Mr. Vergilius seemed to be savoring the sight of the prisoners being sliced apart, as if he found it satisfying.
He must have been that frustrated with them.
"······."
"You need to learn what happens when you start acting above your station in a Nest."
"···Dante, you may not remember this right now, but there was a time when you, too, might have been a big shot of sorts···"
Really?
"My··· me?"
"···That's really surprising."
The Dante who was always ignored by the prisoners, used, and treated like nothing more than a healing pack had once been a big shot with a name in the City···
Honestly, I couldn't picture it at all.
"But the fact that you've lost your memory can't serve as a complete excuse for your negligence. I trust you understand what I mean."
In truth, the fact that Don Quixote had hurled her spear like a bullet and smashed the glass wall might well have been Dante's responsibility.
But in a way, that outcome had been inevitable.
Heathcliff had also been gripping his club so tightly beside her that his tendons were standing out; even if we had stopped Don Quixote, there was a high probability he would have lunged in anyway.
And I, who had actively tried to stop Don Quixote, had also not done everything in my power to restrain her.
The most effective method would have been to smash Don Quixote's head on the spot, but I had decided to show my employee badge and try to smooth things over clumsily instead.
···Maybe I should have cracked her skull after all?
Ahem. In any case, above all else, Dante wasn't cold enough to stop someone from saving a family being torn apart right in front of them.
"It may not be such a good thing to get your head back, Vergilius."
"······."
Ah, right. He can't understand that.
"He says, 'It may not be such a good thing to get your head back,'" I relayed.
"···That may be so. In any case, I'll assume I've understood the gist of it."
"Mm! Forty-six point five seconds! Another day spent justly protecting the world!!"
If I had gone in, would we have held out another 2.3 seconds?
That's a fairly meaningful number.
"Ah, it seems the performance is over. Time to turn the clock, Dante."
**
Tick-tock, the clock turned, and all twelve of them were revived except for me.
Perhaps they were dazed from being beaten in forty-six point five seconds by Siegfried, because everyone was unusually quiet.
"How have you been, Red Gaze? It's been hard to catch sight of you lately. You haven't even been showing up to the 'Gathering of Excellent Fixers in the Nest'..."
"Did you not receive the dozens of invitations I sent you?"
"I changed addresses. And I don't have the leisure to wag my tail so faithfully like you do."
"···I don't know what history there is between you two, but isn't Vergilius being a little too harsh?"
"Even at a glance, don't you feel that the two of them have very different temperaments, Dante?"
"What kind of temperament?"
"Simply put, Siegfried was closer to the Wing-friendly side among Fixers."
"By contrast, Mr. Vergilius pursued the independence of Fixers."
"He believed that the moment a Fixer became subordinate to some powerful entity, even the minimum value a Fixer should uphold would disappear."
"He's the sort of person who applies stricter standards than anyone else when it comes to the powerful."
Around then, I saw Don Quixote approaching Siegfried with a trembling body.
He was the very person who had just sliced her apart, but apparently that was also a kind of honor to her.
"I-I-I-I-I'm a fa-fan! I've collected your figures too! They're not limited edition or anything, but... my dream is to become an amazing Fixer like you!"
"Mm! A Fixer hopeful! I don't have much time, but I can give you an autograph!"
"I-is that really true? Then the autograph will be... the autograph will be... here... ehehe..."
"Take a breath, Don Quixote..."
[Announcement. Situation resolved, Code Purple. Situation resolved, Code Purple. All codes clear.]
"Mm! The job was completed successfully!"
"Then, let us meet again somewhere else! Hahahahaha!!"
-Whoooosh――!!!
With a tremendous vibration, Siegfried shot up into the sky and vanished.
And though it had taken a bit of time, we were ultimately granted passage again.
Somewhat... I guess.
In the meantime, Mr. Vergilius had already returned to the bus first. Maybe he had gotten off in the first place because he knew he'd be meeting Siegfried.
His back looked a little irritated, which bothered me somewhat...
But it seemed like a subject not worth thinking about any further.
"Ufu, ufufufu..."
The atmosphere was colder than ever, but Don Quixote seemed happier than ever to have received Siegfried's autograph, and with a foolish grin she was stroking it more lovingly than anyone in the world.
"I do not know if I am dreaming! Manager-nari! Could you pinch my cheek just once?"
I had considered saying something to her for spouting nonsense even as we left the checkpoint, but it felt wrong to spit on that blissful face, so I let it go.
-Kreeeek!!
Just then, an armored vehicle came to a stop right in front of us.
"···A new enemy? They've got some nerve, showing up in front of a Nest checkpoint."
"This vehicle is... from LCC, the Clear Department."
As soon as Faust answered indifferently, the armored vehicle opened.
"Honestly, why did you take so long? We circled around this area three times."
Epi and Sword?
The familiar faces visible inside the opened vehicle instantly melted the tension away.
Even though their outfits had changed from before, their expressions—full of confidence and ease—were exactly the same.
"Oh, so the before-team came too? The atmosphere's a little different, I see."
"That was camouflage for infiltrating the casino. In the end, it wasn't useful, though."
"······."
For a moment, I thought I might refute Sword's words, but seeing Dante's clock hand trembling as if it might cry, I lost the desire to argue.
"···That cutting tone of yours still goes straight for the throat."
"Pfft... Sword, you see that clock hand shaking? At this rate, it might even cry."
"It was a joke. In terms of skill, there was still a long way to go, but I decided to acknowledge that the LCB department had its own distinct color."
Surprisingly, it seemed we had left a good impression on them despite that entire mess of a process.
"I thought the before-team had already arrived at the operation site."
"The other members are already there. We stayed behind for a bit because we had some extra information that would be useful for you to know."
"Heh, Epi, I thought you were all sharp edges, but you've got a cute side too."
"Either way, that means you were paying attention to us, right?"
"Puh, weren't you all just unable to get over our charm?"
"Why, you know how it is. You cook with nothing but ingredients that look like they'd taste awful, and somehow it still comes out good."
"Right, there were a lot of things like that on the battlefield. It was miserable when you ate them, but they kept sticking in your memory..."
"Ah, that kind of food is surprisingly popular. Especially among the ones that smell particularly awful, there are dishes that become strangely addictive..."
"···What kind of food have the three of you been eating?"
"By the way, what sort of information were we supposed to receive?"
"About our next target site, it seems another group has already occupied it."
"So our side is also deploying more people than usual."
"Hmph, that just means more flies made of scrap metal will come crawling in from somewhere."
As Otis said, every operation had involved clashes with other groups stationed near the Golden Bough.
In the first operation, the remnants of G Corp had remained around the Lobotomy Corporation branch and its vicinity like wandering strays.
In the second operation, various gangs had remained in the casino.
"Unfortunately, this time our opponents don't seem to be the same old scraps."
"I took a quick look through the inspection records, and there was a trace of a large deployment from N Corp a few weeks ago. Their destination was even the same as ours."
"From N Corp?"
"It wasn't an officially disclosed move, but considering K Corp also let them through inspection, there may have been some kind of deal."
"In other words... if it's true that N Corp has already been deployed there, then the road ahead won't be smooth."
"···I see. This could end up making enemies of several Wings if we're not careful."
"Long-term, conflict between Wings is an inevitable step."
"But since N Corp hasn't officially announced a deployment, it could also end as a simple clash between interest groups."
"Maybe... what they truly wanted wasn't the Golden Bough at all."
"At any rate, it doesn't seem like we can deny that we're the convenient tool everyone likes to use..."
"Ah. Right, they said there were idiots who caused a scene at K Corp's immigration office. Did you happen to see their faces?"
"···S-so rumors really do spread fast. Like... Rocinante."
The subject of the rumor herself, Don Quixote, averted her eyes and even started stammering, unlike her usual self.
So she does know how embarrassing it is.
"What a shame. It's not every day you get to see a scene like that."
"Unless you have more than one life, who would dare make a scene starting from the immigration office..."
"······."
"Ahem... ahem..."
Don Quixote, stop coughing. You're just making it more suspicious.
"···No way, right?"
"Come now, we don't have much time, so let's move quickly."
While they were looking at us with suspicious eyes, Ishmael swiftly changed the subject.
"Oh dear. Mr. Vergilius isn't here this time either, I see."
"···Ah, that guy? He went back to the bus first."
"What a pity. I wanted to show my face this time for once..."
"Next time, I'll be sure to greet him. I was also planning to ask whether he'd consider having us join you instead."
"What, so that was your angle for wanting to see him?"
"That wasn't entirely a joke. See you again at the site later."
"If you can arrive safely, that is."
"You should watch yourselves too. You look dangerous enough as it is, so don't go sticking your necks out and dying for nothing. You only get one life, so live it long."
"Heh, right. Take care!"
-Vroooom!
The armored vehicle set off with a suitable engine rumble.
They'll be fine, I'm sure. If they're injured the next time we meet, I think I'd be pretty sad.
...Looks like I've gotten attached after all.
Then I guess it was time for us to go our own way too.
I moved toward the bus, believing they would be safe.
========================
The website for reading paid chapters is available on my Patreon. The number of chapters on Patreon: 140
Link: patreon.com/UltraMagnus_T