chapter 10

The audience inside the observation room was standing still .

I could hear Kuroinu-san and Hakunetsu-san cheering for me from behind the enhanced glass .

Getsuri-san stood 5 meters in front of me, and he was already prepared for battle .

The boss’s voice resounded in the training room .

‘Shion, Getsuri .

I’ll explain now the rules for this duel with Roll at stake .

The first to incapacitate his opponent wins . Neither of you is allowed to use weapons . Killing is prohibited .

As a handicap, Getsuri is not allowed to use attacks stronger than C ranked ones . Nor is he allowed to unlock his restrictions . ’

Getsuri-san nodded .

They gave him a handicap .

Well, it has nothing to do with me . If I don’t end this in one blow, I will surely lose .

‘Roll will give you the start signal . ’

‘What? Me? ………All right . ’

The boss handed over the mic to Roll .

I gulped down my saliva .

Then stared at Getsuri-san .

‘……Start!’

It was Roll’s voice .

I used her signal, and changed it into a roaring explosion sound .

Still, the moment before that, Getsuri-san covered his ears .

“Wha…… . !”

Getsuri-san kicked the ground and arrived before my eyes in an instant, then he seized my head .

My vision got distorted as he slammed me to the ground on my back .

In that moment, all the sounds I was hearing vanished .

I couldn’t hear Kuroinu-san’s cheering anymore, nor the sounds outside the training room .

All I could hear now was the sound of my breathing .

“Skill Lock .

I took the liberty to lock your ability .

You have no way of winning this . ”

Is this for real?

He beat me this easily…… .

“If it weren’t for Roll’s voice, my eardrums would’ve been destroyed by now .

You’re too obsessed with speed, you know . ”

“No way…… . ”

I stood up and stepped back .

When will my ability come back…… I didn’t know .

At any rate, all I can do now is running around…… .

“I’m sorry to say but I won’t let you run away . ”

My vision turned dark .

I actually closed my eyes . No, I was forced to close them .

And I can’t open them either .

He locked my eyes……!

I could hear a heavy step .

Immediately after, I felt an impact at the back of my head .

Before I could realize, I was crawling on the ground . Something was dripping . I had a nosebleed .

Did I hit my nose on the ground just now?

All I can do is give in…… . .

“Why in the world is this guy Roll’s partner!?”

“Guh!”

He kicked me in the stomach . For a moment, I could not breathe, but I somehow staggered and managed to stand up .

Normally, it’s easy to stand up with your eyes closed .

But now, for some reason, I felt it really difficult .

Was standing up always this difficult?

When I managed to finally stand, he punched me again and I fell on my buttocks .

The attacks didn’t stop .

With my eyes closed, all I could do was groan as I continued to receive Getsuri-san’s strikes .

When I stood up, he kicked me to the ground again; when I crawled around, he trampled me down .

“Fuahahahahahahaha!! Be disillusioned by Roll!”

I was panting .

I can’t open my eyes but I can feel that they’re swollen .

He punched me in the pit of my stomach and I tumbled down, unable to breathe .

“…… . . You’re such an uninteresting man . Why did Roll……Why…… . . ”

This is no good . On a second thought, I’ll just kill you . ”

“………!”

Kill me……? I’m sure that the boss said killing wasn’t allowed… . . !

This is foul play!?

“Die now!”

The moment I heard those last words, something like an electric shock ran through my body .

I bent back my body as I dodged Getsuri-san’s attack, then stood up again .

Immediately after that I took off my restraint ring .

Thump, thump .

I could hear this sound .

…… . It was the sound of a heartbeat .

I can hear now . My ability is back…… .

My eyes were still locked .

But I could hear things .

I could hear everything around me . Even without my vision, I could see things .

Calm down…… . Calm down, myself……

—— Calm down and kill .

“You dodged it well, didn’t you?”

“…… . I can hear sounds…… . coming from you . The sound of your heart, …… . the sound of your breathing . ”

I detest death…… .

To prevent it, all I can do is kill my opponent .

“You’re bluffing .

There’s no way my Skill Lock would wear out this quickly . ”

I crouched down to dodge his mighty kick, as I got close to Getsuri-san .

I couldn’t see him, but I imagined that his expression was one of surprise, even shock .

I held my left hand in front of Getsuri-san’s face and snapped my fingers .

“Gaaaah!”

I destroyed his eardrums…… . Did I leave him unconscious too?

I grabbed Getsuri-san by his hair and pushed him down .

He didn’t fight back, so I knew that he lost his senses . He fainted .

However, I could still hear his heartbeat .

…… . I must kill him .

This person is dangerous .

My vision was still dark . Even so, my senses were so sharp that I could clearly see everything .

I removed a knife from my waist holder and grabbed Getsuri-san’s hair again .

I could hear the door to the training room opening from behind me .

And then, the sound of people rushing towards me .

This is bad, I gotta kill him fast …… . !

My knife was about to reach his neck, when my right hand was firmly seized by something .

I dropped the knife .

Without a moment’s delay, I was about to take out another knife with my left hand but I couldn’t move it either .

‘That’s enough, Shion . You won . ’

It was the boss’s voice .

I opened my eyes and saw that several people, Roll included, were restraining me .

All of them were ready for battle, and if I were to move again, they would suppress me in an instant .

“……Why are you stopping me? You didn’t stop Getsuri-san when he was about to kill me . ”

‘That’s because I believed you could handle it .

From the very beginning I thought that you would win . ’

That’s not it .

“Since he tried to kill me, I bet that this guy won’t complain if I kill him instead…… . ”

‘I said no killing . ’

“I don’t get it . ”

All my joints were aching . He seriously beat me .

“Shion, you won, so it’s all right . Control yourself . Because of this, Getsuri-san will be sent to a branch agency again . ”

Roll said . But I didn’t turn my eyes away from Getsuri-san .

“Calm down, Shion . Why are you so furious?”

“…… . . I am calm . And I’m not furious at all . ”

“…… . I understand what you’re feeling, but there will be many times when you’ll be on the verge of dying from now on . You will kill many people too . ”

Roll said to me in a kind voice .

But it’s not really about that .

“I came to this place precisely because I didn’t want to die!”

I pressed my middle finger against my thumb and clicked them .

A thunderous roar . I refrained from using my full power though .

Those who restrained me faltered, and I took that moment to grab a knife and swung it down towards Getsuri-san’s neck .

However, before the edge could reach it, a felt a shock running through my body .

Right after that, I got slammed onto the wall and lost consciousness .

____________

When I woke up, I found myself in Roll’s bed . Her nice scent tickled my nostrils .

My body wasn’t hurting anymore . Most likely Chiyaku-san healed me .

I then started to remember the incidents from some moments ago .

Maybe it’s something like a trauma for me .

I am too obsessed with living . I can’t forgive those who try to kill me .

No…Actually, I don’t understand it anymore .

When he attacked me yesterday, it was nothing like this . Maybe because Roll was there too .

“Did you calm down?”

“Sorry . I kinda lost myself . ”

I stood up and looked at Roll, who was sitting on a chair .

At that moment, I realized that the restraint ring was back on my finger .

“It can’t be helped . ”

The mattress sheets got a little wet because of my sweat . The pillow as well .

“Sorry, your sheets are drenched with sweat . You should maybe wash them . ”

“Don’t worry about that . Do you want some water?”

“Yeah, thanks . ”

I got out of the bed and fetched my phone from inside my schoolbag .

It was past eight .

Was it already this late?

“Here”

I drank up the glass of water she placed for me on the table, then thanked her and sat down on a chair .

I took out my school stuff .

“Hey, will you help me study now?”

Roll made a happy expression and brought her chair closer to mine .

___________

It seems that my partner is quite a nice person .

She’s sometimes wild and scary but, some way or another, she’s kind .

To be honesty, it’s about time I fell for her .

Leaving the jokes aside, four days passed since my duel with Getsuri-san; it was a Saturday now .

Today, I went to the secret base again; I haven’t gone there since the duel .

During these four days that I haven’t visited the hideout, I did nothing but study and train .

Thanks to this, I am quite confident in the upcoming tests .

And, because I declared this, Roll told me she will take me on a mission with her today .

In truth, this was our first mission together .

The mission’s content is ‘Suppressing a buried dragon’ .

Even though it’s a dragon suppression mission, the buried dragon is a magical beast, smaller and weaker than all the other dragons .

The bones of a buried dragon don’t burn out, so the Development Department requested some, since the ones they used until now broke off . And Roll accepted this mission .

Almost all the magical beasts hunting requests come from the Development Department .

There are times when the boss brings some in from underground routes .

“How far do we have to go?”

“To the Tsuhara Plateau . ”

The Tsuhara Plateau? That’s quite far away .

The elevator made a short ding as we arrived to the café .

Roll went to talk to the café’s owner and I walked towards the exit .

“Master, No . 8 . Stray Arrow . ”

“C-47 . It’s the third truck from left . ”

“Thanks . ”

Roll finished her exchange with the café owner and walked towards the exit .

There were many people inside the café today . Usually, there are mostly people who go to the hideout around here, but it seems that this place is often used as a normal café too .

“Well, let’s go now . ”

We left the hideout .

When we arrived at point C-47, we found out that it was a restaurant’s parking lot .

Roll did as she was told, and got into the third truck from the left . She started the engine .

I got into the truck too and sat on the passenger’s seat .

“Can you even drive this thing?”

“You might say so . ”

A short time later, the truck took off; we soon left the town .

__________

Rolling Cat .

That’s the name of Roll’s ability .

Roll was a chosen human being .

There were very few people in this world who had ‘something like that’ .

Yes, a Skill Repeat .

Roll has two abilities .

Together, they make the Rolling Cat .

Her first ability is a manipulation type, called ‘Only Roulette’ .

Roll can ‘one-time rotate’ all the things she touches .

She can freely control the speed of the rotation, but it has a upper limit . It doesn’t have a lower limit though .

The range for this ability is ‘everything that Roll can touch’ .

Roll can freely control the direction of the rotation as well . However, just by touching the ground, she can’t rotate the people who stand on it .

There are a few other restrictions to this ability, but it also has many practical uses; no wonder that Roll is the organization’s no . 6 .

And then, she has another ability .

An enhancement-type one, called ‘Stray Cat’ .

This is similar to Kuroinu-san’s ability, a physical changing enhancing type .

This ability has a unique use; all the people who enter its range will be pulled towards Roll by a strange psychological gravity .

Roll is not really too willing to use this ability since it is stamina consuming, and, therefore, hard to maintain .

Also, according to rumors, …… . . she grows cat ears and changes her figure into something extremely charming .

I haven’t seen this form of hers yet, but, in all honesty, I’m dying to see it .

Anyway, this reconfirmed Roll’s awesomeness .

And yes, the mission finished without me being able to do anything .

“It was an easy victory . ”

Roll said, as she drove the truck .

We were carrying the corpse of a buried dragon, with its twisted neck, on the roof rack .

“Was there even a meaning in me coming here?”

“Nope, there wasn’t . Once we’re back, you’ll have to continue studying . ”

The truck roared noisily on the plateau .

Roll was driving quite dangerously too .

At that moment, I suddenly heard a noise coming from behind our back .

A listened carefully .

…… . . What sound is this?

“What’s wrong?”

I opened the window and peeked behind us .

“!? What the hell is that!?”

I looked at it and drew my head back inside the car .

“Roll! Something is flying towards us!”

“What?”

That thing unexpectedly reflected in the rearview mirror .

It was a huge dragon, that couldn’t even be compared to the one we carried on the truck’s roof rack .

“It’s an edged dragon…… . ! We sure are unlucky!

I’m gonna use the rocket engine! Shion, hold on tight!”

“Wait! Are you serious?”

Right after I took an anti-shock position, I got held in the passenger seat with a thud .

The truck was making a thunderous roar, as the scenery seemed like it was flowing .

“Shion! Check if it’s still following us!”

The edged dragon wasn’t showing in the rearview mirror anymore .

I could neither hear its roar because of the engine’s noise .

I looked again behind us .

It wasn’t there .

ROOOOOOOOAAARRR!!

A roar .

I looked up at the sky and saw the edged dragon .

“This is bad! It’s still chasing us!”

“Wha! I’ll go out! Shion! Continue to drive!”

“Wait! Eh!?”

Roll opened the window and got out .

I hurried to move to the driver’s seat and seized the steering wheel .

“Go full throttle!”

I heard her voice coming from above, and I stepped on the pedal with all I got .