Vol 3 Chapter 19 – Overdose  (【The Exonerator of the Maritime Nation】Arc)

Kuzuryu and Arisu trudged through the seaside cave.

Their footsteps dragged like they’d been cursed by a sludge demon.

“I swear I’ve smelled rotting crap before, but this? This air’s like a troll’s armpit after leg day!”
“Agreed. My stomach’s staging a rebellion.”

The two wore masks, but let’s be real—this stench laughed at flimsy fabric. Their “walk” was more of a zombie shamble. Finally, their nightmare fuel came into view.

“Yo, we here? Took forever.”
“So this is the cursed corpse well…”

A well overflowing with bodies. Like a buffet for crows, if crows had zero standards.

“Most are just… soup now. Gross. What kind of psychopath does this?”
“Dunno. Maybe they’re into DIY compost?”

Kuzuryu poked a corpse with the enthusiasm of someone licking a subway pole.

“How are you touching that?!”
“Not my idea of fun either, Miss Priss.”

He rummaged through the bodies like a bargain bin. Surprisingly, some hadn’t fully melted into goo. On corpse #4, he struck gold.

“Huh. Jackpot.”

A soggy business card peeked out of a shirt pocket.

“What’s that?”

Arisu leaned in, nose scrunched like she’d sniffed a lemon.

“Business card. Probably Mr. Rotting McRotface here. Let’s see who he was before becoming sludge.”
“Wait, none of these bodies had IDs.”
“Duh. The perps probably yoinked ’em. This one slipped through. Cha-ching—evidence!”

Kuzuryu bagged the card like a kid with a rare Pokémon.

“Nothing else here. Time for Phase Two.”
“Oh right, your genius plan to “counter” the Judges.”

Arisu’s tone dripped with “this’ll end in fire.”

“Yep! Gonna troll them so hard.”
“Troll… how?”

Kuzuryu grinned like a gremlin with a lighter.

“We dump all these corpses. Every. Last. One.”
“……You what?”
“They’re hoarding these for some creepy project, right? We steal their loot, they’ll rage-charge at us. Then—boom—ambush!”

He posed like a budget supervillain.

“Those three aren’t that dumb…”
“Trust me, their boss’ll take the bait. Ego’s bigger than this stench.”
“And how do we move them? I’m not touching corpse jam!”

Arisu glared at the corpses spilling from the well like they’d personally insulted her latte order.

“Relax. I know your delicate sensibilities, Princess. That’s why I hired extra hands.”
“Oh? Then I’ll… try to relax. …So when do these “hands” arrive?”
“Should be any minute now—”

Kuzuryu checked his watch.

Then—

“No need to wait. I’m here~♪”

A voice oozed from the cave’s shadows, followed by enough murderous intent to curdle milk.

“Who…? Wait, I’ve heard that voice before.”

Arisu’s memory kicked in. Too easy to place.

“No way*…”

Cafe owner Kuroko stepped into view, smile sugary enough to rot teeth.

“I grew suspicious after you left our little chat, Arisu-san. So I followed you!”
“Stalker much?”
“Call it what you want. But I was right, wasn’t I?”

Arisu sighed like this was her third unpaid overtime shift this week.

“Arisu. This the org’s lackey?”
“Yep. The creepy mask-and-mystery type.”
“How rude. …But fair.”

Kuzuryu and Arisu’s banter earned a strained chuckle from Kuroko—not that they could see her face.

“Kuroko-san. Last time we fought, I crushed you. You sure about this?”
“’Sure’?”
“Simple math. You alone can’t beat us*.”

Arisu smirked, radiating “I’ve already won” energy.

“How kind of you to worry. Truly.”

Kuroko bowed deeply. Kuzuryu, listening nearby, also couldn’t imagine losing. Meanwhile, Kuroko pulled a small pouch from her apron.

“That’s…”

Inside: white powder. Bad vibes incoming. Kuzuryu and Arisu lunged—

“Too late~♡”

Their attacks bounced off an invisible wall. They scrambled back.

“Crap. Should’ve stabbed first, monologued later.”
“Kuroko. What was that powder?”

Kuroko stayed silent, head tilted like a broken doll.

“Hey, answer m—————”

WHAM

Arisu went flying.