The Rolling Bootlegs (22 page)

“…Nn?”

When they’d turned the first corner and gone a little ways, they heard a noise from the far end of the alley. It sounded rather like a motor running, and something else, as if a massive object was hitting a wall.

“What’s that…?”

The source of the sound appeared around the next corner.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

It was a black passenger car, so large that it barely fit into the alley.

“I-I-I-Isaac! W-w-w-we’re slamming against the waaall!”

The sound of the car’s side scraping against the bricks set Miria’s eardrums trembling violently.

“A-a-a-and anyway, Isaac, I didn’t know you could drive cars this big.”

“D-d-d-d-don’t worry! I watched my old man drive all the time, and the b-b-b-basics seem j-j-j-just like a s-s-s-s-small c-c-c-car!”

“I-i-i-i-is that right! That’s a relief-f-f!”

As they chased after Dallas’s group, the two of them had spotted the car that had hit them. It was actually Ennis’s car, but of course they didn’t realize that. Well, and it really was the car that had hit them… But in any case.

Isaac had fiddled with the auto and gotten the engine started. They’d stolen small cars to use in getaways countless times, and their
skills were truly excellent. Taking the Genoard house into consideration, it was apparently safe to say that their thieving techniques—and only their thieving techniques—were top-shelf.

“We can beat those machine guns if we hit ’em with a car!”

“We sure can!”

They felt absolutely no guilt whatsoever about stealing the car that had hit them. The only trouble was that, although they’d gotten in, they’d lost track of Dallas and the others.

At that point, they’d heard the thunder of machine guns from a nearby alley.

“Found ’em, found ’em, found ’em!”

“Yes, that’s them!”

They sped up, plowing into the three in front of them.

Panicking, Dallas’s group tried to run, but they were struck the instant they turned their backs. Their momentum sent them tumbling from the hood up over the roof and around the sides, where they fell behind the car.

“We did it!”

“Isaac! The road! Watch the road!”

Maiza had suddenly appeared in their path.

“Waaaaaugh!”

Hastily, he slammed on the brakes. Maiza noticed instantly and took to his heels, so they’d somehow managed not to hit him, but…

…they sent the old man who’d jumped down right after him flying.

As a result, they accomplished their revenge for the hit-and-run, too.

Isaac and Miria hastily backed up.

They ran right up over Dallas and the others, who’d fallen behind the car, and then they were stuck.

“Uunh…”

Fully regenerated, Ennis slowly got to her feet.

“…Ah… Why…? How could this…?”

They’d been shot by Dallas’s group, and only she had survived…

Not sure what to think, she gazed at the prone corpses of Firo and the others.

And then

When Ennis rounded the corner in pursuit of Dallas’s group, she was confronted with an odd—but, to her, appalling—sight.

Her own car was stopped farther down the narrow alley. Before it, Szilard had a knife to Isaac’s throat. Slightly closer, Maiza stood stock-still, glaring at Szilard.

“Ah, Ennis. Excellent timing.”

“Oh! Ennis!”

“Enniiis! Save Isaac!”

The three of them called her name at once.

“…What? Ennis, what is the meaning of this? Why do these two know your name?”

This was a problem. Looking disconcerted, Ennis passed by Maiza. He didn’t try to move. He only glowered at her quietly.

Apparently, Szilard had taken Isaac hostage and was keeping Maiza at bay. …Although she didn’t understand why Isaac and Miria were there.

“Ennis. I’ll hear your explanation later. …Take over for me here, until I’ve finished ‘eating’ Maiza. …If Maiza tries to resist, kill him.”

“H-hey…Ennis?”

“Ennis?”

The two of them were watching her uneasily. Shoving her agitation into the depths of her heart, Ennis spoke:

“…You don’t really need to take a hostage, do you…?”

“Ah, you know how it is. Just in case.”

“……”

Wordlessly, Ennis took the knife, then restrained Isaac.

“Waugh! Ennis, you’re kidding, right?”

“E-Ennis!”

Watching Isaac and Miria panic out of the corner of his eye, Szilard approached Maiza, preparing to complete his eagerly anticipated ritual.

The machine gun had broken when he’d been hit by the car, so he drew a gun from his coat and shot Maiza through both knees.

“Gagh…”

With the joints destroyed, Maiza fell to his knees. This put his head at the perfect height to be consumed.

“Keh-keh… You value the lives of those two? How droll. No, no, I understand emotions like love and friendship myself, and I know humans can die or show strength for their sake.”

Beaming, he took another step closer.

“It’s just that, personally, I can’t stand them.”

As she watched Szilard walk away, Ennis spoke to Isaac and Miria in a whisper.

“…When that old man touches Maiza, hurry and run from here.”

“E-Ennis…? Oh, what a relief… I knew you were really Ennis!”

“Yes, she’s Ennis!”

The pair responded, also in whispers.

But they don’t know anything about me…
Once again, Ennis’s feelings were bittersweet.

“Oh… But we can’t… We have to save Maiza…”

“Have to save him!”

“…Why…?!”

“Because…he treated us to dinner yesterday. He’s a good guy, Ennis! I don’t know who that old guy is, but save him, all right?!”

“Save him! We’ll do our best, too!”

Ennis wasn’t able to hide her bewilderment, but she asked the two of them anyway, desperately calming herself down:

“…Did you…come to save that man?”

“No, we came to save you!”

“Huh?”

Her confusion deepened.

“Well, uh… You know! Those guys you took to the police yesterday broke out of jail and were walking around with machine guns! …So we thought you’d be killed…”

“But don’t worry! We hit them with the car!”

And they were currently under it.

“……”

An indescribable feeling came over Ennis. Had they known the enemy had machine guns and come anyway, not fearing even death? …Just to save
her
?

For the space of a breath, she contemplated. It felt long, but in terms of time, it was only three and a half seconds. She’d never thought so seriously and come to a resolution about anything before, not since she was born.

“…Isaac. Miria.”

“…Hmm?”

“What?”

Her parting words were brief.

“I’m sorry… Thank you. I’m really glad I was able to talk to you, at the end. If you’ll let me make one selfish request…”

Ennis smiled sadly, quietly lowered the knife, and released Isaac.

“Please don’t forget me.”

Without giving Isaac and Miria time to respond, Ennis broke into a run, knife in hand.

…Toward her master and “main body,” Szilard.

“To continue our earlier conversation… The girl in the suit is the homunculus I created. Well, since she’s the same size as a human, the term
homunculus
—‘little man’—doesn’t really apply. In addition, creating her from both male and female cells wasn’t quite the proper way to do it, but even so…”

Szilard stopped, looking down at Maiza, his expression filled with superiority. He had a gun in his left hand, and despair in his right.

“I don’t know whether it was because I used the failed product to cultivate her or whether the fundamental method was wrong,
but Ennis—that girl—was born with no knowledge whatsoever. She’s useless. Once I’ve ‘eaten’ you, I may use the finished product as culture liquid… Or, no, I’ll have your knowledge anyway: I can simply summon the demon and ask him.”

After he’d conceitedly wrapped up the matter for himself, Szilard’s right hand reached for Maiza’s forehead.

“Good-bye, Maiza. And…welcome.”

In the very moment his right hand touched his prey’s forehead…

“Gakh…?”

There was a strong impact at his back, and he felt something enter his body. His sense of pain was already gone, so all that came to him was an odd undulation in the neighborhood of his skin.

When Szilard turned, there was Ennis, quiet, a sorrowful expression on her face.

The blade of the knife she held was buried deep in Szilard’s spine.

“…Ennis… What is the meaning of this? …No, never mind. The time for explanations is past.”

At the same moment, a shout went up from the corner of the alley:

“Maiza!”

Firo, who should have been dead, yelled and came running.

The noise of gunfire was still coming from Alveare.

“You four, split up and watch the ends of that alley. Don’t go in until you’re ordered to; this is
our
turf.”

Having received a report, Edward arrived at the scene with a large squad of policemen in tow.

“…What happened?”

When he opened the double doors and entered the shop, the proprietress was standing there in a daze.

“I, um… I don’t really know… Some strange old man just hit me, out of the blue…”

Warily, Edward entered the speakeasy. He’d heard something that
sounded like machine gun fire on the way here, so he proceeded cautiously, gun at the ready.

“…What a mess.”

The place looked as if a storm had blown through and ravaged it.

Broken chairs were scattered near the entrance, and damage that seemed to have been caused by a machine gun was evident throughout the room.

After he’d scanned the area, Edward murmured, sounding vaguely relieved:

“Well, at least there weren’t any fatalities in here.”

There wasn’t a single bloodstain in the room.

“Oho… So you let that brat through, too, Ennis…?”

Slowly, Szilard turned.

“That’s unfortunate…is something I won’t be saying. I thought it was about time. I made several others before you, but the moment they acquired unnecessary knowledge, they betrayed me. I thought things might be different with a female, so I created you… But as I expected, nothing’s changed.”

She’d never heard that she’d had brothers before. …But it didn’t matter anymore.