Undercover
Did every office have a secret room?
Swoo's own office had a secret room hidden behind a bookshelf, and she had heard that Lena's office and Serena's office had them as well.
And now, in Irina's office where Swoo currently stood, there was indeed a secret room.
Of course, calling it a "secret room" was a bit of a stretch; it was closer to a storage room where Irina kept her paintings and perfume collection.
She would swap out the paintings and scents in the hallway depending on her mood that day. It was a surprisingly diligent and feminine side of Irina.
Stepping into the deepest recesses of the secret room, Swoo was met with the sight of a sweat-drenched Angela, a tearful Kou, and a woman blinking blankly.
Radolf had apparently run off to his lab the moment he struck new inspiration, though it was more likely he had fled to avoid showing his tears.
"Hi."
"...Who are you?"
"I'm Swoo."
"I am... Tsukishiro Honoka."
> Tsukishiro Honoka: A flower blooming softly in the moonlight.
The translation matrix built into Swoo's headset conveyed the meaning of her name.
Swoo didn't know Japanese, but she thought it was a lovely name.
If Enoch's name fit the gritty backdrop of Eden, Honoka's name felt like it belonged to the world itself.
"I'm glad you're awake."
"...I don't know if 'awake' is the right word, or if I should just say I can finally move my body of my own free will again, but yes. I am... truly glad."
Groaning as she pushed herself up, Honoka bowed to Swoo as politely as her sitting posture allowed.
Because she was bowing from a seated position, however, it looked almost like she was prostrating herself.
A naked woman bowing while wrapped in nothing but a blanket. It was quite a sight.
"Thank you, Lady Swoo. Thank you... so very much."
"Angela and Serena helped a lot too. We couldn't have saved you without them."
"Yes, of course. I am deeply grateful to them as well."
Swoo watched Honoka's polite display, the corner of her mouth twitching. Of course, Honoka couldn't see it with her head bowed.
"Of course, Kou's help was the most critical in saving Miss Tsukishiro."
"Pardon...?"
"If it weren't for Kou, we wouldn't even have known Miss Tsukishiro existed."
"K-Kou... Miss Tsukishiro..."
"Not only that, but you could say that everything Kou has done up until now accumulated to save Miss Tsukishiro. Isn't Kou amazing?"
"Ah, ah..."
Honoka slowly straightened up, looking at Swoo with trembling eyes.
Why? Why was Kou "Kou," while she was "Tsukishiro"?
She knew she shouldn't harbor such petty thoughts toward her savior, but she couldn't help the strange prickle of unease.
Honoka remembered her first encounter with Swoo.
She might not have been able to move her body or control her thoughts, but her memory of the event was perfectly intact. Naturally, she still vividly remembered what Swoo had said to her back then.
Miss Tsukishiro, your boyfriend is pretty hot, isn't he?
You became a cyberpsycho even with a boyfriend like that?
An incompetent girlfriend who gets her boyfriend stolen by a little girl and ends up doing a naked dogeza... wouldn't it be better if you just left Eden?
A loser who can't even keep her man in check♡ All grown up but so immature at romance♡ Get out of Eden♡
Even if the translation had been a bit loose, Honoka could never forget the sheer shock of those words.
And now, Swoo was calling Kou by his first name while addressing her as "Tsukishiro."
She could try to rationalize it as a simple mistake, a lack of familiarity with old Japanese customs.
But doing it three times in a row, with a tone that practically highlighted the distinction, made it impossible to dismiss as an accident.
Honoka's face fell into despair.
Yet she couldn't bring herself to hate Kou, Swoo, or anyone else.
Without Swoo, she would have spent the rest of her life as a mindless tool for Talos before being scrapped. Without Kou, she never would have been rescued in the first place.
Besides, look at how haggard Kou looked.
Before they were separated, he had been built with healthy, attractive muscle. Now, he was heartbreakingly thin.
Lean muscle was sexy in its own right, of course, but it was a painful testament to the hardships Kou had endured. She couldn't bring herself to appreciate it...
"Um..."
"Yeah?"
"Well..."
"Yep."
"B-by any chance..."
"Swoo, why don't we stop teasing her?"
"Oops."
Before Honoka could finish, Angela gave a wry smile and pulled Swoo into a hug. Her head buried in Angela's ample chest, Swoo instantly behaved herself and waved at Honoka.
"I was just kidding."
"A-A joke...?"
"I just wanted to see how you'd react, Honoka."
"Ah... my name? You called me by my name...?"
"Kou and Honoka. You two look great together."
Round eyes and a stubborn set to her lips. She had a gentle face, but the aura surrounding her kept her from looking childish.
There was no better way to describe Honoka's look.
She looked exactly like the heroine of a netorare manga.
Perhaps that was why she paired so perfectly with Kou, who was the textbook definition of a blonde-haired home-wrecker.
If Kou were to drape an arm over her shoulder and start groping her in public, the visual harmony would be so intense that Enoch would probably foam at the mouth and have a seizure.
"I'm glad you're back, Honoka. I hope you and Kou have a happy, wholesome romance from now on."
"...Huh? Yes, y-yes... we will. Thank you so much, truly."
Swoo smiled brightly and turned her gaze to Irina.
A woman who had been a cyberpsycho, living as a Talos Executor until just moments ago, had returned. Though her mind was still unstable and she could relapse at any moment, she was back.
That reality struck Irina with immense force.
"What do you think?"
"At the very least... this doesn't seem like the place to discuss it."
"I suppose so."
Wondering what Irina might say later, Swoo shifted her gaze with a hint of anticipation.
Serena wore a similar expression.
She had always assumed someone in Eden might eventually find a cure for cyberpsychosis, but she never expected to witness it firsthand.
What would happen if word of this drug leaked to the public?
The ruling class, if no one else, would find it highly objectionable. To them, cyberpsychosis was just another tool to be exploited.
"What do you think, Serena?"
"It is rude to discuss such matters in front of the subject."
"Then should we get straight to the settlement?"
"...Did you really have to phrase it like that?"
Seeing that she didn't refuse, it seemed Serena was eager to settle up as well.
Swoo nodded and wriggled out of Angela's embrace. While Honoka looked anxious at the mention of a "settlement," Kou stepped forward as if he had been waiting for this exact moment.
He had already explained the situation to Honoka: in exchange for her rescue, they had agreed to examine her body and periodically hand over the data.
He had resolved to stop them by any means necessary if they attempted any tests that might put her in danger.
Of course, he doubted it would come to that.
Though they had only met yesterday, Kou was convinced Swoo was a decent person. She wouldn't put Honoka in harm's way.
"...Kou."
"It's okay, Honoka. I would never let anything happen to you."
"Tsk."
Serena clicked her tongue in blatant disgust at the honey-sweet words.
She had shuddered at the mere mention of wholesome romance earlier; perhaps Serena was older than she looked. Had she already passed her prime marriageable years?
Swoo made a mental note to text her about it later. If she threw in some of the emojis Angela liked to use, Serena would absolutely love it.
Filing that away under "high priority" in her mind, Swoo looked back at Kou.
"Serena here will handle Honoka's clean-up. With her backing, you won't have to worry about Talos or the ECPD chasing you down."
"That wasn't in the contract."
"It's a complimentary service."
"Hmph, a complimentary service. Fine. Then... this might be a sensitive topic, but how exactly does the treatment proceed?"
Serena glared at Swoo, her face practically screaming who said you could give away freebies? Swoo, of course, didn't even flinch.
Exhaling a long sigh, Serena handed over a data shard containing the details of the research and examination process.
"We won't be flaying her open to inspect her insides, nor will we be scooping out her brain," Serena explained. "It will consist of simple blood tests and... psychological counseling. There are drugs that need to be administered periodically, but they are closer to nutritional supplements than actual cyberpsychosis treatments. They are, of course, fully approved substances. As for the actual cure, Radolf Juggler is far more knowledgeable than I am, so I plan to assist his research. Lastly, do not ask how any of this is possible. It is information you are better off not knowing."
The contents of the shard matched Serena's explanation perfectly. Of course, even if there had been discrepancies, Kou wouldn't have questioned them.
No matter how much of an eccentric romantic he was, he was still a mercenary, and he hadn't forgotten the rules of the trade.
Tit for tat. Swoo had extended her trust to him without demanding anything in return, so Kou would return that trust in kind.
Yet, one question still lingered in his mind.
"...Why are you going to such lengths for us?"
He couldn't fathom why they were showing him such immense goodwill.
As far as Kou was concerned, he and Radolf were merely mercenaries who happened to possess a highly valuable drug.
And even that asset was a liability; if Lui Chen ever caught wind of it, they would crack their skulls open to extract the data, meaning it wasn't even a reliable leverage.
On the other hand, the people standing before him—especially Swoo—possessed enough power to easily crush even Talos.
If they could use that raw force to extract someone from Lui Chen, they could easily have decapitated Kou and Radolf and stolen the drug formula for themselves.
Yet Swoo hadn't done that. She had left the drug entirely in their hands.
To top it off, she was cleaning up all the fallout from rescuing Honoka. No matter how he looked at it, it made no sense.
"I don't know either," Serena said.
She truly didn't.
If she had encountered these two before meeting Swoo, she would have decapitated them without a second thought to secure the data.
"...Why are you looking at me? I have no idea. Who on earth could possibly comprehend the mind of this lunatic?"
"Ahaha... I think I might have a guess?" Angela chuckled softly.
Irina shook her head, glaring at Swoo, while Angela gave a wry smile and gently smoothed Swoo's hair.
"I told you before," Swoo murmured.
Under the collective gaze of the room, Swoo spoke in her usual lazy, relaxed tone.
"I just wanted to see Kou's wholesome romance play out."
That was all.
With that, Swoo pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Kou.
"The job is done. Time to settle up."