—Human life has no value.
But it is not meaningless.
There are those who had differing opinions, those with refuting opinions—however, nobody, even God, could deny the above fact.
For though others was to gauge the value, the recognition of the meaning in that belongs to the individual.
Thus, humans continued to live on, seeking the reason as to why they live
No matter how much or how little, it is all within life.
As for what true ‘blissfulness’ was, anybody would surely know.
—Despite being impoverished, his parents dead, his house sank, his face and mind lacking.
He understood very well the purpose of his birth, recognized this, and continued while devoting himself to that cause. That was surely the utmost blissfulness a human could get.
Naoto Miura firmly believed in that.
For he discovered that meaning.
Because of that,
“So teach, you definitely know what a human has to do when he’s looking for what he has to do, right?”
Naoto Miura said while clenching his fists tightly.
He stood firmly on his two legs, and adamantly puffed his chest of a body already smaller than an ordinary human.
—Yes. He knew.
The significance of his birth, the reason why he seek death, why he had to risk his life when it was an important situation, he already had that most important thing within him!
“As a human…no, as a man!”
Naoto’s gray eyes are burning with blames.
“When one hear that there’s a super cute Automata girl, no matter whether it’s the North Pole! Mardego! No, even the far end of the galaxy! He’ll normally go there straight away at full speed no matter what, for it’s a man’s duty—no! A destiny to do that!!!”
He raised his fists as he yelled out loud.
An aging man, the homeroom teacher, was standing in front of Naoto, looking somewhat overwhelmed, and nodded slightly as he looked down.
“—And then?”
“Yes! In—other—words! This lowly me has to report to you and apologize that I’ll be taking leave since I have to go attack Tokyo for a personal reason!”
—Naoto Miura was beaming as he submitted his leave request form.
In contrast, the homeroom teacher could only force a smile, like he was facing a mirror.
“You’re that kind of person, aren’t you, Naoto Miura?”
And he handed out a different piece of paper in front of Naoto.
It was a white piece of paper with a ‘0’ written with a red pen.
…That was the answer script.
“You are being a complete fool, no?”
“—”
While the smile remained frozen on Naoto’s face, the homeroom teacher continued with clarity,
“Be obedient now and take your remedials. If you got another failing mark again, you won’t be submitting a leave request form, but writing an expulsion form. I can write a recommendation letter for a good neurosurgeon too, no?
And thus,
The magnificent determination and realization of Naoto Miura crumbled without a choice.
●
Yes, there was no other choice for Naoto Miura.
There was an anomaly in Tokyo.
And over there was RyuZU’s little sister—another member of the Initial-Y series.
The moment he learned of that intelligence, Naoto was determined to travel to Tokyo without showing any hesitation—
And the girl (RyuZU) who meant everything to his life stared at him with moist eyes.
“Master Naoto, if you are to continue on falling in society like this, there may not be an absolute change, but the relative opinion of society would mark you as one below even an amoeba. As my master, please do not bring me much grief beyond what I can handle today.”
The smile was devoid of any malice.
She was simply worried about Naoto.
It was because of her spiteful filter that she became so merciless, only ending up telling him off.
In the face of the goodwill this Automata showed—he was left with no choice.
…To begin with.
“—And so, all wars in human history was declared ended 1,000 years ago.”
The history teacher’s flat voice echoed in this classroom filled with few people.
“Humans are not that foolish to let bullets fly around on this Earth that was transformed b the state of the art mechanization, or in other words, the extremely intricate Clockwork. According to the regulations of the International treaty, each country can only station necessary military forces for protecting the city. The ancient technology that would obvious threaten the survival of humanity, especially the ‘electromagnetism’ technology, seems to have been forbidden from being used openly—”
The teacher continued to write the points on the blackboard from time to time as he continued teaching, seemingly just reciting the textbook.
Bored, Naoto placed his hands on his chin as he asked the silver haired girl beside him.
“Hey RyuZU. What’s this electro technology?”
“It is a remnant from the distant past, where the great humans used their immature minds and theories to gauge the unknown.”
The girl who was asked, RyuZU, gave a brighter smile as she answered Naoto.
Her voice was as delightful as a music box, echoing in the classroom,
“It can be said to be a futile layering of effort even apes would mock. Right now, it is nothing more than an antique of no value. With that brain of yours, Master Naoto, even if you do know about this, it is merely a inefficient use of your memory capacity.”
“Ah, in other words, it’s fine even if I don’t know anything about it?”
“To an elite like you, Master Naoto, there is no need for you to listen to such things during a holiday.”
RyuZU spoke with a bashful flower-like smile.
But on the other hand, those golden eyes were giving off a venomous poison, seemingly wanting to kill its prey.
The teacher endured RyuZU’s spiteful glare as he continued with a trembling voice,
“T-this is common knowledge required for elementary education! E-Electromagnetism will affect the movements of the gears, All such research and use is forbidden so as to allow the ‘Plant Governor’ to protect the landscape from the sun’s rays, except for the magnetic fields located at the North and South Poles…”
“”Do you hear this, Master Naoto? This is simply memorizing and regurgitating the textbook, and I did mention this to you before.”
RyuZU continued on without skipping a beat, and the teacher shiever.
Naoto tilted his head with intrigue,
“Why’s that so?”
“Well, if the use and research is forbidden, we are not able to truly learn about it, no? To put it, since what we just heard all this while was simply a simple recitation of all the contents of the textbook, is modern lessons simply a recital of textbooks? In that case, it will be more efficient to read the textbook at our our homes, and the lesson itself is simply futile, of no benefit.”
“Well…even if you say so, without lessons, I can’t begin with self-study.”
Naoto muttered as he let out a sigh.
However, RyuZU folded her arms, and stately coldly, Yes, if we are to start—
“As I say, who exactly is it who did the ignoramus act of making made ‘my Master Naoto’ come here during the holidays? Did your abdomen rise like an express shipping styled of the organ filled with the technology to read textbooks?”
The teacher’s face was twitching in response to RyuZU’s verbal jab.
And in response, Naoto could only sigh painfully, explaining.
“That’s not it, RyuZU. I’m taking remedials because I failed my exams.”
Is that so? RyuZu looked somewhat bemused, and nodded greatly just like a human, when one would forget she was an automata, maintaining her smile,
“Then, who exactly in the person who deemed ‘my Master Naoto’ to have failed, who is actually an imbecile claiming to be all-knowing? Is it that person who is so deplorable both in terms of the inside and the appearance?”
She glanced aside at the quivering teacher, and Naoto shook his head
“No RyuZU. I’ve failed because I got a failing grade during the end-of-terms exams.”
“I see. Then, who exactly is the primate who caused ‘my Master Naoto’ to set such blasphemous questions that made ‘my Master Naoto’ to fail? Is it actually the primate who is quivering strangely at the podium, enjoying himself together with the neighbor’s wife, or to be specific, connected only at the lower body?”
“Wh—ho-ho-how do you know—th-that’s not it!1”
The teacher, blatantly panicking, broke into tears, yelling,
“I-I’m just doing this for my duty! I still have to attend lessons just for Naoto here! Can you please consider that I am working hard here, RyuZU?”
And while the teacher continued to explain, screaming in agony, RyuZu merely smiled,
“Yes, it is useless to spend time explaining to fleas, and for the sake of letting Master Naoto leave leave the classroom as soon as possible, I am honestly presenting my ‘wish’ with such humility and politeness…I suppose I am unable to convey this without speaking the language of fleas.”
—Well, that was basically how it went.
RyuZU could not accept that Naoto was having remedials because hefailed.
And so, on the first two days of the remedials.
RyZU was hounding and wrecking the teacher’s mental state with her torrent of brutal words.
She herself did not realize that this was a function of the so-called swear filter that was installed within her.
And thus, she was not lying. She actually intended to ‘honestly presenting my ‘wish’ with such humility and politeness’.
But only Naoto could comprehend this, as he was the only one able to hear the vibrations inside her.
And so, RyuZU’s artistic verbal bombardments continued to lash out during the remedial period.
And the teacher, who continued to endure till this point, had his mental state driven to the brink of collapse.
Or rather, at the limit. Just when the teacher’s mind was about to collapse,
The chime rang,
“I-I can’t, can’t take this anymore! Naoto Miura! It’s a Sunday tomorrow, so the next remedial’s on Monday. I’m going to let another subject teacher handle this from next Monday onwards! I’m going to request for sp-sp-sp-special compensation from the principal and psychological therapppppyyy!!!”
Naoto watched the teacher scream and sprint out of the classroom, and so he lifted his head, looking up at the ceiling.
And RyuZU, unaware of her own venomous tongue, could only tilt her head in surprise,
“Has he realized his own incompetence and decided to head to the hospital? I do like those who, despite their intelligence below that of an amoeba, is able to understand themselves well, be humble, and reflect upon their actions.”
“…Hm, well, I think I better apologize to prevent this unreasonable rage from being targetted at me.”
He had to do something by Monday before the number of victims increased.
Naoto hugged his head as he left school along with RyuZU.
●
Marie Bell Breguet had no experience of attending school.
—Well, that would be putting it lightly. She had already went past numerous borders, graduating from many universities, and was always the valedictorian at these top-notch universities.
But even so, to Marie.
This place, the Tadasunomori High School in Kyoto, was the first time she ‘went to school’.
The Breguet Corporation was one of the 5 major enterprises ruling the world’s economy, and as the darling of the chairman, others provided the best environment for education that allowed her to fulfill her potential ever since she was born.
She was brimming with talent, loaded with finances, had the best facilities.
To her, was there ever a need for her to ‘attend school’?
Even the best institutions in the world could not compare to the Breguets’ education environment. Despite this, Marie attended the universities, neither for studies nor research.
She was to attend them as the princess of a refined family, to be sociable, to build human relationships.
All for the sake of ‘proving’.
—The talent and ability the young girl Marie Bell Breguet possessed was clear for all to see.
And because of this, to her, she was unable to call this as ‘attending school’. She was simply there just to partake in the necessary examinations to attain her certifications.
Her mentality did not change much when she entered in the qualification column of the entry sheet ‘looking for a job’.
On one hand, here was the Tadasunomori High School.
Leaving aside the teaching environment, the level of the teachers and students was basically the same as a free and easy time for her, compared to the universities she graduated from. Of course, to one who was once called a Meister and worked on the frontlines, there was no reason that necessitated her to study at this place, even if it was for social learning.
—However.
There was something Marie actually first learned of at this place.
And that was—
“So failing marks do really exist.”
She chewed on the green tea dango as she let out this mutter, and Halter gave her an indescribable expression as he looked down.
She had dazzling blond hair and bouncy white skin, a beauty of a girl akin to a bisque doll, but one could tell from the emerald eyes beneath her face that there was a powerful, determined will flickering within her.
She was simply dressed in a normal sailor uniform and an orange parka…but there was no hiding the aptitude of a king from this girl, one brimming with passion.
And Halter spoke with a tone of disbelief,
“…Allow me to ask. You never heard of this before?”
“I know that it exists, but I always thought it was just something in name. I never thought such a thing would actually exist.”
“Since there are exams, there are marks, so there are people who end up failing.”
“That’s what I mean.”
“Hm?”
While Halter expressed his skepticism, Marie added on,
“If you’re at school, that means you have to attend classes, right? And those stuff you learn will appear in the exams, right? The end-of-terms is an assessment meant to make sure whether the students understand the contents of the lessons, right?”
“Yes, that’s the case.”
Well, isn’t that such an obvious fact? Halter nodded.
And because of this, Marie could not comprehend.
“Then, why do they fail?”
“Even if you’re saying…”
“So they can’t answer that content they learn even though they already attended the lessons? Isn’t this a logical paradox here!? —This really is an interesting, puzzling phenomenon…”
“Milady…you’re now the enemy of all the students in the world.”
Halter sighed as he slumped his shoulders hard.
His massive bear-like body changed its posture slightly, and the red cushion bench he was sitting on let out a creaking sound.
The duo was seated side by side, seated in a little teahouse located in the sightseeing area of the country of Japan, Grid Kyoto. They were under a red paper umbrella of the wooden shop built specifically in the bamboo thicket, facing the tourists.
Marie too was drawn in by this shop, and within this shop, there were other foreigners to be seen, not just her and Halter.
Grid Kyoto was one of the few sightseeing cities in Japan.
1000 years ago, when the Earth was reconstructed through gears, the heritage relics left all over the world were preserved as close to their original state as possible.
And amongst them, Kyoto was renowned for having many of these preserved heritages.
Marie, chewing on her second stick of dangoes, asked skeptically,
“It’s one acceptable thing if the student can’t answer the question because there’s something he didn’t learn about tested in the exam, but if it’s a question regarding something tested in class………………..why can’t he answer it? I can’t understand at all!”
“I don’t understand that either, Milady.”
Halter let out a deep sigh. To him, who went through many ordeals like an ordinary human, the simple skepticism showed by this genius girl was really agonizing to him.
Having paid the bill, the duo strolled in the bamboo thicker behind the teahouse.
The white stone pedestrian pathway was built upon the bare ground. The sunlight was demure due to the bamboo sheltering, and the air felt refreshing. The noisy breeze blew, causing a fresh stench to be whiffed at.
It was not artificial, but natural; not an imitation, but the real thing, ‘nature’ itself. This was the highly intricate Clockwork Planet.
As the construct was overly complicated, this structure had been maintained for 1000 years, and had become a hollow star extremely difficult to continue lasting. One had to wonder how much cost and technology was required to maintain Mother Nature above those gears.
“…The Japanese are seriously picky about such things. Is there really a need to be so thorough about this?”
The scenery from 1000 years ago was replicated perfectly in front of them, and one could sense the fanaticism the craftsmen had, excluding the clock technicians. Even Marie was amazed as she thought about it.
“Kyoto is said to be one of the rare few tourist destinations left on this world, right? It’s been 1000 years, and if we’re including the thousands of years before the death of this planet, they’re still able to preserve ‘this’ after all the climate changes and disasters, and that’s why the visitors love this place.”
“Well, it’s true, and I really do earnestly respect those who put in such effort—”
Marie showed a bitter smile as she continued,
“Thinking about how the ‘government’ is willing to purge so readily, I wonder what the people’s feelings amount to.”
“Humans all have things they’re not going to compromise, Milady. To craftsmen, this is an insistence they will never back down on.”
Halter fiddled with the falling leaves with one hand as he let out a poignant grimace.
After passing through the old-fashioned pedestrian pathway, the internal scenery of the massive monastery was revealed to them.
That was the five-storied pagoda, one of the iconic places of Kyoto.
“…Hm, I guess it’s really as impressive as they say. That guy’s ‘advice’ is only useful here.”
Marie grimaced as she opened the hand drawn tourist map.
At a corner of that paper was a signature of crude handwriting, ‘Naoto Miura’.
When she asked him what she and Halter should do while he was having his remedials, his reply was,
“Well, go on a tourist trip like a student staying overseas.’
And he handed over this drawn piece of paper as he said this.
This piece of paper listed the 12 most iconic tourist attractions in Kyoto.
—But that’s just how they seem on the surface They’re all ‘Clock Towers’.
They were not items simply used to tell time. These are the 12 pillars supporting the environment pillars of this Grid Kyoto—the ‘clock tower’.
And this five-storied pagoda was once of them.
A 20m tall wooden Buddhist tower.
As an important facility related to the functions of the city, its existence was actually as classified information for the ‘military’.In this sense, the appearance was simply that of a monastery building befitting of a tourist attraction, but the inside was completely modified into a clockwork installlation.
Marie stared at this perfect disguise that would have fooled anyone if not for Naoto mentioning it, and pulled out a small instrument from her slingbag as she wandered around the building without anyone noticing.
This was an observation instrument clockwork technicians use.
The vibration wave measurement device, an instrument that does precise observations withut breaking apart the machines moving the gears.
Marie then switched it on, and stared at the device that displayed the numbers with the sound effect of a typewriter.
A little while later, she gave an emotionless look, and clicked her tongue,
“I guess this toy alone isn’t going to help me understand this.”
“You’re calling an instrument you stole from the ‘Guild’ as a toy…”
“I know it’s the latest technology that’s yet to be released on the market. It’s easy to carry around, but there’s a limitation to that. It’s not an item that can be used precisely at this distance.”
—3 weeks ago.
Marie was in this Kyoto, and foiled the plan to purge this city.
The ‘Government’, ‘Military’, and ‘Meister Guild’ plotted a major incident that was unprecedented, wanting to purge a city and kill the 20 million citizens living in it. Marie worked together with Naoto to prevent this massive tragedy, and for the time being, took control of the ‘absolute gear’ that formed Kyoto.
And so, Marie visited this clock tower to investigate on the weather interference, which caused a series of phenomena, including the forceful override of gravity.
However, as she had lost her identity as a Meister, Marie was simply walking around as a civilian. She had no privilege to enter the clock tower, let alone the ‘core tower’ the ‘military managed’.
And thus, she had no choice by to carry out investigations on the outside using her portable devices.
“—Guess there’s no point.”
And as Marie showed an uneasy look, Halter immediately chimed in,
“Milady, please don’t do illegal acts while having the attitude of buying snacks, okay? You’re just an ordinary civilian now.”
And upon those words, Marie pouted,
“I know that. I don’t want to continue causing commotions because of such things, okay?”
—That’s what you’re hoping for, right?
Halter knew very well of the girl’s ‘history’, but he decided to remain silent.
And Marie, not comprehending Halter’s heart, continued,
“I’m thinking about that idiot~~!”
There was a strange tone in the way she emphasized the word ‘idiot’.
And then, she seemed to realize something as she steadied her breath, folded her arms, and closed her eyes.
“……”
And pricked her ears.
—Once.
She recalled the anomaly she saw Naoto Miura display, the person who was nonchalantly attending remedials.
It felt like a miracle witnessed in the midst of a gut-churning conspiracy drama.
He, Naoto Miura mentioned to observe all the functioning gears, amount to at least ten quadrillion, at that place and time using his own ears.
Perhaps it could be easy to explain it as ‘abnormal hearing’, to dismiss it as a ‘talent’.
But that was not the case…and so, Marie, tried to understand this herself.
No matter how many potent observation facilities were activated, none could match that ‘talent’. There simply was no comparison there.
She tried to listen like he died, but she was unable to even imitate, let alone concentrate.
She was only able to hear the rustling breeze, the birds chirping, the buzzing of the crowds, and the dull vibrations from underground. That was all. —This was to be expected. ‘Sounds’ are ‘vibrations’.
If waves are to interfere with each other, it is obvious the shapes would change.
And furthermore, there were countless sound waves. It was ‘common sense’ that the initial waves were indistinguishable.
There were quadrillions of gears within, with sounds of countless gears overlapping each other, and yet he ‘understood it all’, so the question was—how exactly did he hear them?
The miraculous talent that could never be replicated in anyone’s perspective was terrifying, to say the least.
And yet, because of the ridiculous reason that he flunked his high school examinations—
“…Ah, goodness! How ridiculous is it that the guy has such an extraordinary talent, and yet he’s really a good-for-nothing who can’t even understand the basic education of high school sufficiently! Am I taken for a fool here?”
And as Marie packed her instrument while growling away,
“I suppose he is more adorable than a perfect superhuman. But even so, I guess the balance’s not quite there yet.”
He has such an irrational ‘talent’ . What else can you say even if he has illogically bad grades’? Halter mumbled,
“Goodness…we could have been in Tokyo now if things go to plan.”
“To me, I hope you’re be able to mature a little more now…it’s been 3 weeks since that incident. We can’t say that the aftershock of it has completely cooled down, right?”
Having solved the Kyoto Inferno, Marie revealed much classified information that resulted in a massive commotion, and it seemed it would be hard for this to end within one or two months. On the surface, it seemed the commotion had gradually cooled off, but the matter was yet to be concluded to a point of anyone forgetting about it.
And as Halter sighed while saying this, Marie pouted her lips unhappily,
“…Hm, let’s talk about Tokyo then. There’s still no contact from there after that?”
Marie was originally being very impatient, on teeters because ever since they got word of the events in Tokyo, they were embroiled in some unimportant matters.
And in response to Marie’s question, Halter answered,
“’Thank goodness’ there isn’t. If I have to say which anomaly it is—is it the important Initial-Y series being moved, and the ‘military’ having some strange movements for some reason? How about you calm down and think about it, Milady?”
“That Initial-Y series is called AnchoR, isn’t it? Confirming that alone is enough reason for us to head to Tokyo. Since we saw ‘that thing’ about RyuZU, you know?”
“…I guess.”
Halter shrugged his shoulders slightly as he rubbed his bald head.
Naoto’s abnormal hearing was not the only miracle…no, illogical matter they witnessed 3 weeks ago
—The Initial-Y series.
The legendary Automatas left behind by ‘Y’, who designed this Clockwork Planet.
The first entry of this series was RyuZU, and she thoroughly rendered all of Marie’s logic haphazard.
When the imaginary time ran, in the eternally still world, she destroyed a massive military Automata force using her ‘Mute Scream’. Such a function was a threat no matter what.
And yet RyuZU, being like this, declared herself to be the weakest.
And it was a perilous thing to let the other machines fall into anyone’s hands.
But in this situation, it was an indisputable truth, that it was meaningless for them to enter Tokyo without any added information.
“It’s a rare thing to come to Japan to study. How about you just laze around and live a life as a commoner.”
“2 weeks of this is more than enough.”
Marie showed a heinous glare as she pouted her lips.
“The foreign student Maribel Halter is just a disguise, an assumed identity to carry out secret terrorist acts to save the world. Do you understand this, ‘big brother’?”
Marie deliberately greeted the massive Cyborg man beside her, deliberately emphasizing this.
This was the initial identity set when Marie Bell Breguet attended a Japanese school along Halter.
“I still can’t get used to…this character setting.”
Halter gave a disgusted look as he shivered.
And in response, Marie showed a sadistic smile.
“Hey, is big brother, as in onii-chan better? Or big brother, as in ‘aniki’?”
“Alright, spare me already, Milady. I’m about to puke.”
“Huh? Why’re you still unhappy to have such a cute little girl saying such things to you? You don’t like our established relationship as siblings? Then…I see.”
Marie brought her lips to Halter’s ears,
“—’Papa ♪ ‘ shall I call you that?”
“!!!!”
The moment he heard those words, Halter rolled back in surprise, taken aback.
Marie looked down, grinning at the massive frame of the bodyguard cum secretary unable to handle the agony of irresistible itch and shivers, and muttered,
“Well, never mind. It’s a waste of time to be here. Let’s just hurry up and go back now.”
“—Ahh, renting out the suite room of a top-class hotel as a ‘home’ is not an example of the commoner’s life I just said.”
As Halter muttered this while standing up, Marie frowned and answered,
“We got no other choice, right? It’s important for a clock technician to have a workshop and equipment. We need space to put the important equipment, the bare minimum, and the only place with perfect security for that is—”
“—Milady, wait.”
Suddenly.
Halter raised his hand to stop the grumbling Marie,
“—? What?”
And as Marie asked in surprise, Halter frowned as he stroked his chin,
“…Ah, Milady. I just received a strange ‘message’.”
“Is it related to the aftermath of that Tokyo incident?”
“No, this looks like it’s received from the hotel’s terminal installation. Ah…no, I don’t know whether it’s okay to say this.”
And as Halter looked perturbed, Marie said,
“…? Alright now, just tell me what it’s all about.”
And in response, Halter adamantly let out a sigh,
“Well…if you wish, Milady. Remember though that I just told you that I can’t say this, okay?”
And after affirming and stating this, Halter let out a cough.
Then, he slowly opened his mouth,
And read what he had just heard.
●
At the same time,
“…Hm?”
Naoto, being in the manga cafe, lifted his head to look.
And seated beside him was RyuZU, clinging to him like a couple, opening the textbooks as she grumbled with her eyes half-closed.
“—Master Naoto, if my personal tuition is too uninteresting for you, would you please tell me that at least?”
“Eh? Ah, no, that’s definitely not it—”
RyuZU’s voice was as delightful to listen to as always, filled with elegance, without any chaos.
But Naoto could clearly distinguish any slight change in it.
It was merely a little contorted, merely a little shrill; she was hurt
And to prevent this fact from developing awkwardly any further, Naoto frantically shook his head.
And while Naoto was like that, RyuZU continued calmly.
“All I would ask for is, please explain to me in a way why you are more willing to stare at the stain on the ceiling instead of me? For a being like you, I do comprehend that you do have a very noble reason for this—you are wishing to accomplish the great work of communicating with aliens, no?”
—The peerless beautiful girl was expressing jealousy at the stain on the ceiling.
RyuZU’s tranquil, beautifully clear voice echoed in the manga cafe, causing many a click of the tongue echoing I Naoto’s ears.
He could already heard the mutters, ‘ahh, that shitty idiot couple again’.
….Yes, this was the couple suite of the now personalized manga cafe.
And this was the ‘home’ of Naoto and RyuZU.
In other words, they were refugees of the manga cafe.
But even so, this was not because they were lingering on the line of poverty.
If they were to use the money RyuZU got through ‘investments’, they would definitely be able to buy a new house, even if it is a mansion, and still have lots of money leftover. However, Naoto did not have a strong heart capable of accepting this fact.
And most importantly,
“Or is it…that your wish to ‘stick close together with RyuZU’…is all a lie.
DON.
An astounded, unified slamming on the wall could be heard from the shop booths.
Even without Naoto’s abnormal hearing, anyone could have heard that sound. It was a loud thud on the wall that echoed throughout the manga cafe , clearly expressing to anyone her intentions.
While enduring this unbearable, perilous atmosphere, Naoto stared at RyuZU’s face.
It was a beautiful, dignified face as usual.
The radiant, pure silver hair and the silky white skin were coupled with the peach colored lips and the rosy cheeks. The golden eyes, dazzling like a crown, could be said to be gemstones of life, a beautiful face one could say to be otherworldly.
—But at this point, it was wavering uneasily.
Naoto intended to divert the topic, and added on to RyuZU’s sarcasm.
“A-ahaha, e-erm, eh, hm, are there really aliens out there?”
“…Please pardon me. I have stated sarcasm I am not used to saying, so please allow me to say this again. There are moments when humans are too outstanding. Your mind, Master Naoto, exceeds that of the human limit, surpassing even my comprehension, even crossing a ‘line’, and breaking into oblivion, is it not?”
And Naoto, upon seeing that RyuZU’s eyes were becoming frosty, hurriedly shook his head, answering,
“Th-that’s not it! It’s because I heard a sound, it’s like ‘this kind of feeling if there’s an alien around’.”
“…Master Naoto, it is true that you are currently the most outstanding human on this planet. If you are able to hear a sound that does not exist, normally speaking (beep)—”
“Please pardon us!”
BAM!!
The manga cafe door was kicked away hard, overriding RyuZU’s voice.
An agitated voice could be heard approaching little by little, with the momentum of a storm that could ostensibly blow this entire building apart.
“Naoto Miura! To Naoto Miura who’s a pervert in all ways, answer me within a second!”
And upon hearing that voice, Naoto hurriedly got up from the couple suite.
On the narrow corridor between the booths, he spotted the showy blond girl shouting.
“Yes! But ‘please pardon us’ here is supposed to be a polite form of speech! Don’t use it as a ‘declaration’, you French!”
But the blond girl did not care about those words.
The girl, Marie, glared at Naoto while the latter poked his head out, and leaped at him.
“So you’re here, you pervert! Now’s the time for you to use that talent that’s far beyond that of a pervert now! Alright, tell me now, you pervert!!”
“W-wait, I’m suffering!!”
And Marie was slamming at Naoto’s chest on the partition separating the rooms.
“E-erm, dear customer? Please be quiet here—no, it’s nothing. Please continue to enjoy yourself.”
The brave shop attendant who made the snap decision of reminding Marie escaped like a hare without hesitation after a glance from the latter.
And in contrast, the one standing still there was RyuZU.
She looked down at Marie, who’s on a destructive rampage, and jabbed sharply,
“Oh, Master Marie? A scholar who has been away 3 days has be to looked at with new eyes, but you are still as immature as ever today, and also extremely energetic…I do find this a massive pity.”
“Sorry for not being a scholar and being so energetic!”
“No, actually, no matter whether it is in terms of mentality—or in terms of body size, I do determine that it is difficult to distinguish your gender.”
I”m really going to break you up today!!”
And in face of Marie’s heinous glare, RyuZU shot back a death glare.
“—But even if you do say so, if you are going to continue clinging onto Master Naoto and not let go of your hands, Master Marie, it may seem that I will have to sever your hands from your body, and the one to be dissected shall be—”
And as she said this, her skirt was swaying unsteadily—
“Alright now, calm down, you brats.”
And the moment Halter said this, he sent his fist landing on the top of Marie’s head.
“nyaa~ 11:34, 3 August 2015 (UTC)!”
You had enough? Marie was left cuddling her head after the cyborg Halter’s punch landed on her, groaning in pain.
With tears appearing at the side of her eyes, she stared at the massive body behind you.
“You…”
“Anything you want to say?”
“…Why did you beat me…?”
“The issue this time is clearly between this crazy Marie and that overly sensitive Missy RyuZU down there. That Missy hasn’t done anything to me, and I don’t want her dismantling anything in her counterattack.”
He said, and looked over at RyuZU,
“I do earnestly apologize for causing you much trouble—and for not doing anything to me.”
He said as he lowered his head earnestly. With a smile, RyuZU let out a little sigh,
“…You always do some surprising things there, Mr Scrap Metal. I do find it a pity that if I am to exclude Master Naoto here, you will be the wisest amongst all .”
“That’s an honor. Now then, you alright, Naoto?”
Now released from Marie’s hands, Naoto was panting for breath as he said,
“Ah…yeah, I guess I can be called alright? Why did she suddenly do that to me? Mind giving me a acceptable reason?”
“Well, I guess that’s the case. Hm…I know this will be somewhat troubling you, but I need you to hear out something…hey, Milady, you cooled down already?”
With Halter prompting her, Marie slowly got to her feet.
Her eyes were still teary, probably due to the pain, and she rubbed the bump on her head, saying,
“…I want you to help me trace the source of a message.”
“Trace? You shouldn’t be asking me then. You can just check with the relay station instead of me.”
As far as Naoto knew, all transmission was done through the cable transmissions processed through the conducting gears, or wireless transmissions through the resonating vibrations through long distance. If they were to check the path, the other end of the line would be the sender.
As for why they were asking him,
“No, it’s not a transmission through a relay station. To be honest here, it’s a short wave transmission.”
And Naoto simply answered Halter with skepticism,
“…And I just learned that it’s an ‘illegal’ thing to do that, isn’t it? Such timing.”
“Well there, you’ll get bald if you worry about the details, alright?”
Ahem. Halter inadvertently grinned as he patted his bald head.
And RyuZU gave him a tender look, muttering quietly,
“Master Naoto, if I may say from experience, it is better to live a steady life by thinking small, no? It may not be very convincing, but I do wish you will listen here.”
Halter nodded, his lips moving slightly,
“—It’s useless if we do abide by the law and end up losing.”
Those sarcastic voices were such that no ordinary person could hear, yet Naoto was able to hear them clearly.
“It’s a ‘special work’ where rules can be damned here. No matter how forbidden it is, since there’s a possibility the ‘enemy’ will be using it, we have to respond in kind. Electromagnetic transmissions aren’t really that useful nowadays. Don’t mind”
…He said.
A mere human ill-fated for fighting scenes, Naoto gave a painful wince,
“…No way, I don’t want to be arrested and put in jail here…”
“On a side note, it’s undoubtedly against the law for a civilian to actually have an automata like RyuZU, far beyond normal capabilities limits.”
“So what about the law here! Anyway, let’s hear what you have to say, Mr Halter!”
Naoto gently swung his palms, and clasped Halter’s firm hands.
—And RyuZU too had nothing much to say. A crime had to be discovered before it is established.
And so, Marie looked around, asking,
“It’s a little sudden—but Naoto, you can hear ‘a strange sound’, right?”
“A strange ‘sound’? I’m able to hear your growling non-stop, Marie.”
“That’s not what I mean! …I’m saying that instead of a voice, are you able to hear a wave of a higher frequency. If I have to say it’s a voice, that’ll be an ‘abnormally high pitched sound’.”
“An ‘abnormally high pitched sound’…?”
Naoto frowned, folded his arms, and pondered deepy.
Halter let out a sigh, muttering,
“I guess this is too much to request of, isn’t it…?”
And RyuZU, seemingly pondering over the same question, nodded as well.
“—So, when you stared at the ceiling, you were communicating with outer space after all, Master Naoto.”
“Ah? That’s an ‘Electro wave’? No wonder it’s a sound I’m not used to hearng.”
“—Huh?”
The moment Naoto answered without hesitation, Halter widened his eyes.
“…Hey, wait, Naoto. This seems like a joke no matter what.”
The wave detector Halter received was an electromagnetic wave of 30 Mega Hertz.
That was an ultrasonic wave beyond 1,500 times that of a normal human’s hearing range. However, he was able to hear the Electromagnetic waves personally, and with headphones that was 100% soundproof—?
—What exactly was this person ‘hearing’?
Halter wondered, and inadvertently shuddered.
But Marie beside him nodded away, looking as if she expected all of that.
“This is nothing much compared to identifying all the gears in the Core Tower—anyway, Naoto.”
Marie left Halter behind, and continued on,
“Which direction do you hear that sound from? Do you know?”
“Erm, it’s right above…no, about 88 degrees, no? —Wait, what are you planning?”
Before Naoto could finish, Marie forced herself into the couple’s suite where Naoto and RyuZU were at, and snatched the stationery and a notebook that were laid out on the table.
She then stepped on Naoto’s knee, and quietly did her calculations with a pencil.
“…My apologies, Master Marie, but may I ask who gave you the permission to get on Master Naoto like that—”
“Ah, RyuZU’s face is looking really nice now! If it’s my knee, you can do so anytime—”
“You two are really noisy, stupid couple!”
Marie yelled sharply, and then quickly switched over to a presentation tone as she continued,
“This is a transmission of short wave. Since the ‘Planet Governor’ at the North and South Poles protect the planet from the sun rays, forming electromagnetic fields, the short waves will then reflect here. Using trigonometry, we can pick up the source of the signal. Since it’s a message coming from around above, it’s nearby—if considering the time that elapsed and the movement of the gears…”
Seemingly getting the answer, she enthusiastically circled the coordinates she obtained through her rough calculations, saying,
“The place is—Mie. The next gear city. Looking at the relative coordinates, it’s the industrial complex. Let’s go over now.”
“No, I say…”
Naoto, unable to comprehend what he just heard, shook his head.
He still could not understand why this land mine of a blond girl was being so furious.
He turned his sight to a fuming Marie, sitting on his knee, and asked skeptically,
“So, what exactly was in that transmission?”
Upon hearing those words, Marie was taken aback, frozen.
“Th-that’s, erm…wah!! What are you doing!?”
While Marie was stammering,
RyuZU poked her sharp scythes out from under her skirt, skilfully positioning them right at Marie’s collar, lifted her up, and threw her off the couple’s seat.
“—And then?”
RyuZU then asked, showing a gentle expression that would kill even a bug,
“No matter how much of an emergency message it is, it is absolutely unforgivable to do an outrageous thing like standing on Master Naoto for so long. Of course, we are still willing to hear you out no?”
Of course, leaving aside her eyes that were showing skepticism, even her smile, blooming like a flower, was filled with the terror of Absolute Zero.
“Ah, yes, well…”
Halter gave a look at a wordless Marie, and seemingly left with no choice, he spoke up.
He coughed, and sighed,
“—Hey Bitch.”
Marie shuddered, her body frozen.
And Halter glanced aside at Marie while the latter shivered all over again, trying his best not to show any emotion as he spoke with a stoic voice,
“Aren’t you getting all too jumpy over there, you ghost girl? Are you not satisfied because your little hole hasn’t received anything?”
“—”
There was silence.
Marie was clenching her fists tightly, slamming the floor hard.
And Halter ignored that unsightliness as he read the last paragraph,
“Are you waiting for the little big cock to fuck that thing you have? Shake your cute little ass and beg me here, you Nympho. Well, that was the message received.”
“Was that sent to Marie?”
“Maybe? It’s a short wave transmission, so anyone ‘within the region’ can receive it. I just so happened to receive it.”
That’s weird. And Naoto tilted his head as he stared at Marie, now shuddering on the floor.
“Then, why is Marie able to be certain that it was sent to her?”
“Master Naoto…being dense is a privilege for a protagonist, but this really is depressing to say. Humans do feel enraged regarding certain issues, normally because that is a fact. Master Marie, if you are really yearning for it, there is a shop nearby selling such toys—”
“That’s not it, enough already!”
Marie leapt to her feet, her face flushed as she yelled,
“Ghost! Girl! This is it! This clearly is pointing for me here, right?”
“Speaking of which, how do you even know of that kind of shop, RyuZU?”
“That is to be expected. It is the duty of a follower to satisfy the desires of Master Naoto, who is so distorted to a point of being unidentifiable. When I am asked it, I can quickly—”
“Listen up already!”
Marie growled, and hugged her head in lethargy.
“Ahh, I can’t stand this anymore. I’m going to collapse while talking to you….! Anyway, you guys are coming with me now.”
“…Eh, buy those toys?”
“I’ll kill you! Of course I’m going to tie the idiot who sent this message and hang him up. Also, I want to get you roped in for practice, you know!?”
“Please leave me out of this highly difficulty sex play…”
Naoto groaned in agony, and RyuZU beside him nodded, saying,
“I do find myself unable to comprehend the meaning of going off together. It is not my wish in the slightest, but Master Naoto has to go for remedials and break out from a state of being frowned upon by imbeciles, and I do have personal tuition to attend to. In that case, please head there alone.”
She answered curtly.
And Halter stepped up in place of the flabbergasted Marie, calmly saying,
“Yo Naoto. It’s Sunday tomorrow. No remedials, right?”
“Hm, well, you can say that?”
“Assuming that the coordinates this Milady said is correct, if I remember correctly, located near the Industrial complex is a seawater bathhouse, rare even in Japan.”
Shocked!
A seawater bathhouse. This line alone caused Naoto to freeze.
Halter raised his lips the moment he saw that response, and continued to shamelessly prod away.
“And especially in this season, February’s the perfect season for seawater bathing. A season that really shows swimsuits—”
“Ah, ‘cuse me, I’ll like to check out. Please give me the bill.”
This voice came from behind Halter, at the counter, and even Halter was left dumbfounded as he turned his head back.
“Well, we can just come back before Monday. Alright, let’s go everyone. No time to waste.”
“As expected of you, Master Naoto. The energy of your distorted desires, originally limited to Clockwork Automatas, can be used in other areas too. If you are able to get full marks in your retests, I shall grant you any request.”
“Alright, once I come back, I’m going to memorize everything in the textbook within a day. Leave it to me.”
And while the commotion lasted, Marie watched the backs of Naoto and RyuZU sprint out of the manga cafe, and let out a conflicted sigh,
“…You really know how to get those two moving.”
“When asking others for help, we have to talk about the benefits. That’s a principle of negotiations, Milady.”
Halter rubbed his bald head, and said,
“Now then, let us get going, Milady. It’ll be a hassle leaving them like this.”
Though he prompted Marie, Halter felt that there was something strange about it.
He wondered, As expected, was that mail really just a taunt…?
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