(As angry as it makes me, three Murder Dogs would be worth more to them then being able to crush us…)

This was his conclusion after giving it some thought.

And so like that, Veldora and the others were led by Zaza to the hidden abode of the resistance organisation, the Light of Dawn.

◆◆◆

While on the road, they introduced themselves to Zaza.

Though, Zaza did not appear to take Veldora’s bold claim, that they had come from another world, very seriously.

However, he did not pry any further.

(Maybe they just want to hide the truth. After all, they have such advanced weapons…)

That’s what Zaza thought.

He looked at Beretta and felt that his will was to obey Veldora’s orders.

And then there was that miniature Automata called Ramiris.

But then again, he was not even sure if she was an Automata.

To Zaza, this Ramiris seemed like it was the result of unbelievable technology.

It was only about 30 centimeters tall and it sat on Veldora’s shoulder…

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been staring at me all this time. Don’t tell me you have fallen in love? Well, I am quite cute, so it would be no surprise. But too bad! I am not that kind of girl!”

Ramiris laughed haughtily. She had clearly misunderstood something.

Zaza looked away.

“See? Even the people of this world are no match for my allure!”

She began to boast to Veldora.

(What kind of mechanism? I’ve never heard of a cyborg of that size. Is it a robot then? No, those smooth movements are that of an Automata. It was saying something about pain earlier, so it must have some kind of sensory organ replicate. But an Automata of that size… No, more importantly, I have never heard of such advanced artificial intelligence. Is it a brain transplant? Or…Memory Install…!?)

Zaza thought all this while giving a sideways glance. He decided that there was no way that Ramiris was an artificial intelligence.

Surely it was not possible for even an advanced program to think and react just like a human.

Well, maybe it was possible if you had the same ability to process information that the quantum computers aboard the Empire’s battleships had… But it was surely not possible on something as small as Ramiris.

(I feel like I am going crazy. This cannot be real…no, wait?)

Then Zaza thought of something.

(That’s it! If they used the rumored space expansion technology to compress and store the brain…)

This person called Ramiris must have transplanted her brain into this small Automata–that is what Zaza started to believe.

It answered a lot of questions he had had.

(Yes, I see. So this Ramiris person is the most important among them. And this defense cyborg called Veldora and the combat weapon that is Beretta are here to protect her…)

There were too many things that were unclear, and so Zaza came to this conclusion.

Of course, he had thought a little too much about it, and had ended up reaching a conclusion that was completely wrong.

To begin with, Veldora had not told a single lie.

They had come from a different world, just as he had explained.

However, considering that the scientific ability of this world, where there was no actual confirmation of other worlds existing, Zaza had to believe that they were fugitives who had escaped from some laboratory.

And it was this that led to his great misunderstanding.

That being said, it was not exactly something that would lead to much trouble…

All it resulted in was Ramiris getting a little carried away and Veldora sulking.

◆◆◆

“…and so, this here is Ramiris. And this is Veldora and Beretta. They saved me from the Empire’s Murder Dogs.”

The person who Zaza explained this to was Sharma, a mid-level executive in the organization.

She was a middle-aged woman whose appearance suggested gentleness.

The other person, who was standing behind Sharma, was a nervous-looking man in his thirties whose name was Rindo.

As Sharma and Rindo were ordinary people, they looked their age.

While he looked like he was in his twenties, Zaza was a cyborg, and actually much older.

However, Zaza was with the line troops, and so he answered to Sharma, who managed them.

They were currently at one of the bases of the resistance organization–Light of Dawn–that Zaza had led them to.

It was not very far from the underground shelter that was their main base.

They had moved through the maze-like underground passages to get here, careful to make sure that they were not followed.

The reason that there were only two people to greet them was because Light of Dawn were wary of Veldora and the others.

Zaza had sent a report electronically in advance. But of course, Light of Dawn did not feel that the strangers could be trusted until they saw them with their own eyes.

While the strangers may have killed three Murder Dogs, Rindo felt that it could still be a trap by the Empire, and his opinion held a lot of weight.

Zaza trusted Veldora and the others, but it was not so easy for those at the top.

And so Veldora now sat on a chair that was facing the three others.

Behind him Beretta stood and Ramiris sat on his shoulder, just like she always did.

“I see. It is too bad that Jitta and the others died. But we are lucky to have you back, Zaza. And we have you three to thank for it. Thank you for saving our comrade, Zaza.”

After hearing Zaza’s story, Sharma bowed deeply and thanked them.

Rindo kept silent and continued to observe Veldora and the others.

Veldora did not seem to mind as he began to laugh.

“Kaa-hahahahaha! Oh, it was really nothing. In any case, Sharma. Are there more people in this place that you live in?”

“Yes. Almost a thousand… But not many of them are warriors…”

Sharma said in a vague, guarded voice.

She was not sure what reason Veldora had for asking this question.

As for Rindo, who stood behind her, he narrowed his eyes at Veldora now.

(…Hmm, I see. So they are targeting our base after all. It will be dangerous to tell them of our fighting force…)