The Heishou Pack (before battle)

After that little kerfuffle...

Just as everyone was scattering to their rooms, Outis suddenly began to vehemently oppose leaving me all on my own.

Are you absolutely certain, Executive Manager...?!

<Seriously, don't worry about it. I usually took the night watch on the bus anyway.>

That is true, however... We are currently in an uncharted territory for our team. We do not have much experience sleeping at a place where our safety isn't an absolute guarantee...

Hey, we're literally right next door to them. It'll take less than 5 secs for us to come over when something happens.

Do you not know that every second matters in emergencies -

Now, now... babushka-de-camp~ Let's get ya outta here~

An oddly familiar sequence of events and words played out... and they eventually left my room, gently closing the door behind them.

<Finally, some peace and quiet...>

I sit on the corner of the bed, surrounded by silence, and allow my shoulders to slump for once.

I don't need to 'sleep' like the Sinners do, but the fatigue doesn't go away on its own. I needed some time to relax and empty my thoughts every once in a while.

While I've gotten somewhat used to the pain, it still hurts like hell when I rewind the Sinners' time...

... and the longer this journey got, the more frequent and severe the Sinners' injuries became. They did get stronger, that's for sure, but so did our enemies... which means that my clock is always turning and turning without a moment to rest.

<…….>

So, I think of the star.

Before the great gates which I face with every revival, I witness its intricate engravings and feel its silent vibrations.

Even after a whole year, I am still no closer to understanding what they were supposed to represent. But... by emptying my thoughts and just taking in the sights, I find myself calming down.

Also, the wind is quite cool and crisp tonight.

Wait, that's weird. Wind...?

<What's this sudden chill...?>

Something opened the window, but there's no way this gentle breeze could've unlatched and left my window wide open like that. And if it did, it would've made a pretty loud noise.

Besides... this chill isn't coming from in front of me.

I slowly turn around to look at where the window was supposed to be...

... only to see a melted wall, and an intruder slinking through this newfound opening.

<W-who are you?!>

…….

As though driven by some unknown survival instinct, I rolled off the bed...

But there was already a blade right at where my neck and head met, its steel a shearing cold.

Just a little nudge, and I'd be dead even before I could even make a tick.

I remembered how worried Outis was to leave me alone. I thought she was just being paranoid...

I... I should've trusted her judgment.

Just as I was getting ready for my final struggle, my final moments filled with regret about not listening to Outis' advice...

Hnh...

What a pathetically thin blade.

Too delicate to have the clock C.I.H, don't you think?

Ryōshū leapt down from the ceiling and deflected the assailant's dagger away from me.

<R-Ryōshū...!>

Snuck in thinking I was about to see something interesting, but... you're just some beast with steel.

I looked up to see the ceiling torn open, dripping with viscous paint-like fluid just as I saw earlier during my conversation with Hong Lu…

Executive Manager! Are you unharmed?!

... And Outis peeking out from the gap.

I, Outis, was the one who instructed Ryōshū that the ceiling had a room to hide in! Remember that!

Shut... up... and help... me...! Ngh...

Ho, I thought this one was just 'some beast with steel'?

... I could've cut this beast in half, sword and all, had I not been on the bus.

All of your abilities were diminished the moment you were hired by this company. Equally defanged and depowered, if you will.

I suddenly recalled Hohenheim's commentary back at the LCE.

I had a vague notion of what he meant, but... now I was really feeling it.

N.F.W. What is happening?

Just as Ryōshū was struggling to stop that one blade...

... the intruder pulled out another dagger with their other arm and slashed at Ryōshū's neck.

A beast of a Heishou Pack...

The intruder would've cut her throat had Wei not burst through my door.

Who wields you now?

…….

... I don't suppose dialogue is an option.

Light enters not the vast garden... yet falls a star into its fathoms still...

...! Agh, no...

The intruder reached into his clothes, muttering an odd invocation...

Little shit...! A talisman...!

... Kuh!

Wei! Get it together!

My lady!

Just as the intruder's muttering began to grow intense, Jia Xichun leaped into my room and struck the stranger with her fan.

Were you going to let that bastard finish that stupid spell? They almost activated the Q Corp. talisman!

Apologies, my lady... I... it seems that I still remain somewhat bound by that spell...

... Listen. You're no longer a Heishou. You serve me now, got that? You don't have to let those things control you anymore.

... Yes, my lady. My apologies.

<Haaaah... Haaaah...>

I fell limply to the bed with the sudden alleviation of stress and pressure.

Hey, are you - ! Ah, I can't understand them anyway...

I managed to stop the assassin before he laid a hand on them, fortunately...

Got it. I don't think there was anyone else in here... Let's switch the lights on.

Click.

When the lights came on, we saw...

This one... this one's from a 'Mao' branch, isn't it?

There was a black bamboo-hat wearing assassin on the ground...

<The walls...?!>

The walls that appeared solid before we all went to sleep were now melting away as if they were a viscous fluid.

There is... something wrong with this building.

I knew that they must've done something to the building, but...

How... is a Heishou here?

... This whole operation's gotta be spearheaded by someone with real power. This isn't just an ambush from an overexcited Family Hierarch contestant.

What I don't understand is... why the Mao branch? There are better Heishou branches to use if all they wanted was to cut off the clock's head.

... Then they must've had a different purpose, huh?

Correct. This one is from the Mao branch of the Heishou Packs - which means more of them must've infiltrated this building. Though not at the scale of the Zi branch, the Mao branch always moves in groups.

Therefore, their goal must be... to kill every guest staying in this kezhan. Including you, my lady.

Then... tsk. We've got to get moving. We can't let them surround us if we want even a chance of surviving this.

DANTE!!

Sinners burst into my room, slamming the door open again.

T-thou'rt...

Thank me later. If we don't move our asses, we're good as dead. Wei!

Yes.

We don't have the time to contact the main forces of our faction at the family mansion. You know what to do when we're at a numerical disadvantage, right?

It will be done, my lady.

Jia Xichun and Wei immediately stormed out of the room as soon as they saw the Sinners enter, as though they've been waiting in here for my protection...

Don Quixote and Gregor stood red-faced and on edge, Meursault was covered in battle wounds, and Outis wore an inscrutable expression.

... I stand before you in shame. To have to borrow the hands of another to protect the Executive Manager...

Tsk...

<No, no. I should've listened to what you said...>

Extrapolating from the pattern by which the walls have disintegrated, it is likely that they utilized the identical means of infiltration for each Sinner.

<... Oh, right. Were you attacked by bamboo-hatted assailants, too?>

Their ranks numbered many, Manager Esquire. Yet... for how many of them there were, they were unsettlingly silent. Verily, we were almost -

Haah... not 'almost'. I saw on the way here that some of us did get killed - impaled straight through the guts.

<So what he said about how fighting indoors was a Taboo...>

Yes. A lie.

How - Hooh.

How utterly cowardly and unjust of these vile cur to strike from the shadows... Alas, now is not the moment to ruminate upon their villainy.

Correct. Besides...

<…!>

... there's more of them waiting to sink their blades into us.