That Half-Finished Drink Was Lethal— What Happened When I Left My Bottle Behind in a 1:4 Male-to-Female World - 22

Chapter 22: An Assault of Pleasure — Caresses That Shake the Eardrums, and the Thunderous Sound of Footsteps

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― Yuu Yuuki’s POV ―

“……Yuuki. ……That’s enough. ……Next, ……”

Reika-san’s voice vibrated low against my eardrums. The cold air from the air conditioner, set to a low temperature, crept through the gaps in my butler uniform, making my skin prickle with goosebumps. What stung my nose was the scent of her preferred white lilies, a perfume sharp enough to seem poisonous.

(There’s nowhere left to run.)

Lying across my lap now was the “Treasure of Ootori,” said to influence even the economy of this country.

“……Begin. Yuuki.”

Her voice carried a strange dampness. With trembling fingertips, I picked up the slender “gold ear pick” adorned with gold work. The coldness of the metal transmitted to my hand set my nerves on edge with a sense of reality.

Three hundred million yen. That number weighed down on my back like an invisible stone. If my hand were to slip here and I were to injure her ear, far from my debt decreasing, I would likely never be able to leave this “cage” for the rest of my life. The depths of my stomach twisted violently, like a rag being wrung out. My throat was as parched as a desert, and I felt as if even the sound of me swallowing echoed like a roar in this silence.

“……Excuse me.”

I peered into the white area near her ear.

Close. Her soft golden hair swayed like a living thing atop my tuxedo trousers. I guided the tip of the ear pick slowly, cautiously, into the opening of her ear.

Scritch…

The dry sound rang out as if shaking my brain directly. My breath grazed Reika-san’s neck. In that instant, I saw her shoulders give a small but violent jerk.

“……Nh-“

Reika-san’s breathing became visibly ragged. The head of the Ootori family was borrowing the lap of a debt-ridden butler, entrusting her vital point—her semicircular canals—to him. In this abnormal situation, I couldn’t even imagine what she was thinking or what she expected. I was simply desperate. Meticulously, gently. Just as I had treated the elderly and children during my former part-time job at the cafe.

“……Does it, hurt? Reika-san.”

“……No. ……Further, ……inside, ……is fine……”

A raspy voice. Reika-san’s fingertips gripped the sheets tightly, forming white fists. The tip of the ear pick traced her depths. A faint amount of heat transmitted from my fingertips. The sensation of the sound of her pulsing heart flowing back through my fingers and into my own heart. Even though the room should have been chilled by the cooling, a sticky, unpleasant sweat clung to my back.

(I must not make a mistake, even by a single millimeter. If I mess up here, my life will truly be…)

Forgetting even to blink, I became immersed in the “abyss” that was the interior of her ear. It was then… In an instant, my field of vision was enveloped in complete darkness.

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―― Allied Forces’ POV (Shizuku Kisaragi’s POV) ――

SCREEEEECH!!!

An ear-splitting screech of tires echoed through the private road in the dead of night. The jet-black Hiace charged down the single road leading to the Ootori Villa at over 100km/h. The interior of the car was filled with the smell of new leather seats and the pungent odor of high-concentration alcohol scattered by Rin-san. And overflowing from Miya-san sitting next to me was a simmering bloodlust.

“……You’re noisy. Akutsu-san. Stop hitting the inside of the car with your bat.”

The eyes of Rin Asami-san, who held the steering wheel, had completely lost their light. Her unfocused eyes reflected the blue light of the dashboard, exuding a cold-bloodedness like that of a grim reaper.

(This person has been muttering ‘Yuu-kun, wait for me’ like a delirium for a while now… She seriously intends to ram the gate just like this!)

Beyond the windshield. The Ootori family’s first barrier—a giant iron gate and a group of state-of-the-art infrared sensors—came into view.

“Pah! I’ll be the one to smash that thing! As if I’d let Yuu be defiled by some rich brat!!”

Miya-san swung her bat, screaming out her naked possessiveness. Through her glaring eyes, I could see a madness that suggested she might turn the entire estate to ash just to take Yuu-kun back.

“……Don’t be reckless. That’s bulletproof.”

I shouted while pounding away at the laptop in the passenger seat. At that moment, Rin-san took out her smartphone with her left hand and pressed a speed-dial number.

“……It is I. ……Yes, this is Tanaka-sama, the executive in charge of ‘SECOM-DOT,’ which handles the Ootori Group’s security, is it not?”

Rin-san’s voice was frozen to below zero.

“Starting now, for fifteen minutes. Switch the authentication for the first and second gates to ‘Test Mode.’ ……Yes, a reason? ……The ‘insider information’ you leaked at the after-party of that hosted golf event the other day. ……Would it be alright if that appeared on the front page of tomorrow’s morning edition?”

The corners of Rin-san’s mouth lifted slightly. I felt as if I heard a scream full of despair leak from the other end of the receiver.

『……U-Understood! O-Only for fifteen minutes…!』

Immediately after. The warning light of the gate changed from red to an inorganic green. The invisible infrared sensors vanished without a sound.

“……Pass. The first barrier is clear.”

Rin-san floored the accelerator. The Hiace let out a roar and passed through the defenseless gate.

“A-Ah… ……Next is ……The manned ……security guardhouse……”

In a corner of the back seat. Mimori-san, her face buried in multiple monitors, spoke in a trembling voice. Her fingertips danced across the heated keyboard as if convulsing.

“……Security guards ……twelve people. ……All……possessing ……tear gas ……batons. ……Physical ……exclusion ……commence……”

The Hiace’s sunroof opened, and four small “Eye-Series” drones were launched into the night darkness. In Mimori-san’s field of vision, the digitized switchboard of the security guardhouse was likely being displayed.

“……A-Ah… ……That woman’s fingers, ……touching ……Yuu-kun’s ear. ……I won’t forgive her. ……Delete ……commence……!”

Mimori-san’s eyes flickered eerily as they caught the pale blue light of the monitors.

(Mimori-san is completely snapped… ‘They should just despair in the darkness of a blackout’—that’s a dangerous retaliation that only she could pull off right now!)

The drones dived all at once. One unit sprayed the lens of a surveillance camera, stealing its vision. And the remaining three units plunged into the high-voltage switchboard on the outer wall of the guardhouse, prepared to self-destruct.

CRACKLE-ZAP!!!

A tremendous sound of electrical discharge tore through the silence of the night. Sparks scorched the night sky, and the lighting of the guardhouse flickered like a death rattle before vanishing. A complete blackout enveloped the Ootori Villa.

“Kehyah! What a view! Since it’s dark, I won’t even know where my bat’s gonna land!!”

Miya-san put on her full-face motorcycle helmet and readjusted her grip on the bat. The screams of the security guards falling into a panic could be heard from a distance, carried by the wind.

“……Let’s go. Mimori, how many minutes until the backup power kicks in?”

“Ugh… ……The release time ……for the magnetic locks ……is 120 seconds. ……Hurry……”

Rin-san charged the Hiace toward the silenced second gate without hesitation. The monitors inside the car displayed Mimori-san’s camera footage, which had switched to night-vision mode. There, the silhouette of Reika in close contact with Yuu-kun in the darkness emerged in a pale, ghastly light.

(Yuu-kun…! Wait for us, we’re going to drag you out of there right now!)

The back of my throat was filled with the taste of iron. I ran with all my might. Leaping out of the Hiace, we desperately dashed through the corridors of the Ootori Villa, which had sunk into the blackout. What stung my nose was the lingering scent of ozone drifting from the destroyed switchboard.

Visibility was at its worst. The emergency guide lights only faintly illuminated our feet with an eerie red color. However, it was that very eerie silence that sounded an alarm inside my brain.

(Something’s wrong. No matter how much of a blackout it is, the security is too lack…!)

The Ootori family. The shadow rulers of this country. Would their villa really fall this easily to the handiwork of a few women and a few drones? Ahead, Miya-san with her bat and Rin-san, who was wordlessly emitting bloodlust, proceeded while knocking down obstacles. However, the Ootori private soldiers who should have come to intercept us seemed somewhat hesitant.

(It’s as if they were ordered by some invisible person that ‘it’s okay to let them through this far’…!)

Thump—my heart leaped. Was this a trap? Or was there someone inside Ootori who was “inviting” us?

“……Asami-san, Akutsu-san! Mimori-san’s camera footage, which way is Reika’s private room!?”

“……Probably around the corner, at the very end. ……I feel like I can faintly hear Yuu-kun’s scream!”

Rin-san’s voice was like a machine devoid of emotion. Driven by impatience, I clutched the Compendium of Laws in my hand tightly. I would drag Yuu-kun—those clear eyes of his—out of the giant darkness that was Ootori. For that sake, even if it was a trap, I had no choice but to push forward through this corridor.

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― Chihiro Kujo’s POV ―

(Darkness is the garment I am most familiar with.)

I was quietly gazing at the monitors for the hidden cameras, which were faintly operating on emergency power. Inside the screens. The rioters—ugly yet fierce—were charging toward the Lady’s “Sanctuary.”

A lawyer. An influencer. An advertising agency. And a shut-in observer.

(……How pitiable, My Lady. A pathetic ensemble drama driven mad by a single man named Yuu-sama. This is exactly the stimulation that Ootori was lacking.)

With fingertips like cold porcelain, I pushed up the bridge of my glasses. Beyond the door, the Lady is likely making Yuu-sama kneel and enjoying her “dominance.” She was convinced that she had bound a person’s heart with a chain of numbers totaling three hundred million yen.

However, that was not the Ootori “correct answer.”

(My Lady. You have been protected too much by the power of Ootori. Love is not something to be taken, but something to be given. It is a miracle that can only be obtained after carving away one’s own flesh and offering up one’s soul. ……Right now, you are nothing more than a selfish child.)

I operated the tablet in my hand. The final bulkhead just before the Lady’s private room. A protective door that originally should not be breachable even by a tank. I secretly lowered the output of its magnetic lock to “0.2%.”

(……Now, let us begin. The worst sort of powerful medicine meant to ‘save’ Reika Ootori. I shall watch over what My Lady loses and what she gains as the price for it…)

In the darkness, I gave a quiet, elegant bow. Immediately after…

KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!!!

The sound of physical “violence” from a bat, enough to shake the entire mansion, echoed through the corridor.

【Until Reika Ootori does ○○ to Yuu, 60 minutes remaining】

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