Without thinking, Luo Shu quickly drew four of the ten letters in Tachibana Kirika's hands.
As Luo Shu took the four letters, Tachibana Kirika handed the remaining six to Natsuki Minamiya with an undisguised smile.
"Here you go, Senior Superintendent Minamiya!"
"Now you have something to show your colleagues at the Metropolitan Police Department."
Natsuki Minamiya glanced at Tachibana Kirika when she heard that, immediately recognizing that every word out of this woman's mouth carried a nasty insinuation.
"Acting like this will only make your position at the Metropolitan Police Department more awkward."
It was both a reminder and a warning. As her friend, Natsuki Minamiya naturally didn't want Tachibana Kirika's relationship with the department's senior officials to turn too sour.
But Tachibana Kirika seemed to have no intention of taking her advice.
"How could we possibly fight the Abyss with those vermin?" Tachibana Kirika sneered openly. "Keeping the peace doesn't mean compromising with those people, Natsuki Minamiya."
"Compromising? Perhaps..."
Natsuki Minamiya gave an ambiguous reply and said nothing more. She simply accepted the six letters, stood up, and glanced at Tachibana Kirika.
"Before you act, let me warn you one last time: don't underestimate those secret organizations. They may not be willing to swallow such a major loss."
Tachibana Kirika smiled at that. "Then we'll just have to see how sharp their dogs' claws really are."
Natsuki Minamiya said no more. She glanced at Luo Shu, then walked straight out.
Only when the café door creaked did Chisato Nishikigi breathe a sigh of relief and pat her chest.
"That scared me to death. I thought Instructor Minamiya was going to wipe us all out."
"???" Luo Shu, who had still been wondering what Natsuki Minamiya's glance meant, was completely baffled by that remark. "Is Natsuki Minamiya really that brutal?"
He thought Natsuki Minamiya had a pretty good temper. She just had a sharp tongue.
Beside him, Takina Inoue nodded in agreement. "Of course not. Chisato's making things up. At most, the instructor would hang people up in chains."
Hang people up... Luo Shu suddenly felt that Natsuki Minamiya really was a little scary.
"Phew~~"
Tachibana Kirika, who was sitting on the sofa, also let out a relieved breath. She raised both hands and stretched, her voice full of relief.
"Thank goodness Natsuki didn't get angry. Otherwise, we really would've been in trouble."
"If you were scared, why do it in the first place?" Luo Shu couldn't help asking.
"How could I give away meat that was already in my mouth?"
Tachibana Kirika picked up the four envelopes on the table, spread them into a fan, and used them to cool herself.
"These demon incantations are mostly danger level two, and one is even level three. We still don't know why that Demon Warlock brought so many treasures to Japan, but now that they've fallen into my mouth, I'm certainly not letting them go."
At that, Tachibana Kirika looked around at the three people present before continuing.
"Chisato, you and I will each take one on our own. Mika, team up with Mizuki and take another. Luo Shu, you're with Takina. Takina, show him the ropes. Right, let's search all four addresses in one sweep."
"Sure, sure~~" Chisato Nishikigi had no objections to the assignments. "So Kurumi's still handling surveillance and communications?"
Kurumi was another SDS member who wasn't currently present, an exceptionally skilled hacker.
"She's monitoring all the addresses." Tachibana Kirika made no attempt to hide it. "After all, sometimes we can make use of the Metropolitan Police Department's haul too. In that case, we ought to find out what goodies they have, right?"
"You really don't hold back, do you?" Luo Shu couldn't help remarking.
You already screwed them over, and now you want to use their resources too? Tachibana Kirika, you really do pull every dirty trick in the book!
"This is a sensible use of resources." Takina Inoue seemed firmly on Tachibana Kirika's side. "After all, the Metropolitan Police Department's senior officials have always been slow to respond to disasters."
Chisato Nishikigi laughed awkwardly and rested her hands on Takina Inoue's shoulders. "Don't put it like that, Takina. Our colleagues below inspector rank are still very efficient."
"But they have very little say." Mika spoke calmly as he wiped a glass. "The senior officials are the ones who call the shots at the Metropolitan Police Department."
"All right, enough chitchat. Let's move!"
Tachibana Kirika slapped the table and stood up, addressing everyone. "Check your uniforms and weapons three times. Remember to attach pinhole cameras to your clothes and stay in contact with Kurumi at all times. Also, if you encounter an enemy you can't handle, prioritize your own safety immediately. I don't want to visit a temple every year to pay my respects to you. Understood?"
"Understood!" ×4
Tachibana Kirika waved a hand. "Get going."
Everyone except Luo Shu headed into the kitchen, preparing to enter the basement.
"Mika, where are the Ferrari keys?"
"In cabinet six. And take the modified bulletproof car at a time like this."
"No way! I haven't even driven that car once yet."
Meanwhile, Tachibana Kirika took out a slim cigarette. Seeing that Luo Shu hadn't left, however, she remembered that he was a student and put it away. Instead, she took out a fruit candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.
"Anything else?"
Luo Shu took the "driver's license" out of his pocket, along with the 300,000 yen in cash he had prepared earlier.
"I haven't returned the things from your wallet yet."
"Oh! I almost
forgot."
Tachibana Kirika reached out to take them, but only put away the driver's license. She handed the 300,000 yen back to him.
"This is your bonus for catching Hound. Don't worry, I'll get reimbursed by the higher-ups."
"Oh, and one more thing. You can ask Mika about the 'bounty website' later. Have him give you one of his regular fake identities and submit information on Hound's whereabouts. That should sell for around a million yen."
That's an option too? Luo Shu wondered as he asked curiously,
"I'm a little confused. I already killed him, so how am I supposed to provide his whereabouts?"
"Just take a photo of him dead and have Mika post, 'The target has been shot dead by the police.' It's a shame you didn't have credentials at the time, or you could've held on to the body. A bounty for the corpse can fetch even more on the dark web, you know. Of course, doing that also carries a pretty significant risk of attracting the Demon Hunters' attention."
At that, Luo Shu felt so much heartache that he could barely breathe.
He didn't know how much the Demon Hunters' Hound was worth on the dark web, but they settled payments in US dollars there!
I really lost out big this time!
Luo Shu silently reminded himself to always carry his official credentials from now on, so he wouldn't get shortchanged again.
Having taught Luo Shu how to earn some extra cash, Tachibana Kirika pointed behind him. "All right, go get ready. Takina's already out."
Luo Shu turned and saw Takina Inoue in her uniform, wearing a serious expression. He gave her an apologetic smile, then quickly headed into the basement through the kitchen to get changed.
Before you continue