Before the fight, I looked at Emily’s expression, just in case—
Maybe I was misunderstanding something.
“……”
Nope. No chance.
I had no clue.
Her default is a blank face, so it was impossible to read her thoughts.
But one thing was certain—
Bang!
She definitely came here to beat me up.
A mechanical device, reminiscent of a spider’s leg, struck the spot I’d just been standing in.
The helical gear, symbolizing the skeletal structure of the human body, began to show its power.
“I get that you’re mad, Emily! But if you hit someone with that, they’ll die!”
“……”
Thud!
Ah, that hit was weaker.
Good. Looks like she’s not trying to kill me, at least.
Still, even at that power, getting hit would probably break a few bones.
“Okay, so you do listen. In that case, how about we try talking it out?”
“……”
“No? Not even a little?”
She was silent, expressionless, and yet somehow it still felt like we were having a conversation.
Whatever the case, one thing was clear: Emily wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Fine, if you’re going to make this a show of force, I’ve got no choice either.
Guess I’ll have to subdue you first, then talk.
“Hoo…”
Kiiiiiiiiing!
I activated the Babel Gear on my end.
In terms of pure output, the dual-fused gear I had surpassed hers.
Plus, I had Professor Georg’s cursed sword with me.
Actually, you know what? I should probably start calling it something shorter.
As long as I’ve got Georg’s cursed sword with me, I’m not going down that easy anywhere.
“……”
Click!
But that thought didn’t last long.
The number of helical gears sprouting from Emily’s back suddenly increased.
What had been four skeletal machine limbs became eight.
A chill ran down my spine.
Now that I think about it, the reason we were supposed to meet in the first place was to hand over those helical gears…
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Emily was being half-dragged around by the machinery. Or rather, it was as if she didn’t even need to move on her own. The gears flung her around effortlessly.
The sight was uncanny.
Still, appearances aside, the power was undeniable.
While four limbs boosted her mobility, the other four kept me constantly on the defensive. It was hard to keep up.
“Kh!”
What’s more, the helical gear’s transformation capabilities were no joke.
Every time her sharp legs clashed with my sword, they would fan out like pincers, trying to snatch my weapon away.
I was managing to hold my own, but every hit was a strain.
“That’s far enough!”
Just then, a strange man leapt between us.
Right, I’d completely forgotten.
Even in a remote area like this, the war with the barbarians had put the knights on edge. We’d been way too loud with this fight.
Not that I wanted to be fighting in the first place…
“Your evil ends here, Johan Damus.”
“???”
Me?
I’m the victim here.
Then again… I do look more like the villain.
I mean, with this grotesque, veiny monster arm and the cursed sword Georg in my hand, I can’t really blame him for the assumption.
Still, this was completely unfair.
Not that I’m saying Emily’s the villain, either, but…
“You dare reveal your vile nature even in this chaotic moment!”
“Me?”
And judging by his tone, he’s clearly been keeping an eye on me for a while now.
“Don’t play dumb! Rumor has it you’ve been hunting down other gears!”
“Who the hell’s been spreading that nonsense?”
“The great Scriptwriter, of course.”
“That manipulative old bastard… he’s really playing games with people’s lives now.”
He’s made up his mind to push me off the cliff. Literally.
“I am Geneva Gear, Immun! And I’ll put a stop to your evil here and now!”
“What the hell is his deal?”
Trying to act like some hero of justice when he’s a damn terrorist himself?
If that’s the case, maybe he should start by getting his own men under control!
“Worry not, young lady! I shall defeat this wretch and—”
Crunch!
At that moment, Emily’s helical gear pierced straight through the torso of the man who had just introduced himself as Immun.
“Oh, so even this isn’t enough firepower.”
Emily finally spoke.
What was truly terrifying was that she still didn’t understand the problem with the output.
If things had gone just slightly differently, the one getting skewered wouldn’t have been him. It would’ve been me.
“Big brother Johan, I got my hands on another gear.”
“…Right.”
Not that I particularly wanted one.
“So, um, are you still mad?”
“Mad?”
“No, never mind. Let’s just pretend that didn’t happen. It’s better for both of us.”
***
The day Emily got stood up by Johan.
She came home in a much gloomier state than she had expected.
She’d waited a full five hours, and her whole body had grown cold.
But it wasn’t just her body that had gone cold….her heart felt like it had sunk into ice.
Stan couldn’t help but sigh at the sight.
“Emily.”
“Mhmm.”
Normally, Stan would jump at any chance to badmouth Johan; he’d even line up for it. But just this once, his sister came first.
Seeing how visibly downcast she was, Stan had no choice but to take Johan’s side, just this once.
“Apparently, something went wrong on his way to meet you. Some kind of incident came up, and he couldn’t make it to the meeting point.”
Stan was one of Lobelia’s close aides. He’d already run into Yuna earlier that afternoon, looking teary-eyed and frantic.
After that, Stan got caught up tracking Johan’s whereabouts and hadn’t been able to check on Emily. That was his mistake.
Had he found Johan, it might have made a difference. But unfortunately, that ended in failure too.
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not like he hates you or anything. The guy’s just a mess, that’s all.”
Whatever else could be said, Johan was one of the few people who truly understood Emily.
Unlike her family and especially people like Coran Lekias, who was far too much older and couldn’t even hold a proper conversation with her….Johan was someone she could actually talk to.
Considering Emily’s usual tendency to immerse herself completely in her work, telling her to hate one of the few people she could communicate with was asking too much.
“Ugh, that useless idiot. No strength, no ability to run, and yet he’s always going out all the damn time?”
Stan couldn’t help but scold Johan in the end.
Even though he’d had a guard with him this time and still got kidnapped… Stan knew full well how Johan often wandered alone into deserted areas without a care, and he could only click his tongue.
At the beginning of the semester, he was the type who didn’t even want to set foot outside.
Now, seeing him strut around just because he’d gained a bit of strength and skill felt downright irritating.
“Anyway, that guy. I really ought to break his arms and legs so he can’t wander around anymore. Right?”
Stan mixed jokes into his ranting, doing everything he could to comfort Emily.
But in his rush to cheer her up, he made one critical mistake.
“Mhmm.”
Emily was someone who didn’t understand what a joke was.
So breaking his arms and legs is the answer.
And that was the moment Johan’s fate was decided.
***
In the end, Emily’s plan failed. Johan’s resistance was stronger than she had expected.
But she wasn’t gloomy about it.
A much better opportunity had walked right to her on its own.
“Big brother Johan, hurry and use this.”
“Uh, o-okay…”
While she’d been busy preparing to break his arms and legs, Geneva Gear Immun had suddenly barged in.
According to the Scriptwriter, he was a stupid but smart person.
Immun was certainly a genius. Smart enough to create gears.
However, his half-baked sense of justice and clueless naivety were far more problematic than Emily’s.
At the very least, Emily kept quiet when she didn’t know something.
Immun, on the other hand, acted on wild assumptions without understanding anything, causing trouble again and again.
Of course, Emily couldn’t care less about his personality.
There was only one thing that mattered now.
Geneva Gears are great for defense.
She only cared about the ability of Immun’s gear, the Geneva Gear.
As the gear that represented the immune system, one of the body’s fundamental components, it had outstanding defensive capability.
Unlike other gears with broad utility, this one existed solely for defense.
Because of that, Emily decided she could put her plan to break Johan’s arms and legs on hold.
Even she wasn’t confident she could break through a Geneva Gear’s defense. With this, things would probably be fine.
Of course, it would be meaningless against someone on the level of a Great Warrior.
But it seemed she still didn’t understand the difference in strength.
“It looks good on you.”
Regardless, Emily’s eyes sparkled as she personally attached the Geneva Gear to Johan’s clothes.
A golden opportunity had just fallen into her lap.
There was no better way to describe the current situation.
“…Well, I’ll admit, this one doesn’t look hideous.”
The Geneva Gear looked like a brooch you’d pin to clothing. It was distinctly different from other gears.
Johan smiled subtly, apparently quite pleased with it.
Neither of them realized that they had just committed robbery.
“So, what does this thing do exactly?”
“When activated, it creates a shield. And it gets tougher as it adapts to incoming attacks.”
“Nice ability. Why the hell did that guy give me that useless Babel Gear when he had something like this?”
Johan grumbled.
“D-Damn it…!”
Immun, who was skewered by the Helical Gear and left on the ground, cried.
***
Emily had calmed down. Not that I even knew why she’d been angry in the first place, or how it got resolved… but that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that things had turned out well.
And that wasn’t all.
We’d even scored some loot out of nowhere.
Unlike the other gears, this one wasn’t grotesque or creepy. It actually looked stylish.
Everything was going great.
Could there be a day happier than today?
“Well then, Emily. I think it’s time we face some uncomfortable truths.”
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, never mind. Just talking to myself.”
Why do I even bother expecting anything from her?
Let’s just focus on slowly and steadily building her social skills.
“What do we do about this…”
I looked down at Immun, still lying on the floor, and sighed.
Like a true Deus Ex Machina, he seemed to have a few screws loose, but honestly, he didn’t seem like a bad person.
Maybe there had been a misunderstanding between us, and whatever the outcome, his intentions hadn’t been malicious.
He thought I was a villain and rushed in to save someone he believed was under attack.
“We’d better move him for now.”
The good thing is, I know just the place to get rid of this kind of trash.
“Where’s Cattleya right now?”
“At this hour, she should still be working at the shop.”
“Oh yeah? I figured she’d be running around frantically because of the war, but I guess not. That’s perfect.”
Let’s hand him over to Cattleya.
If it’s that ruthless woman, she’ll sort out this naïve guy for recycling just fine.
Of course, there are still a few things we need to clear up first.
It’d be best to talk with him a little.
“Emily, tie him up over there for now.”
Obviously, the right posture is important when having a conversation.
***
Once your conversation partner is in the right position, it’s also important to have the right setting.
So I dragged Geneva Gear Immun down to the underground prison where Stan had once imprisoned me.
Admittedly, it looks a little strange, but I really did bring him here just to talk.
“Well, well. Looks like you’re finally awake, sir?”
“Where is this place…?”
I patiently waited for Immun to regain consciousness.
That’s enough to count as polite.
“Kh! Untie me right now!”
“And why would I do that when I’ve no idea what you might try?”
Naturally, Immun was tied to a chair.
It was a precaution out of mutual respect. No need to start things off with violence again. That’d just be exhausting for both of us.
“First off, I’ll be taking the Geneva Gear. If you want, you can go steal another one from a real villainous Deus Ex Machina and make yourself a new set.”
“……”
“So, how exactly do you use this thing? Mind sharing the instructions?”
“Kh!”
Drip.
Sweat trickled down Immun’s face.
“Seriously, what’s with the dramatics? People are gonna get the wrong idea.”
I’m the one who got attacked, aren’t I?
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