Why?
Why does an office worker need to carry a gun on her person?
What kind of den of thieves is Kivotos?
Am I going to have to pull off some Mission: Impossible-style stunt next?
The cold touch of the gun in her hand, both unfamiliar and strangely intimate, twisted her expression.
She took a deep breath, pushed the magazine into place, heard the satisfying click of it locking, then gently placed it back in her breast pocket.
“Whatever the case, if I used to keep a gun at hand, there must have been a reason for it. As for whether Kivotos—this place full of robots and little animals—is dangerous, or whether I’m just a crazy woman who brings a gun to work, I’ll worry about that later. Either way, I must have had my reasons.”
Walking down the platinum-gold corridor, the glass curtain wall reflected the evening glow of the academy city.
The orderly interlaced skyscrapers pierced through the orange clouds, standing tall in the sunset, connected and combined into massive architectural rings.
Looking into the distance, the pure white spire at the center towered above all the rings, pointing straight at the azure halo in the high sky.
She slowed her pace, unable to resist gazing at that majestic and transcendent tower, murmuring softly,
“It’s so beautiful… so beautiful it makes my heart itch for no reason.”
Because this is the central district…
The administrative district closest to that superhuman Federal Student Council President.
…
Perhaps the residents of Kivotos really are used to that huge lamp floating above their heads.
The sunset was fading, evening was approaching.
Besides the cats, dogs, and humanoid robots walking on the streets, all people—
In other words, “students”—had halos of various shapes above their heads.
Nearly a hundred students on the street formed a sea of halos.
They were all different, all varied in shape and color, yet they all merged together, like a starry sea on the ground.
However, not a single ray of light leaked out from the halos, both eerie and harmonious.
All the light only appeared when you looked at them; if you didn’t look, they seemed not to exist, completely unable to illuminate anything.
So the shops on both sides still clicked their lights on as the sun set, click click.
In the flow of people made up of various animals, robots, and students, they laughed and joked, gesturing wildly with their hands and feet.
Occasionally they would take off a long, narrow object strapped to their backs, or proudly show off a small, dark-green globe in their hands, or playfully slap a companion on the back.
They all seemed incredibly happy.
Even the clothes they wore, which seemed to be some kind of school uniform, radiated the pure vitality of youth.
Ninety-eight.
Hua Ye stood at the entrance of the hotel (good heavens, she’d just stepped out of the elevator and realized this was an anonymous self-service hotel), hiding behind the automatic door and counting.
Out of a hundred students, ninety-eight had that kind of expression and demeanor.
As if no one cared about the halo above their heads.
Even though the halos had no lighting function and wouldn’t affect sleep, wouldn’t the fact that they constantly reflected one’s emotional state be inconvenient?
Weren’t they afraid that others might deduce their inner thoughts from the fluctuations of their halos?
Weren’t they afraid of being tracked by the characteristics of their halos?
—After considering herself a political expert, Hua Ye naturally had such thoughts when faced with the strangeness of the halos:
If I deliberately manipulated it, wouldn’t this halo act as a lie detector or expose a traitor?
Halos are so unique, couldn’t they be used as ID cards?
If halos were displayed so openly, then Kivotos must be a very peaceful place.
Something like this, which is akin to one’s inner thoughts—
What difference was there between showing it and walking naked in the street?
Hua Ye quietly watched a girl with a mint-colored halo walk into a cake shop advertising a weekend special.
“What a strange feeling…”
She blinked.
In front of her eyes, there was an array of complicated halos and a surging crowd.
So why did she feel something was off?
Staring at that mint-colored child, and the other “people” laughing and chatting on the street, Hua Ye thought to herself, ‘Strange—every student with a halo on this street is a beautiful young girl.’
Could it be that Kivotos, as an academy city, had a relatively low proportion of male students?
Was Kivotos a girls’ school?
The myriad questions were troubling.
The fragmented intuition and unrecovered memories couldn’t provide guidance either.
Since waking up, questions had been coming one after another, truly making Hua Ye restless, and the faint hunger in her stomach only added to her irritation.
“Forget it, I won’t think about it.”
She walked out of the hotel, merged into the crowd, and followed the girl she had seen earlier, slowly entering the cake shop that had a rather girly slogan on its glass display window.
The shop had a decent flow of customers.
The girls were carrying all kinds of strange, long objects covered in stickers, playfully pushing and shoving, chattering noisily in front of the counter at a robot whose electronic face had a look of dead-eyed exhaustion.
“Is this Momotalk limited-edition strawberry daifuku really on weekend special? Really? Really, really?”
“Yes… and… if you really want that limited-edition figure… it’s best if you…”
“Wow~ It’s real~ It’s really the Momotalk limited-edition strawberry daifuku~ And it’s even shaped like Peroro-sama! They even used special cream to imitate Peroro-sama’s sharp gaze…”
The platinum-blonde girl carrying a backpack shaped like a very familiar fat bird was crouched in front of the counter, exclaiming in surprise at a cake that bore a striking resemblance to her backpack…
A few small, dark-green spheres with pull rings on her backpack swayed as she moved.
“So pretty~ Damn, it’s so cunning… How am I supposed to bring myself to eat it like this…”
Where’s the prettiness?
Where’s the sharpness?
Wasn’t that just a big, stupid-looking white fat bird with eyes as silly as a child’s, and wings and feet so small that I doubted whether it could even push itself up if it fell over?
At best, at best it was just a little cute!
Where’s the beauty?
The girl was pestering the clerk, apparently asking about that dessert called “daifuku,” which looked like a rice ball wrapped around something.
From her constant pleas to let her buy one more, it was probably one of those weekend-limited items…
Maybe I should buy one too?
Even though she didn’t particularly like sweets, the silly look of that dumb bird gave her a strange feeling.
In her memories of her previous life, the experience of craving sweets was extremely rare; she was more repelled by the greasy, cloyingly sweet taste of cake.
That layer of white cream was like a barrier suppressing her appetite…
But when that girl walked past her, holding two so-called “strawberry daifuku” with a face full of satisfaction, hugging a limited-edition toy of a big dumb bird wearing a strawberry suit, her expression of utter happiness—
As if she had obtained the whole world—
Still touched Hua Ye’s heart, who probably wouldn’t find joy in cakes ever again.
“Just this once…”
She muttered to herself.
Even though she might not be able to finish it in the end, she wanted to experience that ultimate happiness, even if only by imitation…
That girl resolutely walked out of the shop, as if there was nothing left to linger over.
After looking around the shop for a while, Hua Ye spotted the mint-colored girl in the corner.
She was taking photos of a small mint-green cake and muttering to herself, probably sharing her food.
“Get me one too, that strawberry daifuku.”
She took out her student ID and handed it to the clerk without thinking.
Then, somewhat disappointed, she looked at the display case.
The model that was probably a non-sale item had been taken away.
Probably the girl in front of her had bought it.
So it seemed there were none left.
“I’m sorry… that limited-edition one just sold out…”
The clerk, whose mechanical joints seemed to be smoking already, replied with a (￣.￣) expression, lifeless and mechanical.
But the next second, after glancing at the customer in front of him, he suddenly froze.
“Wait… Wait? Director… Director Hua Ye?!”
The electronic expression on the display screen immediately changed from (￣.￣) to (☉_☉), paused for a second or two like a crash, and then directly turned into (ᐡ т ̫ т ᐡ).
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… Director Hua Ye, I didn’t see you come in just now, it’s all my fault! The strawberry daifuku and limited-edition figure you reserved have already been prepared in advance, the best ones. I was just about to send them to you. Please don’t be upset, don’t be upset, we’ll send them to you right away… Look at how this turned out! Ha… ha…”
Hua Ye stared dumbfounded as the clerk, who had been wearing an expression of near-death fatigue just a moment ago, immediately put on a fawning and flustered face, frantically pressing a button under the counter, yelling into the intercom as if berating the warehouse staff, while simultaneously smiling apologetically at her and cautiously gauging her expression.
‘…How awkward.’
Watching a poor wage slave grovel like that in front of her, Hua Ye felt embarrassed and uneasy inside, and her face showed an awkward expression, but this teenage body didn’t react—as if this was only natural.
Even though Hua Ye’s expression was strange and awkward, the combination of her half-closed eyes, the clerk’s extreme fluster, and the fact that there were no other customers behind her meant no one noticed the change in her expression.
She didn’t know what to do for a moment, so she simply smiled and nodded, making a “shush” gesture to the clerk, telling him not to call her name so loudly.
She also pointed at the weekend special sign and shook her head, indicating that she had just come to buy some discounted sweets and that he shouldn’t be so nervous.
The result was that the robot looked even more panicked.
Trembling, it made an “understood” gesture to her, then tottered into the small door behind it.
Finally, it came back carrying a bag of carefully packaged sweets and the fat bird figure in a display stand, bowed at a ninety-degree angle, almost presenting them to Hua Ye with both hands, and said in a stiff, synthesized mechanical voice,
“I’m sorry, this work was indeed our negligence… I sincerely apologize for causing you trouble in your work…”
Hua Ye was a bit baffled.
But her intuition told her that it would be best to just accept it now—
She had a feeling that if she asked to exchange it now, this poor robot would probably really break down.
So she took the sweets and the figure, thought for a moment, sighed, and said,
“Alright, I understand. Thank you for your service. I’ll be going now. If it tastes good, I’ll come again.”
Upon hearing this, the clerk seemed to relax slightly, as if his whole body loosened a little, but he still maintained his ninety-degree bow and said in a tense, synthesized voice,
“Th… thank you! We will work even harder! Thank you for your understanding!”
Hua Ye left the shop with the bag.
She felt that if she stayed any longer, she might really cause the clerk’s brain to short-circuit.
As for the cost, the clerk had said she had reserved it, and she hadn’t asked afterward, so it was probably already paid for.
Looking at the bustling crowd outside the shop, Hua Ye stood there with the food and toy she had just obtained, staring blankly at the children with their lighthearted, happy faces.
Even though that indescribable sense of dissonance still lingered in her heart, looking at those varied halos and the youthful, vibrant faces beneath them, she inexplicably felt relaxed and comforted.
‘… Am I really a crazy woman who brings a gun to work?
Is Kivotos really a peaceful, harmonious place that allows some people to carry guns?
The government only regulates gun specifications to standardize the market…’
‘… Wait, carrying guns?!’
Her head throbbed.
She looked at the crowd again.
This time, the sense of incongruity finally became clear, and then she felt suffocated.
—Almost all the students were joyfully and happily carrying various guns.
Most of them were spray-painted and covered with stickers.
Such children filled the streets.
The beasts and robots mixed in among them also seemed used to it, showing no surprise at all.
That familiar sense of dissonance finally made Hua Ye recognize the reality of Kivotos—
“Why are there child soldiers everywhere in Kivotos?!”
‘Maybe, just maybe, the children of Kivotos only carry guns for fun? Maybe those things are just toys?’
She wanted to deny the reality before her, but her cruel instincts answered,
“Don’t kid yourself, academy city. Those are all real.”
‘At this rate, Kivotos’s future is definitely doomed!’
—
The pedestrians on the street all cast subtle glances at Hua Ye, who was wearing the Federal Student Council uniform.
Their gazes were either respectful, curious, or wary.
The first two were mostly from students, and the latter mostly from robots.
They—
Both the humans and the machines—
Had no idea why this prominent figure, who often appeared in news reports, was here.
The only thing they knew was that it was best to pretend not to recognize her now.
Whether out of respect that made them too awed to approach, or fear that made them too afraid to speak.
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