Chapter 5
Chapter 5 - End of Peace
We greeted each other simultaneously.
"Hi Cessna."
"Look who's slinking in, the electronic girl."
"Had sweet dreams, maid friend?"
Cessna. Electronic girl. And maid friend. We all called her by different names, and none of them were wrong.
The woman before us is a machine person powered by electricity and high technology.
Cessna, summoned from some mechanical empire in another world, is actually a household maid robot.
'Disappointingly, she wears a regular dress instead of a maid uniform.'
But apparently weapons can emerge from her body.
Why would a maid need weapons? Such questions are taboo in this industry. You just accept it. [TL/N: Lol, Cultured]
"Hello everyone. But I don't see someone who's usually here? The man with the dragon head?"
Cessna asked with a puzzled expression while responding cheerfully. For a robot, her emotional expressions seem more abundant than mine. Is she really a robot?
While harboring doubts, I answered her question.
"You mean Craneid?"
"Ah. Yes. That was his name."
"He graduated yesterday. To a place called Blade Wind Valley in the Dragon Empire."
"Ah. I see."
Cessna let out a low exclamation before smiling brightly.
Then she said "That's worth congratulating" without any hint of jealousy. We all chuckled simultaneously.
We weren't mocking anyone. We just all found our own situation’s pathetic.
"Honestly, I thought I'd get out before him."
"Well, embarrassingly, I agree."
"Damn... Being slower than that turtle bastard... First time I've cursed my race this much."
Until yesterday, there was a man who was part of our 'Hopeless 4 Brothers'.
His name was Craneid. He looked like a house-sized turtle mixed with a human.
True to his turtle-human nature, he was extremely slow. His movements were so slow it could make you yawn just watching. Well, according to him, no one here could match his power, but what good is that? He couldn't leave this place anyway.
But why did Craneid leave before us?
"To think the gate would appear right in front of Craneid..."
"They say the chosen ones succeed even if you try to kill them. The world is so damn unfair. Really."
"For once, I must agree with you... Sigh."
We each grumbled, radiating a gloomy aura. It was the ugly self-pity of men who lost their comfort of thinking 'at least I'm better than him.'
"Ahaha. I shouldn't have said that... Ah. Something smells delicious."
Cessna, who was laughing awkwardly, suddenly glanced at my food tray. She was sniffing, seemingly drawn to the food's aroma.
I quickly dipped bread in soup and handed it to her. It was a familiar motion.
"Here."
Cessna took the offered bread and looked at me bewilderedly.
"Oh, is it okay for me to eat this? You went through trouble to request this..."
"I ate it yesterday and the day before anyway. I'm not hungry."
"If, if you insist..."
She was obviously salivating, which would make it awkward not to give it to her. I thought this but didn't say it out loud.
Chomp. Cessna immediately took a big bite of the bread. Her expression melted into happiness.
"Ah! It's delicious as always. Everything here is so tasty. It's on a completely different level from the mass-produced preserved food in the Machine Empire!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes, yes. Really, really! Thank you so much, Mr. Jeong-yong. I'm so happy right now!"
"Well... I envy your low standards for happiness."
Cessna kept dipping the bread in soup while wiggling her body. Her cheeks were flushed red and her shoulders twitched - she was enjoying it so intensely it almost seemed inappropriate.
Watching the happy Cessna, I suddenly blurted out:
"I've been curious about something."
"Yes? What is it? I'll gladly tell you even company secrets about the factory that produced me! Hehehe."
...Shouldn't those be kept secret? Besides, I'm not particularly curious about that.
I chuckled and asked Cessna:
"How can you eat food if you're a machine?"
At my question, Cessna thought for a moment while chewing, then casually replied:
"Um. We were produced as test subjects of a mother computer meant to perfectly recreate the systems of an already extinct human civilization. So we have digestive organs and reproductive organs. Just a CPU instead of a brain, artificial organs instead of real ones, and picomachines instead of cells." [TL/N: Nanoscale machines operating at the picometer level]
"...Ah. Okay, just keep eating."
"Hm? Okay. Hehe."
I cut her off when complicated matters from her world started coming up. I decided to just enjoy watching Cessna eat happily.
She's pretty, so it's fine. Whatever works.
"Sigh. I really resent my body. Not being able to request such delicious food myself..."
"Tell me about it."
For reference, Cessna cannot request special meals.
First of all, because she's a machine. Apparently the system rejects non-biological entities. Due to the bureaucratic way the golems here handle things, she inevitably became dependent on others for food.
This is also why Cessna lurks around these hopeless men's quarters during my meal times.
"Wow. This is really delicious. Once I get summoned to the other world, maybe I should properly learn how to cook!"
"Well... I guess it would be good for a maid robot to know how to cook."
As we share meals with trays between us, Skalo and Aldcon, who were quietly watching, each make a comment.
"Khuhu. You two get along so well that it makes me feel good just watching!"
"If you're going to set up a newlywed home, do it after graduation. When I'm not around."
I denied it strongly on the outside. But honestly, I felt a bit good inside.
Anyway, it was a warm mealtime atmosphere for such a shabby space. It was undeniably a more human scene than the other candidates staring blankly at the bonfire with dead eyes. I savored that momentary warmth.
Well, of course.
"Unterland Valley of the Dead! The capacity is 15 people!"
That warmth shattered like a lie the moment the golem's shout was heard.
* * *
"......"
"......"
An icy silence descended upon the hall as if by agreement.
Not just our bonfire group of four, but the other bonfire groups were the same. Everyone was so shocked that no one even thought about running to the gate as usual.
The reason was clear. Until that shout was heard, everyone probably had these expectations:
'According to the gate capacity rules, there has never been a case of calling less than 15 people.'
'Also, it's usually in units of 5.'
'The average gate capacity is 30-35 people.'
'Unless we're extremely unlucky to get a call of 15 people, everyone here will take the same gate.'
At least that's what I thought, and Skalo thought the same. That's partly why there was an unusually moderate atmosphere in this plaza today. Because these members would likely be eating from the same pot in the other world too.
But when it was revealed, it turned out like this.
15 people. The worst-case scenario had occurred.
As expected, everyone would get to use the gate.
Except for one!
Except for one tearful solo eater!
The calm before the storm. A powder keg. A sharp silence descended where you could hear eyes rolling.
No one dared to move properly. Because they couldn't handle the snowball effect that one action would cause.
"Ah! This stir-fried meat is really delicious too, Jeong-yong! Try some!"
... I correct myself. Cessna was an exception. She was still in a food trance.
Let's give her a pass since she's a robot.
"Here, Jeong-yong. Say ah. Aah~"
"No. Right now..."
"Eh, why? Lost your appetite?"
"That's not it..."
Come to think of it, this woman has always been like this for the past 3 months.
Putting it nicely, she's not at all swayed by crowd psychology; putting it badly, she has no social awareness. She's rational like a machine while being thoroughly selfish.
That's why Cessna, despite hearing the explanation about the gate like others, doesn't particularly get excited about leaving this place. That's the reason she's still here.
"... Huh. This is deflating."
Such a voice echoed from somewhere. It came from the bonfire near us.
Seems like watching Cessna's carefree behavior made them feel pathetic about themselves as they carefully watched others' reactions while being tense.
"Come to think of it, what changes by just rolling our eyes? I'm going. I don't want to be a loner eating alone here."
The person who spoke was an ordinary man like me. Mid-twenties with a neat impression. Looks about my age.
Moreover, what he just muttered wasn't auto-translated foreign language, but genuine Korean.
Korean. He was Korean.
"M-me too..."
"Let's go together!"
The others at the bonfire who were just watching hurriedly followed the man. Their footsteps gradually quickened, and soon they started running toward the gate at full speed as always. It was almost reassuring to see such a familiar sight.
"Jena. Let's go too!"
"... Okay."
From another bonfire, a red-haired man and woman with long elf-like ears also ran. Judging by their identical appearances and how the man looked after the woman, they seemed to be siblings.
"...... Hmph."
"L-let's go together!"
A group wearing turbans and masks let out small exclamations before running off. Behind them, a woman in rags with shackles on her hands followed sluggishly.
Once the atmosphere changed, it created a today just like yesterday.
"Damn it! We're late! Run, you old frog!"
"Ah, it ends up like this after all!"
Led by the Korean man and his three companions who entered first, people started rushing to the gate like arrows. By the time Aldcon and Skalo, who were spacing out, moved their feet, everyone in the hall was already sprinting toward the gate at full speed. I was the same.
Except for one person. Only Cessna.
"This is crazy...!"
In that instant when I caught Cessna in the corner of my eye, I agonized countless times. Numerous questions and answers flashed by. Reason and emotion wage an all-out war.
But like the sucker I am, as always. Regardless of my spinning head, my body was already moving.
"Hey, hey! Cessna! What are you doing not going!"
I stopped abruptly while running. Then I went back to Cessna, who was still squatting in front of the bonfire. She was happily slurping jelly.
Grab. When I seized Cessna's arm, she suddenly turned her gaze to me. I started running immediately, taking Cessna with me.
"Um... Jeong-yong? Why do you look so serious?"
"Why, you ask, right now...!"
I was about to shout out in frustration, but seeing her blinking platinum-colored eyes made me hold back. In the end, I stopped running. Instead of a yell, what came out was a sigh.
"Ahhhhh! Finally, we're escaping!"
"Farewell to the 1 year and 6 months of hardship!"
When I turned towards the source of these resentful screams, I saw Aldcon and Scalo disappearing into the gate. Their figures flickered white before dispersing like fine particles.
I felt a bit hurt by how they ignored me, but I let it go. After all, I knew well how difficult their time had been.
If anything, it was rather comedic how the two of them passed through last, still getting along.
"Huh? Where did everyone else go?"
Naturally, in this place where all the running people had vanished, only Cessna and I remained.
... And there was only one spot left in the gate's capacity limit.