In the control room...
“Okay, all finished!♪”
The remaining soldiers for the Security Department were holed up in the control room desperately plotting resistance. However, it rapidly failed. For one thing, the soldiers’ skills were poor, so they couldn’t buy time. The corpses of fallen combatants littered the bloody floor. Among them was the body of Hitzinger, chief of Security Department headquarters.
“I don’t know if there’s a next life, but if there is, give that boy my greetings.”
Amidst the dead bodies, the Saint was pleased that everything was going smoothly and was in the best of moods.
“Now as for you guys...”
“Uhhh...”
She spared the lives of the control room staff. That wasn’t from any humane considerations or because they were noncombatants. They were spared because they were essential for the launch. Assistant Chief Helmut could only tremble at the hellish scene before him.
“Oh dear. Don’t be afraid. I won’t kill you.” The Saint spoke with no change in her voice, which made it all the more chilling. “A war will begin now, so I need as many scientists and engineers as possible. Come to August.”
She was proposing treason to this member of the Security Department, an ultranationalist supporting world unification under Wiltia.
“I’ll give you anything you want. Money, personnel, facilities, materials, status, honor... Whatever you want! Just name it and I’ll get it for you.”
He was startled by the conditions she offered. However, the more she promised him, the more he feared what would happen if he refused. She would certainly retaliate with, “Oh. In that case, die!”
Trembling and bowing deeply, Helmut begged for his life. “Y-Yes, as you wish!!” In fear of his impending death, he lost any pride, faith, patriotism or strength.
“Oh, how obedient you are! I like obedient people. I’m counting on you, okay?”
“Yes, Ma’am!!” Helmut’s spirit was broken. He would swear fealty to the Saint so passionately he would willingly lick the bottom of her shoes.
“When everything goes according to plan, I feel happy. Now for the launch!”
When the Saint spoke, gunshots sounded in the distance.
“What was that?” Toolman requested reports from his subordinates.
“Enemy approaching! One enemy!”
“One?” Toolman frowned at the report. Not because he thought there might be more soldiers resisting. He didn’t think there was anyone left from the Security Department with the combat ability to single-handedly take on his subordinates.
“Who is it?” He thought perhaps Blitzdonner had returned, but with only one arm, he could not stand against the Saint. Toolman was sure that Blitzdonner wouldn’t dare attack so recklessly.
“Oh, that girl has come.” The Saint had a good idea of who it might be. A moment later, she appeared in the doorway.
“Where’s Master?!” It was Svelgen Avei, the popular waitress of Tockerbrot.
“I’m glad you came! After all, I couldn’t have you dying so quickly.” The Saint spoke without losing her smile.
“Where is Master?! If you give him back right away, fine! But if you don’t...”
“What would you do?”
“I’ll make you suffer and then I’ll kill you.”
“What if I give him back?”
“I’ll kill you without making you suffer.”
“Oh dear...”
Sven was overflowing with an anger that almost made her hair stand on end. The Saint made a face of exaggerated concern.
“Stay back, Saint. I’ll handle this.” Toolman took a step forward. His hand was already on the hilt of his katana. “I don’t know who you are, but if you get in my way, I can’t guarantee your life.”
Out of good will, Sven tried to warn the man threatening her. He must be considerably skilled. The sword at his side must also be of good quality. However, Sven didn’t intend to let anyone defeat her at this moment. She felt ferocious enough to bite and kill like a hungry wolf.
“Ha ha... Oh, right. I’ll do the same to you as I did to the other doll.”
“What are you talking about? Hurry up and decide. Do you want me to kill you or not?!” Sven took a step forward. In one more step, she would be within firing range. She could then drive her foot into the girl’s throat.
“Oh dear. How frightening! You’re scaring me, so I’ll have my shepherd protect me.”
“What are you talking—” Before she could finish her question, Sven noticed someone standing behind her. Since she hadn’t noticed him earlier, he must be a very skilled soldier.
“Tch!”
Instantly, without even turning, she leapt away. The man’s fist struck the space where Sven had just been standing.
“I held back, but you’re good,” the man muttered.
“Huh?” Sven stopped in shock when she recognized the man. This was impossible. Why was he acting this way?
“You must not be human. I don’t want to hurt someone so pretty, so why don’t you just leave,” the man said.
He was telling Sven that if she left right now, he wouldn’t do anything else. This was impossible. It couldn’t be happening. There was no way this man would say that. Not to her.
“Why... Master?”
The man standing before her was Lud Langart.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
“What are you talking about?”
Was this some kind of a joke that wasn’t funny? The person she knew better than anyone else, the person more important than her own life, was acting as though they had never met.
“Master, it’s me! It’s Sven! Svelgen Avei!! I’m your... your...”
She wanted to shout she was his wife, but Lud’s eyes only showed bewilderment. No, that was wrong. It was even worse. He looked exasperated, as though he was thinking, “What is this girl talking about?” Furthermore, his eyes showed a kind of compassion as if he pitied her.
“Doesn’t this girl say the strangest things, Lud?” The Saint spoke to him as if she had known him for a very long time. “The poor girl! She thinks she’s Sven! She thinks she’s your lover! Isn’t that pathetic?”
“What? Who would do that?”
Ignoring Sven, the Saint and Lud were talking about her. They were treating her like a fake.
“How can you say that? I... I’m Sven... Svelgen Avei. I’m your... Lud Langart’s...”
“I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken. You are not Sven.” Lud denied Sven’s claim with a compassionate voice.
“This is Sven. She’s my wife.”
“What...?”
Lud pointed at the Saint. The Saint was smiling. It was a happy smile. This was what she had meant about teaching Sven true despair.
“No... Why? This is wrong... I...”
Now her prediction had come true. For Sven, losing Lud would mean the greatest despair. And that just became a reality.
“No...”
The world went black and Sven collapsed on the spot. Her heart was mechanical, but she loved a human and wanted to become human herself. Faced with losing Lud, her heart was broken.
“Take that, you fake.”
The last thing Sven heard was the Saint’s laughter.
Toolman was surprised that Sven had unexpectedly appeared and just as unexpectedly had collapsed.
“What in the world did you do?” He knew he was incapable of understanding the Saint, but he asked anyway.
“It’s no big deal. She’s just a mechanical doll. She couldn’t cope with information that surpassed her understanding.” The Saint’s answer was mysterious. “She possesses what you might call a pseudo heart. She harbors a monomaniacal obsession for her owner. So I changed its object.”
“Its object... Do you mean him?”
Toolman looked at Lud Langart, the large man in front of him. He must be suffering from some kind of brainwashing, but Lud’s eyes didn’t have that particular warped look Toolman expected. Lud’s emotions and mental faculties were functioning normally. He was actually staring at the unconscious silver-haired girl with pity.