episode_0020

“Excuse me~~”

(Squeak)

(Bang!)

Asa heard gunshots as he opened the door. The shaking of the door made it clear that it had been hit by a bullet. At the same time, he realized that the door was bulletproof, as the bullets couldn’t penetrate it.

“Hmm.”

“Don’t come! Don’t come!!”

(Bang! Bang!)

“…It’s a revolver.”

If the floor tiles were marble and it was an automatic pistol or a rifle, the sound of the cartridge hitting the marble would be heard. However, since there was no sound, the weapon was a revolver.

(Bang! Bang!)

Someone inside kept shooting at the bulletproof door.

“What should we do? Do it ourselves?”

“Pardon?”

“Revenge, do it yourself?”

“…Yes.”

“Good.”

(Bang! Click!)

After all the bullets were fired and the revolver had no more bullets, the sound of it hitting alone echoed.

(Thud!)

As the bullets fell, Asa opened the door and entered the room.

(Whoosh!!)

At that moment, someone swung a knife toward Asa’s neck.

(Clang!)

Asa narrowly blocked the knife with his cane.

“Not bad.”

The man who had swung the knife at Asa distanced himself from him.

“Hey, boss! I think we need to double the payment.”

“Sure! I’ll give it! Hurry and kill him!!”

The old man holding the revolver with dropped bullets on the table shouted at the man.

“This situation is getting a little complicated.”

(Swish)

“Mad Hatter? Right?”

The man who aimed the sword at me pointed it towards me and spoke.

“Yes, I’m Mad Hatter. And you?”

“I’m not particularly named.”

“Your skills seem pretty good though.”

“Haha, thanks for the compliment.”

(Swing!!)

The man who was laughing rushed straight towards Asa.

(Clang! Clang!!)

“It seems this isn’t an ordinary cane.”

“Doesn’t an ordinary one suit a villain?”

(Boom!)

Asa grabbed the cane with both hands and swung it at the man.

(Thud!)

The man quickly distanced himself again.

“If I knew this would happen, I would’ve brought my usual cane.”

(Swish!)

Asa grabbed the handle of the cane and pulled out a sword.

“Sword stick?”

The man said, looking at Asa’s cane, or rather, sword stick.

(Click)

Asa opened the pocket watch.

“…”

(Tick, tock, tick, tock…)

“?”

As the man looked at Asa, who was holding the sword and watching himself quietly, he became puzzled.

“…”

It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming.

(Swish)

It’s here.

“!”

(Swing, swing, swing!)

This time, Arthur ran towards the man with a sword in hand.

(Swish! Clang!! Swish!)

And skillfully swung the sword repeatedly. Of course, the man adeptly blocked the attacks with his own sword.

“…Who are you?”

The man who deflected Arthur’s sharp attacks asked him with a puzzled expression.

“A villain. What about it?”

Self-hypnosis

Self-hypnosis is a simple principle of hypnotizing oneself, but the process is not simple at all.

I have just made myself an elite swordsman through self-hypnosis. Of course, it’s not achievable through hypnosis alone.

First, to amplify a specific ability through hypnosis, one must have detailed knowledge of that ability and a basic physical foundation. In other words, the swordsmanship I am using in this fight has been developed over several months through visualization and training to establish basic knowledge and instincts.

Through hypnosis, fear and hesitation vanish, posture becomes more refined, and existing skills are enhanced. It’s about fully implementing the martial arts input into my mind based on my body.

This combination can at least prevent me from dying in close combat unless facing an A-class villain or hero.

(Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!)

Arthur and the man clashed their swords. They fiercely exchanged blows, narrowly avoiding each other’s strikes.

(Click, swish, click)

Meanwhile, an old man was loading bullets into a revolver.

“Drop it!”

Pointing the gun at the old man, Glinda said,

“…Glinda.”

Looking at Glinda, the old man spoke her name.

“Oh, do you know what happened to those two?”

Pointing at Glinda, who was aiming the gun at the old man, Arthur asked the man,

“Why should I know?”

“Haha, the old man killed and kidnapped that kid’s entire family.”

“…That’s a bit much.”

“Is it? So please understand why I have to do this a little.”

(Swish)

Arthur threw the sword towards the man and reached out his right hand.

?

(Clink!)

Then a small pistol sprang from the sleeve of his right arm.

!!

(Bang! Bang!)

Bullets were fired successively from the upper and lower barrels.

(Ting!!)

The man deftly parried the bullets flying towards him with his sword.

“Kuk!”

However, one bullet grazed me while another hit my shoulder.

“Was that really supposed to work?”

(click)

Arthur put the gun back into his sleeve and said, “Ugh! What should I do now?”

Holding his bleeding shoulder, the man asked Arthur, “Um…”

(whoosh)

After pondering for a moment, Arthur took off his hat.

“The hat of a hat seller has its own special trick,” he said, pretending to search for something inside the hat.

(ta-da)

Then, he pulled out a pistol from it and said, “Damn.”

You may have heard that in a fight between a gun and a knife, the gun easily wins. But at close range, the knife wins. However, there’s one condition here: the person with the gun is not aiming it. For example, if someone with a pistol holsters it and someone nearby rushes with a knife, they could get injured or killed.

But what if the person already has the gun aimed?

(bang! bang!)

In that case, the person with the gun always wins, no matter the distance or the opponent’s weapon.

“…?”

Even after hearing gunshots, the man felt that he was still alive.

“Well, I’ll give you a choice. Either drop the knife and leave, or take a real bullet,” Arthur said.

(swish!)

The man quickly dropped the knife.

“You’re very clever,” Arthur remarked.

“My strong point is that I’m very tenacious about life,” the man replied, raising his hands and walking towards the door.

“Oh, by the way, just out of curiosity, I don’t really know what’s going on right now. Am I just doing this as a favor?”

As the man walked towards the door, Glinda, who was pointing a gun at the old man, looked at him and said, “Hey!”

As the man tried to leave the room, the old man shouted, “Triple! I’ll pay triple!”

“Glinda, just accept it. It’s time to die,” Arthur said.

“Hey!”

(thud!)

“…”

“Now, shall we have a little chat?” Arthur said, wearing his hat.

“Why did you kidnap Glinda?” he asked.

“…”

The old man glared at Arthur and remained silent.

“Hey, Glinda, your mentor here seems unwilling to talk,” Arthur said.

“…”

(ta-da)

“Speak,” Glinda said, approaching the old man and pointing the gun at him.

“…I’m just doing as I was told,” he replied.

“Then tell me, by whom?”

“…If I speak, I’ll die.”

“I’m going to die anyway. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to die comfortably?”

“…Don’t say it.”

(Swish)

The old man carefully placed the cylinder of the revolver he held in his hand as he spoke.

“A magician proposed, saying that if I bring a child named Glinnda, he will give me life.”

“How did you know he was a magician?”

“…”

“In a world with many people possessing magical abilities, how did you know he was a magician?”

“…”

“Do you know who that magician is?”

At Arthur’s words, the old man’s eyes trembled.

“This!”

(Click!)

The old man, having loaded a bullet after placing the cylinder, aimed the revolver at Arthur sitting in front of him.

“…”

“Kuh!”

As the old man, who was about to pull the trigger towards Arthur, who was looking at him indifferently, his body did not move.

“What!”

(Swish)

Then the hand holding the revolver began to move slowly.

“!!”

(Click)

The hand moved, and the revolver was suddenly aimed at the old man himself.

“Well, this won’t be necessary, sir?”

(Swish)

Arthur lowered the man’s hand and took out a pocket watch, saying,

“Would you look into my eyes?”

(Tick, tock, tick, tock)

“…”

“Who are you?”

“That person-”

Under hypnosis, the old man tried to speak his name but his mouth only moved, and no words came out.

“Cough!”

Suddenly, blood spurted from his mouth.

“Cough! Cough!!”

“…”

“Cough!! H-help!……”

(Thud)

The old man collapsed after spewing blood from his mouth.

“…”

Glinnda looked at the fallen old man.

“Is he a magician?”

It seems like he put some kind of mark that makes you die if you reveal your identity.

He doesn’t seem to be just any magician.

“This is ridiculous.”

(Swish)

Arthur stood up and looked at Glinnda.

“Did you seek revenge?”

“…”

Glinnda continued to look at the fallen old man.

“It’s better not to seek revenge that can’t be undone.”

Covering Glinnda’s eyes, Arthur said,

“…It’s okay.”

Glinnda pushed away Arthur’s hand and said,

“Because it’s not over yet.”

“…That’s a good attitude.”

Arthur walked towards the fallen old man.

(Swish)

He took off his hat and placed it on the head of the old man lying face down.

“Is this enough for the cost of a life?”

And he said to the fallen old man, or rather, the corpse.

“Ah, blood.”

Arthur, who had given the hat as a gift, walked towards Grenda and noticed blood on his monocle.

“This needs to be wiped off quickly.”

Arthur took off his monocle and wiped it with a handkerchief.

(Twitch)

“Hmm?”

Grenda twitched as Arthur took off his monocle.

“Why?”

“…Monocle.”

“Hmm? Oh, is this the first time you’ve seen my face?”

In a state of cognitive impairment, Grenda saw Arthur’s face properly.

(Swish)

Taking off and putting back on his monocle, Arthur took out a small disc from his pocket.

(Pop!)

When he shook the disc slightly, a cylinder popped up from the center and transformed into a hat (a silk hat).

“You can’t be without a hat if you’re going to live long.”

And while wearing that hat, he smiled and said.

(…Thud, thud, thud)

Arthur, dressed in Mad Hatter attire, only removed his monocle and hat, grinding coffee beans.

(Swish, swish, swish)

Then he brewed coffee with the ground coffee beans.

“Oh, it’s not good for a kid to have coffee.”

Arthur, bringing two cups of coffee, stopped when he saw Grenda sitting there.

“…Are you going to keep doing this?”

As she called him a kid again, Grenda glared at Arthur.

“Hehehe.”

Arthur laughed and handed her the coffee.

“…My mother was a witch.”

While drinking her coffee, Grenda said to Arthur.

“She said we were from a distinguished witch family even before the great disaster.”

“Did she use magic?”

“She was very good at it. My father was a witch too.”

It is said that witches are not only women. There are also male witches, but it doesn’t sound right.

“Witches try not to have children as much as possible. Do you know why?”

I do. I know about Grenda’s background from Hector’s information. But I didn’t say anything.

“When a witch has a child, all their magic and power transfer to the child. That’s why my parents gave up that power to have me. And then they passed away.”

“…Kid, I have a proposal for you.”

Listening to Grenda’s story while sitting and drinking coffee, Arthur said to Grenda.

“I’ll help you with your revenge, all the way.”

“…What’s the condition?”

“Just helping each other.”

(Swish)

Arthur sat down next to Grenda.

“If I help you with your revenge, you’ll help me too, right?”

“……”

(Snap)

A card appeared in Arthur’s hand and he extended it to Glinda.

“Okay.”

(Thud)

Taking the card, Glinda spoke.

[Mad Hatter]

The card had a name written in white on a black background, with a silk hat drawn above it.

“Welcome to the tea party.”

In this way, Arthur recruited a talent for his team. He only knew that she was an exceptional successor of a powerful witch lineage based on the information he received from Hector.

She was originally destined to become an S-class villain.

Glinda the Bad Witch

Unbeknownst to Arthur, her fate was beginning to change.