The World Is Overflowing With Monster, I'm Taking A Liking To This Life Chapter 78 Part2

An exceedingly ugly and terrible thought crosses my mind. Really, I shouldn’t be thinking about these sorts of things…

“Kudou-san.”

“Offu…”

Oh shoot. A strange sound came out.

“……What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing… Rather than that, what is it?”

I glance at Ichinose-san from the side. I see determination in her eyes.

“This is just a speculation… but if I were to… snipe her from here, will it solve the problem?”

“…That, that’s…”

I stutter in response to her suggestion. Indeed, while it’s pretty extreme, if we get rid of the girl right here right now, everything will be solved. But to think Ichinose-san will bring it up herself…

“Can you… do it?”

“… I will.”

Having said that, Ichinose-san positions her gun.

“Right now… right here, if I fin…finish her off, it will bring everything to an end. From this distance, I won’t miss either… so I, I will----”

“Kill her? Ichinose-san, are you able to do it?”

Hearing my blunt usage of the word “kill”, Ichinose-san falters momentarily.

“…I can. I was the one… who brought this up. I will take responsibility… for what I have said.”

“Even so…”

To a certain degree, she realizes the fact that we’re being dragged into this mess. That is why she is a.s.serting that she should be the one to dirty her hands. However…

“Rejected. I will not permit you.”

“Why?”

“There are two reasons. First and foremost, if Ichinose-san pulls the trigger, regardless of whether or not the target dies, our existence might be revealed to the students here.”

Even though Ichinose-san’s “Cognitive Impediment” and “Sniping” are powerful, they are not all-encompa.s.sing. Because of the scope, it’s possible to notice her line of sight even with concealment skills activated. Another demerit is that once her opponent recognizes her, the effects of the skills gradually decrease. We can’t risk being exposed in front of all these people. I mean, a former-cla.s.smate wielding a gun while being accompanied by an unknown man who can control a shape-s.h.i.+fting slime and a dog with the ability to manipulate shadows? If things go wrong, we might be accused of being the monster tamers. Even escaping will be difficult at that point.

“Second, we can’t guarantee the death of our enemy as of now.”

“…And what do you mean by that?”

“I didn’t realize until I took a good look at her, but I sense an unpleasant feeling coming from her. More specifically, it’s coming from her shadows.”

“That means…”

With that, Ichinose-san seems to have also noticed.

“Yes, the dark wolf should be hiding within her shadow.”

No, there might even be other monsters lurking around in her shadow. After such a disturbance, it’s unlikely for her to enter her opponent’s headquarters defenseless. It won’t be weird for her to have some guards nearby. From that perspective, the dark wolf ability to cut off the presence of those in the shadows is very useful. She might also have slimes which have mimicking skills like Aka. In other words, in the worst scenario, a battle might erupt the moment we attack.

“It is as you have said, Kudou-san. Sorry for being so thoughtless.”

“It’s fine. For now, we should continue to observe her behaviors. A perfect opportunity to shoot might arise.”

Nodding, Ichinose-san lowers her gun. Immediately afterwards, Katsuragi draws herself near Nis.h.i.+no-kun and Rikkchan. From an ignorant bystander’s perspective, they would seem like they are having a casual conversation. However, it was completely different from our angle.

“…!! Ricchan!”

“Y-you can’t! Please hold back!”

“But!”

“We can’t be negligent and have our ident.i.ties revealed. We should send a ‘Mail’. As long as she moves away from the girl, we can protect her at the very least.”

“”Y-yes.”

Ichinose-san hurriedly shoots a mail to Rikkchan. Almost simultaneously, Rikkchan shows a reaction.

“What is it, Rikka?”

“No, I thought I heard something just now. It said ‘You’ve received a mail’.”

“A mail?”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, she received the mail. With this, Rikkchan should move away from the monster tamer. This will do.

Just when I am entertaining such thoughts--- I feel a s.h.i.+ver run across my body. “Detect Danger” activates.

“Eh?”

What an awful timing. Soon after we sent the mail, Katsuragi’s, the monster tamer’s, shadow moves. Nis.h.i.+no-kun isn’t aware of this. Neither is Rikkchan. Not to mention the other students. We are the only ones conscious of this fact. Is she planning on starting a rampage here? Impossible. What is she thinking? No, this isn’t the time to get distracted.

“---Kudou-san!”

Ichinose-san has already positioned her gun. Stop! If you fire, our position would be exposed! We should just abandon her---No, s.h.i.+t!

“Fire!”

I was shouting when I noticed. Ichinose-san pulls the trigger without hesitation. The sound of gunshot is heard throughout. The bullet that was fired travels straight towards the eyebrows of the monster tamer… and is absorbed. Afterwards, she falls to the ground.

Silence. And then screams.

In the midst of chaos, we do not look away from the monster tamer who has fallen down. Just now... did it… miss? It looked like the bullet was sucked in. When I observe closely, I see that a small “darkness” has appeared on her forehead.

Is that the dark wolf’s ability?

“That hurt…”

Words leak out of her mouth.

-Incoming!

The next moment, “darkness” spreads.