3 Chapter 3: The Order

Following the toilet incident, school was swiftly closed for an indefinite period of time.

It was understandable when you think about what happened, really, although I was sure the truth would be kept under wraps as the investigation continues.

Because I used an explosive to utterly annihilate the killer's body, there is no way for them to trace anything back to me, so I'll be fine.

Even if they do find something, I'll just move to a new place where they can't find me.

Being 17, I was in my penultimate year of high school, but the year had almost come to a close anyway, so it's not like being shut down makes anyone miss out on much; we had already finished all of our end-of-year exams after all.

In any case, now that I had a lot more free time, I thought it was time to move on to Phase Two: protecting myself from the masterminds of this attempted assassination.

Truth be told, I already know who they are.

Still, it would remain a difficult task as the target was an underground organisation I had never heard of before called the Order of the Night-Time Chrysanthemum.

It was a rather artistic name for a criminal organisation; one that most certainly contained some kind of hidden meaning or intention behind it, but none of that made any difference to me.

The 'new leader' of these guys also wasn't one who cared about such things, which is probably why he left the name alone when he took over.

So, there are two ways to go about getting them off my back for good.

In reality, I only have to take down the leader since he's the one who wants me in the first place, but that guy plays way too safe, so it's a little tough.

Hmm... It's been a long time since someone has offered to play a game like this with me. I recall playing a similar game a long time ago with him and... Someone else, but it's around the same time as my hazy memories, so I forget the details.

In any case, that guy, he's quite the cheeky one.

Sending someone like that Benjamin to kill me so straightforwardly; there's no way he thought I would be careless, so he must've sent him as a sort of greeting after a long time.

Indeed, I thought it was strange since he would be oh so distraught if I were to die.

We hadn't known each other for long, but we know each other well.

How nostalgic.

It's unfortunate that I've run out of resources. All I can do is mess around with them until he decides to act seriously.

Then... Should we play a little? 

Professor.

❖─────❖─────❖

Walking through the bustling town centre for a while, I stopped in the centre square and wondered if I had given them enough time. 

I'm sure I must have, though I didn't want to get too impatient.

Are they following me yet? If so, how many and where are their positions?

「Yes; four in total: two blending in with the crowd behind you at 07:00 and 08:00; one hiding atop the buildings to your right at 03:00; and one sitting on a bench watching you from behind the fountain at 10:00. All enemies are in your blind spots」

Along with descriptions of the opponents' positions, I was also shown images of where in the square they are.

Four? So the rest are still watching from a distance, huh... Even though it's busy, the fact I can't see any of them is impressive. 

Is there anything I should be cautious about? Weapons, for example?

「Weapons include knives and small handguns with tranquiliser pellets. Additionally, they are carrying equipment specialised for abduction: various anaesthetics and chloroform-soaked rags, as well as blindfolds, duct tape, gags and bullet-proof kevlar vests」

「The anaesthetics are paired with syringes, however whether or not they are able to administer the correct non-lethal dosage is questionable」

Right, because they're grunts.

There's no way guys like these would know how to do something like correctly measure and administer liquid anaesthetic. They've probably never experienced using such chemicals in their lives, so of course they wouldn't know how much is safe to inject.

Tsk.

Wouldn't they just end up killing me with an overdose if they got their hands on me and did that?

「It is likely that would be the case, although not their intention」

These lazy... I suppose they would rely on the chloroform, in that case.

Well, anyway, it's about time.

Without making it obvious that I know I'm being followed, I casually made my way into one of the highstreet's empty side alleys.

Perhaps they thought this was their chance; the instant I approached the half-way point of the alleyway―a distance where someone likely wouldn't be able to escape by the time they realised they were in trouble―they showed themselves.

One by one, they emerged on both sides of me.

Crash-!

Jumping down to block the path ahead of me from somewhere above, one burly man appeared.

Then, behind me, two slightly smaller men of similar stature blocked the way I came.

The fourth one stood watch just outside in case someone unrelated was trying to get through from the square.

The three of them wore black balaclavas and gloves, and concealed behind those casual clothes were the bulletproof kevlar vests Truth mentioned. They also carried two duffle bags that carried their 'goods' inside, but regrettably, they wouldn't get the chance to use them.

As the man in front of me slowly closed in, I saw what their little strategy was.

...Are they stupid?

Were they simply not briefed on the existence of Truth, or did they think they could take me on despite that?

The two guys behind me spread themselves just enough to block the entire alley; behind them was the other dude, so they seemed to make the fact they didn't want me to run back to the populated highstreet very clear.

I didn't see the point in it though, as I had never intended to flee in the first place.

The one in front of me puffed out his chest to act big, but it just reminded me of a dog who only knows how to bark loudly. Maybe he thought that I wouldn't be able to fight back because I wasn't all that strong.

It might have worked as intimidation against someone who has never experienced something like this before, but... I know how to fight against big guys too, you know?

"Hm...!"

Wordlessly, he charged at me like a rhinoceros with his arms spread to the side in an attempt to grab me, but that left his lower-half wide open. 

I swiftly lowered my stance and dashed to the side. Narrowly avoiding his grab attack, I targeted his legs with a kick, causing him to trip and fall to the ground.

Slam-!

"Guh!" 

He groaned as his chin impacted the cobblestone below.

...Huh?

Perhaps it was because he neglected his legs during training, but that was a lot easier than I thought. It had been a while since I'd had to move my body like this outside of physical education class, but it seems I had been worried for nothing.

It felt strange since I'm not at all a muscular person, but well, it was clear from this short exchange that they were simply inferior to me anyway.

As I glanced blankly at the two guys who were behind me, they seemed to hesitate for a moment after I downed their teammate in an instant.

When they saw that I didn't take the free opportunity to flee, they helped the guy off the floor and both of them started running at me at once.

They had handguns in one of those duffel bags, but did they choose not to use them because they thought they could capture me without them? Rather, it was likely that the roaming city square security would've caught them.

They took up the entire width of the alley so that I couldn't pull the same trick twice, but it didn't matter.

In the first place, their goal was not to kill me, but to abduct me.

Ever since the beginning, they stood no chance.

"...Okay. That's enough."

I think I've had enough of these guys now.

――Taking out the suppressed Ruger Mark IV pistol from within my coat's interior pocket, I wasted no time in pulling the trigger at each of their defenceless foreheads before they could react.

Thud, thud-!

Anticlimactically, the two grunts' bodies went ragdoll mid-motion and collapsed helplessly onto the ground together. Inertia carried them in their trajectory as they slid a little further on the ground.

Before the guy I tripped realised what happened and did something unpredictable, I made sure to execute him as well, and right after the fourth guy on standby heard the sound of all these bodies dropping like pins at a bowling alley, I put an end to him, too.

It was a shame their preparation turned out to be for nought.

All in all, the ordeal didn't last more than two or three minutes.

On another note, this Mark IV is quite brilliant with the suppressor modification. It produces no more noise than a pen click, and yet delivers such efficient results.

Fantastic, and a job well done thanks to it.

Anyway, while those scouts run away and report what happened, let's get out of here before the dead bodies attract too much attention.

To protect myself, it's time to secure myself a better base of operations.