Chapter 40: New city

“Wrong again, stupid! You’re supposed to move only the brake in places like this! Look, you almost just crashed us into a wall!”

“What do you even mean!? That makes no sense!”

“Come on, master! We’re almost out of town. Just do what I tell you, please…”

Before she could voice any more complaints, they had been out in the open.

The whole way out of Kataki had been essentially a loud shouting match between the two of them. Despite a few close calls, Haruto had been able to pass the gates to the outside world eventually, at last making their way through the straight, wider roads along the gray desert that made up most of that region’s wild areas, and the lack of obstacles had allowed her to ease up on the scolding a bit, though she didn’t feel safe enough to completely relax just yet.

“W-Well, on the brighter side, there are no traffic laws here… At least we don’t have to deal with crappy signs or anything, right?” he chuckled, wiping a few beads of cold sweat from his forehead.

“Only someone like you would ever see that as a good thing, master… I thought I was about to die, there…”

About half an hour had passed since they’d left Jaya’s shop, which had given her the time to hammer in some desperate points into the boy’s thick skull. The way he moved the car around could at least be considered slightly ‘functional’ now, but he would still screw up every once in a while and make it jerk wildly around, or otherwise stall completely.

Still, she couldn’t figure out what his deal was. His movements, his mistakes… He didn’t look inexperienced at all. What he looked like, was someone who’d gotten into some pretty horrible habits, which was probably even worse.

“Where’re we heading now?” he suddenly nudged her, startling her out of her own thoughts.

“We… We’re going to Pagat City next. Relatively peaceful place, though some parts can look pretty busy occasionally. It has everything we need, from workshops to specialized upgrade stores. Though we’ll most likely not have the money for everything you might want when we arrive, so I’d suggest we take down some quests first and try to level you up some more first. It’s also a pretty good spot to do that kind of thing, so that’s why I chose it.”

“Nice. And you say it’s just straight ahead, right?” he said, moving his hand to change to the next gear.

“Right. It’s a bit far, yes, but the path isn’t very complicated. We just need to do a few turns to the left once we get near, but you’ll know once we reach – – You put the gear wrong again! put it back!!”

After another minute of wild veering and random fumbling with the gearstick, the car had been straightened once again. The girl slouch back onto her seat, heaving tiredly.

“Honestly, I just can’t figure you out…”

“What do you mean? Look, I get I’m not that perfect, but I was just dropped here out of nowhere. The fact that I could pick this up so easily is kind of a miracle.”

“That’s what I can’t figure out… You’re trash at doing this, that’s not a question. But… You’re clearly not a beginner. You move the clutch and the wheel way too well. You clearly know how the gear shift works… to an extent… But your leg coordination sucks, your arm coordination sucks, you don’t know how to match the gears with your speed properly, nor what location to use what amount of speed in, you can’t distinguish between upwards or downwards inclines, you can’t see pedestrians for shit or measure distances, and barely even bother with the mirrors!  You know nothing about how the car’s systems actually work, and even if you somehow do something right, you can’t even explain to me what you’re trying to do or why.”

“I told you, already! This is, like, what? The third time I drive anything with an engine?”

“But that just doesn’t add up. You look like you’re used to what you’re doing… But you don’t actually know what the hell you’re doing!”

“That’s because I don’t know! The little things I even understand about these things, I learned on the fly when I arrived here!”

“There’s no way that’s true. You were racing against that Nohara guy when I met you!”

“What’s that got to do with anything? I barely even knew the guy.” he turned to her, indignant, all while keeping the gas pedal steady in place.

At that moment, the girl could only thank the universe that barely anyone else ever drove around those parts, otherwise they would’ve already crashed against someone.

“My point here, master, is that you…! No… Wait a second… Do you even know about the newcomer rule at all?”

He looked angrily at her again, seemingly trying to come up with some witty answer. In the end though, he simply shrugged and returned his eyes to the road.

“Go on. Illuminate me.”

“Listen, whenever someone dies and arrives in the Cyberway, they’re made to compete against someone else in an event such as a duel race, or an overhaul run, or something of the sort. The thing is, your opponent is not chosen completely at random. The system will pit you against someone of your own skill level. So, if say, an unlettered five-year old were to day and get dumped here, there’s no way they would be competing against a formula 1 racer, or an experienced mechanic. And that brings us to you, master. That first guy you faced might not have been particularly, but he had at least a somewhat tangible idea of what he was doing. It’s true you were falling behind when I first encountered you, but… Still, whatever controls this world would never force either of you to fight someone you had no chance of taking.”

“...”

“Master?”

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“No. I don’t buy it. Honestly, I probably just got unlucky there. What guarantee is there that the system will even find people on the same level every time? You can’t have people that match each other in exactly every situation! How many people do you think arrive here all the time? The world is full of losers and indecisive people, matchsticks.”

“My point exactly.” she pressed him. “How many people do you think die every second? Every minute? Every hour? How much delay do you think there is between one’s exact death and their arrival here? We don’t know. But with a setup like that, there will always be someone close to your own skill, without question.”

“So, what’s your point? That guy knew how to drive, therefore you think I did? Go touch some grass.”

“There’s, like, one place with grass in the whole eastern region. It’s a hundred kilometers from here.”

“Tsk… You know what I meant.”

“Well, at least try to consider it. I don’t know how you died, but sometimes the shock of a violent end can make us forget some things. Besides, there are always other factors. You might have used to sleepwalk in your old life and –”

“And what!? I stole random cars while I was sleeping and just taught myself to drive badly!? I’m telling you, I never touched a car once before coming here, except… except…”

“...?”

Haruto went silent. She tried to broach the issue again, but he waved her away with one hand.

“Just shut up. Let me drive…”

Before long, Suzuka had simply given up on the topic.

He’d seen his father drive a few times. That was all. That was all he remembered, and that was all he’d needed to figure out what to do. Whether it made sense to her or not was of no concern to him.

His father… What was his name, even? He couldn’t remember, for the life of him.

His mother, too, was a mystery.

He knew they had existed at some point. Whenever he thought of his father, particularly, one or other fragment or idea would resurface, if for a brief moment. No more than a flash, though… They came and went.

And though he couldn’t be aware of it, they haunted his dreams.

And there was also that other person… Maki… Maekawa? No. She’d never been called that. She wasn’t his mother. She wasn’t part of the family. Never had been.

“Fuyukawa…? Fujisawa…?” he muttered, clicking his tongue in annoyance. “No…”

“Master?”

“It’s… nothing..”

He couldn’t remember. Perhaps… Perhaps it was for the best.

Maybe Suzuka was right. He might’ve hit his head hard when the scarlet car smashed against him. But he would never admit that to her face.

Or maybe, it was just too insignificant to remember.

Regardless, he had decided to let go of the past, so thinking about it too deeply was a waste of time. He wanted to move forward. Learn to live in this world, learn to accept his fate just like everyone else. The lingering feeling still remained, though that the past wouldn’t be letting him go just yet. It wasn’t done with him. Far from it.

Without stopping a single time more, the two deceased failures headed towards the next city, as the Cyberway’s light slowly weakened above them, as it had before.

Along the way, he would still mess up a few more times. The girl would complain and scold him a few more times. That aside, the trip had been mostly uneventful. He would slowly get used to that car in time. And that aside, he and Suzuka were mostly at peace with each other for the time being. For the several hours following, there hadn’t been any more threats, revenge plots, or attempts at his or his servant’s life.

That peace he savored so much, however, wouldn’t last for long.

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