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Kurusu Konochi recognized Ikoma. This was the man who had been locked up on some trumped-up charge for offending the Lord of the Yomogawa family. He had thought Ikoma was a dead man walking; he never expected him to turn into a Kabane and escape.
But it ended here.
Ikoma looked up at him, then looked away in disgust. He had zero goodwill toward a lapdog like Kurusu Konochi, who obeyed his superiors blindly and loyally protected the Yomogawa clan. People like him didn't care about the lives of commoners—if they did, Ikoma wouldn't have been imprisoned in the first place. Perhaps this was just reality, but that didn't stop him from loathing the man.
"If you still have a shred of humanity left, show some resolve like a man. Don't cause trouble for others!"
Kurusu threw a Suicide Bag to Ikoma, then raised his steam gun to aim at a vital spot, coldness in his voice. "If you don't have the guts, I don't mind sending you on your way."
The Suicide Bag looked like a small bun with a string in the middle. If the flat side was pressed against the heart and the string pulled, a shaped charge would blow through the user's heart, preventing any possibility of turning into a Kabane.
"Wait... wait a second..."
Takumi's face paled. His chubby body ignored the warnings of those around him as he said hurriedly, "Please... give Ikoma a chance. He—he might really not turn into a Kabane..."
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Kurusu's icy gaze swept over him. He frowned and shouted a stern reprimand, "I know you're close to him, but that's no reason to harbor him! If you dare interfere again, you'll go down to join him!"
The little fat boy trembled with fear.
"Takumi..."
Ikoma looked at him in surprise. He hadn't expected Takumi to still be willing to speak up for him even after things had reached this point. He felt a bit better inside.
"Don't make it hard on him..."
Ikoma picked up the Suicide Bag from the floor, gritted his teeth, and pressed it to his chest. Takumi turned his gaze away, unable to bear the sight. Kurusu and two other samurai raised their guns, all aiming at various lethal spots on Ikoma's body.
Just as Ikoma was about to pull the string, a gust of wind blew past. Accompanied by a sensation of weightlessness, his entire back slammed heavily onto the floor.
"You clearly don't want to die, yet you're forcing yourself to throw your life away. Are you an idiot?"
After knocking Ikoma down, Mumei snatched the Suicide Bag and tossed it up and down casually.
"Mumei, do you intend to harbor that Kabane too?!"
"He's not a Kabane. He's a Kabaneri—something between a human and a Kabane!"
"What gibberish are you talking about? A Kabane is a Kabane..."
Kurusu was about to tell Mumei to move aside when she turned her back and pulled down her jacket. Without exposing too much skin, she revealed her glowing heart. It was a characteristic unique to the Kabane.
The onlookers gasped in shock. The number of Kabane had increased! Mumei frowned; the eyes of the crowd made her very uncomfortable.
"...No wonder you saved him. You're the same kind."
Kurusu recovered from the shock. He included Mumei within his line of fire, his finger slowly tightening on the trigger. "Since you've become monsters that are neither human nor ghost, why bother pretending to be human now!"
Though he didn't know what a 'Kabaneri' was, Mumei and Ikoma were ultimately hidden dangers to the Koutetsujo. If sacrificing two people could guarantee the safety of the vast majority, he wouldn't mind killing them on the spot.
"You guy... you really don't listen to a single word, do you?"
Mumei frowned and threw the Suicide Bag aside, pulling out a kunai. Kurusu really intended to fight her. The atmosphere grew increasingly tense, and the smell of gunpowder between the two sides thickened.
"This is my own business. Don't make it hard on her," Ikoma said as he climbed up from the floor. Since he hadn't seen Mumei's Kabane heart, he thought he was the one dragging her down.
"Shut up. This isn't just about you anymore."
Mumei glared at Kurusu irritably. It was because people like him existed that she was targeted everywhere and didn't dare reveal her identity as a Kabaneri. She saved Ikoma partly to find a sense of belonging with her own kind, and partly for her own future.
Humans need to eat when they are hungry, and Kabaneri are no exception. However, she could no longer consume normal human food; she needed human blood. Otherwise, she would grow weak, and in severe cases, lose her mind and turn completely into a Kabane.
The person her Brother had arranged for her had been accidentally bitten by a Kabane during the escape and committed suicide in front of her. Having lost her steady source of human blood, Mumei had to find another way.
When Ikoma, this 'wild' Kabaneri, appeared, Mumei—knowing she would be exposed sooner or later—decided to save him. Though she was young, she had gained much experience following her Brother over the years. If she let Ikoma die now, her life on the Koutetsujo would definitely not be easy once her identity was revealed.
Mumei had no reason to back down, and Kurusu was prepared to sacrifice the two for the sake of the majority. No matter how dense Ikoma was, he realized he and Mumei were now in the same boat; if one died, the other would follow.
"Kurusu! Stop this at once!"
Ayame Yomogawa's voice rang out from behind. Kurusu stiffened. He moved his finger away from the trigger but had no intention of lowering his gun.
"Lady Ayame, you mustn't! Those are Kabane! They are no longer human!"
Someone blocked Ayame, exaggerating the danger posed by Mumei and Ikoma.
"This... how could this be...?"
Ayame covered her mouth in disbelief. She looked up at Mumei and Ikoma, unsure of how to handle the situation. She didn't know Ikoma's circumstances, but she knew Mumei. They had spent some time together, and Mumei seemed no different from a normal person. Why had things turned out like this?
Ayame felt pained by their plight, but as the acting leader of the Koutetsujo, she couldn't ignore the opinions of others and simply isolate them for observation.
"This farce should end now. Everyone, lower your guns."
Misono Mika had no such qualms. She stepped through the crowd to the front. Seeing that Kurusu had no intention of moving, she chuckled. "What? Do you want to be my enemy?"
As soon as she spoke, one of the samurai Kurusu had brought along suddenly turned his gun and aimed it directly at Kurusu, shouting a warning, "Lord Kurusu, please don't do something stupid!"
'If you want to die, don't take me with you!'
"Bastard! You traitor!" another samurai cursed, yet his own gun was also aimed at Kurusu. "Lord Kurusu, please stop. I don't want to see you throw your life away!"