Chapter 41

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

After talking with Miyu for quite a while longer, Aaron left her with a few words of advice before turning his back.

Just before leaving Miyu’s workshop, he looked at Iri with a strangely mischievous expression and said,

“Are you upset because you didn’t get any attention?”

“W-What are you talking ab—!”

Iri tried to shout back, but for a moment, it was as if something had blocked her throat, and no words came out.

Instead, the computer connected to her started blaring noisy alerts.

–Warning! Warning!

–Rapid increase in heart rate! Rapid increase in body temperature!

“Ughhhhh! Shut up!”

It felt like her face was about to explode.

Iri irritably tried to rip off the electrodes attached to her body.

Miyu, who was beside her, quickly stopped her, saying, “Iriiii! I-If you do that, it’ll breakkkk!” but her words didn’t reach Iri at all.

Meanwhile, Aaron left the workshop with a look of satisfaction on his face.

However, even after he left, Iri continued thrashing about like some kind of monster before finally managing to calm down.

“…Phew. Endure it, endure it. Don’t get caught up in his pace. I have to be calm and mature.”

I had to grow.

Grow in any way possible, so that I could break free from the ‘past’ self Aaron had mentioned.

It wasn’t even like Aaron had said anything particularly amazing, but repeating that resolve to herself, Iri clenched her fist tightly.

But only for a moment—then she noticed Miyu beside her, sniffling and holding something in her hands.

Apparently, in her rampage, she had broken something after all.

“S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fineee… I can just fix ittt…”

She didn’t look fine at all.

Wondering how best to apologize, Iri decided it might be better to just steer the conversation elsewhere.

While searching for a new topic in a hurry, she carelessly blurted out a question—

“A-Anyway, what were you talking about with that guy earlier? For someone just asking you to make something, the conversation went on for a while.”

That guy?

The moment she said it, something felt off. Until recently, she hadn’t paid it any mind, but now… it bothered her strangely.

The problem was that she didn’t know what to call him instead.

Mr. Aaron? Chairman?

Mr. Stingray? Sponsor?

None of them felt right. Suddenly acting too familiar felt wrong too. She would have to think more about his title later.

Soon Miyu answered the question.

“He said he needed a lottt… He gave me detailed specifications for the shield you’ll be using… and then asked about module customization, and also about the SS chip…”

“SS chip? Why that?”

“I’m not sureee… Maybe he just wanted to see how much knowledge I had… SS chips aren’t the same field as module manufacturing, but there’s some overlappp…”

Hmm.

I thought about it for a moment, but nothing came to mind.

Well, there was no way I could figure out what that guy was thinking anyway.

Iri tried to brush it off like that, but the thought refused to leave her head.

In that moment, the words he had spoken just before leaving Miyu’s workshop flashed back.

–Are you upset because you didn’t get any attention?

Along with those words came the memory of last night. Aaron’s black back appearing in a moment of crisis, and her own sniveling, childlike self…

“Ugh! Please, just kill me… please…!”

“I-Iri! What’s wronggg!? Calm down!”

Iri wanted to die from the shame of reliving such a dark memory, while Miyu tried once again to calm her down.

…It seemed Iri still had a long way to go if she wanted to grow.

Right after leaving Miyu’s workshop, my destination was the Academy. The flying sedan driven by Maria stopped in the parking lot of the Stingray Corporation office on the 249th floor.

Using an inspection of the Academy as an excuse, I slipped out of the office alone and headed for a quiet place.

“Module Online.”

Activating [Mimic], I borrowed the appearance of ‘Benedict’ and headed straight to the meeting spot—Ciel’s hideout.

After sitting in a chair and waiting for a while, Ciel finally appeared. From the moment she opened the door, she didn’t bother to hide her displeasure.

“…You’ve come.”

The moment she saw my face, she frowned and immediately said that.

It was hard to guess her exact thoughts. Was she dissatisfied because the operation had failed? Or…

While I was considering that, Ciel opened her mouth.

“Mr. Benedict. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to cooperate with you any further.”

“Why not?”

“Because you crossed the line.”

Ciel still mistook me for Benedict. She also believed that the reason Leon’s gang had bullied Iri was because I had manipulated them.

Perhaps too angry to be scared, she continued speaking without backing down.

“Actually, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while now. No matter the goal, this was too much. Maybe to you she’s just a ‘character,’ but here, she’s a living person.”

“So?”

“So? Your plan—which involved putting Iri through such a painful experience—ended up failing anyway! You failed to get rid of Aaron Stingray, and all we got in return was a measly bit of contribution!”

“So, you’re saying you want to break our cooperation?”

When I asked in a threatening tone, Ciel finally seemed a little intimidated, shrinking slightly. But she didn’t back down completely.

“Aaron Stingray probably gained a huge amount of contribution from this. And he must have received a massive reward as well.”

“That’s likely.”

“I don’t think we can close that gap now. From the start, his starting line was different from ours, and I doubt he’s the kind of person careless enough to let another competitor overtake him. In short…”

Ciel paused for a moment, then cautiously revealed her main point.

“Why don’t we just cooperate with Aaron Stingray instead?”

I see. So this is where she’s going with it?

Intrigued, I nodded for her to continue. That way, I could hear what she was really thinking.

“Actually, Aaron Stingray as he is now is just like us—a Transmigrator. He’s not that cheat-like murder machine from the novel.”

“Go on.”

“So maybe we could reason with him. I’m one of the main characters of Act 3 in Part 1, and you’re his younger brother, right?”

“Hmm.”

Is that all she’s got?

She didn’t seem as sharp as I expected. Maybe it was fear, or maybe it was just that as a maid android, the information she could get was limited—there were plenty of gaps.

“Your plan has a serious flaw. First of all—”

I argued back at Ciel’s words.

“Aaron Stingray killed even the protagonist just for being a Transmigrator. Do you think he’d let you or me live?”

“T-That’s…”

“Besides, I’ve already tried to assassinate him once. If that fact ever comes to light, I’ll definitely be killed by his hands. Didn’t you think of that?”

“Ugh…”

She fell silent with a flustered look, as if her words had been cut off.

Which meant what she’d said earlier was her true intention.

After a short moment of thought, she offered another proposal.

“Then let’s do this instead.”

Ciel stared into empty air for a moment.

Soon, a box appeared in her hand. I couldn’t tell what was inside, but for its size, it looked fairly heavy.

She must have used the Point Shop, and in the sales list, there was only one thing about that size.

‘Don’t tell me that’s…’

Of course, it was possible my shop list and hers were different, but chances were high that it was ‘that.’

My head was already starting to ache before I even checked what it was. But without changing her expression, Ciel held it out to me.

“Let’s call this a settlement.”

“This is… what?”

“My contribution rate from this incident was 13%. The reward for that was 1,200 Points. I spent 500 of those Points to buy this item.”

Damn it, even the price matched.

That made it even more certain.

This was that.

“I-It might look a bit crude, but it’s a useful item. You should probably open it when you’re alone.”

“…Why are you giving this to me?”

“I told you—it’s a settlement.”

Quickly regaining her composure, Ciel said,

“Even if it’s to survive, I can’t agree with the method you used before.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was a fan of this world too, you know. Why else would I have participated in that troublesome ‘Quiz Event’ and even gotten an honorable mention? Well, the result is what it is, but still.”

“So, you don’t like my method?”

“I didn’t say that much. But the truth is, it’s hard for me to keep working with you. Even if you ignore the fact that I’m just a maid android.”

It was a declaration of separation.

In short, she didn’t like the idea of tormenting characters just to desperately cling to life.

“So I’m just going to keep my head down and live quietly. If Aaron Stingray finds me, well… it can’t be helped.”

“Is that really your answer?”

“Yes. That’s the best I can offer. It’s basically a bribe. I’ll keep my mouth shut, so I want you to pretend you don’t know me.”

“…”

I fell into thought.

How should I take her words—and this gift?

Thinking positively—

This steel ○○ was actually something Miyu had wanted.

Whatever it looked like, it was a very useful tool, and Ciel had spent her own Points to give it to me.

They say the best gift is something you wouldn’t buy with your own money but still need. Well, I wasn’t exactly happy, but it wasn’t bad to receive it.

‘She’s serious, huh…’

If what she said was true, spending 500P out of 1,200P was a significant gesture of sincerity on her part.

‘And she said her contribution rate was 13%. That, added to my 87%, makes exactly 100%.’

That meant the two of us had monopolized all the contribution for Act 1, Part 1. In other words, there was a high chance that Ciel was the only other Transmigrator in the Academy.

That was extremely useful information.

After considering the various factors, my thoughts gradually leaned toward one side, and I soon reached a conclusion.

“…Alright, this will do.”

Her way of thinking, her behavioral patterns…

She wasn’t going to get in my way. In fact, she might even be useful.

‘More than anything, having one person I can share my fandom with isn’t a bad thing.’

Honestly, that was the biggest reason.

I nodded in satisfaction and said to her,

“You pass, Ciel.”

“Pass? Uh… I’m not really sure what you mean, but in that case, I’ll head back. I slipped out in the middle of work, so if I’m gone too long, the android manager will get suspicious.”

She then moved to leave the hideout, adding,

“Sorry it ended like this. I wish you good luck.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Huh?”

Ciel frowned and asked, and instead of answering, I took off my mask.

Module Offline.

Deactivating [Mimic], I began returning to my own appearance—hair color, face, height, clothing, everything.

“You said you’d cooperate with me.”

Once my appearance was fully restored, I looked at Ciel and said,

“You’re more than welcome, Ciel.”

“Y-y-y-y-y-you’re…!”

Upon seeing my face, Ciel’s face turned ashen. In that moment, I realized for the first time that even an android could go pale.

“Ggghhhrrrk.”

Making a strange sound, Ciel collapsed.

Her eyes rolled back and smoke rose from her.

“Seriously…”

…She seemed to be broken.

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