Chapter 2 Honjou Nia
I became a Spirit, uhh how long ago was that? Ah, yes, um. It was when Dimensional Knight Granger was still broadcasting. ……Hmm? Don’t know? That masterpiece? Are you serious?
Want to see it? I have it at home. It’s on VHS.
……Well, leaving that aside. Let’s return back to the topic of Spirits.
Hmm, if asked if I hated it. Of course, so many things had happened. No longer being able to trust humans, being captured by DEM and having my brains boggled. The breasts that were F
cup before being reduced……hmm? They were like that originally? Anyway, the point is that any high-performance Angel will never be balanced.
But, that’s also true. If I didn’t become a Spirit, I would have never met Boy and the others.
Drawing ordinary manga, an ordinary serialization, and ordinary sales……ah, opps, I wanted to say something nice, but it’s troublesome that my original life was going well.
Um, well, how to describe it. But there are things you grow accustomed to that you can’t just do by yourself. A mangaka can only get serious on the drawing paper.
For the time being, I can say that it is fun to play with everyone and that Boy’s meals is delicious.
But, isn’t there nothing more important than taking an expansive view on one’s life?
Kotori received the call as she was at the café “La Pucelle” with the other junior high members Yoshino, Mukuro, Mana, and Natsumi.
Kotori and the others had ordered the recommend seasonal cake set. The spring menu was strawberry shortcake with plenty of strawberries added on just like jewelry. Kotori, Yoshino, and Mukuro’s eyes lit on in anticipation as they took out their smart phones to take a picture. Then, after pressing their hands together and saying “Itadakimasu”, they stabbed the cake with their forks and let out an “ah” sound as they open their mouths.
“……Hmm?”
Kotori kept her mouth open as she turned her eyes to her phone.
On the screen, the name “the single flower that blooms in the vast land Maria” was being displayed. In short, it was a call from Maria. ……Of course, Kotori has never registered Maria with this name before. Incidentally, last week was “Unreachable Maria” and the week before that it was “Beautiful Magician Household Maria”. It seemed to change depending on the mood.
“Amu--”
Even so, the cake had already been delivered to her mouth, so there was no reason to stop.
Kotori’s cheeks bulged as she swallowed the cake. The smart phone continuously rang while she was still chewing.
“Say, aren’t you going to listen to the phone?”
Sitting diagonally across from her, Mana widened her eyes as she spoke. Kotori enjoyed the sweetness and sourness of the seasonal strawberries and then sighed.
“Nhh, it’s already been picked up. Isn’t it rude to pick up the cake with the fork and then just put it back on the plate?”
“I-Is that right?”
While saying that, Mana scratched her face.
Well, it wasn’t as if this was an emergency. If it was urgent, the emergency line would be used.
And above all else, if it was a serious topic, the name registered would only be “MARIA”. As it was now, it was probably something silly like Kannazuki screaming something obscene on the bridge or Nia failing to let her liver take some rest from drinking.
The cake was a fresh desert after all. The surface would dry out soon and worsen the taste. If the conversation would take too long, she should hang up now and call again--
As Kotori was thinking that over, she was about to tap the call button when the ringtone suddenly came to an abrupt end.
For a moment, Kotori thought that the other party had given up on the call--but it was different.
Maria’s face appeared on the phone screen and her familiar voice was heard coming from the speaker.
“Oh, so you are here, Kotori. Hurry up and pick up!”
“Eh!?”
Startled by this sudden occurrence, Kotori shook her shoulders. Sitting around the same table, Yoshino and Natsumi also gave a look of surprise.
“W-Wait Maria, what are you doing!?”
“That’s your question? I had something I wanted to discuss over the phone.”
“No, I’m not talking about that! Why can you talk without me hitting the call button!”
As Kotori asked that, the Maria on the screen pouted in displeasure.
“If it’s under my care, remote controlling a smart phone is as easy as getting all the color right on a Rubik’s cube.”
“……No, isn’t that metaphor difficult in of itself?”
As Natsumi said that while half-squinting her eyes; in response, Maria carelessly blinked.
“Is that so? I intended to use the simplest analogy--ah, but please rest assured. I haven’t implanted any remote control software in advance.”
“Isn’t it more terrifying that you can operate remotely without implementation!?”
Kotori grunted out a “really……” as she shook her head. Then, she adjusted her gaze to look at Maria on the screen before continuing on.
“Then, what did you want to talk about? What did Kannazuki do?”
“Eeh. I might be overthinking it--it’s just that some observed reaction has caught my attention.”
“……A reaction that has caught your attention?”
After listening to what Maria had said, Kotori raised her eyebrows.
“Um, would it be better for me to head back?”
“Un, if possible.”
“Hmm……I see. I understand.”
As Kotori said that, she tapped the screen of the smartphone to hang up on the call.
Then, she stuffed the rest of the cake in three mouthfuls and then let out a sigh of relief after gulping down the black tea.
“--Sorry guys, I have to head out first.”
“No problem……but if something is wrong, why don’t we all go together?”
“Hmm, it should be fine. I don’t think it’s a big deal. Everyone else should take the time to enjoy the cake more slowly. Ah, take this to pay for the bill.”
Kotori handed the money to Mana and left the store while waving goodbye.
“…………”
Kotori took a refreshing step, unraveling her white ribbon while walking and replacing it with the black ribbon in her pocket.
After walking into an alley, Kotori felt the sensation of her body floating--as she was transported onto the bridge of <Fraxinus>.
“We’ve been awaiting your arrival, commander. Sorry for interrupting your leisure time.”
A woman wearing a <Ratatoskr> uniform saluted to her. This person was one of the crew members of <Ratatoskr>, nicknamed <Nail Knocker> Shiizaki. Although <Fraxinus>’s workload had decreased since the disappearance of Spirits, the minimal amount of crew members rotated shifts onboard the bridge.
“It’s nothing. Compared to that……”
“Yes, please over here.”
After giving her bag to Shiizaki for safekeeping, Kotori headed for the captain’s seat. Maria was already waiting there on the side.
“--So, what is the reaction that has caught your attention, Maria?”
“Yes.”
Maria briefly replied as she turned to the main monitor on the bridge.
Then as if to match this--although since Maria had control over the entire ship, this was merely making the equivalent of making minor adjustments--numbers and graphs were on display on the monitor.
“Hmm……”
Kotori narrowed her eyes while reclining on the captain’s seat.
The numerical values and figures on display showed the fluctuations of observed Spacequakes.
Usually, this would be used to predict future Spacequakes. Now that the Spirit of Origin has disappeared, no more Spacequakes have occurred since. However, it seemed that Maria continued her observations regardless.
Looking at the top of the data, Kotori raised her brow.
Despite it being tiny--a suspected Spacequake response had been observed.
“This is……”
“Yes, you can also see the changes in value over the past few weeks. Nonetheless, since the change was only a slight fluctuation, we assumed it was just machine error, but--”
“But?”
As Kotori asked that, Maria held her hand over the monitor. ……Holding up her hand likely wasn’t necessarily, but Maria seemed to want to draw attention to that motion.
Just like that, the monitor had changed into another screen. Moreover, it wasn’t just an urban map of Tenguu City. It was a world map centered on the Japanese archipelago.
And also, something resembling huge red ripples was drawn onto the map.
Kotori thought it was a joke for a moment, but then soon immediately realized. --The red ripples devouring the world was the range of the observations.
“! No way, it’s that wide?”
“Yes. As if--the world is pulsating.”
“…………”
Hearing Maria’s words caused Kotori’s expression to turn grim.
It could be said to be a very weak response. Someone on the level of AST would have great difficulty capturing this.
However, when the observational range includes not only Japan, but also the Eurasian Continent, the Pacific Ocean, Australia, and to the west coast of the United States, it would be difficult to leave this matter alone.
“……Maria, please continue to observe. Not only for spacequake fluctuations, but also investigate any Reiha responses and Maryoku responses…… “
“Understood. --I will let Units 2 through 5 prepare for work after they return from their part time job.”
“Yes, thank--wait, what?”
Kotori was about to nod, but then twisted her head at those peculiar words.
“Maria, what did you just say?”
“Huh? Ah, it’s units 2 through 5. You don’t know how many terminals I have?”
“I know that……”
“Ah, did you want to know about letting multiple individuals being run by the same AI? Indeed, all of those terminal bodies are run by me, but each one is equipped with an auxiliary computing device. Of course, their calculation device can’t be compared to that of <Fraxinus>. But if done in parallel, a corresponding result would be expected. Although I am the type to pay attention to appearance, I won’t call upon these terminal bodies just for the sake of looking hard at work.”
“No, I’m not asking about that. What is that part time job?”
As Kotori asked that question while sweaty, Maria turned to look away.
“One year after the disappearance of the Spirit of Origin, there is no longer the danger of Spacequakes and backflow of Reiryoku. But even if I am an AI, I am still a maiden. There are many things that I want. Clothes, accessories, cosmetics……wax for the ship’s exterior, supercomputers for calculation, oil and gas bombs for emergency use. ……If I want to buy these, I need to work to earn money.”
“Didn’t you add something strange in the second half!? And isn’t it dangerous to do part time work with that highly classified body!?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m working at a place that won’t bother <Ratatoskr>. There’s no scrutiny for personal information. Well, it is the sort of place where I really wouldn’t want work there if I didn’t have to……”
“No, where exactly are you working!?”
Given this suspicious description, Kotori couldn’t help but scream.
“--Uhh……if I remember correctly, it should be room 1801.”
Shidou whispered as he entered the number, which he recalled from his memories, onto the terminal screen.
Immediately after the sound of the doorbell……a familiar voice came out from the microphone.
“Hurry--up--and--come up……”
As soon as those words fell, the entrance to the apartment opened. Shidou re-gripped his bag as he walked into the corridor.
Then, he headed for the elevator to arrive at the desired floor.
Where Shidou was visiting now was not the mansion next to the Itsuka residence, but rather a high-rise apartment in the city. Former Spirit and manga artist--the residence and work studio of Honjou Nia.
The progress of the manuscript had reached a dangerous and unprecedented level. She had called Shidou just now while sobbing that to him.
Despite that low-brow acting, Shidou didn’t laugh. After all, since he wasn’t particularly busy right now, he decided to respond to Nia’s request for help.
“Even so, if it was too much, she should hire more assistants.”
Shidou glanced at the ingredients he had bought along the way as he muttered to himself.
These days Nia seemed to be only eating cup noodles. She complained to him that she wanted a decent meal. Despite buying ingredients, there was likely too many things Nia would likely order.
--Likely, what would be ideal was something storable and could be eaten for a while even after cooking was done.
While thinking about that, Shidou arrived at his destination. He reached to ring the doorbell.
That moment, as if realizing he was here, the door opened with a slam.
“Wow!?”
“You’re finally here Boy! I’ve been waiting so loooooong……!”
In that manner, Nia weakly smiled.
She was a 20 year old woman who was wearing spectacle. She wore a jersey that abandoned everything except functionality, resembling an unfashionable Japanese robe. Despite wearing a thin glove for her dominant hand, the portions covering index finger, middle finger, and thumb were all exposed and the sides of her hands were black and dirty. Her bangs were held back by a hair band. Furthermore, there was something substituting for a cooling sheet on her forehead.
When all put together, she looked like a ghastly ghost prepared to die.
“Y-You……really look terrible……”
“It is terrible. I’ve been serialized for so long that this scene of carnage appears--uhh, once every two months.”
“The frequency is that high!?”
As Shidou raised his voice, Nia let out a “hehe” laugh……while smiling and shrugging.
“Well, anyway, you’ve saved me by coming here. I haven’t been motivated to eat anything but instant recently. Can I ask that you make breakfast for the time being?”
“Ah, um.”
The current time was 1:00 PM. It was far too late for breakfast, but Shidou couldn’t even ridicule her. Likely, she hasn’t eaten anything this morning.
“I bought the ingredients, so I need to borrow the kitchen. Do you have basic kitchenware?”
“Yes, of course over there. It’s good as new.”
“You should at least use them a little……”
Shidou, with sweat dripping from his forehead, walked through the hallway with mountains of cardboard boxes and books piling up.
“Hmm……?”
Along the way, Shidou stopped his feet. The reason was simple. It was because there were signs of other people in Nia’s studio.
“--Background of page five is complete.”
“The coloring is done here.”
“Here is the data for you two. Merge and double check.”
--And so on.
Girls with the exact same appearance were sitting on the desk arranged in the workplace and working on a tablet.
“Maria, what are you doing here?”
Faced by this unexpected situation, Shidou widened his eyes. That’s right. These were the interface bodies of the <Fraxinus> AI Maria.
The working Marias turned their eyes to Shidou.
“Good afternoon. It looks like Shidou was also called here.”
“Temporary part time job. I’m not willing to work in a poor work environment, but I want money that I can use freely.”
“Incidentally, the special hourly wage is 20,000 yen per person. But Nia’s standard for wages is miscellaneous when she’s stuck, so I think it’s better for Shidou to ask for payment right now.”
A Maria told him as she shrugged her shoulders and returned back to work. Nia also helplessly shrugged.
“I’m really short on manpower......it was difficult for me to grab her after she started going to junior high……well, even though she has a poisonous mouth, she’s meticulous at work and good at the finishing touches.
“I-I see……”
Then, Shidou noticed something.
There was another person sitting beside the table where the Marias were sitting.
Her light colored blond hair and black jersey were in a mess. --There was no doubt about it.
The former DEM Wizard and current <Ratatoskr> staff member--Ellen.
“Ha……ha……how about this?”
Looking lost for breath, Ellen displayed a piece of paper. For some reason, she was the only one doing analog work.
Nia touched her chin while staring at Ellen’s work--then whacking Ellen’s forehead with a paper fan on the side.
“Wrong!”
“Ouch……! W-What are you doing!”
“What are you doing!? You can’t add shading, you can’t add tones, and as a bonus you’re an idiot with machines, so I left you with only erasing. Why can’t you even do that properly!? The broken lines are still visible here. Elechi’s physical strength is too weak! How do you think you can be a professional manga artist like this!?”
“I don’t even want to be a professional……”
“Shut up! Redo it immediately! With more weight in strength and love this time!”
“Nugugugugu……”
Ellen let out a frustrated groan as she returned back to work. Nia muttered out a “really……” as she tossed the paper fan over her shoulders.
“W-Why is Ellen……”
“Hmm? Ah, she was dispatched after I said there wasn’t enough manpower as you can see. At first, I was Spartan because of my painful past. Or so I had thought. But seeing her be this useless is making my heart snap!”
As Nia sighed, Maria raised her voice to add a supplement.
“Incidentally, Ellen is a <Ratatoskr> staff member, so she has a fixed salary.”
“H-Hahaha……”
As Shidou gave a powerless laugh, a figure appeared behind Nia, stealing the paper fan and slapping her head with it.
“Ouch? W-What are you doing!”
As Nia was clutching her head, the figure that appeared behind her--another Maria (who for some reason was wearing black-rimmed glasses and an armband that said Production Director) helplessly sighed.
“That’s my line. Are you in any position to say that to Ellen? Hurry up and go back to drawing the main character.”
“Yes……”
Nia scratched her head as she retuned back to the workbench with her ink bottle and pen. It looked like Nia was also doing hand-drawn work. Speaking of which, while the finishing touches have gradually transitioned to digital, outlines and rough drafts were still done by hand.
“So Shidou, I’ll leave the cooking to you. Nia, Ellen, Shidou, and also us four, that makes a total of seven.”
“Got it, just wait a little bit more.”
Indeed, having this many people worked with this amount of ingredients. Shidou nodded as he walked into the kitchen.
“Alright, let me show off my skills.”
After washing his hands, Shidou started cooking.
Having heard that it would be a battlefield in advance, he decided that the menu would be sandwiches. This way, they could enjoy the flavors of various fillings while also still working.
Shidou sliced the freshly baked bread he had bought along the way here and added in the various ingredients one by one. Ham, eggs, cheese, and tuna sandwich, ample roast beef garnished with
wasabi sauce, a cutlet sandwich with tingly mustard sauce, a fruit sandwich interposed with strawberries and fresh cream, everything was all laid out in preparation for the meal.
About thirty minutes later, in the center of a plain white plate, brightly-sliced, sandwich-shaped flowers bloomed in size.
“Alright, dig in everyone!”
“:……!”
In response to Shidou’s voice, a fiery glance was directed from the workshop. Well, it mainly came from Nia and Ellen.
Shidou walked to them with a wry smile as he set down the sandwich plates.
“Yahho, itadakimasu!”
“A decent meal for the first time in 12 hours……”
While saying that respectively, Nia and Ellen both reached out for a sandwich. Nia lightly breathed out a “delicious!” (mental image), as Ellen was saying “Uu, uuu” with tears in her eyes.
“Really, you two have no decency.”
“No matter how hungry, a meal should be done elegantly.”
The Marias wiped their hands with a sanitizing sheet before starting to eat the sandwiches. He had heard that Maria’s internal combustion engine could use organic matter as fuel, so she was able to eat just like a normal human being.
“Haha……well, I’m glad that you guys can eat so happily.”
Shidou picked up and took a bite out of the roast beef sandwich. The rich taste of the meat and the spiciness of the wasabi gave way to an exquisite harmony. While singing one’s own praises, it was quite the taste.
“Fuhi……I’ve come back to life. It’s natural, but you’ve got to eat. Humans don’t live to work, they work to live. It would be awful to get that wrong.”
Nia, who after recovering some of her composure as her stomach was swelling, began talking as if realizing something. However, since the Maria in charge of production began started to vigorously waving her fan, Nia quickly corrected her posture.
Then, she dipped her pen in the ink bottle and continued drawing in a familiar tone.
“No, but I really was saved. Boy’s meals always seem to be a blessing from God.”
“Haha, you’re exaggerating too much.”
“No, no, I’m serious. ……Ah, really, Boy. Are you serious about finding a job? You’ll be responsible full time just for the cooking.”
“Don’t talk crazy. Won’t I be starting college next month?”
As Shidou said that, Nia drew a line with profound movements. She said “that’s right” as she pointed the pen at him.
“It’s good to go to college, but is there something you want to do in the future? What sort of person do you want to be?”
“Huh?”
Being suddenly asked that, Shidou widened his eyes. Nia narrowed her eyes behind her glasses as she continued her speech.
“Somehow going to school for four years, somehow finding a career, somehow climbing up the corporate ladder……well, that may lead to a happy life. If there’s no such goal or the goals and work are equal, wouldn’t work just be for getting enough food to eat? If it’s like this, wouldn’t it be good to work for me?”
“That’s……”
“I’ve set up a company for tax purposes, so I can treat you as a full time employee. Salary can be doubled or tripled. Of course, there are bonuses & salary increases. --Somehow, I feel that you’ll refusal with the usual flow of my invitation. Think calmly, the salary is good, commuting is easy, and you can utilize your skills. There’s also a beautiful boss. I think it would be a pretty good job.”
“…………”
Hearing what Nia had said, Shidou fell silent.
Shidou didn’t find Nia’s words unreasonable.
As of now, he was 18 years old. At the age of 18, Shidou had decided to go to college. But at this age, there were quite of few people who decided to already begin working. He had reached the age where men could get married, obtain a driver’s license, and even have the right to vote.
While he wasn’t quite an adult yet, it could be said that he was at the boundary line for adulthood.
Shidou was still just a high school student before and never took Nia’s joking tone seriously. But after graduating from college, his chance of finding a company with better conditions than Nia’s offer would be low.
……No, that wasn’t important. Shidou’s heart had been capture by what Nia said before.
--Do you have anything you want to do in the future or something you want to be?
It was a question Shidou had been deeply asking himself but couldn’t answer.
“……Fumu.”
Shidou quickly thought about it, but Nia sighed while holding her chin. It seemed like she had seen through his struggle just from his response.
Her expression seemed calm but also a bit awkward. It was like she was thinking “Did I say a little too much……?”
“I’m……”
Shidou blankly let out his voice. The things he wanted to do. What he wanted to be. A future goal that was different from the vague dreams of childhood. What he wanted to achieved even if it meant risking his life. That was--
At that moment, the paper fan wacked Nia’s head.
“Ouch!”
“--Your hands have stopped moving, Nia. Please work hard before trying to say something grand. There’s only six hours left until the deadline.”
The Maria, who was in charge of production, glanced at her with a sharp look. Then, she turned to look at Shidou.
“Don’t be fooled Shidou. Even though she says that you’ll only be responsible for cooking, I can already see her giving you all sorts of chores. Indeed, the income may be good, but working hours aren’t fixed and it’s natural to work overtime during holidays. And although you may ignore this, who are you calling a beautiful boss?”
“Huh--what’s wrong with that--!”
Nia pouted in dissatisfaction, but her hands were still smoothly working out of fear from the intimidation of Maria’s paper fan.
“Anyway, please leave persuading to after leaving this battlefield. --Ah, and Ellen. How long have you been crying? Hurry up and return back to work.”
Maria dropped her instructions as she turned back to face Shidou.
“Thank you for your efforts Shidou. You’ve been a great help. Can I pay you on a later day?”
“Ah, um……”
Although Shidou nodded to what Maria had said, he looked at the workplace again as he creaked and scratched his face.
“……Well, since it’s a boat I’ve already boarded, I’ll help you until the very end.”
“……! Really, Boy!”
After hearing that, Nia raised her face and turned to him with sparkling eyes.
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