The Mages' Outing (2)
The Mages' Outing (2)
The priority of any task always depends on the situation.
From the moment Drex's sleek compact SUV was repurposed into an ambulance, it was only natural that Julia went into the operating room first.
"...Ugh, look at this sticky mess. Hasn't been maintained in years. What's the point of top-of-the-line cyberware if you don't take care of it yourself?"
"......."
"And what's this? Unlabeled black market product? Heh, I'm amazed you've been walking around just fine until now."
"......."
"This is going to hurt a little."
"......!!"
A mechanical whine, like a dentist's drill, kept droning on.
I wished they'd put a little more thought into soundproofing the place.
Even from the waiting room, I could feel the psychological damage seeping through.
Julia didn't scream, but from what Drex was saying,
I couldn't even begin to imagine the pain she was in. It had to be excruciating.
I tapped my feet restlessly, making no effort to hide my nervousness. Should I run? Should I stay? I kept cycling through the same dilemma over and over, like a lunatic.
Maybe it was meant to ease my tension.
Eve, who had been sitting quietly beside me, looked over at me.
"Are you nervous?"
"Yeah."
As if I needed to say it.
At my obvious answer, Eve continued.
"This entity possesses a method by which it can eliminate 'Si-un's' state of nervousness."
"......What is it?"
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much.
Because before, when Eve had promised to safeguard my mental health, she had played classical music for me on the spot.
I figured this time it'd be something similar, at most just playing some music.
"It is a hug."
"?"
What was she talking about now?
I stared at Eve with a dumbfounded expression.
But Eve, as if there were absolutely no logical flaw in her statement, continued confidently.
"Organic beings can typically relieve stress through 'hugs.' This serves the purpose of emotional stabilization, and there are numerous related research papers."
"......."
"It is a rational choice."
"......."
I had thought this back at the fusion café, too.
Ever since that day's incident (the kiss), I'd had the feeling that Eve's brakes had failed.
Because the lemony taste from that day still lingered faintly on my tongue, I felt a burden I couldn't put into words.
"No, I'm fine—."
"That is not the case. This is merely a rational action for the sake of 'Si-un's' mental health."
Slowly, Eve approached me.
Her voluptuous figure hijacked my gaze.
At this moment,
was there truly no one to help me?
That was exactly what I was thinking.
- Ding-dong.
The automatic door leading outside slid open, and several people appeared in the waiting room.
I didn't know who they were, but thank goodness...!
I turned to look their way and tried to express my gratitude.
I would have been genuinely grateful, if only the people who entered hadn't had 'guns' in their hands.
29. The Mages' Outing (2)
Fortunately, everything was over before any new decorations (bullet holes) could appear inside Drex's workshop.
Unlike me, who was useless if there was no time to gather mana, all Eve needed to hack an opponent was a split second.
After neutralizing the armed intruders,
I found out their objective through peaceful conversation (and a bit of hacking), and then explained the current situation to Julia when she came out of the operating room.
"Three of them are bounty hunters, and five are from that organization you used to be in."
"......Ah."
It was just a case of pure, rotten luck.
"They said someone saw you coming in here."
Even though she'd had the rabbit doll that distorts camera footage to make identification difficult, that was their answer when I asked how they'd tracked her.
After that, they had hastily gathered information, rounded up people, and stormed the place, only to run into me and Eve.
To be fair, Julia's appearance, like my other housemates, was on the pretty side, and she was clutching the White Rabbit doll tightly.
It wasn't exactly a difficult figure to single out.
It was an entirely understandable situation.
"We'll leave the organization issue aside for now, but it looks like we'll definitely need to resolve the bounty problem."
When I said that, Julia answered me in a small voice.
"...Well, about that, Chairman-nim and No Answer's Boss-nim told me they would take care of it. But they said it involves bounties placed by individuals, as well as multiple corporations being entangled... so it won't be resolved that easily."
"Hmm, really?"
Still, since those two had stepped forward and said they'd handle it,
it was a problem that would just take time to resolve.
"Then the only thing left is the organization problem."
"...Yes."
I thought back for a moment.
When the bounty had been placed on me, I'd sent a message to Julia to look into it. And when she checked the message, Julia had called me.
There had been a commotion of people screaming,
so I'd wondered what was going on.
'......Well, I'm doing a bit of cleanup right now to leave the organization....'
That was what she'd said, I thought.
At the time, I thought Julia had neatly wrapped everything up. But it seemed there were still remnants, or other organizations tangled up in it.
Granted, Julia normally went out about as little as I did, but that didn't mean she never went out alone.
Today, it was a good thing we were together.
If she'd been alone when the attack happened, things might have gotten a little dangerous.
I turned my head and called out Eve's name.
"Eve, can you find out the organizations involved in this attack?"
"Understood. ......Complete. The data has been transmitted to 'Si-un's' vision interface."
Scary fast.
I scrolled through the names and personal details of the organization members that floated up before my eyes.
Likes bipedal animals.
......I didn't need that level of information.
I had no intention of learning about someone's secret kinks.
I quickly closed the vision interface.
"The bounty is something time will take care of anyway, so let's resolve the organization problem together today."
"......I'm grateful, of course, but I can handle it myself. It's fine. You don't have to worry so much...."
"No."
We were housemates, after all.
There was no reason I couldn't offer this much help.
But even with my answer, Julia couldn't hide her hesitation.
It looked like she felt sorry for getting me, or others around us, tangled up in her own affairs.
Ah, jeez.
I let out an inward sigh.
I placed a hand on my knee, bent down, and matched her eye level.
That let me see her faded irises directly; she was so small that her eyes came up to about my solar plexus.
"It's just like when we competed in that game tournament together last time. This isn't a difficult thing to help with, and I want to help you."
"...Yes."
"And in general, if there's something you want to do or something you want to say, don't just keep it all bottled up inside—just do it."
"......Yes."
I pulled my hand from my knee and straightened up again.
Somehow, she'd ended up in the front apartment.
Somehow, we'd ended up living together.
Maybe that was why I felt she walked on eggshells around me more than other people did.
Honestly, I still questioned how on earth I had ended up sharing a home with a wanted criminal, but at any rate, we were living together.
I held out my hand to Julia.
"Alright, then let's go."
Maybe it was because Julia just looked so young.
I felt like I was looking after a child.
"......Yes!"
After hesitating, Julia smiled faintly when she heard my words.
She nodded her head vigorously and then grabbed my hand tightly. Made me want to pat her on the head.
"......."
Anyway,
how old was Julia?
"Hey, Julia, how old were you again?"
"I'm 28."
So she was older.
By quite a bit.
.......
I instinctively shut my mouth. Fortunately, English doesn't have a title for addressing an older sister.
Well, it wasn't an important issue.
Age is just a number in cyberpunk, anyway.
I was just about to naturally take Julia and walk out through the automatic door.
"Hold on."
Drex stopped me in my tracks.
I calmly opened my mouth to make excuses.
"Ah, you heard what happened, right? A pressing matter came up, so I need to go deal with that first. I was hoping we could grab a drink like last time, but unfortunately that won't work out. Besides, you're married now. Got to stay faithful to the family. Well then, I'll be off now."
Good, I'd said it perfectly.
"That's that, and scaling is scaling."
"......."
He was clearly not listening; it went in one ear and out the other.
Drex shook his head firmly and continued.
"It won't take long anyway. Come here—this time it's your turn to get scaled."
I had been trying to make a natural getaway.
The fact that he noticed and grabbed me—just like my old colleague would have.
.......
I bolted straight for the exit.
I didn't think I'd succeed.
But even a frog trapped in a well doesn't stop jumping, even if it can't get out.
I, too, merely moved on instinct, becoming one such frog.
"—And that's why I had no choice but to run."
I explained while in Drex's grip.
As if he understood my feelings, Drex nodded again and again in agreement.
"Sure, sure. But you still ran. So while we're at it with the scaling, let's take a look at your joints, too. It's about time for a checkup. Oh, or how about we take this opportunity to switch out your implants for the new model that just came out?"
"......"
I shouldn't have run.
I regretted it belatedly.
* * *
I gave a short gasp of admiration.
"...Whoa, what the hell happened here?"
Finding the organization that had commissioned the attack on Julia was all well and good,
but the place was already completely wrecked.
Black smoke rose here and there, and people who looked like organization members were sprawled out on the floor, unconscious.
.......
Could we just go home now?
I thought idly as I looked around.