Even if her ever-absurd royal powers could tear through the cuffs, three pairs would take longer. Then, even if she could get free and avoid the bullets, if she wasn’t careful, then they could hit the other two hostages.
“I was informed that one or two pairs were not sufficient,” the colonel said. “These are specially made of maraging steel.”
Maraging steel was a specific alloy that increased the hardness and tensile strength of the metal. It was an exceedingly expensive material that was ordinarily used for aeronautics, missiles, and satellites.
Of course, Pamil wasn’t enthused by that, and her big blue eyes were glaring at the colonel.
“Now, let us discuss the location of the Legacy,” he began.
“I don’t know about it. I’m not Princess Pamil; I’m her body double android,” Pamil insisted.
“You are just under that impression, no?” he said with a laugh. “Well... your current personality wouldn’t know that. There’s even a high possibility that torture wouldn’t yield an answer. You could call it a type of split personality. It certainly isn’t a bad method for maintaining secrecy; you can’t reveal what you don’t know, after all.” Pamil remained silent. “And so there is nothing more that I can do but have you looked at by specialists. I suppose I shall take you all to my country. Of course, I have not prepared official tickets, so it may be a little bit of a rough journey.”
“Wait a minute!” Kyouhei yelled, “Murata-san has nothing to do with this!”
“She certainly does,” the colonel answered with a thin smile. “She is Princess Pamil’s friend. A single hostage makes me uneasy. If you have two, then you still have insurance even if the one dies.”
“You bastard...”
The man was telling them that, should it be necessary, he’d kill one of them as a demonstration.
“If you can remember it here, then there won’t be a need to go through all this trouble, will there?” the colonel insisted.
“I told you, I don’t remember anything like that!”
“...Well, preparing the ship for our departure will take three hours. I do hope you’ll be able to remember before then.” So saying, the colonel strode outside.
Of course, the observers were still there watching them. There were silenced assault rifles pointed at the three of them, one a piece for Kyouhei and Sanae, and five for Pamil.
“Hrm... he wouldn’t listen.”
“Hey, Pamil,” Kyouhei called to her, regardless of the surveillance. They’d probably overlook a conversation at least. Although there might have been another soldier who understood Japanese. “So... you actually were a real princess?”
“You’re getting in on it too?” asked Pamil in shock. “I’m Princess Pamil’s body double android.”
She wasn’t just playing dumb; she really did think of herself that way.
But...
“...You said ‘ten years ago’ earlier.” Kyouhei would have been seven, and still being dragged across the world by his father. The overall impression of his memories from back then was a whirlwind of chaos, so he didn’t have any firm recollections, but... “I remembered. I’ve actually visited the Bergmann Kingdom once, when I was seven.”
“Hmm?”
“I met a girl there, in a courtyard in a massive castle. She had the same hair and eye colors as you.”
“...Kyouhei, what are you trying to s—”
“If I think about it, it’s nothing weird,” Kyouhei spoke over Pamil’s slightly shaken voice. “Dad did say that his cousin married into the Bergmann family; that’s how he got his own connections there. Therefore, it’s not so strange to think that I’ve been in the royal palace if he took me along.”
It was a long-distant memory. A huge castle stood behind Kyouhei and the little girl he was playing with. That young, doll-like girl certainly had told Kyouhei that she loved him.
“I...” Pamil began before blinking and stopping. Traces of her original personality were probably coming back together with her memories. “I’m, um...” Her confidence seemed to have suddenly vanished as she turned timidly to Kyouhei. “I’m not... your sister?” she asked.
“Well, I guess you are,” he answered with a reluctant smile. It was falsified, but legally speaking, they were siblings. However... “Now, though... I guess you’re also my childhood friend,” he declared.
“Your childhood friend...” she murmured, rolling the strange words over her tongue. Though looking at her, he wasn’t sure if she really understood their meaning.
“...Ah, well...” he said with a sigh, “that doesn’t matter right now.”
“It doesn’t?”
“Yeah.” Upon further consideration, if she regained her memories right here and now, things might get more complicated. “The thing we need to worry about now is how to get out of this. Actually, Pamil, do you really not have a clue about that Legacy he’s after?”
“Nope,” she nodded, confident for some reason, “not at all.”
Kyouhei made a thoughtful noise. That meant that all three of them would be taken to the Manninger Commonwealth.
Kyouhei didn’t know how big a thing the Legacy was to them, but from what had been said, there was no chance of him exchanging it for Pamil and Sanae’s life. It galled him to follow the man’s whim, but even so, he wouldn’t have minded negotiating the knowledge for their release.
With Pamil not remembering the knowledge in question, though, it was fruitless. Actually... even if she did have an idea, would it matter...? Even if Pamil did remember about the Legacy, she had literally been without a stitch on her when she’d emerged from the coffin, so... it was unlikely she’d brought the Legacy with her.
Of course, they couldn’t hand over the Legacy itself here and now. The one possibility was to provide information; to tell the Colonel where it was. At that point, the colonel would need to confirm the veracity of the information. It was unlikely that Kyouhei and Sanae would be released as hostages, to say nothing of Pamil—the three of them would be taken to the Manninger Commonwealth.
That would be their end.
They probably wouldn’t be killed until Colonel Walser had his hands on the Legacy, but there was also no guarantee they would be unharmed. And once it was discovered, they would doubtless have ‘fulfilled their purpose’ and been disposed of.
Pamil and I might be... but Murata-san really has nothing to do with it. She shouldn’t be wrapped up in things like this... Kyouhei thought, chewing his lip.
“By the way, Kyouhei?” Pamil suddenly addressed him.
“What?”
“Have you... not had snu-snu with Sanae yet?”
“N-Now’s really not the time—” Kyouhei began yelling before he felt a hard blow to the back of his head. He turned around and saw the source. One of the soldiers had prodded him with the barrel of his gun to get him to quiet down.
“...Where’d you even get that idea from?” Kyouhei asked, more quietly this time.
“Because Shuuhei said so.”
“That damn idiot!”
“He told me that when a Japanese boy and girl get along, they start copulating.”
“We’re not that animalistic. Besides, even if that was—”
He was about to say that it had nothing to do with his little sister, but just as those words were about to leave his mouth, Kyouhei’s brain stopped.
His childhood friend and first love was probably the girl lacking common sense right in front of him.
But that Pamil and this Pamil are different... aren’t they?
The current Pamil was a different person than the Pamil Kyouhei had met when he was young. At the very least, she’d always claimed to be a different person (android?).
However...
“Besides, I told you that first! I’ve been waiting ten yea—”
Pamil’s words from earlier passed through his mind.
Ten years ago... Are her memories returning?
Things were complicated.
If she was a completely different person, then he could still make the distinction. However, if she simply had the same personality but some of her memories were altered, then both Pamils would be the same.
Personalities were built on memories, though. Therefore, if part of those were missing, the whole of the individual would be broken, and you could pretty much consider them different people...
“...Now ain’t the time to be worrying about that crap...” he muttered to himself before facing Pamil. “Pamil.”
“What?”
“You love me?”
“Of course I do,” she answered immediately, seemingly shocked he felt the need to even ask.
He felt Sanae gasp at his side. Well, she’d already confessed her feelings to him, so this certainly wouldn’t be calming.