Chapter 41 - Traces 3

A storm of blades had swept through the rest stop's backyard. The lively music and laughter were gone, replaced by the lingering tension of battle and the metallic smell of blood.

Santa frowned as he stripped away Rudolph's dented outer armor.

"His life-support system is damaged. It needs replacing right now."

Jack O' Lantern answered his muttering.

"Need a hand, Gramps?"

"I'd appreciate it."

[No time for this lets move him already yep]

With that, Santa and the two members of ROA moved in perfect coordination. With practiced care, they lifted Rudolph's body.

"Got somewhere we can operate?"

"There's a procedure room behind the counter. We'll use that."

The three of them disappeared inside the rest stop.

Those left behind watched them go for a moment, then settled their rattled nerves in their own ways.

Ash, however, could not.

This was more than the lingering excitement of battle. The ninja's swordsmanship still flickered before his eyes.

Ever since the ninjas had left, he had been turning the same question over and over.

'... How?'

Ash was no fool.

His experiences thus far had taught him at least this much: this world was a dimension wholly separate from the one he had once called home.

Everything was different, from its technological development to its ways of thinking and its culture.

And yet.

'How can the Kunlun Sect's martial arts exist in this world?'

He tried to piece together an explanation using his imagination, but none of the stories he constructed held together.

Without an answer, the question kept circling back. Endless thoughts filled his main core.

'Perhaps I should pursue them even now...'

"Mister."

A voice reached him.

He turned to find Akina looking up at his much taller frame, her blue eyes shining.

"Are you okay?"

Ash forced his thoughts aside and nodded.

"Of course."

"Liar."

Her firm reply made him freeze for a moment.

"Something's bothering you right now, isn't it?"

Had she somehow looked into his mind?

After briefly considering what to say, Ash spoke in his electronic voice.

"What makes you think that?"

"Hmph. I can tell just by looking at your face."

"... Huh?"

Without thinking, Ash touched his head. He wondered whether it had somehow turned into a human face, but it was still a humanoid's head.

"I knew you were a genius without equal, Miss Akina, but I had no idea your gifts extended to reading expressions that do not exist."

"Stop joking."

"I am quite serious. Such supreme powers of perception..."

Akina stepped closer and took his steel hand.

"That masked person earlier. Do you know them?"

"..."

Ash could not answer immediately.

He focused for a moment on the warmth against his hand, then shook his head.

"Where would I find anyone I know? Have you forgotten that we have scarcely been apart since you awakened me?"

"Hmm... Well, that's true, but..."

"More importantly, are you hurt anywhere? The fighting was quite fierce."

Akina gave a little twirl.

"Not a scratch. Oh, it did sober me up a little. The shock, I mean."

"Hmm. That is good news."

"What's good about it? Sobering up in the middle of a party! What could possibly be worse?"

"... So Sanctum's greatest pleasure-seeker was here all along."

"What's a pleasure-seeker?"

Without thinking, Ash turned toward Ifrit. Clearly displeased with the situation, she had her feet up on the table and was drinking flat beer.

As she reached for another can, she apparently noticed Ash and Akina watching her. Her heart-shaped eyes flashed.

"What? What is it?"

"Mister called you a pleasure—"

"It is nothing."

"Well, that's boring."

Ifrit chuckled and patted the seat beside her.

"Come over here, both of you. She just started telling me something interesting."

By "she," Ifrit meant Siren.

Siren glared at her, but when Ash looked her way, she blushed and lowered her head.

It was a startling contrast to the swordswoman who had stabbed a ninja through the heart without the slightest hesitation only moments ago.

"No... I mean, what I was saying wasn't anything important... I was just mumbling about something I happened to know, and senior Ifrit suddenly asked..."

"She knows. Who the ninjas are."

"Senior!"

Ash's optical sensors flashed brighter than ever.

"Truly? You know their identities?"

Unable to bear the intensity of his gaze, Siren immediately shrank back and murmured,

"No, I wouldn't go so far as to say their identities..."

"Then what?"

Looking at Ash, who had already approached with Akina, she hesitated.

"Um, well... 'ninja' is slang they use in Underland."

"Underland?"

Ash immediately searched his database, but there was no information on Underland anywhere.

He glanced at Akina on the off chance she knew, but this time she merely blinked, apparently just as unfamiliar with it.

Sitting beside Siren, Ash leaned closer and spoke in his electronic voice.

"Tell me more."

"... Um, about what...? Underland? Ninjas?"

"Let us begin with Underland."

Siren scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"Underland is... beneath Sanctum."

"Beneath it?"

"Yes. A sort of underground city, I suppose...?"

"Hahaha! An underground city? Aren't you dressing it up a bit just because you're from there?"

Siren glared at Ifrit's taunt, but Ifrit merely raised her middle finger in response.

After a sip of beer, she took over the explanation.

"You can't explain Underland without bringing up that dick."

"... My lady? What did you just say?"

"That dick. Z. O. T, I mean."

"Ah. You mean the city control system operated by the Sanctum Administration?"

"Right. Because of it, you can't cause 'disturbances above a certain level' inside Sanctum. The Safemen will come and wipe everyone out."

"I am aware. Is that not why even the mighty megacorporations settle their disputes in the Outer?"

"Exactly."

"But what does that... dick have to do with Underland?"

Ifrit grinned.

"Underland is literally a kind of refuge that sprang up beneath Sanctum. People who couldn't pay their breathing fees gathered there, and a neighborhood naturally took shape. In other words, it's not a district created by the will of our glorious Sanctum Administration."

"... Which means..."

"Looks like you've caught on. That dick can't see into Underland. But you can still shelter from the ion storms."

She looked up at the sky, and Ash followed her gaze.

A golden aurora rippled across the dim night sky.

"... Because it lies beneath the city."

"Correct. Somewhere protected by the Veil, but out of Z. O. T's sight. That's Underland."

Ifrit continued, sipping her beer.

"So what do you think it's like? Completely lawless, obviously. Someone dies down there, and nobody says a word. Oh, I guess that's true up here too? Anyway, just think of it as a place packed with fuckers worse than you can imagine."

"... There's somewhere like that? In Sanctum?" Akina asked.

She, too, seemed to be hearing of Underland for the first time. Ifrit shrugged.

"Sorry, but I'm only going by what I've heard. I heard the REST-men were based in Underland, so I did a little digging. Oh, speaking of which..."

She looked at Siren.

Her heart-shaped eyes shone with an unprecedented sharpness.

"Is it true the REST-men have their headquarters in Underland? You'd know, wouldn't you?"

Siren, a former REST-man.

Meeting Ifrit's gaze, she only stiffened her expression.

Then Ash cut in.

"That is enough about Underland."

Whatever friction existed between the two women was of no importance to him right now.

"Next, then. Would you explain the ninjas?"

At his intervention, the hostility between them vanished as though it had never existed.

Siren took a moment to gather her thoughts before answering.

"Ninja... isn't a word for any particular organization."

"Then?"

"It's what people generally call fixers who work in Underland."

"Fixers?"

"Yes. Though their methods are a little different...? Fixers aboveground solve problems in perfectly ordinary ways, gathering information or moving goods. Underland's ninjas, on the other hand... just kill everyone."

"... What?"

"The person causing the problem, anyone getting in the way, or the organization they belong to. Whatever it is, they solve the problem by destroying it without leaving a trace."

"Eek!"

Akina, who had been listening intently, let out a frightened squeak.

"Then isn't Grandpa Santa in danger too? He seemed pretty close to that man they were chasing."

"We'll be lucky if it's only me."

Just then, Santa appeared, visibly exhausted and smelling of blood and disinfectant.

He roughly stripped off his bloody surgical gloves and tossed them aside, strode to the table, and downed a beer in one go.

"How did it go?"

Crushing the empty can, Santa answered Ash's question.

"Saved him. Replaced his life-support system and patched up most of his wounds."

"I see. You know him, then?"

"A junior colleague. We used to... work together. He got in touch to say he'd retired and was working as a fixer, but..."

Santa's face twisted into a strange expression that defied any single word.

"Dragging us into this pile of shit? Fucking bastard. I'm already wondering if I should've just let him croak."

After taking a moment to catch his breath, he surveyed everyone gathered in the backyard. His gaze was heavy and troubled, utterly out of place at a party.

"That young lady's right. If we just sit here, the whole rest stop could get blown away. Those Underland bastards know how to hold a grudge."

"You know of Underland, old master?"

"Just the basics. Live long enough, and you naturally pick up a few things."

With that, Santa reached into his shirt's breast pocket, took out a small data chip, and tossed it onto the table.

A faint hologram shimmered over its surface.

[DREAMWEAVER]

"Dream... weaver? What is this?"

"Found it in Rudolph's jacket. Looks like this is what caused all the trouble. Probably why they were calling him a thief, too. So, I've been thinking real fucking hard about this."

Santa took out a cigarette and lit it.

Then he addressed Ash.

"Ash. Any interest in working as a fixer on the side? I've got a job for you."

Ash's optical sensors narrowed to slivers of light.

"Do you mean to ask me to finish your acquaintance's commission in his stead?"

"The exact opposite."

Santa tapped the chip on the table with a finger.

Then, exhaling smoke, he got to the point.

"Let's give this back to them. Make it like the theft never happened. Seems like the cleanest solution to me."

"... Can we do that?"

"Why the hell not? Better that little bastard Rudolph blows his job and ends up broke than all of us get marked as targets and hounded by ninjas. I saved his life. He's getting off cheap. Don't you think?"

Every word made sense.

He flicked the ash from his cigarette. As it fell to the ground, Santa spoke.

"So? Feel like taking a business trip to Underland?"