Chapter 4 \nFalling on a bed from a height of about 30 centimeters and making a dull noise Mitsuha blankly froze for a moment. She notices where it was right away. She wasnât on her familiar bed but on the bed of her elder brother Takeshi and in his room.\n
As soon as I start thinking about why I am in my brotherâs room and not my ownâŠâŠ, my body moves by itself. I knew my brotherâs room well. My body automatically opens the second drawer on the desk and thrust my hand inside.
(Huh? What? Erm, this is, onii-chanâsâŠ. wait, what about the wolf? A dream? What about Colette-chanâŠâŠ)
What Mitsuhaâs friends call âMitsuhaâs spinal reflexâ activated. When thereâs little time to think and even a slight waste of time is fatal, Mitsuhaâs body instantly acts following âthe tentative best answer at the timeâ in advance. Normal thinking canât keep up and needs to catch up afterward.
(Erm, my shoes are still on. There are leaves on my clothes. My body is battered, it wasnât a dream? Then, Colette-ChanâŠ)
She pulled out of the drawer a small nylon bag with many small gray grains inside. Mitsuha tears the bag and pours the small rough grains into her right pocket. There was a lot so together they were quite heavy despite the grains being small.Next, she takes something from a small shelf in a large bookshelf which fills the whole wall of the room and inserted it into the belt holding up her trouser.
âFalcon â ĄâA slingshot. Also called pachinko in Japan. However, having the power of a .22 caliber small pistol when misused sets it aside from a childâs toy. Mitsuha received a lecture from her brother and got to use it several times.Next, Mitsuha opening a glass case, grabbed a beautiful piece of metal and thrust it into the right pocket like the gray grains.
âGerber Folding Sportsman â ĄâIn a certain country, it is said that the father will give a folding knife to a boy when he is ten years old. An elegant form, a beautiful metallic glow, and a strong presence that only practical items has compare to ornaments. âŠâŠor so Takeshi gave a speech about, in short itâs a folding knife.(tn note: Mitsuha is an understanding imouto who listens to her onii-chanâs chu-ni)
Mitsuha ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Pulls the handle on the sink and takes a knife. Itâs a carver(deba bĆchĆ). A long thin knife(sashimi bĆchĆ) is sharper and longer, but it is likely wonât be able to pass through the fur and break. On that note, a carver(deba bĆchĆ) has the strength of security. For safety, I wrap the blade part with a towel and slide it in the belt.
Next, she takes a kitchen towel and spread it about 1 meter, fold it in half and lay it on the floor. She then takes from the shelf business sized pepper and Shichimi pepper and Hawkâs claw pepper powder and dumped them all and then roll the towel and puts it in her left pocket.
(Why Iâm here? No, Before that I have to help Collette-chan! But how? Oh, if Iâm right where I wished then itâs not a coincidence but by my own will? Then can I go back to where Collette-chan is? Then I have to find something that can deal with the wolvesâŠ)
Too bad, that part is already over.Mitsuha realizes that the best preparation that she could think has already been taken. She recognizes that her provisional actions were correct and her thoughts synchronize with the present at once. Mitsuha named this process âapprovalâ.\n
(Can I really go back? No, should I? What can I about wild beasts with all this? I might really die this time! Even though I finally came back safely to Japan!! Why do I have to go? For what reason?ïŒ
Thatâs when she thought about it. What would my brother, Takeshi say at a time like this?Ah, by the time I notice it was no good, it was already too late, and his voice and words flow into my mind.
âHuh? Do you need a reason to help a cute girl? â
Yes, yes, yes, I understand, my noisy, troublesome âŠâŠand beloved onii-chan!
Gon.
I bumped my forehead into a big tree. Shit.I look around, but I couldnât find the wolf. Did it go back there?Mitsuha hurried back to the tree she made Colette climb. There is no wind. Stay aware of the sounds, carefully but quickly. Itâs okay, they shouldnât be able to climb trees.
Although it took longer than running away at full speed earlier, it was not a very long distance so she quickly arrived at the tree. Peeking in from the shade of another tree, four wolves were barking at the top of the tree. All right, itâs still okay.Mitsuha takes the folding knife out of her right pocket and carefully so as not to injure her body put the blade on her belt. Then after pulling the slingshot out of her belt and holding in her left hand and takes a small grain from her pocket in her right hand.
Pellets, steel ammo.Lead is the main stream slingshot ammo. Said to be low priced, heavy and powerful, easy to process, delivers more kinetic energy to difficult soft targets that bounce it off, etcâŠ. But this is made of steel. Focusing more on penetrating power, itâs a head-on fighting manâs ammo. Or so Takeshi gave a speech about, Although lead pellets were prepared as well, this time she decided to follow Takeshiâs advice while thinking about piercing the thick fur. She sandwiches the pellet, then protrude the left hand and withdraws the right hand until she reaches her shoulder.
If asked why how did the weak Mitsuha can pull back the strong rubber so far, itâs simply because Mitsuhaâs body is small and her arm is short so when she normally pulls back the rubberâs length is way shorter compared to Takeshi.Of course, the power also drops accordingly. Against an adult beast, it wonât matter if itâll penetrate fur if it doesnât hit a vital point. She can only hope that the defenses of the wolves are low. There was a bow gun in Takeshiâs room, but I gave up because I had never used it and itâs likely I wouldnât be able to reload the next round in time. Even as someone with spinal reflex. Probably.
Aim carefully⊠I wanted to, but my arm was shaking so I quickly fired instead. Together with a small sound âPishunâ, the steel pellet heads toward the target at a high speed.
Gyan!\nA wolf fell with a sad cry. Oh, did it hit the head? Did hitting the head not protected with muscles effective? Did it penetrate the skull or just gave a concussionâŠBut actually, I was aiming at the parent, not that cub. Because itâs the strongest enemy, even if it couldnât defeat it, I wanted to give it some damage on with the first attack⊠Well, if one is defeated thatâs great. Itâs much better than missing.The parent wolf not knowing what caused the cub to fall is confused and circles around other cubs. Not yet, itâs still my turn!I carefully pull back again and shoot the second bullet! âBashiâ! The second shot also hit but around the right thigh of the parent. It seems that itâs the least damaging place. And naturally, it found me from the attack. Itâs glaring in my direction.
The parent, maybe a mother, two cubs who noticing the mother wolfâs gaze jump out from behind and came running here. The mother wolf acted perplexed for a moment, but maybe it decided to leave it to the cubs, it didnât move. It might be because it thought I was the same helpless child from before.I hurriedly launched the third one, but it missed. I guess it wouldnât continue going so well.The fourth shot. Maybe this will be the last chance to use the slingshot. The next shot will not be on time. Although I am distracted, as it gets closer the possibility of hitting increases. And also the power.Bashi!One fell down. It seems it hit around the throat. The throat is one of the key points with little protection. Lucky!
Maybe it didnât notice its sibling had dropped out, but the last of the wolves leaps over. By that time Mitsuha already threw away the slingshot, grasped the cleaver she left on her belt, and shaken off the towel wrapped around the blade.
Slash
It is not so difficult for Mitsuha blessed with kinetic vision and reflexes to avoid the inexperienced wolf jumping without any tricks straight forward as long as she paid attention. In the same time as I avoid, the knife roughly tears around the neck and the last one also sanks to the ground.
Uoooo~~n!
A blood-spitting roar spread through the forest.The cubs, the three of her precious cubs were brought down. Even if they were still alive, serious injuries in the harsh natural world promised a death not far away.Her precious cubs. Those strong, fierce, and respectable male cubs. She desperately them raised so far and they would become independent after a little more time. Moreover, to a prey used for practice without any nails, fangs nor fur!
hatehatehatehatekillkillkillkillkillThe mother wolf rushed toward the Mitsuha.
\nAfter a while, a little girl came down from the tree with a dragging sound. The girl looked fearfully around and approaches the chunks a little bit away, looking at them she raise a small scream. But rather than running away, she confirmed the situation and had a relieved face.
Afterward she slays the two reminding beast who still breathed with the nearby kitchen knife like blade and rush to the village in a hurry. As expected of Colette, cautious and without mercy.