Hannibal, the MedTech, strode over and stopped in front of Evan.
Then they bent their already hunched back even farther and looked down at him.
Evan merely stared at the LCD screen hovering uncomfortably close to his face.
“…….”
BEEP-BEEP.
Text clattered onto the display, and a dry voice followed.
「Will you receive the blessing of metal? Or will you remain flesh and await the day you rot away? The moment of choice is now.」
“……An AI model obsessed with Shakespeare chose the wrong field. How about giving up medicine and writing scripts instead? It doesn’t look like you even pretend to follow medical law.”
Evan sneered as he glanced at the oil clinging to the saw at the end of Hannibal’s arm.
“Mr. Evan! Hannibal is gentle, but they might still get angry if you tease them too much.”
「It is fine. Just as soot cannot make charcoal any filthier, adding discourtesy to flesh changes nothing about its profanity. It need only repent by receiving the baptism of WD-40000.」
Evan looked at Stella.
Her expression remained full of confidence. Even through the eyes of a dark mage, he could find no color of deception in her soul.
In other words, Stella’s intentions were pure.
She had simply been born into an insane world and received the wrong kind of early education.
“Haa…… They really are trustworthy, right?”
Stella nodded.
“To be honest, Hannibal’s business is not doing very well. It is because they look a little like this, but they really are incredibly skilled. I am the proof!”
“You knew their appearance was a problem? And there was proof? I’m not very talented at deduction.”
“I’m alive, aren’t I?”
Evan narrowed his eyes and stared at Stella.
Still brimming with confidence, Stella leaned closer and whispered.
“And they’re cheap. The value for money is incredible. That is the most important part.”
“…….”
Evan let out a faint sigh and held out a silver package. Hannibal’s pincer took it and brought it in front of their camera.
「Oh-ho.」
Without even opening the package, Hannibal turned it this way and that.
「An industrial ocular part manufactured by NanoBio, <OmniVision 3.0>. Low-light amplification, temperature measurement, augmented-reality overlays, various other forms of visual assistance, real-time recording functionality, and exceptionally high stability. Truly, it is a pure machine.」
“You can tell just from the packaging?”
「The inability to perceive truth is the result of flesh’s inferiority.」
“Whatever. I’ll sell it. How much?”
“……What?”
Stella’s eyes widened at the completely unexpected words.
“Um, you did not come here to have it implanted?”
“No.”
Of course, in this era, even mages replaced their entire bodies with machine parts. Evan knew better than anyone how useful cybernetic parts that replaced one’s limbs could be.
However.
‘I can’t get one. For the sake of the future as well.’
It was not merely because he feared cutting off perfectly healthy limbs and attaching machines in their place.
If he had been the sort to flee from a fear that trivial, he could never have made it this far.
Hannibal fell silent for a moment after hearing that Evan intended to sell the cybernetic ocular part.
Would they start rambling about foolish flesh or something?
Surprisingly, however, Hannibal simply named a price.
「I can purchase it for 800,000 credits.」
“Oh. It seems Jurgens gave me something fairly useful after all.”
He must have been genuinely delighted when he received the Golden Cross.
Evan nodded with a wry smile. Hannibal placed the ocular part in a cabinet and simultaneously extended a barcode reader.
【SYSTEM: Certified Currency Deposited into Virtual Wallet.】
【Added: 800,000c】
【Wallet Balance: 14,768,000】
Evan looked at the balance and nodded.
“This should be enough.”
“I thought you were going to have that eye implanted. It does not matter if you are not…… but then why did you need a MedTech?”
“Stella. You remember Ralph Jurgens, right?”
“What? Oh, that obnoxious bald bastard? Of course I do. He was putting on airs, so I hated him from the moment I saw him. His sunglasses were fucking ugly too.”
“Do you know what his right arm was?”
“His right arm? Uh…….”
“It was a cybernetic part. If I’d shaken his hand, things might’ve become troublesome. He could’ve hacked my System.”
“There’s no way you’d lose to that hairless bastard, Mr. Evan. And you didn’t.”
She was right.
However, that was because Evan was a dark mage.
Had Jurgens launched a hacking attack, there was no way Evan could have blocked it with his current System.
Similar threats would undoubtedly arise many more times in the future. He needed to prepare for them.
That was why he needed a MedTech.
It was also why Evan had decided not to use cybernetic parts.
“Doctor. I want to upgrade my System. I don’t care about any other functions. It can have no other functions at all, as long as it has the strongest possible defense against hacking.”
「Security, is it? Security can be called the vital shield that preserves the purity of machinery. After all, doctrine may be proclaimed only by those who emerge victorious from the holy war.」
“Do you have anything useful? How much?”
「Eight million credits.」
Stella’s jaw dropped at the amount. Evan calmly nodded. Stella’s eyes widened again at his composure.
“E-eight million…….”
“That’s cheap.”
“What? Cheap? Eight million?”
“Show me the rest of the product list.”
A long list of products appeared on Hannibal’s LCD screen.
Among them was the object Evan had been looking for.
「Ophiuchus」
“There it is. Just as I expected……. I’ll take this.”
「……I did not expect anyone in this age to seek out this antique. It costs 3.5 million credits. I will set the total at eleven million. Do you accept?」
“You’re unexpectedly meticulous when it comes to money.”
「The purity of machinery is proportional to its price. It is sound logic. Ascend the altar.」
“You mean that operating table? This requires surgery?”
「Only a System update and a simple neural readjustment are required. It will be over in an instant.」
Evan removed his cloak and climbed onto the operating table. A cable was connected to the plug at the back of his neck.
Hannibal typed on a keyboard with all four of their arms.
「The baptismal rite shall now begin.」
“Um, Mr. Evan.”
Evan, who had closed his eyes, turned his head.
“Do not worry! Nothing will happen. Probably……?”
“What kind of ominous…….”
【SYSTEM: Logging Off.】
The universe switched off for a moment.
***
【Checking Operating System Version…….】
【New Operating System Detected: Mind Defender High-End V2】
【Unauthorized Device Detected.】
【Security Information Modified: Device Synchronization Complete】
【Device Name Set: 】
“Oh! You’re awake!”
“Mm.”
As Evan blinked several times, Hannibal’s voice reached him.
「Mind Defender High-End. An operating system created by a security corporation that has since gone bankrupt. Its functionality as a main System is abysmal, but its resistance to hacking rivals even corporate firewalls. At the very least, nothing in Asle will be able to defile your purity. It is unfortunate that the only pure part of you is a single System module in your brainstem. And it does not even replace your brainstem. It is merely implanted…….」
“What do you know about my purity?”
Even as Evan muttered, he raised his left hand and examined it.
A metal hand greeted him. It had a subtle sheen and was a shade of gray close to black.
Of course, he had not cut off a perfectly healthy arm and shoved in a prosthetic.
This was merely an exoskeleton suit.
In other words, it was simply electrically powered arm armor.
“It looks rather impressive.”
「Model name: . Medical-assistance exoskeleton equipment. Manufacturer unknown. It features precise mobility realized through carbon-nanotube-based artificial muscles, ten built-in cartridges for storing medicine, and emergency surgical tools. Its microporous beta-titanium-alloy frame achieves overwhelming durability capable of stopping large-caliber rifle rounds without sacrificing lightness.」
In game terms, Evan knew very well how high its Defense was and how slowly its Durability wore down.
After all, this had actually been a game.
Its cost-effectiveness was unrivaled as well.
That was why he had chosen this product.
“……You’ve been extremely professional for a while now. Honestly, I’m surprised.”
There were only unlicensed, illegal MedTechs in slums like this.
They had no interest in understanding what they handled and barely knew how to shove it into a human body and assemble it.
That was why their accident rate was quite high.
Judging by the circumstances, Hannibal probably had no license either. Yet even from Evan’s perspective, their knowledge was astonishing.
「Naturally. Knowledge is the sole doctrine through which one may understand the greatness of metal.」
Stella, who had been listening quietly, muttered.
“Um…… Exoskeleton equipment? Isn’t that basically an inferior version of cybernetic parts? They probably stopped making those about twenty years ago.”
「It is an antique at least two hundred years old.」
“Three and a half million for equipment from two hundred years ago…….”
Stella looked slightly confused, but soon smiled.
“You could buy cybernetic parts for the same price. Still, it does not look like you were overcharged without realizing it, Mr. Evan. In that case, it is fine.”
Evan nodded and continued moving his arm.
“There won’t be any problems with its operation, right?”
「What a truly heretical statement. It is a sacred object that I repaired personally. Do not doubt that it functions properly. I also built the compatibility software for your System with my own hands, here and now. Its connectivity is flawless.」
Its movements were so smooth that it was difficult to believe the machine was two centuries old.
Everyone would have believed Evan if he passed it off as a cybernetic part.
The result was unexpectedly, astonishingly perfect.
“I have to give credit where it’s due. You’re a competent MedTech. And you really are cheap.”
Evan rose from his seat.
It was about time for the Bones Clan’s detailed commission sheet to arrive.
He draped his cloak over himself.
‘I’m ready.’
Once he completed this commission…… he could enter the city.
The thought filled Evan with energy. He climbed down from the operating table, bid Hannibal farewell, and turned to leave.
「Wait, flesh.」
At that moment, Hannibal held something out.
A data chip.
It carried a faint reddish glow.
“What is this?”
「An Add-On that controls neurochemical transmission. If installed in your System, it will allow you to regulate or block sensations and emotions at will.」
“Why are you giving this to me?”
「Because you may need it.」
Evan stared at Hannibal. Only a low-resolution cursor blinked on the black screen.
「It can only be installed within forty-eight hours of the System update. After that, the neural pathways will become completely fixed, rendering installation impossible. The choice is yours.」
Evan accepted the object.
Stella snickered.
“That is just how Hannibal is. It is a free gift. They gave me a module when I came here too. Do you know what it was? Data containing three thousand cupcake recipes. What a ridiculous doctor.”
Evan looked at Hannibal for a moment, nodded, and turned to leave.
Hannibal remained hunched over and watched his retreating figure for a while.
***
After Evan left the building, Hannibal looked at the monitor.
The monitor contained mental data recorded to check the condition of the procedure’s subject.
The data was so abstract that a human could not have interpreted it.
To Hannibal, however, it was a clearly organized report.
The emotions contained within the data.
「Helplessness, hatred, anger, fear, anxiety, guilt, overwhelming terror.」
Every category possessed an intensity that would ordinarily have driven a person insane.
Yet even Hannibal’s sensors, which could read emotions from the movements of an ant, had found no fragment of pain in Evan’s expression.
Hannibal laughed, even though they no longer possessed a body capable of expressing laughter.
「Interesting data for flesh to harbor.」
***
“Here is the item you requested. I guarantee its reliability.”
Evening had dimmed the sky above Asle.
Rosegold Pub, Asle District B.
Evan packed the supplies he had purchased in advance into the small bag he always carried.
There was not much. He carried most of the tools he needed attached to the inside of his cloak.
“Hey, Brother!”
Just as he finished packing, Jurgens flung open the door and entered.
“I made it on time, didn’t I? But why did it have to be today? I was about to have a very good night!”
“Then go back and finish it.”
“How could I? Money is more important than a steamy night!”
Jurgens gave him a wink.
Stella, who had been helping Evan, muttered as she passed by.
“……That’s fucking disgusting.”
Jurgens made a vicious face, then noticed Evan watching and cleared his throat.
“Hmm. I don’t have time to trade barbs with a spiteful little wench. So, we’re leaving immediately, right?”
Evan slung the bag over his shoulder.
“You read the details. You aren’t leaving without understanding them, are you?”
The contents of the commission sheet were not complicated.
Among the mercenary groups operating covertly outside the city was one that specialized in assassinating high-priority targets.
They classified themselves by Grade.
The idea of assassins publicly revealing their Grades sounded foolish, but this was that kind of world.
It was a world where one’s techniques and skill at killing served as a portfolio.
According to the information available, the target in the commission was Grade A-.
Someone at that level would have their name on the lists of most corporations.
“It is surprising that you still want to do this after reading the details.”
Jurgens laughed heartily as though the matter had nothing to do with him.
“If you really pull it off, you might have a hard time keeping a low profile. Fame doesn’t choose whom it follows. Well? Are you confident?”
Evan replied without much emotion.
“I am.”