"The back of the ship..."
Sinclair's gaze was fixed on the stern.
So it had fused over there. Well, forcing our way straight through that would have been a pretty insane move too, so it probably didn't matter much.
"At this level, recovery should be possible within a few days. Mephistopheles' engine will self-repair it."
That's right. Then no problem!
"No, looking at it now... it wasn't just damaged. The whole thing was ripped out."
"It is as though it had never been there in the first place."
So these people were seeing it for the first time too? I figured Mr. Yi Sang or Mr. Gregor would've already seen a resonance coupler before.
"That's U Corp's Singularity, the defining trait of the resonance coupler. The ships here attract one another and merge as if they had always been one, and depending on their purpose, they separate again as if they had never been joined. If it's a resonance coupler used by ships of that size... it's common for it to swallow ships like ours whole if they lack a resonance coupler or their frequencies don't match."
As Ms. Ishmael rattled off her explanation, she seemed to realize something and took her hands off the helm, looking over at Mr. Dante.
"...Ah, dear. I ended up taking the wheel without being given an order, Manager."
""
"No, no. You just saved all of us..."
"Well, I didn't mean to, but thank you for understanding. Ah. Please understand the explanation I gave without being asked, too. That incessant clamor is so loud, and I can't exactly put in earplugs in the middle of the ship, can I?"
"..."
Oh, that was a very obvious shot at one person.
Still. There was no denying she was a veteran, but she really did make a fuss in a field that wasn't even her specialty.
"...Tch. There were plenty of loud-mouthed people on the battlefield. If their skill is outstanding enough... there's no need to stop them... I suppose..."
Did Mr. Otis... back down...?
With her expression darkening, Ms. Otis looked at Mr. Dante and said,
"I'm sorry, Manager. I need to... rest for a moment."
"Why have you become so dispirited... Captain... no, Commander...!"
"Shut it. From the start, the commander was the Manager over there."
Watching her trudge toward the cabin... was that perhaps the first human side of her I'd seen since coming here?
So even she was someone who could fail and blame herself. It just hadn't shown much because of her perfectionist tendencies.
As I blankly watched the place where she'd disappeared, Ms. Faust's explanatory voice struck my ears.
"We're nearly at our destination. This is the marlin harbor, one of U Corp's five ports."
So we'd arrived. The timing was about right. Marlin... It had been a while since I'd been here.
"Wow... it really is huge. One of the largest ships I've seen so far."
One of the largest?
That family really was insane. U Corp's port ships weren't exactly small.
It was so massive it was more like an island... something you could hardly even call a ship.
"Now that the mist has cleared, I can finally see what had been hidden. To think it could conceal something this large."
"A ship...? At that scale, it already seems to have gone beyond the concept of a ship."
""
"There's no point in dragging landbound common sense into the Great Lake. If you use a resonance coupler, you'll see ships like that as often as you see meals. Or should I say as often as whale meat?"
...Was that supposed to be a joke? Um... never mind. It was pointless.
Even amid the precarious atmosphere of the bus-ship, the engine kept running, and before long the ship successfully docked at the port ship.
*
"Now then, this is where we part for a while. Charon and I have business nearby."
After docking at the port ship and walking through the port ship district for a while, Mr. Vergilius dropped a bombshell.
That man really does ditch us whenever it matters most, despite being the guide.
"Business? Why? What's up this time~"
"..."
After hearing Ms. Rodion's question, Mr. Vergilius fell silent for a moment.
Was he trying to think up an excuse?
"I suppose I'll say I'm going to buy some mermaid perfume..."
He sure was putting a lot of effort into saying he didn't want to say it. There was a sign right in front of us advertising mermaid perfume on sale.
"Oh? Are you buying some for us too? Mermaid perfume, huh? The Lake has all sorts of strange things!"
"U Corp's main source of income comes from products made with whales and mermaids. Whale oil, mermaid tears, mermaid perfume, whale dishes, and so on."
"Oho! There seems to be an ice cream shop over there too!"
"Oh? Where, where. The name is... eh."
The expressions on Mr. Gregor's and my faces subtly changed as we saw an unimaginable word on the restaurant sign.
"Sardine whale-flavored ice cream...? You really want to eat something like that?"
"...It looks weird, but surprisingly, sardines are..."
What are you talking about, Mr. Heathcliff...?
"I'm more curious about marlin whale flavor than sardine flavor..."
"Shall I buy you one? If I'm paying out of pocket, Mr. Vergilius won't say anything either."
"Really?!"
Without a word, I took out enough money for a marlin whale-flavored ice cream and pressed it into Don Quixote's hands.
Hmm, seeing her dash off in high spirits makes me feel good.
...But I can feel a gaze from beside me.
"..."
"Ms. Rodion, is something wrong?"
"No, no. I'm definitely not looking because I want one too."
"...Here. Go buy one for yourself too."
"Aw, you really didn't have to. I said I didn't need one."
"Then give it back."
"I'll be right back~"
That woman... honestly.
As I watched the two high-energy idiots wander off and chat, a low, gloomy conversation was taking place beside me.
"Will the guide not be accompanying us again this time?"
"...Isn't that what a guide's role is? To point out the proper direction, but not to walk it for you."
"...That is not wrong, but it does sound rather cold."
"You heard me right, Yi Sang. I don't have any degree of affection to share with you lot. Hah, really. If I'm going to sit here and make idle chatter, I might as well get called heartless."
He's the one who keeps responding, and yet he's the one grumbling the most.
He really wasn't some heartless man either.
...If I said that out loud, I'd probably get beaten to death, right?
Let's just stay quiet. He was probably about to dump everything on Ms. Faust and slip away anyway.
"Ms. Faust."
"There are people waiting for us. We were told the location of the Lobotomy Corporation branch with the Golden Bough inside U Corp by the LCCB staff who were dispatched ahead of time. According to the last rendezvous point we were given... it's this way."
I signaled to the ice cream duo, who were strolling over from a distance at their leisure.
They'd probably get the gist and come along.
Ah, I'll explain as we go. There shouldn't be any major problems.
*
"This is a little eerie..."
Sinclair rubbed at his sleeves as if he felt cold.
...I shouldn't scare him here, right? Hold it in. Hold it in.
"I don't see anyone. What's going on, Fau?"
"...That sounds rather suspicious, as if you are doubting me. The place we were given is correct."
"Hah, so we got here first this time? You're calling yourselves the before-team, but you're doing things that don't suit the name, huh?"
Arrived first... Mr. Heathcliff wasn't wrong, but there were plenty of things that didn't sit right.
Normally, they'd finish scouting and preparations before sending the signal, but they were late...
"To be precise, we were about an hour and thirty minutes late on our side."
What.
"Hm, strange. The LCCB members we met at J Corp last time had been waiting much earlier..."
"Wait, Ms. Otis, that story is..."
For an instant, the faces of the LCCB members from J Corp last time—Mr. Epi and Ms. Sword—flashed through my mind.
I probably wasn't the only one. Judging by how most of the prisoners had gone quiet, that was probably true.
...At this rate, trying to stop her might've been the wrong move.
It only ended up emphasizing the unfortunate story...
"Kkgh! Mm..."
"It seems he chose to sleep at the end of waiting."
...Mr. Meursault. I know that without you saying it.
Snore, snore... Haah... somehow I feel bad for Mr. Epi and Ms. Sword.
The sleeping LCCB member... or what I assumed was an LCCB member, woke up at the sound of many footsteps and shouted from the corner of the container.
"Mm... what time is it? Isn't this way too late, huh?!"
"Ah... sorry... we were hurrying over, but we got caught up in an unexpected accident..."
"Tch, then you should've left earlier and accounted for accidents like that too~ Haaah~"
With a huge yawn, someone who had been dozing in the corner of the container stretched and stood up.
Now I'd be able to see their face a bit better.
""
As the person's silhouette came into view and we confirmed each other's appearance, Hong Lu seemed to notice something and widened his eyes before walking over to them.
"...! Oh dear, this is bad."
"Hong Lu, wait...!"
"Your name tag is crooked. Neatness is always important."
"..."
"Huh? There's something sticky on the name tag..."
On the person's chest, an LCCB member's name tag was hanging upside down.
Covered in blood.
Ah... I don't know which number this is anymore, but how is it that this bus never, ever arrives anywhere properly?
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