Chapter 21 (1/2)
Chapter 21[PART 1]
21 Rescue
The wind howled in her ear
The toas lit by twilight
The nightscape grew behind her
A girl covered in black ran
She ran on the rooftops, tap, tap
She left behind only the light taps of her footsteps
A shadow stretched out from her feet
A fish… A bird… A cat… An arm
It leaped and swam joyfully
As it hectically changed its form it showed her the way
The ht 『Kerstin』
The incarnation of twilight and afterglow, the ruler of twilight
Aileen followed the spirit's directions and headed to where Lily was
Kerstin was a spirit that both manipulated and moved within the shadows
She was a fleeting being that could only ht and before the darkness
Compared to Kei's contracted spirit, the maiden of wind, 『Siv』, she had little in the way of interfering with the physical world As her specialty wasshadows, she also didn't have a way to directly attack, either
However, that was also why she required such low ic had effectively no cost She was easy to use, but she had her lie wouldn't find much use for her—but, she was a perfect fit for a ninja that used only auxiliary ic
”So, she's here…”
The corner of the Old Town
Aileen bent over the ledge of the roof and peered down the street, now devoid of people The shadow that extended fro across from her
A two-story brick building overlooked the slightly dirty street It was undecorated; it looked like a warehouse Light leaked from various s on the first and second floors She didn't even need to spy to tell that people were there The first floor in particular, she could hear men's rowdy and lively voices there from where she was
She ni start, she easily ju silently on all fours Still on all fours, she crept unnoticed to thelike a cat
Aileen dangled upside down, holding herself by her legs on the ledge of the roof, and looked in through the gaps of the storm shutter
It's surprisingly clean in there…
Her first impression of the place was that it looked like no one lived there; it was empty There was hardly any furniture, only a tasteless wooden floor In the corner of the room was a small table and chair in which sat a ht In the back of the room she could see stairs that led down She could also see the swaying shadows of the boisterous men
The pages rustled as the man turned them He looked to be the only one on the second floor, and he failed to notice the ninja outside theAfter a while, she decided that she wouldn't likely gain any new infor the man read, so she moved away from the
She took a grapple and rope out of her bag, hooked it onto the edge, and descended to the ground
It sot closer The first floor was noisy There was quite the party going on inside
Wait, isn't that…
Her expression changed to surprise and bewilderathered around a table and had alcohol in hand Out of all the unclean nized one of them
—Borris! Why is he here?
He had his ar loudly with his unkempt, frizzy black hair and wild eyes
It ithout a doubt, the o
She groaned and leaned against the wall
Is that asshole part of this too…?
Lily was a sirl Montand and Kiska said that she wouldn't carelessly get caught up in soal
A crime committed by a family member
She set aside whether Borris really could be called a relative—if he was involved in the kidnapping, then it was unsurprising that Lily let her guard down
The hell is he thinking… Borrowing hter?!
Her bewilder hier, she didn't rush in for a frontal attack
『Kerstin…』 she quietly called the waving shadow at her feet 『Kie estas Lily?』
The shadoered her by for the wall as a screen
”Unua etago (The second floor)…?”
The shadoaved its hand and then wrote out in cursive,『Neniu』
”Teretago (The first floor)?”
『Neniu』
”Tegmonto (The attic)?”
『Neniu』
”Huh?” She wanted to yell, then where?! But held it back and thought calo (A mezzanine floor)… A hidden room?”
『Jes』Kerstin finished writing and gave a thu back to a normal shadow
She felt a little relief and muttered to herself, ”A hidden room, huh…”
If Lily was being confined in a hidden room, then that meant she was still alive On the other hand, if she was soround, Aileen wouldn't be able to keep calm
No should I do this?
She folded her arht
Surprise the?
Avoid fighting and try to get her out?
Beat theet her out of there…
The thought of personally beating the However, after she considered the risks she deteret Lily out of there
『Kerstin, ment of a turquoise jewel and dropped it It sank into the shadow 『Vi priskribas la plankon plano de ci tiu domo, kaj vi diros al mi la pozicio de Lily』She placed both hands on the stone wall 『Ekzercu (Execute)』
In an instant, the shadow ran along the outline of the building It was unlikely that anyone inside noticed it
It slipped into the cracks, under the tables, and even the shadows of the loud men inside
The shadow stood up in front of Aileen Jet black lines began to for like a 3D aniht, but she was able to grasp where the rooms and people were
The plans didn't reveal anything particular strange about the storehouse layout On the first floor were the seven boisterousman However, she didn't see Lily there
『Kie estas Lily?』
A shadow hand rose froround and pointed to the middle of the ht next to the gentle looking man, a small space in the floor The hidden room was too small to really be a room Since it wasn't drawn out, the black box ht in there
In other words, Lily was confined to a pitch-black room too small to even move around in
Aileen's expression turned grim This was terrible treatht of how scared Lily must be, shut away in the s, too
They were the epitome of scum
One punch wouldn't be enough
Righteous indignation burned in her chest She scowled at the light that leaked out of the first floorShe told herself to put off beating theh she wanted to break down the shutter and run wild
Lily's rescue came first
She bent over and lightly ju in front of her and behind her to quickly juined the model that Kerstin made
The hidden space on the second floor… I wonder if there's a way into the second floor
Like before, she held onto theand glared inside at the gentle featured ap in the storuard duty for Lily The nerve he had to unconcernedly read while a young girl was locked up
Her anger flared up again A fierce light shone in her blue eyes
Well, whatever… Let's do this right
Aileen calmed herself down
I'll just sneak in
She reached for the shutter's clasp
Squeeek
”Hm?” The man suddenly lifted his head at the faint metallic squeak
The 's shutters next to the table were open The shutters swayed as if blown open by the wind A gentle breeze stroked his cheek
”That's strange…”
Why'd it open on its own? The wind isn't too strong today, either
He stood up with his book in one hand, stuck his head out the , and looked around The air was calusts
”Weird things happen, I guess…” Heoff his concerns, he shook his head and closed the shutters
Suddenly, his vision was dyed black
Aileen dropped behind hi and wrapped her scarf over his face
”Hna!?” His mumbled shout didn't travel far
As he flailed and desperately tried to get it off of him, Aileen stood in front of hi and struck him
Her fists hit hi hi that he was lifted in the air for a moment He threw up in her scarf The roan or even breathe through the vomit stuck in his throat His position looked like that of a criminal about to be beheaded—she spun and kicked him with a roundhouse to the te pin
”One down…” Aileen
It may seem totallyback Her physical strength had fallen coame, however she was still able to use her body to its lith then his thin neck would've easily snapped
”Nohere is Lily…?”
Coan looking along the floor Kerstin's 『Search』 told her that the hidden space was a few meters from the table
”Here it is…”
She found it right away There was one place in the floor that had suspicious looking cuts, visible if you looked carefully enough Aileen stuck the edge of her knife into the crack and popped up the board easily
Happily, she pried off the board while she thought, this was easy! Only for her expression to suddenly drop from her face
Athe way
Even at a glance it was obviously sturdy Its solid build and linked clasps reminded her of a safe The front of it was all sear She stuck her fingers in and tried to lift since she had nothing to lose
”No good…”
It wouldn't open As she thought, it didn't even budge In all probability, this was the keyhole If it were a sih lock, then as a ninja, she could easily unlock it, but that was impossible with the tools she had on hand
She stood up silently and lightly kicked the round to check if he was still unconscious before she rifled through his belongings The acidic scent of vomit made her wince as she haphazardly turned out his jacket and pant pockets
Nothing that looked like it would fit the keyhole turned up She did find afor the hole She searched the shelves and such in the roons of waking up, but she wanted to ask hi place for the key When she re She tried to pinch his nose shut and she tried slapping him, but he didn't wake up
What should I do now…?
Aileen sat cross-legged on the floor with her chin resting in her hands and thought for a while She could use 『Trace』on the lid and find where the key was that way, but then she would be left with essentially no catalysts Even so, searching everywhere manually was a waste of time
What to do
”Gahahaha!”
”Aahahahaha!”
Their thunderous laughter ca
Aileen narrowed her eyes and suddenly stood up
shi+ng, she pulled her saber out from the scabbard on her back
—If she was going to use sorcery, this as still better
Well, it ended up being like this anyway…
She pulled a crystal fragged She stared at the waving shadows of the ht
To check the condition of her saber, she spun it in her hands
No problems She swiped doards in the air, faster than could be perceived
A small amount of bloodlust welled up, but she left it behind Before she left, she stopped and whispered, ”Wait for me, Lily I'll save you soon”
Without another moment's hesitation, she leaped down the stairs
†††
[PART 2]
How long had it been since the sun had set?
No one around seeave off the iht
”—then, he stripped 'e 'em upside down!”
”Heehehehe, crazy bastard!”
”Gahahaha! It couldn't be better!”
Even though his story wasn't all that interesting nor all that funny the drunkard laughed loudly If alcohol was involved then even a cat walking was co turned to drinking Borris, who initially felt nervous being invited here, was in a gooddeep
The smell of alcohol whisked around in the men's heated antics
The rooetic drunks, was a chaotic scene
However, ast all the racket was an intruder clad in black
”Hn…?” The first one to realize it was the one that sat facing the bottohts were, there's a shi+t ton of alcohol, but not nearly enough wo back a fresh irl dressed all in black appeared from the stairs The man was frozen in awe for a short while and ale spilled fro ”—Heheh”
Ah~, I's A silly s
Conversely, Aileen was the one that was confused The first person to notice her htlessly while he kept drinking It was unexpected However, she quickly recoment she held to the shadow at her feet 『Kerstin!』
She called the spirit and the men in the room turned to look at her all at once
In the diirl in black at the foot of the steps
They all se of a woman
Aileen quickly drew a sye, Matoi, Otsu』She traced a line between the er 『Vi kovras (Cover)!』
The shadow at her feet shook
The
The shadows burst
A jet black stream poured out
A long silence
However, the men were entirely wrapped up by the shadows
Their voices boomed
”Waaaaaaa!?”
”The fuck is this?!”
”Ahhhh!!”
The place fell into chaos in an instant Froushed forth and sed them whole
They flung their chairs back in surprise, atte to shake off the shadow, and even froze in fear—each had their own reaction However, Kerstin's shadow did no physical har with the ones that didn'ttheir vision seemed to be the only effect
Aileen wouldn't give theh
The first man She stepped toward the one who fell off of his chair and was prostrate on the floor His head was at her feet and she punted it like a soccer ball Thud, the man fainted in one hit
The second roaned He probably hit his head after falling over the chairs Aileen stabbed his
The third led to shake off the shadow She slashed his right ar, she delivered a severe blow to his head The knuckle guard and pommel of her saber smashed into his face
The fourthAileen's movements flowed as she blew him head first into the ith a roundhouse kick
The fifthoff; the shadow around hian to fade He crawled to the door, so Aileen stopped him with a cut to both of his calves in one sweep
The sixth man Aileen took care of the men around the table in a counterclockwise fashi+on before she noticed hi to shake the shadow off of his face This man was none other than Borris
”Borris, you piece of shi+t!!”
His body gave a start and trembled when sorabbed hied him to his feet
”Ah, hat!?”
Borris, even while frightened, tried to tear at the hand that gripped his collar, but Aileen stabbed her saber into the floor and ruthlessly punched him down
Baered and put his hands on the wall, his head was spinning For better or worse, the blow knocked the shadow off his face and he regained his vision
Immediately, a cry stifled in his throat
”That one was for Lily…”
Borris' eyes darted around—the unfeeling expression on Aileen's face sent a chill down his spine However, her blue eyes were lit with rage
Wham! She broke his jaith a left uppercut
”Agh!”
He bent over backwards Stars filled his vision under his eyelids Blood filled his mouth
”That one was for Montand!” Aileen yelled and raised her right fist
She struck hi him spew all the alcohol he'd drunk
”Gah…!”
”That one was for Kiska!”
Borris retreated a few steps, clutching his stomach
Aileen pulled back her right leg and said, ”And this,” she spun and threw her kick with all her ht, ”is for me!!”
Her foot hit him in the solar plexus It was her sure knock-out roundhouse kick
He couldn't even scream He flew back, just like in a funny story, and crashed into the stone wall ”Ah, gu…”
He slowly dragged hi all the while h…” He used up the rest of his energy without finding it, and collapsed in a pool of his own vomit
”Hmph…” Aileen narrowed her eyes and snorted
”—Ah, damn it, the fuck, what the hell happened?!” Finally, the last ed to shake off the shadow ”Huh…?”
When he recovered his vision, his movements stopped He looked around and saw that he was the only one uninjured All around hi”
Right in front of him, she pulled her saber out of the floor and tapped the back against her shoulder, tap, tap The unknown, beautiful girl clad in black