“You are scum!”
“Thanks, that makes me happy. Watching you get socially destroyed is the last piece of joy I have left.” Sumire laughed evilly.
Rentaro was speechless. Just how much was he supposed to let this person make him despair?
Just then, two beakers filled to the brim with coffee slid toward him on the table. “Well, come on, sit down,” said Sumire.
Watching Enju happily plunk herself down on a stool, Rentaro also grudgingly sat next to her.
Sumire, sitting across from them, put her chin on her hands and lowered the tone of her voice, making a solemn face. “Rentaro, it’s a little late, but congratulations. You defeated Kagetane Hiruko and moved up in rank. Now that you’ve moved up to 1,000th to join the ranks of the high-ranking pairs, I thought I should talk to you soon about things you should be careful about with the three geniuses other than me who exist in the world.”
“The three geniuses?” Rentaro shifted on the chair when he realized the conversation was heading from calm to cloudy.
“Rentaro, what kind of understanding do you have of me as a person?”
Rentaro knew this was a serious question, so he considered. “You were the person responsible for the New Humanity Creation Project.”
“I can only give you partial credit for that answer. I am the most brilliant mind in Japan, and I was responsible for the Japanese branch of a mechanized soldier project that spanned four countries: Japan, America, Australia, and Germany.”
Rentaro interrupted in his confusion. “What the heck is that…? Wait a minute, this is the first I’ve heard of it. Four countries? Then—”
Sumire explained solemnly. “The head of the Australia branch, Obelisk, was Professor Arthur Zanuck. The head of the U.S. branch, NEXT, was Professor Ain Rand, and the head of the Japan branch, the New Humanity Creation Project, was Professor Sumire Muroto—in other words, me. And the one who unified all of this and was in charge of everything was a German scientist, Professor Albrecht Grünewald. The four of us are the four people with expertise on mechanized soldier creation. We were called things like the Four Kings, or the Four Sages… How nostalgic.”
“‘Four Sages’…?”
“That’s right. The four of us were the great minds of the world, gathered in order to save the world from the invasion of the Gastrea. Now, Rentaro, do you think we produced great results working together hand in hand? Unfortunately, the answer is no. I’ll tell you from the end of the story. The four of us were jealous of one another’s ability and hid the results of our research from one another. I’m embarrassed to say that I was the same as the rest, too.”
“Why would you do that…?”
Pressed for an answer, Sumire just shrugged her shoulders. “Can you understand? For all of your life, there was not a single person around who could be called your equal, so you became conceited, but then suddenly three geniuses who threatened your existence appeared. I was frightened and extremely jealous at the same time. Coupled with the fact that my lover had been killed by a Gastrea around that time, and I couldn’t really see what was going on around me. You should remember what I was like back then.”
Rentaro paused. “I do.” He nodded, remembering Sumire all skin and bones, with just her glittering eyes. The Sumire now wasn’t the person responsible for the New Humanity Creation Project or the Sumire whose lover had just been killed by a Gastrea. She was half-forgotten by the world, but she seemed much happier now than she was back then.
“To continue, in the end, the four of us each used our individual expertise to the best of our ability and created mechanized soldiers.” Sumire laughed masochistically, shaking her head slowly. “My heart never connected with any of them during the whole process. Not once. And then, all the projects disbanded a little after the war. Do you know why?”
Casting a sidelong glance at Enju, whose body had tensed with nervousness, Rentaro opened his mouth to speak hesitatingly. “Because mankind realized the high-fighting abilities of the Cursed Children.”
“Exactly. Even though it took a huge amount of money to create a single mechanized soldier like you, these girls were born naturally equipped with power that was equal to that of the soldiers. It was only natural for the government to think it was ridiculous to waste money on building the mechanized soldiers, right?
“And so all the organizations were disbanded, and the soldiers were relieved of their duties. Where did they go? Did they decide to live as ordinary citizens to spend the rest of their lives in peace? The answer to this is also no. After the civsec officer system was born, most of the mechanized soldiers went out into the world as Promoters. For them, the disbanding of the organizations just meant that the place where they fought changed.
“The current government is trying to manage the civsec officer system as clients. Well, it’s just what those government types wanted. Since civil security agencies are civilian organizations, it’s cheaper than having them work for the country. Price wars and other market forces are also involved. Lucky for them, the mechanized soldiers are also part of these organizations, so governments can just have them form tag teams and make great use of them. And these days, strong mechanized soldiers paired with strong Initiators get great military results, and most of them sit in the seats of the highest ranks. Do you understand what this means?”
Rentaro nodded as he slowly licked his dry lips, and Sumire continued.
“Rentaro, if you have decided to go after your origins, I am not particularly opposed to it. However, if you are going to defeat the enemies in front of you and aim to be among the highest of the highest ranks to get the highest-level top-secret information access key, then you will soon run into mechanized soldiers made by the other three geniuses who have become Promoters. You should be careful. Their abilities may have evolved past what we can even imagine.”
Without noticing it, Rentaro found himself sitting up straight and holding his breath as he listened. Cold sweat dripped down his cheek. He had been holding his breath, and he shook his head as he felt released from an invisible pressure and slowly drew oxygen into his lungs. He could easily imagine how this could become a fearsome path of thorns.
“But Rentaro, it’s not something to be pessimistic about. You already defeated one of Mr. Grünewald’s mechanized soldiers.”
Rentaro looked up with surprise. “Don’t tell me he was…”
“That’s right, Kagetane Hiruko.”
Just hearing that name gave him the chills and made him feel sick to his stomach. Manipulating a repulsion force field with superior defense along with two sinister handguns, Kagetane Hiruko was, without a doubt, the strongest opponent Rentaro had ever faced in his short life. It was more or less a miracle that he had won.
“Only Mr. Grünewald did not have a research lab in his own country, so he had facilities in Japan, Australia, and America. Section 22, which you were in, was under my jurisdiction, but Kagetane’s Section 16 was under Mr. Grünewald’s jurisdiction. Also, it might sound like the Four Sages were equal in their abilities, but Mr. Grünewald’s genius was obviously a rank above that of Arthur, Ain, and mine. Once, I thought I’d try to steal the knowledge he had of mechanized soldiers and looked at his blueprints, but there was a portion that even I didn’t understand.”
Rentaro shook his head. Honestly, what she was talking about had gotten too big for him to wrap his head around. Next to him, Enju had her mouth half-open. She probably did not understand half of what she was hearing, either.
“Wait, Doc, are you really that amazing?” There was still a trace of fatigue left in his lighthearted words, but Sumire was indifferent and recrossed her legs.
“What, it’s not a big deal. The way you and Enju would read a single book is how I would read a single library. That’s the only difference. It’s simple, isn’t it? You might just think of me as a coroner, but I actually have no particular specialty. Everything is my specialty.”
“Then why are you doing autopsies on Gastrea no
w?”
Sumire hunched her shoulders and twisted her lips in a smile. “It’s because I like it. Corpses are great. No idle chatter from them. Oh, but the most unfortunate part about this job is that your patients never say ‘Thank you.’”
Rentaro was fed up.
“Just how old are you right now, Doc?”
“Fifteen.”
“You’re younger than me?! Have you no shame?”
“Silence, or I’ll dissect you while you’re still alive.”
“No, please. Anything but that!”
As if realizing something at those words, Sumire gave a smirk. “Hey, I’ve been wondering about this for a while, but you have school during the day, go to Kisara’s office after school, and then you’re with Enju at home, right? As a healthy male hominid, when do you take care of your pent-up frustrations? Tell me.”
“Now that you mention it…” Even Enju was starting to look interested.
Rentaro’s hips twitched unconsciously. “Hey—! Th-that has nothing to do with anything. Enju’s around, too! What are you saying, Doc?”
“Then don’t ask my age, idiot. Everyone has one or two things they don’t want people to ask about.”
Rentaro sat back down in his chair with a sour look on his face at that severe retaliation. “Doc, you really are a terrible person, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. That’s why I have no friends. Did you only just notice?”
Disgusted, Rentaro looked at the large bookcases in the basement room. There was no sign of the person who was once the greatest mind in all of Japan on the bookcases filled with movies and adult video games.
“By the way, did you know, Rentaro? In the first dating sim games, the main character’s parameters were set, and if he wasn’t above a certain level in intelligence and looks, the girls wouldn’t even look at him. Even though it was a game, it didn’t contain any dreams or hopes, which kept it from being a great game, so other game companies went in a different direction.”
“What are you talking about?”
The enigmatic female doctor took a mechanical pencil from the breast pocket of her lab coat and tapped it on the table complacently. “Well, I was just wondering how far you got with Kisara. Kisara is wasted on someone like you with an unfortunate face obsessed with bugs. It’s strange that she hasn’t had a conspicuous boyfriend yet. You should be in more of a hurry. For all your rude talking, you can be a gentleman, but you lack the lust for conquest that will allow you to overcome a woman’s indecision and make her your own. That’s your weakness, you know. Have you noticed, Rentaro?”
“Sh-shut up. It has nothing to do with you.”
Seeing Enju looking discontented, Rentaro was startled and averted his face quickly. However, he smoothly slid just his gaze toward Sumire and asked, “Well, what would you do if you were me, Doc?”
“I’d probably slip a sleeping pill into Kisara’s drink.”
He shouldn’t have asked. Rentaro scratched the back of his head.
“Sorry, Rentaro, but you should go home first.”
“Why?”
“I have some things to talk to Enju about now. I don’t want you to hear it.”
“Hey, Doc, don’t tell me—” You’re not going to talk to Enju about her corrosion rate, are you? Rentaro glared.
But Sumire shook her head. “It’s not that.”
“I…see… Then, I’ll get going. Enju, can you get home by yourself?”
“Yes, no problem.”
Rentaro gave a small wave at Enju and left the university hospital reluctantly.
3
“Why did you have Rentaro leave?”
“Because I thought you wouldn’t want Rentaro to hear this. That’s the kind of thing we’ll be talking about now.” Sumire sat back down into her chair, and it gave a sharp creak. “Enju, let’s make this brief. Have you ever felt sudden chills on the back of your neck when fighting a strong Initiator or when walking around town?”
Enju couldn’t tell where the question was going and was mentally tilting her head in bewilderment, but she answered honestly. “No.”
Sumire recrossed her legs and put a coffee-filled beaker to her mouth. “Let me rephrase the question. Enju, you’re an Initiator who specializes in speed, but has that speed continued to improve? Have you had trouble improving your speed? Where it suddenly stopped getting better?”
Enju put her hands on the table in surprise and leaned her body over the table. “Do you know something about that, Sumire?”
Sumire sank her body deeply into the chair. “It’s just as I thought. You’ve reached your growth limit point, huh?”
Growth limit point. Enju couldn’t help but feel chills at the sound of those words.
Sumire flipped a lamp switch and pulled out a binder from a pile of documents, flipping through its pages to find the document she was looking for. “Enju, will you tell me a little about that feeling in your own words?”
It was like a doctor interviewing a patient, and remembering that Sumire actually was a doctor, Enju righted herself on the stool and sat up straight. “Yes, well, it was not something I was aware of in the past, but the more I used my power, the faster I became. However, that has not been the case recently at all. How can I describe it—?” She couldn’t find suitable words and folded her arms.
Sumire said helpfully, “Is it like you’re running into an invisible wall?”
“That’s it! It feels like I am running into an invisible wall. No matter how much I practice, it does not feel like I am getting faster at all.”
“I see, it’s just as the report says.” Sumire threw the binder onto the desk.
“Sumire, what is this?”
“That is the growth limit point. After an Initiator’s abilities improve to a certain point, they reach a plateau. In conclusion, Enju, your speed will not improve more than this.” The words echoed gloomily in the basement room.
“No… Isn’t there anything you can do, Sumire?!” Before she knew it, Enju had pressed up against Sumire, breathing hard.
Through the curtain of hair that covered her eyes, the doctor looked back at Enju in amusement. “No, there isn’t. However, it’s not all bad. It means that God has proclaimed that you don’t need to get any stronger than this.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in God, Sumire!”
Sumire spread her arms. “It’s regrettable. I think every day that it would be nice if God did exist. However, there is so little evidence that God exists from an objective standpoint that I have merely deferred my opinion for now.” After saying that, she told Enju, “You can go home now,” and turned her back to the girl.
Enju looked at her and cast down her eyes, her mouth opening and closing until she suddenly murmured, “Sumire… What is Zone?”
Sumire turned back in surprise and looked at her sternly with narrowed eyes. “Who did you hear about that from?”
“I overheard rumors about it from Promoters and Initiators that we work with. Doesn’t it refer to very strong Initiators?”
“More accurately, it does not refer to the Initiator herself, but to the state of the Initiator. And, it has nothing to do with you.”
Enju practically threw herself on Sumire as she grabbed her lab coat and shook it. “Sumire, what is this Zone? Does that have something to do with how I can become stronger?”
Sumire showed a moment of indecision.
“Sumire, I must become stronger, whatever it takes!”
That was the last straw, and Sumire said, “Damn,” putting her hand to her temple and flopping into her chair in desperation. “Enju, I will answer your question from before. There is actually a way to overcome your growth limit point. It’s the Zone you were just talking about.”
Enju held her breath, waiting for Sumire’s next words.
“The wall you feel right now is also frustration born of the desire to rip through your growth limit point. It might be easier if you imagine pulling yourself up onto a horizontal bar. At fir
st, no matter how many dozens of times you practice, you can’t do it at all, but one day, you are suddenly able to do it. Once you are able to do it once, there’s no going back. Apparently Zone is like that. And Initiators attain Zone, which breaks through their growth limit point through strict self-control and discipline. It is also called ‘Awakening Zone.’”
“Attain Zone…? Awakening……?”
“I’m not an Initiator, so I don’t really know the details, but from the literature I’ve read on it, only a small handful of Initiators can actually attain Zone. And of the super-high-ranking pairs, there are many Initiators who have attained Zone. You and Satomi are probably alive right now thanks in large part to the fact that you have not met anyone who’s reached Zone yet.”
Enju was startled. “Is this Zone thing truly that strong?”
“It is. There is a large difference in ability between those who’ve reached Zone and those who do not. It is said that those without Zone cannot beat those with Zone. When you encounter them, apparently you feel tingling at the back of your neck, so if there is an Initiator your instincts tell you is someone with Zone, you should definitely not get involved with them. You guys fought Kohina Hiruko, who was pretty strong, but since you beat her, she must not have had Zone. If she did have Zone, then there’s no way you two would have survived.”
It was hard to believe this all of a sudden. “If even after all that, I do end up fighting someone with Zone, what should I do?”
“Run away. Take Satomi with you and run as far as you can.”
“Is that the only way?”
“Yes. It would be a different story if you attained Zone, though.”
Not even Enju could hold back her gloomy feelings. The foolish expression about how the super-high-ranking pairs were strong enough to rock the world’s military balance single-handedly suddenly seemed to have a seed of truth in it.
Sumire looked at her with eyes tinged with compassion. “Rentaro and Kisara will probably both continue to become stronger. Enju, they’ll become stronger than you.”
Against a Perfect Sniper Page 10