NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51
Humans react differently when faced with unexpected situations. Some might gawk with their mouths agape, while others might pinch their cheeks, thinking it’s all a dream. As for me, the future me, I fit both categories.
‘…You’re…’
I was completely dazed by this unforeseen circumstance.
—
Inside the sewage.
Catherine, who returned late, was startled to find Drake and Andrea. Given that she had spent a long time in the sewers with me, her reaction made sense. She knew just how tough it was to find us in this vast underground space. So, she reacted just like I did earlier—surprised but also relieved.
Catherine began to talk about the ninja she had chased after. She mentioned that, just as I suspected, the ninja had fled to relay information to the surface.
I nodded lightly and explained the current situation to Drake and Andrea. The person who was supposed to be the Vice President was not Smile John. The real Smile John was the Chairman of the Kojaka Corporation, and to boot, we were being chased by the ninja unit due to the actions of the Vice President’s brother-in-law, Koichiro Kojaka.
“Wasn’t there someone else inside the Chairman character?”
That was Andrea’s response.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Drake said, after hearing that the kidnappers had already seized an airship ahead of us.
I continued explaining to the utterly flabbergasted Drake.
“Anyway, we decided to escort the Vice President to the destination.”
“And what’s the reward?”
Drake displayed his gold teeth as he replied.
“Details haven’t been determined yet, but for now, let’s discuss how to handle Smile John… or rather, the Chairman of Kojaka.”
I turned my gaze to Kojaka William, and naturally, Drake’s eyes followed suit. Kojaka William adjusted his mask back onto his face and replied.
“That’s a fair point. We’re essentially in the same boat now.”
It made sense that the Vice President, used as bait for the Chairman, would feel anger towards him. A trustworthy smile crept onto Drake’s face as he approached the Vice President, placing a light hand on his shoulder. However, Drake’s towering stature caused one side of the Vice President’s shoulder to dip awkwardly.
Drake’s voice was heard.
“Shall we discuss the contract in detail?”
This was something Drake always took care of when we took on missions—discussing specifics and sorting out rewards. I switched off my nerves and thought he’d handle it fine.
After all, escaping the sewage was the most urgent matter.
…But then.
A shadow that resembled a giant monster appeared from the opposite side.
“…!”
I cried out, trying to be vigilant. If I hadn’t quickly realized that the shadow of the monster was actually a dead corpse, I would have screamed back in the day.
It was a lizard large enough to easily swallow an adult. Oddly enough, it seemed to have more than eight legs.
Andrea casually opened her mouth.
“Oh, this is what I was talking about earlier.”
She passed right by the lizard’s corpse as if it were nothing.
…
I awkwardly scratched my head, suppressing my embarrassment and moved on.
Then, shortly after, a massive robot blocking the sewage waterway came into view. Having almost cried out at the sight of the monster’s corpse earlier, I calmly observed the fallen robot this time.
Zzzzt, crackling sounds and electrical shorts erupted from the robot’s surface. It showed no signs of movement. The occasional flickering current indicated that its power was still on.
I heard Drake’s voice as he walked with the Vice President.
“Oh, this is that cleaning robot I mentioned earlier. I hacked it by directly connecting the circuits since the signals wouldn’t go through here.”
The multiple sharp gears extending out from the robot were quite impressive.
…
What kind of fight had they been through?
It seemed like they had dealt with every strange thing in sight while searching for us.
—
Catherine stomped her foot with force.
Her kick smashed right through the thick iron bars of the sewage.
The frame of the bars flew far away, bouncing randomly on the sandy ground.
“Phew, finally out.”
I took a big deep breath in celebration.
Breathing in the relatively clear city air compared to the insides of the sewage reminded me that I was alive.
The neon signs of the city, hidden behind concrete barriers outside the landfill, faintly sparkled above the buildings.
Fortunately, we managed to infiltrate the city without further issues after that.
We managed to block the ninjas from delivering information, and thanks to Drake and Andrea cleaning up the monsters near the path beforehand.
A notification appeared on one side of my vision interface.
[Signal recovery detected. Current location is near the lower-class ‘Cloud Park,’ I announce.]
Cloud Park, huh…
…
Did I just say the air was clear earlier?
I’m retracting that statement immediately.
I could already feel the thick city smog brushing against my nostrils.
Cloud Park.
The largest factory area in Neon City.
I hadn’t noticed when it got dark, but seeing the sky covered in gray clouds made it clear.
…At least not many people seemed to be roaming around.
I glanced at those walking out with me.
It seemed everyone had noticed the signal connection, as they were all busy with their own things.
Drake appeared to be reporting to Natasha via walkie-talkie, while Catherine and Andrea were muttering, “I want to wash up,” while blankly checking messages.
I turned to approach Kojaka William.
He, too, had started a busy call as soon as he stepped out of the sewage.
“Uh, yeah. Yeah. It was indeed an assassination, yeah… Koichiro Kojaka.”
From what I gathered, he was talking to a subordinate.
Since it wasn’t a hologram call, I wasn’t certain, but I guessed that was likely correct.
I quietly waited beside him until Kojaka William finished his call.
Noticing my presence, he finally ended the conversation with a last comment.
“Uh, could you please investigate what was crossed over and where?”
I spoke to Kojaka William after he hung up.
“So, Vice President?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Should we take you to the headquarters as we first discussed?”
“…I’m counting on you, as I don’t know whom I can trust now.”
Well, that wasn’t a difficult task.
I nodded.
[Proceeding to the headquarters, I confirm.]
While Eve’s earlier words nagged at me, I brushed them off.
It was probably her trying to gather information or investigate ahead.
I dusted off my clothes and continued.
“Shall we head to Center Plaza in the middle class?”
After all, it was the headquarters of Megacorp.
Naturally, I assumed it would be located there.
However, Kojaka William shook his head slowly at my remark.
“…No, the corporate headquarters building moved not too long ago.”
“Oh, then where should we take you?”
I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t answer me immediately.
…
I asked after awaiting his response.
“Why is the headquarters there?”
“…I opposed it.”
This was truly baffling.
—
In this world, the second-ranking corporation, Megacorp.
For reasons I don’t fully know, the headquarters of the Kojaka Corporation is situated right in the middle of a theme park operated by Kojaka.
Of course, even if it’s the headquarters, each city around the world has its own regional headquarters, so it wasn’t particularly strange.
Since it was a company with a mascot character as its chairman, it seemed others viewed it as just another quirky quirk.
Speaking of which, I vaguely recalled an advertisement for a theme park operated by Kojaka while riding the monorail long ago.
That said, I couldn’t wrap my head around it from my standpoint.
“…As I said before, I opposed it.”
Had he read my sharp gaze? Kojaka William’s expression twisted awkwardly as he tried to explain himself. It didn’t look like a vice president of Megacorp.
We got off the driverless taxi and walked a considerable distance past the entrance of the theme park.
I thought about waiting for Natasha to send a vehicle, but my desire to resolve matters quickly loomed larger.
However, one odd thing struck me.
Even considering that it was a weekday, there wasn’t a single soul around in this theme park operated by Megacorp.
There weren’t even any staff members.
Upon checking news through Eve regarding that, I found out.
[Checking NCB24 news, “An undisclosed incident has occurred at the theme park ‘Pete Mc Land’ operated by Kojaka, customers have all been evacuated, while experts are investigating what happened—” I provide this information.]
…
Well, it was something that could happen.
Naturally, it also brought along a bad omen.
But still, the fact remained—I needed to escort the Vice President to the headquarters.
As we crossed through the eerily silent center of the theme park, we prepared for a possible battle.
And then.
A sound of clapping echoed.
A man wearing an outfit that seemed to flaunt his wealth appeared, dazzlingly bright.
His rainbow-colored mohawk caught our attention.
…What a ridiculous fashion statement.
I immediately sensed that this was not an ordinary weirdo. I slowly opened my mouth to ask a question.
“Who are you—”
“Koichiro Kojaka…! So it really is you!”
Interrupting my question, Kojaka William shouted in a tone of grievance.
…Sigh.
It seemed my bad feeling was right on track.
Well, the odds of evacuating all the patrons from the theme park in this situation was about 99.9%.
The man called Koichiro Kojaka made an exaggerated gesture as he spoke.
“Hahaha! You’ve made it here alive after all!”
His tone was somehow grating.
Koichiro Kojaka.
Referring back to the earlier explanation, he was the brother-in-law of Kojaka William…
That meant he was the son of the Chairman Kojaka, Smile John.
…So it’s only natural he’d sound similar.
“Is my position so enticing to you!”
Kojaka William shouted.
But what I really should worry about wasn’t such a conversation.
“…Eve.”
[I’m on standby.]
“How many people are around?”
After a brief moment, Eve replied.
[Detecting ‘49’ bio-signals within a 50M radius. They match the same signature as the ‘ninja’ we encountered in the sewage, I announce.]
Just as I thought.
He couldn’t have come alone.
Koichiro Kojaka…
This guy is truly insane.
It’s easy to say, but…
To void all patrons during peak hours on a weekday, to send the employees home, and wait for us here—it was unfathomable to me.
What if we hadn’t shown up today?
What if we went somewhere else?
…Is it wrong to try to understand the mind of a lunatic?
Well, considering he was the son of that crazy Smile John, I could see it was possible.
I swallowed hard.
This was a truly dire situation.
As great as we were in the mercenary industry, and as much as Catherine was the main character crafted in this world…
There were always definitions of possible and impossible.
Our limits were clear.
…Should I flee?
Or should I at least give fighting a shot?
The Vice President and his brother-in-law’s conversation grew increasingly heated.
At the same time, the ninjas Eve had sensed began to reveal themselves from various locations.
Man.
I guess I should start with a thunderbolt strike.
I’d need some time to gather mana though. Just as I pondered about that.
…But then.
Something fell from the heavens.
I turned my gaze upwards for a moment.
A delivery drone with a familiar design hovered down without anyone noticing.
I wasn’t sure what had dropped, but it seemed quite hefty since a loud thud echoed from the center.
…What is that?
I examined the dropped object.
There lay a ‘person’ who had landed with a hero landing pose.
“……?”
At the same moment that she landed, all the ninjas around us collapsed.
Their powers flickering, limbs spontaneously dislocating.
It was a clear signal of hacking.
Drake, who had always had a grin on his face, grimaced and muttered.
“…Hacking? That’s absurd; something like this shouldn’t even be mathematically possible.”
The Vice President and his brother-in-law, who had fallen silent, stared blankly at the person.
…
But for some reason.
The outfit she was wearing drew my eye.
…I feel like I’ve seen that outfit somewhere.
It resembled a unique maid costume.
Where had I seen it? Oh right—the streaming video of Eve…
Hmm.
Hmm.
“…You’re…”
Before I could say anything.
She.
‘Eve’ rose to her feet.
[I’ve just arrived.]
“I’ve just arrived,’ I announce.”
….
As much as I expected ‘ninja,’ I never anticipated this.
Eve had appeared!