Robot Protection Zone Chapter 49

I sat on the chair and looked around.

The spacious hall was filled with people. But there wasn’t a single familiar face. Not Thomas, not Nick, not even the secretary who always followed my master. There was no one I knew here today.

The more I tried to find a familiar face, the more the fact that I was alone became clearer. I suddenly missed Sophia and Eve, who would welcome me when I returned home.

Even though it was so noisy here, the laughter of the people surrounding my master and the woman came through with particular clarity, even from a distance. No, maybe it was because I was only paying attention to where my master was.

“…”

I bowed my head with a gloomy face.

My master knew full well how I felt…. At times like this, I hated him so much. The master who would play with me like a toy every day after I confessed, only to turn cold in an instant.

He was someone who treated me cruelly despite knowing my feelings, but my affection for him didn’t diminish in the slightest. Because he was sometimes gentle enough to make my heart break down, I was already busy calming my pounding chest every time I saw him.

My master left me alone and continued to talk with other people. If this was how it was going to be, why did he bring me here? I had no reason to attend this, and I hadn’t wanted to come….

A pair of brown dress shoes approached as I kept my head bowed low, staring at the floor.

“Didi?”

A gentle voice called my name.

The voice was so gentle that I thought my old master had come to find me. I opened my eyes wide and lifted my head, and there, his father, who looked so much like my old master, was standing. Tears welled up in my eyes without me realizing.

“It’s been a while. I never thought I’d see you in a place like this… Didi?”

Because of the dim lighting, his father noticed my teary eyes a little late. He was surprised to see me shedding tears drop by drop, and soon came closer and began to comfort me.

That was so gentle that the tears I had been holding back finally burst out. A soft handkerchief was offered with quiet consolation. His father spoke gently to me as I sniffled.

“Didi, if you don’t want to be here, shall we leave together?”

I looked up at his father with tear-filled eyes. His father was looking at me with a warm smile. It wasn’t just an empty offer to stop my crying; he was holding out his hand to me as if he would really take me out of this place.

I wanted to take that hand and leave right away. But far away, my master, who was still standing among the people, weighed on my mind.

My master had told me not to go anywhere and to stay here…. If I didn’t even obey that command, he might get really angry this time.

“But my master…”

“I’ll let William know.”

Wouldn’t it be okay then…? He wasn’t a stranger, he was my master’s father….

Of course, my master wouldn’t be too happy about it. But I was resentful of my master for so brazenly linking arms with someone else while knowing my feelings, so I wanted to stage a small rebellion of my own.

When I gave a small nod, a benevolent smile spread across his father’s face.

Ah, drawn in by that gentle smile, I ended up taking the hand his father offered, held it tight, and stood up from my seat.

“Hmm… where should we go.”

We left the building and got into his father’s car. I quietly exchanged greetings with the driver whose eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and sat side by side with his father in the back seat.

The inside of the car was faintly filled with a different perfume scent from my master’s. If my master’s scent was like the cold, deep sea, his father’s scent was as cozy as a warm fireplace. It was a fragrance that calmed my heart so much that it felt as if I had returned to the house I had lived in long ago.

His father rested his chin on one hand, lost in thought, then turned to look at me and asked.

“Didi, is there anywhere you want to go?”

“I’m not sure….”

The places I had wandered with my master were mostly the company or its vicinity. And right now, I didn’t want to go to any place that held memories with my master. Realizing that meant there wasn’t a single place I knew in this time period, I felt a little sadder.

“Then, since you look low on energy, it would be good to go eat something delicious.”

I nodded my head slightly. I was hungry, and as his father said, eating something delicious might give me some strength.

After a short car ride, we arrived at a high-end restaurant. It had a familiar atmosphere, like the one I had come to with his father before, so I felt comfortable. Quiet music was playing softly, which seemed to calm my heart.

It was much better than the wide and noisy new product launch presentation venue. The tension in my stiff body and shoulders slowly began to dissipate.

As we sat down, his father ordered from the menu with familiarity. I opened the menu, but I didn’t know what the dishes were even after reading their names, so I just nodded along with what his father ordered.

I did follow his father out, but….

Thinking about my master looking for me made a corner of my heart uncomfortable. I fiddled with my still-quiet smartphone and swallowed my worries.

His father, who had been watching my still-unpleasant expression, asked.

“Your expression has been dark since a while ago. Is something worrying you?”

“I’m….”

I hesitated with a dark expression before finally managing to speak.

“My master is keeping me by his side because he thinks I know information related to human-bots. But I don’t know anything….”

“Human-bots…. Yes, my father passed away without ever telling William how to make human-bots.”

His father seemed to be lost in reminiscence for a moment, as if recalling my old master.

“Do you know anything, sir?”

“No. My father didn’t talk much about human-bots to me either.”

I had asked on the off chance that his father might know something, but he also shook his head, saying he didn’t know about human-bots.

Somehow, I felt like I knew the reason. It must have been related to my old master turning off my power. I hung my head dejectedly and mumbled.

“Maybe he did it because he felt that human-bots were useless…. That’s why he turned off my power too….”

“Hmm…. I don’t think that’s it.”

His father continued in a quiet voice.

“My father would look at a picture of you, Didi, every day and couldn’t take his eyes off it for a long time.”

“…”

My eyes widened at the unexpected words. I had thought my old master had forgotten me quickly. I thought he had quickly forgotten someone like me after turning off my power, but to think he looked at my picture every day…. A corner of my heart stirred.

Then why didn’t he turn my power on until the very end…. It would have been better to see my face in person than in a picture.

A short while later, the food arrived.

Three small plates were placed neatly in front of both his father and me. Each plate held a bite-sized portion of food, arranged tidily.

“Um….”

It looked pretty and neat, but I didn’t know what order to eat it in, so I hesitated with my fork in hand. His father, noticing this, smiled and explained.

“You cut that like this and eat it all at once with the sauce next to it.”

His father showed me how to eat it himself, so I nodded and followed suit. The flower petal-thin slices of flounder sashimi, the refreshing lime sauce, and the deep flavor of truffle blended harmoniously in my mouth. I had only chewed a few times, but the worries that had been chaotically shaking my mind quickly vanished.

“I think this would go well with wine. Would you like a glass?”

His father offered me a drink. But I remembered how the world spun when I drank the alcohol my master had poured for me last time. I couldn’t repeat that mistake in front of his father, so I shook my head.

“I’m not very good with alcohol….”

“In that case, I’ll order a separate drink for you. You liked sweet things, right?”

When his father ordered something to drink from the waiter, the drinks came out quickly.

A glass of white wine was placed in front of his father, and a non-alcoholic cocktail was placed in front of me. It was a refreshing drink with a strong mint scent. His father slowly tilted his glass and continued his meal, matching my pace of eating.

Throughout the meal, I had various conversations with his father and finished the meal in a comfortable atmosphere.

We had only eaten a meal, but time had already passed by in a flash. It felt like time passed too quickly when I was with his father.

I wondered if we were going back now, and asked with a hint of disappointment.

“Are we going back now?”

“Do you want to go back? It’s a shame to part ways already….”

“No! I want to stay longer!”

Huh? We weren’t going back? I immediately shook my head and answered with joy.

But on the other hand, I was also worried. What if my master had noticed my absence without a word and was angry? Or maybe he was busy and hadn’t noticed yet….

Thinking that, I stealthily checked my smartphone, but there was still no contact. A strange sense of disappointment spread bitterly in my mouth.