───They really came!
The person inside Nyani-nya, Aristel, was amidst shock and joy.
Though the latter of the two had to be quickly pushed aside due to inappropriateness, strong emotions were roused nonetheless.
Shinichi’s idea fully played upon the concept of reversing one’s thinking.
Since the bomb couldn’t be found without exposing themselves, then they just had to take on a form that would be fine even when exposed, and by becoming a character themselves, Aristel and Shinichi could brazenly appear on stage with the other performers.
So long as there was an acceptable reason provided by one of the staff, then even if the criminals were there, they would be unlikely to suddenly press the switch or suspect that their plot has been exposed.
After all, though not practiced often, this park did have a policy of having other characters suddenly appear to cover up any accidents or problems they might be experiencing.
Hence, this was a method that could only be employed because of the park’s flexibility in their scripts.
Though Shinichi came up with this idea without any knowledge of that, his ingenuity was still worthy of admiration.
He provided many warnings while putting on the costume, and When they were picking the time when to show up, Shinichi even used his foster to warn Aristel via thought transmission.
“There’s a presence here similar to that time at the department store. Be careful.”
That was all he said, but Aristel’s brilliant mind immediately noticed the similarities between the two cases.
In the department store incident, there was a discrepancy between the conduct of the perpetrators and their actual movement and equipment, and as it turns out, they were in fact nothing more than a diversion meant to take advantage of the people dissatisfied with the interaction between the two worlds.
That was the case this time as well. The criminals were just too skilled. In fact, they were so good that it was almost comical. They effortlessly brought in so many explosives, planted them all over the park, infiltrated the security office, and even planned for a bomb to be carried into the parade by one of the performers.
Yet that man and woman and the other perpetrators that Shinichi happened into could only be evaluated by Shinichi as ‘witless fools’.
In that regard, Aristel shared his sentiments. In fact, she couldn’t even call them clever out of flattery.
As for the latter, if his words were to be believed, then either the leader of these criminals was just that good, or there was someone else guiding them to make their plan a success.
Of course, Shinichi’s warning was meant for the latter.
That’s why she was more delighted than surprised to see the six figures surround them; being able to understand the meaning behind Shinichi’s instructions made her heart tremble and her whole body brim with strength.
She could only watch him from a distance during the exam, but now she could stand on the same battlefield with him.
Though it was only for now, she was finally able to become the partner of the warrior that she acknowledged to be her superior; hence, the only thing left now was to fulfill the role she has been given and meet his expectations. And so, she brandished her rapier.
──Why are there so many problems?
The order given to the six was to secretly cover for the people carrying out terrorist activities in the park.
Or to be more precise, they were to secretly manipulate them to become culprits that suited their convenience.
They have been engaged in this sort of dirty work plenty of times, so they had no revulsion whatsoever toward it.
Not a care for the people that wreaked havoc for trivial reasons, nor pity for the lives that would be lost in such activities, and neither did they have any interest in the purpose behind their actions.
After all, they were just pawns that did as their superiors instructed; however, there was just too many problems in this particular mission, so they were already fed up.
Some of the criminals they were babysitting went missing, then the bombs kept getting disarmed, and now even the bomb in the parade was about to be taken away by a pair of thieving cats.
To make things worse, they pressed the switch to detonate it, but nothing happened.
They didn’t suspect the cat to have had a hand in that since – after all – it was just the antiquated technology of this world.
Who could possibly imagine that the moment the pirate cat held it, a layer of mana covered it to completely isolate it?
Regardless, it was those circumstances that led to them having no other recourse than to reveal themselves.
The sudden appearance of an armed group was sure to cause panic, so they could use that time to get the bomb back.
The timer function was still functioning, so they just had to wait until then.
The thieving cats became wary when they appeared, but at the end of the day, they were just mascots.
The sword play they displayed was indeed amazing, but that too was just for show, and the weapons they had were nothing but props.
They had thrice the number of people, they were equipped with real weapons, and their whole body was covered by a black
If they still lost after that, and to a pair of people in cat costumes no less, then perhaps, even they wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from laughing.
『We, the Hunters of Darkness, will be taking the present to the goddess!』
That’s why they were confused when that voice suddenly resounded throughout the whole parade.
It’s not that they didn’t know from whose perspective that line was meant, but it was as though they were meant to be a part of the show.
“What’s happening?” Someone mumbled, but by then, it was already too late; the trap was already in motion.
No one saw them as an illegal armed group, and a pattern of sort appeared over their simple exoskeleton that emitted a dull, dark light that also covered their weapons, making them look just like what the voice said.
By then, it wasn’t hard to realize that they’ve been had.
They were lured out to be turned into the villains of the show.
『So you want this! But it’s mine! I’m not handing it to anyone, nyaa!!』
The pirate cat yelled, but anyone who knew the person inside would be able to see the evil smile he had on him, however, these people would never know that. As for whether that was their fortune or misfortune, that was up to debate.
『It’s not yours, nyaa! But these people seem worse than you, so I’ll leave half of them to you, nyaa!』
『Hah, I can take on small fish like these by myself, nyaa! 』
The two cats acted as though there were such a script, then kicked off the ground.
『Nyaa！』
Before one of the shadows knew it, a rapier was right before him, so he brought out a photon dagger through his gauntlets and tried to receive the blow.
To him there was no need to forcefully try and dodge the cat’s rapier. After all, the cat’s weapon was nothing more than just some soft prop, so there wasn’t even really a need to dodge.
But that was a foolish move, and such notions should have been dropped the moment they realized that this was a trap.
“KYAA!?”
With a genuine cracking sound, the shadow’s dagger was smashed broken, and a blow landed right on the shadow’s head.
A dull sound resounded, but before the shadow could even feel anything, his consciousness left him, and he collapsed.
“Guah!?”
At the same time, one of the shadows attacked by the pirate cat also collapsed because of the cat’s saber.
“Impossible!” One of the men cried, and perhaps if it were just that, they would have been able to keep their calm, but in the next moment, a black smoke appeared to hide the body of their fainted comrades.
Without even the time to cry out, by the time the smoke had cleared, their comrades were gone.
The crowd stirred, and voices of excitement and surprise resounded, but the shadows were agitated. Unfortunately, it was in that moment they lost their calm that their defeat was cemented.
The trick was actually really simple, though they had no way of knowing it.
Aristel actually had an exoskeleton on her, only that it was extended only on her chest and her limbs.
She also wasn’t using a fake weapon, but rather just made it so that the club she had looked like a sword prop by way of projection, and with the power boost from the exoskeleton, she was able to knock out her opponent.
As for the evil cat’s saber, that was really just a prop, but it was covered with a layer of mana that made it harder, effectively turning it into a dull weapon.
One was a weapon made to look like a fake, while the other was a fake realer than the real thing.
That blindsided the shadows because of their hubris-wrought scorn.
As for their fallen comrades disappearing after the smoke cleared, that was a trick that combined skill and magic, and the girl didn’t know much about it either.
She knew was that she put up a smokescreen, but she didn’t know that the boy teleported the men away after securing them, resulting in a play-esque scene where the fallen enemies disappear upon being beaten.
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