Clockwork Planet: Volume 1

by Yuu Kamiya

  “Do you expect the military to purify itself? That’s impossible,” Limmons said as he turned around. “The situation this time was caused by the military’s inadequacy. The purge is to conceal this situation that they cannot handle. The people should just rely on Meister Guild instead, you say? But we can’t handle every situation like this, either. Putting ability aside, we definitely lack the numbers necessary.”

  “...What are you implying.”

  “It’s a case of give-and-take.” Limmons smiled thinly. “Both the military and Meister Guild would be troubled if the other were lost. Considering that we are guilty of siphoning outstanding talents from the military’s localities as well, wouldn’t it be fine to take one for the team once in a while?”

  “...Are you saying that you don’t care if you kill twenty million people for that?”

  “They’re sacrifices who ought be mourned.” Limmons nodded. His expression revealed that he didn’t really think that one bit.

  “—Now I thoroughly understand what you’re saying!” Slamming the documents—the ones with the order to withdraw written on them—onto the table, Marie turned on her heels.

  “Oh my, Dr. Breguet. Where are you headed?”

  “I’m heading back to the worksite and continuing the repair. Regardless of what headquarters says, we won’t give up.”

  “Goodness, I’d be left in a pinch if you were to act at your own discretion like that.”

  “Like I care. —We’re leaving.”

  Calling out to Halter, who had been waiting like a statue in a corner of the room, Marie began to walk towards the door. As she grasped the doorknob, intending to walk right out, Limmons called out to her.

  In a voice as cheerful as could be, he said, “—In that case, I shall strip you of your authority.”

  Marie stopped dead in her tracks.

  She turned around.

  Before Marie’s sharp gaze, Limmons took out a scroll fastened by a blue cord. He unfastened it and rolled the scroll down. His rimless glasses turned opaque from the white light reflecting on them.

  “You, the honorable Marie Bell Breguet, were appointed Head of the First Division’s Second Brigade on the tenth of April in the one-thousand thirteenth year of the Wheel. However, as it has been confirmed that you have breached direct orders from headquarters, I hereby strip you of your seat and its authority by means of a simplified resolution.”

  Finishing his recital of the scroll, Limmons extended his hand and showed it to Marie.

  “The decree has been written in proper form. Would you like to confirm?”

  Marie remained silent as she walked up to Limmons, upon which she snatched the scroll from his hand. She narrowed her eyes into a line as she traced its contents.

  From her side, Halter stepped forward and asked, “Excuse me, Mr. Limmons? Sorry for butting in, but pray tell—Why do you have such a document conveniently prepared?”

  “It was in the vein of making assurance doubly sure. As it turns out, it ended up being useful, after all.”

  As a nauseating, faint smile crossed his face, Limmons continued, “If it were possible, I would have liked to settle things without using it, but I can’t simply let you do as you please with a hundred clocksmiths who possess precious technical skills.”

  Marie rolled the scroll back up neatly before stowing it inside her pocket. Afterwards, she lifted her face and threw a glare at Limmons with dark, bitter eyes.

  Limmons raised both hands up and put on a show, jesting, “Now now, please don’t consider disposing of me and pretending that you never heard what was just said.”

  “......”

  “I’ve already sent a copy of the same document to the city’s military. Having been stripped of your seat and authority, you are now just an ordinary person without the privileges accorded to a Meister. You won’t be allowed to enter the core tower without the military’s permission.”

  The sound of teeth grinding escaped Marie’s mouth.

  She scowled at Limmons and made a face that said she would gladly strangle him to death any number of times if she could, but—suddenly, her glare wavered and she looked perplexed.

  She tilted her head to the side slightly and took her eyes off Limmons as she stared up into space. Her eyes widened.

  I remember now.

  Marie said quietly to the faintly smiling man, “—You called yourself Limmons, right?”

  “Yes, what about it?”

  “I remembered just now. I’ve seen your face at the get-togethers of the five great enterprises in the past. As I recall, you were a dependent of the Vacherons.”

  Limmons’s smile disappeared for a moment, and then he smiled faintly once again.

  “—Indeed, I’m honored to have you remember me, Ms. Breguet. We were in the same year at the academy as well. Do you remember that, too?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “...Is that so? Well, I wasn’t talented in that field, unfortunately. As you can see, I’m working on the administration side of things at headquarters now.”

  Vacheron.

  It was the name of a clan behind another one of the Five Great Enterprises that rivaled that of the Breguet family Marie belonged to—and also a sponsor of Meister Guild.

  As much as Meister Guild liked to call itself a nonprofit organization, as long as it was an organization based on the movement of people, things, and money, it couldn’t completely exclude the will of its sponsors.

  It was a matter of fact that the management of Meister Guild included those related to the Breguets and the Vacherons—in other words, representatives of the five great enterprises. Marie did know that and had even used it to her convenience before.

  However—

  “Is this a painting done by the Vacherons?” asked Marie in a low voice as she stared at Limmons.

  He had said that there would be no damage done to Marie’s reputation, but there was no way that was true. If the purge was executed, the military would push the blame on Meister Guild, and if Meister Guild accepted that, they would shove the responsibility onto Marie—and in turn, the Breguet family.

  There was no way the other four families wouldn’t take the chance to chip off some of the Breguet family’s influence.

  —In other words, this is a collusion between the military and Meister Guild. A plot by the Vacheron family to enervate the Breguet family’s power!

  However, Limmons shrugged his shoulders at Marie’s condemnation.

  “—I have absolutely no idea what you could be saying.”

  He showed off a sluggish, sludge-like smile. His expression substantiated Marie’s conjecture more eloquently than anything else.

  “You... bunch of...!” In her anger, her voice had gotten stuck in her throat and her head was burning white-hot.

  She couldn’t understand.

  If they did something like this, Meister Guild’s reputation would take a big hit. The trust and pride their predecessors had built up with their blood and sweat starting a thousand years ago would be irreversibly stained with dishonor—and for something so senseless!

  She recalled what she had said to Halter before.

  “What could those imbeciles possibly do?”

  I feel like I understand the meaning behind those pacifistic smiles now. The dreadful power of those who can’t do anything. Understand? No, like I could ever understand this. Like I would let myself understand this.

  What is sacred? The precious legacy left to Meister Guild that must be protected above all else: tenacity, pride, ideals, life, and the purity of the soul!

  Yet, for those things to be discarded for something so small, narrow-minded, ugly, filthy, and repulsive that it can’t even be dismissed as mere jealousy or envy—And for it to be done so easily.

  Marie couldn’t understand.

  “—Marie!!”

  Being yelled at unexpectedly, Marie came to her senses.

  “Let’s go. Staying here would only make you sick,” Halter said, his v
oice firm.

  Marie was about to reflexively yell back, but she restrained herself. She tightened her trembling fist and calmed her breathing, then nodded.

  “...Right, let’s go.”

  Marie and Halter silently exited the room. Suppressing her impulse to wreck the faint smile on Limmons’s face beyond all recognition as he saw them off required an unbelievable amount of self-restraint.

  The two remained silent as they advanced through the wide corridors before arriving at the elevator corridor. Halter pressed the call button, and they waited quietly for the elevator to come. Though in reality it only took a little more than two minutes, to Marie it felt like an hour or even two.

  When the elevator arrived, they boarded it and Halter pressed the button for first floor.

  Marie reached her limit.

  “AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRAAAAAGHHHHHH!!” she bellowed, kicking the wall of the elevator with all her might and causing it to sway so much that the emergency shutdown was triggered.

  “Calm down, Marie.”

  “Shut up!!”

  Marie swung both hands about as she rampaged. Halter was about to lay his hand on Marie’s shoulder to try to pacify her when Marie punched his hand in defiance. The fact that that didn’t shake his hand in the slightest vexed her so much that it made her rage explode even further.

  She cried, yelled, and bashed Halter with her fists. Panting roughly and with her light golden hair disheveled, she slammed her foot against Halter’s log-like legs and trampled on his feet.

  Halter didn’t resist. He bore the brunt of the girl’s rage that had been unreasonably directed towards him in silence.

  Of course, as he had been mechanized, such a feat wasn’t difficult at all.

  Marie pulled Halter in by his suit and smashed her head against his solid abdomen. Thud. The shock spread throughout Halter’s body.

  “—Do you even get it?!” Marie yelled with her head still smooshed against his abdomen. Her voice was hoarse and trembling. “Hey, do you even get it? This city! Twenty million people! For the sake of ruining me—for something as pointless as that, they’ll be sacrificed as collateral damage, did you know that ?!”

  “That’s not true,” Halter asserted solemnly. “Marie, that’s not true. Don’t flatter yourself. The military will conduct the purge whether you’re here or not. The shitheads at Meister Guild simply threw you in for the ride.”

  “How could you possibly know that for sure?!” Marie shouted as her rage burst a second time. With her face still buried in his abdomen, she struck Halter’s chest with her small fists. “If I weren’t here, Meister Guild might have pressured the military! More clocksmiths might have been sent! The purge might have been avoidable!”

  “Even so, it’s not your fault.”

  “Shut up!!” Marie shouted again, then punched Halter.

  Halter didn’t waver. He stood silently as he was shouted and punched at. Suppressing a girl with a body of flesh would be easy, and aside from that, he wasn’t so inept that he wouldn’t at least embrace and comfort a crying girl, yet he didn’t do so.

  —He knew that Marie Bell Breguet didn’t need such a thing.

  After a short while, Marie had calmed down and become motionless, her face still against Halter’s stomach.

  Her shoulders eventually began to tremble.

  “......Hehe...Hehehe, hahahahahahaha!”

  In a burst, her face twisted as she let out a loud laugh. Her eyes were swollen and a little red. Halter sighed as he diligently pretended not to notice the stains that had gotten on his suit.

  “...Have you calmed down?”

  “Calmed down? What are you saying, Halter? I’m calm, alright. This may be the first time my mind has been so crystal-clear since I was born.”

  “You really don’t look that way, though.”

  “Ohh! Ohh, sorry about that, Halter! Are you mad at me because I punched you just a wee bit? Yeah, I’m really sorry! But thanks to that, I feel totally refreshed!”

  “I’m sure glad to hear that.” Halter grumbled as he relaxed his shoulders and straightened his wrinkled clothes.

  He pressed the button for first floor again, restarting the stopped elevator. Looking on, Marie let out a low growl of a laugh.

  “Very well, you feeble-minded political crooks! Pull on others’ feet as much as you’d like. Taking away even that last privilege of wretched creatures who can’t do anything else would simply be too pitiful, after all!”

  “...This is hopeless,” sighed Halter. Marie ignored him and furrowed her eyebrows.

  “—Think, Marie. There should be something. Some way to break out of this shitty situation.” She pinched her chin and licked her lips as she mulled the situation over.

  The military won’t stop. Meister Guild can no longer be counted on, either. It’s probably impossible to hope for a political resolution at this point. At this point, evacuating the residents would also be impossible. In that case, there’s no option left but to finish the repairs before the city is purged.

  Well then, what are the obstacles to that option?

  There’s no time. OK. There’s nothing I can do about that at this point.

  In that case, let’s think it over: Can I finish the repairs to the city in the eight hours left?

  Negative. Realistically speaking, it’s impossible. Then, what if I change the method? As long as the point of malfunction is located, can the repair work itself be finished within the time limit? Affirmative. However, I need a way to put that into practice—a method to promptly locate the point of malfunction.

  “Think, Marie. It should be there. There should be some way!”

  ...Of course, no matter how much she racked her brains, no such method came to mind.

  Even though they were a gathering of the most outstanding staff and equipment in the world, they still weren’t magicians.

  Some things are impossible. One must acknowledge that—however, but, even so.

  “For something to be ‘impossible’ because of those imbeciles’ meddling is utterly unacceptable!”

  The elevator arrived at the first floor, and the door slowly opened.

  Let’s continue thinking about this in the car, Marie thought as she lifted her head.

  Just then—

  She saw a face that she very much recognized before her.

  “——”

  “Say, RyuZU. Is it really fine for us to stay in a place like this?”

  “Master Naoto, that flea-sized modesty of yours may be a virtue, but may I suggest that you act with a little more dignity and composure befitting of being my master?”

  It was a duo of a short, headphone-wearing boy and a girl with beautiful silver hair.

  She had no recollection of the boy. The girl was the problem.

  Marie knew the face of that girl well. She had seen that girl’s face many times over since she was a kid. More specifically, it was the face that had slept in her family’s treasure house. Since Marie had become a Meister, she would bring her out to the worksites, and whenever she had spare time, she would challenge herself to fix her and make her move once more.

  “A-, A-, Ah...”

  “Hm...?”

  “Is something the matter, Master Naoto?”

  A perplexed face turned toward her.

  The stunningly beautiful girl—or rather, automaton, was unmistakably operating.

  —YD-01, First Machine of the Initial-Y Series, RyuZU.

  Seeing the flabbergasted Marie, the slim hope that could possibly overturn this situation tilted her head, looking puzzled.

  ●

  The lobby on the first floor of Central Hotel had become something like a mall.

  There were shops on either side of the entrance; on the right were fine-dining restaurants, and on the left were boutiques and brand-name shops lined up in a row.

  In one of those restaurants, having moved to the café lounge from which the hotel’s courtyard could be seen, the first thing out of Marie�
�s mouth was, “I’ll have you lend me your hand, RyuZU.”

  Without reservation towards the automaton sitting opposite her, Marie placed her hands on the table and bent forward boldly. RyuZU looked at Marie with indecipherable golden eyes and a somewhat cold expression

  Naoto, who was sitting beside her, raised his hand and asked, “Er, could I ask something really quick? To begin with, who are you?”

  “You don’t know who I am?”

  Naoto shrugged at Marie’s suspicion.

  “Not one bit. Are you someone in show business? I’m not the kind of person who watches TV and the like, so...”

  Halter, who was sitting next to Marie, slapped his bald head and laughed. “Show biz, huh? That’s a good one.”

  “Halter, is this the time to be fooling around?”

  “You say that, but that isn’t actually incorrect, is it? I forget whether it was for Automata Fan or Technical Weekly, but you modeled for the front cover of a magazine several times, didn’t you?”

  “That was only because Elder Sister ditched that project, so I was forced to do it instead.”

  “Automata Fan? If that’s the case, then I should have seen your face before...” Naoto muttered as he tilted his head. That was a magazine he had unfailingly and devotedly bought every issue of for as long as he could remember, yet he had no recollection whatsoever of the golden-haired girl in front of him.

  Naoto shrugged. “Well, I guess there’s no way I could remember all the little details like cover models... So, who are you, then?”

  “You keep asking who I am, but who are you supposed to be?” Looking displeased, Marie scowled at Naoto and said, “My name is Marie Bell Breguet. I’m a Meister belonging to Meister Guild. This YD-01 RyuZU is my family’s personal asset, you realize?”

  “Personal asset...?”

  Naoto threw his head back and yelled in surprise before standing up and saying, “So you guys were the worthless idiots who carelessly dropped a storage unit right above my apartment!”

  “S, Storage unit?”

  As Marie faltered, flabbergasted, Naoto pressed on with anger showing on his face. “Thanks to you guys, I lost the home and all the tools my late parents left me and became practically penniless. To top off becoming a hobo at sixteen years of age, I met RyuZU and ended up entering into a contract with her you know how are you going to compensate me huh indeed thank you very muchhh!”