Vol 4 Chapter 1 (2/2)
”The laboratory is deep into the mountain This place isn't on the map, so we hafta rely on memory”
”Hation will not have any errors But howon distance, I may need to refuel soon This car really does not have horsepower”
”Soon It should be around the border of Mie and Aichi But Aichi is really nice Lots of smart people”
”Is that so?”
”It's so It's where the Nagoya-uchi was found It's a region with a blessing I think that's why Professor ended up settling his laboratory in Aichi It's probably not just idiocy, and I don't think he had anyforward to this Seeing Sacchan again, it's been so long”
”That is fine, but please think about after seeing hiht? I don't intend to be much of a help to you this time, either”
”Hisa To, but you get pretty jealous easily You're narrow- You can relax, you know? I mean, boku-sama-chan likes Sacchan and Chii-kun, but I only love Ii-chan”
”That is precious But this is not about jealousy It is different frouess if you were to describe it, it would be similar oh”
I saw a silhouette in front, so I putunifored to security waved sticks that glowed red, and called for us to stop our car I looked ate behind them that could be described as a steel fence
This deep in the mountains, security
””
I stepped on the brakes and stopped the car, then slowly opened theAnd then the two security guards approached the Fiat, and with a gruff voice said to us
”From here on this place is private property, and would constitute trespassing Please return the way you came”
They spoke polite words, but the way they spoke was extre forced to stand out here in this damn hot weather wouldabout such s only a truly horrible person would do It is not my role to criticize their lack of professionalism And, it was honestly hard to tell if their attitude was out of lack of professionalism, anyways
”No, um, well We have an appointment with Professor Shadou”
”Professor? Th- then, you're Kunagisa-sama?”
The security guards' attitudes quickly changed They probably did not think so such a shoddy car, so it would still be harsh to chide them for that
”I aisa but I am with her”
I said, and pointed to Kunagisa sitting next toat her pocket couards However, her blue hair seeuards nodded, ”Understood”
”Then you are Kunagisa-sama's friend there should be one more, a chaperone”
”Ahh, then” I shi+fted isa to the rear seats ” Shall I wake her up? I do notin that case”
” no, that's fine”
The security guard said after a few seconds of silence Yes, that is the wise choice, I thought No one needs to step on a landmine with excessive force
”Then, please write your name on the visitors' list It may seem a bother, but it's part of our procedure”
”Sure”
With Kunagisa being that and Suzunashi+ being that, I would have to be the one I opened the door, and left the car The security guard, who had returned to what looked like the guard outpost (it see at it) can here,” and handedinto a computer, so I was a bit surprised by the anachronism
”Yeah I agree However, the Professor says they can't trick their way through this That if you use a cos, then improper access from outside becomes possible, is what he said Well, I do not understand what heon paper is the safest way of saving information”
”I will not say I do not understand his point, but he sounds very paranoid”
I said as I wrote Kunagisa's name, Suzunashi+-san's name, and then my name Address in Suzunashi+-san's case, what should I write here? Would it be fine as Hiei Mountains Enryaku Temple? I cannot just write no specific address so I have to write so, but Hiei Mountain and No Address are both equally suspicious After pondering such rude-to-Hiei-Mountain-inhabitants thoughts, I ended up writing that Suzunashi+-san lived in the same place that I do It was too painful to joke about to write such a thing, but I felt it was a lie that would at least be soh about afterward
”Have you brought anything dangerous?” the other security guard asked ht ”Blades and powerful ht in”
”Blade I brought a scissors” I answered ”Is a scissors no good? He sounds really paranoid”
”No, that should be fine I apologize, please do not take this the wrong way The security level has been upgraded since yesterday We're required to ask even Kunagisa-sama and her associates these questions”
”The level was upgraded? Why?”
”Ahh” the security guard looked conflicted a bit And then he lowered his voice and continued ”Well This would be two days ago But there was alarm over an intruder”
An intruder, I responded That did not sound pleasant I wondered if intruders to a research laboratory like this wouldThat seeine, like from a movie or a book, but this place is unrealistic anyways (after all, it's a research laboratory deep in the h), so it may be expected Rather, in this case, I should be relieved that the security level was not raised because Kunagisa To
”Yes See, it's the nauard who I had given the board back to, and he handed it back to ate, feigning being a visitor froets detected so quickly, really disrespecting us, or just really strong-willed, or reckless”
” and, that intruder, was he caught already?”
”Ah, no not yet” the security guard said, a bit aardly ”However, please be assured It seems they have already escaped from within the laboratory, so there should be no bother caused to Kunagisa-sama And, the police have already been notified, so it should be a matter of time before they are apprehended”
Is that so, then that is a relief, I nodded Intruders and spies were a violent word, but if they had already left then it should have no direct bearing on our story Whether they are arrested by police afterwards or whatever matters not to us He is not here, and that is sufficient This is already convoluted, so I would rather avoid a new character
”If you continue along this route with thespace Please park your car there There should be a person froreet you there, so just follow their directions after that After about fivelot, you will reach the laboratory”
”Understood Thank you for your careful instructions”
I nodded And then, without any care, truly without any care, I glanced at the name of the intruder written at the top of the clipboard Of course, an intruder would not write their real name on this clipboard, so it htly curious about what fake name they may have used
And, my eyes, stopped
” this name”
”Huh? Yes It's a rather laughable naht it was suspicious because of it but there's no point dwelling on it now” the security guard complained ” however, that name, hoould you read it? Reishi+ki Aishi+ki, perhaps?”
”No Zerozaki Itoshi+ki, I believe”
I said, and returned the clipboard to the security guard, and then said ”farewell” and returned to the car The security guards ran back to the gate, and began opening the gate I restarted the engine that was set to idling stop
”Mot a worse mood now Like 55”
”No I got perh without any problems No problems whatsoever” I responded without any e for you to worry about”
I started the car, and went through the gate As ent along the road the security guard had instructed us about, ”those security guards,” the voice froain
”I wonder what they thought when they saw us?”
” please make it more clear whether you are awake or asleep, Suzunashi+-san”
”At the least, I'h? Y'know, it's impossible to sleep here Anyways, what do you think? Inoji From a third-party perspective, I wonder hoe look?”
”Who knows? Certainly not like Lupin III's coure out what Suzunashi+-san was after ”What do you think, Suzunashi+-san?”
”Me? For a ht of the Wizard of Oz”
”Wizard of Oz?” I tilted my head quizzically at the unexpected response ”What sort of story was that? If I reht?”
”Wrong, Ii-chan What do you mean if I re stuff up whileabout it,” fired back Kunagisa fro at her pocket coonist is Oz, the world would coonist was Dorothy”
”But Ann is the protagonist of Ann of Green Gables, right? Toht?”
”Your point of comparison is so off”
”Then, what sort of story is it?
”Yup,” Kunagisa nodded ”Dorothy gets caught up in a tornado and gets flung into the Wonderful Kingdom of Oz, and travels with Mr Scarecrow and Mr Lion and Mr Robot”
”Momotaro?”
”The Wizard of Oz Let's listen to people, Ii-chan”
”I a So those four people or well, three of theo to defeat the Wizard of Oz I see”
”Not to defeat Dorothy just goes to get her wish granted Please return me to my home”
”Mm A pretty pacifistic story Pacifistic, or foolhardy hard to tell,' I followed-up, while having a strange feeling about that story ”But even if Dorothy is alright with that, what are the other three for? Did they receive soo?”
”The scarecrow and others had their own ranted by the wizard For exae Mr Scarecroanted brains It's a story of the hardshi+ps for that”
”Hard to tell if the story is about relying on your own strengths or relying on solanced at the rear seat ”So, what are we like that Dorothy group? Or rather, what sort of casting breakdown is it?”
”Dunno just thought that for aWell, in any case I'd like the scarecrow Because I want a sht it is , but Suzunashi+-san has her own set of logic ”And, Inoji, you're the robot”
”The robot,” I looked at Kunagisa ”Tomo, what did Mr Robot want from the wizard?”
Without any trace of anything, Kunagisa answered ”a soul” I looked toward Suzunashi+-san again, and found that she was grinning this mischievous smile I see, you just wanted to say that There are sohed, half-exasperated half-helpless
”Ahh, but that's that, you know,” said Kunagisa ”It's a nice story because they think soul and brain are different Like a fantasy”
”Fantasy?”
”It's fantasy What other than fantasy would it be? Because the soul is a result of physical action by the brain, right? That's why the field of artificial intelligence is possible”
Kunagisa said, as if stating the obvious and known Well, that probably was absolutely clear to Kunagisa I siht,” as I did not feel in the
While thinking that sheto return home
””
If that is the case
If that is the case, then who is the lion without courage, I wondered
Ju an idiohtly disguised version
3
I parked the Fiat in the parking lot and pulled out the key I looked at the reht be a dicey a doas questionable At worst, ould have to borrow fuel from someone fro around the parking lot, I could see no car other than Miiko-san's Fiat Perhaps there was an e lot, because worst case ould have to walk hoht, as I left the car
I looked at the sky, which looked a bit suspicious It was not that dark clouds were forht, or perhaps to our future, and it was not co
If you want to predict tomorrow's weather, you just need to say ”it'll be soet who said that, but I see, it is quite apt If that is the case, then I will be experiencing this research facility the saoosebumps
”Well then”
According to the security guard, solanced around thinking that, and saw a silhouette toward the east I could not iven that he earing a white lab coat, I assumed he was the research fellow that had coan walking toward us
”hello”
I raised ht hand, but he did not respond Just silently, he walked toward us
His height was roughly the sa neither particularly tall nor particularly short, like average As the distance closed, I could tell that he was an inordinately young person No er than me, like in the first half of his tens, at least his face looked that way However, despite his youthful face there was a terrible unsuitable, dark look in his eyes beyond his glasses, which betrayed his childish looks Of course, there exist in this world twenty-seven-year-old er, so I could not detere from his appearance
Without lowering his pace, he continued to close our distance, and finally, clattered his feet still, standing right in front of ht in front of eration at all He had coh so that if I leanednot only that, he was leaning his babyish face to within millimeters of my face This was a distance such that if he were not ame
I stoodwhat to do, when he seerumbled, ”Hmph”
”So you're Kunagisa Tomo from Cluster”
Rather than calling it crass, his speechdisrespect However, his voice was as young as his appearance, so I felt surprised, but did not feel that disturbed by it
”No, I a, or rather, the commentator,” I took a step back and created space between us before responding ”I guess an old-fashi+oned way of saying it would be a chauffeur”
”Ahh? What's that? I didn't hear about this I didn't hear about such a thing coisa To for his fated enemy, he furrowed his brow and leaned toward me ”I don't see him, anywhere”
”In the shade of the car See, there,” I said, pointing at the blue-haired girl holding a pocket cos, as she cairl is Kunagisa Tomo”
”Ahh? What's that? Kunagisa To?”
He said with a sense of unexpectedness, and then he walked around the Fiat, and this tiisa tilted her head at this new species of man's appearance, ”Uni?” and he stared at her quite a bit, ”H her blue hair slapped, did not show any signs of resisting What a shockingly reckless fellow This world has types of people whoh in that sense Kunagisa was the type ould not notice even if she were punched by her parents
”Doesn't look very sisa Tomo from Cluster?”
”Really Boku-saisa Tomo no matter who looks at me I came to see Sacchan”
”Ahh? Sacchan? Who the hell's that”
Stupid, stupid, he spat, and he stuck his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, which see forward He did not say to follow, but that was probably as meant
”Really, just a brat a girl, with that title Ahh, shi+t, the worst, the absolute worst The worst filth”
”You look like a brat too though, Oogaki shi+to-kun”[1]
He froze
He shi+to-kun cos And then he froze in place for three seconds, and then turned around, ”Why do you know my name?”
”Hht it was odd that you would be calling her a brat You are correct that she is a girl, but coisa is not a brat”
”I' that, shi+t! Despite her looks? The fuck cares!” He sto why you knowthose to you!”
”It is not as though your na ”About Professor Shadou Kyouichirou, about his secretary Uze Misachi-san, about the fellows Koutari Hinayoshi+ and Neo Furuara and Kasugai Kasuga, we know quite a bit”
”Ii-chan, you forgot one Ii-chan you really forget stuff,” Kunagisa said from beside me ”There're four researchers other than Professor and Sacchan, so you'reone”
”Ahh that is right That was right I was being forgetful,” I nodded to Kunagisa ”Yes And Miyoshi+ Kokoromi-san I think that would be all the people here, but shi+to-kun, do you have any more questions?”
” What are you? What are you two? How'd you find that stuff out?” he glared at us with suspicion, as if heon the e answered ”Those things are supposed to be classified here People like you shouldn't kno'd you find that out?”
”Who knows That is, after all, classified, so I am afraid I cannot tell you However, I just want you to understand that it bothers isa Tomo based on her appearance alone, if--”
If you will please, Oogaki shi+to-kun, Iblow to the back of my head, so my line was forcibly stopped I turned around, and saw Suzunashi+-san standing there with her hand balled into a fist And this time, as I had turned around, she flicked my forehead It struck cleanly, and sort of hurt Suzunashi+-san, when did you step out of the car?
”What're you doing Jeez, bragging about stuff that wasn't your doing,” Suzunashi+-san said as if she had just awakened, in an illlittle kids You disappoint me”
And then she struck ain, and then forced down my head And then she turned to shi+to-kun and said, ”Our bad”
”He has a bad habit of getting all wound up when it coisa-chan He's an idiot with bad intentions but please forgive hietic, as you can see And I'll scold hio for now”
Punched, flicked, and then I have to get scolded, too?
” Ahh no, no, no,” shi+to-kun see my head down, and did not knohat to do ”No, it's, what, nothing to worry about”
”That's good, all's well that ends well,” Suzunashi+-san finally letMy whole body aches all over and it sucks I'm Suzunashi+ Neon, the chaperon for these two Pleased to meet you”
” I'aki shi+to An assistant for Shadou Kyouichirou here pleased to meet you”
He greeted Suzunashi+-san in a daze, and then resu This time, for sure, we followed suit It see the woody path north of the parking lot It did not seem like a difficult trail, but still it was not a flat path, so I carried Kunagisa's belongings for her
When I lifted the bags with my shoulders I felt pain streak across the back of my head Hmm, as would be expected of Blackout Suzunashi+, she punchedback at all Perhaps the back of my skull even has a crack That said, I ithout a doubt in the wrong with my attitude earlier, so I could not feel the will to complain
And, it was as Suzunashi+-san said There was no need to get so heated up over Kunagisa being huisa herself seeiven how she was usually cooped up, Kunagisa was gazing around at the colorful trees lining the path, showing some level of enjoyment, so it did not seem she was bothered in the least It ered over it
”I guess I am narrow-minded at critical junctures I lose”
In any case I decided to conteisa and said, ”I was in the wrong” Kunagisa see her head to the side, ”Uni?” and even then that was just for a moment, as her soul seemed to have been ensnared by the trees Suzunashi+-san seeee, and when I noticed her, she pulled the brim of her hat down to cover her eyes
”Hey, you”
Suddenly
shi+to-kun called to hly two meters ahead of us like a scout
”Hey you, come here”
”I would prefer you stopped calling me you in such a manner I am older than you, after all nineteen”
”Shut up, that doesn't e, but purely who's smarter And I'm smarter than you, so you should be respectful to me”
”” shi+to-kun's pretty siht, and I walked up to him ”What is it? Do you have a question?”
”Ahh, a question” he whispered ”That big black one, is that a guy? Or a girl?”
”” I glanced back at Suzunashi+-san, then back at shi+to-kun, and felt coirl”
”I see I was right That's a relief” shi+to-kun nodded ”Huge How many centimeters does she have?”
”One-hundred eighty-nine centimeters But she had not measured herself since she was sixteen, so she hty-nine, height does not really matter anymore I wish she would share about ten with me”
”Jeez” shi+to-kun seeenuinely admire her ”Did she used to play volleyball or basketball or so? Or does she have other ethnic blood? I don't think even foreigners get that tall that often”
”She says she is a pure japanese maybe it is because she has a blood-type of A?”
” hahjeez, you can't mistake that Not like that”
He then looked up at the sky, as if sighing
Personally, Suzunashi+-san has a slender form overall, so I did not think she was particularly ht and with that all-black appearance, and the hat pulled down over her eyes, it ender Suzunashi+-san's speech mannerism was rather feminine, but these days you cannot determine based on speech mannerism I will not say who, but there do exist in this world woar phrases
”That”
shi+to-kun pointed ahead
”The laboratory is beyond that wall”
”Huh”
Beyond his finger, past the mountain trees, was a cold concrete wall that destroyed the scenic atmosphere It seemed completely connected, like a circle, and like a mountain had been created around it Even from this distance it seemed an abnormally tall wall, and it reminded you not of a first-class acade else Yes, if I were to verbalize it
”Like a prison”
”Prison? That's wrong You've got no senses,” shi+to-kun said in a proud way ”That's a fortress An unconquerable fortress And that's like a castle wall”
”A castle wall, eh”
Indeed, in this , this was terrain that would be difficult to attack However, did that laboratory truly house soree? And, despite what shi+to-kun ht say, this place still looked like the wall of a prison Not to reject intruders from outside, but rather to deny escape from within
”Like a Barrier of the End oh, by the way shi+to-kun, I heard frouards that yesterday or the day before, there was an intruder to this lab”
”Ahh I heard so like that I don't really know I just saw his back from far away” he seemed to chuckle, with a malicious look ”But really, what an idiot He ran off in the end without being able to steal anything Don't take the security here lightly”
”But he intruded?”
”Intruded, I'll acknowledge that,” he shrugged with a h beyond that That's the sort of systeave up, and won't coain People who come in here bare-handed are nuts anyways”
”Bare-handed?”
Bit of an odd way of putting it, but I suppose since the Intruder caone a body check of sorts, so that was to be expected So as shi+to-kun said, was that just an idiot, or perhaps the reverse and just an incredibly self-confident person, I wondered?
Self-confident, or knowledgeable
”Ah? What is it?” shi+to-kun ran over to one silently, with a suspicious look ”What are you? Why're you interested in that intruder? Are you some friend of that intruder?”
”Of course not Why would such a convenient setting happen? Where do such cockamamie ideas come from?”
”I' all riled up about, nineteen-year-old”
”My bad, sixteen-year-old”
It was a conversation that did not seem like one between a nineteen-year-old and a sixteen-year-old Hmph, he went, and shi+to-kun went back to silence Perhaps he was thinking of what cockalish either, so I hoped he would not ask what does that mean
However, shi+to-kun seemed particularly venoiven that he is a victiiven that the attempt ended in failure, then the intrusion into the laboratory was essentially pointless, I thought If the intruder had not come in bare-handed, or perhaps--
I placed a hand over ht chest To be precise, I placed my hand on the breast pocket of the summer jacket I wore over a T-shi+rt, which had a thin knife hidden behind it, and I was placing my hand on it to confirm that it was still there
It was not that I had lied to the security guard back at the gate There is indeed a scissors in the left pocket of my jacket Furthermore there is a can-opener in the backpack I aisa loves so much Anyways, as such, it was not that I said a lie Because I do not re that I did not have a knife Yet however, in this case, I probably would not be able to avoid being labeled a liar
This was a knife that a week ago, while I was preparing for this trip, an acquaintance contractor of mine had offered me An acquaintance contractor ofto it, but that is the truth, and so there is no helping it It ca the holster under the jacket, it was designed such that people would not be able to tell that it is there, a sin Of course, it would still fail a body check, but I bet that the security guards would not perforisa Toamble than fifty-fifty, but in the end, it worked
”It e, so try not to point it at people,” said the contractor -- Aikawa-san ”It'll cut like Black Jack's surgical knife -- so use it when you're carving a wall or so”
Aikawa-san's worry was extre water on lava That intruder le knife (and, a scissors and a can-opener?) seemed somewhat pointless At the very least, this one knife would probably not h that castle wall
It would be like scratching your back with your jaw
”Like bittersweet nonsense”
In this case the ter on that castle ith a single knife It was toward isa with the declaration that I don't intend to beTruly, it was as if I had nothing like a core belief I may become exasperated with myself
”Hey, shi+to-kun”
”Hm? What?”
”Utsurigi Gaisuke-san, what sort of fellow is he?”
”Utsurigii?” shi+to-kun gave an expression of revulsion, as if he were shown the corpse of a cat ”Utsurigi?”
”Yes Utsurigi Gaisuke-san”
” A pervert” he spat, as he took two steps and turned his back to me Or rather, he did not turn his back to me, but rather turned his face away ”A pervert he is through and completely and from head to toe entirely a pervert How else can you describe that bastard?”
And he sto myself to pursue the matter, and silently looked him off If possible, I would have liked to acquire i Gaisuke, but hive up At the very least it orth learning that shi+to-kun did not look fondly upon Utsurigi
””
What I wanted to knohat that Utsurigi Gaisuke thought about Kunagisa Tomo
The road had become a bit bumpier -- or rather, the width of the path had becoisa And as if I were pulling Kunagisa along by her