CH 269

Chapter 269 – Pitiful End

“UGYAAAAAH!! MY ARM, MY ARRRRMM!!” (Oshikura)

The arm that Shiki had severed hit the ground, and Oshikura began to howl from the intense pain that resulted.

Seeing the scene before me, I thought of a certain time.

Come to think of it, his end looked something like this.

That was the first time I had killed someone. Back then, I had also used the [Explosive Rifle] to deliver the final blow.

Also, he had lost both arms before dying, with an expression filled with despair.

“…You’re seriously beyond saving.” (Shakuhara)

“…!? HYIIIIIIIIIIIIH!!” (Oshikura)

Realizing that he already had no way of retaliating, he began to frantically struggle to his feet and try to run away. But Shakuhara had already taken aim at his back.

“―Goodbye, scumbag.” (Shakuhara)

Immediately after she put strength into her trigger finger, the gun roared, sending out a blast that shot straight towards Oshikura. The instant it struck his body, it caused a massive explosion.

It was the exact same as that time.

For Shakuhara, it was Oshikura. For me, it was Ohsaka.

With a final scream, Oshikura’s body swelled and exploded.

As Shakuhara stared blankly at the blaze that flared up in the spot where he had perished, Saniwa approached her and hugged her from behind.

“…It’s over, Riwa.” (Shakuhara)

“Yeah… It is… It really is…” (Saniwa)

The two of them hugged each other tightly, commemorating the resolved past.

I looked up at the sky.

The Apostles of Peace, who had been contacted beforehand, were probably subjugating the remaining survivors of the yakuza right about now.

Sure enough, when we returned to the church, the Apostles of Peace had already made short work of all of Oshikura’s subordinates.

With this, the attack on the church by the remnants of the Hosen Group came to an end.

—

“I see. In other words, the hunting faction that seceded from the religious order passed that information on to Oshikura and his men.” (Torimoto)

At the moment, I was listening to Otaka speak about the details behind this incident. Otaka had captured several of Oshikura’s subordinates alive and gotten this information out of them.

And now, he was telling me in private.

“Does Sayuri-san know of this?” (Torimoto)

“I didn’t tell her. I guess… It’s a bit hard to tell her that her former comrades betrayed her.” (Otaka)

“Well… I suppose that’s true.” (Torimoto)

This was why I hated humans. You just couldn’t trust them from the bottom of your heart. Even if you had family ties, in the end humans would betray you.

“But why would the former hunting faction… Or rather, Kagaya, decide to do something like this?” (Otaka)

“Let’s see… Well, their objective was probably to get rid of me.” (Torimoto)

“…So that is what it’s about, huh?” (Otaka)

Kagaya had said before that my existence was dangerous, and if I wouldn’t be an ally, she would kill me at all costs. As a result, she’d contacted the remnants of the Hosen Group and instigated them against us. All to eliminate me, as well as Sayuri, who hadn’t gone along with her.

“Is this okay? If the religious order figures out about this, wouldn’t they turn against you or something?” (Otaka)

“Sayuri-san was the one who brought me here in the first place, you know? Instead of the religious order being targeted because of me, it should be the religious order’s fault for bringing me here. Besides, something like this was bound to happen one day. The church had clearly gone too far. In other words, I was just one of the many triggers.” (Torimoto)

This time, it was the yakuza that came to retaliate and take revenge for what the religious order had done. After all, the religious order had killed innocent men. The enmity that they had bred was huge.

It was obviously possible that before long the families of the victims that had fallen to the religious order would rise up and attack them.

“You sure are matter-of-fact, aren’t you?” (Otaka)

“If you aren’t matter-of-fact, you won’t be able to survive in this world. Besides, regardless of the truth, it doesn’t change the fact that Kagaya-san and the rest of the hunting faction sold out their former comrades.” (Torimoto)

“…I guess that’s true. It’s terrible.” (Otaka)

“This is just what happens when people trust each other. Sayuri-san should understand this point now too. If you expect things from other people, you’ll only make a fool of yourself.” (Torimoto)

“Torimoto, you…” (Otaka)

“Anyway, the number of casualties caused by this raid was huge. It seems that there aren’t many surviving followers left.” (Torimoto)

“…Yeah.” (Otaka)

“I wonder what the women are gonna do now…?” (Otaka)

“For now, I plan to help them rebuild.” (Torimoto)

“…You’re actually a pretty good-natured guy too, huh?” (Otaka)

Back when he was a mercenary, Otaka must have been betrayed by people too. And yet, he still trusted people and believed in them. He probably liked humans, just like Fukuzawa Jouichirou.

“What Tanaka-san and her followers have done is unforgivable. But… they also have the right to live. And if they wish to survive, giving them a hand is the sympathetic thing to do.” (Otaka)

Sympathy, huh…? It was a concept that felt alien to me.

In the relationships between people, I only moved by calculating my profits and losses.

“Oh right, the young ladies were searching for you.” (Otaka)

“Young ladies?” (Torimoto)

“Yeah, you know. They said they were your guards.” (Otaka)

“Ah, Shakuhara and Saniwa?” (Torimoto)

“Yeah. Right now, they should be treating the other followers with the medicine they got from you. How about you go and see them? Tanaka-san should be there too.” (Otaka)

Apparently, Shakuhara and the others were in the medical building. I had business with Sayuri, so I figured I might as well go see them.

I bid farewell to Otaka and began to make my way towards their location. There were bloodstains all over the place, reminding me that this place had been a battlefield only a short time ago.

In an empty plot of land, there were sheets that looked like sleeping bags lined up in rows. Under the sheets were the people who had died in the battle. In the end, there really were a lot of corpses.

The followers weren’t accustomed to battle, and they had suddenly been attacked. The result was clear from the beginning.

When I arrived at the medical ward, the treatment had already been wrapped up for the most part, so it wasn’t busy.

…There used to be over 100 followers in the religious order, but now only around a dozen remained.

To Sayuri, who thought of each of her followers as family, it was probably a sobering, heartbreaking sight.