Chapter 14: Komori in the Schale

"Sensei… the orange juice over there…"

"Here."

"Mmh… gulp gulp… phew… thanks."

Lately, orange juice has been hitting the spot. How’s everyone doing these days? As for me, I’m happily holed up in my room playing games again today.

Greetings, comrades. It is I.

What? Orange juice isn’t seasonal? Even less so when it’s bottled? Don’t sweat the small stuff. Huh? Isn’t this the kind of situation where you’re supposed to drink cola? Shut up, shut up. I can’t handle carbonation.

"…Tch! Ahh… those damn peach-and-green idiots…"

"Did you say something?"

"…Nothing at all."

Anyway, the place I’m in right now isn’t one of those suffocating tents with a sheet thrown over a dirt floor, nor is it some abandoned concrete ruin.
This room is perfectly air-conditioned, set to the ideal temperature, pleasantly dim… a habitat custom-tuned just for me. In other words, it’s a room inside Schale’s building.
Which also means: Sensei’s workplace.

Why is someone like me, a proud member of Problem Solver 68, hanging around here? I know you’re curious. Oh, you’re not? Wait—no, listen. Don’t skip this. It’s only a few hundred characters. Come on.

Let’s see… last time—no, the time before that?—I received a request from Kirifuji Nagisa, the leader of Trinity General School’s top group, the Tea Party. She asked me to escort her until the Trinity–Gehenna peace negotiations and the signing of the Eden Treaty were complete. Things got a little messy afterward, but it’s fine. I’d rather not think about it. …Ugh, why does that give me chills…? Probably my imagination.

Anyway, even though I accepted the role of her escort, it’s not like I personally need to stay stationed at Trinity General School. I can just send the Sweeper unit. There’s no reason for me—the actual pilot—to physically go. In fact, that would only be more dangerous, and my mental health can’t handle that.

However… this leads to a problem.

During the period of the request—meaning, during the time I’m acting as Kirifuji Nagisa’s escort—who is supposed to protect me?

I wasn’t the one who brought this up. Lady Aru did. She said it would be worrying to leave a weak, frail human like me alone in a tent.

How do I put this… I’m half touched she was concerned, and half devastated. Being confronted with reality hurts.

The current Problem Solver 68 “office” is just a tent in a park way out in Gehenna’s outskirts. We still haven’t found a place within budget, so it can’t be helped. I’ve gotten disturbingly used to tent life.

But as an actual secure home…? Suspicious at best. Security is basically nonexistent, and even ignoring the fact that it’s in Gehenna, the area itself is the opposite of safe.

And if I send the Sweeper as Nagisa’s escort, it’s the same as losing my only means of self-defense. Once, I had other units too, but they all got destroyed in that incident. As for asking the other Problem Solver 68 girls to stay behind with me as guards—impossible. I’d feel too guilty about wasting their time. We need that time to save up for a real office, and my conscience would collapse under the weight.

So what now? Do I really have to commute to that hellscape together with the Sweeper? Just when I was drowning in despair… the one who threw me a lifeline was none other than Sensei.

Ahh, seriously, a saint. Certain men in black suits should stop doing shady research and learn from this holy human being.

Do you get it? This kindness? He cleaned up an unused room in Schale just for someone like me, helped me set up all the equipment I used at home, and even plays games with me whenever he has free time. And to keep me from feeling guilty, he lets me help out with his work. Are you sure you’re actually human?

And so, that’s why I’m now reliving my glorious shut-in lifestyle in Schale.
Huh? What about escorting Nagisa?

Not a problem. Remember the AI I showed you—the one I installed in the mass-produced doll soldiers I made before? I loaded an improved version of that AI into the Sweeper. This version has learned from all the Sweeper’s past movements. The escort job will be handled automatically. Tested, verified, flawless.

I even ordered it to never leave Nagisa’s side—not when she goes to the bathroom, not when she sleeps, not for a single moment. Perfect. Sure, it’s been getting nonstop calls on its line, but it’s fine. I turned notifications off.

"…Okay… first, let’s organize the information…"

Muttering to myself, I closed the game window on my computer and opened a folder. A compilation on the Make-Up Work Club. Basically, it’s a file I put together with my own intel on the suspicious individuals Nagisa hand-picked.

"…Open."

Inside were four folders, labeled from top to bottom: Kitazaya Hifumi, Shirazu Azusa, Urawa Hanako, and Shimoe Koharu.

"Shimoe… Koharu… Just a low-rank member… of the Justice Task Force…"

A petite first-year with pink hair. A super cute kouhai, in other words. She belongs to the Justice Task Force, but there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about her—except that she’s close to the vice-chairwoman. She doesn’t seem like the “suspicious element” Nagisa described… but this is probably for a different reason. To put it bluntly, she’s basically a hostage to keep the Justice Task Force—and its vice-chairwoman, whose hostility toward Gehenna is blatantly obvious—under control.

"Urawa… Hanako… Busty beauty… shameless pink…"

Another pink-haired girl, second year. Everything about her is… really big… Are you sure she’s a kouhai? She’s way too huge… Even her picture radiates mom energy… Mamaaaa…

Ahem. Anyway. To put it plainly, she’s the personification of a “suspicious element.” Her grades are currently so bad she’s stuck in the Make-Up Work Club, but she used to be one of the top in her year. Apparently, she was once considered a near-guaranteed pick for the Tea Party. But then, after a certain day, she ended up like this. Visiting the chapel in a swimsuit, wandering around campus in a swimsuit… I’m getting a headache.

"…Sigh… Next is… Kitazaya, Hifumi."

After the previous file, just looking at her picture is strangely soothing.

Let’s see… She’s a girl without any particular standout traits. I’m a little curious about the Peroro plush attached to her Peroro-themed bag—though Momo Friends is famous, so it’s nothing unusual.

She’s friends with Nagisa and they seem close. So why is she being suspected? Rumors of her going to the Black Market… and apparently, those are true. There were actual sightings of a student matching her appearance. Trinity students are rare in the Black Market, considering it’s a proper lady-type school.

But what she does there isn’t shady. She just buys Peroro merch. Honestly, that’s perfectly normal behavior for a Momo Friends fan.

And then… there was that rumor about a supposed Trinity student called Faust, leader of the “Masked Swimsuit Gang.” But… yeah, that’s probably nonsense. Just a rumor.

"And next… Shirazu, Azusa…"

In the final document, a white-haired girl stared straight into the camera, eyes perfectly aligned with the lens.

Yeah. There’s no way to defend her. She’s suspicious as hell.

A transfer student from outside Trinity. Her enrollment documents show signs of tampering. Her grades aren’t great, but her combat ability is extremely impressive. She never hesitates in battle, and she’s already caused several incidents. I’ve witnessed one myself—her movements had zero waste. Far too polished for a normal student. Her combat style resembles mercenaries I once met in the underworld.

Every danger sensor in my body is screaming.

Honestly, I wanted to take action immediately, but the matter concerning these girls has been entrusted entirely to Sensei. I did give a warning, but he just said, "Leave it to me," like he already had a plan.

…Well, fine. My memory is hazy, but in this world—this story—Sensei should be the one assigned the “protagonist” role. Which means… there shouldn’t be anything that pushes him into fatal danger. Probably.

And if things really get bad, I’ll just step in and save him myself.

Now then, instead of worrying about complicated things, let’s relax and enjoy this wonderful shut-in life to the fullest.

"Sensei—… Sensei—? The potato chips… lightly salted… do… you… have… them…?"

"Hm? Sensei, who’s that girl…?"

"Ah, sorry Komori-chan. Sensei can’t get up right now… The chips are over there…"

SLAM!

I shut the door as hard as I could.

"Wh-wh-wh-why is… the Prefect Team Chair… here!? And she’s… sitting on Sensei’s lap!?"

Yep. The outside world is terrifying. I swear on this moment that I will further increase my shut-in level and continue my hermit lifestyle even more…

Back then, I never could’ve imagined it. That something that horrifying would happen—
────…

"Sorry, Komori-chan. Sensei might have to stay overnight in Trinity for a while."

"…Huh?"

My hell had only just begun.