Editing The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village:Bonus4 (section)

===Part 7 (3rd person)===

The attack had ended in failure.

The sun was setting and night had arrived. After losing their target’s trail, they gave up on directly tracking her and shifted to the next phase.

“What a pain. Six Hishigami Women were hunting her and we still failed? Just how much of a monster is Ama?”

That complaint came from Yuu, the beautiful woman in a bikini top, skinny pants, and a military coat. She was in public, but she made no attempt to hide her giant anti-tank rifle known as a 1941. When she was that open about it, passersby convinced themselves it must be a toy or for a movie shoot. She had lived her life this far using that ridiculous logic.

Hishigami Raku, a woman with short hair and sickly pale skin, cut in.

“A-are you sure…it wasn’t a case of…too many cooks…spoiling the broth?”

“Oh? That’s rich coming from one of the ones who tripped me up. You all were supposed to stop her while I shot her. And who was it that let the target escape the hunting grounds?”

Hishigami Rou, a beautiful woman in a black dress, gave an exasperated sigh.

“Hounds and beaters have limited stamina and focus. A hunter and team that fails to take the best shot is a limit on the hunting ground, don’t you think?”

“Oh, oh. You wanna settle this in a back alley or something?”

The Hishigami Women quickly started butting heads, but that was just their nature. The Hishigami Women were a sign of active parting, so they were ill suited for working as a group.

There was only one thing just barely holding them together:

“Okay, okay!”

“Goh!? Ow!”

“C’mon, get along, all of you☆ Let’s take a photo together to celebrate making up. I have a selfie stick, so gather around.”

“No selfie stick is that heavy. That’s gotta be a special police bato-…owww!?”

The innocent girl of about ten overpowered the adult women and forced them inside the frame.

She was Hishigami Yume.

She was Yume who Destroys Ethics.

Simply put, she used conversations, the atmosphere, and sudden events to destroy the “moral” that the Hishigami Women were ill suited for working as a group. That just barely linked them together in an awkward network and maintained some temporary cooperation.

“Say cheese! Vee vee!”

“Whenever you step in front of the camera, you just have to give an upturned look and either suck your thumb or give a peace sign… That’s just painful.”

They continued causing a commotion as they returned to their base.

They had a few hideouts in reserve, but this time they used a church located inside a high-rise building.

There they found a girl in a nun’s habit with cloth cut out to expose her navel.

She was Hishigami Taga.

She was Taga who Destroys Faith.

“Welcome back.”

“Based on that weird smell, I take it I don’t want to take a peek in the back.”

Yuu sounded annoyed as she rested her anti-tank rifle on her shoulder and the nun giggled in an awfully provocative way.

“There’s no need to be so nervous. An older man of character may have been lying on his back all day babbling like a baby, but he hasn’t been harmed. Feel free to take a look if you want an excellent example of what happens when someone who lives a life of celibacy finally breaks free of his bonds.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not.”

Yuu still sounded annoyed and she grabbed Yume’s collar when the little girl tilted her head curiously.

“Oh, too bad. Munch, munch.”

The nun nonchalantly carried a bucket-like container between both hands (and her chest).

This immediately grabbed the attention of elementary school aged Yume.

“By the way, what are you eating? Oh, it’s popcorn!”

“Heh heh heh. These are the snacks Arawa-san made and left here for us. Do the rest of you want any?”

But Yuu and Rou seemed reluctant.

“Those are made from that genetically modified stuff, aren’t they? I prefer natural ingredients.”

“And what fruits and vegetables did she have mixed together this time? Last time it was cucumbers growing in a bunch like bananas.”

The adults were disgusted, but Yume began stuffing her mouth with the popcorn the nun held.

“Keh. You people sound like virginity-obsessed idol otaku. Are breast implants and liposuction really that wrong!? Punsuka pun!!”

“Yume, you need quite a bit of reeducation later on. And with how twisted you are, we’ll have to redo it boot camp style.”

Yume covered her face and began to cry in a blatantly fake way, but the others ignored it. A girl who cried wolf tended to create uncaring surroundings.

The nun slowly tilted her head.

“More importantly, I don’t see Ama-san with you.”

“We screwed up. Arawa-chan is checking over the security camera network, but she says it probably won’t help.”

“I went all out, so I was hoping to resupply. I called Shitsu, so I hope that’s okay.”

“Geh!? You know we’re like water and oil!”

Taga frantically waved her hands around in her modified nun’s habit, but it was too late.

The church’s door opened and a sexy teacher in glasses walked in. Her outfit looked like a suit with a tight skirt at first, but it was actually quite unusual. The gloves were a part of the jacket that left her cleavage well-exposed and what looked like a tight skirt was actually the bottom of a camisole. And for a finishing touch, she wore fishnet stockings.

These were the very first words out of her mouth:

“Illicit sexual relations nun, step out back for a moment. I need to teach you how to behave like a lady even if I have to beat it into you.”

“Nooooo thank you! This is my territory, so save the all-important act for when you’re in your rotten school!”

The nun stuck out her tongue and Yume soothed her while asking a question.

“Which school are you at now? The one in Daikanyama?”

“That one is gone now.”

“Then is it the one in the south Aoyama residential district?”

“That one is gone too.”

“Just how many schools are you going to destroy? Honestly…”

Hishigami Taga sounded exasperated and the tall teacher crouched down on the floor.

A dark and heavy aura surrounded her.

“They’re all such good children and all I’m doing is hoping for their success and happiness. So why does it always end in such unfortunate accidents…?”

“Accidents? You arm them, hole up in the school, and lead them to mass suicide.”

“But they’re all so cute I can’t help but pour my heart and soul into their special afterschool lessons. And the idealistic nonsense in the textbooks is as distasteful as food additives, so I just want to give them an early peak of the real world.”

“Yes, but that’s not much good when they end up giving up on the world and reaching for weapons,” said Rou as she sighed in her black dress.

“Anyway.” Hishigami Yume changed the subject. “Shitsu-chan, do you have what you were asked to bring?”

Still curled up on the floor, the teacher pointed toward the door with her thumb.

They all looked outside and saw container boxes filling the trunk of a flashy sports car.

Weapon-loving Yuu licked her lips.

“Good, good. Now I won’t have to worry about ammo.”

“I’m amazed that made it through the checkpoints,” commented Rou.

“Your position in society is important. Like a teacher or a civil servant! I can pass through most anywhere without issue since I wear this nun’s habit.”

“Heh heh. I can do that too! Vee, vee!” exclaimed Yume. “Although I do get policemen, teachers, and other adults mistaking me for a lost child and approaching me for no reason.”

“Anyway,” said Taga. “What are we going to do about Ama-san? You already said Arawa-san the cyber war expert is unlikely to find her.”

“That just means we need to check the lodging facilities with few or no cameras.” Yume sounded carefree. “Tokyo is a Peeping Tom’s paradise with a million security cameras, so the areas not monitored are the exception. That means we just need to check the areas within walking distance of Ichigaya. …How about we start with a radius of five kilometers? Even Ama-chan can only do so much while dragging around that detective.”

“Yeah, odds are she’s hiding in one of those, but aren’t there a ton of those, um, well, love hotels?” Yuu mumbled a little and scratched her cheek. “And Ama will definitely have used a fake name, so where do we start looking?”

Rou answered in her black dress.

“Arawa will be able to get her hands on those lists full of fake names, right?”

“And?”

“Love hotels have peak hours and different rental plans. For example, you can rest there from evening to night or spend the night until morning.” Rou winked. “But not many people will arrive in midday, choose an overnight plan right away, and hide out there for so long. That will narrow things down some, won’t it?”

The situation was on the move.

In an intentionally cutesy act, small Yume placed her hands on her cheeks and fidgeted as she spoke.

“My first time at a love hotel? Oh, I’m so excited☆”