Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: 6.17 'Mad Dog' KW Legend
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“Oh?”
Naibusu's eyes sparkled at the man's tone, as if he'd recognized him.
“You—”
“This bastard!”
But before Naibusu could say anything.
A burly man from behind charged straight at him.
“Stop!”
The tattooed man tried to intervene too late, but the brute was already closing in on Naibusu.
He'd hesitated in surprise at the unexpected intruder.
Naibusu casually sidestepped and lightly kicked the brute's ankle.
“Uwak?!”
-Thud crash!
The man tripped over his own foot and rolled across the floor with the momentum of his charge.
The expensive table in the room shattered with a deafening crash.
“Groooan...”
The brute groaned in agony amid the wreckage of the table.
The tattooed man stormed over to him with a furious glare.
“I said stop, you idiot!”
-Thwack! Pow! Pow!
He pummeled the man with hammer-like fists.
Akane shuddered at the chilling sounds. The victim didn't even scream—probably concussed—and passed out cold.
“Hoo.”
The tattooed man sighed, running his palm from forehead to crown.
As if invisible hair was there to smooth back.
“Sorry about that, KW. Looks like my crew needs better discipline.”
He nodded apologetically to Naibusu.
“KW?”
Akane repeated the nickname.
From the context, she got that it referred to Naibusu.
But why call him that? How did he even know these guys? She had no clue.
Regardless, Akane was Naibusu's childhood friend. It unsettled her to learn her lifelong pal had sides she didn't know.
“Just a nickname, Akane. Nothing to worry about.”
“Nickname?”
Knives Windsor. Naibusu's initials made KW, sure.
...But why use that instead of his real name?
Akane, not draft-eligible, couldn't grasp it.
She'd tuned out military talk like other girls.
She didn't know the army used nicknames over real names—or why.
Especially during the Great Catastrophe's high casualties, initials were standard since custom nicknames couldn't keep up with the deaths.
...Of course, Naibusu got a nickname later.
It just happened to be 'Mad Dog,' so unless you were his superior, you stuck to KW. Call him Mad Dog casually, and he'd bite.
Meanwhile, Naibusu grinned at the tattooed man, brushing off Akane's doubts.
No need for tedious pretense if the guy knew him. The grin came from skipping the hassle.
To Akane, Naibusu looked like a different person.
His relaxed vibe was the same. But the aura beneath it felt off. Like back then...
Akane recalled Naibusu stabbing her chest expressionlessly and shivered faintly.
“So, you know who I am, and you still touched my girl? You know what that means, right?”
“What?!”
The tattooed man recoiled in horror.
Naibusu licked his lips like he'd spotted prey.
A punk thug bluffing in front of real yakuza.
That's all Akane saw.
But... why?
She realized her inner anxiety had vanished.
The intimidation from the tattooed man earlier? Gone.
Now, he was the one trembling.
Like a frog and snake swapping roles with Naibusu's arrival.
“W-wait. No way we'd touch your girl. We didn't even know she was yours!”
“Ignorance end your military days? Well, they ended anyway.”
Naibusu draped an arm around Akane's shoulders.
Pulling her protectively into his embrace.
“Akane, you okay? They didn't do anything, right?”
“Y-yeah...”
Akane nodded awkwardly.
A foreign sensation flooded her chest.
The reassurance of being protected.
Something she hadn't felt since she was very young.
“Really? No need to cover for them.”
“No way! Not a finger on her!”
The tattooed man jumped at Naibusu's predatory vibe, ready to invent crimes and bite.
Akane nearly laughed at the rough guy's sudden panic.
“Really. Nothing happened yet.”
She wasn't covering. It was true.
Naibusu knew, but asked anyway.
To warn them off future trouble.
“Hmph. Lucky. I'll let it slide this time, but touch my girl once more...”
“We won't! Why touch a girl just standing there? We're honest businessmen, looks aside!”
“Ha. Honest business?”
Naibusu snatched the 'senpai's' bag like grabbing a toy.
“Ah!”
“This honest business?”
He pulled out a bag of white powder.
No need to say what it was.
The tattooed man grimaced like he'd swallowed bitter medicine. The meek 'senpai' lunged at Naibusu over her precious powder.
“Give it back!”
“Hey, stop!”
This time, he stopped her in time.
He restrained the woman from behind.
“Look, KW. Turn a blind eye this once. We got reasons. You don't wanna get dragged into mess, right?”
“Reasons?”
Naibusu eyed the tattooed man and woman suspiciously.
Then, interest lost, tossed the bag back.
The 'senpai' clutched it like a cub reclaimed by its mother.
“If it's messy, don't explain. Just don't peddle around me, and I stay out.”
“Right. Of course. No peddling plans.”
It wasn't even enough to peddle widely.
The man nodded furiously.
Naibusu added with gleaming eyes.
“And don't touch women around me.”
The casual words made the man's legs buckle.
“Y-yeah... Got it. I'll drill it into the crew.”
The Inazuma Unit's Mad Dog KW. He knew the reverse scale well. Having witnessed the legend, no desire to poke the sleeping beast.
'Don't touch, just leave.'
The tattooed man prayed inwardly with desperate eyes unfit for his look.
“...Let's go, Akane.”
Convinced the man meant no harm, Naibusu turned.
Akane in his arms.
The yakuza blocking the door parted at their boss's glance.
Naibusu carried Akane out quietly through the path.
Everyone just watched and whispered. No one stopped them.
“Hoo... Damn.”
After Naibusu left.
The tattooed man collapsed onto the sofa, cursing.
“...Boss. Who the hell is that guy?”
To the woman, Naibusu was just a green kid.
Couldn't fathom why her tough boss shook like a leaf—even babies stopped crying at his face.
Her ignorance enraged him.
“You have no—”
He swallowed his yell.
“Haa...”
Not her fault. No human could handle it.
Like an earthquake or typhoon—a natural disaster.
“Listen up. That guy's—”
He explained.
During the Great Catastrophe, adult Rune Holders—men and women—were thrown to the frontlines.
Daily brushes with death in chaotic wartime bred discipline issues. Some soldiers, facing doom, raped to 'lose virginity before dying.' Predictable.
Yet brass overlooked it. Punishing rapists would've gutted their outnumbered forces.
Desperate, they drafted minors—but limited to males 10+ to shield girls from assault.
That ragtag minor unit had a blonde mixed-blood kid at the youngest end.
The cute, timid tyke was popular with women—and some men. Rumors swirled he'd be prey eventually.
Then, one day, KW snapped. Awakened, changed.
Rumors: war madness, possession. Truth? Only he knew.
Feral KW fought, killed, survived madly. Battlefield gains leveled him up fast. Youngest promotions piled, hitting field officer ranks.
'Mad Dog' stuck then. Unit commander Inazuma quipped on his fearless monster charges: 'Lost his nerve like a Chihuahua.'
The 'Inazuma Unit Mad Dog Legend' began. Soldiers reverently dubbed the blonde boy charging monster hordes 'Mad Dog KW.' Uncontrollable without buddy YK, the 'Dogcatcher.'
Great fighter, but he bit friend or foe—specifically rapists. 'Rape Detector Dog,' not drug sniffer.
Brass couldn't leash him, even with manpower excuses. Backed by Inazuma and another general, he got 'Special Inspector' title with summary execution rights.
No stopping him after. Every man feared Mad Dog KW, rapist-slayer. Only women or untainted minors didn't.
Ironically, his minor unit barely knew him—no rapists bitten there.
His rampage eradicated military sex crimes. Postwar Rune Holder gender imbalance? Not his problem.
“That's the legendary 'Mad Dog'...?”
“Heard the rumors.”
“That kid?”
“Unbelievable...”
“Why's a monster like that here...?”
The crew listening with the woman gaped.
Unusual to waltz into their hideout, but not monstrous—till now.
“That face, voice, eyes. Unforgettable.”
The tattooed man idolized ex-commander Inazuma—wore a fake eyepatch homage.
He'd never forget Inazuma's hunting dog, Naibusu. Or the danger.
“What made the Mad Dog go berserk...”
He recalled the fanatic glare culling rapists.
Like a zealot executing heretics defiling his faith.
Touch his girl...?
Shudder. Chill down his spine.
“You lot! Investigate women around the Mad Dog—now! But don't get near 'em! Ever!”
The crew nodded.
Their fearsome boss dead serious? They felt the threat indirectly.
That day, Rune Town's security notched up.
Women around Naibusu none the wiser.