After leaving the Chinese restaurant, Hana-chan returned to school.
Her Majesty and I headed to Rabbi’s tailor shop, Charles & Retriever.
A high-class display window with gold lettering.
I pushed open the heavy black door, and Her Majesty strode in.
The moment she saw Rabbi, she declared:
“A vulgar Immortal has been meddling with my subordinate.”
“‘Subordinate’ is a stretch. I’m just a part-timer,” I muttered.
Rabbi seemed to instantly grasp the situation when she saw my face—now that of a wanted criminal.
“Ah, I see. Looks like you’re here for the other family business.”
As she spoke, Rabbi opened the door of a shelf embedded in the wall. Inside were ordinary items like belts, but she reached deeper, fiddling with something unseen.
The next moment, the heavy shelf slid sideways, revealing a hidden steel door.
When Rabbi opened it, a staircase leading underground came into view.
“Right this way.”
She ushered us in. As we descended the stairs—
The tailor’s basement had guns and swords lined up across the walls. But that wasn’t all.
There were crosses, silver stakes, ominous-looking axes and spears—
“Whoaa!!”
I couldn’t help but shout. Her Majesty raised an eyebrow.
“What’s with you? You’re way more excited than when you are at British shop.”
“Don’t you know? Boys love secret hideouts like this!”
“…………”
Her Majesty pouted. She’s the type who can’t stand not being the center of attention.
After letting us soak in the thrill of the tailor’s secret arsenal, Rabbi finally spoke.
“Where there are immortals, there are Immortal Hunters.”
She adjusted her glasses with a fingertip.
“We provide timeless attire and weapons to hunt the immortals. That’s what my shop, Charles & Retriever, is for.”
The silent maid, Friday, pulled out chairs for us. As she poured tea, Rabbi continued.
“Madarame-kun, that black-eyed being you’re dealing with is among the highest class of immortals.”
“You mean…?”
“Its true body resides in hell, possessing human vessels to devour their souls. Depending on the circumstances, it can bring ruin even to those around it—or Vatican exorcists sent to purge it.”
Then Rabbi named it.
“A demon.”
I flashed back to scenes from The Exorcist—a girl floating mid-air, her head spinning.
Come to think of it, the Metropolitan Government workers had moved strangely too.
“So I was up against something that terrifying…?”
“And demons possess many abilities. As you know, some manipulate people, while others can alter their form at will—copying anyone they’ve seen. Shape-shifters, in other words.”
“Then—”
“The ‘you’ in the government footage was almost certainly one such demon.”
Rabbi slid a photo across the table.
It showed a serious-looking man with glasses.
“There’s one in Shinjuku right now. A man named Abe—works at an arcade.”
“But can we even do anything against a demon? I’m not an exorcist.”
“Demons vary in strength. Named ones? Even a group of Immortal Hunters wouldn’t stand a chance. Frankly, the thought terrifies me. But this Abe is a nameless grifter—a petty villain who shape-shifts to scam people.”
Rabbi tapped the table. On cue, Friday placed a revolver and a few bullets on it.
“How about these?”
Friday asked.
“Hmph. We’ll take them.”
Her Majesty reached for Friday’s hand—only to get swatted away.
“These are not for you.”
“Stingy.”
Her Majesty huffed.
Rabbi shrugged.
“You just want a chauffeur, don’t you?”
Though Friday looked like a teenage girl, she apparently could drive a limo. For Her Majesty, who’d been painstakingly navigating Tokyo by train while squinting at route maps, Friday was a godsend.
“For Lady Eli, it’s this.”
Ignoring Her Majesty’s grumbling, Friday continued.
Reluctantly, Her Majesty picked up one of the bullets.
“Blessed rounds?”
The bullets were gold, engraved with crosses.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“One shot will make the demon writhe. It’ll lose its mimicry too.”
Rabbi explained.
“Simpler than binding it for an exorcism, no?”
“You’re not helping, Rabbi?”
Her Majesty asked. Rabbi laughed and shook her head.
“I’m a tailor. Besides, you already have an adorable partner, don’t you?”
She nudged the gun toward me.
“I’ve never fired gun before.”
“You’ll manage. With Eli’s ability—Majesty’s Order—you’ll handle it just fine.”
I recalled dismantling a cop’s gun during the fight at the government building.
Yeah, with that same focus, I could probably shoot no problem.
“Guess I’m joining the immortal police now…”
I imagined it—trouble brewing in the city, the British Shop getting requests, demons and vampires causing havoc, and me stylishly taking them down.
“I’ve leveled uuup~!”
“Idiot.”
Her Majesty flicked an old coin from her jacket pocket. Rabbi caught it—deal sealed.
As we prepared to leave,
Rabbi pulled me aside.
“Be careful. The immortals have been acting strange lately.”
Incidents were spiking across Tokyo, keeping Immortal Hunters busy.
“Really?”
I paused, then asked:
“But why tell just me?”
“You tend to forget, Madarame-kun—”
Rabbi smiled, but her eyes held a sliver of cold clarity.
“Eli is immortals too.”
“I thought you and Her Majesty were friends?”
“We’ve just known each other a long time.”
She knew Her Majesty was immortal—but not what she was.
A demon? A vampire? Or—
Her gaze shifted to Her Majesty, who was patting Friday’s head, praising her manners, and offering her citizenship.
“The immortals live by different rules. They’ve clashed with humans since ancient times.”
Rabbi narrowed her eyes at Her Majesty.
“Eli is likely ancient among them. And the old ones? They’re all trouble.”
After leaving the tailor, Her Majesty stopped at a toy store in the shopping district.
“What’s good here?”
“Kindergarten job?”
A principal had requested Her Majesty play Santa at a Christmas party.
“Might as well hand out gifts and make the kids happy.”
She peered into the display window. Watching her, I thought:
No way this woman’s a bad immortal.
“Hook them young, and they’ll grow into obedient citizens.”
“That’s just mafia handing out candy to local kids.”
…Maybe she is a bad immortal.
“We’ll pick gifts later. Plenty of time.”
“Then off to Shinjuku! To take down Abe the shape-shifter!”
Her Majesty nodded.
“We need to reclaim Hanachan kuro-mari’s keychain.”
“That’s the priority?!”
“Abe has it.”
The government footage showed the fake me dancing with it.
Personally, I wanted to clear my name—hence the hoodie and glasses disguise. But Her Majesty? All about the keychain.
“Perfect completion of requests—that’s the British Shop way.”
She puffed out her chest.
“Your assistant’s a wanted man!”
“What, you didn’t know?”
She smirked.
“Foreign laws don’t apply within my borders.”
“Japan doesn’t recognize your ‘nation,’ so I’m totally getting prosecuted!”
As we bantered, Her Majesty laid out the plan:
“First, hit the Shinjuku arcade.”
“Got it.”
“Find Abe, and you shoot his leg.”
“Roger.”
“Then I pummel him and take back Hana chan kuro-mari.”
“Flawless! You’re a genius!”
We headed for the station—but:
“What if Abe’s disguised or already fled?”
If he was dumb enough to stay in his real form, the blessed rounds would work. But if he’d copied someone and run?
“Fair point.”
“Let’s check.”
I called the arcade, asking for Abe—”A friend!”—but the clerk said he’d been AWOL for days.
“Sounds like he bolted.”
“Infuriating.”
Her Majesty scowled.
“Ruining my brilliant plan.”
“No way to spot a shape-shifter?”
“Their mimicry’s perfect. Unless they slip up, it’s hopeless.”
“Man, if only one would blunder into Yomisaka Town…”
“Any that dumb would be a world-class fool. Let’s get ice cream. I love winter cones.”
Just then—
“Ah—!!”
I gasped.
“What?”
“Think I found our world-class fool.”
High school girls walk down the street, sneakily pointing their phones toward a café. Their gazes fix on a well-groomed man sipping coffee at a terrace seat.
“That guy… I’ve seen him on TV,”
Her Majesty remarks.
“So what? What about him?”
“Look over there too—and there!”
Electronics store windows line the street, TVs displaying a live broadcast of today’s pro baseball game. Just as the ceremonial first pitch begins, an actor winds up and throws—his face identical to the man drinking coffee on the terrace.
“Of all people, you had to pick a handsome actor to mimic?”
As if to deliver the final blow, the man—who shared the actor’s face—spotted me and tumbled out of his chair.
Guess he was shocked to see the guy who framed him for terrorism standing right there.
He scrambles to his feet and bolts.
“Ah. So this one’s an idiot,”
Her Majesty says, eyeing me.
Naturally, chasing him down is my job.
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
