【 But leaving that day wasn't so easy.

Someone called out to stop him right as he was leaving the factory grounds. The boy was about to ignore it, but stopped when he recognized just who it was calling out to him. 】

"Manager." The boy said. "Did you need something?"

"Ahh, you, oh you. Sorry, but would mind coming with me for a second?"

The factory manager was the highest authority in the entire factory, with a head of gray hair and glasses on his face. How troubling. The factory manager seldom spoke with end-line workers such as the boy. He only ever saw the factory manager's face on a picture on the workshop's wall.

"No, uh, I was just on my way out." The boy said bluntly.

"Never mind that, just come with me. You have a visitor who's waiting for you. Come on, hurry."

The factory manager grabbed the boy's hand. As he was trying to break free, he realized the manager's hands were shaking and the blood had drained from his face. The manager was always worried about how long employees were working.

The factory manager was scared of something.

He had no choice but to follow him.

They were heading towards a reception room. It was the only place in the factory that they had spent money on. From behind the oak doors decorated with gold, the scent of coffee drifted through the air. He had made a drink for whoever was waiting.

The boy had no idea who it could be. A visitor? I don't have any friends who try and contact me. Just a year ago, I had tons of friends who would have come just to see the color of my face. But now, no one comes to visit me. No one.

So who in the world could have come?

The factory manager knocked on the door before entering. The boy followed.

And the person who's face he saw there was the last person he was expecting to see.

"....Chuuya."

There were two people in the reception room. One was a tall European in a blue suit, probably a detective.

And the other one was Nakahara Chuuya. His old friend.

Chuuya looked at the boy, his face devoid of expression, and stood up.

"Shirase." Chuuya spoke in a low, intense voice. "It's been a while."

The boy called Shirase grabbed a flower vase that was within reach.

And threw it at Chuuya.

⤗⤗⤗⥁⬽⬽⬽

This was an unexpected situation.

I thought that there would surely be excitement and hugs of joy at this reunion. That's what happened in most of the films I watched to study up on human beings.

But the boy with the name Shirase had thrown a vase.

I tried to stop the vase, but I didn't make it in time. It hit Chuuya-sama directly on the forehead and dramatically broke apart. The pieces flew in the air at a rather preposterous speed. I quickly realized that it was a result of his gravity manipulation, and the moment it had touched him he used his ability to break the vase apart. So, the impact wouldn't have caused any pain.

But unfortunately, there were live flowers in the vase.

Meaning, there was water.

As water dripped down from his head, Chuuya-sama said, "What the hell are you doing, Shirase?" His voice was flat and emotionless, like he wasn't the least bit surprised. "This is cold, you know."

"Come on, now, Chuuya, you're a smart guy." Shirase-san twisted his lips as he laughed. "I know it's been a year, but don't tell me you've forgotten what you did to me—what you did to the Sheep?"

Chuuya-sama looked at him with calm eyes. He didn't say anything. Shirase-san silently stared at him with eyes that could kill. When the vase broke, the factory manager screamed, "Eek!" and ran away.

I didn't know what the meaning of this silence was, but we wouldn't get anywhere in this state. It was time for me to take over.

"Um... Shirase-san. It's nice to meet you. The weather was nice today, wasn't it?" I heard that when you meet someone for the first time, it's best to talk about the weather. "Actually, we have something important to talk to you about. Something very important. Let's sit down and talk."

"I'm not talking with the likes of you."

As he said that, Shirase-san left the room.

"Wait, Shirase. Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm done with work, so I'm heading home!"

I stood up and chased after him. I couldn't afford to lose sight of him.

But Chuuya-sama stood motionlessly in the same spot. In fact, he hadn't moved his gaze away or changed his expression whatsoever. What could have happened?

Come to think of it, given Chuuya-sama's reaction speed, he could have easily avoided that vase. But he didn't. I wonder why?

I'm a computer, so I don't have troublesome things like emotions in my system. But I do incorporate a feature that mimics emotions in my decision-making module so I look natural when investigating with people (I often think it would be much easier to investigate if I didn't have this). So it is possible for me to reenact emotions like astonishment and excitement to some extent. It is also possible for me to make an inference on other people's emotions.

But even I have no idea why Chuuya-sama didn't avoid that vase.

"Let's go after him." I hesitantly called out to him. "Chuuya-sama, are you ok?"

While the water dripped down from his head, Chuuya-sama let a laugh escape from the corners of his lips. "Geez, I knew this was gonna happen."

We caught up to Shirase-san, who was walking down the hallway. "Please wait, Shirase-san! We need your cooperation."

"Is that so? Then tough luck. I was a little shocked, but I know what you're up to. Even if I was given a hundred billion bucks, I wouldn't cooperate with the likes of Chuuya." Shirase-san doesn't slow down.

"But, thinking about this logically, you should help."

"Who the hell are you, anyways? It pisses me off when you say it like that. You're telling me to cooperate with him, knowing what he did?"

Shirase-san looked over his shoulder, glaring at me in a threatening way.

There was no point in glaring at me like that since I don't feel anything when threatened. But with that expression, I was able to understand Shirase-san's feelings.

It was loathing.

"A year ago, this bastard destroyed our organization. The Port Mafia attacked us. We were robbed of our homes and scattered across the country to stop us from reuniting. All of us, except for Chuuya. What do you think he did instead? He shamelessly joined the Port Mafia! He sold us out to the Port Mafia, completely forgetting about the debt he owed us!"

I compared this to the information in my entry logs. It didn't match. This was different from the truth.

He should be corrected.

However, Chuuya-sama stayed quiet. It didn't look like he was going to say anything.

"And now I'm here. Only I got to stay in Yokohama, forced to work under close supervision. Do you know what this is, Chuuya?"

Shirase-san lifted his arm up, showing off his wristwatch.

Chuuya-sama looked at it and replied, "Who knows?"

"It's a high end Swiss-made wristwatch." I said, browsing through my storage of knowledge.

"That's right. It's the last expensive item I own. Back in the Sheep, I'd buy items like this every month. But now, I don't know when I'm gonna have to sell it. Where I'm working now is a simple job that anyone can do, and the pay sucks. As things are, I won't be able to keep reserve funds for when I rebuild the organization."

"Rebuild the organization?" Chuuya-sama's expression changed.

"That's right. I won't be a smoldering ember forever, you know. I've been preparing weapons and connections all this time. If it's me, I can do it. If it's me, I can build the Sheep back up to its former glory and become an even greater king than you were!"

Chuuya-sama scowled. "You could never do what I did."

"What did you say?!"

"Alright, please calm down."

We were straying further and further from the main topic, so I had no choice but to step in. Humans sure do love arguing over such inconsequential matters when it's obvious the case should be taking priority.

"Shirase-san, there seems to be a misunderstanding. According to my records, Chuuya-sama left for—"

"Don't. I'll talk to him." Chuuya-sama suddenly pushed himself forward. "Listen up, Shirase. There's only one thing you need to know—As things stand, you'll die. Either today or tomorrow."

"Huh?"

Both Shirase-san's eyes and mouth widened.

"A monsterous hitman by the name of Verlaine was sent to kill you. My goal is to kill him, so I need your cooperation."

"What? What do you mean a hitman?" Shirase-san's expression showed just how confused he was. "Why me?"

"He thinks that if you die, there won't be any reason for me to stay in the mafia."

"What the hell... How can you tell?"

"Because I know how a crazy assassin thinks." Chuuya-sama declared, leaving no room for arguments. "At any rate, he's strong. If we were to face him head on there'd be a considerable amount of damage, even with the whole mafia fighting. Which is why I will set up a trap that is sure to kill him. I'll get him from behind when he comes to assassinate you. If we can catch him off guard and land one good attack on him, even a powerful ability user will be beaten hands down... Kind of like that time when you stabbed me in the back."

Chuuya-sama's eyes were sharp, as if they were harboring some other kind of emotion. And even with my emotion mimicking module, there was no way for me to tell the true nature of that faint emotion.

"Wait, wait. Let me get this straight." Shirase-san waved his hands and spoke with a voice that showed his foul mood. "There's a hitman called Verlaine. You guys can't beat him. So you want to use me as bait to lure him out. And then you want me to sit quietly in a trap knowing I'm gonna be killed without running away.... Is that what you're telling me?"

Chuuya-sama wore a complicated expression on his face and didn't reply.

It can't be helped. I answered his question.

"Yes, that seems to be the gist of it."

"Huh?! What a load of shit! Who would willingly go along with being your bait?!"

Chuuya spoke with a sharp voice. "Right? But you don't have the luxury of choice."

"What?"

"You're right, you are the bait. But so what? We don't necessarily need you, he's still got two more targets. We'd be fine with setting up a trap using one of them. But you're different. If you reject our offer, you will most definitely die. So cooperate with us, Shirase. Because if you don't, you'll just die!"

Chuuya-sama shouted as if he were rejecting the notion.

The two glared at each other. Neither of them said anything as they read the other's facial expression, almost like they were trying to find something in their depths.

Eventually, Shirase-san broke the silence.

"Ahh...yeah yeah. I got it." As he said that, Shirase-san turned back around and started walking. "No matter what you do, you have the pretension of a king. Just as I'd expect from you."

At that time, we were walking through the factory's parking lot. There was an abundance of cars crouched down, loyally awaiting their masters (and unlike humans, they don't ignore their missions because of emotions. It's a refreshing sight).

Shirase-san walked to a small motorbike, probably used for his daily commute. While taking a helmet out of the basket, he looked towards us.

"Since I've got no choice, I'll do it. Show me where you'll be setting up this trap. I can follow along on my bike..."

Right as I let out a relieved smile, something crashed into the side of my head.

Shirase-san had thrown a helmet. The moment the impact hit, my vision had danced around.

Shirase-san threw another helmet that was aimed at Chuuya-sama. Right before it had hit him square in the face, Chuuya-sama grabbed the helmet.

Shirase-san climbed atop his motorcycle and started up the engine.

"Hahaha! I won't get involved based on the words of a traitor!"

As he said that, he suddenly accelerated his motorbike and drove off.

"Ouch..."

I ran a self-diagnostic report. Impact detected on the head. No internal parts sustained damage. There's no delay in signals. It just startled me.

Chuuya-sama faced forward as if he were bored with holding the helmet in his hands.

"Man... What do you think you're doing, running away like that?"

He let out a single, heavy sigh and tossed the helmet off to the side.

Then, he jumped. Wielding his gravity manipulation, he landed on the roof of a parked car nearby.

"Don't be late, toy robot. If you are, I'll leave you behind."

With that, he started running after him.

I couldn't afford to be left behind.

Chuuya-sama's movements were better described as gliding than running.

By shifting the force of gravity that weighed him down to creating a force that propelled him forward, he's able to jump ahead like a frisbee. He could jump over a block in one step and easily overtake a moving vehicle.

I mobilized the actuators on my knees and chased after Chuuya-sama. I jumped over the factory grounds and landed sideways on a sign before soaring over the heads of the pedestrians down below.

At the same time, I tried to pin down the escaped Shirase-san's whereabouts by using electrical signals, but I received no reply. I tried hacking into the traffic control network, but didn't find any information relating to his vehicle. It looked like Shirase-san was using a motorbike that didn't have a system connected to the outside world and only had a mobility function. In short, it was a cheap model.

Though being cheap puts us at a disadvantage. Unlike with Verlaine's car, his bike couldn't be controlled remotely. There was no choice but to catch up to him and physically stop him.

It's a little more effort than it's worth, but I decided to get a bit rough.

While running, I accessed ORBIS[4]. Through this previously built tool, I can forcibly obtain admin access and display it as a screen over my field of vision. It steals data only available to the traffic police and can recognize the surrounding cars all at once. And search for them.

Found him. One block to the north, and two blocks to the west. He was riding north towards a main road on a residential street, his engine roaring loudly. The system was easily able to mark him because of his obvious speeding.

"Chuuya-sama! Towards the northwest!"

While shouting, I jumped over a truck and crossed the street.

Chuuya-sama and I sprinted over a flock of cars as we headed west. A group of onlookers stared at us in astonishment.

I connected to the traffic cameras and saw Shirase-san's motorbike run through a red light, appearing as though he were heading towards another residential street. It was a reckless move. But fortunately for Shirase-san, and just as unfortunately for us, that road was narrow and without traffic cameras. Meaning, there was no way for us to pursue him through videofeed.

Chuuya-sama and I stepped over hedges, kicked off roofs, and jumped over telephone poles as we chased him. The asphalt I had kicked to help me accelerate broke and scattered debris behind me.

Chuuya-sama and I were running at a speed slightly faster than Shirase-san's motorbike. There weren't any laws in this country that limited how fast pedestrians could go. It was an oversight of the human politicians. If it were me, I wouldn't have forgotten to make a law that arrests speeding androids.

"I hear something running. I'm going on ahead!"

 Chuuya-sama completely erased his own gravity to float in the air. He kicked off the wall of a building and disappeared into the cityscape. I had to hurry and catch up. Chuuya-sama may have a gravitational ability but, to be quite honest, I clearly outclass him in leg length. I won't lose.

We were in a residential district with lots of narrow alleyways. According to my calculations, we should be able to catch up to Shirase-san in about 27 seconds.

If Chuuya-sama blocks him off in the front and I bring up the rear, Shirase-san will have no choice but to give up. Perfect.

However, later I remembered what Dr. Wollstonecraft was always saying.

The minute you think your job is going well, he comes. That monster known as failure always comes to catch and eat the pitiful prey that holds the scent of success.

It turned out exactly as she said.

As I turned to follow Chuuya-sama around a corner, I heard a loud voice.

"Don't go over there, toy robot! Hide!"

But it was too late. When I turned the corner, I bore witness to the situation in front of me.

Or rather, this situation was something that could have been predicted. There were plenty of signs.

Shirase-san's history. He had said that he was making preparations to rebuild his organization. Back in the reception room, when the factory manager had passed by Shirase-san, he was strangely nervous. And then afterwards, he had escaped.

Shirase-san was in the middle of an intersection.

And he was completely surrounded...

...by police cars.

"Shirase Buichirou! You are under arrest on the suspicion of possessing illegal weapons!"

Shirase-san was being arrested by a large policeman, his head pressed up against a police car.

"Let go! Dammit, let go of me! I'm the next king!"

Shirase-san was writhing underneath him, but according to my calculations, he would need thirty-nine more people to get out of those restraints.

A voice came from inside the police car.

"Are you there, Chuuya? Has your subordinate been causing some trouble?" It was a mature voice. That tranquil voice sounded out of place, for some reason. "Come out and help him."

And then, a man appeared.

He was a dull looking detective who had to be over forty years old.

He wore leather shoes that have long since lost their shine and had on a dark green overcoat that looked like it's become a part of his skin after many years of wearing it. His weight looked a little bit on the lighter side, and he had a fuzz of hair on his head. He wore a soft smile on his face.

"I'm not his subordinate! I'm the king!" Shirase-san was still kicking and struggling.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep on struggling, your majesty. I don't care for small fries like you." The detective said, whacking Shirase-san's head.

Chuuya-sama gave a click of his tongue.

"So you've been letting him roam free from the very beginning, Detective."

Chuuya-sama said as he appeared before the police.

"Ohhh, how are you, Chuuya? Have you been getting enough to eat?"

The detective in the green overcoat spread his arms wide, as if he were talking to an old friend. But I get the feeling they weren't really friends.

"If you don't eat properly, you won't grow taller~ So make sure you eat. And go to school. Set aside some money and think about your future. Don't play in the dark. Though I guess, it's fine to do a little bit of it while you're young. Also—" Detective-san laughed and punched Shirase-san's body. "Choose your friends wisely."

"Nakahara Chuuya-dono. We'd like you to accompany us to the station on the suspicion of conspiring with Shirase."

A young police officer came to stand next to Chuuya-sama. His expression was hard and cold with the meticulousness of a machine. Of course, he hadn't quite reached machine level yet.

"I see. The timing for this wasn't coincidental, was it?" Chuuya-sama looked at the police officer with a sharp look. "The factory manager's your pawn. You had him keep watch over Shirase, waiting to lure me in."

"Fufu. Unlike you, the young master over here is kind to his elders." As he said that, Detective-san gave another light punch to Shirase-san. "I easily got evidence of him possessing illegal weapons."

"You're lying! There's no way you caught wind of my perfect plan! Chuuya, you ratted me out again, didn't you?!"

Detective-san gave a side glance to Shirase-san, then shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't I tell you? Choose your friends wisely."

Chuuya-sama sighed and spoke with a bitter expression on his face.

"Hey, Detective. I'm well aware of his crimes, but can you wait one more day? We're in the middle of an organizational dispute and I've got to protect him."

Detective-san stared at him blankly before letting out a weak laugh.

"In that case, don't worry. We'll protect him." He took out a pair of handcuffs and rattled them around near his face. "In jail, that is. Why don't you come with us?"

Detective-san gave a signal with his chin and an officer pushed Shirase-san into the police car.

There was nothing we could do. Chuuya-sama's expression said it all.

"......Dammit...."

Chuuya-sama clenched his teeth together, keeping the curse in the darkness behind them.