But at That Moment (2)
But at That Moment (2)
Ninja.
You might ask what ninjas are doing in a cyberpunk world.
But, well, ninjas had a quiet yet persistent way of showing up wherever they pleased—true to their nature.
Thinking back on the information I knew before entering this game world, it actually made a lot of sense.
There were arguments that the cyberpunk genre itself was born from the fear that, at its bubble economy peak in the 80s, Japan would take over the world.
As if to support that very claim.
Even in this world, you occasionally saw geishas in full white makeup on the city's billboards.
So ninjas appearing in a cyberpunk world wasn't strange at all.
Of course, I said ninjas, but.
They probably weren't real ninjas.
It was more accurate to view them as special operatives run by the Japanese corporation 'Koozaka.'
They didn't show up with a "Do-mo" like in some novel or manga.
For reference, that line was even in the Kojiki.
But just because they weren't genuine ninjas.
Didn't mean those guys weren't terrifying.
Just as the ninjas in comics could breathe fire, cyberpunk ninjas pulled off similar feats through their cyberware implants.
In some ways, they could be even more frightening than actual ninjas.
To be honest, this was my first time seeing 'ninjas' in person as well.
Because the ninja corps was operated exclusively by the Koozaka Corporation.
If you weren't marked as their enemy, you couldn't just see them because you felt like it.
How could I, seeing ninjas for the first time, recognize them at a glance?
The answer was obvious if you simply looked at the people in front of me.
Over their mouths they wore fanged masks shaped like oni, and the rest of their bodies were wrapped entirely in black clothes and tights.
The man standing in the center drew his katana.
As his index and middle fingers lightly swept down the blade, a yellow thermal reaction began to rise from the spot his fingers touched.
The sheer romance of it was just insane.
It was on a completely different level from the thermal katana I'd seen Julia use before.
That was a fake katana created by magic, but what those guys were using was the real 'thermal katana.'
I carefully raised my hands.
"...Um, sirs."
"No words needed (Mondō Muyō)!"
Thanks to the neural computer chip and translation module, the Japanese they spoke was interpreted.
As if to prove they were Japanese.
Mondō Muyō, a Japanese four-character idiom.
We naturally prepared for battle, but.
The moment those words left their mouths.
Of the three ninjas, one immediately turned around and started running away.
...Huh?
14. Then, at That Moment (2)
I shouted immediately.
"Catherine! We have to catch the one running away!"
At my voice, Catherine rushed forward without even asking why.
The narrow sewer path.
To catch the fleeing ninja.
There was no choice but to break straight through the other two head-on.
The other two ninjas confronted Catherine as she sprinted at breakneck speed.
The thermal katanas sliced through the air.
Yellow solid lines were drawn along their trajectories, continuously splitting the surroundings without pause.
A loud noise followed, so loud it was hard to believe a katana and a wall had just collided.
Kaaaang!
Dust burst out from the gaps in the sewer wall the thermal katana had cut through.
That wasn't the end of the horizontal slash.
The trajectory of the thermal katana branched out, piercing through the shadows and smoke.
Yellow trails swept across the ceiling, walls, and floor without distinction.
Even as the ninjas' attacks continued.
The sound of Catherine's running footsteps never stopped.
A little time passed.
The dust cloud gradually settled.
The two ninjas standing in the passageway wore somewhat dumbfounded expressions.
They just stood there, staring at the rear passage where their comrade had fled and Catherine was still running.
Golden hair fluttered behind the ninjas.
Catherine's already distant figure gradually disappeared into the shadows.
A brief silence followed.
In the ill-timed atmosphere, Kozaka William nudged me in the side.
"...Why did you send Shooting Star away?"
Without letting my guard down towards the front, I kindly explained to my employer.
"As you know, this whole area is under radio jamming."
"Hmm."
"So to call for other reinforcements, they'd have to use a method other than radio as well."
Kozaka William nodded with an expression of understanding.
The one we missed now could return later as ten.
"I see. ...Then what about us? Are we okay?"
"What do you—, ah."
I cut myself off.
I figured out what he meant.
The ninjas, who had been staring blankly at the back.
Turned their gazes back towards us right as I spoke.
Now that I thought about it, that was indeed the case.
Their goal in the first place was the Vice Chairman's life.
Even if they couldn't call for reinforcements.
If they assassinated the Vice Chairman right here, there would be no problem at all.
I stated it plainly.
"We're fucked."
"...What?"
Kozaka William responded in a dumbfounded tone.
But what could I do.
It was the truth.
I thought about it.
Against 'cyber ninjas' whose entire bodies were likely plastered with high-performance cyberware made by Koozaka's outstanding technology.
My chances of winning a close-quarters fight were close to 0%.
This was true even with Eve's help.
The situation was a bit different from when I fought Maya.
[The hacking signal is not reaching. I must explain that this is due to a difference in basic performance, requiring a much closer distance.]
As it happened, Eve also said it was hard to help.
As we stood still, the ninjas began to approach us very slowly.
They were being extremely cautious.
The reason the ninjas weren't charging at us right away was probably as follows.
The appearance of unknowns.
And one of them had casually dodged the attacks of two ninjas.
Lastly, the fact that they didn't know the identity of the floating light sphere above my shoulder would also be a reason.
The ninjas slowly got closer.
Kozaka William spoke to me in an urgent voice.
"...Didn't you say you were the Only Mage? Then you should find some other way."
"...Well, it's not like there's absolutely no way."
Kozaka William regained a little energy at my words. His voice got a little louder.
"Then try something!"
"It's a method that might get your clothes a little dirty."
"?"
[.....]
I continued explaining nonchalantly.
"Even though it looks like this, it's expensive clothing, so I was already worried about whether the smell from walking around the garbage dump would come out, but if it gets hit with contaminated water too..."
"I'll buy you however many of those clothes you need! Just hurry up and resolve the situation!"
There we go, the old man's true colors came out.
But within that, there was also what I had wanted to hear.
[...Could it be.]
As if asking whether her hunch was right.
Eve tried to say something, but fell quiet again.
...Since we were working anyway.
Getting free clothes was even better.
A specially crafted garment from a Koozaka Group maker.
I was already looking forward to it.
At that moment.
The approaching ninjas stopped in their tracks.
They looked around, having sensed something strange.
"...!"
It was because the contaminated water in the waterway, which had been flowing rapidly just moments before, had calmed down.
"The water..."
"Endure it (Shinobi)."
So his answer was shinobi.
Their dedication to the concept seemed a bit much.
Unlike the flustered one.
The other, not flustered at all, maintained his stance and continued to stay on guard against me.
Well, whether they were on guard or flustered.
It didn't matter much to me.
Walking here, I had gathered enough mana.
And thanks to their cautious approach, I had blocked the waterway and prepared the necessary amount of 'water'.
Creating water from nothing took a surprising amount of mana.
But manipulating existing water required far less.
I opened the waterway I had blocked with mana.
- Kwaaaah!
Contaminated water gushed out, soaring through the sewer channel.
The torrent was so powerful it looked like a waterfall bursting sideways.
While also blocking the water droplets splashing towards me.
I turned the torrent's direction towards them.
"Hmph!"
With a short kiai shout, the ninjas braced themselves to avoid being swept away by the water.
In the midst of that, one ninja tried to leap over the current and charge at me.
But I changed the water flow's direction once more, dropping him out of the air.
Long if you considered it long, short if you considered it short.
The waterfall of contaminated water gradually subsided.
The facial expressions of the ninjas, now covered in filthy contaminants, seemed somewhat angry.
It was amazing I could read their expressions even though they were wearing masks.
Of course they were. Getting pissed off after getting drenched in shit-water was the normal reaction.
But my magic wasn't finished here.
If I was just going to spray water.
I wouldn't have guided the flow to make it so unavoidable.
Jokingly, I made a gesture of weaving hand seals with my fingers. A half-hearted imitation of something I'd seen in a manga.
"Ninja art."
"...?"
Kozaka William looked at me as if I were a madman.
I tried my best to ignore it.
Normally, you have to counter romance with romance.
"Lightning Bolt!"
Actually, it was just ordinary lightning magic.
It had no special name like Lightning Bolt, nor was it a real ninja art.
──!!
The shock was no joke.
For them, with their whole bodies soaking wet, a high-voltage electrical shock.
Was an attack they could never dodge.
The ninjas collapsed on the spot with convulsions.
White smoke rose faintly above the fallen ninjas.
If they had attempted a frontal ambush when it was just the two of us, this wouldn't have happened.
It was the end for anyone who gave a Mage time.
I spoke to Kozaka William behind me.
"Then let's move forward again."
"Hmm, before that, hold on."
Kozaka William pointed a finger towards the fallen ninjas.
"Could you perhaps use that electrical shock one more time?"
"...Do you really have to confirm the kill?"
This time, I stared at him as if he were a madman.
I never knew he was this cruel...
I guess you had to be this much of a bastard to rise to the position of Vice Chairman of a megacorp.
"...No, what do you take me for? It's not that. Koozaka's ninja division employees fundamentally have a self-resuscitation implant installed in their bodies."
"...Is that a thing?"
Ninjas who could come back from the dead.
Just what the hell were cyberpunk ninjas anyway?
There was no harm in being careful, as he said.
I gathered mana for a moment and fired the electrical shock at the fallen ninjas again.
I don't really know if they could have actually gotten up.
But seeing the twitching ninjas.
Somehow I felt a sense of guilt.
Even in fighting games, hitting a downed opponent was forbidden....
Then, at that moment.
From beyond the dark corridor.
The sound of footsteps could be heard.
At first I thought it was Catherine.
But the footsteps didn't belong to just one person.
I urgently prepared to gather mana.
Whether the ones approaching were vagrants or ninjas.
It was certain they weren't the type to be our allies.
...This was bad.
I had just used magic in succession, so it would take a little time to gather mana again right away.
Earlier, I had half-jokingly said we were fucked, but now I truly felt a huge problem was ahead.
Slowly, piercing through the shadows.
Two people walked this way.
One had a very gigantic build.
And the other had red hair and pointed ears—.
.....
It was Drex and Andrea.
What the hell, how did they find this place? And how did they get here?
I raised my hand and shouted.
"Hey!"
Having spotted me, their faces lit up with smiles.
"Oh, Si-un!"
I honestly don't know how they tracked us down, but in this situation, they were the most reliable comrades I could ask for.
* * *
I spoke.
"...So, because I was out of contact with you and Catherine, you ended up wandering the entire sewer district heading towards Neon City, and dealt with all the strange things that appeared in front of you along the way? We're in Sector E right now..., no matter how you look at it, this place is insanely huge."
Andrea and Drex spoke.
"The eight-legged lizard was kind of tough."
"I vote for the giant saw-blade robot."
I fell into a stunned silence.
"....."
Anyway, I understood they were saying they had a hard time getting here.