Part 139: A villain makes unreasonable requests

I recognize this man. The bald spot guy, huh? He got hasty and lost.

Wait, this guy again? Now that I get a good look, all of the men surrounding us are dressed like 4ºC. So are all of these guys Viral Attacker underlings...?

4ºC's gaudy white teeth shine.

"I've got something to say to the champion. Gaia whispered for me to object.

"Object?"



"It's not a trick! Didn't you make a mockery of that yourself?!"

"Faris doesn't do scaredy-cat things like you guys nya."

"What was that? I, the black nobleman, swear to the god of the elegant evil realm, that I do no trickery! ...I don't know any other way, though. Okay, you violated white Siamese cat? I don't accept my defeat. That last 'Change Directory' was a trick."

"That's irresponsible to say without proof."

"Hmph, looks like you don't know, so I'll tell you. What I say is black is black. That's the truth of RaiNet."

These guys came here to make completely false accusations. Doesn't look like they'll take no for an answer, and they've surrounded us so we can't escape.

"By the way, your father's a guy who everyone in Akihabara knows, huh. You pulled your connections at the RaiNet AB Grand Championships so that all the staff members would let you win. There are those sorts of rumors among RaiNetters, right? What a huge scoundrel. You're not a bit elegant evil. You're not a white Siamese cat, either. You're a fat pig creeping in the mud."



When I take a good look, outside the wall of Viral guys, spectators coming home from the RaiNet tournaments are surrounding at a distance in curiosity. The Viral surrounders start jeering loudly so that they can hear it.

"Seriously? I thought it went way to hell, but basically it was a staged, rigged race?"
"That cat lady's the worst!"
"So Faris was that sorta person, eh. Filth. Pure filth!"

"That's how it is, Champion. No, SHAMpion Faris. Genuflect right here. Bow before me, the black Lucifer, 4ºC, rub your head on the ground, and beg for mercy. Forfeit your throne. If you do all that, then I swear to Lucifer to forgive you for your forgery."

"That's right! Turn down your victory!"
"And never turn back to RaiNet Access Battlers again!"
"Retire from RaiNetting, you bitch!"

Jeers fly about from the surrounding Virals. The bystanders watching the black mass around Faris and I don't approach. I guess they don't want to get involved. What a farce. How much longer will we have to go along with this?



"Nya...?"

I grab Faris's wrist and force our way through the surrounding Virals. Looking back while frantically running, I see...



4ºC and his surrounding group are chasing after us.





"Hello?!"

"It's me."

"What?! I'm! Busy! Now!"

"Okarin, you still at the hall?"

"I'm not!"

"You haven't seen Faris, have you? They're actually on fire--"

"On fire?! What is?!"

"Faris's blocks and fan sites are!"

Tch. I see. That's what he meant. False suspicions are already flooding the net. Damn Viral Attackers. Using such cheap tactics!

"Hanging up!"

I press the end call button and run even faster.



"Tch!"

Still. I can still run! Even though! I said! I was bad at running!

While devouring oxygen, I pull Faris by the hand and run faster.



Faris's house is right next door. We should've run there first.

"Haah, haah, hooh...!"

"Haahaah, hooh, hoooh..."

My lungs are on fire. My legs are aching.

"Kyouma! Look at that nya!"

"Eh?"

Faris strongly pulls my sleeve, stopping me. When I peek at where Faris is silently pointing...



Gh, they knew we would come here...!

"We can't get in like this nya..."

"Anyway, let's leave!"



"Ah, there they are!"
"Send the info to the mailing list!"

Damn, just how many of them are there?! All we can do is turn back in a panic.



We need to find a calm place. The lab. We can manage if we escape there. We need to reach there somehow...



We can't carelessly approach the lab.

"Hooo, hoo, haahaahaah..."



The ramen shop behind the lab. In another world line, MayQueen+Nyan² was here. Faris and Mayuri worked as maids there.

"Why are we stopping here nya? We need to run quickly!"

MayQueen's second floor seems to now be the storehouse for the ramen shop downstairs.

...Actually, we might be able to hide there. I urge Faris and run up the stairs.



Faris and I slip into cover and hide our breath. We came here on our own... we can just pray nobody saw us.

"Anyway, let's wait here until those guys give up."

I take out my phone and open the mail-writing screen. I send Daru an SOS mail.




"...whew."

Ah, it's still hot. I'm so thirsty since we've been running in severe heat.

"Haah, haah... If only MayQueen were here, we'd have air conditioning, and I could get something to drink, huh..."

"Nya?"

"Oh, nothing."

When I say whatever was on my mind, Faris makes a dubious face.





"Eh...?"

"Wait, I know, we opened up the homepage for a little bit to post maid recruiting informationyan. Kyouma, did you see it nya?"

"...It was scheduled to open?"

"Faris planned it and passed it through the conference. It was almost a done deal nyan. But at the end, Papa said no, and the plan died. Ahhh, Papa's such a blockhead, nya... If he left the store to me, it would've become the best maid cafe in all of Japan with hanyaaan costumes and kyunkyuuun maids. It would've even pulled customers from Ueno and Ikebukuro to Akiba... how disappointing nya."

The former Akihabara with shops filled with games and anime and 2D bishoujo. The current Akihabara, transformed into a retro electric town. The maid cafe, MayQueen+Nyan². The storehouse of the ramen shop.

If you add things up, Faris shouldn't have been this attached to RaiNet Access Battlers in the previous world line.

"Faris, no, Akiha Rumiho."

"Hanyan?"

"Since you're the Akiha daughter and heir, you go to the Akihabara city development conferences too, right?"

"Nnya? I don't go, nya."

"You don't? But you said so..."



"Papa goes to the conferences nya. Why would Faris have to go nya?"

"Conversely, why did you go to the conferences...?"

"Like I said, I don't go to them nya."

That's right. Why would a high school girl go to that sort of conference in the first place? Not to mention, Faris said she was the (self-proclaimed) propagator of moe shops. Moe shops began to multiply in Akiba around 2002, right? Back then, Faris was still 9 years old, man!

...This might be a hint to the D-mail Faris sent.

"Faris, your dad's a retro PC lover, right?"

"Exactly nya. Oh, now that you mention it, we still haven't found an IBN 5100 nyan."

"By the way, has your dad ever relinquished any retro PCs?"

In another world line, Faris's dad dedicated the IBN 5100 at Yanagibayashi Shrine. No, wait, did Faris do that?

"Never nya. Papa loves all of the PCs he's collected nya. It's unthinkable that he'd relinquish any nya."

Then why was it dedicated...?

"Do you have any retro PCs, Faris?"



The reason the moe shops disappeared was because Faris didn't participate in the city development conferences. I guess that's what the D-mail was about.

"Let's say you participated in city development ever since you were a child."

"Then I think I'd put moe shops all over Akiba nya. Just go to ComiMa and you'll see how amazing otaku power is nya. More people would probably visit Akiba nyan."

"That aside, if you no longer wanted to participate after participating for all that time. How would you stop yourself in the past?"

"Is this some sorta psychological test nya?"

"Simply hypothetical talk."

Faris ponders for a while...

"Hm... a dramatic way is best nya."

"What...?"

"A drama-like development nya. Faris is the type to really believe that stuff. I probably got that from papa, nyan."

Is that so.

"So, for example, if Faris were kidnapped, or--"

Suddenly, Faris falls silent. A dark room, I can't quite read her expression.



"Faris?"

What's wrong?

Faris holds her head, confused.

"Ugh... My head hurts nya... H-Hey, Kyouma... Faris has been feeling funny since coming to this storehouse nya... Even though I only came here once when I was little... It feels... really familiar nya..."



What is this? Another lie? But this is so...

"Ah..."

And now she looks up emphatically. And then, she clings to me.

"I... remember nya..."

"Remember what?"

"...I remember nya!"

There's a sense of urgency in her voice. I'm engulfed by that force, unable to respond.

"MayQueen+Nyan²!"