As soon as we got off the bus, Ms. Faust began explaining things to us.
"As you could see beyond the bus... this place is right in the middle of a Nest. It is the sort of location that should be the farthest possible from any unexpected commotion."
"Hmm... so that means this is a rare sort of commotion?"
Rare... yes, it was a rare sight.
After all, unless you were spectacularly unlucky, you'd never get to see something like this in your entire life—commotion in the middle of a Nest.
Which meant something seriously abnormal was happening...
""
Tatatatatat!
Someone came rushing toward us in a panic. She looked like she didn't even have the presence of mind to watch where she was going, and then she slammed into us with a thud! before speaking in a frantic voice.
"Huff, huff... Y-you can't go that way!"
"Now, now, calm yourself! We have come running to protect you...!"
"Please don't say pointless things like you're some kind of hero."
Hmm. Ever since that mission a while back, Ishmael seemed to have gotten a lot more proactive about cutting Don Quixote off.
Getting things wrong at the casino twice had definitely left a strong impression.
"Hey, we need to go up ahead. If you stopped us over something trivial, you'd better be ready for a beating."
"W-wait, wait, you're scaring me when you put it like that. You can talk a little slower, so please explain it in more detail."
Glancing back and forth between Ishmael and Heathcliff while her eyes trembled, she finally seemed to calm down a little. She steadied her breathing and began explaining what had happened in a more composed manner.
"Up ahead... there were strange things. Things that shouldn't be here... I don't know what they were, I'd never seen them before... Everyone was screaming and running, falling over... burning..."
"Was what was up ahead not human in form?"
"...Yes, that's right. Yes!"
"If it was not a person..."
Though she was cut off in the middle, we could all guess what Ishmael was about to say.
...An [Abnormality].
An enemy we had fought countless times.
And... something that should never be in a Nest.
Still, with the common-sense assumption that such a thing could not possibly exist in the middle of a Nest, we headed toward the center of the commotion.
"H-how did this happen?"
...A bull. A bull, huh.
A huge, crimson bull.
At first glance it looked no different from an ordinary animal, but strangely enough, a human figure was emerging from the bull's mouth.
Not just any human, but a red human who looked as though they had stopped developing at the muscle stage.
The [Abnormality] had blue bodily fluid flowing from the mouth and legs of the bull portion, and from several parts of the arms and face of the human portion.
Blood... maybe.
"Could it be some kind of Distortion or something? Like the chicken shop?"
""
"As Dante said, the odds are high that it is an [Abnormality]. The Manager can feel it."
Communicating with Distortions, distinguishing [Abnormality] from Distortion, resurrection, overlaying identities, searching for the Golden Bough...
...What exactly was this position called "Manager" that it could do so many different things?
Was it actually some kind of disguise meant to hide something?
"But why..."
Hm?
"Why is there an [Abnormality] in the middle of a Nest?"
"Faust has never reported a phenomenon like this either. Most Lobotomy Corporation branches shut down their branches at the same time as their collapse."
So Yuri too... Hmm. Never mind. Let's stop talking about depressing things.
"Even if an [Abnormality] had escaped in the meantime, there should at least have been a report before this operation began. It is hard to imagine that LCC would have failed to notice such a sight."
Which meant an [Abnormality] had suddenly appeared in the middle of the City without LCC having any time to learn about it?
This... something about this smells rotten.
"...Are those people over there employees dispatched from K Corp?"
"They don't look like they're suppressing the [Abnormality] so much as... being brutally trampled."
"Hmm... it's like watching us get thoroughly beaten up at the D Corp branch..."
Sure enough, back then everyone had only just started learning how to coordinate, so they all went boom in no time.
Now we at least had some rhythm together, so we were better off than we had been then.
"No way~ First that chicken shop, and now this too? Is K Corp always like this? I'd really rather not have this kind of welcome anymore..."
Before Rodion could finish grumbling...
"Gah! Sh..."
As the [Abnormality] rampaged, fragments bursting off it narrowly missed us.
...This isn't a matter of whether it hurts or not. We can't afford to blink. We'll definitely die.
"Tch, what are you doing? If you just stand there staring like idiots, we'll all end up as paste—us and those bastards too!"
"......"
Seeing Heathcliff look ready to charge out at any moment, Otis let out a sigh so deep it seemed to sink into the ground.
What was bothering her so much, I wonder.
"You seem to have a serious misunderstanding. Were you brainwashed by the nonsense that crazy little brat spouts every day?"
"Huh? Where is this crazy little brat you're talking about?"
You. You, Don Quixote.
Whether Don Quixote said anything or not, Otis continued on as if she had no superior to answer to.
"The guide clearly told us to return after the disturbance was resolved. She never told us to step in ourselves."
"No, what the hell are you twisting yourself into knots over? Didn't you just see it? My head almost got blown off! How are we supposed to know what kind of stray fire we'll catch?"
Even after saying that, Heathcliff still didn't seem satisfied, so he added one more thing.
"If we just beat everything to death, it'd be over... what, should we sit on cushions and watch? Tear into some chicken while we're at it? Huh?"
"I am saying there is no need to gamble our lives on a fight that is not directly tied to the mission."
...That's a rational point.
"You filth may not have noticed it, but... the more times you die, the more your combat efficiency drops little by little."
Was that so? I don't really feel it myself.
"The pain you've experienced before is the pain you become more afraid of."
"......"
After hearing Otis's words, Meursault let out a faint murmur as if he were lost in thought.
Was he analyzing whether that was truly correct? Sounds about right.
"...But people are still dying up ahead."
"It will take time and there will be many sacrifices, but... eventually they will suppress it. Just like us."
Sure enough, with K Corp's Singularity in play, if this turned into a war of attrition, absolute victory was guaranteed.
...Though, as Sinclair said, people were still dying one after another.
"And... I never thought the one who used to cry and call for his mother every time he died would volunteer to sacrifice himself."
Oh... This crazy bastard has finally learned to throw out family insults with a straight face.
He's made incredible progress in just one month.
Mostly in a direction that made him less human.
"So now dying is a joke to you?"
"......"
That sneering remark left Sinclair speechless.
Has that man finally gone insane? Did he throw away the last shred of humanity he still had back when we went to the chicken shop?
"If I had to make the optimal judgment among the prisoners, this man's words are correct."
Charon would sulk, and Vergilius would probably start having a fit because of it, but efficiency-wise, this was clearly the optimal choice.
I couldn't come up with a better answer than that anyway, and I didn't have the authority to decide, so maybe I should just keep my mouth shut for now.
"
Dante fell into thought for several minutes after that.
We had faced situations like this many times while traveling through the City.
Efficiency or humanity.
We were clearly not heroes, just ordinary employees of a company.
Looking at it that way, efficiency should obviously win out... but...
"Let's suppress it. I can't explain it logically, but... I feel like that's what we should do."
Dante always chose humanity.
And that was why the many prisoners trusted and followed him now.
I'm sure it was largely thanks to Dante that he could somehow command this bus, which had been a complete disaster at first, with everyone fighting and causing chaos.
"......"
"Clock-head, if you'd spouted the same nonsense, I'd have crushed you and your clock together and stormed off."
There were other reactions too, beyond the two who had clashed so sharply over Dante's decision.
"If that is the decision, I will follow it."
"Yeah, well... it'll probably be the right call."
"Um... thank you for making that judgment."
Those who affirmed Dante with positive responses.
Or those who silently prepared for battle.
And then...
"You really do have a lot of pointless thoughts over something so trivial, clock. You'd make a terrible artist."
Just a weirdo.
"...It was a decision made for your sake, not anyone else's, Manager."
With Otis's words, the prisoners each began walking forward.
Then I guess I should... go too.