Ch.80Ch.6 – Tinker. Tailor. Soldier. Lady. (6)

The lady looked back and forth between me, Abashina, and Aurora. Aurora shouted.

“Drop the knife and get on your knees! Hands above your head!”

The lady threw her knife to the floor. She obediently knelt down. But instead of raising her hands above her head, she placed them on the floor.

Aurora shouted again, but the lady stared at us with emotionless eyes.

A grating sound—kigigik—filled the air. Like the distinctive noise of a clock being forcibly wound…

The lady leaped up.

Aurora fired her gun but missed. The lady stretched both hands forward. Both women dropped to the ground simultaneously. A silver flash glinted in the space where they had been standing just moments before.

“It’s wire!”

Abashina and I fired our guns, but the lady swung her hands in various directions. The knives scattered on the floor jumped up and danced, deflecting our bullets with metallic “clang” and “king” sounds.

“There are metal wires attached to the knife tips!”

With a slithering sound of retracting wire, the knife returned to the lady’s hand. Aurora muttered while reloading her gun.

“What kind of monster is she?”

The lady glared at us, knives hanging from both hands. For the first time, her mouth slowly opened.

“Who are you people?”

Her voice was clear like a brass instrument—beautiful, but precisely cut like a knife. I answered that I was an insurance investigator. But she didn’t seem to understand at all.

“That cross-dressing woman’s mustache is glued on and already coming loose. Her shooting stance is stable but stiff—military background, likely from a non-combat division. Supply corps, or perhaps medical? The lady next to her has good eyes, but her movements are sloppy. She must have something else she relies on. And you. An insurance investigator?”

A crackling sound pierced my ears. The lady slightly bent her legs and kicked off the floor.

“What kind of insurance investigator travels with companions like these?”

We all fired our guns at once. The lady dodged by lowering her body, jumping up, and kicking off the walls alternately. Each time she leaped, the walls shook violently.

The lady swung both hands. The air split with a tearing sound.

Thud.

“Ugh.”

Aurora blocked my front. She clutched her stomach and fell to her knees. One of the lady’s knives was embedded in her abdomen. The wire attached to the knife tip trembled briefly before returning to the lady.

“Bang!”

Abashina extended her right index finger. The lady’s body swayed heavily.

A normal human would have fallen under Abashina’s suggestion. But the lady didn’t. Though her head was clearly lowered, her body moved as if it were a separate entity.

With a tapping sound, the retreating lady grabbed a wooden door to the side room. Then she ripped it off completely. With a splintering crack, wood fragments flew as the hinges tore away.

The lady raised the torn door above her head and threw it toward us. The large door panel grazed our heads and crashed into the opposite wall. The lady glared at us once more, then ran toward the corridor wall behind her.

And she rammed straight into the wall.

The brick wall exploded outward.

The lady hurled herself out of the building.

I ran to the end of the corridor and looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen.

In the distance, police sirens wailed.

“Ow.”

Aurora rose from her position, holding Abashina’s hand.

“Is your stomach okay?”

Abashina lifted Aurora’s top. Aurora yelped “Ouch!” but Abashina smiled.

“Thank goodness. The bulletproof vest stopped it. How many metal plates did you line it with?”

“My stomach feels like it’s being cut in half. Let’s get out of here.”

Abashina and I supported Aurora. We needed to leave before the police arrived. I took the keys from Aurora and started the car.

Just as we turned the corner, several patrol cars rushed past us. After driving slowly and waiting until the last police car disappeared from view, I pressed the accelerator.

We parked the car at an abandoned farm warehouse. While I kept watch outside, Abashina examined Aurora’s wound. Aurora’s clothes were torn and needed changing. After waiting for her to change into new clothes and making sure there were no pursuers on the road, we got back in the car.

“Beast, I’m exhausted. I’m hungry too. What was that woman anyway? I’m sure my ‘bang’ worked properly. But did you see it? Her body moving independently? That’s impossible. And what was that movement of hers?”

“That’s not all. How did she know I was ex-military? Sure, we had shooting training and fired guns, but to immediately recognize my military background just from my shooting stance? What kind of woman is she? She also immediately knew your assistant wasn’t an insurance investigator. And, damn it, assistant!”

Aurora, who was about to shout, clutched her stomach with a groan. Her lower jaw trembled as she growled.

“Both Abashina and I… warned you it was dangerous… You should have hidden somewhere safe instead of standing there like a target. You’ll get killed that way!”

I thanked Aurora for blocking the knife for me, but she pretended not to hear. Eventually, Abashina comforted Aurora.

“I swear I won’t live long,” Aurora muttered weakly.

“Beast, I don’t think we can do much more today. All three of us are exhausted, we have a lot to think about and discuss, and the police will be at the brick house by now. Why don’t we retreat for today and reconsider tomorrow?”

We agreed with Abashina’s suggestion. We considered staying at the abandoned farm, but decided a hotel in the city would be better.

* * * * *

May 25, 1929. 5:56 PM

Donald Burgess Hotel Lobby

Kingsport

I was about to ask the desk clerk for three rooms, but both women strongly objected. The reason was me.

They said if we each had separate rooms, I could be assassinated in my sleep and no one would know. When I suggested we should share one room, they countered that there would be no contingency if we were all massacred together. For once, the two women who usually bickered were in complete agreement.

“That white-haired woman. She’s definitely not human. Normal humans can’t ‘break through’ a brick wall with their shoulder. Damn, who knows. Next time I see her, I should prepare dynamite.”

“Exactly. And she was clearly saying ‘I am a villain’ with her whole body. If I were that villain, I’d sneak in at night. Then pounce and devour you. So, Beast.”

Abashina cleared her throat with an “ahem.”

“Who are you going to sleep with tonight? In my opinion, obviously…”

Aurora’s face crumpled.

“Ha. Please sleep together, you two. I’m sick of this. Really.”

“With ‘Leo,’ of course!”

She spoke a bit too loudly, causing people around us to stare. Abashina, her face reddening, lowered her voice.

“Oops. I almost said Aurora. Since Aurora is injured, please take care of her tonight. You can do that much, right?”

“No. Um…”

Aurora’s face turned bright red. Her glued-on mustache wobbled. Abashina touched her own philtrum slightly, prompting Aurora to regain her composure and adjust her mustache.

“I don’t want to. I’m not in the mood. If this idiot hadn’t been standing there like a target, I wouldn’t have had to take that knife. Then we wouldn’t have lost that crazy woman.”

“Oh, really?”

Abashina gently pulled my arm.

“Then you won’t mind if he sleeps next to me until we get back?”

Aurora’s mouth opened slightly. I thanked Aurora again for what happened today and said that since she was injured because of me, it would be right for me to take care of her tonight.

“Well. If you insist on suffering alone with your pain, I won’t stop you. But you won’t sleep well tonight. It’s going to be quite noisy.”

“…fine.”

“Hm? What?”

“Let’s do… as you said… I get it…”

Abashina clapped her hands lightly.

“So it’s all settled? Let’s get our rooms and go eat! I’m starving. I feel like I’m going to collapse. By the way, what’s good to eat in Kingsport? Please don’t say fish and chips! I’ve had enough of that.”

Neither of them was interested in hearing my opinion.

9:40 PM

After making reservations and having dinner, we gathered in my and Aurora’s room. It was a fairly spacious room with two single beds. The hotel wasn’t tall enough to overlook the entire Kingsport night scene, but being on the 6th floor—the top floor—we could see the nearby area. Abashina’s room was right next door.

“This is good. We can keep watch. And the balcony is quite spacious too. I like it. So, what do we do now?”

The situation wasn’t great. Our goal was to investigate why Max Ashton died and what connection he had to the clockwork bombs. We visited Ashton’s apartment, the gambling den he frequented, and even the far-right group he was associated with, but couldn’t find any convincing clues. It felt like doing a puzzle with one or two pieces missing, preventing us from completing the picture.

But what if the puzzle pieces were there, and someone took them?

I shared my thoughts with the two. The residents of Ashton’s apartment had seen that “lady,” and she also appeared at the brick house whose address we got from the gambling den. The lady was precisely one step ahead of us. But if she were from the side that killed Ashton, she wouldn’t need to do all this cumbersome work. She would have buried and concealed everything long ago.

“So, Beast, you mean the lady is also conducting her own investigation?”

“If she’s investigating, she should just investigate quietly. Why throw knives and door panels at people?”

The answer came quickly.

Because this city isn’t safe for her either. When the police sirens wailed, she fled. That means she’s not working with the police.

“Come to think of it. Something was strange. The people who collapsed from knife wounds on the second floor. But there was no blood on her knives at all.”

“She could have wiped them. You saw how those knives flew around.”

“If that were the case, there would be blood splattered in the corridor. Or she would have wiped the knives with a separate cloth. But we didn’t see anything like that.”

Abashina’s silver-gray eyes sparkled. She can’t properly distinguish colors. Only blood and non-human “beasts” appear in full color to her. There’s no way Abashina would miss bloodstains scattered in the corridor. Aurora slapped her thigh with her palm.

“Then the conclusion is this. We need to get ahead of her. Set a trap and wait. Or grab the crucial evidence she needs and wave it in her face. Though I don’t really want to talk to someone who throws door panels at people’s faces.”

“How can we get ahead of her?”

If that lady and we are chasing the same thing, we’ll eventually meet the person or force that drove Ashton to his fate. But where?

We discussed various possibilities. The Kingsport Police Station would be the most certain, but we have no connections here. So they probably wouldn’t tell us anything.

Abashina suggested visiting the Kingsport church, as churches gather various news.

“I’d like to go back to that gambling den once more,” Aurora proposed.

“Kingsport doesn’t have many entertainment facilities. Most people go to Arkham or Pollard. And the biggest entertainment facility here is the ‘Queen’s Tent’ gambling den. And I know very well how to behave in a gambling den.”

“Then we’ll visit the church, police station, and gambling den in that order.”

Abashina nodded.

“It would be good if we encounter the white-haired lady again.”

“I’ll put a bullet hole in that bitch’s stomach,” Aurora growled. Abashina yawned languidly.

“Ahem. We worked hard today. So I’ll be going now. Hmm. Don’t strain yourselves too much, okay?”

“What are you saying? You never stop with the comments.”

But Abashina had already left. An awkward silence fell between me and Aurora in the room. Aurora cleared her throat with a “Khm. Khm.”

“I take a long time to wash up, so you go first.”