Chapter 61

On the right edge of his vision, the bullet train sluggishly churned its way onto the scene. Normally it’d be here and gone in a flash, but now he could see everything down to the teeth on every individual passenger. His dossier told him that the target would be seated windowside in a reserved seat in row twenty-five, as counted from the front. But if he boarded the train before the one he was scheduled for, that must have changed as well… —Found him. Still by the window, but now in row twelve. A bald man, lips gnarled as he chomped at an expensive-looking cigar, a look of clear irritation on his face. Just like in the pictures. Yuga’s eyes completed their calculations, providing a formula that guaranteed him a clean hit. Narrowing them, he let the predator in him seize his body as he squeezed the trigger. He could feel the spring inside bend, and before long, he had it completely pulled back. The firing pin in the attached bolt mechanism struck the detonator at the bottom of the cartridge, setting it off. A small explosion took place within the action, a dull, muted flash emanating from the far edge of the silencer. At the same time, the Lapua Magnum bullet made its way through the barrel, the internal rifling giving it rotational speed as it smashed through the air toward its target. A blunt firing recoil gradually pounded itself against his shoulder. In a world where everything was slowed to near-statuesque proportions, only the bullet proceeded along at high speed. Yuga had given himself enough lead. He watched as the blast penetrated through the train window, broke the glass, and made a clean traverse through his target’s temporal lobe. The target listlessly began to fall to his side and downward. Realizing there was no point admiring his efforts any further, Yuga lowered his CPU’s operational speed and returned his sense of time to its normal state. The instant he did, the explosive bombast of “Ode to Joy” thudded against his ears as the remaining recoil force pounded painfully against his shoulder. Before long, the sun grew just as bright as it was before. Standing up as he watched the bullet train motor along at top speed, he tilted his head toward the blue sky. “You get him?” “It hit home, yeah.” He even managed to camouflage the muffled gunshot in the overlapping sounds of “Ode to Joy” and the passing train. Yuga sighed. “…So, Dark Stalker to Nest. Mission complete. Awaiting further—” “—What…what was that just now…?” Yuga whirled around, only to find a student—a girl—standing dumbfounded, clearly unable to believe her eyes. It was Yoshiko Kamuro. The wide-open metal door behind her instantly told Yuga why she was here. Maybe he was near the time limit and didn’t have any wiggle room to work with, but he cursed himself for not even bothering to lock it back up. Yoshiko, engaged in her usual boycotting-class habit whenever possible, must have noticed the half-open door and thought it was her golden opportunity for an hour or so of freedom. Not even realizing it’d cost her her life. “You saw it, huh?” a detached Yuga said as he took a deliberate step toward her. Yoshiko took a step back. “Wh-what the hell is up with that huge gun or whatever? Like, that’s just…totally nuts!” If she could’ve kept her legs from shaking, the half smirk she employed to accentuate her act just might have seemed convincing. Yuga kept approaching Yoshiko silently. She continued to step back. Before long, she was against the metal fence that edged the roof. “Are you, like, a hit man?” “Nope. I’m an avenger.” Yuga shrugged and looked up into the air. “Sorry, but if I let you live, that’s gonna leave a black mark on the whole operation. I really feel bad, saying this to you after just three months—but die.” There was no excitement or passion—nor any advance warning—behind the heel of Yuga’s palm as it hit home against her chest. The moment it did, there was a sharp crack as her torso cavity caved in upon itself. It was a perfectly timed move, one that took every field of human anatomy into consideration as it so expertly destroyed the body before him. It was at a zero-degree-impact angle, working its way through her pectoral muscles as it shattered her ribs, ensuring the ruined fragments embedded themselves deep into her heart. Instant death. What could have run through her mind during that one final circulatory cycle, the last time her doomed heart gave its mighty heave? He doubted her brain had enough time to comprehend her unsteady feet entangling themselves beneath her, or the meaning of the fresh blood bubbling into her mouth. Catching her as she fell, Yuga spoke into his headset. “Nest. Sorry, but I got an unexpected corpse here. I’m gonna sneak it into my locker on the stair landing, so make sure you have someone pick it up before the janitor finds it after school, please.” “Dehhh! This always happens with you—” Yuga cut off the link before he had to listen to the rest. He laid down the girl’s body, already embarking on its transformation into a cold lump of meat. Then, from the Nukagari High School roof, he took in the vista that unfolded below him. As the summer wind beat drearily against his cheek, he peered into his palms. “I have all this strength. So why am I such a failure all the time…Professor?”