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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Regret
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"…Are you truly alright?"
"Yes. I'm fine, so please don't worry."
I smiled faintly and reassured the teacher.
She worries so much.
Perhaps it's due to her background, having suffered trauma from losing a colleague, as the story dictates?
While I understood her clinging, which was becoming bothersome, a slight irritation arose within me.
"I'm a bit shaken up. I'd like to, um, rest for a bit."
"Ah, ah! Of course! Still, it would be best to be careful. It seems Lyra had a colleague."
"...A colleague, you say?"
"Yes. If what you said is true, she should have died, but there's no body."
Oh, right.
Now that I think about it, she was a spy created as a kind of precursor to the attack.
I'd completely forgotten about that.
Maybe I should just say something vague.
"...Übermensch. I think she called herself Übermensch."
"Superhuman...? Yes, thank you. I'll look into it."
"Yes, I'd appreciate that."
"Alright. ...Get some good rest."
The door creaked shut.
Teacher Claire finished our conversation and left the room.
It was the end of a conversation that had lasted a full hour.
[Ugh... She nags too much...]
"I know, right? But that's part of her personality. It would be a shame to erase it, so I guess I'll just have to put up with it."
When *we* have to deal with things like that, it's annoying, but when Shiu has to deal with it, it becomes material.
Can't be helped.
Rather than letting her devolve into a generic plot device, it's better to tolerate a little inconvenience.
"Alright, now that the teacher's gone... shall we go again!"
To find our hidden animal-eared friend.
***
"Haa, haa..."
"Ah. Found her."
My back feels like it's on fire.
...It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.
Why do I have to suffer like this?
I wanted to writhe in pain, but the threads binding me showed no sign of breaking.
"Hey, could you look at me for a moment?"
This is so unfair.
I just wanted to display my talents.
Because the organization told me I had talent too.
I only wanted to repay the organization.
I just wanted to be recognized...!
Thwack.
"?!"
"Ah, you're finally looking. ...Hello?"
A loud sound erupted in front of me, startling me, and I looked forward.
...It's that woman.
The woman with that infuriatingly sly smile. Arte Isis.
"You, you...!"
"Yes, it's me. Arte Isis?"
"Die, die, diiiiie!"
I wanted to surrender to my rage and lunge at Arte.
But that was only my wishful thinking.
My body couldn't move in any direction, tied tightly to the tree.
"Because of you, because of you, the organization's orders...!"
"Oh, if it's the Übermensch's orders, you've completed them perfectly. That's good."
"...What?"
Wait.
...How does this woman know the organization's name?
I never mentioned the organization's name.
"What was it again? To warn the academy and simultaneously announce the Übermensch's prestige to the entire world, was that it? Not bad."
"You, you. How do you know that...?!"
"Ohoho. It's a secret?"
A chill ran down my spine.
At some point, I stopped struggling to lunge at Arte and could only stare at her as if possessed.
She knew everything.
My orders. The organization's goal.
...And probably even my inferiority complex.
Everything.
"Don't worry. I've made sure to clearly inform the teacher that this was the work of an organization called Übermensch. You've completed your orders!"
Only then did I realize.
Who I had truly provoked.
Why she had been so relaxed during our spar.
"Oh my. Why are you trembling so much?"
Lyra suddenly realized.
That all her actions until now had been within Arte Isis's palm.
Even her rapid increase in strength after taking the organization's elixir.
And the fact that she intended to cause trouble here to carry out the organization's orders.
She knew it all.
It was the only conclusion possible.
"Ha, haha... Kill me."
"Pardon?"
"I was just a puppet in your hands, wasn't I? Just kill me quickly."
"...Just a moment."
A moment of silence.
The chirping of crickets, the singing of birds.
In the forest, where only white noise echoed, the atmosphere grew chilling as human conversation ceased.
An inexplicable dread made Lyra's newly grown ears twitch.
"Oh, Author. It's a bit of a waste to kill her. Yes, there's a good way to use her."
Author?
I don't quite understand what that means. It sounds like someone's title.
By the way, how did I become able to hear sounds from such a distant location?
...Could it be the effect of the ears that grew on my head?
Since I now have four ears, my hearing might have become more sensitive.
All that was certain was that she wasn't alone.
Is she working with someone?
After talking with this 'Author' person for a while, Arte approached me and gently crouched down.
"That's good news, Lyra. The Author understood. You'll be able to live, without dying!"
"I... I won't die...? Me?"
"Yes. You'll get to live. I'd be grateful if you'd become my assistant!"
Assistant?
I couldn't understand what she was talking about at all.
"Unfortunately, I'm a bit short-handed. I've always wanted someone to help me. Lyra, your physical abilities are excellent, so you'll definitely be useful!"
"...Do I have a choice?"
Upon hearing that question, it was only for a very brief moment.
The fleeting moment when Arte, who had been squinting, opened her eyes wide.
Lyra's wolf-like tail and ears perked up.
Instinctively sensing danger, Lyra's body reacted on its own.
"Ah, no. I'll do it. No, I accept."
"Hehe. Good, Lyra. That's a wise choice."
Lyra regretted her past actions.
All because of a mere inferiority complex.
To end up with a woman like this, simply for not being able to control a momentary emotion.
"...However, one thing. I need to put a preventative measure in place. It would be a big problem if you betrayed me, wouldn't it?"
Upon hearing Arte's words, Lyra regretted it once more.
If she could go back in time, she would have stopped herself, even if it meant beating herself to death.
Now, she had become a puppet dancing in the devil's hands.
***
[I wanted her to have a heroine's demise, but...]
"Haa, I told you, didn't I? I have my limits when I'm alone."
[But, but!]
I let out a deep sigh at the Author's stubbornness.
You think I'm some kind of superhuman, Author.
I have my limits too, you know.
"I have my limits too. Right now, I'm monitoring Yoo Shiu alone, but I need some hands, don't I?"
[...Mm.]
"Besides, wouldn't it be better for you, Author, if other extras handled the minor tasks while I stayed by Yoo Shiu's side and kept watch?"
[I-is that so?]
"In a case like this one, if I had a subordinate, I wouldn't have needed to do all the preliminary work to get the USB. I could've just had them do it."
I only have one body.
And in most cases, you, Author, are observing this world alongside me.
That's why it's best for me to be around Yoo Shiu in most situations.
But if there's no one to do the chores for me, I have to move every time something minor comes up.
What if I miss a scene where Yoo Shiu and the heroine make a date, because of that?
From that day on, I'd have to listen to your hiccuping for ages.
That's a no-go for me.
"And I've blocked off your concern about betrayal, Author, so please understand now."
I lightly shook the button in my hand.
A single red button nestled between square plastic.
An object anyone could recognize.
A detonator.
"With her life as collateral, she wouldn't dare think of anything foolish, would she?"
[I-is that so? ...Alright! Heh, then the USB! Quickly, play the video! I want to see Yoo Shiu's exploits!]
"Alright."
Well, it's not a real bomb, actually.
Even if she resists, she won't die. Not die.
Because the necklace around Lyra's neck contains my threads instead of a bomb.
And this, which looks like a detonator, is just a distraction.
If she tries to take off the necklace or shows any sign of betrayal? ...*Snip*.
The threads would go wild and slice through nearby objects.
Wouldn't an arm, at least, fly off?
"...Tsk."
Imagining Lyra's arm flying off made me feel bad.
I don't know why I'm bothering so much. I could just kill her.
Of course, it's true that I needed a subordinate to be my hands and feet.
But there was no need to forcibly keep alive someone the Author wanted to kill and use them as a subordinate.
And there was even less reason to save a villain girl who was merely a heroine candidate.
...It's not that I can't kill people.
I've already killed someone on my first day here.
An accident that happened because I couldn't properly use my abilities.
A disaster that occurred when I got angry at the thugs who tried to pick me up after seeing my body.
At that time, I was strangely indifferent even after seeing the corpse.
No, perhaps I just didn't feel it was real.
The Author calmly disposed of the scattered corpses in an instant, which made it feel even less real.
[...? Reader?]
"No, it's nothing. Let's see... Ah, here it is."
Am I feeling guilty because I turned a student who had lived an ordinary life into a villain?
Or was it just a whim?
...Who cares? Thinking about it just gives me a headache.
Let's just keep it simple.
I saved her because I wanted to save her. Isn't that enough?
"Alright, then the video..."
[...Huh?]
What?
...Where did the video go?
"Th-the video... Where did it go?"
I started sifting through the USB's folders one by one.
The video wasn't there.
C-could it be...?
"F-found it...?!"
Ah.
I thought I'd found it.
...There *was* a video.
The remaining video, excluding the part that vanished due to the power outage setting.
"I-I set up the scenario wrong...?"
I should have attached a different reason, not a power outage.
Since the reason has already been recorded as a power outage in this world, perhaps all the videos I had were processed as not having been recorded due to the power outage.
It was my mistake.
[I-I trusted you!]
"Author, c-calm down..."
[I trusted you, Reader! Waaahhhhhh!]
This is driving me crazy.
...How am I going to fix this?
My head started aching for a different reason than before.
I started regretting my actions from back then.
I really should have gotten a subordinate earlier.