Ken yo, kaku katariki – 26
26 – Butterfly of Death
It was located in a corner of the underworld.
What was left of the magic reactor, which was abandoned during construction.
That being said, the actual ether core and reactor had been dismantled a long time ago. It was just metal pipes and platforms now.
And there they were.
The eye-catching fashion and tattoos. The dangerous-looking faces.
“Who the hell are you? Do you know what this place is, eh?”
Came the warm welcome as soon as we stepped foot inside. Four men appeared from the shadows and surrounded us.
Why was it? I did not feel afraid at all.
“Hello. Death Butterflies.”
“Bfftt…”
Death Butterflies? With those faces? Butterflies?
But Mr. Sylt ignored my reaction and continued with a serious expression. No, his jaw was very tense. I’m sorry.
“…I want to meet with your leader. It is related to that briefcase that you took.”
“Eh? The hell are you…”
“…You. You a Hunter?”
The man with the earphone and mic stopped the one who was glaring. He then looked at Mr. Sylt closely.
“Well, yeah.”
“Tsk…”
Damned monster watchers. He spat. And then for a second, he glanced upwards.
I followed his gaze, saw the security camera pointed down at us.
“I just have one request. Return the suitcase you stole from the police. That is all.”
The men looked enraged, but Mr. Sylt was indifferent.
He had nothing to worry about.
Both he and I had noticed that the man with the headset was hiding a pistol. However, that was not enough to affect Sylt’s confidence.
“Well, calm down now. It’s not like you guys can open it. It’s just trash then, right? I don’t see how this is a bad deal.”
After pondering on it for a moment, the man whispered something into his mic, and then turned away from us.
“The boss will see you. Follow me. But don’t try anything funny.”
Mr. Sylt shrugged and looked at me.
What? Of course, I won’t do anything.
With the men still surrounding us, we walked through the abandoned factory, which was rather complicated.
As it aged badly, the walls were all rusted with their paint peeling. Some were already collapsed rubble. And there were piles of junk that I didn’t recognize as anything.
There were routes through gaps that you could not see at first. It would definitely be hard to navigate through here without a guide.
Though, they could have been making it more confusing on purpose.
“…If we don’t have a guide, we’ll just have to cut through everything.”
“…Please don’t do that. Really.”
Mr. Sylt looked a little pale.
Just a last resort, of course.
“…Boss. We brought them.”
They were in the far back.
Surprisingly, it looked quite cozy. There was a sofa, refrigerator, and some kind of generator they must have picked up from somewhere, which let off a blue light. And there were bottles of booze on the floor.
And there, in front of us, the sinister-looking man on the sofa. So that was their boss.
…Though, there was a guy in the back who was punching a sandbag for some reason.
Not only that, but every punch was incredibly loud. Like an explosion. Was this some kind of intimidation tactic?
“So you have. Well, sit down.”
And so we sat down on the sofa.
The man then gestured towards the table…where the suitcase had been placed.
“This the thing you bastards are after?”
“Oh? Are you just going to give it back then?”
I couldn’t help but ask, and the man chuckled.
“It’s true, the thing can’t be opened. I even tried shooting at the lock with a pistol. And I can hardly sell it if I don’t know what is inside…”
He seemed to find this amusing.
“Still, the coppers want it back, and were even willing to send you monster hunters to go after it.”
I see. So he wanted to know where we all stood.
Mr. Sylt asked him to continue, and the man raised his hands and said, ‘So let’s make a deal then.’
“5 million. A generous price, isn’t it? By the way, it’s not negotia-”
“Sorry, but that’s now how this is going to work.”
Mr. Sylt shook his head.
“You’re wanted, dead or alive. Of course, the police will not pay you… And do we look like we have that kind of money?”
The man’s eyebrows twitched.
Immediately, the men around us pulled out their guns.
“Do you understand what kind of situation you’re in…?”
“I’d like to ask you the same thing.”
And just like that, a whirlwind.
The violent gust moved with precision, blasting the hands, and knocking the pistols from their grip.
Furthermore, one of the guns flew in the air and landed in Mr. Sylt’s hand with near comical accuracy.
He then pointed it at the boss.
“Wha…”
“I’m not a bad Hunter, and even alone, I can take you all out. However, this guy is a freak who I could never compare to. And so I don’t recommend any resistance.”
“Freak…”
I felt quite bad about this revelation that Mr. Sylt didn’t even see me as a human.
However, he did not reply and remained serious.
Uh, did he really mean it then?
“You…”
“This is going to be fun!!”
Boom. The great sound of an explosion.
When I turned to look, the sandbag had blown away, exploding what had been underneath the cloth.
…So sand bags weren’t filled with sand. I didn’t know that.
“You’ve got a big mouth, bastard. You say you can beat them all alone?”
Now that was an abnormal man.
He was not taller than Mr. Grafios. He did not even look as strong as Mr. Grafios.
However, there was something inhumane about the way his muscles bulged. Like a bodybuilder. I muttered with exasperation.
And then the man opened his eyes wide.
“Then I can do it too!”
He shouted.
“Gin…you idiot…”
The boss said, shaking his head.
Yes. I get.
He was a meathead.
Thanks for the chapter.
Thank you!