Chapter 68

I got off the truck and approached the bandits' wreckage, pulling back the cloak.

"Not Space Gull..."

It was a featureless humanoid weapon.

(No wonder the reactions were good but the movements were patterned. That's also why they carried so little weaponry...)

Space Gull can carry eight weapons. Yet the bandits used six or fewer. With no pouch, humanoids must carry every weapon by hand. Considering the weight, trimming down is natural.

(A humanoid force this size requires enormous capital and technology. Enough to...)

"Shiki. Sorry, but come back early. If we don't leave soon we'll be late."

"Understood."

I hid one of the wreckages in a metal box inside the trunk, then climbed back onto it and sat down.

"......Ms. Eve. Besides Ms. Eve, are there other transporters?"

"Of course."

"Have the others suffered the same damage?"

"Ah. Well, not as unlucky as me. I'm the only one getting blocked with a hundred-percent success rate. Oh wait, I did escape once."

Those bandits were humanoids. Someone was controlling them.

That someone must be—

"May I ask for details?"

"Sure. That was a sudden request; I transported it the same day. At the time, I wasn't attacked by bandits."

"Did you tell anyone about the delivery schedule?"

"Nope. Only I and the PC at my house know the schedule."

"......"

From there we raced across the desert plain to Nadra Laboratory.

It was a huge facility. Inside tall castle walls stood a six-story building like a hospital.

When I entered the lobby, a tall woman in a white coat came to greet me.

"YA! I've been waiting, Eve-chan."

"Sorry, we arrived right on time."

This voice... this person must be Ms. Nadra.

"Why apologize when you're not late? Come on, let's collect the cargo right away. You guys, please."

Space Gulls that seemed to be her assistants leapt from behind Ms. Nadra and took the cargo from the trunk.

"How about some coffee, Eve-chan?"

"I like caffeine, but coffee in this world tastes no different from decaf. I passed earlier, but I'll pass again."

"Really? Too bad. Well, I'll transfer the payment to your usual account."

"Yes. Thank you. Please continue to patronize us."

Ms. Eve bowed and left the laboratory. I bowed as well and tried to follow her out,

"Wait a moment."

Ms. Nadra called me to a stop.

"Wh-what is it...?"

"Oh, I just thought I hadn't seen you before. What's your name?"

"You can check my name and level from the menu..."

"My, my, how unfriendly."

Ms. Nadra suddenly raised her right hand,

"Hey!"

"Eh?"

A high five? She wants one from me? A stranger...? Why...??

"......Haa. You're Japanese, right?"

"Y-yes. I am."

"I knew it. Japanese people are all like that. Shy, keeping extra distance with strangers. Try living more brightly. If someone greets you with high energy, return it with high energy. If they joke, joke back. If they ask for a high five, give them one. It's the manners Japanese people love."

Whoa... she's the type who discriminates without realizing it.

For a socially awkward person like me, she's the worst possible type.

"I-I understand. I'll be careful... ehehe."

"That forced smile is so nerdy. Well, whatever. By the way, both your kei-truck and you look banged up. Did something happen?"

Banged up... really? Just a few scrapes.

"......Along the way, we ran into those bandits."

"Ah. The ones said to have harassed Eve-chan. That must've been rough."

Ah~, I see.

(I know what this person wants to hear. But...)

I put on a smile,

"Not at all. It was nothing but a bunch of amateurs. I was hoping for a tougher opponent, so I was disappointed."

"......I see."

"Then, excuse me."

I left the laboratory.

On the way back, I rode in the passenger seat instead of the cargo bed.

"Well! Case closed! How about it, you too—"

Ms. Eve offered me a cigarette, but I declined with my right hand.

"I'm still underage."

Smoking is banned for minors even in virtual space. I wouldn't smoke even if I could.

"What, don't worry. The cigarettes in this world are the ultimate luxury item. No damage to the body at all."

Indeed, in virtual space smoking causes no damage, and you can buy them with in-game currency.

Since AR became widespread, real-world smoking rates have fallen, or so they say.

"Ms. Eve, unfortunately it's not case closed."

"Hm? Ah, yeah yeah. I know what you want to say. We deleted them, but we still don't know who they really are. It's only a matter of time before we're attacked again..."

"Those bandits weren't Space Gull."

"Huh? They weren't?"

"Yes."

I explained the reasoning.

"......I see. Not Space Gull, and no profit motive. Then they must be humanoids."

"And most likely, the one who manufactured those humanoids and gave the orders is Ms. Nadra."

"What!?"

"Whoa!?"

Ms. Eve braked hard with a shout.

"U-um, it's just a theory..."

"If it's a half-baked guess I'll get mad. First, let's hear the evidence."

"Uh, well, first the culprit is definitely someone connected to you, Ms. Eve. Because the bandits are singling you out..."

"......Singling me out? You thought that because I'm the only one meeting them?"

"Yes. The others were attacked only to hide the fact that you were the target. The other transporters weren't seriously harmed, were they? If my theory is right, everyone else had their cargo returned to avoid grudges."

"......!"

Ms. Eve looked startled.

"B-but they all said they barely got it back in time!"

"It was deliberate. If it were obvious you were the target, it would be exposed."

Calmly, from a bird's-eye view, it's obvious Ms. Eve was being targeted. If I hadn't been rattled by repeated failures, I would have noticed easily.

"Grudges from other transporters are extra sparks. If the cargo were kept, transporters would inevitably buy forces to retrieve it. They might even form a large punitive force. So everyone except me had their cargo returned. That makes sense."

"Yes."

Ms. Eve stubbed her cigarette in the ashtray and calmly surveyed her situation from above.

"Okay, I buy it. The culprit is after me..."

"Next, the ambush this time was too pinpoint. In a desert that vast, focusing on that one spot with nothing special is odd. The culprit had to know your route and exactly when you'd pass that point."

"......"

Ms. Eve looked bewildered.

"Hold on. I understand what you're saying, but I'm having trouble with non-Nadra deliveries too. No matter how powerful Ms. Nadra is, she doesn't get other clients' info or delivery times. An ambush is impossible."

"They must have stolen the info from the PC in your home. By giving you a delivery request, Ms. Nadra could pull you out of your house whenever she liked. She only had to send her subordinates or humanoids to that spot while you were on your way to her. Anyone who can maintain a lab that big surely has the tech to hack."

"—!?"

"That's why she couldn't handle last-minute jobs. She needed time to enter the delivery details into your PC."

"B-But...... why would she......!? What would she gain from it!? You're saying she's after the compensation money? Making you transport cargo all the way to the vicinity of the laboratory and then making you pay compensation. There certainly is profit there, but it's chicken feed. She's got loads of chips. She wouldn't pick up that kind of chump change!"

Ugh...... scary. But if I clam up here, Ms. Eve will be squeezed even more.

Hang in there, me. If I back down now, I'm not just socially awkward, I'm not even human.

"Those are merely side benefits. Isn't Ms. Nadra's real target the mining rights to the mountain?"

"Growmetal......!?"

"If Ms. Eve becomes a criminal, she'll either be arrested or flee outside the colony. If that happens, the mining rights will be left hanging in the air."

"Those mining rights by lottery......"

"No, if Ms. Eve still felt grateful to Ms. Nadra, isn't it possible she would have handed the mountain over to her?"

"Th-That's......"

"The reason she kept giving requests to Ms. Eve was probably also to earn her gratitude."

Ms. Eve banged her forehead against the wheel.

She must have realized it by now. Probably deeper than I did, Ms. Nadra's true intentions.

"......Shiki. After you took down that group, you brought something back, didn't you?"

"? Yes. The humanoid wreckage as a clue—"

"Mind if I take a look?"

We stopped the truck in the middle of the desert, and Ms. Eve and I went to the trunk.

I opened the trunk's box and showed the humanoid inside to Ms. Eve.

"......It's confirmed."

"Eh?"

"You remember the mountain she monopolizes. Eighty percent of the material used in this thing is ore mined from there. The remaining twenty percent— is ore I delivered...... no, ore I had stolen from me."

Ms. Eve laughed in disbelief.

"......I see. Her trust, her friendship, every last bit of it was a lie......"

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