Translator(s): s.h.i.+mizuA    Editor(s): Yuzuha    Proofreader(s): Merp-Merp

h.e.l.lo again! Now that D.C. have said that he gonna be on hiatus, don’t worry about translation progress, BECAUSE I AM HERE! HA HA H-ough cough………

ehm. Well yeah until D.C. comes back, I will be responsible for this project. So without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

A take out around the murderer

"Welcome home dear. I'm glad you're safe."

"Ah, I'm home."

Lady firstly greeted s.h.i.+zuru who come back to their base in the slums, at the entrance. When s.h.i.+zuru caressed her face with her real form, she let out a comfortable growl.

"Lady, I'm sorry but could you prepare one more bed. It's for this child."

" …… is that kid…… no. I got it, my beloved."

Lady glanced at the girl who was sleeping on s.h.i.+zuru's arm with a somewhat suspicious gaze. She attempted to place her faith in him, and she needed to prepare the bed first, so she changed to her human form and turned away her heels and entered the hideout. 

s.h.i.+zuru soon followed her.

"Hick…… Oh s.h.i.+zu, ya'r back, come hereー"

Once he went into the living room, there was Casca who laid on the sofa with a bottle of sake and a reddened face. She was already stoned- giggling and laughing without reason.

But―― as soon as she saw the girl on s.h.i.+zuru's arm, her eyes raised in suspicion.

"Hah? Who that brat…… Ah, OH!? Isn't she that d.a.m.n brat who made fun of me a before!"

"Ssshhh. Please don't shout, Casca. This girl will wake up, after I finally managed to make her fall asleep."

"It's not that! Oi, give her to me! I'll beat her!"

Casca unsteadily stood up, and staggeringly approached s.h.i.+zuru. Her drunk state was twice as dangerous as her sober state. If this continued, it wasn't just the girl but s.h.i.+zuru could also end up half dead.

Naturally if he called Lady, it would be over quickly, but right now she was busy making the bed. In addition, If he was to leave the problem between Casca and the girl, it wouldn't end well.

Leaving the girl who was sleeping aside, at the very least he needed to remove the animosity inside Casca right here. Thinking like that, s.h.i.+zuru drew something s.h.i.+ny from his pocket and flicked it towards Casca with his fingertip.

"Tto…… Wha' this…… Gold coins!?"

If it were to be given a name it would be called, the 'Drain the water with money' operation. s.h.i.+zuru smiled bitterly at the straightforward, without any twist operation name. (TN:水に流して下さい. This maybe some j.a.panese idiom,according to weblio.jp: 'to make one forgive and forget')

"I'll hand you this, so could you please forget about that previous matter?"

" …… Nyahahahaha! What ar' ya talking 'bout s.h.i.+zu, I never mad from the start rightー?"

Casca acted as if her anger from a while ago was nowhere to be seen, and she hurriedly put the gold coin in her slacks' pocket. Usually, sake or gold was enough to make her mood better when she was being short-tempered or frustrated.  This time the effect was also shown immediately.

"Dear, the bed is ready."

"Hm? Ah, thanks Lady. You're fast."

While doing so, s.h.i.+zuru replied with a smile to Lady who come out from the empty room in the 1st floor―which was once Elizabeth's room, but she herself never used it. A few seconds later, Ludmilla who seems to have heard the commotion walked down the stairs sluggishly while holding her head.  Today Elizabeth wasn't feeling so well, so with all this personnel lined up at the hideout…

"Oy…… Please don't be loud, it's echoing in my head…… Oh, s.h.i.+zuru? You're ba―― wait what, with a kid? Where did you kidnap her from?"

s.h.i.+zuru could only smile wryly to Ludmilla’s disgusted remarks.

Black Maria is specialized in killing/a.s.sa.s.sination. They would never take kidnaping requests.

(Yuzu: Never say never, except to drugs. Always say never to drugs.)

"Please don't soil my reputation like that, I just fulfilled my order from above. This child has been your target for the past week."

"Target? What are you…… say…… Ha? Hah? Eh, wai…… It can't be, you're joking right?

"Does it look I'm telling … a joke?"

Ludmilla opened her eyes and stared at s.h.i.+zuru in total disbelief. However, as he had built his daily life upon lies and killing, his temperature as a result never changed when he committed the mentioned acts.

In other words, even Ludmilla's demon eyes couldn't see through his lies. But, She also knew that s.h.i.+zuru wouldn't lie without meaning to it.

"Ahー?"

"Dear …… is that true?"

And there was Casca who still couldn't comprehend the situation, and Lady who let out a surprised voice. s.h.i.+zuru smiled softly, and looked at  the 2 people and beast before him. While gently stroking the girl's hair in his arms, he nodded.

"Yes. This child is the rumored a.s.sailant, the Chopper's true ident.i.ty."

◇◇◇

The a.s.sailant of eastern district that had killed over 100 victims for the past 2 months, was a girl around 12 years old. After laying that perpetrator on the bed, s.h.i.+zuru come back to the table where Lady and Ludmilla hung their faces in disbelief. (TN: 狐に抓まれたような顔, 'face like being pinched by a fox'. From weblio.jp, it means 'expressing something hard to believe.)

By the way, Casca was deep asleep on the sofa. With this she won't wake up even if a fire and earthquake suddenly strike.

"…… Truth is stranger than fiction, as they say."

"That's exactly right. I wonder how that little kid could escape the imperial knights after causing such an incident."

Lady commented on Ludmilla who muttering while sipping her hot milk. 1 person and 1 beast were thinking back to the girl's, whom s.h.i.+zuru had taken, innocent sleeping face. It's unbelievable, that such a girl was an indiscriminate ma.s.s murderer.

"But…… Well, it's too late to talk about it now. Since there is also a gentle man that doesn't look like he has killed over 300 people before my eyes."

"The amount of people that have been killed by my beloved is 318. Don't speak broadly, Ludmilla."

" …… I, as I've guessed before, it's best for me to walk with you side by side."

Ludmilla told her with a somewhat unpleasant expression, that Lady nitpicking some strange point, just didn't suit her delicate figure.  By the way the syndicate had once given s.h.i.+zuru the evaluation [The man I wouldn't mind going with on a whole day date trip.] As usual, he wasn't quite sure if his character evaluation was specifically easy or painful to understand. (TN: I can't understand the first sentence.妙な所で細かい者は好きじゃないのか、或いはレディと微妙にソリが合わないのか、若干苦々しげな表情を浮かべてルドミラが告げた。)

"Anyways, If that child wakes up please explain the circ.u.mstances to her briefly, I'm going to take her to Richelieu tomorrow or the day after that."

"Roger that."

The 3rd squad knew what the reason was for searching for the Chopper, it was to invite her to Black Maria. So instead of questioning, Lady just nodded.

However.

" …… Do you want to make that little girl a killer?"

Ludmilla couldn't easily agree to that.

Of course she understood that the girl was a murderer who had killed far more people than herself. But the other party was still a child who seemed like they still couldn't distinguish between good and evil yet. It would be crazy to make such a child into a killer.

Although Ludmilla didn't say anything, she appealed to s.h.i.+zuru about the possibility of the girl not seeing her actions as a crime. Of course, s.h.i.+zuru wasn't dense enough to not be aware what her gaze meant.

"Ludmilla is opposed to it, I guess?"

"Of course I'm opposed to it."

Purple lights were gleaming in her pupils as she stared straight at s.h.i.+zuru.

If one were stared at with eyes having magical power of the ice attribute at near distance, they would feel a chill. Yet s.h.i.+zuru was still wearing his usual indifferent face.

So he tried to suggest a proposal to Ludmilla.

"How about 3 days."

" …… Eh?"

"I will give you 3 days. If during that time she leaves my side, I will report to Richelieu that using Chopper was not feasible so she got erased."

It was nearly impossible to lie to Richelieu who could grasp the mental state of others by their heartbeat and breathing, and on top of that she also knew s.h.i.+zuru well.  But if it was one or two reports, it wasn't difficult. Originally, they weren't told with certainty to capture and bring her alive. If that’s the case, there was a way out.

" …… It wasn't a lie, right?"

"My beloved wouldn't lie to his family."(TN: family here wasn't 家族(Kazoku) but 身內

(Miuchi) that also include people who close like a family.)

Ignoring Lady's words which accused her sincerity, Ludmilla intensely stared at s.h.i.+zuru. Of course, he returned it with soft but straight gaze.

" …… Okay I understand. If in 3 days I can't persuade that kid, I'll give up. Originally, I had no say in this matter to begin with since I was the newcomer."

"Then we have a deal."

She hesitantly took his arm which he presented with a smile. While sighing quietly, she shook it.

People cannot become a killer without a reason.

s.h.i.+zuru had said that without a firm reason and belief, one was unsuitable to be a killer. Nevertheless, at any rate she couldn't abandon the idea of a still normal girl become a failed comrade that would need to be killed. Therefore, even if she hadn't talked to the other party, she just couldn't watch an innocent girl walk alone in the darkness while being silent.

She strongly believed that if that girl could still return to the sunlight, she should go back.

―― Even if she found the girl who was sleeping soundly in s.h.i.+zuru's embrace annoying. Somewhere in her heart, she understood that.