Chapter 119: ?
'Fuck.' Koya thought as he was now in the Infirmary with Mio on two beds that were far apart from each other with the "corpse" of Renji in the middle of them on a stretcher and Disguise Master standing next to the bed with Koya. 'The hell is happening…?'
After the attack on Renji which revealed that he was actually a robot, several staff had quickly urged the both of them into the Infirmary and closed the door behind them and now they were waiting for someone with no explanation given about who or why.
"Mio."
"Yes, Koya-kun."
"What do you think happened?" He asked. He really didn't feel like asking the System less he received an insensitive pun from the blue screen.
"I don't really know." She looked at the door. "But it seems we're about to find out."
Just then the door opened and a Blue crest user with blue hair and blue eyes stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
He adjusted his all-white clothes as he walked in… his shirt, trousers, and even his shoes were white which looked very deliberate.
Koya recognized who this was immediately, It was Tech Tube's physical avatar. "Now now Kids, you don't need to be wary. I'm the one that's going to help you with this situation."
"Who are you?" Mio asked, though the Order already had a file on this man. She had to play her part as a student after all.
"Me?" He walked to the center of the room looking down at the Android's body. "You may not have heard of me before but I'm Tech Tube, a Blue-liner who is a very important part of ALI. Those posts that you see being made, the whole technological aspect of ALI, everything that has to do with security as well, the firewall that prevents your Individual Points from being hacked… it's all me."
He placed a hand on his chest and smiled.
"It's okay… you can thank me now." He said and closed his eyes, waiting for the thanks but he didn't get it. "Where's the applause?"
"If you're the one behind everything then you don't need the thanks." Mio mentioned. "ALI claims they have the best state of the art facilities however we got attacked by the Order and the whole technological aspect was compromised."
"Well that was because I wasn't around." He said and Mio kept quiet.
She could list several other problems but she wanted to know what was going on and whether she should have killed Renji earlier. "Tsk… Ungrateful kids. I almost don't want to help you but I guess I will since it's partly my fault."
He took a step forward to the body of Renji on the stretcher.
"As you can see, your friend doesn't actually exist… this is a robot, or more accurately, an Android. There is a chance that Kusaba Renji might have existed beforehand but after a few more tests, from the very beginning, Kusaba Renji was a droid." Tech Tube sighed. "Now you may wonder why I called all of you here."
'If he was fake then why didn't you tell me?' Koya asked the System and as he expected, a blue screen appeared in front of his face.
「... You never asked」
"Is it because you suspect my Master and Lady Mio?" Disguise Master asked and Tech Tube looked at her before laughing a bit.
"Not at all." He said. "I was the one that killed him just minutes ago after all."
"So that fly…"
"You noticed?" Tech Tube raised his sleeve and behind it were several white bead-like things, they were tiny and packed tightly together in a cluster that ran along the inside of his forearm.
Up close they looked biological like eggs, but perfectly symmetrical. "These are called XO-2, my own creations. Since I'm connected to the Mainframe, these help me establish access to every bit of technology they touch that isn't connected to the Mainframe and do what I want with them but that's not the main thing here. What I'm here to tell you is what this is." He gestured at the body. "It is called a Mimic Droid. As you can see, they are made to mimic the behavioral patterns of humans to achieve their goal."
"Their goal?" Koya raised an eyebrow. He had seen this in the fandom somewhere but hadn't looked into it much since it hadn't gotten into the manga yet and was from the novel.
"Yes. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't tell any of this to regular students, however since both of you are victims of it as well… I'll just say." He sighed. "The Mimic Droids are creations made by a certain person to blend in with humans… especially Awakened like us and collect DNA samples for some reason."
"DNA Samples?"
"Your saliva, sweat, anything your body gives off. It interacts by touch and from there the rest of the behavioral patterns… they were built to be very similar to humans so if you've never encountered one before, you wouldn't know." He explained. "These samples are then delivered to their creator who is using it for something that even we don't know and we can't seem to trace them once they go for a delivery, there's also nothing in a Droid's memory since it automatically erases it's memory the moment it gets compromised. All we know is that the creator of the Mimic Droids is probably using it on himself as he has perfectly harnessed my own Crest Power."
"Mio… is it…" Pale said.
'Yes.' Mio thought with a small breath. 'We'll report to Boss immediately we leave here.'
"After the break, 6% of the students that came back were Droids and we had to handle them before they got their samples delivered to Question Mark which is the name of this person, while we were able to recover the students…" Tech Tube said with a flat expression. "This one slipped right under my nose and since this is the main body that houses all the collected samples, it took some time to locate it specifically."
He looked at the crotch compartment of the Mimic Droid and tore it open. Instead of anything else, several small tubes fell to the ground from it. They were miniscule but full of samples.
"Hm…" Tech Tube leaned down and picked one up, reading the labels carefully. "Koya… Koya… Koya… Dalki… Koichi… Ryouma… Itsuki… Takeru…"
He stood up slightly and kept reading. "Damn, this bot has been busy. It even has blood samples from nobles that got harmed or killed during the Isle incident but there seem to be a lot of Koya samples in here specifically. Blood and sweat both."
The blood was probably gotten from his battle with Takeru or maybe when he had been running from Ysterion. Either way "Renji" had a lot of Koya samples on him.
"Nothing from you though Mio, so you're not that important in this matter." He said before turning back to Koya. "Since the bot hasn't submitted the recent samples, then we—"
Just then the bot's eyes turned red as it reactivated and the mouth moved.
"Sike." It said.
The body still didn't move but the mechanical voice coming from it was very flat. "What did I tell you about interfering with my plans, boy? You're far too late though."
Another one of the white flies landed on the Android's body and it turned off completely while Tech Tube let out a sigh.
"Late?" Tech Tube muttered while looking at the samples again. He ejected one of his bots onto it, letting it scan a tube before smashing it on the ground. "Fuck!"
The blood splashed around and some of it hit Mio's face. It was a bit thick for blood but she dabbed it off her cheek and brought it to her lip for a quick taste.
"Ketchup…" Her face twitched and she coughed. She hated ketchup… she had always hated ketchup. Of course it was ketchup.
Tech Tube sighed as he stood back up.
"It seems I've been outsmarted again." He said and looked at both of them. "Well let me scan your blood in case he left some manites in there."
Two bugs deployed from him and emitted blue beams, scanning both of them from toe to head through their clothes, the bones and internal structures visible in the blue light for a moment before the scan completed then they moved on to Disguise Master as well without being asked.
"Congratulations, you're Manite-free. Usually he detonates the bodies of people that he took a lot of samples from and has access to but he seems to like the two of you." Tech Tube said, stepping back.
The stretcher began moving on its own in his direction, taking the Mimic Droid's body with it along with the scattered tubes. "My advice to both of you… let ALI handle this situation and go around living your school lives as usual. I promise I'll have it sorted out. Tech Tube out."
He walked out of the room, leaving all three of them in silence and Koya sighed.
'Well… that happened.' He thought.
He really didn't like all of this random stuff coming at him at once. First the Isle, now a robot friend and a mysterious villain collecting his blood. 'System, is it possible to trace this Question Mark person?'
「...」
'What? You can't?'
「Cost: 300,000 Fate Points. Question Mark is a high-level villain in the novel and has several contingencies in place to hide his identity and prevent being found. He is actively being searched for by the White King as well. If you want to know the location of this person you will need to provide a substantial amount of FP.」
'Just say you want to scam me.' Koya thought and decided to leave it for the future.
He couldn't afford 300k FP and even if he could, why would he spend it on finding some villain who hadn't directly moved on him yet. 'I'll ask Hakai later if she has any leads.'
"So Mio…" Koya turned to her. "You were really about to lick my own blood?"
Mio's cheeks turned completely crimson as she looked at the bed.
"Well, I was just checki-"
The door of the Infirmary opened and Mirei ran inside, jumping on Koya immediately and pressing herself against his face.
"Koya-kun, I heard you were almost attacked and I came here as fast as I could." She said while hugging him as he struggled to get free.
He activated Mutant Strength and pushed the Succubus back, she looked at his hands and then blushed.
"Strong hands…"
He rolled his eyes.
"That wasn't even what happened." He said.
"I know… your green haired friend turned out to be a robot." She said, settling herself more comfortably on his shoulder despite his earlier attempt to dislodge her. "Which means you were being targeted by the Question Mark and before you ask how I know… everyone in the upper echelons of society knows him. He's gotten DNA samples from a lot of people, nobles specifically, and as much as I'd hate to admit it, he had gotten his hand on a little bit of my Mother's blood a long time ago but since he recognizes you as a good donor, that means you have good genes, which means you'll make an even more amazing pet."
'She's still on that…?' Koya thought. He had survived Ysterion and somehow the bat woman's primary concern was still the pet situation.
"Aren't you supposed to be in class or something?" Koya asked.
He really didn't need anyone stressing him out while he was already wondering what some stranger was doing with his blood and the blood of everyone else.
"Yes I am, what about you? I heard Class 5 had some important class or something." She said with a grin and Koya blinked before relaxing back onto the bed.
"It's Tetsuya's class. I don't think it's that important." He said.
If there was any opportunity to dodge the class taught by that annoying man who hated swords and made it everyone's problem, he would take it without hesitation.
"If you're not going then I won't go either." Mio said and relaxed on her own bed.
Disguise Master let out a sigh.
"Since you're currently in the Infirmary, Master, I'll be here with you until you leave." She said. She also honestly wanted to skip class with those horny maids who kept asking her about Koya.
"And as for me, I don't have an important class…" Mirei said while pulling a chair from the side of the room and sitting down in front of the two beds. "So let's play a game then."
"I refuse to play anything your horny mind is thinking about. All I want to do is relax." Koya said and she sighed.
"Well then, I don't need you. The two other girls will play." She said. "Don't worry, it's a fun game… and it'll even help you say what's on your heart. It's a simple game of Succubus Truth or Dare."
"Succubus Truth or Dare…?" Mio raised an eyebrow. That was an inside game within Succubus Mansion.
"Yes, I just have to ask a simple Truth or Dare and then you answer. Depending on what you choose, I ask you a question or give you something to do—"
"I know how Truth or Dare works." Mio said. "What makes it Succubus Truth or Dare?"
"Well that's because Succubus Truth or Dare involves a lot of sex, but since we're in the Infirmary we can't do all of that so I'll keep it simple." She said. "Mio… isn't that your name? Truth or Dare?"
"Truth." Mio answered simply. In a game of Truth or Dare, as long as the opposing person didn't have the ability to discern truth from lies it was always possible to lie.
"Do you like Amagi Koya?" Mirei looked at Koya and Mio visibly flinched at the question. "Do you have a crush on him? What are your intentions with him? Do you want to keep him as a pet like me or do you want to marry him? Koya is right here so he can listen to your answer."
Mio paused and a blush climbed up her cheeks and she opened her mouth but closed it again.
"I… I…"
"Come on say it!" Pale wasn't helping in the background at all, cheering as loudly as she could and splitting Mio's thoughts.
She couldn't stay composed.
"You…"
"I… I want him to fuck me!" She yelled out, closing her ears to block Pale's chanting and then the room went completely quiet and she blinked when she realized what had just come out of her mouth in the middle of an ALI Infirmary with three witnesses.
Mirei was grinning from ear to ear while Disguise Master had a genuinely horrified look on her face and Koya was staring at her without blinking.
Pale facepalmed.
"Foolish… foolish… foolish. Now he thinks you want a purely sexual relationship." Pale said and before Mio could even begin to sort out the situation, the door of the Infirmary opened and one of the Professors stuck his head in.
"All of you, exit the Infirmary immediately." He said while adjusting his tie and that was exactly what they did, with Mio covering her face in embarrassment the entire way out.
…
Ichinose sighed as she sat at a table in the Library and glanced at the five other girls there.
'Fucking hell.' She thought.
She didn't want to be stuck under Koya's fangirls, especially when the whole class knew that she had sold Koya's scent to the guy in Class 2 who wanted him dead. They were against her and they weren't hiding it.
"Tch… you should have scored lower. Why would Koya-kun even mentor you when you betrayed him?" Kuroda Sena said with her arms crossed.
Honestly Ichinose was just sure they hated her because she got to hug him and they didn't.
"I really hate girls like you." Another one said and Ichinose's eyes darkened.
She genuinely didn't know what to do right now. She had 90% of her earnings stripped which left a tiny 10% remaining… a number that looked even worse when she thought about what the original total had been at its peak.
She had also been banned from the streaming platform she had built her account on and was trying to grow a new one elsewhere, but majority of the news had spread online that she had been in on the plan to get Koya killed for views.
The death threats and the backlash were consistent and showed no signs of slowing down. 'I'm tired… I really am.'
Well, it was mostly her fault. She hadn't thought it through at all before she did it but she was genuinely sorry this time. That was different from before.
"Alright girls, that's enough." Koya walked to the table with a textbook under his arm and sat at the head of the table, setting it down in front of him. "I'm glad all of you managed to score just above and below the cut-off marks. That means there's not much to teach you from scratch and you'll be able to teach others in your assigned groups, so Class 5 can pass the mid-terms as a whole."
"Okay, Koya-kun." Five of the six said cheerfully while Ichinose stayed quiet. Koya glanced at her and sighed.
"All of you, introduce yourselves please."
"Ooh, let me go first Koya-kun. I'm Takahashi Yui!"
"I'm Fujii Nana."
"Kuroda Sena, that's my name, Koya-kun."
"Hay… Haya… Hayashi Riko." A shy girl said.
"Tanaki Ami." The one with black hair and glasses said and they all looked at Ichinose hatefully.
"I… Ichinose Yui." Ichinose said. The others looked away from her and back at Koya with their expressions immediately warm again.
Koya smiled at all of them.
"Good. Welcome to Koya's Study Group." He said and opened the textbook. "Now all of you, let's start with the math section you're having trouble with—"
"Mind if I join you?"
They all turned.
It was a short woman in a Class 3 uniform stood at the edge of the table, looking at them with black eyes and a small smile. She was wearing a big black hat on her head that was wide at the brim and the kind that belonged in old illustrations of witches though she was short enough that even seated, some of the girls at the table were at her eye level standing.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself…"
She curtsied.
"I am Kuroyami Yoru of the Kuroyami Clan of Shadows and the new Class Representative of Class 3, and I'd like to join your study session, Amagi Koya." She said.
Koya blinked.
What was a Villainess doing here?
