Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume1 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 8===

They had the necessary equipment and they had some information to base their next move on.

Just as Shiroyama Kyousuke prepared to leave the store, Lu Niang Lan called out to him while leaning on the counter.

“Oh, right. Kyousuke-chan, why not take a side arm with you?”

“I think I’d be better off without one. It seems I’m Alice (with) Rabbit, after all.”

With that quick response, he stepped out the door. Meinokawa Higan seemed puzzled by that exchange but started to follow Kyousuke while worrying about the short skirt of her maid outfit.

“That’s fine. Higan-chan, take this just in case. Don’t let Kyousuke-chan know, though.”

She placed a military knife with a twenty centimeter blade on the counter. It was the kind with a jagged back often seen in movies. However, the grip was strange. It did not hold the blade equally on both sides. One side was longer.

“That’s a trick knife that also works as a gun. It has two shots inside. When firing, align the tip with the center line of your target’s body and press the button on the grip. But assume you can’t hit from more than ten meters away. It’s essentially a replacement for a blade that’s fired by a spring.”

“Eh? Eh? Wait, um…!?”

Higan was confused. She belonged to the world of the insane fights to the death known as summoning ceremonies, but the term “gun” filled her with an entirely different sense of rejection. It was strange, but a part of her still saw herself as existing within this country’s laws.

Her mind subconsciously searched for an excuse to not take it.

“Um, uh, I thought normal weapons didn’t work on a summoner inside the Material’s protective circle.”

“That’s true. But let me tell you something that I’ve already accepted.”

“?”

“Long ago, I killed a summoner with this. At the time, they were Government Award 1000.”

That was enough to shock Higan.

Not only a summoner, but a Thousand Eater who held the greatest power of one of the three groups. Their affiliation would supposedly shift from this world to the other world and they would create new legends as a resident of ''the other side''. Higan and her sister could never hope to defeat someone like that at their best, but this woman had killed them with nothing more than a modified handgun?

The modified China dress beauty laughed.

“To be blunt, I was forced to be their vessel. It was pretty awful. I really was living in a cage with a collar around my neck. I was sick of that life, so at the very, very end, I saw an opening, killed them, and ran off.”

Lu Niang Lan belonged to Illegal.

According to Government, that was a collection of criminal organizations.

“That’s why I don’t believe in the assumption that only summoners can kill summoners. You’ll find plenty of opportunities depending on the methods you’re using. I may be an exception known as the Perfect Dragon, but that isn’t something only I can do. It’s best to be on your guard.”

“…”

“Especially with high Award summoners like Kyousuke-kun, you’ll often find yourself relying on him no matter what. So you take that. You aren’t a customer or a guest anymore; you’re half of Alice (with) Rabbit. You need to compensate for the things he can’t do.”

The woman gave a thin smile.

Meinokawa Higan thought she had a point, but her hand still wandered hesitantly through the air.

“And there’s also the circumstances for tonight in particular. You might find yourself in need of some simple self-defense.”

“?”

“Kyousuke-chan lives alone in a cruiser, but where do you think you’re going to end up sleeping tonight? And with nothing underneath that miniskirt maid outfit, no less.”

Higan grabbed the trick knife so quickly she nearly set it off right there.