An incident happened.
The one that sent the prisoners into utter chaos.
It was about a week after the third mission had ended.
It was supposed to be an ordinary day: running the Mirror Dungeon as usual, clearing the missions updated on the Pass, and debating whether to do an extraction.
And then...
"Hmm? Are you all also those who will join in the grand undertaking?"
On such a peaceful day, why was Ms. Faust wearing that personality that reminded me of that insane woman?
No, looking at her face, it really was that insane woman. Damn it.
"Hiiik...!"
While everyone stared at her in bewilderment, the one who reacted most dramatically was Sinclair.
"Oh my, Sinclair...?"
Damn it, so there was a Sinclair in that world too.
"D-don't come any closer!"
"Oh, my Sinclair... you still look like this..."
Ms. Faust, wearing Kromer's signature mad laughter, clung to Sinclair.
If anyone else had done that, we would have stopped them, but because it was Faust wearing the personality, everyone there was slow to move.
"I-I'll swing if you come any closer, so stop...!"
Before long, Sinclair's face flushed with anger, and just as she was about to smash Faust with a halberd—
"
Clang! Dante suddenly intervened and switched Faust's personality back.
Haa... what in the world was that.
Out of nowhere, Faust had been wearing the personality of some completely unrelated lunatic whose temperament wasn't even similar.
Faust had been roaming around the bus interior in that lunatic's personality.
Then Dante had come running over all of a sudden and swapped it out.
There were too many things I couldn't understand.
And yet the one person who knew all the answers was standing right in front of us.
"......"
We stared at Dante with pleading eyes, asking for an explanation.
"Th-there's a reason for that..."
"...You expect us to believe that?"
"B-but it's true..."
Dante's explanation was this:
While adjusting the Faust personality to put into the terminal, they had accidentally confused Kromer's personality with the base personality and inserted the wrong employee ID card.
Not realizing it, they only discovered the base Faust employee ID card later and rushed here in a panic.
...No, honestly, how do you even confuse that insane woman with Faust?
Their personalities looked wildly different too.
Haa... to be honest, this was an expected situation.
We had already seen N Corp inquisitor Rodion and Guido's personality on Meursault in the previous extraction.
Still, no one had expected to run into it so suddenly, first thing in the morning.
It would have been better if we'd had some time to prepare ourselves.
Anyway, that was how the second week of our rest period began in a gloomy mood.
"Purification!"
As expected, it was that insane woman's personality.
True to the lunatic state of mind that was inversely proportional to her strength, her combat ability was excellent.
"Hup!"
Thud, thud-thud, crunch! "...Useful knowledge."
Of course, this side wasn't exactly easy to deal with either.
Being a golden personality and a DH Association one probably had a huge effect on her combat power, but more than that, synchronization seemed to be the bigger factor.
It felt like she was drawing out the personality's true power to its limit.
My body felt a little lighter, and all the awkward movements linked together naturally.
The raw force itself was strengthened by the experience gained from the personality training tickets.
It was so noticeable that I regretted not being able to use it in the final battle with Kromer.
Didn't Mr. Vergilius and Ms. Faust know something like this existed? They should have shared it sooner.
...Such strange people. They're never helpful when it matters.
Though, to be fair, we do rely on their help a lot in everyday life.
Ah, wait. Attack.
...A wide horizontal slash aimed at the upper body?
Whoosh! I stepped back two paces and dodged easily.
"No you don't!"
Thud! Thud! Bang! Then a blow to the solar plexus with my left hand, immediately followed by a right uppercut.
After that, I grabbed her head and slammed her into the floor to finish it.
...I'm the one who did it, but that was quite the performance.
Looks like everything's more or less settled... Next room, then.
Whistle! Ah, I want to kill her.
I wanted to smash that insane woman's personality, the one whose whistle alone dragged up memories of the underground, into the floor and turn her into pulp.
"Hiiik...!"
Seriously, can't something be done about this?
I don't think my mental state can take it.
Not just Sinclair and me, but all the prisoners flinched every time they heard that whistle.
What the hell is she doing that for.
She's pulling some disgusting stunt to crush morale.
Zzzzt! "Auuuuuu――!"
And the first unfamiliar Abnormality we'd ever seen was already the final boss of the Mirror Dungeon.
Whistle! ...Do whatever you want. Just do whatever you want.
What could I even do? That insane woman's personality wasn't the kind that would listen even if I said something.
It was probably some kind of buff skill.
"Haa..."
Looks like the battles ahead are going to be exhausting.
"...By the will of the one who grasps."
...If this goes wrong, I might end up killing an ally.
Please, pleeease let there be no more useful and powerful N Corp personalities.
The more of them there are, the harder it'll be to keep my sanity.
Step, step. Haa... all I did today was the Mirror Dungeon we just finished, so why am I this tired?
Of course, the Mirror Dungeon can take anywhere from one or two hours to all twelve hours of the workday, but today was on the ordinary side.
Working with those lunatics really does make everything feel twice as exhausting.
It'd probably be a ridiculous suggestion from the company's perspective, but should I formally request that we stop using N Corp personalities?
No, that would just make things harder for me.
We're going to be stuck together in this bizarre mess for years at most, and if I do something weird and make things awkward, I honestly think I'd want to die.
Objectively speaking, Kromer's personality and Guido's personality were both absurdly strong, so from an efficiency standpoint they were talent we couldn't afford to pass up.
We'd already finished gathering information on N Corp and even training them as a means of fully drawing out their power, so there was no need to say more.
"So all that means is I have to put up with it. Tch. Haa..."
I can't do anything but sigh, seriously.
That said, deliberately killing it...
"......"
The face of Mr. Heathcliff that I'd seen after his one-on-one meeting with Mr. Vergilius a few days ago flickered before my eyes.
Going openly against Mr. Vergilius while in your right mind is insane.
He usually doesn't say much if you tease him around as a joke, so I do it pretty often, but openly defying him is a different matter.
Once it becomes an official issue, that man becomes endlessly cruel.
"Haa... hic..."
At least someone like me, who only feels discomfort and reluctance, has it easy.
Sinclair has been showing signs of anxiety ever since he saw that woman's personality this morning.
Seriously, why does it have to be so effective...
Looks like this uncomfortable cohabitation will keep going until a good personality comes along that can definitely replace that woman's.
For example...
"Sinclair!"
"...Hiiik!"
At a moment like this, right after a battle ends, she suddenly starts talking to Sinclair.
I really wish she'd just shut up and stay still.
I'm the only one with the guts to stand up to that insane woman, so now I'm going to end up carrying the whole burden of subduing her too!!
"...Enough. Your matters are important, but we have our own business to attend to."
"You... Hmm. For now, I suppose I'll do that."
...I wish she wouldn't leave such ominous remarks while being restrained.
If I'm already overworked and then get handed more work on top of it...
"......"
Dante also seemed wary of her and unable to take any action.
"Haa..."
I'm tired.
My body is fine, but it feels like I've already burned through all my mental stamina...
"...Saramago."
"Yes."
"Could I ask you to manage her for a while?"
"...Huh?"
What the hell kind of bullshit is th—
No, wait. Let me hear this out.
Maybe there's some incredible scheme and I'm the only one who can do it...
"...You're the prisoner who can speak to Kromer best. Could I ask you?"
There was no way anything that convenient existed, damn it.
So that's why they were asking me this, knowing I couldn't refuse when they used that tone...
"...Fine. I'll give it a try."
Haa... it's my own fault for getting hired at a company like this without knowing anything.
What fault could Dante possibly have now?
"Heh..."
Come to think of it, maybe there is one.
Dumping a time bomb like that on me?
...I'll get my revenge someday.
I quietly sharpened my blade in my heart.