The muffled sound of a suppressed gunshot rang out, followed by an angry roar from a man.
"Hurry up and tell me everything you know, or I'll kill you!"
Ritsu immediately raised his pistol and aimed at the man firing the shots. The moment he saw the man's face, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.
He hadn't expected it to be someone familiar. No, more like a familiar "stranger" he'd met once before.
Jack Daniel's, the person he had been sent to rescue in Osaka three years ago.
So he really was a rat, just like himself. His guess back then had been correct. He had deliberately staged that incident using the Nisan-kai as a cover, even going so far as to slash his own abdomen before Ritsu arrived.
Ethan was equally startled upon recognizing Ritsu. He quickly pulled Rena up from the ground and held her at gunpoint, just as planned.
"Drop your weapon, or I'll kill her!"
To kill someone on your own side in order to save someone on the opposing side… how ironic.
Ritsu didn't comply. Calmly, he said, "Jack Daniel's, I didn't expect you to be the rat in the organization. Gin would be furious if he knew, even a veteran like you turned traitor."
"Heh… Didn't expect to run into you either, Macallan."
Ethan's expression hardened. The man before him was the organization's rising ace, second only to Gin in the operations unit. He hadn't witnessed his methods firsthand, but he had seen mission reports, his success rate was flawless.
"I have a question. The attack by the Nisan-kai in Osaka three years ago… that was staged by you, wasn't it?"
"As expected of you, Macallan, sharp as ever. Yes, it was my doing." Ethan subtly pressed the gun against Rena's neck a little harder, a small signal, telling her this was her moment to strike.
"And yet someone as clever as you thinks I'll let you go?" Ritsu raised an eyebrow, his tone lazy. "Would the organization even care about a new recruit's life? You—"
"Gah!!"
Something unexpected happened.
The "hostage," Rena, suddenly exploded into motion mid-conversation, slamming her body into Ethan's jaw, then opening her mouth and biting down hard on the wrist holding the gun. Hearing her father's muffled grunt, she forced herself to clamp down even harder despite the pain in her heart.
She knew that if she wasted her father's sacrifice at this point, she would be nothing but a failure.
So she endured, holding back her tears, her reluctance, her guilt.
Bang!
The bullet pierced cleanly through Ethan's temple.
Watching the two collapse, Ritsu approached them expressionlessly. Instead of helping Rena, who had fallen to the ground, he picked up the recorder lying nearby.
More than ten minutes of recording yet only Ethan's voice was captured. Rena hadn't revealed a single piece of information about the organization.
That surprised him.
Because he had already noticed the discarded syringe nearby, nearly emptied. The liquid inside was clearly meant for extracting confessions, scopolamine.
Those injected with it would enter a semi-sedated state and unconsciously answer questions. Yet she had managed to say nothing and even seized the moment to bite like a wild beast.
'This woman… isn't simple.'
Exactly the kind of person Gin would appreciate.
Ritsu was about to help her up when footsteps sounded from the entrance. He immediately covered Rena's mouth with one hand and pulled her up with the other, roughly dragging her behind a stack of crates.
The one who had rushed in was Barney, the contact.
The moment he smelled blood, he knew something was wrong. Seeing Ethan lying in a pool of blood, he rushed forward, dropping to his knees and shouting a surname unfamiliar to Ritsu.
"Hondō! Hondō!! Wake up!"
But a dead man wouldn't respond.
So Ishikawa Rikiya had been an alias. His real surname was Hondō… a pity he didn't get to learn his full name.
"Good evening, partner."
"!!"
Barney hadn't expected anyone else to be in the warehouse. As he took in Ritsu's face and noticed Rena beside him, he recalled something Ethan once said, "If my daughter is ever in danger, I'll save her no matter what."
"So I finally get to meet you, Macallan."
"My reputation is that big on your side? I'm honored."
Ritsu smiled faintly. Truthfully, he wanted to let this man go but Rena was still conscious. He couldn't afford to show mercy and jeopardize his mission.
"Tell me, what organization do you and Hondō work for? Talk, and I'll make your death quick."
"No need."
"…Hm?"
Barney's expression twisted into something feral. With a muffled groan, his body collapsed to the side, a trace of saliva spilling from his mouth.
Ritsu immediately understood.
To avoid torture, he had used his tongue to break open a hidden capsule in a false tooth, cyanide. Bold, to the very end.
One he killed with his own hands. The other… indirectly.
Ritsu frowned deeply, silently murmuring sorry before turning to the sweat-soaked Rena beside him. She had clearly reached her limit. With that amount of blood loss, shock wasn't far off. The fact she held on this long was impressive.
He hoisted her over his right shoulder, pulling out his phone with his free hand and dialing Gin.
"Gin, the situation here isn't quite what we expected. Send a team to the warehouse to retrieve the rats' bodies. I'm heading to Taylors now."
"You injured?"
"No. Mizunashi is. She did a great job this time."
"Oh?"
Gin's interest was piqued. Glancing at Vodka, he said, "Turn around. Head to Taylors. Send a squad to recover the bodies."
"Got it, Aniki!"
"We'll talk when you get to Taylors. I'm curious what she did to earn your praise."
Ritsu hung up and carried Rena to his car, settling her into the passenger seat.
"Mizunashi, you still awake?"
Her face pale, she slumped weakly against the seat, breathing shallowly. "…Still awake. Not dead yet."
"I'm taking you to the hospital. Congratulations, you'll probably earn your codename after this."
"Heh… is that so? Then I guess it's a blessing in disguise."
Rena tilted her head to the side, her vision blurring. The tears she had held back for so long finally spilled over. She clenched her teeth, refusing to let out a sob.
Her father lay in that cold warehouse… and even his body would be taken by the organization.
"Rena, don't let my efforts go to waste. I'm entrusting the mission of destroying the organization to you."
'I will, Father. I'll make those who killed you… make this organization… pay.'
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