Chapter 69

"Alright! Now that it's settled, it's revenge time! I'm gonna light a fire under that bastard's ass......!"

"You switch gears fast......"

Ms. Eve is burning with enthusiasm.

I'm glad she's not the type to sink into gloom here.

(......Now then, what should I do?)

I've already completed the mission Ms. Eve gave me. I have no obligation to accompany her any further.

(What bothers me is that humanoid)

I remember Nico-san and Chacha-san talking about humanoids before.

"Lately I keep getting tangled up with humanoids, but their movements vary hugely depending on the maker. Why?"

"Well, of course. Humanoids basically trace the movements of a Space Gull, so the skill changes a lot depending on which Space Gull you model it after."

Humanoids move based on the player's ability data as the foundation. If you model it after a strong player it becomes strong, and if you model it after a weak player it becomes weak.

That humanoid that pursued us moved quite well. That means the person it was based on was that strong.

If the model is at Nadra Laboratory, I'd like to fight them.

"......Ms. Eve, I'll help with your revenge play too."

"That's okay? To be honest, I was just racking my brains over how to pull you in."

"Unpaid is fine. Stark isn't gear worth getting for just that one escort job. But the problem is how to change Nadra-san's class to criminal."

If we can make her class criminal, the death penalty changes. When we defeat Nadra-san, she'll be sent to prison at the same time.

But if we kill her without doing that, it'll just end with half her chips lost. And in that case, there's a high chance we'll be the ones punished for killing Nadra-san.

"Doesn't the Jolly Roger have police? I think we should consult them first."

"......There are police. But they're practically nonexistent."

Ms. Eve scratches the back of her head listlessly.

"Well, I guess I'll at least give them a heads-up."

---

Returning to the Jolly Roger, we headed to the city's police station.

"Here it is."

The police station was a tiny building, about the size of a convenience store.

Going inside, there was one counter. A Space Gull in military cap and uniform was resting her cheek on her hand there.

"Yes, wel~come."

Talk about unmotivated.

Slit eyes and deep green hair, she looked to be in her late twenties.

"Furin, work. I want you to change some guy named Nadra's class to criminal."

"Okay~. I'll get to it, I'll get to it."

Never has an empty promise been so perfect.

"Listen up. I'm going to explain the details now, so pay attention."

Ms. Eve explains the situation in simple terms. Furin-san's reply is,

"Okay~. I'll get to it, I'll get to it."

Her attitude shows she has no intention of doing anything.

"That's about the gist of it. I've only seen this one actually work properly maybe once or twice. She's a 'I'll get to it' person who does nothing."

As expected of police in a lawless zone......

"Borrowing help from another city's military police would be......"

"Impossible. Basically, the city's security forces don't stick their hands outside their jurisdiction, and HQ won't get involved in something this trivial."

In that case, we might be pretty stuck.

"After all, there's no proof that Nadra is guilty. That wreckage alone can't serve as evidence that she attacked me."

"Even if we dig through the PC's hack logs, she surely didn't leave any traces."

What we can do......well, there's one method I'd rather not use, but,

"I have one acquaintance at HQ. Let me consult them."

I leave the police station and open my Friend List.

"Who's that?"

"A person named Ness."

"Ness? Don't tell me, that aide?"

"Yes."

"That's a huge name......how are you friends with someone like that?"

"Well, it just happened."

I place a call to Ness-san.

"H-hello!"

I stumbled over my words.

Talking to Ness-san still makes me nervous......

"What seems to be the matter, Lord Shiki?"

"Um, is now a good time? It'll be a bit of a long story."

"If it's fine to do while organizing documents, then it's fine."

"Sorry to bother you while you're busy......well, you see."

Following Ms. Eve's earlier explanation, I explain the situation to Ness-san.

"Nadra......it's a name I've heard before."

"What, is she famous or something?"

Ms. Eve asks.

"No. It's just that I saw that name when I was pursuing a certain major criminal. At that time, I couldn't confirm the connection."

So she was already a shady person to begin with.

"Unfortunately, there is no solid evidence of a crime, and even I cannot change her class to criminal. Changing the class to criminal must be done carefully. If we exercise it at the mere suspicion stage, it could lead to what's called a PR disaster."

"Then in the end it's no good?"

"No, there is a way. Lord Shiki, Nadra hid her facility behind a huge wall, and the interior was heavily guarded, correct?"

"Yes. Just from the entrance, the number of security robots was abnormal."

Plus, electronic terminals were attached to the doors of every visible room. Those must be for entering passwords. Surely every room is locked with passwords.

"And she's also purchased a large quantity of weapons."

"Yes."

"A person who doesn't hesitate to deceive others, commits crimes without batting an eye, and was once suspected of having ties to a major criminal. Such a person buys a large arsenal and even builds walls. Surely, there must be something she wants to hide there. In that case, we can checkmate her with a Grade-2 Summons."

"Ah! There was that option!"

*Clap* Ms. Eve claps her hands.

"Um......?"

I look at Ms. Eve, asking for an explanation.

"A Space Gull who receives a Grade-2 Summons has to go to the Military Police HQ. There are summons from Grade-1 to Grade-4, and each has a very different meaning. Grade-2 carries the meaning of 'interrogation.' To summarize the contents of a Grade-2 Summons......'You're suspicious, so come to HQ and let us question you,' is what it says."

"Eh? But even if we summon her, won't she just say whatever?"

"If she responds to the summons, we'll have the MPs investigate the lab while Nadra is away from it. But most likely, Nadra won't respond to the summons."

"If there's a Pandora's Box there, she wouldn't leave the lab while under suspicion by the MPs."

"But if she doesn't respond, we can use that as pretext to change her class."

"Ignoring a Grade-2 Summons is a serious crime."

"Once her class is changed to criminal, we can mobilize the Military Police."

Right. I more or less understand.

"......So no matter which she chooses, she's out. In that case, couldn't she flee outside the colony by respawning or something? The class won't change to criminal immediately upon receiving the summons, right?"

"Well, no. But you can't warp outside the colony. Once you enter the colony, all outside respawn points are wiped clean, and the respawn point is automatically set to a location designated by the MPs."

So escaping by death return is impossible.

"That woman, once summoned, will surely try to flee the colony by spaceship."

"But the instant she receives the summons her class changes to 'Person of Interest,' and if she boards a spaceship in that state it automatically becomes 'Criminal.'"

"But the MPs won't move until after her response. If she tries to escape by ship during the 'awaiting response' window, they won't make it in time. Then we'll have to handle it ourselves."

"Exactly."

If she answers—MPs raid and expose her crimes.

If she refuses—deemed in violation, class changed to criminal, MPs storm the lab (do we help?).

If she flees by ship during the grace period—deemed fugitive, we snipe and shoot her down.

Hmm...... It's a good plan, but kind of messy, you know?

"I don't want to give Nadra time, and I hate complications. Let's keep it simple."

Ms. Eve crushed the cigarette in her right hand.

"We don't need to wait for an answer. After we issue the summons, we'll storm in. Back her into a corner and she'll board the spaceship. Once she's on it, blow her away and off to prison! If she doesn't use the ship, just restrain her, strip the lab bare, and grab Pandora!"

A grin slips out.

Forceful, but I like Ms. Eve's route better.

"I'll leave the method to you. The problem is how to shoot the spaceship down inside the colony. Ideally, we'd down it after Nadra boards but before launch, but that'll be hard. Once the ship gains speed, how do we—"

"I'll snipe it."

"Um, Lord Shiki. A spaceship is far faster than Space Gulls, you know."

"Sounds good~"

"......From launch until it escapes outside the colony, we only get one or two shots. Miss those and catching Nadra becomes almost impossible. Even so, you intend to rely on manual sniping?"

"? Yes! —Ah, sorry...... Someone else wants this role too, right? B-But if possible, may I please have the main course of this operation?"

Huh? Both of them fell silent.

"U-Um?"

"......Hey, hey. Looks like this guy's totally out of sync."

"......Understood. I'll yield it to you, Lord Shiki."

"Thank you very much!"

Sniping the spaceship—what I need is the means to pull it off—

"Just to be safe, everything we've discussed assumes Nadra is 'black'. If she turns out to be 'white', you'll all be guilty of the attack."

"Then I'll shoulder all the blame. Lock me up or do what you want. Well! I think it's needless worry."

Mr. Ness paused for a few seconds,

"Two days later. August 11, at 60:00 in-game time, I'll send the summons."

Two days...... That's plenty.

"Still, Mr. Ness, you're being awfully helpful. What reason do you have to back us this much?"

True, that's been bothering me.

"The Six Sages told me to build up a 'favor' with Lord Shiki whenever possible."

"Uh, that sounds scary......"

"I don't move for charity. Goodbye."

The call cut off. Mr. Ness left something ominous at the end.

"Well, if this whole mess ends up landing us some troublesome request, I'll help too. Let's gather our forces. Your team—Marshmallow Smile, was it? They're a bunch of monsters, but can't we borrow their strength?"

"Just us isn't enough, is it?"

"How many of her underlings and humanoids do you think there are in total? Not ten or twenty. Easily over a hundred. And the arsenal—starting with that gatling gun—has loads of ridiculous stuff."

"Ugh... that's rough."

If it were just Space Gulls and humanoids maybe, but with TW in the mix solo's impossible. My own level isn't high enough either.

"Actually, I've already quit the team..."

"That so? But you're still in touch, right? Use Growmetal as bait and just ask them, please!"

Ms. Eve clasped her hands together, pleading.

"Uu~... Understood. I-I'll ask..."

I keep in touch, so it's fine. Asking is nothing.

Plus I've got other things I want to ask Ms. Shina.

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