Chapter 3: Unsafe Protection【Part 1】
【言語に関するご注意 / Language Notice】本作はすべて、英語と英語の表現で書かれています。翻訳作品ではなく、オリジナルの英語ライトノベルです。あらかじめご了承の上、作品をお楽しみください。
See chapter one for the main author's note.
Renji
Throat raw.
Lungs burning.
Side cramping.
“Don’t... wait for me, just keep going!” I gasp out.
I trail behind Jiro, the gap between us widening by the second.
Clutching my flank, I fight the rebellion in my muscles and push forward harder.
At least one of us is closing the distance with the thief…
Jiro cuts through the crowd like a blade, tracking a direct line to intercept the thief. He shifts into top gear, leaving my best sprint looking like a morning jog.
“Get him!” My shout shatters into a cough.
Up ahead, the gap closes. The target sees us closing in on him.
He whips his head around, wildly scanning the sides, then zeroes in on someone near the crowd’s edge.
“Catch!” he screams, veering slightly from his path.
He hurls the bag through the air—a figure darts out from the crowd and snatches it mid-flight.
Thud!
Jiro slams into the thief, driving them both to the pavement.
The runner twists his frame, shoving an elbow straight into his ribs. Jiro grunts but his grip holds fast, keeping the squirming thief pinned to the ground.
“Hang on! I’m… coming!” I gasp, forcing my legs forward.
Ssszzzrrr!
A mechanical whine cuts through the air, sounding like an electric car flooring its motor. Before I can even trace the sound, two figures in matching blue and white tracksuits blur right past me. Their legs do not move, gliding across the pavement like low-flying birds skimming water.
I flinch to the side, losing balance as the sudden wake nearly knocks me over.
Their footwear looks like inline skates, but wider and humming with power.
Without a word to clear the path, they weave through the festival-goers with terrifying precision.
A girl leads, crouched low with her hands behind her back like a speed skater. A boy follows, slouched forward with his hands casually in his pockets.
The two uniformed gliders split.
The girl blows right past Jiro, who struggles to hold his target down.
Zzzt-shhh!
The boy shifts his weight, leaning back as his skates hiss to a stop. He drops like a wrestler onto the struggling thief.
“I’ll take this package off you,” he says with a faint smile, pinning the wrists of his target to cuff them behind their back.
The girl does not look back at them.
She only leans forward deeper, her wheels whining at a higher pitch as she pursues the masked accomplice.
Only now do sharp clacks register—the masked accomplice is fleeing on standard street skates deeper into the festival grounds.
Skidding to a halt with hands on my knees and a heaving chest, I watch the chase spill into the central square.
They move like lightning through the festival, slicing between the crowded stalls and threading past stunned onlookers.
The masked skater charges across the square and reaches the main stage, vaulting up the wooden steps on its right side.
The girl does not follow him up.
She steers straight for the stone fountain on the left of the platform.
Her left skate catches the fountain rim, anchoring her turn. Her right skate carves the stone pavement, the electronic motor boosting to whip her around the bend at full speed.
The masked skater leaps off the side of the stage, landing right in her path.
She drops off the fountain ledge the instant his boots hit the ground. Before he can register her presence, she hooks the front of his shirt.
Her momentum carries them both through a tight spin as she drags him flat against the stone basin.
The mask clatters over the rim, revealing a breathless student.
It is over.
The girl moves toward us, steering her captive forward. She joins the boy and Jiro, who stands clutching his ribs.
I jog over to them. “Jiro! Wow, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” he grunts, keeping his hand pressed hard against his side. “But you are on wrestling duty next time.”
“You went like an airplane!” I dive my arms up. “I didn’t know you could run like this! Are you training to become a debt collector?”
“…”
The boy who started the chase comes sprinting up from the side, sucking in deep breaths.
“You guys...” he pants, leaning on his knees. “Holy crap.”
“Here, catch.” The girl tosses the recovered bag to him.
He catches it against his chest and nods. “Thank you so much!”
She adjusts her uniform, looking past him. “Is your friend over there hurt? Should I call medical for her? How about you?”
“Oh, no, we’ll be fine!” The boy gives a deep bow. “Thank you all so much for helping—seriously.”
“Just doing our daily rounds,” the male skater says with a smirk. He holds out a subtle low open hand as he looks up at the sky.
Like a speed bag, the back of his head takes a smack from the girl her fist.
With a few quick nods, the boy dashes back toward his friend in the distance.
The girl grips the cuffs of both captives, anchoring them with a firm tug. “You people couldn’t even wait past the first day of the term, huh? You triads keep getting bolder by the day.”
Zzzt-clik.
A mechanical snap rings from the her skates. With the ease of stepping down a single stair, she drops flat on her feet and walks away.
She looks over her shoulder at male skater next to me. “I will take these two to the holding station. Can you manage here for a bit?”
He waves a dismissive hand. “Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. I do just fine without a babysitter.”
She rolls her eyes and turns away.
I stare at her retreating back.
The adrenaline fading, as a bubbling excitement overtakes.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! That is absolutely amazing!” I blurt out.
He spins around with a grin, as his hand runs through his hair and leans back. “Oh, please, no need to get emotional. It’s just the natural aura of an elite upperclassman doing what he does best—”
“No, not you!” I interrupt. I point straight down. “Those skates! What are those things on your feet?”
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Discover what happens next in: Chapter 3: Unsafe Protection【Part 2】
Written by Limited_Infinity. Extras, official publishing platforms and updates are publicly available only on the Patreon page “_Limited_Infinity_”
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