087. Bunny Girl (5)
087. Bunny Girl (5)
※ This chapter contains illustrations with somewhat explicit content. Please be advised before reading.
The enemy security guard had taken a shock round to the core.
The guard was knocked out cold.
Unless someone carried the guard off to the Manufactory, they would probably lie there for days.
"Alright. Let's move in."
"First, get off of me."
Ah, my apologies.
After a brief repositioning, we finally entered the third-floor corridor.
After that, following Eve's signal, we moved to the dressing room at the end of the corridor.
With Eve's help, I opened the jewelry box tucked away in the deepest corner.
Soon, the five-colored gem came into view.
"Is this it?"
"That's right."
It was our target, the Kaleidostone.
I carefully extracted the Kaleidostone and slipped it into my pocket.
It had been fine up to that point.
"...Uh-oh."
"What is the matter?"
"No, well."
The moment I pulled out the Kaleidostone.
A sensation as if a switch had clicked brushed against my fingertips.
Surely it was just my imagination?
...And of course, “surely not” is exactly when things go wrong.
—BEEEEEEEEEP!
The security alarm began to blare loudly.
"......What should we do?"
"What else? We have to leave like the wind."
"So I asked, how do we do that?"
Well.
According to Plan A, we were supposed to return through the ventilation shaft afterward.
In this situation, using that route would be like turning ourselves in.
But don't worry.
Because I also had a Plan B ready.
"When you say Plan B?"
"First, follow me."
I grabbed Alicia's hand and dashed toward one of the staircases, pulling her along.
As expected, we ran into security guards on the way. Two of them, in fact.
In that situation, I gave Alicia an order.
"Alicia! Body slam!"
"Is this the Plan B you had prepared?"
"To be precise, it's the opening phase!"
"The middle and final phases must be something really spectacular!"
Even as Alicia retorted in disbelief, she kicked the guards away.
You might question whether they could be subdued in such a haphazard manner.
—Ghk!
—Kgh!
But don't forget.
Alicia had an A+ in Strength.
In a one-on-one situation against a smuggler biodroid, she wouldn't lose in hand-to-hand combat.
So we ran, floor by floor, step by step, like crazy.
When we finally reached the first floor——
"There they are!"
"Get them!"
At least five or six biodroids were charging at us, weapons in hand.
No matter how incredible Alicia's specs were, it was impossible for her to subdue this many troops alone.
But it was fine. Because reaching the first floor meant the first half of Plan B was complete.
We only had to move on to the second half.
"Alicia, use this."
"Excuse me?"
I handed Alicia the item I had brought along.
A pure white mask.
"What is this?"
"No time to explain. Hurry, put it on."
When I urged her again, Alicia obediently put the mask over her face.
I too put on a mask, just like her.
"This way."
"Where are we going?"
"Just come here."
I took Alicia by the hand and pulled her along.
We headed for the grand hall connected to the stairwell.
When we entered, it was exactly 21:30.
That was the time the "Masquerade Ball" was scheduled to begin in the grand hall.
Well, calling it a masquerade ball was being generous.
"......It's utter chaos."
"Indeed."
It was chaos, just as Alicia said.
Or rather, a complete free-for-all.
A scene of debauchery. Lewdness. Dissipation... something along those lines.
To explain it more simply, the interior resembled a decadent club rather than a ballroom.
First of all, the lighting alone was not that of a ball. What masquerade ball has neon signs like this?
The music was also noisy EDM, not elegant classical music.
In that environment, the participants, dead drunk on alcohol or something else, were mixing, grinding, and rubbing their bodies together.
Mostly with their own partners.
Occasionally with each other's partners.
Throwing away all appearances and indulging in debauchery.
......For reference, all the attendees at this party were high-ranking figures from the financial world and the military.
The reason those people, who usually held themselves stiff-necked and maintained their dignity, could behave so debauchedly was thanks to the masks they were wearing.
With their outfits identical and masks covering their faces, nobody would know who was who.
So they could play to their heart's content without worrying about the aftermath.
The same went for us.
"They won't find us here."
"I understand that much, but what do we do next?"
"From there, we follow HQ's instructions."
"HQ?"
The moment Alicia asked, a voice came through the receiver.
[It is Eve. I have located a zone free of interference phases.]
"Where?"
[Go out through the east window of the grand hall. I will generate a portal in front of it.]
I relayed that information to Alicia.
Alicia was not particularly pleased.
"Doesn't that mean the opposite end of the hall?"
"Right?"
"Then don't we have to force our way through almost 200 meters to that point?"
"While avoiding the guards, that is."
Perhaps Alicia didn't consider the guards to be the problem.
But let me reiterate, in the masquerade ballroom, men and women were tangled up wildly, touching and groping each other.
In such conditions, the distance between people was barely a few centimeters.
She would have to break through there while wearing a bunny girl costume.
Any normal woman would hate it.
......To be honest, I hated it too.
I could never forgive any man who touched my biodroid without permission.
A woman would be a bit difficult too.
So——
"Stick close to me. I'll make sure to block others from getting to you."
"It's problematic when the man I want least to get close to says that."
Even as Alicia complained, she pressed herself tightly against me.
Despite what she said, it seemed she preferred relying on me over having strange men she didn't know touch her.
I had no time to realize that and crack a wry smile.
Because right after we entered, guards without masks jumped into the crowd to find the suspects.
Although we had the most common duo in this party — a black-haired man and a blonde biodroid — we would still be caught if we dragged things out for too long.
And there was one more thing——
"Alicia, you can't just stand still. Move."
"We are continuing to walk."
"No, I mean...... dance."
"What did you just say?"
What do you think I said.
"Dance. You know, dance."
"Are you telling me to dance, here, in this mess?"
That was right.
Because otherwise, we would be found out — the fact that we were the criminals who stole the Kaleidostone and ran.
The reason being, everyone but us was dancing to the rhythm.
If we just walked in one direction while clinging to each other, we would inevitably stand out.
"Understood. But there is one problem."
"What?"
Alicia answered a moment later.
"I do not know how to dance."
......Did she really need to know how?
"You just have to move your body to the rhythm."
"Like this, you mean?"
Alicia made some kind of motion.
About 10 seconds later, I stopped her with a sigh.
"No, stop. That's enough."
Standing there stiffly would be less conspicuous than whatever that movement just was.
Still, I couldn't just let her stand still.
Now that it had come to this, I had no choice but to lead her myself as the next best option.
For that reason, I placed both hands on Alicia's hips.
"What, what are you doing?"
"Relax. Put your arms on my shoulders, too. This is a Commander's order."
"...Ngh."
Ever since we treated her circuit-overheating syndrome, Alicia had become unusually susceptible to the words, 'This is a Commander's order.'
Apparently, once I said that, she felt the responsibility for the situation shifted to me, allowing her to set her ego aside and act.
Of course, since it was only a tendency, I didn't abuse it. I used it sparingly, only in critical moments.
I had judged that this was precisely one of those critical moments.
"Keep your eyes fixed on me. I'll watch where we're going."
Alicia did so.
Behind the mask, her emerald eyes focused on me.
In that state, with my hands gripping Alicia's hips, I pushed and pulled them left and right.
There was resistance at first. Partly out of embarrassment, but also because she seemed unfamiliar with the motion of swaying her hips itself.
But little by little, as if tangled threads were coming loose, Alicia's movements gradually became smoother.
"You're doing well."
"Don't talk to me."
"We need a bit of conversation for it to look natural to others. In that sense, isn't there something you want to say?"
"I was going to tell you not to talk to me."
I had expected Alicia to snap back like that.
However, 10 seconds later, Alicia uttered something completely different.
"......Thank you for earlier."
Huh?
"Earlier? What are you talking about?"
"Inside the ventilation shaft."
"Ah, you mean you're thanking me for climbing on top of you?"
Alicia's ear, exposed next to the mask, turned a little red.
"Is that how you interpret it? I was simply...... saying thank you for considering my condition."
"So you're saying you were grateful that I read the situation and climbed on top of you."
I said it teasingly on purpose.
I'll admit it: there was absolutely no need to go that far.
I simply wanted to make Alicia, already humiliated at having to follow my lead, a bit more embarrassed.
Because it was rare to see Alicia flustered.
I had wanted to seize the chance and watch.
And if I were to add a practical reason on top of that......
There was also a wicked motive: maybe if I built up intimacy this way, this cold girl who was terrible at expressing herself might eventually lean on me without even realizing it.
But as it turned out, now was not the time for teasing.
"It's completely different......!"
Alicia vehemently objected.
No, the objection itself was fine.
The problem was the motion she made while doing so.
The moment she lifted her head to protest to me, the top edge of Alicia's mask struck the bottom edge of my mask.
As a result, Alicia's mask was knocked off——
"Huh?"
"Uh......?!"
Alicia's face was fully exposed.
Startled, Alicia reached out her hand to pick up the fallen mask, but before she could, the crowd's shoe heels trampled it.
Around us, no, in the entire hall, there was nobody else with their mask off except her.
In such a place, taking off one's mask alone was no different from advertising, 'We are unusual people! Look at us!'
What would be the best thing to do?
Stealing a mask from someone nearby and putting it on Alicia could risk causing a commotion.
Taking off the blazer I was wearing and covering her with it...... well, wouldn't revealing her face be less conspicuous?
So.
Now that it had come to this, there was no other way.
I pulled Alicia into my arms.
......No, it was more than just pulling her close.
I held her so tightly that you couldn't tell at point-blank range whether she was wearing a mask or not.
Especially her small head, which I completely wrapped with both arms and tucked securely into my embrace.
Our bodies were pressed together just as tightly.
The distance between the two of us, maintained at several centimeters until just moments ago, converged past zero into the negative.
In short, it was the kind of deep hug only an extraordinarily close couple would share.
Alicia was, of course, flustered.
But she didn't immediately try to get away. She stiffened up slightly at first, then soon relaxed and melted into my arms.
She didn't stop there; she wrapped both arms around my back for support.
Feeling relieved that it was okay, I guided Alicia toward our destination.
......It wasn't easy.
Because Alicia was in a situation where she couldn't see her surroundings at all.
And on top of that, we couldn't hear each other's voices. Because a speaker was installed right next to our destination, our voices were completely drowned out by the music from this point on.
In the end, without being able to tell her 'let's go this way' or 'that way' verbally, I had to lead Alicia only through the dialogue of our bodies.
When I started walking, Alicia walked a beat later.
When I stopped, she also stopped a beat later.
In that process, awkward contact happened frequently.
Whenever the crowd surged, I had to lower one arm and hold her waist or buttocks to keep Alicia from falling.
So, one step at a time.
One breath at a time.
Matching each other, we walked for almost 10 minutes across a distance of barely 50 meters.
At last, we arrived beside the window.
With Alicia still hidden in my arms, I called Eve.
"Eve, is the portal ready? Are there any guard troops outside?"
[Detection results indicate none. The portal is also ready.]
That was a relief.
And at this distance, our voices could reach each other to some extent.
I whispered into Alicia's ear.
"Alicia, I'll let you go on the count of three. Let's break the window together and run out."
"......."
"Ah, there are no guard troops outside, so don't worry. We can return via the portal right away. We'd face disciplinary action if caught using a portal downtown, but well...... we're not in a position to care about that right now."
"......."
"Alicia?"
I carefully opened my arms.
Alicia, who had been tucked inside, was, how should I put it.
She wore a tremendous expression.
"......Hey, are you alright?"
Alicia answered with a dazed face.
"I'b perfegly fide."
Confirming that she was indeed not fine, I took Alicia and returned to Krädel.