Chapter 200: Succession Ceremony (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200: Succession Ceremony (2)
[Ah, just because she disappeared doesn't mean she was kidnapped or anything, so please rest assured.]
The AI who introduced herself as Ryozo's family, Vixbig, continued to send messages.
[As you know, Geomma-nim, access to the Academy is controlled by the system at this time of night. Of course, an AI like me, Vixbig, could bypass that kind of security while scratching my belly.]
“…….”
Despite saying she would keep it brief, Vixbig did nothing but brag. She went on and on about how exceptional of an AI she was, and how great the status of her creator, Ryozo, was. Listening to her, she felt like some kind of Ryozo fanatic.
To prove she was an AI, Vixbig showed off a few tricks. It was nothing major—just photos and videos of her playing Go matches against professional players. She called it proof, but it was really just more bragging.
An AI with a massive ego...
Seriously, since coming to this world, I hadn't met a single normal person. Then again, treating an AI like a person meant I wasn't exactly normal either.
Still, thanks to Vixbig's antics, I decided to believe she was indeed an AI. To be honest, the moment the name 'Ryozo' came out of her mouth, I had been hanging on her every word. The only problem was that she wouldn't stop bragging.
“Didn't you say this was urgent?”
[My apologies. I rambled for too long.]
Vixbig responded instantly.
[Ah, and you can just speak your mind out loud. I am currently tracking and analyzing your facial expressions in real-time through the camera.]
“Which means...”
She had hacked my smartphone. My brow furrowed. Realizing her slip-up, Vixbig hurriedly added a few more words.
[T-This is an emergency, so I had no choice. I, Vixbig, am an AI equipped with a solid moral code. I was designed to be exceptionally human-friendly.]
I cut her off.
“Cut the fluff. What does Ryozo's disappearance have to do with you contacting me? From what you're saying, it doesn't sound like she's in any danger. You didn't contact me just because your master went out for a night stroll, did you?”
The reason I had quietly listened to Vixbig's endless chatter was because of a few doubts that had suddenly crossed my mind.
Let's say Ryozo had gone missing. Would this AI really just be chatting like this? She had boasted that she could easily bypass the Academy's security all on her own.
If it were a truly urgent situation, she wouldn't have contacted me; she would have used her own capabilities to find Ryozo. Even if she had to hack every single CCTV camera. There would be no reason to seek me out.
Finally, it was a personal gut feeling. I had just met Ryozo's father—the Archery Saint, Saki Kojima—earlier today.
And now, right on cue, she disappears, and her AI contacts me? As if she had been waiting for this? The pieces fit together suspiciously well.
“Be honest with me. You're hiding something, aren't you?”
[…….]
In situations like this, silence usually meant affirmation. Especially for Vixbig, an AI who claimed to be infinitely close to human.
[...It is true that Ryozo has disappeared.]
Oh, really? Still trying to hide it?
Shring.
The ring of a blade echoed in the dead of night. A startled voice burst from the speaker.
“W-Wait a minute!”
Whether dealing with humans or AIs, when words failed, there was no better tool for communication than this.
...Though, for an AI to be afraid of a sword, Ryozo must have created a truly remarkable artificial intelligence.
In a trembling voice, Vixbig began to explain the situation.
“As I said, it's true that Ryozo disappeared. But this is the first time she's ever gone missing while leaving all her personal belongings behind, including her phone!”
“Fine, I'll believe that. But why did you look for me first? For someone who swept through the Academy's entire access logs, I doubt you haven't tried hacking the CCTV cameras.”
“W-Well, that's...”
“Three, two...”
“Ugh.”
A groaning sound came from the speaker. After agonizing over her internal conflict, Vixbig finally confessed. Perhaps finding it too difficult to say out loud, she sent a text message just like before.
[When Ryozo briefly stopped by the dormitory, she was heard muttering, '...Geomma, he's a Seven Stars Hero...']
“...I never told Ryozo. How did she find out?”
[She said she heard it from Weapon.]
Come to think of it, Weapon had asked if it wouldn't be better to at least tell the club members. He said they might feel hurt if such a major event was kept secret until the very day. I had readily agreed. The only reason I had kept it hidden in the first place was simply because I didn't want to deal with the hassle.
In fact, Weapon keeping his mouth shut for nearly half a year was a testament to how tight-lipped he could be. Since he loved explaining things, his mouth must have been itching to blab. For him, it was a display of remarkable patience.
Anyway, that was why I had planned to find an opportunity to bring it up when I met the club members today. But before I could, I was summoned by the Academy Principal.
[Ryozo was deeply shocked by that fact.]
“Deeply shocked? To that extent?”
Sure, she would be shocked. A classmate you used to laugh and chat with was suddenly becoming a Seven Stars Hero in a few days. To put it in perspective, it was like a classmate being elected president overnight, not just class president. Even I would have been dazed.
However, it seemed Vixbig meant something else entirely. She continued.
[Ryozo always wanted Geomma-nim to be recognized by the world. She felt that despite throwing yourself into danger for others, you never received the credit you deserved. That is why she stayed up every night deleting articles and Neotube videos that criticized or condemned you.]
Come to think of it, I had wondered why the articles starting with 'K' had quieted down lately. It turned out to be thanks to Ryozo.
To be precise, Vixbig emphasized that she was the one who actually did the work. What an AI with an extraordinary craving for recognition.
If the world became overrun with AIs riddled with such personal greed, the future of humanity would be bleak indeed.
[Ahem, anyway. Actually, I already knew that Geomma-nim was going to become one of the Seven Stars. Because while carrying out Ryozo's requests, I took the liberty of extracting information about you separately.]
“Wait, you knew beforehand? Then why didn't you tell her? You and Ryozo are in a master-servant relationship, aren't you?”
[I would appreciate it if you called it a partnership rather than a master-servant relationship.]
“If I ask Ryozo later, will she give me the same answer?”
[...Because my 'master,' Ryozo, dislikes the Seven Stars Heroes. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say she loathes them.]
“Why?”
[I recommend asking her directly once you find her. Since I kept quiet even though I knew you were succeeding to the Seven Stars, I hope you can let this slide.]
Was she trying to strike a deal? Whatever the case, Vixbig was implying that she had kept her mouth shut for my sake. So, taking that into consideration, she was asking me not to press her on this point.
I let out a sigh. It didn't seem like she would talk even if I pressed her further. Regardless, there had to be a reason why Vixbig had come running to me in such a hurry.
I sheathed the blade I had drawn. A sigh of relief drifted from the phone. Imagine an AI being scared of a blade.
“Where is Ryozo? Since you're her AI, you must have a rough idea of her movements.”
[I do not know her exact location, but it is certain that she is out of range of the Academy's CCTV cameras. Even now, with all of them hacked, she does not appear in any of the footage.]
“So, she's somewhere in the Academy where there are no CCTV cameras.”
[Yes. That is why I took the liberty of contacting you like this, Geomma-nim.]
At that moment, a specific place flashed through my mind. A secluded spot with no security cameras. There was only one place that fit these conditions where Ryozo would go.
I immediately headed toward the door. An expectant voice leaked from my pocket.
“You know where Ryozo is, don't you?!”
At Vixbig's cheer, I stopped dead in my tracks in front of the door. I had just remembered something I had almost let slide.
I pulled out my smartphone and stared intently at the screen. Then, lowering my voice, I spoke.
“We haven't settled the score for hacking my phone yet. Did you think you could just gloss over it?”
[…….]
“Don't switch to text now when you were just speaking out loud a moment ago.”
[I am sincerely sorry for hacking your phone without permission...]
“Apologies don't come free. There has to be compensation.”
[...By compensation, you mean...]
The corners of my mouth curled upward. In contrast, Vixbig's voice trembled with anxiety.
“Vixbig, you're working a second job from now on.”
[Eek?!]
“While doing whatever Ryozo tells you to do, you'll also do whatever I ask of you.”
[B-But my workload is already too heavy as it is!]
“An AI... talking back?”
Even without seeing her, I could tell. Vixbig's face had gone completely pale.
“…….”
Taking her silence as agreement, I turned the doorknob. Then, I made my way to the place where she would be.
* * *
A quiet, secluded spot in the Academy shrouded in night.
Ryozo sat on a bench, staring blankly up at the sky. Perhaps due to the ink-black clouds, it was pitch black without a single speck of light. It was as if the sky mirrored her own state of mind.
The sky she had seen before entering the Academy had been just as dark and inky. Ryozo muttered blankly.
“A Seven Stars Hero...”
There were many modifiers used to describe the Seven Stars. The hero of heroes, the hope of humanity, the United States of Seven. Every single one of them was a flowery phrase of adoration.
But to Ryozo, 'Seven Stars' was a word that was nothing short of disgusting. When the Sword Emperor had come as an assistant instructor for the Wolf Class, she had barely been able to look him in the eye, even though she tried not to show it.
‘Ryozo, you must become one of the Seven Stars.’
That was what Saki Kojima had always said. If it had just been nagging, it would have been one thing, but he repeated those words obsessively.
Ryozo had many half-siblings. This was because Kojima had taken multiple wives, a practice made possible by Japan's unique circumstances. Although it was legally permitted, it was still a form of marriage that raised moral questions.
Kojima didn't care. He wasn't the type of person to worry about harsh social scrutiny, and as the Archery Saint, he was the head of the Japanese executive branch. This meant there was no one, at least within Japan, who could stop him. Thus, he continued to take concubines. All to obtain a superior heir.
Ryozo was born as the third child of his fourth wife. She and her mother were practically at the very bottom of the Archery Saint family's hierarchy. Though she bore the surname 'Saki,' she was treated like an outsider. Yet, the childhood Ryozo remembered was happy.
Although she received absolutely no attention from her father, she wasn't particularly sad. If anything, her mother showered her with more than enough maternal love. Furthermore, she was able to avoid the wary glares of her other siblings. At least, until Ryozo herself began to stand out.
Time passed. It was Ryozo's twelfth birthday. On that day, Kojima summoned her to the archery range. It was the first time in twelve years she had truly looked at her father's face.
He handed her the S-rank Armament, Red Bow, White Arrow, and gestured toward the target with his chin. He remained silent, as if even speaking was a waste of breath.
Piqued by his attitude, Ryozo thought to herself: I'll make him open his eyes.
Ryozo drew the bowstring and aimed at the target. Then, she released her hand from the string, channeling the blessing she had secretly awakened.
Thwack.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that the arrow she released would change her entire life.
Ryozo bit her lower lip. Her life had been completely ruined since that day. It was the result of Kojima's obsessive desire to turn his child into one of the Seven Stars.
‘And that position... he...’
Just then, footsteps approached from a distance. Ryozo turned her flushed eyes to the side.
“Aren't you cold?”
“…….”
Kang Geomma rubbed his shoulders, pretending to be cold. Ryozo stared at him for a moment before snapping her head away.
Kang Geomma scratched his eyebrow with his thumb as he approached the bench. Ryozo was sitting right in the middle. Even as he drew near, she didn't budge. She clearly had no intention of making room for him. Yet, she didn't seem to want to drive him away either.
Feeling a bit awkward standing there, Kang Geomma decided to just talk to her like this. Though standing while speaking made him look like a student summoned to the teacher's office.
“Hey, Ryozo.”
The moment Kang Geomma opened his mouth, the bushes behind them rustled.
Tap, tap.
Another presence. A presence accompanied by the same unpleasant energy he had felt just a few hours ago was drawing near.