CH 40

By Effugium September 22, 2022

It was the day after the Great Hero Gathering and Annihilation.

The Arc Dominion underground secret base is always dark. Maybe it’s because it’s located hundreds of meters underground, which is an extremely heinous location. Or maybe because of the miasma from the center of demons, where the man-eating fiends roam?

「Kukuku…… Well then, a toast to celebrate our victory!」

The “Grand Celebration to Commemorate the Great Destruction of the Super-Super-Difficult Enemy Hero Robot Army and the Complete Suppression of the Tokyo-Saitama Region, and also Christmas Party” opened with a toast by Lord Dragius wearing Santa Claus Costume.

A joro spider(Nephila clavata?) dexterously played the piano with its six arms. A maid robot ejected confetti from her wrist. A pink hippopotamus danced in a single-minded frenzy.

The entire secret society, the Ark Dominion, was in a frenzy of joy at the successive victories. Rintaro’s neck was covered with wreaths of flowers that looked as if it could be the neckpiece of a Kayan people, and his entire body, including his face, was covered with kiss marks of various sizes and colors. It would even be fine to just go to a Halloween Party in Shibuya as he is now.

However, the person in question had a gloomy look on his face.

「…… I want to go home.」

Although there are no other place for me to go back to than the Ark Dominion underground base, such words were unintentionally leaked from Rintaro’s mouth.

He didn’t feel any guilty conscience for destroying the heroes of the entire Tokyo-Saitama area. It’s the fact that “I don’t feel any guilty conscience” that depressed him.

It’s been two weeks since he arrived at Ark Dominion, and Rintaro, the former hero, has been completely stained by evil in body and soul. The Santa hat on his head seemed so empty.

「Rintaro, what are you, the central figure of victory, doing with such a face? In times like these, you should laugh, just like I do. Kukuku……Fuhahahaha……Haa-hahahaha!!」

Rintaro came to his senses when he was approached by Lord Dragius, dressed as Santa Claus. And once again, he was taken aback when the mismatch of his outfit came into his view.

He had his white hair and a fuzzy beard, and he was trying his best to look like Santa Claus, but his eyes were like a sword that had cut down a thousand samurai.

If you combine hundreds of B-grade horror serial killers dressed as clowns, it would look like this.

If you were to encounter such a person in your bedroom late at night, the child would be crying and the parents would have their hearts stop. It is to the extent that it was strange that there were no blood dripping from the white gift bag.

「Yaay, It’s Santa-san, ssu!」

「Kukuku…… Samecchi, have you been a bad girl this year as well?」

Dragius, or Santa Claus, asked, and Samecchi gave him a thumbs up.

「Kukuku…… Samecchi made a lot of bomb this year, ssu!」

「Samecchi, That is no longer in the realm of bad girl.」

「Actually, I made another one and hid in under the bed, ssu.」

「Oh, you mischievous girl, That’s inexcusable.」

Rintaro still felt pain in his joints, but Sametchi was already full of energy after just one night’s sleep. No matter how strong a mysterious being body is, as usual she still has tremendous recovery power.

「Very well…… in that case, you can have this present! Hahahahahaha! Fuhahahahaaa!!」

「Yaay, ssu! Ryuu-chan, thank you, ssu!」

On one hand, is an evil emperor who shoots powerful magic at a group of heroes. On the other hand, is a granddaughter who received a present from her grandfather. After Dragius had a lively conversation with Samecchi, he looked Rintaro in the eye and said.

「Sometimes, Rintaro. You should be careful on how you behave yourself.」

「What’s this all of a sudden?」

「It’s not just the Hero Headquarters that’s after you. You also have “secret” of your own…….」

What Rintaro received was an unbelievable warning (present).

「Some is after me? Who?」

「It’s…… Oops, I have to hand out presents to all the bad kids in the world, so this is goodbye! Fuhahahaha!!」

Dragius Santa Claus left with disturbing words, like smoke rising from a chimney. Rintaro couldn’t hide his anxiety, and Samecchi called out to him in concern.

「Aniki, What’s the secret, ssuka? Samecchi is curious, ssu!」

「Listen, Samecchi. An adult man always have one or two secrets of their own.」

「Ooh, that’s cool, ssu!」

That’s right, the fact that Rintaro is not a mysterious being but a pure human being is an absolute secret that cannot be revealed even to Samecchi. The only people who know this fact are Lord Dragius and General Tagaraak of Ark Dominion.

Who is after Rintaro, and who are involved in the secret that could be called his Achilles’ heel?

「Hey, brother! Are you drinking? What, you’re still sober!」

The one sitting next to Rintaro, drinking from a pitcher of beer heartily, was Bearion, the Hundred Beast General.

「Ojiki! I got a present from Ryu-chan!」

「Good for you, little shark! Here’s a present for you, too. It’s for grown-ups!」

「General Bearion, please don’t give the children beer.」

「Ga-ha-ha-ha! I’m just kidding! And you don’t have to call me “General”! You’re part of our family, you know!」

Continuing from yesterday, he couldn’t help but feel that his affiliation with the Hundred Beasts Legion had become an established fact. Rintaro felt a bit worried about his affiliation with the legion that he had no memory of expressing.

This is because, in the past, Tagaraak, another one of the three generals, pressured him to join the Machinery Army through blackmail. At that time, he was able to get away with it by reasoning, but he’s not sure that the same method will work for this Bearion.

In the first place, they are all beasts in appearance. It is hard to believe that they can negotiate using their brains.

Was it okay to really point this out?  Rintaro’s danger radar, which has taken him through many battles, rang a warning bell: “Don’t do it, you …… Stop that”.

However, he wondered if the situation would improve if he just let it be. No, as a result of going with the flow so far, he had never ended up in a good situation. Rintaro decided that he should not give in.

「Umm…… What do you mean by family……? When did I join the Hundred Beasts Legion……?」

Weak! Rintaro’s voice sounded like a mosquito’s buzzing as he reluctantly questioned Bearion. Rintaro is extremely strong against inferior opponents, but he is not bold enough to fight with his bare hands against a bear that eats turkeys like fried chicken.

A zoo is a place where you can enjoy yourself because of the fences, and only a mutsugorou-san[1] or a suicidal person would be able to touch a beast of prey within breathing distance. Naturally, there was no way he could say anything that would offend him.

「Aan?」

Bearion bared his horrible fangs and glared at Rintaro. Rintaro praised himself in his heart for managing to endure without becoming wetting his pants.

「Gahahahaha! Don’t worry about the details!!!」

Then Bearion slapped Rintaro on the back with his large, pawed hand. It didn’t solve anything, but Rintaro didn’t feel like he could go any further.

……However.

Even if Rintaro himself couldn’t raise any objection with him. At this celebration venue, there was a person who dared to object to his poisonous treatment.

「The beauty of Takane’s flowers is that if there is a single flower under the moon, it will bring a drop of nectar to the heart. In a field of disordered blossoms, even the moon and that person cannot meet.」

He was dressed in a glittering costume reminiscent of a circus magician, and his arms and legs were as long and thin as branches. A slender man wearing a flashy papillon mask tried to get in the way of Bearion who was in a good mood.

That strange looking mysterious being is the last of the three leaders and the head of the insect-type mysterious beings. He was the Ark Dominion’s trickster, the Mysterious Insect General Zazoma.

「Aa? It’s you again Zazoma, you have big guts daring to complain towards me!」

The bristles that covered Bearion’s entire body stood on end, and his fighting spirit swelled up. An ordinary human being would be terrified just by being hit by this spirit, and would cry out for help. However, Zazoma did not seem to be intimidated and continued speaking.

「The great darkness of the new moon takes away the wings of those who fly in the sky and the claws and fangs of those who crawl on the ground. Oh, you evil soul! Wrapped in the curtain of night and eat the new moon.」

「What was that, you bastard? Wanna fight, huh!?」

Rintaro had no idea what Zazoma was talking about. The agitated Bearion also probably didn’t understand.

「’Deathgreen is not a garbage collector like the Hundred Beasts Legion, but a person who is suitable for our beautiful Mysterious Insect Army. The rude beargorilla should go back to his nest’ was what Zazoma-sama said.」

A squire-like man with a face like that of a beetle spoke for Zazoma. rather than bringing in an interpreter, he should just speak normally.

「Who’s the bear gorilla!!!!!」

「The murmurings of the bedchamber roar in the distance, and the thunderbolts are like whispers of fresh water. The leaves of the word sway in the autumn wind, and scatter the fleeting clouds.」

「”It’s so noisy”, was what Zazoma-sama said.」

「Is such a messy interpretation needed?」

Hundred Beasts General Bearion and Mysterious Insect General Zazoma. Two of the three executives representing the Ark Dominion were in danger of being fighting with Rintaro sandwiched in between.  The one who was “After Rintaro” Dragius mentioned was them.

Above Rintaro’s head, the red flames of rage and the blue flames of silence clashed violently. This is exactly what he meant when he say he don’t feel like living. This is exactly what “I don’t feel like living” means.

They were willing to fight to the bitter end to bring Rintaro, the heinous mysterious Death Green, into their ranks.

「S-S-S-Stop it, both of you! Please don’t fight over me(I think I don’t get the tone right)……」

「Samecchi thought of a good idea! How about you split half-half, ssuka?」

「That’s a nice idea, Samecchi. Aniki is adamantly opposed to it, though.」

In the end, thanks to Dragious Santa’s intervention, the worst was averted. That day, Rintaro felt fear for the first time since the day he was brought to the Ark Dominion.

“Grand Celebration to Commemorate the Great Destruction of the Super-Super-Difficult Enemy Hero Robot Army and the Complete Suppression of the Tokyo-Saitama Region, and also Christmas Party” continued until midnight.

Rintaro performs his forte magic tricks at the mysterious being secret ability competition, and received a washable low rebound pillow at a bingo tournament.

[1] https://tokyo5.wordpress.com/tag/mutsugoro/
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