The Well-Spoken Lady is Scary
The basement was thick with white smoke, the coppery stench of blood, and the screams of the strike team bastards as they died. Eve’s magical potion terror, Yui’s drone suppression fire, and my own dogfight had created one hell of a team combo. The so-called Olympus elite strike force was now rolling around on the floor, moaning in agony or mutating into grotesque creatures that no longer resembled anything human.
The only one still standing was the big bastard who looked like the leader. And even he was completely out of his mind. Not that I could blame him. An entire platoon of Olympus’s elite strike team had just been wiped out by one random thug, a weird pink-haired woman, and a tiny drone.
I pressed my combat knife against the guy’s throat and grinned. “Get it together, Mr. Attempted Rapist. All your fancy subordinates are dead. Did you enjoy the feast? Want me to serve the main course now?”
“Y-you monster… Do you even know who I—”
“Don’t know, dumbass. Why the hell would I? I’m not interested in knowing any male bastards except the handsome ones. Off you go.”
That whole “Do you know who I am?!” routine really must be the universal language of idiots. Still, the bastard’s pupils were trembling with pure terror.
Right as I was about to slit his throat, a refined but razor-sharp voice cut through the air.
“That’s enough.”
From the blind spot behind the steel structures, our noble ladies emerged. One had long, deep-blue hair in a perfect hime cut, eyes that sparkled like diamonds, and a body so absurdly proportioned it looked illegal. Behind her stood a woman with cream-blonde hair tied in a half-ponytail, her eyes shaped like snow crystals. Oh. Her chest was definitely bigger. I hadn’t gotten a proper look earlier, but these two were way more stunning in person than they had been in the photos.
Hana’s expression was as calm as our Ice Witch’s. I kept the knife where it was and only turned my head slightly to look at them.
“Huh? Ladies, you really shouldn’t have come out yet. The package deal included watching this big guy’s head explode, you know.”
“We’re canceling that package,” Hana said, easily ignoring my provocation as she walked up to the boss. The ropes that had bound her wrists were already gone—she’d clearly been waiting for the right moment to escape. Smart women always were. She looked down at the trembling giant and gave him a cold smile.
“Let’s make a deal, Captain. I’ll let you and your remaining subordinates live.”
The boss’s eyes widened. I stared at Hana with a dumbfounded expression. What the hell is with this brazen woman? Since when did she get to make that call?
“Who the hell are you to—” the boss started.
“Could you please be quiet? This is my time right now.” Hana shot me a glare that clearly said shut up before fixing her gaze back on the captain. “The conditions are simple. Return to Olympus and report exactly as the original contract stated—that Cecil and Hana died in an explosion during combat.”
“Ha… Cut the bullshit. Our main force is already on the way down. You people are—”
“You can simply say the bodies were burned beyond recognition. Take all the money you were supposed to receive from Senator Agrippa, plus what we’ll pay you, and quietly disappear.”
She was completely ignoring him and just saying whatever she wanted. This woman was actually kind of scary.
“Hahaha! What a load of crap. If I go back and tell the truth, you bitches will be hunted to the ends of the earth and die like dogs. Why the hell would I do that?” The boss let out a hollow laugh.
But Hana’s smile only deepened. “It’s difficult having a conversation with someone so stupid. What do you think will happen if Senator Agrippa learns about your double-dealing? Your family and clan will be destroyed long before we die.”
“T-that’s…” The boss couldn’t find any more words. Even an idiot could figure out that if Agrippa discovered the double contract, their survival rate would be zero.
“And one more thing. Senator Agrippa will be satisfied simply with our disappearance. He won’t waste Olympus’s military power chasing after us if we’re already gone. Most importantly…” Hana leaned in close to the boss’s ear and whispered in a voice so quiet and chilling it made my skin crawl. “Don’t forget that the internal Olympus faction supporting our Lady Cecil is still very much active in the main family. If you try any dogshit up there, that information will reach us immediately.”
The boss’s massive body began to shake uncontrollably. Watching from behind, I realized something. Ah. This woman is definitely terrifying.
“Choose. Would you rather die here, or simply carry out the original deal? Even that stupid head of yours should be able to calculate which option benefits you more.”
The boss glared at her with furious eyes, but eventually his head dropped. “...Fine. I’ll carry out the contract.”
“A wise choice, Captain. Then—”
BOOM—!
KWAAAAAANG—!!!
Huh? Before Hana could even finish speaking, an explosion shook the entire basement. It had to be the compressed explosives Eve had planted earlier, triggered by the main force coming down from above.
“Wait… Oh yeah. We did set up bombs, didn’t we?” I scratched my head.
Who could’ve predicted things would turn out like this? Dust from the explosion filled the basement like thick fog. Concrete fragments rained down from the ceiling.
“Ugh, the dust.” Even as debris continued to fall, I casually grabbed the boss by the back of his neck and hauled him up. “Alright, Mr. Attempted Rapist—sorry, Captain. The package is canceled, but you still need to behave when we escort you out. Hands behind your back.”
I roughly twisted both his arms behind him and tied them. He didn’t even have the strength to resist, so he let himself be bound and dragged along by me.
…There was one problem, though. The corridor leading to the stairs we’d used to come down had completely collapsed from the explosion. A barricade of corpses and rubble now completely blocked the emergency exit.
“Hey, shorty. That cargo elevator over there—does it work?” I tapped my earpiece.
Yui sounded frustrated over the comms, but I ignored her and walked over to the elevator, slamming the call button. With a cheerful ding, the heavy steel doors slid open smoothly.
“What the hell? It works perfectly.”
Adorable little genius. I smirked. “Heh. Even the great genius hacker couldn’t calculate that one. Are you an idiot? Everyone get in. You too, Professor.”
At my words, Eve and the two noble ladies boarded first. I shoved the boss into the corner of the elevator and held his own terminal up to his mouth.
“Alright, Captain. Tell those leftovers upstairs through the comms that the battle is over. And make it sound nice. You know what happens if you say anything weird, right?” I tapped the revolver in my hand against his chin.
The boss bit his lip in humiliation before shouting into the terminal. “Situation terminated. All units cease fire and stand by.”
After a moment of static, an enraged voice burst through the speaker.
The sound of relentless gunfire and desperate screams came through crystal clear. Ah. So Haze, positioned in the highlands above, had been cooking the main force properly. As expected from our Ice Witch big sis. She might be terrible at cooking food, but she was excellent at cooking people.
I grinned at the boss. His face had gone ashen at the news that his subordinates were being slaughtered outside.
“Hey, you gonna answer them? All your cool strike team guys are about to die.”
“S-shut the fuck up and listen if you want to live!! Cease fire and stand by!!” the boss screamed, veins bulging in his neck.
“Okay. Ice Witch, cease fire.” I nodded in satisfaction and pressed the button for the first floor. With a heavy clunk, the cargo elevator began to rise slowly.
When we reached the first-floor loading dock and the doors opened, the main force waiting outside immediately pointed their guns at us. Dozens of laser sights danced across our bodies. But they couldn’t pull the triggers. Their beloved captain was tied up with rope, head bowed in front of my revolver.
“Lower your weapons, you idiots!” the boss roared despite being bound. At the lion-like roar from the giant, the laser points that had painted the dock red slowly lowered.
I kicked the boss hard in the ass, sending him tumbling toward his men. “As promised, I’m letting you live. Go tell that old fart—Analipa? Agra? Whatever his name is—that the pretty girls burned to death. And try not to get eaten by Walkers on the way.”
The boss rolled across the floor, then hurriedly got up with his subordinates’ help. He ground his teeth but didn’t dare retaliate. He seemed properly terrified by Hana’s chilling words earlier and the unidentified sniper still aiming at their heads.
“Retreat! Get in the vehicles!” They scrambled into the armored trucks and SUVs they’d arrived in without looking back. With a roar of engines and clouds of exhaust, they fled through the quarry gates. It was quite the sight. So much for the Olympus elite strike force. They were just trash after all.
Yui’s drone rose into the air to confirm they were really leaving.
“Haa. Now we can finally go home. Hey, Ice Witch. Bring the car down. Let’s go home.” I tapped my earpiece and pulled out a cigarette.
Yui’s voice sounded annoyed.
“Why? What is it now? I’m tired, you know? Ow. It hurts, you know? I got shot in the shoulder, you know?!” Eve had given me emergency treatment, but now that the adrenaline was wearing off, the pain was really kicking in.
“Ah, fuck.”
Right. I’d forgotten we were smack in the middle of a gray zone. Damn Walker bastards. We’d basically set off fireworks right next to a pack of starving beasts, so of course they were coming.
“Why is the road home always like this? Huh? It’s always this bullshit!!! Aaaaaagh!” I lit my cigarette and scratched my head furiously.
“Yui, Haze. Can you bring the car down from there? What’s the situation?”
“Ugh, then what should we do?”
I slammed the shutter switch on the first-floor loading dock with my fist. With a mechanical whir, it slammed shut.
“Ha… Ladies. The main gate is blocked now, but remember that hole we made on the second floor? We can get out through—”
“No. We can’t leave yet.”
What? The voice was incredibly firm. Hana had cut me off. Cecil stood beside her with a pale face but an expression that said she absolutely would not back down.
“Excuse me? What are you talking about? Did you two get hit in the head earlier…? The Walkers are going crazy out there. We don’t have time to leisurely go for a stroll.”
“We cannot leave Richard behind.”
“Richard? Who the hell is that? Sounds like a very noble name.”
Hana stared straight at me with resolute eyes. “It’s a biological weapon created by our family. Those men locked it up somewhere. We must find it and take it with us.”
A biological weapon? In this shitty apocalypse, a biological weapon probably meant some muscle-bound tyrant or a blood-sucking monster. And she wanted us to go rescue it? Right now, while a horde of Walkers was closing in, inside this building?
Ha… Biological weapon Richard. I clenched my teeth, steeling myself for the bloody battle against the insane monster that was surely coming. Making money is seriously fucking hard. Home really is the best.