!” With a boom, the door was flung open.

As Karasawa entered without a moment’s respite, a startled man jumped up and turned around. Karasawa knew his face—it was unmistakably the man who had skulked away from the conference room two days ago.

“Wha— Who the hell are you! What are you doing here?!”

“My my, that’s what I want to ask you.”

Unsettled, the man’s face twisted into something ugly. On the other hand, Karasawa wore a cool expression and a soft smile.

“Would it be alright if I asked you where you sent that message just now? You know, as a consultant ♪.”

“I have no obligation to answer you, bastard.”

“Well, I guess I don’t have to force an answer out of you. I can find out easily enough if I just check the logs after all.”

“You bastard, you don’t have the authority to do either of those things!!”

“—Yeah, maybe. But who’ll hold me responsible?”

At that moment, the man drew a handgun from inside his jacket. Seeing the maneuver, Karasawa realized that the man was clearly a cyborg who was used to combat, though his body was disguised as flesh.

The man had aimed his gun at Karasawa in one slick movement. Just as he was pulling the trigger—

“Hey, sooooooo no offense, but I’m a little disappointed okay? Heck, I feel bad enough to cry! I mean, I knew there’d be small fry but I didn’t expect you guys to be that weak. You minnows aren’t even a meal! Or is my grand old gang a little too strong?! Sorry for being too strong, seriously!”

Clang. The handgun fell to the floor.

“—Really, it’s just like Mr. Naoto Miura said, isn’t it,” Karasawa continued while maintaining his smile. “Challenging a Meister with an artificial body of all things—you’re selling us way too short, you know?”

As he folded and put away the portable tools that he had instantaneously drawn, Karasawa looked down. At his feet was a groaning man who had just had his artificial body dismantled in a flash.

Karasawa picked up the man’s gun. “Well then, I’ll give you just three seconds, alright? Think you could tell me who you were communicating with by using the ruling party’s transmission equipment without authorization?”

“You bas...tard. How much do you know—”

“That’s enough thank you.”

Without even a second of hesitation, Karasawa fired. Bullets successively pierced all of the parts of the man’s artificial body.

“Be grateful, alright? I’d rather just dispose of uncooperative people myself, but due to the request of a certain cute girl, I’m stopping myself just short of killing you. I figure someone’ll find you within the forty-three hours it’ll take for your brain’s preservation device to fully expend its power. Now then—”

Karasawa tossed away the emptied handgun.

“Time to find out what someone who clearly doesn’t belong to the government communicated and to whom using the ruling party’s transmission station— Ah, I need permission right?”

Karasawa scoffed before roughly pulling the man on the floor up by his collar. He fetched his ID card to show the man’s artificial eyes which were clearly out of operation at this point. “I’m Yuu Karasawa, a consultant hired by the ministry of technology. I’ll be checking your transmission logs, alright?”

Karasawa violently shook the man by the collar to make him nod before slamming his face into the ground with a smile. “Thank you for your cooperation.” The man wasn’t even twitching anymore as Karasawa turned away.

Karasawa took out a mobile device from his pocket and connected it to the transmission equipment’s terminal with the movements of a veteran Meister. Then, as he waited for the transmission log starting from two hours ago to download...

“Ahh— By the way, I’m not an official employee of the Ministry of Technology, so once I find out who you were communicating with, anything more than that would be extraprofessional work... so even if someone uses this room afterwards without authorization, it’ll be considered your fault for failing to manage the premise properly, not mine— Don’t think badly of me,” Karasawa said, briskly tapping away as he operated the terminal.

With that, notices saying that communication lines to the ruling party’s headquarters have been opened were sent to eighteen different locations in the outside world.

“Now then—have I done enough to earn my pay?” Karasawa quipped before reading through the log while humming.

●

At that same time...

“Honestly, grand old me is super disappointed at how easyyyyy it was to chew through the military. Despite us going through the trouble of giving advance warning of our terrorism in Akihabara to round the military up in one place, they were destroyed! Annihilated! Eradicated! By just one of our toys?! What the hell?! Why’re y’all such party poopers maaan?!”

Inside Tokyo’s military headquarters in Ichigaya Grid, the military’s chief of staff trembled as he listened to the madman, his face flushing a furious red. Around him, other officers were slamming their fists on the table and cursing—but the chief of staff was enduring an even deeper rage, as well as terror, as he bit his lip.

—He couldn’t refute Naoto’s statements. The enormous weapon was occupying Akihabara even now, and the imperial guard had been literally subdued in an instant. How could he refute someone who backed his big talk up with action...?

“And so! Frankly, because you guys are so weak and easy to chew through, it’s starting to feel like a chore to follow through with the rest of the plan that I put together!”

And now, with this broadcast—the chief of staff shuddered at what the consequences of this broadcast would be.

...The nations of the world have already gotten word of the existence of the electromagnetic weapon. Now, there’s even this footage. At this point, knowledge of what happened in Tokyo has circulated throughout the entire world.

For a threat as large as this—the ISS committee will surely authorize the use of Tall Wand even if the neighboring Asian countries oppose it.

Normally, the motion would require the permission of the Japanese government, but—the prime minister’s hasty request has still not been withdrawn.

Actually, considering that the government isn’t even in full control of the military right now and there isn’t even a functioning provisional government, the ISS might deem Japan to be in a state of anarchy right now.

However, the chief of staff’s consideration—

“So I’m thinking that I’ll liven things up a bit baby! C’mon now everyone! Shake your booty and scream: Yayyyyyyyyyyyy!! You like me! You really like me! Thank you! Than~~k you everyone! To answer your expectations— Ngh! I solemnly swear! That within three hours...”

—was blown away by the following words from the villain:

“We’ll make the entirety of Tokyo collapse in a suuuuper flashy fashion! Yay!!”

Hearing those words, everyone in the military headquarters—no, in all of Japan froze stock still.

—Three hours? The chief of staff flew up, his eyes gawking. Did he just say three hours? The ISS committee wouldn’t be able to authorize the use of Tall Wand in such a short time. Forget that, the weapon itself wouldn’t be ready to fire even if it was authorized right now.

But even this consideration from the chief of staff was stopped dead in its tracks...

“Whooooooooooopsies how rude of me! Grand old me completely forgot! I got so into things that I left my guest in the waiting room! Hey, come on dowwwwnn! It’s time for the gueeee~eeest segment!!”

In accordance to the boy’s over-the-top gesture, the camera turned. Upon which, what came into sight—was a certain young woman bound in ropes. The chief of staff knew her face well. Actually, it was someone whom nearly all the Japanese people watching this broadcast had seen at least once before.

“—Dear citizens, please listen to what I am about to tell you calmly.”

It was the First Princess of His Majesty the Emperor, Imperial Princess Houko Hoshimiya. Arguably the most highborn woman in the country—had been reduced to a pitiful prisoner.

Her face looked haggard, and her complexion pallid. Despite that, she resolutely raised her face to gaze into the camera and spoke to her subjects.

“These people have truly seized control over the grid regulating mechanism of Tokyo—the Pillar of Heaven. I believe that this broadcast proves that fact beyond all doubt.”

Hearing those words from the princess—forget just Japan, the entire world froze still in mute amazement.

●

Even the ordinary citizens of Tokyo understood what that meant. The terrifying reality was that with just a touch of his finger that villain could destroy Japan—and along with it, all of East Asia. This problem wasn’t merely limited to Japan anymore. This was now an international crisis.

The princess continued stout-heartedly: “All of you in the military, please, pay no mind to my safety and promptly regain control of the Pillar of Heaven—these people are serious. Also, to all citizens of Tokyo, I beseech you to obey the directions of your officials and calmly evacuate the capi— Ahh!”

The princess let out a brief yelp as she was yanked from behind and fell backwards out of the frame of the camera. In her place—Naoto Miura came back on screen and stuck up his middle finger with a sadistic expression.

“Hey hey heeeeeeey?! Uhhhhhh princess?! What kind of garbage do you think you’re blurting out?! If you keep going off script I’ll string you up tortoise style and have everyone watch me play piñata with my cock— What the hell old man! What kinda cue card is that?! I’ve got my wife and daughter here y’know?! Do you want my wife to skewer me in a family meeting?!

Ah, right right, my wife and daughter are the two Initial-Y Series automata that made their debut in the news just now. How about it, they’re crazy cute right?! But I better not see any affiliated goods, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself buying them! Please forward such business requests through my agency! Using their likeness without permission is forbidden! Absolutely forbidden!”

...At this point, nobody watching the broadcast knew what to even think anymore. The woman who had been on screen earlier was Japan’s first princess—though she had no political power, she was one of the most important people in the world culturally as a symbol of the nation.

Though she was technically substituting for His Majesty the Emperor, who was currently bedridden, she was just as important as the Queen of the U.K. or the President of the United States—indeed, she was a VIP. Nearly all the Japanese people regarded her as such, regardless of what region they were from.

Not to mention that the young, beautiful princess had acted so courageously despite having been tied up by fiendish terrorists. Even citizens who were normally unconcerned with the imperial family—even foreigners, felt their hearts powerfully stir.

“Ah, hey, oy watch it! I’m telling you, don’t kick me. Ugh~ gaw~d you keep slowing me down. Man this princess is a serious party pooper. Oy, keep giving me trouble—and I’ll fucking kill you, got it?!” the terrorist rashly asserted.

Upon seeing this, those who watched the scene unfold began to feel a strong sense of solidarity in their swelling anger. Their minds rapidly cleared to focus on just one thing—the unforgivable criminal had laid his hand on someone sacred.

●

“...I see, how impressive.” Inside the enormous weapon trampling down on Akihabara Grid—Yatsukahagi—Gennai Hirayama muttered quietly. The broadcast was being displayed by the giant screen in the control room.

—It’s clear what their intentions are.

If they had just wanted it to be known that the princess has been taken hostage, they could have gagged her. There’d be no need to risk letting her talk. Yet, they let her talk at length freely—because they didn’t need to silence her.

—At the very least, the military now has a pretext to end their infighting and unite against a common foe. The city inhabitants that had fallen into a state of violent panic will probably obey the directions of the police to some extent as well.

And of course, the princess functions as a hostage as well. At the very least, there shouldn’t be any commander who’d ignore her safety and launch an attack on the Pillar of Heaven.

Even if they did do it, a raid would be a last resort—they’ll surely wait the three hours. In that time, they’ll... no, “Y” will—work on gaining full control over the Pillar of Heaven. Easily, without anyone hindering him—he’ll undoubtedly destroy this Yatsukahagi.

With that, the ex-military of Shiga who had attempted a coup d’état will disappear... and the only thing that will be left is a convenient “truth”— “Ahh, how truly impressive... With that, they’ve taken away all our options.”

“Y—Your Excellency! We should immediately declare criminal responsibility ourselves!” the adjutant by his side yelled, flustered.

Gennai looked up at him with a calm expression. “Right... and what would we say? That we have no relationship with them and that a coup d’état is our goal? Do you really think that there’s anyone who would believe such nonsense?”

“T, That’s—” The adjutant faltered for a second but then shook his head. “H, However, if things continue like this, the capital will collapse within three hours, so either way—!”

“Calm down, major. They have no intention of making the capital collapse. A trifle like this—is within expectations.”

—That’s right, they have no such intention. What they did was to take on all the blame.

By taking on responsibility for all the horrors and malice of the military—including ourselves—the government, and the industrial economy, they washed away the sins of the elite and in doing so united everyone against themselves.

The reason they did so, when one gets down to it—is to save this country.

They didn’t even kill anyone in the military forces that they annihilated, and you’re telling me that they’ll make Tokyo collapse? It’s obvious they’re bluffing.

Gennai incidentally recalled a legend of the ancient era, it was a story of a man who bore all the sins of humanity and was executed for it. Gennai bit his lip, growling, “—So you want to play a messiah after playing god?”

“Y, Your Excellency...?”

Gennai ignored the adjutant. “Answer me—what is our current charge?”

One of the operators replied, “R, Right, we’re at 72% charge! ...Y, Your Excellency, what would you like me to do—?”

“Stop all power usage. Get back up to 82% charge within twelve minutes.”

Everyone in the crowded control room looked confused— Just what would rapidly recharging accomplish at this point? —More importantly, shouldn’t we get out of Akihabara immediately?

Gennai lightly muttered, “Now then—how far have you really figured us out? —Show me. I wonder if you realize that we still have some cards left to play... ‘Y’!”