Shall We Make a Bet?
Maybe I should just kill her.
I didn't expect her to help me. She was evil itself to society—what reason would she have to run an investigation for my sake? She'd take the same stance as the director.
In the end, shrinking a criminal organization would serve the public good. The problem was me. Would she even tolerate me barging into her investigation team? What did I think I could accomplish in the middle of that chaos? Simply put, I was a bitch.
If she dug her heels in and refused—well. Fine. Then I'd have to kill her.
Going forward, clashes with the Association were inevitable. That meant I'd keep running into Erika, too. And interference was the last thing I wanted.
Not that I particularly wanted to do it.
"We should get going soon."
"Yeah."
I pulled on my clothes and checked myself one last time in the mirror. Twisted a lock of hair at my temple, ran a hand down my skin, felt the soft give of it.
Soft. Really soft.
Soft enough to make me sick.
I turned and walked out—light steps, unhurried. Rode the elevator with my eyes closed for a moment, then opened them again once I reached the ground floor.
"Hospital time."
My vision swam.
It had been three days since I'd last set foot in the Association hospital. After the fight with the golem, Erika's condition had been fairly serious—but thanks to the emergency treatment I'd given her that day, she'd looked better when I saw her in the ward.
Must have been that high regenerative ability of hers.
I tugged my coat tighter around myself for no real reason.
I'd prepared carefully today. The hat was going to stay put this time—wrapped down tight so it wouldn't come off easily. I was going to erase myself.
With my face covered up to the nose, only my eyes showed now. But this girl's body was cute enough that it didn't matter.
"It's only just afternoon, so there aren't too many people."
Now was my chance.
I hurried across the road and into the ward building. My eyes met the clerk at the counter, but she didn't react—so I was probably fine. Shifting my skin tone and eye color a little with mana must have helped.
"No running!"
"I told you that, but…"
Still. There were people. A few of them. No—maybe a lot of them.
Even when I didn't want to feel it, I felt it. The smell of life slamming into my nose as it passed, and the sheer extremity of the noise.
"Haa… hhk…"
At some point my breathing had gone ragged. It was the same pain I always endured.
"Hhhk… hhk…"
It's fine. It's still morning.
A little noise was fine. Any amount of it was fine.
Overheated breath roared past my ears and into my skull. I clutched at my heart and ducked my head in a rush.
Think about something else. I was here looking for Erika.
The day they'd brought her in, she'd stayed in the ER—but once she stabilized, they'd moved her to a regular room. That was what I'd heard.
Third floor. Take it slow. One step at a time.
I swallowed again and again against the taste of blood boiling up in my mouth.
The elevator terrified me. I might run into someone. So I took the stairs.
First floor. Second. Third.
It was quiet. And clean. White walls, sleek design, bright lights flooding the ceiling.
I wiped the blood running from my mouth on my sleeve, then lowered the zipper of the cloth covering my face just enough to breathe.
Air burst out of me.
"Hiiik—hhk. Haa, haa…"
Good job. Now I just had to find her.
A long corridor stretched ahead, lined with single rooms and nameplates.
Erika… Erika…
Found her.
Would she recognize me? Maybe she'd know me by my eyes alone. That was what the director had said.
I opened the door and stepped inside—and there, filling my vision completely, was a girl.
"Hi."
"Who… ah."
The door clicked shut behind me. I took off my hat.
On the pure white bed, eyes so pale and fine they seemed to drink in every scrap of light around them turned toward me.
Her expression twisted. Mana rippled.
"You…!"
"Looks like you're feeling better?"
She'd recognized me in an instant. The director, too—everyone around her clearly had some special ability.
I'd expected her to spit something vicious at me, but there was no sign of that. She just ground her teeth and glared.
Well. In a ward packed with patients, the danger of doing anything reckless was obvious enough.
"Don't worry. I didn't come here with some scheme. You swore you'd kill me, so I got curious whether you'd recovered and came to check."
I lifted both hands slightly, palms out, to show I had no intention of attacking.
"That golem hurt a lot, didn't it? It was pretty tough, I'll give it that. A Gate monster, after all."
Before I got to the real conversation, I wanted to get her talking.
"Still, thanks to how hard you worked, the civilians didn't get hu—"
"Shut up."
Mana surged. In a single breath the interior of the room was sealed inside a lattice barrier—a high-tier Build, carrying considerable risk, but one that suppressed any residual mana from leaking outside.
"Because of you… people were put in danger. The city was destroyed…"
Her voice was thick with fury. The seal etched into the back of her hand flashed.
"Don't you dare think you get to keep living with that life of yours."
"Are you mad?"
Yeah. Yeah.
"Well, even I have to admit it was pretty heinous. The city's going to take a while to rebuild."
"…Ha."
She bit down on her lip. That had to hurt.
"Did the director tell you?"
"…You psychopathic bitch. After doing something like that, you're seriously thinking of negotiating with the Association's investigation team? You led Association hunters into a death trap, and now you want them to help you?"
"Yeah."
"You die first."
And in the eyes of the woman who tossed those words out so casually, there wasn't a shred of hesitation or unease.
"I am going to destroy you. I'm going to crush that damned smile of yours first. I want to crush your throat, rip out your heart, and watch the look on your face while you suffer."
Death. Death, she said.
If it were that easy—if stepping out of fate were that simple—I wouldn't be standing here looking at her.
"Really?"
"Take comfort in the fact that this is a hospital. If it weren't, I'd already have crippled you."
I smiled faintly, turned, and stood in front of the door.
Negotiations: failed. She'd declared absolute non-cooperation before I'd even made my pitch.
So was killing her the only option left?
I thought that as I reached for the doorknob—then stopped.
"…If you leave."
A low voice reached me.
"If you walk out of here like this—are you going to stand in front of people again tonight and swing your blade?"
Well. Yeah.
That was my destiny. I'd always believed that.
"Of course."
I twisted my lips and forced the corners of my mouth up. Then I cocked my head back to look at her—grin stretched so wide it nearly reached my ears.
Grit.
Erika's teeth ground together. She trembled, fists clenched.
"What, you want to stop me?"
She glared, but gave no answer.
Naturally. In the nearly three weeks I'd been causing incidents, she hadn't caught me even once. A top-tier spatial transfer Build laced with my blood was that kind of thing—utterly untraceable.
So I used that fact, and opened my mouth.
Along with a rather good idea that had just surfaced in my head.
"Want to make a bet?"
"…What?"
I straightened my posture, twisted a lock of hair at my temple, and drew a knife from my coat.
"Tonight. If you stop my lovely blade and kill me—you win."
I swept the knife horizontally through the air, then stopped it short and drew it vertically.
"If you enter combat and lose to my blade—I win."
A cross-shaped crack shimmered in the empty air.
"The stake for your victory is my death. The stake for mine is the cooperation of your investigation team."
Erika's brows twitched, plain as day. The mana around her flashed once as well.
"Well?"
"…I accept."
Good.
Hostages really did put the mind at ease. Being able to pull a fun little wager like this on someone so full of something. Being able to have a peaceful conversation like this at all—because every patient in this ward was a hostage.
Without bothering to hide the smile forming on my face, I displayed a tiny miniature magic circle in the air. Hastily shaped from mana alone, it glowed violet and spread its energy in a mini-city-wide pulse.
"This much should make me easy enough for you to track."
"…"
See you next time.
I gripped the doorknob and pushed. Shattered the barrier constricting me and stepped out lightly.
She'd be discharged today, so it would be a fair fight.
Outside the hospital I jammed my hat back down to the crown of my head. Mouth covered again, only my eyes peeking out. The moment I shed the mana shell under the stifling press of fabric against my face and skin, my complexion and eye color returned to normal.
My vision swayed for a second and I stumbled—looking, for lack of a better word, like a waddling penguin.
Anyway. Past afternoon, crossing the road while minding people's stares, I spotted a café on the opposite side—the same chain that had caused a stir last time. Well. Not the exact same one. That café had been near a Gate.
Today would be fine. Yeah. Walking in wouldn't be a problem. Only my eyes were showing—how would anyone know?
"Welcome~"
I'd been craving an Americano with chocolate cake since back at the Association.
Cafés these days had excellent service; they'd sell you a single slice of cake without any fuss.
What filled my dainty field of view was a dainty menu board.
"Chocolate… cake, please… and an iced Americano…"
"And nothing for me?"
"I'll share."
Greedy little spirit, honestly.
I dozed off for a bit. More tired than I'd realized. Traipsing in and out of the Association while enduring countless stares, keeping myself in check in the middle of all that noise—it burned through an absurd amount of energy.
I had to hold back, right?
But not anymore.
Even if I took up a knife, righteous Erika—who never forgave wrongdoing—would come find me and stop me.
In the dimming evening I carefully left the café and slipped into an alley.
I condensed blood and formed a crimson scythe.
This hostage was very lucky.
No matter how many times the blade cut them, they wouldn't die.
I believe you'll find me before that happens.
I kicked off the ground and ran down the alley.