Chapter 10: Gin Finds It Very Boring
Hikigaya did not know what Gin and Vodka were thinking. His decision to summon them was mostly on a whim; or rather, he viewed Gin as a potential candidate to inherit the martial arts of the Eight Brilliant Blades of Condemnation.
However, this required observation to see if Gin's temperament met the criteria. Hikigaya was a Campione, but as a martial artist, he was a man of Yomi through and through. He didn't care if Gin was a good or bad person; as long as he could promote martial arts, it wouldn't matter if he was steeped in evil.
But this person had to possess the pride of a martial artist. At the very least, he couldn't be someone who shrank away from the strong while bullying the weak—that would just be a common thug. Even a bloodthirsty madman is more reliable than a thug. Due to the nature of his work, Gin was certainly murderous, but in the eyes of Yomi, that wasn't a flaw at all.
When Gin arrived at the parking lot, Hikigaya cast a spatial spell. Ancient Egyptian magecraft was indeed inferior to later systems in this regard, as their understanding of space was quite primitive, but it was still sufficient for this situation. Furthermore, with the cursed power of a Campione, even the most mundane spell becomes a weapon of mass destruction. For example, if a Campione seriously performed a "spoon-bending" trick, they could at least snap the reinforced concrete of a modern skyscraper.
This was an absolute disparity in the fundamental capacity of the caster.
Therefore, when Hikigaya cast the spell, the New Wing and the South Wing of Hinata House were severed on a physical level. What Gin and Vodka entered was another mirror dimension. They wouldn't encounter the residents of Hinata House; they would only see what Hikigaya wanted them to see.
Gin and Vodka, however, were unaware. Although they were quite extraordinary compared to average people, in the eyes of those in the magical society, they were just ordinary humans.
Vodka was the one who knocked. Vodka was still polite, though his patience didn't last long. After knocking for over ten seconds with no response, he lost his temper.
"Dammit! How does this inn stay in business?" Cursing, he irritably grabbed the handle and twisted. The door opened.
"Uh..." Vodka was a bit stunned. "The door wasn't locked..." Then he turned happily to Gin, whose face was already looking quite sour, and said, "Big Brother! The door's unlocked!"
"Vodka..."
"Big Brother?"
"Shut up!"
"Oh..."
After that brief exchange, Vodka opened the door properly. Gin adjusted his hat and stepped inside.
What lay before them was a corridor. The layout of the New Wing was different from the South Wing; there was no foyer. This was originally an extension of the South Wing, just a back door. Gin didn't care whether he used the front or back entrance, but this corridor made him feel like he hadn't entered an inn at all. It was completely devoid of human presence, giving off the vibe of a graveyard.
The sound of the door closing came from behind as Vodka entered.
"Big Brother, it's so deserted here."
"Doesn't matter. We aren't here to help their business," Gin replied icily, striding forward.
Even though there were no staff members to guide them, Gin felt it was fine; he never liked crowded places anyway. As for the "graveyard" feeling, he manually manufactured those on a regular basis, so he was entirely indifferent. He walked down the corridor, the floorboards creaking with every step. He found the atmosphere quite agreeable. He hated public places where it was inconvenient to fire a gun; this was much better. With this mindset and a love for quiet environments, Gin actually walked quite happily.
Vodka, however, didn't think so. He wasn't exactly scared, but he felt the place was too poorly maintained. Just how old was it? Was it a bankrupt inn? This was too dilapidated—even more so than it looked from the outside. The new BOSS had a bit of a strange taste.
The two reached the end of the corridor and saw a floor plan on the wall. A route was drawn in red ink with the words: "Follow the red line."
"What the... so there really isn't anyone here," Vodka muttered.
Gin said nothing. He just looked at the map, memorized the route, and led Vodka up the nearby stairs. After going up two floors and passing through a partition, they entered the South Wing as marked on the map. It was still a corridor, still deathly quiet. According to the map's guidance, if he just walked to the end, he would see the new BOSS.
However, since they had become objects of Hikigaya's "inspection," this path naturally wouldn't be easy to travel.
As expected, before Gin and Vodka had gone far, they heard someone crying. Right in front of them, a woman in white was sobbing quietly with her back turned to them.
Vodka's face twitched. Who is this? Was the owner of this inn trying to go out of business? Where did this blind woman come from, blocking Gin's path?
Gin's expression remained unchanged, but he shot a glance at Vodka. Vodka understood immediately. Bowing and scraping, he said, "Right away, Big Brother. I'll get rid of her."
Neither he nor Gin realized at that moment that the woman had appeared out of nowhere; they didn't even register it as abnormal. Vodka stomped toward the crying woman and roared viciously, "Are you blind!? Get out of the way!"
To his fury, the woman ignored him. Vodka felt that as a major villain, he absolutely could not tolerate someone not fearing him—unless it was Big Brother Gin. So, he angrily grabbed the woman to lift her up, intending to give her a piece of his mind.
And then...
"Whoa!"
What a hideous face! There were even maggots crawling on it; it looked like a corpse's face. Without thinking much, Vodka delivered a heavy slap.
With a loud crack, the woman's head went flying, and her body fell to the ground.
Gin's eyes narrowed, his expression finally changing. He reached into his coat and gripped the handle of his gun. At this moment, he still didn't realize his thinking was being interfered with; he only felt that something was "off."
Vodka stood frozen in place. He stared at his own hand in disbelief for a long time, then looked at Gin with an excited expression.
"Big Brother! Did you see that? It feels like my strength has increased!"
Gin: "..."
'Big Brother my foot! Can't you see this isn't normal!?'
Gin had always felt that Vodka wasn't the brightest, but he was honest and didn't have as many hidden agendas as others in the organization, making him safe to use. Otherwise, he wouldn't have accepted Vodka as his subordinate. But he truly hadn't expected him to be this dim-witted.
"Look closely. There's no blood," Gin prompted, pulling out his gun.
Hearing his boss's hint, a blank look appeared on Vodka's fat face, as if he were trying to figure out why a human head would fall off without blood. His brain continued to ignore the eeriness of the place; the magecraft here was far more effective on him than on Gin.
"Fool. It's just a mannequin. What is there to think about?" Giving his subordinate a deep look, Gin realized it wasn't just that Vodka was dim-witted, but that the place itself was wrong. He wasn't usually this stupid; perhaps that prop was coated with something.
Could it be... A spark of inspiration hit Gin. Is this new guy trying to take me out?
"Interesting." A long-lost sense of excitement surged in his heart. Without giving the woman on the floor a second glance, Gin concluded it was just a prop.
However, the "woman" on the ground whose head had been knocked off was not a prop. She was something that could be called a "ghost" in every sense of the word. But now, this entity was actually terrified by the aura of malice suddenly erupting from Gin. As the saying goes, ghosts fear wicked men, and Gin was the most wicked of men.
But there are things in this world more terrifying than wicked men. Thinking of that horrific youth, the "woman" twisted her body and began crawling toward Gin, while her head on the floor bounced up and flew toward him. She didn't believe there was a human in this world who didn't fear ghosts. These two were too stupid—they actually thought she was a prop? How preposterous!
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. The head with disheveled hair was blasted aside by Gin's shot. The body fared even worse; Gin delivered a powerful kick that sent it crashing into the wall.
"Boring props," Gin snorted, continuing forward without looking back.
That said, a smile played on Gin's lips. The new BOSS was more interesting than he had imagined. He quite liked this form of "communication." He hoped the next part would be even more interesting; mere props offered no challenge at all.
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