episode_0130

There were five corpses instantly killed by precise vital point penetrations, and one gruesome corpse whose head had exploded after being struck from behind with a tool called a crowbar.

Lastly, one individual was still clinging to life, having been struck just slightly off a vital point.

The Fifty-Star attack, which involved eight Black Market guards and, though it’s unclear if they were innocent, two mercenaries and two gang members being killed, was brought to an end by Yuki in just 30 seconds.

“Hmph~ How’s my skill? Are you impressed?”

Yuki approached, wagging her tail as if asking for praise, stepping over the corpses. I stroked Yuki as she embraced me tightly, caressing her soft, fluffy ears.

Though the cyberware of the individual who clearly died but returned alive, which was integrated with an unknown technology said to be used by a Wizard, did focus its suppression on me, their innate skill was also not to be underestimated.

Yuki’s ability to subdue Fifty-Star, which had caused over twenty casualties in a short time, practically single-handedly, was truly impressive.

Especially the effect of that contact-type virus implant connector, disguised as skin, I wonder if even I would have sustained significant damage if I had faced Yuki in that situation.

Though the firepower seemed a bit low.

“Excellent. Your movements have improved significantly, and I didn’t know you could use cyberware.”

“Hahahaha..! A woman’s weapons must be carefully hidden so they aren’t discovered.”

Yuki hid her gold chrome-exposed hand behind her, as if she didn’t want to show the cyberware revealed by her torn skin.

“You have no idea how much Luna and Hijikata beat me to master this style! Even during training, they don’t go easy at all, do they? It’s too much!”

“Luna’s sparring is indeed a bit rough… Thanks to it, skills improve quickly, but I got hit a lot too. There were times I was hit without rest, just because I healed quickly, you know?”

As I hugged Yuki, who had begun to complain to me about the unfairness and pain of the hellish training, sharing a bit of empathy, a Black Market individual approached from behind.

He was wearing a crew uniform, so for a moment I mistook him for someone from the railway company, but they wouldn’t be here, so he must be a Black Market station manager.

“Thank you for your cooperation in suppressing the terror. Ayakashi Jun-nim. Shirokitsune Yuki-nim.”

Despite several people being dead and injured, and the smell of blood filling the air, he didn’t seem to care much, saluting me with an indifferent expression.

“Black Market will handle the cleanup of the situation, and we plan to provide compensation for damages sequentially after further discussion, so we would appreciate it if you would evacuate quickly.”

Should I call it a manual, or mechanical? My eyebrow twitched at the man who was telling us to go home now that the situation was over.

“Further discussion, huh? Who knows if you’ll just shut your mouths and run off?”

Even corporations, after thorough investigations, go to great lengths to find disqualifying reasons not to compensate; it’s unbelievable that a mere underground organization would offer damage compensation.

“The Black Market’s credibility is at stake regarding compensation for damaged customers, so you don’t need to worry.”

I stroked my chin. Yuki, who knows the Black Market well, wasn’t saying anything either, so it seemed like a plausible claim.

The arriving guards descended onto the battle-damaged tracks. They began clearing the bodies, connecting an unidentified device to the destroyed chip slot of a dying, trembling Fifty-Star member. Cyberware was stripped from the corpse of the red-haired madwoman named Scarlet, and the mercenaries and gang members were sent outside.

Yuki and I, having contributed greatly to ending the situation, weren’t chased out like that, but the manager’s face clearly showed an expression that said ‘please leave quickly’.

[‘But Jun, isn’t it a bit strange?’]

Just then, Yuki’s message appeared on the communication channel.

[‘What do you mean?’]

[‘Even if Jun was at the station, they could have escaped if they wanted to. But they didn’t move an inch, which makes me wonder if they were blocking the tunnel?’]

[‘Isn’t it because she’s a crazy bitch who was desperate to fight me?’]

At the very least, that crazy bitch, who was grinning happily even up to the moment of her death, probably wasn’t thinking normally.

[‘Even so, when I went deep into the tunnel, she tried to eliminate me first. Even if her subordinates were taken away, the real threat would have been from behind.’]

Certainly, Yuki and the Fifty-Star members suffering from cognitive disruption would have been annoying, but the Black Market and customer alliance, firing nearly a hundred bullets in a concentrated burst every second, would have been a greater threat.

And I was there too, finishing things off.

Normally, if they had retreated, eliminating their subordinates one by one while taking cover, the situation would have been more troublesome.

But someone who had reached that level of skill threw their own life away just to kill Yuki.

It’s definitely strange.

“Sir?”

“Hmm… I have a bit of a bad history with Fifty-Star. I want to investigate the train they supposedly robbed. Never mind the compensation; I’m going into the tunnel.”

“Sir. All Fifty-Star members who attacked the Black Market have been killed, and the situation is over. And you can’t just…”

The Black Market station manager’s words sped up, as if a little flustered.

As if he was hiding something.

As I chuckled slightly at his demeanor, a metallic clang─ clang─ resounded, like metal being struck hard, echoing along the tunnel walls.

“Then what’s that sound?”

“…That’s our Black Market staff repairing the destroyed tracks…”

“Haha! You’re impossible! It’s already something that I’m not asking for the arm that Wizard was supposedly wearing!”

Thwack!

A clean impact, powerfully delivered through my fist.

The manager couldn’t even react to the fist that instantly flew at his face and was sent flying.

Clatter!

His body tumbled across the tracks, then went limp.

…

…

The Black Market guards, who were cleaning up the scene, watched the manager, who had fallen like a drunk passed out in a trash can after chugging a bottle of liquor, maintaining a chilling silence.

“What now?”

“Alright! Shall we run in then?”

“You might end up on the blacklist~”

As the old saying goes, isn’t forgiveness easier than permission?

Certainly, following that truth, the Black Market’s ‘forgiveness loophole’ will be quite loose.

Yuki and I turned our backs on the commotion behind us and ran into the tunnel.

* * *

After running for a while, the source of the clear clang-clang sound of metal being struck seemed to draw closer, its volume steadily increasing, and the pungent smell of gunpowder stung my nose.

About three minutes, perhaps.

In the center of the utterly dark tunnel, the tracks were completely severed as if a bomb had exploded, and an overturned, damaged vehicle completely blocked the other side.

“They really made a mess.”

“Against a moving subway train, wouldn’t it be hard to make a small mess?”

“That’s true.”

The smell of blood, mingling with the pungent odor, indicated that some had indeed died.

As I carefully climbed onto the overturned vehicle, I saw two crushed bodies that appeared to have died in the initial explosion, and one guard who had bled to death from a gunshot wound while resisting.

Behind them, Black Market vendors and passengers who had been trying to move through the station were visible, bound, gagged, blindfolded, and kneeling.

“The situation is ‘over,’ alright… What a load of crap.”

Contrary to what the manager had said, I gently tapped the white jumper of a Fifty-Star member who was actively running a hostage management tycoon game.

“Gah… H-huh, th-thank you. Are you mercenaries sent by Roman?”

“Uh… well, maybe?”

After cleanly sending the five individuals who were guarding the hostages using optical camouflage to dreamland, Yuki snipped the wires with her fingernails. The hostages, who had apparently been severely threatened, started bawling, snot and tears streaming down their faces.

“These bastards surprisingly didn’t steal much in terms of weapons.”

Entering the derailed vehicle, it seemed they had tried to make it look like a robbery: only things like cyberware put out by a Wizard or limited edition plasma katanas were missing, while the rest were haphazardly strewn across the floor.

While stealing only valuables and fleeing is the aesthetic of robbery, considering these guys took hostages and showed no signs of escaping, and blocked off the tunnel, this was probably no ordinary robbery.

Yuki and I received voluntary donations of guns and ammunition from them.

Their eyes looked as if they were watching pure highwaymen, but surely it was just my imagination, as no one with a conscience would think such a thing.

“Are we going to the other side like this?”

“Yes. They said they also gathered over there, so they’re probably either creating an escape route or doing something else. Besides, this sound is very close now.”

The sound echoes, so it’s not precise, but perhaps around 100 meters.

The sound of a sledgehammer striking is now so loud it hurts my ears.

“Let’s go find out what these madmen, who want to make America great again, are trying to do with this whole mess.”

“It was a bit reckless, but if we subdue them completely, we can put the Black Market in our debt, right? And if it goes well, we might even be able to make contact with the higher-ups.”

“What about us…?”

“It’ll only make things difficult if non-combatants get involved, so wait here~ Guards are coming from behind.”

“Okay…”

To crush Fifty-Star, and to avoid getting on the Black Market’s blacklist.

Yuki and I began to advance, more cautiously than before.

Continuing to advance, hiding our presence amidst the sound of the hammering, for another two minutes.

Stop- I halted my steps as a figure entered my sight. Thump! Yuki bumped into me from behind.

“Ow!”

“Shh.”

As I put a finger to my lips, Yuki also closed her mouth tightly and focused her gaze forward over my shoulder.

“It’s taking too long. They’ve reinforced this security door more thoroughly than I thought!”

“I told you from the beginning. It’ll barely open even if we blow it up with a bomb!”

“Can’t be helped. Looking at how the gunfire has stopped on both sides, they’ll be rushing in soon. We’ll use a bomb.”

There, individuals in blue bodysuits were huddled together in the emergency exit tunnel in the middle of the tunnel, having given up on hammering and now installing a bomb.