[Our Inori's a real one—ruthless and not much for words]
[Holy crap, she went straight for the kill the moment the restrictions came off]
[Holy crap, a can opener. The fight ended instantly]
[Three minutes. I want this scene in an NAHT sakuga MAD!]
[Probably have to wait a month. Premium members can take screenshots, but recording is impossible, so we'll have to wait for the anime version a month later]
[True Dual-Wielding]
[One blade opens the can, the other stabs the guy]
[Truly chopped to death by a forty-meter blade]
[I think that thing is four meters at most lol]
The Gundam Astray Gold Frame was instantly defeated.
The other guy had been flashy and had spouted some outrageous lines, but… how should one put it?
He was ridiculously easy to kill.
The Moebius Zero had enough firepower to destroy a GINN, but against a Gundam, it still could not kill one in a single hit.
But against someone like this, there was not even any need for a gun. Just pry the Gundam open and stab him to death.
That took no skill at all.
Because Gina had been killed so quickly, even the troops he brought with him failed to react.
Pulling out the Tactical Knife still stained with blood, Inori continued over the public channel. "Warning to the Orb forces belonging to the Sahaku Family. Your commander, Sahaku Rondo Gina, is dead. Cease all resistance."
Inori did not speak in riddles. She simply said exactly what she meant.
"So they really are Orb troops. They came to recover the Red Frame? But how did he know the Red Frame was here?"
Athrun immediately understood what had happened.
If these people were Orb troops, then they had definitely come to recover the Red Frame.
As he and Captain Le Creuset had previously considered, the Mobile Suits that had appeared later were not Earth Alliance machines. They belonged to Orb.
Cagalli, meanwhile, was conflicted.
These people were enemies, yes, but they were also from Orb. If she revealed her identity…
No, no, no.
Absolutely not!
They would be even more likely to kill her to silence her.
Cagalli had grown at least a little smarter lately.
Restraint.
She had to show restraint.
The Mobile Armors almost immediately lost their nerve after Gina's death, and one after another, they chose to retreat.
Only then did Inori approach Cagalli.
"Rescue target located."
Inori stopped in front of the Aegis Gundam and the Astray Red Frame. Then the Aegis Gundam's cockpit hatch opened.
"Inori-san! It's Inori-san!"
Cagalli breathed a sigh of relief.
"Inori… that Songstress from Orb?!"
Athrun beside her was stunned.
When he had arrived at Heliopolis, he had heard her perform in concert.
Lacus also loved her songs and mentioned her all the time whenever they chatted.
"That Songstress is actually an MS pilot? The Astray Blue Frame's pilot?" Athrun was shocked.
"No, someone else was piloting it before," Cagalli hurriedly explained.
"Hello, Athrun Zala-san." Inori greeted Athrun.
"You… know me?"
"Zala?" Athrun had never given his full name before, so Cagalli had not known it either. Only now, after hearing "Zala," did she realize.
"Are you here to capture me…?" Athrun asked.
"Negative. Why?" Inori tilted her head, looking remarkably cute.
"We're enemies, aren't we?" Athrun said. "Even if you're from Orb, we're the ones who destroyed Heliopolis, right?"
"The compensation claim has already been sent to ZAFT," Inori said. "I will not take coercive action before the deadline."
"C-compensation claim?!"
What was that supposed to be?
Athrun had no idea how to respond.
"Concert losses, property damage, lost income, emotional distress… I emailed the full claim to ZAFT at the earliest opportunity."
Inori said.
"Uh…" Athrun was dumbfounded.
You could do that?
"Huh?"
Cagalli had completely lost the thread.
But Inori seemed to have reminded her of something.
—Right. ZAFT blew Heliopolis to pieces… and they still haven't paid a damn cent!
"I don't think ZAFT would pay attention to something like that," Athrun said. ZAFT would most likely treat that kind of email as spam and delete it.
"That is how your side chooses to handle the matter. I have no authority to interfere. However, if your side does not address the compensation claim, we will move the matter to Plan Two," Inori said.
"Plan Two?"
"Yes. If your side does not respond, we reserve the right to take further proactive measures to collect compensation."
Inori said.
"It can't actually be that much, right…? Just concert income and some private property…"
Athrun figured the amount should not be large.
"The itemized losses were attached to the email," Inori said. "Prior to this, we had already acquired a portion of Heliopolis's equity and some of its real estate."
That was true.
"Huh…?"
Athrun was dumbfounded.
Right.
It was perfectly normal for a world-famous Songstress to have money.
And it was perfectly normal for her to use that money to buy assets on Heliopolis, right?
ZAFT destroyed Heliopolis. That was a fact, right?
Then… ZAFT having to pay compensation… was actually damn reasonable!
[That's actually damn reasonable]
[Athrun's brain has completely shut down]
[I'm dying. A civilian is demanding money from one of the world's great powers. If they so much as give you the time of day, I lose]
[But I think Inori actually has the ability to collect]
[Grass (a type of exclamation), she really does]
[Wait, Inori isn't doing this on purpose, is she?]
[What do you mean?]
[Look, right now she can only send letters demanding payment, but ZAFT probably won't even read them. Inori is an AI, though, so she has a whole operational process for this. Too much to explain. I'll post it in the discussion section later]
[Bro, pause! Finish the danmaku first!]
[Pause it, bro!]
[Paused. Inori is an AI. If ZAFT ignores her, she can smoothly switch to a solution like Plan B. It works that way in real life too: if they don't pay, you can proceed to compulsory enforcement or Forced Liquidation]
[Grass (a type of exclamation), I get it now]
[If ZAFT doesn't pay, then Inori gains the authority to proactively collect the debt, right?]
[Low-level AI tricks you into granting permissions; high-level AI goes out and obtains permissions for itself, huh]
[Armed debt collection?]
[Inori is this badass—does Kira even know?]
"But I still don't think ZAFT will pay attention to that sort of thing," Athrun said.
"That is fine. That is your choice."
If she had not just saved his life, Athrun would have told her just how naive she was.
Against a nation, an individual's power was pitifully small.
Even being somewhat famous would not help.
Well, it was not completely useless.
The enemy could always use her as propaganda material.
—Inori was famous in PLANT too.
And for some reason, Inori's reasoning gave Athrun an odd feeling.
If it were only some private-property losses, that would be one thing. But if ownership stakes in Heliopolis were involved, the amount of compensation could become enormous…
Athrun suddenly felt overwhelmed.