Editing The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village:Volume2 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 8===

And so I took action in the middle of the night.

I met up with the Illness Magic User in the darkness of the night and we headed for the dance classroom’s building.

The building was about the size of a gym and was three stories tall. It was still made to match the period setting in its looks, so it was almost laughable. The inside was likely crammed full of cutting edge fitness equipment.

After we circled the building to check on the situation, I tapped the Illness Magic User on the shoulder and said, “As today’s guest, you need to charge in and wipe them out.”

“Why do I need to do what you say?”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But if you don’t do anything here, you won’t get another time to shine. It would be insulting if you asked me to split the reward 50/50 after that.”

“…”

The Illness Magic User sighed, stopped hiding, and walked boldly up to the front entrance. It seemed the idea of sneaking in never even occurred to him. He kicked in the door and set foot inside the building while a home security alarm rang.

In the next instant, a deep darkness seeped out from every window in the building.

The Sunekosuri’s entire body jumped slightly.

“Wah…wah wah! Wah wah wah wah wah!! I-is all of that illness magic!?”

“There’s no escape for anyone inside.”

An unrelated security guard might be inside too, so he would start at a level which would only knock them unconscious. But once he had checked everyone inside, he would increase it to a truly deadly illness.

That’s how it was with that combat-obsessed idiot.

He practically announced that ''it was harder for him to limit the damage done.

''…Now then.

“It’s about time we made our move.”

“Eh? But the Illness Magic User is still inside. If we go in there, we’d be caught in the middle of it.”

“We’re not going in,” I said while circling around behind the building. “This may indeed be a base for Akki Rasetsu. But can we say for sure the entire project is contained here? Is it possible they have other bases or hideouts? Where are their VIPs? Attacking this place might not be enough to cut Akki Rasetsu’s Achilles tendon.”

“Th-then what are you going to do?”

“Look over there.” I guided the Sunekosuri’s gaze while holding him in my arms. “There it is. A large truck with a silent electric engine. A dangerous vehicle on a dark night.”

“Huh? But aren’t vehicles banned here in order to preserve the look of Kyoto?”

“Generally, yes. But a city of over a million can’t function like that. A few vehicles are allowed an exception at specific times. Any work that would destroy the atmosphere is done in the middle of the night so no one will see it.”

And Akki Rasetsu had prepared transportation in one of those.

The Illness Magic User was on a rampage within the building and it was obvious they were trying to transport something out.

“Look, look, look. The backdoor opened and they brought something out... What is that? A metal tank?”

“It’s bigger than a refrigerator. It takes five of them to carry it.”

“I guess they’re trying to escape with the ‘trick’ set up in the pump room.”

I had concluded they were luring Amemura Ryuu-chan into the building’s indoor pool so she would touch the “ocean water” at set intervals. That would provide the proper stimulus to the “monk” that was likely a type of Umibouzu. That meant they might be transporting the small pressure tank for the sterilization tub.

In other words…

The “monk” was contained within that tank.

“What are you going to do now?” asked the Sunekosuri.

“Simply stealing that won’t bring this to an end. I want to know where they’re taking it. That will likely be Akki Rasetsu’s most important base. That tank will be joining other things they don’t want destroyed and people they don’t want killed.”

Just as everyone would head to the emergency staircase when the fire alarm rang, a sudden attack would put people on guard for simultaneous attacks from multiple direction while evacuating the most important items and people to a safe place

Which meant…

If I followed them, I would be led straight to the location in which the enemy had gathered all of their weak points.

“Th-then you are going to tail that truck?”

“That would be the normal method, but I don’t have a vehicle of my own. I’d like to attach a tracking device.”

“…It does not look like you will be able to sneak close to it. There are five men carrying the metal tank and six got out of the truck.”

“Then I’ll have to approach without sneaking,” I said offhandedly while pulling my video camera out of my handbag. 

“What are you doing?”

“People working in the underworld of society don’t like to stand out. I’ll use that against them.”

I attached a random cable to the video camera, stuck the other end of the cable into my handbag, and approached the large truck.

They quickly spotted me and tried to stick a hand into their pockets, but I shouted out before they could.

“Attack☆Late Night Dinner!!”

“Eh? Ah?”

“Okay okay. Today, I’ve come all the way to Gion in Kyoto! What an age we live in. Even an amateur like me can easily ''make an internet broadcast TV show'' just by using i@Stream! Okay, now it’s time for the usual ''live broadcast interview''!! Truck drivers like this always know the best places to eat.”

“Wait, wait!! What do you think you are doing!?” frantically protested one of the men.

Yes.

He protested peacefully.

If he pulled a handgun out here, he would be making his world debut holding it.

“You have to ask? This is a net show. ''It’s broadcast live worldwide.'' My equipment is a bit small though because my budget isn’t very big.”

“No, wait. We are…um…in the middle of work right now. We aren’t allowed to do this kind of thing. Surely even you are banned from working a different job while at work. So…”

“Okay, thank you very much.”

After approaching close enough, I tossed aside the video camera and grabbed the man’s arm. I then twisted his elbow around and upwards, swiped a suppressor-equipped handgun from within the man’s shirt, and killed all of his Akki Rasetsu comrades with it.

''Oh, that was louder than I expected.

The nightmare lasted only 5 seconds.

When caught by surprise like that, all they could do was stand still.

[[Image:Zashiki_v02_171.jpg|thumb]]

“Wh-what are you-…Hot!?”

“Oh, sorry, sorry. Did I touch you with the barrel when it was hot from the gas? While I’m at it, I’ll apologize for something else, too. I lied about the worldwide broadcasting, so don’t worry.”

I grabbed the collar of the one remaining man and slammed his back against the side of the large truck.

I then pressed the barrel against his forehead.

“Now, how about you tell me everything you know? What is this? What are you doing with it?”

“Ha ha… I’m just a subcontractor. I don’t know any of the details.”

''I thought you’d say that.

I aimed the gun lower and fired a single shot into the man’s right thigh.

I of course made sure to stop up the throat I was grabbing at through his collar to keep him from crying out.

“Gh…mgh!? Cough cough!!”

“Next, I will remove the suppressor and fire it from within your hand so it leaves gunshot residue. The gunshot will make sure the nearby residents come running out. I will run off and leave the gun here. The gun that killed your comrades will remain and you cannot run off with that leg. Whether you’re found guilty or not, your face will probably be on the front page of newspapers across the nation. You will make an enemy of not just Akki Rasetsu but the entire occult industry that wishes to remain hidden. Do you really think the bars of a prison cell will be enough to protect you then?”

“…I-I don’t know much. I’m telling the truth about that!”

“Tell me what you know.”

“Generation after generation, the Amemura family has worked as sailors. The tradition goes back as far as the Heian period. And the family has a tradition of letting the bodies of their dead wash into the ocean from their ships. They stopped doing that in recent times, but the Amemura bloodline is still strongly linked with the ocean around Kyoto.”

“So this ‘monk’ isn’t an Umibouzu?”

“Technically, we don’t even know if it is a Youkai. It is closer to a vague family guardian deity. But large accidents have happened in that ocean a few times. The unrelated people who drowned there were incorporated in with their ancestors. That may have given it properties similar to an Umibouzu.”

''Wait.

''Then what is Akki Rasetsu’s true goal in stimulating this ‘monk’ using Amemura Ryuu-chan?

Suddenly, the building’s backdoor slammed open.

“Tch!”

I tossed the man aside and fired several shots at the back door while beginning to run. Once the magazine was empty, I threw away the handgun, picked up the video camera I had dropped, and fled as quickly as I could.

Several gunshots quieted by suppressors rang out behind me.

''Not good, not good, not good!!

I frantically moved my legs and leapt behind cover while the Sunekosuri approached from a different route.

“Honestly, what are you doing!?” he shouted.

“I did what I needed to do. It’s time to disappear.”

“Eh? But what about that truck? It’s going to leave!!”

“I said I was going to attach a tracking device, remember?” I raised my index finger as the Sunekosuri froze in place. “If I had simply attached a tracking device underneath the vehicle, they would have found it right away. That is why I made the Akki Rasetsu courier think I was approaching to ask how the Amemura family is related to all this. ''That was a decoy objective.'' If they are satisfied to know why I was there, they will not think about looking for a tracking device. Okay?”

“Y-you…”

“Now let’s lose our Akki Rasetsu pursuers without slaughtering them. I want them to think I frantically ran off after being interrupted in the middle of gathering information. Once they feel safe once more, I can return and catch them off guard.”