arc3 · 146-ch146

Chapter 146: Criminal Gang of Awakened ②

Hayate, which had entered through a window about ten floors up, safely reached the fifth floor. Since this Stavesman had forcibly broken into the room, the door was destroyed, making it easy to sneak in.

It seems the hostages are being held in another room, since aside from the woman the Stavesman is holding, I can't see anyone else. In other words, if I incapacitate this guy without hurting the female hostage, the mission is complete.

I hid Hayate under the desk in the room and decided to wait for the right moment when the woman would leave his grasp.

"Uh, hello? How's things on your end? Is it going well?"

As I was keeping watch on the Stavesman with Hayate, he suddenly started talking — it seems a call came in. Maybe he's contacting the suspicious person outside.

"Hmph, do those guys really think I won't drop a hostage? To make them understand I'm serious, should I drop one? There are still plenty of hostages left."

From the content of the conversation, it seems he really does have accomplices. That guy must be negotiating with the government.

"Umi, I'm going to make a call, so absolutely don't leave the room, okay?"

"Yeah, got it."

After arriving at the condo, I entered my room so Umi wouldn't hear me and called Arihara-san.

"Hello, is this SS-san? I'm quite busy right now, would it be alright if I call back once things settle down?"

As expected, it seems the Dungeon Agency is also busy dealing with the hostage-taker. The ones who handle Awakened criminals are under the Dungeon Agency's jurisdiction.

"By any chance, is this about the man barricading himself in city hall? Actually, Hayate and Shiden are at the scene, and I was wondering if there's anything I can do to help."

"Really!? By any chance, do you know the situation at the scene?"

As I expected, Arihara-san was also swamped with this. I immediately explained the situation at the scene, and especially emphasized that the Stavesman might drop the female hostage from the window at any moment.

"Thank you. It's a huge help that SS-san is there. If possible, please incapacitate the Stavesman before he drops the female hostage from the window. I'll take full responsibility."

As expected of Arihara-san. By taking the responsibility himself, he reduced my burden. But don't worry. I'm already prepared too.

"Alright, then I'll drop one! For a great cause, some sacrifices are necessary! Hey, get over here! Don't struggle!"

Hearing the Stavesman's phone call, the captured woman started struggling to escape. Since he was holding his cell phone in one hand, the woman he was holding managed to escape from his arm. She couldn't completely escape since her hand was being held, but there was a gap of about one arm's length between her outstretched hand and the man who had grabbed it. That's plenty of distance for me.

Bushu-bushu-bushu!

"Huh? What's that?"

The Stavesman let out a curious voice as he looked at his own arm, which was about half torn off. The woman, who had suddenly been released from her restraint, tumbled forward from the momentum but got up right away and ran out of the room.

"Kyaaaaahhhhh, it hurts, my arm, my arm!!"

There — it seems he finally understood what had happened to him, and he let out a scream of pain.

Bushu-bushu-bushu!

Without missing a beat, I shot through the Stavesman's legs and made him unable to move.

"Ugh, uhh, my leg, my leg..."

The Stavesman collapsed, bleeding heavily from one arm and both legs. I don't know what level this guy is, but it seems Hayate's Magic Machine Cannons have plenty of lethal power even against Awakened individuals.

Now then, I've succeeded in incapacitating the Stavesman. Next is that suspicious person.

"Arihara-san, I've succeeded in incapacitating the Stavesman. Please have the special police storm in. It seems the other hostages are locked in another room. Also, Shiden is keeping watch on a suspicious person. What should I do?"

"As expected of SS-san! I'll issue the order to storm in right away. And about the suspicious person — would it be possible to send his footage over to us?"

"No problem. I'll send the footage over right away."

I started up my computer and sent Shiden's footage to the Dungeon Agency.

"I was able to confirm it. He is indeed suspicious. Hmm? Could this guy be..."

A figure whose gender I can't even tell, hiding their face with a hat and mask under a long coat that doesn't suit this warm season, right before summer. Seeing that figure, Arihara-san seems to have noticed something.

"By any chance, do you know this person?"

After my question, a brief silence flowed, and then Arihara-san answered when the suspicious person pulled out his phone and started making a call.

"This guy is Raito Kuranohayashiin, wanted as a special criminal! I can't believe he's here!"

So it turns out this guy was a wanted criminal. And he's a fairly famous one, famous enough that even I know him. Kuranohayashiin, who had awakened to the Lightning Mage job, rose to B-rank, then murdered all the party members he was with at the time and was put on the wanted list.

If this suspicious person is Kuranohayashiin, then a half-baked Awakened would get thoroughly beaten! It would take a Kokushi Musou-class explorer to stand up to him.

And what's scary is the fact that these guys are clearly working together. Could it be that without our knowledge, a large-scale criminal organization has formed?

"SS-san, I know my request is difficult, but I have to ask. Kuranohayashiin will probably leave the scene now that he's learned the special police have stormed the building and that he can't reach the Stavesman. Would it be possible to tail him on the sly? If this guy rampages here, the damage would be tremendous. Even if we restrain him, we'd have to do it somewhere without people..."

Arihara-san himself must want to catch this guy right away. But the risk is too great for that. I intend to try what I can for now, but if this guy enters a big station or something, I'll have to throw in the towel. Even for me, following him with a drone without being noticed would be impossible.

Just as I expected, Kuranohayashiin entered the station to catch a train, and the police officers who were tailing him seem to have been easily shaken off.

However, it seems they succeeded in restraining the Stavesman, and they seem to be questioning him to see if they can get any information out of him.

"SS-san, thank you so much this time. By solving this without a single victim, the Dungeon Agency's stock has risen considerably. If the female hostage had been thrown from the window... I'm truly grateful."

"No, I just happened to be nearby and sent Hayate and Shiden over for self-defense. But I'm glad the hostages were unharmed. And please don't mention my name. I don't want to be targeted by a criminal organization."

"Understood. On the contrary, I'm sorry this ended up with the Dungeon Agency taking the credit. I'll make this debt up to you in another way."

"Please don't worry about it. Arihara-san has been very good to me, and if I keep patrolling dungeons, I might run into situations like this, so please think of it as within the scope of the work I was asked to do."

"...I'm grateful to hear that. Well, I have aftercare to attend to, so I'll take my leave here. Thank you so much."

I hung up the phone with Arihara-san and let out a long sigh. It was the first time I'd fired a Magic Machine Cannon at a person. Luckily, it seems there's no threat to his life, but if the situation had been more desperate, would I have been able to shoot that man in the head?

Questions with no answers kept floating up and vanishing in my head.

side ???

"Did you see? That's SS's drone."

"I saw. Keeping watch on Yamamoto Electronics was the right call."

"Unfortunately we couldn't see all the different functions, but we'll have them show us those in due time."

"Yes, it's enough for this time that we were able to confirm its form."

"If the rumors are true, he's too good for Japan. We should get him to come to our country."

"Fufu-fu, when that time comes, let's have them film us."

"Yes, let's definitely do that."

After confirming that Hayate and Shiden disappeared, the man and woman — clearly not Japanese, who had watched the entire rescue operation — vanished into the crowd, trading ominous words.