ABM – Chapter 45

Translator(s): ShimizuA, DC    Editor(s): Momielxai, TheCornSnek, Yuzuhaa    Proofreader(s): Momielxai    TLC: ShimizuA

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One day – Evening

“Go~od after~no~on!”


At snack time, a loud voice echoed inside the hideout as the entrance was vigorously opened. A petite silhouette, dressed in a uniform of the famous high school at the royal capital west district, entered the living room with light steps. From that uniform alone, it was clear who they were.

“Yo, Eliza. Come in.”
“Thanks~ Shizuru-senpai! Since I was nearby I decided to come in~!”

She said it in a slow tone that subtly felt polite yet attractive. By the way, she naturally wasn’t armed with swords.

“I was preparing some snacks just now. If you don’t mind, want to――”
“Bon appétit!”

Shizuru replied with a wry smile, as he got up from eating. Eliza, who exchanged seats with him and sat next to Mary, turned and smiled towards her.

“Good afternoon, Mary.”
“ …………”

Ignored. Not even greeting her back, she didn’t bat an eye. Rather, Mary outright moved her stool further away. Eliza’s heart began to break a little.
――Although, she wasn’t easily discouraged. Since Eliza was around sixteen years old, she naturally liked girlish and cute things. Some time ago, when Lady changed her form into a variation of a puppy, she was hugged for a whole hour. Since then, she hasn’t changed into a puppy around Eliza.

“That’s a cute outfit, isn’t it~? Did Shizuru-senpai buy it for you?”
“ …………”

She kept approaching. She kept moving further away. A crack ran through Eliza’s heart.

“S-so today snack is cake huh. Isn’t it delicious~?”
“ …………”

She moved much closer. And Mary moved, avoiding her again. Eliza’s heart was like tofu, already on the verge of collapse.
―― And repeat.

“Thanks for waiting, Eliza. I brewed some tea―― oops.”

Shizuru came back a moment later with tea and cake, and Mary was hidden behind him. To the outright rejection, Eliza’s heart broke with a shattering sound.

“ …… I want to kill…… sword, where is my poisoned sword……”
“I sent it for sharpening along with Beth’s Sabre. When they return, I will smear the poison on it again, okay?”
“Th…… Thank you, very much……”

The deadly fast-action poison coating on Eliza’s specialized short sword was an original poison made by a pharmacist that belonged to Black Maria’s second unit. It was a paralysis poison that would make a person unable to move in a few seconds if they received even the slightest scratch from the coated weapon.
Inflicting injury on the first surprise attack, rob their movement, and strike their vitals. In short, torturing the ones who have been weakened by the surprise attack has become Eliza’s style. The way she does it was the worst.

“You’re so kind Shizuru-senpai…… Can I kill you?”
“No, that’s no good.”
“Is that so……”

Eliza hanged her head in disappointment. If he just nodded at her joke, she would be joyfully strangling his neck.
And in the end, she decided against it.

“ hh……!!”

Mary who was hiding behind Shizuru poked her head out and glared at Eliza. She said she would cut mother into something, but she is just all talk.

“ …… Beth, I leave the rest to you……”

Eliza’s heart was completely shattered because not only she didn’t stop avoiding, she also was clearly hostile towards her. She dropped her shoulders as she couldn’t bear to be in this situation.  
She lightly tapped her forehead twice.
This worked as the switch for Eliza. She preferred to change her personality by doing it this way.

“―――― The worst.”

*thud*, A moment after her posture collapsed. Beth annoyingly smacked her lips with a gloomy face, half-closed eyes that distorted Eliza round eyes.  

“She is the worst, that fool Eliza. My life purpose isn’t to clean up your mess you know? You really piss me off that I want to kill you from the bottom of my heart.”
“Yo Beth, welcome. We only have cake for a snack, do you want it?”  
“―― Ha. I hate such happy things like cake, it makes me feel sick. What? Did Shizuru say I have a sweet tooth??”
“ …… No well, if you don’t want to eat, at least drink the tea……”
“Who said that I won’t eat it? I will eat it, but I still hate it.”
“Yeeaah……”

*Haa*, Beth let out a big sigh while inclining her stool on its one leg. Why can’t you just be honest? Shizuru thought about such and smiled.
And then, looking at Beth who wasn’t in a good mood for compliments; Mary, who had been hiding, came out from behind Shizuru.

“ …… Beth.”
“Oh my? I wonder if you didn’t need to stay behind your mother, oh little twerp.”

Mary nodded to Beth’s question, as a nasty smile surfaced on her(Beth’s) face. Beth abruptly, and nonchalantly, put her hand around the girl’s neck.

“Haa―― whatever. So careless, I could snap your neck right now and you wouldn’t even be able to object.”

While laughing, a little bit of force was added to her hand at the same time. She could kill her immediately just like that…

“What? Just because I took care you once on a whim, did you think that I was an affectionate older sister? If so, then you must have bad eyes! Unfortunately, I’m am the most deplorable woman that would kill anyone without the bat of an eye. Go back and tremble behind your mother if you understand.”

After saying that, she let go of Mary’s neck, one finger at a time, Beth cruelly laughed happily. But Mary didn’t move. Nor did she become frightened either. On the contrary, she actually grabbed onto the hem of Beth’s uniform and looked up to her with her innocent eyes.

“…… Are you dumb? Do you really want to be killed that much? Even if you’re by my side, nothing good will come of it.”
“I like Beth.”

Her light brown left eye that has the same color as her hair, and her emerald green right eye that reminds you to a plague, were opened a little.

“Like. Do you want half of my cakes?”
“Hahahaha. Funny, it’s not really funny, it’s actually the worst. I’ve never heard you say the same statement twice, Do you want to be skewered? It can’t be helped, it’s inevitable, I can’t say I’m shocked either, I guess I’ll go along with it. Thanks, twerp, incidentally, I want some cake. I’ll have some of your share.“

She was talking considerably fast, almost as if to conceal her embarrassment. She shook Mary’s hand carefully as consideration for her and arrived at the seat where Eliza had been sitting not too long ago. Although it could have been because of the sun, it seemed like her cheeks were turning red.

“…… You’re not being honest~.”
“Did you just say something fatal that could be misunderstood, Shizuru? Bring some more and tea and cake from earlier, I hate both. Prepare some cake, particularly Mont Blanc because I hate it the most, I hate it. After all, if you dislike it, you should eat what you hate the most right?”
“Ahaha…… Ok, princess.”
“――――That…… don’t ever say that again. I’ll kill you, you’re really…… really the worst.”

Beth covered the right half of her face with her right hand and put her elbow on the table while turning away and spewing out swears. With a smile, Shizuru’s slim form turned back and returned to the kitchen.