Chapter 48 – Landfill (4)

[Translator – Late Dreamer]

[Proofreader – Seeker]

Chapter 48 – Landfill (4)

I paused for a brief moment, lost in thought.

I had no idea how to explain Eve’s existence.

‘Eve’.

The super-intelligent AI that I named.

Actually, at first, I was going to name her ‘Adam’.

But due to the strong objection of the AI, at that time, it became her current name.

I subtly rolled my eyes and looked ahead.

Catherine was staring at me, her eyes waiting for an answer.

It seemed like it would be difficult to move on without explaining.

Right now, at this very moment.

The pressure to answer was conveyed directly through her gaze.

…Hmm.

Well, there was no reason to keep Eve’s existence a secret now.

In the first place, the reason I hid Eve’s existence wasn’t anything special.

It was a matter of my conscience.

During a mission with all my colleagues.

I had brought along an ‘AI’, a potentially dangerous entity, without anyone knowing.

Of course, it was a different story now.

After spending some time with Eve.

I was convinced that this AI wasn’t such a bad being.

I won’t deny that the streaming donations from Eve, deposited into my account had a certain positive influence.

Anyway.

In the end, this was just my perspective and thoughts.

Perhaps my colleagues’ views could be different.

In the worst-case scenario.

They would advise me to immediately remove the data module and neural computer chip for information cleansing.

And of course, it was assumed that physical action would follow that advice.

I collected my thoughts, and Catherine waited for me.

Eve, too, seemed to be reading the mood, silently observing the situation without saying a word.

And in this situation.

The only person who could move freely was the Vice President of a certain megacorp.

“…Um, excuse me.”

In the silence, William Kojaka carefully raised his hand to express his opinion.

“It seems like the explanation will take a while, but could I have a glass of water? Because of the terrible smell, and my throat is a bit dry.”

Being addressed formally by the Vice President of a megacorp felt better than expected.

But I wasn’t so flustered as to say it out loud.

I silently nodded.

“Of course, it’s fine. We only rescued you, Mr. Vice President, for our own purposes. We have no intention of holding you captive.”

Now that it was clear this wasn’t a Smile John, there was no need to restrain the Vice President’s actions and provoke him.

I added kindly,

“If you go outside, there should be an orc. If you ask him for water, he’ll probably give it to you.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

He would need time to process the situation as well.

Perhaps not yet fully calmed down.

William Kojaka walked away, stumbling slightly.

Now with that, it was just the two of us left.

I decided to tell Catherine everything honestly.

If I lied here.

One lie would lead to another.

The situation would only get worse.

Taking a slow breath, I opened my mouth to Catherine.

“To explain about Eve, first of all-”

It was then, as I continued my explanation.

The orc, Four-Eyes, came rushing in from outside the room.

If my eyes weren’t deceiving me.

He was holding William Kojaka’s arm behind his back. It was clear to anyone that he was restraining him from moving.

…What the.

Before I could even grasp the situation.

Four-Eyes shouted in an urgent voice.

“Hey! How can you let a hostage wander around like this?! If you kidnapped him, you should keep a tight hold of him! Geez, it’s a good thing I was guarding outside…”

Hmm.

Come to think of it.

I hadn’t explained the situation to Four-Eyes yet.

I had only told him, ‘We had to kidnap the Vice President of a megacorp for a bit.’

To him, who knew nothing.

It must have looked like the kidnapped hostage was walking out boldly, just asking for a glass of water.

For some reason.

William Kojaka’s eyes, staring at me, seemed to have turned into rotten fish.

I barely managed to hold back my laughter.

***

After my brief explanation of the situation.

Four-Eyes gently released William Kojaka, whom he had been holding.

It was a careful movement as if supporting a frail person.

Perhaps because of the different species.

It was hard for me to discern the emotions in the orc’s expression.

But I could easily tell that he was making a “I’m screwed” face right now.

I spoke to Four-Eyes casually, to lighten the mood.

“…How does it feel to be the only orc who’s ever twisted the arm of a megacorp Vice President?”

“…Shut up.”

Four-Eyes replied through gritted teeth.

Judging by his response, he didn’t seem to have lost his mind yet.

Compared to the orc’s hard-to-read expression.

It was very easy to understand the expression of William Kojaka, a fellow human.

William Kojaka, freed from Four-Eyes’ grip and seated in a chair, drank the lukewarm water in one gulp.

His face looked like he wanted to spit out curses.

But unfortunately, there were no allies around, like his subordinate employees, so he seemed to be holding back.

William Kojaka, putting down the empty cup, loosened the tie that had been tightly choking his neck.

It felt like an act of throwing away pretense since he had already shown his worst side.

“…So, can you explain now? What this situation is, and who you are.”

[Translator – Late Dreamer]

[Proofreader – Seeker]

It was quite impressive that he was still full of spirit, even after having his arm twisted by an unknown orc.

Sitting on the opposite chair, I tapped the desk with my finger and replied.

“First of all, as I mentioned earlier, we only rescued you, Mr. Vice President, to achieve our goal.”

“…Someone seemed to call it a kidnapping.”

William Kojaka muttered, aiming his words at the green-skinned someone.

Technically, another word for rescue was kidnapping.

But I couldn’t say that so bluntly.

I smiled politely and continued speaking.

“Well, maybe it was a communication error?”

“…”

It was true that we kidnapped him.

But it was also true that we saved him from assassins who were trying to kill him.

“Frankly, we’re not stopping you, Mr. Vice President. If you want to leave, we can guide you right now.”

“…Alright, then show me the exit-”

“However, we can’t guarantee your safety. Judging by what Mr. Kojaka said earlier, it seems like a Ninja squad is waiting above the landfill.”

I took a short breath and said,

“Are you sure they’re your allies?”

“…”

William Kojaka remained silent, unable to answer.

It must have been a question he couldn’t be sure of.

The assassination attempt itself was due to a security officer being bribed.

That was what William Kojaka himself had said inside the airship.

William Kojaka tried to maintain his composure.

“…That’s a problem that can be solved by calling my people.”

Perhaps he was starting to feel safe.

His speech, which had been formal, changed back to his usual vice president tone.

William Kojaka busily moved his fingers in the air. It seemed like he was manipulating a visual interface.

But that action didn’t last long.

“…You’re saying we’re out of signal range? That can’t be right.”

It didn’t take long for his expression to harden.

“…Is it possible that there’s no signal here?”

“That’s impossible, everything works.”

There was no reason for there to be no signal just because we were underground.

Actually, this was something I had expected to some extent.

Ever since we entered the sewers and went underground.

The no signal indicator had been flashing in the corner of my vision.

The last time I had received a transmission was from Natasha after we left the crashed airship, and since then the signal had been completely dead.

I assumed that they had probably spread a radio jammer across the entire landfill.

I smiled and offered the vice president two options.

“Are you going out? Or what?”

“…”

He couldn’t contact his staff outside.

And in a situation where Ninja squads were scouring the entire landfill, aiming for his life.

There was only one option he could choose.

“…Alright, then can you escort me to the inner part of Neon City, specifically to the Kojaka headquarters building?”

The mercenary spirit within me awakened.

I smiled and joked.

“How long have you been looking into it, sir?”

It was a phrase I had heard many times before.

Right now, I’ll give you the chance to hire Neon City’s strongest mercenary (Catherine) at a low price.

This was a beneficial move for us as well.

If the true identity of Smile John was the chairman of Kojaka Corporation, we would be at a loss as to how to deal with him.

In such a situation, if the Vice President could help us.

We would have more options available.

Also, the Vice President had enough motive to hold a grudge against Smile John.

The atmosphere around us relaxed a bit.

I pulled up a chair and sat down to make a plan on how to proceed with work from now on.

Then.

Catherine, who had approached me from behind at some point, gently placed her hand on my shoulder.

I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and check her expression.

Catherine’s voice reached my ears.

“…Explain it to me later.”

“…Yeah.”

She was talking about Eve.

Thanks to the orc who appeared while twisting the megacorp Vice President’s arm, we had moved on.

But honestly, how long could I go without explaining?

…I’ll have to explain it to her later when we’re alone.

I thought to myself.

***

Going up to the surface where the Ninja squad was searching was clearly a ‘bad move’.

Waiting for someone’s help like this was just a ‘mediocre move’.

Then what was the best ‘good move’?

I gathered everyone and explained.

“We’re going into the Neon City underground through the sewers.”

William Kojaka fiddled with his empty cup and replied with an uneasy expression.

“…Isn’t that dangerous?”

I nodded casually.

“Murder drones roam around, broken cleaning robots eat people, and there are a lot of homeless people and mutated contaminants.”

“…Then.”

“But it’s still much better than dealing with a ninja squad on the surface.”

“…”

It was true.

Surely they wouldn’t follow us into the sewers.

[Translator – Late Dreamer]

[Proofreader – Seeker]