Chapter 19: Hacking Success
[It worked, it worked. Heehee.]
No matter how hard I tried to hold it in, laughter leaked out.
Stupid bastard, pseudo-intellectual, a greenhorn stuffed full of nothing but vanity.
He had installed prosthetic augmentations in his body, yet hadn’t even set up a single basic firewall.
[What did you say to me again? That I’d be finished if I got hacked? Heehee.]
After saying something like that, just look at what kind of state he was in now.
[So sloppy, so sloppy. A newbie really is a newbie after all.]
At first, the hacking attempts kept failing, so I wondered if something was wrong.
Well, sometimes when storms blow through the Electrosphere, communications don’t work properly, so it must have been something like that.
Anyway, what mattered was that I succeeded in hacking in the end, and right now that mage bastard was probably in despair after having control over his own body stolen away.
In short, it was this Lord Zeon’s perfect victory.
[But I didn’t expect that to come out all of a sudden.]
A ghost, of all things.
Even though I was watching through a monitor, my knees had gone weak.
Even more surprising was the fact that that mage had cut down the ghost.
Just like the ‘real’ Ghostcatchers of the past.
But I shook my head hard and forced myself to forget about that.
[What does that kind of thing even matter? He probably can’t even blink right now.]
Heehee, the sound kept spilling from my mouth.
Going to the scene right away might have been a little dangerous, but I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I saw that bastard’s look of despair with my own two eyes.
I had already hacked all the CCTVs around here.
That meant that from now on, no one would know about anything that happened here.
So how could I not go to the scene?
With a handgun tucked into my coat, that is.
I planned to go there, open my eyes wide, and personally put a bullet right into the immobile mage’s forehead.
It was such a bad thought, and such a good thought.
[Heehee, I really am a genius after all.]
That was how I arrived at the research lab, which had practically become ruins.
As expected, that damn mage bastard was standing there blankly, unable to move at all.
Collapsed behind him was probably that stupid orc.
And the android was…….
Ugh, filthy bastard.
Even the way he died was filthy.
Ouch.
What was that just now?
Something bit my hand.
Was there some kind of giant mosquito here?
Just in case, I chambered a round in the handgun beforehand.
Bugs in a place like this were more dangerous than most wild animals.
With the gun in hand, I stood in front of the mage.
Seeing his face up close, heehee, the sound leaked out on its own.
Stupid bastard, acting so high and mighty.
Look.
In the end, who was the one who won?
It was me.
It was this genius hacker right here.
[It is I, this genius hacker, ‘Zeon’ himse—!]
I was shouting loudly while looking at the mage.
Huh?
What is it.
That’s strange.
Did I see it wrong?
I was sure I had immobilized him.
I was sure I had locked him down so he couldn’t control even a single strand of muscle in his body.
But…….
Why was this mage…….
Blinking……?
“You crossed the line.”
Diesel said.
Zeon’s hand trembled violently as the muzzle of the gun wavered this way and that.
So there was no way the bullets fired from there would hit their target properly.
Of course, even if he had aimed straight and fired, they would have been blocked by the barrier that had already been deployed.
[Uaaagh!]
Maybe he was startled by the gunshot coming from his own weapon, because he covered his ears and screamed.
It seemed like he had never properly fired a gun before.
“tsk…….”
Clicking his tongue, Diesel slowly walked toward Zeon.
Then the bastard clutched the handgun again.
[Don’t come, don’t come, don’t come!]
Bang, bang, bang, bang……!
The muzzle spat fire repeatedly.
But this time as well, not a single bullet flew properly toward Diesel.
[I said don’t comeeeeeeaaaagh!]
With a shout mixed with mechanical noise, an entire magazine was emptied in an instant.
Zeon kept pulling the trigger without even knowing what the ticking sound coming from the weapon in his hand meant.
“Pathetic bastard.”
Finally, Diesel stood in front of Zeon.
Then the bastard made one last desperate attempt.
[You, you. Do you know who’s behind me?]
“…….”
[Li, Little Sister. Have you heard of her? Huh? Behind me is Little Sister! The legendary hacker and techie, Little Sister! You know who she is, right?]
Little Sister.
Was that name what he relied on to run around like this?
“So what.”
[If I just call her, that Little Sister will come running right away!]
“Yeah?”
Then I guess I’ll get to see her face after a long time.
After cleanly ignoring Zeon’s words,
Diesel clenched his fist tightly and drove it straight into that pitiful abdomen.
[Huk……!]
The bastard collapsed flat onto the floor and started retching.
“Get up. Stop exaggerating.”
Maybe he had never been hit even once in his life, because he looked like he was about to die from an ordinary punch without even a trace of magic in it.
At that, Diesel approached the fallen Zeon, grabbed him by the hair,z and hauled him up like a piece of luggage.
[A, aaagh!]
“Let’s see your face.”
[A…… a…… no……! No…….!]
Zeon mixed a threatening low tone into his own voice and let out a loud warning sound.
[Get lost!]
Along with that, he flailed his arms and legs, desperately trying to resist, but it was useless.
Forcibly, the black mechanical mask was torn off with a crunch.
Inside it was an unexpected face.
Skin so white it looked pale, as if it had never properly seen sunlight.
Large, clear eyes brimming with tears.
A small, thin jawline covered in saliva and snot.
It was unmistakably the appearance of a young girl.
“What the hell…….”
How old could she be.
She definitely didn’t look like an adult.
“Hhng, hnggg, hng…….”
Zeon took in uneven, moisture-filled breaths, then burst into tears.
“Hnggg……. p, please don’t hit me…….”
Normally, I would have beaten her until she died, but seeing that vividly young face made all of that intent disappear at once.
Instead, I tossed her down onto the floor.
“Aaagh……!”
A shrill, childish scream like scraping metal burst out.
“Ha……. How old are you?”
When she didn’t answer the question, Diesel made a gesture as if clenching his fist.
“F, fifteen……. Ah, no, fourteen……. I, um, I wasn’t trying to s, summon a g, ghost or anything……. I was just going to condense a Wastewater Spirit into an aggregate to make the situation a little harder, just that much, only that much……. So please, please don’t hit me…….”
After spewing out a torrent of words, she now outright began to cry loudly.
Tears spilling from her large eyes spread across her face, white like a blank sheet of drawing paper.
Fourteen—wasn’t that about the age of someone who had just finished elementary school?
The thought suddenly made me feel miserable.
“To think this kind of mess came from a lump of flesh like this……. Ha…….”
At that moment, something landed behind him with a heavy thud.
Then a woman’s voice was heard.
[Diesel?]
A familiar voice.
When I turned around, a high-grade full-body reinforced exoskeleton suit stood tall.
As the mask attached to the suit came off, the face of the Little Sister Diesel knew appeared.
Judging by how she had flown here in one go, it seemed she really had been watching his back.
“A, Aunt……!”
“Sera, what in the world is this…….”
“Auuuunt……! Why did you come so laaate!”
Zeon sprang up and, wailing loudly, ran toward Sis.
To think this damn brat’s aunt was the Little Sister.
Life really was unpredictable.
“Diesel.”
“…….”
“Could you explain just what kind of situation this is?”
She asked while barely holding back her anger.
Well, it wasn’t hard to understand.
Seeing her niece in such a wreck right in front of her, it was impressive enough that she was maintaining her composure at all.
“An explanation?”
Where should I even start.
No, rather than that, it would be faster for her to see the situation herself.
Instead of answering, Diesel gestured to Ar.
“Take a look yourself.”
The Electrosphere Spirit Ar read its master’s intent and instantly edited what had just happened.
Then, carrying the neatly organized data in its mouth, it flitted over to Sis.
Sis began examining it using her Electrosphere projection ability.
As she watched the beginning, she made an expression as if she couldn’t believe it, and by the final part, her face hardened.
“…….”
Then she looked at Diesel and opened her mouth.
“This is…… my fault for teaching the child wrong. I’ll apologize in her place. I’m sorry.”
She bowed her head deeply without hesitation.
“A, Aunt……! What are you doing right now……!”
But the very person who was supposed to be apologized leapt up in protest.
“Why are you apologizing? Didn’t you see me get hit? That guy punched me! Right in my stomach! Do you know how much that hur—”
Sis’s response to Zeon’s words was decisive.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she struck her niece’s cheek hard.
Smack, and Zeon’s head snapped to the side.
The shock must have been considerable, because Zeon could only make dumb sounds, unable to react at all.
“She grew up alone from a young age, so she’s got some bad habits. I’ll apologize again. This is all my fault for spoiling her. I should have taught her properly in place of my late older sister…….”
At her words, Zeon seemed to finally come to her senses and looked at Sis with tear-filled eyes.
“A, Aunt……. Why…… why are you doing this?”
“Sera. You don’t understand what it is you’ve done.”
Then she pointed toward the ghost’s corpse split in half in the distance.
“Do you know what that is?”
“Th, that……? I know……. It’s that monster from the old days…….”
At Zeon’s sloppy answer, Sis spoke with strength in her eyes.
“That’s not a monster.”
Sis emphasized her next words.
“That is a ‘ghost’.”
“Yeah. I know that’s a ghost too.”
“No, you don’t know anything.”
Along with her reply, Sis manipulated something.
“Do you know what I was doing while flying over here in this exoskeleton?”
She projected a hologram into the air.
A certain symbol appeared.
“I was stopping the Heresy Inquisitors from coming this way.”
A threatening emblem depicting blazing flames behind a sharp sword.
The crest of the Heresy Inquisitors, an international organization that roamed the world wielding extrajudicial authority.
“H, Heresy Inquisitors……?”
“Even someone as young as you should know what that emblem means.”
“Why would the Heresy Inquisitors be here…….”
“Because summoning a ghost is one of the Heresy Inquisitors’ top-priority cases.”
Only then did Zeon seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation, as her entire body began trembling like a leaf.
“If the Heresy Inquisitors learn about this situation, they’ll try to execute you on the spot. Without asking any questions, they’ll cut off your head right here.”
“Wh, wh, what?”
“Do you understand the situation now?”
“I, I d, d, didn’t know……. I don’t even really know what a ghost is…….”
“That doesn’t matter to the Heresy Inquisitors.”
“I, I’m s, still young. Right? I am, Aunt? No matter how scary the Heresy Inquisitors are, they wouldn’t mess with kids too, right?”
“That doesn’t matter to those bastards either.”
Sis let out another long sigh.
“And just because you’re young doesn’t mean all the wrongs you committed are suddenly okay. Ha……. Where do I even start teaching you again…….”
Then she looked at Diesel and spoke.
“I’ll apologize again, Diesel. Coincidentally, our fates keep crossing.”
Bowing her head low, she handed Diesel a plastic card.
“I’ll compensate you fully for all the losses you suffered because of my niece. Every last bit of it. With extra on top.”
As Diesel took the card, Sis continued carefully.
“So please…….”
“That’s enough. I’ll keep what happened here to myself.”
I had no intention of reporting that brat to the Heresy Inquisitors.
Sis’s promise of proper compensation was part of it, but more than that, I had a feeling that getting involved with the Heresy Inquisitors would become extremely troublesome.
“Alright……. Thank you.”
“But take this orc with you.”
Diesel said, casting a glance at Jason collapsed on the floor.
“Of course. We need to give him proper compensation as well.”
“Handle that yourself.”
Diesel looked at Zeon one last time.
Then Sis urged her in a firm voice.
“Apologize.”
“Huh……?”
“I said apologize. Bow your head and do it properly.”
At her aunt’s words, Zeon trembled with clenched fists for a while, then seemed to realize it was the only way to survive and let her body sag.
“I, I’m sorry…….”
She bowed her head repeatedly and burst into tears.
“I’m sorry……. I was wrong……. Hng……. I was wrong……. Please forgive me……. Waaah!”
Listening any longer became unbearable.
Diesel turned his back and left that wretched place, with the sound of crying and sighs behind him.
“A truly fascinating individual.”
The laboratory of the Black Water Institute, after everyone had left.
Drizzling rain washed over the scene.
“What do you think?”
Fixer Alfred Han muttered atop the corpse of the gunner I had raised, Alfred Park.
“Could it be that you’re thinking the same thing I am, Alfred Park?”
Bending down, he grabbed Alfred Park’s head.
Then he forcibly plucked out one of his intact eyeballs and inserted it into his own eye socket.
After that, he began continuing the conversation by himself.
“I think so too, Alfred Han.”
“As expected, we are in agreement, Alfred Park.”
“That mage is a talent absolutely necessary for the future of our Alfred family.”
“Indeed.”
Alfred Han took one last look around the scene and said,
“That man is the ‘Ghost-Slayer.’”