We made our way back towards the lobby of the club, killing yakuza members left and right as we went. One would think it would’ve been slow going, but with Akahime at the point position mowing down enemies with her beloved Minnie-kun, it had only been a matter of time before we were close to our goal.
Yatomura was the gang-leaders name, and Judgment had given me a rundown of his criminal history, which I was currently reciting to the two armed women at my sides. “Yatomura. Known drug lord, traffics the illegal substances of Celestine, Crystalline, Matcha, and Wasp. Also known for running one of the sex rings in Chika’s district of Rakuten. No one has seen his face before, and whenever he shows up, he wears a heavy cloak and gas mask.”
Akahime nodded in the middle of vacuuming up more recyclable bullets with Minnie-kun. “I remember the name. That sex trafficking is a serious danger in Chika. If he’s here, we can’t let this chance escape.”
I coked my head and looked at the princess. “I thought that the first thing on your mind would be getting the hell out of here and back to the safety of the Steel Palace.”
Akahime shook her head and put the minigun’s tube away. “No, this takes priority. Especially because there’s nothing left to salvage from the club. You heard the first two we encountered, they killed the proprietor of Chain Link, so now the club will definitely go under. We just have to make sure her sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
I shook my head and grabbed her wrist. “Your hormones are still out of balance from our play before. I can’t let you go in good conscience.”
Akahime snorted, "So now you care about having a conscience? Where was that bravado and chivalry earlier?”
I grimaced, and thought about dropping the matter. Why should I give a shit if some random princess I met only hours ago runs into danger and commits suicide by proxy?
Therein lay the problem. I sighed and pulled her into an embrace. “It was my fault that you feel this way now, I’m sorry. Believe it or not, I- I was numb to my emotions only a day ago, and only got cleansed of the antidepressants during my flight to the Luong Empire. I guess I’m still learning to process my emotions, but believe me when I say that cutting off your own to commit murder won’t make you feel better.”
Lucina put a hand on my shoulder, and hugged both her friend and I. “Well said. I would be devastated if I couldn’t talk to you anymore, Akahime. You’re one of the only princess friends I have who I can talk shop with.”
The imperial scion smiled at that, and put her face into my shoulder. “Alright, I get it. I’ll calm down and think rationally. Can you please let go?”
I released Akahime, and Lucina immediately came to take her place. I must have looked confused, because Lucina said, “So you can do impromptu aftercare with a girl you’ve only met an hour ago, but not me? Oh, what a cruel man I’ve chosen!”
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help but smile at her acting. “Thank you as well, Lucina. I couldn’t have gotten up to this point without you. As I said earlier, I’m still learning to process my emotions, so bear with me. I promise that I’ll be standing by your side, always.”
Lucina shivered, and pushed herself away from me. “Yuck, that was so cliche I almost vomited. Alright, come on you two. Let’s go kick some Yakuza dick in!”
“What if they’re women too?” Akahime brought up, and the Metronian princess smiled.
“Then we’ll kick their dicks in too!”
---
We entered the lobby from the second floor, and peered over the balcony as we spied on the remaining Tengu members.
“You’re telling me we threw fifty yakuza at them and they’ve all been killed!?” An angry voice rose from a large man.
He was as tall as he was wide, and the bald man with sunglasses on made for an intimidating figure. He was standing next to a figure whose description matched that of Yatomura.
“Do you have any idea how much of a problem this is gonna cause for our bro? Yatomura may be the boss’s favorite, but even the boss doesn’t take kindly to failure! What should we do bro?”
The man leaned in towards Yatomura, and the two shared a quick and apparently very quiet conversation. “Alright, assholes! Gather up!” The man yelled, and the twenty or so members of Tengu formed a circle around the large man and Yatomura.
“This isn’t good. Lucina, go around the other side and take aim. Prepare to incapacitate Yatomura. He’s a veritable well of knowledge for us.”
The princess nodded, and said, “I have several non-lethal bullets stored inside the chamber. Is there any desired outcome you wish to achieve?”
I thought about it for a moment, and answered, “I just don’t want him dead, or near anyone else when we start firing.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Lucina nodded, and quietly crawled to the balcony across from us. I turned to Akahime, whose finger was twitching in anticipation on Minnie-kun’s trigger.
“Akahime, I need you to stay right here and be ready to move when I create a distraction. Your silent rev-up gives us a stealth advantage, so I’ll need you to mow down the rabble after Lucina does her job.”
“Understood. Don’t be stupid about it. I’m still looking to collect the interest on tonight’s foreplay.” I smirked at the woman, who returned the expression.
Alright, let’s get this show started. Judgment, run the termination program on their guns from the cloud, and prepare to hack the members who have Judgment panels on.
“As you wish, Master. All preparations have been made. Just give a verbal or mental command when you wish to activate the sequence.”
I raised my eyebrow at the speed at which the A.I. carried out the order, but decided against thinking about it for now. There was always time to contemplate my life when it wasn’t in mortal peril.
I walked out from behind the baluster, and made my way towards the staircase. Thankfully, most of the grunts surrounding Yatomura were preoccupied with listening to the orders from the man on the right of him, and didn’t notice my blatant existence until I was almost at the top of the stairs.
Judgment, be prepared to activate the code when I start talking. How many people will it affect? “As you wish, Master. According to my scans, it will affect all people but the one known as Yatomura.”
My eye twitched as I mentally prepared myself for the next step. That sounds way too convenient. How the hell does he only leave himself guarded with these people? He had info from Teramoto about my powers, but…
I decided there was no use thinking about it further seeing as one of the grunts had finally noticed my presence. “Yatomura, Sir! Get-”
His voice was cut off as mine began speaking. “Hello, ladies and gentlemen! I am the man you all call, the faceless demon.”
“Fire at him you god-forsaken wastes of space!” The large man next to Yatomura shouted, and I couldn’t help but grin as not a single person moved from the spot they were in.
“What is this!?” The large man panicked against his own lack of mobility, and proceeded to make a wide variety of facial expressions.
I laughed at his plight and I could see the faces of some of the closer grunts pale at the sound. With a snap of my fingers I gave the command, “Kneel!”
Every yakuza member but Yatomura soon had one knee on the ground, giving Lucina the perfect shot and the princess took it, hitting the man with a bullet on the side, sending him flying towards the doors of Chain Link.
“Boss!” The large man cried, and looked at me with hate-filled eyes. I smirked beneath my mask and pointed at the crowd of Tengu members.
“Dance! Dance and smile! I want you all to enjoy your last moments on Ethia, after all.” The yakuza complied with my orders, and I watched as the the large man smiled at me, even with tears streaming down his face.
Akahime, finally having the opportunity to take her shots now that Yatomura was incapacitated and out of the way, rested Minnie-kun’s rather large barrel on the balcony, and proceeded to shoot into the crowd of dancing men and women.
Save for the sound that Minnie-kun made when firing, and the bullet shells hitting the floor, not a single noise was uttered. The yakuza members all died quietly, smiles and bullet holes adorning their faces.
Akahime stretched, and I watched as Minnie-kun transformed back into an armlet. “I feel so much better now that I had the chance to blow off some steam. Come, let’s bring this Yatomura back to the palace and torture him to our hearts content.”
I just stared in awe at her bold declaration and uttered, “You have a few screws loose, don’t you?” The imperial scion took the jab in stride and gave me a big, bright smile.
“That just means I’m a perfect fit for you, isn't it?” Lucina, who I hadn’t noticed had returned from the other side of the room, snickered at the retort.
Deciding that I could never win in any verbal confrontation when the both of them were present, I decided to do the smart thing and just shut up.
Walking out from between the two women and down the stairs, my gaze didn’t linger too long on the damaged corpses of the other members before I eyed Yatomura.
Deciding that waking around the pile of bodies was too much of a hassle, I opted to walk on the corpses, and took great pleasure in trampling the large man’s face with my boot.
“I told you.” Akahime laughed, prompting a giggle from Lucina as well. I looked down at myself, and admitted that the optics on trampling the head of a corpse didn’t look too great on my part.
Sighing, I finished my walk and stood over the limp body of Yatomura. “Well, moment of truth time, I guess.” I took the mask and ripped it off with one hand, and then proceeded to stare stupidly at what was underneath.
“It’s… a woman?” Lucina and Akahime both rushed to my side as I spoke, and stared at the figure just as stupidly as I had been.
“Not just any woman, Master. That is an artificial intelligence human assistance model.” In layman’s terms, please? “She’s a sex-robot.”
I smacked a hand against my forehead, and the robot started to move at the sound. “Automated Doll, registered to Identification Tag: Boss, activated. Scanning the vicinity for Master Yatomura… scan complete. Life signs have ceased in the relevant area.”
I looked at the robot, and asked the question I knew I would regret. “Boss, please point to your former master.” The robot proceeded to point in the direction of a corpse with a bloody boot stain on its face.
I rubbed my temples as I realized that the idiot had used a body double, without realizing that we might have wanted to take him alive.
“Well, there’s one bright side at least.” I muttered to myself, and Akahime walked up to my side to question me.
“One bright side? We killed our only relevant lead on any of the Tengu! How could there be any bright side!?” She was furious, but I merely pointed down at our latest battle trophy.
“Of course there is a bright side, Akahime. I’m surprised you didn’t think of it earlier, in fact. Robots are much easier to get information out of than humans.” I hoisted the limp-legged robot over my shoulder, and turned to face Lucina.
“Please call your sister, Lucina. Tell her to send over Akito to Chain Link. We’ll need a ride back to the Steel Palace, as soon as possible.