Chapter 34: Chapter 32.5 — The Cheapness of Loyalty

The girl on the scarlet motorcycle watched on as the blazing vehicle lost its bearings and eventually keeled into a haphazard roll over the stretching asphalt, soon stopping in place as the flames’ low roar reached farther lands in the horizon.

She halted just a few feet from it, taking a good glance at the driver’s side, which had happened to land visible from her position.

There was no one inside. She let her right arm relax, the blinding flame in her palm vanishing at once as her slender hand fell just below her waist.

Where had they gone, now? Killing her master right alongside those three meant he would no doubt respawn right next to them. She just wasn’t sure how far from her that would occur. In any case, one of the thugs would still be armed with a liquid spear, so Maekawa wouldn’t be safe in any event.

But, then again… Why should she care? It was one thing if he were to be defeated and enslaved by someone else. If you converted to your servant someone who already had servants of their own, they would all become equals at that moment, serving under the same, new master. Depending on just how vicious or unhinged that new owner could be compared to the previous one, that could present a grave problem, and would be something to avoid at all costs. On the other hand, if a slave owner were to get liquidated, there would be no consequences to their servants whatsoever. The master would be gone, therefore the slaves would be free souls once again, and all items previously owned by a given servant would be returned to them, while new acquisitions, on the other hand, would be distributed by them all at random.

With that in mind, Suzuka should have nothing to gain by helping Maekawa now. He’d served as a good distraction, and she could just leave him here to keep those mobs occupied while she ran as fast from that place as possible.

She was sure he would understand. In a place like this, you had to look out for yourself, first and foremost. You could trust no one, not even newly arrived grasshoppers would be so naive as to befriend you without any demands. Quite frankly, that would be something typical of Heaven, but not the Cyberway.

A faint, yet somehow lively glint caught the corner of her eye. Off in the distance, far behind her and the burning remains of the tank-car, as Haruto called it. Three, no… Four beaming blurs seemed to take form right next to the road, and from each of them, a different silhouette had appeared. Each of the four people remained in place for a moment, and then, the loud cacophony of screaming and popping gunshots had resumed. It was all savage enough that even from all the way over here she was able to hear it, despite barely making anything out of the moving figures in the distance.

Yes, letting them destroy each other would be for the best. Then, with him out of the way, she would be able to go on with her original goals in the Cyberway. Even if Maekawa’s credits were to vanish entirely, Suzuka still had money stored elsewhere. She would just have to go retrieve it at some point.

Even if… he was still after her, she was certain she could handle his weaker hitmen with just a bit more luck just long enough to make it to somewhere nobody knew her. And then, lay low forever. Forget about everything that had happened thus far, allow herself to be forgotten just as well. It was what she always did.

She’d seen more than enough. The countless people who had betrayed her, left her to die. The people she had betrayed, herself. This place may not have been Hell, but it was close enough when it came down to it.

You didn’t just get along in the Cyberway. You didn’t love. You didn’t make friends. You simply used, or were used. The slave system was just another cheap tool created to support those who sucked at subtlety.

It was easy. Leaving him to die and going about her life like usual should be the obvious decision.

And yet…

We’re going on a tour.

A couple of meaningless, utterly empty words had echoed through her head. They held no value. For someone like her, who had at least seen her fair share of the eastern region, they sounded ridiculous.

A world tour. I want to see everything the Cyberway has to offer before I can settle.

That hadn’t been a suggestion of any sort. It had been a declaration. A promise.

Uttered by an overeager kid who didn’t know the first thing about what he was getting himself involved in. He was arrogant. His own ambition blinded him. Simple and fickle as it might have been, it was already far too grand for a place like this.

I’m sure we can manage. Wouldn’t you say so?

And yet, somehow, the boy sounded earnest, no matter what he was saying.

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No matter what he was talking about, he was determined to carry it through. He acted on his goals, unrealistic as they might have been, even though he should have nothing more to gain from it than if he’d chosen a path more akin to hers. Simple. Comfortable.

She turned back. She accelerated. And she readied a fireball, taking aim at the nearest of the hitmen she could place in her sights. It wasn’t like she had to help him. Heck, it wasn’t wise to do so, in any sense of the word. But still, she had wound up heading back. Running into the fire, rushing to his aid.

She didn’t know why. Likely, the short time she’d spent as a servant had crossed some sort of wire in her head. But she didn’t care anymore. Thinking about it had never taken her anywhere.

This was where the losers lived. It wasn’t a place for any of that. You didn’t explore. You just claimed you did. You didn’t fight or argue. You just pretended to, then tripped your target when they were least expecting. You didn’t love, or befriend, or care for others. You claimed you did.

You couldn’t get close to anyone. You couldn’t tell them your secrets. You couldn’t turn your back to anyone, no matter what. If you were one of those lunatics who actually believed they could safely fall asleep in a world like this, you still had to do it with an eye open, even if you were on your own. Especially if you were on your own. And god forbid you somehow ended up alone in a room with only one other person. It would never end well.

Countless times before, she would have been done for, were it not for the ability she had.

And no matter what, you would never be anything more than you used to be, in your previous life. That went for everyone, without exception.

And yet… That night, at the inn… He had fallen asleep. Like a rock. It had happened almost immediately, so much so it had freaked her out. He had felt enough at ease to do something like that in this place, even though he had to share a room with someone else. Heck, he chose to do so, all just to save a few bucks. What kind of moron would think something like that?

And then… She’d fallen asleep as well. She had slept like a rock, even though she knew better than anyone she should not.

It had been the first time she had ever slept since the day she’d died.

She had lied to him.

She had only tried it once before. The very first night she had arrived. She had stayed awake in bed, counting the seconds until that nightmare was over. But it had never ended. All she’d been able to think about, at that moment, had been the bulging eyes of her very first victim, as she was slowly sucked in by the spiral. Ever since then, she hadn’t laid down ever again. She hadn’t stepped into an inn ever again. Every time, she was reminded of the same thing, even though there should be no relation.

Somehow, some way, this halfwit’s nonchalance had rubbed off on her, and the memory of that day hadn’t returned to her. Her mind had taken a rest for the first time in a long while. It was absurd.

Maekawa was the very definition of stupidity, no matter how you put it. He spoke his mind far too much. He would be rude to someone he didn’t like, even if he had nothing to gain from it. Just because he could. He was simply mad as a hatter. There was no way he could just keep getting away with that kind of behavior for long. Not in a place like this. Heck, not anywhere she knew.

And yet, she couldn’t just leave him be. She couldn’t just let him off her sights and run far, because that was part of his nature.

He was like a fast, looming trainwreck you just couldn’t take your eyes off of, no matter how much you wanted to. There was no possible way he and his crazy antics could end up well in the long run. He should know that. But even so, that had never stopped the boy.

Had he really just believed she would back him up once those cars were out of the picture? How ridiculous. He had no proof to go off of that she would do something like that.

But she still found herself going back. Because she had to help her master out… Or some bullshit like that…?

“I friggin’ hate this guy…” she grumbled in resignation, turning the gas handle some more.

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