Volume 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)
The Colosseuers-
A road cut in between the forest and the river
The thick woods was completely separated from the clear waters Here, the river's leeve doubled as a road It was on a slightly higher altitude coher compared to the forest
The road's dirt was hard, ularly traversed through by wheeled vehicles
However, right now, only a single motorrad (Note: Theeled vehicle Refers to only ones that cannot fly in the sky) was dashi+ng down the path with extreme speed
Thesun, which had just risen up from the horizon Their shadows stretched extensively toward the direction they were headed towards
The rider was of slender figure; the shadow, long and thin Wearing a light brown long coat, the excess length rapped around both thighs Worn on the head was a hat with a small visor It resembled that of an aviator's, and also of military uniforms So as to not have it be bloay by wind pressure, the earflaps were tied way down to the chin The rider also wore a pair of goggles, one of silver fra
The da face
”What a nice road! But you're going way too fast!”
The motorrad shouted to its rider
”What are you saying! Have you grown senile all of a sudden, Hermes?”
The rider shouted back, not at all easing on the acceleration Cranked up to top gear, even The ine roared so loudly that one would think the , and the vibration was so violent that one would fear some parts were broken
The motorrad was one without a back seat, but rather a carrier Bound on it were a large bag and a rolled-up blanket Additionally, boxes for storing additional luggage was installed to both its sides, s clattered as the motorrad raced forth with extreme speed A small silver cup, tied to a net, wobbled around intensely
The road had occasional gentle bu the speed, and the motorrad was airborne
The luh the air for several meters, and landed with a thud
”GYAH--!”
The motorrad, referred to as Hermes, screamed Up to this point, the rider finally eased up the accelerator The speed was dropped to about half of what it was at before, and the rider spoke up in a tone of uncontainable excitement
”Whoa there, Herht?”
Her quite resentful
”Don't 'you alright?'to break apart!”
The rider, referred to as Kino, shi+fted the gear down one level and spoke up carelessly,
”It's fine, it's fine; I' That aside, we hit a hundred back there Been a while since we last done that While loaded up like this, no less Be proud, Hermes”
”Get this, Kino? For a motorrad, top speed would obviously mean 'the speed at which it breaks apart'”
Hermes rebutted, in a composed manner
Likely snapped out of the trance of excitement, Kino proceeded to speak in a calhtly tap on the motorrad's tank twice,
”Sorry about that, Hermes”
”What're you even rushi+ng for?”
”Now, it's important that you use your abilities to the fullest once in a while Otherwise your skill will grow dull before you even know it”
”Oh, is that so”
Hermes said in a monotone recitation, not at all impressed
”That's right Oh, and we'll be at the next country soon”
”I don't really have faith in your 'soon,' Kino”
To Herrumbles, Kino said, left hand pointed forward,
”Look, over there”
Beyond where Kino was pointing at was a gentle doard slope, and beyond it were city walls The terrain was a shallow basin, with the gray wall as inside stood in a disarray, and an enormous elliptical structure could be seen in the center
”I've been wanting to visit this place for a while now”
An expression of fascination was painted on Kino's face
In a ested absolutely no interest, both in Kino and the country they're headed towards, Hermes muttered,
”Once we get there, I want to rest in soht level of humidity”
===
”What was that?”
Kino, coat still on, loudly repeated the question And so the gatekeeper, a young soldier, replied,
”I'll say it as many times as you like You've entered the country Which ible participant 'Tis a set policy”
Kino, with a ust, asked on,
”So, you're telling me I have to take part in that contest?”
”That's right, boy You ca that or what?”
The soldier said, in aKino for a complete idiot
Face painted with an outward expression of indignance, Kino said in a powerful tone,
”Could you please stop calling me 'boy'? I'm Kino”
”Oh, whatever But you're participating, and that's final You knohat'll happen if you don't?”
The soldier asked with a grin
”How am I supposed to know?”
As Kino said so, the soldier delightfully continued,
”Then I'll tell you You'll live the rest of your life here as a slave Branded as a coho refused to fight and ran away, that is”
”What's up with that?”
”Isn't that obvious? It's the law of this country Break it, and you get the death penalty”
===
Kino and Herh the procedures to enter the country which they arrived at the gate of When that was over, the gatekeeping soldier said, 'your nu clueless as to what that an his explanations with a look of exasperation on his face
In this country, once every three hts of citizenshi+p Those ished to live in the country would have to do battle in the colosseum, and the sole victor who made it to the end would be made citizen
The contests were held over the course of three days The opening day, which happened to be today, was host to the first and second rounds The third and fourth would then commence tomorrow And finally, on the third day, the final round would coiven free rein in choosing the weapons they employed The spectation of others' battles were forbidden, however
Either side could offer to surrender, but only when the opponent accepted it would the capitulation be effective Otherwise, whomever was immobilized first would be dee i killed If one intended to flee froed with cowardice under fire and executed on sight
Almost all the residents of the country crowded into the colosseu would also be spectating frohts of complaint if they were hit by stray bullets and were injured or killed
The king would grant aAt that time, they would also be per and everything, as long as it did not contradict any other law that had been there prior Although this ive the impression that the citizens were actually involved in the country's administrations, it was practically a mere reward Up to now, the victors would only add laws to satisfy their selfish desires, such as 'from this moment forth, there shall not be a time when I do not have a house to live in'
With all that said and done, today was the last day of reception Those who have passed through the gate up until now, no ible participants of the contest
===
”So what'll it be? You in? Or is it straight to the slave shed, li'l Kino? If you choose slavery, then you'll be the very first one, y'know”
The soldier said And while that was going on, the other soldiers, ones seeathered around Each of the sneer painted on their faces As if to show off, they rattled their persuaders, (Note: Firear excessive
”Since when did this event begin?”
Kino asked the original soldier, disregarding all of the others
”Around seven years ago But really, you shouldn't call it just an event What do you take the glorious rights of citizenshi+p for?”
”Glorious rights of citizenshi+p, you say?”
Kino glared at the soldier once more
”I was told that this country was surrounded by greeneries, with forests and fields that provided plenty And that the people who lived here were modest and led simple, splendid lives”
From the back, another soldier came forward and interrupted
”Hey, hey, that's still true Don't just go ahead and write your own history like that There's plenty to eat even if you don't work It's what you would call a paradise on the et in”
Keeping a perfectly calm tone, Kino directed a question toward everyone present
”So what happened seven years ago?”
The young soldier turned to his co his shoulders, as if asking what he should be doing One aed soldier, stepped forward and offered to specially educate the traveler on the subject
”The king was succeeded Seven years ago, his , an from there Those ished to live in this country came, and they came in heaps But we couldn't just make all of those punks our citizens That's e had theht; if they could provide us with entertainest one in The rest can go straight to their graves for all we care”
Having said all that, he then put his face right up to Kino's
”Did you get all that, boy?”
Kino, facial expression unchanged, continued,
”Yes, I understood it And I have another question”
The soldier had an una back, ”What now?”
”Regarding those who participated in the contest, did all of theht to the death Have there been any travelers likethe circumstances here?”
Pfft, gushed out the soldiers upon hearing the question, before cohter
”Heh heh heh, y'know, idiots like you turn up fro and let theht face, then all of theht in the first round They'd cry and beg to surrender, like their opponents would actually accept them There's also this one time when a married couple lost their way and cae, but luckily they were ether in the first round The wife surrendered and got off safely, but the husband was killed in the next round Boy, was that a masterpiece!”
The second half of his speech was like an invitation to his fellow soldiers to laugh together in re of an incident All of thehter And none of them noticed that Kino's eyes had narrowed down
Her been told that the subject was of no relevance to motorrads This sa an unusually fierce eer
And so the motorrad knew full hat Kino was about to say from this point on
”Please lead me to it, then”
”Called it”
Hermes muttered
One ahter, looked at Kino and asked,
”Huh, did you say so?”
Met with Kino's expression as the traveler glared at him and his peers, the soldier was taken by surprise by a chill as cold as ice
”Like I said, I want you to lead me to it”
Kino, still glaring at the soldier, spoke in a detached voice
All soldiers looked at Kino, their laughter cut off The silence continued for a short while One a Kino for an idiot
”Whoa there, boy, you're really going to fight? You think you can win? Do you even have weapons? Don't tellto charm your opponents with that cute little face of yours? Ain't that many who fall for your type, y'know”
As the soldiers heard that, right when they intended to burst into laughter, a thunderous roar resounded Six heled up on the wall, were all bloay White smoke filled the interior
For a short while, the soldiers were completely clueless as to what had just happened Then, when the sound of the helround finally entered their ears, they finally noticed the hand persuader in Kino's right hand It was of the six-chambered revolver type, and Kino called it 'Canon'
”How about that? Will it do?”
While saying that, Kino slowly returned the eh holster
”Don't screw around, you little--!”
Now that the soldiers were finally done processing the situation, the young one, who had been there since the beginning, stepped forith the intention of grabbing Kino Right at the next moment, a persuader was thrusted at his forehead The persuader, drew out and held in Kino's left hand, was an automatic-type of thin silhouette that utilized 22LR bullets
To the young soldier whose facial expression and body were frozen in place, and the other soldiers who found themselves in mute amazement, Kino calmly went on to say,
”I' in the contest”
===
”Now this is what I call a mess”
After going through the gate, that was the very first thing Hermes said
What entered Kino and Here But the place was not a disposal site; the entire city was bris and roads were all filthy, and it was obvious that they had never received any maintenance Several inhabitants, clothed filthy, were sleeping in the road The city was quiet, perhaps due to the lack of activities early in thefor leftovers amid the trash heaps The whole roadside area stank
”Like city, like people eh, Kino? Or is it the other way around?”
Her nothe the soldiers
Walking down the filthy streets, they arrived at the colosseum after a short while It was the same elliptical structure which they had seen from the distance The tiered platfores were cracked in spots, exposing the metal frameithin The upmost tier was crooked particularly badly It was a structure of horribly cheap construct
”I don't knohen this place was built or by whon, too”
Once again, Hermes spoke in a manner that expressed unrestrained, honest opinions
===
Kino was led to the colosseum's basement, and was explained that this place served as the participants' lodgings The room was the kind that would s, or consider it so akin to a prison, however Inside it was a bed so worn-out that its springs poked out, a smallabove it, and a washstand and a flush toilet, befitting of a country with an abundance of water supply The place was dark, cool, and in just the right level of humidity
”I don't even knohere to start with this country”
Her soldiers left them Kino's coat was re a black jacket underneath it, with a thick belt wrapped around the waist
Several pouches were attached to the belt, and to its right side, on the thigh, hung the holster of the persuader 'Canon' To the backside of the waist was the holster of another persuader, the one Kino called 'Woodsrip pointed upwards
”It wasn't like this in its olden days It seemed to have been a wonderful country that any traveler would want to visit”
Seated on the bed, Kino spoke in an uninterested tone while pulling out the Woodsazine was dropped off Its safety was unlocked, its slide shi+fted, and the bullet inside the chamber was then picked out
”And because of that, you were so happy to get to come check it out, only to find that it's now like this Looks like thereally is extremely different from the last, huh?”
”Probably, yeah”
Kino unloaded the luggage off Heran loading each of them up
”Are you seriously going to do it, Kino?”
”Do what?”
Kino took out Canon, shi+fted its central wedge, then pulled the whole front half off the grip, barrel and all
”The contest, I mean I know you're offended and all, Kino, but that's no reason for you to play along with this crazy country Just give your opponent a good shake in the first round, and when they're about to surrender, you do it yourself instead Then we can kiss this place goodbye”
”Oh, yeah, I could do that”
Kino slipped Canon's cylinder off, then produced two e one of the cylinders into Canon, Kino said,
”But let's leave that as last resort”
”I knew it So you're seriously going to participate?”
”Yeah, for the ti is going to end in three days, it wouldn't hurt to see it through”
Using soreen liquid propellant into a cylinder's six es and bullets
Canon's front half was then fitted back in place The loading lever under the barrel was folded down, and with the plunger operating simultaneously, the lever mechanism pushed in the bullet in the cylinder's bottommost chamber
Kino took care not to pack each of thehtly The process was then repeated for the two other cylinders After all bullets were fitted in, their tops were coated with plenty of grease This was done so as to prevent the spreading of sparks fro
Then, the cylinders' backsides, where the hammer would strike, were covered with small caps They were called percussion caps; when struck, the resulting sparks would serve to ignite the liquid propellant They need not be fitted in one at a tih a dedicated loader with pre-fitted percussion caps The loader's pointed end were to be applied to the cylinders' backside
To Kino, who showed such an earnest expression while preparing those persuaders, Hermes spoke up
”Good grief There's no stopping you once you make up your mind, huh”
Kino fiddled around to double-check Canon's functionality, then, as if recalling so, suddenly smiled and said,
”It's important that you use your abilities to the fullest once in a while Otherwise your skill will grow dull before you even know it”
Hearing that, Hermes then said in a monotone recitation,
”Oh, is that so”
===
”So that's his ”
Kino, still clothed in the same jacket, walked toward the center of the colosseuht in the ly reserved for nobility, was awith a crown on his head
The croas of a sinified appearance It was a truly horrible 's showy attire
On either side of the king were young women clad in equally flashy clothes The royal box was encoht
”And these lorious citizens”
Kino slowly gazed around The seats were filled to the briardless of their sex and age Annoyingly loud sounds of cheer filled the air
===
Just otten out of the basenated participants' numbers
”I won't find it interesting anyway, so I'll pass Try to keep it down so that they don't die, yeah?”
Her instead to rest in the comfort of the room
===
The colosseum's center was an elliptic field, scattered about with junk such as wrecked vehicles and des In the center of them all was a circular open space of about twenty meters in diameter; just that place was left completely clear
The round would begin when both participants stood at opposite edges of the circle
While on the way there, Kino painstakingly surveyed the area
Fro more like a mass of muscle with a head attached His torso was bare, and his shaved head shone bright in the light He held a thick chain, at the end of which was a gigantic iron ball the size of a child Upon reaching his position, the giant tugged at the chains, finally bringing the iron ball to where he was He then looked at Kino and spoke up in a voice at least as loud as the cheering,
”Hey, hey, what's this? This little brat is my first opponent?”
”I am, yes Before the round, I have two questions I'd like to ask you First, for what purpose did you come to this country?”
To Kino's question, the giant responded with a questioning expression, ”What?”
”I asked, for what purpose did you come to this country?”
”What are you, stupid? I came here to kill all of you and become a citizen, of course”
The giant said in an exasperated tone Kino nodded in acknowledgement, then said,
”Second question Won't you surrender?”
”Coain?”
”If you surrender now, you'll be able to get out of here unharmed”
The giant, taken aback, did not provide an answer Seizing his chain and pulling the iron ball toward hiradually faster The iron ball whizzed through the air above the giant's head
Kino shrugged, right hand tapping lightly on Canon
Before long, the audience quietened down
PUU~~UN!
A resonance of trunaled commencement of the round
”DIEEEE!!”
Aliant's shout, everyforth, aiht at Kino, but never hit its mark It instead flew in a co a clean parabolic arc in the sky, then squashi+ng a burnt-out car which served as its landing spot
””
The giant, clueless as to what had just happened, looked at what re the end of it toward himself, he then observed that it had been beautifully severed
”Uh--um”
He ht hand was Canon, still siant, his expression signifying that the situation had finally sunk in, pointed at the end of the chain and asked Kino,
”You shot it?”
And Kino answered,
”I shot it, yes”
Then, the giant pointed into the distance, at the spot where the iron ball had landed
”And it flew over there?”
”It totally flew over there, yes Could you please surrender?”
Asked as such by Kino, the giant immediately answered,
”Apologies I'll go with that”
===
”My, my Uhyu To think this little brat is my opponent Uhy-hyu”
Aht, Kino was faced with the second opponent, who said iant frohing This ti man of thin physique and tall stature, whose purple hair stood up like cocksob
He held no weapons in his hands His body, both upper and loas clothed in tight black gare number of metal blades were stuck to his abdomen
Each of the thin th as his paling tightly to his body, it seemed as if they were his scales, or perhaps a strip of armor
Kino stared at thosethem over the opponent himself
The man thereupon picked off one of those bits and threw it away to his side The h the air, thenback to where it came The man reached for his back with his left arht out from his body From his wrist to his left ankle, a swath of cloth spread forth, as if it was a wing of a a
He then crossed his legs, taking one elegant step to the right The returning ht in The ht shoulder with his left hand, then tapped the cloth over his abdoain, the ht where it once was
”Uhy-hyu Did you see that? These handinal place”
Kino put up a light scowl, then abruptly spoke up,
”Please surrender I'll accept it”
”Now, that's not going to happen How about you surrender? Well, not that I'll accept it until you're dead though Uhy-hy-hy-hyu”
Thehis answer He pressed both his hands against his abdohtly forward, raising only his head up to glare at Kino
Kino's right hand tapped on Canon
PUU~~UN!
Trumpets resounded
Right that ht hand and flicked it at Kino His hand then returned to his abdo more blades in succession He did so such speed that made it impossible for one to track his hands by eye
Kino ran to the right, dodging the blades To the side, thepast with ferocious speed The ht
Theabout half of the to his abdo taunts with an ominous voice
”Uhyuu~! Right hat I just threw turn back, I'll be throwing the rest! Let's see if you can dodge the from both sides!”
Kino took a quick glance to the rear, observing that thein midair
”DIE!”
Simultaneously with his scream, the man repeatedly threw all he had left
The ht for Kino
Kino lightly shook head, then dropped faced down, flat on the ground
”Nu-huh--!?”
The e voice
”If they're sure to return to you, then they're also sure to never hit the ground, aren't they?”
Kino said to no one in particular,
HY-HY-HY-HY-HY-HY-HY-HYUN!
And at the same time, the metal blades whistled past over Kino's head
Then, right when the returning ht by the round, fired Canon
Simultaneously with a thunderous roar and puff of white s up
The bullet struck the last reht on top of the pit of his stomach The impact shocked the man to his core
”GAH-HYOH--!”
That was all the aped; he was iered, half of his consciousness still hanging on Kino, observing as he swayed around like a h
The mo fro
The metal blades passed over him
===
Kino returned to the rooloomy by that time
The traveler then put Canon and the Woodsman on the bed and took off the jacket Canon was then disassembled and fitted with a new cylinder
”Ah-huh Oh, it's just Kino When'd you get back”
Hermes, who had been sound asleep, asked in a voice that was still not quite awake
While asse Canon, Kino said,
”Just now We're staying here tonight, by the way”
”Eh, figures Well, more sleep it is, then”
And so Hermes fell into slumber once more
===
The next day, Kino woke at the break of dawn
The rooiving just enough illumination to the vicinity
Kino cleaned Canon's cylinder that had been fired the day before and loaded it with new bullets
Eating portable rations for breakfast, Kino then did soht exercises to li with the Woodsman, and after that, with Canon
A little while later, the soldier finally came to call the participants
Her all the while
===
””
Kino's first opponent for day two looked at the traveler without uttering a word
He was an elderly ht brown hair and beard were so long and full that one would not be able to tell where their ends were, and his face was covered in wrinkles
He wore a baggy and slightly filthy robe He see on his back, since there was an odd bulge right there beneath the robe For soilded troreat care There was nothing else in his hands
A hooods on his back, perforave off
Kino looked at him for a while, then called out loudly,
”If you would like to surrender, I have all the intention to accept it, sir”
””
The ht hand
Kino's right hand tapped on Canon's grip
PUU~~UN!
Simultaneously with the sound of truor, pointing its bell at Kino Kino, too, drew out Canon right when the tru a shot
The bullet struck the troht then, froe, a lukewarelatinous liquid of purple coloration spewed out instead It burst into flah the air in a parabola, co in an arch of fire
The arch then faded away, as if the fire was juround in a fiery puddle
”I kneas special A flamethrower, huh”
Kino said, left hand reaching for the backside of the waist belt, drawing out the Woodsman Its safety was turned off, and its aim was locked on to thethe in
The persuader rang a dry plosive sound Its slide shi+fted backward then back forward at an intense speed, the ee was flicked out, and a new one was loaded in its place
The ain pointed his trombone at his opponent-- at Kino With a stern look in his eyes, however surrounded by wrinkles, the th onto his whole body
PU-PU-PU-PSSH~~, a eyser of purple gushed up froht shoulder
”?”
Dyed in purple by the liquid that had rained down, the man was overcome with surprise Kino, with the Woodsht, addressed him,
”I shot the hidden hose on your shoulder The hole may be small, but any more pressure and it will explode You will surrender noon't you, sir?”
””
The man closely observed the state of his own body He continued doing so for a short while, before speaking up in a deep voice,
”I refuse”
”You no longer have a way to win this”
Kino said to the lared back at his opponent without so much as a quiver
”Kill me”
”Pardon?”
”I said kill me”
When Kino was about to say so, a voice from the spectator seat yelled,
”Finish him! Kill him!”
The others in the audience then started to shout, one after another
KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL HIM! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL HIM NOW! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! SHOOT HIM! KILL! KILL!
Kino slowly turned, looking at the audience as they screaleefully, as if they have turned mad Then, all of a sudden, a shot from Canon was fired up into the air Simultaneously with the explosive roar, the entirety of the spectator seatings instantly fell silent
Kino then took a look at the royal box seat, in which the king was seated
As usual, the king was clothed in gaudy attire, sitting high up and looking down at Kino, with a sneer painted on his face As their eyes lare under a well-mannered smile
The elderly man interrupted,
”What are you doing? Hurry and shoot ht to the death, the winner lives, and the loser dies That has always been the way of my life I've killed hundreds And I've lost this contest That is why I will die, and you, li'l miss, will live on”
Kino produced a wry s,
”Now, sir, li'l miss is a tad bit aard, so I'll have to ask you to drop it I'm Kino”
”Kino, eh A good name I'll remember to take that with me to the afterlife”
”Why, thank you”
While saying so, Kino strode up to the ainst his forehead, then cocked the hammer with the thumb,
CLINK
”Please surrender”
”No”
”So I'm left with no choice, then”
Kino pulled the trigger
The hammer was slowly lowered back in place with a press of the thumb The rinned back at him
The nextit on the long barrel instead With the rip faced to its wielder's right, walloped the man on his temple
That made short work of the situation-- almost instantaneous
The ht, unconscious
===
”A cutie like you is my opponent? What in the world were your other opponents even doing?”
The second opponent for day two-- the semi-final round, in other words-- confronted Kino and spoke bluntly
A young woether, she was a beauty of sharp facial features and tall stature
She wore a ca off the impression of a military outfit Over her shi+rt was a vest covered in little pouches Pouches were also attached to the thighs of her pants, these ones of the deep type, see, narrow objects
Gripped in her left hand was a persuader, a rifle type ooden stock It was a bolt-action es and the loading of new bullets had to be done manually
The htly in front of the gunlock Other than that part, the persuader was of a sli it look more like a pole
”They must have been careless”
”Ahha, they probably did I use that trick all the time, too”
Kino asked,
”Is becooal?”
”Me? It is, yeah You knohy?”
As Kino denied knowing so, the woman suddenly declared in a tone of wild enthusiasm,
”A while ago, when I was in the area, I found this suu~per cute boy at the edge of the forest! I' to make him mine, no matter what!”
Kino was taken aback And it showed conspicuously on the face
”It's the thing they call womanly nature, I suppose You understand, don't you?”
”No”
”Oh, that so?”
Still in an expression of s, Kino asked,
”Um, I'm pretty sure you'll refuse, but could you please surrender?”
”Hey, that's my line”
The reply came without so much as a moment's delay
”So it's futile, as I thought”
Kinoon Canon
The woman pulled her persuader's bolt open Then, from the pouch on her chest, she produced a stripper clip of five long aes She inserted theo Then she removed the clip, closed the bolt, and loaded the first shot
PUU~~UN!
Right as the trumpets sounded, both participants broke away fro for the junk heaps behind them They then dove for cover behind those heaps The woe behind a heap of scrapped iron co stance, then pointed her long persuader forward, holding it firmly
She then breathed in quickly, exhaled only a little bit of it, then held her breath Ai at the core of the junk heap which Kino had hidden behind, she fired a shot
Together with a long, sharp plosive sound, the woman bent backwards in recoil From the first junk heap, Kino jumped behind another heap to the side The bullet pierced through the head which Kino had hidden behind previously, tearing its way to the spot where Kino had been just seconds ago
The wo away from the heap which she had shot at
”You're pretty good”
CLINK! The wo the spent cartridge and loading the next
”Ar bullets, huh”
Kinooff the safety Cautiously, but also swiftly, Kino circled around to the wo for another cover
Slowly peeking out frolint of the wo rubble, a strip of stone wall Right when the traveler lied face down-- BAKOW! The sound of a bullet could be heard as it drilled right through the stone
BAKOW! BAKOW! BAKOW!
The woman fired three et rid of Kino, an obstacle to her goal With each hit, the collective mass of stone wavered
Staying down, Kino then caught sight of a fist-sized rocks rolling on the ground in close proximity
The wo her persuader firmly, picked out a new ammunition clip and loaded it in When she took ai, she felt an acute pain run through her head
”Ouch--!”
As the woht before her eyes She dodged in a panic, but it stillin rapid succession The wo to the onally in front of her and crouching down
As she placed her left hand on her head, blood ran down froolden hair
”damn--!”
The woer, carelessly poked her head out of cover and pointed her persuader, only to withdraw right back down in a hurry as she saw that Kino was aiht at her
Kino did not shoot, instead running while still keeping steady ai behind a heap of furniture and building wreckage-- chairs, desks,frames, and doors
Sweat and a single line of blood ran down the woman's forehead, and she wiped them off with her hand
Kino shouted a question to the woman,
”Can you hear me? Are you sure you won't surrender?”
”Very funny! Don't you dare underestimate women!”
”In this short range, that persuader puts you at a disadvantage”
””
That was the woman's reply
Crouching with back against a rip on the Woods Sweat appeared on Kino's forehead, too, with one drop trickling down the cheek Kino muttered,
”Winning without killing really is hard, Master”
Meanwhile, the woman pulled out her persuader's bolt, as per the disassembly procedure From the pocket on the backside of her waist, she took out a cylindrical component and inserted it into where the bolt once was It fitted into the chamber perfectly, as if it had always been there before Then, fro, narrow rinned
Kino peeped through the lower left corner of the junk heap and checked as happening ahead Looking at thebehind, Kino shot the top with a satisfying sound and fell to the other side, bringing other pieces on the heap cru with it
The woman held her persuader under her ar it in that manner, fired a shot Kino had intended to jump out of cover immediately when the woman fired a shot, but stopped the decision in a hurry, taken by surprise upon hearing the coht impact of the bullet
For about three seconds, an uninterrupted stream of bullets streaked forth They landed and kicked up the dirt right beside Kino, who now laid low on the ground
”Wh-what the--?”
Kino rolled to the right edge of the junk heap and slowly peeked out
The woman could be seen under a new cover, two heaps apart fro out of it: a long, narrow ht
”Now that's a first”
Kino blurted out while withdrawing back into cover The persuader, which had been fired and loaded o, had suddenly turned into an auto tens of uninterrupted shots
A strategy would be to wait for her to fire all she had, then approach her while shooting continuously, forcing her to surrender without giving her enough time to reload, but,
”That's unreliable”
Kino muttered At the saht side of the junk heap As chips of scrap metal danced and fluttered about, Kino retreated to the middle of the heap
The woazine, which still had a few shots left, and loaded in a new one She revealed herself fro stance, held her persuader in a half-crouching posture, and slowly approached the rubble which Kino was hiding behind Then, she said,
”You've done well, persisting this long Big sis is going to wrap things up for you I won't shoot anymore, so come on out I'll accept your surrender”
”Oh, really”
Kino's reply ca her ai a cautious glare on the left, the woht
Mere seconds later, the woman suddenly opened fire and circled around to the back of the heap, charging in head-on Bullets, spent shells, and plosive sounds scattered and filled the air
Kino was nowhere to be seen behind the rubble which she had sprayed bullets at Instead, a door was there, stood up slantwise Several bullets had struck the door, and all of them bounced off
With a split-second, the woman came to the conclusion that Kino had circled around to the other side She held her fire, and as she was about to turn around,
”?”
She noticed that a person's hand was sticking out one side of the door, gripping a hand persuader And on the other side, half of a person's face was peeking out diagonally, one of those large eyes looking right at her
”LIIIAARRR~~”
Kino said, see it The woman was painted in an expression of astonishment
Together with dry string of plosive sounds, the Woodsht shoulder The woman's persuader dropped from her hands
Keeping steady aied from behind the door
Hmph, the wo,
”Looks like I have no choice, so I surrender”
”Thank you very much”
As Kino said that, the wo from her head and shoulder, asked with a smile,
”You're pretty cute, now that I got a good look Want to do so sis later?”
===
When Kino returned to the roo sound
Kino was carrying a heavy-looking paper bag