I didn’t initially recognize Kamase Aneki because she was so different from her usual self.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was disheveled and hanging loose. The way she bared her fangs while grabbing Kiraboshi was a far cry from her usual appearance, which emphasized her beauty. That’s why Kiraboshi’s body stiffened, unable to move, realizing that Aneki was genuinely furious.
“Ugh…”
“Don’t screw with me! What the hell was that?! You, you asked that rumored old man to bring a monster, didn’t you?! Or is that your disguise?! Otherwise, there’s no way such a, such a creature…”
A sharp pain in her abdomen. She realized she’d been kneed.
Gasps rose from the girls on their way to school, and someone screamed, “Teacher!”
Kiraboshi—didn’t understand what was happening.
Curled up like a turtle, she couldn’t even comprehend what Aneki was talking about.
But what she could do remained the same.
Faced with sudden violence and abuse, Kiraboshi could only endure like a turtle, waiting for the storm to pass.
…That’s how she had lived her life until now.
Even when her head was hit violently.
Even when she was grabbed by the collar and glared at.
She could only tremble and cower, trying not to anger the other party any further, a weak girl waiting for the storm to pass.
Rebelling was out of the question.
Going against her parents, teachers, or classmates always resulted in a severe backlash, and violence simply didn’t suit Kiraboshi, who was even called the Class Representative.
That was Kiraboshi Yoshiko, a hopelessly weak existence, and her way of life—
—or so she thought.
“Don’t think you’re getting away with this! I’ll make you suffer the same way! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!!”
At Aneki’s words—suddenly,
(…Kill?)
A switch flipped, and Kiraboshi’s thoughts turned cold.
The feeling of fear receded as if a wave had pulled back, and her heart became calm, as if a typhoon had suddenly cleared up—
…Um, she was bewildered, not even knowing the reason herself, as the world seemed to shrink in slow motion, and her vision sparkled like stars—
What she remembered was what happened last night.
Kill.
I’ll kill you.
Aneki shouted fiercely—but yesterday, Kiraboshi had almost really died.
Against the Ice Dragon… she had really almost been killed.
She was blown away like a piece of paper by a direct hit from its Ice Breath, crushed by its steel tail, and rolled pathetically on the ground.
Her entire body, her muscles creaking, covered in snow and mud, she desperately ran and fought, crying.
…Following that fierce battle, the Dungeon Boss, the Behemoth, appeared—
Kiraboshi couldn’t comprehend an existence that could erase human lives like trash—and then she witnessed Kageichi Futsuu, a Hunter, who far surpassed it.
Kiraboshi wouldn’t have had enough lives, no matter how many she had.
That’s how close she was—to the commonplace phenomenon of “death.”
She hadn’t realized it, but she had certainly understood “death.”
Compared to that…
What’s with this girl’s lack of presence?
(What is this? “Kill”?)
At least Kageichi Futsuu never said “kill.”
His style was to silently finish what he decided to do.
…In contrast, what about this girl?
She raises her voice and approaches with a demonic expression, but she doesn’t even try to strangle me or stab me with a knife.
She’s just hitting me based on her emotions.
She suddenly wondered.
…Has this girl ever been breathed on by a dragon and desperately tried to escape?
Has this girl ever been nearly burned to death by a turtle creature much larger than an elephant?
Has she ever had her neck targeted by a rabbit? Has she ever been nearly crushed by a Grassland Golem?
—Has she ever been pushed into a Pitfall and abandoned while her classmates laughed at her?
If she really intended to kill, she would have brought a knife or something.
But what is this?
This pathetic display…
Kiraboshi felt her thoughts chilling to a terrifying degree, and despite being hit, she calmly observed Kamase Aneki.
And then, she noticed.
The rabbit-like eyes, red and bloodshot—were terribly frightened.
…Ah, I see.
This girl doesn’t want to kill me.
She’s scared.
She’s just attacking me to cover up the fear she experienced.
Yesterday’s Chainsaw Incident must have traumatized her. She’s projecting the cause onto Kiraboshi and taking it out on her.
There’s not a trace of Aneki’s usual elegance.
Hiding behind loud voices and irritation, she’s just a cowardly girl who’s lying about her own weakness while barking—
(Why was I so scared of such a small fry?)
“Don’t screw with me, die, I’ll seriously kill you!”
“…………”
While guarding with both arms, Kiraboshi thought intently.
At that time. When Kiraboshi approached with the chainsaw, she regretted that she couldn’t finish it because someone interfered—she secretly regretted that.
But at that time… even though the real blade didn’t reach her.
Kiraboshi’s chainsaw had certainly cut into her heart.
…If she understood that.
She could do it.
She could hunt.
She had to do it.
This was a monster she should hunt with her own hands.
…Of course, she couldn’t do it as well as Kageichi—but she had her own way of fighting.
Kiraboshi deliberately lowered her arms.
While raising her face to be easily hit, she whispered in Aneki’s ear, so that only she could hear—
“Aneki-san. Are you scared of me?”
“Ghk—!!!”
“But I haven’t done anything. …You don’t have any proof, do you?”
“Y-you…!”
“But Aneki-chan is so, so scared of me… fufu, you’re trembling like a little boy who saw a ghost, how cute. You’re so weak♪”
Heehee, ahaha! As she whispered in her ear, Aneki became furious and swung a full-force right straight.
Kiraboshi deliberately took the hit, and her body was blown away.
Screams rose at the scene, which looked like a boxer cornered and defenselessly beaten, and the gym teacher, who had finally rushed over, put Aneki in a hold, stopping the storm of violence.
While bleeding from her nose, Kiraboshi pretended to stagger as she surveyed her surroundings—
She inwardly cheered “Well done!” as she saw someone pointing their Smartphone and filming her properly, and then she leaned against the shoe locker and sat down.
Someone shouted, “Call an ambulance!” and the scene became even more chaotic.
While listening carefully to the situation, Kiraboshi pretended to have a concussion and wandered her gaze aimlessly—emphasizing that she was a pitiful victim.
And so, Kiraboshi was put on a stretcher and taken to the ambulance.
She secretly put the glasses she had taken off into her skirt and forcefully snapped them in half with a crack.
After all.
It would make her look more like a “poor victim” if her glasses were broken too, and Aneki would look more like a “tyrannical perpetrator,” right?
…I’ll demand compensation for the glasses later.
And once the things to do are decided, it’s easy to fill in the remaining episodes.
—The reason I started working part-time at the Dungeon was because I wanted to become stronger so I wouldn’t be bullied at school.
The reason I didn’t tell my parents was because I couldn’t talk to them about the bullying.
The reason I became Kageichi’s apprentice was because he saved me in the Dungeon where I was being bullied…
While constructing a false story, Kiraboshi now understood what the teacher had been saying.
Ah, I see. This is my way of hunting.
Even if I don’t have powerful strength like Kageichi, if I combine my weapon…
A weak high school girl with the victim move of being bullied in class, it’s not difficult to socially “eliminate” annoying classmates in a safe and secure manner—just like a high school girl who sets up a false charge of molestation…
While Kiraboshi was aware that she was being stained by a clear “evil,” she offered a prayer from the bottom of her heart.
Teacher, thank you very much.
Thank you so much.
For teaching me the twisted path.
I am truly happy now—
As she licked her lips, she tasted the worn-out taste of blood.
Ah, delicious, she licked her lips and continued to chuckle in her heart.
Forever.
Forever…