MV – Chapter 92: Side Story – Noon Edition – The Diligent Little Girl

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter

Sponsored Chapter

At the Lanpeach Complex, a little girl named Koume was working hard. The sight of her tottering around with her tiny body, working hard, was simply adorable.

Today, let’s take a peek at her day, or more precisely, her afternoon. You might even wish to watch her all day long. There’s no doubt many gentlemen would prefer watching the life of this hard-working little girl over that of a minor villain.

Koume strolled happily through the sunlit hallways of the complex with her bed hair bouncing.

“Papa-shan came home~ He came back becaush Koume wash a good girl~ From now on, we’ll eat together and shleep together~.” (Koume)

Koume sang while humming in high spirits. The residents of the complex were healed by her cuteness and smiled warmly at her.

“Boss is back-usa~.. Guess we can’t slack off anymore-usa~. Now we have to work seriously from today on-usa~. What a pain-usa~…”

Behind her trailed a sulking rabbit, waddling along slowly. The rabbits had been taking things easy while the boss was away, and they weren’t too thrilled about having to return to proper work.

“Does Rabbit-shan hate Papa-shan? Koume loves him lots!” (Koume)

“It’s not about like or dislike-usa yo. We just don’t like getting scolded for sunbathing all day-usa.”

The rabbit blatantly admitted it hadn’t been working at all without a care. The rabbits had planned to proudly declare that they’d been working hard even while Boss was away-usa yo, but since watching rabbits snoozing in the sunshine has become a local specialty, it’s doubtful their lie would hold up.

In any case, they were still unaware that they’d soon become a local specialty because they would be hung from ropes as caterpillar-rabbits for slacking off. The rabbits begrudgingly began doing their work seriously while complaining all the while, one of which was patrolling the area.

“Uhm, all clear on the first floor~!” (Koume)

Koume had joined the patrol, as she always did during the afternoons. She would scan the empty lobby with her tiny hands raised, and nod proudly.

“Our home, sho we protect it!” (Koume)

Koume’s self-assigned patrol covered the first and second floors. No one had told her to, but she decided on this responsibility herself, and those around her watched warmly, smiling at the sight.

“More people have been coming here recently-usa ne~. There are new faces every day-usa.”

“Ehehe~ There are sho many gueshts at Papa-shan’s home~ I’ll have lots more friends!” (Koume)

Koume swayed back and forth, humming happily, delighted by the increase in people. Surely everyone must want to live in such a cozy place. Papa-shan provided futons, and everyone could sleep snug and warm after all.

But not all who came were as well-behaved as Koume. This was still the slums, and many of the visitors were locals who had heard rumors of safety and came seeking refuge.

Some who arrived naturally assumed the area still operated under survival of the fittest and thought the residents must be kept in line by force.

“Hey, the brat over there. Hand over that knapsack, will ya?”

━And so, things like this happened.

Several boys stepped in her way while she was leisurely patrolling a deserted hallway. All of them were filthy, thin, and just their eyes were glinting with a muddy light.

They were probably around twelve years old, and their gazes were fixed on the knapsack Koume was carrying, like starving animals eyeing prey.

In other words, they were common muggers, a familiar sight in the slums. They had spotted Koume and decided she was an easy mark, tailing her in secret.

“This is Koume’s! You can’t have it! Papa-shan gave me this, and it’s super important! But, I shtill have some bread left, sho I’ll give you that.” (Koume) 

Koume’s Papa-shan had given her the small knapsack because she tended to stuff her pockets with things.. She always carried it with her since then; it was her treasure.

“Heh, it is your fault for wandering around here alone. Come on, hand it all over, now.”

“We’ll take care of that bread for you.”

“Hope there’s some money in there too.”

The boys were already convinced the knapsack was theirs, grinning nastily as they surrounded Koume.

“Think this weird creature is edible too?”

“Looks tasty. Don’t let it get away.”

“It’s been a while since we had meat.”

They eyed the Normal Mode High Rabbit Gunner, which appeared to be a normal, unarmed rabbit, while drooling.

Adults would have at least heard rumors of this sector and would be cautious, gathering information about why it was safe to live there. That’s why they wouldn’t cause trouble to the rabbits.

But these boys had only heard that this is the base of a new rising team.

Seeing stores pop up and crowds gather, the pickpocketing children saw it as a new hunting ground.

They spotted the carefree Koume on their first visit, while scoping out marks, and decided she’d make an easy target.

The fluffy, chubby white rabbit looked like a plump meal waiting to be cooked for these boys who don’t know about what a rabbit is to begin with. Its round, innocent eyes blinked at them, and it tilted its head cutely, but it didn’t resonate in the hearts of the hungry boys.

“Hehe, gotcha!”

One of the boys reached out with a nasty grin and grabbed for the rabbit’s long ears.

But the moment his hand touched the ears, a heat knife appeared in the rabbit’s paw, turning the boy into kindling ——or so it seemed.

Just then, Koume raised her hands and shouted loudly.

“Telekinususuuuu!” (Koume)

[Apport]

A net materialized above the boys, falling onto them and tangling them up. It is made of iron chains, so the net was pretty heavy and painful as it hit them.

“W-What the hell is this?!  H-Heavy!”

“I can’t get out! What’s going on?!”

“It’s all tangled up. Ouch!”

The more they struggled, the more the tight iron chain net ensnared them.

“Hmhmph-deshu~ Patrol Koume will not let evil get away!” (Koume)

Koume snorted triumphantly, puffing out her chest in pride.

Her patrol wasn’t just for show. Koume wasn’t just any little girl. The rabbit-shans had given her this iron net as an item for her patrol duties. It is usually stored in the warehouse, but it was brought out when necessary, like for situations just like this.

“You little brat! Get this net off us, now!”

“I’m gonna kill you!”

“We’ll make sure you regret this!”

The boys thrashed about while shouting angrily, but Koume calmly placed her knapsack on the floor and pulled out some bread.

“If you’re hungry, I’ll give you thish.” (Koume)

The boys stopped struggling when she offered the bread, and looked dumbfounded, like pigeons that had just been hit by a slingshot.

They hadn’t expected to be given food. And it looked like real bread, not synthetic stuff. Not that they would have cared if it were synthetic; any bread was bread.

“…You sure? We tried to take it from you.”

“You looked hungry, sho here! Koume gets lots of bread from Papa-shan and Baker-shan, so it’s okay!” (Koume)

“T-Thanks…”

The boys, who had been on the verge of mugging her, were touched by Koume’s unexpected kindness and lowered their heads in guilt. They didn’t expect to be given food, especially after trying to steal from her. 

The shame of their actions suddenly weighed on them, but so did a sense of warmth at her compassion.

“Here you go!” (Koume)

“Uh… thanks… How do we get this net off?”

But there’s a net between them.

“Don’t worry, kid. You can eat that bread in a jail cell.”

A group of tall men suddenly appeared. They were part of the Lanpeach Complex’s neighborhood watch, drawn by the commotion.

“Koume-chan, could you remove the net for us? We’ll take care of the rest.”

“Ka~y! Telekinunusu~ deactivate!” (Koume)

The neighborhood watch mistook it for a binding spell that creates a net, but it is Telekinususu. 

The net disappeared when Koume used Telekinususu. It returned to the warehouse. 

The boys tried to escape, but stumbled forward, and were easily apprehended by the watchmen.

“You kids got lucky. If we’d arrived any later, you’d have been reduced to scattered meat chunks by now.”

The watchmen, familiar with the district’s deadly rabbit protectors, laughed wryly as they smacked the heads of the boys. 

Had they so much as touched Koume’s knapsack or a rabbit’s ear, the walls would likely have been blasted apart, taking the boys with them.

In truth, the neighborhood watch was more concerned with preventing building damage than saving lives. They really wanted to be spared from having the walls disappear every instance.

“Here, make shure to eat the bread, okay?” (Koume)

“Y-Yeah, thanks…”

Koume smiled brightly, handing over the bread before waving goodbye to the boys as they were led away.

This incident would later inspire the formation of the Koume Protection Squad, but that’s a story for another time.

Koume continued her patrol with the rabbit-shans for now. The rabbit-shan then said ‘we have detected a monster outbreak in the basement-usa yo’, and they split up.

That was the end of the work.

“Work’s all done for today! It’s nap time now! Oh no, oh no!” (Koume)

Koume felt hurried for some reason and rushed into the elevator, leaving the button-pressing to someone else as she hurried back to Papa-shan.

Koume knew that today, Papa-shan was working from home.

“Papa-shan, it’s time for a nap-deshu!” (Koume)

She heaved open the door to his office, finding him talking with Chihiro-oneeshan and Sage-ojisan.

“I’m gonna take a nap now! I’m sho shleepy~” (Koume)

“Alright, alright, time for a nap.” (Lanpeach)

Koume brought out a blanket with Telekinususu, and got on top of Papa-shan’s lap for a nap. 

Wrapping herself in the blanket and soothed by Papa-shan’s gentle patting, Koume closed her eyes and good ni~ght.

Koume would sleep soundly until snack time.

She worked hard today as always.

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter