"But if I'm going to do any work, I need to be given a super-sized reward first."
"Yes, yes. Would this almond jelly be suffic-…"
(Stage 02 Open 05/23 14:00)
The Scheming and True Beginning of the Girl's Backdoor
Part 1
Toy Dream 35 was divided into twenty-six blocks shaped like pizza slices. Block A was known as the main entrance due to the international airport and the duty free shops surrounding it.
Perhaps because the giant amusement park city had been constructed by a monster of a foreign company, the area was plenty crowded even midday on weekdays. There were businessmen in suits, parents with children holding balloons, two lines of uniformed students out on some kind of school activity, and even a mascot in a full-body costume saying "gozaru, gozaru". Countless nationalities, races, and religions were all mixed together. They all wore colorful outfits, but that was due to the Delayed Walpurgis costume event more than due to foreign fashion.
That may have been why one pair blended into the otherworldly background even though they should have been a walking landmark.
One of them was a girl of middle school age wearing hot pants and a short-sleeved shirt over a long-sleeved shirt, both of which left her midriff exposed. On her feet and legs, she wore black knee socks and sneakers. Her semi-long hair was dyed brown and a somehow lively light filled her eyes. She wore a thin chain around her neck, so some sort of accessory was probably hidden at her chest.
The other was a college-aged woman. She had a sharp shaggy hairstyle and her straight long hair was dyed pink. She wore a miniskirt waitress uniform colored white and pink. The headdress, gloves, and knee socks were decorated with elegant white lace. The corset around her waist and the suspenders for her skirt accentuated her already large breasts. For accessories, she wore a pair of horns on the sides of her head and a something like a tail on the back of her waist, but it made one think of something other than a cow.
It made her look like a demon.
What she held in her hand did not look like a bag containing clothing and everyday necessities. It looked more like a silver pipe folded in two, wrapped with a red leather belt, and given a handle near the middle.
The brown-haired girl glanced around with that woman by her side.
And she spoke.
"Biondetta, something isn't right."
"Yes, everything is running more smoothly than expected. If the Girl's Backdoors we spread around in advance were causing trouble, the airport's security level should have been increased."
"So was that plan a dud?"
"I seriously doubt every last person was too afraid to use a gadget that stimulates one's 'desires' so much, ma'am. That leaves only one possibility."
"It worked, but someone already hunted them down, huh?"
The girl crossed her arms and rubbed her chin as she spoke under her breath.
She wore some sort of black leather glove on her left hand.
"But we made sure to choose people with no social connections and as little in common as possible. How could someone figure out who to suspect, find their location, and deal with them before it led to a commotion?"
"Ma'am, I suspect whoever it was predicted the algorithm rather than searching out their location."
"You'll need to explain it better than that."
"It is true we worked to choose people as randomly as possible to make sure they could not all be defeated one after another. But some points in common were unavoidable."
The demonic waitress raised her index finger.
"In other words, it had to be someone who would want to do awful things if they were given supernatural power. It had to be a weak-willed person whose rationality and conscience could not hold back their desires once they were given even slight power. That will naturally lead to similarities in their behavior."
"So after capturing the first one, they used that one to create a flowchart?" The girl spat out the words. "Biondetta, the original plan was for me to use the tenth Girl's Backdoor to slip into Toy Dream 35 while the other nine threw the city into chaos. Then I was to quickly achieve my objective."
"Yes, but I don't see a paradise of naked girls awaiting orders as far as the eye can see, so we need to assume we will not receive the benefit of that disturbance tactic, ma'am."
"What do we do now?"
"Yes, what do we do? How about we abort the mission and turn right back around?"
"Don't joke."
The girl pulled on the chain around her neck and produced the accessory that was the size of a large coin.
She snapped open the cover, looked at the photo inside, and then closed it once more.
She had made up her mind.
She had already been prepared to burn down the world and commit any hypocrisy if it meant achieving her objective.
"In that case, we'll just have to keep going without everything we'd hoped for. Biondetta, keep in mind this could come down to a war of attrition. We must eliminate every last one of those Anthills and the people sucking up the sweet nectar they produce."
"Yes, ma'am."
The two of them continued speaking as they walked through the airport.
Summoners and vessels were abnormal individuals who would be entirely forgotten once they left a normal person's field of vision. But they could not escape people's eyes that easily in a crowded international airport.
So of course, the young woman in charge noticed when the two of them tried to slip past the border control gate.
"U-um, excuse me! Uh, please get in line and wait your-…"
The girl ignored her and moved the black leather glove on her left hand. She placed her thumb and forefinger at a right angle as a handgun gesture and aimed the pointer finger forward.
Simply glaring at her target had immediate effects.
Several red threads that only she could see shot out. The ends of the threads contained thick phantom blades with a four-on-top, one-on-bottom structure. They resembled bear traps or a human hand and they tore into the airport workers arms, legs, and torso one after another.
Only the victim and the assailant could hear the series of painful sounds. And the airport worker was not allowed to speak a word despite the intense pain she felt.
"Get lost, amateur," spat out the girl.
"———"
After what sounded like arms and legs folding up, the female worker forcefully turned around like a poorly-controlled marionette. She then took off running in a straight line without stopping.
The demon known as Biondetta gave an exasperated suggestion.
"Did you remember to specify 'how far' she is supposed to go, ma'am? I don't think you had enough time to put together a proper flow."
"I don't know and I don't care. This isn't a problem with the specs of the Girl's Backdoor you gave me." The girl with semi-long hair spat out the words as she passed right through the gate that had lost its guard. "Biondetta, recite our regulations."
"Yes, ma'am. I, Biondetta, have bound a contract to assist my client, Murasame Kuina-sama. The contract lasts until your objective has been achieved and we will use any means necessary. You will pay for the necessary expenses such as weapons and ammunition and I will bear the responsibility for any deaths or injuries. And, if deemed necessary to achieve your objective, we will immediately attack anyone related or unrelated to the matter at hand."
"Okay," said the girl named Murasame Kuina.
Reciting the regulations may have acted as a switch for her.
"Good. We'll be assuming the decoy Girl's Backdoors had no effect, but that doesn't change what we must do. Our target is Government and we'll start crushing the locations we already know. For the locations we don't know, we can check through the data we find in the rubble afterwards or use the Girl's Backdoor to draw the data out of people. Do you understand the plan for the moment?"
However, Biondetta did not respond.
But not because she was being rude to her vessel and client.
Before she could respond, another voice cut in from the side.
"Hey, you! What do you think you're doing!?"
Hearing a deep voice, the small girl started to form a handgun gesture with the hand in the leather glove, but she stopped partway through.
The guard who approached was a middle-aged man.
Murasame Kuina released the half-made gesture, waved her opened hand, and spoke to the demon next to her.
"Biondetta."
"Yes, ma'am."
As soon as the woman answered, she released the "luggage" she carried. The red leather belt came apart and the folded silver pipe became a single long rod engraved with an ivy pattern. While listening to the latch click into place, the demon's slender fingers stroked smoothly across its side.
This was a Blood-Sign.
It was the symbol of the summoners who used even the gods of legend as a stepping stone to reach their goals. Biondetta smiled thinly as she spun it around and pointed it at the confused guard.
"If we could only have escaped your field of vision or controlled you with Girl's Backdoor, we could have settled this peacefully."
A thud followed her words.
Something had fallen to the ground from between the demon's legs and up her short skirt.
It was a black sphere less than five centimeters across.
Was the poor victim even aware it was an Incense Grenade with the pin pulled?
An incredible tremor shook the entire airport.
The gods may have been rooting for those who lived honest lives, but summoners could move beyond the Divine-class.
Part 2
Shiroyama Kyousuke sat on the roof of an office building among the high-rise buildings of R Block. One end of his Blood-Sign was sticking off the building, the railing acted as a fulcrum, and he sat on the other end.
He held his smartphone in one hand.
"This is the ninth one. Aika, do you think there might be more Girl's Backdoors out there?"
Short, panicked breaths interrupted his conversation.
He glanced into the air beyond the railing and saw a young man in a janitor's uniform dangling down from the Blood-Sign's tip caught on the back of his collar.
Just like with a seesaw, Kyousuke could not sit on the Blood-Sign without that.
The Government middleman spoke quietly over the phone.
"They were probably just expendable decoys, so they wouldn't have received any accurate data from the real culprit. But based on the confessions we've gathered from the captured Girl's Backdoor users, a total of nine seems likely."
"Ghhh (deadpan)."
Isabelle wore a red military uniform with a tight skirt and several black belts and she leaned over the railing to reach toward the janitor man without worrying about the view it gave Kyousuke of her small butt. However, she was not attempting to save the dangling man.
"Good, good. I just super-sized retrieved the Girl's Backdoor from his left hand."
"Then do you even need him anymore?" asked Aika.
At that moment, Kyousuke got up from the Blood-Sign seesaw.
The Blood-Sign seemed to rotate more than tilt as it quickly swung around. Just before the nearly vertical object actually fell, Kyousuke grabbed it in one hand.
At the same time, the janitor man vanished from the world while trying to shout some kind of excuse. The Doppler Effect transformed his scream as it grew more distant and it was finally punctuated with a splash of water far below.
"Whatever the case, it's lucky we managed to stop them before they actually did anything."
"I would expect nothing less of my Onii-chan."
"I'm not commenting on that anymore. Anyway, how did you get them to talk after we beat them up, threw them on the side of the road with zombie makeup on, and let an ambulance pick them up? Did you drag them into a garage lined with plastic sheets and use a raincoat and vegetable grater combo?"
"Please, we're not that hunk of fat from Illegal. The great Government would never do anything so uncivilized. Torture is a war crime banned by international treaties."
"But I doubt those scumbags would just tell you the truth."
"All we did was invite them to a royal suite room in the Princess Gate Hotel. They're probably ordering champagne in the finest of rooms right about now."
"Hm? Wait. Don't tell me…"
"But the way the world at large sees things, the rooms are listed under those scumbags' names. …So what will they think when they see the bill? The room alone is about 500,000 yen a night and the food and other services cost extra, so their debt will balloon out of control real fast. And they can't solve this just by leaving the room. They will find that they are strangely unable to checkout no matter how much they complain at the front desk. …Not until they have Government's permission anyway."
You people are the worst, thought Kyousuke while sympathizing with the enemy.
It was a lot like sneaking into someone's house while they were on an overseas trip, removing the phone from the hook, and leaving it connected to an automated premium rate information service. No obvious torture was needed to apply pressure to someone. With the proper preparations, making them feel like they were wasting precious time worked just fine. The balloon known as their heart would be filled to the limit in no time.
This would only look like they were treating someone to a top quality room, so Government was frightening in a pure sort of way.
Isabelle toyed with the Girl's Backdoor leather glove in her hand.
"Nuuun (deadpan). What should we do with this?"
"If we throw it in a train station coin locker, the world police at Government will retrieve it. It isn't very exciting, but that's their job."
At that point, Aika said something more over the phone.
"Onii-chan, we just got in some new information."
"?"
"Someone's started a Material battle in A Block's international airport. At the very least, it isn't a summoner and vessel pair registered with Government."
"Is it related to the issue we're dealing with?"
"There was some evidence suggesting a Girl's Backdoor was used just before the Artificial Sacred Ground appeared."
Kyousuke thought for a moment and then honestly spoke his question.
"This time I can't see the algorithm. I can't imagine where they'll go next."
"Then could this be the real culprit who was distributing them to the scumbags?"
"That I can't say. Can you at least track them for us?"
"Summoners and vessels vanish from all cameras and sensors while using an Incense Grenade."
"Follow the gazes of the normal people around there. Even if you can't see them on the cameras, the people will be focusing on some spot for no apparent reason. That's where the summoner and vessel will be. Follow that line and you'll have their route."
Even as he gave instructions, Kyousuke knew they were playing catchup here.
They did not have enough information. He could not predict what their opponent was thinking. They could never catch up if all they did was chase after whoever this was.
What did he need to fill that gap?
How could he catch up?
Part 3
It could be a school, a hospital, a prison, a sports gym, a prep school, a hotel, a cruise ship, a military base, a police station, a fire station, a company, a space station, a largescale farm, or anything else.
It just had to have more than a certain number of people being managed as a group as well as a "framework" that hid them from the outside world to a certain extent.
Murasame Kuina, the girl served by Waitress Demon Biondetta, was after the Anthills, but they had not been informed about every single one. So their plan was to attack the one they knew about and gather information on any unknown Anthills from there. If that was not enough, they would control people with Girl's Backdoor and contact someone who knew the answer.
It was like a computer virus.
By repeatedly destroying and infecting, they would start at a single point and spread throughout the system.
Thus, they started by bringing down the Anthill in D Block that they knew about.
It took the form of a live music club.
When they were still walking along the giant bridge outside the highly soundproofed building, the girl with semi-long brown hair was already whispering to the demon next to her.
"Biondetta."
"Yes, ma'am."
They must have used an "under construction" sign or information on their website because the crowed vanished from the bridge. Then someone slowly stepped out from the building in question.
It was an unattractive middle-aged man in a ratty old suit and a slender girl in a dress with an extremely girly design.
The man asked a question while pulling a similarly faded hat deep over his eyes.
"I assume you two are Freedom Award 920, Liar Cat. We heard you caused some trouble down at A Block's airport."
Instead of answering, the brown-haired girl looked to the demon next to her.
"Explain."
"Yes, ma'am. I believe this is Government Award 809, Scorpion 11."
"Then should it be an easy victory?"
"Why of course. However, this summoner has something of a legendary jinx. He is constantly taking on opponents he should not be able to defeat and yet he always survives until the end."
"It doesn't matter. Biondetta, win this for me."
"Yes, ma'am."
The man in the ratty old suit let out a gentle sigh.
"I can't believe this."
With those words, several solid sounds surrounded the brown-haired girl and the waitress demon. There were ten in all. The sources of the sounds came from all directions, including up and down. Instead of just standing on the giant bridge, they also clung to the building walls and the bottom of the bridge passing by overhead.
These were Government Repliglass soldiers.
By wearing external armor made from silicon stem cells, these next generation soldiers took the form of other animals and plants while enhancing or interpreting their traits and abilities.
Specifically, these were Snails. They wore giant round backpacks and their legs were enveloped by a sticky material that allowed them to cling to walls and ceilings. The backpacks contained high-pressure water sprayers that took in powder from the building materials (such as concrete or steel) worn down by the leg units and produced enough destructive power to instantly slice through twenty centimeters of steel from a distance of fifteen hundred meters.
This many of them this close would be fatal.
The targets could not escape on foot and would be sliced in two along with the wall if they hid behind cover.
"Sorry, but this is how Government does things."
"Exactly the disgusting methods I would expect from an Anthill."
"We get that a lot. But this is the optimal answer," said Scorpion 11 without a hint of emotion in his voice. "We don't bother looking worthless wannabe villains in the eye. The protective circle protects the summoner and the Material protects the vessel during battle, but without setting up an Artificial Sacred Ground, you're nothing but flesh and blood. Even if you pull out an Incense Grenade now, we can kill you twenty times over before you pull the pin. That keeps me from earning many Awards, so it is a bit of a problem."
"…"
"I don't really care either way, but the higher ups want to hear what you have to say. But since I don't care, that gets a pretty low priority from me. Will you surrender, or will you die? It's your choice."
The waitress demon jokingly raised her hands a little and laughed cruelly.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing much." Biondetta moved her lips while relaxing her shoulders. "It's just that our nemesis has already overlooked three things he can't afford to overlook and that is hopelessly funny."
Scorpion 11 narrowed his eyes a little.
The surrounding Snails produced quiet creaking noises from the nozzles of the high pressure water sprayers that could slice through steel panels like butter.
The demon ignored it all as she spoke.
"First, you gave a warning before firing. Then again, that's probably a unique Government trait since you like to call yourselves the world police and you probably wanted to take us alive and do a background investigation to put your minds at ease."
There was no tension in her voice.
It was like the hand of a clock slowly turning.
"Second, an Artificial Sacred Ground can only be set up if we can see our target with the naked eye when the Incense Grenade detonates. If you were going to stand in front of a summoner, you should have at least used a smoke or stun grenade."
Or perhaps this was another act.
It was all to let Murasame Kuina, the client who had bound a contract with that demon, comfortably achieve her goal.
"Third, you let your pride get the better of you when you don't even know what kind of Incense Grenade I use. You don't know the size, the shape, the chemicals used, how I use it, or anything at all."
The waitress demon spread her legs wider than her shoulders.
With a metallic thunk, a sphere one size smaller than a baseball fell from her miniskirt and onto the bridge.
Scorpion 11 reacted by pulling his hat even deeper over his eyes.
And he spoke.
"Too bad."
That settled everything.
Incense Grenades came in a variety of types, but most detonated at an average of three to five seconds after pulling the pin. And without setting up an Artificial Sacred Ground, the summoner and vessel were helpless. If the Snails released their high-pressure water attacks from a total of twenty different directions, their bodies would be torn to pieces before the detonation.
So this would end it.
On their signal, the Snails did not hesitate to release the great power built up in the tanks on their backs. With the assistance of pressurized air, the thin, thin layer of concrete and steel carved away by the foot units was turned to a powder, mixed with the water, and given the effect of a file using ultra high speeds. The end result was much like multiple simultaneous laser-like sniper shots.
But just beforehand…
"Nee hee☆"
The demon laughed.
A quiet clicking sound came from Biondetta's mouth as if she had ignited an electric lighter there. Did anyone there realize that was the sound of her biting the switch for which she had swapped out one of her back teeth?
At the same time, the demon and the client girl were tugged backwards as if by an invisible elastic cord. Due to the extreme accuracy of the high pressure water attacks from twenty directions, the two of them completely escaped by vanishing from those coordinates so suddenly.
To set up an Artificial Sacred Ground, the Incense Grenade had to detonate while the target was in view.
When the Artificial Sacred Ground opened, the summoner and vessel were automatically moved to its center.
But it was not necessary for the summoner to be holding the Incense Grenade when it detonated. It was just as effective from a distance.
Meaning…
(Before approaching, they must have set up an Incense Grenade with a wireless detonator instead of a timed one. Then they showed themselves and dropped a decoy right in front of us. As long as she could see us with the naked eye, nothing else mattered. By manipulating our aim, she can begin the Summoning Ceremony battle in a more advantageous position.)
As he thought to himself, Scorpion 11 pulled out an old match and scraped it against the bridge's railing. What looked like a sharp spear of fire followed the movement of his arm and then he held a Blood-Sign made of ultra-hard black charcoal that resembled diamond.
"Ayaka, get ready."
"Understood."
Their opponent was clinging to the wall of a building more than thirty meters away.
The waitress demon undid the belt and connected the two pieces of her Blood-Sign.
Since Artificial Sacred Grounds were twenty meter cubes on average, it might seem that they were out of range, but that was not the case. Even if the Material itself could not leave the Artificial Sacred Ground, projectiles could do damage outside of there. In other words, Scorpion 11 could leave them be and let the Snails deal with it.
Or so he thought.
But then he heard an ear-splitting gunshot.
Biondetta's tail decoration had been swaying as she raised her Blood-Sign. But she was not holding it like a summoner would. She pressed the bottom against her shoulder, placed her gaze along the side of the long rod to aim, and prepared her finger to flick a clasp that stuck out somewhat. It looked a lot like someone aiming a sniper rifle.
"Nee hee☆"
Scorpion 11 saw a smile.
The waitress demon was targeting his vessel Ayaka instead of him. Did she think she could crush the girl's human body before the Material could be summoned inside it?
But…
"…"
The rifle bullet did not pierce the young girl's face.
An extended high-pitched vibration shook the air. Scorpion 11 had held his Blood-Sign in front of the girl's eyes to slightly divert the bullet's path.
Before a few severed hairs could fall from the girl's head, both summoners began to move.
The Liar Cat waitress demon attached a cork-like part to the tip of her Blood-Sign and the unattractive Scorpion 11 man pulled a cylindrical Incense Grenade from his suit pocket, pulled the pin, and threw it toward the summoner and vessel attached to the wall.
When it detonated, the Scorpion 11 pair was also freed from gravity, flew through the air, and attached to the building wall. They had intruded on their opponent's Artificial Sacred Ground.
Just like during a Chain state, anyone could enter an Artificial Sacred Ground with no enemy inside.
They were more than ten meters apart.
They glared at each other as the three-dimensional Rose appeared between them.
Scorpion 11 held his hat low over his eyes while speaking in a low tone.
"I'll kill you."
"That was my intention from the beginning."
They both hit White Thorns straight forward. The Rose shattered into Petals of low, middle, high, and lowest sound ranges and ricocheted all over the Artificial Sacred Ground. A few of them were knocked into the dark fist-sized holes known as Spots.
Liar Cat had the Original Yellow(s). Sound Range: High. Cost: 1.
Scorpion 11 had the Original Red(b). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 1.
Both Materials were three meter masses of slime.
(I have the advantage in the three-way deadlock. That means she'll try to change sound ra-…)
Scorpion 11 quickly got to thinking, but his mind soon went blank.
The waitress demon specialized in spin shots that sharply struck her White Thorns on the edges instead of the center. They flew along even sharper curves than a curveball in baseball. They moved almost like a boomerang as they slipped past any Petals in the way and accurately knocked just the desired Petals into the Spots.
That was enough of a threat on its own, but it was not the most frightening thing about Biondetta.
Scorpion 11: Original Red (b). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 1.
Liar Cat: Demonic Corpse (wm). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 2.
Scorpion 11: Devouring Wings (lvz – fd). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 5.
Liar Cat: Bound Armor (re – ia – dr). Sound Range: Middle. Cost 6.
Scorpion 11: Predatory Fire (lvz – wzb). Sound Range: High. Cost: 6.
Liar Cat: Celestial Blade (tix – a – wuh). Sound Range: High. Cost: 7.
(This woman!!)
One side had a flying monster that looked like an enraged skull contained within a giant flame.
The other side had a giant double-edged Western sword that sliced through the air as it flew around on its own.
But as each Material changed to another too fast to visually keep up, the unattractive Scorpion 11 man clenched his teeth.
He knew what his opponent was trying to do.
A mocking smile appeared on the waitress demon's lips as she swung around her Blood-Sign that doubled as a sniper rifle.
"Oh, dear. Is something the matter?"
"You're intentionally matching my sound range. And you're always staying one cost above me!"
"Yes. There's no need to even think about that three-way stalemate if I just follow your lead. If the sound ranges are the same, the one with the higher cost will naturally win. Plus, the Material summoned first is worn down quicker."
The corners of Biondetta's lips rose like melted cheese.
"In other words, whoever goes second has the advantage using the Blood-Sign Summoning Ceremony."
"…"
Her method of fighting utterly abandoned all thought and effort.
Her heretical method simply looked at her opponent's Material, matched the sound range, and easily tore victory from their grasp.
But…
"Did you really think you could defeat me like that?"
A White Thorn audibly collided with a Petal.
Scorpion 11 specialized in forceful power shots.
"The Blood-Sign method is more than playing your hands and seeing whose is better. It's a fight for the Petals scattered around the sacred ground. In theory, you might be able to corner me by constantly matching my sound range, but it won't work that well in practice. The Petals aren't arranged in a perfect mirror image, so you'll eventually run out of resources if you keep mimicking me!!"
He simply had to preemptively take away the Petals she would need.
He simply had to eliminate them.
That way she would lack the Petals needed to mimic him.
And if he continued to build up his Material while she ran back and forth in pursuit of the Petals, he could increase his cost enough to defeat Liar Cat without much trouble.
"The Blood-Sign method isn't that simple."
Scorpion 11 belatedly realized the blood was rushing to his head.
He may have had a fair bit of pride in his Government job even though he had viewed it as a mere bureaucratic position.
"You lost because you didn't understand that."
But…
He heard a giggle.
The laughter had come from the waitress demon named Biondetta.
And she spoke.
"Did you think this was all I had?"
Only five seconds later, a great noise rang out and Scorpion 11 was defeated.
Part 4
C Block was a cheap Chinatown much like a movie set. But that may have been unavoidable since it had been built as an attraction or theme park based on Western ideas of China rather than appearing naturally like a normal Chinatown.
To match the color of the block, most of the costumes were based on Chinese entertainment. There was even a shirtless kung fu man and a Jiangshi girl who had gone all out and painted all of her skin blue. Shiroyama Kyousuke and Isabelle had arrived at a caiguan – that is, a Chinese restaurant – run by Illegal, one of the three major powers. However it was a relatively cheap restaurant and it was more like a set meal shop. The restaurant had just dealt with the lunch rush and was now bringing in tourists looking for a dessert of sesame balls or almond jelly.
But it turned out someone was there ahead of them.
A boy of about ten must have stopped by on the way back from school because he still wore his school backpack as he pouted his lips next to the modified China dress beauty named Lu Niang Lan.
According to him…
"It makes me angry when you talk with other guys."
"Oh, my."
"But that's a bad feeling, so this can't be a good thing! So I'm trying to cool my head!!"
"Oh, my, my." The small boy finished eating a mango pudding snack as he spoke with Lu Niang Lan and he left the restaurant after checking the time on his cellphone.
The Illegal tool dealer waved goodbye with a smile and then called over a nearby employee.
"Wang-san, could I ask you a favor? It's urgent."
"I'd really rather you didn't, Miss Lu."
"His emotional points have crossed a certain line, so dress up as a thug and scare him for me. I don't want him ever wandering around stores connected to Illegal ever again. And of course make sure you don't hurt him."
"No fair, Miss Lu. You always shove the dirty work onto me!"
The large muscular man complained, but he still scratched his head with one hand and walked to the back of the restaurant. He was probably on his way to "dress up".
Kyousuke and Isabelle walked in to take the boy's place and Kyousuke spoke up with some exasperation in his voice.
"I don't see why you have to go that far. Normal people forget we even exist as soon as they take their eyes off of us."
"But the routine of visiting this caiguan remains. And in certain circumstances, this place could be the site of a shootout or a terrorist bombing. Or he might get abducted as a bargaining chip. That's the kind of work we do. I don't like talking about responsibility after the fact as if I suddenly remembered it exists."
She sighed and glanced toward the door the boy had left through.
As if to switch over her train of thought, she looked back to the table and gestured with her slender hand for Kyousuke and Isabelle to sit.
"Welcome to the Hai Hong Caiguan. Is this the vessel you were talking about, Kyousuke-chan?"
"Yes. My name is Isabelle, so you can call me Isabelle."
"Umm? Well, whatever. Nice to meet you."
"It's super-sized nice to meet you."
The modified China dress beauty crossed her legs after sitting at the table that was not particularly red and did not spin.
"So did you visit this Illegal base because you wanted information on the person disseminating the mysterious gimmick known as Girl's Backdoor?" She sounded a little exasperated. "You're always walking a dangerous road, aren't you?"
"Well, it's just that I can't read the culprit's algorithm, but that's because I don't have enough data to derive that algorithm. So I was thinking that Aika's…that is, Government's information sources alone weren't enough. In that case, I might be able to see their algorithm if I can go at this from a different angle and get some new data."
The world of the Summoning Ceremony came down to a standoff between Government and Illegal.
And Freedom was only an unrestricted neighbor that mediated the issues between them.
It was just that each member of Freedom was such a powerful warrior that they ended up acting like a third major power.
"Hmm. So is that glove on your left hand the rumored Girl's Backdoor? This is my first time seeing one in person."
"Yeah. I can't believe someone was handing these things out."
"Oh, my, my. Speak of the devil. My body is moving all on its own… What could be happening?"
"Why is that making you lean up against me!? And I think you're a little old to call a 'girl'."
"Did you say something? I'll just have to drown it out with a young woman's charm!"
Lu Niang Lan sat sideways on his lap and wrapped her arm around his shoulder while jokingly rubbing her voluptuous body against him. It was no longer an issue of which specific parts of her body were rubbing against which specific parts of his body. Her seductive assault threatened to drag his soul away if he did not focus his mind.
"And if you defeated the enemy and got a sample Girl's Backdoor, why not use it for some sexy fun!? Or are you not satisfied unless you win her over with your own power? Oh, that just makes you an even greater catch, Kyousuke-chan!!"
"Umm, can we move on with the discussion?"
"Well, keeping it around but not actually using it is exactly what I would expect from you. You'll do whatever it takes to win, but you set up these boundaries in the weirdest places."
"What are you talking about? I'll use any weapon available to me. I just haven't been blessed with an opportunity yet."
"Can I throw that right back at you? What are you talking about, Kyousuke-chan?"
"Get back on topic."
"You say that, but…"
Lu Niang Lan moved away from him, placed her index finger on her chin, and looked up at the ceiling.
Military Uniform Girl Isabelle stared curiously at the almond jelly the waiter placed in front of her, but for some reason, she did not eat any. She may have been able to restrain herself from her personal preferences if it was not part of her "contract and reward" system.
Kyousuke had no choice but to sigh and make a request.
"Sorry, Isabelle, but…"
"…"
"Can you hand me the soy sauce?"
"A-ahem(deadpan). But if I'm going to do any work, I need to be given a super-sized reward first."
"Yes, yes. Would this almond jelly be suffic-…"
The small bottle of soy sauce approached him with deadly force.
He accepted it in shock and Isabelle breathed from her small nose and boldly stabbed a spoon into the almond jelly. If he had swiped it from her now, he had a feeling she would murder him not with a knife or fork, but with the spoon.
"Delish(deadpan)."
At least she seemed happy. No other response came to mind.
"To be honest, Illegal is lacking in information on Girl's Backdoor. And to be blunt, we only really noticed it when you contacted me, Kyousuke-chan."
"Does that mean Illegal played no part in the production and use of Girl's Backdoor?"
"I'd guess this is either Government or Freedom. …Or maybe the former hiring the latter for a job☆" Lu Niang Lan sounded cheerful. "Illegal is a little more focused on another issue. In the Pacific, we were supposed to steal a Government leader and the results of their research, but some summoner challenged us to a midair battle and even destroyed our mobile air squadron which included a disguised aircraft carrier. It apparently caused significant damage, but oddly enough there were precisely zero deaths."
"Cough, cough."
Kyousuke began coughing to avoid the issue.
Then the waiter silently approached Lu Niang Lan's side.
He whispered something into her ear and she indifferently revealed the information.
"Kyousuke-chan, it seems things are on the move with Government."
"?"
"A Government base in D Block was attacked and destroyed. And I doubt it's just a coincidence given the timing. And I also doubt anyone would use a Government summoner to attack Government and this has nothing to do with Illegal."
"So our enemy here is Freedom…"
"Right, right. Now, I'm sure you'll be contacting the wild beast girl soon. Since I'm in a bit of a bullying mood, can you ask her something for me?"
"You don't want me to ask Aika her weight or her measurements, do you? I'd rather not have a five meter white liger tear me to pieces in your place, Lu-san."
"If you asked her that, she'd answer without batting an eye. And that would be boring. That's why I'll give you something much more difficult to answer." She laughed. "Ask her about the Anthills."
"The Anthills?"
"Oh, don't look to me for answers. Not even Illegal has the whole picture of that term."
"So it's some kind of classified information that Government is desperate to keep hidden?"
"And we had suspected that the live music club that was attacked in D Block was one of those Anthills. Someone disseminated those flashy Girl's Backdoors as a largescale disturbance tactic and then made a pinpoint attack on an important Government base. I can almost see them holding their heads in their hands."