Chapter 111
There is an expression in Korea: “a bed of thorns.”
It is mainly used to describe a situation in which it is uncomfortable to simply sit still, but in my case, it was a feeling I often experienced when using public transportation during my military service.
A soldier could attract everyone’s attention simply by sitting down in any seat.
Ah, South Korea, such a pleasant place to live.
But I could say this with confidence.
Compared to the bed in this hotel room, the uncomfortable seats on public transportation I had endured back then could be called 100% premium, triple-size goose-down cushions….
“……”
“……”
It was a quiet war fought without a single gun or knife, but even as time passed, the heat showed no sign of cooling.
This standoff had already continued for…
‘It feels like it’s been over ten minutes.’
Neither of them had blinked even once during that time.
Honestly, it was a little frightening.
Even after throwing away my pride and making an excuse about having a stomachache, what could I do here when I couldn’t even escape to the bathroom?
All I could do was sit quietly and read the room.
Luciana was the first to break the heavy silence that seemed as though it might last forever.
She gave a small scoff and stared at Nova.
“Well, you’re an android, after all.”
The black stockings reflected the lamplight with a faint shimmer.
“In the end, you’re just a toy, aren’t you?”
But unlike her utterly serene and gentle outward appearance, her long eyelashes were now twitching ever so slightly.
I could tell just from that provocative tone.
At least, when I first met her, she had been quite good at observing proper manners.
Judging from that, she seemed to be extremely displeased at the moment.
Nova’s attitude in response to Luciana’s cutting remarks was not much different from usual, either.
The attitude, anyway.
“But Hot Dog Man is someone who broke into a gang headquarters alone to rescue androids modified into sex toys. Organic Compound─, you were also put in charge of caring for the rescued sex toys, so you know that very well, don’t you?”
“……”
Luciana narrowed her eyes and glared fiercely at Nova.
Tap, tap. Her fingers periodically touched the bedsheet like a metronome.
“You know a lot more than I expected…. Looks like you really have been at that grocery store for a long time.”
But Nova’s words did not end there.
“And I know what you said at Black Square. ‘Family members don’t spy on one another.’ That’s what you said, isn’t it? Surely you didn’t just happen to come here today as well?”
Nova’s counterattack was quite intense.
At least, that was how it seemed to me.
Honestly, if this had been someone else’s business, I would have simply watched from the side with interest, but unfortunately, this situation also involved me.
I could easily imagine a future in which Luciana pulled a pistol from her pocket and mafia members carrying Thompson submachine guns stormed the room.
Just as I cautiously began to speak in an attempt to mediate the situation,
A faint smile appeared once more on Luciana’s stiff face.
“It was a coincidence. I really only happened to see surveillance-camera data recording his location.”
“That logic does not hold. That is called stalking, not coincidence.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Luciana’s red eyes took on an even more alluring hue.
“At least I didn’t hack a terminal.”
“…!!”
This time, Nova fell silent instead.
Wait, a terminal?
“You’re the last person who should be saying that. How dare someone who hacked another person’s terminal to watch their every move casually bring up stalking….”
Luciana let out a mocking laugh and launched a series of attacks at Nova.
“I kept getting error codes every time I tried to check the data, even though I was already trying to look into it…. I thought it was strange from the beginning. And now, how exactly do you know what I said at Black Square? You weren’t even there.”
The two of them continued talking as though they had forgotten that I was sitting quietly beside them.
“Now I understand why his terminal was constantly running overclocked.”
In terms of physical combat, Luciana had already secured the mount position, and she casually crossed her legs before leaning her upper body forward.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
“……”
“That’s what you call obsession.”
They all seemed pretty much the same to me.
I cautiously raised one hand slightly.
Fortunately, even in this hodgepodge punk world, raising your hand to ask the teacher a question seemed to work the same way, because everyone’s eyes turned toward me.
“I-I just wanted to ask because this conversation seemed to be heading in a slightly strange direction─, is all.”
My eyes were probably trembling with shock and fear at that moment.
That was how far beyond my expectations the conversation between the two of them had gone.
For a moment, a meme unfamiliar to people these days flashed through my mind.
- You been tailing me all this time?
- Obvs.
Unlike the funny way they spoke, the situation itself was serious.
Just like me right now.
Awkwardly, I turned my gaze toward Nova.
“Terminal hacking?”
“……”
There was no answer.
Apparently, it was true.
Next, I looked at Luciana, who was smiling slyly like the boss of the underworld, and asked her a question.
“The camera records that happened to capture me?”
“……”
As Nova had just said, Luciana was continuing her argument with coincidence as a shield.
I even remembered her saying that it was a joke at the time.
What exactly had she said? Probably something like…
- I don’t spy on family members separately. Unless I just ‘happen’ to see them. At most, I check the city’s surveillance cameras or track their location via satellite….
- Huh?
- I was joking.
I understood now.
The only thing she had been joking about was tracking someone’s location in real time via satellite.
Even my 【Iron Mind】 trait shook its head in disbelief at this.
“In a normal, moral society, we call that surveillance….”
“…It’s not surveillance.”
“Surveillance.”
At my confident retort, Luciana awkwardly mumbled an incongruous addition.
“……Observation.”
I quietly rubbed my face with both hands.
My head hurt.
* * *
After the confusing situation had more or less been settled, we decided to have a meal together before leaving, since we had met at such a nice hotel anyway.
“…You want the three of us to eat together?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“……Hmph.”
Luciana gave a strange response, but she did not refuse.
It was not as though we could sit gloomily in the hotel room forever.
Of course, there were countless things we could do at a hotel besides eat, but with our particular lineup of three, it felt a little difficult to enjoy them.
In other words, going to the outdoor pool, lounge bar, or well-equipped sauna as a group of three would be difficult.
““……””
Moreover, a group in black suits was standing in the distance, staring this way—or, more precisely, at me….
It seemed like the best choice was simply to spend some time at the restaurant before heading back.
The food I ate at the café?
It had already been digested.
“…Shall we sit?”
“Yep.”
Luciana sat at the restaurant table, having regained her usual impassive poker face.
Fortunately, the table was round, so choosing seats was not difficult.
“So what brought you to District 44?”
“Hmm….”
It was a little complicated to explain.
It was difficult to say out loud that I had somehow formed a connection with someone from a family, then made a fuss about finding their younger sibling and ended up fighting in the middle of a building.
“I just ended up coming here because of work.”
“Work…. Does that neat outfit, and the ring on your finger, have anything to do with what you did in District 44?”
“You could say that.”
“……Phew.”
Since I had always dressed like a homeless person, she seemed to find it strange that I was dressed so neatly.
By the way, it was a little awkward that everyone I met kept asking about the ring.
I guess I would leave it off from now on.
In any case, the conversation did not continue any further on the subject of my clothes.
“How are you planning to get back?”
“I was originally going to take a taxi….”
“Forget it. I have to return to District 49 too. We can go together on the way.”
Her gaze turned toward Nova, who had been sitting quietly.
“Is that okay?”
“…That is fine.”
Still, I was glad the atmosphere did not become as hostile as before.
Though the shocking matter of terminal hacking and surveillance-camera monitoring had somehow been glossed over in the meantime….
When I let out a small sigh inwardly, Luciana’s gaze shifted toward me.
“You actually suit it pretty well. The colorful suits and the everyday clothes that looked like scraps of cloth were cute too, but….”
“……Pardon?”
A questioning reply escaped me at the first compliment I had ever heard in my life.
Even my parents had never dared call me cute.
Thump.
The sound of an expensive menu being set down rang out especially loudly.
“I’ll order individual dishes.”
Nova’s quiet voice cut through the warm atmosphere.
Ah, ordering. We did need to order something.
The two began looking at each other again through half-lidded eyes.
Why did it feel like round two was about to start all of a sudden….
【Random Encounter Occurred!】
Talk about being unable to read the room.
No, had it actually read the room perfectly?
At the voice that rang out in my head, I quickly looked around.
At least, we were on a high floor, so there was no chance of a truck crashing into us.
Then I spotted someone who was clearly suspicious, shambling in through the entrance.
His outfit was extremely casual, as if he were a long-term hotel guest.
I could tell just by looking at his mismatched slippers.
He was not in a normal state.
Drool dripping from the corner of his mouth fell drop by drop onto the clean restaurant floor.
The moment I saw members of the Spaaro Rapido family heading toward the suspicious man, I also rose to my feet.
“…Not to fight.”
“We won’t fight.”
Leaving behind the awkward reactions of Luciana and Nova, who had yet to notice him, I stared straight at the man.
And then.
The man’s arms spread wide horizontally.
“…M-my body, my body hurts.”
A combat cybernetic body.
When I saw the small grenade ready to fire, I reflexively drew up my mana.
Crack─!!
Then a chill, as if liquid nitrogen had been poured over him, froze the man in an instant.
“…What is this!”
The mafia family members were startled by the unreal sight and stepped backward.
I slowly approached the man who had tried to cause a disturbance.
His trembling pupils, along with the unstable movements of his muscles as they repeatedly contracted and relaxed at irregular intervals.
I had wondered why he felt strangely familiar, and then realized that he gave off an atmosphere remarkably similar to Marcus Vogel when I saw him (after his balls had fallen off).
Still, I had questions to ask.
“…Ice?”
I asked the man, who had no idea what was happening.
“Hell Service, the Injustice Building, the Crossfell family…. What else is there? Ah, it could be Haku-gumi too. Anyway, you’re not affiliated with any of the groups I just mentioned, are you?”
“C-cold….”
Nope.
He seemed to be an ordinary, unremarkable random criminal who had popped up as a truly random encounter.
Luciana and Nova approached next.
Luciana deliberately frowned when she saw the man’s condition.
“Chrome junkie? I’ve heard there’s been a lot of crime lately caused by illegal malware infections….”
After muttering that, Luciana looked up at me and calmly asked a question.
“By the way, I guess you’re no longer planning to hide that you’re affiliated with a family. Magic, huh.”
“Hmm.”
Rather than give a complicated and highbrow explanation, I said what I wanted to say first.
“That isn’t important right now.”
“Then what is?”
“A Chrome Junkie with nothing to do with me trying to raid a hotel restaurant…. This is what you call a ‘coincidence.’ Got it?”
“……”
Luciana’s gaze changed to one that seemed a little fed up.
* * *
And the incident took place while we were on our way back to District 49 in an air vehicle.
“Aren’t you sleeping today?”
“I’m not very sleepy.”
“…Tch.”
“Nova?”
It was at the moment I was wearing an awkward smile amid the strange situation in which Luciana had asked the first question and Nova had clicked her tongue.
I suddenly felt something strange and turned my head toward the window, where I locked eyes with a multiple rocket launcher aimed at us.
“……Huh?”