When we returned to the bus, the only ones there were Mr. Vergilius, wearing a cold expression, and Charon, who looked sulky...
The cabin was wrapped in a heavy atmosphere that couldn't even be called good-natured as a joke.
"You're late. Charon counted to one hundred, but you guys didn't come back."
"Charon."
Charon seemed to have a few more petulant words ready, but Mr. Vergilius lightly placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look.
"Berg, Charon will remember this."
"Sorry. I'll buy you candy next time."
Charon flopped into the driver's seat without another word, and Mr. Vergilius slowly turned to face our direction.
His presence was blatantly intimidating, but I instinctively realized the one he was angry at wasn't me.
Then if I quietly slipped away and sat down here, he probably wouldn't say anything about it either.
...I wasn't the only one thinking that, because everyone except Don Quixote hurried to their seats and sat down.
"I'll hear your excuse. Don Quixote."
"I... could not simply pass by the oppressed weak—"
"No, wrong."
Mr. Vergilius cut her off lightly, then beat her so fast her outline was reduced to a blurred afterimage.
"Ghk...! Kk..."
The result left Don Quixote collapsed on the floor, her right shoulder being crushed beneath Mr. Vergilius's shoe.
"I asked for an excuse, not a defense of your ideology."
"Ughhh...!"
"This isn't the first time, Don Quixote. Something similar has already happened three times."
"Because of your deranged antics, things nearly went off the rails three times."
Once at the pawnshop in J Corp's back alleys, once at the casino, and now here.
It was true that Don Quixote had caused three separate incidents that couldn't just be brushed off.
"What do you think? Speak."
"I... I did cause trouble for my companions, but..."
Crack, crunch—!
"Ugh... Aaaagh!!!"
I could hear the sound of Mr. Vergilius crushing Don Quixote's shoulder with his shoe in vivid detail, but I forced myself to look away.
That was Don Quixote's fault, and it wasn't as if stepping in would improve the situation.
"I asked what you think. Why can't you understand plain words?"
"I, I was speaking!"
"You should have said you were sorry here, Don Quixote."
"And if you had more to add, you should have explained what you planned to do from now on."
"This is... ngh! You've already decided on the answer and are talking from the start...!"
"Don't you know? The Company mostly already has the answer. It only asks whether you can get it right."
"Thinking the Company is asking for the opinion of someone like you is a huge misunderstanding."
"Ghk... If, if the Company is like that, then I—"
"...Exhausting."
Thud—crunch—
Mr. Vergilius kicked Don Quixote off the floor with the foot that had been pinning her down, sending her crashing to the ground.
Then he grabbed the collar of the collapsed Don Quixote and pulled her right up in front of him until their eyes were nearly level.
"You remember when you were hired."
"...!"
"I would appreciate it if you did not forget the terms of that day's deal, ...Don Quixote."
Mr. Vergilius's intense red eyes burned far more fiercely than usual...
And Don Quixote, staring straight into those eyes, simply nodded without saying another word.
"...That's enough. Return to your original positions."
I didn't particularly like Don Quixote, but seeing someone who was usually so bright and lively droop so quickly was not a pleasant sight.
I was curious what kind of deal could reduce Don Quixote to that state so fast, but...
Wasn't it a bit much to try to find out when I still didn't even know the contents of the contract I had signed?
"The same goes for the rest of you."
"The Company is not a place for self-actualization or for preaching your beliefs."
"If you're going to violate workplace regulations and act on impulse, think once more about the price you'll pay before you do it."
"You may think death would be better, but you won't be able to die, and you may want to become a freelancer, but you'll be spending a period where quitting is impossible."
"Looks like that gentleman over there... what was it, Mr. Jackfrider? Must've been seriously annoyed about getting help from him."
"Zig... fried, sir..."
"We haven't even properly started the operation yet and we're already getting lectured~ So you should've been more careful and read the room."
"Sigh... I figured this day would come eventually. Everyone, be careful from now on."
"Why are you glaring at me too? You want to die?"
"Honestly, you seem a little guilty too."
"What was that, punk?"
"..."
"...Fine, fine! Tch."
Heathcliff was about to lose his temper and start a fight again, but once he saw Mr. Vergilius's gaze turn this way, he quickly backed down.
Vrrrmmm—
Only then did the commotion settle, and the bus finally started up.
The prisoners staring out the windows gradually made strange faces.
"Those people don't look like they have a single worry on their faces..."
"It's so different from the roads we've passed through so far."
"It's a Nest."
Unlike the back alleys, which were no different from slums, a Nest was basically a huge city with all the welfare and conveniences people usually imagined, so the difference was dramatic.
"Ah, come to think of it, this must be the first time the Manager's been through the middle of a Nest."
"The gap between a Nest and the back alleys is huge. And each Nest has its own distinct culture and history."
Just as the prisoners were starting to bring up one story after another, Mr. Vergilius cut them off.
"Everyone, focus."
"This time, our destination is K Corp's village of Calf. We have information that somewhere in that place is a passage connected to the Lobotomy Corporation branch."
"...!"
The moment Sinclair heard the name "Calf," he, who had only just calmed down, started trembling all over again.
...As if he were being chased by something.
"Sinclair, take a slow deep breath."
For now, it would be best to do something, anything.
My field wasn't this, so there wasn't much I could do.
"But according to the information you gave us, third-party forces are already occupying that branch. So we requested additional reconnaissance from the Clear Department."
"The pre-observation Section 3 of the before-team was deployed. Epi and Sword should have been with them as well."
"Once they figure out the situation, they'll report back first."
Whoooosh—
Before long, the bus entered the village entrance along a forest road that had grown a little quieter.
Dark green trees, the kind rarely seen in the dreary back alleys, began to appear, and just as that made me feel a little more at ease, I saw ominous-looking smoke rising in the distance.
"Why... is there... smoke... over there..."
"Sinclair...?"
"Charon, turn."
"Evasive maneuver. Rattle rattle."
Screeeech—!!
Crash—!!!
The bus suddenly swerved hard to the left, and then a massive nail flew in and slammed into the rear window with a deafening bang.
"What the hell—! Which bastard was that! We almost died!"
"Mm... We hadn't tested this at that level of acceleration, but it seems we'll need to reinforce the windows a little more."
"It was thrown at us with precise aim. That would be the N Corp employee the before-team mentioned earlier."
"Berg, Mephi got hurt. Charon is sad."
"If they don't stop, they look ready to keep going."
"Everyone, disembark."
Somehow, not a single moment here could be called safe.
Anyone watching would think this was the back alleys.
Haa...
When we got off the bus, figures in armor that had once been pure white but had now faded with age blocked our path from head to toe.
"Halt. You may not pass this way."
"You could've just said that instead of punching through the window. Honestly..."
"How rude, attacking without declaring war. At least state your affiliation, wouldn't you?"
"We are Inquisitors. Nails that pierce the impious. Hammers that strike and discipline sin."
The Inquisitor division of N Corp, huh... I felt like I might have seen something about them in the Seven Association's records...
"N Corp... You're really making it hard to say you're employees of Nagel und Hammer."
"That's Wings for you. They probably have their own pride, so let them keep up the act."
"Nagel und Hammer, also called Nails and Hammers."
"We are currently purifying heretics, so you may not pass this way."
Damn, of all things, we'd run into fanatics.
The kind of people who become a massive pain the moment you get tangled up with them.
"Heretics? Hey. We just want to pass through here in a hurry. What was it...?"
"Tourists...! We're a tourist bus."
"..."
In the blink of an eye, we had become tourists, and we silently looked at one another.
...Well, it's a decent excuse for dodging the situation, so I guess that's fine.
Gregor, as before, tried to get through this as smoothly as possible by emphasizing that he was a harmless person and making an effort to sound as friendly as he could.
How much that would work against fanatics was another matter.
"Greg, I've been thinking since the mine last time... are you actually weirdly invested in this kind of joke?"
"Bwahahaha!"
"That's not it... don't laugh...?"
The corners of Gregor's mouth trembled pitifully.
"If that is so, then proving your purity would be the proper course."
"Fine, if you tell us how, we can do it."
Suddenly, the man pointed at Dante.
"Cut off the head of that impious traveler."
"I... me?!"
"And kneel before our hammer and offer it up."
Well, damn. They really do come in all varieties.