“Hey Emao!”
“Hello, Voidspeaker-senpai.”
“Um, n-nice weather we’re having? So, um…”
‘Emao’ heaved a sigh.
“Just don’t copy it exactly, please…”
“Thanks Emao! You’re the best.”
“Only because you’re the worst.”
“T-That’s…”
“Study tonight. I will check.”
“O-Ok…I will…”
The rest of the class stared in awe as Emao bantered with a member of the legendary Aurora Legion.
…at least until the day they realized the dark truth about Voidspeaker’s presence there…
BAM!
You were killed by NSLICE-00P!
‘Emao’ grit her teeth and clutched the controller as ‘Defeat’ filled the screen. Chronolock screamed next to her, clutching her hair. The brave hero Voidspeaker was currently hiding behind the couch.
‘Emao’ eyes went wide while she muttered under her breath.
“I see. We can’t beat her like this. Her reaction speed is too fast for human reflexes. If I just unleash my currently sealed chakra I can boost my reaction speed. Then if Chrono-senpai slows down time for us we can get the drop on her. We’ll have to let the meatbag over there take her shot to his stupid head but that’s normal. Nothing of value will be lost. But that might not be enough. She can respond in kind if she realizes what we’re doing and her AI will adapt. To turn around this losing streak we need something more. A distraction. A shinobi looks underneath the underneath…I got it. If we call Cerberus to her room, she’ll have to pay attention to him. That’s right. Now I just need to figure out how to do that. We have those whistles to call for him, but I am over here, and so cannot call him to her room right now. We will need someone on the inside. Kiyosuke-kun would be ideal but I’m not sure how to convince him. Maybe if I tell him it’s training, a way for him to beat Elise for once? Worst case I’ll have to settle for Saydaa-chan, since she likes to pull pranks. She’ll be caught for sure but that will also be a distraction. If we just time it so she’s caught while the game is in progress, then we can win. Yes, this will work. I can feel it.”
Voidspeaker couldn’t hear what ‘Emao’ was saying but once glance at her face told him he didn’t want to. He slowly began creeping out of the room…
“Void.”
His beloved romantic partner called for him.
“Y-Yes?”
“Go get us energy drinks.”
“O-Ok…”
The cultist channeling the power of dark gods bringing inexorable doom…experienced inexorable dread that night…
Fortunately ‘Emao’ received an ‘anonymous’ text reminding her she was undercover, and so she managed not to unleash her sealed chakra.
Barely.
‘Emao’ was eating lunch with the Nova Guardians when Icy Rose happened to stop by.
“Hi everyone, have you seen Anto…um, ‘Dark Rose’?”
Most of the Nova Guardians shook their head. ‘Emao’ tilted her head.
“Antonio-senpai? From my observations he would be meeting with the engineering team right now, making adjustments to his arsenal. From then, I think he has to go to the ILS today to keep up with his internship. He’ll generally stop and eat out when he does that so he probably won’t be home until evening time today.”
Everyone turned to stare at ‘Emao’. She began to flush and fidget under their gaze.
“U-Um…what is it?”
Ice Rose stared at her eyes wide.
“Um, Emao, why do you know Antonio’s schedule so well?”
“T-That’s, um, it’s…”
Because she had followed him once…more than once…
I-It was important to her mission!
S-She needed to know the schedules of Aurora Legion and Nova Guardians! O-Otherwise she could get caught when she’s checking on the elixirs!
There was no other reason!
It was necessary!
Which is why she had to double check his schedule!
S-She would definitely double check everyone else’s schedule too!
She just…hadn’t gotten around to the rest yet.
Icy Rose’s eyes narrowed and she began to grin.
“Oh, I see how it is.”
“W-What do you see? T-There’s nothing to see!”
Teslida’s eyes widened for a second and then she too started to grin. She wrapped an arm around ‘Emao’s shoulder and stood her up, chuckling.
“Is most interesting. Why don’t we have girls talk, friend Emao?”
“T-That’s not necessary. I-I’ve never even heard of a girls talk. W-We can talk here, can’t we?”
“Now now, don’t be scared.”
PSI Omega swallowed her food and then stood up. ‘Emao’ tried to escape…but she was trapped in Teslida’s grip. She gulped and prepared to unleash her chakra if worst came to worst…
To ‘Emao’s surprise, the girls had not in fact discovered her identity and did not take her to the authorities.
What they did do though…
It was far worse.
Nana scarfed down her ice cream and then dropped onto the table, heaving a sigh. Bob chuckled as he sat across from her. It was time for their regular check-in.
“You seem exhausted, Nana, is everything alright?”
“Ah! Not to worry, Bob-sama, I’m totally fine! And, well…”
“Yes?”
“It’s…very chaotic. But…I don’t hate it.”
Bob smiled and continued eating his own ice cream.
“That’s good. Anything unusual happen?”
Nana slowly shook her head.
“Ah, no, nothing unusu…”
Her head suddenly stopped moving. Her cheeks began to flush and she began to tremble.
“N-No…t-that’s not…I would never…”
“Nana?”
“I-It’s nothing! T-There’s nothing wrong!”
“I see. Well I won’t press you on it. Just know, you can tell me anything Nana. Especially if something’s making you feel uncomfortable.”
Nana frowned and trembled more. Eventually, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Bob-sama, I’m sorry!”
“What’s the matter, Nana?”
“I-I’m…having disloyal thoughts!”
“Hm?”
“I swore…I would be your servant forever…to be loyal only to you, Bob-sama. B-But…s-someone else keeps entering my head…a-and I can’t stop it…”
Bob frowned for a bit, then realized what she was talking about. He closed his eyes and shook his head with a smile. He reached over and pat the girl on the shoulder.
“Nana.”
“B-Bob-sama…”
“It’s alright.”
“...eh?”
“There’s someone you like, isn’t there?”
“T-T-T-That’s….”
“That’s fine. Good even.”
“How is it fine?!”
“It’s not disloyalty, you know. I know your loyalty is rock-solid. But you can have loyalty to more than one person at once, you know? Most people do, in fact. There’s loyalty to your job and loyalty to your friends…and loyalty to your family. I’m just your boss, so you’re free to feel and act however you want in your personal life.”
“B-But…I’m your retainer…all my loyalty should be reserved for you, Bob-sama…”
Bob heaved a sigh and rubbed his chin. Maybe he should try a different angle. Hm, if she was talking about retainers and such…
“Nana, you’re calling yourself my retainer, right?”
“Y-Yes?”
“Don’t retainers normally have their own families and such? Make sure their loyalty endures to the next generation?”
Nana slowly nodded.
“That’s right…”
“So, isn’t it fine to like someone? No, isn’t it helpful to the duties of a retainer to have a life outside of their work?”
Nana froze. Her eyes widened.
“That’s…right…Bob-sama’s descendents…also need retainers…”
Nana suddenly jumped out of her seat and bowed.
“Thank you, Bob-sama! I understand now! I won’t rest until I ensure my loyalty will endure for a thousand generations!”
“U-Um, you don’t need to go that far, Nana, I’m just saying it’s alright to have some friendships or crushes outside of work…”
“I will not fail you!”
“And she’s gone…”
Bob heaved a sigh.
Well, this would probably be annoying…but not for him! He wished good luck to whoever Nana’s crush was.
From that day on…Antonio couldn’t help but feel…like someone was watching him…
Always watching.
And so time passed...
‘Emao’ removed the covering and checked the elixirs. Even with her own chakra sealed, she could feel the power thrumming within them.
They were ready.
Which meant her mission was complete.
She heaved a sigh.
It had been difficult.
And nerve-wracking.
And very annoying.
But she had done it.
And her senpais hadn’t noticed her in the end…
She made a wry smile with eyes staring blankly forward.
She wasn’t sure whether to be grateful…or frustrated at their mental faculties.
But well…
She had to admit, it wasn’t all bad…
“You’re leaving us?!”
Teslida stood from her seat. ‘Emao’ gave her a sad smile.
“It can’t be helped, I’m afraid. Some family issues…I need to go back home now…”
‘Emao’s eyes widened as Teslida wrapped her in a hug.
“Don’t leave me! I don’t want to be alone with all these boys!”
PSI Omega crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks.
“I’m here too, you know.”
“I don’t want to be alone with all these boys and that brat!”
PSI Omega narrowed her eyes.
“Oh? What do you mean by that? Does that refer to that time where you…”
“Let’s not dwell on the past, little girl.”
The room went silent.
PSI Omega lifted her hand. Teslida floated into the air.
She carried her to the sparring room without another word.
Crystal Guardian and El Mantis glanced at ‘Emao’, then at Dark Rose, then at each other and nodded.
“We’ll go check on them.”
And promptly left the table.
Dark Rose sighed and turned to ‘Emao’, a sad smile on his face.
“Guess this is it. I’m going to miss you, Emao.”
“Antonio-senpai…”
“Are you sure you can’t…no…I guess if it’s family, it can’t be helped.”
“D-Don’t worry, Antonio-senpai! I-I’m sure we’ll meet again someday.”
“I hope so.”
“We definitely will! I’ll always be watching you!”
“Hm?”
“I, uh, mean I’ll always be thinking of you!”
‘Emao’ sighed as she left the room. It turned out capturing Antonio-senpai had been a lot harder than she imagined.
Who knew having zero romantic experience and very little experience with peers outside of Nemesis would hamper her ability to ensure her loyalty endured to the thousandth generation? The only thing she knew about men was the quickest way to a man's heart was between his fourth and fifth ribs.
So the only thing 'Emao' had been able to do was investigate Antonio-senpai in depth, searching for a weak point.
But that was fine, she would find a way. ‘Emao’ might have failed…but Nana wouldn’t.
Such it was that she didn’t notice someone walk up to her until a hand tugged at her shirt.
She turned around.
She nearly jumped.
It was PSI Omega, with a frown on her face and her arms crossed.
“We need to talk.”
‘Emao’ began to sweat.
“O-Ok…what about?”
“Not here.”
‘Emao’ gulped as she followed the girl to a private room.
PSI Omega fidgeted about for a bit…and then sighed.
“Look…I just wanted to say…I’m sorry.”
‘Emao’ froze.
“I, um, figured out who you are. But, I…well…I did something…very bad to you earlier…so…I’m sorry.”
Nana’s heart pounded, a fire burning in her chest. Her eyes narrowed at the little girl.
“...I don’t forgive you. I’ll never forgive you. You made me betray the one I swore my loyalty to. I cannot forgive that. Ever.”
PSI Omega bit her lip, looking down. Nana took a deep breath.
“But…I appreciate you not revealing me. And…my master seems to have forgiven you. At least, he made it clear I shouldn’t hurt you. So…we are not friends. But I can accept a truce.”
PSI Omega slowly nodded. Nana glared at her, one final time.
“If you ever do it again though…I will kill you. That’s a promise.”
With that, Nana left the room, leaving PSI Omega frowning. The girl heaved a sigh, and then left the room shortly after.
“NOOOOOO!!!!! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME!”
Voidspeaker grabbed ‘Emao’, tears streaming down his face.
‘Emao’ just sighed and looked at Chronolock.
“Please collect…that.”
Chronolock sighed and pulled her beloved romantic partner off his only hope of passing math this year. Wonder Knight shook his head and turned to the girl.
“Well, we’ll all miss you, Emao. Take care.”
Pink Star nodded and gave the girl a hug. Icy Rose simply frowned, heaving a sigh.
“Are you sure? What about…”
‘Emao’ winked at her.
“Oh, I’m not giving up on Antonio-senpai just yet. I'm sure we'll meet again one day.”
Icy Rose smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Chronolock crossed her arms.
“...I better see you online sometime. We need you.”
‘Emao’s smile twitched.
“I…um…will try my best.”
“Do better than that, or I’ll find you.”
‘Emao’ just shook her head while smiling and turned to go.
“Bye Emao, I hope we see you again sometime!”
‘Emao’ made a smirk to herself.
“Oh I’m sure we will. Much sooner than you think. Yes…much…”
Nana climbed into the grav-jet, putting her stuff down and taking a seat next to Bob. He nodded at her.
“How do you feel?”
Nana gave him a smile.
“I’m ready to go home, Bob-sama, and return to your side.”
Bob nodded. Nana glanced out the window of the cockpit, looking down on the city.
“...it was fun, though.”
Bob simply smiled to himself at that.
Nana stepped out of the grav-jet. She took a deep breath, and smiled as she glanced around the hanger of Nemesis HQ.
She was home.
It had been fun…and she never did catch Antonio-senpai…but this is where she belonged.
Home sweet…
There was a puff of smoke behind her.
“Greetings: Elise welcomes the traitor home.”
Nana began to sweat as Elise appeared behind her. She felt a metal hand grip her shoulder.
“Statement: This unit has been waiting a long time for traitor Nana’s return. We will have a lengthy discourse about ‘Emao’s recent choices. Elise recommends traitor Nana gather physical and mental stamina.”
It was a long time and many promises before Elise was satisfied and reclassified Nana as 'untrustworthy ally'. From that day forward, 'Emao' never logged in ever again. But a new player started to party with NSLICE-00P instead...
Chronolock never did win another game.
And one day, as Chronolock raged at yet another loss...Icy Rose passed by and looked at the screen. As Voidspeaker filled her in on the situation, her eyes widened. A perfect accuracy player now partied with Elise who had always played solo...right after Emao had left them. With her perfect accuracy. She started to tremble as the gears turned in her mind.
She may have made a mistake trying to set Antonio up...
