Chapter 35
“My name is ■■■■■.”
“……What?”
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
Was it a temporary malfunction in my cybernetics? An error in my module? Or was this bastard just trying to mess with me?
I considered several possibilities—
But it was none of them.
It was simply that the language was expressed in a way I couldn’t comprehend. When I first heard it, it was fine, but somewhere in the process of my brain recognizing it, an error occurred.
It was like the word itself had a lock or a fog placed over it.
No matter how I looked at it, this had to be the handiwork of a transcendent being. Probably a way to prevent players from exchanging this kind of information.
‘Even the one who possessed Shade tried to say his name before dying, but didn’t finish… Was it fine in that case because he was already dead?’
Well, either way, it didn’t matter.
What mattered was that by revealing her “real” name, Ciel had confirmed herself to be a transmigrator.
I released my grip from her neck, got up from her body, put some distance between us, and leaned against the wall beside me.
Ciel slowly sat up, cautiously watching my reaction.
“……”
“……”
A strange silence.
After a few seconds of quiet wariness, I spoke first.
“You said you’d cooperate with me, so I’d like to exchange some information. Is that fine?”
“O-Of course. I agree.”
She seemed nervous.
Well, Benedict was also a member of the Stingray Family, so that was natural. Even if Benedict was only a minor supporting character, for a mere maid android, he was in a position she could never dream to approach.
“First, you’re definitely a transmigrator?”
“If by ‘transmigrator’ you mean someone from another world… then yes.”
“Were you also a reader of the original novel?”
“Yes. I joined a quiz event celebrating the ending, and when I checked the results, this happened.”
So far, exactly the same.
Looks like participating in the ending celebration quiz event was the condition for transmigration.
“When did you arrive in this world?”
“A month ago. Exactly 33 days before the Academy’s entrance date. When I woke up, I was in the Academy’s android storage.”
Her answers grew longer, as if she was loosening up.
Was she naturally talkative? Or had the talkative Ciel from the original work influenced her self?
I kept analyzing her while continuing my questions.
“Why choose ‘Ciel’ of all characters? There must have been plenty of others you’d want to be.”
This was one of the things I was most curious about.
In the original, Ciel had little role in the plot, existing only to lighten the mood—basically a comic relief character.
She had worked as a housekeeping robot in the Academy, taking care of the regular dormitory students, until one day, she suddenly gained self-awareness.
Her wish was to become human.
Not a robot bound to follow orders, but a human who could choose her own path.
To achieve this, Ciel secretly began stealing small amounts of money from students, saving it up little by little.
She believed the only difference between androids and humans was whether their bodies were made of metal or protein.
So she thought that if she purchased biological parts and modified herself so that her whole body could bleed and sweat like a human, she would be recognized as one.
‘Then, when she got caught stealing, she somehow ended up entangled with the protagonist… that was Ciel’s episode.’
In the end, she was never officially recognized as human.
Still, she got along well with the protagonist’s group.
After that, she became the kind of side character who would jump into the main characters’ conversations with little remarks that made readers smile.
Of course, she was drawn very cutely, so she was quite popular with readers—just without any merit for a transmigrator.
So I couldn’t help but wonder—
‘Why Ciel of all people?’
Maybe this one had a clever plan I hadn’t thought of. Perhaps she had discovered some important role only Ciel could fulfill.
That thought lasted only a moment.
“…You think I chose this?”
Her voice had a faint trace of anger.
“W-Who in their right mind would choose a body like this!”
“You didn’t choose it?”
“Every day I clean rooms and do laundry in the dorm while the kids go to class. No matter how hard I work, no one thanks me—they just treat me like junk and slap me around like it’s nothing. Do you think I’d choose a body like this?”
It seemed she’d built up quite a lot of frustration in her time at the Academy. Well, this was a world where kindness toward androids was nowhere to be found.
“The last question of the quiz should’ve been choosing who to possess, though.”
“Of course I wrote someone down. I wanted to be Evangeline.”
“You mean the witch Evangeline?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She’s beautiful and strong.”
Evangeline was a character who joined the protagonist’s group late. Unlike “Techno-Wizards” or “Tech Wizards,” she was a witch who could use real magic.
If it were her, there’d be a clear merit in possessing her.
“Or Kallia Stingray wouldn’t have been bad either. As the youngest daughter of a conglomerate family, she could’ve done whatever she wanted.”
“……”
“What is it?”
She wanted to become my little sister?
Maybe it was Aaron’s self bleeding through, but for some reason, I felt oddly displeased. Apparently, Aaron hadn’t had such a bad relationship with his sister.
But I kept my mouth shut to avoid showing that feeling, and Ciel kept chattering away regardless.
“But what can I do? I’m already an android. If I’d known, I would’ve tried harder on the quiz…”
“What place did you get?”
“An honorable mention.”
“…Hmm.”
Now I could picture it.
If she was telling the truth—
There were two possibilities.
One, those with low rankings in the quiz event, like honorable mentions, had their possession target chosen regardless of their preference.
Two, the ‘Evangeline’ or ‘Kallia’ she wrote as her answer to the last question was already taken by another transmigrator.
‘I’ll have to check later.’
I added it to my mental to-do list and continued questioning her.
“Were there any other honorable mentions besides you? How many people in total won the quiz event?”
“Uh… I’m not really sure. For some reason, my memory about that part is fuzzy. I feel like there were a few others besides me… but when I think about it again, maybe not.”
“That’s important information. Try to remember.”
Ciel clutched her head and groaned.
I could hear the hum of her AI core’s fan as it overheated. But in the end, it was useless.
“Sorry. I don’t know.”
“…So you’re the same.”
“Huh? Then you too?”
I nodded.
I used to think the reason I couldn’t remember how many other winners there were was simply because I’d been too focused on the fact that I was first place.
But now, I suspected the transcendent might have deliberately blocked that part of our memories.
Like how in a battle royale game, they don’t tell you how many survivors are left.
‘There’s way too much to take into account now.’
The possibility that possession targets could be chosen at random had suddenly broadened the range of possible suspects.
It could even be someone completely unrelated to the original story.
Like a pot-bellied man from Sector D who just goes on neighborhood strolls—who might turn out to be a transmigrator like me.
‘But I can’t plan for something that uncertain.’
Even with this information, my task remained the same.
Raise my story contribution score, earn points, and regain the overwhelming power Aaron once had in his prime.
Also, to help the key characters grow so they could handle the crises to come.
‘Maybe I’ve been too relaxed just because I earned a decent amount of points.’
In this situation, even a few points were precious.
Points in possession: 2600P
Including the points I’d just earned from meeting Ciel, I had a total of 2600P left.
If I spent it all on Module Compatibility Tickets at 300P each, I could buy 8 tickets. That would leave me with 200P.
‘If I equip 8 more modules out of the 17 I still can’t use…’
That would leave 9 modules.
I’d need 9 more tickets.
300P × 9 tickets = 2700P.
Considering the 200P I’d have left, I’d still need at least 2500P more.
‘If I keep up my current contribution rate, I should have enough by the end of this episode…’
While I was doing the math in my head, a thought suddenly struck me.
Wouldn’t Ciel have received benefits the same way I had?
“How many points have you earned so far?”
“You mean the kind you use in the shop? About 1500P, I think.”
500P from meeting Iri.
1000P from the start of the main story.
That made a total of 1500P.
From the sound of it, she hadn’t met Miyu yet. Well, considering she was holed up in her own room all the time, how would Ciel have met her anyway?
‘Someone who’s done nothing has already earned 1500P.’
They were handing out points more generously than I thought.
That meant other transmigrators could earn shop points just as easily. In other words, I couldn’t afford to get complacent just because I had a lot of points.
‘Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to recognize me as Aaron Stingray. Based on what happened with Big David, villains seem to give points when they’re taken out…’
While I was turning things over in my head—
Ciel interrupted my thoughts.
“Hey.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t you think it’s been all about me talking? You said we’d cooperate, remember?”
“……”
Had she already forgotten she almost died at my hands a little while ago? She was trying to act like we were equals.
I considered intimidating her again, but decided otherwise. Maintaining a reasonably good relationship with her would be more beneficial to me in the long run.
Especially now that I knew I could get points from a transmigrator—getting rid of her could wait until I’d squeezed enough points out of her.
‘Tch. Even if she looks like Ciel, knowing she isn’t on the inside keeps me from feeling any attachment.’
If she weren’t a transmigrator, I’d have gladly taken her in and spoiled her.
I smiled bitterly to myself and decided to humor her request. A few pieces of unimportant information wouldn’t hurt me.
“If you’ve got questions, ask.”
“First, I’m curious—how did you know Aaron Stingray was a transmigrator? And how did you know he was still alive?”
Because I am him.
Of course, I couldn’t say that, so I made something up.
“Did you forget who I am?”
“Oh…”
I’m that man’s younger brother.
That one line was enough.
“Then what place did you get in the quiz event?”
“…Honorable mention.”
Another lie.
But Ciel bought it immediately.
“What? Then you also ended up in that body by chance?”
“That’s right.”
“Hah, unbelievable…”
Ciel exploded in frustration.
“The same honorable mention! But one gets lucky and becomes a conglomerate’s second son, and the other ends up as the Academy’s slave! Ughhh! Author bastard, do you even have a conscience?!”
I tried to calm her before she completely lost it, but it wasn’t easy. Honestly, if I were in her shoes, I’d be furious too.
Anyway—
After spending a while cursing the author, Ciel finally calmed down. But she still hadn’t completely let go of her resentment and began asking me all sorts of random things.
“What’s life like as a conglomerate’s second son?”
“You must get to eat a lot of delicious food and sleep in a nice bed, right?”
“Haa… I’m jealous. I have to sleep standing in the android storage every night. You know? Here, on my back, there’s a mount that locks me in place like this…”
“……”
She’d been bottling up a lot.
Feeling a bit sorry for her, I answered the things I could and listened to her complaints, slowly building some trust between us.
After a while—
“So, you get it? The only good thing about this body is that it’s sturdy. I don’t get sick, I don’t get tired. But other than that—”
“Let’s end the small talk here.”
It felt like too much time was being wasted, so I cut her complaints short. She wouldn’t have much to say about it at this point.
I’d gathered all the necessary information and sorted out what needed to be done.
“The thing we need to focus on right now is that Aaron Stingray is drawing the main characters of the novel over to his side.”
“Ah, right.”
“With the protagonist, Shade Wells, dead, if the strongest person in this world also manages to completely recruit geniuses like Iri and Miyu, there’ll be no stopping him.”
“W-Wait. The protagonist died?”
Ciel’s eyes went wide in shock.
…Oh, she hadn’t known.
Well, that was fine. If I played it right, it could work even more in my favor.
“Yeah, he’s dead.”
“Why?”
“Looks like my brother killed him. Tried to take some half-baked efficient route, only to get found out as a transmigrator by him.”
“So that’s what happened…”
She murmured.
“No wonder… I searched the whole Academy but couldn’t find anyone named Shade Wells in this year’s incoming class. I didn’t want to consider the possibility, but…”
“Save your grieving for later.”
“S-Sorry.”
“Anyway, for that reason, we’ll cooperate for now. From my intel, it’ll take Aaron some time to fully recover and return to his position. Until then, we have to find a way to earn points through the main characters and come up with a plan to oppose him.”
“I agree completely.”
Of course, that wasn’t going to happen.
This was just buildup so I could monopolize the rewards for myself.
“But what’s your plan? Iri and Miyu both became Stingray scholarship students, so it’s not easy to approach them. And I can’t meet Silence with my current status either, so even if we cooperate, I’m not sure how I could be of any help…”
“Leon Albert.”
I cut her off.
“Do you remember who he is?”
“Yes, one of the Stingray scholarship students. In the novel, he was a third-rate villain who kept pestering the protagonist’s group.”
“I’m going to use him.”
“How?”
“Through him, I’ll set the stage for a play. And on that stage, I plan to finish off Aaron Stingray for good.”
“…?”
I explained the details of my plan to the tilting-headed Ciel.
She listened quietly and nodded as if to say it wasn’t a bad idea.
Naturally, it was a lie.
This seemingly reasonable ‘Aaron Stingray assassination plan’ was really nothing more than a scheme to monopolize the contribution points for Act 1, Part 1.
‘If she can’t even see the holes in this, she’s not exactly sharp.’
While the plan was in motion, Ciel and the other transmigrators would find it difficult to approach Iri, and once the play was over, Iri would belong solely to me.
There was only one problem.
‘I’m sorry for making you go through this, Iri.’
The guilt gripped my chest like a vice.
But there was no helping it.
All the suffering she endured now would ultimately become the stepping stone to a happy ending for everyone.
After all, villain and hero are only a hair’s breadth apart.
I steeled myself with that justification.
It starts now.
From here on out, everything would move in the palm of my hand.