Part 7: Episode 7: The Christmas Thieves Strike! A Desperate Struggle
That guard mentioned armor, right? Which means
Theyve brought some sort of vehicle, like a truck or something.
It matters not. My elite Le Bel security will have them neutralized in a matter of seconds.
As Sakuya finished his declaration, his butler approached once again.
You see? This is what happens to those who stand against the Le Bel family. Hah hah hah!
Sakuya, wait! Thats not what he said!
He said were, not have!
Wh what !?
Indeed, sir.
Any further outbursts from Sakuya were silenced by the sound of an approaching vehicle.
The music stops.
This noise Somethings coming!
I looked down the street to see what was coming towards us, and I could hardly believe my eyes.
L-look at that!
Its the Christmas Thieves!
In a tank !?
WOW! They werent bringing just a truck!
This is way more than I expected!!
Merry Christmas! (Were stealing the tree! Were stealing the tree!)
The two of them entered the tank and began to roll forward once again.
Gah What do we do? Its headed right tow--
Sakuya was interrupted by a tank shell that flew right in front of him.
They brought live ammunition!?
Stop! Stop! What sort of demons would damage my beautiful mansion!?
There are still birds inside! Ill go get them out of there!
They blew up the council room without a second thought At this rate, your house is going to end up looking like mine!
I cannot have that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have to stop them! What can I do ?
The music stops.
I am a hunter-gatherer I will fight in order to keep my friends and I safe!
I clench my fists, and assume the stance! The enemy is straight ahead! They cannot dodge!
I can feel the strength of Gaea beneath me!
My love my life, I place in this hand! I make my declaration here! The empress arrives!
I wound up and took a swing at the tank!
The music stops.
Nothing it did nothing at all
Well, if just my fists wont work
I need some sort of weapon
I looked around for anything nearby that I could use.
Forgive me, Japanese Post Holdings Company, Ltd.! I will apologize properly later!
I uproot a nearby postbox and take aim at the advancing tank.
I wound up and took a swing at the tank!
The music stops.
Nothing it did nothing at all
Im sorry, Sakuya Ive never tried to hunt an animal made of metal before, so I dont know where its weak points are
Even my elite guards were no match for it There is nothing a bird or human can do to that thing
A sharp crack echoes through the night.
I looked around for whatever could have caused this, but I never could have expected what I saw.
Wha
Yuuya!
And youve kept a lady up this late? Never mind the thieves, youre the real villain here. Please, forgive him, mon amie.
Oh, no, its fine! I wasnt able to do anything, anyway
You You rascal! What is that thing? What kind of high school student has one of those!?
Do not mock me with jests!
But Sakuya, even I have a broad-axe! Of course a fashionable young man like Yuuya is going to have an assault rifle or two
Precisely. I hope youve learned something about Japanese culture today, Sakuya.
Japan truly is a complicated and confounding place
While this discussion was going on, I heard some loud mechanical noises coming from down the road.
Yuuya, look out! Its still moving!
It would seem so. Alas, I was hoping to have things cleared up and be walking the sweet lady home by now.
Dont lay a finger on Lourde, lecherous cur! She is my underling!
Since when!?
A lady never likes a man who tries to monopolize her, Sakuya.
Dont bend my words! I had no such thing in mind!
Yuuya fired off another shot at the tank. Sakuya and I turned to see if the tank reacted.
The music stops.
Its stopped !
Nice job, Yuuya! Youre acting straight up cool for once!
Why thank you, mon amie. I am honored by your words.
However, while the tank had stopped making noise, the two inside the tank were not quite finished.
Merry Christmas (Connect this with this )
Merry Christmas (Stick that there )
Merry Christmas! (We fixed it! We fixed it! Yay!)
!?
I-Its not dead yet!
Oh oh, dear. I had thought I immobilized it.
Have you no other plan, cur!?
I have not prepared any more ordinance, no. It seems I have met my match.
Forget preparations! Would a super student like you really give up this easily!?
Yuuya tackled me to the ground, and I saw an artillery shell fly right above us. That was too close for comfort!
Eeeeeek!
Goon! Are you hurt?
I-Im fine Yuuya, wait! Your tail! Your tail is burnt! It smells delicious!
All that matters is that youre safe. A little burn like this is just another medal of bravery.
Sakazaki, you fool! Dont go raising flags here!
You seem to be having difficulties.
The music stops.
We all turned towards the newcomer.
Whod have expected him to show up here!?
Dr. Iwamine!?
Why are you here !?
I took the liberty of examining the council room this morning. I find this case rather interesting.
I could help you out, if you like. Of course, if you dont need my assistance, I will leave. I do have other things to be doing, after all.
I cant really see his face in the darkness, but he sounds even more uninterested than usual. Maybe hes in a bad mood again.
But, not even the doctor would bluff about something like this right?
What a sharp tongue you have, doctor!
Please, Dr. Iwamine! If if you have some way of stopping those thieves, please help us!
I had hoped to take them alive, but at this point I wont object if you decide to obliterate them entirely!
Sakuya, no! Theyre doing bad things, but I could never live with myself if I let you kill something that adorable!
I have no intention of killing them.
Miss Lourde.
The doctor turned towards me.
Y-yes!
The doctor tosses a ball or rather, a sort of oblong metallic lump to me.
The music stops.
Ah ! Its a grenade!
Leave it to me, sir!
Heres the wind-up
Hiyaaaaa!
And the pitch! The grenade entered the tank, and I could hear the casing break.
Look! Look! I did it! Hole in one!
Well done. You have a good throwing arm.
But, what did that do? There was no great explosion
Huh?
Yuuya was staring avidly in the direction of the tank, and so I turned to see what the doctors grenade had caused.
The tank is swathed in some sort of gas!?
Wha Doctor, we must withdraw! Well be affected too, and wont be able to secure the thieves!
Can you stand, Yuuya? We need to get--
The gas is spreading throughout the entire area.
We need to get back to the mansion and send out guards with gas masks!
Huh ?
I looked around and noticed that we were already surrounded by the gas, but none of us seemed to be affected. But then, who
Uu -sniff- achoo!
-sniff- -sniff-
The tank hatch opens, and the two white creatures stagger out.
Awww, they look terrible
Finding an allergen specific to them was quite simple. I found plenty of samples to work with in the council room, after all.
Mr. Sakazaki had already created a number of holes in the body of the tank, so it diffused in quite beautifully. I am pleased to see it worked.
How kind of you to give me some credit, despite my miserable failure. I hadnt expected that from you. Youre an exemplary teacher.
Thank you, Mr. Sakazaki. You flatter me.
Sir, how did you know so much about these previously unidentified creatures?
The music stops.
Looks like hes still in a bad mood. Hes staring off into space.
Were the tests he was doing this afternoon for this? If so, it was an undeniable success. Shouldnt he be happy?
We may have caught them now, but we had plenty of questions for them. We made our way back to the mansion with the thieves in tow.