“Emily, can you sit down for a moment?”
“Yes, big brother.”
I didn’t lash out at her right away.
Emily wasn’t a bad person. She was just a bit lacking in common sense.
One of the two typical traits of someone from Ex Machina.
Still, she wasn’t selfish, and that was a huge relief.
Though, it also meant she was all the more lacking in common sense…
“Did you, by any chance, attach some kind of surveillance device to me?”
“Surveillance device?”
“Something like this.”
I pointed at the spider-shaped mechanical device sitting on the desk.
Emily might not even realize she was monitoring me.
“Yes.”
“How many are there?”
“Just a moment.”
With that, Emily rummaged through her bag and pulled out something too big to be a remote and too small to be a keyboard and tapped a few buttons. It was a controller of sorts.
Then, machines identical to the one on the desk started popping out from all around.
“……”
A quick glance showed there were more than thirty.
She really did hide this many around me? How did she even fool Yuna’s eyes?
Was it because they were machines, not people?
“Emily, I really wish you’d stop doing things like this. I have a right to privacy too, you know? You understand that, right?”
“Privacy?”
“Yeah.”
“……”
Emily tilted her head slowly. Wait, you’re not that clueless, are you?
You do know what the word means, don’t you?
“You mean… you have secrets you want to keep?”
“Yeah, something like that. You get it, right?”
“But you figured out I’m part of Ex Machina, didn’t you?”
“…That feels a little different, don’t you think?”
If one were to compare my privacy to Emily’s secrets, Emily’s side was definitely the heavier one.
Still, how should I put it?
Wasn’t there a difference between what Emily had deliberately dug up and what I had figured out through deduction?
That… how should I even explain it? It was hard to put into words.
Trying to explain something that was supposed to be common sense ironically left me speechless.
“Emily.”
“Yes?”
“Listen carefully. This is something I don’t like.”
“Why not?”
The very fact that she was asking why I didn’t like it already signaled something unusual.
My head hurt.
“Anyway, just keep that in mind, and now go ask Stan why doing things that others dislike is wrong.”
“Okay.”
“Good.”
Let’s just leave her upbringing to the family. It wasn’t my place to comment, and Stan didn’t like me getting too involved with Emily anyway, so he’d explain it well enough.
“Then take this back with you.”
“Oh, right. It broke because Sir Deus used it.”
“Take the rest of them too.”
“The rest are fine though. They’re not broken.”
“Just take them anyway…”
“Okay.”
As I watched Emily bow her head and leave the workshop, her small back disappearing through the door, I couldn’t help but think:
“Stan, you must be having a hard time too.”
Wow, seriously… Not just anyone could be part of the main character’s party.
What kind of battles had they been through?
***
As soon as she returned to the Robin Hood family mansion, Emily went to find Stan.
“Emily? Were you out?”
“Mhmm, I went to see Johan.”
“……”
The moment Johan’s name came up, Stan’s face darkened.
It wasn’t that Stan didn’t know Johan wasn’t a villain. He just couldn’t stand the man himself. For one, it was obvious the guy was a punk. That was the image Stan had of him.
“But it seems like I did something Johan doesn’t like.”
“Huh?”
“And he told me to ask you why I shouldn’t do things people dislike.”
“What…”
A rebellious impulse surged up inside him.
Stan was relatively mature for his age, but he wasn’t quite an adult yet. So when he heard those words, he instinctively took offense before even hearing the full story.
And when he heard that it was something Johan didn’t like, he actually scoffed.
“No, with that bastard, it’s fine. Just go ahead and do everything you want.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. In fact, if he says anything about it again, just tell me. I won’t let it slide.”
“Okay, got it.”
Emily nodded at Stan’s bold declaration and murmured quietly.
“So I’m allowed to do everything I want.”
That was a conclusion neither Johan nor Stan nor anyone would have wanted.
***
After Emily had left and Yuna returned, I explained to her what had happened in that short time.
“I see.”
“Oh, right. Yuna, you should be careful too. Judging by what she said, it’s possible Emily attached something to you as well.”
“Hmm? She did.”
“What?”
“Mhmm.”
“You knew?”
“Of course.”
“And the ones on me?”
“I knew about those too.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal? I mean, that much, even I… Actually, let’s just say it was a cute mistake and move on.”
“What did you just say…?”
“What? I didn’t say anything.”
Come to think of it, Yuna was always hovering around me.
She’d pop up the moment I called her name into thin air.
From now on, I figured I’d better start locking the door whenever I was alone. Not that I knew if it would even make a difference…
“Anyway, since things turned out like this, I’m heading out right now. Get ready.”
“Oh, is it a night date?”
“A date? No, it’s work.”
“Then Johan, is there any reason I need to tag along for your work?”
“…….”
“Do I look like some pushover idiot to you?”
“……Yuna, wanna go on a date?”
“Let’s do it!”
This wasn’t an affair.
It was just a necessary act of hospitality.
No, actually…no matter how I tried to justify it, it still made me look like trash, didn’t it?
I didn’t know anymore. It wasn’t like I had much of a choice anyway…
They should just come to a mutual agreement already.
***
After investing roughly two hours with Yuna, I was finally able to head to the location the scriptwriter had mentioned.
“Let’s see… Is this it?”
Right in the middle of the street. I rummaged through a trash bag that had been left there unnaturally.
What the hell was I doing…? Well, at least it was nighttime, so I didn’t have to worry about people staring.
“This is the second prince’s plan… and this is the deadly poison he created with his ability? Seriously, why are they handling something this dangerous like this?”
Inside the trash bag was a letter detailing the second prince’s plan, along with a test tube sealed with deadly poison.
The letter was one thing, but throwing something this dangerous into a trash bag…?
One wrong move, and this whole street could have turned into a disaster zone in seconds.
“Oh, so that’s the poison from the rumors? Interesting. How did the scriptwriter even get his hands on something like this?”
“Good question. He scurries around like a rat, so who knows?”
The scriptwriter’s nanomachines were spread across the entire country. Of course, it wasn’t like he could mass-produce them, so he’d probably only deployed them where necessary.
Even so, it was still a power that couldn’t be taken lightly.
If those nanomachines entered someone’s body through their respiratory system and launched an attack…. how many people could actually survive that?
Well, all the imperial members had monstrous physical capabilities, so they’d probably be fine.
And it probably wouldn’t be much use against the leaders of the various terrorist organizations either…
Anyway, aside from those at a certain level of strength, it was practically a guaranteed win.
“So the gist of the plan is… hmm, sounds like trashy scheming, just like the second prince.”
“Let me see too.”
I showed Yuna the rough outline of the second prince’s plan, as deciphered by the scriptwriter.
To summarize, it was simple.
“A hostage situation?”
“Not exactly, but close enough.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Hmm…”
The first thing I had to do was already decided.
It was to create an antidote for the deadly poison the Second Prince had produced with his ability.
The poison created by the Second Prince manifested different symptoms each time it was used.
For some, it caused blindness or loss of sensation in the limbs; for others, it brought burning pain in the intestines, or even caused their skin to melt away.
From vascular poison to neurotoxin to hemorrhagic effects….the symptoms varied wildly.
Even though it was supposedly the same poison every time, it produced different effects with each use. It could only be described as a universal poison.
“I need to make an antidote for the ‘Mood Poison’.”
The poison had earned the nickname “Mood Poison” because it seemed to behave differently depending on the mood.
As you could probably guess from the ridiculous name, the Second Prince came up with it himself.
“Do you have a method?”
In any case, because the effects changed every time, people generally considered creating an antidote to be practically impossible.
“I do. Actually, the reason evidence hasn’t shown up so far is because the Second Prince deliberately hid it. But the substance itself is consistent.”
Could a poison really exist that caused different symptoms every time?
The scriptwriter would probably say no, that such a thing couldn’t exist.
And I felt the same way. Even if it did exist, no one would actually use something so unreliable.
“This just happens to be my area of expertise.”
That’s why people assumed the Mood Poison stemmed from the Second Prince’s ability and that he was creating different types of poison each time.
But the truth was a bit different.
The poison he used was actually just one single type.
“The Second Prince may call it Mood Poison…”
Strictly speaking, he wasn’t wrong.
Since the symptoms changed based on the mood, the nickname kind of made sense.
Although the components of the poison couldn’t be analyzed, blocking it was relatively simple.
“I think the name ‘Illusion Poison’ suits it better, though.”
“Oh?”
Classified more accurately, this poison was a neurotoxin.
Because the poison that had infiltrated a person’s body would later show different illusions depending on the Second Prince’s command.
It didn’t just confuse the person. It deceived the nervous system itself, making the body think it had been affected by poison.
So rather than causing different symptoms each time, you could say it was actually causing the same symptom every time.
And finding the antidote for a poison with fixed symptoms is…
“Half a day is enough.”
“Johan, that’s kind of cool.”
“I’ve always been cool.”
I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s easy, but it’s definitely not impossible.
“Puhihi, that’s right. Johan’s always been cool. You’ve always looked that way to me.”
“……”
I wish you wouldn’t say stuff like that out of nowhere….it’s a little embarrassing.
***
Just as I’d said, I finished making the antidote within half a day.
Although, some of the rare materials in the workshop were wasted in the process.
Since I couldn’t remember the exact recipe from the game, I had to make it through trial and error.
Well, it’s only a day or two’s worth of loss.
I doubt Professor Georg will get mad about it now.
“All right, this should do it…”
The antidote was complete.
In reality, the simplest and fastest method from here was already decided.
Just deliver the antidote directly to the First Prince, Theseus.
Someone like him who was even called a hero would probably take the antidote without suspicion if I explained the situation and handed it to him.
I can’t be sure what choice he’d make once everything went down, but…
If he had no other options, he’d most likely use the antidote I gave him.
It’s a very straightforward solution.
However…
“…It’s best if my existence stays hidden.”
There were probably eyes watching all around Theseus already.
They wouldn’t suspect a student like me approaching him, but things would be different after the incident.
If Theseus got through the crisis using the antidote, then attention would naturally turn to who gave it to him.
But it’s not like I could wear a mask or disguise when approaching him.
That would be way too suspicious.
If it were me, I’d be suspicious too if some shady guy came up and said, “Kuku… You’ll be needing this,” and handed over an antidote.
And it wouldn’t just be Theseus who was suspicious. The people watching him would be too.
There’s a high chance I’d be stopped before I even got close to Theseus.
That’s probably why the scriptwriter dumped the job on me in the first place.
So there’s only one option left.
“Johan! Everything’s ready!”
“…You’re a little late.”
“As soon as I heard you were getting involved personally, I rushed to bring her!”
“Good job.”
If trying to hide my identity would just make me more suspicious, then it’s best to show up in the middle of the whole mess.
If I’m going to look suspicious anyway, then being really suspicious might actually stop people from attacking right away, since they’d be too cautious.
And by the time things go down, the watchers around Theseus will likely have backed off.
“Can’t believe the day’s finally come when Johan wears this. I’m so moved.”
“I’m devastated.”
I sighed as I looked at the clown mask Yuna handed me.
It was my idea, but I really, truly don’t want to do this.
“What’s the name of our group?”
“You pick. You’re the one playing the leader.”
“Okay!”
So, we’ll become a third faction.
We’ll use the name value of Safe Clown to create a fictional group.
And this fictional group isn’t just made up of me and Yuna.
After all, two people alone don’t make much of a “group”.
That’s why we invited some others.
“Then we’re the ‘Misfits’!”
“That’s a perfect name.”
A paladin who betrayed Eden’s blessing and fled. Jeff.
A dark mage who ruined her life after misusing Under Chain’s chain. Melana.
An assassin at the top of her game, but with a seriously off sense of emotion. Yuna.
And then there’s just… me.
The lineup was chosen to meet the headcount for some criminal activity and to mix traits from different factions to cause confusion.
There really wasn’t a more perfect group of misfits.
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