The crabs' sudden attack!
But the effect was negligible...
By now, the Sinners' physical specs had improved quite a bit overall, and they'd grown used to combat as well.
Meaning simple ambushes from weak, one-dimensional monsters weren't enough to produce casualties!
Though stamina was another matter. Unless there was an overwhelming gap in ability, that would always become a war of attrition.
If they kept fighting back-to-back like this without even a chance to rewind the clock, the Sinners would eventually run out of steam, too.
The crabs weren't all that strong, but they were more than enough to keep annoying us.
At that moment, Mr. Heathcliff, who had been crushing crab shells into pulp, glanced toward Mr. Gregor and opened his mouth.
Clang!
"Haa... so what the hell are these bug-crab things?!"
"Uh... stop asking me while staring at me. How would I know?"
"I wasn't looking at you! Old man, you really are paranoid, you know that? Every time bugs come up, you're just..."
"Ghk..."
...What are those two doing? Putting on a comedy skit?
As I stared at those ridiculous people in utter disbelief, Ms. Ishmael, who had been carefully examining the crushed crab head on the ground, murmured in a low voice.
"...They're crabs."
Crabs...
Ah, ah! So that's what those were? I couldn't figure it out just by looking at them. I had a rough idea of what they were, but...
"Crabs. The kind that stick trash or scrap metal onto their shells and turn it into both a home and a weapon. Nasty creatures... They'll suddenly leap out and attack people working near the water, or ambush anyone passing by, and their numbers just keep growing day by day... But those little fry are everywhere in the Great Lake... What's more important, what's dangerous, is..."
Come to think of it, Ms. Ishmael's condition was getting worse and worse. Was this really okay?
For now, I didn't have any clear answer, so all I could do was watch the situation, but if neither I nor Dante could find a solution, this might become a real headache...
Just as my thoughts were sinking deeper with worry, unfamiliar voices came from far away.
"Hey~ are you already taking care of those things?"
A pair of people: one black-haired man and one woman with a red ponytail. The clothes they were wearing were... work uniforms?
If they were in work uniforms, they must be employees of a workshop. What was going on?
"Mika, Mika! They're important customers, you need to be a little more polite..."
"Ah... is that so."
...From the sound of it, the red-ponytailed woman's name was Mika.
And customers? Strange. Faust or Vergilius hadn't told us anything about this.
"You. What."
"I think they're asking what those things are..."
"Rain, these people are calling us 'those things'... do we really have to be polite?"
"Shh, shh..."
The black-haired man with the short cut was Rain, then. Good, noted.
Hm, but usually this sort of thing would be Ms. Faust's job. Why was she being quiet?
Just as I was about to look at her to see if something was wrong, Ms. Otis stepped forward first and drew everyone's attention.
"They could be enemies. Hey! State your identities."
"You weren't informed about us...?"
...There's something going on here.
"Yeah, not at all... wait. Move aside!"
Like a bolt of lightning striking my mind, I lightly stopped Ms. Otis, who was about to sneer at Rain's words and snap back, with one hand, forcibly cutting off the conversation.
And then...
"Ms. Faust? It's about time you explained. Don't keep sulking over having your answer stolen earlier."
"...Faust is not upset over something so trivial. Nor was Faust keeping quiet because of that."
"Then why..."
"Those over there are the people we'll be cooperating with this time."
...Look at this person dodging the question. So she really was sulking about having the explanation stolen earlier, huh?
Only then did Ms. Faust, who had remained silent for a long while, take the lead and start the conversation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Mika, Mr. Rain. We are LCB, the bus division of Limbus Company."
At her greeting, the red-ponytailed Mika replied.
"Bus... right. That person said you were bus people, too."
"I heard the LCC's before-team already passed through. That person...?"
If it was the LCC before-team... no, forget it. Why waste time thinking about it?
At Faust's answer, the man called Mika seemed to realize something and took a business card from his pocket.
"Ah, let me check the card again... LCC... B, yes, that's right."
"Since the verification seems finished, let's go back to the shop and continue talking. We should take a look at that bus, too. It's a bit awkward to just stand here and talk, isn't it?"
Mika pointed toward the building that seemed to be their workshop... though it looked rougher than expected.
...That's really it, right?
Anyway, with the conversation neatly cut off there, Dante, who had been waiting for a chance to satisfy his curiosity, asked at just the right moment.
"No... why did we even stop here in the first place?"
At Mr. Gregor's deadpan expression, Ms. Faust answered with her usual blank face.
"To put it simply, our destination, U Corp, is a Nest made up of ships on the Great Lake. Therefore, in Mephistopheles' current form, we cannot cross over."
"And... the Great Lake's environment changes from moment to moment. We'll need a ship that can endure on that lake..."
At Ishmael's words following Faust's, most of the Sinners lost interest as if to say, is that so.
So that was it. I'd guessed as much from the work-uniform look, but the next stage really was in the middle of the sea.
While I was putting the pieces of the story back together in my head, an abrupt voice came from behind us.
"Right, so we already made arrangements with a suitable workshop to modify the bus."
What the hell, when did that man Vergilius get behind us? He'd said he was getting off earlier, though.
But... suitable? A workshop like that, looking this shabby, in a place this sticky and rotten, with a company that clearly had powerful backing?
Apparently I wasn't the only one thinking that, because Mr. Gregor also frowned and voiced his doubt.
"Hmm... this is... suitable?"
"...Hah. Let's go in."
After a sigh, Mr. Vergilius led the way, following Mika and Rain into the building that seemed to be their workshop.
...I really can't make sense of this.
"Hm... did the last company dinner hit the budget hard? I only ordered as much as we could eat because they told us to order freely..."
That was probably impossible, but the shabby workshop in front of my eyes gave Ms. Rodion's nonsense a little more credibility.
There are places that look rough like that but are secretly excellent, sure... but did Limbus Company, with its seemingly solid backing, really need to entrust work to a place like this?
Still, if it was a fancy place, whether that workshop was secretly a master's den or not probably wouldn't matter much...
...Ugh, whatever, those people must have their reasons! We have to follow anyway, so this kind of doubt is completely pointless.
There's no way the other Sinners didn't realize that either. Once one person started moving, everyone else would probably follow somehow.
Then I'll go first. Standing around outside like an idiot is not an option.
Squelch, squelch.
With that somewhat impulsive, and yet also somewhat rational judgment, I stepped into the building.
"Rain~ I'm going to take a look at this bus, so please handle the guests... no, the customers~"
"...Got it."
The place they introduced us to was a maintenance space packed tight with tools and mechanical equipment.
...There were a few things I didn't recognize. Hm, it really is a good workshop. For the price, it must have excellent skill.
I wasn't the only one among these wildly different Sinners who noticed that.
Ms. Otis, who had quite a bit of experience with workshops, let her eyes gleam as she looked over the equipment.
"Hmm, this workshop seems to handle fairly high-level maintenance, more than it appears."
"Ah, can you tell?"
"A broad understanding of the technical craft of maintaining weapons and equipment was most important during the war."
"Ah..."
That man Rain seemed rather introverted. Even to my eyes, the conversation was awkward.
But Ms. Otis didn't seem inclined to stop talking, and just as I thought she might end up suffocating him with conversation...
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN──────!!!!!!!!
A sudden, deafening roar assaulted everyone's ears.
"...It seems to be Mephistopheles' scream... no, the alarm has been triggered."
After Ms. Faust's low murmur, Mika's voice immediately rang out from inside the bus.
"Sorry! I touched something I shouldn't have!"
Wait, but... I think I'm hearing another strange sound too?
Thud! Thud! Thud!! Thud!!!
"Was that pounding sound also from touching something you shouldn't have, Mika...?"
The sound clearly had nothing to do with Mephistopheles, and Rain's expression darkened...
"Hey! Outside!"
With Sinclair's frantic shout, everyone's gaze turned toward the outside of the workshop.
"It appears to be the same species as the one we encountered just now."
"I-it does seem similar."
"Hm, not similar. It belongs to the same individual type."
Following Dante's urging, when we stepped outside...
A crab with an enormous container strapped to its back was looking down at us.
No, let me correct that. It only looked down for a moment.
Kreeeeeeeek─────────!!!!!
The sound of a massive slab of metal being dragged came crashing over us in an instant.
—What the hell!
"Scatter left and right!"
"What are we supposed to smash this one's face in with?!"
As everyone panicked in chaos—
A voice I'd never heard before pierced my ear.
"Obviously, you smash its head in."
A pitch-black something leaped down from somewhere and landed on top of it. And then...
"Kyaaaah!!!"
"Stay still... don't do anything stupid! Hup!"
Bang────────────!!!
With the file bunker...? in her hand, an immense flash and blast erupted over the crab shell.
"Kwooooh!!!"
Huh... that's pretty powerful.
Taking that hit head-on, the big—crab shell let out a screech and started fleeing into the distance.
"I-it's running away...?"
As Sinclair said, the huge crab ran without even looking back... kind of anticlimactic. The impact was huge, though.
Anyway, the one who lightly jumped off its back as it fled quickly walked toward us, then...
"Heave-ho!"
She hoisted a massive harpoon-like weapon onto her back and stood straight in front of us.
"So, you're the bus people that that guy mentioned...?"
Hearing that, I instinctively understood.
...This person is the boss of this workshop.