Chapter 61: Begging for Life

The real threat still hadn’t shown up.

The fights against the worm-men were gradually decreasing.

I went about my work without ever really falling into danger.

The reason was simple: Rikan, our heavy infantry, was too strong.

Big and heavy is already a kind of strength on its own. Add speed and technique on top of that, and you get Rikan. His presence was absurd—laughably unfair, even.

Part of it was that he started from a different baseline as a lifeform. But that only made him more reliable now that he was on our side.

We were starting to slip into routine. The tension had faded. That wasn’t good. I slapped my cheek to shake it off and refocus.

Whether it was waiting for that moment or not—I doubt it—but trouble arrived.

Something human-sized came hurtling through the air. It wasn’t just something. It was a human. The village chief.

He had an extra joint in one of his arms. His face was crushed. And yet, somehow, he was still breathing. The thick, sticky blood erupting from his nose swelled and burst with every breath.

I looked toward the source.

Standing there was something with an abnormally swollen right arm.

The surface of that arm throbbed and pulsed. A slick, wet sound. Like worms. The flesh twisted and bulged as the writhing strands coiled together into a grotesque mass.

“Got it.”

It had evolved. That was likely the case.

I exhaled slowly and drew my automatic pistol from the hip holster.

Angling my body sideways, I stepped forward with my right foot. Pistol in my right hand. Grenade in my left.

I stared at the monstrosity ahead.

—Creak.

It was the sound of my pupils straining. Just an illusion. I knew that.

The creature noticed us. Rikan shifted his stance, lowering his center of gravity.

“Rikan. Let me handle this.”

Just the words were enough. The tension drained from Rikan’s body.

The creature charged. Straight at me.

It raised its swollen right arm high.

The last step.

It pushed off with its right leg, and planted its left to brace for the strike, transferring the full weight into its punch.

That was the moment I aimed for.

As its foot touched the ground, I fired a bullet into the knee.

The joint shattered. It couldn’t hold the weight.

Its balance was broken and wouldn’t return.

The creature toppled past me, crashing awkwardly to the ground as I held my stance, half-turned.

I didn’t look back.

I just confirmed that Rikan had the chief slung over his shoulder, then pulled the pin on the grenade.

I rolled it across the floor and started walking away at a calm, steady pace.

Behind us came the wet, gory sound of flesh being torn apart.

“Are we using those things from now on?”

“Hardly. Grenades are too valuable to waste.”

***

Well… as a tactic, it wasn’t all that bad.

That was my assessment of the plan.

During the escape from the building, he’d first used a decoy as a shield, then, as he ran off, he’d kicked the one following behind, tripping them, feeding them to the beasts so that he himself could get away.

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

If only the decoy hadn’t been a child.

If only the one running hadn’t been a priest.

Or, perhaps…

If only he hadn’t been seen by us.

“Aah! My leg! My leg, my leeeeg!”

A gunshot cracked through the air, followed by a scream.

A loud voice. A pitiful voice.

The worm-men who had been about to sink their teeth into the child were distracted by the outburst and froze for a heartbeat.

“Tiger Unit. Overrev.”

Go all out.

Tiger Unit caught my unspoken order perfectly, went red-hot, scorching the air as he tore the creatures apart into mincemeat to rescue the child.

While Tiger Unit rampaged to hold the line and Monkey Unit and Rikan stormed the church to secure the rest of the children, I walked toward the man in the cassock rolling on the ground.

“Your village chief is the worst kind of bastard.”

“Eh? Y-yes! Yes, he is! That guy, that guy is a total bastard, he really is!”

“Yeah. Keep saying it. Thanks to him, the job got dumped on me. Rescuing the children.”

“…Ah, wait—no, what happened back there, that’s not—”

“He said his piece before I could refuse, then went and died. I hadn’t refused yet. Which means I took the job.”

I took a breath, crouched down, and met the priest’s eyes.

“You seem to get it, but I’ll spell it out. I took a job. The job is rescuing the children. Understand? You get that? You got it? I came here to save the children.”

“—”

I stood and leveled my gun at him. The priest’s eyes flew wide. He was speechless.

“Seeing someone like you makes me honestly glad I’m Japanese. I hate churchmen.”

“N-no, you’ve got it wrong! It wasn’t like that! The child, the child fell! I—I tried to help him! It’s true! It’s really true… please. Please forgive me! It was just a moment of weakness! Please, forgive me!”

Something. He was babbling something, desperately.

Begging for his life, probably.

No one wants to die. So you give them a chance.

“—Add it.”

“Huh?”

“Add ‘moja’ to the end of your sentences. Beg for your life like that. Then maybe—you get it.”

I smiled. Wide.

“Pl-please forgive me, moja! Please forgive me, moja! Please forgive me, mojaaaa!”

“Pathetic.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re going to beg for your life, at least do it seriously.”

I pulled the trigger. A hole bloomed. The priest’s eyes rolled upward, back into his skull.