Ouka
WHAT in the blue blazes is going on here?
Ouka watched Kiriko point the gun at Erie from his hiding place behind a building a short distance away.
I came to the dorms thinkin’ I’d finally gotten my hands on a good lead and what do I find? Some insane chick fight. Neither Erie nor I got any luck, he thought as he listened to them talk.
Kiriko didn’t seem to believe what Erie had blurted about Jair. But Jair unquestionably existed, and he was most likely the person who murdered the security guard. However, was that worth mentioning to Kiriko?
Ouka weighed the pros and cons. Erie should have information on Jair that he didn’t. Ouka might just grab hold of an even better lead if he made her indebted to him.
Well, saving her can just be an extension of my job. Erie’s arrest wasn’t part of the Church’s request.
Ouka left his hiding spot and raised his voice in greeting. “Yo, Kiriko.”
His unexpected voice startled not only Kiriko into turning around, but also Erie and the other Rabbis.
Kiriko scowled when she saw him. “…Ouka? Why are you here?”
“Put down your gun. That girl is innocent,” Ouka said, walking toward them.
The Rabbis looked skeptical.
“Why are you standing up for me?” Erie asked, but he didn’t bother with the annoying details. Kiriko glared at Ouka like he was the bane of her existence.
“You suddenly appear and expect me to believe you?”
“What the girl said is true. An even more heinous person is behind these incidents. She’s just a victim of circumstance. Let her go free.”
Kiriko let out the loudest sigh at him. “You speak as if you have authority here… You’re not even aware of the precarious position you’re in.”
“Come again?”
“Do you remember what happened four years ago?”
Ouka was taken off guard by the question she suddenly thrust at him. “Four years ago? What are you going on about all of a sudden?”
“I’m talking about Sehem-hamphorasch. The four original cubes and thirty-seven imitation cubes were stolen from the Church right around the time you quit, yes?”
Ouka groaned. “…Yes, they were. What about it?”
“We continued to search for them, but couldn’t find a single trace. And now, four years later, several people have appeared with the cubes… Moreover, you always show up wherever they are. Don’t you find that suspicious?”
Ouka suddenly had bad feeling about where this was going. “Hold your horses, Kiriko. What are you trying to say here?” he demanded hesitantly.
“The source of the cube leak. You illegally sold the cubes on the black market, didn’t you?”
“I-Illegally sold the cubes?! On the black market?!” Ouka’s voice cracked.
“I bet you’re going around collecting the cubes now that you’ve grown scared of your crimes coming to light,” Kiriko intoned with disgust. “This theory perfectly explains why Lovel’s cube went missing.”
“Are you an idiot?! You’ve gotta be an idiot! That’s not just a false accusation anymore!”
“Then explain to me how you were able to make a ridiculously expensive Amber Golem after quitting the Rabbis, when you were left with nothing but reduced wages? You couldn’t have done it without illegally selling the cubes on the black market.”
“Leave me be! I put myself in some serious debt for that!”
“What reason would be worth putting yourself in debt? Be more creative with your excuses at least.” Kiriko shot Ouka a repulsed look as though she was wholeheartedly disappointed in him, and then she addressed the Rabbis waiting for orders behind her. “Leave Erie Reyer to me and apprehend Ouka Baraki instead.”
The Rabbis charged Ouka and seized his arms.
This is bad. REALLY, REALLY BAD! I never planned for defendin’ my own innocence when I stepped in to prove Erie’s! Just trying to defend myself with words ain’t gonna work in this situation. Then—there’s just one path left to me. I really don’t wanna do this, either.
Ouka silently prayed very strongly for a certain something.
Hoping his prayers would come true in time, he tried to stall by distracting Kiriko. “You disappoint me, Kiriko… It looks like your eyes have clouded over these past four years. You’ve really lost the ability to discern the truth.” He flashed a provocative grin as the Rabbis restrained his arms.
Kiriko scrunched up her face with skepticism. “What are you going on about?”
“You can’t figure it out? Think about it. I quit being a Rabbi four years ago. The cubes were stolen at the same time. And now, several of them suddenly appear? What truth becomes apparent when you put all those factors together?” He randomly babbled about anything relevant that could potentially lead her on.
She looked doubtful. “I’m having a hard time comprehending what you are trying to say.”
“You’ve always been like that. You’ve got the tendency to avert your eyes from whatever ya don’t understand. Ain’t that right, sweet lil’ Kiriko?”
“…Please don’t address me with such impropriety. This is the second time,” Kiriko protested, irritation coating her voice.
I did it! She took the bait!
“No, lemme tell you! We once joined the church with the same hopes and dreams. But now, I’m an Illegal Golem Artificer on Chest Island, and you’re a Head Island Rabbi. How did we end up so far apart, when we were walking the same path?”
“Because you…you ran away!”
He had brought up the past for no good reason. It was only a matter of time before she caught on. At any rate, he had no choice but to ramble on at machine gun speed.
“I left because I couldn’t believe in the justice the elders preached about anymore. Do you honestly believe the Church is being righteous? The Church is profiting loads and loads off Golem Manufacturing Rights. But there are people who don’t got the money to pay those outrageous fees. Those are the real people with a desperate need for Golems too.”
“Whether they need them or not, people who don’t follow the laws don’t deserve to use Golems!”
“All they have to do is follow the law? Then they can have Golems for free? The Church Elders have joined arms with the military, happily tryin’ to weaponize Golems. They’re selling death, with funeral services, in a neatly wrapped package. They get the best of both worlds. Like they say, the Church needs no capital and has no expenses, so their income’s pure profit.”
“I know…I know all about that.”
“Then why haven’t you quit the Church?! Even the prettiest flower rots and withers away atop a giant pile of bullshit!”
Crap! My real thoughts and feelings are spillin’ into my plan to distract her with a random conversation!
The gun started shaking in Kiriko’s hand.
But shit, I’ve been dying to say this to her. Been holdin’ it in for four long years. Once Ouka became aware of his feelings, he couldn’t stop.
“Four years ago, I realized that something was up with the Church’s system. The poor of Chest Island are being worked to death their entire lives by Head Island’s wealthy—almost like they’re the Golems.”
“……”
“I wanted to do whatever I could to help the suffering and poor out, no matter how small. There’s people who can’t be saved by preaching ‘bout pretty things from your pretty castle! So if I don’t get down in the mud with them, who the hell will?!”
He had gone too far with that. The anger quickly slipped from Kiriko’s face. “…Ouka, you don’t have the right to say that.”
When he saw her ice-cold expression, Ouka realized his mistake. His attempt to buy time had just cut his time in half! Now he could only pray things worked out before it was too late!
“Rather than I, you’re the one who reeks of pretty idealism that amounts to nothing more than lip service. There is no end in sight for Berserker Golem accidents and Illegal Golem crimes to this day. Curtailing the damage would be impossible were the Church to relinquish its control.”
“You’re wrong. That’s wrong—”
“I don’t have to listen to you. The only thing we Rabbis can do is apprehend those who break the law. Regardless of how much it makes the people despise us! If I don’t do it, who will?” she challenged in an authoritative tone.
But Ouka felt nothing but sweet relief, because he sensed a special presence behind the stone wall at his back. As luck would have it, his prayers had come true just in the nick of time. He eyed Kiriko.
“…Looks like we just can’t see eye to eye after all. Pathetic.”
“I’m well aware of how pathetic you are, all right. You’re a disgrace to the Torah Church!”
“Nah, you’re the pathetic one, Kiriko.” Ouka gave her a wicked smirk. “Looks like your instincts have gotten rusty. Why do ya think I’ve been rambling on and on ‘bout nothing of importance?”
“What…are you suddenly going on about?”
“What did I create again, that made you suspect me? I wonder where that might be?”
“OUKA! You bastard!” Kiriko roared in shock and swung her gun to him.
Ouka raised his voice at the same time, “COME, DRAM!”
Dram leapt over the stone wall behind Ouka and landed right in front of Kiriko and the Rabbis. Summoned remotely, Dram crashed into the scene propelled by his breakneck sprint from Chest Island.
“What?!”
Dram kicked away the startled Rabbis. Freed from restraint, Ouka hopped on top his back and spurred him into a gallop.
“OUKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Kiriko’s bloodcurdling shout accompanied several gunshots. The tranquilizer bullets missed Ouka and ricocheted off Dram’s neck.
We’re good! We can do this!
Ouka had Dram swerve back for Erie at full-speed. Kiriko loaded more bullets into her gun.
“Come with me, Erie!” Ouka yelled, right beside Kiriko.
Erie jerked her head up. Surprise and hesitation came over her face.
If I let this chance slip by, I’ll likely never see Erie again. If I’m runnin’ for it, I’m taking her with me!
Dram darted in close to Erie and Ouka swept up her hand, pulling her with all his might onto Dram’s back.
“Wait! Heathy! Heathy isn’t—” Erie thrashed in his arms. He saw Kiriko aiming her gun at them out of the corner of his eye.
“He’ll be fine! We need to run now, or none of us will be fine!”
Dram bolted at lightning speed, faster than Kiriko pulled the trigger. Gunshots echoed behind them for several rounds before they stopped hearing them altogether.