Volume 3, Chapter 27: Gentleman of Death, Tony Lair③
In one of the rooms of the underground research facility in Tetomburgh, Le Look Le Look of 『Laughing Clown』 stood. In addition, the vice-leader of 『Angel of Death』, Tony Lair, was sitting in a chair. They were staring each other down.
Although the handsome youths who acted as his attendants were standing by his side as usual, Le Look had no one like that.
「…To be honest, I didn’t believe it the first time I heard about THAT from Le Look-sama, but now I realize that we’re facing a huge problem indeed.」
「You’re finally willing to listen properly, eh, Tony Lair-chan.」
Le Look tilted her head with a smile on her face as she spoke to Tony Lair.
She was the one who cautioned the other members about the appearance of an extremely terrifying armored swordsman in Viscount Le Gael’s territory.
Tony Lair thought that it was just an exaggeration the first time he heard about this from Le Look, but then, one after another, they lost contact with the upper echelons of 『Angel of Death』.
「It should be the kingdom’s secret weapon. Although we must abandon this place, I absolutely have to kill that guy before we do so.」
「Properly speaking, in swordcraft alone, he is on par with the strongest of the Eight Wisemen, 『Knight of Blood Mist』. He literally quit being human.」
Le Look said this with a carefree voice.
Tony Lair couldn’t help but frown upon seeing that.
After all, her tone and her gestures contradicted each other.
「That way of speech can be regarded as disrespect toward 『Knight of Blood Mist』, the close aide of our leader, the 『Immortal King』 whose strength has surpassed the combined strength of 『Devil’s Piper』, you know? Moreover, judging a swordsman of that caliber so easily is—」
「This is not a careless remark of disrespect. Anyhow, I don’t want to fight THAT again, ever. If his attention isn’t distracted by the activation of 『Gu』 in Viscount Le Gael’s body, I might have died right there.」
Le Look shook her head.
「Le Look-sama, who became one of the Eight Wisemen, seems to have such a solid opinion about THAT.」
Tony Lair suggested that the situation that happened to Le Look might be because she had weak combat strength and limited access to sorcery.
Le Look glared at Tony Lair without even bothering to hide the displeased look on her face.
「Eh, are you by chance trying to pick a fight with me?」
「Why is a loser like you trying to act high and mighty? You’ve been falling behind compared to the other Eight Wisemen, too. And ever since I heard that you lost against that armored swordsman, I think that your seat is more suited for me, right?」
Tony Lair spoke with a gentleman-like smile on his face.
「Watch your mouth, homo brat.」
Le Look replied with a low, threatening voice to Tony Lair.
Her voice was mismatched with her cute, frilly clown attire and girly figure.
「Robic, Nein.」
Tony Lair called the names of the two youths sitting by his sides.
Rubic and Nein stood from their chairs and stood in front of Tony Lair.
「Heed my call and come to this world, Dancing Guillotine Portal Scissor.」
A magic circle formed in the air, from which a giant scissor came out.
Its six eyes were locked on Tony Lair, charging straight toward their target.
Rubic seized the collar of Nein’s butler attire and used the latter as his meat shield.
Portal Scissor’s blade went through Nein’s abdomen almost without any resistance.
「A-argh…」
Nein vomited blood, fainting with his eyes wide open.
Robic rolled forward to close in, unsheathing the knife he hid on his back, swinging it toward Le Look’s blindspot, and aiming for the latter’s chest.
Although Le Look reacted a beat slower, she still managed to dodge by leaning backward and parrying the incoming knife with the red cane in her hand.
Le Look then glared at Tony Lair with her eyelid-less eyes, which could be seen from her shifted mask.
Tony Lair shrugged his shoulders upon receiving Le Look’s killing intent.
「It was just a joke. Please don’t take it to heart. We’re not in the situation where we need to worry about internal situations. We’ll handle that armored swordsman. They should’ve already entered the underground research facility by now. And no matter how strong they are, they’re already in the center of our home base. Feel free to hunt down the small fries while we’re taking care of the main force, Le Look-sama.」
Tony Lair placed his right hand on his chest and urged Le Look to leave the room.
Le Look stood up from her chair, sending a glance to Tony Lair and Co. before she left.
「Nevertheless, if 『Immortal King』 learns that I defeated the opponent who forced you to escape with your tail between your legs, our positions might be reversed, hehehe.」
After confirming that Le Look had left the room, Tony Lair’s attention then moved to the expressionless Robic.
「Now then, Robic, why did you use Nein to protect me back then?」
「…Because I’d be more useful to you if if I was the one who survived.」
Tony Lair’s face broke into a grin upon hearing that answer.
「Yes, that’s right! Good grief, you always act exactly as I expect, Robic. You’re such an excellent doll of mine! Hahahahahaha! I guess my training is really effective!」
「What about Nein’s treatment? We might be able to barely save his life if we treat him now…」
Robic looked at Nein, who had fallen into his own pool of blood.
Nein was critically injured from the hole opened in his abdomen. It was obvious that he didn’t have that much time left.
「S-save… me…」
Nein kept repeating such pleas.
「Unnecessary. Although it is possible to save his life with the facility in Tetomburgh, we’re currently in a state of emergency. Even without that, he might be suffering from some side-effects. And it will be really annoying once that happens—not that Nein is worthy enough for me to consider saving him.」
Upon hearing Tony Lair’s remark, a dark shadow could be seen on Robic’s doll-like face.
He then looked at Nein and stopped moving for a few seconds.
「Is something the matter?」
「No…」
「I see. Well then, we’ll have to make some preparations. Since even that mysterious Le Look said that the other party is comparable to 『Knight of Blood Mist』, even if it was just her exaggeration, the other party is definitely not your average opponent. But defeating the other party means that I’m qualified to become one of the Eight Wisemen.」
Tony Lair stood and walked away, stepping on Nein’s corpse.
「Tony Lair, save… save…」
Tony Lair just smiled quietly as he stood on Nein’s abdomen, giving more pressure to the latter’s wound.
「A-ARGH! PLEASE, STO—!」
Tony Lair kicked Nein’s abdomen as he hummed a song.
Tony Lair was in a bad mood right, even more so since this blunder was caused by him.
Robic could only stare dumbfoundedly at Tony Lair.
Color drained from Nein’s face. He started frothing bubbles from his mouth as his body twitched like someone on the verge of death.
And then, the sign of life finally disappeared from Nein as Tony Lair finished humming.
It was a feat that he could accomplish due to his advances in research about the human body and corpses, a right given to him due to his position as the vice-leader of 『Angel of Death』.
「T-Tony Lair-sama…?」
「『Offering to the Portrait of Miss Tio』. Although I really can’t stand this kingdom, the fact that they gave birth to the musician Raelletes is the only good thing about them. Don’t you think so, my dear Robic?」
「Uh, it’s not about the tune you’re humming. Why Nein…」
Tony Lair then looked at the corpse under his feet. His eyes widened as if he just noticed Nein’s corpse right there.
He then placed his hand on his chin and pondered for a while before nodding lightly.
「Does getting rid of trash require an explanation?」
「…」
Robic was at a loss for words.
Tony Lair stretched his arms as if he did nothing just now and stepped in the pool of blood on the floor.
「Well then, I guess I’ll have to show some results after boasting like that to Le Look. Now it’s kill or be killed. Hehehe, what a thrill.」