“You know the man with demon hands, don’t you?”
Who’d said that? It hadn’t been Hakayama. He wasn’t saying anything. The voice had come from behind Sousei.
Demon hands…
It didn’t matter. He should deal with Hakayama first, regardless.
Tousuke Mochizuke?
The Crusher?
Crap.
Sousei hadn’t immediately done what he should have. He couldn’t.
Hakayama took advantage of that opportunity. The moment Sousei became unsettled by the mysterious voice, Hakayama’s wide eyes suddenly narrowed. Confronted with the threat of death, Hakayama’s entire body should have been tense, but in that crucial moment, he relaxed and fired his Beretta. It was as if he’d suddenly transformed into a skilled assassin.
“…!”
By the time Sousei thought it might hit him right between the eyebrows, he was already losing consciousness.
Sousei was in pain when he came back to life. A man with a narrow face and shaggy hair was stepping on his throat.
Wh… What the—? Who is this guy…? Or I guess I should be asking—
Why was the man naked? He wasn’t wearing anything. Not even underwear. Meaning Sousei could see some things he’d rather not.
He’s huge…!
That was neither here nor there. Or rather, Sousei had bigger problems at the moment.
“Whoa. That’s amazing.” The corners of the naked man’s mouth lifted so higher than should have been possible. “What are you? You don’t die? You came back to life? You a zombie? Really reeeeally?”
The man’s pupils were tiny. Was he smiling? Despite his handsome facial features, there was something wild about his expression that made a person’s hair stand on end.
“Huuuh, zombie boy? Lil hit maaaaan. Or should I call you an assassin? Lil assassin zombie punk. Give me an honest answer. Yeah? You know about the man with demon hands, don’tcha?”
“Ugh… Ngh…”
Sousei pretended to be trying to answer but unable to due to having his throat stepped on, he briefly glanced under the coffee table. Hakayama wasn’t there. Had he run away as soon as he’d shot Sousei dead? Who was this naked man? Was he a member of the Scarecrows? There hadn’t been any information about a man like him in the briefing documents Sousei had been given by his sister.
“Hey, hey, hey, heyyyyy. Answer me, lil assassin zombie.”
“I’m…telling…you…” Actually, he wasn’t just pretending not to be able to answer. That was also the reality.
“Hey, lil assassiiin…” The naked man crouched down and put more weight on Sousei’s throat, then reached out his right hand. Was he after his balaclava? He was probably planning to take it off and get a look at Sousei’s face.
“Hurry up, idiot!”
He heard Hakayama’s voice. It had come from the back door. It was just for a second, but the naked man’s attention turned away from Sousei.
Now.
Even before that thought went through his mind, Sousei had thrown up both of his legs and twisted them around the naked man’s right leg. At the same time, he wrapped his arms around the man’s right ankle and got him in an ankle hold.
“Ohh…?!” The naked man seemed like he was going to fall backward, but he braced himself with his left leg. Sousei twisted the naked man’s right ankle even farther. He had him.
“Hngh…!”
The naked man’s face distorted—and the next moment something happened to him. The color—his color—changed. The naked man changed color. It wasn’t just his skin, either—his eyeballs, hair, and everything else completely changed. Until just seconds ago, his skin color had been typical of an Asian man, not much different from Sousei’s, and he’d had black hair. Now, however, his entire body was the color of steel. It even shone. And it was as hard as metal.
Metal…?!
Sousei instantly moved away from the naked man. He’d let go of his Ruger LC9 when he died, and it had fallen onto the floor. He pounced on his gun, picked it up, then ran straight for the back door.
“Hey, wait…!” the naked man shouted, but Sousei paid no attention to him.
He couldn’t see Hakayama anywhere inside the factory, so he thought maybe he’d gone outside through the back door. There weren’t any other underlings, and the back door was closed. Hakayama was more important than the naked man. Not killing Hakayama was out of the question.
As Sousei feigned opening the door, he glanced back to see that the naked man had returned to normal. He wasn’t shiny anymore, nor the color of steel, but a normal human color. Naturally, he’d been chasing Sousei, and the distance between them was about ten feet.
Sousei pointed his gun at the naked man, who stopped in his tracks. He fired three shots, all of them direct hits.
Yet despite taking three rounds to the chest, the naked man didn’t even flinch. Three faint marks could be seen on his skin, presumably where the bullets had hit him. They couldn’t be called gunshot wounds, let alone bullet holes. His body was hard, just as Sousei had thought it would be. Still, he hadn’t expected it to stop a bullet.
He’d done it again. The naked man had turned to steel from his head to his toes.
It had taken only a split second, from just before Sousei had fired his gun to immediately afterward. If the naked man had been even slightly later in turning to steel, he might not have escaped unharmed.
Guns won’t work if he turns to steel… What a crazy cheat.
Sousei opened the door and went outside.
“Hey!”
The naked man’s voice was cut off by the door closing, and Sousei could hear the sounds of a car engine in its place. There was an SUV by the back entrance, but nobody was in it. If he remembered right, there had been three cars parked in front of the factory. It must be one of those. Rather, judging from the sounds, it seemed like there were two cars moving, not just one.
And here I thought this job would be easy money…!
His throat hurt. Sousei coughed as he ran down the side of the factory.
The back door opened behind him. It was probably the naked man.
By the time he reached the front of the factory, the cars were already pulling out. Two cars—the third wasn’t moving. They were going around the abandoned bus on their way to leaving the factory.
Sousei chased after them at full speed until they got to the road, then readied his gun. The taillights of the two cars still looked large. They weren’t that far away yet.
If I shoot out a tire…
It was dark, and the cars were moving. It was a tough shot, and if he did make it, it would probably be a fluke. He also didn’t know which car Hakayama was in. What’s more, as well as the two sets of taillights growing distant, there was also a set of headlights approaching.
Sousei quickly made his way into the thicket opposite the factory. Hakayama had mentioned calling for backup, so the approaching car might belong to the Scarecrows. Or it might not. Either way, it was best for Sousei to lie low for the time being.
He got away from me. I let Hakayama escape…
It was the naked man’s fault.
Seriously, what’s up with that guy? Why’s he randomly naked?
The car he’d seen earlier passed by the front of the factory. It apparently didn’t belong to the Scarecrows.
Sousei was in a thicket that was just a little shorter than him. From there, he couldn’t get a clear view of what was happening around the factory and could only barely make out the road from between the plants. There were no streetlights nearby. It was too dark.
The naked man…?
Someone was standing at the side of the road. Was it the naked man? Sousei couldn’t tell. He couldn’t see clearly. He wasn’t certain whether it was even a person.
“Sousei,” his sister called out to him through his earpiece. He stopped himself just before he replied. That wouldn’t have been good. It would be bad to speak now.
The assassin—that naked man… He asked if I knew the man with demon hands… If I knew Mochizuke. No, he told me that I knew him. What’s that all about…? The naked man must know Mochizuke as well. Is he a fellow assassin…?
Sousei held his breath and strained his eyes.
Someone was standing by the roadside—or at least, that’s what it looked like.
The naked man… He’s not just some pervert. He appeared suddenly. Where was he? Hiding? I didn’t notice at all. And he also…hardened. That cheat. Is he a fellow assassin? One with a cheat? Mochizuke. The man with demon hands. Crusher. If the naked guy’s an assassin, too, then it wouldn’t be weird for him to have known Tousuke Mochizuke. Still…
Judging from the silhouette, there was a high probability that it was a person standing by the side of the road.
The naked man also knows that I took out Mochizuke. Or at least it seems he suspects it. Is that why he’s targeting me…? I’m being targeted…
Sousei didn’t take his eyes off the figure by the side of the road for a single moment. He could even say with absolute certainty that he hadn’t so much as blinked.
Despite that, it disappeared suddenly. Or perhaps he should say they disappeared.
In any case, whatever it had been wasn’t there anymore. It had vanished in the blink of an eye.
…An optical illusion? Is that what it was? No… It wasn’t. Someone was there. I think…it was the naked man. Probably. He appeared from out of nowhere, then suddenly vanished…
Sousei strained his ears. Could he hear anything? The sound of a twig breaking; something brushing against a branch; the undergrowth being stepped on? No, nothing like that. It seemed Sousei was the only one in the thicket. No one else. Or at least, there wasn’t anyone moving around inside the thicket. No one was closing in on him. Not at that moment.
The naked man had disappeared, but that didn’t mean Sousei could breathe easier. He might reappear. He might still be searching for Sousei.
I was attacked right in the middle of a job killing Hakayama and his lieutenants. Was it a coincidence? That naked man… How much does he know about me…?