Was it really okay for the client to treat us like that?
…Then again, our lives were already worth less than a fly's. Did it even matter?
While I was making that bitter little self-mockery about our miserable lot, Mr. Heathcliff said with a displeased look, "No matter how you slice it, we don't take chicken shop jobs like—"
"Lifetime pass."
Wait, Mr. Samjo. What?
"If you resolve the request, I'll give you an outrageous benefit: unlimited use of this store for life."
Crazy… This client is loaded. I'm suddenly motivated!
"A lifetime pass?! We have something like that at our chain—"
"I also brought a few chickens for tasting."
…Is he just insane?
"Whaaat?!"
While the owner of Boddhisattva Chicken was flustered out of his mind, Mr. Samjo was personally handing out chicken to us.
"Now, now, line up in an orderly queue and receive yours. There are varieties by the chicken's famous auspicious bloodline, so choose according to your taste. Each lineage boasts different flavors in its prized cuts, and the aroma is said to be rich as well."
Well… there's no harm in taking it, so I might as well. I can't exactly refuse to try the chicken that's apparently all the rage in K Corp these days.
"Mmm… Must I choose only one flavor? They all look delicious…"
"Why not leave the other flavors as anticipation for the future? If you have a 'lifetime pass,' that problem will solve itself."
"Ohhh… That is a most irrefutable argument…"
Mr. Samjo, you're incredibly good at handling Don Quixote. Do you have some talent that suits that stern face of yours?
Let's see… the chicken tastes… pretty decent. Exactly the kind of taste you'd expect from a good branch of a successful franchise in that Nest.
Maybe because I'd traveled through all sorts of Nests before and tasted plenty of things, I didn't have the same glowing reaction as the others.
Still, this passes. It's the sort of place worth ordering from often.
"So, what will you do?"
"......"
Oh… even Mr. Heathcliff is keeping his mouth shut. Was tasty food his weakness after all?
"That… isn't a bad request…"
He even changed his tune! The power of good food is terrifying…
Hmm. I'd like to say yes too, if it were up to me, but unfortunately I wasn't the one deciding whether we accepted the request.
Just like the dissatisfied look on Ms. Ishmael's face, Limbus Company's goal was probably the [Golden Bough], so they wouldn't take a vague request like this.
And naturally, the opinion of its spokesperson, Ms. Faust, would be similar.
"Hey… weren't we supposed to be looking for the [Golden Bough], not a golden chicken leg? Since when—"
"Didn't you hear? They're saying they'll let us eat crispy chicken for life!"
"There's no limit on the quantity, right? They'll just keep giving it to us, right? And it can be takeout too, right?"
…Ms. Rodion's gluttony really is impossible to stop.
"Hah. Seeing this makes me think of the old days. Not sure if anyone here would know, but the freshly fried chicken they sold at HamHamPangPang was really good too."
HamHamPangPang… The best restaurant that still lingers in my heart.
"I know it. Whenever I happened to have money, I'd go out to eat with the syndicate members."
"…Come to think of it, buying a HamHamPangPang on the way home after work was the one small joy in life."
Ah, I miss it. Those peaceful days.
It wasn't exactly fun, what with life being a wheel of routine except for the occasional vacation, but after being worked to the bone here, even that boring life starts to feel nostalgic.
How did life end up like this…?
"Oh, Faust, hurry up and say something. There's got to be some rule or clause or whatever, right?"
Come to think of it, that was odd. This was about the time Ms. Faust would usually object…
"Very well. We'll accept the request."
What.
"Huh?"
Ms. Ishmael was startled in a way that didn't suit her at all. Of course, my expression was probably about the same.
I'd never seen her get surprised unless some bizarre situation was suddenly staged, so this was kind of new.
"No, Ms. Faust… could it be… that you've lost your mind for a moment?"
"Ishmael, even so, choose your words—"
"Well. Faust is generally the sort to be out of her mind."
Ah, Mr. Gregor, who had tried to defend her, looked awkward.
"Hah! For once, we're all on the same page. Hm?"
I'd had my mind aligned with someone like Mr. Heathcliff before… hadn't I? When dealing with Kromer.
"Faust… are you serious? You're taking the request just to eat chicken?"
…Ah, right. It was Faust who dragged us here in the first place.
I'd forgotten for a moment because the request itself was so absurd.
"To be precise… it's the resolution of a 'Distortion phenomenon,' Dante."
…What's that now?
"A Distortion phenomenon?"
"A Distortion… What is that?"
Oh, good. This time, I'm not the only one who doesn't know.
Not only Dante, but even Mr. Hong Lu doesn't know. So my common sense wasn't broken after all.
"There are likely many who don't know exactly. It occurs all over the City, but it has never been publicly announced."
"Ah…"
So that's how it is.
"In general, it refers to a phenomenon in which a person transforms into a form that can no longer be called 'human.' The cause is unknown. The forms vary as well."
Wow… Just from the explanation, it sounds terrifying. Especially the part where someone turns into something that can't even be called human, and yet it's roaming around in the middle of a Nest because nobody's bothered to properly address it.
"Hmm… I still don't get it from the explanation alone. Is it like an Abnormality?"
"No. Unlike Abnormalities, they do not turn into eggs. They can also be completely deprived of breath."
Oh~ So they can be killed.
Mr. Meursault's neat explanation made it click.
In short, it's a killable Abnormality. One that's even a direct transformation of a human being.
"I have seen them a few times before."
W-what?
"Within the company, there is a department called the LCCB, which includes Fixers who consult on Distortion phenomena. It's a small department, but that only means the phenomenon is being watched closely."
Ah, I see. That also roughly explained why we were taking the request. So that was how it was.
"So the owner of Eunbong's Pub… turned into that… Distortion thing?"
"That's right. A person who's merely gone mad can't suddenly take command of raw chickens."
"I knew it. Whew… I thought Faust had briefly gone off the rails, and I was wondering if I'd have to step in and knock some sense into her myself."
"Why were you gripping a mace so tightly just now, Ishmael…?"
…Sure enough, killing and reviving someone with Dante's clock is a direct hit to mental contamination. Still, suddenly grabbing a mace is a little… scary.
"Indeed! Shouldn't we move before there are casualties? Munch munch…"
"…At least finish the chicken in your mouth before you speak."
"Mmm, yes! I shall do so! Munch munch…"
"Oh? You've got sauce on your mouth there, kid!"
Ms. Rodion wiped Don Quixote's mouth clean with a quick swipe.
She looked older than I'd expected the last time I saw her… Should I call it childlike innocence? She's pure.
"Then I'll take your acceptance of the request as confirmed. I'll await your contact."
With those words, Mr. Samjo drifted away from the scene.
He appears like the wind and vanishes like the wind…
So… what we have to do is resolve this Distortion thing?
Uh… I have no clue where to even start.
"How are we supposed to resolve a Distortion?"
Oh, nice timing, Dante. It felt awkward for me to ask.
"It's simple."
…Everything I'd heard from Faust so far seemed to start with "It's simple."
In truth, most of it wasn't simple at all… Still, what would be difficult for the greatest genius in the City? Let's hear it first.
"We just need to open the heart of the one who became a Distortion."
…She doesn't mean physically open it, right? Somehow I felt like Ms. Ryoshu would interpret it that way.
"That is, let them lower their guard and expose their feelings of their own accord."
"I see. Should I remove the scapula? Or the sternum?"
She really meant it. Not a single step off from my expectations.
"Hmm, a method of directly exposing the inside… That approach is interesting as well."
…Right, killing it would solve it too.
"F-for now, I think it'd be better to go near that 'Eunbong's Pub' place and find out more."
Reasonable. We don't have anything else to do, so should we head there right away?
"Ugh… The raw chickens are wandering around. That can't be good for hygiene…"
Hmm… Sinclair, why are you worried about that specific point…?
"They look like the same thing that was attached to people's heads earlier. I don't know what they are, but we should avoid getting close to them…"
Could we turn into something similar if one of those got put on our heads too? We really should avoid getting close to—
"Gyaek!"
"So, if we beat up these chickens, that means we can eat chicken at that place forever, right?"
"Cute. That's nonsense."
"......"
Yeah, they're not even listening with one ear.
"Correct! I meant we'd slice them all up!"
"…Hah."
"…Is that really what matters right now?"
"Nod."
Ugh, my head hurts.
I haven't even used the eye's ability, and I already have a headache. The future looks bleak.
Ah, wait—one of the raw chickens just leaped up over there, danger—
"Mr. Heathcliff?!?!"
Ah! Mr. Heathcliff's head got eaten by a chicken!
…Damn it.