The Girl Who Spits Up Jewels

Volume Ⅰ The Girl Who Spits Up Jewels

Chapter 5 ― 2

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　After lightly kicking the fallen brown haired man aside and confirming that he had fainted, Sputnik threw the rings of silver wires on his fingers, thinking that it was regretful. However, it would be difficult to make a good product with a cranked wire anyway, and products made with wires that nearly killed someone may not even sell in the first place.

　Blood is oozing out of the man’s neck, and his nails are bloody due to his resistance. He seemed to still be alive as he is groaning, “help, be killed, help,” despite being unconscious. Sputnik thought that it would be unlikely for him to die since he never intended to kill him from the start.

　Anyway, that’s two down.

“And then.”

　He slowly turned around to look at the last kidnapper.

　When their eyes met, the man’s shoulders jumped in fright. Perhaps because he saw the tragic situations his two friends ended up in, he is completely tense. He looked around, most likely seeking for help, and gasped in shock when he remembered that there was a hostage in his hands.

“D-don’t get close! Don’t come any closer. What, w-wha-what about this kid!”

　His arms are clinging onto the kid, and the knife in his hand is shaking.

　But Sputnik doesn’t care about the men. He turned his eyes towards his employee that has been taken hostage, who also doesn’t seem to be in a normal state of mind.

“Hey, Clu. Are you okay?”

　He called out, but her eyes were out of focus. She probably does not even see him.

　He thought that she might be remembering her truama rather than being scared of the place she found herself in. He felt that her eyes resemble the ones she used to have some time back in the past.

　Trying to help her regain a bit of her sanity back, he called her nickname once again.

“What happened, Clu? Did you remember something scary?”

“…Spu to nik san…”

　Then Clue’s head moved a little, and she finally saw him. But her voice is trembling and very terribly hoarse. But she didn’t forget his name.

　To the girl, Sputnik is someone who strongly cares for her――

“Are you an idiot?”

　Sputnik didn’t really mean it, but he made a blatant remark.

　It might have been something completely unexpected for Clue. She had a startled look on her face.

“Idio―”

　Sputnik however does not wait for her shock to subside, and plainly spew out his words in his usual manner.

“How else would I call this idiotic employee other that an idiot, you idiot. What are you doing shivering in another man’s arm like that? Onii-san here doesn’t remember raising you to become such a slutty girl.”

“That’s, because―”

“Because what? Listen carefully, WHY ARE YOU SO SCARED? It was me who helped you back then, and I am here to help you once again. So what are you afraid of? Tell me.”

　He allowed no excuses. The words he said flew like arrows shot from a bow, allowing no room for doubts.

　Then, as if he hadn’t said enough already, he opened his left arm wide and showed an impudent sneer.

“What, have you forgotten about those nights already? Oh my, how could you be so heartless? ― Wasn’t it none other than me who hugged and comforted you every night when you were scared because you recalled memories of your past?”

“-gah-“

　The effect came instantaneously. Sputnik can clearly see Clue’s cheeks from where he stood. Her pale cheeks got tinted with a rosy-red.

　She finally cried out with her usual tone.

“H-hug― D-don’t just go on spewing something so shameless like that! I just, I was just scared and couldn’t sleep on my own, and I’ve slept only a couple of times besides you!”

“What’s this? You’re saying, ‘I’ll be having sleepless nights unless you hugged me to sleep’? Oh my, what sort of imagination are you having in your head? Clue-san is unexpectedly vevy naughty.”

　And as he kept making fun of her, her eyes kept twitching, her face was completely red, and were she a cat, her hair would have been standing up straight.

　And Sputnik thought, ―― That’s fine.

“Sputnik-san is an idiot!”

“Oi oi! What do you think you’re calling your boss?”

　And that otherwise, she’s not as cute.

　……Although, such words won’t be coming out of his mouth no matter what.

“Now then.”

　He whispered with a sigh, and pulled out a precision file (rasp) with a sharp edge. The man’s eyes focussed on the sharp edge.

“W-what are you doing with that?”

“I wonder. What do you think?”

　Sputnik thought it was fun to scare the man. He flipped the file in his hand once, and pointed the edge straight at the man, saying, “How about I do this?” To which the man raised a short shriek.

　Sputnik kept changing his posture, seemingly wondering what he should be doing with it. But although his mouth kept on yapping, the man still has Clue in his hands, and despite being confident in his aim, there is no guarantee that the man and Clue won’t be moving the moment he throws it, so he is a little reluctant to use it as a projectile. And as he wondered about the best way to use it,

“That’s enough…… Put it away!”

“-haguu-!!”

　Just as the man started to say something, Clue bit the arm that had been holding her. The man makes a strange scream and pulls his arm away due to the attack coming from an unexpected place.

　As soon as she is released, Clue rushed to Sputnik and jumped into his chest.

“Sputnik-san!”

“Good job, good job. Are you hurt? Is your belly okay?”

“I’m okay.”

　He held her tight and cut the rope tying her arms. He then gently stroked her head and her eyes narrowed in delight― But immediately afterwards, her cheeks pouted like usual, seemingly due to an unpleasant sensation of some sort.

　She turned her face up and looked at Sputnik with a disgruntled expression on her face. As Sputnik wondered what happened,

“It tasted bad.”

　She declared. Apparently, the man’s arm tasted terrible.

“That’s fine. It would have been bad if it tasted good instead.”

　After all, she is both an employee and a fellow resident. Sputnik doesn’t want to go to sleep every night in fear because Clue had acquired a likeness to the taste of human flesh. He won’t be able to stand it.

　――That aside.

“Hiii, hiiyaaaa!”

　The man, who realised that he no longer had any way of protecting himself, turned back and rushed towards the door. However,

“I can’t allow that.”

　Sputnik can’t let him go. He moved Clue aside, stepped forward, and threw the file in his hands horizontally. It hit the man’s buttocks, and he fell down easily. Blood gradually spreads on his pants.

　The man seems to be unable to stand up, probably because he had fallen in a strange way or because the file wounded him deeper than expected. But despite that, without looking back, he drags his body and desperately heads for the exit. Sputnik is impressed by the man’s unrelenting spirit of wanting to escape even if he has to crawl, but Sputnik has no intention of excusing him just because of that.

　It is easier than anything else to catch up with those who couldn’t walk.

　He leisurely walked and stopped his foot right besides the man’s shoulder. The man noticed the presence and the shadow looming over his body, so he stopped crawling and turned back in fear. Their eyes met, and he can’t help but scream once again, “Hii gyaa,” not a shred of decency in his actions.

　Sputnik felt very regretful that his staff is involved in such an outrageous incident, so he thought that he must do his best to convey the bitterness he felt over the incompetence he had shown.

“Now then, I’m afraid you bastard had been kicking my employee.”

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

“As you can tell, I am very angry right now, and why am I hearing the voice of a bastard like you? Shut up. Oh right, I wonder what would happen if I kick your bastarded belly? I wonder if something good will come out.”

“Guuh, geeeeh!”

　Stomping on his belly with all his might, the man sounded like a frog.

“What this? Is saliva the only thing you bastard can spit up? Don’t joke with me, can’t you spit up money instea― that’s right, if you can’t spit anything up, how about swallowing something instead? If you swallow 20 or 30 of something, you will be able to spit up one, right?”

　Sputnik then took the remaining ring gauges from his waist bag. When they touched each other, the rings produced a rough metallic sound, to which the man cowered even more. Sputnik put his fingers on the connection of the wires that bundled into gauges, and took the sight of the figure that is shaking in fear.

　But he felt a touch on his back, the feeling of a person leaning on him. However, all of the man’s friends should have been unconscious. So that leaves only one person.

“S-stop it, Sputnik-san!”

　Clue is clinging to his back.

　She seems to have rushed over, and she strongly clings onto him.

“Clu?”

“Umm, it is true that, I was kidnapped by those people, and scared, and hurt, but, but, that cannot become an excuse for Sputnik-san to do terrible things to them! Something like those, it is the job of the Police Bureau, so Sputnik-san doesn’t have to do anything. And most of all, I’m okay……!”

“Young Miss…!”

　The man is looking up at her with tears in his eyes, as if a Goddess or a savior has appeared. Although he is irritated that he won’t be able to completely avoid punishment, he is glad that it is postponed for now.

　Sputnik also thought that it would be better to do as his lovable employee wants, for now.

　He made a short sigh, and swallowed his desire for violence to the bottom of his stomach. Then he made a gentle smile and lightly stroked Clue’s head.

“I see, I see, Clu is such a kind child.”

“N-not so much.”

“But that’s no good.”

“……Eh?”

　He gently held Clue’s head in place and gave a quick kiss on her cheek.

　Clue doesn’t immediately register what Sputnik has done, but she soon understands. Being unfamiliar with such mischief from him, her face flushes up to her ears.

“Hawa, hawawaaaaaa”

“And because you are such a good girl, be a little quieter and step back, okay?”

　He whispered close to her ears, and she made a meaningless, “Hawawa” sound once again.

　He turned her to the right and gave a light push on her shoulder. She walked about three steps and sat down with her back towards him.

　Despair once again clouded the man’s face since his savior just left so unceremoniously.

“P-please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, so please, please, forgive me…!”

“Are you misunderstanding something?”

　He muttered in a seeming stunned manner, then took out one scoring needle and swung it down.

　It very easily penetrated the man’s right hand which Sputnik had held in place.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Aah, be quiet, be quiet!”

　He took another scoring needle out while scratching his ears with his pinky finger, then swung down a second time. This time, he pierced the left hand through, at about the same point as the right hand. The screams grew even louder.

“Get this, I don’t feel like cooperating with the police in maintaining security, and I don’t care if you bastards repeat something like this. But keep in mind just one thing, ‘I am someone bastards like you should fear’. “

　Declaring so, Sputnik took out another precision file he had in his waist bag. The tip of the file is sharper than the one from before.

“There are 9 more in my bag. Now then, I wonder how many more files your body can endure.”

　While listening to the annoying screams of the man, Sputnik raised the second file ― But right at that time,

“That’s as far as you go!”

　-bang-

　The door opened with a loud noise.

“This whole area had been sieged by the police! Release the hostage, throw your weapons away and surrender!”

　The voice of a woman echoes throughout the warehouse.

　It is a dignified, alto-soprano voice, one which Sputnik had heard of many times already.

　With the light shining on her back, a hand on her waist, speaking in a clear voice, and accompanied by the members of the Special Guards of the Learfiat Police Department, the woman is ― 『Agile Inspector』 Natsu.

“Otherwise… huh!? It’s you…?”

　However, her words became weaker in the middle and eventually trailed off. It is probably because the scene inside the warehouse is completely different from what she had imagined.

　She was sure that the kidnappers would have frightened the hostage, and will be using her as a shield. However, what she saw inside the warehouse is that of 2 men, who are quite likely to be the kidnappers, rolling around, and another kidnapper-like person threatened by a young man, the hostage is sitting with a stunned look on her face, and all sorts of stuff.

　The young man with a weapon on his hand is threatening the kidnapper-like man with a delighted expression on his face.

“Eh… uh?”

“Ah, well…”

　Natsu took the scene in with a question mark on her head, and Sputnik gave an ambiguous looking smile.

　Sputnik tried to explain the situation, but the tools that have been used to subdue two of the men definitely belonged to him, and he himself isn’t supposed to be here at all. So in the end, he couldn’t come up with a good explanation for what is happening.

　Natsu, never being so confused before, is also speechless. Words can’t seem to be coming out of her mouth well, and she just pointed her finger at him.

“Eh, uh, what…”

　After a little hesitation,

　Sputnik tilted his head and flashed a friendly-looking smile, saying whatever came to his mind.

“…The weather was so good that I thought I should take a short walk?”

　That’s not enough of an excuse, he immediately thought so, but it was already too late by then.

“S-s-s-secure him!”

“Oi you idiot, wait――”

　Sputnik’s voice of protest got overwhelmed by the sound of the police moving.

　And thus commenced the Special Guards of the Police Department’s roundup of Sputnik.

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