4
With Lilith, a top Supreme Leader, on our side, we make our way to the woods.
“Well! Take a look at how clean the roads are, Six! Do you understand that even this little detail is a treasure trove of information?”
Or not.
“Based on the fact that the roads aren’t clogged with waste, we can tell the local residents are aware that excrement invites disease. Of course, they might just like cleanliness, but it’s possible the standard of medical knowledge here is higher than we think!”
Passing through the city, Lilith’s been stopping every few steps to make observations of this sort.
“Either that, or this planet once had a highly advanced civilization, and while the culture itself died out, some of its knowledge has persisted through popular lore—”
I turn to Lilith as she glances around the streets like a kid in a candy store.
“Lady Lilith, I really couldn’t care less about this city’s poop situation. Can we please leave already? If we don’t, your return to Earth will be delayed indefinitely.”
“That’s right! But still, this is all very fascinating… Oh! Hey, look over there, Six, there’s a tank! That must be the one from the reports!”
Seeing the tank just sitting there in the middle of town, Lilith rushes over for a closer look.
“Hey, Alice, mind doing something about that childish creator of yours?”
“She’s your boss. You’ve known her longer than I have.”
—After finally reaching the city gates by dragging Lilith along, we find a bunch of kids crowding around the Destroyer parked beyond the walls.
Seeing the children, Alice runs toward them.
“You damned brats, don’t touch the Destroyer!”
Just like with her shotgun, Alice has grown oddly attached to the Destroyer and evidently can’t stand people touching it.
“Who the hell are you calling a brat?! You’re smaller than I am!”
“Hey! It’s that kid who’s always hanging around the Fly! Get outta here!”
“You’re right! And the Fly’s hanging out back there! Bet she’s one of his lackeys! Throw some rocks at ’em!”
The kids don’t take Alice very seriously, probably because she looks about their age, which sends her into a frenzy.
“So that’s how you want it, you snotty brats? Fine! Get ready to cry!”
Alice catches a rock that was thrown at her, then jumps the tallest boy in the group.
“You’re such a girl ! Why don’t you go back to—? Ow! Hey! Ow, ow, ow, ow! Stop it! …Gaaah!”
Alice takes down the boy she tackled, then, grabbing at one of his legs, begins hammering his shin with the rock in her fist.
“Hey, stop it! You made Pikke cry!”
“Okay, okay! We were wrong! We’re sorry! So stop it! Please just stop! C’mon, stop it, all right?!”
As Alice continues obsessively attacking the kid’s shin, the other boys hurriedly move to stop her.
Lilith stares confusedly at the weirdly immature android.
“Hey, Six, is Alice always like this? Even taking into account the fact that you’ve been a bad influence on her, picking fights with kids is a pretty good sign she needs some maintenance…”
“Bad influence? She’s actually got a shorter temper than me and tends to start fights more often than I do. Wait here a minute, I’m gonna go help her.”
“Stop that! And, Alice, that’s more than enough; give it a rest—!”
Finally making our way out of the city, we’ve arrived at our destination despite Lilith curiously inspecting every little thing on the road.
The Cursed Forest.
When I first heard the name, I thought they were being a little too melodramatic, but the name just feels appropriate now.
We’re still not sure why the completed hideout exploded.
At times like this, the best course of action is to just toss it up the chain for an able boss to handle.
“Lady Lilith, just so we’re clear, this forest is really messed up. Please be careful.”
“As if some forest is any match for Lilith the Black! If I recall your reports correctly, the problems were monsters, tribes of savages, and natural disasters, right? Then there was the attack on the newly constructed facility that you still haven’t been able to identify… Does that about cover it?”
Lilith begins fiddling with her wrist device…
“Best to turn those things into radioactive ash with the purifying fire of thermonuclear—”
…only to be promptly restrained by Alice and me.
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