episode_0153

**

“I said I would tell you if there was anything I needed to know…Is that even possible?”

“Megacorp…Megacorp…is planning to use Ermi as a prize!”

The conference room, which had entrusted Megacorp Security with the crisis of business closure due to insufficient survival rate, immediately moved on to the next topic, as it was the association with the largest number of heroes converted into cyborgs.

The question was what to do with Ermi, who had clearly received special treatment from Megacorp.

The reason this topic could be brought up was because Ermi was not Megacorp’s property.

Of course, he never entered the Human Rights Renunciation Center, but was registered as a hero at Sky City.

I don’t know if it’s combat unit D014, which acts like a part of Megacorp. The Hero Association that Ermi belonged to was not Megacorp, but this very place.

I confirmed that when Sky City incorporated all the heroes on the list at once, they were moved together.

If it had been a problem for one D-class hero, everyone would have gone into the dungeon or accessed the request site on their smartphones and done their own thing, but the situation was different.

Among the combat units of Megacorp Security standing in the hallway, there was a hero like Ermi who rejected the first offer and accepted the second offer.

Everyone was someone’s family or friend.

Even though I only vaguely knew the heroes and the association employees who were not involved in the crime, I planned to help as much as I could, as everyone had come together closely during the attack that took place that day.

“…He must have been ‘re-adjusted’ so that he can’t do hero activities. The reason I was able to accept such treatment was because I could get it repaired…”

“Even if the unfair contract is invalidated, the following is the problem.”

Even if the contract between Ermi and Megacorp, which contained a confidentiality clause, was somehow invalidated, there was the next problem.

Of course, Sky City engineers knew how cyborgs worked, but the level was different.

It was Megacorp’s free favor to kindly modify it to make it compatible with other equipment such as Humanoid.

From the beginning, there was no option to retrieve it by force.

Even if Ermi was brought in, if the additional modifications were not made, she would just die from functional failure.

The only one that could manage the modified heroes was the Megacorp Hero Association.

It seemed like Megacorp had made a lot of preparations to prevent newly created combat units from being taken away.

Before questioning whether there is a problem with the contract. The problem was whether the environment would be suitable for bringing in combat units whose maintenance and energy recharge were only possible in Megacorp.

I wasn’t forced to take him, it was a contract I made because I wanted to.

“Rather, it is a villain organization like the Hero Association. If he was participating in a criminal activity, I would have thought about it after forcibly bringing him back. Or catch the president of the association and make him do it”

“That’s right. What can I say about Megacorp Security… It’s different from a security company… There are no problems with it.”

It was very difficult to find fault in an organization that reported activity plans one by one to security officers and carried out security maintenance activities without compensation.

Subdued brainwashed combatants and criminals. There was income from being a magical girl, but even if you were not a Megacorp combat unit wearing a body suit and visor, you could only collect it as loot if you solved the case.

Like now, combat units are dispatched to eliminate villain organizations. There was no problem as the request was submitted first and permission was obtained from the Hero Association in charge of the case.

Now a fixture of Megacorp. There was nothing that could be done for Ermi, whose identification name was D014.

I feel reassured that my friend is not being used by a brainwashing villain organization. All I had to do was monitor Megacorp to see if he was committing any crimes.

“They are so worried about me…”

“It would have been nice if you had received an offer like me from the beginning!”

It didn’t take much time for the friends to understand that Ermi was no longer the Ermi they knew.

A pure white fox beast appeared in the place where Ermi always stood.

Megacorp’s equipment, which did not hide its identification name A001, was carrying a black visor identical to the one it was wearing.

I lightly placed it on top of D-class hero Ermi’s eyes.

pupil. Even as the identity of facial expression disappeared, there was no sign of resistance.

Instead of feeling ashamed and embarrassed, Megacorp’s fixture was smiling, proudly sticking out his chest with his identification number engraved on it.

It was an expression that could be found thanks to the visor that covered only the eyes, instead of the full-coverage helmet that covered the face.

I knew it couldn’t be helped, though. The friends who were waiting for a chance to save Ermi could not help but be disappointed.

The reason why friends were disappointed in Ermi. Ironically, it was because he wanted to watch over Ermi to make sure she wasn’t used for bad things.

Like it or not, the Hero Association, which accepted all heroes who had been converted into cyborgs according to Sky City’s instructions, expelled Ermi, a D-class hero who had quit his activities and gone into hiding.

In the past, I would have put my name on it so that I could return at any time and to prevent the apartment house I received from Sky City from being repossessed, but the situation has changed.

The number of associations had been reduced by half, so it was not a good time to recruit everyone from graduates to adventurers.

Friends who should have protested against the association’s expulsion have been disappointed for a long time.

Ermi has steadfastly chosen to return to her home instead of the private room for Megacorp’s combat cyborgs.

Instead of combat unit D014. For the hero who returned home to remain as Ermi, all that came back was a nest that had been completely emptied for the new D-class hero.

From bed to TV. From closets to drawers. All personal items that had lost their meaning had long since been disposed of in the garbage dump behind the apartment complex.

Sky City’s D-class hero Ermi has become corrupted.

The only place to stay and return was to the unidentified hero association called Megacorp.

“Ta-da~♪ The contract is over. Congratulations~ Myaha~”

“Ha…ha?”

Ermi, who returned to Megacorp, was surprised twice. Maybe it was more than twice, but it was the same.

A pure white fox beast. A001 was standing in front of the reception desk holding a cake.

I was once surprised to see another version of the manager who, unless it was important work, would just stand like a mannequin in a bodysuit or maid outfit that was almost naked.

“Ma…what are you talking about…? How?”

“I don’t remember. Miss Ermi? You signed a contract as a hero, right? Since I signed a contract as a hero, well… I’m not anymore.”

The logic was that since he entrusted himself as a hero, the contract ended the moment he ceased to be a hero.

Rather than Ermi panicking at the notification that she was free, it was quicker for the party to celebrate the end of the contract, which had been repeated 13 times calmly at Megacorp, to begin.

D013 reassured Ermi, who was frozen because she couldn’t keep up with the sudden change in the situation, by saying that he did the same, and presented her with a contract with new conditions at the end of the party.

The word D014 written in chocolate on the cake instead of the name no longer felt scary or strange.

The Megacorp Hero Association signed a contract with combat cyborg D014 instead of a hero named Ermi.

**

“D014. The contract details have been reconfirmed. I will be joining the unit from now on. A001. Please give me instructions.”

Ermi was once again dispatched to Megacorp Security’s combat unit.

As the disappeared hero party was not one team, it was a natural result as information came in that the heroes who disappeared first were recently put on the black market as personal security combatants.

Unlike before, when unnecessary remarks were not allowed, this time Ermi was able to speak at her own discretion, but nothing changed.

Even though the right to speak was restored, Ermi, who accepted Megacorp’s offer, had nothing to say to her friends who were once fellow heroes.

Just one word. When asked to confirm whether he had really been expelled from the hero list, the reply was that he was sorry, but it was nothing.

It was no longer important.

[Pinephrine is already at the scene, so join us as is. You know the location, right?]

The voice that Ermi accepted in her head was not the friends who had given up trying to ask what happened this time, but the manager of Megacorp who gave the necessary instructions.

“Yes. D014. I will go straight to the confluence point.”

The answer given by the combat unit that received the order was predetermined.

The incoming communication was only audible to Ermi, so she stood still and at attention and continued talking to herself. It’s been a long time since I stopped caring about what people thought.

Jump and jump. D014 moved with the security drone unit brought from Megacorp to successfully carry out the mission.

The first movement, lifting the leg high up to the thigh to take a step, was also done by everyone at the same time and in the same posture.

It was explained that the security drones would be brainwashed fighters discovered while on patrol or adventurers caught while running away from committing a crime.

I also know that the process of becoming a security drone first has been added, saying that you need to remember the mindset of being treated as an object before receiving training to operate a cyborg full-body body.

Even when the information entered Ermi’s head that the security drones following her were not brainwashed combatants but rather academy students in training, nothing changed.

“Ermi! Wait a minute! Let’s talk!”

[Is it really okay if I don’t go? D014? It’s a home that my friends worked hard to prepare~]

Ermi understood what A001 was saying.

He was talking about a rental house that his friends and association staff had repossessed, saying they had made a mistake.

I ended up working at Megacorp on the condition that they would repair it. Despite the circumstances, I was dissatisfied with the fact that, instead of helping him, he did so only after it was reported on the news that he was expelled and accepted another hero.

“D014! Stop there!”

Megacorp’s fixtures. D014 immediately thought of an answer to give to the person who was a friend of A001 and Ermi.

“Yes. I am a combat-type cyborg who has transferred all decision-making authority to Megacorp Security. This is D014. If I say that… will it work?”

“E…Leumi…?”

Taking off the visor he was wearing was an expression of his intention that his remarks had nothing to do with his work. The reason he smiled bigger than usual with his mouth that was always smiling small was to show that he could express his emotions.

“Me. Since D014 is a cyborg belonging to Megacorp Security, there is no need to have any more relationship with you than necessary♡”

He threw away the hand that was holding him and showed that he was not a Humanoid created to absolutely obey humans.

Unlike someone who had nothing to say or a friend who was a hero, D014 had instructions to carry out.

Megacorp, who remembers the name Ermi, has left the Hero Association.

**

“Ta-da~♪ The contract has ended again. Congratulations~ Myaha~”

“What…what is it? Supreme Fox. A perverted cyborg who manipulates people as he pleases… even the president of the association… this time… what is that cake again…”

A D-class hero who is on the lookout for a bunch of sweet cakes at a celebration party commemorating the end of his contract. It was not A001’s role to reassure D015.

D014 was equally abandoned by the Hero Association, which was able to select membership applications. It was something Ermi, who knew the reason for the contract termination, had to do.