Side Story – Chapter 08.2 (Main Story 10.082) “Forced Termination of the Project (Kill Task)”
Morning sunlight filters through the leaves of the street trees and falls onto the cobblestones. However‚ the vision through the retinal UI (Ver 0.7) continues to render the world in an inorganic grayscale‚ unchanged from yesterday.
Top right of my vision. The progress bar that had quietly been hidden (HIDE) on the way home the previous night has once again regained its pale blue blinking.
[ Cache restoration: Temporary display error fixed. Redrawing (rendering) ‘Expulsion Project: ■■■■■■■■□□ 85%’ on the virtual display —— ]
(…What‚ just a display bug? Seems like the system kindly restored it.)
I had no way of knowing that‚ behind the scenes‚ a fatal tampering by the administrator (Serina) was already in progress. Watching that pale blue bar‚ I felt the heavy mud that had been accumulating at the bottom of my lungs quietly being replaced by clear oxygen.
Yesterday after school‚ the perfect guilty script I built together with Prince Edward. The data submission task to the principal’s office is currently under background review (pending). The countdown until returning to the inn steadily ticks onward.
“Fufu‚ Louis-kun‚ you seem unusually light on your feet today.”
Suddenly‚ from behind‚ icy-smooth fingertips slid silently up toward the back of my neck.
[ Warning: Rapid heat absorption detected around the carotid artery. Contact surface temperature is below threshold —— ]
Serina Elferia.
Unlike yesterday‚ when she had leaned into my arm‚ she now intertwined her fingers as if directly measuring the pulsating blood vessels‚ peering from point-blank range into the “crimson that melts vision (Red).”
“…Morning‚ Serina. Well‚ yeah. Today feels like it might become a long-awaited ‘memorial day‚’ so maybe I’m a little excited.”
“Is that so? If you’re filled with hope‚ I’ll be super happy too.”
With an alluring smile‚ she pulled out a small paper bag.
“Here‚ ahh. Today’s special is churros coated in hot caramel sauce.”
“…Eating sugar while walking puts strain on the digestive system. I’ll carry it myself.”
As I reached out‚ Serina slipped away from my fingers. Then‚ before I could protest‚ she forcibly shoved the star-shaped stick into my open mouth.
I moved my chewing muscles‚ physically crushing the surface texture.
Taste protocol had long been in sleep mode. What my brain received were only “sugar particle density attached to the surface (0.5 mm mesh)” and “friction coefficient of viscous liquid” — nothing more than inorganic data‚ like chewing sand.
But then.
[ Status analysis: Subject’s mental state is extremely positive (Green). Muting 95% of discomfort and forcibly loading post-approval ‘happiness’ —— ]
“…Ah.”
“How is it? Sweet?”
Even though it should have tasted like sand‚ the shining “85%” in my vision was too bright. My brain arbitrarily reclassified even that unpleasant texture as a “sacred offering leading to the back door of the inn (escape).”
My cheeks naturally relaxed.
The facial muscles that had long worn an inorganic mask finally formed a human-like expression of relief.
The caramel sauce faintly clinging to my mouth was gently wiped away by Serina’s pale finger. She then licked it herself‚ watching my smile as if assessing its value.
“That defenseless smile of yours‚ Louis-kun… Hey‚ you’re going to be expelled soon‚ right?”
“…Yeah. That’s the plan.”
“Good. Then I’ll be able to keep this lovely face all to myself. Fufu. How should I ‘fix’ the ownership (archive)‚ I wonder? Maybe I’ll display you in a beautiful terrarium where no one can enter‚ filling you forever with my sweet magic…”
In the depths of her eyes‚ a manic desire for possession flickered like blue flame.
From the fingers entwined around my neck‚ an ominous chill crawled up my spine‚ freezing my very spinal cord.
But before that survival instinct (alert) could strike my brain‚ the system precisely inserted a 0.5-second delay and forcibly rewrote it into “pleasant dependence.”
[ Warning: Excessive neck contact causing overload to the autonomic nervous system. Heart rate increasing —— ]
Normally‚ the system would immediately warn me to distance myself.
But now‚ even the abnormal fixation (bug) leaking from her didn’t bother me.
The academy’s main gate shone white under the morning light.
In the upper right of my vision‚ the fake “85%” continued to glow proudly.
I did not doubt even for a moment that what awaited beyond was not the fulfillment of hope‚ but a “deadlock of despair” that would physically sever all escape routes.
On the way through the academy courtyard toward the main street bulletin board.
My retinal UI had been continuously spitting out strange alerts in the background.
[ Anomaly detected: Magical residue of specific node (Edward faction) completely vanished from space —— ]
[ Environmental scan: From cobblestones’ unique vibrational frequency down to micro sebum data‚ molecular-level “erasure traces” confirmed —— ]
(…What is this? Did some elite cleaning magic service come to the academy?)
The world was unnaturally “too optimized.” The fact that they had ever walked there felt as if it had never existed at all‚ cleanly wiped from the physical layer.
“Louis-kun? What’s wrong? Your walking speed (throughput) has decreased by 20 centimeters per second.”
Serina‚ still linked to my arm‚ tilted her head curiously.
“No… I just thought the road looked unnaturally clean. Even the fallen leaves from yesterday’s strong wind seem perfectly sorted.”
“Fufu‚ isn’t it good for the environment to be clean? Only beautiful things should be reflected in your vision‚ Louis-kun.”
A faint chill ran through me at her cheerful voice‚ but I quickly dumped it into the trash folder of my thoughts.
(Stay calm. The top priority is still confirming the expulsion. Even if there are minor errors‚ everything will be fine as long as my name is on the bulletin board.)
In front of the bulletin board‚ a dense crowd had already gathered.
However‚ the atmosphere was not the lukewarm gossip of someone’s expulsion.
“Hey‚ no way… that’s royalty!”
“They disappeared with their attendants… could it be assassination…?”
“Shut up‚ idiot! If they hear you‚ you’ll disappear too…!”
The crowd’s faces had completely lost color‚ an eerie mix of panic and frozen silence coexisting. Teachers-like polygons were running around frantically‚ pale-faced.
This was not mere misconduct. A national-level anomaly was happening right here at the academy.
(…Huh? Not ridicule toward me? The prince is missing…?)
Weaving through the crowd‚ I slipped to the very front of the bulletin board.
What was posted there was not my expulsion notice.
On the parchment stamped with the royal seal‚ there was only one line — “Prince Edward von Elferheim and his entire entourage have voluntarily withdrawn due to personal circumstances. Current whereabouts unknown” — an abrupt and incomprehensible statement.
[ Fatal error: Directory for submission of executable file ‘Indecent Relationship Confession Data.json’ does not exist —— ]
[ Search: target node ‘Edward von Elferheim’ —— 404 Not Found (complete loss) ]
[ Warning: Expulsion process has completely deadlocked (frozen) —— ]
My monochrome vision was filled with red error logs‚ and my brain’s server groaned violently.
“…No way. I debugged everything perfectly yesterday‚ and he was supposed to submit it (enter it) himself…”
The “system” that enabled expulsion itself (the human side of the academy) had been cleanly removed from the board. No matter how complete my evidence (code) was‚ the runtime environment to judge it no longer existed.
“Oh my. I wondered why it was so noisy — so that’s what happened.”
Serina‚ looking up at the bulletin board beside me‚ smiled gracefully without the slightest surprise.
“Prince Edward and the others must have been ashamed of their ‘impurity’ and decided to leave the academy. Yes‚ what a splendid attitude. To throw themselves into the trash voluntarily.”
“…Serina. Looking at this situation‚ do you truly consider that a logical conclusion?”
“Of course. Because the laws of the world always converge into the most ‘beautiful form’ for me and Louis-kun. …Fufu. Such a quiet and lovely morning.”
Her eyes‚ as she peered into my face‚ contained no trace of impurity — only pure “goodwill.”
But deep inside‚ what remained of my humanity was screaming alarms. My expulsion plan had been physically “deleted” at its root by someone’s hand.
[ Fatal error: Severe panic (bug) detected in target psyche —— ]
[ —— Precisely 0.5 second delay —— ]
[ Process: Rewriting event as “peaceful everyday life.” Forcing emotional waveform flattening (rewrite) ]
Even the chill that tried to run through my brain was instantly muted by the forcibly loaded silence patch.
Stripped even of the instinct to flee‚ I could only stand there amid a vision painted in red error logs.
Behind me‚ as I was forced into artificial calm (patch) and emotionally hollowed out‚ a presence with absolutely no reflected light crept closer.
From the deep shadow cast by the school building emerged Rosetta‚ a maid with amber eyes‚ silently.
In her hand was the small black leather notebook she always carried.
“Lady. Physical and social deletion of the target node has been fully completed.”
With a voice that showed no emotional fluctuation down to the millimeter‚ Rosetta bowed respectfully toward Serina.“I see‚ good work. Did they obediently climb into the trash bin?”
As Serina asked with a flower-like smile‚ Rosetta drew a single strike-through line in her notebook with a silver pen.
“Yes. The impurities (noise) have been optimized extremely smoothly.”
“…Optimized? Be more specific. They were fine yesterday. They were supposed to be trying to force me into expulsion.”
With a flat tone stripped of inflection by post-approved ‘calm‚’ I mechanically spun out my question as raw text (string data). My emotional waveform was completely flat‚ yet only my logical circuits kept spinning through CPU-like loops‚ trying to identify the source of the exception (bug).
Rosetta turned her amber eyes toward me and began reading out a terrifying incident report in the same tone one might use to describe today’s tea schedule.
“At 02:15 AM‚ accessed the Royal Audit Office database via backdoor. Fabricated financial fraud logs of the Elferheim Third Prince faction and froze all related accounts.”
“…Yes.”
“At 03:00 AM‚ physically neutralized twelve private soldiers of the target. All have been ‘packed’ and shipped to northern cold-region farms under quality control.”
“…Shipped? What do you mean shipped? That is not a verb used for humans. You’re basically routing them into human trafficking channels.”
“And at 04:30 AM‚ obtained blood-sealed signatures on the target’s ‘voluntary expulsion letter’ and ‘disappearance declaration.’ With this‚ the cleanup of the Third Prince faction impurities has been fully completed.”
[ Warning: Rosetta’s task execution load has exceeded the kingdom’s annual processing capacity (budget). Logical computation has frozen —— ]
The retinal UI spat out an unprecedented wall of red error logs‚ causing my vision to flicker violently.
“…You’ve basically staged a coup capable of toppling a country in a single night. That is not something you report in the same tone as ‘I made tea.’”
“It was merely trivial background processing that did not require Lord Louis’s involvement.”
Even in response to my mechanical output (error report)‚ Rosetta calmly closed her notebook with a soft snap.
Nothing—no system log‚ no trace of reality—remained in her wake. The “strange cleansing” my UI had detected on the way here was the result of her literally erasing inconveniences down to the molecular level.
“I must say‚ you really managed all that in one night. You didn’t struggle even a little?”
When Serina asked in admiration‚ Rosetta tilted her head slightly.
“If I had to name a difficulty‚ it would be that the targets resisted signing while crying and screaming‚ so it required some physical ‘persuasion (debugging).’ However‚ the documents are now beautifully in order.”
“…That is called torture. You should look up the definition of persuasion.”
My emotionless audio data was helplessly swallowed by the “refreshing sense of accomplishment” floating between the two of them.
The false accusation data I had painstakingly assembled overnight—my personal “path of escape from the temple”—had been physically thrown into an incinerator along with Prince Edward‚ the very execution environment (runtime system) required to process it.
“Now then‚ Louis-kun… fufu‚ with this‚ this academy (box) has become much cleaner and quieter.”
Serina linked her arm with mine‚ looking up at me affectionately.
[ Contact detected: left arm. Abnormal heat conduction (36.5°C). Binding pressure: 15 Newtons —— ]
[ —— Exactly 0.5-second delay —— ]
[ Process: forcibly loading post-approval ‘happiness’ —— ]
“…So in other words‚ I don’t have to be expelled anymore?”
“Of course! Nothing will interfere with your peace anymore. You can stay here with me forever!”
Her words should have rung like a bell of blessing.
Instead‚ air drained from my lungs and my internal organs turned heavy like mud.
[ Warning: rapid decline in survival motivation (OS). Internal parameter distortion being misidentified as physical pressure (error) —— ]
Within me‚ the last remnants of “humanity‚” now 85% purged of emotion‚ creaked violently with no place to go.
The oxygen that should have been expelled from my lungs froze solid in my throat.
From beneath my feet‚ the single thin thread (path) leading back to my family’s inn was quietly severed.
“…Fufu. You’re so overwhelmed with joy you can’t even speak‚ Louis-kun.”
From behind‚ a soft mass suddenly pressed against me.
Serina slipped around my back and wrapped her slender arms around my neck. The warmth transmitted through her thin shirt should have been a comfortable 36.5°C heat source—but my UI was interpreting it as an “absolute zero prison.”
“You’re… reaching a conclusion that is dangerously misaligned with my input parameters.”
“There’s no misalignment. The bad bugs that could hurt you are all now clean little ‘empty boxes.’”
With a carefree voice like blooming flowers‚ her cold fingertips slid under my shirt hem.
[ Warning: unauthorized physical contact detected along dorsal spinal line —— ]
My back jerked.
Her fingertips traced my spine slowly from bottom to top‚ as if inputting a password directly into my central nervous system.
“…Wait‚ Serina. That’s ticklish—or more like a direct neural hack.”
“Don’t move‚ Louis-kun. This is an important check so you won’t ever get lost again.”
My protest‚ stripped of inflection by enforced ‘calm‚’ was completely ignored.
She leaned even closer‚ silencing my mouth with proximity alone. Silver hair brushed my cheek‚ and warm‚ sweet breath touched my ear.
Cold fingers crawling along my back and hot breath burning my ear—the extreme temperature mismatch (bug) began to melt my emotionless brain like a drug.
“This way‚ you won’t have to be expelled. You’ll stay here with me forever and ever.”
That whispered command triggered a fatal error in the blue progress bar floating in the upper-right of my vision.
[ Critical error: objective variable of ‘Expulsion Project’ has been lost —— ]
The pale-blue bar began to ripple with toxic red noise.
The text “Expulsion Project: ■■■■■■■■□□ 85%” I had desperately built as my anchor was corrupted into meaningless glyphs (bug data) and collapsed.
Then‚ the system ruthlessly redrew a new string.
[ Variable redefinition: Cage Completion: ■■■■■■■■□□ 85% ]
[ —— Immediately hidden by administrator privileges —— ]
Before my logic circuits could fully parse the meaning of that brief flash‚ the air in my lungs disappeared entirely.
[ Warning: critical damage to identity (self). Pulmonary function degraded. Misinterpreting loss as respiratory error —— ]
The return sector to my “home inn‚” which had barely kept my sense of self alive‚ was quietly destroyed with a fatal error tone.
“…Ah… aah…”
Only broken sound escaped my lips.
Unable to form resistance‚ I slowly sank into the inescapable space within her arms.
Ordinarily‚ the last remnants of humanity should have violently rejected this absolute cage.
But.
[ Fatal error: contradiction detected between current mental state (self-collapse) and defined environment variable (completion of the sanctuary) —— ]
[ —— Exactly 0.5-second delay —— ]
[ Process: target ‘Serina’ embrace reclassified as “ultimate protection.” Forcing reward data (euphoria) —— ]
(…Ah… aah…)
The noise of despair‚ unable even to become sound‚ was overwritten in an instant by forcibly injected cold euphoria.
The crushing loss that had just been processed as a “respiratory error” was now overwritten into a distorted sense of “being protected by her warmth.”
My logic circuits could not understand what was happening. A relentless alarm of “bug-like discomfort” continued to ring—but my mouth corners lifted on their own‚ forming a relieved smile.
Out of the corner of my vision‚ in the shadows of a corridor mirror‚ a jet-black tailcoat that reflected no light moved.
Agrace.
After confirming that my system had successfully “converted” despair into happiness‚ he bowed deeply in reverence‚ as if witnessing the completion of a divine statue.
“Now‚ let’s return to class‚ Louis-kun. The noise that interfered with us is nowhere to be found anymore.”
Serina gently pulled my arm‚ turning away from the crowd at the bulletin board.
And then—
[ Warning: national defense-level magical scan detected —— ]
[ Observer: Catherine Belmond (Royal Audit Bureau) ]
The retinal UI emitted a massive red-black alert unlike anything before.
At the bulletin board’s front row where we had stood moments earlier‚ amid a crowd parting in fear‚ a cold bureaucratic woman in under-rim glasses examined Prince Edward’s “expulsion letter” with her fingertips.
Slowly she lifted her gaze and locked onto me‚ the supposed “mastermind‚” with emotionless precision.
The silver pen in her hand was no longer mere observation—it was writing something far more severe.
[ Intercept log: target ‘Louis’ classified as a top-tier systemic threat to the state. Recommendation: transition to royal “final isolation phase” —— ]
“…Oh my. It seems there was still some trash left uncleaned.”
Serina stopped walking and released killing intent colder than absolute zero toward Catherine.
But Catherine did not flinch. She adjusted her glasses and quietly walked away‚ as if locking her sights on me for later execution.
(…A national-level threat? Wait—I just wanted to be expelled… I’m just the son of an inn…)
The unknown error of being targeted by state power caused my logic circuits to short violently.
Yet even that massive alert was dulled by Serina’s “Red” embracing me beside‚ and the continuously delayed stream of false happiness.
Side Story – Chapter 08.2 — End
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