Chapter 8: The Cat Accelerated A Mistake


TL: Akabane


***


""The mighty ...... ability power?""


Nekomaru and the girl with glasses both let out the same question from their mouths.


Of course, Nekomaru's voice didn't reach the other side, and his body didn't move in response to the words of the person who was about to he take her head.


-- What kind of a powerful ability is she capable of? Where does that woman get that kind of power?


I know it inside out. I knew she was bluffing anyway.


Even though he should have known this, this unseen source of anxiety bound Nekomaru's body tightly.


At the very least, he had to confirm it's true identity. As if by chance, a girl with glasses, who was also responding to Akane's comment, asked a question.


"I'm wondering, what in the world is the power of your mighty ability?"


"Hmph, you've asked well. First of all, the power hidden in this left arm is ......--"


The girl with glasses let out a sigh of exasperation. On the contrary, Nekomaru gulps hard.


While the two of them were standing there with opposite faces, Akane traced the bandage wrapped around her left arm with a grin and an eerie smile on her face and said,


"--The moment this seal is broken, a 500-meter radius zone around me will be engulfed in flames and transformed into a crimson hell, the name of which is the "Crimson Inferno"."


She said something absolutely ridiculous.


The moment she heard that, the glasses girl muttered, "Oh, I see ......."


-- Another new setting.......


Oh dear, she let out another sigh.


As if it was a regular thing .......


At the same time, Nekomaru was .......


--What ...... is ...... this?


He was stiff as a stone statue, with a lazy, greasy sweat dripping from his forehead.


The right eye, wide open, tells the story of his agitation.


-- A 500-meter radius is instantly engulfed in flames? Just by revealing her arm? I've never heard of such a thing. I've never even heard of it. ......!


Shaken by the unknown confession, Nekomaru's head immediately spins at a tremendous speed.


He didn't know that it was a lie, a mere delusion created by Akane herself.......


The girl with the glasses continued, "If that's the case..." she said to Akane, who was immersed in her own delusion, unaware that the person watching over them was in such a state at the time.


"Then, why don't you just clear out your right arm? Akane is right-handed, and it would be ...... easier to move by just your dominant arm."


"The right is not useless!!"


Suddenly, Akane impatiently denied the glasses girl's suggestion.


Nekomaru and the glasses girl were startled by the sudden loud voice, and a grim-faced Akane grabbed her right arms tightly.


"The right is even more terrifying ....... When this right arm is unleashed, it will cause enormous damage that is incomparable to the left ......!"


She lowered her tone of voice and began to speak as if she were in real danger.


"Ha....... How dangerous is it?"


The glassed girl asked a question for the umpteenth time.


At this question, Akane fell silent for a moment and pondered while muttering, "Well......."


"......About to wipe out half the earth ............?"


She gradually lowered her voice, and at the end, she answered so loudly that it was almost inaudible unless you were close enough to hear it.


-- a sense of retrofitting .......


The girl with the glasses, sensing that she had come up with the idea just a few minutes ago, was still dumbstruck, and appropriately brushed it off with, "Oh, I see."


At the same time--


"Hah ...... hah ...... hah ...... hah ......"


Nekomaru, who was leaning against the wall and on his butt on the floor, was breathing heavily, with sweat pouring out of his body.


He dropped his weapon and pressed hard on his chest with his hand.


-- What did you just ...... say? What did that woman just ...... say?


He didn't move his body in any particular way, but his appearance was that of a severely tired person.


......It's not tired. It's not that he is tired. It's that he's in a hurry.


As if exploding from the inside, Nekomaru's impatience, beyond description, surges through him at a furious pace.


There is only one factor.


It's because he has been far away from the mundane world.


-- No, I didn't miss it. I didn't. That woman ......--


Literally, my ignorance carried me away.


-- When the Right Arm is unleashed, half the earth will be obliterated!


But it's just a misunderstanding.


Sweat pours from my forehead and runs down my skin, creating a small puddle on the rooftop floor.


Perhaps because of the shocking revelation, I can't feel the force in my fists.


-- Wait ......! Think about it, me! How is that possible, just because her arm is freed?!


For a moment, Nekomaru's thoughts returned to normal.


Yes, that's right. No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible. It's impossible.


-- But the left arm is still understandable. It's not unusual in underworld to implant weapons into the human body or perform cyborg surgery.


In fact, Nekomaru had witnessed a man who had repeatedly made such modifications to his body to earn his living as an assassin.


However, he had never seen or heard of a weapon that could lose half the earth just by revealing an arm.


There had never been any news of the development of such a super-weapon, which could easily surpass even nuclear weapons, either in the public or in the private sector.


-- It's confirmed. What she was saying was unmistakably nonsense. Like this morning, it was just a bluff.


She almost had me fooled.


She's a cheeky woman ...... and she'll go to any length to sway our hearts.


Unbeknownst to him, for some reason, Akane has been resented.


Taking a deep breath from his belly, Nekomaru calmed his body and mind.


When he finally regained his composure, he looked at the hateful girl as he reached for the knife he had dropped.


"You have great abilities, don't you, Akane?"


"Right?!"


The glasses girl, with a straw in her mouth, drinks the juice left in the carton, and Akane is full of admiration for the glasses girl.


Nekomaru put his finger on the handle of the knife, wondering if she was still talking. Shortly thereafter.


"Because I am the one who lives the legend. --I am the Red Dragon!"


Akane snorted and shouted out that setting proudly.


At the sound of her voice, the girl with glasses again dismissed her appropriately, saying, "Oh, yes, that's great!"


Meanwhile, Nekomaru, on the other hand....


-- Red Dragon......?!


Again startled, he remained stiff, unable to pick up the knife.


For the average person, it's just a mere word that is normally heard without any particular thought.


However, the alias kept ruminating in the mind of Nekomaru, who lives in the underworld, persistently and over and over again.


-- No way, really ...... that woman?


The existence of this woman was more widely known and feared than that of any other assassin in the world.


Her gender, her age, her prey, the number of people she had killed. She is the embodiment of the unknown.


What is known is that anyone who has witnessed her existence, regardless of whether they are friend or foe, has been completely obliterated.


In the midst of such a situation. Some of them had managed to escape after witnessing her work by chance, though at different times and in different places.


All of them were seriously wounded to death, but they all said the same thing.


-- This thing is literally of a different dimension.


With these words, the witnesses were shot in the back by someone and died without exception.


From this testament, many people in the underworld began to speculate.


The assassin must have been strong beyond belief. Or perhaps she possesses exceptional brains. Is there really such a person? Is there no one else who can testify to this?


The legend continues to swell.


The uncertainty of it's existence. And the alias that comes from it's unspeakable strength. That is what they called......--


-- Red Dragon.


"I didn't expect to find you here ......."


The corners of Nekomaru's mouth involuntarily hangs up in surprise.


The tension turned into a tremor, and the tremor transferred to his face, making it impossible for him to keep an expression on his face.


Even now, Nekomaru continues to be revered as the strongest by his peers.


However, this is only a provisional story, as the Red Dragon's strength hasn't yet been clearly defined.


No one believed that Nekomaru was truly the strongest.


"After all, that woman is definitely from our side. The fact that that alias is coming out of her mouth is proof that she is unmistakably from the underworld. -- but ......"


It's too much to say that she is the real Red Dragon, no matter how hard it's to believe.


She has finally dug her grave.


How can a person with no attention span and less-than-human-average athletic ability be a legendary assassin feared the world over?


Even in terms of brains, she is not much of a person when she can't even translate English sentences into Japanese properly. ......


-- Wait! Don't give up the possibility so easily!


Nekomaru suppressed his hasty thoughts and thought again.


What if ....... yes, I'm talking about if.


What if everything she said was true?


What if each arm really does have an unknown super weapon built into it?


Red Dragon is an assassin whose gender, age, and even the weapon she uses are unknown.


At this point, the only weapon that has been mentioned is the gun that was reportedly used to put the finishing touches on the witnesses, but there is a strong possibility that other weapons will be used as well.


In other words, the possibility that what is under that bandage is the real thing cannot be dismissed.


-- To be honest, I am still skeptical that there is a weapon capable of destroying half the earth. I'm still skeptical, but.....


The Red Dragon is literally a being of a different dimension.


The spread of the testimonials strongly and tightly bound Nekomaru's thoughts.


If it's that woman, if it's what the Red Dragon says, it's probably true.


It's not impossible. If she is such an out-of-this-world being.


Then, what was she doing in the second period of gym class?


What was that unfortunate lack of attention and athleticism ......?


The same thing happened in the first period.


Why is she so full of herself ...... with her obviously wrong Japanese translations?


Nekomaru ponders. He swims around in the sea of thoughts, searching for the right land.


Time is limited. The other side is almost finished with their lunch.


Looking at Akane, whose mouth is full of white rice and her cheeks are puffed up like a squirrel, Nekomaru expresses his contempt for the fluent fellow.


"She's a brilliant, gaping b*tch, isn't she? Even though you're trying not to be noticed, why don't you be a little more alert to the fact that I might be watching you ......?"


Even if she were the real Red Dragon, I can't help but feel that this would be an easy kill.


With it's lack of dignity, which is hard to believe for an existence that has caused a stir in the underworld, I can't picture anything but my own victory if a battle were to break out.


Perhaps, she could really kill him?


I was about to think so at the next moment. The answer that Akane had shouted in English class suddenly came to my mind.


--- "If you are touched by my wrath, everything will be enveloped in red flames, and you will be dyed jet black and weep tears of despair in that ashen world."


"...... Ha! No way--"


At that moment, the scattered pieces fit together in Nekomaru's head.


It never made the right picture, and each piece filled a different hole .......


-- That's not just a silly answer.


Continue to play the conversation that followed.


--- "Huh, you're pretty good at this, Black Cat."


--- "This is about as good as it gets. What's more, what was that joke of an answer you just gave? The Japanese translation was a mess, and the second half of the sentence was obviously added."


--- "Hmph, you think that was just an answer. ...... You're not ready for this yet, are you?"


--- "What the hell.....?"


I didn't realize at the time that the remark was just snarky, but now I finally understand.


The words that when Nekomaru touches Akane's anger, everything will be enveloped in a red flame.


In addition, hidden in her left arm is a super weapon that envelops a radius of 500 meters in flames.


What does this all mean? It's ......--


-- It's a warning. It was a warning sent to me by her, warning me that if I attacked her, she would kill me. ......!


At this moment, Nekomaru's misunderstanding was finally set into the clay pot.


The completed puzzle, unfortunately, wasn't at all what he had envisioned, and in places it was turned inside out.


However, Nekomaru doesn't notice this. The consideration that accelerates in the wrong direction carries Nekomaru to further mistakes.


-- What about that gym class time? How do you explain that movement that seems so natural?


It wasn't. It was indeed a movement that seemed natural.


It was because it looked so natural that I assumed at the time that I was completely on top. I had assumed it.


But that was her trap.


What would have happened if I had just gone in there with that thought and tried to harm her?


What would have happened if I had ignored her warning and picked up my weapon?


Of course, she would have been counterattacked. I would have been defeated.


I would have been killed.


-- So, was it all an act? Was it ...... to see if I was stupid enough to try to take her in hand, oblivious to the warning?


It was a close call. A little later and I would have been killed for sure.


Looking back, I always find myself on the back foot.


That morning, when we first met, the other side had made the first move.


From that point on. I was the one dancing on her palm.


"I see. ....... So this is the battle against another dimension. ......"


It must have come back to him that he had been working his head constantly since he had hidden himself on the rooftop. Nekomaru, exhausted and powerless, looked up at the wide, blue sky.


At the same time, Akane, who had been oblivious to Nekomaru's presence the whole time, folded the sheets together with the glasses girl and, holding an empty lunch box in her hand.


"Well, now that our bellies are full, let's get going in the afternoon."


"Full of energy! Full of strength! The motivation that fills me up is burning up inside of me!"


"Yes, yes. But try not to get burned out and fall asleep during class!"


With a smile and full of energy, she shouted and left the rooftop just like that.


Nekomaru was left alone. Fatigue weighing him down as it was, he slowly stood up with his lead-like body.


He appears to be in a half-daze, but if you're asking if his expression is really a daze, you're wrong.


"Kukuku......"


He is smiling.


His shoulders were shaking, his mouth hung like a crescent moon, and Nekomaru was smiling a small smile as if he was trying to suppress his deviant feelings.


I never thought that the time would come when I would be so easily played by the enemy. I see, this is indeed dangerous. Dangerous, but interesting. It's interesting, Red Dragon!"


As soon as he realizes that his target is no longer there, he shouts out the name proudly.


For the first time in my life, I felt like I was losing from the bottom of my heart.


A huge, towering target that has finally revealed itself after being hidden for so long.


Thinking back on the strongest figure he had finally met, Nekomaru's heart was filled with a mixture of fear and excitement.


Then, he glared at his supposedly absent foe as if he were a cat facing it's prey.


"I'll make sure I am, Black Cat, will eat your neck."


He declared in his tightly bound will.


The story of a year between a cat and a dragon unfolded from an unexpected upheaval.


The irredeemable misunderstanding that connects these two has only just begun.



PREV | NEXT