Chapter 153: Arrogance
The battle of the second night ended inconclusively.
The medical staff, who had been waiting on the sidelines, quickly put Frey and her dog-type automaton, Rabi, on stretchers and sent them to the infirmary.
Kobayashi also went along.
Frey had not been seriously injured; the forcible extraction of her blood in a short period had caused some anemia. With his magic for recovery, even near-death could be healed. It was just that because her stamina had been exhausted, she was now sleeping soundly in a simple hospital bed.
The problem was Rabi.
Even with his recovery magic, he could not repair the damaged Magic Circuit of the wolf-dog automaton. After all, it was not flesh, but artificial machinart.
Fortunately, they had a master who was proficient in automatons.
—Shouko Karyuusai.
The door of the infirmary opened, and the mature, bewitching beauty in a kimono, accompanied by her guard Irori, came into view.
She ignored Dr. Cruell, the only doctor in the academy, who was fawning on her, and walked straight to him.
With a seductive aura, she said in a low voice, "We can talk about the payment later, is that okay?"
"Of course," he had no objection.
He was proficient with girl-type automatons like RyuZU, but that didn't mean he was also proficient with wolf-dog types, especially when Rabi's body still used a large amount of biological material.
Rather than making a mess with his amateurish skills, it was better to pay a price and let the automaton master handle it.
At this time, Shouko glanced at Professor Kimberly, who was standing at the side, and said, "Is it alright if I make a move on my own?"
"I don't mind. In fact, I should say I'm honored. After all, I can witness the world-famous Lady Shouko display her skills."
Kimberly had a high opinion of her, but her tone was full of unwillingness. It seemed she was very angry that she could only ask for help when her own student was injured.
After getting permission, Shouko operated her eye patch, holding a magnifying glass as she looked at Rabi.
She had mentioned to him before that the eye patch could directly see the flow of mana. Although it wasn't as good as [Spectator], it was one of the ways she could quickly grasp the current situation.
He, who had cooperated with her before, had a step ahead and had cut off a good amount of Frey's hair to use as thread to sew up Rabi's wounds.
Then, Shouko untied the chain from her waist and wrapped it around Rabi.
It was a boundary field.
He didn't understand the purpose of this, but it seemed to be for defense and to calm the mind. It should be something to increase the success rate of the surgery.
By the way, he had secretly learned this move. Because he had a feeling it would come in handy later.
Then, her "hand techniques" began.
Her movements were very refined, without a single superfluous action. More importantly, she did not hesitate for a moment, as if she knew exactly what treatment to apply where. These required a large reserve of knowledge and were techniques that he could not secretly learn.
It was like watching a pianist's skilled fingering. The onlookers seemed to have no time to breathe. In less than ten minutes, the surgery was over.
It was done in a single, fluid motion.
No matter how many times one saw it, one couldn't help but marvel at her exquisite skills and deep foundation.
There was a reason she was called the number one.
Finally, it was time to suture the wound and bandage it. He took over this work.
With [Perfector], he was very skilled in this area. In a few quick moves, he had perfectly sutured the wound. At the same time, when he wrapped the bandage, he also used healing magic to speed up the wound's healing.
"Beautiful!"
Kimberly, who was watching, showed an expression of genuine amazement and praised, "You two are a perfect match. This way, that automaton will be able to live, right?"
"Not necessarily. Perhaps impossible."
"...What a surprising answer."
"After all, its internal organs are a mess. With its heart (Magic Circuit) like that, there's nothing I can do."
This answer made one's heart sink.
Even with such outstanding skills and techniques, it still couldn't be saved...
"No, it's enough."
He spoke up, making everyone turn their gazes to him.
"I have already used magic to restore Rabi's internal organs. Miss Shouko also doesn't need to do any carpentry and carve an oak tree to repair the damaged parts."
"...What did you say?"
Shouko narrowed her eyes. She subconsciously wanted to take a puff from her pipe, but found that she had put it out in advance because it was an infirmary.
He smiled, with no intention of answering.
The mature woman in the kimono stared at him intently, and after a long pause said, "I'll be waiting for you outside. Let's have a good, deep exchange (about the payment)."
With that, she turned and left.
After checking on Rabi and Frey's condition, he stood up and said to the two, "Professor, could I trouble you to look after Frey? I'm going to have a good, deep exchange with that mature beauty."
"Oh my, what a fiery invitation. I'm so envious I could die," the perverted doctor, Cruell, sighed, greatly wanting to take his place and have a "deep exchange" with her. But the "deep exchange" he was thinking of was a little different.
"Is your head filled with only yellow waste?"
Before he could speak, Kimberly had already grabbed his ear and was angrily scolding the indecent man.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch—"
The perverted doctor sucked in a breath of cold air in pain, holding back from letting out a howl of agony to avoid disturbing the resting Frey and Rabi.
In this aspect of professional ethics, he was qualified.
Walking out the door, Shouko was leaning against the entrance. Seeing only him, she turned and led the way, walking down the corridor with a familiarity that was incredible.
Finally, she came to an empty balcony and sat down.
She took a small box that Irori handed her, took out some tobacco, lit it, smoked, exhaled, and then tapped out the ash.
After finishing her work, she looked very relaxed. He, who had briefly cooperated with her, knew she had this habit. But her silence made one feel uncomfortable.
It was too oppressive.
Is she deliberately using silence to apply pressure, to take the lead in the upcoming conversation?
He raised an eyebrow.
She lightly exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Boy, I've already treated that wolf-dog. Isn't it about time we talked about payment?"
"Oh my, I thought Miss Shouko had already received her payment... that little thing. Although your skills are very pure and exquisite, my eyes can see things that others cannot. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"
He also replied with a smile, not falling behind in the slightest.
"Heh—"
She also didn't try to hide it and generously opened her hand.
In her palm was a small stone. That small stone with mysterious patterns carved on it was a Magic Circuit.
It was self-evident whose it was.
She continued to take the initiative with her words. "But you should know, if it's not taken out, that little girl will still be at risk of having her mana forcibly absorbed."
"And that's why this Magic Circuit is the payment. This should also be something you need, otherwise you wouldn't have kindly come to help Frey's automaton, Rabi, with the repairs." He was not to be outdone, exposing her original purpose.
"But it's not enough."
"A Magic Circuit produced by the D-Works workshop. You saw its power just now, didn't you, Miss Shouko? It's not good to be too greedy."
"Then I'll just put it back."
"..."
The two looked at each other.
Her eyes revealed a seriousness, as if to say that if the payment was not increased, she would really do it.
"Alright, alright, I give up," he said, raising his hands in surrender. He then asked in a very relaxed tone, "I wonder what kind of payment you need, Miss Shouko? If I can satisfy it."
"You're asking the obvious."
"I'm the type who doesn't understand unless it's spelled out clearly."
"—Magic."
"Ah, that..."
"Don't try to find an excuse. You deliberately showed me your magic just now. Wasn't that just to whet my appetite?"
She seemed to have lost her patience.
He had originally wanted to tease her a little more, but knowing full well that mature women were like wolves and tigers, he very readily handed over the organized healing magic to her.
"The thing is here. As for whether you can apply it to an automaton or not, that's none of my business."
"...As I thought, you did it on purpose."
Her eyes became even more dangerous. Then she looked into the distance and said, "How unpleasant."
"Hmm?"
He looked up at her.
"I think you should already know, boy. The matter of D-Works participating in the Night Party to compare [Garm] and [Angel]."
"Mmm, I heard about it from Yomi."
"But, that's a feint. It's just a pretext fabricated to use those two children."
She seemed to be retaliating.
She looked him straight in the eye and said in a deliberately malicious tone, "The purpose of D-Works is not to compare the performance of the two types of machinart, although they really do hope that Loki will sit on the throne of the Wiseman. But, Frey's existence is an experiment—that little girl's heart has been assembled with a Magic Circuit! The limbs of the infants you saw in the basement were actually 'parts'."
She paused for a long moment, building up the suspense.
She had thought she would see an agitated, angry expression on the young man's face, but what answered her was still an expressionless face.
"...It seems you already knew."
"Mmm."
What was to be displayed at the Night Party was not just two types of automatons.
Frey and Loki's modified hearts were connected to their respective automatons, allowing them to display a strength far beyond that of a normal puppeteer. If applied on the battlefield, it could have a huge effect. But the price, naturally, was the puppeteer's (Frey's) death.
In other words, Frey was D-Works's experimental animal, including those failed infants. They were just consumables.
"...How unpleasant."
She repeated herself again, took a puff from her pipe, and after exhaling said, "Both them, and you."
"Me?"
He frowned slightly.
"You seem to have known these things for a long time. And to change it, it seems you've also done something that no one knows about."
"...What do you mean?"
"Casually mocking others and treating them as pawns in your palm. It's very enjoyable when everything proceeds just as you expected, right? Do you think you can do it? Do you think you've already done it? Because these people don't 'see' as far as you, you look down on them? You just do what you think is most reasonable and ignore the feelings of others, always thinking you can solve everything yourself. You stinking brat, you'd better remember this—"
For the first time, she stared at him with a gaze full of hostility and malice, her bewitching voice filled with indifference.
"—This is what is called 'arrogance'!"
"..."
For a moment, he was rendered speechless.
He didn't even know when she had left. He just lowered his head in silent contemplation.
The moon rose higher and higher.
The moonlight poured down on his head, illuminating him. But the surrounding darkness enveloped him, making the silent young man seem as if he had been rejected by the world.
"Master Kobayashi..."
RyuZU took a concerned step forward.
Before the pretty attendant could comfort him, he spoke first. "I'm fine. What a deafening lecture. Is this the experience of an adult?"
He laughed at himself, then turned and went back to the infirmary.
He gently pushed open the door.
The teachers in the room were all gone. Frey, who should have been lying in the hospital bed, was now quietly staring at Rabi, who was lying on the bed. Her fair skin was covered in bandages, and a large number of band-aids were stuck on her.
Rabi lay there, listlessly, its nose wrinkled. Yomi was nowhere to be seen.
"...Can you already get up?"
"——!"
Frey trembled and turned her head. Startled, her eyes were bloodshot.
"Ngh... you're the one."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm actually quite confident in my own body."
His words were a bit cocky, but she didn't even smile.
Her appearance was very haggard, which made him not know what to do. Before, he had been able to get along with her very normally.
He couldn't help but murmur softly.
"...Arrogance, huh?"
"Eh?"
"No, it's nothing."
He shook his head and revealed a reassuring smile. "It's fine. Rabi will definitely recover. I promise you."
"...It would be good... if he could be saved."
She nodded, but her face was still very pessimistic.
Another wave of silence.
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He just apologized for no reason.
"I'm sorry. It's all my..."
"It's because... I'm too weak...! Actually... it should have been me... the one on the stage was... because I was too scared... I cried... I was... removed from the role... so... mother then..."
Transparent tears overflowed from the corners of her eyes.
For a moment, he thought she had lost her mind. He couldn't understand what she was talking about. But after using [Spectator], he understood what she meant.
"Loki... so... he holds a grudge against me. It's all because I'm... too weak... I can't do anything, that's why everyone has become unhappy..."
"That's not right."
"Everyone was killed... I couldn't protect them. If... I could have pulled myself together a little more... then Loki also... wouldn't have had to... become Gabriel's... operator."
"That's not right."
"I'm sorry, Rabi... I'm sorry... I couldn't... protect everyone...! It's all because I'm too weak... everyone... is going to die... I'm sor...ry... Mo...m... everyone... Rabi!"
"That's not right."
His low growl made the crying girl tremble.
She turned her head and stared blankly at him.
This was not her fault.
It was those people who had treated her as an experimental animal, caused the children to die, and even turned them into "parts."
They had used a hostage to threaten her and force her to participate in the Night Party, causing Yomi to almost die, causing her to almost die, and causing Rabi to almost die. None of this was her fault.
However—
Now she was crying, bearing the responsibility on her small shoulders, bearing the sin, and paying for the crimes of those who had committed them.
He gently pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry. I've been ignoring your feelings all this time. I could have used a more tactful method, but I didn't expect to make you blame yourself even more. I'm sorry, Frey."
"...Eh?"
The dazed girl was startled by his sudden action.
Her body stiffened, and her cheeks burned.
It was unknown if it was because of her crying just now, or because she was enveloped in a thick, masculine scent.
"—Indeed, I was not fully prepared. I've always been thinking of changing the current situation with my own methods, and that other feelings could be ignored to achieve my goals."
He repented very seriously.
But he also said stubbornly, "But, should one call it the base nature of humanity? In this situation, the method I can think of seems to be that only I can be the one to save you."
Her red eyes revealed a great deal of confusion.
"It's fine. I will save you and your family. I promise."
With that, he kissed... her on the forehead.
(End of Chapter)