Aria sat in a fluffy first-class seat, sipping the drink the flight attendant had brought her. Her expression was gloomy.
It was almost time for takeoff. She knew something was wrong with the sudden recall order from the Butei Agency in London, but she had no choice but to obey.
More than that, she couldn't face everyone back home.
(I wasn't looking at everyone like that...)
Because of her personality, her past relationships had been strictly work-related. Now, for the first time, she had found people who accepted her. Had she been taking advantage of that? Had she been too impatient?
She knew that a partner wasn't just a simple work colleague, but she didn't know what it was.
These were the first people she could truly call friends, and the thought of what they might think of her was terrifying.
Ever since her meeting with Kanae, that's all she could think about, and her mind was a jumbled mess.
She just wanted to get away and clear her head.
Sleep-deprived, her eyelids began to feel heavy.
Just a short nap. Thinking this, Aria gave in to her drowsiness.
---------
"Honestly. I thought you were a bit more thoughtful."
"..."
I said nothing.
"Don't tell me you thought you could counter my ice with fire?"
I couldn't talk back.
Let me ask you a question.
What happens if a fire breaks out in a room?
Jiriririririri!!!
The answer is the fire alarm goes off.
A deafening sound echoed. The airport control tower must be in a panic right now. Someone would come to check on this place soon.
Playing with fire is bad. That's all I could think about. The flames I shot from my fist without thinking had spread, and now we had a full-blown fire.
In movies, it always conveniently happens outside, but this is what happens when you use it indoors.
I shouldn't have gotten so carried away with a "surprise attack!" I regretted it. All my careful planning to get here unnoticed was now for nothing.
I had to defeat Jeanne quickly, or we'd both be arrested by security.
Worse, she could pin the blame on me and escape. Well, I did cause the fire.
A fist of flame and a sword of ice clashed, sending sparks flying as I was repelled.
Let me give you a quick rundown of the girl I'm fighting. She is Jeanne d'Arc the 30th. A character from Aria the Scarlet Ammo, she is a witch who primarily uses ice magic and swordsmanship.
She's introduced as a cunning strategist... but as is the case in other works, her incompetence gradually began to show. A sad fate, really.
Considering that, Jeanne seems stronger than her original counterpart. The area freezes just from her sword swings, and her physical abilities are unbelievable for a girl in light armor.
It's either a spell or magic to enhance her physical abilities, or she's taken some kind of scientific drug.
I thought her ice magic would run out of fuel quickly if she used it too much, but she's not holding back at all.
Still, her attacks seem a little desperate.
Strategists, those who act with careful planning, are weak against unexpected situations. Jeanne is no exception.
Jeanne moved three-dimensionally, kicking off the walls and ceiling, but—
"Hmph!"
"!"
I kept up with her.
Sparks flew with every clash. I hate to say it, but my strikes had a overwhelming power advantage. Her sword, which didn't chip at all even after taking a hit from a knockout fighter, was amazing, but she was struggling just to parry my blows.
"Ha!"
And the fragments of ice she sometimes sent flying,
"Easy."
I just lightly waved my arm and they melted away.
The fire alarm was an unexpected variable, but using fire against ice wasn't the wrong choice. In fact, maybe the alarm going off was a good thing, as it panicked Jeanne and made her attacks more predictable.
"Are you underestimating me?"
"What?"
"You've been aiming for my sword, not me. Are you saying you can't hit a girl?"
No, it's just that if I hit a person with Paradox's power, I could kill them. Murder is forbidden under the Butei Act.
Besides, if she loses her main weapon, it will be easier to land a controlled attack. She's just leaving no openings right now.
"Don't take me lightly."
Jeanne's aura changed. She was about to try something. The temperature in the room plummeted. A thin layer of ice formed around everything but me, even without water.
I manipulated the Gashat.
"Fleeting Ice of Orleans!!"
Kime Waza! Knock Out Critical Smash!
Jeanne thrust her sword into the floor. From it, a barrage of enormous, sharp ice shards surged toward me.
They filled the room like an avalanche.
I met them with a fiery fist. The fist itself couldn't reach her from this distance, but the flame I shot out from it like a flamethrower could.
The flames not only engulfed the wave of ice but also reached Jeanne. It might have left no bones if it hit directly, but the power had been significantly weakened by Jeanne's attack. Furthermore, her armor seemed to have some kind of magic on it, as she didn't show any noticeable external injuries.
The temperature, which had dropped to sub-zero, instantly became hotter than a sauna.
Jeanne, who had been blown through a wall, was completely unconscious.
KO!
My victory.
---------
"W-What?!"
Aria jolted awake from a sound like an explosion.
It was a familiar sound, one that instantly woke her up even in her dazed state.
A gunshot.
She rushed out into the hallway to find several men lying on the floor. This plane was for high-ranking individuals, and the first-class cabins were like small private rooms.
The people in those rooms were prominent figures with bodyguards.
And they had been easily neutralized. This wasn't an ordinary person.
"Everyone, get back in your rooms and close the doors! Don't come out!"
She snapped at the old men who were peeking out of their doors, then reached into her skirt and pulled a pistol from a thigh holster.
Seeing the gun, the men quickly obeyed her command.
A series of unintelligible sounds began to play over the intercom. But Aria understood what it meant.
"It's Japanese Morse code."
COME COME I U IS HEAVEN COME COME I AM IN BAR ON FIRST FLOOR I AM BUTEI KILLER
"Bring it on."
"I-U" was the organization that had framed Kanae. The Butei Killer was a member of it. She never expected them to come to her.
"I'm going to put a hole in you."
---------
She kicked the door open and stormed into the bar.
A woman in a Butei High uniform was sitting at the counter. She had a glass in her hand that likely contained whiskey, but her build wasn't that of an adult.
She was a girl with loosely permed blonde hair, about the same height as Aria.
"You fell for it perfectly again."
Aria recognized her face and her voice.
"You're Riko Mine, aren't you?"
"Bonsoir. Good evening."
She was a boisterous student from her own class. Aria remembered her once asking about Sho's Kamen Rider.
"You're the Butei Killer!"
Aria pointed her gun at her, but Riko just laughed and got off the stool.
"I've been waiting for this day, Holmes."
"What?!"
Holmes. No one on this island should know that name. The data was heavily protected to make it impossible to look up.
"Who are you, really?"
Riko's smile deepened in response to Aria's question.
"Riko Mine Lupin the 4th. That's my real name."
"Lupin!?"
Arsène Lupin was the name of a great French phantom thief. He also had a long-standing feud with Aria's ancestor.
"But my family never called me 'Riko.' Not my cute name that my mother gave me."
Riko continued as if she were broken.
"'The 4th,' 'The 4th,' 'Lady 4th,' they all called me that. Even the servants. It's so horrible, isn't it?"
"W-What does that have to do with anything? What's so wrong with being the 4th?"
Riko stopped walking.
"What's wrong with it?! Am I a number?! Am I just DNA?!"
Riko suddenly changed, screaming. This wasn't an act to catch Aria off guard. It was a genuine cry from her heart.
"I am Riko!! Not a number!! All of them!! ...If I don't surpass my great-grandfather, I'll never be me. I'll be treated as 'Lupin's great-granddaughter' forever!!"
Riko's grip on her gun tightened.
"That's why I joined I-U and got this power! With this power, I'll tear myself away! I will be me!!"
There was strong killing intent in Riko's eyes. She had no hesitation about killing Aria.
"One hundred years ago, the battle between our great-grandfathers ended in a draw. So, if I defeat Holmes the 4th, I can prove that I've surpassed my great-grandfather."
The curtains for battle were drawn.
"Today is your last day, Holmes!!!"
"!!"
The two rushed forward simultaneously. There was almost no difference in their physiques.
"Aria, you shouldn't assume you're the only one with two guns."
"!"
Riko pulled a second pistol from her skirt.
Aria and Riko's arms intertwined. Their muzzles weren't aimed at each other, and the bullets they fired sparked against the floor.
In this world where bulletproof clothing was widespread, pistols were no longer just long-range weapons. They were close-quarters weapons used in combination with martial arts. This skill was called 'Gun-Kata.'
Four pistols were fired at nearly zero range. Even after all their magazines were empty, there was no decisive blow. After a high-level Gun-Kata exchange, the two found themselves in a stalemate.
Aria was at a disadvantage. Their arm strength was equal, but her Colt Government had a smaller magazine capacity.
"Kufufu, it seems it was the right choice to put a tag on Yozuki Sho."
"Huh? Why are you bringing up Sho now?!"
"I thought it would be a hassle if you teamed up with him. So I just made it so he couldn't come here. If I tried to eliminate him carelessly, who knows what kind of counterattack I'd get."
That's why Riko didn't try to kill Sho. Since she thought he didn't know she was the Butei Killer, she decided to disarm him with her charm instead of provoking him.
But Aria reacted to one of her words.
"...He's not my partner. None of them are."
"Oh? But you guys have been close since the bikejacking incident. I thought for sure you had decided on a partner. Kufufu, did you get rejected?"
"That's not it!!"
Aria couldn't bear the mocking tone and broke the stalemate.
With her focus broken by anger, she was hit with a bullet.
"Ugh!!"
As her feet stopped, she was kicked hard.
"Ahahahahahahahahaha!!"
Riko laughed like a madwoman. Her aim was Aria's head.
"You...!!"
Aria threw away her empty guns, then—
"Don't you dare—"
She pulled a short sword from her back.
"—underestimate me!!"
"What?!"
Riko was shocked.
Aria had instantly pinned Riko to the floor.
"That's enough!"
The short swords were crossed at her neck like scissors. A single move of her head would result in a disaster.
"Heh, you're so naive, Aria."
But Riko just laughed, completely unbothered.
"W-What is it?!"
Riko was smiling despite being cornered, and Aria became even more cautious.
"This is what it is."
The moment a voice came from behind her, something was stabbed into her neck. She felt her strength draining away and collapsed.
"You're...!"
It was Kyochikuto, a member of I-U. There was an empty syringe in her hand. She had been injected with some kind of drug.
"H-How...?"
Kyochikuto was a person that Aria's sister-in-arms, Akari Mamiya, was investigating.
"Honestly, you get cocky just because you think you've won."
"Sorry, Kyo-chan. You saved me."
"After this is over, you'll help me get Mamiya's secret poison."
"I know, I know."
Aria lamented her naivete. She had assumed there was only one opponent.
"Kufufufu, this is my victory."
"Don't you want to prove you're stronger? And you need two people...!"
"Oh? Bringing strong allies is also a sign of strength, you know? In fact, my father had a few companions, too. What about your partner?"
Her attempt to provoke Riko had backfired. Riko pressed the gun in her right hand against Aria.
"Goodbye, Aria."
This was it. She was in a hopeless situation. She couldn't move, so she couldn't dodge or counterattack.
*(I can't die here...!) *
Even gritting her teeth, her body's response was sluggish. The commands from her brain weren't reaching her limbs.
*(Someone...!) *
The bullet...
High-Speed Mode
...missed.
Sho, as Paradox Puzzle Gamer, had grabbed Aria and dodged the shot.
"S-Sho...?"
"Sorry I'm late, Aria."
---------
I made it just in time.
After that, I showed the security guards my Butei license and left Jeanne in their care. And since things had already gone south, I used the Liquefaction energy item to somehow infiltrate the plane.
It took more time than I thought to find a gap and not be shaken off by the accelerating plane.
But I made it. I got here.
I was surprised to see Kyochikuto after Jeanne, but I knew Paradox could handle it. I'd just have to be mindful of my surroundings, as I'd learned from the fight with Jeanne.
This is a plane. I'll just have to use small-scale techniques.
"!!"
Something was wrong with my body.
I was losing strength.
"W-What's wrong?"
"Oh, right. The drug must be kicking in now, right?"
Drug?
"The room where you met Riko, didn't it have a sweet smell? I mixed a little something in there. I was hoping it would start to take effect while you were fighting Jeanne, but I guess this timing works out, too."
Riko's pained expression changed.
"Don't be careless, Riko. You only ingested a small amount. We don't have much time."
"I know."
"Tch!!"
Invisibility
I chose to retreat. I turned invisible and escaped the area.
---------
By the time I reached an empty cabin, I could only crawl.
"Ugh!!"
At the same time, the pain caused my transformation to be canceled. It was a side effect of the Gashat Gear Dual.
"W-Wait, are you okay?"
Aria, whose body was also losing strength, looked at me. I came to save her, but now we were both taken out.
This is bad, really bad. And what's worse, I'm the only one who knows about this. Why did I come without contacting anyone?
"Forget me, what about the poison, Aria? Are you feeling any changes?"
"Just losing strength. Nothing else. If they wanted to kill me, they would've used an instant-death poison. I think Riko wanted to kill me herself. She was so obsessed with it."
"I see."
Riko's goal was to defeat Aria and become free.
Honestly, I'd like to help her with that, but this is different.
"We have to capture them."
"Of course."
But how? We can't move properly. We can't expect reinforcements. We want to neutralize them without killing them, but they're coming at us with the intent to kill.
All the conditions are against us.
Still, we have to do it.
Riko will likely find us soon.
Before that, we need to decide what we're going to do to defeat them.
"Huh?"
"S-Sho!?"
Something had pierced my throat.
Something that had shot out of the watch-like terminal on my left wrist.
It was an 'arrow.'
--------------------------------------------
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