Ch.32Chapter 7. Enemies in the Same Boat (1)

I’ve never had a pet in my entire life.

In this life, I obviously couldn’t have one since I lived in an orphanage, and in my past life, it was purely because I found it too bothersome.

I understand they’re cute, but there were just too many things I’d have to do to take care of an animal. Feeding them, cleaning up their poop, grooming them, taking them for walks at set times every day.

I know some animals don’t need walks, but everything else would still be my responsibility.

So when I was young, I used to think how wonderful it would be if animals were incredibly smart and could bathe themselves, eat on their own, and use the bathroom by themselves.

But thinking about it again, that would basically make them no different from children, and if an animal were that intelligent, they wouldn’t have any reason to live under me in the first place. After reaching that conclusion, I completely abandoned the fantasy.

“…A talking hamster.”

“No, no.”

Yet, right in front of my eyes now is a hamster that can both talk and think.

Of course, when I said that, Earthaboo shook her head with a serious expression.

“It’s not that, it’s a Squeakean.”

…At the point where you named a planet “Squeaky” because you couldn’t understand what they were saying, is this even worth arguing about?

They might be called “adults,” but they don’t look like people.

No, I do have some common sense.

In the webtoon, that pink hamster was an alien who could talk. It was also an alien species with exceptional intelligence capable of creating circuits.

Thinking about it that way, it makes sense. The reason James could casually hand me a new circuit was because it was one he had created himself.

In other words, it seems he was conducting some kind of experiment with me.

“…”

“Could you put me down first?”

Earthaboo said that, apparently aware that James was a corporate executive, even though I only learned today that James’s true identity was a “Squeakean.”

I carefully placed James on the blanket as instructed.

Small animals like hamsters typically have higher body temperatures than humans, and James was no exception.

However, I couldn’t tell if it was because he was sick or if that was just normal for him.

Since he looked like a hamster, after all.

“…Should we go to a vet?”

“…A vet.”

“Well, you look like this, so…”

“Isn’t what you’re saying a bit too much?”

If even Earthaboo is telling me this, maybe I am being too harsh.

I looked down at James, who had passed out again.

His fur is mostly black. Anyone would say he has the design of an “evil executive mascot.” In the webtoon, he only appeared in that human-shaped robot body, so I never knew his true identity. It might have been revealed after I dropped the series.

While his fur was black and glossy… it wasn’t entirely black.

Do you know what a panda mouse is? James’s fur was mixed with white and black like those pet mice.

Especially the white fur around his neck looked just like the collar of a businessman’s dress shirt. Somehow, he was even wearing an actual necktie there.

Other than that, the areas around his hands and feet were white.

It definitely looks like something a webtoon artist would design. A hamster slightly larger than a fist, with big ears and a fluffy tail, looking like he’s wearing a suit.

To be honest, he’s cute.

I’m not sure if calling him cute is discriminatory or not.

There’s a reason my words have been harsh.

I don’t have particularly good feelings toward James.

While some of it was my fault, people naturally tend to focus more on the injustices they’ve suffered rather than their own mistakes. I could accept him punishing me, but using my friend’s future as leverage was honestly hard to accept right away.

But the problem is, it feels strange seeing someone who did such things appear in this form.

The scale of what he did is surely the same, but somehow, thinking that this cute thing was his true form makes him seem rather pathetic.

That is, if I don’t look at the human-shaped robot in the corner of this room.

“…”

I stared at that robot for a moment, then got up from my seat.

“Should we clean up the robot?”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“No, it ended up like that because of me.”

In multiple ways. Whether it was James or Earthaboo’s room.

Earthaboo nodded at my words.

The two of us left James where he was and cleaned up the human-shaped robot he had been riding. With a little help from the circuit’s power, we were able to put it away reasonably well.

…We crumpled the body as much as possible and stuffed it into a large garbage bag, but unless you looked closely at the cross-section of the head, it looked exactly like a corpse.

And not just any corpse—unmistakably the victim of a gruesome murder.

The two of us silently stared at it for a while, then laid it down in the corner of the room with plastic underneath.

Then Earthaboo went outside and brought back a box to cover it.

Yes, having trash in the house is better than having a corpse.

We tried our best to ignore the red liquid that kept soaking the box.

After we had somewhat disposed of the “body,” James, who we had placed on the electric heating pad, began to stir.

“Ugh…”

His appearance was cute, but his voice wasn’t cute at all. It was a middle-aged man’s voice.

Objectively speaking, it was a good voice, like that of a voice actor.

According to Earthaboo, the necktie around his neck was probably a translation device. All Squeakeans lack the vocal organs that Earth people have, so to us, they can only make sounds like mice.

Apparently, Squeakeans always wear these devices to prevent others from saying things they shouldn’t in emergencies, since they look like animals on other planets too.

Earthaboo and I quickly went over and looked down at James.

As we stared down at him tensely, James’s eyes suddenly opened.

They were round and black, just like a hamster’s.

He’s really incredibly cute.

Like a golden hamster.

“…Where am I?”

He spoke with an attractive middle-aged man’s voice, but the way his mouth moved, as if lip-syncing, was extremely cute.

“And the person next to you is—squeak. Squeak squeak? Squeak squeak squeak!”

I pulled on James’s necktie as he was talking.

The tie stretched like a rubber band, and when it came slightly away from his neck, James’s voice changed to squeaking sounds.

Wow, he really does squeak.

Of course, since it was their language, there were tones and such in the squeaking, but it was definitely a sound that people from other planets wouldn’t understand.

As I kept pulling on the translator, James jumped up from his spot, apparently trying to reattach it to his neck.

He flailed his arms and hopped up and down on his short legs. For his size, his jumping ability was quite good.

“Squeak, squeak squeak— Give it back! Give it back! What do you think you’re doing?! You insolent brat!”

When I let go of the translator, James’s voice returned to that of an Earth person.

Seemingly extremely embarrassed that he had been jumping up and down and shouting, James stood there bewildered for a moment, then cleared his throat with a fake cough.

“I warn you, if you do that again, I’ll—WAAAAH!?”

I grabbed James with both hands and lifted him high up and down.

James screamed and flailed his legs.

I lifted him up and down, carried him around Earthaboo’s room once, then sat back down and put him down. James shouted at the top of his lungs in anger.

“What are you doing, you jerk! You ungrateful Earth person! I saved your life, and this is how you repay me?!”

After shouting for a while, James seemed to run out of energy and panted with his shoulders heaving.

The tips of his large ears trembled.

He seemed to be angry in his own way, but honestly, even his trembling in anger was cute.

And right after feeling that emotion, I also felt extremely uncomfortable.

“…What exactly are you doing right now?”

As if embarrassed by his own behavior just now, James quickly spoke as if nothing had happened.

“From the way you’re talking, you must be that James. You shouted like this when you were getting beaten up by the magical girls too.”

“Were you trying to confirm that?”

“If so, wasn’t there a better way?”

Earthaboo and James spoke simultaneously in response to my words.

Actually, I just did it to see if it might help my depression a little.

And it does seem to help. He’s not showing affection to me like a pet cat or dog would, but at least he looks cute and can communicate.

A talking hamster—if they were sold on Earth, they would have been incredibly popular.

Oh, he’s an alien, wasn’t he?

Well, that wouldn’t work then.

“So, what brings you here?”

I sat up straight, crossed my arms, and asked.

I’m not completely free of anxiety yet. The depression hasn’t completely disappeared either. But I did forget my worries for a very brief moment, and above all, I felt it was much better than being alone.

Earthaboo was clearly on my side. If she had suspected me, she would have handed me over to the police right away. I couldn’t stay in this room forever, but at least I wasn’t kicked out immediately. I’m truly grateful for that.

And James.

I had some idea of how James ended up here.

This circuit still running on my wrist. If James made it, it would naturally have a tracking function. If only to prevent someone from running away with its power.

The company had also devised a way to track magical girls by detecting the energy they used. So this should be possible too. Well, at least judging by the fact that neither the Galactic Federation nor the company has kicked down that door, there seems to be some countermeasure in place.

“…It seems my speech has become informal.”

“Ah.”

I forgot because there was a hamster in front of me.

Despite how much I tormented him, he couldn’t properly resist except for struggling, which made me unconsciously think less of him.

Besides, the head of the robot James had been riding was half blown off. Anyone could see it was an attempt to blow away James inside that head.

If his life was being threatened to that extent, James would also have difficulty surviving without me.

In that case, what we need to do is cooperate. And cooperation partners are naturally “equals.”

Yes, that’s what I decided to think.

It’s absolutely not because I don’t want to use polite speech with a hamster.

“After what I’ve been through, how could I use polite speech?”

“…”

James looked up at me with narrowed eyes.

His expression looked completely unthreatening and easy to deal with. The human robot James had been riding had worn a much scarier expression.

“Well, never mind.”

James seemed to realize his situation wasn’t entirely positive and decided not to worry about the details.

“You asked what brings me here, but how much of the situation do you understand?”

“You” became “you” (informal).

Well, it’s similar in that I’m speaking informally.

“…I know I’m being pursued.”

I answered in a depressed voice.

The circuit on my wrist began to spin rapidly.

Yes, I remember everything. Hayun confronting me beyond my blurry vision.

Am I perhaps being treated like a Kaijin? Probably. All the equipment they were using to catch me was equipment used to catch Kaijin.

“I suppose so.”

James answered and then put his hand under his chin to organize his thoughts for a moment.

Then he sat down with a thud.

“First of all, I was almost assassinated. I was able to escape at the last moment using a warp, but…”

“Warp? You had a personal warp device?”

“It was very unstable and even disposable. I made it myself. Of course, I had to steal quite a bit of energy for it.”

“You stole from the company?”

“It wasn’t stealing, it was an investment for the future. I used the investment funds allocated to my department.”

But you just said you stole it yourself.

However, James continued speaking as if such things didn’t matter at all.

“Anyway, it would have completely broken down after I used it, so you don’t have to worry about anyone following. It was originally equipment being developed for VIP evacuation.”

He says that, but I thought James had made it entirely for himself. It wouldn’t be surprising at all.

“Was the company trying to purge you?”

“They were implementing a permanent dismissal. By now, the company is probably clutching their heads and rolling on the ground along with the Galactic Federation.”

“…The company and the Galactic Federation?”

“As I told you in the hospital room, the company gave up on you. Stupidly.”

“…”

“It seems the Galactic Federation was planning to take custody of you and conduct similar research. Whatever verdict you received, whether it was months or years, it wouldn’t matter. After just a few months of research, you would have become a person of the Galactic Federation and would have been ’employed’ in some way.”

“Me?”

“The Galactic Federation is a ‘national government’ of galactic scale. It shouldn’t be hard to imagine what the ‘developed countries’ of this nation are doing behind the scenes.”

So the Galactic Federation does such things behind closed doors too.

Capturing me, using me as a research subject, and then brainwashing me or fabricating testimony to “employ” me and use me continuously.

“…Wait, then what about Hayun?”

“Hooh.”

James made a somewhat interested sound, though it was somewhat mocking.

“Even in this situation, you’re worried about the magical girl?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

Right now, I was more worried about myself. I don’t want to die, nor do I want to be captured by some research facility and become a research subject.

I just wanted to live a normal life.

Though it seems that opportunity has ended.

“…Hayun is my friend.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to worry about your own safety before worrying about your friend’s life? Are you perhaps on the run?”

Sharp words for a hamster.

Is he still holding a grudge because I lifted him up and down?

“…So. What do you want me to do?”

I sat hugging my knees and glared at the hamster in front of me. As my wrist got closer, the sound of the circuit spinning grew louder. It was getting warm, which suggests its power efficiency must be truly outstanding. Well, that’s probably why everyone is so desperate to catch me.

After all, I’m someone who fought all the magical girls at once for a brief moment, and even before transforming, I flipped several police cars, pushed people aside, and fled far away. In the end, I even flew up into the sky.

Now.

If they had given me power from the beginning, I wouldn’t have been so perplexed. I would have used it with some control.

After not letting me know I was an important character for all these years, now they tell me “you’re such a strong villain,” and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.

No, is that just what authors do? Was leaving a comment expressing my disappointment and dropping the series such a grudge-worthy action?

I’m not sure.

Regretting that would mean regretting coming to this world and becoming friends with Hayun.

But I couldn’t help but regret it.

If I had continued living there, at least I would have lived a normal life.

I think it’s much better to live a thin, long life without particular concerns than to be a main character who might die someday.

Ah, thinking about it just makes my head complicated again.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“How about revenge?”

James said.

I lifted my face from where it was buried in my arms.

James was looking straight at me.

That word, revenge, didn’t seem to be empty talk at all.

“Despite my appearance, I am a Squeakean from the planet Squeaky.”

Wait, that was really the official name?

Even if that’s all the sound they can make, isn’t that a bit much? It might be slightly better to call it the Hamster Planet with Hamster adults.

“And my planet has produced countless outstanding engineers. Despite physical limitations, technicians from our planet are at the core of Galactic Federation technology.”

I looked at Earthaboo.

Earthaboo nodded.

“That’s right. They have a large population, and each individual is smart enough to sell ships here and there. They seem to have many service centers too, and they’re good at getting into tight spaces to fix things.”

At Earthaboo’s words, James continued with a very proud expression.

“That’s right. So, I can fix that circuit of yours, or even enhance it.”

“…Without materials?”

“I came riding in a culmination of cutting-edge technology.”

Earthaboo and I looked at James’s “corpse-like” thing placed in the corner.

Well, if it’s a robot, it is indeed a culmination of such technology.

“So, let’s take revenge. I need to get revenge on the executives of the company who tried to kill me to feel better. And on those who harmed the chairman.”

“…”

I stared at James.

“I will gift you a ‘normal life.’ Though it’s temporary for now.”

“How?”

“The robot I came in has a ‘face.'”

James looked up at me as he spoke.

As if he knew I would definitely accept his proposal.

“And thanks to that, there are enough materials in this room to make a convincing face mask. I can make you a ‘mask’ detailed enough to avoid being chased for a while. What do you think?”

“…”

That was quite an attractive proposal for the time being.

“And ultimately, let’s stop those forces chasing you. I don’t have a specific plan right now—”

James shrugged.

“But for now, you don’t have any other options either, do you?”

Indeed, that was true.

“…”

In the end, I had no choice but to nod.

“Good. Let’s cooperate for the time being.”

James said with a triumphant expression.

I found that somehow irritating, so I took James in both hands and started handling him roughly.

James shouted loudly again, but I didn’t really care.

…Though I decided to show some restraint since Earthaboo seemed to view me as somewhat dangerous.