EP.18 Vorpal Rabbit -1
EP.18 Vorpal Rabbit -1
Miho's trap was sheer terror itself.
By the time I came to my senses, both my arms and legs were already bound in rope, and the bewitching fox-woman was straddling me.
Miho was flashing a lecherous grin down at me. She charged me with the crime of neglecting her for three days and squeezed me dry.
Not figuratively—literally draining. She greedily consumed my virility for three straight days, like wringing out a rag.
And she did it using every single part of her body, too.
The result: squeezed to the brink of death by snu-snu, I resolved never to neglect Miho again.
Because I was absolutely convinced that one more night away from home would kill me.
Anyway, the three-day draining period ended, and I was a free man once more.
What was waiting for me, however, was a summons from the Director.
'Ha ha, fuck...'
No rest for the wicked. None.
I lamented my lot in life as I headed to the government building, where a new mission had been prepared for me.
The thought of just quitting crossed my mind, but after hearing the mission details, I had no choice but to go through with it.
The mission: recon or eliminate the owner of a certain club tied to a terrorist subsidiary organization.
Just hearing about it sounded massively annoying, but apparently that organization had been digging for information on Tia recently.
It was proof the terrorists still hadn't given up on the baby dragon.
Annoying as it was, I needed to nip this in the bud before it grew into something even more annoying later.
And so I dragged my heavy feet toward the club.
"Yuu! It's all sparkly-sparkly here!"
"Tia, I get that it's amazing, but you absolutely cannot leave my side, got it?"
"Got it!"
This mission was a tag-along with Tia, whose eyes were sparkling brightly.
I had abilities now, so I didn't strictly need to bring a Divine Beast along, but I couldn't ignore the look Tia was giving me, wanting so badly to come.
On top of that, there was Miho's intention mixed in—using Tia to make sure I came back on time.
So in a sense, Tia tagging along beside me was Miho's observer.
An observer tasked with keeping me tethered so I wouldn't stray down any side roads.
'Even so, I really didn't want to bring Tia to a place like this...'
Tia was delighted by all the sparkly surroundings, but this was a pleasure district overflowing with the foul desires of grown-ups. Not a place a still-young Tia should be.
Plus, it was 10 PM. Tia, who ought to be getting ready for bed soon, was still wide awake—the mere fact that she'd come to a pleasure district was already a lost cause.
But since the mission location was a club, I had to come at this late hour to get in when it opened.
So I decided to let this one transgression slide, there was no way around it.
If Tia couldn't come, Miho might just try to come along herself.
"Tia, shh for a sec!"
"Shhh...!!"
Tia mimicked me, pressing a finger to her lips. My companion dragon was still cherry-picking only the most adorable things to do.
Thinking that I'd brought such an innocent child to the adults' district made my conscience sting all over again.
The only option was to finish the mission quickly and return...
"I'll check your ID for a moment."
"Here you go."
I followed the pleasure district's main street all the way down until I finally arrived at my destination.
This was my first time ever at a club, but I'd heard ID checks were mandatory, so I handed over my ID while casting an illusion on them.
The person in the ID photo they received was a different person from me.
I'd planted a suggestion to make it appear to match the Illusion Mask I was wearing.
The club staff glanced back and forth between the photo and my mask, comparing them, and soon handed my ID right back as if nothing was amiss.
I'd made Tia completely invisible from the start, so we were able to successfully slip inside the club.
Miho's ability really seemed incredibly convenient for infiltration.
"Yuu! It's super loud and bustling in here!"
"Sure is."
"Everyone's playing and having a blast in here! Right?"
"Mmm, I mean, you're not wrong, but..."
The image in Tia's head was probably a playground, but the people actually here were not playing so innocently.
The club I knew was a place where men and women danced with their bodies pressed close or swapped dirty jokes over drinks.
For Tia's innocence, I agonized over whether I should have her wait by the entrance, even now.
"Tia."
"Hmm?"
"...No, never mind."
I could vividly picture myself regretting it the moment I saw Tia's gloomy face if I brought it up for no reason.
Better to just take her along than regret taking her, I guess.
Anyway, I'd decided to bring her, so now I had to go without hesitation.
With that thought, I opened the entrance door and stepped inside, and there...
"W-whoa..."
A dazzling space filled with blood, corpses, and pumping music.
I definitely didn't see this coming...?
***
The first sight greeting me upon entering the club was a scene of massacred people spread everywhere.
That said, it wasn't revolting, exactly.
All the corpses had minimal mutilation and were relatively clean, so calling it assassination rather than massacre was more accurate.
But was it even possible to assassinate this many people without letting a single one escape outside?
Theoretically, absolutely impossible. Yet the scene before my eyes proclaimed it as fact.
'Who on earth...?'
I carefully examined the bodies and saw that the causes of death broadly fell into three categories.
One: the carotid artery in the neck cleanly severed. Two: the heart torn out altogether. Three: a stab precisely planted in a vital spot.
'Insane. Absolutely insane!'
Assassination skill so lethally dangerous that no other words came to mind.
If that person—or persons—was still inside here, the wisest move would be to flee without a second thought.
But my mission hadn't even begun yet. I had to abduct or kill the owner somewhere inside this club.
If the assassin was after the owner, that'd be nice, but I couldn't rely on such an uncertain hope.
Unless I saw it with my own eyes or handled it with my own hands, I couldn't just turn back.
"Tia, let's go, quickly."
"Okay!"
I called over Tia, who'd been poking at the corpses' cheeks, and moved deeper into the club.
We passed behind the stage and entered the staff-only room. The destination was probably further inside. I decided to advance slowly.
I didn't let my guard down, keeping Future Sight active at all times since I had no idea when or where the assassins might attack.
A single moment of carelessness would literally invite death.
"Yuu~? Are you playing Red Light, Green Light right now?"
"Huh? Not exactly, no..."
"Aww...! I wanna play Red Light, Green Light!"
"Ah, alright, when the mission's over, we'll play."
"Really?"
"Really and truly, so just stay still for a bit, got it?"
"Otay!"
The sudden conversation with Tia completely shattered the tense atmosphere.
But it wasn't so bad.
Staying flexible and loose might be better for reacting than stiffening up for no reason.
'Here it is.'
At last, the owner's room. The bustle of noise from inside suggested someone was still in there.
Was the person inside the owner, or the assassins?
I soundlessly nudged the door open a crack and peered inside to assess the situation.
A cold, dead middle-aged man and a short assassin in a white hooded jacket.
'...Huh. But why does that assassin's outfit look so familiar?'
-Click!
The assassin snapped a photo of the middle-aged man's death, the flash bursting.
She was casually manipulating her phone with one hand when she suddenly seemed to sense something and spun around.
'Ah, crap...!'
And just like that, I ended up locking eyes with the assassin. I'd made the mistake of forgetting to keep up Future Sight.
I-I'd screwed up! I should've confirmed the owner's corpse and bolted immediately!!
"Hrk...!!"
The moment she spotted me, the assassin drew a dagger from beneath her palm. Her outfit and weapon seemed to completely match what I was thinking of.
A slight desire to just come right out and ask her bubbled up, but resolving this situation came first, so too bad.
"W-wait! I'm not staff here or anything! I came here to deal with the guy you killed, same as you!"
"So...?"
A low pitch, but a youthful voice seeped through.
Her height looked barely 165 cm, so I'd wondered, but was she really a young girl?
Her face was mostly hidden by the hood, but her stature suggested she was around Tia's age.
But unlike Tia, she had some distinctly prominent parts, which made it a little tricky to be sure.
"If it's all the same, think you could pretend you didn't see me? I didn't know someone else had dibs when I came."
"...No can do. If there's a witness, the assassination isn't complete. So sorry, but I'll kill you too!"
"Oh, you fuckin'—! Man, you really committed to the bit!!"
Silently and ruthlessly, the assassin charged and thrust her dagger at me.
I predicted it, twisted my body slightly to evade the dagger, and tried to kick her in the gut in the same motion, but—
What kind of monstrous reflexes did she have? She stopped on a dime, immediately backstepped, and evaded my sweeping leg.
Then she rushed at me again, attacking with the exact same method.
Why would she come at me the same way? A flicker of doubt crossed my mind, but I dodged in the same manner again.
However...
"Ghk?!"
Even though I dodged perfectly, a slash carved itself across my abdomen and blood spilled out.
Strange. The future I saw should have been an attack with a perfectly identical pattern to before.
So why was there a wound...?
But as if denying me time to find the answer, the assassin rushed at me once more.
Her dagger was aimed precisely at my neck.
I thought I'd dodge it this time for sure, but strangely, three seconds in the future, I was writhing in agony, spraying blood.
The girl had something up her sleeve. Something I couldn't afford to underestimate.
"Tch...!!"
Left with no choice, I used Kor's ability to generate a fireball between me and the assassin.
The assassin flinched for a moment, halting her charge.
Then, mixing in a slightly surprised tone, she threw a question at me.
"You... are you actually human?"
"Pretty sure I should be asking you that?"
I kept Yata's ability constantly active. I was predicting every single way she'd attack and preparing countermeasures accordingly.
But for some unfathomable reason, she blithely ignored my countermeasures and reproduced the future exactly as foreseen.
To put it metaphorically: I saw the action of "stabbing with a sword" and raised a shield, but my body got stabbed by the sword anyway. That kind of situation.
Something realistically impossible—something that defied causality—and this assassin was pulling it off like it was nothing.
"Doesn't matter... killing you solves it either way."
"Whoa...?!"
Barely a second ago, she and I should have been about fifty meters apart.
But in the literal blink of an eye, she'd closed to point-blank range and was swinging her blade-wielding arm.
'How is this even possib...?!'
Too late. Trying to dodge or block now, I wouldn't make it in time.
The future I caught a glimpse of was showing me her strike landing precisely into my neck.
Using an ability would be too late. From the start, there was a will to kill me no matter what gleaming in the assassin's faintly visible red eyes.
In other words, even if I conjured fire like before, she'd cut me down without hesitation.
What the hell was I supposed to do...!
"You can't bully Yuu!"
"Ghk...?!"
Along with Tia's scolding shout, a powerful gust erupted in front of me and flung the assassin far away.
Come to think of it, I didn't come alone today, did I...?
Thanks to Tia barging in at just the right moment, I barely managed to escape with my life.
"Tia, thank you! Seriously, thank you!!"
"I did good? Did gooood~?"
"Yeah! You did amazing!!"
"Kyaa!! Kyarrrk!!"
Overwhelmed with relief at having survived, I scooped Tia into a tight hug and ruffled her head wildly.
For a second I worried I might have overdone the head-ruffling, but—
The baby dragon was beaming away, even happier because of my intense display of affection.
Well, she was a Divine Beast, so however much strength I put into it, it probably didn't faze her at all.
Meanwhile, the assassin had been hurled far away by the sudden gust.
It had been a collision severe enough to break a bone or two, but she was moving as if it were nothing.
However, she didn't attack recklessly like before; instead she looked back and forth between us with a shocked expression.
"Dragon...? Why is a dragon with a human?"
"No, before that, your hood—"
"Yuu! It's a bunny! A bunny!!"
"Ah...?!"
We were just as shocked.
When the wind blew off her hood and revealed the assassin's true appearance, we both started in surprise.
A pair of long rabbit ears atop her head. Her outfit had been cosplay from the get-go.
There was still room to give her the benefit of the doubt that the rabbit ears were fake too, but seeing them move freely and independently, I could no longer think that.