For the first time since chapter 5, we're not in Abydos. Here we are in the Black Market, focusing on a new character who is definitely not Ciaphas Cain leading a group of girls who definitely aren't the Foreclosure Task Force. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. Along with that, the appearance of OUR LI- I mean, THE TRUE PROTAGONIST OF BLUE ARCHIVE!
Enjoy the ride folks!
Chapter 15: Deceiving and Dealing
It only took about an hour's train ride from Abydos to get to the Black Market. Perhaps I should have seen the short trip coming. I'm sure hooligans and ne'er do wells of all stripes appreciated the convenient distance to a near-abandoned wasteland where they could hide and easily wreak havoc. This was less problematic for the Abydos girls than you'd think: Being above most of the rabble, they were less of a nuisance and more of a semi-reliable source of income for bounty hunting. It was only when they massed up in force like the Helmet Gang did that any problem presented itself.
"So this is the black market…" Serika huffed from beside me.
Arriving there, I found the sights quite familiar. A veritable maze of winding pathways and streets, giving way to more open hubs of commercial activity. Dark corners and seedy alleyways everywhere you looked, for those looking to conduct more private business, whether it be simple exchanges of questionable merchandise or confrontations that would likely end with a new face on the missing person bulletin. A general atmosphere of unease, where a second's obliviousness could cost you your wallet… Or worse. It was just like being back in the underhive, complete with everyone important being armed, though I imagine crossbows wouldn't be in the mode.
At least there was some blessed natural light here, shaded and covered as it was by buildings and roofs. Underhives generally lacked light that didn't come from artificial sources. Reassuring ones at least. Bioluminescent flora (or Throne forbid, fauna) wasn't always as comforting as it seemed.
"Wow, there's a ton of people here!"
Nonomi's muffled words were quite accurate. Despite the unpleasant atmosphere, it definitely didn't lack for business. Cats, dogs, robots and of course the armed and haloed students were here. Shaded eyes and masked faces weren't exactly the norm, but were common enough that nobody bat an eye at those wearing them.
"I was expecting a smaller operation," Shiroko said warily as she glanced around. "This feels like a city unto itself…"
"Good thing we look just like the locals!" Hoshino sounded out a muted agreement from behind her face mask. "Coming here like this was a good idea!"
As I suggested, all of us went in disguise as stereotypical delinquents. Gone were the traditional uniforms and access badges of Abydos Academy, instead being garbed in whatever we found within the Abydos storehouse or among the supplies given by the GSC. They were generally covered up more than their normal outfits to facilitate the disguise, with full gloves to cover their hands being universal among them, but compared to the burning heat of their desert home, they didn't have a problem with the temperature at all. Their halos were still floating out in the open, but the best we could do was that they could control the angles of their halos so that they were concealed as best as they could be, mostly very close behind the head. Hopefully, nobody would be able to pay attention to the little details.
Even their weapons were left at home, safe and secure under Ayane's watch. Serika's diligence was benefitting all of us in more than just money matters now, as she spent most of the morning cleaning the weapons we pilfered in order to keep herself busy. She made sure to maintain at least one weapon for each member of the Task Force in case they needed a spare, a decision which immediately showed its worth by providing everyone with exactly what they needed. A little sand bath and they even looked as poorly maintained as most delinquent weapons would, though their internals were far better looked after than the average ganger's gun, and no mistake.
"It definitely was. Ohhh, this is the most I've dressed up for in a while!"
Nonomi, socialite that she was, took to the plan like a duck to water, dressing up herself while giving recommendations and suggestions to all of us. Her black gloves were no longer fingerless, and the rest of her outfit was changed out for a black ensemble, with her short-sleeved uniform, her shoes and her now nearly ankle length skirt, all sharing the same dark color, with the only exception being her white socks. Her ocean of hair was now in a side tail much like Mutsuki's, though still impractically long. She was originally going to have a much shorter side braid, but apparently that was bad luck for some reason I couldn't fathom, so she changed her hairstyle to the one she had now. She was also lucky enough to get a model of her preferred M134 rotor cannon… Or rather, minigun, was among the spoils of war we gathered from our battles against the Helmet Gang, different only in its (outwardly) poor condition and its factory-standard black paint job. Out of all of us, she was having the most fun.
"You're certainly having fun! Well, this old uncle can understand. Precious little time to indulge in youthful pastimes and all that."
Hoshino was enjoying the new experience for the novelty it was, still as deceptively lazy as ever while keeping her eyes peeled for trouble. She still had her white shirt and tactical harness, but it was covered by a blue long-sleeved uniform, brown shoes and black socks, while her characteristic pink hair was tied into a ponytail.
This was nostalgic for her and Nonomi apparently, and I didn't question the somber look on her face as she dressed up.
She was also wearing shades, or rather, a gaudy pair of white-framed, blue-lensed sunglasses that looked more appropriate for a beach outing. The moment she laid eyes on them, she was inexplicably drawn to them and refused to throw them away, and frankly, none of us cared to try. They did a good job of hiding her unusual dichromatic eyes, so we let her have her fun.
Her own Beretta 1301 Tactical Shotgun was exchanged for an apparently more common Benelli M4. It was heavier than her usual gun, but she said it was better for quicker engagements and short bursts of combat, which was perfect: Emperor willing, combat was a last resort. She didn't have a bulletproof shield this time: Speed and maneuverability were key here, not standing still, and people associated those more with the law enforcement and anyone with actual training. Better to keep her less armed.
"Once again, you're not that old," Serika said tiredly, her mask only amplifying the resignation behind her voice. She too had a ponytail on the back of her head, and I had to admit, those twin tails did quite a job hiding just how long her hair could get. She was clothed in a lighter blue getup I sometimes saw on the other delinquents, though with black shoes instead of flats and her regular shorts under her slightly longer skirt. Her usual kneepad and red gloves were still present for whenever we needed to get into a scuffle, though her custom Beretta AR 70/223 was changed out for a supposedly more ubiquitous M4A1. They were both gas operated and similar in function and use, so it all worked out.
"These are nice, but I have better ones anyway…"
Of course, a certain wolf girl was grumbling that we weren't using her homemade disguises, her ears similarly flattened in displeasure, but that wasn't my problem. Shiroko's hair was done in short twin tails, with a black uniform tied with a yellow ribbon and a short skirt for her outfit. She also paired up her green bicycle gloves, instead of leaving one hand bare as she usually did. She was wearing black shades as well, because her peculiar differently colored irises might leave an impression, just like Hoshino's two-toned eyes might. She lucked out in the weapon choice just like Nonomi did, because her SIG 556 was also one of the weapons we "requisitioned" from the Helmet Gang, though her familiarity with the weapon did little to ease the loss of a prime mask opportunity.
"Perhaps for another day. This isn't exactly a pleasure trip."
I was a little short with my answer, and that was a bit of my own disguise and quite a bit more of my own actual far greater displeasure at the situation. Out of everyone, I was the one who needed to change the most. Not only was I already famous for having my military mug broadcast to the four corners of Kivotos mere hours after I arrived, naught but a day before a few idiots with a phone cam propelled me to the hottest new topic in the city. I was now at the forefront of the public consciousness, and I needed to disassociate my appearance as much as possible.
So instead of my commissar uniform, I had a white undershirt alongside a black outer jacket (my carapace armor sandwiched in-between, of course) and pants, with black gloves to cover my hands. I could have used a long coat and a stylish cap, but as attractive and respectable as the prospect was, it felt a little too similar to my usual outfit for my tastes, so I opted for a slightly more restrained look. A pair of black shades and a face mask were naturally present as well.
This wasn't enough. I'd be recognized, not only by sight, but by armament. My chainsword did its job of making an impression a little too well and branded itself on the city's consciousness, and with that video my laspistol was probably along for the ride. Merely bringing them out would send every criminal in the district scurrying back to their hidey holes or dumping all the illegal wares like a bunch of juvies at morning inspection. An apt metaphor for an academic city, come to think of it.
Thus, my chainsword wasn't on hand right now. It was inside a large bag currently strapped on my back, tucked inside the scabbard. Much as I didn't want to be found out, I didn't want to be away from it if I actually needed it, and I determined it was worth the risk. It'd be good to whack somebody upside the head and maybe block a few bullets in a pinch, but not much else.
My laspistol was buckled on the opposite side from where it usually was, while in its place was a weapon more appropriate for the city: A Beretta 92FS. It was a small-caliber handgun that would probably take several shots to down even a moderately durable student, but it had 15 rounds, was a fairly common model with ammo easy to find and, more importantly, matched the feel of my laspistol and had little recoil. This one was personally looked over by Ayane, who used her expertise in general maintenance and her specialty in handguns to do a quick repair job before we left.
Commissars were required to be, if not proficient, at least knowledgeable with most standard weaponry in the Imperium, and though I always relied on my trusty laspistol, I knew how to use a stub well enough. I chose this little thing instead of something with a bigger punch because exchanging a recoilless laspistol for a hand cannon was just asking for problems in a pinch. I already tried out firing the weapon on recreations of my carapace armor while I was testing its durability, then I made sure to practice with it alongside my other arms over my convalescence. Now, I had a fallback stub weapon andI was reasonably confident in its operation.
If that was it, I'd be fine. A little uncomfortable without my favored arms in immediate reach, but fine. No. The real problem was the piece de resistance, the crowning glory. In response to my words Shiroko looked at me and gave me a genuine, guileless smile I could feel even from behind her mask.
"Cheer up Nine. I think you look great."
Yes, that didn't improve my mood. Of course, we had other names for ourselves to complete our transformation, and mine involved both an awful piece of wordplay and the accessory used to "complete" my outfit.
A headband of dog ears.
I hated it the moment Nonomi put it on my head, but nobody else did. Shiroko was inordinately pleased for reasons neither of us understood (or so I repeatedly, desperately told myself), Ayane tried to hide her giggles, Serika made no such effort and busted a gut laughing and Nonomi looked upon me like an artist completing her life's work.
I dreaded when Hoshino went silent. She then gave me a sweet smile that chilled my very soul for the atrocity I knew she was about to commit, and then called me "Ciaphas Cainine".
My fate, and my dignity, were sealed. Extrajudicial authority and respect for teachers be damned, the Abydos girls decreed that it would stay on my head, and that was that. It was practically glued to my noggin like a cursed artifact with how much these girls insisted I wear it, and only the Emperor Himself could save me from this indignity now. Would He even deign to? I could practically feel Him on Earth and all of the blasted Chaos Gods having a riot at my expense.
Nobody could ever find out about this. If anyone back home ever saw me, I swear I would use every ounce of posthumous commissarial authority I had left to declare Exterminatus on the entire planet. With me on it. Being annihilated by orbital bombardment or feeling my lungs explode from inhaling the burning atmosphere that resulted from it would be nothing compared to hearing "Ciaphas Cainine" being echoed around the galaxy. Of course, I only entertained such "happy" thoughts because I knew I had no such authority left, because I was supposed to be dead. Plus, Amberly would use her own authority to stop it, and then hold it over me until His Divine Majesty rose from the Golden Throne. After questioning what in the ever-living frak I was doing alive, of course. Yes, I was in a city filled with abhumans/mutants/xenos/whatever the hell these people were, plus hordes of Abominable Intelligences, but I'm sure my presence, alive with a pair of dog ears, would make room for itself somewhere on her list of priorities.
Overall, being in the middle of a den of criminals without my preferred weapons in immediate access and having to endure the indignity of putting dog ears on my head was supremely unpleasant.
"You really do look good, Sensei! You look like a real punk, even with those dog ears on!"
"… Sure, Arona." Those words were less comforting than she thought, not least of which was because she was an AI talking in my head, but she was innocently pounding the nail in without realizing it, and I couldn't be bothered to correct her. With snickers coming up from all around at Shiroko's equally unintended insult, I decided to remind them that we were actually doing something important and rang up our plus one back at the academy. "Op, what's the situation? Do you have a route to the Stygian Bank?"
Op in this instance of course refers to Ayane, still ready to give us information all the way back at the club room. Even though she was in an entirely different district, she too was also in "disguise" with a casual dress and some shorts to be comfortable, and her hair was set into two pigtails. Peer pressure and solidarity clearly affected her more than she let on. "Yes, sir. Just follow the roads ahead. I'll tell you when you have to make a turn."
Despite its obvious reputation as a crime hub, questionably legal businesses that had establishments elsewhere in the city also set up shop here. And if they wanted to be found, they would hand over their locational data for the GPS (Global Positioning System, a service available to most smartphone users, with our smartphones being, of course, spare burners that we would dispose of after our trip) to guide anyone who wanted to go there. Clearly, they didn't care if the general public wanted to pass by, and we would take advantage of their recklessness: We would investigate the stores and establishments on our list, and make our way through. The fact that this place was such an open secret made me suspect just how ineffective security around the city was, but I kept those thoughts in the back of my head.
As we made our way through the winding streets, hucksters and shysters were calling us out to offer their wares. It felt like eyes were watching us from every corner, and I kept my head on a swivel and a hand on my pistol in case they became too insistent, gingerly flicking the safety off to dissuade anyone shady who came from the darker corners. Our little armed group was enough to deter any would-be ambushers, economic or otherwise, so I could then move onto window shopping. I wasn't tempted to purchase their wares, I listened and took note of what counted as illegal wares around here.
Illegal in this case started out as surprisingly mundane. Out-of-production models were the products that drew our attention here, but certain gun modifications were deemed unlawful as well. I could understand why. Back in the Imperium, so long as it kept them, their fellow soldiers and most importantly me alive, the guardsmen under my command could do whatever they wished with their weapons, but the process of finding out what worked could potentially lead to malfunctions, injuries and general headaches for everyone involved (IE: Me). The cogboys especially didn't like uninitiated plebeians tinkering with the gifts of the Omnissaiah as they wished, whether for safety reasons or spiritual ones. Perhaps manufacturers here wanted to sell such modifications on their own once they could develop the product, or perhaps for legal reasons. Then again, with the plethora of personally customized guns and shootings using them being a daily occurrence, I'm not sure why they bothered.
Eventually though, they graduated to more understandably prohibited items. Explosives with agonizingly painful explosive discharges. Untested prototypes which were as dangerous to the user and the area around them, as to the enemies they would be fired upon. Hazardous chemicals. Chems such as stims and drugs. Even offers for mercenary and fixer contracts, with members of the groups acting as bouncers and "sample product" were available. Definitely a black market.
Serika looked on with an unsettled grimace as she made an effort to step as far away from the more "exotic" items as possible. "Man, I feel like just getting caught with these things will give me a rap sheet."
"I wonder if we can find something more normal around here?" Nonomi mused, once again treating the whole thing like a day trip. "Maybe a few accessories or clothes?"
Serika stared at her senior like she was crazy. "Why would you think they'd even have those here? In fact, why would you even go here to shop for those things?!"
"It might be more likely than you think," I replied to her. "After all, these people were brazen enough to willingly give their location to the public. Why, it might be enough to tempt ordinary folks to come and have a look…"
"AHHHHHH! GET AWAY FROM MEEEEE!"
I sighed. Case in point.
Gunfire sounded out from a nearby alleyway, and the storm of missed bullets were followed by the person they were meant for. Of course, out of all the directions the hapless victim could have gone, she went for ours. In her haste, she ran straight for us and bumped into me.
As she yelped in pain after bumping into my large, carapace-armored form, I quickly grabbed her hand and steadied her as I got a good look at her. She was another student, her halo a simple two-layered circle with tiny wings. Her pale blonde hair was tied into two long tails by black, yellow and white ribbons. Her white and blue uniform, her black stockings and her pinked and white shoes gave her the appearance of an ordinary, if active student. Her energy was only emphasized by the assault rifle strapped to her right arm and the bag strapped to the other. The latter had the image of some strange creature that appeared to be of questionable intelligence, though I will admit the spare magazines and the grenades hanging onto them at least meant she was prepared for the worst.
"Oww… What was-"
The moment she caught sight of me, she paled, her golden eyes swirling with fright. Little wonder. She was being chased by delinquents, and bumping into another one larger than the rest (most probable, given the average heights in this city wouldn't do much to reassure her. "I-I-"
"Get behind me and go," I told her quietly, and before she could say anything else I pulled her behind me and released her, preparing for who would come next.
It was a pair of delinquents similarly garbed to all of us, faces masked and armed with guns, one with a minigun and one with an autopistol. The former told us exactly who was on the almost literal side of the angels and demons, given what I suspected of who their victim was.
"Outta our way punks, we saw that payday ticket first! You better move and if you don't we'll-!"
I drew my pistol and dumped five rounds into them before the minigunner could finish, three for her and two for her comrade. Which was fair, since she was probably going to say that she'd fill us with lead, so she shouldn't complain when I did it first.
"FU-THAT'S IT, YOU'RE DEA-!"
I should have expected them to endure that. I steadied my aim with my other hand and let loose five more stubs into their heads before they went down.
"Wow, that was cold, Nine, you didn't let them finish twice!" Despite the supposed admonishment, Hoshino was smiling and sounded more amused than anything else.
"They practically let me shoot them, so I took advantage of their politeness." Despite my glib tone, I was frustrated at my performance. I was confident enough in my aim that I could have shot both of them with my laspistol one-handed, two bolts and then they'd be down. Now I just wasted ten rounds because I didn't try going for a headshot, afraid as I was that I would miss with my new gun. Worse, my barrage definitely drew some attention, and if there were more of them, they'd be coming for us. I definitely needed to adjust my tactics.
Come to think of it, this whole confrontation was unnecessary. If only I didn't have to keep up my image, I would have let those two through, made that curious little juvie think twice before checking out this shady place again. I sighed and voxed back to our operator once more as I nodded to Shiroko. She nodded and from her bag she took out Ayane's now black quad-rotor drone, activating it and letting it fly free.
"Op, talk to me, do we have incoming?"
"Yes, Nine," came the expected yet still unwanted answer. Ayane had her drone move around the area and scan anybody going for us. "15 incoming. 7 SMGs, 5 ARs, three minigunners."
Submachinegunners, assault riflewomen and minigunners… I really needed to get used to these terms. Still, the numbers were well within acceptable engagement range, especially with streets like this. Two narrow alleyways to the flanks and a wider path ahead were perfect for both surrounding us and turning the tables on them.
"Grey, Fel, rifles up ahead. Shades, on the left, Spina, on the right. Hug the walls and act inconspicuous. Try not to use grenades."
The girls all promptly followed my orders, going for their assigned positions while acting like layabouts. Hoshino leaned on the wall, while Shiroko and Serika crouched on opposite corners of the alleyway, pretending to huddle over nothing, all of them still holding their weapons with both hands. Nonomi could only point her minigun down while still properly holding it, but that was as much as she could act out.
I dragged the fallen pair and their weapons to a corner, unloaded the rest of my mag on them to make sure they stayed down and their group continued to go for us, and took my place opposite Hoshino. I reloaded my pistol then kept it in its holster, one hand in my pocket to pretend that I was as innocent as I could be while I kept my eye on the rear.
"They're making their approach… The submachinegunners have entered the alleyways while the bigger guns are gathering up ahead!"
Made sense. Close quarters went to the small guns, the bigger ones had more range. Too bad it wouldn't help them much. Nonomi began revving up her minigun as our enemies were caught in our trap. I peeked out as subtly as I could, and confirmed the positions of three submachinegunners heading for us.
"They've closed in! Engage!"
They might have been expecting that girl to fight back, perhaps a random handgunner who got in the way of kidnapping their prize. They wouldn't expect a full command squad properly positioned and ready to unload on all of them.
A hail of bullets erupted from our position. I didn't even need to look at Nonomi as she unleashed a bullet storm from her rotor cannon. With how narrow that alleyway was, she might as well have been a Hellhound with a flamethrower, blasting through our enemies and everything in her path until they couldn't stand anymore. Shiroko and Serika began their own assault, and I could only pray that they were just as effective in the wide space up ahead.
On the other hand, I was significantly less effective with my own ambush, unloading a pair of bodyshots into each of the submachinegunners, but that was fine. That stunned them long enough for Hoshino to bolt in, unleashing blasts from her shotgun all the while. She was two for three on targets, as the last one managed to duck behind a trash can before Hoshino could get her, desperately blind firing over her cover in an attempt to hit her. That didn't deter my pointwoman, she slid under the barrage until she was right beside her opponent, shooting out her legs before finishing her off with another blast to her head.
"Behind you!"
Our opponents were clearly made of hardier stuff than the Helmet Gang, as our shots weren't enough to keep them down. From her awkward position Hoshino managed to roll around, reverse her aim and fire on the one behind her, but wasn't fast enough for the other one.
Fortunately, they were so dazed and focused on her that they forgot about me, which was why I used up three more shots to delay her, giving Hoshino enough time to take her down.
"Thanks for the support!" She complimented me as she began inserting bullets into her shotgun, preparing to support her friends.
"Thanks for a good follow-up," I answered as I was about to eject the magazine, only to get some rather unpleasant news from our operator.
"Fell and Grey need to reload, but one's taking cover with a cellphone! She's calling for reinforcements!"
"Frak!" I swore. We might be able to take on a few hooligans, but I had a feeling the rest of the market wouldn't like it. No time to reload, this couldn't wait. Hoshino and I dashed out of the alley to aid the rest of the FTF. Shiroko and Serika had done a magnificent job, the complete surprise allowing them to annihilate most of the opposition save for a minigunner and one last girl with an AR. Seeing the writing on the wall, the riflewoman ducked down behind a metal sign, leaving her more heavily armed companion to pin us down. Their own rapid-fire barrage was spitting out at us from the opening, and we wouldn't make it in time to stop the other girl.
This was bad. I might actually have to order a grenade throw at this rate, but that would defeat the whole purpose of trying not to draw attention to ourselves. As I was trying to make the call before our enemies did, somebody else took matters out of my hands.
"EIYA!"
To my complete and utter surprise, instead of running away like I told her to, the girl I saved threw some strange white object at the girl behind cover, tripping over and falling from her haphazard, overextended attempt. It was a mixed blessing, as her face planted on the ground, but it allowed her to fall under the hail of bullets. On the other hand, whatever she threw arced over the chaos below and beaned the oblivious riflewoman right on the head. It was a fine maneuver that was worthy of a holovid replay on the scrumball pro circuit. Displaying the usual incompetence of the delinquents, the gunner was so utterly gobsmacked at the projectile interruption of her reinforcements that she stopped her barrage, and far be it from me not to take advantage of idiocy.
"Take care of her!" I called out as I ran past everyone else, while the others aided our unexpected helper. The minigunner was out of range from Hoshino's shotgun, the other two needed to drag our reckless student to safety, and we had to make sure that our last enemy wouldn't be able to dive for the phone. The best way to stop an opponent from what they were doing? Presenting to them a tempting target that they thought they could take, and being armed with a dinky little pistol against the deceptively named minigun, I was unfortunately in the best position to focus her on me instead of doing something more dangerous to us.
As I closed in, I fired my last five shots, with three of them managing to hit the mark. It was enough for her to stop trying to shoot me or go for the phone, but it wasn't good enough to take her down. I ejected my magazine and then threw it at her as hard as I could. Whether from surprise or actual effectiveness, she recoiled as it rebounded off her head, the moment giving me time to load another mag. Now my gun was loaded, but she was still making an effort to aim for me. Adrenaline surged through me as I desperately thought of ways to finish her off. I moved out of the way and ran past her (and more importantly the spinning barrels of her minigun), and the familiar experience led me to reflexively jam my foot into the back of her knee.
The old legbreaker was good enough for Catachans and Orks. Though these girls surpassed them in durability, either joint attacks were still effective or her protections were compromised enough that she reflexively bent down to a knee, and I immediately wrapped an arm around her throat to silence her before delivering a final point-blank headshot.
I breathed hard as I let the gunner's body fall uselessly to the ground, panting less from exertion and more from relief that everything worked out. I looked down at her comrade's phone, quite satisfied that she fumbled and fiddled around with it enough that she only barely got to the caller's screen but no further.
The other point of interest was beside the unconscious thug's head. It was the projectile that the girl tossed. I was reluctant to touch it, wondering if it would explode on me. I voiced that worry to Arona, and she gave a reassuring answer.
"She used Mystic Power on it, Sensei, but it's inert now. It should be fine."
Just like Kayoko's bullets then. And unlike Kayoko's bullets, it's reusable. Better let her have it back.
The projectile itself was felt on the outside and filled with stuffing, meaning that it was some child's toy. I turned it around, and found myself grimacing in disgust. This seemed to be the actual form of the creature represented on that girl's bag, which I could now see looked like some cartoonish parody of a chicken, except it was being suffocated by an ice cream cone. A hideous design, but no accounting for taste I suppose. There was, however, an accounting for results.
This thing managed to deal more damage than a few shots from my handgun. Its effectiveness was probably related to her powers, perhaps hardening or physical enhancement of an object. I could think of a million different ways to make use of that, and brought the idea up to Arona.
"Hmmm… That doesn't quite feel right…"
"Yo, Nine!"
Our mental conversation was interrupted by the other girls catching up to me, with Hoshino calling me out. "Pretty sweet moves out there, especially with the mag throw."
"Kind of you to say, but I'll leave going up close and personal to the girl with a shotgun." Even a rusty bat would be better than going in with my bare hands. Lucky for me that I didn't break my foot on her leg, or the rest of this day would be markedly more difficult.
"That was incredible! I don't think I've ever seen someone fight like that before!"
Our rescue turned rescuer had joined us, eyes sparkling with admiration. "I don't think I've even seen the Justice Task Force handle things that well!"
"And you were admirable for stepping up to the plate when needed." This could have gone a lot worse if they managed to call for backup. Thanks to her, we were off the radar for one group at least.
"Not really…" she murmured sullenly. "It was my fault you had to fight them, and I was scared of trying to jump in. Even when all I had to do was throw something I was still afraid. Not like you, you weren't afraid at all."
She was very, very wrong on that account. At least she realized she messed up, though she was significantly less likely to die, so her courage was a little bit moot. Still, the entire topic was rather uncomfortable so I responded by wiping what little grime there was on the plush toy and returning it to her. "Here you go. You used it well."
"Oh, thank you!" She looked it over and hugged it to her chest. "Not scuffled too badly at all… Whew…"
I let her stew in her relief as I voxed over to Ayane once again. "Do we have more coming in, Op?"
"No we don't! For now, you're in the clear!"
"Shame," Shiroko moaned in disappointment. "Would've wanted to try fighting somebody stronger…"
"No, no, you don't want to cause too much trouble!" Our rescue's eyes widened in fear. "The market enforcers will crack down on us if we do!"
"Looks like you called it, Nine," Hoshino said, remembering one of my suggestions. "You did say the market could try to get back at us if we made a little too much noise around here." And I only thought so if the market was powerful enough to have such problematic enforcers, which spoke rather badly of how well it could be managed.
"It'll be really bad if you get into a fight with them, so we should leave! Follow me!"
This wayward student seemed to be rather familiar with this place, so lacking any better ideas, we decided to follow her. I ordered Ayane to return the drone to us to keep as low profile as possible, and then we left to follow the new girl.
Despite seemingly being a regular schoolgirl, our rescue seemed to know her way around the winding streets. We were deviating from our intended path, but throwing off our pursuers by going where this girl recommended actually looked like it would pay dividends.
"My name is Hifumi Ajitani!" She introduced herself. "I'm from Trinity General School. Thank you so much again for helping me out! I'd be in trouble if the school found out I snuck my way to the Black Market, let alone having to negotiate a ransom…"
"Just as I thought," I mused to her. "Your uniform and your grenades had the symbol of the school."
"But what's a student from that school of good girls doing all the way over here?" Hoshino's description added another point of interest. So it had that kind of reputation as well? Given Hasumi and Suzumi's "extra limbs", it was the school of the angels while Gehenna had a predilection for daemons. I've now met more helpful people from Trinity, so when I was inevitably asked to check out the bigger academies for a diplomatic visit and inspection, I knew which one I'd be checking out first.
"Welllll…." She drew out her reply just like a nervous guardsmen who knew they were on their way to the latrines. "I was looking for something that was out of production, and I heard that it appeared in trades here every now and then."
"So what was it? A contraband firearm?"
"A tank?"
"A biochemical agent?"
As Shiroko, Hoshino and Nonomi ganged up on her, Hifumi paled more and more at each increasingly dangerous suggestion until she had enough. "What?! No!" In desperation to show that she wasn't a menace to society, she reached into her bag and showed us. "It was this limited edition Peroro Merchandise!"
I could feel my eyes crinkle in absolute bafflement when I saw the same ridiculous plush toy she used earlier. "You went all the way here for… This thing?"
"It's a limited edition plush from the Peroro and Ice Cream franchise collaboration! Only a hundred of them were ever made!" She said, acting so gleeful and excited that she seemingly didn't realize she was A.) in the middle of a black market hiding from its enforcers and B.) looking even more insane than if she was actually searching for something illegal. She went to an Emperor-damned Black Market, risking her future and her social standing for a plush toy of a chicken being suffocated by an ice treat!
Dear Emperor, I just realized. The winged ribbons. The wings on her shoes. That absolutely hideous bag.
She was a fanatic for whatever this creature was. I knew the lengths some zealots and priests would go to hunt down a few saint bones and artifacts. I should know: I'd seen a few priests risk their life and money chasing down a few trades, and a good number of their ill-gotten gains were as authentic as I was. Come to that, back in the underhive I knew from personal experience that you could sell rat bones to the right fool just by saying it was from a martyr, a hero or what have you. I even benefitted from such personal experience.
I couldn't believe I'd find another one of them all of the way over here, in the form of a juvie chasing plush toys.
"Ah, I've got it, Sensei!" Arona spoke up, inspired from within my head. "This Hifumi girl can strengthen anything to do with Peroro!"
That was it?! Her warp powers were connected with this… Idiotic-looking chicken?! By the Throne, I could see it now! Her damn halo had that mentally deficient bird's underdeveloped wings on it! What were those halos that could be connected to children's plush toys?!
Clearly, I wasn't alone in this regard, as Hoshino, Serika and Shiroko regarded it dubiously, unwilling to hurt our impromptu guide's feelings by questioning if she was right in the head.
Nonomi, on the other hand, was cooing over the thing like it was a newborn babe. "Wow, I love Momo Friends too! Peroro is so cute! I'm a fan of Mr. Nicholai myself!"
The welcome surprise of having found another true believer made Hifumi's eyes sparkle even more. "Right?! The way Mr. Nicholai philosophizes is so dashing! In fact, I recently bought a compilation of his work, 'Reaching Beyond Good and Evil!' It was the first edition too!"
The revelation that this was a franchise was matched by the fact that it had a damn philosophy book involved. What did a children's franchise have to do with philosophy?!
As the two fans raved over their plush toys, tossing around names and terms that might as well have been Mechanicus Binary for how much I could understand, the rest of us stared at them in befuddlement. Hoshino briefly and accurately summarized our feelings on the situation. "I have no idea what they're talking about."
"In fairness, you never did go for the cutesy things…" Serika commented, though her voice said that did precious little to justify the insanity we were hearing of.
"Hmm… I guess I just don't get the young people these days…"
"We're practically the same age…" Serika then turned her resignation towards Hoshino's usual self-described elderliness.
"Ahh, come on, I'm sure Nine feels the same way, don't you?"
She grinned at me to support her little routine, and I answered the question by not answering at all. "Hifumi? Are we close to our destination?"
"Hmm?" Snapped out of the discussion of her favorite subject, she remembered she was still guiding us but didn't seem too perturbed. "Oh, it should be right up ahead!"
The alleyway we were walking through opened up to reveal a plaza of stalls, the majority of which was food. More importantly however, a good number of the people milling around weren't thugs, but seemingly ordinary people, including other uniformed students. Fellow rulebreakers just like Hifumi I could assume, but not career criminals or delinquents.
"Some parts of the black market have neutral zones where causing trouble absolutely isn't allowed. They're places where regular people can safely gather and reliably shop for legal stuff."
Well now. She just gave me several ideas about the black market's situation while also leading us to a relatively safe area.
"You seem to know this place quite well for a student from your school," I said to her, the underlying question rather obvious. Why was that?
"I've been researching this place for days in preparation for coming here and finding that plush toy," she answered a little nervously. At least she realized that it was irrational, but her efforts revealed something quite important. "Anyway, I told you what I'm here for. What about you guys?"
We were initially silent on that part, as I told them to be, and they shifted uncomfortably at the deception, except for Hoshino. She gave me a questioning look, and I nodded.
"Before we tell you, I have something else to ask. You spent days preparing to come here just to find one thing, and yet you were willing to throw it away when we were in trouble. Why?"
"Oh… Well…" She shrugged. "Why not? It's just a plush. Pretty valuable, but helping people who help you is more important." She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I wasn't really thinking anyway. It was just the first thing I had on hand…"
As I suspected. It was all out of instinct. But it showed she wasn't completely hopeless after all.
Ayane was quite good in research and support, but with the limited time she had, she focused her information gathering efforts about our potential destinations. Hifumi had a general idea of the Black Market itself, and she had days to prepare for coming here. That was a resource I couldn't ignore.
But more importantly, we could trust her. That was a bigger treasure than anything else you could find in a Black Market.
"We're looking for something quite important. Something that involves an entire region of the city." The sudden heaviness in my voice caught her off-guard, and I could feel the nervousness radiating off of her. I shifted my bag off my shoulder. "And I can assure you, we aren't trying to do anything bad with what we do."
I opened it up to show its contents. She instinctively looked inside and was blown away at the sight of the weapon inside. "That's-!"
I closed it and put a gloved finger on my masked lips. "I am not ordering you to help us, nor am I conscripting you into our service as I am privileged to do. I am asking. You did well guiding us this far and aiding us when you did. You are not obligated to do any more. But we would quite appreciate it if you did."
"I'll do it."
The lack of hesitation in her immediate answer had me wondering if the girl really understood what she was getting into. "Really?"
"Like I said, you really helped me out. I don't see anything wrong helping you out a little more."
Good, good. Make it feel like it was her choice, rather than forcing her. That'd make everyone feel better about the whole thing.
"Yay! We made a new friend!" Nonomi cheered at our side, her joy being infectious to the rest of the girls.
"And we didn't even have to kidnap her like we planned," Shiroko obliviously mused.
"Kidnapping what now?"
"Never you mind," I quickly insisted. That girl needed to learn more about blabbing and operational security. She could get all of us (especially me) found out and killed!
"Ah haha… Right…" Any sane person would have backed out of the deal already, but clearly, Hifumi was just trying to ignore that for her own sanity and maybe her misguided morals. Then something else struck her and she looked at me with pity that I didn't like one bit. "Ohhh… So you're not a dog and you're just wearing… Dog ears…"
The combined giggles from all of the Abydos girls (including Ayane, excluding a rather happy Shiroko) and look of sympathetic sorrow on Hifumi's face only reminded me how much I absolutely loathed this entire mission.
We will finish it, and never speak of it again.
After Hifumi's agreement to accompany us, we appraised her of the general situation, talking about our debt, the gangs attacking us and Kaiser, within the alleyway. Because we were just outside the safe area, we retreated deeper within its confines and had our conversation there. Since shady conversations were practically a custom of the town, nobody deigned to spy on us, and we were able to enlighten her without interruption.
While she knew my name, I refrained from enlightening her of the real names of the Foreclosure Task Force for now, instead telling her their codenames. She could easily deduce their origin just by looking at them, but then it came to mine.
Hoshino and the rest then magnanimously took the time to enlighten her. And despite her great efforts, she couldn't stop the instinctive giggle that followed at the whispered words of "Ciaphas Cainine."
I tried to believe I still had some dignity left, but to be frank, it was lost the moment we came to this district. Truth be told, the REAL origin of the girls' names was that in petty retribution for having my own forced upon me, I could choose theirs without complaint, and picked the most rote and boring ones I could, but the glee and giggles that came with jamming a pair of dog ears on my head meant that I came out worse on that bargain by every measure, and now someone else was here to witness it.
At the very least, Hifumi was more of a blessing than we expected. Not only were we able to take a break in relative safety, we were also able to make a circuit checking out the other possible names on Ayane's list. Said establishments or sellers were often treading dangerously close to hotspots of criminal activity, but with Hifumi's guidance, as well as Ayane keeping an eye on potential criminals with her drone, we were able to dip back into grey areas. Our search wasn't yielding much fruit so far, but it paid to be thorough, and it was helping solidify my case in other ways.
Since I wasn't expecting too much, my spirits weren't terribly dampened, helped especially by the treats we ate along the way. We stocked up on a peculiar street food called taiyaki, which literally meant baked sea bream. Pancake batter was flavored with a filling of your choice, then molded into the shape of its namesake fish. Red bean paste made from adzuki beans was the usual filling, though sweet potato, custard and even cheese and chocolate were options there as well. Due to being the one who found it, Nonomi offered to use her credit card, but following the wisdom of our possible enemies, I insisted on paying from cash out of my pocket. As an added benefit, my imposing countenance, looming over the feline merchant with an expression that was impossible to read, also deterred any possible threats of ripping us off or making us wait, with our treats provided to us with indecent haste once they were properly prepared.
On the plus side, it was a new delicacy I could partake of, and I didn't expect to find the bean paste filling a good accompaniment to the scaly texture of the fish batter. Good food and good work always helped to bring people together, and this was no exception. Even Ayane "joined in" with pork buns and sandwiches at her side and an extra piece of taiyaki that we would reheat for her once we returned.
On the minus side, the AI in my pocket wanted one too, leading to Hifumi being another witness to "my" abnormal appetite as I ordered an extra helping. Mercifully, the girl tried not to judge me, though the look she gave me as I stuffed the cardboard bag into my larger one only informed me that my other reputation just gained a new corroborator.
"Man, it's a good thing a place for regular people exists around here!" Nonomi said as she bit into her own fish. "We wouldn't have been able to get some of this if we did!"
"Not as good as you might think." I swallowed another bite. "If this supposedly "illegal" place is such an open secret and attracts enough normal people that they built civvie centers for them, then that means one of three things: That they don't cause enough problems to be worth busting, the actual 'legal' side of the city benefits from its presence, or it would be far too costly to shut it down." I tilted my head at the massive operation around us. "Tell me what you think is most likely."
"He's right." My cynical suggestion unfortunately had Hifumi's support. "It's outside of the General Student Council's jurisdiction, and it operates on a scale equivalent to one of the smaller academies. There might be corporations and criminal gangs battling it out for trades and illicit activities, but it's the enforcers here who make sure it doesn't get too hot to affect business."
Serika looked at the treat she was enjoying with newfound disgust. "Suddenly, I feel less good about having something to eat."
Hoshino on the other hand looked more impressed at my analysis. "Man you really had this place pegged, Nine. You figured out the whole situation before you even set foot in here, even if you didn't have the specifics."
"I have experience 'investigating' such places. We'll leave it at that." I did indeed have to make my way to and through the (almost literal) criminal underbellies of a city on occasion. They didn't have to know that I had intimate experience with such places during my childhood, and had 'intimate' experiences in such places in my adulthood, but again, they didn't have to know..
"Given what you said you were before you came here, that sounds about right."
Shiroko's thankfully vague answer about my past had Hifumi staring at me in intrigue and curiosity. "It sounds really interesting! Maybe I could hear about it someday!"
"Maybe after all this is over I can tell you a bit if I have the time." Not that there would be much guarantee of such time, given how eventful my first week was here, but you never knew. Plus, the idea of all this being over was a little light at the end of the tunnel that spurred all of us onward.
By the time we reached the end of the route, just as I expected, the trail was colder than an ice cave in Valhalla. No witnesses or accounts were present, no records of transactions or storage logs. We could probably threaten a confession out of them, as Shiroko was eager to do, but they might call for the local "law" enforcement. This, of course, encouraged her more, but I had to put my boot down on that idea. Besides, in my eyes, the lack of evidence was a trail of another kind, leading to only one end.
"In the end, we really do have to go to the real problematic one, huh," Hoshino said clinically as we made our way to the final destination recommended by Hifumi: In a black market filled with run down hovels, myriad stalls and seedy establishments, was an elegant, glass building that was incredibly out of place for its opulence.
"I was hoping we wouldn't but I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Hifumi sighed in resignation and worry. "The Stygian Bank is one of the largest banks in the black market. Supposedly, 15 percent of all the profits from illegal activities throughout Kivotos flow through that bank. The take from extortion, armed robbery, abductions and so on are then used to provide more resources and manpower for more crime. If there was anywhere we could find a lead on your debt, it'd be here."
Nearly a fifth of all the dirty money in this country-sized city flows through that bank? Throne above, what I would give to throw the Arbites at them. If I could casually hand them a convenient little bit of trivia like that in a hive city, they'd be frothing at the mouth to be able to drop the hammer of the Lex Imperialis on it, with a healthy helping of shock mauls and shotguns and maybe a little investigative work behind the scenes to help make the point.
More pertinently, the fact that Hifumi knew this was more than a little suspicious. Being able to make a confident estimate of a bank's scale of operations, let alone a criminal bank, was very much beyond the norm. "You seem to know a lot for a girl who just came here to get a plush toy. Was that part of your research?"
"No, it's not," she admitted. She seemed to hesitate in answering me, but perhaps the fact that she was in this deep already pushed her onward. "Trinity's had unpleasant experiences with a possible member of the Black Market already. They don't do anything outright illegal, but they practically play jump rope with the law. They're trying to extend their reach into our district, and because of their reputation, the Tea Party is watching them like a hawk."
"The Tea Party… So it's bad enough that their Student Council is keeping a close eye on them, huh…" Hoshino drawled out, though her narrowed eyes were making connections already.
So her district's highest government was already fending off advances from a possible member of the Black Market. That was not something you told an ordinary student… Or perhaps she wasn't an ordinary student after all. Of course she wouldn't be. Going here to get a plush toy… A magnificent cover, using her obsession with the franchise as a cover to scout for information from her school. Oh she was definitely obsessed, no doubt, but that was more of a side benefit. Right?
More importantly, the fact that she was revealing such information to outsiders here of all places meant that we were involved. And right now, I could only think of one such company who would toe the line of law with such supreme confidence that all of us were aware of.
"It's Kaiser, isn't it." It wasn't a question.
"Hold on everyone, you have to take cover! Armed forces are heading your way!"
As if to answer my question, rumbling engines and clattering wheels alerted us to a far bigger presence, one which we heeded Ayane's warning to conceal ourselves from. It was an unexpectedly familiar armored car. It rolled to a stop in front of the questionably legal bank. From the rear and the driver's seat, the ebon blockheads I saw mere hours before marched out with bags of cash and, and from the passenger's compartment exited a black-and-red scrum head.
"I've confirmed it," With numb, resigned anger and clenched fists, Ayane told us what we already knew. "That truck has our collector's plate number, which makes the automaton at the front our collector."
As the bastard rattled on about his usual collections to the Helmet Gang guard at the front, I could practically feel the fury radiating off all the students, and despite myself, I couldn't help but feel it too. The fruit of their labors was essentially funding the siege on their district, and experiencing for myself how hard we worked just to pay for a bunch of gangers to take a pot at us made it an effort not to curse them to the warp and back.
"It is so, so hard to just not walk over there and fill their asses full of lead right now," Serika snarled bitterly.
"We'll do something else then." It was a bit risky, but I managed to take out my phone and snap a few pictures of the truck, the plate number and of course our collector. Ironically, that last shot would be front-page material for any gossip print-sheet back home, but considering just how many probably looked exactly like him around this city, even if it was corporate-colored, we'd need to be a little more thorough with this investigation. A plate number and a bog-standard company face might be good enough to take down an insignificant debt collector, but not the entire company. We needed more hard-hitting evidence.
"Good idea, Sensei." Despite the satisfaction and cold anger in her voice, she managed to control herself. "Ayane, you got anything on them?"
I didn't even have to look to feel the desperate frustration in her voice, and could only imagine the look on her face as she revealed her lack of results. "They're working on a closed network. I can't get anything on them."
Before we could rack our brains for a better answer though, a flash of inspiration came for Hifumi first. "How about the transport logs he just signed?"
Accounting! Of course! The bot did indeed sign over the details of today's collection, but unless my smartphone had a long-las scope there was a heretic's chance in hell that I could take a legible picture of any sort.
"Frak it," I mumbled quietly as I kept my phone. "We'll have to go inside to get those papers now."
"That's the most heavily guarded bank in the black market," Hifumi warned us. "It's filled with armed guards. We need to find a better way to get them."
"No. There is a way."
Shiroko's stoic proclamation at my side confused me for a single instant. Just one.
Realization stabbed into my brain like a heretical revelation in the very next.
It couldn't be. It just couldn't.
"There's no other option for us." There should be! There has to be! There are probably a million better ways for us to do this! Give me a moment to think of one and I'll find it! I swear!
"Pardon?" Hifumi looked towards Shiroko in blissful ignorance. If only I could be just as oblivious.
"You make a good point, Shiroko." No she didn't, Hoshino. She's just indulging in a fantasy! This was insane!
"Come again?" No Hifumi, no! You don't want her to repeat herself!
"Ohhh… We're going to use THAT plan, aren't we?!" Why do you sound so excited, Nonomi?! How is any of this a good idea for you?!
"Hold on. You can't be serious. You three aren't thinking what I think you're thinking… are you?" They shouldn't be, but they are! Emperor damn it, Serika, despite everything sane and logical in this galaxy they are!
"I'm sorry, I don't follow. What are you talking about?"
Hifumi's question was met with shining eyes and upturned lips from Shiroko, which would've been like a guardsman smiling ear-to-ear with his teeth out on shore leave were she more emotional. A joy that filled me with dread.
"It's time."
No, it's not. It will never be time! By Holy Terra, Shiroko, don't you dare say that-!
"We're gonna hit the bank."
Emperor dammit.
Shiroko said the words that she'd anticipated and dreamed of for so long, and just to emphasize that sanity had left us, she was already wearing her homemade Blue Balaclava Number 2, disguising her features and the joy obvious in them as poorly as they always did.
"What?!"
While I was silent in my numb resignation, Hifumi simply could not have dreamed of such a bafflingly suicidal solution. Sadly, she was the only one.
"Turns out it was the best plan after all!" Hoshino cheered despite herself, and I couldn't believe that she was also wearing her own mask as well, her signature strand sticking out as it always did. Curse you all, she secretly brought the mask along!
"Excuse me?"
"Yipeee! Time to teach that evil bank a lesson!" To Hifumi's confusion and my own dwindling hope in a reasonable galaxy, Nonomi had somehow managed to put her green number three mask on her head, including fitting her side tail through the hole at the side and tying it into a bun. What the frak is going on?!
"Th-this is a joke, right?!" Oh, Hifumi. If only it was.
"This is actually happening. We're really doing this?" Could it be? Was there someone else who still had something resembling a brain cell in this gathering of insane school girls? "Because if you three are serious, then count me in!" Never mind, Serika, you deserve every bit of insanity you get with these girls. No, Ciaphas, don't question how she managed to restyle her hair into her twin tails to fit her mask so fast. Down that path lay more madness.
"You too, Felli…?" Yes, her too Hifumi. Everyone here is lost.
"And you too, Hifumi! You're part of this too!" Hoshino said with a pat on her back. "Hmm… We'll need a mask for you though. It'd be really bad if Trinity found out you were here..."
"Sorry, Hifumi, I don't have one for you." That was the first hint of disappointment Shiroko had, as though she should have seen getting an extra recruit for her criminal escapades coming.
"Oh no, don't worry about me, hahaha…" The poor girl rightfully sounded like she was saved from being admitted into the sanitorium at the last minute, before Nonomi snapped her fingers, ringing in my ears like the Black Bell tolling for her demise.
"I know! Nine, you still have the taiyaki bag right?!"
My face was petrified like rigor mortis had set in on it, and to be fair I certainly felt my common sense had perished at some point in this conversation. Hifumi couldn't even act out her disappointment, seeing me take out that bag and staring at it like I'd stabbed her or one of her plush toys. Nobody even questioned that "I" had somehow eaten that extra fish-shaped treat at some point, caught up as they were in their own excitement.
"Wow! I can't believe I helped!" Arona cried out happily from within my head, which was accurate. She was helping very much in the act of murdering my sense of reality as Nonomi got a marker and a knife from Shiroko and modified the bag to her liking.
"Hold on! I never agreed to-!"
Despite her protests, Hifumi was entombed within Nonomi's grip, like she was one of the poor souls trapped by revenants on Lentonia. Fitting, as she was turned into one of the would-be robbers seconds later, "disguised" with the poor-man's mask of a paper bag cut with holes for her eyes and a number 5 hastily scribbled on her forehead.
Shiroko's smile grew even wider as her plan seemed to come closer and closer to reality. "It suits her perfectly."
"Look at that! I even made you number 5!" Nonomi exclaimed, as proud as she was when she jammed these accursed ears on my head.
"Man, it makes her look like our boss!" Hoshino added, on the verge of breaking out into laughter. "What a leader!"
Poor girl. She was probably thinking it was better to have been kidnapped by those other gangers now. She looked like she had a helmet stuck on her head and conscripted to be a guardsmen, realizing that there was absolutely no way out of this. "I-I… Is this really happening? We're really hitting the Stygian Bank? Oh no, how will I ever explain this to Lady Nagisa…?"
"What's there to explain?! We're hitting a criminal bank! We're the good guys here!" The world isn't that simple, Serika, but there didn't seem to be a way to stop this. I tried to find a way to excuse myself from this travesty when Shiroko went on to destroy my hopes next.
"Don't worry about feeling left out, Nine. I made one for you too."
Like a commissarial tribunal making their final declaration for my execution, Shiroko sealed my fate and stopped my flight. I practically creaked my head towards her as she revealed the black mask she packed inside her bag. She even cut out holes in the head for my fake dog ears! Accursed little wolf, you were hoping for this to happen!
"I made it for you this morning," she said as she handed it over, and she sounded positively demure, holding it like it was a prom night gift. "Thank goodness I found the time to finish it this morning. There's no letter or number, but that's probably for the best."
Throne curse it all, I gave her that time. It seemed my usual penchant for constantly getting into one bowel-loosening situation after another now extended to destroying my dignity as well.
Because I couldn't say no. All of these girls were pumped up and ready for some righteous robbery (aside from Hifumi, but it seemed like she realized there was no escaping it anymore). If I said no, it'd be a blow to their morale, and no other plan, no matter how carefully crafted, would motivate them as much as this.
Worse still, this was absolutely the best plan. We had the tools and the skills to make it happen. We had no time to think of a better option before the money and the logs could be whisked somewhere else. It'd be risky, but it was the greatest idea we had now.
There was no point in delaying it any longer. Feeling like I was putting on a blindfold before walking towards the firing line, I pulled down my face mask and took off my shades. I then slid the black mask over my face. Don't question how this girl sewed on a mask that perfectly fit your head, Ciaphas. Don't question anything in this blasted market anymore. Sanity, logic and reason have evacuated the area.
By the time it was complete, I had the most effective disguise out of all of them. My balaclava, my face mask covering my mouth. My shades. My lack of a halo.
And my warp-spawned, Emperor accursed dog ears.
"Please do us the honors, Nine." This honor of announcing our intentions wasn't nearly as appreciated as my first call of the 597th on Gravalax, or my appointment as their advisor. It felt like I was announcing my own doom. Frak it, I might as well get it over with. With as much theatricality I could muster, I said it.
"Ladies… Let's eat the rich."
It was all they could do to stop themselves from cheering (aside from Hifumi), instead grinning like a bunch of Valhallans told to march on an army of oblivious ork boyz, with Shiroko practically radiating joy like she'd found salvation, and Hifumi just blankly staring off into the distance, wondering where it all went wrong. I know I was thinking the same.
This was the result of the sins of my youth. My years of dishonesty, my visits to the bars and bordellos, and casinos, and the few failures I had, led to this. A decent universe would allow for no other explanation.
Ayane, who was observing the whole thing in stunned silence, sighed in resignation. "Looks like I can't talk you out of this." To my utter disbelief, she also donned her Yellow Number Zero mask while she was a literal frakking district away.
"I hereby dub you the Masked Swimsuit Gang."
And it was there my mind broke.
I denied choosing any of our plans during our first discussion. But look at us now.
We were robbing a bank with a practically kidnapped Trinity student, and we were named the accursed Masked Swimsuit Gang after Nonomi's dreams of pop stardom. All this, after the girls were fooled by their loan sharks.
It seemed every single cog in the wheels of fate was forcing me down the path of this madness. The Emperor clearly was watching me with a sense of humor from upon the Throne, Tzeentch was probably having a grand old time at just how much I was regretting every decision that led up to this point, Slaanesh was delighting in my suffering, Khorne was anticipating the fights that were sure to come, and Nurgle was probably getting his jollies off that I had no other choice but to deal with this. And maybe get dirty or dusty.
"Everyone, let's do this!"
Ayane's encouraging shout from the other side bolstered most of our spirits, because for Hifumi and I, we had no spirit left. Just despair at the fact that somehow, some way, every decision we made in our lives led to this moment.
Clearly, there was much we did wrong.
*Chapter 15: Deceiving and Dealing, END*
People who have followed Blue Archive for a while, or even this thread, will note that it's one of the most hyped up moments of Volume 1. Everybody was waiting for it to happen.
It started out as a joke where Sensei realizes that these kids are… Just kids, and in really dire straits. What we didn't expect was that that entire planning session was FORESHADOWING. The various ridiculous ideas of our students all built up to this moment, with the main one being the utterly audacious bank heist idea suggested by the seemingly quiet Shiroko. If the bank heist came out of nowhere, it wouldn't be nearly as memed at and praised as it is today. Because it was, and then DELIVERED on that buildup, it was a defining moment for just how hilarious and epic this story could be.
So here we are. Centuries of service to the Emperor and a week as a Sensei have ended up with Ciaphas Cainine helping Faust lead the Masked Swimsuit Gang in robbing a bank.
He's very, very happy with himself, I'm sure. Please ignore the fact that he now technically counts as a suspiciously wealthy furry.
And here's a post chapter omake for all of you! Is it canon or not? I'll leave it up to you…
*Ruining the Mood*
As everyone basked in the glory of the upcoming endeavor, I then immediately removed my mask as quickly as I could and put on my old disguise, and I could practically feel the jeers from everyone (except Hifumi) as I did. Shiroko, especially, was practically boring into me with betrayed eyes.
"Sensei, why?"
"Dammit Nine, why did you have to ruin the mood?!" Serika growled at me.
"Because we have to plan first," I said with as much dignity as I could muster. "We are going to rob a bank with these. We are not going to plan how to rob a bank with these. Seriously, the moment somebody sees us masked up like this, they'll all get suspicious and sound the alarms." This getup was synonymous with bank heisting. Frankly, we would only be more suspicious if we all had two-piece suits on.
"Oh, that makes sense," Hoshino mused as she took off the mask, followed by everyone else. Hifumi let out a sigh of relief and was about to join them, but I stopped her.
"Not you Faust, better if you keep that thing on." Less people needed to see her face anyway.
"Oh…"
Her pitiful whine left me unmoved. Sure it sounded like I kicked a kitten, but this was for her own good.
Naturally, there was one more person who didn't take off her mask. One who was glaring at me like she was so close to salvation, and I was the last obstacle keeping her from it.
"This is going to happen Sensei."
"Yes, yes, yes…" I acknowledged her with a groan.
"We're going to rob a bank."
"And so we will."
"We're going to rob a bank, with these masks."
"Yes, we are."
"We're going to rob a bank, with these masks, and you can't stop it."
Though my face was masked, I could only flash her a brittle, ashen smile at her words.
"I know."
