Editing BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 2===

'''December 30, 2199 — 13:27'''

About a hundred years ago, the world was on the brink of destruction.

A giant and grotesque monster, known as the "Black Beast", suddenly appeared and began destroying everything in its path.

Humanity had no way of fighting against its overwhelming power, and the world's population was reduced to half in no time.

But then, six brave warriors appeared.

They challenged the Black Beast with weapons known as "phenomenon weapons," defeated the demonic beasts of calamity, and brought a future to humanity.

Praised as the Six Heroes, they disappeared without a trace into the sea of history and were lost to time. Yet, their glory lived on as a legend passed down through the ages.

That was a long time ago.

If there are any remnants from the Great Dark War—the war against the Black Beast—that are still known in the current era, they would be two major ones.

One is the Novus Orbis Librarium. This organization was born from the global coalition that fought alongside the Six Heroes during the Dark War, and now it oversees the entire world.

The second is seithr. A substance that overflowed worldwide with the appearance of the demonic beast of calamity, the Black Beast, and continued to remain in the world's atmosphere even after the Black Beast was defeated.

Now, it is used in various technologies and has become indispensable for everyday life. However, excessive exposure to seithr can still pose a danger to the human body. As a result, humanity must avoid large amounts of seithr while still using it for daily life. Seithr tends to accumulate in greater concentrations the closer one gets to the surface of the earth. This led to the creation of Hierarchical Cities.

Built upon the foundations of tall mountains, entire cities were constructed in plate-like layers, extending outward from the mountain's peak. The cities spread both vertically and horizontally along the height of the mountains, resulting in compact yet towering cities with multiple layers of urban plates.

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi is one such complex, multi-layered city, just like other cities around the world.

In the midst of one such layered city, in the winding narrow streets of Orient Town, he walked with a slightly unsteady gait. With white hair, a green left eye and red right eye, his appearance was striking. His black attire was complemented by a bright red long coat. At his waist hung a sword with a wide, thick blade, unmistakable in its appearance.

Ragna the Bloodedge.

A wanted criminal with an SS-tier bounty, responsible for the destruction of several branches of the Novus Orbis Librarium. He was the highest-bounty fugitive in history.

Despite his fearsome reputation, none of the city's inhabitants paid him any mind as they went about their business. They probably thought he was just another outlaw who had wandered in. Occasionally, indifferent glances would briefly pass over him and then move on.

This was Orient Town, a district located in the lower levels of Kagutsuchi.

In layered cities, the higher the level, the further one is from the dangers of seithr, and the more clean and safe the area. Conversely, the lower the level, the less regulated it is, and the closer it is to dangerous concentrations of seithr. In such cities, the upper levels not only represent a higher standard of living but also a lesser risk to one's life, whereas the lower levels carry a greater degree of danger.

Naturally, the highest levels of the city are occupied by the Novus Orbis Librarium, which also serves as the governing body. Its related facilities and the residences of its affiliates take up most of the urban space.

Next come the wealthy and those with close ties to power, who live on the upper floors, while those with lesser status or wealth are pushed further down, their position in society dictating how far they must descend.

The residents of Orient Town were people who, by the nature of this societal hierarchy, had been pushed to the lower levels.

None of them could be called wealthy by any means. They were struggling to support themselves, their families, and a few close friends, and few would want to get involved with a strange, white-haired man and invite unnecessary trouble.

In truth, Ragna himself didn't have the luxury to pay attention to the people around him.

It had been two days since he infiltrated Kagutsuchi through an unused access point. Since then, he had been traveling through back alleys and abandoned areas. Though it wasn't by design, he had no choice but to walk through these endless, treacherous roads. To be honest, he was exhausted.

He had decided to take a better route on his wayback.

"Still, for a lower district, this place is pretty lively," Ragna muttered as he glanced around, offering a blunt observation.

Orient Town was a chaotic, poorly planned neighborhood, with houses haphazardly built and clustered together. The streets were narrow and constantly twisted, and the buildings were so close that they seemed ready to collapse into each other.

On top of that, all kinds of items—wooden crates, bags filled with unknown goods—cluttered the alleyways, making it impossible to pass through without obstacle. Often, a seemingly simple alley would turn out to be impassable.

There were strange statues with red pillars and bulging eyes. Small lanterns hung throughout the town, as well as countless signs of all shapes and sizes glowing with dazzling neon lights.

In most lower-level districts, the buildings were so tall and densely packed that sunlight was blocked out, leaving the area dark even during the day. But here, there seemed to be no such shadows.

As Ragna emerged from a narrow alley, he found himself in a slightly more open street. Shops lined both sides of the road, and it seemed like this was one of the main streets of the area. The colors and size of the signs were far more vibrant than those in the alleys.

(There's probably no one from the Library around here.) Ragna thought, feeling relieved.

Even in this relatively wide street, the people walking were all clearly locals. There was no sign of the Novus Orbis Librarium's dreaded blue-and-white uniforms. 

This was a welcome sight. If any of those guards saw him, it would be a major issue. After all, Ragna was a wanted criminal. Without any consideration for his surroundings, he'd have to play cat-and-mouse with the guards who would inevitably gather to chase him down.

Ragna glanced around as he placed a hand on his stomach. The exhaustion was one thing, but the hunger was becoming unbearable. Since entering Kagutsuchi, he hadn't come across any shops selling food, and his preserved food had run out. He hadn't eaten anything since last night, and the hunger was starting to take its toll.

Even in a lower district like this, there should be at least a few restaurants. He began scanning the various signs for something that seemed like it might be a place to eat. Then, he stepped on something soft.

"MROW!" At the same time, a strange cry came from beneath his feet.

"Ugh." Thinking he had stepped on a cat, Ragna quickly lifted his foot. However, what he saw was far bigger than he expected. In fact, it wasn't an animal at all.

Lying on the ground, her arms and legs sprawled out limply, was a girl. Her body was entirely covered by a hooded robe, but her long braided hair and the color of her skin peeked out from beneath it.

"Wh...what the hell are you?" Ragna asked, his voice more of a question than a warning. A thin, weak tail swayed in his field of vision. The tail was attached to the girl lying there.

"Uh... ugh..." With a faint trembling voice, the girl groaned and slowly raised her face. Looking up at Ragna, there wasn't a girl's face inside the hood as one might expect. There was a dark, shadowy void. Within it, a pair of red, round eyes seemed to be sunken, and a crescent-shaped mouth with white teeth was turned downward. The triangular ears attached to the hood trembled as if convulsing.

It wasn't human. Nor did it resemble a beastkin with a beast-like tail and ears.

"Could it be... a Kaka?" Ragna had seen a creature with this strange appearance before. It was when he had visited his swordmaster. The creature then had a similar black face with very simple facial features. Though the girl before him and the Kaka woman he had seen were clearly different individuals, this distinct appearance was unlike anything else.

Although he knew the name "Kaka," he didn't know what kind of clan they were.

Now, what should he do with this girl? Should he turn back without getting involved, or should he ignore her and move on?

As he hesitated, the girl, whose face was the only part of her still raised, suddenly clung to Ragna's leg with a speed that belied her apparent weakness.

"Whoa! W-what the hell!"

"Oooo meow~... Help me... meow." The girl with triangular ears and a tail pleaded pitifully as she clung to Ragna's leg, while he tried to shake her off. Ragna vigorously shook his leg to loosen her grip, but for some reason, her arms wouldn't budge.

"Damn it, let go! What the hell is wrong with you?" 

"I won't let go, meow, I'll never let go meow... if you don't help me, I'll eat your leg, meow..." Despite her weak voice, her grip on his leg was surprisingly strong. Even with this commotion, the people around him only gave a brief glance, as if looking at something strange, and then passed by without getting involved. There was no danger of getting into trouble, but it didn't seem like he could count on any help from a kind passerby.

After a few more failed attempts, Ragna finally gave up. He lifted his leg halfway and looked down at the clinging Kaka girl, exhausted.

"Wait, wait, wait, don't eat my leg! And what the hell are you talking about? Help? What do you mean?"

"Oooo... thank... thank you for asking, meow. Tao is in a really bad situation neow. I'm... I'm at my limit, meow."

"Huh? H-Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Her voice was so desperate that it made him worry just a little. He lowered the foot he'd been lifting and looked down at the face that seemed to be filled with shadows.

The face, which resembled a black mask, had eyes and a mouth hanging weakly, gazing up at Ragna with a look of exhaustion, as though she might faint at any moment.

"I... I'm... hungry... meow"



On a round table covered with a yellow cloth, several dishes were lined up.

There were fried pieces of chicken, generously coated in a flavorful sauce, meatballs stir-fried with colorful vegetables in sweet and sour sauce, square-cut pieces of pork simmered in a rich, sweet and savory broth, and mountains of fried rice. There was beef and vegetables stir-fried in a rich miso sauce, crispy spring rolls wrapped in thin dough with finely sliced vegetables inside, and steaming, soft buns filled with ground meat…

With the white steam rising from the dishes, the strange girl with triangular ears and a hooded robe leaned forward so much that she almost fell off the chair, eagerly shoveling food into her mouth.

"Hguu-hguu-hguu meow hgu-hgu-hgu-hgu-hguu meow hgu-hgu."

Whether it was the sound of her chewing the food or slurping the chopsticks, a hollow sound continued to pierce the air. The eyes that had been drooping weakly a moment ago were now round, and her mouth was curved into an upward crescent.

Watching her with an exasperated look, Ragna picked up a piece of fried chicken from his plate. The thick batter was crisp and delicious. It had been a while since he'd had a meal that wasn't just grilled over an open flame.

"...Is it good?"

The food was rapidly disappearing. When the strange girl had started ordering massive amounts of food, Ragna had turned pale, thinking there was no way she could finish it all, but it seemed that worry had been unnecessary.

In fact, at this point, he was more worried how he was going to pay for all of it. 

The girl, whose white-tipped tail was wagging happily, grabbed a fluffy bun with both hands and looked up at him.

"It's delicious, meow! This one, that one, and all of them—so yummy, meow!"

"Is that so? Well, I'm glad." Ragna sighed, rubbing his face in disbelief.

When she ate like this, without a care in the world, it made him wonder if she had any concept of restraint, or why he was the one buying a meal for this strange, unknown girl. And more importantly, why he had let her drag him along to this restaurant in the first place.

The girl took another big bite of the meat bun, chewing happily. Before he knew it, she had finished it and swallowed it in no time, causing Ragna to smile wryly as he picked up a spring roll. The plate, which had been full, now only had one left.

"To think that you're treating me to such a good meal, you're a good person, white guy, meow. Tao is really grateful, meow!" She swung her arms around dramatically to show her joy. Her hands were hidden entirely inside her sleeves, which were large and round, almost like the front paws of a cat.

Ragna finished his spring roll and then asked, "Is Tao your name?"

"Taokaka, meow!" She nodded enthusiastically and, with the meat bun still in one hand, took another bite in one big motion.

"Tao left the village and set off on a brave journey... but ended up so hungry she couldn't move. If Good Guy hadn't helped me back then, Tao would probably be dried up and turned into Kaka jerky by neow. I'll never forget this 'kindness,' meow."

While rambling about her backstory, Taokaka grabbed a plate of miso stir-fry, holding it down and shoveling the last bit into her mouth. Ragna didn't have the heart to point out that he hadn't eaten that yet, and instead just sighed with a frown, watching her. Resigned, he grabbed a meat bun for himself and slumped his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Kindness,' huh? You'll probably forget about it once you're done eating."

"I won't forget, meow!" 

Suddenly, Taokaka straightened her tail, and with a quick movement, she leaned forward, looking up at Ragna from the table. Her round, pupiless eyes and crescent-shaped mouth full of sharp teeth resembled a mask, giving her an eerie appearance. But for some reason, when she stared at him, it felt endearing.

"The Kaka tribe is a very loyal one, meow. We never forget a favor. When Tao becomes a rich person one day, I'll treat Good Guy to a meal, meow!"

"Rich... You? You were almost starving to death, and now you're talking about becoming rich? You don't even have a plan."

"Nuhfufufu, I do have a plan, meow." With that, Taokaka casually speared three meatballs with her chopsticks and popped them into her mouth. She then slid down her chair and pulled something out of her clothes. 

It was a crumpled piece of paper. Taokaka spread it out on the table, smoothing out the wrinkles with her round hands.

"Tao is a bounty hunter, meow. I catch bad people and get a lot of money, meow."

"A bounty hunter?" Ragna furrowed his brow in confusion. 

A bounty hunter was essentially a mercenary who earned money by hunting down criminals with bounties on their heads. Originally, when the ecosystem was disrupted by a massive amount of seithr, causing a surge in new species, the Librarium had assigned them to hunt down these new species. 

But nowadays, the term more commonly referred to those who earned money by tracking down dangerous criminals or fugitives with large bounties on their heads. Most bounty hunters were people who couldn't find decent work, so they resorted to violence to make a living.

Though female bounty hunters weren't particularly rare, Ragna had never seen one as defenseless and unconcerned as Taokaka.

"That's right, meow. I became one today, meow."

"Today?!"

"And neow I'm gonna catch this guy, meow!" With a proud grin, Taokaka handed the crumpled paper to Ragna.

Ragna took the paper while still chewing some meatballs and vegetables. It was a wanted poster, the kind you'd see plastered around street corners. The bounty's reward was unusually generous, and there was a portrait of an extremely ugly man.

The name on the poster was Ragna the Bloodedge.

"Bwah?!" As soon as Ragna saw the name, he spat out his food

"'Bwah'? Why'd you suddenly spit out your food like that, Good Guy? What a waste, meow."

While Taokaka protested, still munching on her last meat bun, Ragna stared intently at the wanted poster in his hands, his hands trembling slightly.

(W-What... What is that picture? This doesn't look anything like me! If they don't even know what I look like, then why the hell are they spreading this around?! Don't go around telling people I look like this!)

He wondered if this poster was plastered all over Kagutsuchi. If so, it would be depressing. Not only was it embarrassing that this hideous drawing was being passed off as the face of Ragna the Bloodedge, but with this reward, there had to be a lot of bounty hunters looking for him. And a lot them were probably hanging out in Kagutsuchi.

(I can't just walk around town normally...)

It would be a pain to be found by those guys in blue and white uniforms, but bounty hunters would be even worse. They would certainly start "working" whether it was in the middle of the street or not.

"...Hey, Taokaka, right? You wouldn't happen to know any hidden paths to the upper levels of Kagutsuchi, would you?" Ragna asked, lowering his voice as he returned the crumpled poster. If there was one, it would be much better than causing trouble.

Taokaka licked the last of the sweet and sour sauce from the plate of meatballs and replied.

"Yup, I know a secret path, meow."

"Really!! That's great! Why don't you show me the way there in exchange for that meal I bought you?"

"That's fine, meow. Good Guy is Tao's benefactor. You can leave it to me, meow." Saying so, Taokaka grinned and slammed the clean plate down on the table.

Just then…

"Sorry to keep you waiting~!" A young waitress arrived, setting down several new dishes on the table. 

There were noodles topped with minced meat, crispy fried noodles covered in a savory sauce and loaded with vegetables, a platter of sliced roast pork, and a variety of steamed dumplings filled with shrimp paste, minced pork, and aromatic vegetables, all wrapped in soft dough. Fresh, unrelenting steam rose to the ceiling along with a rich aroma.

"....Huh?" Ragna hadn't ordered any of this. He was about to protest, but then it dawned on him.

It had been just before... when he was looking at his wanted poster. Taokaka had finished off the last of the meat buns from the plates of food on the table at that point. Immediately after, Tao had reached for the menu.

"Wahoo, that looks delicious, meow! The secret path is dangerous, you know. Good Guy needs to have a full stomach, or he'll get hungry again, meow!" 

Instead of feeling guilty, Taokaka gleefully pulled the steamed dumplings closer to herself, and Ragna, unable to take it anymore, grabbed her hand forcefully. The sudden movement made Taokaka almost rise from her seat.

"W-What the hell are you doing, adding more food?!"

"Meow? Is Good Guy full neow? Then Tao will eat it all..."

"No way! I can't pay for this mountain of food! I don't have that much money!"

Ragna was in a panic. He didn't have a steady job. Occasionally he earned travel expenses by pretending to be a bounty hunter or doing odd jobs, but that was just temporary. He couldn't even afford a decent place to stay, so the idea of adding more orders to what he had already ordered was unthinkable.

Just as Ragna was about to explode, a hand landed on his shoulder. He shrugged it off at first, irritated, but the hand immediately returned to tap his shoulder again, and a voice asked from behind.

"Excuse me, sir? Did you say... you don't have any money?"

"...Huh?" Ragna turned around, and there, standing behind him, was the waitress. She was much shorter than him and was smiling sweetly, but there was a hint of killing intent in her eyes.

"You said you don't have any money?" the waitress asked again.

Immediately after that, Ragna grabbed Taokaka's arm, who seemed completely unaware of the situation and was stuffing the steamed buns into her mouth, and slapped the waitress's hand away. He lifted Taokaka over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran out of the restaurant as if he had been shot.

"Meow!? Tao's food! I haven't eaten it yet, meow!"

"Shut up! This isn't the time for that!" Ragna shouted angrily at Taokaka, who was reaching out behind him and making pitiful sounds. He ran out into the main street of Orient Town and pushed through the crowd, running with all his might.

"Wait~!! Someone catch them! It's a dine-and-dash~~!!" The waitress's high-pitched voice rang out behind them. To Ragna's surprise, the waitress was keeping up with him, her speed matching his. Perhaps it was due to her infatuation.

Ragna cursed under his breath, realizing that the first trouble he caused in Kagutsuchi was going to be a dine-and-dash. Taokaka, being carried on his shoulder, hung her tail down in dejection, but her arms were still reaching back in the air as if trying to grab her lost meal.

"Ugh, Tao's food..."

"Forget about the food! Tell me where the secret path is, or do you want to be caught by the restaurant staff and turned into minced meat?!"

"Minced meat?"

"Yeah, meat! If you don't want to end up as the next dish on that menu, tell me quickly!" While Ragna didn't actually mean that the manager would mince them up, Taokaka, who had belatedly understood the meaning, seemed to take it seriously. Her tail jumped up suddenly and swelled up thick, as if in alarm.

"If I'm made into meat, I won't be able to eat meat anymore, meow! I don't want that, meow!" Agilely twisting her body on his shoulder, Taokaka landed in front of Ragna and started running on all fours like a beast.

"Good Guy, this way, meow!" 

"Okay, I got it!" 

Taokaka dashed into a narrow alley, and despite a slight delay in his reaction, Ragna followed suit, flipping his body as he turned sharply to follow her. As they moved away from the neon signs, the surroundings grew darker. As he ran, Ragna bitterly thought to himself.

Maybe the bounty on my head will go up tomorrow because of today's dine-and-dash…