Location: Outside of the Burnt Dorm Building

Time: 12:45 PM, February 14th 2108

Have you ever tried to dress an unconscious body? Well, it’s a lot harder than you might be expecting. It’s nothing like dressing up a doll or a model. Without anyone controlling them, legs are a lot like wet noodles.

Wet noodles that are actively trying to resist wearing pants.

Either way, I managed to get Emily and myself properly dressed before acknowledging Kazuko’s presence. And I made it clear that if he ever breathed a word of what he saw I’d have my manager sue him back to Japan.

If I had a better personality maybe I’d have been a bit more thankful. True to his word, Kazuko gave the unconscious Emily what first aid he could. Most of her injuries were treatable with demon’s blood, so after regaining consciousness she should have been fine.

“So then, like, what are you doing here?”

I asked the question hoping to finish our discussion before Emily had a chance to wake up. I was too involved in the situation and didn’t want to put my cards on the table in front of her.

“What am I doing here? Shouldn’t you be worried about the situation in general?” Kazuko answered casually while sitting precariously on a tree branch.

“No.” Ignoring my own decision to save Emily, things had basically been going the way Princess Elodie intended them to. “There’s no reason to play coy. I’m sure a sneak like you already knows all about what’s happening.”

“I’m honored everyone seems to think so highly of me, but unfortunately I’ve got no idea what’s going on with this. My time has been occupied with tracking down someone else. My purpose in showing up here was at the behest of another.”

“Who?” I knew that he worked for that woman who transferred into the ARA, but she shouldn't have anything to do with this.

“Alexis Albright.”

Kazuko pulled out an envelope as he revealed her name. I wasn’t sure if I should be surprised or not. On one hand, Alexis is just one of those people who has the ability to be involved with anything. But on the other hand, she also isn’t the type to get involved herself. She’ll sell anyone information, sure; that’s different than making a request herself.

Not that I’d ever actually met her myself. All my information was secondhand at best.

“And why are you working for her? What did she want?”

Why was I asking so many questions? Despite my intentions, it seemed like I had already accepted my involvement in this game. If I learned anything useful the princess might make things easier for me.

“Because she gave me the information I wanted. And she had two requests. The first was to make sure the teams for capture the flag ended up the way she wanted, and the second was to deliver you and Emily a message if you both managed to survive your encounter at the burning dorm building without running away.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Huh? Isn’t that oddly specific? Even an idol doesn’t appreciate being predicted that much.”

“That’s what I was thinking, but after watching things play out exactly as she predicted; I’m impressed.”

“And the message?”

Rather than me, it was Emily who asked the question. She managed to regain consciousness without me noticing.

“The two of you are supposed to take Karen Kaldsen’s frozen body to this address.”

Kazuko threw me a scrap of paper with an address written on it. I didn’t recognize it right away, but it was an address within this fake city.

“And why should an idol take a request like that?”

“That’s not really my concern. I was just sent to deliver a message. And with that, my job is done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve actually got something really important to do today. Sayonara.”

Kazuko didn’t wait for a response before falling backward off of his tree branch and running away.

After he was out of sight, I turned toward Emily. She was still sitting on the ground, probably trying to get her bearings.

“So, like, what are we going to do?”

“I can’t speak for you, but I’m going to deliver Ms. Kaldsen.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I don’t know who Alexis Albright is, but maybe she can save Ms. Kaldsen.”

I looked toward Karen, frozen in her casket of ice.

“She’s dead. Whatever froze her like that must have been an automatic response from her augmentation, or maybe even her stigma.”

“Probably, but there’s still a chance. And if there’s a chance, I have to try. That’s what he would have done.”

I found myself getting exasperated with her response. Ignoring my decision to save her, I’m not one for getting involved when I can avoid it. And involving myself with Alexis’s request to deliver Karen’s body is only asking for trouble.

“Listen, Emily, I’m just going to say it. I already know why you’re here. I already know who you work for. At this point, even if you could save Karen, why would you? You’d be better off if she died.”

The princess told us about Emily’s connection to W. I don’t really understand what W is or what they want, but I do know that they are the bad guys.

“I don’t need a reason. I’ll save her even if there’s no benefit.”

Emily got up and started walking toward Karen’s body.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Probably. You’ve already done a lot for me, and I’m thankful. You don’t have to help me with this.”

“Help you? Do you have any idea how you’ll transport her frozen body in the first place?”

“No idea, but I’ll figure it out!”

I gave an exaggerated sigh.

“This is why I can’t stand working with amateurs. Fine, I’ll help. This task requires an idol’s touch.”

Why did I agree to help? I should have been against it, yet I didn’t even need convincing. I’m not sure what kind of excuse I’d have given at the time, but in retrospect it seems pretty clear that I’m just the kind of weak-willed person that will go with the flow.

I’m going to blame my lack of life experience for that one. Given everything that had happened, it would have taken a strong willed person to just distance themself from everything.

“Really? You’ll help? That’s great!”

Despite her previous declaration Emily didn’t try to hide her delight.

“Yeah, but first, there’s something I need to explain to you.”

If I was going to be going with her, I figured I should at least explain the situation a little bit. Emily probably didn’t have a good grasp of what was happening.

And despite how she acted toward me, I didn’t owe the Sanguine Princess any loyalty. I had no reason to keep quiet if I thought telling Emily what I knew was at all beneficial. Clearly she wasn’t the radical member of W that I was warned about.

Actually, if anything, maybe I should have been more worried about Emily’s reaction when she learned this whole thing was a setup.