Mitou Shoukan://Blood-Sign Vol 3 Chapter 3

“Ches.h.i.+re Cat.”

“Shut up, you d.a.m.n rabbit. I’m in a good mood right now.”

(Stage 03 Open 05/23 16:00)

The Rabbit Guide and the Liar Cat

“Nn…”

Lu Niang Lan, the modified China dress beauty, breathed a sultry sigh from her scarlet lips.

She quickly realized she had been tossed onto the wooden floor with her arms and legs bound behind her.

“Huh? I’m all wet and see-through.”

She looked down at her chest which was swelling out even more than usual due to the arched back of her pose. The fabric was unpleasantly clinging to her skin somewhat and she could not more her arms or legs.

“I’m tied up!?”

Finally realizing the gravity of the situation, she looked around.

“Wait a second… I was in C Block’s Hai Hong Caiguan, so why am I in a Government apartment now?”

The floor was wet.

However, the government dog named Aika as well as s.h.i.+royama Kyousuke, Isabelle, and even the white liger were looking down at her with exasperated looks.

“K-Kyousuke-chan? Can you explain what’s going on? You haven’t broken our unspoken understanding by selling me off to Government, have you!?”

Still confused, Lu Niang Lan suggested the worst possibility she could think of.

But when Kyousuke and Aika exchanged a glance, their expressions were even graver than that.

“Onii-chan, what should we do about this?”

“When you’re released from Girl’s Backdoor, you apparently lose your memories of being controlled, so I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.”

“Ehh!? You mean she gets off scot-free!? I refuse to accept that! This old hag gave us a whole lot of trouble!!”

“My chest still hurts. Somewhere between medium-sized and large-sized. Throb throb(deadpan).”

“C’mon. She didn’t actually do anything wrong here, so let’s leave it at this.”

“???”

Lu Niang Lan was clearly baffled by their exchange, but they ignored her.

They had something else to focus on.

The tablet produced the sound of an incoming video chat call.

Aika sat on the wet floor and tried to use the white liger as a sofa like usual, but the beast slipped out from under her. The five meter pet rejected Aika and the girl flipped over on the floor. The white liger may not have wanted to lie on the wet floor, but she also seemed to be having trouble relaxing after the Perfect Dragon’s rampage. Animals were fiercest when they were afraid, not when they had the advantage.

“Ahh! Onii-chan, go grab that baby bottle. I’ll win this stubborn liger over with a stomach full of milk!!”

“Don’t. Give her anymore and you’ll make her sick.”

“But that spoiled liger almost always goes right to sleep if you give her some warm milk. That old hag’s sacks of fat must have really scared her…”

“I don’t blame her. Zuuun(deadpan). I think I’ll be having some medium-sized nightmares…”

“Aika. You were controlled too, so don’t forget that attacking her is the same as attacking yourself.”

Aika pouted her lips and grabbed the tablet from the gla.s.s table while still lying on the floor.

She answered the call and a woman in a military uniform filled the screen. However, hers was much more subdued than Isabelle’s. It had a dark blue base, she wore pants instead of a tight skirt, and she lacked the black belts that acted as restraints. Instead, she had plenty of decorative medals.

She was a Government coordinator.

Or perhaps she could be called a planner or a troubleshooter.

Regardless, she was sent in to build a new plan when something failed inside their organization. She would also make alternate suggestions to minimize the damage. Overall, she was a bureaucratic specialist.

“We have finished regulating the data and updating our plans,” she said. “Might I get back on topic?”

“Yes.”

“Currently, we have two primary problems. First, all information related to the Anthills has been pa.s.sed to the enemy summoner. Second, that apartment where Government, Illegal, and Freedom meet was abused to pull it off. …Unfortunately, most of the higher ups are viewing the second problem as the more serious one. Although if they feel they can calmly think about punishment now, I have to wonder if they believe no bullet could reach their heads even on the front line.”

“Just to be clear, that Illegal old hag was being controlled by Girl’s Backdoor, so she had no control over her actions.”

“That is not all that relevant.” The coordinator gave a light sigh. “The problem is that the information would not have been leaked if you not been on such good terms with an Illegal a.s.sa.s.sin and if that contact point did not exist. I cannot cover for you here. If you have a complaint, bring it to the higher ups.”

“…”

“And while it was Lu Niang Lan who went on a rampage, it was you who leaked the cla.s.sified information with your mobile phone, Aika. Thanks to that, two additional Anthills have been attacked. The valuable research data and precious lives there have been lost. Do not think this does not apply to you. You played a primary role.”

She made it sound like Girl’s Backdoor did not exist and Lu Niang Lan and Aika had simply conspired to leak the cla.s.sified information.

Isabelle spoke to Kyousuke as she listened in.

“Nuuun(deadpan). This is small-sized irritating.”

“Oh, what a coincidence. It’s p.i.s.sing me off a fair bit too.”

“You are part of this too, Alice (with) Rabbit.” The coordinator winked and tapped her temple with her index finger. “With the suspicion on Aika and Lu Niang Lan, they are a step away from disaster. If you wish to remove them from the list of possible executions, you must take on a share of their debt even if there is no suspicion on you directly. This is especially important to silence the higher ups who have never liked that apartment where all three major powers gather.”

“Oh? That’s quite the compromise. Could you not get at me without asking first?”

“This isn’t much different. Freedom Award 903, we will receive your help free of charge. We will send you to our fiercest battlefield at the moment. Refuse and we will add those two to the official list of wanted criminals. The world will bear its fangs against them and they will essentially be sent to the gallows.”

“Get to the specifics.”

“The data Aika leaked could not have been worse. It included the locations of the Anthills, the personnel, the funding routes, the equipment procurement routes, the defense forces, and the emergency evacuation routes. Two bases have already been destroyed using that data. We do not intend to lose any more of the research equipment, personnel, and research results that the higher ups paid large sums of money for. …Simply put, we are evacuating.”

When he heard that word, Kyousuke brought a hand to his forehead and looked up at the ceiling.

Isabelle tilted her head next to him.

“Mh? I’m not even small-sized sure why that’s so bad.”

“It’s really bad. By the way, how many Anthills are still functioning?”

“34.”

“And how many people are inside?”

“a.s.sume there are around one hundred in each.”

“You want to evacuate all of them from Toy Dream 35 at once? Using every route available, be it land, air, or sea? How are you going to protect them all? Liar Cat can use all of the information they got using Aika. If they have all your evacuation routes, they can attack you whenever and wherever they want.”

An amateur might think they could quickly create a new route, but that would not work. If it was that easy, they would not bother to create routes in advance. They needed packages, bodyguards, knowledge of possible attack points, a secondary route in case they were attacked, a tertiary route, an idea of where they could find safety, and a second and third shelter in case the first was compromised. Working it all out on paper took a week and not even a month was enough to confirm that it was indeed a valid route. And instead of getting a VIP or two out, this was sending around three thousand personnel in every direction.

And just because they could not do it did not mean they could sit around thinking about it. Even if they tried to barricade themselves where they were, Liar Cat was above Freedom Award 900, so that summoner would mercilessly crush the Anthill Project along with those bases.

Simply put, they were cornered.

“The higher ups have a plan.” The coordinator began grinding her index finger against her temple. “They will prepare a great number of transport groups, including decoys and then have them all simultaneously evacuate Toy Dream 35 in every direction. Even if our enemy has 900 level skill, they are only a single pair. A few of the transport groups might get hit, but Liar Cat will not reach the real one. …What do you think of that?”

“But that was part of the information they have now, wasn’t it? We aren’t choosing the target; Liar Cat is. It’s all over if they snack on a few of them and then get to the real one before the limit arrives,” said Kyousuke. “Not to mention that Liar Cat will almost certainly maintain their Material’s cost as much as possible by continuing the fight with Chains. If they can build up through the Regulation-cla.s.s and Divine-cla.s.s to reach the Unexplored-cla.s.s, they’ll charge into the enemy forces at their most powerful. …But I doubt they can always reach the next target in the 90 seconds given. What do you think they’ll do then? We’re talking about Liar Cat who gave out Girl’s Backdoors for civilians to use as nothing more than a disturbance tactic.”

“Nuuun(deadpan). So if their Chain isn’t going to last, they’ll attack normal people to keep their super-sized Chain going?”

Kyousuke nodded at Red Hat Isabelle’s question.

“And they’ll be cutting back and forth across the city to pursue the transportation groups scattering in every direction. Toy Dream 35 won’t just be filled with pools of blood; the entire city will collapse.”

“But I doubt the higher ups will change their minds so easily. Or rather, it is hard to stop a giant cannonball once it has started to roll. If you wish to reduce the damage done, your only option is defeating the summoner pair as soon as possible.”

“But if Liar Cat’s possible targets are scattered everywhere, we can’t exactly lie in wait.”

“Meaning?”

“If we narrow down their targets to just one place, we know exactly where Liar Cat will show up. What are the most important personnel and resources among the Anthills? If you keep everything else as-is but try to evacuate them ahead of time, Liar Cat will definitely take the bait. We can beat them down there.”

“Even if they know it is a trap?”

“That type can’t resist the taste of revenge.”

The coordinator sighed.

A slight shadow or waver seemed to enter her previous stiffness.

“But the higher ups will never accept it. They truly believe that they are protecting themselves by refusing to admit to their own mistakes. If they know that such a risky method was suggested by an outsider, I seriously doubt they will change their evacuation plan.”

“You sound troubled.”

Kyousuke smiled thinly.

Their plan had already failed and 3000 lives depended on its success. Despite her overbearing behavior, this woman could not have enjoyed having this forced onto her.

“Do you have a suggestion?”

“It sounds like Government’s higher ups don’t understand the danger they’re in. They must truly believe that they can settle this by shoving responsibility onto someone else, that the problem only exists on paper, and that no physical flames are going to rain down on them. So how about I remind them? I’m willing to play the thankless job of the bitter medicine.”

“Very well.”

It was now the coordinator’s turn to look up toward heaven.

She had apparently heard the legends of Alice (with) Rabbit, but her pride may have prevented her from actually speaking the words.

But she shook free of that and verbally raised the white flag.

“I would appreciate it if you would help us. I mean it.”

Apartments came in many different shapes and sizes, but this one was a one-room apartment for university students. The front door led directly into the room and the newspaper slot carelessly installed in the door would allow anyone to peep on the room if they wanted. That made changing clothes a daily challenge, but it was still an attractive residence for its relatively affordable price in the amus.e.m.e.nt park city of Toy Dream 35. Despite the poor customer service, there were no vacancies in May, which was past the season for beginning a new life.

Steam rose from the kettle.

Beyondetta, the demon in a pink waitress uniform, hummed to herself as she prepared some tea. She removed her white lace glove to manipulate the tools with her slender fingers.

“Ma’am.”

“Hm?”

Murasame Kuina, her client and vessel, blankly replied while sitting on the pastel colored bed with her knees in her arms.

“To be honest, I don’t know much about tea,” said the girl. “I’ve only ever had it from a bottle. So don’t bother talking on and on about it.”

“Not to worry. This is a blend.”

“Hm?”

“The Summoning Ceremony battles are mentally exhausting, so I have combined a few different types of tea leaves to provide a calming effect. As long as you know how to make it, standard store-bought teas are good enough. Yes, just like a clever usage of cold medicine and allergy medicine can create a sleazy drug that will put an innocent young girl fast asleep.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a woman who takes antibiotics by the handful… And isn’t caffeine a stimulant?”

“There are a number of ways to use it. Most summoners either have a special supplier or mix their own Incense Grenades, so we tend to be quite skilled at this sort of work.”

A student apartment did not come equipped with the kind of tea set used for the British royal family, but Beyondetta used tools likely bought at a 100 yen shop for makes.h.i.+ft replacements. And she had done more than memorize the manual. She had broken it down and built it back up to absorb as much knowledge as possible.

Midriff Girl Kuina fidgeted on the bed.

“Did I ask you to do this? I thought our contract only said you would help me get revenge for Sayuri.”

“And I will provide everything necessary for you to truly enjoy your revenge. It would all be for naught if you were too sleep deprived to savor the taste of revenge when the time came. If you like, I could climb in bed with you to sing a lullaby, I could join you in the bath, or I could try my hand at providing a ma.s.sage.”

“No, thanks.”

Kuina got down from the bed and sat at the gla.s.s table in the center of the small room.

She sipped at the tea poured into a plastic mug, but…

“I really can’t tell any difference.”

“I appreciate the honesty more than pretending you know what you are talking about, ma’am.”

“But I have no intention of taking a nap. I’m too on edge to fall asleep. The core of my body is telling me I have to hurry up and get out there…hurry up and kill.”

“I would expect nothing less from my client. And that is why I prepared this as a type of inflight refueling.”

Murasame Kuina had trouble judging what the smiling demon was truly after.

Normally thinking, helping a stranger with their revenge came with enormous risk. Not only was there direct combat, but it meant making an enemy of everyone around the target and, if they could not earn their partner’s trust, it was possible they could be stabbed in the back. Plus, revenge tended to end in failure after being outnumbered and the enemy would not forgive them if they said “never mind” at that point.

Nevertheless, Beyondetta chose to take part.

She gained nothing from it. She had no enemy in common with her client. This revenge only had any meaning for Murasame Kuina. Even if it succeeded, Beyondetta would not gain anything at all from the violence.

It was almost like a reckless surfer heading to the beach on a stormy night despite the danger.

She was losing herself in the act itself. It was the madness of someone taking a hobby much too far.

“Beyondetta.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know your situation. I don’t care if you’re secretly benefiting from this, if someone else hired you to do this, or if you’re acting as a double spy and all my information is fed right back to Government.”

She narrowed her eyes and shook around the contents of the mug a little.

“All that matters is that it helps me with my revenge in the end. I’m even fine with dying after the fact. So let’s go over the basics again, Beyondetta. Help me with my revenge. It doesn’t matter if you’re my enemy or my ally.”

“Yes. I am delighted to hear that, ma’am.”

The pink waitress demon gave a smile that was far too rotten to call charming.

“I do not often meet someone who expresses that with her actions and not just her words, but you seem to be different. I am relieved.”

“Hmph.”

Murasame Kuina must have had trouble with hot drinks because she only took small sips at the mug.

Once it was empty, she set it on the table and stood up.

“What’s our next move, Beyondetta?”

“Well, how about we go for something that is half for peace of mind and half pure hara.s.sment? They’ve probably noticed us by now. And they will know about these clothes.”

As she spoke, Beyondetta pinched the sides of her waitress skirt and waved it around.

“I brought in an entire container’s worth as part of the costume event, so I was thinking we could spread some money around to hire hundreds of people to walk around dressed like this.”

“How can you hire people when summoners and vessels vanish from people’s minds?”

“We can use an intermediary by way of your Girl’s Backdoor.”

“I can only control three people. Is this really worth using up that stock?”

“If we no longer need it, we can remove them from our control. And Government is sure to think that the decoys might be manipulated by Girl’s Backdoor and thus could make indiscriminate terrorist attacks. As the world police, they cannot ignore that and will have to waste some of their personnel on them. Meanwhile, we can take advantage of our freedom.”

“So when you get down to it, you don’t know how effective it will be?”

“As I said, it’s half for peace of mind and half pure hara.s.sment, ma’am. Anyone with any sense will catch on immediately, but it will still allow us to rest easy. The trick to enjoying revenge is to add some fun into the efficiency☆”

“Hmph,” snorted Murasame Kuina.

She nodded to give her approval and then spoke.

“Then are you ready to go?”

“Yes, ma’am. I am ready to go anywhere you want.”

Despite the care she took in preparing the tea, she apparently had no intention of cleaning it up.

There was a simple reason for that.

As soon as the two of them stood up, something shook in a corner of the room. The figure lying on the wooden flooring had two arms, two legs, and long black hair that spread out like seaweed to hide the face.

It was the owner of the room.

The college girl had been controlled by Girl’s Backdoor and given a flowchart with only one instruction: curl up in the corner.

Miyama Gouta was a man in his prime who would turn fifty this year.

He was a soldier who had never once set foot on the battlefield and yet the chest of his deep blue military uniform glittered with a great quant.i.ty of medals. He stood inside one of Government’s Anthills.

A number of conditions were necessary to construct an Anthill, but the most important was a facility that functioned as a miniature model of society. It could be any number of things: a school, a hospital, a prison, a military base, a casino, a theatre, a hotel, a prep school, etc. Any relatively closed facility that managed a group under a single system could be remade into an Anthill.

That meant Miyama was inside one such facility.

It was A Block’s international airport.

“What? Are you still falling behind on preparing for the evacuation operation? We’re pressed for time, so finish as scheduled no matter what it takes! I don’t care about trivial safety management! We need to focus on ensuring the core of the Anthill escapes!! Use your head, you fool!! They may be bloodthirsty murderers, but their skill is at Freedom’s 900 level. Do I really have to tell you that losing our valuable research results in an indiscriminate attack is simply unacceptable!?”

There was not the slightest doubt on his face as he shouted angrily into a cellphone. He truly believed that the scales of good or evil were entirely dependent on whether or not whatever it was would allow the entire project –including himself – to escape safely.

“Listen. Do not delay this evacuation operation even by a single second. I don’t care if it’s a hangnail or a mouth ulcer; even the slightest loss or damage is your responsibility. If you get that, then get those hands working! Yes, your hands! We don’t need you your mouth or your brain!!”

The airport’s floorplan looked quite open, but it was cleverly designed so a full two-thirds of its s.p.a.ce was off limits. Miyama Gouta swaggered past the strict defenses, ignored the guards who made sure to salute, and knocked on a waiting room door.

His expression made a complete about-face.

The middle-aged military officer put on an almost creepily bright smile and spoke sweetly to the young woman lounging on the sofa.

He spoke to the researcher who was a central member of the Anthill.

“I am so very sorry, Miss Heartocean. Our schedule has been delayed due to inclement weather. Once the conditions clear up, we can take off immediately.”

“Anything’s fine with me as long as you let me continue my research.”

Maria Heartocean did not bother looking in the soldier’s direction and stared at the back of her hand and her fingernails instead.

Miyama’s right temple twitched disconcertingly, but he managed to respond with a smile.

“Is there anything else you lack?”

“Everything.”

Maria said that with no hint of sarcasm. She made it sound like that was simply the truth.

She seemed to be displaying the colors of Government, the world police.

“I’d especially like for you to do something about the internet connection. I mean, nothing but Wi-Fi and only two antennae? Is that supposed to be a joke? Humans have a limited lifespan, so wasting time like this could lead to missing a major discovery. And can you take responsibility if that happens? How?”

“I will arrange for it right away. I was given strict orders to give you the best hospitality possible, Miss Heartocean.”

“Also, does this violate the safety standards?”

Maria pointed straight ahead.

This was the strictly guarded off-limits zone of an international airport.

This was an important Government base.

This was the core of an Anthill.

Nevertheless, a large knife was stabbed vertically into the cus.h.i.+on of the two-person leather sofa across from Maria Heartocean.

“A boy wandered in here earlier and did that, but I’m not too familiar with the local slang. Do you think it’s some kind of message?”

“Impossible…”

Miyama froze up for a moment, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Someone had carried a blade into the same room as their top priority personnel. And no one had noticed. It was just as unreasonable as finding unidentified fingerprints all over the inside of a nuclear weapons vault.

“Impossible!? Who!? How!?”

His extensive knowledge of the usual security setup robbed this feat of all reality.

He was utterly confused and turned toward the door to call for his men.

That was when Miyama Gouta saw it.

“Hi. Would you have preferred a box of chocolates?”

Alice (with) Rabbit spoke calmly with his arms folded and his back resting against the door.

“…!?”

The military officer was shocked speechless and Maria gave a casual wave.

“Yahoo. Now that I think about it, you’re still borrowing Isabelle, aren’t you? How’s she doing? Are you using her well?”

“At the very least, I’m treating her with more humanity than any of you did. I’m not entirely sure I should give her back.”

“Ah ha ha. Yeah, I guess you would figure that out. That isn’t good…”

After that quick exchange, Kyousuke turned back toward Miyama Gouta.

“Just as a warning, we didn’t use an Incense Grenade to get in. We simply used the fact that people forget all about summoners and vessels as soon as they look away. Do you get what that means?”

“Heh hehn(deadpan). I already super-sized get it.”

“That’s great, Isabelle, but I don’t think he understands just how serious the situation is yet. …And even if there’s a big event in the city, it’s probably not a good idea to have the airport workers wear costumes too. Their uniforms act as something like an ID.”

“Wha-…wha-…?”

Miyama seemed to finally remember how to breathe.

He saw Maria lightly waving at Kyousuke and realized they had gone over his head. The dirty reality of authority and hierarchy dragged his mind back to the colorful world.

He had been humiliated here.

To anyone with bureaucratic power, that felt more damaging than being stabbed with an actual knife.

“What are those lowly hired hands doiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!?”

“It might be unofficial, but you’re the man in charge here and yet you fell for it more than anyone.”

Kyousuke did not bat an eye as the man stepped closer.

They glared at each other from only a few centimeters apart.

“Listen. If I can do this, then someone else can too. Just to be clear, expert a.s.sa.s.sins are a lot better at this sort of job than expert bodyguards. …Liar Cat will go even further. Once you understand that, rethink everything you’re doing here. They’re Freedom Award 920. That’s higher than 903.”

“Don’t you talk down to me! Do you have any do who I am!?”

“Good question. Who were you again?” Kyousuke continued leaning against the door. “Were you the optimist who honestly believes bullets will magically avoid him? Or maybe you were the narrow-minded fool who has lost sight of the approaching threat because he’s so busy figuring out how to corner Aika since he hates her so much? No, maybe you were the coward who was willing to abandon all 3000 of his men just to get the last seat on the ark. …People’s reputations are just like summoner names; they’re chosen by the people around them. So what does that make you?”

“You…!! You dare criticize me while ignoring your own failure!?”

“We were after Girl’s Backdoor in the first place. Without Aika and Lu-san’s help, the initial diversion plan would have caused much more damage. Plus, the targets would all have been innocent civilian girls. And let’s not forget that we didn’t keep what we learned to ourselves. We sent Government detailed reports including sample Girl’s Backdoors. Although the only people who did anything useful with that information were Aika and Academia here. You didn’t put together any kind of plan, you ignored the threat to civilians, and then when your precious world police were attacked, you shove all the blame onto us? Didn’t I tell you that people don’t get to choose their own reputation? That’s up to the people around them.”

Kyousuke pointed to the other side of the room with his chin.

The military officer hesitantly turned around in time to hear a relaxed comment from Maria Heartocean who was looking at her fingernails on the sofa.

“To be honest, I don’t really care either way.”

“M-Miss Heartocean…?”

“But Alice (with) Rabbit did a pretty good job of proving that I’m just waiting around to be killed under the current system. I’m not sure I like the sound of that. I can’t stop wondering why I should even listen to you when I can tell you’re going to fail.”

His career was dead in the water.

That simple fact burned through the last thread of rationality in the military officer’s head.

“I-I’ll kill you. I’ll beat you to death, you d.a.m.n brat!!”

“Yes, yes. Thanks for playing.”

As the military officer tried to grab him, Kyousuke slammed the man’s face against the door, knocking him out in a single blow. Then he spoke indifferently.

“Now you won’t have to lose your life in your reckless evacuation operation, so I hope you’re at least a little thankful.”

“Nuuun(deadpan). I don’t think there’s even a small-sized chance of that.”

Kyousuke showed no respect for the organization or the slightest courtesy while intruding on someone else’s territory. It was true Aika and Lu Niang Lan had made a mistake, but he was essentially forcing Government to overlook it by threatening them. From beginning to end, he selfishly prioritized his own feelings, so he could never function properly in an organization.

But.

That was exactly why s.h.i.+royama Kyousuke belonged to Freedom rather than Government or Illegal.

Those who praised freedom above all else and hated any kind of restrictions would meet some level of resistance from society. But some of those people would force through it with their own strength and those were the people who had naturally gathered together and built a loose framework around themselves.

In that way, he was the same as Liar Cat.

If he was to take advantage of those traits, he had to understand them.

“So.” Maria looked away from her fingernails and asked a question. “What should I do now?”

“If you want a 100% chance of death, feel free to continue with Government’s plan. If you would prefer something risky but with a chance of survival, then help us.”

Kyousuke explained the counter-proposal they had come up with. It would minimize the damage and ensure they could predict and intercept Liar Cat’s attack. There was only one enemy pair, so even if it was risky, there was nothing to fear once that pair was defeated. To do that, they had to drag the most important piece of the Anthill Project – Maria – to the front line as bait. All other personnel and equipment would remain on standby. There would be no diversions or body doubles. By bringing the biggest target out in just the one place, Liar Car would definitely take the bait, knowing full it was a trap. And when they knew the attack was coming, it would be easy to fight back.

In a way, the plan would show its effects much more quickly. But it was also like throwing the president out onto the battlefield alone to draw out the guerillas or terrorists. The king in shogi had nothing on the underside because it was a.s.sumed the king itself would not move out to the enemy side of the board to be promoted. It was a plan that the Government world police could never agree to.

But…

“That’s fine.”

It barely sounded like Maria Heartocean had even thought about her answer.

In fact, she so casually threw out Government’s standard a.s.sumptions that Kyousuke was a little worried that she had not even considered the fact that this was her life they were talking about.

“I never really cared who was handling the evacuation operation’s security or how they were doing it. As long as a product works, who cares who made it? As long as you have no reason to worry about its quality, that is.”

She was implying that the military officer collapsed on the floor had been inadequate.

Isabelle tilted her head.

“I’m medium-sized worried whether everyone will accept this.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Government is all about the vertical divides, so they have to obey no matter how selfish the people above them get.”

Maria laughed.

“And I bet no one really wanted to be the sacrifice to let some VIPs escape safely. They’ll probably breathe a sigh of relief when they hear that farce has been called off. Especially when the replacement plan lets them get back at Liar Cat.”

She waved her hand.

“Also, Aika-chan’s pretty popular around here. From what I’ve heard, she really looks after people in her middleman job, so she never leaves a summoner stuck in the middle of the battlefield and she acts as a buffer with Illegal and Freedom which helps them avoid needless killing. There must have been a lot of people with a hidden dislike of how all the blame was being shoved onto her. If we give a small push in the right direction, things will change a lot easier than you think.”

“Then let’s do that. I’d appreciate it if you contacted us once those adjustments are complete.”

“Oh? You’re going to look after me to the end?”

“No matter how it happened, I do feel responsible for the leaked information ‘in my own way’.”

“Are you sure it isn’t about Liar Cat?”

“…”

s.h.i.+royama Kyousuke briefly fell silent at her smooth reply.

There was no real sarcasm or irony in Maria Heartocean’s voice. She was simply stating the facts with a boldness unique to Government.

“Freedom Award 920, Liar Cat. An unusual summoner who binds a contract with her client and thoroughly supports their revenge. For that reason, her vessel changes every time and can be seen as identical to her client. …Don’t forget that we are Government. We’re going to do our research on the enemy trying to take a bite out of us.”

And Maria continued.

“That means the summoner is in charge. Or rather, her beliefs and specs form Liar Cat’s ident.i.ty. Which leads me to a very, very, verrrry interesting fact about this summoner named Beyondetta.”

She laughed.

“Apparently, her full name is Beyondetta s.h.i.+royama. Interesting, no?”

s.h.i.+royama Kyousuke temporarily parted ways with his vessel Isabelle.

Toy Dream 35’s P Block contained a lot of parks and sports fields and the rooftops were being proactively covered in greenery. Kyousuke was in one of the parks there. The artificial land was as large as a soccer field and it was forcibly supported fifty meters in the air with somewhere between a few dozen and over a hundred pillars. Although the park looked more like a café terrace thanks to the chain café there.

The short gra.s.s was dyed orange by the setting sun.

Thanks to the Delayed Walpurgis, people dressed as Snow White or Little Red Riding Hood were sitting at the large rectangular tables and chatting over coffee or tea. The tables had a billiards motif and it looked like the game could actually be played on them, but with all the water drops and stains, they did not look suitable for an official game.

With all the costumes everywhere, a normal hoodie stood out.

And he had been fully aware of that fact when he came here.

Kyousuke was casually enjoying a saccharine new product with honey, milk, cinnamon, and who knows what else inside an iced coffee. His left hand felt itchy in the leather glove.

Before he could even remove the ice cubes from the transparent cup, the demon arrived.

In this city’s twisted sense of “normal”, the demon was able to blend in more than him.

“May I sit here?”

“Sure.”

The demon in a pink waitress uniform sat across from Kyousuke before he even answered.

She placed her cup, a mille crepe on a small plate, and a bottle of antibiotics on the edge of the table.

“You were waiting for me. How did you know I would be here?”

“To be honest, I had been keeping tabs on that Murasame Kuina you’re using as a vessel. I wasn’t able to put together an algorithm since I didn’t know who she was working with, but then Government contacted me. …They said the infamous Liar Cat had destroyed the Anthill in D Block.”

“Oh, my.”

“The rest was easy. One: The Ches.h.i.+re Cat likes to watch the evening scenery from an elevated place. Two: The Ches.h.i.+re Cat cannot go three days without honey and cream. Three: The Ches.h.i.+re Cat practices. .h.i.tting b.a.l.l.s for two hours a day to hone her fingers and ensure she does not forget that feeling. You would have begun to relax now that you had all the Anthill information you needed thanks to Aika. I figured you would want to increase your efficiency by intentionally taking some time to relax before getting to work, just like the Spanish siesta.”

“You don’t have to call me that every single time, you d.a.m.n rabbit.”

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere grew so tense they could almost hear the sound of cracking gla.s.s.

But Kyousuke saw the a nearby costumed café worker go pale as if overcome by sudden hyperventilation and the waitress demon took a bite of her mille crepe, so they both relaxed for their own reasons.

Time seemed to move once more, the oppressive sense of heavy gla.s.s left, and a normal atmosphere returned. The part-time worker in an orange pumpkin-style uniform quickly left.

“Anyway.”

The waitress demon smiled and clacked together the equipment next to her.

One was a strange Blood-Sign. A silver pipe was bent in two with a leather belt wrapped around it and a disposable handle carelessly attached to the side.

The other was a bolt-action sniper rifle that used 7.62mm rounds.

“I was fully aware of the danger, so I laid a trap. Didn’t you think I might start by sniping you even if I did come here?”

“I know you can read my algorithm to a certain extent.”

“You have your vessel positioned at the most likely spot, don’t you? So while I was lying there preparing to take the shot, she could take advantage of my narrowed focus and field of vision by hitting me over the back of the head.”

The demon took a sip of her tea and glanced to a different building’s rooftop.

Her vessel was not here either. She had laid a trap for his trap. In the end, their ideas may have been quite similar.

“But the Summoning Ceremony industry is surprisingly small. It seemed like some kind of mistake that we escaped that miniature garden 500 meters belowground, but here we are b.u.t.ting heads again.”

“You still haven’t really escaped that place.”

“Please, call me Detta. And is it really that surprising?”

Kyousuke narrowed his eyes as he watched Beyondetta pour the antibiotics into her mouth straight from the bottle.

“A summoner that binds a contract to help people with their revenge? No, what you’re doing is different. You want to take revenge and you can’t forgive yourself, so you’re forcing those words out of other people’s mouths.”

“Hee hee hee! You’re one to talk, boy. I’m no different from you.”

“…”

“You help people because you hear the cursed words of ‘help me’? You don’t really want to do it? Don’t make me laugh. When you get down to it, you want to save them and you can’t forgive yourself, so you force those words out of other people’s mouths. We’re not so different. We want to do it, so we create a system that allows us to do it. Am I wrong?”

Salvation and revenge.

They stood at complete opposite positions, but this strange pair both saw what they were doing as “helping” people.

And they were both at the 900 level, so they had the incredible power needed to fulfill that request.

“No, I’m not like you. I really do want to wash my hands of all this.”

“You say that, but the second you hear those cursed words, you’ll jump right back in.”

“It is true that half the world’s problems might be my fault,” said Kyousuke to cut her off and drown her out.

A thick and hopeless darkness filled the depths of his eyes.

“But I also think it might be for the best if I stay out of it and don’t get involved. Taking responsibility is my own selfish desire and the world might be left with shallower wounds if I give up instead of making such poor attempts at a solution.”

“And leave the White Queen to do whatever she wants? When no one but you can even speak with her?”

“—————”

“See? That changed the look on your face. You can’t escape this industry, boy. No matter what you say or think, there’s nothing you can do when it has influenced your very soul.”

“Ches.h.i.+re Cat.”

“Shut up, you d.a.m.n rabbit. I’m in a good mood right now.”

The reclaimed atmosphere ground to a halt once more, as if the world’s gears had jammed. The air of death that expanded did not allow the average person to even breathe adequately.

“Either way, I will not quit my revenge. Just like you and your addiction to saving people.”

“No matter what?”

“Yes, of course. That Fifteen Siblings Project held in the Queen’s Miniature Garden was quite the sinful project, but don’t you find it a fascinating sign that its products – that is, us – are involved in this incident?”

A closed miniature garden.

A facility that managed a certain number of people with a single social system and maintained a certain level of secrecy.

Fifteen people of different nationalities, religions, races, and s.e.xes had been gathered together.

The project had been meant to thoroughly a.n.a.lyze familial and sibling bonds.

They wanted to make the planet one giant family.

But not as a mere ideology. In that grand farce, they had hoped to implant those bonds in all of humanity on the level of brain structure. They had truly believed that would act as the ultimate safety device that would bring an end to all conflict around the world.

To determine the effects under the harshest conditions the world had to offer, extreme environments had been artificially created using the greatest Materials of the Summoning Ceremony and the research data on them.

And this had produced…

“If you’re talking about the Anthills, you’re way off the mark.”

“But the sequence of events suggests that those were created based on data obtained from the wreckage of the Queen’s Miniature Garden. Of course, they never moved past the surface level and never even approached its true essence, but if they had, they would have gone far beyond simply ma.s.s-producing vessels, don’t you think?”

“Half of the fifteen died in that war and the other half reached the 900 level. Just as an honest question, do you really think that was all thanks to the ‘lessons’ there?”

“It’s impossible to know for sure at this point. But personally, I think it had more to do with our careless contact with the Queen. But I can’t even be sure of that. The Queen might see it in reverse. I get the feeling she would point at you and insist it was all her brother’s doing.”

“…”

It had not failed.

They had simply failed to predict what would happen once it succeeded.

“So you’re saying an incomplete Fifteen Siblings Project was turned into a vessel ma.s.s-production project?”

“If so, we have the right to tear it down since that project messed with our lives. I have a reason to take revenge and an excuse that justifies my doing so. Isn’t that exciting?”

Why had no one realized the truth?

It was true that certain kinds of love and affection might develop between families and siblings.

But it was not restricted to that.

For example, the death of any one of humanity’s seven billion people would bring the same shock as losing a close relative. So could anyone maintain their sanity when people died on a daily basis?

For example, there were feelings fostered by sibling bonds beyond love and affection...such as hatred. If that intimate hatred covered the world, wouldn’t the subsequent destruction be far deeper rooted than with normal negative emotions?

“How did this happen?” asked Kyousuke without expecting an answer. “A lot happened in the Queen’s Miniature Garden, but not all of the fifteen arrived on the same path as you. Ches.h.i.+re Cat, what did you see there? How did you end up like this?”

“Shut the h.e.l.l you, you d.a.m.n rabbit. You’re the one that completed your Sewn Realm Summoning during the Fifteen Siblings Project. That stabilized the White Queen and allowed us all to view her from different angles. It may have been the Queen’s fear, the Queen’s pa.s.sion, the Queen’s violence, or the Queen’s allure.”

The waitress demon counted on her fingers as she spoke.

And then…

“But you were the only one to see the Queen’s love. You’re the one I have a question for, you d.a.m.n rabbit. How did you manage to keep your sanity? After seeing that incarnation of destruction, how were you able to accept the Queen? What did you learn about her that would allow you to even consider that possibility?”

“Accept…?”

s.h.i.+royama Kyousuke’s mind went blank.

Unable to understand, he repeated the words as if throwing them back at her.

“You’re saying I’ve…accepted the White Queen?”

“Of course.” The demon smiled while pointing right at the boy’s nose. “I seek revenge because – no matter how nauseatingly disgusting I find it – the very roots of my soul were influenced by the Queen’s hatred I saw back then. Similarly…”

Oh, no, thought Kyousuke.

He could not let himself hear this. Because they knew each other so well, these fatal words would pierce straight through his heart’s defenses.

“Your ‘help me’ syndrome is a role the powerful White Queen was supposed to play, isn’t it? She is summoned because people seek her, she fights because she is called upon, she saves every last life through absolute victory, and even the enemy bows down to her after the battle. She is supposed to be a saint who saves two hundred when trying to save one hundred. …How can you snuggle up with the Queen with that refreshed look on your face? It’s just plain creepy.”

His mind fell into darkness.

Atop another building in P Block, another confrontation was underway among the greenery growing on the square rooftop.

It looked like a scene from a costume party.

Isabelle had been waiting on that building in case a sniper targeted Kyousuke during his meeting with Beyondetta. When taking into account line of fire, wind direction, the layout of the buildings, the flow of the crowds, the location of the sun, etc., there were relatively few good sniper spots even in a wide open area. That was why there were experts who took all that into account and used it to their advantage.

“…”

As Isabelle waited there, she heard someone stepping on the gravel.

And as soon she looked that way…

“…I found you.”

“?”

“I finally found you!! Sayuri!!”

A girl with semi-long brown hair and an exposed midriff had suddenly appeared. It was Murasame Kuina. Isabelle’s eyes widened in confusion as the girl tightly wrapped her arms around her.

Still held in the girl’s arms, Isabelle pulled her head back a little.

“Nuuun(deadpan). You do not seem to be hiding the components to a super-sized sniper rifle, so I will attempt to engage you in conversation.”

“Hm? What is it, Sayuri?”

“However…”

The red military uniform girl’s eyes clearly focused on the girl in front of her.

“My name is super-sized not Sayuri. It is Isabelle.”

“What are you talking about? Your name is not Isabelle!”

Isabelle stepped back several meters for no real reason.

She had not particularly changed her location and she was not hiding, but Murasame Kuina seemed satisfied and spoke to her more quietly this time.

“Listen. Your name is Kawamo Sayuri. You were a normal middle school girl living in Harukawa City…no, in Toy Dream 40. You haven’t had any military training and you aren’t part of some weird group called Government. You really are just a middle school girl. You would go home without partic.i.p.ating in any clubs, you were awful at anything athletic, and you always stuck by my side!”

“?”

“Oh, honestly!! Just look at this picture! This is you!”

The girl grabbed the thin chain around her neck and pulled an accessory out from the chest of her clothing. It was about the size of a large coin and it seemed to be a locket. She snapped it open to reveal the face of a slender Asian girl with long black hair.

Isabelle viewed the photo from a distance instead of moving closer for a better look. She seemed to be keeping distance between them and keeping an eye out for a surprise attack while her focus was on the photo.

“My face is not this expressionless. Zuuun (deadpan). This is super-sized wrong.”

“The way you’re acting now is what’s wrong! That Anthill Project messed with your very soul!!”

Murasame Kuina grabbed the shoulders of the red military uniform and roughly shook Isabelle while shouting at her.

But it did not get through.

It was like an infinite panel of soundproof gla.s.s separated them.

“How much do you know about the spiritual damage research that Government has been doing?”

“Not even a small-sized amount.”

“Oh, honestly. At least that part of you hasn’t changed,” groaned the girl. “Listen. That’s a catchall term for all the impurities, bugs, errors, or whatever you want to call them that stick to people’s souls. They cause illness, insanity, and other bad things, so the usual desire is to find a way to get rid of them.”

“Now that you mention it, that is exactly what I thought it was. Point (deadpan).

“You weren’t thinking anything of the sort, were you? Anyway, they’ve s.h.i.+fted beyond that. Simply put, they want to improve people’s specs by attaching artificially-created spiritual damage to their souls.”

Kuina looked disgusted just saying it.

But she continued despite the bitter look on her face.

“It’s the digital version of what has long been known as an evil spirit or namanari. They start eating raw meat for nutrition, they grow horns from their head, they grow hair all over their body, and they grow claws and fangs… You can just think of it as redesigning a human. If they wanted to, they could probably give you wings to fly through the sky or gills to breathe underwater. And if Government can do that, surely you can tell that you mustn’t rely on your current appearance.”

“…”

In her red hat, Isabelle – or the girl going by that name – looked down at her hands.

The Anthills.

That project added the traits of a vessel to artificially create vessels.

“Hey, you’re a vessel, so you know the penalty when you lose, right?”

“O-of course. I have a super-sized understanding of that. Ah ha ah ha ha (deadpan).”

“You do actually know that, don’t you!? A-ahem. The loser’s heart is. .h.i.t by the same shock as seeing the G.o.d they wors.h.i.+p killed before their eyes. They’re stuck in a mindless daze for twenty four hours and they’ll slowly obey what anyone says like a zombie. But it normally doesn’t leave any lasting effects. Yes, normally.”

“Am I not normal?”

“No. Government must have given you certain orders afterwards: ‘Stand and fight. Summon something in sound range *** with a cost of *** and then lose.’ The loser can’t fight a complex battle, but there may have been something a.s.sisting you. And what do you think would happen to a human soul after doing that every few minutes…no, every half minute or so?”

“Nuuun (deadpan)…???”

“Then I’ll tell you. There are different patterns to a damaged heart. By having you summon the Materials on a list put together for a certain purpose and then losing each time, they can reshape your soul how they want. It’s a lot like chiseling away at a stone pillar. …And that’s what Isabelle is. The pillar named Kawamo Sayuri was chiseled away again and again and again!! They chiseled away at you until you were an unrecognizable vessel!!”

Government was an ally of justice and they likely believed they were doing the right thing.

Even if they were creating a new table by taking apart, sawing at, and hammering at a beautiful paulownia dresser without knowing its value.

Thus, this was different from multiple personalities. It was more like a diamond created from a corpse.

The original person was no more. There was not a neat and tidy distinction between one and the other. Just as the picture in the locket and the blonde-haired blue-eyed military uniform girl looked nothing alike.

There was only Isabelle now.

“Hmm. Your claim does not even make a small-sized amount of sense.”

“Why not?”

“Summoners and vessels work together as a set, so a summoner’s soul would have had to be destroyed along with mine.”

“Oh, that.”

“The Anthills are supposed to ma.s.s-produce vessels, so destroying a summoner for each vessel is super-sized inefficient…”

“It’s simple. Government sacrificed someone. That’s all.”

“?”

“One-on-one, they would destroy a summoner along with the vessel. But they just had to pair the mindless and broken summoner with another vessel candidate. And then they just had to give their orders. That summoner just had to bind contract after contract after contract after contract after contract after contract… The summoner doesn’t actually die. They don’t die, but they have to continue the process forever. Their life becomes nothing more than losing mock battles alongside each new vessel candidate. That’s a tragedy in its own right. That is the truth of the Anthills.”

Everyone had called them Anthills.

They may have a.s.sumed that was in reference to the building or facility.

But it was not.

The ants were eating through a person, not a thing.

Just like letting maggots crawl through stinky cheese, they intentionally opened holes in a human soul that was on the verge of crumbling into nothingness. While smiling at the improved flavor and value, they viewed the collapse as a good thing. It was a n.o.ble’s game.

“Unfortunately…”

Murasame Kuina bit her lip and kept her voice low.

“It doesn’t look likely that it’s possible to make you Kawamo Sayuri again. The research on the soul itself hasn’t gotten far and the greatest experts are in Government. But Government is full of sc.u.m and a single mistake could kill you instantly or transform you into some bizarre form. There’s nothing we can do.”

“…”

“But.”

At this point, the girl’s tone dropped even lower. Rather than coming from a vibration in her throat, it sounded like pure resentment seeping out from some other invisible organ.

“The people who did this and made you like this? I will send every last one of them to h.e.l.l. Showing them h.e.l.l isn’t enough. I need to send them all there. That’s all I can do, but because it’s all I can do, I will do it as best I can. You’ll see.”

Perhaps it was coming directly from her soul.

It was like a dark red mist that would be fatal to merely touch or inhale.

“So withdraw from all of this, Sayuri. You don’t need to protect them. You have no reason to. More importantly, the summoner I’ve bound a contract with is perfect. Beyondetta will smash it all to pieces and I don’t want you caught in that.”

“I…” said the military uniform girl as her shoulders trembled. “I’m not very smart, so I don’t understand all these details even a small-sized amount.”

“Sayuri!!”

“Call me Isabelle. Sayuri doesn’t sound right to me.” She looked up. “But if I was created as something super-sized new after chiseling away a large pillar…”

She looked to the eyes of the girl she had once walked beside.

“And if, regardless of how it was made, it is a human soul that keeps me moving…”

And she said it.

Was this Kawamo Sayuri or Isabelle? Had this been there from the beginning or had it been added on later?

She did not know, but she spoke the honest thoughts in her mind.

“Then I don’t know if I should let my hatred destroy ‘this’.”

“…!!”

Isabelle heard the sound of teeth grinding together.

It came from Murasame Kuina. Her left hand trembled ominously in its leather glove. That was Girl’s Backdoor. When shaped like a gun, the strange device could control the young girl it pointed at. But Murasame Kuina did not aim it at Isabelle. She knew that was the simplest answer, but she could not let herself do it.

After all, Murasame Kuina knew that perfect answer had not come from the creation known as Isabelle. Her deep understanding of the girl named Kawamo Sayuri told her that.

But.

That was the real problem.

“Why did they have to take so much from you…?”

It lit the fire.

Ma.s.sive firepower danced inside the internal combustion engine known as revenge.

“Why did the girl who thought like that have to be chewed up and spat back out as something entirely different all for someone else’s benefit!? Why did someone who thinks like that have to have her heart destroyed!?”

“…”

“You weren’t chosen because you had one-in-a-billion talent. It wasn’t because you drew a legendary sword, because you were delivered by an angel from heaven, or because of any other grand trigger! Beyondetta told me even I probably had better talent as a vessel. But Government chose you because they wanted to know if they could make something usable out of a completely normal person!! That was all!! Government gathered people like they were searching for files and throwing them in the tras.h.!.+ They gathered them and used them up!! And yet…!!”

“But that is not even a small-sized reason to overlook what you are doing now.”

“Kh.”

“No one wanted you to do this.”

“Khhh.”

“I don’t want you to do this. I super-sized don’t want it.”

“Then!! What am I supposed to doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!?”

Murasame Kuina let out a roar as if filling the world itself with her resentment.

She already knew that.

She had understood it from the very, very beginning.

Even if she had been worried, a kindhearted girl like Kawamo Sayuri would not want anyone to take vengeance on her murderer. If the alternative was someone dirtying their hands like that or letting it influence them forevermore, she would have preferred to be forgotten.

But Murasame Kuina could not accept that.

It was her, not anyone else in the world, who could not allow it.

Revenge was nothing more than a way of soothing one’s own heart. By losing oneself in the act of revenge, they could avoid looking at the unbearable loss that felt like an insurmountable wall towering before them.

She knew that.

She knew that, sh