Landfill.
An underground village with no name.
If one had to pick a unique resident living there, it would be an ‘Orc.’
The only Orc living in the village, he was called ‘Four Eyes’ rather than by his original name, just like the other villagers.
This was partly due to him stubbornly wearing glasses with a crack in one lens that didn’t work properly.
Another reason was because he was the most educated person in this place.
He was also the only doctor.
So, despite his nickname, he was one of the most respected people in the village.
He would treat people at a low cost (bartering was the norm) and cared for children wandering alone without parents.
Also, due to his strong Orc physique, he was often the first to step up when there was work for the village.
Considering that he also took on the task of secretly siphoning off household water from the city’s water supply, it was clear how the villagers held him in high regard.
However, even he, Four Eyes, couldn’t maintain his composure in this situation.
“…So, are you really the Vice President of Kojaka? That guy lying there?”
“That’s what you could say.”
“Get out of here, you bastards!”
It didn’t take long for his furious shout to escalate to him hurling a scalpel and a lump of bandages.
—
13. Landfill (2)
The old Orc, Four Eyes, flopped down into a chair.
“…Hoo, hoo.”
He let out heavy breaths through his ancient tusks.
It’s hard to guess an Orc’s age just by looking at their face like other races, but right now, his face looked years older.
Ah, it makes sense since we hadn’t seen him in a while, so it’s only natural that Four Eyes looked older than I remembered.
After a moment of silence, I peeked my head over the desk.
“Are you calmed down?”
I definitely wasn’t asking to tease him.
I was trying to assess the situation objectively.
Crunch, I heard the sound of teeth grinding.
His tusks clashed tightly together.
“…Ah, you.”
From the way he was speaking in clipped sentences, it seemed like he still hadn’t fully calmed down.
Hearing that, I ducked back down.
I was hiding under the desk to avoid anything he might throw.
Maybe because my physique was weak due to my attributes, but if anything flew through the air and hit me, the pain would send chills down my bones.
Yet, even while hiding, a part of me felt good knowing that the uncle I hadn’t seen in a while still seemed lively.
Even if he was angry because of us, of course.
“…Hmph.”
Watching me, Four Eyes chuckled and smiled through his teeth.
He exhaled heavily one last time.
“Guh-huh…, alright. Okay, I’m calmer now, so come show your faces.”
Four Eyes waved his large Orc hand.
It was a gesture inviting us over.
Seeing that, I naturally rose from under the desk.
Catherine, who’d been hiding who knows where, also emerged quietly.
I spoke to him, filled with a welcoming spirit.
“Wow, you’re still in good shape.”
“What, how old do you think I am, huh? I’m still in my prime!”
He laughed with a deep voice.
Maybe it was due to the unexpected workout, but Four Eyes lifted a dirty cup sitting on the side of the desk, took a gulp, and swallowed.
Good, it seemed like he had calmed down completely.
As Four Eyes tidied up the lump of bandages he had thrown on the floor, I kept talking in a casual tone.
“So, have you been doing well?”
“Why didn’t you come and get in touch? Well, I’m always the same, you know.”
Speaking of getting in touch, it was difficult.
Basically, the people living in this village had no identities, so it wasn’t possible to make calls.
Still, after seeing the way he threw things earlier, it was certain he didn’t seem to have any health issues.
Four Eyes.
Orc.
Doctor.
He bore all these titles in this village.
He was the only Orc we could respect in a world rampant with Orc discrimination.
As for Smith, the security guard of No Answer.
Well, I wouldn’t say he was someone worthy of respect.
But, perhaps his actions were similar at that point.
In various areas of this village, serving as the “hospital,” “canteen,” and “daycare,” you could spot toys covered in children’s fingerprints scattered on the floor.
After Four Eyes calmed down from his drink, he asked us.
“So, what’s going on?”
He lit a half-burnt cigarette.
As he exhaled, the smoke rose like a sigh.
I rolled my eyes towards Catherine.
She silently indicated to me with her gaze.
Interpreting her eyes roughly, I assumed she wanted me to handle the situation since she wasn’t good at explaining it.
“Well, I heard what you were saying earlier. You knew about the airship crash above, right?”
“Of course… Wait, are you saying you guys caused that?”
I shook my hand in denial at his words.
This part was genuinely unfair.
“No, really. The airship was going to crash regardless of us.”
“…What’s this about it crashing regardless?”
It was a truth without a lie.
Even if we hadn’t infiltrated the airship, the assassins who had snuck onto the Vice President’s airship would still have attempted to achieve their original goals and crash it.
…Of course.
If someone were to ask if we had even a 1% suspicion, I wouldn’t have an answer.
So how was I supposed to explain this?
I took a moment to sort through my thoughts.
Too much information might actually harm the situation.
Now that we had brought the Vice President here, I hoped to handle things somehow without involving Four Eyes or the underground village.
Still, it wouldn’t be good for the story to spread.
I decided to cleanly summarize the main point.
“To put it simply…”
“Yeah.”
“A job came up that involved kidnapping Vice President Kojaka, and it just happened that we ended up doing it.”
“…”
There was no need for further explanation.
It was truly a perfect explanation.
[Are you out of your mind?]
I ignored Eve’s comment.
Taking another deep drag, Four Eyes let out a puff of smoke into the air.
“…What the hell were you doing in the city that led to a situation where you could casually kidnap the Vice President?”
“…Well, life has its ups and downs, and I found myself in that situation.”
I skipped the detailed explanation.
Honestly, I felt a somewhat unfair situation.
After all, the cause-and-effect relationships were as such.
To lay it out simply, I had been quietly looking after Eve during our mission.
Smile John had caught on to that.
As a result, the terrorist had started fixating on me.
Thus, with the situation developing, we decided to directly ask the person suspected of being Smile John (the Vice President) to clarify their identity.
I worried explaining it this way would make me sound like a crazy person.
Of course, there were still parts I couldn’t explain because Eve’s identity was a secret.
….
A moment of silence followed.
From what I could gather, which was quick, this was definitely not a good atmosphere.
I seized the opportunity to reach into my pocket.
Pulling out the ‘Bribery Magic’ I always carried as an emergency fund, I handed over a ‘Credit Chip’ to Four Eyes.
“…What’s this?”
“Ah, it’s nothing much, since I haven’t been here in a while, I thought I’d give you some spending money. Use it to feed the kids.”
Even though it was an underground village below the landfill, there were still instances where you could use Credits.
You could barter with traders or go out and use it.
Four Eyes grabbed the glasses frames with his thick fingers.
His gaze held a terrifying glare.
“…I might accept some spending money, but this amount is too big to just hand over as Credits─.”
Four Eyes paused mid-sentence.
It was after he checked the amount on the Credit Chip.
“…What.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I guess that could be possible.”
I nodded my head.
Indeed, magic is invincible and divine.
It was worth the effort I put into learning it.
“Sorry to bother you like this, but can I use an empty room for now?”
“Hahaha, of course. Feel free to use it.”
I bowed my head in gratitude to the suddenly overly friendly Four Eyes.
…Not that I didn’t feel a bit guilty.
It was an unavoidably inconvenient action, after all.
If Kojaka Corporation ever caught wind of this and discovered the village’s existence, we’d be in deep trouble.
But given the situation earlier, we had little choice remaining.
We could only hope to not get caught.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason we came to this village.
Fundamentally, in the landfill where privatization had progressed, there were no surveillance cameras.
Because of that, even if we moved in here, there were very few people who could detect our movement unless they were aware of the village’s existence.
Most people didn’t even know about the existence of the landfill, which also supported my actions.
It was indeed strange to realize that there were people living in an underground village below a landfill.
Thus, I rationalized it mentally.
I moved toward the inner room.
Though I referred to it as a room, it was nothing like the rooms in the actual city.
Built from sewage, it always had a stuffy atmosphere and a musty odor looming.
Catherine carried the still-unconscious Kojaka William on her shoulder and asked me.
“What do we do now?”
“We do what Natasha said earlier.”
“Natasha… you call the Boss by her name?”
“Oops.”
Hadn’t I said that when I was with Catherine before?
“Anyways, the plan remains unchanged.”
“….”
Catherine’s gaze seemed a bit fierce.
I tried to ignore it.
Anyhow, the plan hadn’t changed.
Only the details or location had shifted.
Since the lie hadn’t been discovered yet either.
At the furthest end was a room that looked like it hadn’t been used for storage.
I spotted a chair there, and placed Kojaka William in it while sitting him in the middle of it.
It wasn’t poorly lit, and since it was inside the sewage, I didn’t have to worry about whether there were any surveillance cameras.
Ah, if there had been, Eve would’ve let me know.
I signaled to Catherine.
“We’ll start waking him up soon, so put the mask back on.”
“Ah.”
Catherine nodded and pressed the button on the mask.
A holographic image appeared above her face.
With her face covered, there was no need to take more time and proceeded to the original goal.
I quickly prepared myself mentally.
With confident movements, I flicked Kojaka William’s cheek.
When else would I get to slap the cheek of the Vice President of a megacorp?
“Ugh…”
He still didn’t seem like he’d wake up.
I raised the strength of my slaps a little more.
With a smack! sound, he opened his eyes.
“Ugh! …What is that smell? It feels like I’m in the middle of a garbage dump.”
I couldn’t tell whether he woke due to the smell or from being slapped.
I cleared my throat.
My voice modulation was still active.
《Are you back with us?》
“…Where is this?”
《This is the hidden safehouse of Cyber Force.》
It was the same lie I told before.
Since we hadn’t been discovered on the airship, it was best to stick to this setup for hiding our identities.
Kojaka William surveyed the surroundings.
No matter how positively you described it, it definitely didn’t look like a “safehouse.”
But unless he was totally oblivious, he wouldn’t comment on that aspect.
It was a situation where he had to keep quiet, after all.
In the end, the only ones here were us and Kojaka William.
So just the three of us.
“…Well, anyway, thanks for saving me.”
After briefly grasping the situation, Kojaka William awkwardly smiled.
“…Thanks for protecting me, but why did you bring me here instead of Neon City?”
I shook my head silently in response.
It was crucial to maintain the concept.
《Smile John.》
“…?”
With a puzzled expression, Kojaka William looked up at me.
….
《You, ‘Kojaka William,’ are currently suspected of being the terrorist ‘Smile John.’ Do you have anything to explain regarding this?》
He tilted his head in confusion.
“Who? Which John? Who’s that?”
At that moment, I turned away.
I muttered softly so that Catherine and Kojaka William wouldn’t hear.
《Eve, is this correct?》
[Running voice evaluation module. I assess that there is a 90% chance it’s not a lie.]
《…….》
In the end, it seemed the 21% chance was right.
This meant everything we’d done had been for nothing.
This was precisely why I had suggested we kidnap him.
So many times…
I let out an incredibly deep sigh.
…Maybe I should just let him go.
But then.
A different voice came from inside the room.
【Hahaha!! How could you fall for this? I’m shocked! It seems Eve’s performance isn’t as good as I thought!】
It was the voice I heard from the overpass.
It was Smile John.
I looked around to find where the voice was coming from.
It was emanating from the luxurious watch that Kojaka William was wearing.
What’s going on here?
Is there a connection or not?
I wanted to ask Kojaka William about that, but he was muttering something first.
“…Chairman?”
Hmm.
The only chairman I knew was Chairman Monolith, but it wasn’t a name he’d use to refer to him.
In this situation, there was only one “Chairman” that Kojaka William would be naming.
…But.
Wasn’t Chairman Kojaka a mascot character?
Now I’m totally confused.
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