She Tears People Apart

Episode 3

If I were to choose the most bothersome of the many inconveniences that arose after becoming the Minister of Intelligence, it would be that I can’t even go out alone on holidays.

Regardless of my actual abilities or value, I am the Minister of the Imperial Intelligence Agency.

In terms of title, that’s a very high-ranking position. Therefore, I am always accompanied by guards wherever I go.

Well, that would be fine normally. The agents assigned as guards usually respect one’s personal time.

The problem arises when a person with no concept of privacy in their brain takes on the guard duty.

“Minister! I want to eat that this time! Buy me that!”

“………”

While walking down the street, she abruptly pointed to the food someone else was eating, grabbed my sleeve, and was now being insistent—this one’s name is Christina.

Even if she looks like this, she’s an Owl operative, a secret assassination unit within the Intelligence Agency, and what’s more, talent scouted directly from elsewhere by the Imperial Government.

For the record, despite her demeanor, Christina is a proper adult woman. Freshly so, granted, having just come of age this year, but definitely not a child.

Even if her actions scream otherwise.

“Minister! Are you even listening to me?”

“I am.”

Suppressing a sigh that threatened to escape, I went to the stall Christina pointed at and bought her the cotton candy she wanted.

This kind of situation was what I envisioned from the moment she volunteered to be my bodyguard.

Even so, the reality crashing down was far more exhausting than anticipated.

If I were to explain this situation to someone, they might raise a question.

If it’s so bothersome, why not just refuse her protection in the first place?

That’s a fair point. If I could refuse, I would.

But I couldn’t.

Because I’m afraid of Christina!

“Mmm! It’s so sweet! So yummy! Want some, Minister?”

The identity of this woman, smiling as she offered me cotton candy, is that of an assassin.

And not just any assassin, but a natural-born killer who had been taking lives even before being scouted by Owl.

I once witnessed her killing someone.

Christina didn’t use weapons when she killed.

She simply tore them apart with her bare hands.

Adult men, armed with weapons, torn apart, with her bare hands!

Honestly, beyond being an assassin or a killer, this creature isn’t even human!

“Minister?”

Christina’s gaze turned into icy daggers, piercing my chest.

The cotton candy remained extended towards me.

I quickly leaned forward and took a bite.

“Ah hah! How is it? Sweet and delicious, right?”

“Mm.”

That was close-! My attention had slipped for a moment, lost in thought.

If I’d continued to ignore Christina, I too would have been torn apart by her hands.

When facing a wild beast, you can never, not even for a moment, let your guard down.

Today, I shall faithfully fulfill my role as Kristina’s walking wallet, as planned.

“Come to think of it, where did you want to go when we left the house today?”

There was no such place. It was only that Kristina, barging in from morning as if she were my bodyguard and staring at me expectantly, was so intimidating that I feigned reluctance and hastily came out with her.

But to say that honestly would be an act of utter foolishness.

In the first place, Kristina wasn’t genuinely curious about where I wanted to go.

Her words were merely a feminine demand couched in the form of a question.

That is to say, it wasn’t ‘Where do you want to go?’ but rather ‘Where are you going to take me to have some fun?’

Had I overlooked this point, I would have been torn to shreds in an instant.

But you underestimated me, Kristina.

I had anticipated this kind of situation.

Having prepared beforehand, I was able to offer a pre-planned response with smooth, natural ease.

“A cafe.”

“A cafe? Oh, perhaps that newly opened, super-sized cafe that’s all the rage in the district?!”

I tossed her the bait, and Kristina eagerly took it, beaming and practically leaping with joy.

There is no room for doubt now.

Kristina had wanted to go to that cafe from the start, and that’s why she urged me to go out.

I was not mistaken, as I thought.

“Let’s go, Minister! Quickly! Hurry!”

With Kristina urging me on, we began walking toward the cafe of rumors.

I only knew the approximate location, but we were able to find our destination quickly.

It was thanks to the huge crowd swarming the entrance.

“Is this the place.”

“Minister?”

This cafe also operated as a bakery, which made the wonderful smell tantalizingly tickle the nose from afar.

While this is where I came to stay alive, the aroma of bread was not unpleasant. I can understand why it’s so popular.

Kristina seemed to have smelled the same fragrance, as she was sniffing the air.

However, perhaps disappointed by the sheer number of people, her face clouded over slightly, looking as if she were disappointed by the number of people

Surely she wouldn’t tear me to pieces out of spite…?

“……I see. Okay. I understand. It’s enough.”

Fortunately, Kristina gave up easily.

Having been a bit spooked, I was greatly relieved and, instead, took her to my regular cafe and fed her an enormous parfait.

Kristina was satisfied, and thanks to that, I managed to make it through the day unscathed.

That aside, why is it that I have to be even more tired on a rare day off than usual?

That night, as I tried to sleep, a sudden feeling of disillusionment washed over me, and I had to heat up some milk.

—

“I-Is this okay, looking like this?”

After hesitating in front of the mirror countless times, Kristina finally finished getting ready and took a deep breath before leaving her apartment.

Today was the day she had been eagerly awaiting: guarding the Minister on his day off.

Everyone knew that while the Minister was heartless and unyielding when working, he spent his days off relaxing like a normal person, so guarding the Minister on his day off was an incredibly precious opportunity for the agents.

‘And the competition is fierce.’

Especially the female agents. There were countless who said they’d bribe Celine just to guard the Minister on his day off, but that iron-walled witch never allowed any woman other than herself to get close to the Minister.

Naturally, complaints arose, but the male agents were, on average, stronger, and, more importantly, the Minister himself hadn’t said anything particular, so the female agents had no choice but to swallow their bitter tears.

Given that situation, one hardly needs to describe the agents’ reaction when the news spread that Kristina would be guarding the Minister on his day off.

‘Hehe, I’m different from those other chumps! And that’s because the Minister personally chose me!’

Strictly speaking, the Minister hadn’t personally chosen her, he had merely granted permission, but in Kristina’s mind, it had been more or less converted into something like that.

Triumphantly, Kristina went to the Minister’s house, and as soon as she relieved the agent at the door, who looked sincerely unwilling to be there, she barged right inside.

“Minister! I’m here!”

“Okay.”

Even though it was his day off, the Minister was clean and well-groomed, as if he had gotten up early and showered.

Kristina felt a pang of regret, as she had wanted to see him looking tousled and sleepy just after waking up, but at the same time, she thought this was good too.

‘The Minister, sipping tea while reading the newspaper with a languid expression, is so cool!’

Kristina went to the Minister’s side, sat down, and began staring intently at him.

Normally, she was the sort of woman who respected other people’s personal space.

However, the fact that the other person was the Minister, and the fact that she had the justification of guarding him, mingled together and caused the brakes on her behavior to fail completely.

If left unchecked, she would probably have watched the Minister’s every move all day long.

For Kristina, that alone would have been incredibly delightful, but a moment later, even more delightful words flowed from the Minister’s lips.

“Shall we go out?”

“Really?!”

Kristina thought that today was truly a good day.

Just being able to see the Minister on his day off was lucky, but to go out with him as well!

‘Could this already be counted as a date…!’

Cristina, giddy, immediately started pestering the Minister to buy her various snacks the moment they stepped outside.

It wasn’t so much that she craved the sweets, but more that she wanted to indulge in a little childish affection with him.

Even so, she secretly worried if she was being a bother, but the Minister indulged her every whim without a second thought.

When he actually took a bite of the cotton candy she tentatively offered, she felt like she could float right up to the heavens.

‘Ah, this is bliss!’

Back when they first met, she couldn’t have imagined strolling around together like this.

He was the Minister even then, but she had merely been a tool of her clan, devoid of self.

Bereft of purpose, conviction, or will, she was a machine repeating only murder, and it was the Minister who had bestowed meaning upon her existence.

In a way, the Minister was the architect of Cristina’s very self, so it wasn’t unreasonable that she sometimes yearned to act like a child around him.

“Come to think of it, where exactly did you want to go today?”

“A café.”

“A café? Ah, could it be that new, massive café that’s all the rage in the capital these days?!”

The chances were slim. She knew it, but a happy possibility bloomed in Cristina’s mind nonetheless.

Perhaps the Minister had deliberately picked out a date spot just to go there with her.

She’d realize that wasn’t the case the moment they arrived, though.

“This is the place, then.”

“Minister?”

The Minister’s gaze, fixed on the café from a distance, sharpened.

No matter how much she tried to see it that way, it definitely wasn’t the look of someone admiring a date spot.

Sensing something amiss, Cristina turned her head, and a familiar scent wafted into her nostrils.

Hidden beneath the sweet aroma of baked goods from the bakery was a brackish odor only someone accustomed to taking lives could discern.

‘…Blood?’

Cristina’s gaze followed the Minister’s, rising to the upper floors of the café.

She understood at a glance.

Something had happened in there.

Only then did she understand why the Minister had brought her here, and she murmured, a touch forlorn,

“…I see. Yes. I understand. It’s enough.”

Striving not to betray her disappointment, Cristina reached for her device to call in her backup escort from afar.

She couldn’t leave the Minister unprotected, even for a moment.

But the Minister spoke something unexpected.

“Then let’s go to my usual haunt.”

“Oh, me too…?”

“Hm? You’re not coming?”

“I, I want to, but… is that really alright…?”

Christina’s question, whether it was alright to leave that place as it was and go back, drew a chuckle from the Minister.

“Of course. It is a day of rest, after all.”

Needless to say, that Minister wouldn’t leave a suspicious scene unattended just because it was his day off.

The meaning behind his words was that things weren’t actively happening, so he meant to deal with it during the time when civilians wouldn’t be harmed—in other words, at night.

‘If it’s past midnight, it’s not really a holiday anymore, I guess.’

Thinking it truly was a Minister-like joke, Christina smiled bashfully and went with him to what he called his favorite cafe, where they enjoyed a huge parfait and had a pleasant time.

And when night fell, after switching out her bodyguard duty, she went back to that place from daytime with the other Owl members.

The next day.

A single report was placed on the Minister’s desk.