(My own vanity will probably end up destroying me someday…) Izumi put on a depressed expression to hide her bitter thoughts from the adults before her. She was actually depressed, so it wasn’t that hard to put on an act.
“…So, apart from Sakurai-san, who used barrier magic to shut out the violence, no other magic was used?”
“Yes.”
Izumi returned a short affirmative to the question raised by the teacher in-charge of her class, Class-1B.
“Is it true that the opponents used Cast Jamming?”
This question was put forward by the Vice-Principal, Yaosaka.
“Yes.”
Izumi once again answered succinctly, but, even for her, it wasn’t easy to deal with four teachers including the Principal and Vice-Principal by herself.
Why did she have to go through something so bothersome? Such resentful thoughts ran through Izumi’s mind. However, Izumi herself was responsible for being in this situation. Since she was aware of that fact, her anger and irritation continued to smolder under her skin without the flames getting bigger.
Female students from her school had been harassed by a group of young men. Besides, there was a chance that it might have escalated enough to cause injuries, so it wasn’t strange that the matter didn’t stop at the Vice-principal, and that even the Principal got involved. It was also reasonable that she was being questioned regarding the incident because she was involved in it.
The problem was, why was she being made to do this alone?
No, even Izumi knew why this was the logical conclusion, and that her current situation was unavoidable.
The opponents were armed with Antinite, a precious military resource.
Not only that, they also tried to use a gun meant for assassinations.
In the end, the ruffians, who were supposed to be anti-magic supporters, used magic to cause damage to both people and property. The police wouldn’t be able to write this issue off with a simple interview at the police box, either. Not only were the assailants being taken to the Hachioji police station, even Izumi and the others, who were the victims, had been asked to go there as well.
Since it was such a serious situation, someone had to immediately inform the school, too. In other words, someone had to return to the school.
Minami had been asked to come by the police since she was the person who used the barrier magic. Tatsuya couldn’t refuse to participate as he had used violence, even though it was in self-defense. As for Miyuki, she didn’t really use magic, but the large amount of Psions she had released were detected by the sensors.
In the process of elimination, Izumi was the only person left to go back to school to report about the incident. From a logical perspective, Izumi understood this as well. However, as the saying went, “Logic and feelings are different things.”
“Saegusa-kun.”
Principal Momoyama, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
“Yes.”
Izumi looked at the principal and answered nervously.
“Is it true that the thugs changed their targets to you and Shiba-kun after recognizing both of you?”
While being apprehensive of Momoyama’s sharp gaze, Izumi replied in an unwavering tone.
“I am sure of it, Principal. They looked at me and called me ‘a member of the Saegusa Family’, then, after looking at President Shiba, they said, ‘First High’s Student Council President’. They confirmed this among themselves before approaching us.”
“Which would mean that your group had a higher priority to them, compared to the other first years from our school who were being harassed.”
“I think so, as well.”
Momoyama replied, “Fumu…”, and drifted into thought while folding his hands inside the sleeves of his Japanese-style clothes.
Izumi patiently waited for him to resume speaking. The ones who were unable to withstand the pressure of the silence were the other adults.
“Principal.”
Vice-Principal Yaosaka spoke to Momoyama in a reserved, or rather, frightened tone.
Momoyama looked at Yaosaka without giving any indication that he was annoyed at the interruption of his thoughts.
“Vice-Principal. The school will be temporarily closed starting tomorrow. For now, the period of closure will be until Saturday, the 23rd.”
“Principal, temporarily closing the school on such short notice…”
Yaosaka unintentionally retorted at the Principal’s sudden decision. He immediately shut his mouth and put on a chastised expression, but the scolding he expected from Momoyama did not come.
“Do you need a reason?”
“Ah, yes, about that…”
Instead, Yaosaka was directed with a gaze filled with contempt that seemed to say, “Can’t you understand even this much?”
“If our students were being attacked at random, that would have been just some discontented elements going on rampage.”
Even so, Momoyama gave an explanation. Maybe it was because he was a teacher, but he liked to explain things.
“However, it appears that our students are being assigned priorities, and are being targeted based on that. Rather than a spontaneous outburst, there is a high probability that this is an organized and planned crime.”
“Organized crime, you say…”
Yaosaka wasn’t the only one who went pale. The class adviser of Class-1B, the teacher in-charge of all first-year students, the other adults who had gathered around the Principal’s desk, and even Izumi, went pale in the face.
“Unlike ordinary rioting, there is a chance that their methods might get more radical. We need to wait out and observe the situation for a while.”
“Yes… I agree with you completely.”
“I’ll leave the formalities to you.”
After giving Yaosaka that order, Momoyama once again looked at Izumi.
“Saegusa-kun, thank you for attending.”
Although there was no hint of gratitude in his voice, Izumi took this to mean that she was being dismissed.
“No, I only did what was natural.”
Izumi wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, so she didn’t let this chance pass.
“In that case, please excuse me, Principal.”
She gave a courteous bow and turned towards the exit.
After completing the interviews at the police station, it was already past 7:00 P.M. by the time that Tatsuya and the others reached home. Due to what had just happened earlier, the police escorted them home in an unmarked police car. A motorcycle police officer from the Traffic Division had driven Tatsuya’s bike to their house. The police appeared to have noticed that the cowl and tires of the bike were bulletproof, but they didn’t say anything. It was probably because they knew about his parentage.
The personal items belonging to Miyuki and Minami were still in their lockers at school. However, there was nothing among them that would melt or spoil, so they decided to retrieve them tomorrow and planned to stay at home for the rest of the day. This meant that the long-awaited information regarding Gu Jie that was obtained from data tracking would go to waste, but Tatsuya had an idea on what to do about that.
In any case, both Tatsuya and Miyuki intended to completely relax at their own home, but a mail arrived hardly ten minutes after they took off their shoes at the front door.
Tatsuya had promptly changed into casual clothes from his riding jacket and trousers that doubled as fighting togs. He then sat on the sofa in the living room, and looked at the fully unfolded screen of the mobile terminal with a frown on his face. At this time, Miyuki who had taken a little longer to get changed, came down the stairs.
“…Onii-sama, is something the matter? You have a troubled expression on your face.”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
Tatsuya raised his head and responded to Miyuki, then indicated the space next to him with his eyes.
Miyuki sat down next to him as invited, and looked at the screen of the terminal that Tatsuya turned towards her.
“Tatsuya-sama, Miyuki-sama, the tea is ready.”
Minami brought out the tea while wearing an apron over her uniform. As Tatsuya had requested, the tray held strongly-brewed Sencha. Minami placed the teacups on the table and looked inquisitively at Tatsuya to see if he had any other request.
“Please wait a little.”
After saying that to Minami, Tatsuya looked at Miyuki.
Miyuki had just finished reading the mail that wasn’t very long, and lifted her head.
“Onii-sama, this is… we can’t reject it, right?”
“You’re right.”
Tatsuya let out a small sigh and looked at Minami, who was awaiting his orders.
“After we finish drinking our tea, Miyuki and I will be going out. We’ll be eating outside, so you can do as you wish, Minami. Feel free to go to sleep early.”
Miyuki must have felt that her brother’s explanation was unsatisfactory.
“We’ve been invited by the new Head of the Juumonji Family. I think we’ll be a little late in returning home.”
She gave an additional explanation before Minami could react to Tatsuya’s order.
“Understood.”
Of course, Minami’s answer wouldn’t have changed, whether or not she had received a detailed explanation. She gave a respectful bow to the siblings, who were her masters.
Although Miyuki had told Minami that they “had been invited by the Head of the Juumonji Family,” that hadn’t been the full story. As Tatsuya arrived along with Miyuki, it was not only Katsuto, but also Mayumi and Masaki, who were waiting.
The place was the restaurant that they always used for meetings. From the outside, it looked like a slightly larger detached residence, but after entering it, even Miyuki was slightly taken by surprise.
Tatsuya had already explained the reason why he didn’t attend today’s meeting to Katsuto. The time was already past 2200. Usually, by this time, they would be finishing their meal after the meeting.
However, they had still been summoned here. Katsuto, Mayumi, and Masaki greeted them with serious looks on their faces.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Sorry for asking you to come on short notice. Please, take a seat.”
In contrast to Tatsuya’s genteel apology, Katsuto responded in a tone that indicated that he truly felt guilty, and urged Tatsuya and Miyuki to take a seat.
Katsuto and the others, who had been waiting for Tatsuya and Miyuki, were already sitting at the table. Katsuto was sitting at the end of the table in the host’s seat, and Mayumi and Masaki were on either side of him. Although this was a French restaurant, was the table set in the British-American style to say that they need not be concerned about intricate table manners? Or perhaps, they never cared about such things in the first place. Tatsuya decided that it was the latter, and made Miyuki sit in front of Mayumi, while he sat in front of Masaki.
“Shiba-san, are you alright?”
As soon as she had taken a seat, Masaki asked Miyuki if she had been injured.
“Yes. At the end of the day, there was no real damage. Thank you for worrying about me.”
Miyuki gave her answer, and smiled sweetly at Masaki. Masaki went red in the face, and relaxed with an expression of relief.
It appeared that Masaki was really worried about Miyuki. Both Katsuto and Mayumi understood that, and didn’t berate Masaki for his rashness.
“Shiba, it seems you’ve had a rough day.”
Instead of reprimanding Masaki for his behavior, Katsuto spoke to Tatsuya.
“Yes, I did. It was outside of my expectations.”
Tatsuya didn’t act tough, and instead, honestly admitted that his expectations were naive.
“The assailant didn’t just have a gun, but he also used magic, didn’t he?”
After Mayumi asked this with a worried expression on her face, “An anti-magic supporter used magic? Or did an enemy magician infiltrate the Humanists’ group?”
Masaki came out with a straight question.
Instead of answering Masaki directly, Tatsuya phrased his words in the form of a report to Katsuto.
“The one who was used as a relay for magic was a member of ‘Egalite,’
a sub-branch of ‘Blanche’.”
“Blanche?”
Katsuto’s raised eyebrows indicated his surprise.
“Wasn’t that organization eradicated from Japan?”
“The remnants must have burrowed underground.”
At Tatsuya’s reply, Katsuto replied, “Fumu…” and folded his arms. His bearing indicated that he wasn’t convinced. After the “Blanche incident,” the Juumonji Family had also participated in the cleanup.
Katsuto must have been under the impression that they had completely neutralized Blanche and Egalite.
“Tatsuya-kun, what do you mean by ‘relay’?”
Although Mayumi was also involved in the incident that took place in First High during April of the year before last, she showed interest in a different matter.
“The member of Egalite, who was leading the group that was harassing the First High students, was not a magician. An Ancient Magician was using him as a relay, or in their terms, a ‘familiar,’ and was controlling the magic remotely.”
“They can do something like that?”
Mayumi appeared to be genuinely surprised. The technique of setting up a relay and controlling magic remotely was not unique to ancient magic, but it was scarcely used in modern magic. It wasn’t surprising that she didn’t know about it.
“I’ll skip the detailed explanation, but the basic method was to put a magical marker on the relay and invoke the magic from there. It doesn’t have to be by means of projectiles, heat, or sound. There are other methods available. In this case, an SB was activated from the relay, and used to perform an indiscriminate attack.”
“So the enemy was an Ancient Magician? Do you know their identity?”
As Mayumi was saying ‘hee…’ while sounding impressed, beside her, Masaki asked this question.
Although he didn’t say it aloud, Tatsuya thought that this was the most pertinent question.
“I took a recording of the technique. I’m having it investigated right now.”
For now, Tatsuya covered up the issue with that answer. Although, saying that it was under investigation was the truth. While he did have a name and an address, those alone weren’t of any use since they didn’t belong to Gu Jie.
What kind of background did the Ancient Magician named Oumi Kazukiyo have? Who was he acquainted with within the country, and what places did he visit? What organization did he belong to? They still didn’t have any information that would help them find out Gu Jie’s whereabouts.
Besides, while Gu Jie must have left Oumi’s residence already, he might have left some items behind that had some connection to him. Hoping that it was the case, he had asked Ayako and Yuuka to investigate the matter. The reason why he had called Yuuka was because he felt that the Tsukuba Family, who were skilled in Mental Interference magic, were better equipped to track down the enemy than the Kuroba Family for this case.
“A recording of the technique? Just how did you do that…”
The CAD’s activation sequence program was a blueprint of the magic sequence that was been stored in a digitized form. Recording the magic sequence was a technique that was currently being used, so it was definitely not impossible. However, that technique only assembled a magic sequence that would bring about the desired change and recorded it. Observing, analyzing and recording the magic sequence of another person as data in the middle of combat exceeded the current limits of Magic Engineering. It was natural that Masaki had his doubts regarding that matter.
“…No, that was insensitive of me. My apologies.”
However, Masaki didn’t wait for Tatsuya’s response, and instead apologized to him while bowing his head. In the magical community, prying into the nature of magic used by others was considered rude.
Masaki realized that his question went against this principle before any of the other attendees could point this out.
“That’s okay. However, I would appreciate it if you could keep this matter a secret.”
“Of course. So, Shiba, when will the results of the investigation be available?”
Tatsuya accepted the apology with a smile, and Katsuto turned the conversation back to the main topic.
Tatsuya stopped smiling and turned towards Katsuto.
“I think it will take all of tomorrow. I will let you know as soon as we find any leads, senpai. Of course, Ichijou, as well.”
“Understood. I’ll leave that to the Yotsuba Family.”
Neither Mayumi nor Masaki objected to Katsuto’s statement.
Instead, Mayumi exchanged a glance with Katsuto, and turned towards Miyuki.
“Miyuki-san, you’ve had a terrible day, right? I’m glad that you weren’t injured.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
Miyuki slightly bowed her head and waited for the next words.
Of course, what Mayumi really wanted to talk about was something else.
“I heard the story from my sister, and it seems that the people from the anti-magic faction were aiming for Miyuki-san?”
By sister, she must have meant Izumi. Since there seemed to be a miscommunication, Miyuki inserted a correction.
“Actually, they were originally harassing a different group of students, and came our way after noticing us.”
“So, Miyuki-san, they knew about you, after all.”
What Mayumi was probably trying to say was, “Did they know Miyuki was going to be the next Head of the Yotsuba Family?”
Miyuki refuted that in a roundabout manner.
“It seemed that they knew that I was the Student Council President of First High.”
In terms of people who were connected with the Ten Master Clans, Izumi was actually the one who was tentatively identified by the mob as a direct descendant of the Saegusa Family, but Miyuki didn’t talk about that.
“In any case, were the Humanists insolent enough to set their eyes on Shiba-san?”
Masaki asked from beside Mayumi.
“We think so.”
Mayumi instantly replied as if seeking to prevent Tatsuya and Miyuki from disagreeing.
“That’s why, would you let us assign an escort to you, Miyuki-san?”
Mayumi’s proposal caused Miyuki to be perplexed.
“An escort? But I already have…”
Miyuki was about to say, “I already have Onii-sama,” but realized that those words wouldn’t be accepted due to the current situation.
Currently, Tatsuya was returning from school separately from Miyuki due to the search for Gu Jie. Although they were physically apart, Tatsuya always kept an “eye” on Miyuki, and eliminated any danger in her vicinity. However, this was a secret pertaining to Tatsuya’s strength, and could not be explained to people from other families.
Mayumi and the others probably wouldn’t be convinced, unless she explained Tatsuya’s abilities in detail. Especially since just today, he had rushed to save Miyuki.
“You mean, you want to assign someone to capture the people who might come to assault Miyuki?”
As Miyuki was struggling to give an answer, Tatsuya came to her rescue by speaking in a voice filled with displeasure.
Tatsuya looked at Katsuto and Mayumi, and fixed his sight on Masaki.
“Ichijou. Do you intend to use Miyuki as bait?”
“No!”
Masaki replied in an extremely agitated voice.
“I won’t let them do that! I will act as the bait instead!”
There wasn’t a hint of deception in Masaki’s words, but Tatsuya continued to look at him with a narrow gaze.
“So, you won’t deny that there is a plan to lure the enemy out?”
Masaki made a ‘oh, crap!’ expression and closed his mouth.
“This must be Kichijouji’s idea.”
Since Tatsuya hit the bullseye, Masaki wasn’t able to say anything back.
“Yes, Ichijou did put forward an idea wherein he would act as a bait.”
In the middle of the uncomfortable atmosphere, Katsuto began to arbitrate.
“Regarding the issue of assigning an escort to the next Head of the Yotsuba, I will not deny that there was a plan to capture a group of terrorists and use them to gain a clue about the hideout of the mastermind, Gu Jie.”
Needless to say, the “Next Head of the Yotsuba” that Katsuto was talking about was referring to Miyuki. He admitted that Tatsuya’s criticism was not unwarranted.
“However, that is not the main reason. The escort’s main task is to act as the next head’s protector. Shiba, this is something that Saegusa came up with so that you could focus on your search.”
Tatsuya shifted his gaze from Katsuto to Mayumi.
Mayumi put strength into her eyes and received Tatsuya’s gaze.
“…Understood.”
Saying so, Tatsuya softened his gaze.
“However, we will have to decline. The Yotsuba Family will assign an escort.”
However, his tone of voice completely rejected Mayumi’s offer.
Considering her personality, she probably wanted to assign an escort to Miyuki purely out of goodwill. However, the person who would actually assign the escort was her father. There was no way that it would be limited to just bodyguard duties.
“I see… Considering Miyuki-san’s position, I suppose that is only natural.”
“Not at all. It’s the thought that counts.”
Miyuki gave Mayumi a courteous bow.
As Mayumi shook her head while laughing, this discussion came to a close.
“Juumonji-senpai.”
As Miyuki and Mayumi looked at each other, Tatsuya spoke to Juumonji past their gazes.
In response to Tatsuya’s voice, Katsuto looked at him.
“I am the person who actually caused harm to the Anti-magic faction. If you need someone to act as bait, am I not the best choice?”
The person who objected to Tatsuya’s words was not Katsuto, but Mayumi.
“No hyena would willingly rush towards a lion, unless it was being chased by the lion and had no choice but to fight back.”
“It could also happen if they were both fighting over the same prey.”
Mayumi looked intently at Katsuto, who had casually made such a comment.
“Juumonji-kun. Don’t tell me, are you really planning on using Miyuki-san as ‘bait’?”
“Saegusa, don’t talk like this doesn’t concern you. It’s not just the next Head of the Yotsuba, but as the eldest daughter of the Saegusa Family, there is a good chance that you might be targeted by the Anti-magic faction as well.”
Caught by surprise, Mayumi blinked at him.
“Regarding the incident today,”
To fill the gap in the conversation while Mayumi was at a loss for words, Miyuki began to speak.
“I was not the only one who was targeted by the Humanists. I definitely heard them say ‘belonging to the Saegusa Family’ after seeing Izumi-chan.”
Miyuki didn’t particularly wait for a situation where her words would have the most impact, but she didn’t waste the unexpected opportunity that came her way.
Katsuto’s, Tatsuya’s, and Masaki’s gazes gathered on Mayumi.
“…Eh, me?”
Mayumi pointed at herself with a flustered expression.
“Saegusa. What about your escort?”
“I’ll be fine. I can look after myself, after all.”
Katsuto repeatedly shook his head sideways.
“I think the issue of Saegusa-senpai’s escort is what actually needs to be reviewed.”
“Indeed.”
At Tatsuya’s comment, Katsuto, as expected, moved his head repeatedly, this time in a nod.
“Hey, didn’t I say that I would be fine?”
“I don’t intend to doubt your skills, Saegusa, but this is just in case.”
“It’s not like I’m walking around completely unprotected!”
“Is that so? I don’t recall seeing anyone like that on campus…”
“There’s no way I would bring a bunch of unrelated people into the campus!”
It appeared that they would be able to avoid having an escort from the Saegusa Family assigned to Miyuki. Tatsuya and Miyuki thought that as they watched Mayumi and Katsuto arguing.
As Tatsuya and the others finished their meeting and moved on to dinner, Kokonoe Yakumo was entertaining an unexpected visitor.
At the back of the temple, Yakumo was wearing a monk’s stole, which was unusual, and was sitting in a respectful manner. Although he called himself a hermit, he could not ignore the customs when meeting with this person.
The guest had a strange air about him. His muscle mass may have reduced due to age, but he was broad-shouldered. Even while sitting, it could be inferred that he must have had a magnificent body in his youth.
His head was clean shaven like that of a monk’s. However, he was wearing an obviously expensive-looking suit. It looked very natural on him. He didn’t look like someone who was just used to having expensive things. Instead, he gave off the feeling of materialistic power that his expensive bespoke suit symbolized.
He had thick, grey eyebrows and large, round eyes. While his features couldn’t be called handsome, his face had a dignified look. However, his cloudy white left eye gave off a strange sense of pressure to people who faced him. The strange impression he gave off was, undoubtedly, mostly due to this eye.
“For Your Excellency, Priest Aoba, to visit a nameless temple like this, whatever could be the reason?”
Yakumo served the guest a cup of carelessly-made tea.
The monk, who was wearing a suit, casually picked up the tea cup, took a large gulp and returned the cup to the tatami mat. It was a way of drinking that wholly ignored propriety, but strangely did not appear to be rude.
“Nameless temple? Being too modest makes you sound sarcastic, Kokonoe Yakumo.”
“My apologies.”
As Yakumo answered in an aloof manner, the elderly person called, “His Excellency, Priest Aoba,” scrutinized him with his right eye.
“Besides, there’s no way a lowly chief priest of a nameless temple could talk to me, Toudou Aoba, in such a rude manner.”
“Oh, did I hurt your feelings?”
“No. In fact, it makes me feel more comfortable.”
This time, Elder Toudou drained the remaining tea that Yakumo had prepared in one gulp.
“I request a refill.”
Yakumo gave a faint smile, bowed, and received the cup.
Yakumo poured the water that he had boiled on the portable stove ??
this back room used a portable stove even in mid-winter, despite having a fireplace ?? into the teacup, picked up the tea whisk, and asked in a carefree manner.
“So, Your Excellency, what brings you here today?”
Yakumo stirred the mixture of matcha and hot water, removed the tea whisk, then pushed the tea cup towards Elder Toudou instead of presenting it to him, before raising his head.
“You just visited us last month, so it can’t be that you wanted to see the face of this humble priest once again.”
The ‘last month’ that Yakumo was talking about was regarding the fourth of January, when Tatsuya and Miyuki had come to give their New Year’s greetings. The person who had arrived without notice and spoke to Yakumo before them was this elderly monk.
“Kokonoe Yakumo, I wish to borrow your strength.”
Elder Toudou’s answer to Yakumo’s question was very direct.
“Well, I am merely a monk who is lacking strength, so will I be able to help Your Excellency?”
“Enough of the humility. You are praised as the reincarnation of Kashin Koji due to your illusionary techniques, so if you are lacking strength, then there are no strong practitioners in this world.”
“Well, now. Kashin Koji was rumored to be a simple conjurer. If that is the case, perhaps that gossip about me being ‘Kashin Koji’s reincarnation’ meant that my techniques were no more than a sleight of hand?”
“Isn’t that a belief from when magic was considered to be a pipe dream?
Such deception won’t work on me. I am well-aware of your true ability.”
After hearing that declaration of confidence in a tone of voice that indicated that it was taken for granted, Yakumo scratched his head.
“…So, Your Excellency. What do you require of me?”
To begin with, Yakumo didn’t think that he could deceive Elder Toudou.
Yakumo was well aware of just who this elderly man with a cloudy white eye was.
“The unrestrained activities of the necromancer from the continent, Gu Jie, are inexcusable. The technique that uses corpses as puppets spreads enough impurity as it is. If he uses it indiscriminately like that, it will be too late to exorcise.”
“Your Excellency. There’s no point in talking about Shinto rituals to a Buddhist monk like myself.”
“I won’t ask you to participate in the exorcism. I just want your help in removing the source of the impurity.”
“So, you want me to exterminate the necromancer known as Gu Jie?”
Yakumo’s sigh was not a pretense.
“It is enough that you remove him from Japan. I don’t care if he is dead or alive.”
“It seems that your subordinates don’t feel that it is okay to let him escape, Your Excellency.”
“The people of the Yotsuba are no longer my subordinates. Now, I am merely a sponsor.”
Yakumo did not take Elder Toudou’s words seriously. It was true that this old man was once the owner of the Fourth Institute, and was now a sponsor of the Yotsuba Family, but the word ‘merely’ was false.
Yakumo was also aware that it wasn’t just the Yotsuba Family that he was sponsoring.
“If I dip my hands in such worldly issues, the main temple will get noisy.”
This was not an excuse. It was a pretty shameful thing for Yakumo, but it was the truth.
Of course, there was no point in complaining to Toudou Aoba about such a thing.
“I have already talked to Mt. Hiei regarding this.”
This old man already had enough influence in the shadows to easily overturn something like that.
“Is that so…”
Although it was rare for Yakumo, he felt like there was nothing he could do but sigh.
“Despite what I said, I don’t intend to ask you for a very big favor. I am not in a position to do so, after all.”
“To begin with, please tell me what it is you wish of me in more detail. I will let you know if I can accept the job after that.”
Yakumo was the only person who could give such a reply. For example, even though Kudou Retsu was older than Elder Toudou, he would not be able to decline his ‘request’.
“I want you to help Shiba Tatsuya.”
“…You are worried about him, as well, Your Excellency?”
“Although he was an accidental creation, he is still one of the extreme cases. I need him to remain useful for a while yet.”
Yakumo felt sympathy for Tatsuya. He knew that what Elder Toudou meant by ‘useful’, was that he wanted Tatsuya to act as a lab rat in gathering more data.
Toudou Aoba had a long reach. Yakumo thought that it would be considerably difficult for Tatsuya to escape from his clutches.
However, Yakumo did not think that Tatsuya would have any trouble with the circumstances he was currently facing.
“I don’t think someone like Gu Jie could do anything to him.”
“I am not worried about Shiba Tatsuya fighting against Gu Jie.”
“In that case, are you worried about a possibility of clashing with the STARS?”
Yakumo was aware that one of the leaders of the STARS, the magician corps under the direct command of the USNA Joint Chiefs of Staff, had secretly entered Japan, and he also knew about his objectives. Although he didn’t know the motives behind it, he was aware that the USNA military wanted to assassinate Gu Jie with their own hands. The USNA military was trying to prevent Gu Jie from falling into the hands of the Japanese authorities. There were probably some shady circumstances that they didn’t want Japan to find out about.
If Tatsuya drove Gu Jie into a corner, it was easy to predict that the STARS would once again get in his way. Even so, Yakumo didn’t believe that it would become a situation where his help would be absolutely necessary.
“If we’re talking about pure combat ability, I don’t think even the second strongest member of STARS, Benjamin ‘Canopus’ Loews, could win against Shiba Tatsuya.”
“Yes, if it were just a fight to the death with no rules.”
“I see.”
Yakumo understood what Elder Toudou was worried about. What he was afraid of, was going against the ‘rules.’ Toudou Aoba was trying to prevent Yotsuba’s ‘creation’ from getting dragged into a decisive fight by means outside of violence.
“What I want to ask of you, is to hold on to his reins, and prevent him from falling into an unfavorable situation.”
“What about searching for Gu Jie?”
“If you are able to dispose of him, then that would be great, but that is of lower importance. In any case, even if we leave him alone, the STARS
will get rid of him.”
Basically, it was okay, even if Gu Jie was assassinated by the STARS.
This meant that there was no need to worry about the honor of the Ten Master Clans. From Elder Toudou’s perspective, it was probably better if the Ten Master Clans were driven into a slightly difficult position.
“If that is the case, then I will accept your request. Shiba Tatsuya isn’t a stranger to me, after all.”
“My thanks. Is ten cushions sufficient as your payment?”
The ‘cushion’ mentioned here is a code word from back when deals were often settled with paper money. One ‘cushion’ meant 10,000 notes, with each note being worth 10,000 Yen, so basically, it was one hundred million Yen. Ten cushions would be equal to one billion Yen.
Yakumo gave a bitter smile and shook his head at Elder Toudou’s proposal.
“No, no. Despite appearances, I consider myself a hermit. There is no need for monetary compensation.”
This time, Elder Toudou shook his head with a serious face.
“The truth is, there is nothing more valuable. At the very least, this is what I think. If you cannot accept cash, then I’ll find a statue of Buddha from somewhere and deliver it to you.”
Incidentally, the statue of Buddha that Toudou Aoba would send would be made of pure gold.
“Please, don’t send anything that would be difficult to dispose of.”
“Something that you would find difficult to dispose of? Although that would be interesting to see, I doubt that could happen.”
Elder Toudou stood up by putting a hand on his knee. It was an action befitting his age.
A second later, Yakumo stood up without a sound.
“The tea was horrible as usual, but thanks, anyways.”
Yakumo smiled at Elder Toudou’s usual phrase and opened the sliding door.
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