Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Hoping to Get Closer (6)
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“What the fuck!”
“What the hell is that? A physical enhancement ability user?”
“How does he not go down after taking a bat to the face? This is why I hate these ability freaks who get everything handed to them!”
I’d only twisted the arm of the guy who’d been lightly smacking me around, but it felt like I’d become a surprise guest at a concert. The thugs who’d been on their knees or huddled in the corner were clutching their heads and screaming or trembling in fear, while the man who’d taken down Carmen was pointing at me and spewing curses.
“You think I wanted to be wiping the asses of these gangster punks, you fuck? It’s all because of ability freaks like you that I ended up like this! We wanted to work for a security firm too! But those damn company bastards picked some bitch who shoots beams from her eyes instead of us!”
Unable to contain his rage, he slammed his stun gun on the ground and screamed. I couldn’t empathize with his pathetic sob story, so I just blinked at him and kept twisting his arm.
“Aaaargh! Uwaaaargh! B-bro! Save me! P-please, save me!”
The coward who’d sneak-attacked the kid from behind started wailing like a child himself, thrashing around. I was just stepping on his body with one foot and lightly yanking like pulling a joystick in the driver’s seat, but the guy was whipping his head back and forth, freaking out, and screaming his lungs out.
Pale-faced Transparent Brother aimed his knife at Carmen, who was collapsed on the floor, and yelled.
“Y-you! Let my brother go! If you don’t, this bitch is dead!”
I clicked my tongue at that. I didn’t want Carmen dying or getting hurt here. But if I let go of his brother now, he’d just turn invisible and bolt, turning this into a one-sided hostage situation with Carmen as the captive.
Good thing my mask hid my troubled expression. I couldn’t see Carmen’s face either, but from how she was trembling, it looked like she’d need more time to come around. Seeing me hesitate, the guy snatched up his stun gun again and shouted in an even fiercer tone.
“Looks like you’re waiting for this bitch to snap out of it! This is an ability-user stun gun from the security firm! One zap and even the toughest guys are out cold for half a day like corpses! Give it up!”
Users with physical abilities naturally develop enhanced baseline physical stats to handle the recoil. On the flip side, someone like Carmen, whose ability didn’t rely on physical prowess, had the physical strength of an average kid.
In other words...
This ruthless bastard was bragging about tasing an elementary schooler.
He had no clue what was really going on due to the mask’s perception filter, but from where I stood, knowing the truth, it was pathetic.
“Surrender already! Hey! Guess I gotta carve a little mark to knock some sense into you!”
The guy was hyped up, gripping his knife with trembling hands. He was about to lunge at Carmen any second. No choice. I hadn’t wanted to do anything bad. I’d been trying to live right.
To join a real villain outfit, you had to be able to play angel or devil depending on the hostages’ attitudes. I lifted my head confidently and said,
“Yeah, kill her.”
“...What?”
The hostage-taker looked thrown off. He didn’t know my exact abilities. And I didn’t feel like enlightening him. While he froze in confusion, I lightly tensed my arm and said,
“I said kill her. Then I’ll rip your brother apart too. You’ve never seen someone get their limbs torn off alive, right? I haven’t tried it either, but I bet I could. Wanna see what happens to your guys?”
I pulled harder on his arm, and the terrified man screamed.
“Aaaargh! Aaaargh! Bro! Save me! Please, save me! Aaaargh!”
Even to me, his screams sounded way too pitiful, so I stopped pulling. I hadn’t planned to actually rip it off, but he was being dramatic. Or maybe I’d tensed up and pulled harder than I thought. Good thing the mask hid my grimace and disgust.
“W-wait! Stop! Stop! I-I’ll drop my weapon! Dropping it! I surrender! I surrender!”
He tossed his knife to the floor and dropped to his knees, backing away. I’d been worried what if he called my bluff and played tough like me, but luckily, they were tight-knit brothers.
He really seemed to surrender, flinging the knife far away and rolling the stun gun toward me. Kneeling with a ashen face, he said,
“S-so, let my brother go. My bad. Okay? We won’t touch this shit again! So let’s call it quits! Okay? My bad!”
“I’ll let him live and leave his limbs intact. But I need to hold your brother hostage for now. Our business isn’t done yet.”
Our mission was to scare off these guys who’d encroached on Prophets territory and secure evidence of the profits and business rights they’d been after. I nodded at one of the thugs huddled behind the daycare and said,
“Get the documents from inside. Heard you punks started some fun new business lately. Bring everything related to it.”
“Y-yes, sir...”
The thug used polite speech as he scurried into the daycare.
“Urgh... ugh...”
Meanwhile, Carmen, who’d come to, clutched her head like she had a hangover and groaned. She shook her head as she sat up and spotted Transparent Brother sitting far off, then reached out her hand.
“Aaaargh!”
Iron pipes and steel beams flew from all directions, wrapping around the man like snakes, leaving him completely immobilized.
Even ability users were supposed to be down for half a day from that thing, so her waking up quick was a bit surprising. Carmen clicked her tongue and yanked the man I’d been holding.
“Uwoook!”
His belt was metal, and she’d used that to drag him over forcibly. Worried I might actually snap his bones, I let go, and he rolled across the floor to Carmen.
“Eek! Urk! Aaaargh!”
Carmen reached out to the other side, and the remaining steel beams bound Transparent Brother’s limbs tight, trapping him completely.
Only then did Carmen catch her breath and shoot me a look. Her mask hid her expression, but her heaving shoulders, ragged breathing, and rising-and-falling chest spoke volumes for her.
Looking at me, she said,
“...I told you not to interfere. I could’ve handled it myself.”
What exactly could she have handled? She’d been rolling on the floor after the taser.
But picking a fight here wouldn’t be professional. Real pros separate work from personal. I nodded vaguely to play along.
“Yeah. Sure.”
My half-hearted response seemed to irk her more. She clenched her fists, trembling with even greater anger, and muttered,
“...You really piss me off. I hate you.”
What was I supposed to do about that? She wasn’t asking for round two. Turning away like she had no intention of talking more, she snatched the stack of documents from the hesitant thug and snapped,
“We’ll let it slide this time, but if you punks pull this shit again and get caught, you’re all dead. Got it?”
“Y-yes! Loud and clear!”
The thugs, having tasted an ability user’s wrath, nodded vigorously. As she turned, she spotted the stun gun on the floor and clenched her fist.
Crackle!
The stun gun exploded with a sharp bang.
Seeing that, Transparent Brother wailed from inside his steel cage.
“Fuck! I haven’t even paid off the installments yet!”
“Waaah!”
His brother joined in the sobbing.
Leaving the dumbfounded thugs behind, Carmen and I took the documents and headed to the van.
The long-haired man had already cleared his chair and was waiting in the driver’s seat. The door slid open, and he said warmly,
“Well then, shall we head back?”
Carmen wordlessly chucked the documents toward the trunk and burrowed into the seat. She curled up defensively and stared out the window.
I glanced at her and clicked my tongue.
Far from getting closer, it felt like she’d built an even bigger wall.
Guess it’s true what they say: the truly exceptional are lonely.
“Hm?”
The hand reaching to start the car paused. The long-haired man, about to pull out, suddenly leaned forward, peered in one direction, and tilted his head.
Something rustled in the bushes, and a few shadows darted out before vanishing into the distance. The man blinked, gave a strange look, then turned back to us and said,
“Alright, let’s get going.”
What was that just now?