A hostage would not be a problem for Qualia’s beams. They could bend and hit Mind, without any risk of hitting the girl.
However, they were so close, that he could not shoot Mind’s limbs without also hitting the girl. If Qualia were to save the girl, he would have to shoot Mind in the head.
“So it was you. You neutralized them all.”
Mind said with an irritated expression when he noticed Qualia.
“Affirmative. All black Holes have been neutralized.”
“…I see. I did see some weird light flying towards them.”
There was a hint of relief in Mind’s face.
His expression seemed to contradict the fact that his plan to activate Black Holes had been foiled.
“Then… Can you at least open up a path for me… Can you let me go? You don’t want to hurt this girl, do you?”
“Negative. You are wrong. Type GUN.”
Qualia raised his weapon, whose beams would kill instantly if they hit someone’s brain.
“Request that you don’t take any adverse action towards that girl. Anything more, and you will be designated a threat… And eliminated.
“Then make way for me!”
Qualia’s expression was a little cloudy, as he pointed the gun at Mind.
Mind’s expression was filled with anguish, as he held the blade at the girl, whose face was pale and covered in tears, as she looked at Qualia as if pleading for help.
“Analyzing… Situation…”
But it was only a matter of time before knights or beast people intervened, and that would endanger the girl’s life even more.
No matter how much he calculated, there was no option where Mind would not be killed.
Qualia’s calculation abilities were not at their best, thanks to the hacking from earlier. That was the reason Qualia came up with and forcibly accepted.
“Stop!! Let go of my daughter!!”
A woman who was apparently the girl’s mother screamed at Mind, and was held back by the knights.
“Mommy!! Mommyyyyy!!”
The innocent girl cried out for her mother. She tried to escape, but Mind held her tightly.
There was also a large beast person who beat back several knights to run to Mind’s side. Qualia determined that he was quite strong.
“Mister Mind, that’s not how ya do it. Ya gotta cut off a leg and show ’em you’re serious.”
The giant beast person raised his big sword without hesitation, as the girl was too scared to even scream.
“Stop it! There’s no need for that!”
Roared Mind, covering for her.
“Situation understood.”
Qualia still could not declare Mind a threat, although he wished he would stop doing this.
“You feel no ‘tasty’ from performing these actions. Stopping this girl’s vital activity will mean the death of your ‘heart’ Request that you surrender.”
The giant beast person sounded perplexed, as this did not resonate with him, but Mind looked regretful as his face twisted, and he spoke as though he was on the edge of a cliff.
“Forget heart… At this rate, I’m gonna lose my life. I want to live. I joined Azure Skies to live. I… Don’t want to kill people that don’t fight back anymore… I want it to end here…”
Mind repeated those words, as if trying to convince himself.
And in the end, he looked at the girl, whose neck he was pointing a knife to.
“Little lady… Are you poor? You don’t look like you eat too good. This is the upper area… Are you a servant? No, a slave?”
The mother desperately stretching out her arm, and the crying girl.
“Dammit… Dammit… Dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit!!”
His eyes traveled between the two, as he yelled like a blood vessel in his brain was rupturing.
“Why a kid like this of all things!? Why couldn’t it be some old noble!? Why did I have to grab a kid like this!?”
“Don’t go feelin’ sorry for humans, mister! It doesn’t matter if it’s a kid or what, those bombs are supposed to kill ’em all!”
“I know! I get that!!”
Mind then spoke to himself, as though he was ridding his lungs of air.
“…When I was a mercenary, they kept making me kill defenseless kids like this. Every day every day, I still dream about it… Pressing their throats, looking at me like their eyes are gonna pop out, trying to talk while their mouths foam… I… Didn’t want to keep using my poison just to make a living… I wanted to live without doing that… I didn’t want to kill kids anymore… So… Why am I about to kill a little kid again!? Why am I killing a kid again!? I don’t care who, someone tell me quick!!”
There was a metallic sound, as the knife trembled.
Even Mind himself knew this was not something to say at this point, but he could not stop. His pained howls did nothing but fly towards the sky.
“Please… Don’t make me kill kids anymore! Get out of the wayyyy!!”
“Qualia is looking for the optimal solution for you to not do that.”
His roars that sounded as though he could not breathe, stopped.
“…Thanks for the thought… But I can’t accept that.”
“Your apprehension is misguided. Qualia will neutralize excessive force from the knights. Qualia will neutralize any knight that attempts adverse actions after you surrendered.”
“Who gave you the authority!? They’re all going to…”
A knight pressed upon Qualia, who pointed his gun at him.
And in the meantime, Lobelia stepped in.
“Princess Lobelia…”
“Ahem ahem, act like a princess… Everyone present, please throw down your weapons. Beast people and knights.”
Her voice of authority resonated with both the knights and the beast people, and the sound of swords being dropped was heard all over.
“You may still get away with a light crime. All wounded will be treated, regardless of race. And you won’t be treated poorly. You understand that you will only be hurting yourselves if you persist, correct?
And the knights, well done. But if you hurt them after they surrendered, that will be your crime, and I won’t overlook even one of you.”
“But…”
“Hn? Have you not had enough of fighting? Then I will be your opponent, although I have the fighting power of a bunny.”
Lobelia rolled up her sleeves, and showed off her soft arms. And yet, the knight’s face turned pale, and he stepped down. Even if he did accept, Spirito would have intervened.
Lobelia watched the knight retreat, and gave Qualia a thumbs up with her arms crossed.
“…A princess herself… It’s an honor, but…”
“I heard all about it. If you can make poison, you should have knowledge about how to make medicine as well, right? How about using it to save people?”
Asked Lobelia while looking straight ahead.
There was no lie. Qualia understood that Lobelia really did intend to save all the beast people present.
“You strongly oppose attacking people. As a result, you have not hurt the girl. You gave Qualia a poison that doesn’t stop vital activity. That is tied to your greatest role in terms of vital activity.”
Mind closed his eyes and faced up, and Qualia expressed his wish as a person, the same as him.
“Let us calculate the optimal solution together, to figure out what that role is. Qualia strongly wishes for you to cease hostile activity.”
Qualia heard the sound of the knife dropping to the ground, before Mind hung his head and let go of the girl.
“No one’s ever looked at me so directly before… Maybe you and that cat girl really don’t have a servant and master kind of relationship.”
“Affirmative. Ina is family.”
“I see… I lost. I surrender.”
The sun shined on Mind’s tired face.
“I’m really glad… You stopped the Black Holes…”
A shadow flickered.
Mind was the first to notice.
The beast person standing next to him yelled with rage, and held up his big sword.”
“You cowaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard!!
What’s this faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarce!?”
There was a flash of light.
But before that, Mind pushed the girl away. Thanks to that action, the intense flash of light severed only Mind’s head.
And so, the budding ‘tasty’ was gone.
“[N/A]”
There was a small short circuit in Qualia’s circuits.
He recognized a desperate pain he had not felt since Arrows kicked Ina.
That triggered his senses to become closer to Shutdown, for just a moment.
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I see author has no intention to make MC more fluent in language. The “tasty” usage is getting annoying.