Chapter 120: A.B.

There were twenty-five children in all.

A fairly large crowd.

We could have packed every one of them into the armored vehicle, but they had been attacked after walking through the wasteland until they were already exhausted. They looked worn down in both body and mind, so I decided against it.

While Akito recovered from being shaken half to death by combat maneuvers he was in no condition to endure, I used sand and foamed construction material to make sleds, then tied them together with rope and had the three medium units—Dog Unit, Monkey Unit, and Sheep Unit—pull them as well. The fact that Sheep Unit had 【Transport】 and could pull two sleds was a huge help. Five children in the armored vehicle, and five on each of the four sleds. That got all twenty-five loaded up at a population density that was, if nothing else, tolerable.

We had enough water, but not enough food on hand to feed everyone properly. I had them make do with three biscuits each, then handed out salt candies as appropriate. Casually, I mixed in some mint candies I had received before.

“…”

They were returned to me in a perfect sweep. Not popular, then. I unwrapped one and put it in my mouth. Well, yes. It certainly was not that good.

“Akito, we’re about to leave, but…”

“Ah, yeah. …Yeah. I’m fine.”

After being bounced up and down at full speed over rough ground, then finished off with a jolt from the collision, the noncombatant beanpole was thoroughly groggy.

Pathetic.

I tossed a mint candy into his mouth, then tossed him into the armored vehicle.

“…Now then.”

We had finished recovering the scattered luggage. Time to move out.

I forced my aching right leg to move from the outside by putting on Centipede, then climbed onto the roof of the armored vehicle.

Sitting cross-legged with the Type Five cradled in my arms, I raised my binoculars. After what had just happened, there was no such thing as being too careful about a separate enemy detachment.

***

Something was wrong with the air.

That was the first thing I felt when we reached the camp.

“A2 and sled units, back up. Pull back and hide the armored vehicle and the children behind the rocks. Akito, sorry, but I need you to keep everyone together for a while.”

I said only that much, without waiting for an answer, and started walking.

“Snake Unit, Rabbit Unit, Rudo, S2. Advance and scout.”

I sent them in, then waited three minutes.

I released the safety on the Type Seven light machine gun and advanced carefully from cover to cover—but that caution became unnecessary almost at once. A transmission came from S2, who had gone ahead.

Requesting instructions at the central plaza. Danger level: low.

I checked the text that danced across my terminal, ordered the scattered Monoz to regroup, and headed that way.

The central plaza.

The playground equipment Monkey Unit and Tiger Unit had built stood there, and most of the people in the camp had gathered around it. The Monoz were busy preparing trucks, buses, and anything else capable of moving large numbers of people and supplies.

What?

A question mark rose in my head. The people who noticed me started making noise. Kirie, who must have been on guard duty, came out.

“Touji!”

“—What happened?”

“Right now, there’s a Tooth army here…”

“Rikan… no, I assume?”

“Yes. They’re people we don’t know at all. There are quite a lot of them waiting on the Tooth side of the city too.”

“And this? Was an evacuation order issued?”

“No, not exactly—”

According to Kirie, this was the situation.

Mr. Howard and E.B. had judged that there was no problem. But there were people in this camp who had suffered at Tooth hands. Taking them into consideration, Karys had apparently ordered everyone to prepare for evacuation, just in case.

So that was it.

Some people were tense, but if I looked closely, others seemed to be treating it like a small festival. The best example was the pork miso soup they were making for the emergency meal service. Rudo was wagging his tail and getting scraps.

That useless dog.

“As for me, did they say anything?”

“They said they’d like you to come to the office.”

“Understood. Can I leave this place to you?”

“Yes, sir!”

A good answer. I patted her shoulder twice. Good luck.

Pretending to be understanding, I checked Touka’s position on my terminal. She had taken up—

Ah. On top of the slide Monkey Unit and the others had built.

Not bad, but not ideal. This time, all we needed to defend was the plaza. As a sniper, she did not have to be there. I ordered her to shift positions and placed her on the watchtower overlooking the plaza.

“You’re here.”

While I was doing that, A2 caught up behind us. I ordered only the close-to-midrange fighters—Tiger Unit, Monkey Unit, Dog Unit, and Rudo—to follow me, and had the rest spread out.

For some reason, Rat Unit came with me too.

A secretary role, maybe. Something like that.

Thinking such things, I headed for the office. Near the entrance, I found Karys dealing with the guests. Shinzo had not returned yet, so Alex seemed to have taken over as her guard.

The people she was speaking with were probably Tooths. One man and one woman, both in suits. Were they twins? Their faces were very similar. I could see chitinous shell on their cheeks, but aside from that—even the thickness of their arms and legs included—they were close to human.

“I hear we have guests…”

I gave the man and woman only a small sideways nod, then spoke to Karys as if whispering in her ear.

“Yes. It seems they came to see you, but…”

Her eyes asked, Do you have any idea why?

I started to answer with a shrug—

and stopped.

What came to mind was the job Potato Man had mentioned.

He had said the client had circumstances.

He had said they could only ask me.

One of the peculiarities I had, which other Dogs did not, was that I had no resistance to working with Tooths. Surprisingly, many Dogs did not want to work with Tooths. Search Dog was one of them. In which case—

“It seems you do have some idea.”

At Karys’s words, I only shrugged.

More or less, that sort of thing.

***

I went down the stairs to the underground office and found Mr. Howard there, brow furrowed, while E.B. waved at me happily from the side.

There were three guests. The dull blond man sitting with his back to me was probably the leader. Guards in field uniforms stood to either side of him. They did not appear to be carrying weapons, but they were Tooths. In reality, they were armed. In that case, there was no need for me to change weapons either.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

My apologies, I added, and set my automatic pistol on the desk with a solid clunk.

It was quite rude, but once I sat down, I would not be able to respond with a quick draw from my hip holster. Nothing to be done about that.

“—”

“Um?”

I was confused.

The man who seemed to be their leader was glaring at me with murder in his eyes.

If his subordinates were like that, then of course he would be too—something along those lines. He was close to human. But unlike the twins, even dressed in a suit, he was unmistakably a Tooth.

His limbs were thick. More accurately, both legs and his left arm, covered in carapace, were thick.

Middle-aged, with dull blond hair slicked back, he looked almost like a beast. Like he might bite at any moment.

And that beast was, without question, trying to bite me to death.

I wished he would spare me.

Seeking help, I looked left. Mr. Howard averted his eyes. Giving up, I looked right. For some reason, E.B. was in an excellent mood. She smiled at me, wide and rather wicked, then twined her fingers around my right hand. Her skin was smooth, so I did not dislike it, but I very much wished she would stop right now. When I forcibly peeled her off, she puffed out her cheeks like a hamster to show her displeasure.

Something was strange.

She seemed younger than usual, somehow. Or clingier.

E.B.’s behavior caught at me, but honestly, this was not the time.

“A.B. And don’t bother with the handshake. …It’ll make me want to tear your hand off.”

The middle-aged Tooth, Mr. A.B., grew even more displeased.

The killing intent spilling off him was enough to make the guards on either side of him freeze.

“Touji. My understanding is that this is a request for Doggy House. Is that correct?”

But I, the one that killing intent was aimed at, did not care.

Apparently, he did not want a handshake, so I decided to get straight to the point.

“…I don’t like you. You don’t have the proper attitude of a weakling, human.”

“Is that so? A shame. I suppose we won’t be getting along. Now, what is the job?”

“Are you so dull you don’t understand your own position? Why would anyone ask a creature like this to…”

“No, I understand perfectly. My position is mercenary. Yours is client. State the job.”

“I dislike your attitude.”

“Then there is no job.”

I pointed past them, toward the door leading back to the stairs.

“The exit is that way.”

“Looking down on me, are you, human?”

“You too.”

Gichii.

The air creaked.

The automatic pistol on the desk, the guards to either side—or perhaps Mr. A.B. himself—seemed to groan under the pressure of that killing intent.

“I’ll test whether you can be trusted with work, among other things, human.”

“No, thank you.”

So go home.

“You don’t seem motivated. No point testing someone like that. I’ll give you some motivation.”

Whether he was not listening or had no intention of listening, A.B. looked down on me from on high. I was already letting half of it go in one ear and out the other—

“By having my unit attack this camp.”

That got me to sit up.

“If you stop now, I’ll still let that pass as a joke.”

“I’m serious, human. I told you, didn’t I? I don’t like your attitude. So cry for me. Pathetically.”

A.B. smiled, baring his canines.

“Don’t get carried away, Tooth. I’ll kill you before you give the order.”

“Hahahaha! Good. Those are good eyes, human. As the head of an organization, I’ll give you credit for being able to get angry over that. But on a personal level, I hate you. I’m absolutely going to make you cry.”

A.B. threw both feet up onto the desk with a thud, openly baiting me.

“It’s a game of chicken, human. Keep going. Puff yourself up and hiss at me like a kitten.”

“Back off before you provoke me too far and get yourself bitten to death, Tooth.”

I did not back down either.

Rat Unit, Tiger Unit, Monkey Unit, Dog Unit, and Rudo moved into combat posture as my guards. I held up one hand to stop them. If I brought it down, the war would begin.

I flicked a glance to either side. Mr. Howard, enduring stomach pain, and E.B., grinning to herself, did not look like forces I could count on.

Their attitudes were strange.

Was there something behind this?

The thought caught at me. I was about to let it run deeper—

When a voice cut me off before I could.

“Basic question. Which is stronger, Tooths or humans?”

“…Tooths.”

“Correct. Before you can grab that gun on the desk and shoot me, my guards will cut you down.”

“I see.”

Their weapons were blades, then. Or something similar.

Could I win?

I thought about it, then stopped almost immediately.

Well, no. I would lose.

In that case, no helping it.

I would win another way.

“Then do you know why humans and Tooths can fight a war on equal terms?”

“Hmph. Simple. Because we allow you to.”

“Wrong,” I said, then called, “Rat Unit.”

Rat Unit rolled over, and I indicated it with my chin.

“Because of them—the Monoz. That is why we humans can fight.”

“…Oh? Good answer. Continue.”

Very well, then.

“Because they are first-rate combat engineers, we can cross the wasteland with minimal supplies. Because they are excellent soldiers as well, their support lets us fight. Because they do not betray us, we can force through reckless, absurd operations. Do you understand? In other words, the existence of the Monoz is, in itself, our power.”

Now then.

I looked straight at A.B.

“Do you know how many Monoz I’m contracted with?”

“…Twelve.”

“Hah.”

I laughed. Mockingly.

“Let me tell you something useful. I am a liar. Did putting lookouts at the entrances make you feel safe? Did watching our movements after we entered the camp make you feel safe? Idiot. I’ll teach you how to play a trump card.”

One breath.

“Now then, sorry to keep you waiting. Time to work. Shoot them through the back, Frog Unit,” I shouted.

And then—

“Nobody move!”

I shouted again.

Taking advantage of that single instant, I snatched up the pistol and brought it to A.B.’s head.

They had moved.

Only a little. But still, everyone in the room except me had definitely moved to check behind A.B.

Everyone.

Yes, everyone.

E.B. Howard.

Rat Unit, Tiger Unit, Monkey Unit, Dog Unit.

Even Rudo.

You said nobody move, but that doesn’t apply to me, right? With that sort of air about him, Rudo went click-clacking across the frozen room, his claws tapping on the floor. After checking behind the sofa, he turned back toward me and barked as if to say, There’s no one there.

“…May I speak?”

Apparently, that was enough for A.B. to grasp the situation. He asked while still half-turned around.

“Go ahead.”

“Was I set up?”

“From where I’m standing, it would seem so, yes.”

Until a moment ago, he would unquestionably have killed me first. But not now. Now, in the time it took him to turn back around, I could shoot.

I could kill him.

“Suppose I die here. You die too. My unit can keep fighting even after I’m dead, but this camp will be in trouble if you die, won’t it?”

“It will. But frankly, once things reached this point, I’d already lost.”

I’m taking you with me, I said.

“You really are the worst kind of bastard.”

“Were you not listening?”

I told you, didn’t I?

I am a liar.

“Still, as a warrior, I can accept it.”

“Personally, I think soldiers like that are garbage.”

“No, I acknowledge you. I hate it enough to die, but I do.”

“I see.”

He sounded as if he hated it from the bottom of his heart, but even so, the air loosened.

I breathed out lightly, emptying my lungs a little. I started to lower the gun, and before I could, E.B. threw herself at me.

“How about that! Pretty good, right? This one’s good, isn’t he, Papa!”

My finger, still on the trigger, almost moved. Dangerous. I very much wanted her to stop.

“He’s the right kind of crazy, isn’t he? He’s human, but that’s fine, right?”

“No, but, well, he’s a different species, and Papa thinks that sort of thing is a little…”

“Mama’s human.”

“Your mama and I have love!”

“Me and Touji have love too!”

I wondered about that.

No.

Wait.

“Papa?” I pointed at Mr. A.B.

“Papa!” E.B. said, pointing at Mr. A.B.