chapter04 · 099-ep99

Episode 96: The Retaliation Squad Lands

Late that night, the day Karin acquired her hypnosis-resistance skill.

A certain beach on the Sea of Japan coast.

Several boats silently reached the sand through pitch-black darkness without even starlight.

"We finally made it...! Heh. No matter how much they've increased security, they can't guard every inch of the entire coastline. They might be able to stop a major criminal they're watching from fleeing the country, but completely stopping illegal entry in the other direction? Basically impossible."

The first person to disembark from the lead boat was a huge man.

He was Japanese, with the air of a mercenary and a distinctive scar on his face.

But not one of the people following behind him was Japanese.

They belonged to various peoples from the continent. Their number was roughly twenty.

Every one of them shared an extraordinary air and radiated murderous intent.

All were powerful explorers above level 2000.

Looking back at those monsters, the huge man spoke in a foreign language as if calling the meeting to order.

"Now we'll distribute your fake IDs for this country. They're identities we stockpiled in advance for immediate use, so the profiles don't match you perfectly... but we've selected the closest options possible. Normally, we'd provide something much better. But as you know, Black Tiger went down along with the corrupt officials connected to it, so preparing new ones is out of the question. Even so, the government is still buried in cleanup and hasn't grasped the full extent of these false identities. They should work long enough for us to retaliate against that monster, Karin Yamada."

Karin Yamada.

Powerful anger and bloodlust entered the huge man's eyes when he spoke the name.

He had once been a Black Tiger member.

His position, however, had been somewhat unusual. He served as an intermediary, transferring the materials Black Tiger smuggled to illegal organizations throughout the world. He had been overseas continuously lately and lived well thanks to each group in his role as middleman.

But that had only been true until recently.

Black Tiger's sudden destruction had cost the man his entire position. Worse, when the material supply ceased without warning, the organizations blamed him.

From heaven into hell, indeed.

If he remained abroad, the illegal organizations would hold him responsible. If he fled back to Japan, the investigation would inevitably catch him.

Driven into that situation, the man naturally developed an intense grudge against Karin Yamada.

No matter how intense it became, there should have been no way to settle it.

One man could do nothing against the monster who had crushed Black Tiger so onesidedly, even with an ambush or any other method.

But... the man was no longer alone.

He was now distributing false IDs (and disguise equipment suited to them) to the people before him.

These were experts furnished for retaliation by organizations that hated Karin Yamada for destroying their Black Tiger material-smuggling routes. In place of paying with his life, the man had been assigned to secure their fake identities and guide them through Japan. They were an extraordinary force.

(I hear every last one has a powerful unique skill. That unique in particular will definitely work on Karin Yamada. If we challenge her after thorough preparation, we might just manage it...!)

Looking upon the exceptional force assembled before him, the man saw a chance to preserve his position and settle his grudge. The corners of his lips rose. Then a silver glint suddenly entered his vision.

"Hmm. This false ID seems to list an age somewhat too great for my appearance... but I hear children of ten cannot enter dungeons in this country... This should suffice. I have no contacts in Japan, so merely obtaining a false identity of this quality set to this age is far better than nothing."

(...What is this out-of-place silver-haired brat?)

The man tilted his head at her carefree tone and young appearance, clear even beneath the hood concealing her face.

But in dungeon society, age could not be trusted.

Unlike Japan, many regions abroad had no minimum age for dungeon exploration. A child was no reason to lower one's guard.

Besides, one of the organizations he had dealt with for years had provided this brat as part of its force too.

She might be inferior to the others, but she couldn't possibly be weak.

"Good, everyone has an identity now, yeah?"

The man put aside his doubts and addressed the force that had illegally entered the country.

"Then we begin preparing to crush Karin Yamada! Yes, our opponent is a monster. But on our side, we have an esteemed individual with a unique skill that controls hypnosis magic despite being human! The videos make it clear that Karin Yamada can fight under hypnosis, but there was still a slight delay before she realized she'd been affected! If we use that gap to hammer her with a thoroughly prepared attack, then even that monster—"

"Oh, this force obviously stands no chance, ja. You should all give up and go home."

"...Huh?"

His speech was suddenly interrupted, and the huge man made a low sound.

The experts, all easily beyond level 2000, directed their murderous intent toward the owner of that mocking voice.

But the out-of-place girl showed not the slightest fear. With a little "Hup," she disembarked and continued.

"Surely you understand without even stopping to think. She and you are creatures of an entirely different order. Even if ten thousand of you gathered, your chance of victory would be zero, you know? Judging by what I heard, you lost some source of funding or the like and let the blood rush to your heads... But come, calm down and look at the world. Even those far stronger than you properly understood reality and are careful not to interfere with her, are they not?"

The men muttered, "Hah?" and swelled with increasing anger and bloodlust, but the girl paid them no mind.

She even took on a pitying air as she continued to instruct them like young children.

"I understand you have face and such matters to uphold, yes? Some cannot refuse their orders, and there must be thoughtless bosses who move their underlings by claiming the footage was propaganda or fake, yes? But no matter the excuse, if you charge in on the basis of such flower-garden wishful thinking, you will never cross the level-4000 wall. Rather than challenge her with this force, proceeding directly to prison would at least spare you pointless injuries."

"What the hell is this nonsense you've been spouting?"

"Brats like you are everywhere. You get halfway strong at that age, let it go to your head, and die young."

"Prison? Don't tell me you accepted the advance, and now you plan not only to abandon the job but sell us to the police."

"Hah? Sell you to the police? Ahh, this is why dealing with politicians and the underworld is such a bother. You read some hidden meaning into ordinary words, then grow furious over nonsense. Enough of that—withdraw from this matter at once. This is useful advice from your senior, who has watched the likes of you die young many times."

"THAT'S ENOUGH, SHITTY BRAT!"

The former Black Tiger man had forgotten to keep his voice down and roared.

"You've been rambling nonsense this whole time! You're scared now that we've come this far, so you want out—that's all this is, right!? Not happening. We've reached the point of no return. You'll be a pain if you snitch to the cops, so die here!"

The huge man clearly wasn't alone in that judgment.

The other experts stepped off the boats and released their mana.

They surrounded the girl to block every route of escape, then leapt upon her all at once without allowing her another word.

"Haaah. Honestly. I intended to spare you if you turned back now, as thanks for preparing my identity. Very well, I shall state it plainly one final time."

Until the very end, the girl showed no tension whatsoever.

"—Do not lay a hand upon my playmate."

"""""Eh—GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?"""""

BACHIBACHIBACHIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!

Purple lightning raced across the nighttime beach.

Then, just as quickly, silence returned to the night.

"Well, that should suffice. They shall not make so much as a sound for two weeks."

The girl alone remained standing on the beach.

The men who had brimmed with enormous mana moments earlier were all charred black and capable only of twitching. Wind gently lifted their bodies along with the shattered boats.

Eventually, the girl hid the men where they would not be seen and borrowed their bags of Japanese currency. Removing her hood, she exposed silver hair and dark skin.

"If I recall, Japan's Public Security was already monitoring the organizations these people belonged to. I concealed the charred lot well enough... but it is only a matter of time. I must act before they are discovered and cause a commotion, or before the identities become unusable. Now then, how might I meet Karin Yamada, I wonder♪"

WHOOSH!

The girl—the African Unification Dungeon Queen, who had used a criminal organization to infiltrate Japan and obtain a false identity—manipulated the wind and silently took flight.

Crossing the sea would have been rather difficult, but reaching this "Kanto region" during the night should be possible. Concealed by the unlit darkness, she flew there in one journey without anyone noticing.

――――――――――――――――――――

Happy New Year, desu waa!

Please continue supporting the ojou-sama this year too, desu no!

And with that, the Dungeon Queen arc begins in earnest this time, desu wa!

Incidentally, the Queen-sama was treated as a "combatant dispatched by one of the organizations." She secretly raided and took control of an illegal organization on the continent that seemed to have connections with Japan, learned about the planned retaliation and false IDs, then "requested" that they allow her to participate. The reason she wanted a false identity will be addressed in time.

Also, the retaliation squad was too absorbed in the excitement of illegally entering the country to watch Karin ojou-sama's endurance video. If you have not seen the ojou-sama for three days, open your eyes and look again. My condolences, desu wa.

※Someone also pointed this out last time: Mafuyu-sama's restrictions on disclosing the ojou-sama's level have loosened somewhat. As mentioned in the story, after she annihilated Black Tiger, it was already virtually certain that she had reached at least a certain level. Therefore, Mafuyu judged that a small slip about a past level wouldn't be a problem. (Though implying that 4000 marks the crossing of some threshold does merit a little seiza, desu wa ne!)