Jinba spoke plainly as he put out his cigarette on an ashtray.
Yuugo saw pain and sadness on his face, and went quiet, as Jinba continued.
“…Thomas was a perfect man. He never made any errors of judgment, and was a quiet intelligent man. But… He made one mistake once. And that was the result.”
“…What happened?”
“…We were chasing a serial child kidnapper… Or rather, the head of an organization. It was the most vile of criminals, who used a magic item to continuously kidnap children and ransom them out to their parents. If they didn’t pay, the kids would be sold through dark routes or worse, their bodies would be sent to their parents. They couldn’t get away with this, so Thomas and I were fired up to catch them no matter what. We eventually cornered the boss, but…!”
Jinba stopped and clenched his fists.
Yuugo saw his regret as he thought back to when his partner died in the line of duty, and stayed quiet.
“…The criminal had hostages. Thomas faced the criminal and both fired on the other. Thomas aimed at the magic item keeping the hostages, and the criminal… at Thomas. Both hit where they were aiming, and there was a big explosion.
“…”
“…Thanks to Thomas, the locked kids were freed and returned to their parents. But he…!!”
Jinba clenched his fists so hard it was audible, and groaned.
Yuugo thought it was cruel to make him speak of the past any more, and raised his voice to stop him.
“That’s enough, Jinba. I’m sorry for making you speak of something painful.”
“…No, it’s fine. And there’s one more thing I have to say.”
“Eh…?”
Jinba’s voice softened a little, surprising Yuugo.
What else was there to say? Was the look on Yuugo’s face as Jinba began talking, but then…
“Yuugo, the reason why I wanted to service this bowgun…!?”
“W-what!?”
The loud vibrating sound echoed.
Yuugo was surprised by the sound and impact of what seemed like an explosion, and Jinba put away the bowgun on his desk and ran out with a hurried expression.
“Was that…!?”
“Ah! Jinba! Wait!!”
Yuugo ran as fast as he could after Jinba, who jumped out of the station.
Eventually he reached the place in town where the sound came from, and gulped at a sight he did not expect.
“Gyahaha! Go nuts! Destroy! Make this town taste fear!!”
“Boss’ orders! Go crazy!!”
“Who are they…!?”
Ruffians went around destroying the place.
They attacked houses and people, and used magic items and spells. Yuugo suddenly felt himself being overwhelmed.
But the people’s screams brought him back, and he tackled a ruffian trying to attack people who were late in running away. He reached out to a child that had fallen, and spoke.
“Run away! Quickly!!”
The child nodded, and a woman who seemed to be the child’s mother came running.
Yuugo turned around after seeing the mother thank him and take her child to a safe place, and saw Jinba facing off against the ruffians.
“I don’t have business with small fry! Where’s your boss!?”
“Jinba! Are you okay!?”
Yuugo hit an enemy with a flying kick as he ran to help Jinba, who faced off against several ruffians with sword in hand, and took up position next to him.
They were back to back as they glared at their enemies, and Yuugo asked a question since Jinba appeared to know something.
“Jinba! Who are these people!?”
“They’re from the organization led by that guy that kidnapped children that we were talking about! Did he manage to scrounge up this many people…!?”
As they talked, they kicked around the attacking ruffians.
The number of enemies was going down as reinforcements came, but as both remained alert, a woman’s scream echoed.
“Give him back! Give me back my son!”
“Mommy! Mommy!!”
“Fufufufufu…! Nice cries. The cries of a child calling for their mother is always wonderful…!”
“Ah, is that…!?”
A monster holding a crying boy, and a crying parent.
What looked like the monster armor beast mix of person and bat held up something like a birdcage, and children were sucked into it.
“Mommy!!”
“My son! My son!!”
“Kuhahahahahaha! I’m taking your boy. If you want him back, pay up! Hahahahahahahahaha!!”
“That magic item, that voice… It has to be…!!”
Jinba gripped his sword tightly and ran as he saw the monster armor beast.
He cut at the monster armor beast with a big leap, and yelled the name of his sworn enemy with hatred.
“Regen! I will never forgive you!!”
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