Instant Death

Chapter 20 - This robot's way too good at understanding its circumstances!

The giant was about the same height as a ten story building; Yogiri's estimate was 30 meters.

"No but seriously, this is totally a robot."

After seeing it from up close Tomochika was convinced.

Although, despite appearing to be a machine it also had something beastlike about it.

An armored, four-armed skeleton with a hunched spine that made it look like its slender skeletal frame was bending under the weight. Furthermore, on its head there was a large horn and in what looked to be its only eye glowed a dim, red light.

"Reminds me of the dragon with how unreal it feels."

While Yogiri was responding to Tomochika the giant started slowly squatting to the ground. Perhaps that was its default stance for when outside of battle, but then its mobility would certainly be impressive. Usually a crouching position couldn't be called easy to react from.

Yogiri picked up where the robot left off.

"So, you said you had no intention to fight?"

『Ｉｎｄｅｅｄ. I do not intend to enter a battle I can not win.』

Earlier its voice sounded entirely synthetic, but it seemed like it was slowly but steadily regulating it to a more natural tone.

"Huh, are you actually a girl riding a robot?"

The giant's voice had turned feminine, and given that the automatic translation necklaces weren't being triggered the robot was even speaking Japanese. It seemed like it had adjusted to the two's speech after just listening to them talk for a little.

『There is no passenger. Please view me as what you would consider an autonomous robot.』

"Why the girl's voice then?"

『In order to gain your favor. My database has records of this kind of voice having a high chance of inviting human males' good will.』

Now Tomochika raised her voice.

"That's scarily calculating!"

『After performing several hundred million battle simulations, the conduct most likely to allow me to fulfill my duty has been judged to be an approach as peaceable and submissive as possible. Sharing the details of my thought process with you as I am doing now is also for the sake of acquiring your trust. I fear the possibility of being considered a potential threat and getting forcefully terminated were I to leave this place without a word. Obtaining your sympathy has been calculated to be indispensable in fulfilling my duty.』

"This robot's way too good at understanding its circumstances!"

Probably due to its mechanical reasoning being uninfluenced by any overly optimistic hopes mixed into it, Yogiri thought. It wasn't often he saw someone treat him with this much caution; most of the time when people witnessed his ability they wouldn't immediately accept it as reality.

"Avoiding a fight sounds good, but do you mind if we ask some questions?"

There wouldn't be a problem in just letting the giant robot take its leave, but they would rather find out about what exactly happened here first. If Yogiri really killed a sage just now then that might very well affect them on the journey ahead.

『If they are within answerability, I will.』

"Why were you fighting with that guy over there?"

Yogiri pointed to the dead boy.

『Because he attacked me. I assume he viewed his conduct to be for the sake of protecting this world; they call us Aggressors, after all.』

(Note: "Invaders" with "Aggressors" as furigana.)

"So your goal isn't actually invasion?"

『If you mean as in invading a country and occupying its territory then no, it is not. However, I will not shy away from applying military force if it is for the sake of fulfilling my duty. I can see why they view their actions as self-defense.』

"And this duty of yours is what?"

The giant went silent. Looked like it was something the robot would rather not say.

"Alright, alright. Not like it has anything to do with us. We don't have any intention to fight either, so feel free to leave for your duty or whatever."

『I would like to negotiate: If there is anything I can offer, I will do so. In return you will not attack. Does this sound agreeable?』

"Hmm. Just being told you're allowed to leave doesn't sound credible enough, so you'd rather get on our good side first?"

"What a quarrelsome robot! If you're told you may leave then just leave, do we look that untrustworthy? …Actually wait, Takatou-kun, are you telling me you can kill a robot?"

"Let me return that question, why do you think I can't?"

"Huh? Well, robots can't die, can they?"

Tomochika was caught off guard by his question.

"Don't robots live and die as well?"

"Are you getting philosophical now?!"

"I mean, I can't tell you without having tried it either, but looks like that's the assumption the robot's going with."

Yogiri pointed at the giant next to them, whose red eye flickered for a moment.

『I have no knowledge of how you perceive my existence, but I consider myself to be alive, personally.』

"Oh, another question. If you're an invader then where did you actually come from?"

『From outside this world.』

"Do you know how to get back then? We were actually forcefully summoned to this world."

『I apologize, but I can only return to my own world. I do not know your world's coordinates.』

If the robot could have just sent them home pretty much all of their problems would be settled, but it seemed like it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Coordinates, huh. If we had those we could travel across worlds?"

『Correct.』

"Alright, with that information I'd say we're even. Thanks."

Returning to their world was their objective from the very start, but until now they had no clue of how to actually go about that. That piece of information alone was more than valuable enough, Yogiri thought.

『Are you certain you are satisfied with just information?』

"Yeah. Although if you could take us along once we figure out our world's coordinates that'd be even better."

『Understood.』

"Dannoura-san, do you have anything to ask for?"

"Well, I don't really know what robots carry with them so that's kind of difficult to answer…"

She was stumped, and indeed, it wasn't easy to imagine what a robot from a different dimension could offer them.

『Aha, leave this one to me!』

Tomochika was still trying to think of something to ask for, when suddenly, of all people, Mokomoko was the one to raise her voice.

＊＊＊＊＊

Edelgard, troop leader of the kingdom's first guardian unit, and George, member thereof, were stupefied.

After receiving Lain's orders they had boarded a construction work rail car and made their way to Hayabusa. Currently they were ten kilometers away from their destination, at a train wreck.

And there, they found a dead boy lying on the ground.

"I don't even know what's going on anymore!"

"That's Santarou-sama… isn't it?"

Edelgard couldn't contain her bewilderment and George wasn't in much better shape himself.

A demolished train, unusable rails, burnt bodies, and a newly terraformed canyon; those things they could still accept, it wasn't particularly rare for when sages went into battle.

However, the sage most likely responsible for all that was currently lying on the ground before them, his head turned far beyond what a human body was normally capable of. That was most likely the sage's cause of death, but George just couldn't believe his eyes.

Sages were absolute.

There should have been no way for one to just lay about dead next to some rails.

"Just what in the world happened here!"

Edelgard shouted once more, but there was no one there that could have answered her.

The only living people around them were the construction workers they had arrived with; all the passengers were either dead or had fled a long time ago.

"He must have been in a fight with some Aggressor, but with circumstances like these… maybe it was them?"

The two guards had arrived here on their pursuit of Yogiri Takatou and Tomochika Dannoura.

However, instead of the sage candidates they only discovered the broken train those two had traveled with, and an actual, dead sage.

Since they had been told about the power their two targets potentially possessed they couldn't help but give in to their desperate attempts to make sense of the situation and view it as the work of the two ungifted.

"Whatever, I have no clue what's what anymore! I'll be reporting this situation to Lain-sama!"

It was a little too much to handle for mere guards.

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