“Hi, nice to meet you again. Kibitsu-san. That’s good, right?“
“Yeah, nice to meet you, Yamada-san”
“hehe, What’s with the scary face?”
There’s no way I could smile.
We sat across the table from each other and Suzuka brought us tea.
“Here you go.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Hm……”
Yamada-san’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Suzuka. What about my girl?
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that she looks a little like someone I know.”
“I see. By the way, the female android who came to see me once looked very much like Suzuka. I heard that there are seven androids in a place that calls itself a country called Sunrise?”
“They’re down to six now, though.”
“What happened to the other one?”
“Her soul was returned to the earth as a result of a terrible incident. I don’t know the details, though.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Well, I don’t know. If the world was necessarily a happier place to be alive, I’d certainly feel sorry for her.”
“You’re saying it’s not?”
“It is also a way of life to strive to be successful.”
……Hmm. I guess I got swept away. However, I want to get down to business as soon as possible, so that’s fine.
“Well, let’s hear what you have to say.”
“You’re impatient. Well, I’m a man of my word.”
“Please do.”
“So don’t look so scary.”
“I’m not very good at socializing. So, who was that boy?”
Yamada’s cowering gesture was kind of annoying.
“Just west of here, there’s a city that calls itself the Size Tide Territory.”
I’ve heard that somewhere before.
“You look like you’ve heard of this place before.”
I didn’t make a fool of myself by appearing to have a funny expression on my face. Perhaps it is simply a bio-memory anomaly.
“I erase memories that I deem unnecessary. It’s for my own protection.”
“Hee—…… I envy you.“
“That’s not the point. Please continue with your story.”
“That’s right. Johan is the current ruler of the Size Tide territory. He’s the one who sent Yakou.”
“Yakou? Is that the boy’s name?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“…..You know a lot about this.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to respond to you about my identity, okay?”
“Hum……”
“The reason they sent him is simple. North-Size and East-Size. You destroyed their satellite towns, so of course they’d hold a grudge.”
There was a North size or something……. East size? I have no idea. No, that’s not the point.
“And how did it come to be that the assassin they dispatched was that young boy?”
“Well, it takes a knack to operate on him. I think it’s more of a problem for Johan than for Yakou.”
“……What do you mean?”
Don’t read every expression.
“Yakou is, as they say, like a beast. It has incredible agility and resilience.”
I know that.
“He hasn’t received any education. Not smart enough.”
I know that, too.
“So, if you want him to do something, such as murder, you must write down your desire, such as “I want to murder somebody,” or else it will not work. everything boils down to desire.”
“Hmm? Isn’t that what they wrote down and then sent to me?”
“All he wrote was, “I want to infiltrate the City of Iron and Stone and assassinate the Lord.””
“…… Yeah, that’s what I mean.”
As a result, just the means, not the ends, were written. Assassination is merely a method to achieving a goal.
If they want to kill me, assassination is an option. If they can’t, they’ll find another way. Take a hostage, for example.
Now I understood why the boy was so determined to get to the wall. The kid was only following his desire to sneak in.
If that were the case, I’d avoid the public eye.
So the reason why he was leaving in a swoosh every time he got shot down was because he thought we already knew.
“But how did the guy who wrote the faulty program not notice it?”
“I guess they didn’t think anything of it and just wrote it down as Johan requested. Yes, here’s the faulty program.”
What was handed to me was a sheet of paper filled with letters and symbols. He didn’t dare to give it to me in data form, so I guess he wanted me to decipher it and do it myself.
“Thanks for that. But what’s with the lack of interpretation that apathetic office workers tend to do? Or is it deliberate?”
“I don’t know. Let’s just say that the person who sent me on an errand was the one who wrote the program.”
“Finally, a glimpse of your true identity. So, what did this someone send you for, and what is this information?”
“Well. I’ve only been asked to give you this information.”
“Then he did it on purpose.”
“I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure the Holy Land isn’t exactly monolithic.”
If this individual is to be believed, someone who built the program had the audacity to write a flawed program, causing the assassination to fail.
And the fact that someone sent him here means that he’s an opposition figure to someone like Johan……. It’s hard to believe.
“So, did the person who sent you say anything else?”
“He said, “Keep up the good work.””
What?
“The size tide territory isn’t going to be around much longer.”
“You don’t have to talk to me after that.”
I have a bad feeling. I only have a bad feeling about this.
“No. Don’t be so alarmed.”
“Don’t ask me to.”
I kind of get it. This is what he came here to say. He used the kid as a way station to connect with us.
“The Size Tide territory will wage an all-out war here after this.”
……I heard you.
“Are you a prophet or something?”
“No, I’m just an informant.”
“Well, if you wanted to kill me and you failed to assassinate me, maybe next time you will.”
“It’s going to cost us both dearly.”
“Unfortunately, no matter how many knights you gather, you will never be able to break through our walls.”
“Here. It seems like the residents here often go out west, right?”
“They’re strong, you know?”
“Numbers are power, you know?”
As expected, even those guys would be defeated if there were a thousand of them outside the protective wall, on the plain as far as the eye can see.
“And if the Size Tide is destroyed, they may send a larger force behind it.”
“Did you get that information from someone else, too?”
“No, this is just an analysis. The Size-Tide territory is also an important transit point for the eastern expedition. If they lose it, they’ll do their best to recover, and then they’ll attack. People want to stop worrying about the source of their territory’s destruction, regardless of their feelings.”
He’s not lying.
“So, here’s a suggestion.”
“A suggestion.”
“A suggestion. If you take the Size-Tide and set up a defense line with it, we don’t have to think about the damage to the inhabitants here.”
“Hm….. In return, though, the Size Tide will suffer the cost.”
“Is that any of your concern?”
“That’s true.”
But…
“And if they want to reclaim their territory, they want to do so intact if possible. We might be able to avoid an all-out war.”
Is it too much to wonder if this is a theory or a plan?
“Well, I’d better get going.”
Jiro Yamada, who seemed to have finished what he was going to say, stood up.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Don’t track me or anything, okay? I just want to be on good terms with you guys.”
He deliberately slaps the gun on his chest with his hand.
“All right.”
There’s no one who can follow an android with a thermograph without being detected. As soon as they’re alerted, we’ll give up.
“And one more thing. This is from the guy who sent me on an errand.”
“I keep forgetting to tell you that.”
“He wants you to accept Yakou. Treat it as a gift.”