novelThe Backside of the Earth
| ← Ch.325 | Ch.327 → |
Translator: Reflet
Editor: ryunakama
"...Where are we?"
"Who am...I?"
"No, you didn't have to respond to that."
Taiyou tightly furrowed his brow. He couldn't believe the scenery that unfolded before him. At one point he was riding on something, and the next minute he was brought to this place that he knew nothing about. Before him was a small mountain, surrounded by barbed wire fences. There was also a warning sign. So not only was he in a place that he didn't know; the sign had letters on it that weren't from his own language, spurring Taiyou's confusion.
"No seriously, where is this?"
"The home base of...the, mafia."
"Mafia!?"
"Oh, but they're...not, yakuza."
"Yes, I can tell that, thank you!"
Taiyou looked at the barbed fence and solemn sign in front of him. Suddenly, it came to him.
"...So when you say mafia..."
"?"
"Does that mean this isn't Japan?"
"Good...eye."
"Seriously? Why did it have to come to this..."
"You said you'd...come with, me."
"I did. I did say that, but..."
He had no idea that she would take him to a place like this. He resisted the urge to say this, however. Now that they were here, that was that.
"Hera."
"Jajjajaaan!"
Hera appeared out of midair.
"Oh? Where is this, Taiyou-chan? And why is it the afternoon?"
"You can tell where everyone is, right?"
"Your wives? Yes, I can. Who do you want to know ab—-wait, what?"
"What's wrong?"
"Everyone's under."
"Under?"
Taiyou looked at the ground. He questioned what she meant by under, but he soon got it. Looking at Shirokiyami, he inquired fearfully.
"This isn't...the other side of the earth, is it?"
"You have...a good, eye."
"That's gotta be a lie."
"Eh? What are you two talking about?"
Hera didn't seem to grasp what was happening, and likewise, Taiyou seemed like he figured something out but actually hadn't caught up either. Nor was there enough time to understand.
"Taiyou-chan, something's flying our way."
"Eh?"
Perplexed, he followed Hera's gaze. He could see something flying toward them from the mountaintop. Making a trail of smoke as it flew over, he noted that it was something he had seen numerous times before.
"Rocket launcher!"
"Ohhh!"
Taiyou was astonished, while Hera seemed to be rejoicing for some reason. Meanwhile, Shirokiyami prepared her katana with a clinking sound.
"Katana?"
"I shall...cut it."
"No no, just leave it to—-"
Shirokiyami jumped out, hurling a beam of light at the smoldering projectile, cutting it down as it landed behind her with an explosion.
"You okay?!"
Taiyou ran over. Shirokiyami casually sheathed her sword.
"Let's...go."
"Go? Go where?"
He asked, and then he saw another beam of light. The fence was cut, and a path was opened. Acting as the senpai, Shirokiyami dashed off.
"What are you going to do, Taiyou-chan?"
"Well whatever I decide to do, you gotta go back and tell everyone not to worry."
"Can you not just call them?"
"Pretty sure my phone's out of range...so that's the situation."
Taiyou said while chasing after Shirokiyami. But he didn't chase her via the spiraling, asphalt-adorned mountain path, but rather straight up to the top of the mountain. As if she had been slowing down for his sake, Taiyou managed to catch up to her side, asking her a question.
"You said this is the mafia's base, right? Why come to a place like this though?"
"For, work."
"Work?"
"I was asked...to eliminate the mafia here."
"That's some dangerous stuff. Who asked you?"
"A business...that sells, narcotics."
"Whoa, seriously?"
"I am...receiving, some spare cash."
"Spare cash? That's a cute way to put it."
"It's, tasty."
"I'm sure that's the case."
"I'm not...talking about the narcotics you know."
"I'm sure that's the CASE!"
He exclaimed in a loud voice. As someone who had once entrusted her with a mission, this so-called "spare cash" payment was something that he could imagine was worth being called "tasty".
"I bet you don't even care which jobs you get."
"No...I do too."
"Then what criteria do you have?"
"..."
Shirokiyami glanced at Taiyou. It seemed like she wanted to say something, but didn't end up saying it. He was curious as to why she gave him that look, but he didn't ask. There was no time to ask, after all. After climbing for some time, they came out of the wilderness into an open area, facing a large amount of enemies that had been waiting for them.
Wearing worn-out shirts and quarter-length pants, they also had conical shapes attached by string around their necks.
They were tanned, and upon first glance they might look like your average farmer, other than the fact that they were carrying sub machine guns. As soon as they saw them, the enemy fired out a round, the cartridges rocking violently from side to side firing countless bullets.
Taiyou did nothing.
'Negate Long-Range'. This was the first skill he had ever obtained, making any projectiles ineffective. He simply stood there and took the hits.
The lead bullets hit him, lost their momentum, and fell onto the ground.
On the other hand, Shirokiyami did nothing...or so it seemed. Countless bullets zoomed past her body, flying into the distance.
"Aw, c'mon."
"It was...my afterimage."
"...You know full well that leaving an afterimage in the bombardment is going overboard."
Taiyou opened his eyes wide, extremely exasperated.
| ← Ch. 325 | Ch. 327 → |