"Me too..."
The leader and two others head to the restroom after leaving the five hostages behind.
"Hey, what are you guys gonna do with the stolen cash?"
"I'm gonna live it up for the rest of my life!"
"Same here! I'm gonna have fun all the time!"
"I'll use it for my sick sister's medical bills."
"I—"
"Aaaahhhhhhhh!!!"
Just as the remaining five started talking about what to do with the loot they stole from the bank, a scream echoed from outside.
"Oh no, did that girl get eaten?"
"Poor thing..."
"Well, we can at least build her a grave with this money. Even though we don't know her name."
"Ah, man. Imagining her being eaten got me kinda excited..."
*Crash*
In that moment, as they offered a brief prayer for the unknown girl's soul with their tattered consciences, a red-black beast burst through the automatic doors.
"What the—!?"
"What is that!?"
*Grrrr... Grrrrrrrrr...*
"Why is it back!?"
The beast, riddled with bullet-like wounds and bleeding purple blood, let out an agonizing cry.
"Hey there, kiddos. Nice to meet you!"
Dorothy stepped into the store, crunching on the shattered glass of the automatic doors. Her round glasses glinted suspiciously, and a pale wisp of smoke curled from the barrel of the revolver in her right hand.
"Oh, good. It looks like the hostages are safe."
〈Varrrrrrr...!〉
"Wow, you're still alive. You interdimensional pups are tough, huh?"
〈Varrrrrrraaaaaaah!!〉
"But it's time for you to go to sleep."
Dorothy fired at the charging beast. The shot was surprisingly quiet and light for a handgun, accompanied by a pale blue light.
〈Yaaah!〉
Three beams of light struck the beast's head, causing it to convulse briefly before finally collapsing. As the corpse crumbled into red ashes and disappeared, the girl watched with a pained expression.
"Ah, that hurts my heart... I love animals."
"Nnn! Nnn!!"
"Nnnn!"
"Hey, you there! Don't move!"
"Hmm?"
While Dorothy was distracted, the robbers rushed toward the hostages, pointing their guns and shouting...
"One, two, three... seven hostages, five idiots. The other two must be... in the bathroom?"
She calmly counted the hostages and the robbers, then flashed a mischievous smile.
"...What is that kid...?"
It happened in an instant. The fierce beast, which had stood unfazed against sniper rounds from large-caliber rifles and even the powerful strikes of armored mage soldiers, fell to the ground with just a few shots from Dorothy.
Even as it lunged again, it was suddenly blown away by an intense shockwave that sent it flying across the bank.
Witnessing Dorothy dispatch the monster in the blink of an eye, Luke remained frozen like a statue even after she was out of sight.
"…what, what kind of monster are you trying to take down with just that gun?!"
"Ah, that thing the lady has isn't a gun. It's a magic wand."
"...Huh?"
"That woman is a witch. A creature like that is no match for her."
"A witch!?"
"Didn't I say? I called in some powerful backup."
Upon hearing the inspector's words, the clueless rookie finally understood why she was called in.
"Don't move, don't move or I'll shoot you all!"
"If you so much as twitch, I'll kill every one of you! I swear I will!"
"Drop the gun in your hand, right now!!"
The robber shouted at Dorothy, who tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh? Gun? What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb! The gun in your right hand! Drop it fast!!"
"Oh, this? You mean this?"
She giggled and proudly showed off the revolver in her right hand.
"This isn't a gun. It's a wand, a magic wand shaped like a gun. Haven't you heard of gun-shaped magic wands? They're the cool new thing."
"I don't care! Just drop it!!"
"Enough, I'm starting with this bald guy! I'm going to kill him!!"
"Argh!!"
"Wait, wait! I'll drop it! I'll drop it, just don't hurt Barnie!!"
In a sudden shift from her earlier cool demeanor, Dorothy hastily dropped the gun on the ground and pleaded not to harm the pompous middle-aged man.
"Sure, that person looks all high and mighty, but they're actually really nice... mean to everyone except family, but super sweet to them!"
"I knooow riiight!"
"The weapons are down! So let's talk! What do you want!?"
"Ha!? I've been saying give us the car! I've been asking for the car this whole time, are you kidding me!!"
"A car!? Got it, we'll get it ready! Just release the hostages!"
"What!? Get the car here first! Then we'll talk!!"
"Honestly, we can have it ready right away! It'll be here in a snap!"
Dorothy is babbling, her face covered in sweat as she flails about.
"HAMMMMMER! Come quick, Hummer! See, I called! Release the hostages!!"
"Ha!?"
"Oh no, it's coming already!!"
"Hey, this lady is crazy! What do we do!?"
"Just shoot her!"
"Aaaaah! Everybody, downnnn!!"
The moment she yelled that, a big car with arms burst through the entrance.
"Haaah!?"
*VRRRRRRRRAAAAAAASHHHHHHHHHHH!!!*
"What the heeey!?"
*BAM*
A large vehicle with organic design and "HUMMER" markings roared into the five robbers. Thanks to the car's massive bounce, the hostages who had hit the floor were saved, leaving only the robbers to be run over.
〈Vroom, Vroom, Vrooom, Vroooom!〉
"…Look, the car came to help. Are you satisfied now?"
〈Vrooooom…〉
"You did great, Hummer. I'll give you some beef jerky as a treat later."
〈Rrrrrr!〉
Dorothy gave a cold smile to the five people who had become red stains on the car and picked up her cane. She then walked over to Barney, who was crawling out from under the car like a caterpillar.
"Ungh! Ungh!"
"That was close, Barney. It's good that we didn't have to deliver sad news right before a child's birthday."
Dorothy spoke in a casual tone, as if talking to an old friend, and peeled off the duct tape covering Barney's mouth.
"Phew! You witch! Don't mess with me! What the heck are you doing?! Are you trying to kill us along with those jerks?!"
"Well, I was just helping everyone. Go ahead and thank the hardworking Hummer."
〈Rrrrrrrrr!〉
"I almost died, you know!"
"But you're not dead, are you? I'm going to untie you now, so hurry up and escape with everyone else."
Pointing her cane at the ropes binding Barney's body, the tip began to flash white, and the tightly bound ropes slipped loose.
She used the same method to free the other six people and smiled brightly.
"Oh, where's the gratitude?"
"…Who's going to say it?"
"Yeah, it's impossible for you to say thanks to anyone outside your family."
"Vssharruru!"
"Ah, sorry Hammer. Good job, you can transform back now," Dorothy lightly tapped Hammer's car body, and in an instant, it folded up into the shape of a carry-on bag she had brought.
"See you later, Barney. I'll go deal with the remaining bad guys."
With those words, Dorothy patted Barney on the shoulder and headed deeper into the bank.
"...What luck goddess? You're more like a goddess of misfortune. This time, it's really over between us."
Barney muttered, recalling past traumas, but Dorothy just laughed it off with a "Hahaha."
"What, what happened? What just happened...!?"
"I, I have no idea..."
The moment he opened the door to return to his buddies after using the restroom, one of them got run over by a weird car with arms that crashed into the building.
"What is going on...?"
The more they thought about it, the more confused the two survivors became, their heads filled with nothing but question marks.
"W-What do we do!? Most of our friends just died! And when is that monster going to stop playing around out there and come back already!!"
"C-Calm down, idiot! What's that book in your hand? We can figure something out with it, right? If it doesn't come back, just summon another one..."
"Y-Yeah! With this, we can..."
"Hi there, how are you?"
Dorothy appears with a sly smile in front of the two panicking figures. The leader's heart skips a beat at her adorable grin but quickly tenses up upon seeing the gun in her right hand.
"Y-you!?"
"Sorry, most of your friends are dead. But it's not my fault or anything..."
"Don't come any closer! I'll make you into bait too!!"
The leader brandishes a red magic book at Dorothy, trying to intimidate her.
"...I see, so you're the leader. Where did you get that?"
"Shut up, don't come any closer! Do you want to be bait!?"
"It's not something you can buy with pocket money... hmm, well, whatever. It must have become cheap enough for kids to afford."
Despite the serious threat, Dorothy doesn't flinch and even laughs as she points the gun at them.
"W-what?! You think you can win with that toy?!"
"I will win. I've already taken care of the dog that greeted me."
"Huh?! Cut the crap, brat!"
*Bang*
Before the leader could open the book, a bullet of light blows off his index finger.
"Aaah!"
"Who's the"
Then, her right knee.
"brat"
She shoots the left knee of his companion.
"You little—"
She spits out these words with an annoyed look as the two fall to the ground, and then puts away her cane into her coat.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
"Ow, my leggggghhhh!"
The robber, who had been shot in the knee, screamed in pain and writhed on the ground.
"Ugh, shut up already. It's just one finger, big deal," said Dorothy.
"YOU BASTARD! I'll kill you! I'll get you right now...!"
"Pain, pain, it hurts!"
"How are you going to kill me? Are you going to feed me to the police dogs like an overzealous cop?"
"If I call that monster... Ah!"
Before the leader could open the fallen grimoire while gritting his teeth from the pain, Dorothy swiftly picked it up.
"..."
"..."
Dorothy flashed a wide smile as she waved the grimoire in front of the petrified robber, whose eyes were wide open like a lizard's.
"Hehe. Now, I have one question for you. Where did you get this book?"
"Hey, stop it! Stop, stop it!!"
"I'm listening~? Where did you get this book~?"
"I, I bought it from someone I know! A guy named Pixar who runs a shop in the alley of Block 13!!"
"Oh, that bulgy-eyed guy. Hmm? Did he have something like this in his shop... He did have some interesting stuff though."
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! You can have the grimoire! Just, just...!"
"Just what?"
Desperate and cornered after having the crucial grimoire snatched away, the leader's attitude suddenly crumbled.
"Uh, well... you see..."
"I, I was just invited along... yeah! I was forced to come along because that grimoire was used to threaten me!!"
"What?!"
"I didn't do anything wrong! I didn't kill anyone! The one who killed people was the monster that guy summoned! So, please, let me go! Please! Plea-what?!"
"Huh?! What are you talking about?! You were the one who bought that book and gave it to me!!"
"And you were the one who suggested using it to rob the bank! So it's all your fault! You take responsibility! It's not my fault!!"
"Cut the crap! I'll kill you! You always rely on me, but when things get tough..."
"Aah, aah... forget it. Let's stop this."
Dorothy, utterly disappointed with the bickering duo, slammed the grimoire down in front of them.
"If you had shown any remorse and promised to turn over a new leaf and live honestly, I might have let you off... but it looks like that's impossible."
She slowly opened the pages of the book, deliberately drawing it out to heighten their fear, bit by bit, slowly...
"Stop! Stop it! I'm sorry, I was wrong! I won't do it again! I swear I won't do anything bad anymore!!"
"So it's not my fault! It's not my fault, so please, let me go!!"