Chapter 131: Monster Showdown (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 131: Monster Showdown (5)
“Who’s there?”
“………”
“Why aren’t you answering me?”
Jill the Ripper, who had been about to move out with Adler in her arms, narrowed her eyes at the figure blocking her path.
“Judging by that eccentric outfit, you’re certainly no Royal Knight…”
“… Ah.”
The interloper smirked, finally deigning to speak.
“Turns out it’s none other than the Princess of the British Empire herself~”
“….. Hmm?”
“Well now, it seems I’ve gone and blocked the path of a very esteemed personage without even realizing it…”
As she intentionally raised her voice, murmurs began to ripple from the shadows behind them.
“Did you just… do that on purpose?” Jill the Ripper asked, her expression clouding with annoyance.
The girl merely smirked, fiddling with her monocle for a moment before responding in a lighthearted tone.
“The item you’re holding actually belongs to me.”
“What an amusing thing to say.”
Jill the Ripper’s eyes sparkled with a sudden, unbridled interest.
“… I am not an item,” Adler’s dissatisfied voice drifted from the background, though he was utterly ignored as the two women continued their standoff.
“Why is this ‘item’ yours?”
“We have a bit of a history, you see. And I’ve always preferred treasures with a story over mere expensive trinkets.”
“I have my own history with him as well.”
“Oh? No matter how I look at it, I don’t think he’s a treasure that should be squandered on the whims of an impulsive, immature princess.”
Hearing the mockery in her voice, Jill the Ripper glared at her obstructer with a gaze so fierce it would have sent most people running in terror.
“You… you certainly have a way with words.”
“Ah, that’s the second most common thing people say to me right before I relieve them of their treasures.”
“And the first?”
Unfazed, the girl flashed a playful grin and whispered, “… Is that Phantom Thief Lupin?”
“Ha, I should have known.”
Realizing the identity of her opponent, Jill the Ripper let out a cold laugh before glancing down at Adler, still pinned in her arms.
“So, you even seduced the notorious thief in advance, did you?”
“No, really, I didn’t do anything.”
“… Truly?”
“Uh, well…” Adler looked genuinely aggrieved. However, under Jill the Ripper’s icy scrutiny, he paused to actually think about it. “I just… wrapped the jewel she was trying to steal in a note with a cute little doodle and gave it to her as a gift. That’s all.”
“What?”
“Ah, and I did steal her first kiss… but that was more like I was the one being taken advantage of…?”
Adler’s cheerful explanation faltered as he trailed off, seemingly realizing how odd his own words sounded.
“Why did you leave out the part where you beat me so badly I still have bruises?” Lupin cut in with a frigid smile. She slightly lifted her gentleman’s waistcoat to reveal the faint purple marks still marring her stomach.
“… I thought you said you did nothing?”
“….. Teehee~”
“So, you gave her a jewel, stole her first kiss, and beat her until she was covered in lasting bruises… and you think that’s ‘nothing’?” Jill the Ripper murmured coldly. She looked back at Lupin with a puzzled expression. “Then why did this bitch come to save you?”
“Uh…”
“Don’t people usually hate getting beaten up?”
To her confused mutterings, Adler whispered in a low voice, “Actually, she didn’t come to save me. She came to kidnap me.”
“Ah.” Jill the Ripper nodded, finally finding a logic she could follow. “But I still don’t quite get it.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“… Do French people call someone who beats them up a treasure?”
As she spiraled back into doubt, Adler kindly provided the answer.
“Ah, that’s because she’s a masochist.”
“Masochist? What’s that?”
“… How do you feel when you stab me with your knife?”
Jill the Ripper tilted her head thoughtfully. “A thrill courses through my entire body. It makes it hard to breathe from the excitement. I’m immediately filled with the urge to stab you several more times.”
“A masochist feels the same way when they’re the one being hit.”
“What? No way.” Jill the Ripper shuddered as if she’d just heard the most disgusting thing in the world. “How can anyone feel that way while being beaten? Is she insane?”
“… That’s rich, coming from you.”
“Hey, that’s a bit rude, don’t you think?”
While Adler countered timidly, Lupin stepped forward, her nonchalant expression returning.
“I never said out loud that I felt sexually aroused while being beaten like a dog by a man, and yet you slander m—”
She stopped abruptly, her expression turning blank.
“… What is that?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“What are you doing to him with that?”
It was only then that she noticed the blood dripping from Adler’s chest—and the brutal way Jill the Ripper was repeatedly twisting the knife she had plunged into him moments ago.
“Oh, this? I’m in the middle of killing Isaac Adler.”
“……..”
“Oddly enough, it’s quite fun. No matter how many times I kill him, he just won’t die, you know?” Jill the Ripper explained the situation in a casual, conversational tone.
“… But can you really do this here? Won’t people see?” Lupin’s eyes darkened ominously.
“The shadows obscure everything. Most people can’t see what’s happening in here…”
“I was wondering why a princess would show up in a dangerous place like this…” Lupin’s gaze turned deadly serious, all playfulness vanishing. “… It seems you weren’t just relying on your royal authority, were you?”
“Fufu~”
A chilling silence descended between them.
“But regardless of who you really are, isn’t it dangerous to reveal yourself like this?”
“Yes, it is. I’d hate to discard an identity I’ve protected for decades.” Jill the Ripper began to exude an unparalleled murderous aura. “I don’t like killing girls, but…”
“Do you like magic tricks?”
- Swish!
As Jill drew the knife from Adler’s chest, the blood-soaked blade glistening in the moonlight, decks of cards began to manifest out of thin air in Lupin’s hands.
“… Excuse me.”
In the middle of this tense standoff, the profusely sweating Adler managed to squeeze out a word to the two menacing women.
“Could you untie me first, ple—”
Before he could finish, a violent explosion of sound echoed across the paved path.
.
.
.
.
.
“Ugh…”
Several minutes after the battle between Jill the Ripper and Lupin began.
“… I wonder how it’s going.”
Hidden among the bushes in a remote area—far from the walkway where the fight had erupted—the real Isaac Adler cautiously peeked out.
“Since my vision has gone completely dark, the clone must have reached its limit…”
Indeed.
The figure that had been roaming the park without escorts, acting as bait for the monsters, was merely a clone Adler controlled through his unique magic.
“… But it’s too risky to go check in person.”
Adler’s plan to lure the supernatural entities of Britain into destroying one another was nearing its conclusion.
“It seems Moran’s communications were cut off by the Royal Knights…”
However, the night wasn’t over yet.
“Is there no safe way to check the battle?”
There was one more crucial objective—a plan as significant as the mutual destruction of the monsters.
『Phantom Thief's Treasure』
– Description: Get kidnapped by Phantom Thief Lupin.
“If Lupin loses, things are going to get complicated…”
He needed to complete the final main quest from the early stages that had been stalled for so long. Specifically, he had to ensure Lupin’s victory so she could "kidnap" him.
I have to go to the scene, no matter what. I just need to be as stealthy as possible.
Risking the danger, Isaac Adler decided to move himself rather than waste time creating another clone.
- Rustle…
“………?”
Just as he started to stand, he heard a noise behind him.
“Who… who’s there?”
“………”
Terrified that a monster had sniffed out his hiding spot, Adler turned around, his face pale.
“Uh…?”
He blinked in confusion.
“M-Master.”
Standing before him was someone who definitely shouldn’t have been there.
“What are you doing here?”
“… Miss Blaze?”
Out of his three closest subordinates, Silver Blaze was the only one with the height and build that Lupin could perfectly disguise herself as. For that reason, she had been excluded from the mission to avoid confusion.
“No…”
Then, there was only one possibility.
“Miss Thief, is the fight over already?”
“… Pardon?”
Having reached his own conclusion, Adler began to act the part, flirting playfully with the confused woman.
“So, are you going to kidnap me now?”
.
.
.
.
.
…What did Master just say?
Despite the unexpected arrival of Jill the Ripper, Adler’s plan had been nearly flawless. But in this single moment, it began to veer wildly off course.
Did he just… ask me to kidnap him?
The person standing before him was not a victorious, disguised Phantom Thief Lupin.
Kidnap… kidnap Master…?
It was the real Silver Blaze. Left in charge of guarding the lair alone, she had slipped out for a night walk to try and cool her body. It was her mating cycle, and her instincts were already running hot.
“… Aren’t you going to do it?”
…….♡
Her brain, which had momentarily frozen at his shocking words, was suddenly flooded with heat at the sound of Adler’s shy, timid voice.
“… Don’t regret this later… okay?”