The Bounty Hunter

October 10th, 2089

Reiji’s POV

“Come again?”  I asked the girl who I ran into this morning while Minato was still hiding in the bushes.  “My name is Vivian Pendragon.  I am in charge of a Pandemonium Task Force in England, and I would like to ask you about the incident on August 30th.”  “Pendragon, as in the Royal Family?”  Please say no, please say no, please say no.  The girl nodded in affirmation. SHE SAID YES!!!  I ASSAULTED ROYALTY THIS MORNING!!!!  NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

“Um, are you okay?” the Crown Princess Vivian, the future head of one of the nine most powerful countries in the world, looked at me worriedly as I resisted the urge to panic.  Now I know why Minato dived out of the way.  Had I known she was a princess I would’ve tried to run away as well.  The ojou-sama type does nothing to tickle my otaku heart, I’m a cat-girl man all the way!  GAHHHH!!!!!  I do not need this right now!

“Oi, Reiji!  What are you doing?”  Thank goodness, Aito and the others have arrived.  I saw him flush a little red after noticing Vivian.  Kiyoshi was silent and Koji was talking about angels from heaven.  I introduced the group to each other, noting how the Princess showed flashes of recognition at their names.  Ah, she’s here about Pandemonium after all.  It makes sense if she knows the names of the only few witnesses who weren’t drugged out of their minds.

We started walking away from the school, the Princess perfectly content to walk along with a group of strangers.  I shudder to think how many guns and the like are focused on us from her security team.  “So, could you tell me about the attack?”  she asked once again.  The four of us went quiet as we each remembered that day in our own way.  The blood, the gore, running in fear, Akemi disappearing in the inferno.  The knot of emotions in my chest tightened painfully as I remembered everything I went through.  The Princess did not say anything as she waited patiently for us to speak.  None of us did, not even Koji.  She then said something that was shocking.

“I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have been so callous.”  All four of us turned to stare at her.  “I can’t claim to know exactly how you feel, but I actually went through a similar experience myself.  There was an attack by Republican Rebels on the royal ball at the start of the year, I believe their main objective was killing me.  I was saved by a mysterious stranger whose face I only got a glimpse of.”  She gave a sad smile, her dark blue eyes laden with an unknown emotion.  “Frankly speaking, it felt like sheer luck I survived.  Still does.  Had I not been dancing with my savior at the start of the attack I don’t believe I would have made it.”

I remember seeing the news about that attack, it was brutal.  And yet here she is, looking so, well, normal.  “How did you move on?” Aito blurted out as if he desperately wanted to know.  “There’s not really a secret to it.  For the first few weeks after, I was a mess internally.  I didn’t know if I should be feeling guilt, relief, sorrow or anger at the attack and my survival.  It was like a knot right in my heart.  Then slowly but surely it started unraveling.  Friends, family, simply being alive and remembering the joy of living allowed me to overcome it.”

Her voice grew softer as she continued.  “I know it is difficult to remember.  But I suppose I can make it easier by asking just one question.  It is one of the utmost importance, so I implore you all to find the courage to answer truthfully.”  I had lost track of where we were walking during the conversation, but at this point we were all alone in a park.  The Princess motioned for us to sit on the edge of the fountain.  She paused, as if trying to decide how best to word it, before she finally asked.  “Did any of you see something supernatural or magical in nature during the attack?”

The princess had a faint blush as she asked, likely expecting some sort of ridicule for asking such an irrational question.  “Yes.” We said in unison, although Aito quickly added on “Reiji and Koji were conscious for the entirety of it.  Heck, Reiji uses magic himself so he can tell you all about it.”  As awesome as it felt to have a beautiful princess stare at me with wonder, I couldn’t help but sigh in my head that Aito proved Minato right for not telling them.  He spilled the beans so quickly in the face of a pretty girl.

“Really!?!”  Princess Vivian leaned in close as if to get a better look at me.  Her nose was nearly touching mine, giving me a close up view of her fine features.  Had I not been used to interacting with gorgeous women, I may have become irrevocably flustered.  However, Minato’s harem has increased my immunity!  “Um, kind of.”  “Could you demonstrate?”  A barrier of light emanated from my wristband, surrounding the five of us.  It did not appear because I was demonstrating.  It appeared because a ginormous red oni appeared out of nowhere and tried to hammer us with his kanabo.

“ABYSSAL VORTEX CHAMPION!  I SHALL DESTROY YOU!!!”  The oni roared as he swung back the kanabo to strike the barrier once more.  It quivered under the onslaught, but held firm.  “Ibaraki-doji, you idiot.  I told you not to rush head long into things.  If I weren’t around to have paralyzed the hidden guards, we would be swimming in human vermin right now.”  A beautiful woman in a kimono with the palest skin and floor-length silver blue hair appeared in a whirl of snowflakes.  Frost emanated from the place she stood and the air chilled around her.  My breath crystallized in the air due to the cold.

“SUSAN, YOUR ASSISTANCE IS APPRECIATED BUT UNNECESSARY!  I ALONE CAN DEAL WITH THIS REMNANT!”  Ibaraki-doji bellowed as he continued to thrash my barrier.  His dedication was paying off, as I could feel the artifact’s magic start to waver.  Princess Veronica though decided not to wait.  She drew a shining sword from what looked like nowhere and slashed at Ibaraki-doji, who was forced to try and block.  The shining sword detonated as it hit the kanabo, knocking the oni over.  “Excellent!  I shall assist you!  Seal of the Enlightened Shadow Emperor!”  Koji pulled out a pair of talismans, crumpled them up, and threw them at Ibaraki-doji.  Before they could connect, a pillar of ice erupted from the ground and blocked them.

“Ha.  He carries no smell of inner mana.  It appears that the Abyssal Vortex Champion is merely a normal human who uses magic items.  What a waste of time.  Ibaraki-doji, clear out the scum while I deal with the human with the relic.”  Susan coldly spoke without an ounce of inflection in her voice.  She waved her arm, causing an icy wind to blast Princess Vivian off to the side before she could retreat back inside the barrier.  She looked rather injured by the move, although the sheathe of her sword was shining and seemed to be healing her.  It doesn’t look like it’ll finish in time to get the princess to stand up and deal with the slowly approaching ice demon.  I would try and save her, but I’m trapped here as Ibaraki-doji resumed his attack on my barrier.  Damnit!  What do I do now!?  Am I going to have to watch another person die?!?  Shit, if only I weren’t so weak!  Minato, where the hell are you?!?

And of course, the instant I asked that question is when a piercing bolt of light blasted into Susan.  She had managed to conjure a frozen shield, but it simply shattered under the force of the shot, blasting her away to slam into a nearby tree.  Ibaraki-doji turned to check on his comrade, which ended up being a mistake.  A very large black fox with 3 tails rammed into him and sent him flying in the direction of Susan.  “Shit.  Lord Dante’s betrothed seems to be here.  Ibaraki-doji, we’re leaving.  This other fraud isn’t worth our time.” Susan said as magic enveloped her and the red oni.  They teleported away, just in time to avoid a salvo of magic bullets that tore up the area where they were just in.  Wait, did they say ‘Dante’s betrothed’?

I looked at the terrifying form of Rin, which was spitting black flame everywhere as she snarled at the fleeing demons.  Yep, I can now confirm that Rin was at the concert attack.  That was definitely her that blasted off the stadium roof.  Minato was there at the concert attack.  Why didn’t he mention that?  What is he hiding?  What’s his relationship with ‘Dante’s betrothed’?  Is that a reference to Rin?  I put the questions out of my mind as I ran over to check on the Princess.  “Are you okay?” I asked as she managed to unsteadily get back on her feet.  “A little frostbitten, but otherwise I’m alright.  Are the others okay?” I glanced back at Aito, Koji, and Kiyoshi, who were all staring at Rin warily.  “Yeah, we’re fine our end.”  I responded.  Princess Vivian followed my look, and she understandably stiffened at the sight of Rin.

“Is that thing a threat?” she asked warily.  I was about to answer no, but the demon fox apparently overheard.  “I’m not a thing!  You’re a thing!  Meanie!”  The demon fox turned her head away as she pouted in displeasure.  It was odd, seeing a monstrous fox doing that.  She then vanished in a puff of black smoke, leaving behind 4 shocked individuals and a facepalming me. After some pause in which we confirmed that the confrontation was really over, the Princess sheathed her sword (which then seemed to vanish from sight) and focused her attention onto me.  “You know that fox.  You relaxed when it appeared and didn’t show any surprise at our sudden magical assistance.  Explain, and while you’re at it explain everything you know about magic and the true nature of Pandemonium.”  Her blue eyes seemed to bore a hole through me as she waited for a response.

…I hope you’re happy with yourself Minato.  Your refusal to reveal yourself and your demand that I keep you out of this has forced me to have to start lying my ass off to a princess.  What has happened to my life?  Mysterious and magical best friends, princesses, demons galore all are conspiring to mess up my life!  And yet I’m still an ordinary otaku with no supernatural talents!  I want a refund on this crappy anime setting!