My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

Because the shackles the Order had placed me in were not intended to be removed, they did not have any typical mechanism to take them off like a lock, keyhole or such.

"I have a small vial of liquid in my right nostril. If you could take it out and pour some of the contents on each of the restraints, that'd work..."

Thus, I needed a sure-fire way of getting out of them.

As for why I had stored it up my nose, well, where else was I going to store it?

I knew that my entire body, including my mouth, was going to be searched, so the option of hiding it anywhere I normally would was automatically gone.

I also couldn't hide it in my ears because of the plugs I knew they were going to put in there during the kidnapping.

I could have swallowed it and forced myself to throw it up when needed, but not only does it come with the unnecessary risk of the capsule possibly leaking inside my stomach, but it also requires me having to throw up.

Forcing myself to throw up when all my limbs are tied is not an easy thing to do.

Therefore, the only place left was in my nose.

They may have thought to check my mouth, but they never imagined I might hide something in there.

Anyway, if it wasn't the nose, then I'm not just going to go and shove it up my ass, am I?

"That's... Uu... Uh... O... O-okay, just give me a second."

Naturally, albeit it with a bit of hesitation, Miyu listened to my instructions and reached for my face.

She had to take a glove off to fit the tips of her finger in, but she soon pulled out a teeny, less-than-fingernail-sized glass capsule.

Pouring a droplet of the viscous, goo-like green substance contained within the capsule on the middle of my hand and leg-cuffs, black smoke instantly began to arise.

A single drop was all that was needed.

Tsss-!

The sizzling sound of corrosion reached our ears as the restraints rapidly melted and fell to the ground with a resounding 'clang-!'.

"Ah~ That's much better. Thank you very much, Miyu-san."

Rising to my feet, I rubbed my sore wrists and briefly stretched my limbs.

"C-can you tell me what the cure is now? Please."

"Of cours--Woah-!?"

Taking a step towards her, I tripped and reflexively grabbed onto her as I fell. Thankfully, she caught me at the same time despite the surprise.

"Ow... Sorry about that... I think my ankle is sprained."

"Are you alright...?"

"Yeah, it'll be... Sorry, can I lean on your shoulder for a while?"

"Huh? O-oh, sure."

Helping me up, she put one of my arms around her neck and supported my body with her own.

"Thanks... So, about that cure."

"Ah, yes!"

My next words came out in a slightly deeper tone.

"――Sorry, but you'll have to do without it."

"Huh--hgk-!?"

Grip-!

"Heuk...?!"

I tensed my bicep, tightening my grasp around her neck, and Miyu began to gasp for breath within my chokehold.

It seemed like she could still breath, if barely, but I was successfully blocking her carotid arteries to prevent the blood from flowing to her head, so it wouldn't matter either way.

Thump-!

Thump-!

Thump-!

Her petite and slender hands slammed against my arm, but to no avail.

Miyu's strength was feeble to begin with, and as the asphyxiation continued, it only dwindled further.

My arm having clamped down on her throat like a vise, there was no escape.

It was impossible for her to last long.

"..."

Like a rat constricted to death by a boa or a python, she was unconscious.

Thud-!

As there was no further use for it, I released her her body, allowing it to simply fall to the floor.

Unfortunately, because she had too small of a physique, I couldn't take her clothes, so I would have to wander around in my underwear for now, but it didn't matter too much.

Walking out of the room and through a long, metal hallway, I soon found myself in a corridor that appeared like a combination of a hospital and an office building.

Hm.

This way, huh.

An inner map of the structure appearing in front of me, I quickly arrived at some of the living quarters.

This place was rather quiet. In fact, I didn't see a single soul on the way here.

That probably has something to do with that 'breach' that occurred a short while ago.

It was a rather large base of operations for the Order, it seems, and the inner structure was almost labyrinthian, but there were plenty of signs on the walls saying where to go and I basically had my own satellite navigation system anyway, so it wasn't possible for me to get lost.

There didn't seem to be anyone in the living quarters, in any case, so I just opened the door and went in.

Thankfully, there were plenty of spare clothes, so I easily found a uniform that was about my size and put it on, including a black mask that covered my entire face.

They even had a mini weapons storage with a few different types of firearms and ammunition in here, so of course I took some of that too.

Fancy stuff, huh?

Now that that's done, I began making my way towards the final destination.

As I passed through the halls of the base, I passed a small group of grunts rushing in the direction I was coming from.

They passed me without much thought―most likely because they were in a hurry, wherever they were going―but I didn't want to risk them questioning me and getting suspicious about why I was going in the opposite way.

Bang bang bang-!

Thus, I shot them in the back and continued.

Onwards.

Eventually, after a while of walking, I reached the target.

[Branch Manager's Office]

Glancing once at the sign just to quickly confirm that it was in fact the right place, I kicked down the door in one motion.

Crash-!

The room was just a plain, fancy-looking office that you would expect from a business manager.

"!? What the fuck are you doing...?!"

In front of me, sitting behind his desk, was a man in a black leather chair.

Bang, Bang-!

"Gah-!?"

I shot him once in each shoulder for a start, as I didn't intend on killing him just yet.

"Y-you bastard...! W-who the hell are you?!"

Despite being shot twice, he still had the energy to shout? Goodness.

"Let's not be so loud, yeah?"

"Who the fuck do you think you are...!?"

Bang-!

"Guh-!"

"I warned you. If you keep going, I'll do it again and again until you listen."

Clenching his teeth, the man who appeared to be in his mid-forties or fifties glared daggers at me, trying his very hardest to restrain himself from lashing out.

Well done.

"Good. Now, tell me something―"

Slowly, I reached a hand up to my face and removed my mask.

"...!"

Realising my identity immediately, the man's face paled white as if he had spotted a ghost.

"―What on Earth gave you the impression that such an awful plan was actually going to work?"

It was a good attempt, but...

"Sorry. You should have tried a little harder."

An 'attempt' is still a failure, after all, no matter how good or bad it may have been.