"You intend to find the traitor?"
I'd said it with a fair amount of confidence, but Henriks didn't look very comfortable.
Naturally. Agreeing with me would mean that he, as the head of the Resistance, was asking someone to dig through his own organization.
But Henriks would accept my offer.
Because leaving it to someone else would be better than rooting out the traitor himself.
Above all, I was confident I could root out the traitor without fail.
'Because I already know who the traitor is.'
I could tell Henriks the traitor's identity right now, but to do that, I absolutely needed a lead.
Not just a hunch, but hard evidence.
"If you intend to find the traitor, can you truly find the right one? I hope that no one is wronged in the process."
"That won't happen."
"A voice full of conviction. Very well. I will ask this of you for now. I will be in your debt for a while."
I'd thought he might turn it down at least once.
Since the situation wasn't good, he must have made a calm decision instead.
"But this must be the first time you have met us. Is there anyone you have in mind as a suspect?"
"I haven't pinned down the culprit yet. But I'm certain it's at least not one of the three of us."
As I answered, I glanced toward where Edith was.
These two had lived here all their lives, from birth until now.
The other three had also lived in Adeban for a long time, but not as long as these two.
Born and raised in Adeban, the two had grown up close since childhood, so each one's presence served as the other's alibi.
"I am grateful you say so. But how do you plan to find out about the agents? The other agents are all trained experts, and there has been nothing suspicious among them. Besides, it will be hard for an outsider like you to win the favor of the other citizens."
As Henriks said, the mood in the city of Adeban right now was very hostile.
No one knew when they'd be seized by the Iron Factory for forced labor or whatever else, and if an outsider rashly struck up a conversation, they'd clearly be suspicious.
"You don't need to worry about that. I'm not planning to get information from the residents."
"Then where do you intend to get it?"
"If you want to dig up information on allies, shouldn't you get it from the allies?"
"You mean...."
Henriks's pupils widened as he understood what I meant.
"So information on the enemy has to be dug up from the enemy."
Now it was time to start the Iron Factory infiltration episode for real.
***
A little later, back in the repair shop's basement, Edith pressed me in a heated voice.
"You're going inside the Iron Factory? Are you really out of your mind? After they even modified you, you want to go back in there? More importantly, how are you even going to get inside?"
"First, please calm down a little."
I signaled for her to calm down with a gesture as I answered.
"I didn't just blurt this out without any plan. Please hear me out."
I'd already proven a little earlier that my plans actually worked.
About to say more, Edith slowly caught her breath and reined in her emotions.
"Go on. What plan have you come up with this time?"
"It's simple. I turn into a mechanical soldier and get into the Iron Factory."
At my words, Edith looked like she couldn't understand.
"Earlier, I imprinted the mechanical soldier's form into my Mana Core. That way, at least I won't get caught on appearance alone. I saw you taking the identification numbers from the mechanical soldiers' corpses a while ago. Please put one on me."
"Wait, when did you get a new function this time?"
"I just found out."
"You really do have a body that can do anything. If you can disguise yourself, you might be able to walk right in through the main gate on your own two feet, but...."
Edith closed her eyes for a moment and sighed.
"I hope it doesn't happen, but I'm worried that something might go wrong and you might not come back either, Mr. Enon. We don't have many comrades left now, and you've only just joined, and sending you somewhere that dangerous...."
Hearing her true feelings so suddenly, I kept my mouth shut for a moment.
In the game, too, there'd been descriptions of her worrying about the other comrades and the protagonist.
An emotional character who cherished her comrades that much and found it hard to watch them disappear.
Maybe it wasn't strange that she thought of even me, whom she'd known for only 3 days, as a close comrade.
'It feels kind of strange to hear a game character say something like that to me.'
It was definitely a feeling I'd never felt before.
[The Mana Core moves ever so slightly.]
It never reacted except when I was using my abilities.
"Then let's go get ready right away."
***
There was another reason for entering the Iron Factory besides information on the traitor.
It was to scout an entry route to use when we stormed the Iron Factory later.
If I'd been in the body of the character I'd raised all along in the game, I could have simply brought down the Iron Factory without bothering with any infiltration.
'Of all times, I had to log in with a new character.'
Besides, the way things had turned out, there was no telling what anomaly might have occurred in the Iron Factory too.
Honestly, it'd be nice if nothing unusual had happened inside the Iron Factory....
I'd just have to hope nothing like that happened.
[Currently mimicking the 'Mechanical Soldier' form.]
My body currently had the appearance of a mechanical soldier.
The build and structure were different from my original body, but my movements were as natural as in my original body.
'So the outside's different, but my real body is still the same?'
As if a hologram had been projected over the outside.
I'd better be careful not to bump into anything for no reason.
[The weapons of this mechanical model cannot be used.]
[The appearance of the currently attached pulse gun and Ordinary Iron Sword is mimicked in the 'Mechanical Soldier' form.]
Luckily, the weapons I'd equipped just in case blended into the mechanical soldier's appearance.
Even so, I had no intention of using them unless it was a real emergency.
'Time to get going, then.'
I steadied my breath as much as I could and headed for the Iron Factory entrance connected to Adeban.
Soon, when I arrived in front of the Iron Factory entrance, the mechanical soldier on guard stopped me.
"Beep-beep. Show your work progress results."
I took out a few pieces of Adeban silver and showed them.
"Beep-beep. Approval complete. Entry permitted."
Then the large gate slowly opened, and the entrance opened up.
Acting as natural as I could, I passed through the entrance and went inside.
Past the entrance, the main gate of the enormous Iron Factory stood wide open.
Many cargo wagons and mechanical soldiers going in and out of the main gate were bustling about, so even when I passed among them, no one really tried to stop me.
Thanks to that, I could go straight inside the Iron Factory without worrying about anyone's eyes.
As it happened, in the place I entered, none other than the dolls I'd first seen at the Iron Factory were hauling processed iron.
"Hey! The manager's here! Everybody move it, move it!"
There was the nutcracker doll I'd faced when I first opened my eyes.
No, maybe it was a different unit that looked exactly the same.
'Did it mistake me for a manager?'
There was no other mechanical soldier or anyone who could be called a manager around besides me.
It seemed the misunderstanding came from all the mechanical soldiers having the same design in the first place.
"Ahaha! What brings you here, Manager? We're right in the middle of hauling cargo; is there something else you'd like us to do?"
The way it rushed over to me and groveled felt really awkward.
The thing that had looked down on me like garbage when I first woke up was now groveling from below.
It was by chance, but I figured I might as well try getting some information.
"Where did the other managers go, that you are the one managing?"
"Ah, usually I manage the dolls myself without the other managers. If you're looking for the other managers, go that way. That's the managers' area."
The nutcracker doll kindly pointed the way, even holding out its one-piece hand.
'It doesn't even get suspicious when a mechanical soldier asks a question like that.'
An attitude of complete obedience to the mechanical soldiers' orders.
Then how far would it go in following orders?
"One of the laborers' work performance is substandard. Beep-beep."
"Huh? Which bastard dares to pull that in front of you, Manager—"
Pat.
I quietly placed my hand on the nutcracker doll's shoulder.
"Failure to perform duties will result in unavoidable punishment. Please carry out your duties promptly."
"M-Me? I—"
"Poor work attitude. Carry out the entire remaining workload alone."
But at my red eye-light, the nutcracker doll got scared on its own and hurriedly dashed in among the dolls.
"E-Everybody move! Watch me and do it properly!"
The nutcracker doll seemed thoroughly scared; its groveling from a moment ago was nowhere to be seen as it ran straight for the cargo.
I felt several dolls' eyes on me, but ignoring them, I headed down the passage the nutcracker doll had pointed to.
'That guy Victor should be in the managers' area too.'
There were only a few top-level managers in the Iron Factory.
And even then, the head of the Iron Factory was nothing but a puppet.
Almost all of the Iron Factory's work was managed by Victor and his mechanical soldiers.
'The problem is that one of those mechanical soldiers is way too strong.'
In the original game, the textbook approach was to conquer the Iron Factory piece by piece.
But this was reality, so that detailed process wasn't mandatory.
That was a process needed for the quests the protagonist carried out in the first place.
I didn't necessarily have to follow that process.
'It shouldn't matter if I head straight for the place that can bring down the Iron Factory.'
As I went through the passage, the scorching heat and scorch marks from before disappeared, and a little farther on, soft carpet had been laid in the hallway.
From here on was the upper interior of the Iron Factory.
'From here on, I move carefully.'
From here on, only Victor, a few people connected to him, and a handful of guard mechanical soldiers walked around.
That meant there was little chance of running into them, but if I did, things were clearly going to get messy.
First, my first objective: information on the traitor.
To get information on the traitor, getting it from Victor, the factory's manager, was the best choice after all.
'First, I need to figure out the way to where Victor stays.'
But as if to mock that wish, the moment I tried to turn the corner, I heard a voice.
"I didn't expect you to come so quickly, without even sending word ahead. I've put the item you brought in the next room, so please follow me."
As luck would have it, the voice was coming from very close by.
What's more, it was even getting closer to where I was.
I hurriedly yanked open a random door and hid inside.
Soon, Victor's footsteps and another set of heavy ones drew near.
Bang.
"Let's rest here a moment and talk. I'll have tea brought out."
"No, skip the tea. Bitter isn't to my taste."
Luckily, Victor and the other being went into the room right next door.
The one who'd gone into the room with Victor had the voice of a woman, deep and dignified.
'I didn't mean to, but I can eavesdrop on their conversation.'
It was a chance not only to get information on the traitor but to hear their plans too.
Anyway, that voice sounded kind of familiar.
As I moved to put my ear to the wall to hear the conversation properly, something bumped against my foot.
[The Mana Core has detected a new part.]
[Gloren's Genocide Alloy Blade]
Gloren. That was the name of the woman in the next room right now. And I knew that name.
'Why is that bastard here?'
It was the name of one of the subordinates of my body's owner.