novelraw Chapter 106
Chapter 106
Chapter 106
I had run here as fast as I could, yet just before I arrived, it seemed our kids’ fight had already ended.
All around were scattered parts of broken Androids, and at the entrance lay the corpses of a few Trolls.
‘I was a little late.’
It had almost been a dangerous situation.
But in the end, everyone seemed to be safe, and that was a relief. Of course, after such an intense battle, it looked impossible for them to keep fighting any longer.
‘Can’t be helped.’
While they rested in place, I went around clearing the sector that the Special Class had been in charge of.
Well, it had originally been my task anyway, so I didn’t mind much.
When I came back, the Special Class seemed to have recovered a bit of stamina. They were sitting together in one spot, and beside them was the Colony’s Head of Security, Joshua Patton.
It was only after the urgent situation had been resolved that I found myself wondering why he was even here, but I decided not to press it. It was thanks to him, after all, that our kids had made it through unscathed.
Anyway, I wanted to let them rest more, but there was no time.
“Get up, everyone. We need to head back.”
At my order, the four of them stood up one by one. I contacted the shelter to report that the subjugation operation was complete, and soon received a reply that a cleanup team would arrive for finishing work.
Once I shared the news, everyone’s expressions brightened.
At that moment, Iri asked me,
“Headmaster.”
“What is it?”
“What happened to Ciel? It looked like there was some kind of problem earlier.”
“She’s safe. She’s released from the Deep Dive now and is resting with Miyu.”
I had received Ciel’s report just before arriving here. After fighting against a hostile, unidentified program, she had won and even managed to extract some useful information.
When I relayed that, Iri finally looked relieved. She probably felt responsible for Ciel in her own way.
It seemed she was slowly growing into the role of a leader, and that pleased me.
“So what should we do now?”
“We’re heading straight back to the Academy. There’s no time to waste, so listen as we move.”
I explained what had happened earlier when I met Araya again, and also shared details of the incident unfolding at the Academy.
Of course, I didn’t forget to edit the story properly when it came to matters related to the Transmigrator.
“Why is that man so obsessed with us anyway?”
“I don’t know. Probably some religious conviction or something.”
“I suppose that must be it……”
Luckily, since he was from a pseudo-religious cult, I could attach any reason I wanted and no one doubted it.
“So the next goal is……”
“The rescue mission at the Academy. I’ll break through the Academy’s defense system, and you’ll enter to save the students. In the meantime, I’ll track down and capture the real body of that cultist monk.”
Once I finished explaining, Iri cautiously asked,
“Wouldn’t it be better to call the police?”
“Do you trust them?”
“……No.”
“Exactly.”
What citizen of New Valhalla City would ever trust the VCPD, the epitome of corruption? They’d overlook any crime if enough money was shoved into their hands.
Well, the bigger reason was simply that my plan was to make Iri into a hero. But when I framed it that way, the Special Class didn’t doubt me and agreed without hesitation.
‘Good thing they’re honest kids.’
Iri, Silence, Miyu, and Ciel.
All of them had been companions of the protagonist in the original story, and as such, they each had strong senses of justice.
When I nudged at their human compassion with lines like, “Are you just going to sit by while your friends are dying?”, convincing them wasn’t too difficult.
Once I finished explaining everything, I led the three from the Special Class along with Joshua Patton back to the shelter.
“Welcome, Young Master. I have prepared a plane to take you back to the Academy at once.”
“Well done. Wait a moment.”
The one who greeted us upon arrival was Maria.
I told Iri to take her teammates and board the plane first, then called Patton aside to speak in private.
“Joshua Patton.”
“Yes, sir. You called for me, Headmaster.”
He still carried himself with military discipline, though there was a faint trace of awkwardness in him.
But by now, I was starting to realize that this appearance of his was nothing but a mask.
“You’ve made a great contribution this time.”
“N-no, sir. In the end, it was you who handled the entire Production Colony. I didn’t do anything.”
“We don’t have much time, so I’d rather you skip pointless modesty.”
“I-I apologize if I’ve offended you.”
“Never mind. Let me be direct. If there’s something you want, I’ll grant you one request. Speak.”
“W-what?!”
Patton looked extremely startled, but really, wasn’t this the least I could do? He had saved our kids, after all.
Of course, I could have just overlooked the fact that he broke regulations and entered the operation zone without permission, but I wasn’t in the mood for that.
If he had done well, then he deserved a reward.
“We’re short on time, so answer quickly.”
“C-can it really be anything at all?”
“……Within reason.”
If I told this lunatic in disguise “anything,” who knew what disaster might happen? So I hurried to add conditions.
After a moment’s hesitation, Patton pulled something from his breast pocket and handed it to me.
“Please take this.”
“Hm. What is it?”
“A business card with the contact information of an acquaintance of mine. You wouldn’t know him, Headmaster, but he was once an excellent member of our group.”
“And?”
“You wouldn’t remember, but this elder brother of mine once offended you, and for that, he was dismissed from his post.”
“In short, you want me to bring him back?”
“Yes.”
Patton nodded without the slightest hesitation.
Well, well. To ask me face-to-face to take responsibility and bring back someone I fired myself—this guy really couldn’t hide his lunatic streak until the end.
“……And if the person doesn’t want to return?”
“Then you may forget the request.”
“Hm.”
I examined the card Patton had given me.
Sensing my gaze, the digital card projected a hologram. Along with a blue logo, a somewhat unmotivated male voice played.
“Uh…… well…… as long as you pay me, I can solve anything. Your all-purpose troubleshooter, ‘Bluecoat Problem Solver Office.’”
What? Bluecoat?
As soon as I heard that name, my eyes widened without me realizing it. I never imagined it would come up here.
“Why do you look like that?”
“……It’s nothing.”
Because that so-called troubleshooter had been one of the important figures in the original story.
At one point, I had even debated whether pulling him to my side should take priority over establishing the Student Council.
‘To think it would connect like this.’
I had known ‘he’ was once from the Stingray Security Division, but I never imagined he’d be someone I had fired.
The fact that Joshua Patton had ties to him was surprising, but what shocked me even more was that it had been me before transmigration who had dismissed the man.
‘Just how much karma did you pile up, Aaron Stingray…….’
Grumbling inwardly, I slipped the card into my pocket. The fact that I hadn’t handed it to my secretary, Maria, but instead received it ‘myself,’ would have been enough to send the right message.
“Th-thank you!”
“Then I expect you to continue working hard for our group, Director Joshua Patton.”
I was just about to turn away when,
“W-wait a moment, Headmaster.”
“What now?”
“Th-that is……”
He stared fixedly at my forehead, his lips twitching as if to speak, then finally withdrew the hand he had stretched out to grab me.
“No…… it’s nothing. Please return safely.”
“Hm.”
A somewhat unsettling reaction.
But I had no intention of prying further, so I turned toward the light aircraft waiting at the airfield.
Step by step.
I climbed the stairs, passed through the entrance, and just as I set foot inside the cabin—
“Ouch!”
Something above my head slammed into the ceiling and screamed.
Only then did I realize that Evangeline was still sitting on my shoulders, riding piggyback.
“Aaron! That hurt! You need to be careful!”
“I-I told you! I said it already!”
“[Wasn’t that a ghost?!]”
The ones already seated inside the cabin leapt up in shock.
“Headmaster, who is that girl?!”
“S-so I wasn’t the only one who could see her…….”
“[I was sure you’d brought back some ghost-type Mystic stuck to you.]”
“I totally missed the right timing to ask about it~”
A chorus of different reactions.
Wait, hold on.
Did that mean I’d been walking around all this time with her perched on my shoulders? Because so many things had piled up in quick succession, I had completely erased her from my mind……!
She was so light that I’d even forgotten she was sitting on me.
Why hadn’t anyone warned me…… though, of course, the reason was obvious.
‘They were all keeping their mouths shut because of me……!’
A supposedly cold-blooded superior, who had entered an Otherworld-Transformed zone and returned with a child dangling on his shoulders, acting as if nothing was unusual?
Who would ever think that was a living child? The natural assumption was that I’d brought back some ghost.
Especially since among Mystics, there really were child-spirit ghosts, and sometimes Adaptees returning from hunts brought one back with them.
And because those spirits tended to lash out at anyone who recognized them, the usual practice was to say nothing, even if one saw them.
Anyway, after being hit with Anti-Rain a few times inside the city, they normally disappeared on their own.
“Haa……”
A sigh escaped me.
If no one else, Maria at least should have told me.
I glared at her with that thought.
“S-sorry…….”
Maria bowed her head deeply.
It seemed she had mistaken Evangeline for a child-ghost spirit. And since mana could be sensed from her, she had been all the more convinced.
Normally, child-ghosts looked East Asian, but Evangeline—with her platinum hair and red eyes—had raised some suspicion. Still……
“Since you had returned from an Otherworld-Transformed region, I thought it not strange if you’d brought back a European child-ghost. I apologize……”
“……”
I had nothing to say.
Who else could I blame?
I was the one who had forgotten that I was carrying a child on my shoulders and felt no strangeness at all.
With a sigh, I lifted Evangeline down from my shoulders.
The Special Class students immediately surrounded her with curious eyes, and even Evangeline, proud as she usually was, seemed flustered at being hemmed in by older, bigger kids.
“S-so, Headmaster! Who is this adorable girl?!”
Kssare in particular reacted intensely, and Evangeline turned to me in panic, silently begging for rescue.
“A-Aaron……!”
“……”
What did she expect me to do?
Handle it yourself.