Retro Hero (2) - 20

Alice.

 

 

Tendou Alice. Her real name is AL-1S, but Momoi misread it, giving her a more human name.

 

 

They found her in the basement of the ruins, and now she was in the Game Development Department's room.

 

 

"This is the game that the Game Development Department made! Interesting!"

 

 

"Game? Game, I know what that means."

 

 

"Good, Alice! By playing games together, you'll learn the language!"

 

 

To help Alice, who still spoke like a robot, the Game Development Department prepared the only game they had made. Tales Chronicle Saga. It was Sensei's first time playing a video game since coming to Kivotos, so she was excited...

 

 

"Wh-What do you mean I died to a gun when the game told me to pick up a sword!?"

 

 

"Question, I pressed button A, but I died. An emotion that cannot be explained by text is happening."

 

 

"I think that's probably anger!"

 

 

It was, beyond imagination, a terrible game. The story, the gameplay... At least the game system itself was good. It was just that the way the story progressed was problematic... As expected from the Game Development Department, the game system itself was excellent.

 

 

"Why is the main character a vegetable!? Do vegetables move in Kivotos!? Or is it a shocking twist that he was literally a plant!?"

 

 

"Error... The word 'stepsibling' does not exist... Why was the mother the protagonist's wife in his past life..."

 

 

"Ugh, the facts are piercing like a dagger!"

 

 

"Maybe we should have researched more, sister..."

 

 

Sensei and Alice's facts made the two suffer...

 

 

"Kill me..."

 

 

"Ugh... My brain feels like it's melting..."

 

 

"Just a little more! Alice, Sensei! It's almost the climax!"

 

 

Both Alice and Sensei were struggling... but after much hardship and adversity, the two saw the true ending and finished the game.

 

 

"It was hard, but it was worth it!"

 

 

"Yes... This unknown feeling feels good."

 

 

It was difficult in many ways, but the two were happy that they finally cleared the game. Just as the Saiba sisters were about to congratulate them, the club room cabinet door opened. Momoi was surprised, and Midori tried to stop her, in case she threw another game console.

 

 

Out of the cabinet came Yuzu.

 

 

"?"

 

 

"Ah~ Alice and Sensei are new, right? This is Yuzu! Our club president!"

 

 

"Oh, you're Yuzu! Nice to meet you!"

 

 

"Nice to meet you."

 

 

Yuzu was hesitant to approach the two new people. Then, she gathered her courage and spoke.

 

 

"Tha, nk you..."

 

 

"?"

 

 

"That was...?"

 

 

"For saying the game was fun... It's the first time. Someone else said that they enjoyed the game we made... I wanted to hear those words."

 

 

Yuzu spoke with tears in her eyes. Sensei, in Reisa's form, had a serious expression for the second time, following the time she protected Momoi. Then, she smiled gently and stroked Yuzu's head.

 

"I see. It's been hard for you, hasn't it?"

 

 

"..."

 

 

"Yuzu, I like games too. As a gamer, I can say that there were definitely problems with the story and other things... But still, I definitely think the game itself was fun. When others say it wasn't, I'll say it was fun. It was the first game I played together since I came to Kivotos, and it was definitely enjoyable."

 

 

"...Thank you, Sensei..."

 

 

At that, Yuzu looked moved, then smiled brightly and thanked her.

 

 

"Yuzu has joined the party, fanfare!"

 

 

"party members... They're essential in RPGs..."

 

 

"Then, moving on~! Let's play the next game for Alice's language acquisition! I'll take recommendations!"

 

 

At Sensei's words, the three members of the Game Development Department eagerly recommended games they thought were good.

 

 

And so, they all played games together... and it became late at night. Everyone fell asleep while playing games, and Alice continued to play games alone all night.

 

 

The next morning.

 

 

Yuzu rubbed her eyes and got up.

 

 

"You're finally awake. You're lucky. Are you feeling okay?"

 

 

"Alice... You've become more fluent..."

 

 

"Mortal, that is correct."

 

 

"You're still, a bit strange... But I think it's enough. But where's Sensei..."

 

 

"Over there."

 

 

Yuzu, who had fallen asleep watching Alice play games with her. She was looking for Sensei, who had been playing games with them, when she turned around to where Alice was pointing...

 

 

"Good morning, Yuzu."

 

 

"Hieeeeeek!!!!"

 

 

 

And so, Yuzu fainted.

 

 

"What's wrong...? Yuzu, what happened... Wh-Who are you!?"

 

 

"...It's me, Sensei, Midori."

 

 

"Se-Sensei became Dark Vaders!"

 

 

"...You mean Darth Vader. He's here too, huh. Well, I guess since Zelda is here as Zelna, it makes sense."

 

 

Sensei had transformed into an unknown student who wasn't even on the student roster.

 

 

The day before, he had forgotten to search the student roster to find out his identity, but this morning, Sensei took a picture of his face and looked it up in the student roster. At least, since she wasn't on the current roster he wondered if she was a student from the past.

 

 

"I'm back~! Oh? Is Yuzu still sleeping?"

 

 

She's not sleeping, she fainted. Momoi woke up early in the morning and had already met Sensei, and she went to Veritas to get Alice's student ID.

 

 

"Now, next up! We're going to get Alice's gun!"

 

 

"Gun, it's time to equip a weapon."

 

 

"You seem excited, Alice. Let's go, Midori. Let's leave Yuzu to sleep some more."

 

 

"Is she really just sleeping? Sensei... I thought I heard a scream..."

 

 

And so, the group leaves Yuzu behind and heads to the Engineering Department.

 

 

On the way, Sensei is getting stares from the students. He thought it was because of the mask, but he thought it looked cool, so he kept wearing it.

 

 

Soon, they arrived at the Engineering Department. Utaha greeted the group... While listening to the request, Utaha kept staring at Sensei.

 

 

"I understand. But before that..."

 

 

"Hello, I'm Hibiki. That mask of yours... Can I take a look at it for a moment...?"

 

 

Utaha stared intently at Sensei's mask, and Hibiki popped out and reached out her hand, looking at Sensei's mask.

 

 

"The mask? Yeah, sure."

 

 

Sensei immediately takes off the mask and hands it over. Hibiki says they can take any of the prototypes in the corner as they please, and immediately goes to analyze the mask. And Kotori, who had been waiting, immediately examines the mask...

 

 

"Indeed, I completely understand!"

 

 

"What do you understand?"

 

 

Alice asks Kotori, who is examining the mask, with interest.

 

 

"We completely understand that we don't know what this is!"

 

 

"It's not that we don't know completely. It will take some time, but we can analyze it. But it's interesting. I never thought we wouldn't be able to interpret this kind of technology right away. That mark too, and it's the first time I've seen this kind of outfit, which school are you from?"

 

 

Even Utaha couldn't completely analyze the mask that Sensei handed over, and she said it would take quite some time to analyze it.

 

 

And that's because... it was a creation of the Black Suit.

 

 

"That's a secret."

 

 

Sensei doesn't reveal that she's Sensei. He's still hiding the fact that his appearance changes, so he's hiding it from everyone except for the clients like the Game Development Department.

 

 

While the Engineering Department was analyzing the mask a bit more, Alice found a huge gun. It was a railgun for a space battleship. Alice easily lifted it and fired it right away.

 

 

Kwakwakwang!!!

 

 

 

 

A single shot blew off the ceiling of the Engineering Department's room. The Saiba sisters were shocked, but Utaha was rather happy that a user who could use it had appeared, so she let it go. And she even said she'd provide lifelong after-sales service.

 

 

Now that they had a gun, Sensei took back her mask and left the Engineering Department.

 

 

"Hmm... Just what is the identity of that kid?"

 

 

"I don't know. But that technology, could it be that Decagrammaton?"

 

 

"Ah, the being that hijacked that AI hub! If it's that technology, I want to learn it!"

 

 

They have a serious discussion about the technology of the mask, and they continue their inventions today.

 

 

And... A CCTV camera watches Sensei walking through the Millennium campus.

 

 

"That mask... There's no doubt."

 

 

A woman monitoring all of Millennium from a room.

 

 

"That mark too. And that unidentified girl. A girl who suddenly appeared when they came out of the Millennium Ruins... A being whose bio-readings can't be detected. And that mask, made with the technology of Arius, which should have disappeared into history, and the forgotten gods, or nameless gods..."

 

 

She gets up from her chair and glares at Alice and Sensei on the screen.

 

 

"The time of prophecy has finally come. First, I need to make contact."