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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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The secretive 3rd floor of No Answer.
Smith, the tuskless Orc, quietly voiced his concerns to his boss, Natasha.
“…Boss, even so, isn’t this plan too dangerous—?”
However, he couldn’t finish his sentence.
“Shh, quiet.” Natasha said, raising her index finger without turning around.
Then she turned her head and looked at Smith.
“You’re grounded, aren’t you?”
“…Yes.”
At those words, Smith closed his mouth. It was his punishment for failing to escort a certain mage.
Of course, Smith held no resentment about it. Even if the mage had said he was fine, Smith’s failure to follow his boss’s orders was a serious offense. No matter what anyone said, it was his fault. If he had escorted the mage home, that accident might not have happened.
Smith silently bowed his head and assisted his boss. Natasha organized the data and thought.
As Smith said, it was indeed a dangerous plan. An incredibly dangerous one, at that.
It was also something she shouldn’t be doing, breaking her own rules. Only accept requests that don’t harm Neon City. It was the most important and fundamental rule of No Answer.
But why did she agree to help Catherine after receiving her call?
Shooting Star.
Red Horn.
Tech Master.
No matter how formidable they were, they weren’t comparable to the entirety of Neon City. Natasha thought of a certain mage. She recalled their first meeting.
The first emotion she felt was probably pity. Mages were a disappearing profession in Neon City, and indeed, the world. At the time, there was a lot of jealousy directed towards the mage because of his exceptionally talented companions.
Many people gossiped that he was only successful because of his friends.
Back then, she hadn’t thought much of it. Part of her even agreed. The next emotion she felt was curiosity. The mage was at the center of the group. He wasn’t particularly strong or incredibly intelligent, but he naturally acted as the group’s leader.
She hadn’t understood it then, but she did now. There were no mistakes in his actions. He rescued hostages as if he knew where they were hidden, cleared false accusations, and easily uncovered hidden culprits. Considering everyone acquainted with him owed him something, it was even more understandable.
It didn’t take long for Natasha herself to trust him. A 100% mission success rate. It was a number no one else had achieved. Those who didn’t know him belittled his achievements, attributing his success to his talented companions.
But those around him knew. Without the mage, there would have been no 100% success rate, and they might have been far worse off.
And finally…
“He saved my life, after all.”
“What did you say?”
Smith responded to Natasha’s murmur. She casually waved her hand dismissively.
“It’s nothing. More importantly, when is everyone expected to arrive?”
“Almost everyone is here. Only Shooting Star and the Only Magician are left.”
Natasha nodded briefly.
“Good. Prepare the data and go out to greet them.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Smith bowed formally and went outside. Natasha pondered slowly.
Yes, it was simply to repay that debt. That’s how Natasha interpreted and rationalized her actions and feelings, completely oblivious to the excitement bubbling within her.
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I slowly counted the patterns on the ceiling, trying to ignore the reality before me.
The Five Stages of Grief, was it?
I wasn’t in a position to be angry. Forget anger… I was cycling through the stages of denial, bargaining, depression, and acceptance in my mind.
Denial: ‘No…this can’t be happening.’
Bargaining: ‘Can’t we just call it a draw?’
Depression: ‘…I’m screwed. Everything is over now.’
Acceptance: ‘Well, it could happen. A MegaCorp Vice President? It’s possible to kidnap one.’
And then back to denial.
Meanwhile, everyone Natasha had summoned gathered at No Answer. To be precise, Catherine had asked Natasha to devise a plan, but anyway…
Natasha pointed her folded fan at a hologram.
“Ko-ozaka William. I looked into his schedule. He’s returning to Neon City next week from Neo Japan on his private airship.”
I was too scared to ask how she’d found the hidden MegaCorp Vice President’s schedule. The hologram in front of her transformed into the shape of a massive airship. Drek, Andrea, Catherine, and my gazes all focused on the airship hologram.
“This is the airship’s data…Check the details yourselves.”
As soon as Natasha finished speaking, a file was transferred at an alarming speed. The data was saved to my neural computer chip through the open network port.
Detailed blueprints and specifications of the airship were displayed on my visual interface. Honestly, I had no way of understanding what was what, even if I looked at it.
‘This looks like a wing.’
‘This looks like the fuselage.’
That was about the extent of my understanding.
Drek, the most intellectual among us, flipped through the screens with his fingers.
“Since it’s the Ko-ozaka Vice President’s airship, the anti-air defense system seems to be no joke.”
He slightly lifted his sunglasses with a finger. His eyes were fixed on Natasha.
“Most missiles won’t even get close.”
At his words, Natasha unfolded her fan with a snap. She habitually covered her mouth with it.
“You’re right, and we’re going to use that to our advantage.”
“Hmm.”
Drek fell silent briefly. It was a gesture indicating he was willing to listen. Natasha explained the main operation.
“We’ll attempt an interception from the ground with anti-air fire…specifically, surface-to-air missiles.”
“Huh?”
I reacted involuntarily. Natasha’s blue eyes shifted to me.
“The objective is to mislead the radar and visual systems by triggering the defensive flares and chaff.”
She gestured towards the hologram. Several beams of light shot out from the bottom of the Vice President’s airship hologram. Smoke and explosions followed.
“And using this opportunity, infiltrating and hijacking it from the air, then landing it at the designated external waste landfill is the most crucial part. Finally, transporting the target to the safe house completes the plan.”
Natasha continued with a few more details. Things about security aspects, Ko-ozaka’s information network, the estimated response time from Neon City…
Honestly, nothing registered.
[Data saved to database, I inform.]
I just trusted Eve. I wasn’t the only one; Catherine and Andrea also wore blank expressions. Honestly, they weren’t exactly the intellectual type either.
Only Drek was nodding. Seeing him like that, it seemed like we could just trust Drek with this plan.
“I’ll compile the remaining details into a document and distribute it separately. On paper, of course, because of the hacking risk.”
Natasha folded her fan again, crossed her arms, and flicked the fan with one hand.
“Any questions?”
At that, I cautiously raised my hand. Looking around, everyone else was quietly listening. I cleared my throat a few times and asked Natasha.
“Well, I’ve said this several times…”
“Hmm.”
“…What if, after we kidnap him, he’s not Smile John?”
It was something I couldn’t just ignore. It was the biggest reason I opposed this crazy plan. In fact, the whole idea of kidnapping the MegaCorp Vice President based on mere suspicion was absurd. When it came to cyberpunk MegaCorps, many wielded power greater than nations.
Ko-ozaka was one of them. I might as well kidnap the President of the United States…though that wouldn’t be easy either. Anyway, it was an incident of that scale.
“Then we’ll just let him go.”
Contrary to my worries, Natasha’s response was incredibly calm. Well…she wasn’t wrong. She continued with further explanation.
“That’s why we’re focusing on security. We’ll hide our identities, of course. And minimize the number of people who know the details.”
…
I wondered if it was really that simple. Was I the only one taking this seriously? In a world of three-eyed people, the two-eyed person is the strange one. I tried to come up with more arguments to stop this madness, but…
At some point, Andrea and Drek, who had been sitting, stood up and approached me. Drek’s large hand landed on my shoulder.
“Haha, we have to repay the favor somehow. Don’t worry! It’ll be fine.”
I appreciated the help, but… I didn’t understand why they were talking as if it was already a done deal.
“By the way, my girlfriend said to bring you over sometime. For dinner.”
“Hmm.”
Drek’s girlfriend was Lorenda. I had some connection to her, so her request wasn’t strange— No, that wasn’t the point.
I slowly assessed the situation and cautiously opened my mouth.
“…Even if I say no, you’re going to do it, aren’t you?”
There was no subject, but everyone understood what I meant.
“Of course!”
“Naturally.”
The former was Andrea’s answer, the latter Drek’s.
‘…Why won’t you listen, you guys?’ There were too many problem children around me.
In the end, I decided to give up.
“…Sigh, fine.”
I nodded weakly.
“Let’s do it.”
“Haha!”
Drek laughed and slapped my back with his massive cybernetic arm. My whole body jolted and swayed with each slap.
‘That hurts, that hurts.’
Drek slapping my back. Andrea, trying to equip a giant mechanical arm, presumably to slap me too. Catherine and Natasha engrossed in analyzing data and conversing. Smith with a deadpan expression.
I happened to make eye contact with Smith. After a brief moment, we both nodded simultaneously. At least I wasn’t the only one worried.
Anyway, I didn’t know anymore. Whatever, it’ll work out somehow.
I secretly sighed.
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Inside the airship Natasha had secretly launched. We were at such a high altitude that the massive form of Neon City looked tiny. I swallowed involuntarily. Was it the pressure difference, or was it nervousness? My ears and head felt stuffy.
‘I’m crazy, damn it.’ Why hadn’t I sensed something was wrong when I heard Natasha’s plan?
I inwardly cursed my past, foolish self.
‘…Should I call it off now?’
Before jumping out of the airship without a parachute, I closed my eyes, silently regretting. I should have stopped this crazy plan.
I thought so with all sincerity.
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