Shihon couldn't believe her ears, and Margaret couldn't either.
"W-Wait…what?" the latter spoke up. "Magical…..Beast Girl?"
"That's right, Margaret. What you are hearing right now is confidential information, so if it leaks out, you will now be the cause of it."
"No….this is….I don't understand…I don't understand any of this…"
"You did mention that she survived a bullet to the face, right? Thankfully, the first ever Magical Beast Girl stored by one of the branches here in Polar Town is able to do that, and to prove that she is indeed the one that we are looking for…"
Pew!
It wasn't a loud sound, but the trigger of the pistol with a silencer was pulled and the bullet pierced into Shihon's skeletal system.
Margaret opened her mouth and almost screamed out of shock, but the blade that was held to her neck began to dig slightly deeper, and only air escaped from her lips.
Then, her eyes widened as the bullet popped back out from Shihon's nape, and a cracking of bones from within was heard as the restructure was already in shape.
Layers of skin and blood were plastered back into place over the bone, and Shihon gasped as the pain surged through her entire being and faded just as quickly as it came.
"As expected, you were right, Margaret, and now this Magical Beast Girl will return to us," the man behind them declared. "We need her back with us soon before the leader from the main branch in another country eventually finds out through a missing status report. We need to keep this under wraps, so let's get this done now without anyone getting hurt."
Shihon exhaled and quickly searched for a way out of the situation that she was in. She had no clue what this so-called Heavenly Project was, or any other nonsense that this random guy had been spouting. There was no way in hell that she'd return to the Magical Beast Cornerstone Corporation….
Not when she was already contracted to her Master, Liohime Kitagami.
"Now that I think about it, you must be contracted too, huh?"
"-hk."
As if reading her line of thoughts, the mysterious voice teased her with those words and continued, "Because I doubt that you'd hatch by yourself so suddenly, and there's no way that you broke yourself out of that branch warehouse to start roaming the city on your lonesome, huh? Ahhh, that's it…"
A new level of fear crept up her spine as the voice began to draw closer to her ear, changing into a deathly hoarse tone.
"We're still investigating, but we'll have to deal with your Master too-"
"Don't you dare."
"Hah?"
Out of nowhere, Shihon's anger had flared up on the topic of her Master possibly being harmed, and she bit on the inside of her cheek as she was genuinely horrified of what her statement could infer.
"Ah, you must love your Master, huh? Look, Margaret, she still wants to protect him. How cute."
Margaret did not react, as her gaze remained intently fixed on Shihon, unable to comprehend that the woman who had saved her life was actually a Magical Beast.
"This is your last warning, Magical Beast Girl," the man ordered. "Surrender yourself and give up your Master's name, or Margaret dies."
She held her breath. What should she do in this situation?
She only had a few seconds to make a decision.
Suddenly, Shihon smiled nervously, and replied:
"Let's play a game of chicken."
"...Huh?"
A surprised voice. Good. That was exactly what she wanted.
Shihon continued, "[Mental Link: Activation.]"
And immediately, the blade's tip sunk into Margaret's flesh, causing her to silently whimper.
"You dare!?" the man said as he raised his voice. "I'll slowly slash right through her neck here and now."
"Try it, and I'll kill you as well before going on a rampage towards the Magical Beast Cornerstone Corporation myself."
"HAHAHAHA!!! You don't have the guts, bitch," came the hysterical angry tone.
"If you're truly that close to Margaret, you wouldn't kill her here," Shihon immediately barked. "I'm calling your bluff, and my Master can now sense my location. Not to brag, but he's proficient when it comes to fighting, so you better back the fuck off."
She had now gambled everything on this. If she was right, the man wouldn't be able to kill Margaret and would lose his trump card, allowing her to escape scott-free, albeit with a new target at her back. If she was wrong, however, Margaret would die here, and who knows what this guy was capable of in terms of being able to immobilize her.
Thus, as she swallowed down hard, she gritted her teeth and waited for a reply.
And after a few seconds, the chilling response came.
"Goodbye, Margaret."
"NO-!!!"
Vines shot out and captured the man's right hand quickly, just before the blade could move any further, and Shihon turned to face behind her while summoning more vines to immobilize the man completely, but-
BZZZT! came the powerful, cracking sound of a taser from the man's left hand straight into the left side of her face with a right hook, almost putting her out of commission instantly, and he quickly countered with an unusual move.
"Phone Assistant, dial the Branch Representative and put him on speaker mode!!!"
"[Calling 'Branch Representative' on speaker mode.]"
"NO!!!" yelled Margaret, jumping into the back seat in an attempt to stop him, but the man's unrestrained left arm swung directly at her face, knocking her out cold with only one clean punch.
The world around Shihon felt blurry to her, but she had to move quickly. Her consciousness was fading in an out, but despite this, she hoisted herself over her seat and crawled towards the figure before her, catching his punch just as the call had picked up.
"[Hello?]"
"HELP-"
Crrrk!!
Shihon smashed the phone into bits, ending the call in less than a second, and then pinned both of her arms onto his neck without hesitation.
"N…..No….wait," was the sputter from the man as his body was laid flat out on the base of the passenger seat, but…
Shihon did not care.
In her mind, anyone who wished harm against her Master, were enemies.
She had to protect him, no matter what.
She had to eliminate the threats to his life, no matter what.
She would destroy everything in order to keep him safe.
Because…
(( "Until I die, I'll protect you with everything I have! I swear it! So please, don't die on me!!! Please!!!" ))
Huh…?
A new memory from the past.
A memory that she had never experienced before.
No, rather, a young boy's voice from a memory that she had never experienced before. How the hell was that possible?
She was a Magical Beast that was created from mana in the atmosphere. She had been found by Liohime only a month ago.
So….what exactly was this?
What is this memory?
She remained expressionless, keeping the grip on the man's neck tight, slowly but surely beginning to choke him out as she pondered on what the fuck was going on currently in her mind.
That's….interesting. Why do I feel so…happy right now, as if I've unlocked something that I've lost?
A haunting smile crept up her smooth lips as she stared straight into the man's soul, with her grip tightening each second.
Tighter and tighter….
I feel…
Tighter and tighter….
…I feel much….
Until…
…Much closer to Master, all of a sudden. How cute.
CRUNCH.