That Half-Finished Drink Was Lethal— What Happened When I Left My Bottle Behind in a 1:4 Male-to-Female World - 20

Chapter 20: That Alliance, Impure — Until the Shareholders’ Meeting That Shatters Three Hundred Million Chains Is Held

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― Shizuku Kisaragi’s POV ―

The loud screech of tires echoed below the building. Looking down from the window, I saw an ominous, black-painted Hiace parked there. The woman who stepped out of it was none other than the one hailed by the media as the “Treasure of the Advertising World.”

Rin Asami. Her eyes, which usually looked like the embodiment of cleanliness, had now completely lost their light and were unfocused. She entered the office with such force that she nearly kicked the door down. Without glancing at me, she stared into empty space and muttered.

“……How filthy. The cage prepared by Ootori-san is nothing but a trash can that hasn’t even been properly disinfected… For Yuu-kun, my soundproof room (Sanctuary) is what’s truly appropriate (White-eyed).”

(Who is this? Or rather, this person is completely from ‘that side’ of the world. Those white eyes are terrifying!!)

Following her was a platinum-blonde beauty wearing an oversized white shirt and carrying a bat over her shoulder. She burst into the office, boisterously kicking the door open.

“Whose orders are you people under!? Are you trying to steal my dog!?”

She swung the bat around, making savage noises.

(Another person from that side increased!? And who are you!? The door to my office is already in tatters!)

“……Ah, the door to my office… When did I descend into a manga world!? I mean, who are you people!?!? Don’t interfere with my work!”

“A-Ah… ugh! …We don’t… have time… to be fighting…!”

Before I knew it, a small drone had intruded into the office airspace, and a tragic voice echoed through its speakers. The gazes of the three women gathered on the drone all at once.

“Ootori is… trying to… completely… force Yuu-kun into her hands… Today is his first day as a butler… He’s heading to the Ootori annex. Just… a few more hours left. …If you want to save him… then… join… forces…!”

“Hah!? Join forces? Don’t make me laugh, you tin-plated gnat!”

Miya pointed the tip of her bat at the drone floating in the air.

“And you, white-eyed woman! You’ve been going on about filth and cages—who do you think you are? I’ve already decided that any woman who gets near my dog gets a home run from this bat!”

The silver-haired woman’s gaze became nailed to the men’s jacket that Rin was wearing over her shoulders. A fire of anger kindled in her eyes in an instant, and her face distorted as if to say, “Why the hell do you have that?”

In contrast, Rin didn’t move a single eyebrow.

“……How unpleasant, you savage influencer. Your lack of education is leaking through your words.”

Rin appraised the silver-haired woman coldly and twitched her nose slightly. It was a terrifyingly sharp gaze, as if she had found a filthy pest, or perhaps as if she had sensitively caught the scent of “something” stained on Miya’s shirt.

“Wh-…! You, I’ll kill you!!”

“A-Ah… ugh…! …No…! …Ootori’s… gatekeepers… have started… closing… the gates… to the villa.”

“Ah-ugh, ah-ugh, shut up already! Are you a fur seal or something!?”

“I-I-I… am not… a fur seal!”

“You just said ‘Urk-urk-urk,’ you are a fur seal after all! Kehyahya! That’s hilarious!!!”

(……Pfft! Oh no, I accidentally laughed a little. No, this isn’t the time for laughing!)

“Anyway, you’re probably some pervert who enjoys taking secret recordings with that drone. I’ll smash it later and just recover the SD card.”

“……It’s not… secret recording. ……It’s observation… a backup… of love…”

“Every single one of you is so noisy! Yuu-kun will be protected under my ‘management’ in the most hygienic environment. Impure rabble like Ootori or you people are all targets for batch deletion.”

Rin quietly switched on a stun gun. Pale blue sparks flew with a crackle, the silver-haired woman readjusted her grip on the bat, and the drone emitted an electronic sound like a thermal runaway. The air was explosive. These women were a pack of mad dogs ready to tear each other’s throats out at any moment.

(……This is no good. At this rate, they’ll destroy each other before they even reach Ootori.)

Thump—my heart leaped. With trembling fingertips, I snatched up the “Compendium of Laws” on my desk.

THUD!!!

I slammed it down between them with an ear-splitting bang.

“All of you, that’s enough!!!”

A moment of silence. The gazes of the crazed heroines pierced through me all at once. A bloodlust so thick it made me feel nauseous. A pressure that made my knees feel like they would buckle just from standing filled the narrow office. But I didn’t back down. I had the pride of someone who had faced off against unreasonable prosecutors and aggressive defendants in court. If I backed down here, I might as well throw away my lawyer’s badge.

“……Don’t get the wrong idea, you people. I just want to protect that boy. I couldn’t care less who you sleep with or what kind of lewd delusions you have.”

I scattered the proposal papers handed to me by Chihiro Kujo in front of them.

“But listen! If he’s swallowed up by Ootori, that boy will never come back to this world again. He’ll be managed for the rest of his life in a room without windows as ‘Ootori’s property.’ There won’t be room left even at a molecular level for your ‘love’ to reach him.”

Rin’s eyes wavered slightly. The silver-haired woman tightened her grip on the bat.

“With just my ‘law’ alone, I can’t win against Ootori’s ‘unreasonableness.’ ……So, lend me your madness.”

I looked each of them in the eye with a piercing gaze.

“We aren’t saving Yuu-kun. We are preventing Reika Ootori from ‘monopolizing’ that boy. ……Only for that reason, just for this moment, we are joining forces.”

Silence flowed heavily. The first one to move was Rin. Rin quietly spoke while crazily hugging the jacket—the precious fragment she received from Yuu—that she was wearing over her shoulders.

“……Fine. If it means preventing Yuu-kun from entering Ootori-san’s ‘inorganic cage,’ there is a merit to a temporary alliance. ……As for the ownership rights after the rescue, let’s discuss that thoroughly later.”

“Pah… makes me want to puke. But it’s better than having my dog snatched away.”

The silver-haired woman showed a bold, fearless smirk. The drone fluttered up and down in small movements.

“A-Ah… confirmed that Yuu-san, the subject of observation, has entered the Ootori villa…”

“We don’t have time… Alright. First, we’ll start the mad strategy meeting.”

“……Sharing… temporary… shareholder distribution. ……If it means… losing Yuu-kun… then there’s… no other way…!”

I picked up the tattered Compendium of Laws I had slammed down earlier and hugged it gently.

(Those clear tears that boy shed… I won’t let anyone stain them.)

“The operation name is—’Three Hundred Million Chain, Operation Crushing.’ We’ll paint over Ootori’s ‘correct answer’ with our ‘abnormality’.”

There was no longer any trace of the former despair in my eyes. In its place resided the cold rage of a woman whose precious thing was about to be stolen.

Miya struck her bat, and Rin quietly activated her stun gun. The absolute monarchy: Reika Ootori. Against her stood four women who presided over law, public opinion, information, and madness.

【Until Reika Ootori does ○○ to Yuu, 2 hours remaining】

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