Not long after, just as the Sinners were finishing waking up, Ms. Faust called out to Dante.
"Dante, I trust you're aware that I serviced Mephistopheles yesterday."
"
Ah, so that was real?
I'd thought it was just an excuse to get out of the situation, no matter how I looked at it.
"Then this will be quick to explain."
"We succeeded in reclaiming the [Golden Bough] on our last mission, which allowed us to add several functions to the bus."
click, click
"One of them is this: the Mirror Dungeon."
""
"The Mirror Dungeon is a technology developed by applying Yi Sang's mirror."
"It reflects us through the mirror into a rift in dimensions, where we explore the place."
What exactly were we supposed to do by entering a rift in dimensions?
"If you clear the Mirror Dungeon to the end, you'll receive rewards when you return."
"Things like madness, for example."
So it was something like a farming dungeon for gacha currency.
At last, I was starting to feel like the framework of a gacha game was finally coming together.
"That concludes the functions added to the bus."
"Let us return to work, Dante."
"<...Right.>"
A day without incident passed, and darkness had fully settled over the bus.
"··· ··· ······."
Only Charon's humming echoed through the quiet front of the bus.
"Beautiful music comes from the broken things of the world. An ironic principle."
As Dante stared blankly at the driver's seat, Mr. Vergilius suddenly spoke.
"Yet those who can truly feel the melody are never the ones who deserve it... How unfair."
"······."
"Charon, you seem to be in a good mood today."
Charon nodded.
"Mm. When Charon feels good, Charon sings."
"I see."
"But..."
"I seem to recall you humming that song when you were feeling rather down instead."
"Charon has no memory of that."
"Charon only sings when Charon is happy."
At those words, Mr. Vergilius's gaze was dyed with loneliness.
A color like a deep, desolate darkness carefully kneaded into shape.
It had only been a fleeting instant, but...
At some point, my overdeveloped eyes had made it easy to notice.
...So even that cold-looking Mr. Vergilius was human after all.
"...The world Charon hums to now is a silent monochrome."
"Because I cannot escape the long, long tunnel."
It seemed tragic pasts weren't limited to the Sinners; this side was no different.
...I've got nothing to say either.
"My, let us stop with such personal talk, Dante."
"Your duty is not to build camaraderie with me, but to manage them."
As he said that, Mr. Vergilius's face wore not the sorrow from before, but a faint smile.
Dante nodded a couple of times, then turned toward the Sinners.
I should probably join them too.
As I said earlier, the front of the bus was quiet.
Put a little differently, the back was noisy.
The Sinners had been caught in a strange high since earlier.
It made sense; they'd completed a mission for the first time.
It was dozens of times better than failing and letting a heavy silence settle over everyone's dead faces.
As I joined them and listened in a little, it seemed everyone was trading stories about their exploits at K Corp.
"You should've seen the exact moment I played that card. It was a real masterpiece~"
"...I'm getting sick of hearing that story for the seventh time, so where are we going this time?"
To Gregor's question, after he'd grown thoroughly sick of Ms. Rodion's endless self-praise, Mr. Vergilius gave an unexpected answer.
"Our destination this time is... K Corp's Nest."
"...A 'Nest'?"
"Oh, District 11? Thanks to this job, I'm getting to visit all the places I'd never have had a chance to see in my life."
"There's even a famous person there! I'm sure there'll be a souvenir shop nearby too! I've always wanted to buy a limited-edition figure set!"
"Oh~ Isn't there a franchise restaurant there that's famous for its hamburgers?"
"Hah... These days, the world really has become easier to live in. When I marched for missions, all I had was salt in my mouth."
"Exactly. When I was sailing, the only thing I could swallow was canned soup that tasted like iron."
"...Mm, that's making my mouth water~ Right, Ryoshu?"
Ms. Rodion, flustered by the assault from two old-timers who didn't care in the slightest about fine dining, sought help from Ms. Ryoshu, but...
"Hm. Thinking of the blood color that would differ by district does make me salivate."
"Ugh... I really can't talk about anything with you people. Kid! What do you want to eat?"
"······."
With no one willing to properly play along, Ms. Rodion did what she usually did and turned to Sinclair. Or maybe to me.
But...
Sinclair's face had gone deathly pale.
"Sinclair?"
"Oh my?! W-what's wrong with him?"
"He's gone white. Hyperventilation and chills are also observed."
"Those are textbook anxiety symptoms. Since when has this been happening?"
"Since Mr. Vergilius mentioned K Corp."
""
"...Because I was not ordered to."
Meursault looked at Dante as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.
He really never changes.
"I-I suddenly feel sick to my stomach. Sorry."
"You're really okay...?"
"Come to think of it..."
"Faust, every time Vergilius announces our destination, it feels like at least one of us reacts sharply."
"And when we actually arrive, it always turns out to be a place connected to him in some way."
"Could this have something to do with why we were hired?"
"...So you are referring to us as a group."
"Hm?"
"Detecting subtle differences in nuance is also one of my primary duties."
"And while I cannot tell you the details of the Sinners' reasons for joining..."
"It would be impossible to deny that our destinations and each Sinner's personal circumstances are connected to some degree."
"...Wouldn't it be easier to just say yes or no first? Is dragging your tongue out for no reason some kind of educated person's specialty?"
Heathcliff raised his voice, irritated by Faust's infuriating way of speaking.
"A lead-first statement is not always the correct choice. Faust merely selects the most effective method for the moment."
"Lea... d-what?"
"...I'm not saying Faust's words are confusing because you're educated. I'm saying they're confusing because you're so uneducated."
"Tch...!"
He couldn't even bring himself to argue back.
Heathcliff grabbed his bat and started toward Faust, but...
"Ugh..."
Sinclair suddenly began retching onto the bus floor,
and only then did the bus finally quiet down.
Once the commotion settled, Gregor opened his mouth.
"By the way, earlier you misspoke and said K Corp when you meant the back alleys of District 11, right?"
"I lost the timing to object because everyone looked too excited to interrupt..."
Oh, so that was what had caught my attention too.
It seemed Gregor had been thinking the same thing.
"I don't usually misspeak."
"You heard me correctly, Gregor. We're going to K Corp's Nest."
"Uh, but to enter a Nest..."
"Yes, you need screening."
"I don't have a K Corp visa. The rest of you do, right?"
"I should have one."
What, why are you all looking at me like that?
Having a Nest visa is that rare... right?
Ah, do I need to renew it?
With the last two years of my memory missing, I was getting confused.
"The method is simple. Charge in headfirst."
"And keep repeating die. live. until it breaks through."
"In other words, charge. die. live. Heh..."
By now everyone seemed used to it, so no one even tried to decipher Ryoshu's abbreviations.
"For a company like Limbus Company, we might just be allowed through."
"And if we use Ms. Ryoshu's method, it'll take an absurd amount of time. What do you think a Nest managed by a Wing is?"
"Since the opponent is K Corp, it would be best not to do anything foolish. They're practically an immortal army. You all know what K Corp's Singularity is, yes?"
""
"Ah... um, sorry?"
"...Wouldn't it have been less miserable if you'd just not said anything."
I scratched my head, having nothing to say.
"As Ishmael said, we'll pass through without needing a visa exemption."
"Limbus Company has shareholders from quite a variety of fields, after all."
"Oh, do you perhaps know a shareholder from H Corp?"
"My younger brother once insisted that it had to be a red passport when he was little, so they even visited our home personally."
"Well, I'm just a guide. I'm not in a position to know that much."
"And it doesn't seem like a question worth answering in the first place."
"That's harsh..."
"More importantly, the road to the checkpoint is what matters."
"If the checkpoint's screening is strict, that also means there are plenty of people out there hunting for transit passes."
Wait, does that mean...
"...There are many sounds of ambushers near the bus."
""
Right. Of course our lot would be like this.