The Answer Only One Doesn't Know (1)
The Answer Only One Doesn't Know (1)
A massive holographic billboard shaped like a dragon swam oppressively between the buildings.
It was that time of day when the relentless neon lights began their slow assault on my eyes.
I used my vision interface to adjust the light-blocking filter I'd linked beforehand.
Then, across the glass walls that had been mirroring the outside scenery, motley clusters of light began to bloom.
Soon, not a trace of the glass walls remained, leaving only patterns the same color as the surrounding walls.
That's a bit better.
I scratched the bridge of my nose and focused on the giant TV screen.
Neon City's famous current affairs and educational program, 'NCB At Midnight,' was just getting underway.
The desk anchor, draped in clothes so dazzling you'd pretend not to know them if you passed them on the street, continued speaking with manic energy.
[Alright! Today we've invited perhaps the most famous Cyber-monk in Neon City! For the last segment, we'd like to ask you to share a few words with our viewers, especially our premium subscribers!]
Someone slowly rose from the sofa on the stage.
Feeling a shallow interest, I kept my eyes on the religious figure framed by the camera.
Usually, when you hear 'Cyber-monk,' you think of someone who spends their life cultivating the Way, distancing themselves from the secular world, and living an ascetic life.
The Cyber-monk who appeared on this broadcast had more than half their entire body covered in cyberware implants, even at a glance.
I'm not sure if it was intentional, but they hadn't even covered them with synthetic skin, which made the sense of disparity feel even greater.
The cybernetic Cyber-monk spread both arms wide.
[What I wish to say is this. Ultimately, all worry and anxiety stem from within oneself.]
Even the voice had been run through auto-tune.
[Let's take an example. The gaze looking at a piece of food on the ground differs between a person and an animal. What is precious to someone is trash to another.]
I leaned forward and listened closely to the Cyber-monk's words on the TV.
In truth, most of the Cyber-monks you commonly saw in Neon City were often apostate monks. There were even tons of cases where such apostate monks underwent a dark evolution into destroyer-monks.
So, I was just watching out of idle curiosity to kill time, but the content was more interesting than I'd expected.
[Form is exactly emptiness, and emptiness is exactly form. To all of you living in Neon City, I hope you will not cling to material things but devote yourselves more to rectifying your own selves. Thank you.]
"...Ooh."
I let out a brief murmur of admiration and nodded.
I hadn't expected to receive such teachings from a program I'd tuned into without much thought.
...Yeah, right.
What does it matter, this or that.
All matter is but uselessness. Heh heh.
I composed my mind like that.
"Did you enjoy the show?"
"...Mm."
"?"
The mind I had just composed threatened to disappear immediately. Emulating the Cyber-monk's teachings, I deliberately didn't turn my head to confirm Eve's appearance.
The reason was clear.
As the Cyber-monk said, seeing a mere 'material thing' like a 'bunny girl suit' would definitely make my head spin.
It's a walking mass of worldly desires.
.......
Seriously, it's like they're testing my patience.
Why did she come wearing a bunny girl suit?
I have no idea.
33. The Answer Only One Person Doesn't Know (1)
...Though I feel like I might have some idea.
A few days passed.
To put it simply, nearly one cycle had ended.
And while the 14th floor's presence had suddenly come into being, that didn't mean my life had changed drastically.
It was only natural if you thought about it.
Because I wasn't continuously living on the 14th floor.
Of course, it was an obvious fact that the 14th floor was better to live on than the 13th.
To put it bluntly, the surveillance cameras watching my life weren't exactly my thing, and the overall living facilities themselves were incomparable.
...However.
It was also true that I felt a certain pressure (and was also a bit scared) about the front door that had no handle.
And the 'strange suspicious feeling' I'd sensed recently was also one of the important reasons.
First, to briefly summarize my life over these past few days, it went as follows.
There was Eve, who wore a bunny girl suit, Catherine, who appeared in a very short negligee, and also Chairman and Andrea, who subtly tried to initiate skinship.
And it didn't end there.
Besides them, there was Julia, who would absolutely never take her eyes off the monitor when gaming, now continuing to steal glances at me, Maya, who out of the blue brought home-cooked meals from a fusion-Japanese restaurant, and Natasha, who asked me to escort her in place of the always-hardworking Smith, who had suddenly not come to work.
(For reference, they said Smith had come to work exactly on time.)
Yeah, it was all fine.
Let's say, up to here, it was all understandable.
The most suspicious case was more recent.
It was when I, having sensed a looming crisis difficult to explain in words, evacuated to the 13th floor and was under everyone's protection (and being watched).
Mealtime.
We were eating food brought out by Eve, who had hacked the secret recipe of Monolith's exclusive chef and the recipe of a famous restaurant (fusion-Japanese) in the lower layer.
At that moment, I noticed a piece of food stuck on Andrea's cheek.
"Hey, you've got something on your cheek."
"Where."
"A bit more to the side than that."
"Here?"
"A little lower..., mm."
It was too much trouble to explain with words.
Getting up from my seat for a moment, I used my thumb to wipe the piece of food off Andrea's cheek.
So sloppy.
Let me say this in advance.
It was an honest mistake.
After sitting back down, I was about to pick up my spoon when I noticed the grain of rice stuck to my thumb and naturally brought it to my mouth.
" "...." "
Only after everyone fell silent did I realize my mistake.
"Ah, sorry. I did it without thinking."
Andrea, who had been staring at me with a dazed expression, suddenly jumped up from her seat.
At the same moment, Catherine and Eve, who were sitting next to her, grabbed Andrea's arms.
"No, this one really counts as making a move—!"
"Hey, hey! Quiet!"
"......!!"
With her mouth covered by Catherine and Eve, Andrea was dragged off somewhere far, deep away.
And then, as if nothing had happened, everyone naturally resumed eating.
"......."
I stared blankly, mouth agape, and watched the entire spectacle.
...Something, there was definitely something going on.
My intuition, honed through my long years as a mercenary, was screaming on my behalf.
For reference.
The incident didn't end there.
"...Uh."
Just as I slowly opened my mouth to ask the others about the incident I had just witnessed.
"Andrea seems really tired these days."
"We've been putting out quite a few ads on our side recently, so that could be it."
"...Th-that's right!"
Natasha, Chairman, and Maya suddenly opened their mouths and started chattering away. I got the feeling they were making excuses on her behalf.
What the hell is going on.
I turned my head toward Julia, the only one who hadn't opened her mouth.
But Julia was also in a strange state.
Julia was speaking without making a sound.
To be precise, she seemed to be only moving her mouth to convey some kind of information to me.
...Three letters, four letters or so?
I calmly interpreted the shape of her mouth. For reference, the language Julia spoke was also English, so I had to factor that in.
R...? Ru...? R-u-n....
Hmm.
"Ah."
Run away.
To run away—.
And then, this time Natasha and Maya grabbed Julia and vanished far away.
"......."
Since Julia was relatively very short, her feet dangled in the air.
I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
In the end, only Chairman and I remained at the table.
"...Um, Chairman?"
"You can start calling me by my name soon."
Let's put that aside for now.
"What in the world is going on?"
"Heh heh, I don't know either. Ah, this is delicious. It's a menu I like too."
.......
"...Um."
"Artificial intelligence really is amazing, though. I hadn't expected it to reproduce the exclusive chef's flavor so exactly. He's still a specialist we invited all the way from USA City."
"......."
"Here, try this."
It was definitely clear something was suspicious, but I just couldn't figure out what.
I ate the food Chairman offered on a fork and thought.
There was no way Chairman knew nothing about all of this. It was certain. Surely, they must know something.
But for a mere mercenary grunt like me to read the emotions of a megacorp Chairman was virtually impossible.
I instinctively knew I wouldn't be able to get the answer from Chairman.
.......
I needed to find someone who could tell me the answer.
* * *
After hearing my question, Natasha cautiously murmured.
"...Isn't it just your imagination?"
"I don't think it is."
The reason I asked Natasha was nothing special.
It was because an opportunity for just the two of us to be alone on the 14th floor had come up. Today's turn was Natasha's.
And the fact that Natasha was a person who possessed a fair amount of 'reason' was also one of the reasons.
Even though she had turned an Orc (Smith) who had come to work perfectly fine into someone absent without leave just because she wanted to commute with me, that much was trivial.
The head of Neon City's brokers, the Boss of No Answer.
Natasha slowly placed the wine she had taken from the wine cellar down in front of me.
"First, I'll make it on the rocks. Want a glass?"
"...Mm, just one then."
"Good."
With a light smile, Natasha dropped a large cube of ice into a transparent glass.
Watching her, I asked again.
"Where did you take Julia that time?"
"Just to a secret room for a moment."
There's no such place in my house....
Seeing my dumbfounded expression, Natasha giggled and covered her mouth.
I was glad she could maintain this playful atmosphere.
What Natasha was wearing now wasn't her usual suit, nor the cheongsam she'd worn before.
It was just ordinary 'pajamas.'
If she'd come wearing a bunny girl suit or a semi-transparent negligee like some others, I would've fled to the 13th floor right then.
For reference, I don't know why, but the pattern on the pajamas was little bears.
Who even buys clothes with designs like that.
I hadn't expected Natasha to be the one buying and wearing them.
Feeling a slight sense of gap moe, I suddenly had the thought that my emotions felt unusually deep.
In the past, I could never have imagined ending up in this kind of relationship with Natasha.
And it seemed Natasha felt the same sentiment I did.
Natasha slid the cocktail she'd mixed across the small table to me and said.
"Still, being just the two of us like this after so long, it brings back old memories. It's nice."
"Old memories?"
"I guess my lifesaver has no awareness of it."
Seeing her keep making jokes since earlier, she must really be in a good mood.
I thought I knew what Natasha was talking about.
"Old memories... you mean that time at the charity party?"
"...Yes."
Memories flickered in Natasha's eyes. At the end of her gaze was the city visible beyond the glass wall.
Well, it does come to mind.
Turning my head to follow Natasha's gaze, I recalled that memory and took a sip of the cocktail.
* * *
"A request came in for the No Answer Boss?"
"Yeah."
"...Why are you telling me that?"
"Because only you have to go."
.......
Why me.
"Screw that, I'm not going."
I said, lying flat on the floor.
I would've stayed lying down if Drex hadn't come walking toward me with the clear intent to actually cut me open.