An Ill-Fated Encounter
"Commander!"
At the clear voice echoing from the entrance of the workshop, I stopped my conversation with Karen about the bathhouse and turned my head.
"Oh, Noah. What brings you here? Do you have business with Karen?"
"Yes. There is something I would like to ask of Karen."
Unlike her usual benevolent and gentle smile, Noah looked somewhat shy, her face flushing red.
Naturally, my gaze shifted to the crude drawing she was holding.
I looked at the drawing with curiosity and tilted my head.
Is that... an air mattress?
Were the beds in the ECHOs' dormitories so uncomfortable that they needed to lay down mats?
"Hmm..."
A plush place to sleep was certainly an important issue.
I remembered my own experience of being unable to sleep properly unless I had a fluffy, foldable topper when I lived alone.
But can Karen make something like that?
Come to think of it, creating an air mattress didn't seem to require any particularly advanced technology.
Even if it did involve techniques I wasn't aware of, the Ark's technological prowess should make it easy to produce.
Hmm, I should ask her to make one for me later too.
If it were made a bit larger and placed on my current bed, I felt my sleep would become even more comfortable.
With those thoughts, I exchanged brief greetings with Noah and left the workshop.
After parting with the Commander, Noah approached Karen and carefully held out the drawing she had brought.
"Karen, could you make this for me?"
"Huh? What is this, Noah-unnie?"
Karen took the drawing with an innocent expression.
It looked like a square mat... but it felt slightly different from a typical mattress.
"It's called an air mattress. It's a mat that feels like a tube filled with air inside."
"Ah—! I know! I've heard of those!"
"Can you make it?"
At Noah's question, Karen tapped her chest as if to say not to worry.
"Of course. I can churn out something like this without any trouble! But... what are you going to use it for?"
"It's something for the Commander's fatigue recovery. You know the bathhouse that's currently under construction?"
"Huh? Yes."
"I'm going to put it in there."
"......???"
Seeing Noah speak with such a pious expression, several question marks floated above Karen's head.
The bathhouse being built in the Ark was planned to be over roughly 660 square meters (200 pyeong) in size.
The mechanical equipment, ventilation and exhaust systems, and the waterproof and moisture-resistant designs required for the construction were technologies already used in the current Ark, so there were no problems with the execution, and labor was plentiful.
The plan was to divide the bathhouse into public facilities for the ECHOs to use freely and a private bath exclusively for the Commander.
Naturally, the space for the Commander was slated to include various facilities such as a changing room, benches, showers, various tubs, and a sauna room.
However, an air mattress like this was not among them.
"I'm preparing this separately, Karen."
"Ah... I-Is that so?"
Karen kept tilting her head.
Bathing and an air mattress?
No matter how much she racked her brain, it was a combination that didn't fit at all.
But whether Noah noticed Karen's confusion or not, she continued speaking with a pious expression, without a hint of embarrassment.
"And could you also make something that creates bubbles, like a body wash or a bubble bath?"
"Uh... I don't think you need to worry about that. The Commander already has some he's using. I'm planning to place those in the Commander's private bath."
"Fufu. That's wonderful."
"Huh? Yes."
What exactly was wonderful about it?
Looking at Noah, who was blushing all by herself, Karen continued to tilt her head in confusion.
She just had a feeling that... it might be better not to know.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Po... Popop. Po.]
The Anomaly—Hachishakusama.
To one human, she was called Podic, and she strolled leisurely atop the roof of an abandoned building in the Hongwei-7.
[Po, popopopopo. Po...]
Since the Carapace Lord, who had fought her for territory here a while ago, had disappeared, the Hongwei-7 had once again become her complete domain.
With the disappearance of the filthy things called zombies, many annoying tasks had decreased, but what she liked most of all was the existence of the human called Commander who had appeared in this vicinity.
His fierce desire and abundant vital energy, which were entirely different from the other humans she had encountered so far, served as excellent nourishment for maintaining her existence as an anomaly.
Was that all?
His dense vital energy also greatly helped in increasing her existential power.
[Po... popopopopo.]
Thanks to this, Podic no longer needed to hunt starving zombies for food.
Except for the times she played with one or two as toys when she was bored.
[Po...]
However, today, she felt something strange.
An alien scent was mixing into her territory. It was the kind of unpleasantness that came from an uninvited guest sneaking in.
Podic wandered around her surroundings with more caution than usual.
And before long, she was able to find the source of the unpleasant smell.
"It's a complete ruin. You're saying there's an Anomaly here?"
"Yeah, Gizmo. Those machine bastards definitely said so. Anyway, any traces?"
"Haven't found any yet. There are signs of battle... traces of clashes between ECHOs and zombies."
Near the shopping mall complex.
ECHOs were conversing around a black special armored vehicle stopped in a quiet alley.
[Po—?]
At first, she thought they were the Commander's subordinates.
Because a few days ago, ECHOs in similar attire had come here and returned loaded with plenty of useless scrap metal.
Knowing that those things were needed in the place called the Ark where the Commander lived, she intended to ignore them and pass by this time as well.
"Strange. According to the information the Astral bastards gave us... they said anomalous energy was detected in this vicinity..."
"Anomalies usually don't stay in one area; they move around, right?"
"I know. The Bride of the White Night. The Crimson Witch of Fury. The Veil of Lust."
"Oh... You only know the Named entities? Anyway, isn't this one a case like that?"
[Po—?]
But the moment she heard the unpleasant word Astral.
For reasons she didn't know, Podic could feel rage surging from deep within her.
She didn't know why. It was simply an instinctive loathing.
Just then, an ECHO wearing pitch-black combat gear, who had noticed her presence, shouted.
"Huh? Over there. An Anomaly."
"What?! Everyone, seize it—!"
Then, three ECHOs, including one wearing a mask, rushed toward Podic all at once.
In their hands were strange weapons that Podic had never seen before.
"My, my—we were searching so hard, and for you to suddenly appear like this."
"This Anomaly looks hotter than I expected. Her chest is way bigger than yours, Raven."
"......Shut up, Gizmo."
"Raven, don't break it too much. We have to hand it over to the Astral bastards in an intact state to get a high price."
"Got it."
Along with the voice of the masked woman, Jester, Raven dove behind Podic like a flash of light.
However, her high-frequency dagger stopped in mid-air just before touching Podic's neck.
As Podic's white, slender fingers moved, the energy she emitted seized the entire surrounding space, firmly gripping Raven's wrist.
"When...?"
Raven's eyes were filled with shock.
She never expected a surprise attack executed with full power to be blocked so simply.
Furthermore, she hadn't simply blocked the attack. The area had already become the domain of the Hachishakusama.
"What...?"
Jester, realizing the situation, also wore a surprised expression.
According to the information they had, the combat power of the Anomaly Hachishakusama was not particularly high. And yet...
[Popopo—!]
At the appearance of the ECHOs attacking her, a creepy laugh burst from Podic's mouth.
Her dress became taut as if it would tear, fluttering in the wind.
Then, an overwhelming pressure, incomparable to a normal Hachishakusama, exploded in all directions.
[Po-oo-oot!!]
"A-A Named?!"
At Gizmo's scream-like voice, Jester shouted urgently.
"Raven! Get out of there—!"
She shouted, but it was already too late.
Podic tossed Raven aside lightly like a toy, and her fingernails grew unrealistically long, glinting like sharp blades.
Kkakakakak! Kakak!
Along with a scream, Raven's special alloy armor was torn apart like a sheet of paper.
"N-No—! Do you know how much the repair cost for that is!! Dammit—!"
"T-This is too different from the information, Jester! Uh, uh-oh?! It's coming! It's coming—!"
That wasn't all.
Long, deep claw marks were clearly engraved on Jester's mask and the armored vehicle Gizmo was riding in.
[Po-oot!]
Looking at the trembling ECHOs, Podic snorted and retracted her claws.
She could have easily killed the insect-like ECHOs before her, but she didn't.
Instead, she finished by twisting the arm of the ECHO wearing the strange mask in a grotesque direction.
It was because of the very small possibility that they might be related to the human who gave her delicious vital energy.
[Po-oh! Po! Popopopopo!!]
After delivering a warning to the ECHO writhing in pain, Podic returned to her original form as if nothing had happened and leisurely headed back into the darkness.
[Po-ooo...]
Then, she suddenly looked down at her body.
Having used a bit of power, she was feeling slightly hungry.
It would be wonderful to have that man's thick essence at a time like this...
She thought that next time she met him, she should bring a pretty container that could store vital energy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The place where the Hachishakusama had disappeared.
"Augh—!"
Jester let out a painful groan, clutching her twisted arm.
Everything had happened in an instant.
In a short span of just one or two minutes, Raven, who boasted the strongest combat power in the merchant group, had her armor smashed, and an unsightly scar was engraved on their armored vehicle.
The elites of the Black Crow merchant group had been rendered helpless by a single Anomaly.
"Jester, are you okay?!"
"That damn monster—! How is that a normal Anomaly?!"
Gizmo shouted in shock.
"He, hehe... Hehehehe!"
At that moment, a manic laugh burst from Jester's mouth.
"...Jester?"
"Hahahahat!"
"......Jester? Did the circuit implanted in your head malfunction?"
"Do you need treatment?"
Raven and Gizmo looked at her with worried eyes. But Jester continued laughing, indifferent to their concern.
"I'm perfectly fine. By the way, that wasn't a normal Hachishakusama, right?"
"I don't know because I've never met a Named... but wouldn't she be at least a Quasi-Named?"
At Gizmo's words, Jester wore a greedy smile.
"Right? Then the Astral bastards will covet it that much, won't they? Location information of a Named-grade Anomaly... They'll probably dive in with their eyes rolling back in their heads. If I play this right, I could get about three Arc Reactors out of this."
"Wow! Jester, are you a genius?!"
"Three Arc Reactors..."
Even amidst the pain, Jester found an opportunity to turn this failure into a greater profit.
Having removed her broken mask, her eyes flashed toward the darkness where Podic had vanished.