Chapter 217: Kid's Hang Glider Takes Six People on a Great Escape (Patreon)

Megumi Kato simply closed her eyes and buried her head in Natsuka's chest.

Natsuka grinned.

"You can always trust Agasa Hakase's inventions!"

He'd barely gotten the words out when the jet unit on his back started clacking and rattling like mad.

Then came a crackle of electric current.

Bang—

The air tank blew.

Chigusa's eyes went perfectly round.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey—"

"You just said we could trust it! So what the heck is this?!"

Natsuka calmly swung his backpack off.

"Of course you can always trust him."

"Because it's guaranteed to crash and burn."

"..."

Chigusa went silent for one second.

Then she took a deep breath and completely lost it.

"Waaaaaaah—"

"Then we're doomed anyway, aren't we?!"

"Miss Chigusa still has so many sweets she hasn't gotten to eat yet!!!"

Natsuka, on the other hand, wasn't the least bit worried.

Because he could already see it, not far ahead beside the helicopter: a white glider drifting leisurely past.

Kaito Kid rubbed his nose and raised the poker gun in his hand.

Snap—

A playing card shot out and cut precisely across Vodka's wrist.

It also sliced through the rope tied to the gold box.

"Hmph."

"Daring to stir up trouble in this young master's name."

"Now that I'm here, you can forget about taking this gold."

He tossed down a calling card, then glided calmly past the helicopter.

Before leaving, he even turned and waved at Inspector Nakamori, who was stomping with rage in the distance.

"Sorry about this, Uncle Nakamori."

"I'll be troubling you again in a few days!"

Then he turned his head back.

And came face to face with an exceptionally friendly smile.

Natsuka was grinning right at him.

"Say, mind if we hitch a ride?"

Kaito Kid almost cracked his voice.

Hitch a ride?!

This is the sky! The SKY!

How the hell are five of you floating up here together?!

He hadn't even finished complaining when Natsuka grabbed him by the belt.

The glider instantly lost its balance and flipped over in a huge somersault.

"Let go of me, you sneaky bastard!"

"Nope."

Natsuka's smile grew even friendlier.

"It's not every day you run into Kaito Kid. Hey, friend, want to join a chat group?"

"Who the hell wants to chat right now?!"

"My pants are coming off! If you don't let go, I'll take them off myself!"

"Go ahead, then."

"Fine, I will!"

Whoosh—

Kid's suit trousers burst apart into a whole flock of white doves.

Natsuka's hand was suddenly empty.

But his reflexes were quick enough, and a second later he'd grabbed Kid's ankle.

"Holy crap!"

Kid had barely caught his breath when his body dropped again, and his composure almost shattered.

"The glider can't hold this many people! Let go already!"

"Heh heh, kid."

Natsuka wore the same harmless look as ever.

"Join the group first."

Chigusa was already clinging to Natsuka's neck for dear life.

"Moo~ We're falling! Quit letting go of things, you idiot!"

Of course a thief's glider couldn't carry six people.

It began to plummet at an absurd speed.

The night wind howled.

The ground rushed closer and closer.

Twenty-three seconds later.

At about fifteen meters above the ground, Natsuka finally let go.

Thud!

He landed squarely on both feet, sinking into the grass of a park.

But the huge momentum still dragged him and the girls hanging off him stumbling forward.

Takina Inoue clutched her stomach and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Chigusa rolled a long way off, then lay on her back staring at the moon, looking as if her soul had been flung out of her body.

A few seconds later she bounced up and scrambled over to Takina, half crawling, half tumbling.

"Takina! Don't fall asleep!"

"If you sleep, you really won't wake up!"

As she said it, she slapped Takina across the face.

Akemi Miyano had been thrown to one side, already unconscious.

Megumi Kato, at least, had been held steady by Natsuka.

She was sitting on his waist, legs folded to the side like a duck, and she blinked, the corners of her eyes curving slightly.

As if the escape from hundreds of meters up had never happened.

"Good work, Captain-chan..."

"Aaah! An ambulance!"

"Somebody call an ambulance!!"

Beside them, Chigusa was frantically patting down her own clothes for her phone.

She searched for ages and found nothing, and clutched her head in panic.

"Why is it gone?!!"

"Hang in there, Takina! Just a little longer!"

Natsuka dug a finger in his ear.

"I already called, Miss Chigusa."

Chigusa turned around and blinked.

"Oh, you're that little brother from the tavern!"

Little brother, my foot.

Natsuka deadpanned, pushed her head aside, and crouched down next to Takina.

A small flame flickered to life on his finger, and he reached straight into the wound in her stomach.

As she let out a muffled groan, he pinched out the bullet.

"Yosh."

He stood up and held out his hand, a magic circle lighting up beneath his feet. [Rea Vindemia]

Hmmm—

A flash of emerald light came and went.

The through-and-through wound in Takina's stomach began closing at a visible speed.

Chigusa's eyes lit up.

"Whoaaaa! What's that?! What's that?!"

"Magic!"

"Whoaaaa! Magic! Sugoi! Teach me, teach me!"

"Mm..."

Takina slowly opened her eyes.

Chigusa pounced and hugged her.

"Thank goodness, Takina!"

"You're alive again!"

"Ah... that was a close one."

"Yeah! Being alive is the best, Takina-chan!"

The two girls hugged each other and burst out laughing.

Natsuka stuck his hands in his pockets and glanced back at Megumi Kato.

"Let's go."

"It's time for the cast to leave the stage."

"Mm."

Megumi Kato clasped her hands behind her back and quietly followed him.

Just before they reached the darkness beyond the lamplight, she suddenly stopped.

"Hey, Captain..."

"This time—"

"Did I get to be everyone's 'heroine'?"

Natsuka looked back at her, smiled, and gave her a thumbs-up.

"If this were made into a movie,"

"the MVP would definitely be Miss Kato."

"I've even thought of a title for you."

"It'd be called—"

"The Last Assassin of the Century."

Megumi Kato puffed out her cheeks.

"Moo..."

"What kind of weird name is that?"

The sun had set, and moonlight spilled across the ground.

The vicious case that had raged from daytime deep into the night had finally come to an end.