Itwasalmost time to dispose of the garbage, I thought as I glanced at my watch, but those guys were still lingering outside, showing no signof leaving.

ThoughI didn’t want to suffer the same fate as two days ago… this was inevitable. I had no other choice but to do it…

WhenI was about to leave the counter after reaching a rather major decision, Hirai went out first.

“Wait,Hirai!”

“I’ll doit today. Hakamada, wait here.”

“No, no, no, isn’t itusually me who should be doing this! As for you, Hirai…”

“Fretnot. It’s fine.”

“Thoseguys have been drinking and they will undoubtedly mess with you. I appreciate your concern for me, but Hira, you are a woman…!”

Shouldthey attempt any action when youhead to the rear…

“Likewhat?”

“No… yousee.”

If theygathered around, they would likely snap Hirai’s slender arms.

Asa man here, I should…

“ThenHakamada, you’ll have to save me coolly at that point.”

“That’s notthe point…!”

Hirai! Please understandme!

“Thankyou! But you know, together with Aoyama, even I am experienced at fending off people like that. They are probably secretly waiting for you tocome out… and if that’s the case, I’ll just go right away!”

Iwas half compelled to let Hirai take care of the trash.

Seeingher waving her hands idly from outside, I decided to keep an eye on them from inside the store to see if they were behaving in any strange ways.

Even if Inodded in agreement with what Hirai said, I couldn’t simply leave it all up to her. Should those guys dare to get even a little bit closer to her, I would be prepared for a catastrophe and stormout of the store.

Thatthought was fleeting, though, as the delinquents began to behave in a distinctly odd manner when they spotted Hirai coming back from the rear of the building.

Overandover again, they kept staring at Hirai and wearing smirks and sickening smiles on their faces.

Theseguys were up to something―

Ifelt it intuitively.

Irapidly leaned over the counter and called out to Hirai with a hand signal as she walked by. Before she could notice, the men pinned her on both sides and one of them swiftly gripped her arm.

Ohno―

Iblamed myself and ran out of the store like a shotgun.

“Hey! Whatare you doing! Stop it…!!”

Hiraiand the delinquents immediately turned around at the sound of my ridiculously loud voice.

If onlyI had been as powerful as Aoyama, but unfortunately, this was all I was capable of.

Witha single-minded determination to protect Hirai, I quickly stepped in between her and the delinquents to separate them.

Thankgoodness… My relief was short-lived when a delinquent, who was about a head taller than I was, intervened and confronted me.

“Whatthe hell, you!!”

Ugh… Myheart nearly burst out of my mouth even though it was only a voice…

Evenso, I couldn’t afford to be defeated at this point. Neither Aoyama nor Takenaka were here today!

“Whoa, leave the girl out of this! Hurry up and leave…! You’re causing a nuisance!”

Although Inibbled at him like a loser, I felt as if I had set up this dialogue… losing flag myself.

Thedelinquent in front of me tilted his head low and laughed in his characteristically condescending manner.

“It’s not hurry up and leave, it’s please leave, right? You’re a staff member, and we’re customers, right? Why don’t you speak respectfully? Is that the right attitude to take toward a customer?”

Hearingthis, several people burst out laughing.

Theseguys… were getting on my nerves.

“We’re just teasing you a little bit, aren’t we? We wouldn’t want to end up in the hands of the cops too, I mean, there’s no security cameras outside, so…”

Therewas no evidence, huh?Atthe same time one of them broke into a suspicious smile, a massive impact landed on me from the side, knocking me to the concrete floor.

“Hakamada!” Translator: MadHatter

Ascream emitted from Hirai.

“It… hurts!”Not shared on aggregator websites

Theunexpected blow caused me to bite the inside of my mouth vigorously, and the taste of blood was spreading in my mouth.

WhenI hurriedly suppressed the edge of mymouth and raised my head, I found the leader of the group looking down at me with an expression that exuded ferociousness.

“Whothe hell are you…? Who the hell do you think you are to stare at us like that? Do you have a problem? Huh?”

Iglared at the leader, who was cussing at me in an overbearing tone, as though I could at least put up a fight, but I was thoroughly overwhelmed by them.

Theypointed their fingers at my unpresentable appearance and sneered at me in a vulgar tone of voice.

“Howlame, ha… If you’re so freaked out anyway, why don’t you just behave yourself?”

Iwas completely underestimated by them and my patience was nearingits limit.

Howcould you be so brazen when society despised you all the time? What was it that allowed you to do what you pleased?

“Theone who’s lame… which one of us is?”

“Ah?”

Forgetit. It didn’t matter what would ensue.

“If you’re frustrated, whydon’t you try riding your bike alone, or drinking alone… heh… you can’t handle anything if you don’t flock together, can you?”

“Holdon, Hakamada…!”

Eventhough Hirai tried to stop me, I did not relent.

Theseguys set my freeter spirit on fire.

Freeter, freeter, freeter… Iwas mistaken for a NEET, but I wasn’t high and mighty like an employee.

Even so, I was still working.42r

I worked like hell.e432

I earnedmoney, you know. Even if I was terrified of specters, I was still working hard.

Atany rate, I was working.

Andyou guys, who could only disturb your neighbors like that, shouldn’t be laughing at me like a big shot. Don’t be so proud of your victory.

“If you’ve got time to blow exhaust fumes, go work for the society…”

Don’tlook down on freeter.2312e

Don’tlook down on freeter…2e1s

Don’tlook down on freeter…!!432r

“Workfor the societyyyyyyy!!”

“Areyou out of your mind!?”

The delinquents thought I was nuts but I shouted from the bottom of my heart with the intention of being terrific.

No more, enough already.

If you didn’t like it, go ahead and beat me up. In any case, that was all you could do, you fool. I was likewise a big fool for letting my emotions explode and snapping at these people, though.

I clenched my teeth in anticipation of the next impact.

Ah. I felt like Ihad experienced this scene somewhere before. This was deja vu―

“…You guys are so loud… Shut up already.”

The voice of Hirai was emanating at the same time as the delinquent’s fist was approaching me, yet something seemed off.

Hirai…?

Something was reflected in my vision.

Asoft thing fell right in front of me, and then something descended from above.

And then… it fell onto the concrete ground.

It wasso out of the blue that nobody could grasp the situation, and the air froze.

Even the delinquents stared at it in silence, and I was equally astonished and failed to recognize it for what it was. I looked at the ground directly with my eyes wide open.

What Isaw could be described in a nutshell…

It was very soft and reddish-black.

My brain analyzed it by itself.

A soggy, crumbled… mass of flesh. And yet it stung my nose, it smelled so foul, but… vaguely.

Itleft a trace of something…

Itwas so hideous that I wanted to avert my eyes.

“Oh… oh…”

Theinstant the identity of the falling object became clear, an inexpressible sense of dread began to well up.

Nobodywould have ever expected such a thing to fall.

Infront of the group leader and me lay the carcass of a cat that had been run over a few days earlier and reduced to decaying, unmodified flesh.

“Oi…what the…”

Theleader made a face as if he were staring at filth, demonstrating that he apparently understood what that thing was as well.

“…Disgusting…”

Itwas understandable that he wanted to say so.

Theputrid smell pierced my nostrils. What burst out of its mouth and abdomen was unappealing at first sight. The eyeballs melted away and leaked out, creating the impression of a zombie.

Even the delinquents were horrified by the sight of such a thing falling from above their heads.

When I arrived at work, the cat—which shouldn’t have been on the road—was here. Why was it here? I thought it was buried, what the hell.

Thiswas…

“Whoa!?”Not shared on lightnovelreader.me

Asingle person screamed and several people moved away from there.

“Thisthing is…”

“Alive…”

Acat carcass that had descended.

Itwas a soggy lump of flesh, it couldn’t have been alive, it shouldn’t have been but…

Forsome reason, its ripped chest was slightly rising and falling as if it were breathing, and its rotting, foul-smelling organs were twitching and wiggling.

Thiswas impossible, one might argue, but everyone present witnessed it: the unbelievable sight.

Thebizarre and chilling sight of a supposedly dead animal moving as if it were still alive.

“This… is the cat we ran over, isn’t it…”

“Whyis it… moving, isn’t it long dead…?!”

Thecronies, whose faces were screwed and who were making a scene of their own accord, were the first to fill with panic at the absurd phenomenon.

With noclue of what was unfolding, I was on the brink of panic as well. My breathing grew erratic with each twitch of the cat carcass.

Again… WasI getting caught up in the same thing as last time?magic

Thatwas when I started to feel nauseous from the realistic sounding contractions of its internal organs.

“Ugh, eeee….!”

Theleader of the group before me abruptly began to vomit. He twisted his stomach as though in agony, bent his knees, and puked heavilyon the concrete.

“Oh… aug… ugh.”

Theleader, whose tongue was sticking out of his mouth and whose body was convulsing violently, did not seem to be disturbed by the sight of the grotesque cat carcass but was in an abnormal state by all accounts.

Heaven’s judgement―

Irecalled the words I spat at him.

Heaven’s judgement.

Indeed.32refwd

Thiswas heaven’s judgement.

Thescreaming and thrashing around on the concrete made the delinquents even more agitated, and none of them wanted to cover their open mouths.

All of us wereengulfed by a pleasant night breeze that swept through the copse.

Oneof them eventually gave in and jumped on his motorbike, which he launched in a panic, issuing a bizarre shriek, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Perhapsinfected by terror, the cronies fled the scene in a panic.

“Oi… this is bad.”

“Itwasn’t me, I didn’t run over…!”

Thetwo closest to the leader of the group were the last to leave, but perhaps uncomfortable with the sight of the leader vomiting all over the concrete and dripping gastric juices from his mouth, the two men supported him and dragged him onto the bike, without even turning around to look at us.

Onlya bizarre scene lingered in the vicinity of the convenience shop after the bikers who had stormed off had departed.

Food theyhad scattered, cigarette butts, vomit mixed with gastric juices, and… a cat carcass that descended out of nowhere.

For awhile, words failed to come out of my mouth.

Thecat carcass at my feet was a stench, but it was nothing more than a decomposing mass; it was as if everything that had transpired before had been a delusion.

Thescene earlier… no, but I certainly saw it.

Iwatched this carcass, its protruding entrails moving faintly.

Nomatter how long time passed, my heart was still pounding furiously.

“I’ll haveto clean it up.”

WhenI heard Hirai’s voice, which sounded as if nothing had transpired, and turned around in dread, I noticed her cocking her head and exhibiting a slightly troubled expression on her face before it went back to her usual serene expression.

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