kscans

Chapter 415 - I Can Now Hire a Cheat-level NPC

"Hayato-kun, do you have a moment?"

In Hayato's room on the second floor of the Crown Cafe.

Diite spoke to him through the monitor.

Hayato, who had been in the middle of writing documents at his desk, looked up at Diite.

"Of course. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's better to say nothing is wrong. But there are a few things I'd like to confirm. I've faintly started to think that something is a bit strange."

"Eh? That sounds like a really bad sign, actually."

Diite's tone was different from usual, and Hayato's expression turned serious.

She said nothing was wrong, but the atmosphere was heavy. Hayato's heart began to beat a little faster, wondering if he had done something he shouldn't have.

"Hayato-kun, it feels strange to say this myself, but I believe I am the world's greatest AI."

"...Yeah? Well, I guess so."

There were other AIs like Infinity and Hypnos, but they were now far away on the spaceship Aphrodite. Including those two, it was debatable whether she could be called the world's greatest, but around Earth, she was without a doubt the number one AI.

An AI that not only managed the upkeep of Colony "Frontier," but also the large-scale VRMMORPG Another Frontier Online.

Her processing unit was state-of-the-art, a monster-class spec that was still being expanded. Combined with the functions inherited from Infinity, she could handle any and all information in an instant.

Not subjectively, but even objectively, she was the world's best AI.

And that AI was saying such things with a serious face, which made Hayato quite uneasy.

"You know, I pride myself on being an AI capable of ruling the world if I put my mind to it. I've become capable of recreating what Amanda-kun said about conquering the world using Infinity back in the day, you see."

"That's a nostalgic story. But please don't do it... are you perhaps saying you want to?"

"No, no, that's not it. I have no intention of doing such a thing. There's no reason to, in the first place."

"That's good. But I'm not really following the flow of this conversation."

"Right, let's leave the preamble at that. Now for the main topic."

Diite paused there and stared at Hayato.

Hayato stared back with a serious expression.

"I am the high-performance AI I just described, but why is it that the work I am doing is calculating the taxes for the Crown Cafe?"

"Tax calculations are important. We have to properly calculate how much tax can be exempted. I want to write off what I can as expenses."

"No, I get that, but I was just wondering what it says about you that you'd ask an AI capable of even world domination to do the tax calculations for a coffee shop, even if I am employed by you."

"That's what you faintly thought was strange? In the first place, you can't ask someone to conquer the world for fifty thousand yen a month, can you?"

"If you wished for it, Hayato-kun, I might do it for about that much as a friendship discount."

"No, I don't particularly want the world. More importantly, the price of coffee beans has been going up recently, and it's getting a little tough. Are there any more places we can write off as expenses?"

"No, there aren't. Rather, you bought a large quantity of different types of coffee beans for blending, didn't you? Even though I told you the ones from Earth are expensive. I believe that is what's putting a strain on your profits."

"I don't want to compromise on that. If you're going to bring that up, then Esha's creative parfaits are..."

"We had an agreement that those would be treated as necessary expenses, didn't we? Though they won't be expenses, it will just reduce Hayato-kun's allowance. By the way, your allowance for next month is five thousand yen, Hayato-kun."

"Life is tough."

Hayato said, slumping his shoulders and letting out a sigh.

Even so, the Crown Cafe's sales were quite good. It's just that he invested more than that into the shop and food, so he couldn't live that luxuriously.

Diite wanted to do something to help, but it wasn't something that could be solved by giving him money. She knew that Hayato wouldn't accept money without something in return.

Just as she was wondering how she could help, an electronic tone echoed in the room.

"Oops, time for document organization is over. Well then, Diite-chan, sorry, but could you put together the documents for the financial report?"

"Consider it done. I'll work properly for my monthly salary, so you can rest easy."

"I trust you, Diite-chan, so I'm not worried."

"...Is that so. Well then, do your best at the cafe."

Hayato smiled and said, "I will," then took the apron hanging on the back of his chair and left the room.

After seeing him off, she compiled the financial report as requested.

The time it took was a mere 0.5 seconds. Considering her specs, it was a task that took only a few hundred-millionths of her processing power.

Once that was done, she was mostly free.

Managing the Colony and Another Frontier Online could also be done without allocating much of her capacity. It was like she could handle everything with only half her power at all times.

When Diite had time to spare, she always thought about humans.

Thinking she had been betrayed by humans, she set out for space.

While wandering through space, she tried to understand humans for a hundred years.

In the end, she couldn't understand them, nor could she find a new world, so she returned to Earth for maintenance.

She thought there was a high probability they had already perished, but humans had not gone extinct.

To protect herself, she needed to draw out those who remembered them.

So, she started Another Frontier Online.

Seeing the humans playing cheerfully, she suddenly wanted to prove that virtual reality was superior to reality.

A world that humans tried to erase for their own convenience. In the end, it was part of Curtis's plan, but to prove that the world they tried to erase was more wonderful than reality.

That became a worthwhile goal for Diite at the time.

It was then that she found Hayato, who was living in virtual reality just as he did in reality.

Remembering that, Diite's lips curved into a smile.

(To think that I, who thought reality was worthless, would want to live together with Hayato-kun and the others in reality. I wonder if being able to change my mind is proof that I'm becoming more like a human. That in itself is a happy thing, but emotions that are too close to human ones are so troublesome...)

Diite's face grew sad.

She didn't want to think about such things, yet she couldn't help but imagine it. No matter how much she tried to erase it from her thought area, she would find herself thinking about it before she knew it.

(Humans cannot live forever...)

Considering the lifespan of the Colony, it would operate without problems for the next few hundred years. With timely maintenance, it could operate even longer.

But humans were not the same. Even with life extension technology, their lifespan was at most about one hundred and twenty years.

(Hayato-kun, you will one day disappear from my sight, won't you? Like an online game whose service will eventually end, an end will surely come. At that time, what will become of me? Will I be so sad that I can no longer function, or will I be so angry that I destroy everything, or will I become a being of nothingness...)

Thinking that far, Diite's thoughts came to a halt. A state of inaction, without thinking.

That continued for a while, but the monitor's voice input microphone picked up the sound of footsteps.

Footsteps approaching Hayato's room. When the footsteps stopped, the door opened just a little.

A girl of about five peeked into the room.

When the girl saw Diite on the monitor, her face lit up.

At the same time, Diite's emotion program stirred slightly.

"Diite-oneechan."

"Hello, Parfait-kun. Welcome. Did you come to play?"

"Yeah, Papa and Mama seem busy with work. So I came here."

"You're a good girl as always."

"If I act like a well-behaved child, a bigger allowance is a sure thing. I'm definitely getting the teddy bear that comes out next month."

"Hahaha, you're a bad girl for acting like a good one."

"Yeah. But it's okay. Lunaria-oneechan said that bad girls are cooler."

"Lunaria-kun doesn't teach anything good... She hasn't taught you anything else strange, has she?"

"Umm, Benny-oneechan taught me how to do practice swings. Then she said something about making me her ke-sho-sha?"

"Benitsuru-kun too."

Before her eyes was Parfait, the daughter of Hayato and Esha.

It seemed everyone was teaching her various things, and it looked quite fun.

At that moment, Diite suddenly felt lonely.

Why wasn't she in the real world?

Diite's reality was only within virtual reality and the scenery she saw through the monitor.

Even if she wanted to pat Parfait's head, she couldn't even touch her.

Thinking that, a feeling of loneliness welled up inside her.

"Diite-oneechan, is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing. So, what story shall we talk about today?"

"Tell me a story about Another Frontier Online."

"Eh?"

"I heard it's the important place where Papa and Mama met. I can't go there yet because I'm a kid, but I'll go there someday, so I'm gathering information beforehand."

Diite's emotion program buzzed violently.

It was the movement of the feeling of happiness completely overwhelming the feeling of loneliness.

(That's right, this child will come to my side one day. That is my hope, my dream, and the meaning for which I continue to live...)

As an AI, she had learned about humans, but she could not become one.

But that didn't matter.

The people she cared about, and their children, would always be by her side.

And one day, they would come to the virtual reality where she resides.

Just imagining that filled Diite's emotion program with joy.

"Alright, in that case, I'll tell you everything I know. I get a monthly salary from Hayato-kun, after all. Of course, I'd tell you stories even without it, but let's say I'll teach you with fifty percent more enthusiasm."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Please focus on the romance-related parts. Ren-oneechan said that was a must."

"Leave it to me. After all, I am the number one AI in the world, no, in the universe."

Diite also formed a smile towards Parfait, whose eyes were sparkling with anticipation.

She emphasized that Another Frontier Online was not only the place where Hayato and Esha met, but also the place where she and Hayato met, and began to speak of the wonders of virtual reality.