Chapter 270
I was not okay. But I couldn’t exactly answer like that.
I put on a smile and gave a vague excuse.
“Ah, yes. I’m fine. Just a little tired. I suppose…”
I stopped myself mid-sentence.
How was I supposed to sugarcoat, “Your family’s castle security is absolute garbage, and thanks to that, I’ve been fighting terrorists all day. So I’m dead tired' in front of a Meredith Family member?
Since I wasn’t in good condition, it felt like the language filter in my head wasn’t working properly either.
As I stood there stammering with my mouth agape like an idiot, Prezen spoke up for me.
“It must have been a hard day for you.”
“Yes, it was a hard day.”
What made it even harder was that this day wasn’t over yet.
I hoped this anxiety I was feeling was just my imagination, but if not, it seemed an even longer and more grueling day still lay ahead…
As I inwardly swallowed a sigh, Prezen said to me.
“My family are truly pathetic, aren’t they?”
For a moment, I doubted my ears, wondering if I had misheard.
How was I supposed to react to this?
“Excuse me?”
“Aren’t they? Having the castle overrun by terrorists, getting hit by a thief in the middle of it all, and then failing to catch that thief and causing trouble for the visitors… It’s only natural you’d think it’s pathetic. I know I would, at least.”
Honestly, I thought so too. But saying it out loud was a different matter.
It was Prezen Meredith’s own family, and he could speak his mind so freely, since he seemed to hold a rather high position among the family members, but not I!
“Ah, no. I didn’t think that.”
At my hasty denial, Prezen Meredith smiled faintly.
“Oh dear, I brought up a topic that’s difficult to answer. I apologize. It’s just… well. Yes. I wanted to say this.”
He tossed out the words while staring blankly into the air, his murky lens eyes flashing.
“The Meredith Family isn’t usually this incompetent. We’re better than this. For the most part, we were. Though saying that at this point probably sounds unconvincing.”
“Then…”
“Then why are we like this now? Indeed. Why are we like this now? That is a question for me as well. It must be one of two things. Either we are just purely, incredibly unlucky, to the point where it feels like the will of the entire universe is flowing in a direction against Meredith.”
Prezen Meredith spoke calmly, as if talking about someone else’s family.
“Or an external pressure just as massive, yet invisible from the outside, is crushing the family so that it has no choice but to decline. Either way, it is truly hopeless. I suppose I should just hope that our deal with Schneider succeeds cleanly.”
A massive, invisible external pressure.
I once thought that the combination of Luddite, Dead Cell, and Communist Ninja - groups like water and oil - felt artificial.
If there were a mastermind behind the scenes capable of interfering with a noble family like Meredith in this way…
I didn’t know. And I didn’t think knowing would do me any good either.
I spoke to Prezen Meredith, who was staring at me with a cryptic, inscrutable face.
“I have a question. May I ask you something?”
“Yes. Of course. Ask as many as you’d like.”
An answer that sounded as if he had been waiting for it.
Facing a mouth that somehow seemed to hold a hint of a smile in the face of a family crisis, I asked.
“I heard that the artificial intelligence that oversees the three prototype limited artificial intelligence units collectively called Trinity, and also has control over the systems of Mirror Castle, is named Prezen.”
“That is correct.”
“It seems to be the same name as yours, Lord Prezen, so I ask out of curiosity. Is it a coincidence?”
It was a rude question, if one were to consider it rude, but for some reason, I didn’t think he would take issue with it.
“No. It couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.”
Prezen Meredith answered refreshingly. It was enough to leave even me, the one who asked, bewildered.
“Shall I tell you a secret?”
“A secret?”
I hadn’t even asked him to tell me yet, but Prezen Meredith suddenly leaned his head in and whispered in my ear.
“That artificial intelligence was made from me.”
An unexpected answer. Was he saying that he was the developer of the prototype AI?
For that to be the case, his word choice was somewhat strange. Usually, one would say, “I made it,” not, “It was made from me.”
It bothered me too much to just brush it off as a peculiar expression unique to the language used by nobles.
“Do you have any other questions?”
Prezen Meredith asked me as my head grew complicated. I was about to answer that I didn’t, but at the last moment, I spoke to Prezen as he was about to turn his head away.
Come to think of it, there was one more thing I wanted to ask.
“Yes. According to the agreement, we just need to safely escort the Meredith Family head and get out of Mirror Castle, right?”
“That is correct.”
“Then the other Meredith Family Members… and you, Lord Prezen, will remain in Mirror Castle? Won’t it be dangerous?”
At my question, Prezen Meredith paused.
“…Are you perhaps worrying about me?”
“Well, you could say that. We do know each other, after all. Aren’t you going to take the escape pod and get out together?”
Prezen answered.
“There is no need to worry. I have my ways. I will probably be very safe.”
I didn’t know the reason, but it was an incredibly confident answer.
* * *
“We have arrived.”
Prezen Meredith said in an emotionless voice.
We arrived at the Family Head’s Office. Apart from my inexplicable anxiety, getting here had been truly smooth.
“…Was it just my imagination?”
Perhaps I had just been thinking about the situation too negatively.
Right, sometimes things just have to work out well like this.
“I shall report to the head of the family.”
Prezen Meredith approached the translucent, thick glass wall, pulled a terminal from his finger, and tapped it in a set pattern.
Then, a faintly cracked section of the wall glowed and turned transparent. Following that, he entered a code once more, and it split open to both sides.
“You may follow me.”
After walking a little way down the bright, white, transparent passageway that was revealed, a flustered voice was heard ringing out from somewhere.
“Why are you here?”
As the blinding aura faded, an Ever with a haughty atmosphere came into view, sitting a few steps higher while receiving the escort of the dolls.
It had a gaze that naturally looked down, elegantly decorated Skin of Achromatic Material, and pale, glowing facial features.
The cracked facets, which seemed to perfectly blend the coldness of a machine with the sharpness of a human, displayed impressive tattoos over a thin body.
It was just like the prior information, no, it had an even more intimidating appearance.
The master of Mirror Castle, Meredith Family head Elaine Rinar Baquere Meredith, was right before my eyes.
However, the Meredith Family head’s reaction was unexpected.
“Why are you here?”
The family head’s lenses, emitting a deep blue light, were directed not at us, but at Prezen de Se Meredith in the lead.
What in the world was this situation? I had a premonition that something had gone wrong.
“As you commanded, I have concluded the unofficial agreement with the head of the noble family.”
While we, Schneider’s Companions, sensed something unusual and took one step back, Prezen stepped forward calmly as if nothing was wrong, knelt, and reported.
On the surface, there seemed to be no problem at all.
“I never entrusted that mission to you. What did you do to Kastar, Beggar?”
“How unfortunate. I volunteered to take on this task for the family, yet how can your reaction be like this? It is fine for you to treat me coldly, but isn’t it shameful to show such a disheveled appearance in front of the customers?”
“Shut your mouth. Did you perhaps kill Kastar, Beggar?”
At Elaine Meredith’s shout, the Dolls acting as her escort glared at Prezen with glowing red eyes.
Their bodies were larger than normal dolls, and it seemed they were much more thoroughly armed as the family head’s escort soldiers, with parts attached all over.
Even so, Prezen Meredith answered without shrinking back in the slightest.
“Is it only Kastar, Beggar? Now, only you are left, mother.”
As if that single remark was a dagger, the upright Elaine Meredith momentarily lost her balance and staggered as if she would collapse.
“How could you… how dare you!”
“Did you truly not know I would do this? That is also truly unfortunate. It seems the family’s fate has run its course.”
It was far too bloodthirsty to be considered a mere argument between the family head and a family member.
I could feel the seriousness of the situation on my skin. As I glanced to the side, Team Leader Hank was already fully prepared to take Alexandra and flee.
I had no idea what Prezen was thinking.
I did think he seemed like a slightly insane Raver, but was he trying to commit suicide?
I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but it didn’t seem like the kind of atmosphere where he could just freely say whatever he wanted so boldly.
From Elaine Meredith’s mechanical lenses flowed a clear hostility and murderous intent that was hard to believe belonged to an artificial lifeform.