Vol 3 Chapter 38 – Right Straight (【The Exonerator of the Maritime Nation】 Arc)

“Is there any way to stop that crazy, stupid maid?”

Takanashi looked at the broken doll before her and spoke.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already prepared the stuff.”

“‘Stuff,’ huh… It’s almost as if you knew this would happen. How convenient.”

Takanashi snorted, her expression oozing disdain at the cascade of events.

Nonomura continued speaking without giving any thought to her attitude.

“If anyone knows, it isn’t me. It’s Hirata.”

“Hirata…?”

“Didn’t you come to see me a few days ago? This is the thing you asked for back then.”

Nonomura pulled a syringe from a paper bag.

The syringe contained a greenish liquid.

Takanashi remembered the incident at Nonomura’s laboratory.

“So… what is that creepy-colored liquid?”

“It’s a suppressant.”

“Suppressant?”

Takanashi tilted her head, unfamiliar with the term.

“In short, it can calm down a rampaging person. But… because it’s so strong, it can’t be used on ordinary people.”

——“It works on Arisu, then?”

Before their eyes, Arisu—thrashing about on her own—didn’t look human at all.

“Well, even if you overdo it, you won’t die. It just leaves you in a downer state for a while.”

“I see. Well, it’s less troublesome than her continuously going wild, I suppose.”

A doubt suddenly flashed through Takanashi’s mind.
A suppressant created on Hirata’s orders… Did she really know Arisu would end up like this…?

(And come to think of it, it was Hirata who sent Arisu off to Hokkaido.)

Arisu had been dispatched to Hokkaido on Hirata’s orders. The result? Severe mental damage and the loss of her right arm. She suffered major injuries all over and now can’t walk properly. If Hirata had anticipated this, what was her true objective?

“I don’t think there’s time to consider anything else right now.”

Takanashi’s eyes widened in shock at Nonomura’s voice.

“Sigh… I’ll worry about the messy details later; for now, let’s concentrate on subduing that idiot in front of me.”

“I’m leaving this suppressant with you. Take care of that maid—I’m in no condition myself.”

“I know. Well, it’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to see her rampage, so consider me lucky.”

Takanashi swung her head around and brought her fists together.

“Grandpa’s outside. If that idiot starts rampaging again and gets others caught up, it’ll be a disaster.”

“You’ve really started talking like that… Well… it should be fine. I’m hoping for a good outcome.”

With that, Nonomura left the room.

Seeing him go, Takanashi discarded her jacket.

“I haven’t had any one-on-one fights while the Boss was away. I might be a bit rusty, though…”

Muttering to herself, Takanashi advanced toward Arisu.

“I’m not so weak as to be beaten by a troublesome, crazed, jealous, stupid maid.”

With that, she delivered a quick right straight aimed squarely at Arisu’s face.

Seated in her wheelchair, Arisu couldn’t possibly evade, and Takanashi’s right straight landed directly.

“———!”

The attack rendered Arisu completely immobile. The right side of her face swelled red, and it looked as though her eyes weren’t open at all.

“Have a little nap. By the time you wake up, your dear Master should be back.”

Satsuki grabbed Arisu’s right arm and moved in to inject the suppressant.

That was when—

“———Master…”

Arisu mumbled in a frail voice to herself.

Seeing her like that, Takanashi’s expression turned to surprise.

“Still conscious, huh? Impressive.”

Glancing sideways at Takanashi’s admiring look, Arisu spoke.

“———I don’t care about the Empress.”

Her words didn’t surprise Takanashi. After all, Arisu lives solely for her feelings toward Sakata—and if ordered, she’d carry out anything. Even if that order were “die.”

“……”

“I just want to see my Master smile, and that’s all that matters…”

Arisu stared fixedly at a single spot on the ground. Blood dripped from her nose, steadily staining the floor with small red spots. She looked like a robot with a dead battery.

Takanashi clicked her tongue at the sight of her.

“———What an unpleasant role.”

With that, she plunged the syringe into Arisu’s left arm.

Arisu tried to shake it off, but she was too weak.

“Ugh……!!”

The suppressant began to permeate Arisu’s body, and her heartbeat quickened, thumping steadily.

“What… what do you intend to do to me?”

“I’m not going to kill you. Rest assured.”

“Ugh… I guess I really am…”

She continued to cry out in pain. Lacking any strength to resist, Arisu soon succumbed to sleep.

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“That ended more quickly than I expected.”

“Don’t just barge into a girl’s space.”

Upon hearing Takanashi’s words, Nonomura laughed.

“What’s this about ‘a girl’? Don’t be joking.”

“I’ll kill you later, you damn old man.”

Takanashi’s hoarse voice echoed sharply as she glared at Nonomura as if avenging a past wrong.

“First, let’s fix that voice. Shall I prescribe some medicine?”

“No way. The Boss said this voice is my identity.”

Takanashi lifted Arisu from the wheelchair and laid her on the sofa.

“There’s really nothing decent here…”

With nothing wearable nearby, Takanashi draped her own jacket over Arisu.

“So… what now?”

“There’s nothing more I can do. I’m taking her back.”

“You expect me to nurse her non-stop?”

“Why don’t you just call for some subordinates?”

“Isn’t there a chance she’ll start rampaging again once she wakes up?”

Takanashi’s concern was for what to do when Arisu woke up. If she started rampaging again, there’d be no end—and she might even take her own life in that depressed state. It wasn’t ideal to delegate the care of someone as troublesome as Arisu to subordinates, and I certainly don’t have the capacity to nurse her around the clock.

“Why do I have to end up in such a troublesome position…?”

Takanashi suddenly pulled out her cellphone and called someone.

“Get a large vehicle ready to pick me up. I’ll send the address via message.”

After that, she immediately hung up.

“Did you come up with a good idea?”

“For me, it’s not really that good, though.”

Takanashi sighed heavily while fiddling with her cellphone—it was as if she were a healthcare worker burdened with a troublesome patient.

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Fifteen minutes after Takanashi made the call, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

Two large individuals—a man and a woman—entered.