Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Just Kill Them All
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Everyone knew that Mino possessed extraordinary physical prowess. Even without doing anything in particular, she gave off an intimidating aura, one that made it impossible to approach her recklessly.
“Ugh!?”
Crunch!
But no one had expected her to be this strong. Hayes, who had always struck every pose imaginable, now had the word [Pain] vividly etched across her face.
“Ow, that hurts!”
Hayes couldn't hold onto my letter any longer. Overpowered by Mino's grip strength, she was forced down to one knee. Seeing her twisted expression made my own wrists ache in sympathy.
“Stop her! Hurry up and stop her!”
Only then did the rest of the squad members grasp the situation and rush in to separate Mino and Hayes, but...
“Wh-what...! What kind of strength is this...!”
Even with four of them piling on and straining with all their might, they couldn't pry Mino loose. Instead, she remained utterly composed, casually picked up the letter again, and sauntered back to my side as if nothing had happened.
“Here.”
It was an unbelievable sight.
I'd suspected she might be a dull, foolish girl, but the fierce display she'd just put on lingered vividly in my mind.
“Parents are precious.”
The other girls were just as shocked as I was. They glanced back and forth between Mino and Hayes, realizing that the power dynamic between them had completely flipped.
“Let go! I don't need it!”
Her pride wounded, Hayes snapped irritably at her gang, who were checking on her condition. Then, without giving anyone a chance to stop her...
“That fucking bitch...! I'm gonna kill her. That goddamn bastard...!”
She grabbed her helmet from her locker, gripped it tightly, and stormed toward Mino and me. Among the standard-issue gear given to trainees, it was the sturdiest and most durable item.
Swing it wrong, and it could easily kill someone—no exaggeration. And these helmets, made in this other world, were far heavier and bulkier than anything used by the South Korean army.
“H-hey? N-no, don't!”
Now the entire barracks mobilized to block the space between them, desperately trying to keep them apart. If this escalated, one of them might actually end up dead. We had to resolve it internally before it blew up bigger.
“Get off me, you bastards! Let go!”
But the tension refused to die down easily.
Hayes, furiously threatening to kill Mino, and Mino calmly staring her down without a hint of reaction.
“You cow bitch acting all high and mighty...! You know what? In a real fight, a wench like you wouldn't last ten seconds before dropping dead. Got it!?”
It was like watching a chihuahua square off against a massive guard dog. Hayes wasn't small by any means, but standing before Mino, she somehow seemed infinitely smaller and weaker.
“Y-you're still mouthing off! You fucking bitch!”
Hayes was now tearing up, throwing a full tantrum. Her pride must have been shattered beyond repair.
And for some reason, that blazing glare soon turned toward me. Rather than the one who'd beaten her, Hayes seemed even angrier at me.
“You laughed, didn't you? You just laughed at me!!!!!”
I hadn't laughed. I'd just been standing there dumbfounded, watching the two of them clash.
Yet Hayes's face flushed beet red as she raged at me. It seemed unbearable for her to get punked by Mino in front of a guy.
That reddened face wasn't from pain or anger—it was pure humiliation. Obvious without even asking.
“Just you wait, you fucking bastards...!”
Why was she coming after me, though?
What the hell had I even done?
“I'm not letting this slide!”
It would have been nice to just keep things quiet until the end of training camp, then part ways peacefully.
But looking into Hayes's smoldering eyes,
it seemed like she'd never settle quietly once assigned to her unit.
To resolve this situation...
“So that girl is still harassing you, huh?”
I needed to see Kate.
She was the only one I could turn to for help.
There were limits to how much Mino could protect me. If trainees clashed the wrong way, it could turn into a massive brawl.
“Alright. I'll handle it somehow.”
Kate wagged her tail happily, readily agreeing to my request. Ever since our spat, we'd actually grown closer than before.
“It's the instructor's job to make sure trainees get proper training, right?”
She wasn't prickly or aggressive like at our first meeting anymore, nor was she clingy and obsessive. Right now, Kate was showing her healthiest, most normal side yet.
“Thanks. Ah, no...! Thank you, ma'am!”
“It's fine. No need to force the formalities when it's just us. You've already seen all my embarrassing sides anyway, right?”
Thanks to that, neither the company commander nor the senior instructors interfered with our meetings. We weren't holing up in a warehouse alone, sucking and biting at each other, so they had no reason to break us up.
Kate and I only met now for official business. As squad leader trainee, there was nothing suspicious about consulting an instructor privately.
Of course, if other trainees saw us together, they'd whisper and spread weird rumors among themselves, but I believed Kate had changed a lot.
The clumsy romance that had tormented us both, the sticky entanglement—it was all over. Kate had become someone who helped me out, a reliable ally even.
In this brutal world where men were despised and mistreated just for existing, having a comrade felt like a miracle. Sure, our connection would end once training camp was over, but still...
“In return, Jeong-woo, could you do me a little favor?”
Kate had changed.
Her red eyes held a warm leisure,
and a soft smile played on her lips.
“What favor?”
“Nya~ who knows.”
...From that cat-like tail and ears to her captivating beauty that I couldn't tear my eyes from, she still made my heart race sometimes.
“We're not lovers yet, so a kiss should be fine, right?”
Kate tickled my nose as she laughed.
Then she turned around without a hint of lingering and walked off cheerfully.
Even as she walked away from me,
she lightly waved goodbye with her cute tail and sleek right arm.
Thanks to Kate's intervention, Hayes and her gang's provocations started dying down significantly.
“Huff, gasp—”
Whenever they returned to the barracks, they were utterly exhausted. It seemed Kate and a few other instructors were drilling those delinquents with extra punishments.
“F-fucking bitches...”
“Lately, they've been even more of a pain in the ass...”
As a result, the drained girls couldn't even think of harassing me or Mino anymore; they just shuffled around with trembling legs.
Bam—!
The only one who still had any energy left
was Hayes, her blonde hair whipping around.
“Argh— this sucks!”
Sweat-soaked and fatigued, she still acted like her usual self. If anything, her eyes burned with even more venom than before.
“Jeong-woo, you have it good, huh? I saw you skipping out on separate duty earlier?”
“...Yeah.”
“Then how about a massage while we're at it? I'm fucking exhausted~ Unlike you, they worked me to the bone.”
I ignored her unfiltered sexual harassment and mockery, changing clothes casually. Anyway, even without me getting mad...
Creeeak—
once Mino returned following Hayes,
silence fell over the barracks again.
Hayes wouldn't touch me in front of Mino.
“...Tch.”
Frightened to death by Mino's physique yet glaring daggers to salvage her pride. At this point, she ought to tire herself out and back off, but...
Hayes kept staring down me and Mino to the end. Even fanning herself vigorously with her uniform top, spreading that sticky sweat stench, she never stopped eyeing us.
Kate's help alone didn't seem enough.
In that case...
I'd have to talk to Mino.
Individual combat drills,
followed by a march.
The final week of recruit training was packed end-to-end with brutal exercises. A straight-up murderous schedule.
And all of it was tailored to this world's women, so for an ordinary guy like me, keeping up was impossible.
“Huff— haah... M-Mino. Can we talk for a sec...”
“?”
Still, I tried talking to Mino even as we climbed the steep hill.
Individual combat usually involved pairing up to complete the course, so during training, I actually got some alone time with her.
“Th-thanks... for retrieving the letter again... huff...”
“Yeah.”
Of course, our “conversation” consisted only of my long sentences and her curt replies, but even out of breath to the limit, I wanted to look out for Mino.
“B-but... from now on, let's just keep quiet. Okay? Hayes and her crew seem really out for our blood...”
But despite my hard-squeezed advice, Mino offered no response. Instead, she bolted far ahead like an arrow, then turned back to tilt her head at me.
“D-didn't get what I meant?”
“Yeah.”
Mino didn't grasp the severity of the situation.
If Hayes was truly part of a dangerous group like the Black Roses, she might use them to mess with Mino and me.
“Let's just finish training camp quietly. No more incidents. If we ignore her here, Hayes will forget about us quick once she's assigned. As long as we don't poke her more.”
“?”
But even with this straightforward explanation, Mino kept tilting her head, as if she couldn't comprehend me at all...
“I'm saying let's just lay low! Don't you get it!?”
“Why?”
However, as the conversation dragged on,
I finally understood Mino's subtle attitude.
“You could get killed like this! Me too!”
“Won't die.”
Mino understood the situation perfectly.
Well,
given her quick wits and body control shown so far, she was definitely no idiot.
“Not scared? It's a crime syndicate. Not just some street thug, a real crime organi—”
“Don't care.”
Mino had already seen through Hayes. She just wasn't afraid at all.
“...Huh?”
“Just kill them all.”
At first, I thought I'd misheard.
But Mino,
with her usual calm expression...
“Then it's over.”
made a throat-slitting gesture.
The truly scary part
was that it didn't sound like bravado at all.