Chapter 27: The First Step Toward Being Stranded

Observers.

Have you ever heard a story like this?

"The Spider’s Thread."

Yes—written by the famous author Akutagawa Ryūnosuke. Even if you don’t know the details, you’ve probably heard the title and the general outline.

For those who haven’t, let me give a brief explanation.

Ahem—how did it go again?

Long, long ago, there was a man named Kandata. He was an utterly vile criminal, the kind you’d prefix with “arch-”: a master thief who committed countless crimes, from murder to arson. Naturally, after his death, the place he ended up was Hell. He was cast into a sea of blood, writhing and suffering in agony.

But even such an irredeemable man had once—just once in his life—performed a good deed. On the roadside, he spared a spider’s life, choosing not to crush it but to let it live. A tiny act of kindness.

From Heaven above, Shakyamuni Buddha happened to witness that scene. Remembering Kandata’s single good deed, he decided to save him and lowered a single spider’s thread down into Hell.

A silver thread descended from the heavens. Kandata, struggling in Hell, noticed it and thought to himself: this is it—this will let me escape.

And so he climbed, aiming for the paradise that lay somewhere far beyond. But of course, he wasn’t the only sinner to think the same.

When he looked down, he saw hundreds—no, thousands—of sinners swarming up the thread beneath him.

Fearing that the thread would snap if this continued, he shouted at them, "Get down! Get down! This thread is mine!"—and at that very instant, the thread snapped. Kandata, along with all the other sinners, plunged straight back into Hell.

The end. Happily ever after.

…Yeah. No. Not happy at all.

Anyway, that’s the story.

Now then. I’ve gone on long enough, but what does this tale have to do with me? Well, sure—if you’re talking about the current me, leeching off my teacher and staying holed up indoors, then yeah, it has nothing to do with me at all.

The current me, that is.

"Such a pain…"

Restlessly moving fingertips. A dazzlingly bright display. On the screen is a ruined city, already dark despite it being daytime—deserted, lifeless. Bullets fly, explosions erupt here and there.

This isn’t a game. It’s live combat.

The location is a ruined city within Gehenna territory, far from where I’m stationed at Schale—some distance away from the park where Aru-sama and the others are living.

Enemy strength: roughly a platoon. Not the cheap, disposable mercenaries that attacked before, but a force you could properly call a “military,” complete with standardized equipment.

"So you’ve finally decided to get serious, huh."

The logo engraved on all of their gear is the same—"Kaiser PMC."

Yeah, I knew it. Among my many clients, you were just about the only ones who could afford to keep wasting money on useless mercenaries like that… and the only ones with enough backroom dirt to make it absolutely necessary to erase me.

Which brings us back to that earlier story.

In other words, they’re the sinners trying to drag me—the Kandata of this tale—back into the underworld of Hell.

Though, to be fair, there is one difference between us.

Malice.

"Damn it! Where is—ghk!?"

"Don’t break formation! You’re playing right into his hands!"

Yeah, yeah. Useless. Move and you trigger a trap; don’t move and you’re a perfect target. You should really just give up already.

There’s a difference in ability between me and you. No matter how many level-one trash mobs you gather, you’re not beating a max-level final boss. Same deal here—you can’t beat me.

That said, I know they can’t just turn around and leave so easily. They attacked Problem Solver 68 and openly laid hands on students. Worse, they illegally trespassed into Gehenna territory, even if it’s a frontier zone. There’s more than enough evidence.

If they withdraw now, things are guaranteed to get troublesome for them.

And now that they’ve openly declared hostility toward me—the Cleaner—there’s no longer any reason for me to keep hiding all the dirty little secrets I have on Kaiser PMC: evidence of corruption, illegal transactions, and proof of connections to places that would be very, very bad if exposed.

No reason at all to keep that buried anymore.

In short, they’re out of road.

And at the same time, if I get past this hurdle, I can finally say goodbye to this annoying routine that’s been eating away at my nighttime gaming hours for so long.

Heh. The fortune segment on the news ranked today dead last—but if that ranking was pointing to this, then today isn’t unlucky. It’s lucky.

"Alright… time to get serious…"

I down an energy drink while working the control panel with my foot, resetting my focus. At the same time, the Cleaner’s mic picks up this little gem.

"Don’t panic! All we need to do is buy time!"

"Oh?"

At once, I shift my attention to the defensive status of the park where the members of Problem Solver 68 have pitched their tents. Thanks to sufficient funding and enough collected OOPArts as materials, the deployed security robots are all functioning normally. No anomalies in the surveillance network, either.

…So there’s no separate unit moving to take them hostage?

If that’s the case, it’s not much of a problem. They’re probably planning to pull out some trump card. That won’t be an obstacle.

By “trump card,” I’m guessing something like a Goliath or a power loader. If you really want to take me down, bring a Decagrammaton Prophet. Anything less is just annoying—not a real threat.

Which means I can safely ignore it.

The one move that would really be troublesome is targeting Aru-sama and the others, who are probably sleeping peacefully in that park right now.

Or else—

──click──

"……"

I heard the sound of a door opening behind me.

"Hm…? Sensei…?"

It was probably Sensei. Woken up to use the bathroom, heard the noise from my room, and decided to check on it.

"…Ugh… save the lecture for later… Staying up late was my fault, yeah, but… this is an emergency right now…"

As I move the controller, I recall how I’d been caught staying up late before—and punished for it.

Sensei doesn’t answer.

"……"

Clack.

A metallic sound rang out behind me.

A chill ran down my spine. I spun around instantly, pressing my palm against the source of that metallic glint in the darkness—the muzzle of a handgun—grabbing it and yanking it toward me in one motion—

"—agh!?"

An arm wrapped around my body. My vision spun. A brief sensation of weightlessness.

When I realized what had happened, I was being dragged off my chair and slammed onto the floor, pinned down.

"Damn it…!"

It all happened in an instant. Even if I knew how to respond in theory, I was still just a beginner. I was no match for a professional.

Pinned down in the darkness, I looked up at the face illuminated by the glow of the display.

She wore a Seminar-style uniform similar to Yuuka’s, a card key hanging from her neck—but she wasn’t someone I’d ever seen inside Schale.

And for me, the Cleaner, it was a familiar face.

"It’s been a while, Cleaner. This is our first proper face-to-face, isn’t it?"

"An information broker…!"

Jet-black hair, animal ears sticking up atop her head. No doubt about it—the other half of that information broker duo.

The one who called herself Black Crystal Im.

"Homura, is your side clear?"

"Yeah. There was one guard, but thanks to the sedative, they’re sleeping soundly along with the target."

"Good."

"Why… are you…!?"

Why was she here?

Why were they here?

Why did she know who I really was?

And why—why now, of all times?

"Why? You know why, don’t you? We were hired. By them."

"…!"

"Hahaha. Don’t glare like that. I mean, with you as you are now, it’s kind of cute at best. Hehehe…"

"……"

Damn it. That stupid mutt-looking bastard, grinning like that—creepy as hell. Are you some kind of lolicon or what!?

"This is Alpha-One. The Cleaner has been secured. What’s your status?"

"Roger. We’ve just successfully captured the little bird over here as well. Preparations to invite ‘Mister’ are complete."

"A bird…? Whatever. Get back here, now."

"Yeah, yeah. Roger that."

Click.

Along with the metallic sound, a pitch-black gun barrel was aimed straight at me.

"So, yeah. Sorry about this, Komori-chan. It’ll only hurt for a moment."

"…Damn it."

A deafening gunshot.

That was the last thing I heard before my consciousness went dark.

…

"…Hey. Heeey. Oh? Finally awake, are we?"

"…Where… am I…?"

I woke up to the worst possible sight—my face being lightly slapped awake by that mutt. Still, it seems they didn’t kill me.

Looking around, it appears to be a cell. My hands are cuffed, and they even put shackles on my legs for good measure.

My belongings… well, my clothes and leggings are still on, at least. The bracelet on my wrist is still there—but my watch and the gun strapped to my thigh are gone, holster and all.

Inside the cell, there’s nothing else of note—except…

"Mmm!? Mmm!?"

"Snn… snn… mmgh…"

At the edge of my vision, something bound tightly, mouth gagged, thrashing violently—probably a Valkyrie student who had the misfortune of being on guard duty at Schale.

And next to them, Sensei, still drooling slightly, sleeping soundly.

"…Huh?"

"Cleaner. Long time no see."

I raise my head at the deep, rough voice—definitely not Sensei’s.

There stood the mutt peering down at me, her partner Homura beside her, several soldiers armed to the teeth—

And at the center of it all, a single towering man.

"You are…"

"────A former director of Kaiser PMC."

"Don’t emphasize the ‘former’!"

Ah. Right. There was a guy like this.

I vaguely remember him now—the big man who stood behind that self-proclaimed “General” back when I was contracted with Kaiser PMC, radiating the unmistakable presence of an underworld heavyweight.

Even though he wasn’t the one contracting me directly, he always relayed “orders from above” in that annoyingly high-handed tone.

I’d never liked him.

He once tried to shove a personal request on me—arrogant and pushy, despite it not being an official directive. I refused.

A few days later, he was apparently fired.

"So… what does a former director want with me?"

"I said don’t—…ugh, whatever. There’s only one thing I want from you."

"……………My body, or something…?"

"No!!!! I don’t want that scrawny body of yours!!"

What!? Scrawny!? Small boobs are a stat, damn it!!!

"Haa… haa… damn it! Obviously, I want the dirt you have on Kaiser Corporation!"

Yeah. Figured as much.

"Hehehe… don’t expect any help. If we kidnapped a shut-in social misfit like you alone, it’d be noticed immediately. But together with Sensei? And with a note written to look like Sensei’s handwriting? People would assume you just went on a trip together, even if they were suspicious. No one’s coming to save you."

"Homura handled it perfectly."

"…Peace."

Thanks for the long-winded explanation.

Ugh… this is going to cause such a headache later—mostly from Sensei’s fan club grilling me nonstop.

"…Once I get that information, I’ll reclaim my position!!"

"You did get fired, after all…"

"That’s enough! Shut up!!"

Sure you want me quiet? Because if I stop talking, you won’t get your info~

…Alright. Let’s get serious.

"…Instead of asking me… why not just search my computer… or something…? Oh, and maybe don’t open the folder labeled ‘Tonight’s Side Dish,’ okay?"

"I’m not opening that. …Haa. We already searched it long ago. Your room in Schale, your old hideout as well. Nothing."

"Oh? Huh… maybe I threw it out by mistake… mixed it up with burnable trash—"

"However, there is still one thing we haven’t searched."

"──…?"

He signals to the subordinates behind him. At the same time, something is carried into the room.

Scarred armor riddled with bullet holes, slash marks, and burn scars. A towering figure in a black coat, nearly two meters tall, missing one arm.

"—Cleaner…!!"

There’s no mistake. That was my other half. My partner. Another me.

Cleaner.

"You bastards… how dare you…!"

"H-Hey, hey, don’t thrash around. You’ll damage those nice arms."

Damn it… why… ah, right. Because I got caught back then… damn it. My fault… still, you didn’t have to go this far! Aaaah! The repair costs! My precious OOPArts! I’ll have to gather them all over again!!

"………"

It feels like Cleaner is staring at me, trying to say something—but that’s probably my imagination. Its power’s off, after all.

"…We haven’t examined its internal systems yet."

"Or rather, ‘can’t’ is more accurate. Knowing you, you might’ve set some kind of trap."

"…Haha. Seriously…?"

I thought that tone belonged to the mutt—but no. It was a man’s voice, distorted by static, yet unmistakably familiar.

From behind the former director’s massive frame stepped an inhuman figure clad in a black suit.

──One of Gematria.
The Man in Black.

"Hehehe… I’m pleased to finally meet you, Amari Komori."

"Well, now this is something else… a real heavyweight."

A fired Kaiser PMC director and two bargain-bin information brokers. Unlike those small fry, this one was unmistakably a true villain.

Most of the “adults” I’ve met—aside from Sensei and the shop owner back in Shibaseki—were what you’d call bad adults. And this man standing before me was, among them, the kind that makes your skin crawl. Pure, concentrated evil.

"H-Heh… what… do you want… from me?"

"There’s something I wish to ask."

"And also—"

"Commencing annihilation────"

"This is precisely why."

"────System error. Function halted…"

Cleaner activated, instantly blasting two of the guards away, raising its remaining arm toward the men in black—

Then the light in its eyes vanished, and it fell silent once more.

"…Tch."

"H-Hii!? D-Don’t scare me like that!!"

As the former director collapsed backward in fright, I glared at the Man in Black—who had just done something I couldn’t comprehend.

"You had a device implanted beneath your tongue that issues autonomous movement commands to Cleaner. I was aware of that."

"……"

So it was all exposed. The device hidden beneath my tongue—and what it was for—everything.

"…Sigh. I give up. I’ve got no intention of fighting a monster like you. Ask whatever you want."

"I see. That certainly saves time."

I raise both hands, still bound by handcuffs, over my head in a gesture of surrender. …That doesn’t mean I’ve actually given up. Sensei’s here, after all. For now, going along with him is the smarter move.

"T-Then hurry up and extract the data from Cleaner—"

"Oh, that’s not happening. I surrendered to Mr. Man-in-Black here. I never said I surrendered to you, Former Guy."

"Call me Director! Director!"

I stick my tongue out at him. The former director flies into a rage—veins practically bulging. Figuratively, of course. He’s a machine, so they can’t actually bulge. Still. Funny.

"So? What did you want to ask?"

"That would be—"

The Man in Black opened what might have been his mouth.

That was when it happened.

"—!?"

"Mm…"

"Wha—!?"

"Ow!?"

"What the—!?"

"Nngh!? Nngh!?"

"Mmnnh…"

A shock violent enough to make it impossible to remain seated slammed through the entire room.

Incidentally, Sensei was still fast asleep. They mentioned sedatives over comms earlier—probably that.

"What… was that…?"

"Hey! Go check what happened!"

"Yes, sir!"

Following the former director’s order, one of the soldiers sprinted out of the room.

Then, I finally asked the question I’d been wondering about this whole time but never had the chance to voice.

"…Hey. I’ve been meaning to ask… where are we?"

Not this room—but the location of the building itself.

The answer I got from the mutt—Black Crystal Im—was completely unexpected.

"Heh heh heh… prepare to be amazed. This is an airship!"

"…O-Oh. I see…"

The bad feeling in my gut intensified.

"In other words, even if you used Cleaner to defeat us, escape would be impossible. You have no choice but to comply obediently—"

"Yeah, I get that. But can I ask one thing?"

"What is it?"

"…This thing belongs to Kaiser Corporation, right…?"

"Nope. Absolutely not."

Cold sweat wouldn’t stop pouring.

"A fired director wouldn’t be loaned this many troops and an airship on top of that. That’d never happen."

"Th-Then… where did you get it…?"

Please. Let it not be what I think it is.

But the answer I got was—

"From the black market. Turns out a Pandemonium-made one from Gehenna was being sold dirt cheap! A great deal, really!!"

……Any remaining hope was crushed.

"Director! We’ve confirmed the cause!"

"What was it!?"

"A bird strike! A bird punctured the airship’s gas bag!!"

"…What?"

A reason so absurd it sounded like a joke.

But reality didn’t care.

The airship kept falling, and all we could do was surrender ourselves to it.

"…Mr. Man in Black… is there… any way we survive this…?"

"………Let us entrust ourselves to fortune."

Ah. Yeah.

Today really is the worst kind of unlucky day.