The Fraudulent Protagonist's Race Against Time
The fraudulent protagonist worked hard to resolve the incident. (2) Despite the extremely urgent situation, Sosia listened to the supporting character's words without panicking. She paused to think for a moment before speaking.
"Abandoning the hospital is impossible. We must protect this place at all costs."
"Understood."
"Also, no matter what happens, we must never fight inside the wards or the emergency room. The most important thing is ensuring no hostages are taken. If even one person is captured, things will become troublesome."
"You're right. So where should we start?"
"How long until that monster horde reaches the hospital?"
"Uh... they're less than a kilometer away now..."
"Time is short. First, we need to organize internally. The moment hostages are taken, we'll be unable to act. I'll summon the Delpiari party. They said to call if we need help, so they shouldn't stand out too much. The Triage party is gathered in the recovery ward on the third floor. However, the Ragon party doesn't have an assigned room, so you'll have to find them quickly. Go search for them. While you're looking, stop by the sentries and have them resume scouting. We should receive monster-related updates through them."
"Ragon himself is probably with Arty right now. As for the others..."
Click!
A baby roach crawled up onto the supporting character's shoulder. Joyeon flinched in surprise, while Sosia—who had been speaking with him—suddenly wore a grim expression.
"A cockroach..."
"I-It was created with magic! It's not the cockroaches we know—it's an insect-type monster! It's clean! I told it to stay out of sight as much as possible and only come out in real emergencies?!"
"...So it's magic, then."
"Yes! This one also brought information about Kelts Pitra's plans!"
"...So. Why did it come out now?"
At Sosia's question, Joyeon called House and asked why it had suddenly appeared.
-Report. Contacted other followers to suggest sentry maintenance and evacuation of patients and guardians.
"To the others? But I don't have any way to contact them from a distance."
-Placement of baby roaches beside all followers complete.
"Huh? You did that?"
-Following orders...
"Oh~ Then~"
"Wait a moment. You said identifying the locations of the thieves inside the hospital comes first."
Sosia stopped Joyeon from giving orders to House and spoke directly to it instead.
-Unnecessary.
"Why?"
Click-click-click-click...
A repulsive sound echoed simultaneously throughout the entire hospital building.
-All twelve individuals' locations have already been identified.
"...Oh my~"
Sosia's gaze toward House shifted.
-Conclusion. Preparation is needed to eliminate internal enemies. Simultaneously, preparation is needed to deal with the monster horde.
"Uh... Then, following House's suggestion..."
"Wait, dear. If we have this roach, there are far more things we can do. We can devise a much more effective plan than what it's currently suggesting."
Sosia looked at House and began issuing new orders as she formulated a fresh strategy.
****
Around the same time. Hospital main entrance.
"Hey, Khan, Ron. Why don't you two take a break too? Even though you're undead, watching you work without any rest makes us feel uneasy."
A sentry who had just taken a break in the hospital lobby spoke to the two skeletons standing motionless in front of the pillars on either side of the main entrance.
"If you don't want to rest, how about going to see that master of yours you always talk about? It's already been several days since you last saw him, hasn't it? Even if it's an order, shouldn't you at least report in?"
Despite the sentry's attempt to give Khan and Ron some rest time, Joyeon's two followers didn't move an inch. Thinking he had failed to make them rest once again, the sentry walked toward them with heavy steps.
However, unlike usual, Khan and Ron weren't looking straight ahead—they were staring at the ground.
"Hey, guys. What are you looking at so intently?"
Curious about what had captured the attention of two beings who normally never did anything unnecessary, the sentry followed their gaze to the ground.
Click-click...
There, two baby roaches were crawling across the floor.
"Morion roach babies? What the—why are these things here... I should deal with them before they grow and become a nuisance..."
Tap!
Khan blocked the sentry's movement as he tried to step on the roaches.
"W-Why? These are monsters. If we don't deal with them now..."
Click-click-click...
The sentry fell speechless as he watched the two baby roaches climb up Khan and Ron's bodies.
Tap! Tap!
"H-Huh? What? What did you say? Can't you write it down? I can't understand this situation at all right now."
Tap! Tap!
At the sentry's request, Khan and Ron clicked their jaws once more before suddenly leaving him behind. Their eyes glowing red, they sprinted forward at tremendous speed.
The bewildered sentry stood there wondering what to do when he noticed the baby roaches that had been crawling on the ground had arranged themselves into letters.
"What the hell does this say...?"
-......3.....is it......before the att......recon......
It was difficult for the sentry to read the letters that had been scattered as Khan and Ron ran off. In the end, he returned to the hospital lobby to report the situation to the other sentries.
****
The terrace on the fifth floor of the hospital. The place where Joyeon and Arty had first met. Arty, Tiasia, and Ragon were there together.
"So~ this perfume is really good, you know? It would suit Miss Arty perfectly!"
"No. I don't wear perfume."
"I-Is that so? Why not try it this once...?"
"I really don't need it."
Arty put up an iron wall against Ragon's words, making it clear she had no interest whatsoever.
'Does this man have no sense at all? If I've said this much, shouldn't he give up? Why is he being so persistent... How would I know what's mixed in that perfume?'
"Ugh... Th-Then how about Miss Tiasia...? Please try smelling it."
"......"
Ragon seemed to have given up on offering it to Arty and turned to Tiasia instead. However, Tiasia was staring blankly ahead without saying a word.
"Miss Tiasia...?"
"...Ah, my apologies. My mind was elsewhere for a moment..."
"I-I see. Would you like to try the perfume? It's really good!"
"Perfume, is it. Well, I am someone who needs to wear perfume."
"Huh? You wear perfume, Miss Tiasia?"
"My body tends to produce odors easily, so I've been thinking of getting some anyway."
At Tiasia's words, Arty approached her and sniffed. However, there was no scent at all on Tiasia's body—not even a trace of body odor.
"You don't smell like anything though?"
"Yes. If I don't manage it, odors appear, but if I do manage it, my body produces no scent at all... So the gift Mr. Ragon is offering Arty and me is perfume, then."
"I-It is... right?"
"Then I'll gratefully accept it."
"Eh? T-Tiasia?"
Arty was flustered as she watched Tiasia readily accept the perfume Ragon offered. She tugged on Tiasia's clothes and whispered in her ear.
"What if something's mixed in it?"
"It's fine. Even if there is, my body is immune to such substances. Besides, Master's orders have arrived. We don't have time to spare on this man any longer."
"Huh? From Joyeon? When?"
"Just now. Through House."
Tiasia pointed to her shoulder.
"There's a baby roach from House here. It can transmit Master's orders through Morse code."
"Morse... what's that?"
"It's a code that allows letters or symbols to be expressed when speech is impossible. Time is tighter than expected. I'll explain later."
After roughly finishing her conversation with Arty, Tiasia sprayed the perfume on her wrists and neck right in front of Ragon.
A 'subtle floral scent' spread through the air.
"The fragrance is much better than I expected. Thank you for the gift, Mr. Ragon."
"O-Of course! It's good perfume, right?! Ah, Miss Arty should try spraying some too..."
"I'll apply it to Miss Arty separately. Mr. Ragon, aren't you hungry? Would you like to have lunch with us?"
"Excuse me? Lunch... Of course I'd be happy to!"
"Then would you come to the cafeteria with your companions? Arty and I will go tell Master that we'll be having lunch separately."
"Ah! Understood! I'll see you at the cafeteria!"
Ragon left the terrace with a bright expression. Arty, still not fully grasping the situation, asked Tiasia.
"What's going on? Do we really have to have lunch with that person?"
"No. We won't be having lunch today. The cafeteria is the location we've chosen to trap Kelts Pitra. We don't have time to eat at all."
"Ah, I see. Then what do we do now?"
"We need to control the Ragon party. Mother will summon the Delpiari party, and Master is currently moving to find the Triage party. Jack and May are going around the wards as usual, informing people that the cafeteria cannot be used today. We'll use House's real-time information to ensure the Ragon party heads properly to the cafeteria, and if Ragon fails to find his companions, we'll have to find them and bring them ourselves."
"I-I see. Everything's going smoothly, then?"
"For now, yes. Though time is short, everyone's information is being transmitted in real time through House. It will definitely be resolved without issues."
"Then what about the monsters? Don't we need to prepare for that side?"
"That side has already received their orders and is carrying out their mission."
Tiasia gazed toward the horizon outside the hospital, where a dense forest stretched out.
"If it's Khan and Ron, they'll handle it well."