Outrun - Cyberpunk LitRPG

’Sir, you already put me on a case, remember?’ I sent back, icy cold resignation hitting home. This was my last chance to get out of whatever hellish case he wanted to drag me into.

A few moments later, my phone started to ring as he called it. I hit answer, ‘course. Not like I could just hang up on ‘my’ boss. Well- I could. Unfortunately, I needed to appear ever the willing and helpful Squire to avoid attention.

Inquisitor Ligh’s voice came across as incredibly muted. What sounded like- like gunshots echoed through his phone. Just what was going on? “Zuku… did I already tell you of thish?”

A scream of agony came across the line along with a wet thunk. Just what the hell was happening? Did he call me in the middle of a firefight? “Yes- yes sir. You had me doing something else though. Unless you want me to drop what I’m currently working on? And are you okay? What’s going on?”

“No no, shquire… ah, by happenstance, let’s say someone in the chain of command forgot what exactly you were doing… what’sh your current case?” His voice cleared up, losing the muted quality. “And it was just a small-time gang, nothing to worry about?”

What should I say? The truth? Or lie to him and hope he doesn’t try to do any follow-ups. Screw Shinobu for putting me in this situation, seriously. Especially if the Inquisitor was combat-capable enough to take out an entire gang by himself. That’s like on the level of Iris. “I’m uh- I’m attempting to infiltrate Sentinel Private School.”

“Hmm…” I could envision the Inquisitor rubbing at the bottom of his silver mask as he went silent. “That works out then…. I really am a great planner… New orders, Shquire!”

”Sir!”

”Shift your infiltration to investigate the people in charge of the school. That could be the principal, janitor, teachersh- anyone!” His phone’s mic started to faintly pick up the sirens of a Crusade Cruiser.

I barely managed to hold back a sigh as more slop was tossed onto my plate. As if the current gig wasn’t going to be difficult enough.”Chek chek.”

”Ah, you’re looking for anything - as the kids say these days - sus.” Then the inquisitor hung up, leaving me entirely confused as to what kids he was around and how many decades ago were the days he referred to. The confusion hung with me like a mental torture as I settled back down. Thankfully, not for long as I finally drifted to sleep.

——

“I’m sure you’ll love attending our school, Lady Meno. We pride ourselves on giving only the finest education.” The head principal of Sentinel Private School smiled at me, though I couldn’t help but feel disgusted by how smarmy the skinny guy sounded.

He was rather young to be a principal, maybe only in his thirties. Or was that common? When I think of principals, I always get the same image of a chubby, balding man in his sixties or an intimidating woman in a pantsuit. Either way, Principal Bously wasn’t like either of those.

He was, as I said, in his thirties with a full head of slicked-back hair. It would’ve been fine, but he made the unfortunate decision to have a mullet and slicked-back hair, which was just… awesome.

He looked as though he had some work done for Techhair since every other strand of hair glowed faintly with a red light. Maybe it was in style to only get half your hair done now? The glowing hair would’ve been fairly intimidating if he wasn’t so tall and twig-like. Hell, a stray breeze might’ve been able to kill the guy. The most durable part of him was the thin metal plating that ran across his face in three streaks.

The principal gave off a disgusting vibe that made me want to avoid him. Still, he was one of the dozens of targets the Inquisitor gave me. I smiled politely, using the full benefits of Honest Face and Cues to keep up a perfect facade of innocent youth. “Thank you.” I bit my tongue, barely managing to hold back a customary ‘sir’. I was a ‘proper’ Lady now. I couldn’t just be calling anyone and everyone ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’.

Torren sighed behind us as he trailed along, ever the ‘loyal knight’. His every step dragged against the perfectly polished floor of the school’s main hallway as if he were trying to leave trenches to ruin the perfection.

Truly, the hallway itself was… extravagant. Bronze floors, black walls, and bright red neon strips acted as highlights for seemingly the entire school. Trophies of various unimportant events and competitions lined the halls, each one polished to a sheen as if they weren’t decades old. I could even see my reflection in them, free from the scar that used to cross my eye- at least, as long as I remember to not rub off the makeup. To think, the first time I've ever really used makeup and it was to cover up a scar. How pitiful.

Class was already in session, Torren and I being held up in admissions for a while, so the halls were entirely clear of anyone except me, Principal Bously, and Torren. Still, what I had seen of the staff was much like the school itself- perfect to a T. There wasn’t a single misplaced strand of hair or mismatched hint of makeup anywhere.

I looked around, glancing out the myriad of windows. We were high up, so I had a splendid view of the entire city and the snowscape around Rime’s Peak Lounge. Far off in the distance sat the ocean and Sentinel’s Supercarrier Phalanx in perfect view.

I cast a closer look around the ‘perfection’ of the place, trying to spot anything imperfect. It was difficult, and the only things I could come up with were the hundreds of plants scattered out and about. Flowers of all shapes and sizes brought life to the otherwise ‘perfect’ space, making it feel far more homely. Something itched at the back of mind as I stared at them, but I couldn’t place it as I shifted to a different floral arangment. Whoever decided on them should get a massive pay raise.

Using that ‘childhood wonder’ of new surroundings and curiosity about how everything looked, I hid my true intentions to check out the security systems of the place. The school had cameras on every hallway with security gates that could probably be dropped down at any moment. And I knew for a fact that this place had some seriously loaded-up guards considering how protected the entrance to the tower was. We wouldn’t have been able to get through if not for being new students and the principal himself awaiting our arrival. It would be difficult to do anything covert here…

I tuned back into whatever the sycophant principal was saying. ”… said, if you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me. It would be my esteemed honor to help you, my lady.”

Yep, disgusting. “I appreciate the offer, but I doubt I’ll need to considering how splendid this school is. My grandfather wouldn’t send me to anything less.”

The principal blushed. He seriously blushed from just that? Disgusting. “Oh thank you, Lady Meno. Your compliments will be a treasure in my heart.”

Please- just please let us arrive quicker so I didn’t have to deal with this shit anymore! Where was Feras when I needed him?!

Thankfully, angels come in many shapes and sizes. Torren spoke as we entered a side hall, his voice several octaves lower than normal and an unnatural deepness that would give me chills if I heard it in the dark. “Is this it?”

”Ah, so it is.” The man gave several cues showing his aggravation, the least of which was his glare at my ‘knight’. Most of those cues vanished as he smiled back at me. “Time just seems to fly in your radiant presence, Lady Meno. Go on ahead, Mr. Jarvis, your instructor, is already expecting you. Oh, and Sir Trovare too, of course.”

My ‘fair knight’ stepped in front of me and lightly rapped on the door. A moment later, he swung it open and held it for me.

I don’t know what I was expecting as I walked in, but it definitely wasn’t… this. The classroom itself was fine. It was well-cleaned and looked as if the janitors had spent a lot of effort getting everything just right. Just like the rest of the school, small plants hung and sat around, making the entire space feel far less hostile. A massive wall of windows sat on the far side opposite of the door.

Instead of the cliques spread out around the room like I thought would happen, most of the people looked almost exactly the same in the front two rows. The girls were all pretty, with a shit ton of makeup across their faces. Most of them had incredibly subtle signs of sculpting. The guys were handsome I guess, though it definitely looked as if most of them were on some kind of steroid which ruined the appeal. Overall, they held that corporate sameness that I would expect from children of middle-line executives. Not too outstanding, but wouldn’t blend in with the ‘low-class’.

It wasn’t till the back half of the class that the classroom became far more individualized. Students had different expressions, wore their clothes differently, and looked different. There were even additions of chrome and biomods scattered around. I would peg them closer to either fitting into the ‘high’ end of the corporate ladder where they didn’t care since their parents could take care of things or the ‘low’ end.

Surprisingly, Feras sat in the very back corner, looking incredibly drained. He winked slowly as I made eye contact with him, that same tired-of-life expression that he used to have plastered across his face. Still couldn’t tell if it was an act.

The teacher, Mr. Jarvis, bowed his head slightly as we came in. The light board in the middle of the class clicked off as he straightened out and put down a marker of some kind.

He was about the same age as the principal I think, but he looked far more refined and gentlemanly. His beard and black hair had streaks of white in it and his face seemed to hold a charm as he smiled. “Ah, welcome, Lady Meno, Sir Trovare. Please, come on in.”

Okay… you got this, Shiro! First impressions were important, so don’t fuck this one up. I put a broad and innocent smile on as I used every trick in the book to shore up my posture and expression into a regal, yet still young and adorable look. “Thank you!”

In the back, I could see Feras flinch as I completely ignored what he recommended I do. He ran a hand against his face and shook his head. Weirdly, he wasn’t the only one that flinched back. Maybe I took them off guard? Were they expecting a cold and ruthless granddaughter of an Archduke?

”Class,” Mr. Jarvis motioned to me and Torren, “These are the exchange students I was talking about. Lady Meno and Sir Trovare of the Maeni Duchy from Pyrus. Please, come introduce and say a little bit about yourselves.”

”Go ahead.” I ducked slightly behind Torren, hiding partly behind the big guy.

Torren chuckled as if it were normal and gave a polite bow to the class as he spoke in his deep voice. “Hello, I am Trovare Lukheart. I’m an expert fencer, and enjoy long walks on the beach…” He paused to wink at the class. “My Lady and I are here to further our studies.”

He stepped aside, leaving me just standing there. I flinched back slightly and thought of that moment I tripped getting out of Mira's bed and slammed my face into the wall. Instantly I could feel heat rise to my cheeks. Perfect. “H-Hi. I’m Lady Meno Maeni- b-but please just call me Meno…”

Unlike when Torren introduced himself, the class spoke up as I did. All of their voices came out together, slowly drawing out the syllables of ‘my’ name. “Hi Meno…” What is this, some kind of fucked up AA meeting? They were all in sync too…

“U-Uh, I like reading? Oh, and mechanics are cool… umm…" I bowed slightly. "P-please take care of me.” That was a thing that people said, right? Gah, most of my school experience outside of the first couple years comes from shitty webnovels…

I peeked up through my hair, which I had braided back into almost a crown of locks. It took far too much effort, and it had come loose so my vision was half-blocked by it. Still, I took in the reactions. Most of the people in the room looked a little stunned for some reason. The best reaction I got was from Feras who subtly gave me a thumbs up underneath his desk.

Mr. Jarvis coughed lightly. ”Right. Take a seat anywhere, Lad- Meno and Trovare. We were just getting into advanced trigonometry.” What the hell? Everyone here was like fifteen to sixteen and they were already in advanced trig? What kind of hell hole did Feras drag me into?!