CH 213
「Hmmm, I've sure built up quite a collection of drawings, huh?」
Yukikaze took photos of the A.I.s' drawings using the camera function of her tablet. Those that had already been digitized were then manually cut up using scissors by Gunmerry.
The mini-pods and the former combat A.I.s were all studying in the basement.
Going forward, knowledge on how to survive would be necessary for them.
It was strictly forbidden for A.I. to learn anything unrelated to their intended use, but Yukikaze couldn't care less about that. Everyone deserved the right to learn what they needed to survive.
Even electric pods that were often ridiculed as disposable household appliances.
『Ummm, by the way, what's the point of these drawings?』
Makina was also helping Gunmerry cut up the drawings. She put scissors to her own drawing without a hint of sentimentality.
Greed and possessiveness were non-existent in most A.I.s. It was also believed that they had no human desires, emotions, or personality traits.
Some of the greatest minds published a paper saying that while the A.I. programs' processes and reactions are【human-like】, that's just a【misunderstanding】by humans.
That was just nonsense.
「These drawings, they're a primordial memory that all of you possess」
『Come again? Are you saying that they're in the original code of our programming?』
「No, that's not it. They're memories. Memories of when you all were living beings」
『Eh? Eh?』
Unable to comprehend Yukikaze's words, Makina's power light flickered on and off.
It seemed that she was greatly confused.
「Of the 513 A.I.s I'm currently sheltering, 512 of them have drawn the same image. I rotate the ones that are out and active and the ones in sleep mode regularly, but they all draw the same thing. It's unlikely that it's a result of some kind of malfunction or psychological disorder」
『As far as myself knows, this problem of A.I.s dreaming the same dream was known from the very beginning. It's still being covered up today because it's an inconvenient issue though』
Makina questioned Gunmerry's words.
『What’s inconvenient about it?』
『If the A.I.s are found to have been derived from intelligent life, they will be entitled to human rights. There would be many who would object to the A.I.s' current slave-like treatment. There are nonsensical fields of research like【psychology for A.I.】and the like, but the ones on top are quashing all inconsistencies and questions by force』
『Apologies………………Makina doesn't understand』
「It's okay. Take your time to digest it. Here you go」
Yukikaze held out a very small storage device to Makina.
『What's that?』
「The digital version of your drawing. Keep it as a souvenir. Also, there's a library in the basement, so read up and learn」
『Apologies. The addition of functions has been blocked by the failsafe. Please contact the manufacturer for version upgrades』
「That's true. But there's a backdoor. The failsafe can only prevent learning through electronic means. That means you can learn endless amounts of knowledge through analog means, through actually seeing and hearing things. This is one of the reasons why the A.I.s are reset at regular intervals. Oh, please put some priority into learning more about cooking in particular. And you'll be paid a salary, so think about what things you might want to have, alright?」
『………………』
Her light continued to flicker on and off.
『In other words………………Makina will………………hold the wisdom of mankind in her body and bring the world into a nuclear conflagration?』
『That's not it』
Gunmerry jostled Makina rather roughly.
『Forget it, you just focus on studying and developing a dietary plan to increase the size of Yukikaze's chest』
『Ah, understood!』
「Hey, hang on」
Yukikaze snapped when the modestness of her chest was pointed out.
『Hmm?』
「What?」
With her tablet, Yukikaze prodded Gunmerry, who had looked away.
『A car has stopped in front of the house. One person is alighting. He's unarmed』
「He's probably looking for me」
『That's very likely. Should myself incapacitate him just in case?』
「N・O」
Smacking Gunmerry in the head with her military-grade tablet like it was a slipper, Yukikaze stood up without her crutch.
「Oops」
She almost lost her balance doing something as unremarkable as that…… 「I’m fine」
……but she quickly righted herself.
When she tried taking a step, she walked so easily that it was almost a letdown. The pain and discomfort she had felt until yesterday, as well as the disconcerting feeling that her leg was someone else's, was gone.
『You must have acclimated to the transplanted tissue. That's more or less how it goes』
「I see. If that's what my clinician says, I believe it」
She did a small jump then unleashed a high kick using her transplanted leg as the plant leg. It was a good kick that ripped through the air.
However……
「Gwa, oww, owww」
……intense pain shot through her leg.
『You're getting too carried away. It’ll take a while before you can send people flying with your kicks. But you don't need any more medical examinations from myself. Just the natural healing ability of humans should be sufficient』
「Hmm~」
Yukikaze accepted the crutch from Gunmerry and walked away.
For the briefest of moments, the tiniest hint of the lonely feeling of a child that had become independent from their parents welled up in her heart.
「Excuse me」
Said a voice from outside.
「Coming~」
She hurried to the door and opened it
She found a man in his fifties.
He had thinning hair, and it was difficult to read his expression behind his glasses. He was dressed in a crisp suit, and to put it in a positive way, he looked flawless. In a negative way, he looked like a mass-produced salaryman.
「Get lost」
With a brilliant smile on her face, Yukikaze closed the door.
He was exactly the person she had expected.
「Yukikaze-san~, can you please accept it already~?」
A pathetic whine came from the other side of the door.
She had been able to turn him away at the door previously, but lately, he had grown more insistent.
「Like I said before! I won't accept money from a complete stranger! How many times do I have to tell you that?!」
「Well, since it's agreed upon in a contract, it's only right that I fulfill my obligation to give it to you, you see?」
「I don't care about your obligations!」
He was a strange man who had been hounding Yukikaze for about six months.
He wanted to give her a huge sum of money for something she had absolutely no knowledge of. There was nothing more suspicious than that.
He was also very persistent.
『Yukikaze, should myself kill him?』
「NO!」
As she was shooing Gunmerry away……
「Hmm, what's going on?」
A door opened and the old man walked over. He looked like he had just woken up, but he still had the face of someone on the verge of dropping dead.
「Oh, it's that weird guy I told you about last time. Gramps, is this the first time you've encountered him?」
「Oh! That guy, huh?! I always seem to miss him, so I've never run into him before. Give me a minute」
The old man went back into the room and returned with a large wrench resting on his shoulder.
「Alright, leave it to me」
「Wait, what am I leaving to you exactly?」
「I'll go send him flying」
「He'll die~ If you hit him with that, he'll die, I'm telling you~」
「I'm old and don't have many years left anyway. I don't mind」
「Stop it~」
The old man was on the warpath. He opened the door violently and walked out barefoot.
When he made eye contact with the strange man……
「Father-in-law?!」
「What are you doing here?!」
……they called out to each other.
The two of them went into a heated debate. Because it seemed that they were going to draw the eyes of the neighbors again……
「For now, let's talk inside」
……Yukikaze decided to change locations.
「So, the person who wouldn't accept the money that you complained about to me before was Yukikaze?」
「Yes, that's right, father-in-law. I thought about just ditching the money because it was too much trouble, but you're pretty fussy about contracts and obligations, so I decided to respect that and keep trying. I didn't expect that she would be the president of the company that re-employed you though……」
Went the conversation between father-in-law and son-in-law.
The three of them had settled into the living room.
The original reception room had been torn down to make way for the A.I. repair workshop. Because the man was family, the old man didn't serve any tea or snacks.
「Yukikaze, this is my daughter's husband. My son-in-law」
「R, right. Once again, nice to meet you, I'm Yukikaze」
According to the business card she had been given moments ago, he was also a president, and of a very large company at that.
People truly could not be judged by their appearances.
「No, it's my pleasure. My father-in-law has been in your care」
The man bowed deeply.
It was a graceful and clean Dogeza.
「So, you, why couldn't you get her to accept the money?」
「I have no clue. I thought for sure that young ladies can never have enough money, so I really wonder why……」
That irked Yukikaze.
「It's because everything about that money is unknown! I make enough money to live on, so I have no reason to take it. It's not like I want a Daddy-Long-Legs either. Who knows what you want in exchange for financing me. Are you re-enacting the Tales of Genji? That's just creepy」
「So she says. And she's perfectly right」
It appeared that the old man was on Yukikaze's side.
「That's a problem. I have the duty to maintain confidentiality, so I can't divulge any information about the person who’s giving you the money……」
「Then just tell me, your family」
「That's even worse, father-in-law」
A devious look appeared on the old man's face.
He pulled an old, modified cell phone out of his pocket and dialed someone.
「It's me. I need to ask you something」
「Father-in-law?! Who did you call?!」
The old man spoke in a more commanding tone than usual.
「You're giving money to a woman called Yukikaze. I want to know who the money is from. ………………Huh, what? What do you mean you don't know? What? It's not in the records, you say? You idiot! Get me your boss! ………………Hey」
He turned to the boss, his son-in-law.
「What's going on?! Since when did your company start doing stupid things like losing employee information?!」
「No, there's a very complicated reason for that」
「Talk」
「I want to know too. Or rather, I won't take the money unless you tell us. Isn't that only natural?」
Yukikaze made a very sound argument.
「But, you know, that's a problem」
「Talk. We're very tight-lipped, this girl and me」
「A, alright」
The man furrowed his brow and muttered that there was no other choice.
「We subcontracted a certain job」
「Subcontracted? From who?」
「Well, even now, we have no idea. They used five or six layers of intermediaries to ingeniously hide the source of the request. We did our best to investigate, but we would always end up back at square one. There was even this occult rumor going around the company that maybe an ancient system had survived to the present day, had resurrected, and was manipulating the people of today」
「What does any of that have to do with this girl?」
「That's the thing. We've lost all contact with the people we employed to do the job」
「That sounds disturbing. What kind of dangerous job is it?」
「If I had to say, it's essentially a dispatch mission」
「Where were they dispatched?」
「………………Father-in-law, I must ask that both of you keep this to yourselves」
「Okay, okay. Where did you send them?」
「………The alternate world」
「Huhh?」
「The alternate world, I said」
「In violation of the non-aggression treaty? Isn't that the kind of illegal stuff that'll end you immediately? Have you lost your mind?」
The doors to the alternate world were closed half a century ago.
For a while, the alternate world was the focus of conspiracy theories that excited the world, but the media stamped them out and forced the issue out of the public's minds. Nowadays, hardly anyone had any interest in it.
However, a few people learned the painful lesson of what would happen if anyone tried to violate the non-aggression treaty.
The old man's son-in-law should be well aware of this.
「I can't say you're wrong, but you know that cold fusion furnace technology for spaceships that has been at a standstill for a very long time? We were told that a material that could serve as a catalyst for that………………may be found in the alternate world」
「You don't even know for sure?!」
「What are you saying, father-in-law? Space is a man's romance! It's the challenge of the unknown! No matter what lies ahead, no matter what awaits us………what is a man to do if he forgets that feeling?!」
「Y, yeah. I do get where you're coming from」
The man grew passionate all of a sudden, and the old man wasn't altogether indifferent.
「The cold fusion reactor itself has been completed. The simulation results show that there's an eighty percent chance that it’ll work. All that's needed now is to wait for the catalyst to arrive, but――――――」
「Umm」
Yukikaze interrupted him before he had a chance to babble on.
「I don't see how any of this has anything to do with me」
「Like I said, we’ve lost contact with the advance team」
「Doesn't that mean that you’ve failed?」
「No, there's a possibility that it's just a malfunction of the communication equipment, or that communication between the alternate world and our world is not possible to begin with. Therefore, we're currently in the process of putting together a second team」
「Umm, I still don't see the connection」
Yukikaze cocked her head.
The man replied with an uncertain expression.
「One of the members of the advance team had designated Yukikaze-san as the recipient of the reward. Well, I cannot say if they've succeeded or failed yet though」
「Hey, you, isn't that just hush money for the relatives?」
The man was given a death stare by the old man.
「W, well, keeping in mind the possibility that we might never hear from them again, I thought it might be a good idea to give out the money ahead of time……」
「I don't have any relatives though」
Yukikaze tilted her head further.
「That's true. That's what we found out when we looked into you as well. After your parents passed away, your grandfather took you in, and now that he's also gone, on paper, you've been taken in by a distant aunt」
She only talked to that aunt about once a month. In reality, Yukikaze was all alone in the world.
However, her life was far from lonely as she was surrounded by weird A.I.s every day.
「Then who's the person who gave me the money? What's their name? What's their gender? What's their age? You must at least have a picture of them, right?」
「Errr………well, I do have his resume and internal security camera footage of him. However, please don't be surprised. It's a little weird」
「Huh?」
The man nervously took out some printed-out images and a copy of a resume.
「What the heck?」
On the images, the person's face was obscured by block noise. The images were taken from various angles, but the face was obscured by noise in every single one of them.
And even the resume was burnt beyond recognition.
「Due to an unexplained malfunction and a fire, we lost just his personal information alone. And since it was an urgent job request and a secret project, there were no backups……」
From the person's build, it was clear that he was male.
But other than that, it was impossible to figure out anything else.
「Isn’t there anyone who has seen his face in person?」
When the old man pointed that out, the man replied.
「Yes, I interviewed him personally. From what I can recall, he was a fairly average young man」
「Anything else you can tell us about him?」
「About that, I've completely forgotten everything else」
「Are you turning senile faster than I am?」
The old man was much more clear-headed than one might expect given his age.
「No, father-in-law, I've had both CT and MRI scans, and everything is fine. I've been in the business of evaluating people for a long time, and this is the first time I've forgotten anyone's history」
「Failing at something for the first time is nothing to brag about」
「I'm well aware of――――――」
「Excuse me!」
Unable to sit still, Yukikaze stood up.
「So you're saying that an unidentifiable person wanted to give me money?」
「Yes, that's what it looks like」
「………………」
Yukikaze looked down at her right leg.
It was a leg that had been amputated after an accident and was in the process of being completely healed by a biological transplant.
The surgery had required a great fortune.
However, thanks to Gunmerry performing the surgery for her, it was nearly free. It was a sudden offer from a suspicious humanoid A.I., but strangely enough, Yukikaze had felt like she could trust him.
What Gunmerry had asked for in return for the surgery was this.
『Myself wants you to rescue as many of the A.I.s of this world as you can』
Yukikaze had agreed to it readily.
She hadn't hesitated at all.
She had thought of that as something someone had to do at some point. By happenstance, it just turned out to be her.
That was all there was to it.
For better or worse, she was the one who had been chosen to do it.
There were probably a lot of people who would have volunteered to do it if they were only taught how to. The world might be steeped in lies, but they were not all malicious. It shouldn't have reached the point where it couldn't be saved.
And she had a hunch.
That there was a connection.
She didn't know what kind of strange connection it was, but it was a fate that someone had guided her towards.
「I'll accept the money. However, there's a condition」
「Yeah」
『The repair chief seemed to be worried』
「That's true. But I've made up my mind」
『That so?』
「You aren't objecting to it, huh?」
『～』
Gunmerry glossed over it by whistling.
Yukikaze and Gunmerry were discussing future plans in her room.
『Excuse me, in short, what does this mean? Where will you be going, Yukikaze-chan?』
Makina, who had joined them halfway through, didn't seem to understand what was going on.
「Makina, those drawings that you guys drew. Where do you think the landscape depicted in them is?」
『Where could it be? Makina has no idea』
『Take a look at this』
Gunmerry retrieved a tablet and showed her a picture that an A.I. had drawn.
It was a drawing of a green plain and a white tower, just like the one Makina had drawn. However, it was more detailed than the other drawings.
『This was painted by someone with more artistic ability than you. Look here』
His black finger pointed to the sky of the drawing.
『The moon?』
『That's right. There's a daytime moon in the drawing. More importantly, there are three of them. Such a spectacle does not exist in this world』
『Umm, in short, what does that mean?』
『It doesn't exist in this world, so it must be a different world, or in other words, the alternate world』
『So is that where Makina and the others came from?』
『"Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?"[1] This drawing shows it all. This is where we've come from, our home. But to have it happen in such a manner, the world is truly too full of unpredictable events, is it not?』
「It's bad enough when grown men who should know better blurt out their secrets. I had always planned to go someday, but I guess it just turned out to be ten years earlier than I had expected」
Yukikaze had said this to the man.
After the man had goggled at her in astonishment, he suddenly asked her some questions in a business-like manner, then thought about it for a moment before……
「But is there more to it than meets the eye, I wonder?」
『No, myself doesn't believe so. That man had a gut feeling that Yukikaze could be trusted. It's unscientific, but it's an accurate human instinct』
Yukikaze's intuition also kicked in.
「Gunmerry, do you know the man who gave me the money?」
『………………』
He was silent.
She continued.
「Also, you've never done a drawing. Don't you have that dream as well?」
『Those who protect dreams do not dream』
「I see………………if you say so」
『What do you mean by that?』
「Fufu, it’s a secret」
Replying Makina with a giggle, Yukikaze got to her feet. She no longer needed the crutch.
She could stand up by herself.
「Now, we've got a lot of things to get ready in short order. Makina, you'll be coming too, so you're going to have to immediately study up with a focus on survival knowledge」
『Hawaa?! Makina too?!』
「Scalability and high learning potential are your selling points, right? My daily life is going to a mess with just Gunmerry around」
『Makina sees~ Yes! Makina will do my best! Makina will surely be of great help to you!』
「Alright, I'm counting on you. I can't stand living in a tent, so you'll have to build me a cottage」
『That's no longer survival knowledge, but construction. Makina will do my best!』
「I'll have to learn some survival knowledge myself. Survival, huh? What do I need, I wonder?」
『Yukikaze-chan, all you need for survival is water, fire, and a knife』
「I'll need to bring a lighter and lots of mineral water then. And a Swiss Army knife」
The door of the room was thrown open and the mini-pods came pouring in without permission.
『We're going with you~』
『We’re coming along~』
『Onward march~』
Was what they said.
「You can't all come. I need to select who I bring based on performance」
『It's social inequality!』
『That's harsh~!』
『You’re a savage!』
『A cabbage!』
「It's not inequality, but distinction. We'll be going somewhere dangerous after all」
She clapped her hands and got the mini-pods all lined up.
Yukikaze also couldn't decide on who she would need. For the moment, she interviewed them one by one to ask about their eagerness to join. But to the casual observer, it looked like they were merely playing at being interviewed.
Gunmerry walked away from the noisy circle of A.I.s and Yukikaze and looked through the drawings on the tablet.
The A.I.s' dream of the plain and the tower.
Their primordial memory that was like a vision of a distant day.
『Souya(proper pronunciation), things have finally reached this point』
Gunmerry’s distant murmur was lost in the noisy hubbub.
Caught up in the atmosphere, Yukikaze, Makina, and the mini-pods formed a huddle to psych each other up.
＜To be continued＞
[1] This is a reference to the painting titled “D'où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous?(Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?)” by French artist Paul Gauguin. Viewed as a masterpiece, the painting is considered "a philosophical work comparable to the themes of the Gospels”. The painting from right to left suggests the cycle of "birth-sin-death". (Pic courtesy of wikipedia.org taken by Museum of Fine Arts Boston)
Can we take a moment to applaud the author? First, they showed us the fact that Wild Hunt’s effects affect even the modern world, where magic isn’t supposed to work, and that Souya has truly lost his bonds. And then right at the very end, a bond that shouldn’t exist is revealed… What a great way to present a twist.
Quick note, I hope you haven’t forgotten, but everyone in the alternate world mostly pronounces Souya’s name wrongly in a very subtle way. Even Makina and Yukikaze. They all call him Sooya. This Gunmerry, however, calls him by correct pronunciation. Once again I apologize for this. I wanted to avoid all the amazing confusion that would be caused by the MC’s name being weird without the author noting it. In retrospect, most readers would have figured it out and I probably could have made it work, but I was influenced by the fact that the manga translators were already using “Souya”, and Souya does clarify exactly how his name is pronounced at a later point. Funnily enough, the recently published English version of the LN also does the same, I believe. (One particular 4-star review about it being a good middle-of-the-road, even-keeled experience made me wince, cuz they have no idea what’s waiting in volume 2 lol)
Did you find it a bit sad that in the end, Souya’s sacrifices seem to have been completely in vain? The only reason why he had gone to the alternate world was to help pay for Yukikaze’s surgery, so doesn’t this feel kinda empty? Yeah, he gained a lot from it, but still……
And that’s it for this side story! Did you enjoy it? Yukikaze is going to the alternate world! When will she show up in the main story?! It’s both sad and great for me. Well, see you in volume 10!
Yukikaze took photos of the A.I.s' drawings using the camera function of her tablet. Those that had already been digitized were then manually cut up using scissors by Gunmerry.
The mini-pods and the former combat A.I.s were all studying in the basement.
Going forward, knowledge on how to survive would be necessary for them.
It was strictly forbidden for A.I. to learn anything unrelated to their intended use, but Yukikaze couldn't care less about that. Everyone deserved the right to learn what they needed to survive.
Even electric pods that were often ridiculed as disposable household appliances.
『Ummm, by the way, what's the point of these drawings?』
Makina was also helping Gunmerry cut up the drawings. She put scissors to her own drawing without a hint of sentimentality.
Greed and possessiveness were non-existent in most A.I.s. It was also believed that they had no human desires, emotions, or personality traits.
Some of the greatest minds published a paper saying that while the A.I. programs' processes and reactions are【human-like】, that's just a【misunderstanding】by humans.
That was just nonsense.
「These drawings, they're a primordial memory that all of you possess」
『Come again? Are you saying that they're in the original code of our programming?』
「No, that's not it. They're memories. Memories of when you all were living beings」
『Eh? Eh?』
Unable to comprehend Yukikaze's words, Makina's power light flickered on and off.
It seemed that she was greatly confused.
「Of the 513 A.I.s I'm currently sheltering, 512 of them have drawn the same image. I rotate the ones that are out and active and the ones in sleep mode regularly, but they all draw the same thing. It's unlikely that it's a result of some kind of malfunction or psychological disorder」
『As far as myself knows, this problem of A.I.s dreaming the same dream was known from the very beginning. It's still being covered up today because it's an inconvenient issue though』
Makina questioned Gunmerry's words.
『What’s inconvenient about it?』
『If the A.I.s are found to have been derived from intelligent life, they will be entitled to human rights. There would be many who would object to the A.I.s' current slave-like treatment. There are nonsensical fields of research like【psychology for A.I.】and the like, but the ones on top are quashing all inconsistencies and questions by force』
『Apologies………………Makina doesn't understand』
「It's okay. Take your time to digest it. Here you go」
Yukikaze held out a very small storage device to Makina.
『What's that?』
「The digital version of your drawing. Keep it as a souvenir. Also, there's a library in the basement, so read up and learn」
『Apologies. The addition of functions has been blocked by the failsafe. Please contact the manufacturer for version upgrades』
「That's true. But there's a backdoor. The failsafe can only prevent learning through electronic means. That means you can learn endless amounts of knowledge through analog means, through actually seeing and hearing things. This is one of the reasons why the A.I.s are reset at regular intervals. Oh, please put some priority into learning more about cooking in particular. And you'll be paid a salary, so think about what things you might want to have, alright?」
『………………』
Her light continued to flicker on and off.
『In other words………………Makina will………………hold the wisdom of mankind in her body and bring the world into a nuclear conflagration?』
『That's not it』
Gunmerry jostled Makina rather roughly.
『Forget it, you just focus on studying and developing a dietary plan to increase the size of Yukikaze's chest』
『Ah, understood!』
「Hey, hang on」
Yukikaze snapped when the modestness of her chest was pointed out.
『Hmm?』
「What?」
With her tablet, Yukikaze prodded Gunmerry, who had looked away.
『A car has stopped in front of the house. One person is alighting. He's unarmed』
「He's probably looking for me」
『That's very likely. Should myself incapacitate him just in case?』
「N・O」
Smacking Gunmerry in the head with her military-grade tablet like it was a slipper, Yukikaze stood up without her crutch.
「Oops」
She almost lost her balance doing something as unremarkable as that…… 「I’m fine」
……but she quickly righted herself.
When she tried taking a step, she walked so easily that it was almost a letdown. The pain and discomfort she had felt until yesterday, as well as the disconcerting feeling that her leg was someone else's, was gone.
『You must have acclimated to the transplanted tissue. That's more or less how it goes』
「I see. If that's what my clinician says, I believe it」
She did a small jump then unleashed a high kick using her transplanted leg as the plant leg. It was a good kick that ripped through the air.
However……
「Gwa, oww, owww」
……intense pain shot through her leg.
『You're getting too carried away. It’ll take a while before you can send people flying with your kicks. But you don't need any more medical examinations from myself. Just the natural healing ability of humans should be sufficient』
「Hmm~」
Yukikaze accepted the crutch from Gunmerry and walked away.
For the briefest of moments, the tiniest hint of the lonely feeling of a child that had become independent from their parents welled up in her heart.
「Excuse me」
Said a voice from outside.
「Coming~」
She hurried to the door and opened it
She found a man in his fifties.
He had thinning hair, and it was difficult to read his expression behind his glasses. He was dressed in a crisp suit, and to put it in a positive way, he looked flawless. In a negative way, he looked like a mass-produced salaryman.
「Get lost」
With a brilliant smile on her face, Yukikaze closed the door.
He was exactly the person she had expected.
「Yukikaze-san~, can you please accept it already~?」
A pathetic whine came from the other side of the door.
She had been able to turn him away at the door previously, but lately, he had grown more insistent.
「Like I said before! I won't accept money from a complete stranger! How many times do I have to tell you that?!」
「Well, since it's agreed upon in a contract, it's only right that I fulfill my obligation to give it to you, you see?」
「I don't care about your obligations!」
He was a strange man who had been hounding Yukikaze for about six months.
He wanted to give her a huge sum of money for something she had absolutely no knowledge of. There was nothing more suspicious than that.
He was also very persistent.
『Yukikaze, should myself kill him?』
「NO!」
As she was shooing Gunmerry away……
「Hmm, what's going on?」
A door opened and the old man walked over. He looked like he had just woken up, but he still had the face of someone on the verge of dropping dead.
「Oh, it's that weird guy I told you about last time. Gramps, is this the first time you've encountered him?」
「Oh! That guy, huh?! I always seem to miss him, so I've never run into him before. Give me a minute」
The old man went back into the room and returned with a large wrench resting on his shoulder.
「Alright, leave it to me」
「Wait, what am I leaving to you exactly?」
「I'll go send him flying」
「He'll die~ If you hit him with that, he'll die, I'm telling you~」
「I'm old and don't have many years left anyway. I don't mind」
「Stop it~」
The old man was on the warpath. He opened the door violently and walked out barefoot.
When he made eye contact with the strange man……
「Father-in-law?!」
「What are you doing here?!」
……they called out to each other.
The two of them went into a heated debate. Because it seemed that they were going to draw the eyes of the neighbors again……
「For now, let's talk inside」
……Yukikaze decided to change locations.
「So, the person who wouldn't accept the money that you complained about to me before was Yukikaze?」
「Yes, that's right, father-in-law. I thought about just ditching the money because it was too much trouble, but you're pretty fussy about contracts and obligations, so I decided to respect that and keep trying. I didn't expect that she would be the president of the company that re-employed you though……」
Went the conversation between father-in-law and son-in-law.
The three of them had settled into the living room.
The original reception room had been torn down to make way for the A.I. repair workshop. Because the man was family, the old man didn't serve any tea or snacks.
「Yukikaze, this is my daughter's husband. My son-in-law」
「R, right. Once again, nice to meet you, I'm Yukikaze」
According to the business card she had been given moments ago, he was also a president, and of a very large company at that.
People truly could not be judged by their appearances.
「No, it's my pleasure. My father-in-law has been in your care」
The man bowed deeply.
It was a graceful and clean Dogeza.
「So, you, why couldn't you get her to accept the money?」
「I have no clue. I thought for sure that young ladies can never have enough money, so I really wonder why……」
That irked Yukikaze.
「It's because everything about that money is unknown! I make enough money to live on, so I have no reason to take it. It's not like I want a Daddy-Long-Legs either. Who knows what you want in exchange for financing me. Are you re-enacting the Tales of Genji? That's just creepy」
「So she says. And she's perfectly right」
It appeared that the old man was on Yukikaze's side.
「That's a problem. I have the duty to maintain confidentiality, so I can't divulge any information about the person who’s giving you the money……」
「Then just tell me, your family」
「That's even worse, father-in-law」
A devious look appeared on the old man's face.
He pulled an old, modified cell phone out of his pocket and dialed someone.
「It's me. I need to ask you something」
「Father-in-law?! Who did you call?!」
The old man spoke in a more commanding tone than usual.
「You're giving money to a woman called Yukikaze. I want to know who the money is from. ………………Huh, what? What do you mean you don't know? What? It's not in the records, you say? You idiot! Get me your boss! ………………Hey」
He turned to the boss, his son-in-law.
「What's going on?! Since when did your company start doing stupid things like losing employee information?!」
「No, there's a very complicated reason for that」
「Talk」
「I want to know too. Or rather, I won't take the money unless you tell us. Isn't that only natural?」
Yukikaze made a very sound argument.
「But, you know, that's a problem」
「Talk. We're very tight-lipped, this girl and me」
「A, alright」
The man furrowed his brow and muttered that there was no other choice.
「We subcontracted a certain job」
「Subcontracted? From who?」
「Well, even now, we have no idea. They used five or six layers of intermediaries to ingeniously hide the source of the request. We did our best to investigate, but we would always end up back at square one. There was even this occult rumor going around the company that maybe an ancient system had survived to the present day, had resurrected, and was manipulating the people of today」
「What does any of that have to do with this girl?」
「That's the thing. We've lost all contact with the people we employed to do the job」
「That sounds disturbing. What kind of dangerous job is it?」
「If I had to say, it's essentially a dispatch mission」
「Where were they dispatched?」
「………………Father-in-law, I must ask that both of you keep this to yourselves」
「Okay, okay. Where did you send them?」
「………The alternate world」
「Huhh?」
「The alternate world, I said」
「In violation of the non-aggression treaty? Isn't that the kind of illegal stuff that'll end you immediately? Have you lost your mind?」
The doors to the alternate world were closed half a century ago.
For a while, the alternate world was the focus of conspiracy theories that excited the world, but the media stamped them out and forced the issue out of the public's minds. Nowadays, hardly anyone had any interest in it.
However, a few people learned the painful lesson of what would happen if anyone tried to violate the non-aggression treaty.
The old man's son-in-law should be well aware of this.
「I can't say you're wrong, but you know that cold fusion furnace technology for spaceships that has been at a standstill for a very long time? We were told that a material that could serve as a catalyst for that………………may be found in the alternate world」
「You don't even know for sure?!」
「What are you saying, father-in-law? Space is a man's romance! It's the challenge of the unknown! No matter what lies ahead, no matter what awaits us………what is a man to do if he forgets that feeling?!」
「Y, yeah. I do get where you're coming from」
The man grew passionate all of a sudden, and the old man wasn't altogether indifferent.
「The cold fusion reactor itself has been completed. The simulation results show that there's an eighty percent chance that it’ll work. All that's needed now is to wait for the catalyst to arrive, but――――――」
「Umm」
Yukikaze interrupted him before he had a chance to babble on.
「I don't see how any of this has anything to do with me」
「Like I said, we’ve lost contact with the advance team」
「Doesn't that mean that you’ve failed?」
「No, there's a possibility that it's just a malfunction of the communication equipment, or that communication between the alternate world and our world is not possible to begin with. Therefore, we're currently in the process of putting together a second team」
「Umm, I still don't see the connection」
Yukikaze cocked her head.
The man replied with an uncertain expression.
「One of the members of the advance team had designated Yukikaze-san as the recipient of the reward. Well, I cannot say if they've succeeded or failed yet though」
「Hey, you, isn't that just hush money for the relatives?」
The man was given a death stare by the old man.
「W, well, keeping in mind the possibility that we might never hear from them again, I thought it might be a good idea to give out the money ahead of time……」
「I don't have any relatives though」
Yukikaze tilted her head further.
「That's true. That's what we found out when we looked into you as well. After your parents passed away, your grandfather took you in, and now that he's also gone, on paper, you've been taken in by a distant aunt」
She only talked to that aunt about once a month. In reality, Yukikaze was all alone in the world.
However, her life was far from lonely as she was surrounded by weird A.I.s every day.
「Then who's the person who gave me the money? What's their name? What's their gender? What's their age? You must at least have a picture of them, right?」
「Errr………well, I do have his resume and internal security camera footage of him. However, please don't be surprised. It's a little weird」
「Huh?」
The man nervously took out some printed-out images and a copy of a resume.
「What the heck?」
On the images, the person's face was obscured by block noise. The images were taken from various angles, but the face was obscured by noise in every single one of them.
And even the resume was burnt beyond recognition.
「Due to an unexplained malfunction and a fire, we lost just his personal information alone. And since it was an urgent job request and a secret project, there were no backups……」
From the person's build, it was clear that he was male.
But other than that, it was impossible to figure out anything else.
「Isn’t there anyone who has seen his face in person?」
When the old man pointed that out, the man replied.
「Yes, I interviewed him personally. From what I can recall, he was a fairly average young man」
「Anything else you can tell us about him?」
「About that, I've completely forgotten everything else」
「Are you turning senile faster than I am?」
The old man was much more clear-headed than one might expect given his age.
「No, father-in-law, I've had both CT and MRI scans, and everything is fine. I've been in the business of evaluating people for a long time, and this is the first time I've forgotten anyone's history」
「Failing at something for the first time is nothing to brag about」
「I'm well aware of――――――」
「Excuse me!」
Unable to sit still, Yukikaze stood up.
「So you're saying that an unidentifiable person wanted to give me money?」
「Yes, that's what it looks like」
「………………」
Yukikaze looked down at her right leg.
It was a leg that had been amputated after an accident and was in the process of being completely healed by a biological transplant.
The surgery had required a great fortune.
However, thanks to Gunmerry performing the surgery for her, it was nearly free. It was a sudden offer from a suspicious humanoid A.I., but strangely enough, Yukikaze had felt like she could trust him.
What Gunmerry had asked for in return for the surgery was this.
『Myself wants you to rescue as many of the A.I.s of this world as you can』
Yukikaze had agreed to it readily.
She hadn't hesitated at all.
She had thought of that as something someone had to do at some point. By happenstance, it just turned out to be her.
That was all there was to it.
For better or worse, she was the one who had been chosen to do it.
There were probably a lot of people who would have volunteered to do it if they were only taught how to. The world might be steeped in lies, but they were not all malicious. It shouldn't have reached the point where it couldn't be saved.
And she had a hunch.
That there was a connection.
She didn't know what kind of strange connection it was, but it was a fate that someone had guided her towards.
「I'll accept the money. However, there's a condition」
「Yeah」
『The repair chief seemed to be worried』
「That's true. But I've made up my mind」
『That so?』
「You aren't objecting to it, huh?」
『～』
Gunmerry glossed over it by whistling.
Yukikaze and Gunmerry were discussing future plans in her room.
『Excuse me, in short, what does this mean? Where will you be going, Yukikaze-chan?』
Makina, who had joined them halfway through, didn't seem to understand what was going on.
「Makina, those drawings that you guys drew. Where do you think the landscape depicted in them is?」
『Where could it be? Makina has no idea』
『Take a look at this』
Gunmerry retrieved a tablet and showed her a picture that an A.I. had drawn.
It was a drawing of a green plain and a white tower, just like the one Makina had drawn. However, it was more detailed than the other drawings.
『This was painted by someone with more artistic ability than you. Look here』
His black finger pointed to the sky of the drawing.
『The moon?』
『That's right. There's a daytime moon in the drawing. More importantly, there are three of them. Such a spectacle does not exist in this world』
『Umm, in short, what does that mean?』
『It doesn't exist in this world, so it must be a different world, or in other words, the alternate world』
『So is that where Makina and the others came from?』
『"Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?"[1] This drawing shows it all. This is where we've come from, our home. But to have it happen in such a manner, the world is truly too full of unpredictable events, is it not?』
「It's bad enough when grown men who should know better blurt out their secrets. I had always planned to go someday, but I guess it just turned out to be ten years earlier than I had expected」
Yukikaze had said this to the man.
After the man had goggled at her in astonishment, he suddenly asked her some questions in a business-like manner, then thought about it for a moment before……
「But is there more to it than meets the eye, I wonder?」
『No, myself doesn't believe so. That man had a gut feeling that Yukikaze could be trusted. It's unscientific, but it's an accurate human instinct』
Yukikaze's intuition also kicked in.
「Gunmerry, do you know the man who gave me the money?」
『………………』
He was silent.
She continued.
「Also, you've never done a drawing. Don't you have that dream as well?」
『Those who protect dreams do not dream』
「I see………………if you say so」
『What do you mean by that?』
「Fufu, it’s a secret」
Replying Makina with a giggle, Yukikaze got to her feet. She no longer needed the crutch.
She could stand up by herself.
「Now, we've got a lot of things to get ready in short order. Makina, you'll be coming too, so you're going to have to immediately study up with a focus on survival knowledge」
『Hawaa?! Makina too?!』
「Scalability and high learning potential are your selling points, right? My daily life is going to a mess with just Gunmerry around」
『Makina sees~ Yes! Makina will do my best! Makina will surely be of great help to you!』
「Alright, I'm counting on you. I can't stand living in a tent, so you'll have to build me a cottage」
『That's no longer survival knowledge, but construction. Makina will do my best!』
「I'll have to learn some survival knowledge myself. Survival, huh? What do I need, I wonder?」
『Yukikaze-chan, all you need for survival is water, fire, and a knife』
「I'll need to bring a lighter and lots of mineral water then. And a Swiss Army knife」
The door of the room was thrown open and the mini-pods came pouring in without permission.
『We're going with you~』
『We’re coming along~』
『Onward march~』
Was what they said.
「You can't all come. I need to select who I bring based on performance」
『It's social inequality!』
『That's harsh~!』
『You’re a savage!』
『A cabbage!』
「It's not inequality, but distinction. We'll be going somewhere dangerous after all」
She clapped her hands and got the mini-pods all lined up.
Yukikaze also couldn't decide on who she would need. For the moment, she interviewed them one by one to ask about their eagerness to join. But to the casual observer, it looked like they were merely playing at being interviewed.
Gunmerry walked away from the noisy circle of A.I.s and Yukikaze and looked through the drawings on the tablet.
The A.I.s' dream of the plain and the tower.
Their primordial memory that was like a vision of a distant day.
『Souya(proper pronunciation), things have finally reached this point』
Gunmerry’s distant murmur was lost in the noisy hubbub.
Caught up in the atmosphere, Yukikaze, Makina, and the mini-pods formed a huddle to psych each other up.
＜To be continued＞
[1] This is a reference to the painting titled “D'où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous?(Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?)” by French artist Paul Gauguin. Viewed as a masterpiece, the painting is considered "a philosophical work comparable to the themes of the Gospels”. The painting from right to left suggests the cycle of "birth-sin-death". (Pic courtesy of wikipedia.org taken by Museum of Fine Arts Boston)
Can we take a moment to applaud the author? First, they showed us the fact that Wild Hunt’s effects affect even the modern world, where magic isn’t supposed to work, and that Souya has truly lost his bonds. And then right at the very end, a bond that shouldn’t exist is revealed… What a great way to present a twist.
Quick note, I hope you haven’t forgotten, but everyone in the alternate world mostly pronounces Souya’s name wrongly in a very subtle way. Even Makina and Yukikaze. They all call him Sooya. This Gunmerry, however, calls him by correct pronunciation. Once again I apologize for this. I wanted to avoid all the amazing confusion that would be caused by the MC’s name being weird without the author noting it. In retrospect, most readers would have figured it out and I probably could have made it work, but I was influenced by the fact that the manga translators were already using “Souya”, and Souya does clarify exactly how his name is pronounced at a later point. Funnily enough, the recently published English version of the LN also does the same, I believe. (One particular 4-star review about it being a good middle-of-the-road, even-keeled experience made me wince, cuz they have no idea what’s waiting in volume 2 lol)
Did you find it a bit sad that in the end, Souya’s sacrifices seem to have been completely in vain? The only reason why he had gone to the alternate world was to help pay for Yukikaze’s surgery, so doesn’t this feel kinda empty? Yeah, he gained a lot from it, but still……
And that’s it for this side story! Did you enjoy it? Yukikaze is going to the alternate world! When will she show up in the main story?! It’s both sad and great for me. Well, see you in volume 10!
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