Confinement King

「...It's coming(Kimashita wa)~」

I whispered to the sound of footsteps coming from beyond the darkness.

Behind me, I can hear the breathing of a beast that can't control its excitement.

That person is Eri Hotta.

She is one of my classmates, a maid in the service of the Confinement King-sama.

As part of the punishment for disgracing Lady(Mai) Mai(Ojou-sama), she is called Tapeworm(sanadamushi), which is far from an ordinary human name.

But she stubbornly insisted me to call her by that name too, with a slightly smug look on her face.

（Well, I mean Tapeworm(sanadamushi)~, huh...）

And now, in the middle of the night, in a residential area, with no one passing by. I'm currently standing in the middle of the road that leads to the mansion.

There are swarms of winged insects swarming around the streetlights, and a moth is beating itself against the light source.

What is about to take place here is an act of violence.

I have to admit that... I'm scared.

But the thought of being able to help the Confinement King-sama made my heart skip a beat.

The asphalt, which had been exposed to the sun during the day, radiated a warm heat, and just standing there made my forehead sweat.

As I wiping it away with the back of my hand, I stared into the darkness.

Lili-sama's orders were to "protect" the devil doll that had disguised itself as Lady(Mai) Mai(Ojou-sama).

Apparently, the detective sisters mistakenly believe that the devil doll is the devil that controls Confinement King-sama.

Today, they're coming to defeat her.

According to Lili-sama, even if the devil doll can be destroyed, the Detective Sisters will be defeated by the demon noble soon after.

From my personal point of view, if both the demon noble and the detective sisters are enemies of Confinement King-sama, they should crush each other.

However, Lili-sama believes that the Detective Sisters are worth using. She said that they should be taken to the point where the benefit can be maximized for Confinement King-sama. Perhaps she sees things I can't.

In order to do so, I must prevent the destruction of the devil doll while maintaining the misunderstanding between the Detective Sisters.

『Leave the fighting to Tapeworm, Devi andRinglet(Tatemaki Roll), you're the one who will play a role to deepen the foreign(Gaijin) woman's misunderstanding, Devi』

While ruminating on Lili-sama's words, I continued to stare into the darkness.

Eventually, the blonde's haircut reflected the light of the streetlamp, and the sound of footsteps ceased.

I suppressed my rising voice and spoke to the person who had stopped under the streetlight.

「I regret to inform you that you will not be able to proceed any further from here~」

「...Claudia said you were just a human, but you're a pawn of the devil, aren't you?」

The one who answered in a low voice was the big-sister(Ane) of the detective sisters. As Lili-sama predicted, she seems to be the only one here.

She has the figure of a model in the Milan , and the street lights seemed to shine just for her.

She is dressed in a black t-shirt and tight three-quarter length spats, with black sneakers on her feet, typical work-out style.

She does not appear to be carrying a weapon, but she is wearing fingerless leather gloves on her hands.

「Yes, I'm just a human~. I'm just a human whose master is a devil~... Then, she will be your match~」

As soon as my words were finished, Hotta stepped forward, dragging a huge battle axe behind her.

Seeing this, the big-sister(Ane) of the detective sisters narrowed her eyes slightly.

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「So it was the maid from back then... even though there's a clear difference in our abilities, you never learned the lesson」

「If the boys don't see each other for three days, they'll look at each other...」

（...She a girl, right~?）

I thought so, but I don't feel like I can make such a complaint.

（I wonder if she's really okay~...）

On the day when the young(Ojou) lady(sama) was attacked by the beast-like devil, I saw this big-sister(Ane) repelled off the devil.

Even though I am not interested in martial arts, I know that she is very strong.

In contrast, the Hotta I know is a normal girl, albeit stoic. Is there really any chance for her to win?

In spite of my uneasiness, I wondered if she would be able to survive. The painfully tense air between the two of them burst at once.

◇ ◇ ◇

As I step out from behind Yui-sama, I brace myself with my battle axe in my hand.

I feel my heart beating fast, an unusual sense of excitement.

At last, at last, the opportunity to fight that foreign(Gaijin) woman again had arrived.

I was hopeless last time. I was too weak.

All my attacks were dodged, and I was on the verge of fainting after just one blow, barely escaping with my life.

It was a disgrace that tarnished the name of Confinement King-sama.

But, in order to redeem myself from this humiliation, I have trained extremely hard.

The number of monsters I've killed has reached four digits.

Once again, seeing the foreign(Gaijin) woman, my resolve turns to desire.

I want humiliate her, to make her crawl on the ground and make her beg for her life.

As I stepped forward, I grabbed my favorite battle axe and took another step.

The foreign(Gaijin) woman doesn't raise an eyebrow, but prepares herself with a boxer's style.

Behind me, I heard her gulp and choke.

That is the bell to start the battle.

Although it was in a residential area, the head maid said that she would mute the surrounding noise. So, there's nothing to worry about.

「Uooooooooooo!」

I shouted and charged forward.

With a powerful swing, I land a huge blow from the top of my head. My skirt flutters and my battle axe make a slashing sound in the wind.

But the foreign(Gaijin) woman easily dodged it by twisting her body.

That was part of my calculation.

At the moment I struck the ground, I snapped my wrist to kill the impact and let the tip of the weapon bounce on the ground.

With the momentum of the blow, I swung horizontally across the body of the foreign(Gaijin) woman. A series of blows using the momentum. I'm sure of it. I'm sure she can't dodge this.

But the next moment, I couldn't believe my eyes.

Without even moving her eyebrows, the foreign(Gaijin) woman bent her upper body back like an Ina Bauer[1] and dodged it.

（No way!）

As if to ridicule my inner surprise, the foreign(Gaijin) woman's knee kick flew at my flank, which was unguarded by the follow-through.

（Kuh!）

I'm unable to dodge.

The damage from her knee kick is multiplied by my own momentum.

The impact is so great that my ribs creak.

Even though I strained my lower stomach and hardened my muscles, the blow was enough to lift my body.

Even so, I staggered to the back and prepared myself with my battle axe. Where did the pain come from? I can taste the blood in the back of my throat

She's fast. No... it's not just a matter of speed. She can't dodge just because she's fast. There's no way to dodge my attack.

If it's only about speed, then Orthrus is much faster. Even so, no one could dodge that barrage.

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（There must be some secret... I've heard she has a special ability... What is it? What kind of ability?）

Frantically, I replayed the foreign(Gaijin) woman's movements in my mind.

She starts moving later than I do, at least, not the kind of ability that can predict the future. Just fast? No, it's more than fast, it's also efficient.

「...if you want to run away with your tail between your legs, I'll let you go」

It's not interesting. That's what the gaijin woman says with that look on her face. She pisses me off.

「That's nonsense」

When I responded, she shrugged her shoulders with a look of annoyance on her face.

「Bullying the weak. It's not my thing」

「Aaah!」

Immediately, I felt the blood flowing back into my body. The wild roar of the beast drowned out my thoughts of needing to calm down.

I grabbed my battle axe again and--

「Uguruaa! Guruaaah! Guru-aaaahhh!」

Vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, I swing the battle axe with all my might and slash at the foreign(Gaijin) woman.

The sound of the axe cutting through the air and the sound of crushing asphalt echoed. The stones and debris fly apart. But not even the debris hits the foreign(Gaijin) woman.

On the contrary, with each swing of the battle-axe, the foreigner woman strikes me precisely at the opening.

The blows were as sharp as blades, and my maid's uniform was ripped with many strikes, causing my exposed skin to bleed.

I struggled to jump away and adjust my stance. However, for some reason, the foreign(Gaijin) woman didn't come after me.

I'm on the ropes, but--

（She can clearly see all my attacks. That's what I think）

As soon as I thought this to myself, an idea struck me.

（I get it now, she can counter me because she can see it!）

When I thought about it, not only did she not pursue me, but all of her attacks were all counters.

She can definitely dodge. She's so confident that she won't try to attack me.

「...I think it's time to finish her off」

I see a chance in her words.

This is the moment.

Believe in yourself and give it everything I've got.

The beast inside me roars.

Good, so good. I feel it.

The climaxing pleasure of life's exchange.

I'm wet.

I readied my battle axe again--

「Uruaaaaaaa!」

I held it high and went on a suicide mission.

The axe I swung at her was easily dodged, as before. But that's okay. That's fine.

As if to finish me off, a left-hand hook flies at my jaw. That's right, that's how she shook my brain last time.

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（Don't think the same move will work again!）

I look at the approaching fist, draw back my jaw, and meet it with my own forehead. A tremendous impact echoed. My forehead cracked and blood splatters everywhere. But I don't care. Just give me a fist bump to the head.

Even if she can see me moving, she can't stop her fist from gaining momentum. So, I countered her counter with a counter.

It hurts like hell.

Stars flashed in front of my eyes.

But the foreign(Gaijin) woman's fist cracked with a crushing sound.

「Aaahhh...! Ugh...」

She grabbed her own hand and backed away with a look of agony on her face. Her fingers are bent in a funny way. It was definitely broken.

I feel like I could kill her right now, but the head maid has given me strict orders "not to kill her".

So I said to her.

「If you run away with your tail between your legs, I'll let you go. Bullying the weak is not my thing」

As soon as I said that, the foreign(Gaijin) woman's expression twisted into that of a fiend.

「Kuh!」

As I heard her footsteps running away into the darkness, I screamed out in a fit of emotion.

「Uooooooooooooooooo!!」

My name is Tapeworm(sanadamushi).

A devoted maid of the mighty Confinement King-sama.

I'm a bit of a talker, a battle maid who screams.