Strike the Blood, Vol. 17 by Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako

Author:Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako [MIKUMO, GAKUTO and MANYAKO]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen On
Published: 2021-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

3

“Kikimora?”

Asagi’s eyes opened wide as she stared at Kojou.

They were on the third floor of the special classroom building. It was an empty classroom that should have been slated for the Demon Sanctuary Research Club.

Thanks to the Dem-Club not having been recognized as a proper school club, it was only the trio of Asagi, Yaze, and Kojou gathered there. Since they couldn’t use the air-conditioning, they were burning up.

Amid the languid glare of afternoon sunrays, Asagi, the collar of her uniform boldly open, drew her face to Kojou’s with an oddly serious expression.

“She really said that? Kikimora?”

“Yeah.” Kojou subtly averted his gaze from Asagi’s collar as he nodded.

That was whom Fake Yukina had stolen Kojou’s cell phone to speak to. Since it had been one brief instant, he suspected the possibility he might have misheard, but Asagi’s strangely serious reaction put that notion to rest.

“You know about it, Asagi?” Yaze stared at her, surprised by how unexpectedly quickly Asagi had bit.

“Well, yeah,” she said, sourly twisting her lips. “Kikimora is a codename for an AI I was developing as a hobby.”

“…AI?”

Kojou and Yaze shared a glance with rather dumbfounded expressions. Rather than Kikimora being the name of an AI, the fact a high school girl had developed something like that as a hobby was what took them aback.

However, Asagi paid no heed to their bewilderment as she puffed her chest out with a small measure of pride.

“Yes. Version Seven of the Spriggan Series. Compared to Mogwai’s all-purpose capabilities, Kikimora was designed to be specialized for hacking and electronic warfare.”

“Hacking…,” Kojou said, beginning to understand. “I see, that’s how Fake Himeragi was able to stop the spiritual reactor, then?”

Asagi pressed her cheek against her palm as her other hand operated her favorite smartphone, checking the activities of the AI.

“Yeah, that’s left here in Kikimora’s activity log. But this is messed up. There’s no way this could happen.”

The way Asagi vigorously shook her head made Kojou prompt back in a daze, “Wh-what?”

“Information about Kikimora hasn’t been released publicly yet. No one should know about it except me. There’s no way she could have even known Kikimora existed. On top of that, she’s been assigned administrator rights. I mean, what the hell?!”

“Er, even if you ask me that…”

“There’s zero intrusion attempts logged. There’s no sign of retaliatory measures. Nothing triggered the firewall or the quantum labyrinth. Don’t tell me it was through a security hole left in the module I wrote? To think someone could do that besides me… Really got me good!”

“Wait. For now, just calm down, Asagi.”

With Asagi’s irritation bare, Kojou felt like he was dealing with a ferocious beast as he earnestly tried to soothe her. Apparently someone helping herself to the AI she’d built in complete secrecy had been a spectacular blow to Asagi’s pride. She had none of her usual composure.

“Errr, could you do the same thing Fake Himeragi did?”

“Of course. Who do you think made Kikimora in the first place?” Asagi replied to Kojou’s rude question with such force, she practically bit his head off.

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