Chapter 37: Sin and Friends

"—Don’t! Don’t touch me!"

A sharp smack rang out. The teacher’s hand recoiled, the skin already turning red where it had been struck.

The normally quiet, timid girl had brushed the teacher’s hand away.

"Ko—Komori-chan? What’s wrong? Did… did I do something, Sensei?"

"Ah… n-no… it’s not… Sensei didn’t… do anything wrong… you’re not… you’re not bad… Sensei is… a good person… so… so…"

──So you mustn’t touch me.

The girl retreated as if frightened by the teacher’s outstretched hand, clutching her own trembling fingers as she spoke.

"What do you mean by…?"

"…Sensei, have you ever… fired a gun?"

──A gun. A metal contraption that uses gunpowder to fire iron bullets. In Kivotos, it’s nothing more than a tool used for scuffles—or even play.

"A gun? Hmm… I think I held one once at a shooting range."

"Th-then… have you ever pointed it at a person?"

"…"

"…Ever pulled the trigger while aiming at someone?"

"No… I haven’t."

…but the “gun” she meant wasn’t that.

A bloodstained tool meant to kill people without Halos. A weapon created to make murder efficient. That was the kind of “gun” the girl was talking about.

"…Then, Sensei. Have you ever punched someone with all your strength? Held their face underwater until they stopped moving? Strangled someone with a wire? Pinned down their arm and broken it? Beaten them with the butt of a gun until they couldn’t resist anymore?"

"…No."

"………Have you ever stabbed someone with a knife?"

"……"

"I see. Yeah… figures."

"Good."

Smiling as she said that, the girl gently stroked the assault rifle in her hands. A Kaiser PMC model, its black coating smeared with vivid red. Under normal use, it could do little more than frighten students—proof that it had been used in a way it was never meant to be.

"Sensei, do you know… what it feels like to stab someone? …N-no, of course you don’t, right?"

The teacher silently watched as the girl laughed, a warped grin he had never seen from her before.

"I… I know… you know? …It was soft… like sliding a really good knife through store-bought meat… it just slipped right in, so smoothly it almost felt nice… and then? The feeling through the knife—soft, and warm… warm with heat… and then, then… I thought something. I really did…"

──Ah. Hurting someone is this easy.

"Heh… weird, right…? I’ve… hurt people so many times before… even, um… taken lives… and yet I never really realized it…… and then, when I finally did realize it, this was my first thought… isn’t that messed up…?"

"…That’s not mess—"

"It is messed up!!"

The girl, who had been laughing loosely, suddenly shouted over the teacher as he tried to speak. Her expression was hard to see through the gaps in her long hair, but it wasn’t anger. It was regret, guilt, revulsion—and fear. Raw, trembling fear.

"Because… Sensei, it’s messed up…! All this time, with just one button, just a tiny—tiny—bit of pressure from my finger, I stole so many people’s peace, their lives, their everyday routines, their very existence…! And yet—yet! I couldn’t even notice that fact, taking it all like it was a game! And when I finally noticed, this is what I felt!? My very first thought wasn’t ‘regret,’ or ‘atonement,’ or ‘apologies to the people I killed’—it was ‘It was that easy.’ Something so dry and empty! …I was trash! The lowest, worst kind of trash who should never be forgiven!"

…She knew it. She should have known.

“Killing is wrong.” “Hurting people is wrong.”

She understood that much. She even called herself a villain. But she didn’t truly understand it. No—she had looked away, clinging to a comfortable ‘now,’ refusing to face it.

"…I’m a bad person, Sensei. A villain. The kind that hurts everyone, then gets beaten by the hero."

──She should have exited the story back then, as a ‘cleaner.’ A villain’s role ends the moment they’re defeated by justice.

"So… Sensei. Someone like me… shouldn’t stay by the protagonist’s side."

As she said that, the girl raised a handgun and aimed it at the teacher.

"A pistol I took from Homura… it might hurt, but bear with it, okay? A protagonist like you would just be held back by a villain. So, right here—"

Before she could finish, the teacher pulled the girl—me—into a tight embrace.

"S-S-Sensei!?!"

"That’s not true!!"

"…S-Sensei, listen to me…"

"Komori-chan isn’t a bad kid!"

"Huh!?"

"Sure, you’re a shut-in, kind of smelly, truant, and the type who drinks my energy drinks without asking!"

"Eh!? Smelly—wait, you noticed!?"

"But you’re also kind. You care about your friends. You think about others. And when it really matters, you can put your own body on the line to save people. You’re a good kid."

"Ah… ahu…"

Th-this idiot… don’t say stuff like that right next to my ear!

"And if you can recognize something as wrong and genuinely regret it, then that means you’re a good kid, Komori-chan."

"…But… I… I stabbed my friend…… back then, Imo wasn’t even pulling the trigger on her gun. I knew she wasn’t going to shoot… I knew it… and I thought it was a ‘chance’… I’m a hopeless villain, completely unqualified to be anyone’s friend…"

"Then let’s apologize!"

"…A-apologize…?"

"Yeah. Say you’re sorry."

"B-but… would something like that even…"

"Yeah. Maybe you won’t be forgiven. But if you’re friends, then instead of giving up and running away, I think it matters to tell them you did something wrong—and that even so, you still want to be friends. See? If you’ve had a ‘fight,’ the first thing you do is apologize."

"Ah…"

…Oh.

"…Yeah. You’re right. If I see her again… I’ll do that. I… still want to be friends."

"I’m sure she’ll forgive you."

"……Thank you, Sensei. For everything."

"It’s fine. That’s my job."

"Then… wait here for a bit, Sensei. There’s something I need to—"

"Nope."

"Huh?"

I pulled away from the hug and tried to leave Sensei behind so I could do what needed to be done—but Sensei grabbed my hand and smiled at me with an oddly intimidating intensity.

"Honestly… wouldn’t it be okay to rely on an adult a little more? Am I really that unreliable?"

"N-no… I am relying on you… even right now…"

"Then I want you to keep relying on me. I don’t know what you’re about to do, but if I know my student is about to walk into danger, I can’t just sit back and do nothing."

"Ugh…"

…Right now, Sensei doesn’t even have a Shittim Chest—basically, totally defenseless. As frail as I am, I can barely withstand one or two bullets thanks to my weak Halo, but Sensei is even more fragile than that. That’s why I want him to wait somewhere relatively safe, but…

"Hm?"

"…Uuu."

Yeah. This won’t work.

"…Fine. But stay behind me, okay? I don’t have the skill to fight while protecting you… and honestly, there’s no guarantee I can even win."

"Got it. So what are you planning to do?"

"…We’ll talk while moving. We don’t have time."

Honestly, I don’t expect him to believe something this absurd… but even if he doesn’t, Sensei would probably still help. …Besides, there might be one thing we have in common that gives me a chance he’ll believe me.

──Hey. You there.

"…Sensei, do you believe in parallel worlds?"

"P-parallel worlds? I’ve heard of them in novels and stuff. I mean, I get the idea."

"Then, to keep it simple: this ship was built by me from a parallel world, and its purpose is to wipe the world clean. And the ship’s main control AI is probably still trying to carry out that mission."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait???? Huh? Wh-what do you mean, a parallel-world Komori-chan!?"

…Yeah. That’s the normal reaction. Assuming Sensei is ‘normal,’ anyway.

"……‘Doctor? You shouldn’t rest yet.’"

"Hyeh!?! …Wait, what?"

"Hmm… what else… Commander? Admiral? Master? Nameless One?"

"Hold on, hold on, HOLD ON!? Why do you know about that, Komori-chan!?"

"…I have the technology to detect what’s outside of Kivotos. I know someone is peeking at the records of this very conversation, and I also know that Sensei has built all kinds of harems in other worlds…… but I’m not going to question who you are. And honestly, I don’t care. Sensei is Sensei… so you don’t have to hide anything."

"J-just so we’re clear, I haven’t built any harems, okay!?"

"Hmm… is that so?"

"…But yeah, I think I get it now. A battleship built by Komori-chan from another world somehow came to this one, and it’s trying to do here what it was meant to do in its original world. Is that right?"

"Mm… exactly. You catch on fast."

As expected of a Doctor. Just kidding. I don’t know whether Sensei is a ‘player’ like you all, someone like me who just knows about the outside, or something else entirely—but I’m glad we can communicate.

"But… ‘wiping the world clean’… that’s insane…"

"Apparently, the world was already ending."

"What happened!?"

"I don’t kno—…wait. Patrol. PMC soldiers."

I covered Sensei’s mouth—no, I tried to. My hand is too small! Still, I somehow managed while peeking around the corner. Three PMC soldiers were patrolling the corridor, casually puffing on cigarettes. Their weapons were the same model of assault rifle as mine. Judging from their equipment—or rather, the lack of it—I could tell they didn’t have hidden weapons like Homura’s. Just their exposed mechanical bodies.

…Even so, the terrain and numbers were bad. A straight corridor with nothing that could serve as cover, and three PMC soldiers. We were probably close to the bridge—the security was tight.

"…What do we do…? Take one out and use him as a shield… no, if we get flanked, it’s over…… covering fire from Sensei…? No way… I can’t let them target Sensei…"

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to grab my head. Maybe detour? No—that wouldn’t work either. I recalled the ship’s layout I had memorized beforehand, but there was only one other route to the bridge, and it was a huge detour. It was probably guarded too, and we’d lose far too much time.

"…Which means… a reckless charge and just tanking the hits…"

"Komori-chan, Komori-chan."

"Hm… what is it?"

"Do you think… we could use this?"

What Sensei was pointing at was—

"…!"

The wreckage of a fallen robot.

Wreckage. Scrap.
But it was the same type as the one Imo and I had found when we first boarded this ship.

"I knew it! It’s damaged, but it’s just in standby… it’s still alive!"

The ship’s main control AI must have issued a shutdown order during the crash. It had entered a dormant state, but just like in Imo’s case, a strong enough stimulus would wake it instantly and send it moving to eliminate intruders.

Which meant the system was still functional enough to operate.
And more importantly—the creator was me, from another world.

"…It’s tinkering time!"

"Alright!"

For the first time, hope came into view.

"What the hell is this thing—damn it! It’s fast—guah!?"

One punch drove straight into a PMC soldier’s face—instant knockout.
As expected of that version of me. The performance was more than sufficient. The combat AI installed inside had lost to Imo in close combat before, but in my hands… well, you can see how that turned out.

"…That was fast. Impressive."

"Heheh… this is nothing for a Cleaner!"

What we did was simple: quick repairs, then converting the automaton into a remote-controlled unit. An improvised Cleaner, freshly assembled.
That said, because it was built from whatever we had on hand, its handling and durability were worse than even a Cleaner or Scatterer without the Benedictus System. Honestly, it was below the level of the puppet soldiers we threw at Aru-sama’s group during the train battle.

But—
once my control was added, it transformed instantly. Against me, ordinary PMC grunts could come in droves and still wouldn’t stand a chance. I am a Cleaner, after all.

"Heh heh heh… if you want to take us down… bring something at least on the level of a Goliath!"

"Ah—Komori-chan, you really shouldn’t say things like—"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

"!? …Reinforcements already? But even if more of them come— …Huh?"

About five PMC soldiers came running down the corridor—roughly double the force from before. Normally, that wouldn’t have mattered now that I had a puppet under my control.
Yet despite us taking a combat stance, they ran right past us, as if they couldn’t see us at all.

"…What was that?"

"It looked like they were running from something…"

—Creeeak.

Right as we stood there, dumbfounded, our attention still fixed on the retreating PMC soldiers’ backs, a horrible sound echoed—like something about to break—

"—Huh?"

The corridor wall exploded.

Along with my newly rebuilt Cleaner.

"Cleaner Mark Two!?!?"

"Hey—wait—Komori-chan, look!!"

Dust filled the hallway. From within it—high above—glowed a crimson star. And behind it, a massive shadow.

『Shshshsh… intru-der… conffffirmed.
In accorrrdance with orders… initiating exterminationnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!』

"G-Goliath!?!?"

Disaster comes out of the mouth, and sickness enters through it.
The worst-case scenario is always triggered by someone saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

"No no no no no, absolutely not!!! That thing’s impossible! We don’t even have a Cleaner anymore! There’s no way we can win!!"

"R-run! Right now!"

"Yeah, let’s—GET DOWN!!"

I shoved Sensei’s head down and forced him flat to the floor with me.

A missile screamed through the air above us, tearing through the space we’d been standing in just moments ago.

And then—

"Ah… our escape route…"

The corridor entrance collapsed under the impact.

"You’ve gotta be kidding me! Stop wrecking your own ship! Your creator’s crying in the afterlife right now, damn it!!!"

"Why is your language suddenly so awful!?"

『Shshshsh—intruder—ELIMINAAAAAATE!!!!!』

What do we do what do we do what do we do!? The escape route is gone! Our means of resistance got wiped out as a bonus during the enemy’s flashy entrance! Anything that could’ve worked as a decoy has already run off! It’s just us left here! Do we wait for an opening and run forward—the only remaining path!? Impossible! Neither Sensei nor I have the athletic ability for that! We’ll just get crushed by the Goliath and that’s it! Then—then… th-then………

"Nope!!! Impossible!!!"

"Komori-chan!?"

We’re done for, totally done! We’ll get squashed together with Sensei and die peacefully! Then Kivotos gets reset and everyone gets sent to the afterlife, no questions asked! Yay, Komori-chan! The world beyond death! If we all go together it’s not scary! It’s terrifying!

『Da-da-da—trajectory—adjusting! Target—two intruders!』

"Waaahhhhh!! Sensei!! Do something—anything—pleeeeease!!??"

"T-then… if it’s come to this… take this! ARONA-BEEEEAM!!!! (She’s not here, though!)"

As Sensei shouted that, shaping his fingers like a gun and aiming at the Goliath’s head-mounted cannon—

That was the moment it happened.

"…Huh?"

The Goliath’s head was engulfed in an explosion, its cannon blown clean off by the blast.

『Z—zzt… operation… continuation… impossible…… system… shutting down…』

The massive body that had blocked our path lost the red glow in its eyes and collapsed forward.

"H-huh? Sensei…?"

"E-eh? D-did I do that…?"

"Sensei! Komori!"

At that moment, from beyond the hole in the wall the Goliath had smashed open, came a human voice—one that shouldn’t have been able to reach us.

"…A-Aru-sama…?"

"Are you okay!? We made it in time, right!? Are you hurt!?"

Running toward us with a sniper rifle in hand, worry written all over her face, was the crimson goddess herself.

"A-Aru-samaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!"

"Whoa!?"

Unable to hold it in, I threw myself straight into the arms of our savior—Aru-sama.