Outlaw in the World of Conan, Tokisaki Kurumi

My dad hasn't been feeling well with his heart lately, so I took some annual leave to go home.

Updates might be a bit unstable these few days because the computer at home is too broken to use.

After the hospital check-up, it turns out there's no major issue. I just need to take some medicine and be careful not to overexert myself in the future.

I should be back by Wednesday night or Thursday.

The main story begins now.

Kurumi, shot in the abdomen, clutched her bleeding wound. After throwing a smoke bomb that looked like a grenade, she quickly rushed out of the room.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

Meanwhile, a squad led by Curacao, Rum's trusted subordinate, arrived at the bottom of the apartment building, guns in hand.

This operation was bound to attract unnecessary attention from the surrounding residents, but to help their boss eliminate two major threats in one fell swoop, Curacao decided it didn't matter if this caused a huge news story.

She quickly led her team upstairs. Just as they were about to turn onto the floor where Miyano Akemi was, Curacao, who was at the front, stopped dead in her tracks at the bend in the stairwell, seeing a person leaning against the wall on the ground before her.

"Halt!"

Curacao made a gesture and ordered, "You four, go up and take care of Akai Shuichi!"

She ordered four fully armed team members to proceed while she shone her flashlight on the dark figure.

Her long black hair was messily spread across her chest, and the blood flowing from her abdomen had stained the ground red.

"Bloody Mary?"

Seeing Kurumi seemingly lifeless, Curacao felt a mix of concern and excitement.

The name Bloody Mary held deep significance within the Organization. Especially the feat she accomplished alone years ago had shocked all members of the Organization.

And now, the renowned Bloody Mary seemed to have died by gunfire. This death, like a stray dog, evoked a hint of sadness in Curacao.

"Ma'am, should we confirm again?" A man behind Curacao raised his gun towards Kurumi's 'corpse,' seemingly preparing to deliver a finishing shot to her head.

Just as Curacao was contemplating whether to let him shoot Kurumi, a transmission suddenly came through the radio from the team members who had gone up earlier.

"Ma'am, Akai Shuichi and Miyano Akemi are gone!" Enduring the suffocating sensation of the smoke bomb, the four who had gone up retreated after a brief search.

"Damn it!" Hearing this news, Curacao inwardly analyzed.

"They can't have gotten far. Check the balconies, see if they escaped from somewhere!"

With that, Curacao decided she couldn't delay any further.

Raising her pistol, Curacao decided to shoot Kurumi first, regardless of whether she was truly dead or just unconscious from blood loss, to eliminate any future trouble.

But just as Curacao was slowly preparing to pull the trigger, the head of a team member beside her exploded like a shattered watermelon, without making a sound.

Feeling warm liquid and fragments of human tissue splash onto her face, Curacao looked around in disbelief.

In her sight, the team members beside her wore expressions almost identical to hers, staring blankly as the headless corpse slowly fell to the ground.

"What's going on? Enemy attack?" Curacao quickly found a vantage point to hide and asked in surprise.

"N-no, I didn't feel anything..." A team member closest to Kurumi's 'corpse' watched the top of the stairs vigilantly. Just then, his head, like the one before him, split open without any warning.

But strangely, this time, the man's blood didn't splash onto Kurumi. Instead, it splattered as if against an invisible wall.

However, in the dark stairwell, the extremely tense Organization members didn't notice this.

"Re... Retreat!"

Seeing a second team member suddenly die, Curacao reacted and hastily gave the order.

But... would things really go that smoothly?

'What kind of attack is this? Why didn't I hear anything?' Curacao, frantically running downstairs, was completely panicked.

Just seconds after she gave the order to retreat, the remaining two team members met their gruesome ends before her.

One was impaled through the chest.

The other was cut in half at the waist by some unseen weapon.

The screams of her teammates made Curacao almost lose her ability to think.

At this moment, all she wanted was to get out of here quickly and return to the base to report the situation to Rum in detail.

However, just as Curacao was about to reach the first floor, she suddenly felt her throat being choked as if by a large hand.

With the feeling of suffocation and her vision rising, although she didn't understand what was happening, her body's primal instincts made Curacao struggle frantically.

She swung her fists at the air in front of her, and the sensation from her fists made Curacao's eyes widen in terror.

'Invisible?'

She could feel her fists and flailing legs actually hitting something solid.

And it was very hard.

This discovery made Curacao think of this possibility immediately.

Choking made Curacao's mind slow down more and more, and just as her vision began to darken, she noticed Kurumi's figure appearing from around the corner out of the corner of her eye.

"Have a good sleep, Miss Curacao."

As Kurumi's words fell, Curacao completely lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, in the apartment directly below Miyano Akemi's room.

In the dark and silent room, two intensely beating hearts were almost clearly audible.

"Is it over?" Miyano Akemi asked, stroking her own racing heart, her voice a little weak, to the 'Akai Shuichi' in front of her.

"Should be... cough cough!" Akai Shuichi coughed twice and then touched his throat.

When he spoke again, the voice that came out was a woman's.

"Kurumi just notified me. The cleanup squad she sent has all been dealt with by her, and the leader has already been captured."

Saying that, the 'Akai Shuichi' took off his hat and the disguise mask, revealing Aso Narumi's delicate and beautiful face.

"Wow~ Kurumi is really amazing! She really thought of everything!" Aso Narumi, who had volunteered to help, was incredibly excited that Kurumi's crazy but simple plan had actually succeeded.

"But won't this cause trouble for him?" The 'him' Miyano Akemi was referring to was naturally Akai Shuichi, who was set up to take the fall in Kurumi's plan.

Hearing Miyano Akemi still caring about the man who abandoned her and fled back to America, Aso Narumi retorted irritably, "Trouble? Did he even consider that you might be killed by the Organization when he left you behind?"

"But..." Miyano Akemi's expression turned sorrowful, still holding a trace of affection for that man in her heart.

Didn't she know this too?

97 Curacao as Compensation

"However, as an outsider, it's not really my place to comment on your affairs." Aso Narumi spread her hands, indicating she didn't want to continue the topic.

Feelings? Men?

Hmph!

What's the point of talking about feelings with those men when it's so much more comfortable cuddling with Kurumi.

Staring quietly at Miyano Akemi, Aso Narumi fell silent.

After a short while, Aso Narumi, who was almost falling asleep from waiting, finally received a call from Kurumi.

"Sister Narumi, it's done." In the hallway, Kurumi, who was on the phone, glanced at Curacao, who was being held by King Crimson beside her and was already unconscious. Having heard the approaching sirens of police and fire trucks through King Crimson's keen observation, Kurumi knew they should get going.

Taking Curacao to her car parked in a nearby alley, Kurumi took out rope, a blindfold, and a gag from the trunk. She efficiently tied Curacao up securely and shoved her into the trunk.

Getting into the driver's seat and starting the car, Kurumi sent a text message to Rum while driving.

Of course, King Crimson, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was responsible for all the typing.

[To the esteemed Rum, the Organization's second-in-command]

[Given your infuriating actions of trying to stab me in the back, I have decided to temporarily accept your most capable subordinate, Curacao, as compensation.]

[Of course, I have generously forgiven the others, as you know I am not interested in men. I believe you will soon receive news from within the Metropolitan Police Department. That is all.]

After sending the message, Kurumi drove back home.

Meanwhile, Rum, who had been anxiously awaiting news from Curacao, sat in his office, feeling uneasy.

For some reason, Rum had a bad premonition.

He knew very well that although Kurumi appeared calm and elegant on the surface, if pushed too far, her methods would become exceptionally wild and completely disregard order.

Rum did not wish to push Kurumi into a complete confrontation with him, but the cunning strategist was unwilling to give up this best opportunity to eliminate both Kurumi and Akai Shuichi.

Therefore, after sending out the Curacao squad, Rum had been waiting in his office for news from Curacao.

And he waited for nearly half an hour...

When the notification sound of his phone on the desk rang, Rum's sense of foreboding intensified.

Noticing that the sender was Bloody Mary, Rum knew he had lost this time, and suffered a heavy blow.

As expected, after reading Kurumi's sarcastic and mocking message, Rum slammed his fist hard on the desk.

"Damn it, Bloody Mary, you bitch!"

Having gained almost no advantage against Kurumi, Rum felt his heart clench with anxiety.

Rum didn't care about the deaths of the task force members; the Organization was not short of combat personnel.

But!

Curacao, his confidante and strongest subordinate, being captured by Kurumi was something Rum could not accept.

Especially seeing a picture Kurumi sent of Curacao bound and gagged while unconscious made Rum feel incredibly frustrated.

Just as Rum was planning how to get Curacao back, his phone rang again.

This time, the caller was not Kurumi, but someone Rum feared.

[BOSS]

Quickly composing himself, Rum pressed the call button.

"Rum, you've gone too far."

On the other end of the line, the synthesized voice spoke words that instantly froze Rum's expression.

He didn't understand why his actions would concern the Boss.

Or rather... why would the Boss care about Bloody Mary?

"Boss, this time..." Without pondering these questions, just as Rum was about to explain his actions, his words were cut off.

"You don't need to worry about Bloody Mary. Not now, and not ever."

Although it was a cold synthesized voice, Rum felt he could sense the Organization's most mysterious Boss was uncharacteristically angry on the other end of the line.

Perhaps it was a reminder, perhaps a warning.

The Boss's call made Rum realize that the plan he thought was flawless had actually been under the Boss's observation all along.

After a moment of silence, Rum closed his eyes and replied, "I understand, Boss."

As soon as he finished speaking, Rum's call was unilaterally hung up.

Putting his phone aside, Rum leaned back in his chair, silent...

Meanwhile, on the other side, Kurumi returned home carrying the unconscious Curacao. Under the curious and puzzled gazes of Aso Narumi and Miyano Akemi, she gently placed the woman on the sofa.

Looking at the silver-haired woman bound artistically on the sofa, Aso Narumi asked, "Kurumi, who is she?"

"Her name is Curacao. She's Rum's right-hand woman." Satisfied with her handiwork, Kurumi said with a grin, "She was the one leading the team that wanted to kill us."

Hearing that this woman was someone of such importance, Miyano Akemi showed a frightened expression.

Aso Narumi, however, wasn't scared. Instead, she glared furiously at the unconscious Curacao.

"Then why did you bring her back, Kurumi?" Knowing that Kurumi had dealt with the others, Aso Narumi didn't understand why Kurumi insisted on leaving just this one person alive.

Aso Narumi admitted that Curacao was indeed very beautiful and had a good figure, but she felt it was too unsafe to keep such a dangerous individual in the house!