Friends with 'More' Benefits (1)
I caught a glimpse of her as our eyes locked. Though the distance was still noticeable, the fact that the girl’s interest had turned toward us was unmistakable.
The girl pointed at the robot that reached her waist and shouted.
“Hey, Tinny! I’ll be back in a bit, so make sure you keep an eye out for any smoke here!”
— Master, I wish you would attach a pair of tweezers to the arm components before saying something like that. What am I supposed to do with the fire extinguisher?
“Got it!”
— Master, you’re gonna make me angry.
The girl exchanged completely nonsensical banter with the robot before bouncing over toward us.
She was gripping my waist with a band of tough-looking material.
Yet every time her foot hit the floor, something made her sway in a way that irresistibly drew the eye.
Hmm, not magic.
From the side came a faint sound that sent a chill down my spine.
“Pavel, don’t look.”
“What… No matter what, Lady, you must—”
“Don’t look.”
“…Understood.”
Smart move. If I hadn’t turned my head, Pavel might have been in serious trouble tonight.
Upon closer inspection, Delis was casually shifting Pavel’s arm toward her own chest.
She probably thought I wouldn’t notice, but that was also a way to pull Pavel’s attention from the other side to herself.
Delis had always struck me as the perfect picture of rationality up until now, but perhaps there was a more lustful side hidden from my view.
Well, it wasn’t any of my business.
The platinum-haired girl who had bounced over and stopped right in front of me was now firmly grasping both of my hands with hers.
No sign of hostility in the movement, so although I had read the intent, I let it be.
“I’m so happy to meet you! Are you the Irene Varez that W mentioned?”
It seemed like she was genuinely happy. I couldn’t figure out why she was bouncing so much.
“Well, let’s call it that for now. And what about you?”
“Oh, I almost forgot! My name is Vesper Hunt. Didn’t W tell you everything?”
I tilted my head skeptically. Even if she had said something like that, I had no clue what she was talking about.
“Really…? I only heard that you have a father who works for the Magic Defense Bureau and that you wanted to meet us. Everything else, I came here with zero information.”
It was a bit strange to me. When had I ever been so friendly?
What was this, a Labrador?
“Um… really? Then I’ll have to set up a seat right now, won’t I?”
The girl who introduced herself as Vesper Hunt bounced back to her original spot.
Now that I looked, at the original seat the robot with the long arm was grumbling as it held the fire extinguisher and spraying fire powder at the pile of gray metal.
— Master, I worked hard. Request, maybe I can eat some real electricity today instead of cheap batteries.
“Complaining? You’re deliberately saving that high-capacity battery you charged up in advance, aren’t you? I’ll give you plenty later, so grab whatever’s lying around and eat.”
— Master, this is a contract violation. I, Tinny, have the right to complain about unfair treatment.
“Wow!”
Upon closer inspection, the robot wasn’t just moving with mechanical and electronic parts.
With the eyes of a mage, a few components inside the robot were faintly visible.
It wasn’t like X-ray vision, but the faint flicker of magic traces was enough.
Just that was enough to confirm that the robot was not a simple assembly of machines and electronics, but a golem fused with magic.
While watching that scene, I slowly approached Vesper Hunt and spoke up.
“You two seem pretty close. Playing with each other like this.”
Vesper Hunt answered without a trace of surprise at my approach.
“Ah, close? He’s a cheeky guy who talks back to the master who made him.”
The inner workings would have to be taken apart to know more, but from what she said, there was no doubt that the Vesper Hunt standing in front of me was the one who built that golem.
She had personally crafted machines or golems in this ‘workshop,’ her father worked for the Magic Defense Bureau, and she carried the Hunt surname.
From those facts alone, I could immediately figure out who this girl was.
I casually dropped a hint.
“Does Uncle Choonbu help you make this guy? It looks like a beautifully crafted golem.”
“Eh? You know my dad?”
“Any mage interested in America would know that name, right? He’s the pioneering figure who first applied mass production to relic manufacturing processes.”
I had thought about Maverick Hunt, Vesper’s father, and the ‘Arsenal of Democracy’ nickname before.
Back when I visited Yokohama to build local ally channels in East Asia, I had thought about the stolen Arsenal magic weapon pistol on the dock.
Maverick Hunt was the one who made the United States’ prestige ring out even in the magical world.
If it weren’t for the achievement of systematizing relic manufacturing processes—each one requiring her full attention—so that mass production became possible even in degraded versions.
The achievements of the Arsenal of Democracy had an even stronger impression on me… or rather, the ‘old’ me from my previous world.
The fact that we could finally supply relics to the entire vast U.S. military with complete mass production processes— I remembered that was less than ten years after the new century began.
Even if the distributed relics only carried basic defensive magic.
How many soldiers died screaming from being hit by flying shrapnel in the chaos of war.
If even a little could lower the possibility that every soldier sent to the battlefield would vanish in vain, that would be an enormous intangible asset.
The bio-weapon research lab I had experimented with in the South End Monastery would likely resemble Maverick Hunt’s methods quite closely.
Although I hadn’t directly stolen information, the final goal of mass-producing relics was the same.
It was, in short, magical convergent evolution.
In that sense, the fact that Maverick Hunt’s only daughter had suddenly appeared before my eyes brought me genuine joy.
In my previous life, I had never heard that that human had children, but perhaps that too was tied to changes in history.
‘Maybe… I might be able to intervene in that change.’
I would never know what happened to this future daughter, but at least I could shape the flow in my favor.
Vesper Hunt coughed and answered.
“Hmm-hmm— Knowing my dad makes me grateful, but I want to be recognized by my own strength, not someone else’s halo.”
“…”
She suddenly reached out and placed her hand on the side of the cylindrical robot-golem.
It looked like a metal golem, heavy, yet she was trying to lift it while grunting.
I saw real embarrassment in the robot’s eyes. It was only an LED eye on the metal body, but somehow the expression was visible.
The robot that had to lift itself because its master was grunting immediately extended its legs and raised its height with a hesitant whirring sound.
Only then did Vesper Hunt’s effort to lift the robot gain speed. The machine arms attached to the robot wrapped around Vesper Hunt’s body and moved like ivy.
“AHAHA—! Tinny, it’s cold on bare skin!”
— Master, you talk too much for a pathetic one who can’t lift me without psychokinesis or my help. Request, treat me more precious.
…What kind of comedy is this?
I watched the scene in silence. From a distance, Delis was still keeping Pavel’s attention in check.
“Where did I leave off? Oh, right, I said I wanted to be recognized by my own strength, didn’t I? Hmm-hmm, here’s the example! This Tinny was completely made by me alone!”
So that was it. If I had watched my father’s technology from the shoulder, I would have understood to some extent; nothing unusual about that.
But the most important story wasn’t actually progressing.
“I get it, Miss Hunt. So, if it won’t be too much trouble, may I hear why you wanted to meet us?”
“It’s a bit stiff, so call me Vesper. By the way, I forgot to mention it. The reason is simple: we exchange help in developing my relics.”
“Exchange help.”
A somewhat loaded phrase. When I pointed out the ambiguous wording, Vesper Hunt immediately added explanation.
“Of course I have no intention of making an unfair contract. I’m just looking for someone to use my weapons instead.”
“So that’s why you came to me, an outsider instead of asking the American Magic Defense Bureau… you wanted to be recognized by your own strength… is that the gist?”
“Exactly! I also want to prove that I’m not just a kid anymore and that I can do anything with my own strength.”
“I get the general idea. But even so, since Miss Hunt works closely with the Magic Defense Bureau, I can’t just hand over my relics to anyone.”
“Right! The ultimate goal is to stand alone, but it would be stupid not to accept the help I can get. So I’ve been approaching individual collaborators at the Magic Defense Bureau.”
I quickly summarized Vesper Hunt’s claim.
She wanted to become a mage who could handle relics and golems on her own, so she was searching for investors while excluding outside support as much as possible.
Excluding the fact that the field was magic, which sat at the heart of the world’s underbelly, it was like the daughter of a famous investor’s daughter setting up her own fund and seeking investors.
So I thought.
‘Is this a trap…?’
It would require additional investigation to determine whether this girl was really Maverick Hunt, the Arsenal of Democracy.
Her age looked the same as mine, but even giving her the benefit of the doubt, she was only a couple years younger than Delis? The fact that mages’ ages are hard to estimate was another factor.
“Well, collaborators of the Magic Defense Bureau mean an organization we have proven trustworthy through multiple transactions and that poses no risk of leaking information.”
“Exactly! Until now I had been troubled because there were no collaborators meeting W Uncle’s standards, and then you all appeared!”
“And, of course, it aligns with America’s national interests to oppose the Soviet Union.”
Vesper Hunt nodded. “Uh-huh!” along with a positive response.
It was a common occurrence for someone skilled in technology with pre-made prototypes to roam around companies asking them to invest in her.
The underbelly of the world tied to magic wasn’t that different.
As long as the true identity wasn’t revealed to outsiders, the magical world could become just as outwardly similar to the visible world inside.
Though suspicious of the truth, assuming all of it was fact, what came next was the question.
‘Why me…?’
Unfortunately, the organization was not a charity.
With preparations already underway to topple the Soviet Union using only current resources, there was no reason to borrow another hand.
Moreover, Vesper Hunt said she was looking for someone to use the relics she had developed herself.
That meant extracting real-world data from relics whose stability had not been confirmed. I had no intention of sending my subordinates who were handed unstable relics into battle.
The more I thought about it, the more inclined I became to refuse.
It was a rather interesting meeting, but I judged it as one not worth pouring my efforts into.
“Grateful offer, but Miss Hunt… no, Vesper. As someone with full authority to negotiate for the organization, it’s a bit—”
“Won’t it work…?”
Startled, I had been about to deliver a calm refusal, but she immediately clung to my forearm and looked at me with an expression as if she would cry any second.
The soft breast pressing against my forearm was gently compressed. Though it was inappropriate to say, the sensation… was quite pleasant.
“Um… Vesper? Could you step back a bit?”
A request to step back because my voice had been stuck was met with the robot now approaching from the side.
— The owner is a bad person who doesn’t treat me precious, but his skill is unquestionable. The owner who works day and night with hammers and drills is a wonderful person. Request, please reconsider the visitor’s request.
“Ugh… won’t it work…?”
Vesper Hunt had no intention of leaving my side like a golden retriever. Was she plotting to stay glued to me until I accepted if I refused?
The silence lasted several breaths. I let out a sigh toward the girl still staring at me with sparkling eyes.
“Haa— I understand. I’ll review it, so please step back first.”
Vesper Hunt had taken a step further in the violent—or rather, somewhat violent—request, and she was bouncing as she celebrated her first contract success.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t successful yet; it was a verbal agreement that could be withdrawn at any time in business practice, but she apparently didn’t care about such things.
“Tinny—! We did it! Finally, we can release Vesper-made relics and magic weapons to the world!”
— Congratulation, Master. Request, please give me some delicious electricity. The batteries are getting old.
“Yeah, anything! Eat whatever you want!”
While Vesper Hunt hugged the robot and wandered around the workshop, bouncing, there was something accompanying the swaying.
Even if I deliberately avoided looking, it was as if I was automatically drawn to her, like being under a **Charm**.
For the first time in my life, I felt relieved that I had become the body of Yerina Bronska.
If it had been the original body from my previous life, I wouldn’t have been able to stand up right now.