Chapter 418: Takina: GG! (Patreon)

Soft music played in the bright café. A young woman with a worried face hurried in, and Chisato spotted her at once and waved a small hand.

"Sis Saori, over here, over here!"

Saori Shinohara had learned from Detective Abe that two very capable girls had taken her request, but she hadn't expected them to be high schoolers. Still, she had no other options. The police had recommended them, so all she could do was trust they were skilled enough to protect her.

Chisato slid over to sit beside Takina, and they listened as Saori explained everything from the beginning.

Not long ago, she had posted a photo of herself and her boyfriend on social media and received a threatening private message. She deleted the post right away, but both she and her boyfriend had felt lately that someone was following them.

After glancing at the photo on Saori's phone, Chisato passed it to Takina and kept asking questions. "Is it an ex-boyfriend or someone like that who's following you?"

Saori leaned forward, pressing both hands to the table, her voice tinged with anger. "That's what the police thought too. They classified it as a lovers' quarrel and refused to open a case. But I really don't have an ex, and I don't have any other leads."

"This building..." Takina found the building in the photo's background familiar. It looked like the one from the gun incident. She spread her fingers to zoom in on the background and spotted a gun dealer standing in one of the window panes.

"Oh, that's the building with the gas explosion. I think we took that about three hours before it blew." Saori patted her chest, still shaken. "Thank goodness we went early. If we'd been there when it exploded, it would've been terrifying."

Takina tilted the phone to show Chisato the enlarged photo. Chisato jumped as if she'd stubbed her toe on the table leg, then sat back down under everyone's puzzled stares and gave Saori an apologetic smile. "Um... could you send us this photo as a lead?"

"Of course." Saori sent it over right away.

"So Sis Saori got herself noticed by those gun dealers."

"Well, it went up on a social platform. It'd be strange if nobody noticed."

With her personality, Chisato quickly warmed up to Saori. Since this was a bodyguard job, she asked to hold a pajama party at Saori's place, and Saori happily agreed. Her boyfriend had run back to the countryside to hide, and living alone, she was scared.

"Okay, I'll go home and grab a change of clothes. Takina, you go with Sis Saori for now."

"Understood."

As Chisato passed an ordinary minivan, the personal terminal on her wrist lit up with a faint glow. In the central analysis room of Synapse Technology, Nymph received the warning signal instantly.

"There's a gun nearby? I'd better tell Teacher." The little angel flipped her hand and placed a call. "Teacher, an unidentified person carrying a gun has appeared near Chisato."

"Got it. Send me her and Takina's locations."

"Real-time positions sent."

"Thanks. I'll reward you properly when I get back."

Jhin hung up. He had just finished seeing Ikuyo Kita home. On the virtual map, a red dot and a blue dot flickered. Red was Chisato, blue was Takina.

Chisato was heading toward the café. Takina, meanwhile, was walking at an unhurried pace in an unfamiliar direction, and the yellow warning source marking danger was trailing right behind her.

"Takina's being targeted? Don't tell me there's another Lilybell member trying to stir up trouble."

Speculating without knowing the situation was pointless. Jhin chained a few casts of [Spatial Displacement] to teleport near her and spotted Takina at once. He had trained her himself, so he easily saw that she was on guard. She had clearly noticed the suspicious minivan creeping along behind her.

"I'll give her a 7 for counter-surveillance." Jhin activated Cognitive Interference, walked up to the van openly, and peered inside.

Four adult men in total, all in light gray cleaning uniforms and sunglasses. One of them had a red afro.

They didn't look like Lilybell. So which faction were they from?

Jhin had no intention of stepping in. Takina was already alert, so this made a perfect surprise assessment after her training.

"Sis Saori, Chisato says she has too much stuff to carry. You go on home, and I'll help her bring it over."

Saori smiled. "What kind of pajamas did she pack, anyway? Okay, got it. Hurry over, okay?"

"Mm, I'll be right back." With that, Takina ran into the alley ahead, turned a corner, and vanished.

As the sky grew darker, Saori shivered. "It's a little scary how quiet it got all of a sudden. I'd better head home and get ready."

She hadn't gone a few hundred meters when the van, seeing her alone, floored it and pulled up beside her. The doors flew open and two burly men jumped out and stuffed her into a sack.

"Shut up! Behave and get in there!"

Crouched at the corner, Takina calmly gripped her suppressed pistol and flicked off the safety with a click.

From the footsteps of those getting out, there were two men. If both the driver's and passenger's seats were occupied, that made four. If only the driver's seat was, three. Either way, that was no problem at all.

She quickly ran through everything she'd learned in recent days, then chose the method she was best at: charging straight in.

Jhin watched her bend low, creep up to the van's front, and raise her gun to wait for the moment. He nearly fainted from exasperation. I taught you so many ways to fight, and you won't use a single one of them!

"Zero points for applying what she learned. When we get back, she's getting extra training, and lots of it!"

Takina shivered for no reason she could name. Luckily, her gun hand wasn't affected at all, and she kept it trained on the man in the driver's seat. Inside the van, they had already dug out Saori's phone and deleted the photo. The red-haired man shoved his companion. "Quit standing around! Drive!"

"Oh, right."

The instant the headlights came on, Takina pulled the trigger without hesitation. A flash of fire, and the bullet grazed the driver's neck. He grunted, clutched his throat, and slumped sideways.

She shot out the headlights and the side mirror right after. "Tell me where the guns are hidden!" she demanded coldly.

Bullets poured into the van as if they cost nothing, and she soon emptied the magazine. She reached behind her, pressed a switch on the underside of her backpack, caught the fresh magazine as it dropped out, and reloaded.

Just as she was about to fire again, a chill ran through her. She swung the muzzle to the right and met a pair of sky-blue eyes burning with anger.

Jhin pressed down on her pistol. "Why didn't you do it the way I taught you?"

She was finished!

It was the only thought in Takina's head.