One-way traffic

"…doorbell?"

It seemed to be an electronic doorbell ringing outside the room.

The man blinked, realizing that a customer might have arrived, and immediately slammed the iron bar to the ground.

He stared wide-eyed at the girl in front of him, pulled her out of the room, and locked her in one side of his office.

Click.

The man pressed a button on the table, and the main door to the office opened.

"Welcome, this is the Depart."

His face immediately adopted a businesslike smile, just like a waiter welcoming guests in a restaurant.

only.

"...Huh? I don't think I've seen you before...Are you a new customer?"

"Oh? I guess so."

The girl, chained to one side, trembled, the cold air and the pain from her wounds making it difficult for her to stand.

Even so, those eyes, on the verge of collapse, still managed to see it.

—On the inside of the room, besides the man who had just beaten her, there seemed to be another person dressed in strange clothes.

White...hair?

"Well then, it doesn't matter who you are, sir."

Even facing this seemingly murderous man, the man sat down in a chair with the floor-to-ceiling window behind him. It was four o'clock in the afternoon.

He sits here when he has nothing to do; it's a nice place for him to relax.

"Please tell me what you want. Do you want a car to escape Academy City? Or a key to a hidden location? Or do you want to exchange money? For money laundering, the current rate is 1 to 0.8. A few days ago it was 1 to 0.75, so now is a very good time to exchange money."

Just like a real restaurant maid or waitress, the man rattled off a series of things as if reciting a menu, even though everything he said was completely illegal.

But he didn't care at all.

"If you're trying to conceal your identity, well... your hairstyle and appearance seem a bit too eye-catching. How about I give you a makeover and a haircut? But even so, this murderous aura still can't be hidden. You're practically a born killer, so cool."

The customer facing him ignored him.

The other person seemed to take a few steps forward, and then began to look around the room.

Ultimately, they turned their attention to themselves.

"..."

Because something was obscuring her view, the girl couldn't see clearly how the other person was looking at her.

However, one thing is certain: the other party is observing me.

and so--

"Please...you..."

She tried her best to shout out in the voice she still had before she broke down.

"Please... save me..."

"..."

"I just want to see my brother again...!"

The man seemed annoyed by her excessive talking, and immediately frowned, even wanting to get up and hit her.

Is this also your product?

However, that guest asked the question in this way.

"Ah? Oh, yes, it has, but it's already been sold."

"Sold? Hanging here like this, it doesn't look like it's meant for her to do *that*, does it?"

"Oh dear, women aren't meant for men to play with."

The man smiled casually and said without wavering.

"She's a human punching bag, used to take a beating."

"... "

"Isn't this a common occurrence? Because you feel very angry, you want to find a place to vent, but the punching bag is too weak, so you simply buy a person to use as a punching bag to vent your anger. Isn't this a frequent occurrence?"

The guest looked at him and eventually walked to the table.

wow-

What lay on the table was a large bundle of banknotes.

"..."

The man was somewhat stunned; he seemed to have not expected this unexpected situation.

The guest, meanwhile, continued to place the safe he was holding on the table, oblivious to his surroundings.

"I was entrusted with a task, and I'm furious right now. Who knows, someone might lose their life."

"Ha...so you're like that too?"

The man waved his hand, but his eyes lit up when he saw more banknotes—and even gold bars—in the guest's safe.

"But it's okay, since you gave more money, you can take it if you want."

After taking the safe from the guest, he sat down directly in the chair behind the table.

However, at this moment, a look of doubt appeared on the man's face.

"Um...sir, I still have one question to ask."

He looked at the guest in front of him and said with some doubt.

"What interest do you have in a brat like that? Or do you prefer the flat-chested type?"

"...Ah, I see."

But then the guest suddenly burst out laughing.

"You seem to have misunderstood something."

"...?"

The man frowned in surprise as he watched the guest walk over step by step.

—His red eyes shone like the light of death in the darkness.

"What I want to buy is a human life, but not the woman over there."

"It's your dog's life."

For an instant.

The table was overturned, and the man collapsed to the ground in one breath.

“Guwaa ...

The moment he fell to the ground, he pulled a pistol from his pocket without hesitation. He quickly got up and only then could he see clearly what the other person was planning to do.

Guest—no.

Accelerator, the strongest Level 5 esper in Academy City, is walking towards him with his arms outstretched, like a monster.

"You, you bastard—?!"

"By your standards, everything can be bought with money, right? So... killing you shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Anyway, I've already paid, right?"

The man finally understood one thing.

This customer was never there to buy anything in the first place.

He's here to buy his own life!

Bang bang—!! Countless gunshots rang out, causing the girl on the distant wall to close her eyes. Then she heard strange sound effects, followed by a series of painful screams.

It didn't even last five seconds.

The white-haired monster stood still, with a jelly-like mass of flesh on the ground—the man who had been dead beyond recognition.

"Recycling team, come and retrieve this bastard's corpse right now. I'm about to throw up just smelling this lump of flesh again. Don't leave me here any longer."

"Huh? Is there anything else I need... Oh right, everyone from the recycling team, tell me to come back in half an hour."

"If any guy dares to get in here first, I'll fucking kick his balls right here and now, you know?"

He hung up the phone without hesitation, then seemed to remember something else.

After searching the entire room, he finally found a set of clothes in the collection room on the side. It seemed to be a young girl's dress, and it looked quite gorgeous.

Under the girl's gaze, the thing blocking his way was pulled away with one hand in an instant, and no one knew how he did it. Then, the chain on his arm was easily broken with two fingers.

She collapsed to the ground, staring blankly into a daze.

Until the other person threw the dress at him.

"You have half an hour to leave here. The recycling team will be here in half an hour. If they find you then, you'll just end up in the hands of another group."

"..."

"How you handle your life after that is your own choice."

He also threw all the money that he had originally given to the man onto the girl's side, and then walked straight out the door without looking back.

The girl stared wide-eyed, unable to resist looking at the other person's back.

"Who are you?"

Is he... a hero?

"It's a wicked party."

In the end, the girl heard these words.

"A bastard multiplied by three levels of dog shit evil party."

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

It's time for dinner.

Today, Hatsune Miku and Aiho Yomikawa cooked together. The dish was finally not just a simple hamburger patty; it looked nutritionally balanced and tasted delicious.

Accelerator also happened to be there at that exact moment, opening the door and walking in.

"Ugh, it's so slow!"

"What, is there food for you today?"

Seeing Hatsune Miku standing at the door to greet him with some dissatisfaction, Accelerator said with some surprise.

"Of course, it's not easy for everyone to get together, we can't eat hamburger steaks every day, can we?"

"That's true, I completely agree."

After giving a rare nod of agreement, Accelerator walked into the living room and casually sat down on the sofa.

"But what did you do this afternoon? It seems like you spent a lot of time there."

"It's nothing, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Hey~ saying that makes people even more curious!"

Just as Hatsune Miku was about to relentlessly pester Accelerator to get the information out of him, her phone rang in her pocket.

"Huh? It's Shirai-san on the phone..."

"I think it's the disciplinary committee member you mentioned."

"Hmm, but I wonder what she's up to right now...?"

Hatsune Miku quickly answered the phone, and soon her facial expressions began to become more lively.

"What? The little boy we met today, his sister has been found?"

"..."