One of the patient rooms in Nayuta Lab. The door of that room quietly opened. Kizuna peeked at the situation inside the room secretly, where there was a black haired girl lying down on the bed. Her usually tied hair was let free and her hair that was longer than her shoulder was spreading on the pillow. Several cables and tubes were connected from under her blanket into the medical device beside her pillow. Her back figure that had different atmosphere than usual made Kizuna felt a slight tension.

Kizuna was going to put the fruit basket he brought at her bedside but his hand stopped. There was the visiting presents piled up there by the previous guest, there was no place for him to put his.

“You are famous huh.”

Kizuna made a faint smile.

“……Ah, boss Kizuna.”

Gertrude Baird slightly opened her eyes and looked up at Kizuna.

“My bad. I woke you up.”

Stopping Gertrude from rising up her body, Kizuna put his visiting present at the empty s.p.a.ce by the window. He could see the panoramic view of Ataraxia from the window, it was a room with really good view. However what could be seen from there was the scar left by Hokuto, a really painful scenery.

The configuration information of the world taken back by nayuta. Ataraxia that was reconstructed from there with great pain now became a tragic figure just from looking. A third of the outer wall surrounding Ataraxia had collapsed, half of the urban area and industrial area was changed into scorched earth. The facility below third floor underground was safe, but there was no doubt that they received a really serious blow. The current Gertrude who couldn’t wake up from the bed couldn’t see that scenery, in that respect she was being fortunate instead.

“You intentionally come here to see me? Wai―t, boss yourself, is your injury get better already?”

“Yeah. I’m mostly ok now. The ban for meeting Gertrude is lifted up today, so I came to visit but……”

Kizuna sat down at the circle chair on the bedside.

“Looks like there is guest before me.”

He looked up at the piled up box of fruit and snack. Book, game, television, audio, AV device, model gun and electric airsoft gun, even toy drone and robot were also there. It was completely puzzling that there were even bicycle and surfboard, but perhaps they had the meaning of telling her to quickly get healthy so she could play them.

Staring at the mountain of present, Gertrude shrugged her shoulder.

“Various people came by turns, I cannot have any peace at all.”

“Those guys are bad huh.”

Kizuna floated a wry smile.

“But Masters are all hospitalized right? Who came here then?”

“The fellows from my cla.s.s came. Also boss’s sister also came you know. Even though she is busy, she is really driven by strong sense of duty. Besides……Gravel also came.”

The end of Gertrude’s sentence sounded quieter from a little shyness.

He had came visiting Gravel several times in her hospitalization. It was fortunate that her injury wasn’t as serious as they thought. He and Gravel was discharged from hospital almost at the same timing, since then for some reason there was also a lot of chance to meet.

Currently there was only Kizuna and Gravel who were discharged from hospital. Next were Himekawa who in the first place was only lightly injured and Zelsione who didn’t partic.i.p.ate in the battle. The members other than them were still hospitalized without change although the degree of their injury was different.

“……Nevertheless, your luck was bad. You are the one with the heaviest injury.”

“Good grief really. Like this don’t I look like I’m always out of the stage from injury all year round. There is nothing more disagreeable than this.”

“No, you received that attack, it’s only natural you got like this. Rather the other Masters who only got light injury, isn’t it better to call them just getting very lucky?”

“I’m calling that as strong evil luck instead.”

The other members of Masters who received the same attack were also in the middle of treatment at the same hospital. However the one seriously injured was only Gertrude, the other members would be able to return to the battlefront relatively quickly.

Gertrude had bad luck, on top of receiving direct attack, she was struck to the buildings of Ataraxia several times. As the result, she bore serious injury that made her lost in the border of life and death while in ICU.

“Get well quickly okay. When Masters are not here, it feels like we are lacking the mood maker after all.”

“The other girls are going to get out soon, so I’ll leave it to them.”

Gertrude looked up at the ceiling with eyes that looked lonely.

“Boss Kizuna……those machine G.o.ds, you are really going to pick a fight with them?”

“Yeah……but their strength is not something half-a.s.sed. There is a need for us to obtain even stronger power. We are going to try all the way we can take and find the method to oppose Deus ex Machina.”

“Is that so……in that case, I’m going to become unneeded anymore am I……”

She said that with a self-depreciating tone.

“Just what are you saying. There is no way――”

“Even Ros-series is no match against them, can someone like me be useful, I don’t understand that anymore.”

“……”

Certainly, in a certain aspect that was a fact. Deus ex Machina surpa.s.sed human knowledge, they were opponent with power that was really like G.o.d. If their opponent was just magic weapon like until now, then there was place where she could be greatly contributing at by matching the fighting strength. That was because before this the enemies were made up from various kinds of weapons, where there was the strong enemy and the weak enemy.

But――,

Kizuna put his hand on Gertrude’s head and stroked her hair messily.

“Wha, what are you doing! Just stop it!”

Kizuna obediently lifted his hand.

“Just what are you saying. This kind of situation is something we are used to right?”

Gertrude pouted her mouth.

“That’s, boss is saying about how I got injured before that I need to withdraw from the battle line isn’t it. That way of talking is just too――”

“Even when we fought Vatlantis, it’s the same like this. In that absolutely disadvantaged situation, we didn’t even have any way of fighting where we could fight properly. Even so, didn’t I and you manage it somehow until this point.”

“……”

Gertrude completely fell silent. Kizuna stood up and turned his back to her before going to the exit. He opened the door and stood stock still just before he exited the sickroom. And then he turned around and raised his thumb at Gertrude.

“I’ll wait for you, partner.”

The door closed and Gertrude became alone. She directed her head to the side and stared at the present Kizuna put there. While she was staring at that, tear was blurring her eye. And then at the same time, there was something welling up from the bottom of her heart.

“Really……what a troublesome person.”

A smile floated on her lips.

“I’m going there soon. When boss is in a pinch, without me he won’t be able to do anything after all.”

Part 2

Kizuna was walking through the corridor of the hospital with fast pace. There was burning resolve residing in his eyes.

He couldn’t forgive Deus ex Machina who caused not only Gertrude, but everyone to meet that kind of experience. But clas.h.i.+ng against them driven only by his rage would only give him honorable death. He understood that well.

The enemy were four machine G.o.ds.

They were existences in possession of power that was exactly like G.o.d, they were obviously in different dimension compared to all who he had fought until now.

He would defeat those G.o.ds, and then took back their world, and also Aine and Yuris.h.i.+a.

――In order to do that, there was something he should do.

Kizuna took out his mobile phone and searched the communication address of Nayuta Lab’s center control room. Kizuna who went outside the entrance of the hospital with phone in one hand found a little girl waiting for him.

“Have you prepared?”

Nayuta wearing her unfamiliar clothes looked up at Kizuna.

Looking at her figure, Kizuna put back his mobile phone in his pocket.

“Yeah. I also planned to hurry you to quickly begin just now.”

Nayuta who was smiling in satisfaction waved the flag she was holding in her hand. Thereupon, the embarking door of the large bus stopping behind her opened.

“Then let’s start. The first step in order to defeat Deus ex Machina.”

Nayuta who had the appearance of a bus guide had eyes s.h.i.+ning in curiosity.

“The Core’s reinstall.”