Kumeru and the Silver Bullet

"Phew, phew..."

Vermouth took her foot off the accelerator and leaned back in her seat, gasping for breath.

The gauge showing the remaining fuel in front of her flashed an urgent red warning. She had driven herself to the limit, doing everything she could along the way to conceal any traces that might be tracked, and had finally found this deserted woodland.

The window shattered by the soccer ball continuously let the icy evening wind of the forest pour into the car. In this overly quiet night, the chirping of insects and the wind sounded deafening.

Vermouth struggled to control the rise and fall of her breathing, doing her best not to let the pain in her chest affect her ability to act.

Shuichi Akai, who had fired directly at her the moment they met, had clearly decided to strip away all her ability to resist. The injury from that shot was no minor one.

Even for her, it would probably take a month of proper rest before she could recover to normal.

She pulled out the phone tucked into her inner pocket.

Her phone had received a notification for a new message earlier. There were only a few people who would contact her at a time like this, so she had to check what it said.

"Looks like I gave you too much freedom. Return to my side immediately, Vermouth."

Seeing those certain, unquestionable words, she knew who the message was from without even looking at the sender address she knew by heart.

She gently closed her eyes. Though she knew her ribs had already suffered severe damage, she still could not help letting out two bitter laughs, allowing the vibrations in her chest to tear at her more painfully.

Freedom?

What kind of freedom could a puppeteer give