When they reached the room, Ina bowed deeply, and tried to leave.
“Well then, I will make dinner with the vegetables we picked today. Just wait for a… Uh?”
For a moment, the sound of two palms hitting echoed, as Qualia grabbed Ina’s hand.
“That choice is wrong. Repairing yourself takes precedence before cooking.”
Qualia’s eyes were on Ina’s abdomen, where Arrows hit her before.
Ina realized what Qualia meant, and tried to pass it off like it was nothing.
“I-I’m fine… See?”
“Negative. There are disturbances, although subtle, in the regularity of your movements. They most likely stem from the damage to your abdomen.”
Qualia already learned Ina’s every movement, so he reacted to her behavior of trying to cover her body.
It was a concern that did not exist inside Qualia when he was just an artificial intelligence.
“Qualia will take over cooking. You should rest until your abdomen is repaired.”
“…Thank you. But after seeing what you did today, I feel like I also need to work harder.”
Qualia’s expression darkened a little, like a child that was not about to back down.
“Request explanation. Is there anything Qualia can do to repair your damage?”
“…Master Qualia, can I have some of your little time?”
Asked Ina, as she entered the bedroom with Qualia.
They closed the door that served as the boundary line between the room and the hallway, leaving them alone inside.
“Living beings’ bodies are healed by time as long as they are alive, even if not everything can be healed.”
“Understood.”
“That means this wound will also be healed if we just give it time.”
Ina then continued.
“If a person dies, they can’t be restored. That goes for the killed and the killer. That is life.”
“Request explanation. How is the being classified as ‘killer’ harmed?”
Qualia could not comprehend this, as he was once the humanoid autonomous combat android Shutdown, and it killed many artificial intelligence.
He could understand the adverse effects to the ones killed, since their functions would be shut down forever, but he saw no adverse effects when he killed artificial intelligence.
“Once you kill someone, you will have trouble sleeping forever. And once you get used to it, your heart dies.”
“Heart.”
The bug that appeared in Qualia in the old world.
Hearing it mentioned stopped Qualia’s thought circuits for a second.
“Does heart carry the concept of death?”
“Yes. If the heart dies, you won’t be able to understand the concept of pain… And you will hurt a lot of people. You start to do anything it takes to survive, no matter who dies.”
“Situation unclear.”
Qualia did not fully understand, as Ina spoke as though she knew about the death of a heart.
Why would destroying someone else hinder one’s sleep?
Why would a heart die if one killed someone?
Why would one turn into a lawless monster that forgot about dignity?
Small doubts ran around inside Qualia’s head, and Ina grabbed his hand, realizing the small state of confusion his mind was in.
And then, she looked directly into his eyes.
“Of course, I won’t say anything too idealistic, like that it’s wrong to kill when your own life is in danger… But please don’t kill needlessly. And that includes yourself.”
Qualia looked away, and responded.
“Proposal accepted.”
“Great..”
Qualia’s vision was filled by a smile that was akin to a flower blooming.
He turned away again, even though he did not understand why.
He felt that this smile was like exposing his chest to heat.
“But when you are threatened, elimination will be included as an option.”
“I understand that there are times when it can’t be helped… I will try my best not to expose myself to danger as well.”
Ina’s face turned a little red, and her smile deepened.
“Thank you very much for what you did earlier. I would not be here right now had you not protected me.”
“…You’re wel-come.”
Ina hid her face with her sleeve as she heard Qualia use an expression he recently learned, and laughed.
Her cat ears twitched a little, and a word suddenly popped out of Qualia’s mouth as he saw the dimples created by Ina’s smile.
“…Tasty.”
“Tasty?”
“Although your face is not recognized by Qualia’s sense of taste, it is recognized as ‘tasty’ by the visual senses.”
“Hum…”
Qualia worried for the future, as he looked at a confused Ina.
There were too many things in that world that could be classified as threats.
If individuals stronger than the big boar or Arrows appeared, there was a good chance that Qualia’s current specs would be unable to handle them.
He needed information.
He needed to look up information to eliminate the possibility that anything could take away Ina’s ‘tasty’ smile.
One thing in particular stuck out to him.
“Request explanation.”
“What is it?”
“Request explanation about ‘magic’.”
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