by Kamiya Yuu
The significance of those words caused Marie to be so startled she was short of breath.
It was ridiculous–Marie swallowed back what she nearly blurted out without thinking.
No matter how ridiculous it was, how unbelievable it was–if Naoto said so, that had to be the case.
And thus, if that was the case, in other words, they just–
Nearly got killed at the last moment–and ‘remained alive because they were spared’.
That probably was because it was–‘more beneficial to them’.
For it would not be a handicap to keep them alive–and at the same time, they could be used.
A mocking sneer rang from the communicator, seemingly awaiting Marie to make this conclusion,
“–Splendid, correct answer. As expected of you, young Naoto!”
“Y-you dare look down on us…!”
Marie’s eyebrows were raised, her voice quivering in anger. The unbearable shame caused the blood to rush up her head.
When was the last time she was toyed so brazenly like this
It seemed the mastermind even thought of Marie’s anger as some form of entertainment as he continued,
“And thanks to you, I’m able to move more easily than ever! My dear international terrorist cell Second Upsilon, please continued to put on a show and let me continue to lie low–but young Naoto Miura, there are two misunderstandings I’ll like to correct you on, you know?”
A pause.
“Unit 04 being snatched away was really within expectations, actually. It would be impossible to explain the prevention of Kyoto’s collapse without some form of magic, so I chose the premier ‘bait’–haha, glad that you like it. It really is a precious chip, but an investment worth making!”
Hearing those words, Marie felt a chill up her spine.
That indicated–
That the enemy–really was aiming for Naoto, and lured him in.
When did it start–when did they really start planning, and to what extent?
“And secondly–I’ll spare you if you’re correct, kill you if you’re wrong…well, that’s the correct answer–“
But because of the following words, the chill became a definite fear of death.
“–Except for the one who got it correct, young Naoto, everyone else can die, you know?”
“–Get down–!!”
Naoto screamed.
Marie did so without thinking. She saw, within her flowing vision that Halter, Conrad and Vermouth did the same.
The ones who did not do so was RyuZU, preparing to fight–and the sneering Gennai.
And Gennai’s head–exploded.
“–!”
The blood and brains exploded, the smell of rust filled the place.
After a beat, another gunshot could be heard.
…We’re sniped!
Marie gritted her teeth, and Naoto showed an anxious look as he turned around.
This isn’t good.She thought. The second shot–
—
“……?”
The second shot isn’t coming–?
On the rooftop of a tall building, where all of the port facilities in Grid Ariake could be seen clearly,
“Hah…never thought I’ll be able to stay alive. I guess my luck does come in handy somewhere…though this is definitely work beyond my pay.”
Karasawa joked, and easily spun the tool that was stabbed in.
A clank, the sound of intricate parts breaking.
Following that was gears spinning and missing, and the machine the size of a bicycle stopped.
THis machine was equipped with a black cowl and a long barrel, giving off a vague presence of violence.
–A sniping machine used for assassination.
Karasawa stabbed a tool through the thin armor to destroy the AI, sighed, and grumbled as he muttered,
“…I should say that this is work beyond that of my salary…well, I’ll just think of it as interest for the ‘favor’ I once had. Looks like Professor Marie is safe now…ugh!”
He groaned softly, and held down his flank.
The crimson blood dripped between the gaps of his fingers.
“…This really is…will the insurance pay for this if I apply for work hazard…I guess not at all, haha–my workplace is too dark for anyone to stay in.”
He managed to fight off the assassin, but was not able to remain unscathed.
His right wrist, coupled with some of his ribs, were fractured, and he took two shots to his abdomen.
He estimated that, having sustained such severe injuries, it would take him a month to fully recover.
His injuries were not serious enough to warrant becoming a cyborg…but his life would be at risk if he did not seek treatment early.
Karasawa’s breathing was increasingly erratic given that he took such a severe injury.
“Got to think…where do I go next…”
This time, he really knew of something he should not have.
He managed to fight back against an assassin, but the same luck probably would not happen too often.
He had to quickly hide his existence–or he would require a certain person’s protection.
For the time being, his only hope was…yes, look for the Princess? His experience in the ‘Meister Guild’ was that working in a field with a pretty, capable woman would be a cheerful one.
“Professor Marie…I guess she should be fine. I’m just a third rate character compared to them. They’ll figure out a way to escape–woah, that’s close.”
Karasawa dragged back his nearly faded consciousness, and chuckled.
Then, he swallowed back the glob of blood rising up his throat.
“Ahh damn it, it’s a heavy wound after all…before switching jobs, the nearest backalley doctor…”
Karasawa dragged his wounded body as he vanished in the darkness of Tokyo.
The sun was about to be submerged on the other end of the horizon.
And on the sea dyed red by the sunset, Marie laid on the chair on the deck.
The temperature was warm, the the sea breeze blowing from time to time very comforting.
She looked up through her sunglasses, and within the hue in the sky was the shadow of the ‘Equatorial Spring’ stretched across.
She tilted her neck slightly to the side, and found a man by the side of the cruiser, fishing.
While the man continued to turn his back on her, Marie called out,
“Halter, mind getting me some juice?”
“Sure, orange is fine, right?”
Marie nodded. Halter proceeded to take out a can of orange juice from the ice bucket beside him without looking, and threw it to the bag.
The juice can flew in an arc, and Marie caught it in mid-air, before proceeding to pull the ring.
It let out a relaxing fizzy sound.
She enjoyed the icy, sweet juice as she switched on the resonance radio placed on the side table.
The speakers aired some news report along with static.
“–We shall now report on the ‘February 8 incident’. On the 10th of February, the criminal group–commonly known as ‘Second Upsilon’, attacked the Palace, took Princess Houko Hoshinomiya hostage and occupied the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’. Currently, their whereabouts remained unknown. Also, it was determined that the huge weapon used for this terrorist attack might have used electromagnetic technology. Countries around the world have began action in purchasing the latest anti-electromagnetic weapons from the Vacherons…”
Marie heard the report by the female anchorwoman, and snorted unhappily.
“So everything went according to that damned mastermind’s plans…”
“Not only that. Now every country has technology to fight electromagnetism–this basically means that they all start to doubt that the others have electromagnetic weapons.”
Halter’s back remained turned on Marie as he continued,
“It’s fine now, but once the commotion calms down, there’ll probab
ly be something else that will trigger. If another conflict happens, those guys are going to earn money again.”
Hearing those words, Marie let out a gloomy sigh, and switched the radio channel.
The program on another channel was airing commentary.
“–In other words, I think it was Princess Houko’s brave actions that caused the terrorist attack to fail. If the ‘Second Upsilon’ did not hastily attack the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’, Grid Akihabara would not have lost control that led to the large weapon’s destruction.”
“–Speaking of Princess Houko, it was said that after the ‘military’ assault squad went in to save her, she commanded them and got down to resolve the situation…”
“–Yes, correct. Not everyone knows however that Princess Houko did obtain the license of a Gazelle when she went to Europe for studies. It can be said that because of the Princess’ command of the Royal Technical Force that they quickly dealt with the emergency, and that the damaged ‘Heaven’s Pillar’ could barely remain functional.”
Halter spoke with an optimistic tone.
“That Princess sounds as though she’s still doing well, I guess?”
“I guess. She’s already suited to be a leader, if not because of her position.”
Marie nodded, and recalled the report she heard in the afternoon.
–It was said that the damaged ‘Heaven’s Pillar’ was to be investigated and repaired by the “Guild’. Also, all repair works in the Capital Circle has begun smoothly under the support of the other countries.
And so, Houko, who was saved, was treated as a hero who saved her country. The government completely lost the support of its people because of this incident, and one could imagine Houko having a huge influence on it.
Marie felt perked up once she knew her good friend would have a bright future in store for her, and continued,
“And that’s quite some good acting…when she was interviewed, she dismissed this good friend in me as ‘an egoist who acts on personal benefit, an arrogant person she cannot agree with’.”
“.–Most of it is probably true.”
The retort from above caused Marie to immediately feel dejected.
Marie lazily got up, and turned around, saying,
“I’m so dejected now that you’re saying it, and my killing intent is coming out now–oh main culprit Naoto?”
She turned her head towards Naoto, dressed lazily in a Hawaiian shirt to go with shorts and slippers–looked completely lethargic as he stood there.
Beside him was RyuZu, in a dress as usual, standing by as though she was an outsider.
And then–
“Ah, AnchoR! You’re finally okay!?”
Marie saw the girl, AnchoR walk out from the cabin, and eased her expression as she greeted the girl.
“Ah, mama…”
AnchoR slowly approached her, smiling back.
Her body once lost its limbs, and even its frame was severely damaged. There were limbs attached to her for the time being.
…As expected Marie thought.
AnchoR was basically severely damaged to begin with.
Furthermore, the spare parts used on her body were unique, each of them different from the usual kind—it was impossible for this escaping yacht to have materials that could repair AnchoR.
Thus, AnchoR was attached to a prosthetic for automata, the parts obtained when Marie broke down the ‘Black Tortoise’ Halter was attached to and extracted them.
However, unlike RyuZU, whom Marie had broken down a few times and remembered the blueprint, only Naoto knew of AnchoR’s structure.
He attached the ‘prosthetics’ and repaired the sensors to the bare minimum possible where she could walk–but Naoto practically spent half a month in the cabin doing this job.
No matter how naoto tried to handle it–it seemed AnchoR was still unfamiliar with her limbs, her movements seemingly rigid.
Marie curled her lips, saying,
“–So slow. How long were you going to keep me waiting?”
“You got to be kidding…I can’t bring myself to do this emergency measure when it can’t even be considered a repair.”
–Yes. That was not a repair–it was merely an ‘incomplete’ procedure.
If it was Naoto of the past, even if he wanted to, there was no way he could accomplish this job.
In the past, even if he could repair it to the ‘perfect stage’, there was no way he could skillfully adapt to using replacements as a placeholder.
–To be honest. Marie thought.
She had no idea as to why those limbs could move after they were connected.
Marie did prepare a theoretically perfect replacement. That was something she dared to conclude.
However, the important thing was AnchoR herself, for the nano gears to the faux nerves were all contorted and melted due to the high temperature. There was nothing within her that was normal. Furthermore, she took damage from the shots by Gennai, but even without that, it would be extremely difficult to repair her.
However, Naoto himself tried all the methods, and adjusted the contortions.
Marie’s vision inadvertently darkened when she found the Main Cylinder on the collarbone to be damaged, but Naoto was able to repair that part beautifully with intricate actions.
Of course, it took a lot of time. Even with Naoto’s ears and newly learned technical skills, it took him half a month.
But normally speaking, that was a process that could possibly take years–
No, to be honest, that was a ‘is it even possible’ thing…?
Furthermore, they were not in a workshop with the latest equipment available.
It was merely done in a ‘work zone’ that was randomly added to this yacht that was casually swaying on the waves, not even a workshop.
Even Marie had no confidence that she could achieve the same level of results under the same environment and the same time–for now.
However, she quietly decided–that sooner or later, she would catch up.
And so, Marie stood up from the deck chair, ran towards AnchoR who was slowly walking over, and gently led her to walk.
The petite body was dressed in a white Smock Blouse.
Marie pinched the surface of the clothes, and Naoto warned,
“Ah, wait! Just to tell you, don’t take off those clothes! The artificial skin–”
“Don’t lump me along with you, you pervert–come here, AnchoR. The wind here’s very nice. Come rest with mama, okay?”
“Hm, okay…”
AnchoR smiled and nodded, and Marie carried her by the shoulder, leading her towards the deck chair.
…Since half a month back.
Marie’s attitude towards AnchoR was that of being so doting, so lovestruck.
But in contrast–
“Hey–wait, hey! Why are you kidnapping my kid!?’
“Eh?”
Naoto suddenly protested loudly, and Marie gave a condescending look, saying,
“How can I possibly hand AnchoR to a pervert like you? I’ll teach this child on how to become an outstanding lady.”
“What right do you have to call yourself a lady! Leaving AnchoR to you will only create a new landmine of a girl. You got to be kidding me!!”
“Leaving her to you and RyuZU will turn her into a new pervert. Think about it calmly and choose which one you prefer.”
“Thinking about it, one more of you is going to cause damage to the world! Uwaahhh!! But I don’t want a future where AnchoR turns out like that!”
Naoto cupped his head in agony as he said this.
Marie ignored Naoto and she sat down on the deck chair, and had AnchoR on her thighs.
Realizing this, Naoto turned to RyuZU beside him and complained,
“Ryu—-ZU!! Marie just stole my rights as a the parent! What’s with the law!? Why is she the one gaining custody here!!”
RyuZU shot Naoto an icy glare as she responded,
“Pardon my honesty, Master Naoto, but
even if the universe does topple over, there is no way Master Marie can be your wife.”
“Woaaahhh!! Right–! My bride is RyuZU! Eh, ah! Then this doesn’t make any sense! On what basis is she claiming custody here!”
“Allow me to repeat myself, master Naoto. Are you unhappy with me about anything?”
“—-No, wait, wait a second, RyuZU. Why does it seem like you’re on Marie’s side?’
Naoto yelled, and RyuZU seemed to ponder for a while, before shaking her head, saying,
“–That certainly is not the case. However, rather than crossing swords with my little sister over my beloved Master, I might as well–I did think of it before, so since this can be settled without that much ruckus, perhaps this scenario might work.
“Eh, that’s a completely different matter!? Why are we talking about different issues now!? A-AnchoR! Who do you think is better, me or that landmine!?”
While Naoto tossed out this question in his doubt, Marie again asked,
“It’s me right? Isn’t it, AnchoR?”
“—-fueeh…”
AnchoR, stuck between Naoto and Marie, gave a conflicted look.
And Halter, unable to watch on anymore, interrupted,
“Hey, enough already…you two are the worst examples of parents by asking a kid whether she likes papa or mama.”
“”Who’s papa and mama here!?””
Both of them shrieked in unison.
AnchoR kept that look of dilemma on her face as she spoke up hesitantly,
“…I like, papa…”
“Oh yesssh–!”
“Wha–”
Naoto gave a victory poe, and Marie looked dumbfounded.
However–
AnchoR continued on with a carefree smile,
“…But I also like mama, who’s always with papa…”
“”–“”
“Papa’s amazing, and mama’s smiling with amazing papa…AnchoR likes that mama.”
……
After a long silence, Naoto lifted his face adamantly, saying,