A hellish silence filled the area.
The shock made everyone forget to move—or even think.
There were certain things that, even if you had an inkling before that they would happen, actually having them occur right in front of you would make you freeze.
The location was, as ever, the Nanbu household. It was rather closer to being a warehouse than a house, and looked that way both inside and out. There was a minimal amount of living space here and there, but it was all somewhat of an afterthought. Construction-wise it was a simple building: walls and a roof supported by a dozen or so metal pillars, without even a single internal wall partitioning the space. Instead, there were huge piles of boxes and containers, eventually forming a veritable labyrinth.
Kyouhei Nanbu was restrained in a corner of that building. He and his junior, Sanae Murata, had been tied to one of the pillars as hostages.
Those responsible were soldiers from the far off land of the Manninger Commonwealth. They were a black-ops force under the command of Colonel Walser. As far as Kyouhei had seen, they were 20 men strong—about what you would call a platoon. They were all wearing urban camouflage gear and equipped with laser-sighted German rifles. They were as well trained as they were equipped. Their gear and movements made this clear even to Kyouhei, who was relatively inexperienced with military matters. The military took away part of its soldiers’ half-baked humanity. Hesitation, indecision, fear, compassion, unease... all of these lowered the efficiency of their killing machines. By those metrics, Walser’s squad was made up of ideal soldiers. Their unchanging faces and silent figures carrying out their work certainly made them look like machines; they didn’t have any of the hesitations a normal human would when moving.
Now, however...
The soldiers were staring towards the entrance in shock, even the ones keeping Kyouhei and Sanae at gunpoint. They were looking motionlessly at the metal plate that had come to rest at their feet.
In other words, what had been the door.
The massive metal piece—that plate which until moments prior had covered the entrance—had crumpled right in the middle. It was originally a four-meter-wide sliding door that created an opening to unload trucks and trailers, and then covered the entrance in thick metal once closed. Of course, it was as tough as it was heavy. It was too difficult to open and close, so they usually used the side door to come and go.
And yet... that hefty door had been blown out of its tracks like it was paper or plastic, and now lay on the warehouse floor. The soldiers and goods that had been in its path were both obliterated, the soldiers writhing in muffled agony, probably with broken bones.
And, in the now-open entrance... stood a single girl.
Her backlit form was hard to make out from Kyouhei’s position, but her long golden hair danced around her, shining in the sun at her back. Kyouhei couldn’t tell whether her billowing hair was due to some wind current or else some hitherto unknown power her body held.
It was Pamil.
Officially, Harumi Nanbu.
She was now Kyouhei’s little sister, but her slight form belied her calm-breaking abilities. She could fire beams from her eyes, shoot lightning from her hands, and stop an oncoming truck with a single one of those small hands.
And...
“Pamil...” Kyouhei muttered dazedly, before asking in disbelief, “what...?”
“You heard me,” Pamil declared, giving no mind to the armed soldiers around, stalking into the warehouse. “I said I won’t allow any snu-snu with Sanae behind my back!” You could almost feel the thunder sound through the air with her proclamation.
In answer, Kyouhei’s jaw dropped to the floor (figuratively).
The colonel seemed just as lost at the unexpected statement and, while still slightly on guard, let out a disbelieving murmur: “Snu-snu...?”
Even the soldiers—not understanding Japanese—seemed to have realized something was odd. They were glancing at their commanding officer, Colonel Walser, with puzzled expressions.
“...Seriously,” Kyouhei spoke, the first to come to his senses. He had gotten more or less used to his now-sister’s bizarre behavior. “You idiot! Now’s not the time! Run!”
The colonel’s target was Pamil, so her just walking on in was perfect for him.
But...
“She just said ‘I love you,’” Pamil started, approaching even closer as if she couldn’t hear him, “and then you took her home straight away to start copulating—how shameless!”
“Wha?! N-No, that’s—” Kyouhei stuttered, shaking his head.
Next to him, however... was a rapidly reddening Sanae who just said: “If... you wanted to, Senpai,” inviting all kinds of assumptions.
“Besides, I told you that first! I’ve been waiting ten yea—” Pamil protested, then stopped. “...Ten years?” She seemed unsure of her own words and halted, crossing her arms and tilting her head in thought. “Ten years... Ten years ago. I only met you this year, though. Hmm?”
“You moron! Forget all that and run! I don’t care where, just—”
His frantic cries weren’t getting through to his crazy sister in the slightest, though, and she interrupted him saying: “Hmph, you’re just saying that so you can have snu-snu with Sanae, aren’t you?!”
“How the hell would I manage that like this?! Just look around!” Kyouhei shouted, almost in tears.
Then, finally...
“Hmm?” she asked, finally realizing that the two were tied up and that they were all surrounded by guns. “Kyouhei...”
“So you finally get it.”
Though it was far too late. The soldiers had recovered and now had their guns pointed at them all. Obviously, being tied up, they had no way of escaping, and now nor did Pamil with over ten automatic rifles pointed her way.
“I...” Pamil began, frowning at Kyouhei as he drooped in exhaustion. “You’re into snu-snu while being tied up?!”
“Like hell I am!!” he roared.
“Princess Pamil,” Colonel Walser cut over Kyouhei, “it has been some time.” He gave a bow, speaking obsequiously to an unpleasant degree.
Pamil blinked suddenly and looked at him, then turned a questioning look to Kyouhei. “Is he a friend of yours?”
“Would you get a clue already?!”
“You do not recall me? Well, the hypnotic techniques did indeed create another personality in you,” Walser said, showing no sign of noticing Pamil playing the funny man. In fact, he had a faint smile on his face. “Your recollection of me is a trifling matter. However, if you lack your memories, that is indeed a concern.”
“Hm? It is?” Pamil asked curiously, clearly not understanding any of the situation.
“Indeed. We have not made our way all this distance to the far East simply to assassinate you,” Walser said particularly pompously. Pamil just blinked curiously again as he talked to her. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t see the soldiers around her as enemies. “The cabinet wishes to inherit the Legacy managed by the Bergmann royal family,” the Manninger colonel said with a cynical smile. “There are two main reasons you Saviors have ruled the country for over a millennium. The first is the powers you hold. The other is what was bequeathed unto you by your ancestors, the Legacy.” He bent down to meet her gaze. “We combed through the remnants of the palace, but found nothing that could be the Legacy, so it must have been taken by you out of the country, no?”
“Hmm?”
Pamil, however, didn’t seem to have any idea at all. She just looked curiously at him. Though if Walser was correct and a temporary personality had been created in her mind, keeping her memories sealed, then she would of course not know.
“...I don’t get the fine details,” Pamil finally answered, “but you’re essentially taking Kyouhei and Sanae hostage to demand something of me?”
“I’m pleased you are so quick on the uptake,” he responded, a sarcasm-filled smile on his lips. “And while we’re discussing it, that goes for you too.”
He snapped his fingers, prompting red dots to cover her entire body. The dots were from the laser sights, silently proclaiming that a bullet was aimed at that location—a particularly effective threat.
“I have heard tales of the absurd powers of the royal family, but are they enough to repel hypersonic bullets from all directions, I wonder,” the colonel said, gleefully.
● ● ●
In the end, Pamil was bound much like the others. Unlike the other normal humans, however, who were bound with thin nylon rope, Pamil had three pairs of cuffs on both her arms and legs, and constantly had five guns pointed her way.