Chapter 282

“……Excuse me. Ms. Anastasia, who has received a daily access permit, I have just completed the verification of authenticity against the main server. Since I have no recollection of meeting you separately at the management office or front gate, I suppose everyone seems to have been overly cautious, for which I cannot express my gratitude.”

“No, I understand that the rest of the ‘escort’ stands out a bit. I’m just here for one day because of some advertising, so you don’t need to worry too much about it.”

Somehow, I confirmed the identification process by awkwardly returning greetings with the representative, who seemed to be reluctantly nudged out by the pressure of the other security personnel.

The reason I didn’t recognize this side member and had no memory of encountering them… is probably because both I and Show’s party used the exclusive rooftop entrance while avoiding the normal ground entrance. Yes.

Normally, I would have wandered around with just an electronic permit issued by a director-level employee without any inconveniences, but in an emergency situation, being subjected to the suspicious gaze of the security officer is unavoidable.

When entering and exiting places that should require proper procedures, one must inherently accept some degree of side effects if one acted with such authority abusively.

Except when handling hacker tasks or requests, I pride myself on always behaving within the bounds of common sense and trying to maintain public order.

So, those two people back there…!

No, one droid and one person!! I truly appreciate your concern about me potentially receiving unfair treatment or suffering harm, but just staring at me while bleeding profusely isn’t at all helpful in resolving the conflict, you know??

Especially when I asked to have one prisoner for interrogation, and while I’m pulling and tugging on the arms of the last survivor, trying to figure out how to split him, it makes things worse!

“…So, how many did you capture? I have ended up with seven.”

– Unfortunately… I also have seven. This is quite a coincidence. –

“You guys, were you still going on about that ridiculous story…?”

I remembered that there was nothing included in the bet or that I could stake as compensation, and since my evaluated major field had entirely wandered off in a different direction, I don’t see what was so important, but anyway.

In fact, the description that both of them were covered in blood because they had overwhelmingly dealt with the enemies… was somewhat exaggerated. Only the faint residual heat of combat spoke of the earlier intensity.

There wasn’t even a splatter scene in the hallway.

Instead of being a horrific massacre scene, the neatly organized pile of corpses, divided into two heaps, felt more like the aftermath of a tragic industrial disaster than a scene of slaughter.

Well, from Arcadia’s perspective, while they were engaged in a good match, it would not necessarily be wrong to describe it as a disaster since I found myself unexpectedly crushed by a dump truck that came out of nowhere.

…I can’t believe they stacked the points they earned so visibly in order to be clear about it.

No matter how little the concept of human rights dwells in the minds of criminals, this is just too inhumane; they should rather say they did it out of consideration for me. I’m not joking; I mean it seriously.

“Hiie… Hic!!”

And this isn’t very good news: as you can guess from the strange groan, the state of the surviving man was a bit iffy.

Having witnessed his siblings being slaughtered in an instant, wasn’t it a natural reaction for the rear engineer, who was controlling a group of droids with a tablet PC instead of a gun?

But when it came down to it, saying he didn’t seem ready to die for the noble cause of the order might be too harsh an evaluation?

For now, having successfully gone live over the airwaves, there would surely be far more public interest and attention than those who would die here today, and a broader range of hopeful participants would be interested, so Arcadia would suffer very little long-term loss.

The jeweler was already looking over new catalogs with the insurance money he received, but the goods that were originally there had been smashed by a hammer. Sadly.

“Heh, heh! It’s way too late, you minions of this corporation and mechanical will!! Already too late to stop the broadcast, and our comrades must have started destroying the broadcast station’s AI!”

‘……This bastard?’

But evoking sad metaphors for justification, the captured man began to babble uncontrollably as soon as I got closer, as if he had been waiting for the opportunity.

As a result, a vein or some blood vessel near my forehead bulged with a pop!

After all, it wouldn’t do any good to speak to a combat droid or a faceless special agent. If he wanted to express his position, it would make sense to do so to me, who had appeared like a responsible person….

Suddenly, a human who had been engulfed in survival instincts and fear seemed to make a decision, and that thought couldn’t help but cross my mind; surely, it felt like he was picking an easy target.

“You don’t even realize you’re nothing but puppets! It is pitiful that you suppress us, who fight for humanity’s freedom…!”

“Yes, yes, go ahead. That part doesn’t matter. I’m just curious about the composition of the kids who broke into the news room and the position of the patrols; I’m not particularly concerned about the toilets of the broadcast station where you waged your crusade.”

“……Uh??”

I put aside my pathetic impression that he was still tossing around AI hatred on the side.

When I abruptly cut him off, as if it was a hassle to entertain him, he hung his arms and body, producing a vacant expression while groaning.

If there’s a needle that can pierce the armored belief named faith most painfully and torturously, isn’t it indifference?

Positive feedback from the enemy becomes praise, while negative feedback is equated with martyrdom, yet complete disregard… would be terribly painful to witness one’s submission not being evaluated and thrown into the trash.

That wasn’t the intention.

Again, I had no intention of making a desperate man, whose future was already dim, even more hopeless!

Yet, as I found myself cruelly imitating the act of driving a needle into a belief that was already cracked and an empty wound where life had been thrown away, I had become abruptly tired and gestured pathetically to Zero and Masanari.

Hey, make him turn his head, and try cutting here with a knife.

…No, I didn’t mean to tell you to chop off his head randomly, just to take off his suit! I just want information; I’m not trying to torture anyone. What do you take me for?

“At least not begging for my life is somewhat comforting to me. Let’s keep this simple.”

“Ugh! What, are you doing…?! Uh, uh??

Zing!

With my index and middle fingers resting near the temple of the sweat-soaked man, I sent out a simple command signal.

I wasn’t accessing his cyberware.

Not knowing the activation conditions exactly yet, I certainly didn’t have the mind to risk deeply accessing the psyche of someone who was psychologically unstable and losing it.

I just wanted to suppress the security protocols and functions that were trying to activate forcefully, as turning around and suddenly informing my other companions about our destination would be troublesome.

Wouldn’t reporting that the hastily assembled task force lost to security and combat be very different from reporting that they were attacked by a professional killer?

I wanted to finish quickly in one go, not to wrestle with lunatics and hostages.

“……What the hell.”

It wasn’t as if we were going to a shop to receive an inspection with mutual consent; for someone living in this age, having the interface of cyberware that had always filled their vision forcefully blocked by another was certainly a new experience, leading him to mutter a slight curse.

I didn’t know the principle behind it, but the communication was cut off, and it felt like someone was rummaging through his head, which was frightening. Then, as a final nail.

“Now, was it ‘for heretics, bullets; and for those who understand, refrain from hands’? Why don’t I ask exactly how many of your Paladin and Crusader-level combatants were deployed in this operation? Two professionals here will judge on the spot if you’re lying.”

“…….”

I actively quoted the doctrines and ranks of Arcadia, which parades itself as a religion for the people.

I know enough about your internal affairs; hiding it halfway is useless, and displaying that everything is over caused the man, who had previously looked at me like a monster, to gradually start spitting out the information about his members with a look of resignation.

Meanwhile, I glanced toward the broadcast screen again, where our announcer Erin repeatedly showcased her fierce self-assertion while being physically punished… having gathered all the information I needed, I felt an even stronger urge to leave and to hurry.

Understanding that the appearance of such a scene during a nationwide live news broadcast might lead to a smooth future career for her, it was entirely reasonable, but really, show some moderation like this is some kind of cult; you crazy lady.

It’s making the viewers increasingly distraught.

“……Go down the B building stairs and head straight to the news room via the shortest route. In the news room, there are three ex-mercenary pro fighters, one of whom is a cybernetic Paladin with head control. Everyone remembers? Let’s go.”

I figured the security who had kindly waited for us to exercise the rights of the victors could take care of the prisoner’s transfer and promptly turned my body.

At that moment, the solid frontline combatants, Zero and Masanari, also promptly followed me closely….

Crash!

– Eight. I win. Please concede. –

“!? That’s truly unfair! Not only did you catch them simultaneously, but how can you say you procured one after incapacitating them…?”

…Let me correct that. It was Zero who first knocked down the man who spat out everything he knew, successfully achieving the feat of astonishing the pursuer.

And then Masanari followed up a beat late, complaining about the injustice.

Well, it’s pointless to look at me. I’m not in a mood to call it a victory judgment; you bunch of unexciting guys!

However, feeling a bit embarrassed to be angry, as I followed the directions given, I poked through the gaps in Arcadia’s surveillance network and quickly approached the vicinity of the broadcast room.

To my surprise, I encountered someone who also didn’t seem particularly tense.

When viewed from a distance, it seemed mismatched with the situation, and I didn’t realize it until now, but seeing Zero Unit 1 familiar by her side… Manager Bethany? What’s going on? Didn’t she hear the evacuation broadcast?

“…!!”

Her face, which appeared dazed as if her soul had escaped, dramatically changed through various expressions once she saw me.

First, there was joy at meeting someone she knew; then, awareness that this wasn’t a situation to celebrate; and finally, tears of relief flowing as if something had finally been liberated.

What was going on with her? What on earth is happening?

“Ms. Anastasia! No, Lady? Lady Anastasia?? Anyway, earlier I was so rude… and I really, really want to express my gratitude, but she’s too scary—!!”