Chapter 264 – Escape

“N-NOOOOO!!” (Saniwa)
Riwa screamed. It was natural, given that he was the man she had somewhat fallen for.

I was momentarily shocked at the fact that Torimoto had been killed.

When Ryoji saw our faces, a faint smile appeared on his face.

Riwa ran up to catch Torimoto, who had fallen backwards from the force of the bullet.

But at that very moment—

Torimoto’s body suddenly transformed into a small object.

With a thud… No, what landed in Riwa’s arms was a doll. It seemed to be a completely lifeless object, no different from an ordinary toy. It wasn’t reminiscent at all of the person who had been standing in front of us just moments before.

“….Eh?”

I didn’t know who’s voice it was, but the scene left everyone confused and bewildered. It was only natural. A human had transformed into a doll right before our eyes.

“W-What…? A doll? Hah? W-What is this all about?” (Oshikura)
As expected, even Ryoji didn’t seem to understand what was happening. I looked toward Founder-sama to see if she knew what was happening. But… she was just as stunned as us. Only then did I realize that this was truly a completely unexpected turn of events.

“T-Torimoto…sama…?” (Saniwa)
Her voice trembling, Riwa called out his name as she held the doll to her chest.

“…..Hah, I dunno what this is all about, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to finish you all here either way.” (Oshikura)
Ryoji simply put his own mission before solving this mystery.

“Well then, oi.” (Oshikura)
Ryoji gave the men an order, and they came forward and restrained Aoyama.

“Founder-sama… No, Tanaka Sayuri, was it? I will kill you last. After I’ve thoroughly fucked up every last thing in your life. Do you know why I’m doing this?” (Oshikura)
Ryoji struck Founder-sama in the face with the butt of his gun, causing her to bleed from a cut on her lip.

“Because you killed my benefactor.” (Oshikura)
“…Benefactor…?” (Sayuri)
“Yeah, that’s right. I told you just now, didn’t I? It’s all because you killed Hosen Touya, my benefactor. I wanted to support him and push him up the ladder so that he could become the head of the Higuchi Group one day. After the boss died, it was finally Touya-san’s time… But then you just had to step in, did you?” (Oshikura)
“…I didn’t kill Hosen Touya.” (Sayuri)
She was right. We really had found his corpse before we could do anything against him. If anything, it was the order’s forces, led by Kagaya, who had struck down Hosen Touya’s father, the boss of the Hosen Group.

“Hah? Are you really gonna try and play dumb with me?” (Oshikura)
“I… am just speaking the truth.” (Sayuri)
“Shut up!” (Oshikura)
Again, Ryoji bashed her in the face with the butt of his gun.

“Gah…. Let Founder-sama… Let Sayuri-neesan gooooo!!” (Aoyama)
Aoyama, who had already taken a bullet to the shoulder, struggled to her feet, took out her gun, and desperately tried to fire a shot at Ryoji.

But before she could pull the trigger—the bullets of the several men surrounding her hit her all at once.

“K-Kanade-saaan!” (Sayuri)
Founder-sama screamed, her face pale.

Struck by all the bullets, Aoyama dropped her gun and slowly fell to both knees, bleeding heavily from all the gunshot wounds.

But even still, she was still crawling towards Founder-sama, desperate to save her. Her tenacity was incredible.

However, Ryoji looked at her like he was looking at a piece of trash, then shot her in the back and finished her off.

Aoyama’s body jolted from the impact… And then she stopped moving.

“No way… No… Nooooo! Kanade-san…! Wake up! Please, Kanade-saaaan!” (Sayuri)
Aoyama must have been really important to Founder-sama. It was clear just from her expression. There might have been a strong bond between the two of them that even Riwa and I didn’t have.

“HAAAHAHAHA! That’s the first one! How does it feel? To have someone important taken away from you? That was how I felt! …Huh?! Tell me, how does it feel?!” (Oshikura)

This time, he pointed his gun at me.

But Riwa stood in front of me defensively.

“I won’t let you kill Kei-chan…!” (Riwa)
Riwa’s body began to emit a faint glow. It was the manifestation that appeared whenever she used her skill, <Enhance>.

“Hah? What is that light? Did you transform into a firefly or something? Oh wait, fireflies only glow from their asses, don’t they?” Oshikura said with a mischievous tone.

But before he could finish speaking, Riwa picked me up in a princess carry and began to run.

“Oi, don’t let them get away!” (Oshikura)
Ryoji barked out orders, causing the men to fire their guns wildly at us. But Riwa avoided them with light, nimble steps, all while carrying me at the same time. As expected of someone with a special ability.

Ryoji and the men were taken aback by her movements.

“Tch, damn it! We can’t let them get away! Oi, make sure you keep an eye on them!” (Oshikura)
He ordered his men to restrain Founder-sama and the others while chasing after us with two more of his subordinates.