Full from Carpaccio, Ready for the Hunt
I took one deep breath. Rolled my shoulders once to shake off the tension.
“Were you eating?”
When I pulled the curtain aside, there was Bianca sitting in a prim, quiet posture, staring down at her plate. The carpaccio looked exactly as it had when I left. The sauce had separated, the oil forming a strange, murky layer on top.
“Why.”
“...It’s nothing. I guess I lost my appetite.” She let out a heavy sigh as she looked at me, then bit her lower lip and turned her eyes away. Was this her version of an apology?
“It’s my fault for not telling you beforehand. Not yours.”
“Bullshit… Ha. Even with your face covered, I could tell you were pissed as hell.”
“I told you I wasn’t interested in women that way. Did you think that was a lie?”
I poured her a glass of water and drank one myself. What I saw next was… why was she making that face? Why the hell was she frowning like that?
“Then you, don’t tell me… you’re into guys—”
“No.”
Why did her mind always leap there? I’d come back in a decent mood, but now it was souring again.
“To be exact, I can appreciate a woman’s charm, but I don’t feel any interest.”
“….”
“I don’t see them as romantic partners.”
“Hmm….”
Whether she genuinely didn’t understand or because of the way her lips kept moving—
“Are you about to call me gay again?”
“Pfft—cough, cough!?”
Damn it. I tried to look at the bright side and she completely ruined the moment. What was I even expecting from a villain?
“Yeah, yeah, think whatever you want. Anyway, I have zero interest in women.”
I stirred the sauce roughly and lifted a piece of fish to my mouth. It had gone cold, but it was still surprisingly decent. Or maybe I’d burned through so much emotional energy that I was simply starving.
“I don’t know the full story, but I can take it as ‘even if other bitches wag their tails at you, you won’t fall for it,’ right?”
“Just try saying a guy wagged his tail at me.”
“Feeling better now? You’re even cracking jokes.”
I was grateful she was worrying about me, but Bianca still hadn’t picked up her fork. She was only watching my expression. The atmosphere while eating like this felt all wrong.
“You eat too. It’s fine now.”
“…Guess I should.”
She picked up the fork with a clink, but instead of eating, she just kept rolling the white, translucent flesh around in the sauce. In the end I snatched the fork away and lifted a piece toward her, even supporting it with my other hand.
“…Eh.”
“Open up. I’ll feed you.”
“I’m not a kid, you know!?”
“I know I hurt your feelings. I’m sorry for getting angry on my own. Let’s drop it now and eat, okay? You paid for this. It’d be a waste if we don’t finish the plate.”
“Give me the fork, I’ll eat it mys—!”
“Tsk.”
She wouldn’t eat even if I handed it over anyway. And when I slowly brought it to her mouth, even though she was still frowning, her lips parted obediently.
“Good girl. Eating so well.”
“…Give it here.”
“Want another piece?”
“You son of a— So now you’ve got the leisure to act cocky, huh.”
When I smiled and blinked, the fork had already vanished from my hand. What? When did she take it?
“You eat too. They saw you come in, so the meat should be coming out soon.”
“Guess so.”
We spent a while clinking plates like that, subtly meeting each other’s eyes the whole time. My heart, now completely cooled, sat quietly beside us.
“Ha. I’m stuffed.”
Bianca, whose stomach had swelled noticeably from how much she’d eaten, patted her belly and leaned back against the seat. She had thrown herself around so violently that screams had actually leaked out of the car.
“If you’re done eating… shall we talk business now?”
“Can’t we rest a little first? It’s hard for me to even breathe.”
“Who told you to be such a glutton?”
“That’s rich coming from you. You’re the one who said not to order just a little more.”
Hmm. She had a point. The quality was definitely not that of an ordinary Western restaurant. Of course, they had charged accordingly….
“Anyway. Business. What is it?”
“It’s about time you started moving too.”
I took out the tablet and showed her the compiled data. Street information the organization members had faithfully passed on to me, along with the police’s official statements.
“Hmm….”
“As you can see, Stahlleder’s condition is truly bad. Looks like he won’t even be able to hold his base much longer.”
“Having his key subordinates, Jjangdol and Gluestick, taken must have hurt. Who told him to torment his own people like that?”
The subordinates who had been captured by the current Catena—formerly known as Chain Girl—while fighting over the drug truck had apparently talked in the end. It wasn’t that they feared retaliation; they seemed thoroughly disillusioned after turning on and beating each other.
“Still, the fact that Stahlleder himself is alive is bad news. Those two know him well, but Stahlleder knows how this entire organization actually runs.”
“So now it’s my turn to deliver the retaliation?”
“Exactly.”
After tearing at the hind legs and knees to sap their strength, after covering the torso in wounds to make them bleed profusely—once the prey finally dropped to its knees, the wolf pack would open its jaws wide. This was the moment to bare our teeth and charge in without mercy.
“Hmm… It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Maybe because I’m full. I don’t feel that rush of excitement or thrill I expected.”
Or maybe I had made things too comfortable for her. The wolf who had been happily rolling around in the corner enjoying her food let out a huge yawn—
“Ah, this won’t do. I’m taking a nap first.”
She immediately reclined the seat all the way back. She laced both hands behind her head, stretched her firm, toned legs out, and propped them on the dashboard.
“You really are something else.”
“No, I’m serious. I should be motivated, but… I’m not. Did it end too anticlimactically?”
“Eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping—you’ve turned into a complete pig. Get up!”
“Pig… Since I made a mistake earlier, I’ll let that one slide.”
Oh? So she was saying I needed to provoke her more if I wanted her to move.
“Get up, you pig!”
I swung my hand quickly and slapped her thigh. But there was no sharp slapping sound.
“…Huh?”
“Pfft.”
Instead came a heavy thud. The sound of a palm striking something solid.
“What the—?”
“Calling someone a pig and then hitting them? You did hit me, right?”
“Whoa—!?”
Her blue eyes flashed. By the time I sensed danger, those rock-hard legs had already pinned me down.
“Gyaaaaaaaagh!!!”
“If I let it slide once, you should’ve said thank you and backed off. You even laid a hand on me? Have I gone too soft?”
“S-sorry! Please spare me!!!”
I apologized over and over to Bianca, who was crushing me with her full weight between the seat and herself, but now she had my entire body caught between her arms and was squeezing.
“Aaaaaagh! Aaaaaagh!!”
“Stop exaggerating. I’m holding back.”
“I’m dying, I’m actually dying!”
The strength was on a completely different level from the light horseplay I used to share with friends. Bianca’s ‘joke’ hit so hard I immediately regretted poking her.
Only after being tossed into the back seat like a wrung-out rag did I finally… find peace. Pathetically so.
“Whew. My stomach feels flatter now. Yeah. This is how motivation kicks in. Wakes me up too. Right?”
“…Kk….”
Had my lungs collapsed? I couldn’t breathe.
“Such a baby. Stay crumpled there. I’ll drive you home.”
With trembling hands I gripped the seat, barely managed to lie down, and let out ragged breaths. It was good that her emotions had been resolved, but did I really have to sacrifice my body this much? …Still, having someone who could joke around like this—it had been quite a long time.
Tap. Tap-tap-tap. I tapped on my phone while massaging the arm I’d stuck a pain relief patch on.
The weapons had been prepared long ago, and I had produced so many flashbangs and explosives that they were practically stacked in piles. There was nothing left for me to do. If I had to pick something, it would be deciding what kind of weapon to make with the remaining time today. Everything else was a problem my body, which was simply following the tutorial, would handle.
Urgent matter—ah, right. That was the excuse I had used to return to Bianca at the time.
Tomorrow I had to support Bianca. I had gained enough power that I wondered if I was even necessary, but… Horn and Kerberos possessed abilities that were far too conspicuous, so they would be excluded from this operation. That meant I had to be there.
Seeing the face… no, with the mask on, what face was there to see? A brief meeting should still be possible.
The read notification appeared, but no reply came. Had her feelings been hurt again?
“…Huh?”
A sudden flood of messages came pouring in like a tidal wave. I tried to find a gap to reply, but the texts just kept coming, endlessly repeating how she wouldn’t be ‘too’ disappointed if I didn’t show up. I had just finished settling things with Bianca. This was going to drive me insane.
…Ugh. No matter how necessary it was to steadily build her position, was this really the right choice? Cleaning up remnants lacked flair, but if the scale grew too large the injuries would be severe.
It would work out somehow. Yeah. I had no choice but to handle it.
- Vrrrr, vrrrr, vrrrr….
“Ah, that startled me…”
I had just set the phone down with that resolve when the call came. Right. I had forgotten. Just like Bianca, Catena had quite the clingy personality too.