Chapter Two / 03 : 18 / Complication

It was 03:18:24 a.m.

Marie Bell Breguet woke up. Kicking off her blanket, she sprung up violently.

In the center of a small, dark room that was originally used for file storage, Marie concealed her breath and honed her senses.

...What was that just now?

She felt anxious for some reason. Even though she should have been sound asleep from the fatigue caused by all the travel, she had abruptly awoken.

Marie slowly got up, stepping onto the ground from her makeshift bed.

Silence—Her surroundings were dead quiet.

There were still a few hours until dawn. Her staff were also resting right now in preparation for the quagmire ahead. The only ones awake at the moment should have been the observation squad’s night-shift staff. Marie was tempted to wrap herself back up in her blanket as well...

However, she didn’t do so. She couldn’t afford to discard this mysterious feeling and leave it as it was.

Marie was not only a genius, but a Meister as well. Having worked out in the field almost daily since her youth, she had sensed countless irregularities and dangers throughout her career. Her ability and experience were warning her. That was the kind of feeling she, the great Marie Bell Breguet, was getting in this current situation.

Something had to be amiss.

“Is anyone here?!” Marie stood up as she shouted. She put on a coat and dragged her cumbersome body to the door, pushing it open.

She entered the dark hallway where, right next to the door, something started moving sluggishly. That something was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut who, despite having a giant body like a bear’s, exuded so little presence that it was unsettling.

Halter—the man who had been wrapped in a blanket on the floor—lifted his head up.

“.........What’s wrong, princess? Did you have a bad dream or something?”

“Want me to beat you to death?”

Marie glared at Halter with a threatening face. “Get up already, you fat oaf. Go bring me the measurement data starting around 120 seconds ago at once.”

“Alright. I’ll be back immediately. ......Ah—, and also—”

“What? Get going. On the double!” Marie’s expression was severe.

In an effort to pacify her, Halter replied, “I got it already, so at least put on some underwear.”

“?” Not only did Marie’s movements and face freeze as she stared blankly, but also her breathing.

She looked down.

“——”

Nothing.

She wasn’t wearing anything down there. Actually, she was completely naked.

Here was a girl genius haughtily throwing out her chest with her hands on her waist while fully exposed.

“~~~~~~gh!”

Looking back up, she saw that Halter was already gone.

Marie had reflexively raised the palm of her hand up, but upon losing her target, she hastily rushed back inside her room as her face flushed bright red.

●

As Marie had demanded, Halter returned quickly.

Just as she finished picking up and putting the clothes that she had flung off back on, there was a knock on the door.

“—By all means, please come in,” Marie said stiffly. Halter entered with a heap of documents in his hand. Marie had been lying in wait to kick Halter’s shin as he entered, but gave up the idea when she saw the observation squad following him inside.

The likes of a brawny thug was one thing, but there was no way she could show herself being immodest in front of Meister Guild’s outstanding staff members.

Biting down to stifle her tongue click, she hurled a sharp glance at Halter.

—I wish you’d just die, you small-time punk.

It was unclear whether Halter noticed Marie’s glare as he leaned forward and lay the heap of papers on the desk in the room. The squad leader, Hannes, picked out a single document from the giant stack and presented it to Marie.

“Dr. Marie, about the results of the observation just now—”

“The gravity was fluctuating intermittently, right?” Marie beat him to the punch.

Having had his words taken from him, Hannes’s eyes widened. “My, I’m impressed. So you were aware.”

“Just a conjecture. I had a feeling that was probably the case.”

“Indeed, it’s just as you say, doctor. In the past hour, the reference value intermittently fluctuated between 0.92 to 1.04 three times.”

Halter interjected with half-baked politeness. “...A fluctuation of about 0.1g? No, the difference is actually even smaller. I’m surprised you noticed. It shouldn’t have been strong enough to wake someone up though, right?”

“You’re a cyborg, so the tourbillion mechanism implanted inside you ends up negating fluctuations in gravity within the margin of error,” Marie answered as she gave a look to the man who was bigger than anyone else in the room.

Halter, who served as both Marie’s bodyguard and secretary, was originally from the army; he later rose up to become a clocksmith. His body had been mechanized when he was young, so though he had enough power to break combat-use automata with his fists, in exchange, his artificial body wasn’t as sensitive as a body of flesh.

“Even if you say that, it’s still only on the level of the force felt when riding an elevator, no?”

“That’s more than enough. Besides, that isn’t where the problem lies.” Marie shrugged her shoulders.

Hannes continued in agreement, “It’s true that the range of fluctuation itself is within the margin of error, but the problem is the number of times it happened. The frequency graph is also reading an unprecedented pattern even when compared against all the data from the last thirty years. It’s currently stabilized at 1.03g, but...”

“From what one can tell from reading this observational data, another one’s about to come.”

—Groan. Marie suddenly felt the weight of her body increase, causing her to pause. It wasn’t enough to make her collapse to the ground, but it wasn’t something one could ignore, either.

Analyzing the extra weight pressing down on her entire body, Marie muttered, “—It’s 1.34g now.”

“Dr. Marie, this has to be...”

“Indeed, this problem doesn’t seem like one that can be dealt with as simply a common gravitational irregularity anymore. If it continues worsening at this pace, it’ll affect everyone above the gears eventually as well.”

As for what this implied...

“In the worst-case scenario—the metropolitan mechanism might collapse.”

“——”

Hearing Marie say such things in a matter-of-fact tone caused a nervous chill to run down the backs of all present.

If this was as much as the gravity fluctuated, at most it would only make one nauseous. But what if an even stronger gravity started weighing down? Or if it dropped down to zero gravity? One might suddenly be squashed under one’s own weight, or thrown up into the air, for that matter.

Or rather, the mechanism would probably just malfunction once the fluctuations went beyond the extent that the escapement could adjust for.

It’d be one thing if it were the mechanism of an automobile or a home appliance, but if the twelve clock towers that governed the metropolitan environment and the core tower that pierced all the way up to the stratosphere from the center of the city were to break—reconstruction would simply be impossible at that point.

This city—Kyoto—would end up being lost forever.

Even after a thousand years, the “Clockwork Planet” that reconstructed the world using gears still remained a black box that no one could reproduce. Even the Meisters, of whom there were only 6,305 in the entire world, couldn’t do it.

“—Everyone, please listen.” Marie spoke up.

She looked out over all her present staff members, then continued in a firm voice.

“Though I’m sure you’re all already aware, the situation has taken a turn for the dire. Whether it be the urgent dispatch order or the innocuous malfunction report that didn’t match that urgency, the job was suspicious from the start, but—”

Marie paused for a moment.

She opened her feet up to her shoulders’ width, placed her hands on her waist, and hoisted her right hand up with composure.

With the small body of a young girl yet the majesty of a queen, Marie asserted, “We’re all widely acknowledged, first-rate clocksmiths here. It’s true that we probably can’t match up to ‘Y,’ who created this world; however, you and I are all rare talents gathered together from the entire world. There’s no one better than us, nor is there a malfunction we can’t resolve. Before we move on, please recall that fact first.”

Upon hearing those words that could even be called arrogant, the expressions on the faces of the staff changed.

—She was right. There wasn’t a single person among the Meisters dispatched here that was incompetent.

Each one of them was a self-made, expert technician who had started out as a Lehrling, then became a Geselle after going through rough jobs out in the field, and finally a Meister after acquiring both expertise and experience.

From its director, Marie, all the way down to the lower-ranking staff that made up the observation squad, Meister Guild had nothing but talents who were part of a technical vanguard and would be welcomed with open arms at private enterprises and militaries anywhere in the world.

“That’s right. We are Meister Guild.”

Meister Guild.

An international organization whose goal was to maintain and preserve the planet’s mechanisms. Boasting more than half of all Meisters as its members and armed with the best technology and equipment, it was a troop of clocksmiths who faced off against malfunctions in cities all over the world. It was a non-governmental organization whose activities were unconstrained by any political or ideological consideration.

That was “Meister Guild.”

“It seems that there’s a befitting reason that HQ made us come here from the other side of the world in such a rush and forcefully intervene, after all. I also sense something suspicious from the military’s attitude... Well, we’re used to being hated by that lot, aren’t we?”

The bitter laughs that spread throughout the staff spoke to their experience.

“This one’s going to be a handful. Let’s enjoy it as much as we can.” The springy way Marie said that made it sound as though she really meant it. “I don’t know what’s going to come up yet, but I’ve concluded that whatever it is, it’ll be a pressing matter.”

Then, putting her thick layer of resolve into words, “Observation squad, please pinpoint which floor of the Core Tower contains the source of the fluctuations. The masses of mediocre technicians out there couldn’t finish a job like this even if they spent a year on it—but we’re going to finish it in two weeks!”

“““Understood!!”””

Marie had pushed past the limits of nonsense with her unreasonable demand; yet, all of her present staff answered her with charged voices.

●

Having given detailed instructions to the observation squad, Marie saw them off as they returned to work, after which she flopped onto her makeshift bed.

“Ah—... It’s so tiresome.”

“You did good work. That was a pretty rousing speech.” Halter held out a cup with steam rising off the top to Marie, who was groaning at the ceiling. It was a well-blended hot cocoa made with ample amounts of milk and sugar.

Marie abruptly rose up to receive the cup, then curled her lips in irony. “Man, I’m really glad. To think they would be fooled by a speech from a little girl like me.”

“They knew better, but let themselves be fooled because they’re adults.”

“I wonder if that’s the case.”

“It is. There’s no way an idiot who seriously acts complacent in front of a mechanical malfunction of a metropolis could ever become a Meister. Even though I’m a clocksmith who’s stuck at Geselle rank, I can at least tell that much.”

“......”

Halter picked up a metal folding chair and brought it next to the makeshift bed before sitting down in front of Marie, who remained silent. “It’s gotta be scary. It’s gotta be unbearable. If you screw up somewhere, people will die. Cities will be blown away. Even so, everyone here is a wicked gambler who sticks his neck into the fire of his own free will—Look, in the same way, there’s a little girl here desperately putting on a tough facade even as she’s on the verge of wetting herself as well.”

“...Well, it is comical, isn’t it.”

“Well, yeah. You can’t do anything but laugh.” Grinning broadly, Halter continued. “Laugh, fool yourself, and likewise, act tough. There’s no other choice. As an adult, it’d be too embarrassing to cower in fear like a wuss while a cute little girl is tackling the problem head-on.”

“For being so lowly, you sure can talk.” Marie put her lips to the edge of the cup as she let a smile escape. The sugar mixed into the cocoa sent a pleasant buzz to Marie’s tired brain. “In that case, shall I treat you as an adult and work you to the bone now?”

“Yes, ask anything of me, princess.”

“Investigate the military. I want to find out what they know about the situation.”

“Hmm? I thought they were openly disclosing the information they have.”

“It’s true that there wasn’t anything suspicious in the measurement data they disclosed. But, I can’t think that they obediently spit out all of the information. I want both evidence of the cover-up and the information being covered up.”

“In other words, do you mean to say—” Halter lowered his voice as he muttered, looking serious, “—that the military is intentionally concealing a fatal malfunction?”

“At the very least, the possibility exists.”

“...Is the situation that bad?”

“Probably. The fact that Meister Guild dispatched us here all the way from the other side of the world without any explanation bothers me.”

“You think the information was leaked? But if headquarters got ahold of information that’s being concealed by the military and the Japanese government, wouldn’t they say something about it to us?”

“It might be that they have no proof. Also, even Meister Guild isn’t free from entanglements with the outside world, you know? After all, it can’t ignore the will of its sponsors, the five great corporations—and there are those who want to eliminate me as well.”

“...Hey now, that sure sounds menacing.”

Marie showed him a broad grin. “Isn’t that what you’re here for?

Marie Bell Breguet. The youngest person in history to ever become a Meister, as well as the daughter of the president of the Breguet Corporation, one of the five great corporations.

Though she hadn’t ever been publicly criticized, given her ability and status—she was nonetheless used to having looks of jealousy and hatred thrown at her. Given an opportunity, those who would sabotage her were a dime a dozen. When such characters resorted directly to violence, it was Halter’s job to protect her.

“If it ends up just being me overthinking things, then none the worse. But, I want to be sure just in case.”

“Roger. I’ll try sounding things out for now.”

As Halter stood up, someone knocked at the door.

“? —Please, come in.”

“Excuse me.” The one who entered after receiving Marie’s permission was a member of the observation squad that had just left earlier.

“What’s the matter? Did something unexpected occur while you were working?”

“Not quite. Actually, I have a report on the Y D-01 container.”

“Gh! Was RyuZU found?!”

Seeing Marie straighten her back and lean forward seemed to have made the staff member awkward as he reported in a faltering voice, “No, well, you see... By reverse-calculating the air route, we somehow managed to pinpoint the location where it fell, but...”

“And?” Annoyed by the staff member’s equivocal manner of speech, Marie tightened her fist.

“There happened to be an apartment building right below the location where it fell.”

“...An apartment building?”

“Yes. You see, I was told that the impact of the fall, well... caused the entire building to collapse.”

“——, Hah?” Her voice inadvertently escaped from her mouth. At the same time, the cup fell out of her hand. Hot cocoa scalded her skin as it spilled all over her knees, causing Marie’s body to reflexively jump up while jittering.

“A, Are you alright, Dr. Marie?!”

“I’m f... Th, There’s no proble...” Marie answered, swallowing her urge to scream. Abruptly snatching the towel that Halter handed her from her side, she looked up at the staff member, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “C, Co, llapsed... you say?”

“Right, well... how should I put this, it seems like the building had been considerably deteriorated to begin with...”

“What? Hey now, don’t tell me there were casualties?!” Halter cried out.

The reporting staff member denied it in a hurry. “No, the silver lining was that there were no casualties. For all of its size, it had relatively few residents. That, combined with the fact that there appears to have been a rather large margin of time before it fully collapsed, seems to have allowed all of the residents to escape in time.”

“I, I see. I’m glad to hear that...” Marie said in relief as she wiped the cocoa off her legs.

The staff member continued, “Ah—about that... things aren’t looking so good, actually.”

“? Is there something else?”

“You see, what I’m saying is, the apartment building collapsed.”

“What? You told me that already.” Marie said in confusion as she knitted her eyebrows.

The staff member, seeming to have become impatient, exclaimed, “As I keep saying, it collapsed! The Y D-01 container fell below the local grid along with the building!”

“———” As if a flare had suddenly flashed in front of her, Marie’s pupils constricted into dots. It had been awhile since she last experienced this sensation.

She reflexively asked again, “What did you say just now?”

“The Y D-01 storage unit fell below the local grid. Fortunately, the rubble from the collapse stopped at a shallow floor of the city’s mechanism; however, the report mentioned that we didn’t prepare any machinery used for civil engineering, so recovering the container would be extremely difficult.”

“C’mon...” Halter groaned as he put his hand on his forehand.

The situation was such that even he didn’t have the composure to joke about it; however, upon seeing his mistress petrified in dumb amazement, he managed to just barely regain himself and suggested in a low voice, “...At any rate, let’s contact headquarters. For this accident, we need to have them send the supervisor of the legal department as well as machinery for excavation over there. There was an asset even the Breguet Corporation can’t simply disregard in that storage unit, so they’ll manage things for us if we explain what happened.”

“R, Right... It’s as you say. In that case, I’m sorry to trouble you, but could you handle that process?”

“Understood.” Halter nodded, then left the room together with the staff member.

As the door closed, Marie, left alone in the room, curled her lips in irony. “...Looks like it’ll be a fun job this time as well, seriously.”

●

At the same time—03:17:46 a.m.

Naoto Miura woke up.

He was in a park, an athletic park with both a spacious sports field and children’s playground equipment for children. Underneath a roofed rest area set up in a corner, Naoto ground his teeth as he covered his ears.

“...Shut up.”

Dissonance sounded. He was used to hearing abnormal sounds from the municipal mechanism, but it was especially hard to bear right now.

Truly unpleasant sounds were coming from the gears on the twenty-fourth floor of the Core Tower, which was around 70,620 meters underground. He had woken up because of that. Normally, the noise-canceling function on his beloved headphones would erase such noises, but—well, his headphones were missing...

But before that...

“Why... was I sleeping here?” Naoto muttered as he tilted his head. Perhaps because he had slept on a hard surface, his whole body felt as heavy as lead, like he hadn’t slept at all.

“I see that you have woken up, Master Naoto.”

Naoto had yet to fully awaken when a cool, beautiful voice reached his head from behind. Turning around, he saw the face of an angel immediately before his eyes, causing him to inadvertently throw his head back in surprise.

The gemstone eyes, which glittered gold, gazed intently at him. They were beautiful enough to make one swallow one’s breath—but at the same time, one couldn’t read the thoughts behind those artificial eyes.

...If I remember right, this girl...

Naoto gasped and tried to stand up, but ended up staggering.

Groan. A heavy pressure pushed down on his entire body. His hands, which had been propping him up, slipped, and Naoto rolled off the bench. The rebound from hitting the ground made his head hit the edge of the wooden bench forcefully.

“GAhhhhhhhhhhh my head feels like it’s going to crack open!”

As Naoto was holding his head and kicking about in agony, a sweet voice fell upon him from above. “What a novel calisthenic exercise. Master’s refined taste reaches far beyond the current times.”

“That’s not what I’m doing! More importantly, what was that just now?!”

“It seems to be a fluctuation in gravity. The cause is probably a slight error in the municipal mechanism.”

“Damn government buffoons. At least maintain the mechanism properly, dammit!” While grumbling, Naoto stood up. As he brushed off the dirt that had gotten onto his clothes, he turned to face the owner of that sweet voice once again.

The girl looked dainty as she sat on her heels while kneeling on top of the bench. Realizing that she had apparently been providing him with a lap pillow until he had woken up, Naoto became internally flustered.

“Umm, your name is RyuZU... right?”

“Yes. My humble name is RyuZU, and I am the First of the Initial-Y Series.”

Seeing RyuZU’s elegant smile as she answered him finally lit up the pivotal memories in Naoto’s mind, causing him to rapidly reconstruct his memories of last night.

As he thought back on those freshly reconstructed memories, Naoto laughed in exasperation. “...That was a crazy night, huh?”

Everything had been normal up until he got home from school. But after he’d returned home and took a bath, a meteorite came crashing down. The “meteorite” turned out to be a mysterious storage unit, and within was an automaton that looked like an angel—and to top it all off, things ended with a do-or-die repair job in a building that felt like it was going to collapse at any moment.

“Ah—That’s right! What ended up happening to my apartment?”

“If you are referring to your place of residence, Master,” RyuZU answered his words by turning her gaze. In the direction she was looking, red smoke could be seen climbing up as it appeared to dissolve into the dark night.

“That smoke... Could that be coming from the apartment I lived in?”

“Yes. As the collapse of the building caused a fire and a cave-in, I evacuated to this park with you.”

If Naoto strained his ears, he could hear the siren of a firetruck mixed within the noises of the city.

It seemed like this was a park several blocks away from the apartment building. As he composed himself and confirmed his surroundings, he realized that he had seen this scenery before.

“...Heheh, goodbye, dear home... At last, I’ve become homeless as well.” Naoto thought back nostalgically upon his apartment which had gone from as good as ruins to actual ruins at long last.

“And it’s not like I have any money, either. What should I do from now on...”

“Regarding that,” RyuZU addressed Naoto in a serene voice. “Before your residence completely collapsed, I retrieved some clothes and a few valuables, Master.”

“Whatchu say?!”

When he heard that, Naoto looked and found various belongings of his on the table of the rest area.

“Ooh, my wallet and passbook and seal! And my headphones!” He put his beloved headphones back on straight away.

In addition, his school uniform, school satchel, sneakers, and his portable tools were also neatly lined up. Seeing the paltry fortune that he thought had been lost along with the apartment building, Naoto let out a cheer.

“Also, pardon me, but I took the liberty of looking at your passbook—Master’s name is Naoto Miura—Is this correct?”

“Huh?” When she asked that, Naoto realized he hadn’t told her his name. “Ahh... yeah. That’s right.”

“—Then,” RyuZU bowed her head reverently while still sitting on her heels. “Let me begin by deeply thanking you for repairing me. Furthermore, although it occurred while I was unconscious, I deeply apologize for having destroyed your residence, Master Naoto. The one responsible for this should surely bury their head into the ground in apology, but for the time being, I will—”

Naoto lost himself in wonder as he listened to RyuZU’s apology, which was refined and old-fashioned, but also had a poisonous tinge to it.

Her specs, which had been demonstrated the moment he finished repairing her, were tremendous.

Her judgment that allowed her to grasp the situation around her immediately upon starting up. Her mobility that allowed her to escape with Naoto in an instant before the building collapsed. Furthermore, the consideration to retrieve what belongings she could from the building right before it collapsed entirely while Naoto had been unconscious.

And on top of all that—this fluent apology of hers.

“There’s nothing to apologize about.” Naoto shook his head. “Rather, I’ve gone past merely being shocked at your abilities to even being deeply moved by them, RyuZU.”

“Hearing that pleases me above all else. In that case, may I have permission to formally register you as my Master and accompany you as your servant, Master Naoto?” RyuZU extended her hand towards him.

Master Confirmation. The contract binding master and servant.

“Eh...?” Feeling an abrupt sense of mysterious discomfort, Naoto hesitated. “No, that’s a bit...”

RyuZU tilted her head slightly to one side, looking perplexed.

“Let me see, could becoming my Master possibly inconvenience you in some way? Considering how perfect and overly capable I am, would it hurt your tiny, mitochondria-sized pride if I were to serve you?”

—Naoto had wondered about RyuZU’s tone of voice since she’d started up.

She has a wicked tongue that knows no restraint—yet, perplexingly, why doesn’t it irritate me?

Shaking his head to dispel his thoughts which had become tangential, Naoto answered, “No, that’s not it. RyuZU, you’re an amaaazing automaton, you know?”

“Yes, I know. And?”

“To have such a large number of parts crammed into such a small size, you’re a work of art in terms of both form and function.”

“Yes, I am relieved to see that Master Naoto has more of an aesthetic eye than empty sockets.”

“Even among the latest models, there’s no automaton more charming and perfect than you, RyuZU!”

“Yes, naturally. I do not know what caliber the latest automata are, but if humanity could create ones that even reached my feet, I would not have slept for as long as 206 years.” RyuZU replied immediately, brimming with confidence.

Her words shocked Naoto, causing him to shout, “Two hundred and six years?! —Just when were you created then, RyuZU?!”

“About a thousand years ago. Is there something strange about that?”

“A thou—?!”

About a thousand years ago. In other words—an automaton manufactured when the Earth was converted into gears.

...This is it?

It’s this perfect automaton, which seemed like the very embodiment of the word “ultimate”?

—Right, why didn’t I find it strange to begin with?

What is “this” that even the latest automaton models couldn’t compare with?

“RyuZU... just what are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, come on! One, you fell from the sky! Two, you’re super cute! You clearly give off the vibe that you’re technology from the future!”

“What about it?”

“Well, it’s just... Anyway, I’m just a high school student, you know?”

“Is that so? Given that you were able to repair me, Master Naoto, I believe that you should be the human with the most outstanding technical ability on this Earth. Am I wrong?”

“Nononono! There’s no way that’s true! I’m just a high school student. If anything, I’m a loser in life. If you had to, you could say I’m a non-normie.”

“—In that case, why did you start me up?” RyuZU inquired, looking perplexed.

“That’s because....”

All of a sudden, Naoto realized.

...Why?

It was just as RyuZU said. What had he intended to do by fixing this automaton?

Naoto turned to face RyuZU anew.

—An antique doll supposedly made a thousand years ago.

I see. This doll is so adorable, pretty, and perfect that one would hesitate to touch her. ...Even so, isn’t she too perfect?

The functions she’d shown immediately upon start-up exceeded those of a military model, and both her speech and expression just now were astoundingly natural. Though even current automata could pull off everyday conversation and emotional expression, they would always leave behind a sense of artificiality, no matter how advanced they were.

In contrast, RyuZU felt so human that she even gave one the illusion that she really was alive.

Even if one ignored the fact that she had been made a thousand years ago, there was no way an automaton with such high specs could have been made by a private individual, and for a commercial-use, maid-type model made by an enterprise... her functionalities were too advanced.

“Then, was it the military?”

She didn’t look like a mass-produced product, so was she a secret prototype of a new, weapon-grade model?

...Nono, there’s no way.

Even if she were a new model of military-use automaton, there was neither meaning nor an explanation for her form being that of a teenage girl.

It might not be technically impossible, but if the developer were to announce such a beautiful girl as the new weapon, their necks would undoubtedly fly off before they could even finish. The more Naoto thought about it, the more lost he became.

Who manufactured this automaton? Where did he come from, and for just what purpose had he done so?

—Wasn’t she made with an extraordinary purpose in mind?

—Isn’t there something preposterous right behind my back?

Considering those points, no matter what a transcendentally cute automaton with flawless finesse she was, to casually bind her in a contract of master and servant from the heat of the moment would be—wrong.

“—Is, that so...” Perhaps RyuZU guessed Naoto’s thoughts from his expression, for she quietly lowered her extended hand. Her elegant, composed, and gently smiling expression hid a tinge—really, just a tinge—of emotion. That made her feelings all the more apparent.

“I see that I am... unnecessary.” Her words were those of sorrowful lament spawning from the gloom and loneliness she felt upon realizing no one needed her.

In that instant—a gigantic balance scale popped up inside Naoto’s head.

On one side sat this supreme automaton, and on the other, the yet-unknown dangers that would surely assail him.

Is my mind telling me to weigh these two things against each other?

...Fine, why not.

In his mind, Naoto laughed daringly as he first placed RyuZU on the left plate.

As soon as he placed her onto the plate, the scale broke, splitting with a twang as the plate with RyuZU on it continued downward, cracking the table right open and digging a crater into the floor before exploding, smashing Naoto’s reason and hesitation and various other important parts of his consciousness into smithereens.

“I’m so sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy I super-want youuuuuuuuu—!!!” Naoto prostrated himself impetuously at a speed approaching that of light.

Curling his body into a half-circle as he threw his four limbs and his head onto the ground, he spit out his true thoughts. “I was acting tough! At this point, I don’t have even the slightest intention of letting you go! I don’t care what happens anymore, so please take care of me forever!”

As he yelled, fully prostrated, he thrust both his fists into the air with astonishing force while keeping his elbows on the ground.

Right, these are my true thoughts, my true feelings. Who can blame me? What kind of idiot would pass up such a delicious “treasure”? Manufacturer? Original owner? Her true identity? As if I care about any of that! Regardless of whether what’s behind her is the military or an enterprise—if I can get hold of RyuZU, then that’s the be all end all. That’s an absolute fact!

“—In that case, allow me to borrow your right hand. Also, if possible, could I have you stand up?”

Naoto sprung up like a spring and promptly extended his right hand forward.

RyuZU wrapped his palm with both of hers, upon which she said, “Well then, excuse me—nom.”

She took his ring finger from its tip to its base snugly into her mouth. Naoto felt a chill run down his spine as he inadvertently let out a moan.

RyuZU’s hot and tender tongue was vivaciously twirling about inside her mouth. As if trying to explore Naoto’s ring finger, her wet tongue assiduously licked and licked it, twining around and kneading it. The lubricant excreted from the soft and supple material sloshed around, making foaming sounds.

My finger is going to dissolve.

Naoto experienced the false impression that, at the rate things were going, his ring finger would be completely sucked into nothingness from its tip by RyuZU. He felt a murky sense of guilt and indescribable pleasure at this immoral situation of making the girl, who was as beautiful as an angel, put his finger into her mouth.

Just as Naoto was about to lose his marbles from the sensation that burned his brain...

—He heard the sound of an immeasurable amount of gears turning in unison from within RyuZU.

“Ngh—Ahh...”

It seemed like that was the proof that the confirmation was complete. RyuZU discreetly separated her mouth from Naoto’s finger.

With his mind burned white, Naoto felt RyuZU’s cheek with the palm of his emancipated hand. What pushed back against his hand felt warm and soft.

With glistening eyes, RyuZU nestled her cheek against his hand as she sighed passionately before swearing, “—The First of the Initial-Y Series—RyuZU, Your Slave, swears to accompany Master Naoto, devoting absolute submission and loyalty to him as his servant until the very moment her gears break down and cease turning.”

RyuZU had put into words a proclamation that, far from just a simple Master Confirmation, carried sacredness akin to that of a wedding vow.

●

“Wai—I’m already... eeek, eeek...”

Beneath the invigorating morning sun piercing through a clear, dazzling-blue sky...

Naoto clung onto the guardrails of Kamo-oohashi Bridge as he gasped excruciatingly, his breath in complete disorder.

“I, I can’t... Miss, RyuZU, I really can’t... Help me.”

“Master Naoto, to breathe so hard from such a trivial exercise, I am surprised that you have been able to survive up to now with that feeble body of yours.”

“...After such a thing happened yesterday, hahh, without nearly any sleep or a proper meal, eek... making me, run to school... To call me feeble, well said...”

“I am honored to receive your compliment.”

RyuZU briskly turned aside Naoto’s sarcasm born from his desperation.

About an hour away on foot from where Naoto’s apartment was, if one traced the Kamogawa River upstream, there was a school building in the back of “Kamogawa Delta,” the confluence of the Takanogawa and Kamogawa Rivers.

That was Tadasunomori High School, the public school Naoto attended that was run by the local ward.

“Though I may look like this, I’m actually a recipient of the perfect attendance award, you know.” When Naoto told RyuZU that, he ended up being forced to run, practically being dragged all the way here.

However, looking at his watch, it was still only 7:12—There was still plenty of time before class started.

His eyes becoming teary in light of this fact, Naoto addressed RyuZU. “To begin with, I literally lost my home, you know... Shouldn’t I be more concerned with things like where I’m going to sleep and how I’m going to eat today than going to school?”

“Master Naoto, please rest assured: regarding that matter, I will make the proper arrangements while you are attending school. Whatever reason there may be, I would not have any face left to save if you were to fail to receive the perfect attendance award because of me.”

Naoto looked up at RyuZU with an eye half-closed.

“What about the matter regarding your master dying from sleep deprivation and overwork as the result of that?”

“I would be unable to take responsibility for that, as that would be due to Master Naoto’s infirmity and feebleness, a result born of your neglect of your own health that took place before I came to serve you.”

“Yeah, well, that may be true, but...”

“Frankly, it would be none of my concern.”

“That really is frank!” Her words, which were all too abusive, made Naoto burst into laughter.

RyuZU couldn’t help but spew venom every time she opened her mouth, but it wasn’t really unpleasant. Naoto couldn’t feel any malicious intent in her words.

—By no means should I have awakened to a new fetish, Naoto told himself.

“...Master Naoto?”

“Ahh, sorry, sorry. By the way, you said you’d make arrangements, but what exactly do you plan to do? I only have enough for this month’s food expenses in my bank account...”

“I was not depending on your resourcefulness to begin with, so worry not. If it is simply provisional lodgings and living expenses, I can procure those on my own,” RyuZU answered with an unconcerned look.

Naoto made a dissatisfied-looking face at those words. “By that, do you mean that you’re going to get a part-time job, RyuZU? I don’t know about that...”

“You say the strangest things, Master Naoto. Please use common sense. Money is not something one gains by working.”

“...That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of such outlandish common sense.”

“In the first place, I belong to Master Naoto. Even if only temporarily, for me to be used by some bastard scum who knows not even his own father would be both logically and physically impossible.”

“——”

...Could this be a so-called “tsundere”?

Catching himself inadvertently slackening his mouth, Naoto returned to the topic at hand in a fluster.

“In the end, what do you plan to do then...?”

“Master Naoto, please stop worrying about each and every one of such trivial matters. Even if you are hopelessly ruined at the moment, those who are elite should always maintain composure.”

“I don’t remember becoming anything like an elite... but well, fine.” Naoto sighed before continuing, “Well, it’s true that the three hours it took me to repair you yesterday used up all of my willpower and stamina and left me completely exhausted... If you’re willing to take care of things for me, that couldn’t be more welco—Hey, is something wrong?”

Naoto lifted his face upward, upon which he saw RyuZU making a stiff face with her eyes wide open.

She spent a full five seconds like that, after which she said, “......Excuse me. Just a moment ago, I checked over twenty million times whether I had misheard Master Naoto’s words.”

“Uh, did I say something strange?”

“You said that you repaired me in three hours.”

“Yeah, I did. What about it?”

“...May I ask you a question?”

“Oh, sure. Ask me anything,” Naoto answered with a smile.

With an elegant gesture, RyuZU placed one hand on her chest. “Question: How many gears am I composed of altogether?”

“Ummm... 4,207,600,008,643 gears, I think?”

“...Please state the regular frequency marked by my main cylinder.”

“That’s the biggest one in your spine, right? If so, 6,254,941,395 hertz.”

“...How many artificial nerve pathways are linked to my spring?”

“Of the ones directly linked, 15,045,549,846 pathways. Including the ones linked by resonance, 62,945,634,574,578 pathways in total.”

“......Master Naoto. To confirm, have you seen my blueprint?”

“No? I mean, something like that exists?”

“It does not. It should not. That is why I am inquiring. Why does Master Naoto know my makeup down to such fine details?”

“Why, you ask?”

“With an instrument of measurement an individual could own—No, even with the measurement machine of a specialized institution, a feat like analyzing my full makeup in three hours should be impossible. As such, I can only conclude that you knew my blueprint beforehand.”

His expression blank, Naoto tilted his head at RyuZU, who was pressing him for an answer.

“I mean, the actual article was right in front of me, you know? Even if I don’t examine you with a machine, if I just listen to the sounds, that much is immediately obvious. Isn’t that common sense?”

RyuZU stared at Naoto with eyes filled to the brim with suspicion. “Now that is the first time I have ever heard of such outlandish common sense—The sounds, you say?”

“Well, I suppose it’s something like a unique little trick of mine? My ears have always been sharper than others’. If it’s just the makeup of a machine, I can tell that much by listening carefully, even if I’m not looking directly at it.”

“Does that apply to me as well?”

“Yes, if I listen to the sounds. Your body is very pretty, RyuZU. Everything is in harmony, without even so much as a single fingertip’s worth of a superfluous element. So to that same extent, it was readily apparent where the malfunction lay. There was a noise mixed in with all the pleasant sounds, so I lost my cool and just started repairing you without thinking. I’m not sorry for what I did.”

“.........”

“Hmm? Is something wrong, RyuZU?”

“Master Naoto.”

“Yeah?”

“Master Naoto, you are a pervert.”

“Yeah. ...Huh? What does that have to do with what we were just talking about?” Looking puzzled, Naoto raised himself up. “Now then, I guess I’ll get going.”

While Naoto and RyuZU were resting, more and more students in the vicinity could be seen on their way to school. As the students crossed the bridge, their gazes surrounded the two of them as they exchanged whispers from a distance.

RyuZU watched the students’ behavior, puzzled. “...Strangely, it seems we are gathering a lot of attention. What could be the reason for this?”

“Ah—, well, that’s understandable. It’s because someone like me is with you, isn’t it?”

RyuZU nodded as if satisfactorily convinced of Naoto’s answer. “It is a self-evident truth that the peasants’ envy, base to the point of making one nauseous, would gather upon me, who possesses beauty akin to that of an angel that has descended down from the heavens. What a foolish question that was, do excuse me.”

“Yeah. You’re not wrong, but in this case, I’m also present.”

“In other words, Master Naoto, the one who stands at the peak of the inferior lifeforms known as humanity, and I, the most prized treasure of the realm above the clouds, being together doubles the awesomeness those peasants behold, right?”

“That’s totally wrong. What those glances mean is, ‘Why is that unremarkable bastard together with such a transcendentally cute girl?’”

“Master Naoto. While it is true that you are so lowly, I cannot bear to even look at you, there is no just reason for you to be disparaged by base humans that are beneath even the level of worms crawling on the ground.”

“Even I’m gonna cry soon, you know.”

While almost breaking down on the spot, Naoto shook his head. “Well, it’s whatever. I’m merely reaping what I’ve sown. Besides, this is nothing unusual for me.”

However, RyuZU shook her head in restrained anger. “No, this is not fine.”

“Why?”

“Because it is absolutely baffling. I cannot comprehend the basis on which this group of people can define you as someone to be despised.”

Naoto raised his eyebrows, as if perplexed. “Rather, let me ask you instead. On just what basis are you rating me so highly, RyuZU?”

“The only one in all of humanity who could repair me while I was broken was you, Master Naoto.”

“But that’s only your perspective, right RyuZU? Most people won’t think that.”

“Is that not because those people are a useless bunch beyond feeble-mindedness and cannot comprehend even that much?”

“But society is made up of them, RyuZU. And those whom no one understands are the same as nonexistent—That’s the rule of this society.”

...After a long pause, RyuZU opened her mouth reluctantly. “While admitting to being refuted by Master Naoto is exceedingly disagreeable, I will admit that you have a point.”

“I see that you get it now. Are we all good, then?”

Naoto stood up and was about to get going when RyuZU seemed to think of something and stopped him.

“I apologize. May I ask just one more thing?”

“Mm, what?”

She asked, as if trying to sound something out, “I have heard that the creatures known as humans exhibit a mysterious acquired trait in which they classify being favored by an unspecified large number of the opposite sex as having high social status.”

“I’d like to hear in detail where you caught wind of such a thing, but yeah. What of it?”

“Is that an easily understandable ‘good point’ that raises the reputation for a member of the group of people that Master Naoto belongs to?”

“Huh? I don’t see where you’re going with this...” Naoto said as he tilted his head. “Well, of course popular people are automatically highly rated. After all, that basically means that they have allies.”

“—Understood.”

“I don’t really get what you’re saying, but I’m gonna get going now, okay?”

“Yes. Well then, Master Naoto, I shall see you again in a bit.”

While finding RyuZU’s gaze curious as she saw him off, Naoto headed towards the school building.

Passing through the side entrance where the shoe lockers were without stopping, Naoto headed to the foyer behind the main entrance. His own slippers had been stolen long ago, so he borrowed a pair of guest slippers here instead. Then, he hurried to the classroom as his slippers made sticky sounds.

The hallway near his homeroom was filled with noise and activity; however, no one greeted Naoto upon seeing him. The only thing different was that in place of the usual snickers, whispers were being exchanged instead.

Entering the classroom, Naoto placed his satchel on top of his desk and sat down. It was covered in graffiti that he’d even become somewhat attached to by this point. Spending the rest of the time until homeroom pretending to be asleep was Naoto’s go-to plan.

Covering the desk with his face on top of his arms, RyuZU’s words inadvertently ran through his mind.

“Reputation, huh...?”

To be honest, he wasn’t interested after all.

The eccentricities of a talented person might be passed off as a fly in the ointment, but a useless oddball would only be treated as a black sheep.

Furthermore, Naoto had no intention of concealing anything, whether it be his uselessness or his abnormalness.

That’s why the current situation was just him reaping what he had sown. It was annoying, but there was nothing he could do.

As he lay face-down on the table thinking about such things, he genuinely became sleepy.

...Well, so many things happened after all. Can’t be helped, can’t be helped...

Usually he would get up when his homeroom teacher came, but Naoto decided that he would just go to sleep like this for today.

And so, he fell into a deep sleep.

●

“—Nghh...?”

Naoto woke up from the unusual commotion in the classroom.

Suspecting that it had become lunchtime already, Naoto looked at the clock, but the time was only 10:46.

It was still only just time for third period to begin. He had only slept for about two hours.

Naoto lifted his head, wondering just what the commotion was all about, upon which he heard,

“Ah—... I know this is sudden, but I’ll be introducing a transfer student to our class.”

Upon the classroom podium stood the teacher in charge of third period’s lecture and a single girl.

She was a beautiful girl, so much so that it looked like she were sparkling, and she captivated the eyes of those who beheld her just by standing there. Her pure-silver hair swayed sleekly, and she had pale, almost transparent skin. Her lips were a light, peachy pink color, her cheeks radiated rosiness, and her eyes were glittering gold, like a crown.

The students in the class were left flabbergasted in unison at those features that were so beautiful, they were hardly believable for a human.

“......Whatcha doin’?”

Naoto inadvertently spoke out in his local dialect.

Perhaps the girl at the podium heard him, for she took a step forward and waved at Naoto gently.

The gazes in the classroom that had been thoroughly taken by the otherworldly beauty refocused all at once onto the unremarkable loner in the class.

“My humble name is RyuZU Your Slave. Though I will be studying with everyone starting today, I do not have any interest in getting to know all you honorably banal and base people, so I shall be just fine without your care, thank you.”

The sight of the silver-haired girl bowing as she smiled like a blooming flower caused Naoto’s face to fall onto his desk once again.

●

“I judge that with this, a ‘good point’ that the masses can readily understand has been created.”

“—Uh-huh... Well, yeah. You’re right. It’s just that, there’s an expression in this world that having too much is just as bad as having too little, you know?”

Naoto pointed that out as the piercing gazes from those around him made him draw his shoulders inward.

Jealousy, hatred, disgust, enmity... If those gazes had physical power, Naoto would surely have been killed several times over by now.

“If my companion is a beauty like you, now they’ll be like ‘Why is a bastard like him...’”

“......To state my impressions frankly, I have come to feel that it is easier by far to teach a cow how to walk on two legs than to expect rationality from humans.”

“Well, I won’t deny that.”

From third period onwards, the rest of the day was like a storm for Naoto.

RyuZU, who had forcibly snatched a seat next to Naoto, stuck to him tightly for the whole lesson. When it came time for lunch, she sat down on Naoto’s lap and fed him his lunch, urging him to open his mouth now and then by saying “Ahhh” in a monotonous tone. Afterwards, she took him to the courtyard and sat down on the grass, then grasped Naoto’s head and coercively laid it above her knees.

Naoto wasn’t one to mind the public eye (If he had been, he could never have proclaimed his abnormality.), but neither was he cheeky enough to be able to enjoy RyuZU’s lap pillow while feeling the immense pressure from others who would love nothing more than to tear him from limb to limb.

Probably because they flirted so incredibly brazenly and overbearingly, their classmates only looked on from afar without conducting the typical question time for transfer students all the way until school ended, when a few fearless souls finally stepped up to the plate.

However...

“Uh, umm, could I have a bit of your time?”

“Yes? Do you have some business with me?”

“Ah, r, right. Well I’m sure that as a transfer student, there’s a lot—”

“I see. However, I do not have any particular business with you, so I shall be excusing myself.”

“Of things you don’t know yet, so—er, huh?”

...

“Hey, heyy heyy! You’re so pretty, RyuZU-chan.”

“Yes. I am aware of that. What of it?”

“Aware?... Uh, errr. RyuZU-chan, you’re kinda—”

“Could I have you not call me by name with that honorable brain of yours, from which I cannot perceive even a glimpse of intelligence? Furthermore, to append the –chan suffix to my name. Come again after you have discerned your own place—Actually, you need not bother. After all, it would just be a waste of time.”

......

“Ah—I’m a second year. My name is—”

“You must really detest me, to wear a face like that that could spoil my mood all the way from a floor above. However, I am sorry to say that I lack the faculty required to hold an interest in ants, so I request that you kindly take your leave.”

“Er, huh, no umm—I’m actually quite pop—”

“Sir, I told you to disappear. Or—Is it that human language is too difficult for you?”

.........

“Ah—”

“Before you speak the words in your mouth, please first carefully consider whether it is worth wasting the Earth’s oxygen, the many lives that were sacrificed to provide you with the calories you would expend, and above all, my precious time—If so, then please, do continue.”

............

Heaps of corpses lay everywhere.

When she talked to Naoto, she had the smile of an angel; but, when she addressed others, she skewered them through. Her verbal abuse was that of a demon with a frozen expression and a merciless tone of voice.

As the result, during the time that Naoto and RyuZU walked from the classroom to the school gates, boys and girls numbering in the double-digits ended up suffering deep wounds.

●

Exiting through the school gates, Naoto and RyuZU walked along Kamogawa River.

While passing by an old man doing his best at running and a college student practicing her instrument, the two of them walked from Demachiyanagi heading towards Shijou Street.

“Master Naoto, you seem to be awfully tired,” said RyuZU, looking back at Naoto, whose footsteps were heavy.

“Right, well... that would be thanks to you. Today’s situation must be what the phrase ‘bed of nails’ is used to describe.”

“To mind the gazes of the riffraff to such an extent, Master Naoto really is a coward—Not that that is particularly surprising or anything.”

“Please stop, I think I’m going to discover a new horizon any time now.”

After wriggling his body in seeming agony for awhile, Naoto continued.

“—By the way, I have a question. How did you transfer to my school, RyuZU?”

“I submitted a notification of transfer, of course,” answered RyuZU, looking calm and composed.

“I mean, even if you give me such a reflexive answer... Can you really start attending on the same day that you submit your notification?”

“I simply had a little ‘talk’ with the principal.”

“...’talk’?”

“It is something that Master Naoto need not know about.”

“No wait. I’m starting to feel really anxious now.”

“It really was not anything worth mentioning. I simply made a tiny amount of small talk regarding the hair-shaped accessory on top of the principal’s head.”

“You threatened him! You do know that that’s a threat, right?!”

“But it wasn’t really a threat? I simply made a trivial request after the small talk.”

“...Umm, Miss RyuZU? I believe you said that you’d handle our housing and money, but don’t tell me you were planning to do so through crime... right?”

“Master Naoto,”

RyuZU looked at Naoto with a smile that seemed like it would make those who beheld it fall in love.

“‘Crime only becomes crime if it comes to light’—This is common knowledge that will never change, you know?”

“.........Alllright, I heard nothing just now. More importantly, you said that you found a place for us to sleep tonight, but where did you decide on in the end?”

“You can see it already. It’s the hotel behind that high-rise building called ‘The Oh, Yes’”

“...Miss RyuZU?” Naoto froze to a standstill right on the spot. “If my memory isn’t failing me, wasn’t that a love hotel?”

At Naoto’s question, RyuZU widened her eyes.

“—It is just as you say. Honestly, it surprises me that you know it, Master Naoto. Could you have stayed there before?”

“You know that that’s not possible. I simply knew that the normies in my class go there often—Hey, who cares about that! Like we can stay in a love hotel, what are you thinking?!”

“However, that love hotel, ‘The Oh, Yes,’ is the cheapest accommodation in Kyoto Grid right now, not to mention it has full amenities.”

“That’s not the problem! In the first place, if RyuZU and I were to be seen leaving a love hotel together, we’d be expelled instantly you know?!”

“......I remain unconvinced. In that case, please let me hear Master Naoto’s great alternative plan.”

Offended, RyuZU slightly puckered her face up as she spilled that out sarcastically. In response, Naoto thought as fast as he could before concluding,

“...F, For now, let’s stay at a manga cafe tonight!”

Naoto took RyuZU’s hand and began walking.

Perhaps they had wasted too much time by the love hotel, for the crowd of people walking through the shopping district grew as the surroundings slowly darkened.

By the time they finally found a manga cafe lying around the corner, the sun had completely set.

“Well, I guess this is fine. If we wait a little longer now, we can stay for cheap tonight with the overnight deal here.”

—Naoto said as he turned around, upon which his expression immediately turned severe.

Before he had realized, there were three men surrounding RyuZU from both sides.

They were about the age of college students. Each and every one of them had a dirty face, slovenly clothes, and was jingling glittery bling with their hands.

Of the three of them, Punk A accosted RyuZU in an obnoxiously familiar tone,

“Hey hey heyy! You’re a reeeeeal babe, aren’tcha?”

“Yes. What of it?”

“Ahahahaha, ‘what of it’ she says! But she seriously is a fine jewel isn’t she!”

“Say, say. Won’t you come play with us? We’ll treat you to dinner, y’know~?”

Naoto grasped the situation immediately.

Lured by the ultimate prize that was RyuZU, Punks A, B, and C had gathered around her. They were a type that Naoto would normally have no point of interaction with. They normally wouldn’t even register in each other’s field of vision, after all. If he somehow did end up getting involved with them, he could get by by laughing sycophantically like a fool, but—

“——”

Naoto’s entire body flared red-hot.

Abiding by his impulse, he grabbed RyuZU’s hand.

“RyuZU, we’re going.”

“Yes.”

RyuZU nodded and tried to leave with Naoto, but the group of three men didn’t permit that.

They quickly routed in front of them, blocking their path.

“Hey now, little boy... What’s this about alllll of a sudden?”

“This girl is about to go on a date with us, y’know? Kids should get the hell outta here.”

Punks A and B threatened Naoto as they surfaced a smirk bordering on obscene.

The remaining Punk C looked Naoto up and down with bloodshot eyes.

“Who’re you supposed to be anyway? Don’t tell me you’re her boyfriend—?”

“Nice joke, Taku-chan! I’m telling you, no man, there’s no way!”

As the three of them exploded in laughter together, the one who first accosted RyuZU, Punk A, reached his hand towards her.

As soon as Naoto noticed that, he immediately struck the punk’s hand down with all his might.

“——That hurt... What’s with this kid? Aaah?”

The smirks disappeared from their faces, replaced by the signs of swelling fury.

Even so, Naoto continued to yell at them, driven by his own fury.

“Shut up already—She’s not someone that’s okay for a sorry lot like you to touch. Can’t you even tell that much, you self-proclaimed homo sapiens?! Keep your shamelessness limited to your ugly faces, you walking pieces of waste!”

—Uh, what the hell am I saying? warned the relatively calm portion of his brain.

Even though his opponents were punks that didn’t look too fit, they were still a group of three young men, whereas he was only a sixteen-year-old boy, and a small and frail one, at that.

If it came down to a fistfight, no matter how much he struggled, there would be no future for him but to become a punching bag.

Even though they might have been able to escape peacefully if he had conducted himself more wisely—for some reason, Naoto’s heart harbored no regret.

If he had had the chance to start over, he definitely would have done the same thi—No, he would have thrown in a kick as well next time.

—That’s right. If they’re gonna make a move on RyuZU, I’ll protect her at any cost.—

The three punks, whose faces were made even uglier as they were distorted by fury, came grappling towards Naoto.

Naoto glared at the three of them as he pressed his lips tightly together.

Immediately after, he heard a refreshingly cool voice.

“—Thank you. Allow me to revise my perception of you up a notch, Master Naoto.”

“Whah?” Naoto asked back spontaneously.

Right after that, RyuZU’s skirt began to flutter slightly.

That was as much as Naoto could tell with his eyes at least.

However, wind and sound, along with—”something” else—flew past the three punks, as if brushing by. A strange sound of things unfolding rang out.

Everything, from the punks’ shirts, pants, accessories, to their shoes, underwear, and hair, was torn asunder, falling down while fluttering in the air.

“—I apologize.”

RyuZU pinched the hem of her skirt and made a curtsy to the punks who had sunk to the floor, naked.

“I was already in a bad mood as things were from the attitude the riffraff at school displayed towards Master Naoto, so when you all pushed me over the edge, I inadvertently ended up doing this in a flare of anger. I do not particularly regret anything either.”

“Ah, ah, holy...”

“On another note, I offer my gratitude to all of you, as I am truly glad that you stopped before striking Master Naoto. No matter how much of a pervert you are, even you would feel queasy seeing a freshly severed head, right, Master Naoto?”

RyuZU surfaced a thin smile.

However, the temperature of her gaze was absolute zero, as if she were looking at flies swarming rotting flesh.

Even the dumbest blockhead on the block would surely know what her gaze was implying.

The three naked punks scrambled off like stray dogs. Their screams caused a commotion to grow, and the angry roar of what was probably a policeman could be heard from afar.

“...L, Let’s enter the manga cafe already. It’s too dangerous for you to walk around at night, RyuZU!”

Naoto pushed RyuZU’s back, entering the store hastily.

This manga cafe was one that Naoto knew well.

The store was wide and bright inside, and every nook and corner of it was thoroughly cleaned. None of its facilities was damaged either, and the refreshment bar had many choices for drinks as well.

RyuZU stopped and surveyed the interior of the store.

“...It is so-so, I guess.”

She pouted, looking unsatisfied.

“However, I believe that ‘The Oh, Yes’ is a better place to stay in after all. Do you prefer a narrow and suffocating room over a broad and comfortable one, Master Naoto?”

“Yeah, whatever, let’s just say I do. Okay?”

As the two of them approached the counter, a young male employee came out from the back. He opened his mouth blankly for a moment upon seeing RyuZU, but he immediately pulled himself back together and surfaced a smile.

“W, Welcome. Do you have a membership card?”

“I want the overnight deal,” said Naoto, presenting his card.

“If you start now, you’ll be charged the standard rate for one hour. Is that fine?”

“Yes. I’m fine with that at this point.”

“Thank you. What seat would you like?”

Naoto hesitated.

He troubled himself over the map of the store’s interior that the employee presented. Cafeteria seat, box seat, business seat, reclining seat... there were many kinds of different seats, but as far as ones that were suitable for two people to stay in...

As Naoto wavered, RyuZU stepped forward from the side.

“We’ll take a couple’s seat.”

“Eh...?”

“Certainly. Your seat will be box number four.”

Ignoring Naoto, who was stiffening up, RyuZU promptly finished the process, taking the receipt and Naoto’s membership card back from the employee.

“Wha, RyuZU?! A couple’s seat?”

“Was that not your intention? Rather than a wide bedroom, you would prefer to glue yourself to me in a confined seat. Are you impressed by my keen eyes that were able to grasp your perverse desire?”

“No, that’s not it! I didn’t even think of that!”

“If I think about it that way, then there would be a rational explanation for why you obstinately rejected the love hotel, but?”

“That’s because I’m underage!”

“Please rest assured, Master Naoto. No matter what kind of peculiar lusts that would be condemned by society you harbor in your chest, I intend to accept them in full.”

“I’m saying—no, never mind. If I think about it, it’s safer this way.”

“True. It seems that the public order is not excellent around here after all. As long as I am here, there is no problem at all, but it is still important to avoid unnecessary danger.”

“Right, yeah... Danger not for us, but for those that would harass us,” Naoto muttered in a small voice.

—If by any chance, an idiot shows up and makes a pass at RyuZU, a murder might end up happening in the store...!

Upon entering the designated cubicle, Naoto collapsed onto the two-person sofa, completely exhausted.

“...Today was long, too long...”

Fatigue that felt as heavy as lead weighed down on his entire body.

He wanted to sleep like a log just like this, but he couldn’t. Naoto sighed deeply, straining his body as he stood up sluggishly.

“Master Naoto, where are you going?”

“I’m going to borrow the shower here. I sweat a bunch in the morning after all, so it’d feel gross to sleep like this.”

“I see. Understood.”

—Passing by RyuZU, who bowed lightly at him, Naoto walked towards the shower area.

However, after advancing for a short while, he stopped and turned around.

“Say, why are you following me?” asked Naoto. RyuZU made a puzzled face with her eyes slightly widened.

“...? Was the order not for me to wash your back?”

“I didn’t say anything like that at all!”

“Yes. However, Master Naoto, you do not appear comfortable being candid with your desires, so I tried to make a read on the true intentions hidden behind your remarks.”

“Don’t bother!”

“...Really? Are you sure? You mean to say that you do not wish for a special act of servitude involving body lotion and sponges after we have both stripped in a narrow, locked room?”

“............”

“Master Naoto?”

“......No, I’m fine. I’ll be showering by myself.”

“Is that so. In that case, I shall return to our seat and wait for you.”

“...Yeah. See you later then.”

RyuZU returned to their seat after bowing once.

After her figure had fully disappeared, Naoto spontaneously collapsed onto his knees.

Sniff. Naoto wiped the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes, muttering,

“......Seriously, what the hell am I doing...”

●

“Whoa! What’s this?”

When Naoto returned, refreshed from his shower, the couple’s seat had become buried in magazines and manga of various genres. RyuZU was reading them at a startling pace as she sat modestly on the far side of the sofa.

She stopped her hand temporarily and faced him.

“Welcome back, Master Naoto.”

“Ah, yeah, I’m back... What’s up with all this?”

“I am gathering intelligence; these are a part of that. I had been asleep for as long as 206 years, so I thought I should fill in my knowledge of the modern world as much as possible.”

“...This manga is a part of that too?”

“Mass entertainment is an important reference.”

“I, Is that so... You do that then; meanwhile, I’ll be sleeping, because unsurprisingly, I’m pooped.”

“I see. Please have a good night,” said RyuZU, turning towards Naoto and sitting on her heels.

As he sat down beside her on the sofa, Naoto asked, “What about you, RyuZU? ...I guess automata don’t sleep. What about your spring?”

“Do not worry, it is self-winding.”

“Ahh, I see... Huh? The winding is completely automatic? For turning over four trillion gears?”

“Yes. What about it?”

Naoto took a breath, then nodded.

“—Oh, nothing. Rather, it’d be weird if you couldn’t do that much, huh.”

Even a state-of-the-art automaton seems to need to have their spring wound about once a week, you know...

Naoto realized once again just how high-end RyuZU was.

Compared to the capabilities she’s shown me up to now, I guess having a self-winding spring isn’t anything special at this point... Naoto convinced himself like so as he made his arms into a pillow for his head before closing his eyes.

Immediately after, RyuZU whispered in a cold voice, “—Could you be ignoring me?”

“Huh?”

Naoto reflexively opened his eyes, upon which he saw RyuZU’s unsatisfied-looking face right next to his, making him swallow his breath.

“Are you ignoring my lap pillow?” RyuZU asked as she tapped her thighs. Pon-pon.

Naoto darted his eyes about before asking back, “...Can I?”

“You have already done so, both this morning and during lunch. Not to mention, Master Naoto is my master now. Would it somehow be inconvenient for you to do so?”

“No siree, not at all.” Naoto replied immediately as he placed his head on RyuZU’s lap.

As the soft and warm, almost melting sensation made him sigh, he wriggled in his seat slightly before closing his eyes, upon which he immediately began to drift off.

“Master Naoto.”

“Yeah?”

“I watched you for the whole day today.”

“Yeah.”

“To be perfectly honest, Master Naoto is completely inexplicable.”

“Is that so? Well, I guess I can’t deny that.”

“Yes. In addition, Master Naoto is self-deprecating to the extreme.”

“You’re right,” Naoto groaned as if regretful. “Sorry... for being an uncool Master.”

“—It is important to be humble of oneself, yes... But even so—”

Naoto waited for her to continue, but—

“...No, it is nothing important. —Good night.”

“...Yeah.”

He fell asleep immediately.

As RyuZU combed Naoto’s hair gently with her hand, she let out a whisper, “...Master Naoto, what do you think of me?”

There was no answer. RyuZU didn’t really wish for one either. After observing him the entire day, she understood that Naoto wasn’t interested in anything but machines.

In that case, the reason he had desired her, an automaton, was that she was an excellent machine. But if that was all there was to it, then why did he treat her like a human girl?

“Really, how incomprehensible.”

RyuZU slipped out a chuckle as she cast her eyes downward. She thought back to the trouble they had gotten caught up in just a little while back.

Whether it had been because he saw her as his possession or as a girl remained unclear. But whatever the case, Naoto had tried to protect her.

...I am treasured.

She had been able to ascertain that fact—Then, wasn’t that enough?

Surfacing a smile that hadn’t even a single drop of poison, RyuZU continued combing Naoto’s hair.

●

It’s been 26 hours since the entire staff began analyzing the phenomenon together.

The work was proceeding smoothly.

Of the 27 floors that the core tower had, they’d already finished confirming the first two floors.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t discovered a point of malfunction yet. Still, if they continued at this pace, they had estimated that it should be possible to verify all the floors within two weeks.

However, in spite of that—they couldn’t genuinely rejoice.

“...The work is proceeding too smoothly.”

Indeed—that was the biggest irregularity of all.

The reason why the work was proceeding smoothly—That was solely because there were no nuisances in the way.

Nuisances, or namely, the military.

Of course, as long as the treaty was in place, the military couldn’t openly obstruct Meister Guild. The most they could do is to offer “assistance” politely. While Meister Guild expressed gratitude towards that offer, the guild gently declined the offer so as to be able to work smoothly. Nevertheless, the military took pride in maintaining the municipal mechanisms from day to day and were surely displeased to have outsiders intruding and taking charge. There was also the issue of appearances in front of the city’s residents.

As a result, the military was quick to cut in citing excuses like ‘preventing leakage of classified information’ and ‘bearing responsibility’; Meister Guild advanced its work as it evaded that interference.

From the military’s perspective, Meister Guild was a vulture who snatched away their work and the credit that went along with it.

From Meister Guild’s perspective, the military was nothing more than a group of incompetents who were all talk.

That was something Marie and her staff were confronted with regularly; however—

“To think that I would only spot a few clocksmiths from the military’s Technical Force the whole day today...”

She wasn’t entirely indifferent.

After all, she had been offered “assistance” when she had arrived, and even now, there was an auditor belonging to Technical Force silently monitoring them from the corner of the meeting room.

However, that was the extent of the military’s presence.

After she had refused the first offer of assistance, the military had readily drawn back. The core tower, the heart of the city, was usually crammed with over a thousand staff members, but those staff members also accepted their dismissal from the case without a fuss.

If anything, for them to be understanding to this extent made Marie feel suspicious instead.

The impenetrable order of Meister Guild.

The sudden fluctuations in gravity before dawn.

The suspicious response from the military.

Even if they were small abnormalities one-by-one, them being lined up together made Marie envision the worst-case scenario in her mind.

“There’s a possibility that this really is the possibility I’ve considered.”

“Dr. Marie...”

A young member of the staff addressed her in a small voice.

Sensing what he wanted to say from his expression, Marie nodded.

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ve already prepared for that.”

“Then, as expected, did they...?”

“I can’t say anything for sure. However, I think I can find out soon enough.”

Perhaps the staff member sensed an unsettling tinge to Marie’s countenance, for he returned to his station after clearing his throat meekly.

“—Now then.”

Marie headed towards the elevator shaft with a leisurely stride.

The auditor from Technical Force followed after her without a word.

He probably served as the lead clocksmith here when things were normal. He had a broad chest as one would expect from a soldier, and next to his breast pocket was a badge proving that he was a Geselle.

While waiting for the elevator to come, Marie addressed the man.

“I’m just going out to breathe in some fresh air. Do you mind?”

“Do as you wish.” The voice that answered was surly.

However, Marie showed no signs of caring. After awhile, the elevator arrived, and she entered it and pressed the button for the surface level.

Right now, Marie and her staff were working 8,200 meters below the city grid—the third floor of the core tower. Even this elevator, which moved at a speed of 1,000 meters per second, took eight minutes to travel one-way between the surface and the third floor.

For awhile, Marie gazed at the depth meter above the elevator doors. But, eventually, she seemed to become unable to bear the silence any longer, and she turned around, saying, “That gun is a BR-19, isn’t it?”

Marie spoke to the man in a bright voice. Her sight was turned towards the gun holstered on the man’s waist. He didn’t answer, simply maintaining his posture of standing at attention; however, without paying any mind to that, Marie continued, “That gun shoots a bullet not by the gears turning against each other, but by them turning in the same direction at high speed, thus compressing then releasing air—Though its recoil is stronger than a conventional gun, one can use that recoil to amplify the compression of the next shot. In order to take advantage of that, its stopping power is also outstanding by necessity. Its loading capacity is typically seven bullets. I see that there are barbed wires surrounding the grip to prevent the gun from being seized. Its caliber is—my, a .45? If the priority is placed on sheer power though, wouldn’t the BR-sp33, a short assault gun, be better?

The man made a half-exasperated face at Marie, who had fluently explained standardized military pistols.

“You seem to be quite informed, I see.”

“Yes. They’re guns manufactured by my father’s corporation.”

“—Oh, that’s right. You’re the daughter of the president of the Breguet Corporation.

“Did you know? Those born into the Breguet family have the details of all the products designed and sold by the company drilled into them. We’re talking about one of the Five Great Enterprises here—so the entire catalog ranges from cribs for babies to jumbo-sized transport planes. I think you can imagine what a task it would be to memorize all of it.”

“That must have been very hard on you.”

“Indeed, my childhood was full of drudgery.”

“However, frankly speaking, I cannot understand what the point was in you learning all that. If you were an employee, it’d be another story, but was that kind of education really necessary for the family princess?” The man’s voice had a scornful-sounding ring to it.

However, Marie smiled as if to say, That’s just how I feel as well. “You think so too, after all?”

“Yes, I think it really was a waste of time. If you had the time to learn that kind of stuff, there were surely plenty of other things you should have learned instead.”

“It’s just as you say. Perhaps something like this, for example?”

“Hah? Gah—?!”

As soon as he opened his mouth, the man ended up groveling onto the floor.

“Er, Ergh, oooooooof...?!”

—He couldn’t understand what had happened.

Even though he was technically an engineer, as a part of the military he had received combat training as well. Even if he wasn’t part of an infantry unit, he had trained enough to be able to deal with two or three punks easily.

Yet, to be knocked down in an instant without even being able to resist, have his weapon taken from him, be trampled on by a girl who was merely sixteen years old, and to top it all off, have a gun up against the back of his head—Just what was going on?

“I told you, didn’t I? That I’ve had the ‘details’ of all the products drilled into me. That includes the ‘usage instructions,’ you know?—By the way, could I have you be quiet for the time being?”

“Y, Y-, You bitch, what is the meaning of t—Oof?!”

Marie abused him in a vulgar tone. “Hey, I told you to be quiet, didn’t I? Damn dog.”

It was an exceedingly relaxed tone of voice containing neither excitement nor nervousness. The man’s will to resist was sucked out of him by those words and the sensation of the muzzle against the back of his head.

The elevator arrived at ground level.

The doors opened along with the sound of the gas turning off. Apparently, someone had been waiting in front of the elevator. That someone was a giant, bear-like man—Halter.

He looked inside the elevator, upon which he slapped his own, bald head with his hand in exasperation.

Sounding sympathetic, he addressed the man being trampled upon by Marie. “It’s been a calamity for you too, hasn’t it? Well, just consider yourself unlucky and—”

“Save your chit-chat and get in the elevator.”

“Yeah, yeah. Well then, excuse me.”

Halter got on and pressed the button to descend. The elevator dropped rapidly once again, then came to a manually forced halt after about ten seconds.

Inside the elevator from which there was no escape, Halter tied up the man’s hands and feet. The man had struggled during the process, but as there was no way he could oppose Halter, a cyborg, with his body of flesh, he was simply left restrained on the ground.

Stamping on the man’s head, Marie spoke.

“Now then, shall I have you bark out a few things?”

“—Guh...”

The man struggled, wriggling about, but the foot on his head didn’t sway one bit.

Seeing him like that, the corners of Marie’s mouth stretched upwards.

“My, my, what’s the matter? Is that supposed to be a form of resistance? Wriggling about like that, it’s like you’re enjoying this, you degenerate.”

“Aren’t you in a good mood, princess.”

“I liked disciplining my dog when I was a kid. He was a large, cheeky one, but by the end he had become a cute doggy-woggy who whined if I pulled his chain, like this.”

Marie pulled up on the man’s necktie. Having both his head stomped on and his neck strangled, he let out a strained groan as he writhed in agony.

“By the way, Halter, did you bring the toy for me?”

“Yeah, just in case... Are you seriously going to use this?” Halter seemed reluctant as he took out a white syringe. The barrel was filled up with an unfathomable silver liquid.

Upon seeing it, the man’s face cramped up in terror.

“Wha-...H, Hey, what is that?! You’re planning on injecting me with something?!”

“What, you say? Truth serum, of course.”

“Wha—”

“—It’d be great if that were the case, but unfortunately, I don’t have that on hand. After all, we’re civilians, remember?”

“As if you bastards could be considered civilians!” the man screeched.

It was a heartfelt assertion that anyone would have agreed with; nonetheless, Marie paid him no mind as she grinned happily, continuing on, “Actually, it’s mercury.”

“Mer... Mercury?!” The man gasped as his eyes stretched as wide open as could be.

“Yes. The thing that’s used in automata maintenance.”

“Y, You bastard, are you insane?! If you inject something like that into me, I’ll—”

“Well, I think you’d die, right?” Marie laughed smugly. “So what? It’s not a big deal, right?”

“......”

The man’s face had turned pallid. His mouth was stiff, and tears welled up in his eyes. His arms and legs were trembling all over, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

“Now then, shall we set the rules? I’m the master, and you’re the dog. Obediently answer everything you’re asked with a ‘Woof-woof.’ What do you think? Simple, right?”

“Y, You bastards, don’t think you’ll get away scot-free with t—Ghhff!!”

Marie stamped down on his face forcefully, then said, “Hey, it’s ‘Woof,’ right? Why can’t you understand such a simple thing? Could it be that you’re making light of me?”

“Y, You shitty brat... Guah!”

“Do you want me to stamp on that pathetic brain of yours until everything spills out? You think a measly, half-baked clocksmith like you can defy me? Hey: know your place, you worthless dog.”

“Now, now, princess. You’re going too fast right out the gate.” Halter interjected in a seemingly chiding tone.

Seeming to sympathize a great deal with the man whose face was a sloppy mess from tears and a bleeding nose, Halter addressed him with a gentle voice. “Say, buddy. The princess has gotta be enjoying herself a great deal, but I genuinely just want to ask a couple questions. If you just answer me honestly, I’ll release you. I promise.”

“Guh...ugh...”

“I have two things I want to ask, okay? ‘Where is the point of malfunction?’ and ‘How much does the military have a grasp on?’ Won’t you tell me honestly?”

“N... No. I can’t.”

The man looked frightened, shaking his head as he looked into Halter’s eyes.

“C’mon, buddy. Don’t make it too troublesome for me, ’kay?”

“If I tell you, I’ll be killed!”

“Then, do you plan to play along with the princess’s fetish until you die?” Halter asked as he jerked his chin towards Marie. She brandished the syringe in delight.

“Let me warn you ahead of time: the princess is the real deal, you know? She’s an extreme sadist. She’s a socialite who was born in France, so she seriously thinks of commoner men as nothing but livestock.”

“I, I can’t.”

“Hey, buddy.”

“If I told you bastards, even my family who escaped the city would be killed by the military—!!” The man howled as he sobbed. “Damn you, you shits! If you want to kill me, go ahead! I’m not going to say anything, got it?!”

“Hey now, calm down buddy—or should I say, Mr. Ryoji Nijima.”

“Wha...” Suddenly being called by his name, the man started. “How do you know my name?” he squeezed out as he trembled, upon which Halter smirked and showed something to him.

A small white plastic plate.

It was an ID card.

“?!”

“Wasn’t it a mistake to mention that they had escaped from the city? Residents of this city who are currently away from home and named ‘something Nijima’... I could figure out who they are in just fifteen minutes, you know?”

“Halter, we’re done with this man, so dispose of him. We’re moving on to the next target. Ah, and don’t forget to have his family die in an accident,” Marie ordered with a pompous attitude.

Halter shrugged his shoulders and thrust the muzzle of his gun against the man’s temple.

“Well, that’s how it is—Sorry.”

“Wait! Wait up!! I got it, I’ll talk! I’ll fucking tell you anything you want to know!”

“You’ll fucking what?”

“Please let me answer your questions. I beg of you... gh!”

“Very well.”

Looking down on the cowering, hyperventilating man, Marie said, “Then, first question: Where is the point of malfunction?”

“Th... The twenty-fourth floor.”

“The twenty-fourth floor... It’s awfully deep down. If I recall correctly, that floor has systems for controlling atmospheric pressure and gravity, yes?”

“Th, That’s right... the fatal malfunction lies in the nucleus of the atmospheric pressure control system...”

“Good. You’ve become awfully obedient, haven’t you.—So, how much does the military have a grasp on?”

“T, That’s...”

“That ain’t even worth asking, princess,” Halter interjected. “They have a grasp on everything, and fully understanding the situation, they’ve abandoned repairing the mechanism. Despite knowing where the point of malfunction lies, they aren’t forwarding us that information. That’s also why they’ve taken all their repair staff off the case, right?”

The man remained silent, not answering.

And that silence was the most convincing answer of all.

“Hmm... I see. So in other words, our job is to save this city of twenty million residents that the military has abandoned repairs on,” Marie had concluded while nodding.

But the man sneered at her as if he had become unbound. “Hah—hahahahahah! If you think you can fix it, then try all you want.”

“—My, how cheeky. If I treat you with just a little kindness, you immediately go overboard. How hopeless. Could it be that you lack the ability to learn, you mongrel?”

“Hah—hahahahahaha!! Like you bastards could repair it!”

“Could you not treat my superior staff like they’re the same as you imbeciles?”

“Heh... I don’t know just what kind of distinguished masters you bastards are, but it’s already way past the time you would need to fix it!”

“...What do you mean by that?”

“I mean just that! This city will be ‘purged’ in just forty-two hours!

—“Purge.”

It was an intentionally executed process—the collapse of a city.

Detaching a city that had had an irreparable malfunction occur before it affected the entire planet’s mechanisms—an act of “quarantine,” so to speak.

“—Don’t fabricate such a grandiose lie. There’s no way an evacuation advisory wouldn’t have been announced already if there’s going to be a purge in forty-two hours.”

“It was announced... to the military and government officials, long ago.”

“——”

Halter grabbed the jeering man by his collar and shouted in his face, “You lot! Do you plan to simply watch the twenty million residents of this city die?!”

“Hah... Acting like you’re any better! Are you bastards even conscious of the fact that there’s been several cities that have been purged after you guys failed to repair their mechanisms?! Do you bastards not realize that in the end, even the technical skills you boast of were polished by killing people like that?!”

“Shut that filthy mouth of yours, you low-life.” Marie glared at the man.

Marie rushed back to the worksite on the third floor, and upon arriving, she shouted out without even stopping for a breath, “Everyone, stop what you’re doing and listen up, please!”

The staff that had been engaged in various tasks looked up at her, wondering what was going on.

As Marie looked over each of their faces one by one, she declared, “The abnormal area has been identified! There’s a malfunction in the atmospheric pressure controls on the twenty-fourth floor!! All staff members are to immediately begin transferring there! Once you arrive, please begin examining the part of the mechanism that you’re assigned by your squad leader!”

Though all of the staff’s eyes widened slightly, they began to evacuate the floor right away. In the corner of the room that had stirred into a commotion in one fell swoop, members from Technical Force goggled at the sight like they wanted to ask, “Why?”

Before Marie had realized it, Konrad, the service chief, was standing beside her. He asked Marie, “—You truly are an astonishing person, Dr. Marie. How did you do it?”

“I simply requested the information from them sincerely with all my heart.”

“Hmm, I see—You did something rash.”

Chief Konrad smiled bitterly as if to chide her, but Marie paid his expression no mind.

“More importantly, please hurry—The time limit is forty-two hours.”

The observation squad let out a cry to those words. “No way! If there’s only forty-two hours left, there’s nothing we can do!”

“Even if the abnormal area has been identified, finding the exact point of malfunction and testing possible restoration methods would require one week!”

“Then are you going to tuck your tails between your legs and run?” A green flame blazed in Marie’s eyes as she glared at them. “The military has abandoned repairs on the mechanism. It’s already been decided that this city will be purged. They plan to just let the residents, who know nothing, die.”

“Wha...!”

“That can’t be! Are you sure that’s not some kind of mista—”

“No, if we’re talking about them, then anything’s possible! That’s the military for you!”

Marie’s rage immediately spread throughout the staff present. Being flooded with gazes of contempt and censure from several tens of people, the members of Technical Force could be seen making off in haste.

Marie clapped both hands together and yelled out, “If it comes down to it, I’ll bear the responsibility for the unavoidable evacuation advisory. At any rate, for now, please start moving. Here on out, we can’t waste even a single second!”

After that, the staff began to move like a squall. Both the large amount of equipment and the documents scattered all around were tidied up in just five minutes.

After the last group of staff had left, Marie turned her head as she surveyed the hall and sighed forcefully. She leaned her back against the wall and slowly slid down until she hit the floor, then hugged her knees and laid her forehead on them.

Her hand was shaking.

She still felt the sensation of piercing the man with the syringe.

The feeling of the gun in her hand, the tenderness of the human body she had trampled, the man’s spiteful vitriol, all of them still remained.

—I thought I could do it. If I ordered Halter to, he probably would have done it for me. After all, that used to be his profession. Yet, I didn’t do so. I thought that if it were my older sister, she would do it herself since she probably wouldn’t hesitate. So, if it had to be done, I thought that I should at least do it with my own hands and by my own will.

That was her intention when she began the “interrogation,” but—

By the latter half, she had become wanton.

Stabbing the man with the syringe was despicable of her. There had been no reason to do it. It was simply to dispel her frustration. It was nothing but an emotional outburst of violence. It was indignation towards someone who had abandoned his duty and responsibility of rescuing twenty million people.

And also...

“Repair it in forty-two hours? That’s impossible... How many tens of trillions of parts do you think there are?!”

It was indignation towards herself for catching herself wanting to run away in the same manner upon bearing that same duty and responsibility.

Her lips trembled.

“Oh, God...”

Marie hadn’t believed in God. At least, she had never believed in any gods who had been named by humans. Marie had come this far by putting her faith in human reasoning and intelligence.

However. Even so. Revelations had descended upon her before—Marie knew of times when she had racked her brain in crucial moments and the gears in her head suddenly and subtly clicked. She believed that beyond a sharpened mind and logic lay an existence unfathomable by humans.

Marie lifted her face up slowly, after which she stood up.

“—I’ve gotta go... In any case, right now, I can’t waste even a single second.”

After all, divine favor is only bestowed after one has exerted oneself to the fullest.

Wiping away whatever it was that had formed at the corners of her eyes, Marie began heading towards the twenty-fourth floor.