The World's Worst Getaway Driver
Got a call from the author guy telling me to swap out the cover... mwahaha.
Edric leaned back in his chair, watching the screen with an air of lazy amusement.
Hummm.
Beside him, Sinedes had checked the data over and over before finally venturing to speak.
"Edric. If Chain succeeds in killing 'him,' won't that throw a wrench into our plans as well?"
Edric answered without so much as lifting his eyes from the screen.
"How could that possibly happen?"
"...You mean to say it couldn't?"
"Right. Chain killing that man is impossible."
His tone was so matter-of-fact that it bordered on condescension. Sinedes's expression stiffened a little.
"But if it's the 'him' of right now... even I could dispatch him with ease."
"I'm aware."
"Then isn't Your Excellency overestimating 'him' rather severely?"
Only then did Edric turn to look at Sinedes. The languid smile still hung at the corner of his mouth.
"Strength isn't the kind of thing that simply evaporates."
"..........."
"However weak he may be at this moment, he is still the man who once stood at the apex of every world. That fact doesn't disappear just because the power did."
Edric settled his back against the sofa and continued slowly.
"And one more thing."
"Which is?"
"Chain isn't trying to kill him."
Sinedes frowned slightly.
"...If not to kill him, then what?"
"To take revenge."
Edric's voice remained perfectly calm.
"The two look similar, but they're nothing alike. For Chain, killing 'him' isn't the goal — it's merely the final stage of her vengeance."
"Then..."
"She will kill him in the end, yes. Still, to be unable to choose the path of forgetting the past and living an ordinary life... What a foolish woman."
Edric spoke of her as if mocking her.
"But she won't kill him right away. She'll drag it out. She'll inflict pain equal to what she suffered — no, far beyond it — and only then, at the very end, will she take his life."
Unease began creeping into Sinedes's expression, bit by bit.
"And if that moment ever comes... will you intervene, Edric? Will you stop Chain?"
A brief silence settled over the room.
Edric turned his gaze back to the monitor.
"If there's no choice left to take, I suppose."
".........."
"But until then."
Edric smiled, at his leisure.
"I intend to remain a spectator."
VROOOOOOOOOM~~~!!
A single car was tearing down the city streets like a thing possessed. The problem was that the person behind the wheel was Yuna — who didn't even have a license.
"Uuuugh..."
Rai, slumped in the back seat, groaned with his head pressed against the window.
"We're going... way too fast..."
""Uuuuuu..."
Beside him, Misa was gripping the seat with both hands. Her pale face had gone ghost-white.
"Yuna... couldn't we maybe slow down just a little?"
"No."
She rejected Misa's plea with a single flat stroke.
".........."
"Slow, we get caught."
Yuna answered like it was nothing, lollipop clamped in her mouth.
"That may be true, but... I think I'm gonna throw uuuup..."
Misa barely managed to mumble. In the front seat, Kana was clutching her seatbelt for dear life.
"Yunaaaaaaa--!!"
"What."
"Can't you just drive a little normally?!"
"I am driving normally."
"If this is normal, then how gentle is a go-kart race supposed to..."
Instead of answering, Yuna wrenched the wheel hard over.
SCREEEEEECH--!!!!
The car slid sideways and wedged itself into the adjacent lane.
"GYAAAAH----!!!"
Kana shrieked.
"........"
Rai said nothing at all. Instead, he was using the phone Misa had lent him to leave a one-star review on the Mechakurachacha website.
Only Orchi was pressed to the window, watching the city flash by, laughing with delight.
"So bumpy, so bumpy~!"
"And that little client doesn't even get carsick...?"
Misa asked with a sour face.
"What's carsick?"
"I'm so jealousuuu..."
Before long, Rai's eyes swept across the interior of the car. A battered frame. Scratches scattered everywhere. A dashboard that looked ready to give up at any moment. Rai's face grew even darker.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"I'm asking because I assume there must be, but... this car... does it have bulletproofing?"
Kana answered with her chest puffed out.
"Of course it does!!"
"What do you take us for? We're veterans among veterans, having resolved countless missions, and then there was that one time where— and another where— and so on and so forth, roughly a thousand characters' worth of bragging if I listed it all properly, blah blah blah..."
".........."
"We're MECHAKURACHACHA!!"
"What does any of that have to do with defensive features..."
Just then, Misa spoke up carefully.
"Um, Kana...?"
"Yeah?"
"Didn't you sell off the entire bulletproof armor, saying pros don't need that kind of stuff anymore...?"
"Uh..."
Kana's face froze.
"Misa."
"Yes?"
"That's... our little secret..."
Rai turned slowly to look at Kana.
"Quit screwing with me, seriously."
"No, it's just..."
"You said it had defenses. Yes? Yes? Yes?"
"It had!!"
"And now?"
Kana averted her eyes.
"Doesn't... have any, customer..."
"............"
Rai stared at Kana in sheer disbelief. Then he began preparing to spin up an alt account and leave a fresh one-star rating.
Yuna said with a wobbly laugh,
"Uhh... we can just dodge it all anyway~! Why overthink it?"
"...Damn it all."
At that very moment, Yuna spun the wheel.
SCREEEEEEEEEECH---!!!!
And then...
PYANG!!
A bullet slammed into the front of the car.
"KYEAAAAH--!!"
Misa screamed.
"WAAAAAAH--!!! RETREAT--!! RETREAT--!! This mission is a failuuuuure--!!!"
Kana was yelling too.
"WHO SAID YOU COULD GIVE UP---!!"
Rai was shouting as well, pulling Orchi into his arms.
"You got paid, so do the job properly!!"
"I AM doing the job?!"
"THIS is doing it?!"
Yuna let out a sigh.
"Annoying, but..."
She pushed the lollipop to one side of her mouth.
"Shall I give it a try."
In that instant, the look in Yuna's eyes changed.
VRMMMMMMMMM---!!!!
The car accelerated again.
""WAAAAAAAAAAAH---!!!"
A car filled with everyone's screaming cut across lanes. It threaded the needle through the narrow gap between two vehicles ahead, then immediately darted out into the opposite lane.
VROOM---!!
Yuna held the wheel with one hand and slid the whole car sideways without so much as blinking.
SCREEEEEECH---!!
"Hold on a second!"
Kana shouted.
"How did you fit between those two cars?!"
"It fit. Can't you do it?"
"That gap wasn't big enough for ONE car!!"
"Then I guess we were smaller than a car."
"Make SENSE! Why haven't you gotten a license with skills like that?!"
"The instructor cursed me out. And he couldn't even drive better than me."
Misa had her eyes squeezed shut the whole time.
"I... I believe... in you, Kana..."
"Why me?! Believe in Yuna?!"
"Because if I die, you'll donate your organs, Kanauuuu...!!"
"Don't say creepy stuff like that to your leader!!"
TATATATATATANG---!!
Gunfire rang out in rapid succession behind them. But the car kept weaving, slipping past every bullet.
Screech--!! Screech--!! Screeeech--!!
On a rooftop some distance away, Chain watched the fleeing vehicle through her rifle scope.
"Ahaha...!! What an absurd way to drive..."
She smirked.
"Sure makes it hard to line up a shot~!"
Meanwhile, inside the car, everyone continued to be rattled around.
Jolt. Jolt. Jolt.
"Ughaaaaah..."
Misa was on the verge of tears. Kana clutched her seatbelt, face drained of color. Rai already wore the expression of a man whose soul was halfway out of his body.
Orchi, on the other hand, threw both hands into the air.
"So fun~!!"
"You are a seriously weird kid..."
Kana murmured weakly.
Before long, the car swung onto a remote bridge on the outskirts of the city.
Vrrrrrrrrroooom~!
But Yuna didn't slow down.
"Doesn't seem like they're sniping anymore..."
Kana scanned their surroundings. Misa cautiously opened her eyes too.
"It's over now, right? Right?"
Yuna kept staring straight ahead.
"............"
Kana turned around to face Rai and Orchi.
Swoosh.
"So? What do you think?"
"About what, damn it."
"Our skills!!"
Kana grinned with total confidence.
"If you're with us, you can shake off even an S-rank Awakener!"
"............."
Yuna said flatly,
"I'm the one who shook them off."
"The TEAM shook them off!!"
"I was the one driving."
"Teamwork!"
"I did all of it."
"Yuna!"
Rai watched the exchange with a blank stare, then sighed.
"Don't go planting flags for no reason and getting us chased again..."
"Oh, come on. It's not like this is a manga~!"
Kana laughed.
In that instant.
KWAAAAAAAAM---!!
A massive shockwave erupted directly in front of the car.
"NOVELS COLLECT FLAGS TOOOO--!!!"
And Kana's scream rang out across the bridge.
FWOOOOOOOO...!!!!
The car launched into the air.
"WAAAAAAAAH--!!!"
"AHAHAHAHA~!"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAH---!!!"
"Uuuuuuuuugh...!!"
Amid everyone's screams, the car flipped clean onto its side.
KWAM!
Once.
KWAAAM!
Twice.
The body tumbled across the bridge, scraping against the pavement.
KUDANGTANGTANG---!!
KUNG...!!
The car finally came to a stop, completely overturned.
Kuuuuuuuuu...!
Silence.
And then.
"Kh... ughhh..."
Rai forced his eyes open. He held Orchi against his chest and couldn't manage a single word for a long while.
".........."
Then Kana came crawling out from the other side of the overturned car.
"My baaack..."
Clunk.
"Uuuuugh..."
Behind her, Misa climbed down with her whole body trembling.
"That was not okay..."
Yuna was the last to crawl out of the wreck. She brushed the dust off her clothes and popped the lollipop back into her mouth.
"We can still get insurance money for this, right?"
"Is THAT what matters right now?!"
Kana shouted at her. And then the three of them lined up shoulder to shoulder in front of Rai and Orchi.
In that instant.
Clack.
Something moving echoed from far away. A woman was walking onto the bridge.
WHIRRRRRRRRR~~~!!
And in her hand, she held an enormous chainsaw.
"Ahaha~!"
Chain smiled slowly as she looked the three of them — and Rai — over.
"Hey there, junior~!"
Chain tilted her head.
"There are still twenty-two hours left before the twenty-four are up, you know..."
The chainsaw began roaring to life, spinning like mad.
WHIRRRRRRR~~!!
"Caught already?"
At her appearance, Rai's face went white as a sheet. Without a word, he pulled Orchi tighter into his arms.
".......!!!!"
There was nowhere to run. Behind them, the overturned car. In front, Chain.
Clack.
Then Kana took a single step forward. The playful look she'd worn moments ago was gone.
"What's an S-rank supposed to be, anyway?"
Kana clenched her fist.
"As long as we took the job."
She stared Chain dead in the eye.
"We see our client's protection through to the end."
Misa stepped up behind Kana.
Clack.
Her body was still shaking. But she didn't run either.
"I... I'm with you toooo..."
Misa grabbed hold of the hem of Kana's clothes and clutched it tight.
"I believe in you, Kanaaaa..."
Yuna exhaled around her lollipop.
"Haaah..."
Then, slowly, she lowered her stance.
"Annoying, but."
Yuna's eyes locked onto Chain.
"We've got to earn our pay."
