You know, Kivotos is a world full of wonders. Students have halos, dogs can talk, cars can fly—things that seem bizarre in real life are commonplace here. And speaking of students carrying guns, we can't forget the gunfights. They're strangely common; even minor arguments are settled with guns. It's as if gunfights are the most convenient way to resolve disputes.
There are times when I feel fed up with this godforsaken place, with bullets and explosives everywhere, making house destruction a frequent occurrence, yet many people still want to live in Kivotos.
Actually, being in the Blue Archive isn't necessarily bad, but if you suddenly appear in Kivotos, it's (very) bad, like you've been thrown out of the sky. No school will accept you, and you can't do jobs that require personal identification. At this point, you can only do jobs that don't require identification, like freelance mercenary, construction worker, delivery person, or even start your own company to avoid worrying about paperwork.
When I mention the construction worker profession, people will immediately criticize it. In real life, that criticism is understandable given the extremely low basic wages of construction workers, but this is Kivotos, so that prejudice is wrong.
As I mentioned above, people's homes were being destroyed so frequently that the construction industry became one of the fastest-growing sectors, second only to arms manufacturing. Recognizing the potential of this industry, I invited a few friends (dropouts or acquaintances from my time as a mercenary) to join my construction company.
If you ask me where I get my capital from, it's simple: I register patents for Earth-based weapon designs and then license or sell the inventions to Millennium or Kivotos's arms companies to collect royalties. Just selling 3-4 blueprints of key Soviet tank models from the 1950s to Kaiser would bring in over 6 billion yen. Those blueprints aren't even top secret anymore anyway.
Late last year, Kaiser Construct was embroiled in a major scandal involving the embezzlement of materials and the failure to install a fire alarm system. It wouldn't have been a serious matter if it had just been a normal building, but the project they undertook was an apartment complex. The scandal came to light when the 72-story building caught fire, the flames spreading to the gas pipes and engulfing the entire building. This incident resulted in the deaths of 13 students due to smoke inhalation.
You might not know this, but Kivotos High School students can still be easily killed even with the protection of their aura. They can die from suffocation, smoke inhalation, drowning, or thirst. Or, for example, Yume died of thirst. Wouldn't using chlorine gas be simpler and more effective than that ridiculous Halo bomb, and Arius's killer training too?
At that point, all I needed to do was promote the company's clean record, free from any scandals, and everything would be fine. After this incident, Mizuno's business improved significantly.
After accumulating sufficient capital, we expanded into other areas such as security services, express delivery, weapons manufacturing, and most recently, our company was licensed to manufacture heavy equipment. Currently, Mizuno's manufacturing operations account for 0.8% of Kivotos' economy, generating approximately 28 billion yen in revenue per month. Indeed, someone once said, "A girl with basic accounting skills in the land of the blind is no different from a queen," and that's absolutely true.
My business should have continued to thrive, earning more money and seeing the stock price rise. But life isn't always fair. When the GSC chairman disappeared two weeks ago, our clients canceled orders one after another. I can imagine that as soon as those expensive machines were put out on the road, they were rigged with explosives and blown to pieces.
The company lost 16 large excavators along with many other expensive machines; those 16 excavators alone were worth about 146 million yen, not including spare parts and maintenance costs. If I hired Yuuka as my accountant, she'd probably be in tears. This is also why I've been losing sleep for several consecutive days; you can see that my eyes are now full of blood vessels and have dark circles under them.
"That's why you have to come to GSC, understand?" the girl with black hair sitting next to me said kindly.
"Come on, I'm exhausted these past few days anyway, couldn't I just send the documents via Gmail?" I said wearily, leaning my head against the car's side.
"Have you forgotten that Gmail's servers are down? Momochat is still working somehow, but it's never a good choice given Momo's policy that allows the company to access personal information."
Loud noises erupted inside the vehicle as our gunner fired 12.7mm rounds into the crowd gathered in front. It appeared they were trying to destroy my armored vehicle with fragmentation grenades; some of the grenades they threw at me were tied exactly the same way German soldiers tied grenades in World War I.
"My machine gun is out of ammunition, can anyone give me another 12.7mm magazine?" the machine gunner shouted after firing all 250 rounds at the thugs blocking the road at a rate of 600 rounds per minute.
"Why don't we just charge straight at the thugs? That way we can bypass them quickly. If we keep shooting them in groups like this, when will we ever get there? Not to mention the limited ammunition," the ammunition carrier said, sounding tired and a little worried.
Our armored vehicle only had about 12 boxes of ammunition left. If they exceeded the company's supply, they sometimes had to buy more ammunition themselves with their personal salaries to make up the difference. Even though the company didn't provide additional ammunition, they still had to carry out their duties.
My company isn't stingy or arrogant like Kaiser's, so we still provide enough ammunition and pay our employees their full salaries. Sometimes I even get extra ammunition, but they always waste it, which is why I had to implement this rule.
"Never mind, the person we're escorting is very special anyway, and it's only natural to use more ammunition than usual during this chaotic time, right, Mizuno-Senpai?" the machine gunner said gleefully to his friend. Of everyone in the team, it seemed only the machine gunner had met me before.
"Mi-Mizuno? Huh? Who is that? I recognize her, but I can't remember," the girl holding the ammunition box said, looking confused.
"Fu fu, it seems far but it's near, it seems near but it's far. She's the one who usually gives speeches on stage during holidays!" The crews in the van were shocked to find out that the person they needed to escort was the CEO of the company they worked for.
"Well, then, could you guys get me there faster?" I said, sounding a little tired.
"Of course, as long as we don't encounter any problems on the way, we'll get there quickly," the sharpshooter replied.
"But once we run out of ammunition, where am I going to get more? I can't possibly use my entire salary to buy it. Could you possibly give us some more?" The support soldier seemed hesitant when it came to ammunition.
"I'll provide you with all the necessary equipment and ammunition after this trip, as long as I get to GSC safely. I might even consider sending you overtime pay," I said with a slight smile.
"Ke ke ke, look how proud you are! They only praised you a little and you're already thrilled. If you heard a few more compliments, you'd be willing to sell the whole company just to hear them praise you," the head of the security department sitting opposite me replied, noticing that I enjoyed the compliments and flattery from my subordinates.
"Shut up, Kairi. Everyone likes sweet compliments, but of course, I can't lower my IQ just for a few compliments when I still have my self-respect," I sighed.
"So, if you get praised too much, your IQ might drop?" Kairi said sarcastically.
"Damn it !" I was so fed up my blood boiled when I heard her say that.
"Hoh, really? If you're so angry, why don't you come here and hit me? Or are you too scared to come near me?" Kairi stood up and waved her hand with a provocative expression.
I also stood up and walked closer to her, saying, "So why don't we have a duel to see who's better?" At this point, I could feel like the sound of "ゴゴゴゴゴ" was playing in background music.
"You two stop immediately! Are you blind or something? I'm still in the car. Kairi, if you want to see who's better, wait until this is settled. And you, Mizuno, if you don't want to deal with a pile of damage-related paperwork, then just sit still!" Just as things were getting heated, the secretary interrupted us.
"Understood." "Okay, Haru." We both said that when the secretary scolded us, although it wasn't as scary as Yuuka hearing her scold, Haru was still scary.
Our armored vehicle drove steadily toward the GSC building, a towering structure seemingly piercing the sky in the heart of the city. The magnificent sight was truly breathtaking, but I could only linger and admire it a little longer glancing to either side of the road revealed utter chaos. This reminded me that I needed to finish this as quickly as possible.
Upon arrival, the driver parked the armored vehicle outside while Haru and I went inside the building. The GSC building lobby was incredibly bustling, with countless students in white vests running from place to place, each carrying a thick stack of papers or a tablet. Amidst the chaos, I could spot a few students who stood out and were easily recognizable: Yuuka, Hasumi, and several representatives from different schools.
When I saw the group of four, I could immediately tell their purpose for being there. After all, I used to be a Sensei myself.
"Oh, Yuuka, it's great to see you here. This is a new product I was planning to introduce to Rio; could you give it to her for me when I get back to school?" I approached the reception desk where they were standing and handed Yuuka the product brochure.
"What?! 'A-doll' cheap labor robot? Isn't that slavery? Aren't you afraid of violating robot rights laws?"
"I've done my research, and basically, the human rights laws for robots only apply to robots that have consciousness from the moment they are born, not to a bunch of lines of code controlling a robot body. In short, it's an AI controlling a robot body." I gently pushed my glasses up, causing them to gleam, and a sinister smile spread across my face. Don't ask me where I got those glasses from, even I don't know. They just appeared.
"Artificial intelligence?" Yuuka exclaimed, her face filled with astonishment. "I can't believe you managed to circumvent the law in such an unbelievable way."
"Hehe, of course it's because I'm smart," I said proudly, placing my thumb and index finger on my chin. "Even Kaiser, famous for exploiting labor, probably couldn't have thought of this. So, what do you think? Would you like to buy our Mk2 model?"
"I'll take this back and show it to Rio, because this one can't be guaranteed to be good quality for the price. Currently, our school's older generation of automated robots are doing this job well, so if there's a robot that can do other tasks, I'll consider it," she replied, seeing my expectant expression.
"What about your company? I've noticed that most companies have suffered heavy losses in the last two weeks. In my area alone, 63 small and medium-sized businesses have declared bankruptcy or are liquidating assets. Now, everyone is focused on maintaining the stability of their own companies. Nobody is continuing to invest like you are."
"Well, you see, my company suffered a loss of 620 million yen due to damaged machinery, and our stock price dropped by 13.7-15.9%. The reason I'm still selling it to you is because it's newly manufactured but has leftover stock, so I was planning to give it to your school," I sighed and shook my head wearily as I mentioned the financial situation.
"Well, I don't think a 14-16% drop in company value will bankrupt the company, but I'm more worried about external influences. You know Kaiser can do that, right? They often buy up small and medium-sized companies and turn them into subsidiaries to manipulate the market," she said.
Most young or new employees think that the CEO holds absolute power in the company, that they can do whatever they want (and in fact, this is largely true). But there's a harsh truth: a company is essentially an asset, and it can be bought and sold piece by piece. Most people buy them simply to make a small profit.
There are also wealthy individuals who buy large amounts of stock; although this group is extremely rare, the real power lies in their hands. Shareholders holding more than 10% of the company's value have the right to nominate candidates for CEO, and the more shares they hold, the greater their influence. With his wealth, Kaiser can buy out any medium-sized company. For larger companies, they gradually replace the old shareholders, and once they are qualified, the CEO of that company will be ousted. It was cruel, but what could I do?
"I know, but thank you for the reminder anyway," I said, walking closer to the receptionist at the counter.
"Hey, receptionist, please contact Rin and tell her that the president of Mizuno Heavy Industries wants to speak with her privately. Please do it as quickly as possible," my voice was somewhat hurried and impatient. "It doesn't have to be a private meeting; just tell her to come down so I can ask her a few questions."
"You see, we're here too. We're here to find out what happened, not to relax" Yuuka added, continuing my sentence.
"I-I'm sorry, I understand you're all suffering because of the current chaos in the city, but Rin hasn't answered the phon____"
"So what should the city council do? Are all the people on the city council going to give up on everything?" Yuuka interrupted the receptionist.
"Calm down, Yuuka. No matter how much you scold them, things won't get any better. Now all we can do is wait for Rin to come down," Chinatsu reassured her.
"Although the accountant from Millennium was a bit loud, I agree that we need to meet with Rin or the pasident GSC to get a satisfactory explanation for the violence and chaos unfolding throughout the city," Vice Captain Hasumi said with a frown.
I couldn't do anything else, so I just gave her a few instructions and went to the waiting area. As I got closer, I saw Haru sprawled on a chair, texting someone.
"Tsk, I don't understand what Rin is up to anymore. Normally, a single phone call would solve everything. Mizuno, there are rumors that the GSC president is missing or has been murdered. Do you think it's true?" Haru turned to me and said, "I think it's highly possible. The official GSC President's social media account hasn't been updated for two weeks." I said, then took my laptop out of my bag.
"You know what? I have a feeling something unexpected and strange is going to happen to us today. Maybe some brilliant and eccentric adult will come to sort this out? Relax, we've said everything we needed to say to them, now all we can do is wait."
"Why aren't you worried at all? At least show some concern. I'm worried about the company on your behalf!"
"Huh, I seemed nervous just now when I was talking to them, didn't I? But you didn't notice," I said, whistling.
"You . . ." She was too emotional to speak.
Just as I was about to talk to Haru a little longer, I suddenly heard a loud scream from the cute 100kg accountant. The sound immediately drew my attention away from Haru and towards Yuuka. In front of her were Rin and a woman who looked incredibly frail. The woman's face was so gentle it gave the impression of fragility, as if even a child could bully her. Her long, grayish-white hair reached her calves, slightly disheveled; her bangs were neatly clipped back. She wore an oversized shirt, and her skirt was held in place by a Y-shaped strap. However, what was most striking was the IV stand next to her, dangling several different bags—blood, saline, and nutritional solution, all seemingly being administered to her.
Although she may look a bit frail to me, one thing I'm certain of is that she is "Sensei."
"Why do I feel so uneasy?" I could only force a smile when I saw Sensei's physical condition.