Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 16 - Chapter 3

Maguz’s Identity

Sunday, July 4th

As Koutarou and the others were making their way through the abandoned city district to meet up with their allies, several explosions had gone off in the north side of town. For each explosion, another fire took shape, and in the end, the flames lit up the nighttime city better than the streetlights. Listening closely, they could even hear what sounded like gunfire in the distance every now and then. Sensing how fierce the battle must be, everyone grew tenser.

“What is the meaning of this, Maguz...?”

The most mortified of all, Kiriha bit her lip. The radical faction had demanded that the conservative faction surrender by threatening to use their earthquake weapon, so they should have at least waited to hear an answer before attacking, but this defied all logic. They didn’t know exactly what had happened, but one thing was clear: Kiriha and the others were being led by the nose by the radical faction’s leader, Maguz.

“Calm down, Kiriha-san,” a calm and composed Koutarou said as he placed his hand on Kiriha’s shoulder. “In large-scale battles, unexpected things are going to happen. The commander’s job is to adapt to that and make adjustments accordingly, not make sure everything goes according to the plan.”

Among the underground team, only Koutarou had real experience in war. Not modern war, certainly, but while weapons and strategies had changed throughout the ages, the role of a commander hadn’t. As a result, he knew exactly how to respond at a time like this.

“...Thank you, Koutarou.”

Upon hearing his words, Kiriha took a deep breath. She managed a small smile, and put her hand over Koutarou’s on her shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re with me.”

“Everyone’s like that at first. I was too. Besides, having you rely on me doesn’t feel too bad. No, not bad at all.”

Koutarou gave Kiriha an encouraging nod, though he was really thinking about something else.

If anything, the radical faction are the ones in trouble...

The radical faction lacked experience in war as well. Having hidden underground for hundreds of years, they haven’t done battle for at least as long. So while they might have weapons training and experience with skirmishes, they had no idea what it was really like to stand against an army.

That’s why no matter how proud they were of their heritage, claimed to be warriors, and spoke of honor and justice, it was all just theoretical. While they might believe that they understood war from studying past battles, they knew nothing of the real deal. This would be a war between novices. The radical faction was just rushing into the game.

That’s what Koutarou feared. A war like that was like a fight between children, meaning that they didn’t know how to hold back. Koutarou was worried they might swiftly do something that couldn’t be undone. He was worried about the earthquake weapon.

“But Kiriha-san... in order to end this battle, you’ll need a considerable amount of resolution.”

“I know. No... I believe I understand.”

Kiriha nodded. She was well aware of how dangerous the radical faction was. And seizing control of the situation alone might have been too much for her.

“That’s why...”

Kiriha trailed off there. She couldn’t show any further weakness in front of her subordinates. Instead, she simply squeezed Koutarou’s hand.

“...”

Koutarou didn’t say anything either, but he knew what she was feeling and squeezed her hand back just as hard.

The guard station where Kiriha and the others would meet up with their allies was a small building several decades old. When the old district was abandoned, its walls were still their original beautiful white, but now they had turned a reddish-brown from all the dirt and dust. There were cracks in the concrete and windows, clearly showing how much time had passed since it had been used. While it wasn’t as deteriorated as an equivalent building on the surface would be from the wind and rain, it still looked like you’d expect an abandoned building to.

“A-Are you really okay with this, Sakuraba-senpai?”

“Okay with what?”

“The bugs! This building is full of bugs!”

“Ah... Well, the ones coming straight at me are scary, but other than that...”

“I hate the creepy-crawly ones and the ones with lots of legs!”

“Like that one?”

“Kyaaaaah! Satomi-san, Satomi-san, save me!”

“Sanae, now’s not a good time, so can you go play with Yurika?”

“Okay.”

As Koutarou and the others entered the building, they found their contacts from the conservative faction already waiting for them.

“Kiriha-sama!”

They ran up to Kiriha upon spotting her. Their job was to report the underground situation to Kiriha and relay to their main force what she and her team would be doing.

“It’s good to see you. What’s the situation?”

Keeping the greetings brief, Kiriha urged them to get to business as they were short on time. At her behest, the leader of the group stepped forward.

“About that... The radical faction has raided our base. It seems like they got impatient waiting for our answer concerning their demands of surrender...”

The contact representative debriefed Kiriha on the situation.

Yesterday, the radical faction had revealed the existence of their earthquake weapon and demanded that the conservative faction surrender. Since the radical faction would be all too happy to launch an attack on the surface if they surrendered, the conservative faction didn’t think that was an option. They had reached the consensus that attacking the surface would eventually lead the People of the Earth to ruin. And so the conservative faction had said they needed to consider the issue in order to try and buy time. If they refused outright, the radical faction might choose to use their earthquake weapon anyway, or even try to seize control of the conservative faction through military force. The conservative faction had to complete their preparations before that happened.

But the radical faction wasn’t patient. They either got tired of waiting, or realized that the conservative faction had no intention of surrendering. After a full twenty-four hours had passed, the radical faction moved on the conservative faction. They attacked the executive branch and the legislature, the army base and the offices and homes of those influential in the conservative faction. The attackers were armed radicals, clearly part of an army under the radical faction’s control. While it may have been small in scale, it was without a doubt a military coup.

The attack began as a surprise attack, which allowed the numerically inferior radical faction to overwhelm the conservative faction. With the attack, the conservative faction’s chain of command was cut, forcing the troops to act individually—essentially rendering their advantage in numbers useless. On top of that, the radical faction was using weaponry that the conservative faction had never seen before. Effectively, the overall combat power of each individual radical faction soldier made them worth multiple conservative soldiers. At the current rate, the conservative faction would be utterly dismantled. They had to regain control of the situation quickly or defeat was inevitable.

Fortunately, many of the faction leaders had escaped. The conservative faction wasn’t reckless enough to move ahead without a plan when they knew this was all a possibility. They were currently moving to hiding places prepared for just such an emergency in order to regroup. If things went well, they might even be able to turn things around.

Once the contact representative finished their report, Harumi, who had been quietly listening in, tilted her head and tugged on Koutarou’s sleeve. She was curious about the differences in what the radical faction was saying and what they were doing.

“Satomi-kun, why did the radical faction go ahead and attack? They even threatened that they would use the earthquake weapon if the conservatives didn’t surrender.”

“I can think of two reasons.” Koutarou demonstratively raised two fingers. “The first is that they might not be able to use the earthquake weapon yet. However, that isn’t very realistic.”

“Why is that?”

“If it wasn’t, they wouldn’t have bothered feeding Kiriha-san information about that. They wouldn’t do that unless it was complete or close to it.”

If the earthquake weapon, Earth Dragon, was incomplete, informing their opponent of its existence would only be a liability. It wasn’t a viable threat until it was in the final stages of completion.

“I see... Then what about the second reason?”

“If they use the earthquake weapon, they’ll be unable to use the underground’s manpower and production facilities. The radical faction will want to make use of those if possible.”

During the war in past Forthorthe, Koutarou had seen the same thing happen. Even if it there was an ultimate victory, there were always huge losses if a town got caught up in a battle. Any competent commander would avoid that kind of pointless destruction.

As expected, leaving his minion Tayuma aside, we should really be cautious of the mastermind, Maguz. He’s thinking ahead...

If that was the reason they hadn’t used the earthquake weapon yet, it was clear that the utmost care needed to be taken when dealing with Maguz. Especially after seeing the magically enhanced weapon Yurika had brought with her.

“So doesn’t this all mean that the situation is bad?” Sanae asked.

“What do you mean?” Yurika asked in turn.

“If the evil underground people start to lose this fight, won’t they cause an earthquake?”

“Ah...”

Yurika’s eyes opened wide. Sanae was right.

The radical faction was currently winning, meaning they had no reason to break out their ultimate weapon. But if they were driven into a corner, that would change things. Despite wanting to save the underground facilities, if they got desperate enough, they might revert to their original plan and use the earthquake weapon to lay ruin to everything. If they couldn’t win, production facilities and manpower meant nothing.

It was Kiriha who ultimately answered Sanae’s question. She had already found the answer.

“Everything relies on our underground team and Theia-dono’s surface team. We must suppress the radical faction’s base while Theia-dono and the others destroy the Earth Dragon. And as quickly as possible, at that. That is our only remaining chance of victory.”

The radical faction still wasn’t aware of the presence of Kiriha and the others. They could use that to their advantage and spring a surprise attack on their base. If all went well, they would put an end to the battle underground, and if Theia and the others destroyed the Earth Dragon at the same time, they could avoid a massive tragedy.

“The problem is how we find the radical faction’s base, but—”

“There’s no need to worry, Kii. I’ve located the transmitter.”

Clan chimed in from Koutarou’s bracelet. He’d activated the comms so she could listen in on the conversation too.

“Onee-chan...”

“I promised you, didn’t I? That I would see to it that you won?”

Koutarou adjusted his bracelet to display a hologram of Clan. She had a proud and powerful expression on her face—the very image of a princess.

After getting the coordinates from Clan, Kiriha moved into action right away. She told their contacts from the conservative factions the details of her plans, and left a message for the conservative leaders that they should refrain from making any drastic moves that might upset the radical faction once they regained control of their forces. She then took her team and headed towards the designated coordinates.

“That’s a gloomy face you’ve got there, Kii. Is there something on your mind?”

“Onee-chan, what’s the margin of error on these coordinates?”

Kiriha whispered to the comms device connected with Clan. She didn’t want her subordinates to hear, so she spoke in a voice that only Clan and Koutarou could hear.

“Well, there is some jamming on their end, so the analysis isn’t perfect... but at most I’d say it’s plus or minus fifteen meters.”

“Fifteen meters...”

“What about it?”

“Actually... a retainer that has served my family for ages lives at the coordinates you gave us. It’s someone you and Onii-chan have met before.”

“Is it that old man from back then?” Koutarou chimed in. He was standing a bit away from Kiriha but he was on the call as well.

“Yeah...” Kiriha nodded lightly.

The “old man from back then,” as Koutarou put it, was the elderly gentleman who’d come to the surface to get Kiriha when she ran away from home as a child: Kasumi Kouma.

The Kasumi family had served the Kurano family for many generations, and Kouma was no exception. He had been Daiha’s attendant for many years. He had also served as Kiriha’s guardian after she lost her mother, but reverted to his former position when she came of age. He also had many children of his own and a splendid successor by the name of Raiga. It was said that eventually Raiga would serve as Kiriha’s attendant.

Kiriha couldn’t imagine that Kouma wished ruin upon the surface. She could say with confidence he’d been one of the most loyal subjects of the conservative faction.

“Clan, is it possible you just miscalculated?”

“I wish that were the case...”

Koutarou and Clan both understood how Kiriha felt. They didn’t want to believe that the gentle old man they’d met back then was plotting this behind everyone’s back. But Clan’s analysis of the transmitter had revealed with certainty that the trailer from the weapons factory was parked by Kouma’s home. And if Kouma was working with the radical faction, it would explain why they had been unable to find any leads on Maguz. If information was leaking from Daiha’s aide, it made perfect sense that the radical faction was always one step ahead.

“I wish it was just some kind of mistake...”

Kiriha bit her lip. She was in a tough position, caught between two people she trusted dearly.

“It’s still not certain yet, so let’s hurry and confirm it for ourselves.”

“Yeah. Sorry for making you worry, Onii-chan, Onee-chan.”

“We don’t mind. It’s just between us, right, Veltlion?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Thank you... both of you...”

“It’s about time for our commander to return.”

“Yeah!”

Kiriha wiped away her tears and raised her head. Kouma’s home was right around the corner.

As the Kasumi family was a distinguished family that had served the Kurano family for many generations, their estate was considerable and had a large gate to it. The large, traditional Japanese-style gate welcomed Koutarou and the others who were rushing towards it. Strictly speaking, it was nothing compared to the Higashihongan family property, but since they were underground, things were on a considerably smaller scale here. The status of the Kasumi family was certainly comparable to that of the Higashihongan family.

“I just hope someone is still here... Excuse me!”

Kiriha knocked on the gate with a stern expression. She was visibly anxious, but doing her best to brave through a tough situation.

“Yes? Do you have some business— Kiriha-sama?!”

A male employee of the Kasumi family peeked through a small window. Since it was a pressing time, he seemed quite reluctant about answering the door, but upon seeing Kiriha, he hurriedly opened the gate. Since Kouma had served as Kiriha’s guardian, Kiriha’s ties with the Kasumi family ran deep.

“Is uncle... Is Kouma at home?”

“The master only just returned. However, he has said that he will be leaving right away.”

They’d lucked out. Kouma was at home. When the radical faction had launched their surprise attack, he’d been at the legislature. He’d managed to escape and was on his way to one of the safe houses, and had only temporarily stopped by at home. It was sheer luck that Kiriha happened to catch him.

“My lady?!”

That was when Kouma himself appeared from the mansion. A large bag was hanging over his shoulder, filled with important documents. He had braved the risks of returning home for the sake of protecting these documents.

He’s gotten a little older, but it’s definitely the old man from back then...

Koutarou recognized him. Just as Kiriha said, they had indeed met before. While Koutarou was taken a little by surprise at seeing him again after all this time, Kiriha ran right up to him.

“Uncle!”

Kouma ran towards her too. They met just inside the gate, and Koutarou and the others soon approached.

“Why are you here?! No, more importantly, it’s dangerous here! Let’s escape together!”

“Uncle, I have something important to talk about. That’s why I’m here.”

Kiriha skipped the greetings and cut straight to the matter at hand. Kouma was an influential person in the conservative faction. His home hadn’t been attacked since he was at the legislature, but if the radical faction found out he’d escaped, they’d come here next. That was, unless the worst case scenario was true and Kouma was working together with the enemy. Either way, there was no time to lose.

“Something important? Is that more important than escaping?”

“It is.”

Kiriha nodded with a stern expression. Seeing that, Kouma’s expression naturally grew sterner as well. They had known each other for so long that they could understand each other’s feelings right away.

“Uncle, we are currently looking for the radical faction’s base. There’s no way to stop this battle other than to strike at the heart of the radical faction.”

Kiriha spoke in a firm voice. She still had hope it was all a mistake.

“I understand the circumstances, but... why did you come here then?”

Kouma inclined his head in confusion. Koutarou didn’t think he was lying. If it was all a ruse, he was quite the actor.

“We attached transmitters to five trailers leaving the radical faction’s weapon factory. One of them led us here.”

As Kiriha spoke, she looked Kouma right in his eyes so she could read what was going on behind them.

“What?! My lady, are you saying that I’m working with the radical faction?!”

Kouma was suddenly enraged. His face turned red as he raised his voice.

“That’s not it! There’s a chance that this is all part of the radical faction’s plans!”

Upon seeing Kouma’s reaction, Kiriha gradually grew more convinced of herself. Kouma really was just Kouma. He wasn’t part of the radical faction. But even so, she’d still had to make sure.

“But the fact of the matter is that the transmitter’s signal is coming from this place! Please let us search the mansion, Kouma! This is our only lead!”

Before knocking on the Kasumi family gate, they had confirmed the location of the signal with Clan. This is where it was coming from. So regardless of how the transmitter had gotten there, finding it might yield a clue that could get them to the radical faction’s base. Though Kiriha believed in Kouma’s innocence, she couldn’t back down.

“I understand. I have nothing to hide from you, my lady. If you say it will help in the battle against the radical faction, then search to your heart’s content.”

Kouma willingly obliged. He no longer seemed shaken in the slightest. To Koutarou, the elderly man only looked like a loyal subject aiding his master.

With Kouma’s consent, the party quickly began searching for the transmitter. Clan was in charge of leading the effort. Following her directions, Koutarou and the others made their way towards Kouma’s garden.

“Kii, please continue straight forward. The transmitter’s signal is coming from 70 meters up ahead.”

“So that’s it... I’ve found a building that seems to fit the bill.”

“Be careful, Kii. The radical faction might be hiding somewhere.”

“Thank you. I will.”

In the garden behind the mansion were several storehouses. One of them seemed to be where Clan was guiding Kiriha.

“It looks like this is the place. Kouma, could you open it up?”

Kiriha looked up at the storehouse in question. Like the mansion, it was built in a traditional Japanese style, and was quite large. Large enough to easily conceal a trailer, in fact.

“My lady, are you sure this is it?”

Standing before the storehouse, the calm Kouma’s expression clouded over.

“It seems like it. Is there a problem?”

“No...”

His expression still cloudy, Kouma stepped up next to Kiriha and put his hand on the door in order to unlock it. The building was old, but the lock was computer controlled. Kouma input the password in a familiar fashion.

The password is incorrect.

“Oh?”

However, the door didn’t open. The panel beeped and displayed a message saying that the input password was incorrect.

“That’s strange...”

Kouma tried entering the password again, but the results were the same.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, my lady... it seems that the password has been changed.”

“Is that so?”

“I haven’t heard anything about this...”

Since the storehouse kept valuables like family heirlooms, Kouma would always receive a report if the password has been changed. But lo and behold, the password had been changed and he was none the wiser. It was quite the conundrum.

“Could this be...”

“What is it, Kouma?”

“No... Since it’s come to this, let’s destroy the door.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll just open it from the inside.”

Quick to the punch, Sanae split into Sanae-chan and Sanae-san. She was going to pass through the door and open it in her ghost form. Seeing all this, Kouma’s eyes went wide.

“This is... a surprise.”

“Or do you need a password from the inside too?”

“N-No, you should be able to open it from the inside normally.”

“Cool! Then I’ll be right back.”

“Be careful, Sanae-chan...”

“I’ll be fine. Well, I’m off!”

Sanae-chan passed through the door as Sanae-san worriedly saw her off. A few seconds later, the clack of a locking mechanism disengaging could be heard. Sanae-chan then poked her face through the door and beckoned the others over with a smile.

“Okay, come on in, guys!”

“Thank you, Sanae... Then let’s go.”

Kiriha thanked Sanae and took the lead as she opened the door. And from there, the party entered the warehouse in question.

The inside of the warehouse was dark. It was impossible to see anything until Kouma flipped a switch on a nearby wall to light up the old lamps around the warehouse, illuminating the place.

Like the outside, the inside was done in a traditional Japanese style. With the lights on, the storehouse had a warm feeling to it. But something in stark contrast to that warmth stood in the middle of the storehouse. It was the trailer that Koutarou and the others had seen in the radical faction’s factory.

“Satomi-kun, that’s the trailer, isn’t it?!”

“Yeah, there’s no mistaking it.”

Since Harumi had seen the trailer in person before, she recognized it at a glance. The same was true for Koutarou, who’d seen it up close and personal at the factory. He approached it to be sure, and removed the transmitter attached to the undercarriage. That was tangible proof it was indeed the very same trailer.

“Yup, here’s the transmitter. This is the one for sure.”

“But... how can...”

In a panic, Kouma ran up to the trailer and opened the door. The moment he saw what was inside, he furiously shook his head in denial.

“Impossible! This cannot be! It’s a lie! Tell me it’s a lie!”

The majority of the contents had already been carried away, but with what still remained in the trailer, one could easily imagine who it belonged too. There were firearms, sets of body armor, tactical vehicles, and the like. It was the same equipment that the radical faction was using against the conservative faction at this very moment.

“I-If this is here... If this is here, then...”

Kouma slumped to the ground on the spot in tears—but not because his connection with the radical faction had been exposed. He was innocent. In fact, the trailer being stored in this warehouse without his knowledge pointed to someone else’s guilt. Faced with the truth, it was unbearably sad for Kouma.

“Raiga... why did you...? Didn’t we both swear... to serve the Kurano family...? Why would you... join the likes of the radical faction...?”

Kasumi Raiga was a smart and considerate man loved by all. He was even expected to become the Kasumi family’s successor. He was Kouma’s pride and joy. And this was his personal storehouse.

Assuming that Kasumi Raiga was involved with the radical faction answered a few lingering questions, such as why the conservative faction couldn’t get any leads to the radical faction, or how the password to the storehouse had been secretly changed. If Raiga was leaking information to the radical faction, of course they would always be one step ahead. And since it was his personal warehouse, changing the password to it would be easy. The list went on. And as things stood, Raiga’s involvement was all but certain. The only remaining question was how deeply involved he was.

“Uncle, cheer up. We don’t know for sure that Raiga is part of the radical faction. He might have been forced to cooperate under threat.”

“I can only hope... that is the case...”

Even if Raiga had a connection to the radical faction, there was a considerable difference between him being forced to cooperate and doing so of his own free will. And in order to figure out which one it was, Kiriha and the others were now headed for Raiga’s private room inside the mansion. There, they would try and find further information regarding the radical faction.

“I feel bad for him...” Yurika mumbled, looking at Kouma.

Harumi, who was next to her, nodded. She was so very sensitive that tears were already forming in her eyes.

“Just how painful must it be... to learn that a family member might be an enemy?”

Imagining her own parents betraying her, Harumi couldn’t hold back her tears.

“But, Koutarou, this isn’t his fault, right?”

Sanae too felt for Kouma, but more so because she felt badly for a parent being blamed for their adult son’s recklessness. It was a more black-and-white way of thinking, quite befitting of the straightforward Sanae.

“I’m sure it’s more complicated than that when it’s your own child involved. That’s probably hard for us to imagine since we’re still kids too.”

“Hmm...”

Sanae crossed her arms and began thinking. It was certainly something to chew over. There wasn’t an easy answer. That was where Sanae-san called out to Sanae-chan.

“Well, um, Sanae-chan... If Koutarou-san suddenly became your enemy one day, how would you feel?”

“How...? That would never happen!”

There was absolutely no way that Koutarou would ever become Sanae’s enemy. That was set in stone for Sanae-chan. Even if Koutarou ever became a bad guy, she would too right along with him.

“But that’s what just happened to Uncle Kouma.”

“Then... I guess I kind of understand.”

To Sanae, being left behind would be way more problematic than Koutarou suddenly becoming a bad guy. Realizing that was what had happened to Kouma made it easier for Sanae-chan to understand. And with that realization, Sanae-chan merged with Sanae-san and held Koutarou’s hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“Koutarou... if you ever become a bad guy... then make sure you take us with you.”

Sanae tightly squeezed Koutarou’s hand.

“Okay. If that time comes, I will.”

Koutarou nodded and squeezed the worried Sanae’s hand back.

It had been a while since Kouma last visited his son’s room. He had been busy dealing with the radical faction, and Raiga would always come visit him whenever it was necessary. As such, there hadn’t been a need for Kouma to visit Raiga’s room.

“Just when did Raiga grow so much...?”

Kouma picked up a photograph of his younger self with a small boy. That was how Raiga had looked twenty years ago. He was over thirty now, but to Kouma, he was still that small boy in the picture. Because of that, he would sometimes inadvertently make Raiga angry when he treated him like a child. But now, even those were good memories.

“I guess he’s really an independent adult now...”

He was sure that he’d known everything about his son when he was younger. But now, that confidence was waning. There was something like a fog inside of him that he couldn’t see past. And as his father, that both saddened and distressed Kouma.

“Uncle... Raiga is still your son. You can believe in him.”

“Thank you, my lady...”

Kouma wiped away his tears and returned the photograph to its place. After that, he looked around the room. There were mostly tools lying about, but mixed in with them were keepsakes here and there. There was the board game they’d always played together, Raiga’s old sports uniform, and the books Kouma had read to him. Since Kouma had lost his wife early on, he’d given his all to spending as much time with his son as possible. Those memories filled Raiga’s room. And standing there in the middle of it, Kouma simply couldn’t believe what was happening. There was no way that Raiga had joined the radical faction. He prayed in his heart that Raiga was only being threatened and forced to cooperate. After all, he was still Kouma’s little boy—smiling innocently in his mind like in that old photograph.

“Let’s believe in Raiga, uncle... I know he won’t let you down.”

“My lady... Yes, you’re right...”

Kouma nodded and sat down on the sofa that Kiriha had led him to. She had to search for clues while she could, but she couldn’t leave the distraught Kouma be.

“Uncle Kouma...”

Sanae watched Kouma and Kiriha.

“All right, I’ll do my best here!”

Kouma wanted to prove his son’s innocence, and now that she understood that, Sanae was more enthusiastic than usual. Normally she would think of a job like this as a pain, but now she was taking the lead in the search for clues.

“Yurika, can’t you do something with your magic?”

“Do something? Like what?”

“If he’s being threatened, couldn’t there be something like a hidden camera or microphone? I’m asking if you can find something like that with magic.”

“I see... You’re awfully clever today, Sanae-chan.”

“I’m the captain, after all! So, can you do it or not?”

“I’ll give it a try. I think I might be able to if I follow the flow of electricity.”

“I’ll leave that to you, private!”

At first Sanae hadn’t been very invested in proving Raiga’s innocence, but now she was really getting into it. It seemed she’d matured a little by sympathizing with Kouma and putting herself in his shoes. Watching the now eager Sanae, Harumi smiled.

“Satomi-kun, we can’t lose either.”

“You’re right. Let’s give this our all too.”

“But... rather than aimlessly searching for clues, we should narrow down what we’re looking for like Higashihongan-san and Nijino-san did.”

Raiga’s room was large, and since he was helping Kouma with his work, he had lots of documents regarding the politics and history of the People of the Earth. Trying to search through it all, even with twenty people helping, would take way too much time.

Sanae and Yurika are working under the assumption that he is being threatened. In that case, we should...

Koutarou decided to work under the opposite assumption. In other words, he would try and look for clues that Raiga was voluntarily working with the radical faction. Sadly, it was a job someone had to take, and it wasn’t something he wanted to push on Sanae or Kiriha. That’s why Koutarou thought it would be best if he and Harumi did it. Truth be told, he didn’t want to involve Harumi either, but there was a limit to what he could do on his own.

“Senpai, we should look for the clues that Sanae and Yurika aren’t,” he whispered to Harumi so that no one else could hear.

“You mean we should look for evidence that Raiga-san is voluntarily cooperating with the radical faction?”

“Yes. It’s not a pleasant job, but... please lend me your help, Sakuraba-senpai.”

“I understand. It’s just something that has to be done.”

Harumi flashed a sad smile, and when she did, she looked just like someone else to Koutarou. A girl with silver hair and blue eyes. But it was only for a moment. The silvery sheen vanished from her hair in the blink of an eye. Koutarou was taken aback for a moment, but quickly recollected himself.

“Sakuraba-senpai, I’ll examine the history books. The radical faction should have some interest in those.”

“Then I’ll take a look at the accounting books. If he’s working with the radical faction in secret, then there’s probably a trail of it.”

Koutarou and Harumi split up in their search. They were both looking—and hoping—for the same thing. Rather than evidence Raiga was the enemy, all they wanted to find were clues that could lead them to the radical faction’s base. Really, that was what everyone in the room was wishing for.

About ten minutes after the group had split up to search Raiga’s room, one of their contacts from the conservative faction came bursting in.

“Kiriha-sama!”

“What is it?”

Leaving the searching to Koutarou and the others, Kiriha approached the contact. When she did, they ran up and whispered to her in a quiet voice that only she could hear. And the moment she heard what the contact had to say, her expression changed.

“Aaaaaah!”

But at almost the exact same time, Sanae let out a loud cry, so nobody noticed the look on Kiriha’s face. Everyone naturally turned to look at Sanae.

“Koutarou, Koutarou, look! I found a weird button!”

“What?!”

Sanae picked up a thick book and opened it to show to Koutarou. Inside, there was a small plastic box containing a hidden button. Since it had been concealed by hollowing out the book, there was no way of knowing it was there without opening the book. In her quest for hidden cameras and microphones, Sanae had happened upon it by chance.

“I don’t know anything about this... Raiga, are you really...?”

Kouma unsteadily approached Sanae and took the book. And with a trembling hand, he pushed the button. With a click, the button began glowing red and the nearby bookshelves parted. Since they were loaded with books, there was a heavy dragging sound as they slid to the sides. But once moved, they revealed a large safe that had been built into the wall.

“Sanae, can you open it?”

“I think this one’d be impossible.”

Since the safe was locked, Koutarou was hoping that Sanae could open it the same way she had with the storehouse door, but she shook her head. Unlike a normal door, there was no way to open a safe from the inside. It wasn’t a lock that Sanae could do anything about it.

“Then I’ll do it.”

Yurika raised her hand and approached. She sounded the same as ever, but there was a strong light in her eyes. They were the eyes of a magical girl.

“You think you can?” asked Koutarou.

“I think it will work if we dissolve the area around the lock with acid.”

Yurika held her staff, Angel Halo, in both hands. Seeing her so full of confidence, Koutarou moved away from the safe to let Yurika at it.

“Then go for it.”

“All right... Acid Splash!”

Yurika pointed her staff at the lock and used a very brief incantation. It was a basic spell that sprayed strongly acidic liquid, but since it was a basic spell, the liquid only remained acidic for a short period of time. It was more than enough, however, to destroy the locking mechanism. And since the acid didn’t remain potent for very long, the rest of the safe and its contents were unharmed. Yurika had chosen her spell well.

“It’s open.”

The acid had melted away the lock surprisingly quickly. With nothing holding it shut, the door swung ajar and a pile of documents could be seen inside.

“Kiriha-san?”

Kiriha reluctantly approached the safe and picked up one of the documents. Seeing it, her eyes went wide. It was a large map covered with all kinds of symbols and markings.

“Hahh... Sadly, it seems this is the worst possible situation...”

What she had in her hands was a map that was part of a plan for a military invasion of the surface.

In addition to the map and other plans for a surface invasion, there was sensitive information from the conservative faction hidden within the safe. Someone being threatened wouldn’t go out of their way to build a safe like that. And even if he was being coerced, it seemed hard to believe someone in that situation would be receiving strategic information about attack plans. So as of right now, all signs seemed to point to Raiga stealing conservative faction secrets from under Kouma’s nose and using them to help plan attacks. In other words, that Raiga was voluntarily cooperating with the radical faction. Moreover, that he had a high position with them.

“Bad news, Clan.”

“What’s the matter?”

“It seems like the son of the chief’s aide is working with the radical faction, and he’s probably not the only mole in the conservative faction.”

“Which means we’ll have to do this alone. And quickly.”

“Yeah. Where are Theia and the others right now?”

“According to their most recent report, they are about to reach their designated location.”

“Let me know right away when they get there.”

“I understand.”

Koutarou showed a bitter expression after his talk with Clan. The situation was exceptionally bad. The radical faction had the upper hand in their attack, and the conservative faction couldn’t seriously fight back until the earthquake weapon was dealt with. And now that it was revealed Kouma’s son was working with the radical faction, they had every reason to suspect that he wasn’t the only one. That meant, to be on the safe side, they couldn’t work together with the conservative faction to find the radical faction’s base. If they did, as soon as they found it, the radical faction would know.

“Satomi-kun, what do we do now?”

“Well... let’s start by examining the strategy plans. We might be able to discern the location of the radical faction’s base from them.”

The strategy plans they’d found included ones for the attack going on right now. If they could figure out things like where soldiers had been deployed from, it might help them accurately narrow down where their base had to be. There was still hope.

“That sounds like something Kiriha would be good at.”

“It’s just a race against time...”

Even after narrowing down their search area, there was no telling how long it would actually take them to find the base. Luck would play a big part in it.

“Yurika, could you call over Kiriha-san?”

Kiriha had left to escort the distraught Kouma to his own room, but they needed her now more than ever.

“Okay!”

Yurika put down the documents she was holding and accepted her new job with a smile. She was starting to get a headache from looking at all the numbers and symbols, so she welcomed the change in assignment, and gleefully dashed out of Raiga’s room while humming.

“Satomi-saaan! Bad news!”

Yurika returned a few minutes later, but her mood had done a complete one-eighty.

“Kiriha-san is gone!”

The reason was made clear quickly—Yurika couldn’t find Kiriha. Considering the situation, that was a major problem that could have fatal consequences.

“What do you mean, she’s gone? Yurika, explain yourself!”

“I don’t really understand either! But the people in the house said that they saw Kiriha-san go outside a little while ago!”

“Why would she...?”

Koutarou had no idea why Kiriha would leave. He couldn’t think of a single reason for her to go. If anything, it was the opposite—now was when they needed her here. Doubt and impatience overcame Koutarou.

“Everybody... May I have your attention for a moment?”

That was when Kouma, who had followed Yurika, entered the room. Though he was still distraught over his son, he was also the man who had served as the chief’s right hand for many years. He’d switched gears in order to fulfill his own role.

“I see, you do indeed look familiar... How strange...”

“Kouma-san?”

Kouma stood in front of Koutarou and looked at him curiously. But only for a brief moment. He then moved on to the main topic.

“My lady, Kiriha-sama, has left for the radical faction’s base.”

“What?!”

Koutarou’s eyes shot wide open. Going into the radical faction’s base on her own was nothing short of suicide. Besides, Koutarou and the others hadn’t even figured out where it was yet.

“The contact from before brought news with him... That Chief Daiha has been captured by the radical faction.”

Kouma spoke with a deeply saddened look on his face. Since his own son might be involved, he felt personally responsible.

“Using Daiha-sama’s life as a bargaining chip, they demanded that Kiriha-sama present herself.”

“Preposterous! Why didn’t you stop her?!”

“I tried many times. However, Kiriha-sama said this was the only way...”

“But...”

Koutarou ground his teeth in frustration. Knowing her personality, there would be no way of stopping her despite the danger she was walking into. That was just the kind of girl she was.

“Koutarou-sama, I have received something from my lady.”

As he spoke, Kouma pulled something out from his pocket and presented it to Koutarou. It was a foil trading card that had lost its sheen.

“This is...”

“My lady told me to return this to you. And she left a message with it: ‘I will leave the rest to you.’”

It was the card that Koutarou had given to Kiriha eleven years ago. He was well aware of how much she treasured it. But now... she was giving it back. And Koutarou knew just what that meant.

“Kiriha-san is prepared to die...”

Kiriha had resigned herself to death before heading into the enemy base. That’s why she’d returned the card she treasured more than her own life to Koutarou. That was the safest way of protecting it.