Chapter 193

Techno-Wizard.

In battle, the importance of what was commonly called a “wizard” could not be overstated.

It was the same as in games or fantasy novels, where a party’s combat power or utility could differ by several times depending on whether they had a mage.

Modern wizards were a crucial position that could dramatically raise the abilities of front-line combatants.

Of course, against supernatural beings like the [Mystic], hacking didn’t work, so they tended to be pushed a little to the back, and for that reason the Academy didn’t particularly train them as specialists…….

Anyway, in this world it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the success or failure of an operation depended on whether a wizard was present.

Therefore I had brought Ciel along for this job to increase the odds even a little.

No matter how much I had the scammy module called [Blackout], just having the novice wizard Ciel there opened up countless options I could choose.

“I’ll explain only the basic framework of the operation since information on the lab is lacking.”

“……”

“You’re not going to answer?”

“……”

“Hmm.”

Sniffle sniffle.

Ciel only sniffed and wiped the tears flowing down her cheeks. Her silence was probably her way of protesting.

In other words, a silent demonstration.

She sat there with an oddly sulky expression, silently clutching the seatbelt tight.

Well, I could understand that mood to some extent, but if she behaved like that I couldn’t help being a little petty in return.

“……1.25 billion credits.”

“……?”

“That’s how much it cost to replace your parts up to now.”

“……?!”

I glanced at Ciel’s face out of the corner of my eye and continued.

“They’re expensive parts, so they’re worth the money. They even perfectly reproduced the swelling around the eyes after crying. I’m pretty sure that one was about twenty million.”

Was it only the facial part?

From hair, body, shoulders, arms, chest, back, hips, legs, thighs, calves, down to the feet, Ciel was now covered in protein skin made from artificial cells.

And what about the insides.

They had ripped out all the existing parts meant for Maid Androids and implanted artificial organs modeled on human viscera — an esophagus, stomach, heart, small intestine, large intestine, liver, kidneys, and so on.

Because of that, her durability had become much weaker, but Ciel could now eat and defecate like an ordinary human.

And the programming.

They had delicately altered the AI core settings to reproduce a human hormonal secretion system as closely as possible.

Thanks to that, Ciel would feel like she was waking up in the morning with serotonin being released when she saw the sun, and conversely feel sleepy when night fell or after long periods of activity.

Of course, that wasn’t all.

All the hacking tools and modules Ciel was using now had originally been for humans. She had customized them to operate according to her specs through a component called a “power pack.”

As I had said earlier, Ciel, CL-00245, was basically a “supply-grade” Maid Android deployed by the Academy for ordinary students, not corporate scholarship students.

Naturally, more than ninety percent of the parts I’d mentioned were specially ordered and custom-made by me, and the remaining less than ten percent were off-the-shelf items produced in small quantities to satisfy the niche tastes of customers who felt sexual desire for androids.

If someone wanted to do “that” with a robot, they’d buy a dedicated love doll—who would mod a Maid Android like that?

In short, such parts were even more expensive.

Complaining I was showing off?

Yeah, I was showing off.

But didn’t the poor of Sector E deserve to flex a little if they’d paid enough money to make a body that could live comfortably for life?

“That new facial part makes that sad expression so painfully real. If you really hate it, I’ll take it off.”

“……I’m sorry. I’ll do my best.”

Ciel suddenly realized how thoughtlessly she’d been swiping her card.

Alright, sometimes you had to pay for your meals. Right?

By the time we finished that little squabble, we passed through the city limits and left New Valhalla City, going past Sector E.

Ordinary flying vehicles couldn’t come and go from the city like that, but luckily I had a free pass. If I hadn’t, the city guard would’ve stopped us and fined us.

That was fortunate in that regard, but it also created a record of when, how, and in which direction I left the city.

Stingray Group would probably get that information soon enough, and naturally it would reach Benedict’s ears.

They were likely preparing thoroughly.

“So, what was the operation you were going to talk about earlier?”

“Right. Now that we’d left the city, this was about the time to start.”

I stopped the car along the way.

“Your first mission is to copy the report form and make a ‘fake report.’”

“Excuse me? A fake report? What are you going to do with that?”

“I plan to lure Vladimir out.”

“Wha—!?”

Ciel looked flustered.

“What are you planning to do after bringing him here?”

“Did you really think I’d try to break through that fortress head-on?”

“Ah, wasn’t that the plan?”

“If I were alone, maybe. But this time, you’re with me.”

Of course, back when I first swore revenge, my plan had been to burn down the entire place where Benedict was hiding. But now, after several months, my head had cooled somewhat.

“I plan to infiltrate while minimizing any detection by defensive radar. And for that, I’ll need Vladimir’s power to handle the Energy Force Field.”

That guy’s [Energy Force Field] module didn’t just generate a powerful energy shield nearby—it allowed him to freely manipulate the flow of energy itself.

My guess was, if the module he possessed truly was an Lv.5 Arcane Module, he could probably form a cloaking field instead of a shield.

Even if my guess turned out wrong, having Vladimir along would still make the infiltration much safer and faster.

“But he hates you, Aaron.”

“Yeah. He does. He doesn’t trust me either. The truth is, even helping me last time was almost on a whim. I made a deal to find his whereabouts in exchange for handing over ‘Benedict’s research data’… but I think the offer didn’t really interest him much.”

“Why not?”

“If he’d truly wanted that data, he would’ve gone after it himself.”

He didn’t trust me anyway, so he wouldn’t have expected me to hand over the research data. Even if he never showed it, I knew.

“Then why did he help you?”

“He just wanted to stir up a fight between brothers.”

“Ahh……”

The eldest and second sons of the Stingray Family were seriously at odds with each other. No matter who won, the Stingray Group would suffer during the process, and that was exactly what Vladimir was after.

“So how do you plan to lure him in?”

“He doesn’t trust me. So I’ll use that against him.”

I smirked.

“Say there’s someone you hate, despise, and don’t trust—he’s planning to burn down his brother’s house. He tells you, ‘If there’s anything useful inside, I’ll give it to you,’ but you don’t believe him. You just want both brothers to die in the fire.”

“And then?”

“But what if that burning house actually contains the very thing you’ve been searching for?”

“Then I’d sneak into the brother’s fight and try to grab ‘that item’ myself. Ah, I get it now.”

Ciel nodded.

“So basically, you’re going to leak fake information to Mr. Vladimir—like there’s something in the secret lab that he desperately needs.”

“Exactly.”

“Then what kind of information could tempt him?”

“A module.”

I answered immediately.

“He’s got a strong inferiority complex toward me. I’d guess that becoming an Adaptee through military nanomachines, and arming himself with high-level modules, were all because he wanted to compete with me.”

I recalled our first conversation. He had said, ‘Did you think you were the only one with an Lv.5 Arcane Module?’

“But Vladimir still hasn’t caught up to me. I have four Game Changers, while he only has one.”

“Even having one is incredible though…”

“True. But he won’t be satisfied. He’ll probably try to get his hands on another Game-Changer-level module that suits him somehow.”

But unlike me—who had literally been born as a ‘combat weapon’—he was originally just an ordinary human. Taking in even two modules would probably be a stretch for him.

“So we leak information that development data for a new high-level module usable by him is hidden in the secret lab. He’ll bite without a second thought.”

“Hmm. I think I get how to do it. Then, one more question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Even if I make a fake report, how do we deliver it? The reporting lines must be different. And even if we send it, won’t he notice the format’s wrong? The report you gave me and the one he receives probably use different templates.”

“You don’t need to worry about the format.”

“Huh?”

“First, he’s unemployed now. He’s probably been getting reports through his personal email, not the official line. So how we send it doesn’t matter.”

“And the format?”

“Second, he emailed me directly.”

That report was probably in the standard format used by the Militech Intelligence Division. Vladimir must’ve skimmed through a subordinate’s report, found nothing useful, and casually forwarded it to me.

“Eh, but still……”

“Do you think he’d bother editing the report before sending it to me?”

“……”

Ciel suddenly looked convinced. With a slightly awkward expression, she started filling in the base template to create the new ‘fake report.’

It didn’t take long.

For anything she couldn’t think of, she just wrote things like ‘Further investigation required.’

Soon enough, she was done. When I checked, the result looked quite convincing.

“Alright, now send this to Vladimir. Time to show off your Wizard skills.”

“Okay.”

Unfortunately, my [Blackout] module tended to lose power when there wasn’t nearby hardware to seize control of.

Ciel, being a Wizard who could freely cross networks, would have no trouble changing the sender address and such.

“S-so, should I send it now?”

“Go ahead.”

Ciel sent the fake email containing the forged report to Vladimir. But even after completing the task, she still looked uneasy.

“Will it really work?”

“Doesn’t matter if it doesn’t.”

I was only trying because having Vladimir along would make things easier. If he realized it was fake halfway through, then I’d just proceed with Ciel alone, as planned.

“Let’s get moving again.”

“O-okay…”

Once Vladimir realized I’d already left, his impatience would make him more likely to take the bait. We’d done all we could; the fake report was out there, moving through the network.

Now all we had to do was focus on our own mission.

As I continued driving toward our destination with that thought—Vladimir called.

“It’s me.”

[Aaron Stingray. Have you already departed? No, seeing as the call connects, you must still be relatively close to the city.]

Vladimir’s voice sounded a little rushed.

“What’s the matter?”

I asked, feigning calm.

Then Vladimir replied:

[I’m coming with you.]

This guy was such an easy catch.

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