Akugyaku no Black Maria c15

Bodies that had gone cold, the final end of man.
Ludmila breathed a sigh while looking like a lost sheep at the mountain of piled up corpses.

What was it that she felt right then, was it fear, admiration, or something else entirely.
Even Ludmila herself didn’t know.

“Alright! Job’s done, now we go get some drinks!”

The final person, a fat man that seemed to be the ringleader of the syndicate, was tossed atop the mountain of over a hundred corpses.
Then Casca raised her voice as she wiped the blood off her fists.

“So s.h.i.+zu —, lend me money —!”
“Stop sponging off of my beloved! Do something about your alcohol money by yourself!”
“The three year old that can’t drink booze should just shut up! Also, I’ll pay back properly you know? Look, there’s an inn right next to my favorite watering hole … see?”

Casca smiled, full of implications, she then licked the tips of her fingers.
Right afterwards, Lady’s kick drove right into her gut.

“How many times do I have to tell you to not make pa.s.ses at people’s husband!? I’ll bite you to death!!”
“cough … Don’t you have any common sense, using your hand before your mouth!!”

Casca and Lady began to grapple and scuffle.
Seeing the two quarelling while bathed in blood, Beth who was wiping her saber with a cloth snorted derisively.

“Hmph, worthless, really worthless. How does it feel being fought over by the mistress and the pet, s.h.i.+zuru-kun?”
“It’s ruining my reputation, so I wish you won’t use that term, Beth …”
“Ara, am I wrong? Come on, did I get anything wrong?”
“… no”

Looking back on himself, s.h.i.+zuru realized that from the outside, it wasn’t necessarily incorrect.
Seeing his smile cramp in self derision, Beth let out a mean smile, looking at him with eyes containing slight malice and seductiveness.

“Should I try being your mistress too? I’ll make it cheap”
“High school girl … um, ah, JK 1, right. Soliciting a JK is criminal, right … it’s an interesting proposal, but I’ll pa.s.s for now”
“— hmph, an inoffensive answer that raises one’s hope. I see, that’s how you seduce women isn’t it s.h.i.+zuru-kun. Worthles.”
“… based on the fact that I can’t really say I don’t have that intent, I’m seeing my own degeneracy 2 in a new light”
“Ara, what’s wrong with being degenerate? Casca is degenerate, Lady is degenerate. Eliza and I are also both degenerates. Ludmila’s probably the only upstanding person here”

s.h.i.+zuru sighed for the umpteenth time.
Beth happily raised the corner of her mouth.
But as she did, her brows suddenly scrunched as she palmed her forehead.

“tsk … hold on, what are you doing Eliza …! Don’t get in the way, I kill you! People are having a good chat — grrh”

Beth moaned in annoyance and then her pose dropped.
When she raised her face again, she had went back from Beth to Eliza.

“— mou! Who do you think you are to call senpai degenerates! And I don’t care what you are but I’m an upstanding girl!”
“— Oh shut up, stupid idiot Eliza. The girl who wonders whether it feels good or not to kill a person on the street every time they pa.s.s her by calls herself upstanding!?”
“— what’s wrong with that!? It’s just my character!”
“— Hmph. The fact that you don’t think there’s anything wrong with that is exactly why you’re a degenerate!”

Between the two, Eliza held the initiative to switch places.
But that said, a split personality was a type of mental illness after all.
It’s uncontrollable and not completely suppressable, so Beth would come out on her own like this every now and again.
Just from watching the look in her eyes and her tone of voice changing, one could’n see her as anything other than an emotionally unstable girl.

“Ahahaha … haah. Anyway, since we finished the job safely, let’s all have dinner together. I’m buying”
“Really! Free meal yay! You’re the best, I love you s.h.i.+zu!”

s.h.i.+zu proposed in order to change the mood, and Casca was the first to jump at it.
So fast that she left Lady who she was fighting with dumbfounded.

“… my dear. If you keep pampering Casca like this she’s going to get carried away”
“Haaaa!? What’s wrong with that you dumb dog, it’s s.h.i.+zuru’s lifelong purpose to pamper me!”
“Can you please not arbitrarily decide other people’s purpose in life …”

Sure, he liked pampering better than being strict, and he’s better at it too, but to say it’s his purpose in life was a bit too much.
While having that thought, s.h.i.+zuru looked over at everyone.

“Now, let’s get out of here. We made too much of a ruckus even for the slums. I heard a guard’s whistle just now, so I think we’re going to have people coming”
“Fighting the guards is a pain … and me aside, it’s going to be trouble if they saw s.h.i.+zu”

Casca was right, it was a great risk for the good-natured eastern ward physician s.h.i.+zuru to be seen at the scene of a crime.
He could make an excuse since he lived in the slums, but he would like to avoid that if he could.

“At the very least it’s going to make Rosa’s matter go in a weird direction, getting suspected will be a lot of work …”
“What, did that manwoman hit on you again? That’s what happens when you give her hope half-a.s.sedly. Just say no and make it clear”

I wouldn’t’ve been so troubled if I could do that.
Richelieu told me to deepen our relations.h.i.+p to make a link inside the Royal Palace.

“She’s not a bad person, she’s actually quite good … I have my situation to think about”
“My dear … if I were stronger I could’ve torn her throat to death …!”
“Please don’t sneak up to her at night and kill her or anything, okay, Lady?”

Because you definitely can’t win.
Swallowing those last words, s.h.i.+zuru made a vague smile.

— A lively mood, almost as if they were having a normal everyday conversation.
Such a peaceful atmosphere one wouldn’t be able to believe that they were having it right next to a mountain composed of innumerable dead bodies.

Which only made the abnormality stand out even more.

“…”

Feeling an indescribable fear, Ludmila watched s.h.i.+zuru and the four girls from a slightly distant place.

She was directing her purple gaze at them.
She narrowed them hard and s.h.i.+vered slightly in fear.

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