Volume 1: The Beginning Of A Mistake
Chapter 1: The Cat Left The Rat Uneaten
TL: Akabane
***
-- Mid-May, late at night.
Inside a mansion in London City, England.
"Shoot! Shoot, shoot, shoot!"
In the place decorated with expensive ornaments, dozens of men shouted with murderous intent with the incessant sound of gunshots.
"Who is it?! Who let him into this mansion?!"
"I don't know! I don't know! He was in here before I knew it!"
"Where are those guys outside watching us? What the hell are they doing?"
"They're already dead! Damn ....... What the hell is he doing here ...... of all places?"
The men repeatedly fired shots at the boy, who continued to run inside the mansion, while they were almost screaming.
However, none of the bullets they fired grazed his skin, only destroying the surrounding windowpanes, shelves, railings, urns, and other decorations.
"Damn, it didn't hit him. ......--gasp?!"
"Oh, hey?! What's going on......--Ouch?!"
Suddenly, the two men with pistols fall to the floor, their words broken.
Those nearby catch a glimpse of their prone comrades and see red water slowly peeking out of their red-black windpipes at their temples and spreading to the floor.
-- 23, 24.......
"Hey! I don't care if it's a rocket launcher or whatever! Bring something to counter that thing!"
"U...... Understood!"
Amidst the raging gunfire, one man, who appeared to be the leader with a short machine gun, gave the order.
In accordance, the three men left the area as if to flee, and began to move to procure the weapons they had been told to ....... At that moment...
"............"
"..?! What are you ...... when did you ......!"
As the men were leaving the lobby, which had turned into a battlefield, a boy stood in front of them without a sound.
The figure, wrapped in a wrinkle-free black suit, was covered in dark shadows, as if projected directly from the night sky, and couldn't be caught until they were close enough to see him.
However, the moonlight leaking through the window and the silver blades shining dully from both hands revealed what was about to take place.
"K...... kill him!"
The cold sweat running down their necks soaked into their clothes, and as soon as they swallowed hard, the men readied their pistols on the boy standing in front of them.
Almost simultaneously, the sound of gunfire echoed, and the three bullets fired instantly dug into the wall.
"You, did you kill him ......?!"
One man standing in the middle, sweat dripping from his forehead, asks in a trembling voice to his companions on either side.
It's too dark to see the figure clearly ....... Where has the silver light that I saw in my eyes a moment ago gone?
The next moment, I wondered that question, but the next thing I knew, I heard something fall to the ground from both sides of the man.
The smell of blood pierced my nostrils. The feeling of warm liquid spreading to his feet. And then ......
"Uh. ...... uh. ......."
A searing hot neck.
It was as if I was being seared only there with a super hot burner.
It's hard to breathe and I can't stand it.
I want to take in oxygen right now, but I can't because of the hot water that's pouring out of the back of my throat.
The man's mouth quivers as he is so upset.
-- 38, 39....... And then--
Behind him, the black-clad boy moves forward step by step, clutching a knife dripping with blood.
When did he move to the rear? How did he manage to avoid the bullets? The other men lined up in front of him held their guns with such doubts in their minds.
The man on his back slowly laid his body on the floor, vomiting blood and splashing from the back of his neck like a fountain.
-- That's 40, huh?
Brushing off the blood on his blade, the boy sighs quietly as he looks at the remaining targets lined up in front of him.
"B*stard ...... how dare you!"
The men shudder as they watch the whole scene of their friends being killed.
One after another, they are driven by fear, and incessant gunfire is unleashed.
But still, countless bullets couldn't pierce the boy's body.
Because the boy was already gone.
It's extremely difficult to hit a moving target with a gun.
It's extremely difficult for an amateur, who doesn't know how to handle a gun, to hit even a stationary target.
To begin with, except for the possibility of a ricocheting bullet, if you aren't in front of the muzzle of the gun, it's unlikely that you will hit anything.
So, as long as you are moving around, it isn't so easy to get hit.
If you move fast enough and fast enough to delay their firing, you can ......
"Damn it, I can't hit ......!"
Guns are nothing but a piece of junk that makes a lot of noise.
"Damn! You're running around all over the place!"
The man who seemed to be the leader shouted angrily at the fact that he couldn't follow the boy with his eyes.
Meanwhile, the boy, who had been constantly dodging enemy bullets with his feet, was still running around the entire lobby of the mansion at an unbelievable speed.
This isn't a metaphor. The meaning of all this isn't limited to the ground, but also includes tables, shelves, and other household items, as well as bullet-riddled walls. And then there's ......
"--Hey, you're lying ...... right ......?"
"How in the world are you standing there ......?"
Even the air was used as a foothold, and he evaded flying bullets one after another.
The sight was so wondrous that the men were awestruck and their eyes widened.
A boy in a black suit standing still in mid-air against the backdrop of a brilliant full moon.
As they looked, they saw something like a thin line stretched across the ceiling at the boy's feet.
Is that--is that piano wire or ......?
Looking up at the ceiling, the man who seemed to be the leader became even more suspicious.
Where in the world did that thing come from? When in the world did he get that from?
The doubts and questions kept coming up one after another.
The answer to these questions, or perhaps they can be called answers, is not clear, but something like a conclusion has newly emerged in the man's brain.
He is agile enough to avoid bullets.
Cunning that uses everything as a foothold to distract its prey.
And at the very moment when the prey is caught off guard, it's a cruelty that will surely reap a life.
The black figure with the full moon in the background, a knife covered in blood in both hands, and an eye patch over the left eye--
"--That is Black Cat ......"
"One, two, three, four......--"
Using the light of the room and the glow of the moon behind him, the boy takes a visual count of the remaining numbers.
"--7, 8, 9......--"
At the moment he finishes counting, looking down at the indignant men below, the boy lets out a sigh of exasperation.
"According to the request, I heard that the gang consisted of forty men. ...... I didn't realize there was still this many left ......."
Another inadequate overwork. ...... The sigh that escaped the boy's mouth again was even deeper and longer than the first time.
If you're going to ask me to do a job, at least send me something accurate.
Especially if you're asking for a dangerous job like "killing" .......
"Come on down, man!"
"Don't patronize me from on high!"
"So annoying......."
A choo-choo-choo and a bustling rumbling can be heard from below.
Let's get this over quickly.
After this, in addition to reporting the accomplishment of the request, we have to deal with the aftermath of the deficiency this time.
There is no time to relax.
As soon as he came to that conclusion, Nekomaru Kuroki, the boy with the alias "Black Cat," gripped the knives in both hands tightly again.
Bending down, he took a cat-like stance as if he were about to pounce on his prey below.
"You rats ...... let's eat up every last one of you."
With all his might, he kicked out a bundle of piano wire.
-- The scene was a bloody, horrific scene.
Among the corpses lying around, Nekomaru was alone, talking to someone who shouldn't be there.
"It's me ....... I just finished work."
|| "Thank you for your hard work, Nekomaru-sama. Are you hurt?"
In a space where there was supposed to be only one person, the voices of those who responded to Nekomaru's voice began to ring.
It was the work of the small intercom he had been wearing in his ear during the entire workday.
In case of emergency, he doesn't use his phone for communication so that he doesn't have one hand full.
"No problem. More importantly, I have something I want you to tell the client."
|| "Yes, sir. What is it?"
"There was an omission in the number of targets. Due to a breach of contract, I'd like you to charge the client an additional fee of one million x the number of overflowed targets. If they can't pay it out, the organs are acceptable."
|| "Understood."
The air, which should have been empty except for Nekomaru, grew heavy with the exchange of words that would make the average person want to cover their ears if they heard it.
|| "Then, how many people are in excess of the number of confirmed deficiencies?"
His subordinate asks through the intercom.
"Yes, the number is ......."
In response, Nekomaru tries to report the number of people he has counted ......
"Nine ......--"
It was then.
Suddenly, a bookcase to the right collapsed, making a loud noise and sending up a plume of smoke.
Reacting instantly, Nekomaru quickly readied his gun and waited for the smoke to clear, keeping himself ready to move at any moment.
|| "What is it, Nekomaru-sama?"
"Just a bookshelf fell down. As soon as I confirm that it's safe, I'll contact you again."
After saying this, Nekomaru slowly approached the fallen bookshelf.
The bookshelf looked very battered.
It had been involved in a battle, so it was probably inevitable.
The faded wood looked very old.
Just as he was thinking that it could have collapsed, a cloud of dust finally cleared.
The cloud of dust finally cleared, and Nekomaru was startled by what he saw.
-- No way. ......
There was a little girl, about five years older than himself.
If it's the daughter of the leader of this place, perhaps.
The girl's golden hair, beautiful like moonlight and translucent, swayed and swayed.
For a moment, Nekomaru almost thought she was blowing in the wind, but he soon realized that she was not.
-- She is frightened. Her body was shaking so much that her hair was also shaking.
The girl's slender body was being shaken by the small vibrations.
Even in the dark, you can see that her eyes are shining like jewels with tears.
Her small, dainty, doll-like face is covered in tears and snot.
Had she been hiding here for a long time ......?
Had she been hiding here for about an hour after breaking into the mansion to avoid being discovered?
Did she hide in here, hiding, while she watched her father, her men, and her family being murdered? ......
"Hell...... hell...... hell......."
Dshe keeps muttering something.
Oh, I get it. "Help me," she probably wants to say that.
It's not hard to see why she would beg for help, even from someone who killed her own parents.
But ......
"............"
Keeping silent, Nekomaru puts his finger on the trigger.
Even if she is a child, this girl is a target to be killed as long as the client is in charge of her.
He can't let her live. ......
Then, the communication came again from the person waiting at the end of the intercom, who had been waiting to hear from Nekomaru.
|| "Nekomaru-sama, did nothing unusual happen?"
"Hmm? Ah ....... No, I have something new to tell you. It's the excess number of people from earlier. ......"
At that moment, Nekomaru was hit by the usual strange feeling.
-- It's that feeling again.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger again, his fingers felt heavy .......
How many times has this happened?
Sweat was pouring out of Nekomaru's hands, which showed no sign of fatigue after all that running around.
Although he wasn't shaking, he was in no fit state to shoot the frightened girl in front of him.
-- It's all right. This time ...... this time .......
Unlike the sighs he had just heard, he took deep breaths to calm his body and mind.
Again and again. Until a state of satisfaction comes to him.
|| "Nekomaru-sama ......?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Back to the subject, the excess number of people just now. All is......."
--- It's okay, it's okay .......
After chanting the same words over and over in his mind, as if to say to himself.
Nekomaru responded to the person on the other end of the intercom, and at the same time
"Ten.....--"
Nekomaru was about to put his finger on the trigger again.
At that moment--
|| "Nekooooo, is the work done?"
A loud noise, too loud for the intercom to suppress, suddenly echoed through the mansion.
"Oh, is that my father ......? What's with you all of a sudden? I'm still at work here. ......"
It was so loud that Nekomaru, quickly holding his ear with one hand, asked another man over there, his father.
Nekomaru asked his father.
|| "What's the point of having a job if you're just going to do the usual after-the-fact reporting? I don't need that kind of thing! I want you to come home right now! I have something important to tell you!"
"Something important? I mean, right now, can't we just leave it like this?"
|| "No, no, no, no! I can't have such an important conversation with a device that could be bugged by any horse's ass!"
Nekomaru's father responds in a half-assed, forceful way.
If he spoke so loudly to his father, anyone would be able to hear him, no matter what the equipment was. Nekomaru thought with a sigh.
|| "Anyway, go back to Japan now! I've already left the other work to someone else, so you go home first, you understand?"
"Okay, okay, I understand. ......"
|| "NOW! Come back home NOW!"
With those last words, the father's annoying voice disappeared from the intercom.
-- Oh dear ...... right now?
There seemed to be no time to spare, so Nekomaru slowly lowered his gun, abandoning his attempt to kill the girl in mid-sentence.
The girl is still trembling and crying, even though she is no longer going to be killed.
"Hell ...... hell ......."
-- "Help me" again.
Thinking that the girl might still believe that she had not been saved, Nekomaru tried to reassure her a little by speaking to her in a comforting tone.
"I'm not going to take your life, so you don't have to be afraid anymore."
And right after that.
"...... to hell......."
"Hm?"
"...... Go To Hell......"
What was released from the trembling girl's mouth was neither a help nor a plea to save her own life, but rather
"Go to hell......! Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell Go to hell, go to hell, go to hell! -- "
It was cursing as best she could, filled with murderous intent and resentment.
"............"
Nekomaru involuntarily shuts his mouth.
That's right. The man who had murdered his family was right in front of her.
There was no way she wouldn't abuse him. How could she not resent him?
Six years ago, it was just special case, but this is what usually happens.
What in the world was I so smug ...... about?
I was a total fool.
The same words are constantly thrown at me from behind my back.
"Go to hell". That's a well-worded phrase.
Hell is an imaginary world where no one knows if it exists or not, where no one has been able to reveal it's existence.
It's said that there is an imaginary place of absolution where those who did wrong during their lives are condemned to atone for their sins even after death.
Nekomaru, who has lived in this world for a long time and knows nothing of illusions or fantasies, only knew of this fantasy.
If he were to disappear from this world, he would surely be corrupted there.
There is no other place for him to end up except there. ......
Thus, the blood-covered black cat left the night streets of London.
In a mansion that reeks of blood and has been dyed red, a single rat is still quivering and whimpering.
That day, and that time, the cat had left with one more morsel.
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