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Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? (Light Novel) - Volume 16, Chapter 3: Maguz's Identity
Volume 16, Chapter 3: Maguz's Identity
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Part 1
Sunday, July 4
As Koutarou and the others were running through the old district to meet up with their allies several explosions happened in the new district. For each explosion the fire got worse, lighting up the city even more than the lights in the windows. If they strained their ears they could also hear something sounding like gunshots every now and then. Sensing how fierce the battle must be, the party grew tenser.
“What is the meaning of this, Maguz...”
Kiriha mortifyingly bit her lip.
The radical faction had demanded that the conservative faction surrender by threatening to use the earthquake weapon, so at the very least they shouldn't be attacking until the conservative faction has responded. Yet, the battle had begun before an answer was given. They didn't know the reason, but it was clear that Kiriha and the others were being led by the nose by the radical faction's leader, Maguz.
“Calm down, Kiriha-san.”
Koutarou said as he placed his hand on Kiriha's shoulder. He was calm and composed.
“In large-scale battles, unexpected events will happen. The commander's job is to adapt to that and make adjustments to the plan. Not make sure the battle follows your plan.”
Amongst the underground troops, only Koutarou had experience with large battles. He hadn't taken part in modern wars, but while weapons and strategies changed, the commander's attitude didn't. As a result, Koutarou calmly reacted to the situation.
“...Thank you, Koutarou.”
Upon hearing Koutarou's words, Kiriha took a deep breath. Showing a small smile, she held onto Koutarou's hand resting on her shoulder.
“I'm glad you are with me.”
“Everyone's like that at first. Me too. Besides, having you rely on me is not a bad feeling at all.”
While Koutarou nodded back to Kiriha he was thinking about something else.
If anything, the radical faction are the dangerous ones...
The radical faction lacked experience in war as well. Having hidden underground for hundreds of years, they hadn't done battle for at least that long. While they might have experience with using weapons through skirmishes, there was no one that knew what would happen when an army faced another army.
That's why no matter how much the radical faction acted like warriors, and spoke of honor and justice, it was all just theoretical. While they might believe they understand war from watching footage and reading documents, they don't actually understand anything. It was a war between novices. The radical faction was getting excited from their war game.
That's what Koutarou feared. In a war like that, they couldn't pull their punches like a fight between children. If they took action, Koutarou felt like they might even do something that can't be undone without hesitation. In truth, they had created an earthquake weapon.
“But Kiriha-san... in order to end this battle, you'll need a considerable resolution.”
“I know. No... I believe I understand.”
Kiriha nodded. She was well aware of how dangerous the radical faction was. And that control of the situation might be slipping out of her hands.
“That's why...”
Kiriha stopped speaking there. She couldn't show any further weakness in front of her subordinates. In return, she strongly squeezed Koutarou's hand.
“...”
Koutarou couldn't say anything. But her feelings conveyed to him, and he squeezed her hand back just as hard.
Part 2
The guard house where Kiriha and the others would meet up with their allies was a small building built several decades ago. By the time the old district was abandoned, its walls still had a beautiful white color, but now it had turned into a reddish-brown from dirt and dust. There were cracks in the concrete and windows, clearly showing how much time had passed. While it hadn't deteriorated as much as an equivalent building on the surface would from the wind and rain, it still fit the description of an abandoned building.
“A-Are you fine with this, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“Fine with what?”
“The insects! There's a bunch of insects inside this building!”
“Ah... well, insects that are coming straight at me are scary, but other than that...”
“I hate the crawly ones and the ones with lots of legs!”
“Like this one?”
“Kyaaaaa!! Satomi-san, Satomi-san, save me!!”
“Sanae, play with Yurika later, now's not a good time.”
“Okay.”
As Koutarou and the others entered the building they found the contact representatives from the conservative faction already waiting for them.
“Kiriha-sama!”
Upon spotting Kiriha, they ran up to her. Their job was to report the underground situation to Kiriha and tell the main force what Kiriha and the others will be doing.
“Thank you for your trouble. How's the situation?”
Keeping the greetings brief, Kiriha urged them to report as they were short on time. There, the leader of the group stepped up to report.
“About that. The radical faction has raided our base. It seems like they got impatient waiting for our answer to their demand of surrender...”
The contact representative debriefed Kiriha on the situation.
Yesterday, the radical faction revealed the existence of their earthquake weapon and demanded that the conservative faction surrender. If they surrendered, the radical faction would attack the surface in high spirits, as a result, they could not choose surrender. The conservative faction had reached a consensus that attacking the surface would eventually lead the People of the Earth to ruin. There, the conservative faction replied that they would examine the question further in an attempt to buy time. If they rejected, the radical faction might use their earthquake weapon, or they might seize control of the conservative faction through military force. The conservative faction had to complete their preparations before that happened.
However, they were not given that much time. Either the radical faction got impatient or they realized that the conservative faction had no intention to surrender. Regardless of reason, once 24 hours passed, the radical faction attacked the conservative faction's base.
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, and a part of the army under the radical faction's control. While it may be small 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 off and forced the troops to act individually, which meant they couldn't make use of their numbers. On top of that, the radical faction was using weapons that the conservative faction had never seen before, and the overall combat power of each individual radical faction soldier was higher than each individual conservative faction soldier. At this rate the conservative faction would be dismantled, they had to regain control of the situation or defeat was inevitable.
Fortunately many of the influential people had managed to escape. Not even the conservative faction would move ahead without plans when their surrender was being demanded. They were currently moving to hiding places prepared in case of emergencies in order to regain control. If things went well, the tides might even turn.
Once the contact representative finished their report, Harumi who had been quietly listening tilted her head and pulled on Koutarou's sleeve. She was curious about the difference 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 they didn't surrender.”
“I can think of two reasons.”
Koutarou raised two fingers and showed Harumi.
“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 bother giving Kiriha-san that information. It would only be when it's complete or close to it that they would inform Kiriha-san.”
If the earthquake weapon, Earth Dragon, was incomplete, there wouldn't be any point in informing Kiriha as the risk of them being attacked would increase. It wasn't until the weapon was complete or close to it that it would function as a threat.
“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 must want to be able to make use of those if possible.”
During the war in the past Forthorthe Koutarou had experienced that from time to time. Involving a village or town in a battle would cause a loss even if you won. It was common sense for a competent commander to avoid such loss.
As expected, leaving his minion Tayuma aside, we should be cautious of the mastermind, Maguz. Maguz is thinking ahead...
If that was the reason as to why the earthquake weapon wasn't being used, then combined with the magical weapon Yurika had brought with her, the utmost care is needed to be taken when dealing with Maguz.
“Which means, wouldn't this situation be bad?”
“What do you mean with bad?”
“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, and they were not using the earthquake weapon as there was a chance they could make use of the production facilities and manpower. But if the conservative faction were to regain control and started pushing the radical faction back, that might no longer be the case. By that point they might revert to their original goal of invading the surface and use the earthquake weapon to lay ruin to the underground. If they couldn't win, production facilities and manpower meant nothing.
Kiriha replied to Sanae's doubts. She had already found the answer.
“In other words, everything relies on our underground troops and Theia-dono's surface troops. We must suppress the radical faction's base while Theia-dono and the others destroy the earthquake weapon, Earth Dragon, at the same time. And as quickly as possible at that. That is our only remaining chance of victory.”
The radical faction still wasn't aware of the existence of Kiriha and the others. That's why they might be able to launch a surprise attack on their base. By doing that, the battle underground would reach its conclusion, and if Theia and the others destroyed Earth Dragon at the same time, they could avoid a tragedy.
“The problem is how we find the radical faction's base but―”
“There's no need to worry Kii. I have already located the transmitter.”
Clan's voice came from Koutarou's bracelet. Koutarou had activated the comms to let her listen in on this conversation as well.
“Onee-chan...”
“I promised you, right? That I would let you win.”
Koutarou operated his bracelet and revealed a hologram of Clan. Her expression at the time was fit for a princess, it was a prideful and powerful expression.
Part 3
After getting the coordinates from Clan, Kiriha took action right away. She told the contact representatives the details of her plans and left a message for the conservative leaders that they should refrain from swiftly winning once they regain control of the main forces. She then took her 20 subordinates, and Koutarou and the others with her and headed towards the coordinates she had gotten.
“That's a gloomy face you've got there Kii. Is there something on your mind?”
“Onee-chan, to what extent does the margin error for these coordinates reach?”
Kiriha whispered to the comms device connected to Clan. She didn't want her subordinates to hear so she spoke so that only Clan and Koutarou could hear.
“Well, they are jamming on their end so the analysis isn't that accurate... at most it's plus minus 15 meters.”
“15 meters...”
“Is that a problem?”
“Actually... a retainer that has served my family for ages lives in the coordinates you gave us. It's someone you and Onii-chan have met before.”
“Could it be that old man from back then?”
Koutarou joined the conversation. He was standing a bit away from Kiriha but the comms were connected to him as well.
“Yeah...”
Kiriha nodded lightly.
The 'old man from back then' as Koutarou put it was the elderly man that had come to the surface when Kiriha had ran away from home.
Kasumi Kouma.
The Kasumi family had served the Kurano family for many generations. Kouma was not exempt from that, and he had served as Daiha's attendant for many years. He had served as Kiriha's guardian eleven years ago when she had lost her mother, but once she grew up he returned to his former position. He also had many children 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 would wish for the surface to be ruined. She could confidently say that he was the most loyal of subjects.
“Clan, didn't you just miscalculate?”
“I wish that was the case...”
Koutarou and Clan both understood how Kiriha felt. They didn't want to believe that the gentle old man they had met back then was plotting behind everyone's back. However, Clan's analysis of the transmitter said that the trailer 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 was only obvious that the radical faction would stay one step ahead.
“I wish it was just some kind of mistake...”
Kiriha bit her lip. She was in a tough position as one of the people she trusted the most told her to doubt another of the people she trusted the most.
“It's still not certain yet. Let's hurry so we can confirm it.”
“Yeah. Sorry for making you worry Onii-chan, Onee-chan.”
“We don't mind. It's just between us, right, Bertorion?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Thank you... both of you...”
“It's about time for the commander to return.”
“Yeah!”
Kiriha wiped away her tears and raised her head. Kouma's home was right around the corner.
Part 4
As the Kasumi family was a distinguished family that had served the Kurano family for many generations, their gate was large. The large, traditional Japanese-style gate welcomed Koutarou and the others who were rushing towards it. Strictly speaking, the gate didn't compare to the Higashihongan family's gate. But since they were underground things simply ended up becoming smaller. The status of the family was certainly not inferior to the Higashihongan family.
“I just hope someone is still here... Excuse me!”
Kiriha knocked on the gate with a stern expression. Her anxiety could still be seen however as she was facing a very difficult phase.
“...Yes, do you have some business― Kiriha-sama!?”
A male employee of the Kasumi family peeked through a small window. Since this was a pressing time he seemed quite timid. But upon confirming that it was Kiriha, he hurriedly opened the gate. Since Kouma had served as Kiriha's guardian, the relationship between Kiriha and the members of the Kasumi family ran deep.
“Is uncle... is Kouma at home?”
“The master just returned. However, he has said that he will leave right away.”
Fortunately, Kouma was at home. When the radical faction had launched their surprise attack, Kouma had been at the legislature. He escaped from there and moved to a safehouse, but on his way there he stopped by his home. And through sheer chance, Kiriha happened to catch him in.
“My lady!?”
That was when Kouma himself appeared from the mansion. A large bag was hanging down from his shoulder, filled with important documents. Kouma had braved the risks of returning home so he could take these documents with him.
He's gotten a little older, but it's the old man from back then...
Koutarou had seen the man before. Like Kiriha had said, he was the elderly man that they had met eleven years ago. While Koutarou was surprised by that, Kiriha ran up to him.
“Uncle!!”
Kiriha ran towards Kouma, and Kouma did the same. The two faced each other just past the inside of 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 moved directly onto the main topic. Kouma was an influential person in the conservative faction. Since he had been at the legislature his home hadn't been attacked, but if the radical faction found out about it, they would surely come. And then there was the more unthinkable reason that Kouma might have connections with the radical faction. There was no time to spare either way.
“Something important? Is that more important than escaping from here?”
“That's right.”
Kiriha nodded with her stern expression. Sensing that, Kouma's expression naturally grew sterner as well. The two had been together 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's voice was firm. The reason for that was because she wished for it to all be a mistake.
“I understand the circumstances, but... why are you at my home?”
Kouma inclined his head in confusion. Koutarou couldn't sense that he was lying or acting unnatural. If he was acting, he was quite the actor.
“...We attached transmitters to the five trailers in the radical faction's weapon factory. And one of them points to this place.”
As Kiriha said that she stared at Kouma's expression so she could read what went on behind it.
“What!? So my lady, you're saying that I'm working with the radical faction!?”
Kouma's suddenly enraged. His face turned red as he appealed to Kiriha.
“That's not it! There's a chance that this is all one of the radical faction's plans!”
Upon seeing Kouma's reaction, Kiriha gradually grew more convinced. Kouma really was just Kouma. He wasn't part of the radical faction. But even then she had to make sure of it.
“That's not it, but it's the truth 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 that the signal really was coming from the mansion. Regardless of the reason, if the checked out that source they might find a clue that could lead them to the radical faction's base. Though she believed in Kouma she couldn't back down.
“I understand. This Kouma has nothing to hide from my lady. If you say it will help in the battle against the radical faction then search to your hearts content.”
Kouma gave his okay right away. He didn't seem shaken up in the slightest. To Koutarou the elderly man only looked like a loyal subject displaying his innocence.
Having gotten Kouma's approval, the party quickly began searching for the transmitter. The one in charge of searching for it was Clan. Koutarou and the others followed her directions and moved 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 lurking around.”
“Thank you.”
In the garden behind the house were several large warehouses. Clan was guiding Kiriha to one of those warehouses.
“It seems like this is the place. Kouma, could you open it up?”
Standing in front of the warehouse in question, Kiriha looked up at it. Like the mansion, it was built in the same traditional Japanese-style, and was several dozen meters large. It was large enough to conceal the trailer in question without any problems.
“My lady, are you sure this is it?”
Having come up to the warehouse, the calm Kouma's expression started clouding up.
“It seems like it. Is there a problem?”
“No...”
With his expression still clouded, 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 like in a familiar fashion.
“The password is incorrect.”
“Oh?”
However, the door didn't open despite Kouma entering the password. The panel beeped and displayed that the password was incorrect.
“That's strange...”
Kouma attempted to enter the password again, but the results were the same.
“What's wrong?”
“Well my lady... it seems that the password has been changed.”
“The password has?”
“I haven't heard about this...”
Since family heirloom and the likes were placed in the warehouses, so Kouma would receive a report if the password was changed. Yet it had been, it was an impossible situation.
“Could this be...”
“What is it, Kouma?”
“No... since it's come to this, let's destroy the door.”
“Uncle, you don't have to do that. I'll open it from the inside.”
Quick to the punch, Sanae split into Sanae-chan and Sanae-san. She was going to open the door in her ghost form. Seeing her appearance, Kouma's eyes opened wide.
“Just what is...”
“Or do you need a password from the inside too?”
“N-No, you can open it from the inside normally.”
“I see. Then wait, I'll get it open right away.”
“Be careful, Sanae-chan.”
“I'm fine, I'm fine. Well I'm off.”
Sanae-chan passed through the door as Sanae-san worriedly saw her off.
A few seconds later the sound of the door's lock being undone could be heard. Sanae-chan's face peeked through the door and she beckoned the others over with a smile.
“Okay, everyone come in.”
“Thank you, Sanae... Then let's go.”
Kiriha thanked Sanae and took the lead as she opened the door. So the party entered the warehouse in question.
The inside of the warehouse was dark and it wasn't possible to see anything. However Kouma flipped a switch on a nearby wall to light up the old lamps in the warehouse. That was when Koutarou and the others could finally see what was inside.
Like the outside, the inside was of a traditional Japanese-style. With the light, the entire warehouse gave off a warm impression. However, something that contradicted such warmth was at the center of the warehouse. It was that trailer that Koutarou and the others had seen in the radical faction's factory.
“Satomi-kun, this is that trailer, isn't it!?”
“Yeah, there's no mistaking it.”
Since Harumi and Koutarou had seen it in person at the factory they could tell right away. Especially since Koutarou had seen it up close. Koutarou approached the trailer and removed the transmitter that had been attached under the main body. It was proof that this was indeed the trailer.
“It's the transmitter I attached. Then it's certain.”
“But... how can!”
Kouma panickingly ran up to the trailer and opened the trailer's container. The moment he saw what was inside he greatly shook his head and rejected it.
“Impossible, this can not be! It's a lie. Tell me it's a lie!”
The majority of the contents had already been carried away. However, since some of it still remained, one could imagine who the owner was. What was left were firearms, armor, tactical vehicles and the like. It was the same equipment the radical faction was using against the conservative faction at this very moment.
“...I-If this is here then... if this is here then...”
Kouma sat down on the spot and began shedding tears. He wasn't shedding tears because his connection with the radical faction had been revealed. He didn't have any connection with them. Instead, if this trailer was in this warehouse it pointed to someone else having connections to the radical faction. And that fact 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. A smart and considerate man, loved by those around him, and was expected to become the Kasumi family's successor. He was Kouma's pride and joy. The radical faction's trailer had been brought into his personal warehouse.
Part 5
Assuming that Kasumi Raiga was part of the radical faction would answer some questions. Such as why the conservative faction couldn't find any leads to the radical faction, or why the password to the warehouse had been secretly changed. If Raiga was leaking information there was no way that the radical faction would slip up easily. And since it was his personal warehouse, changing the password was easy. There were also many more questions that would be answered under this assumption. That's why Raiga's involvement was almost certain. All that was left was how deeply involved he was.
“Uncle, cheer up. It's still not certain that Raiga is part of the radical faction. He might be forced to cooperate under threat.”
“...I just hope... that is the case...”
Even if Raiga had a connection to the radical faction there was a considerate difference between being threatened or joining through his own free will. In order to get more details, Kiriha and the others were headed towards Raiga's private room inside of the mansion. They were going to look for information regarding the radical faction there.
“...I feel bad for him.”
Yurika mumbled as she stared at Kouma's back. Harumi who was next to her nodded. Being very sympathetic, tears were forming in her eyes.
“...Just how painful would it be... to learn that your own family might be an enemy...”
Imagining her own parents becoming her enemies, Harumi couldn't bear it.
“But, Koutarou. That's not his fault is it?”
Sanae also felt sorry for Kouma, but that was more because she felt sorry that the parent was blamed for their, now adult, son being reckless. It was a very simple concept that fit Sanae.
“I imagine it wouldn't be that simple when it comes to your own child. But I bet it's hard for us to imagine as we're still children.”
“Hmm...”
Sanae crossed her arms and began thinking. It was a problem that was quick and easy to accept. That was where Sanae-san called out to Sanae-chan. Sanae-san had a different way of thinking about it.
“Uhm, Sanae-chan. If Koutarou-san was suddenly revealed to be an 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 had become common sense to Sanae-chan. If he was ever to become a bad guy, so would Sanae.
“But that's just what happened to uncle Kouma.”
“...I kinda feel like I understand.”
To Sanae, being left behind was more problematic than Koutarou suddenly becoming a bad guy. Thinking that something like that had happened to Kouma was easier for Sanae-chan to understand.
Having understood, 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. When that time comes I will.”
Koutarou nodded and squeezed the worried Sanae's hand back.
Part 6
It had been a while since Kouma last visited his son's, Raiga's, room. He had been busy dealing with the radical faction, and when needed Raiga would come to his room instead. As a result, there was never a need for Kouma to visit Raiga's room.
“...Just when did Raiga grow up so big...”
Kouma picked up a photograph of a younger self and a small boy. That was how Raiga had looked 20 years ago. He was currently over 30 years of age, but to Kouma, that image of a young boy had never left him. Because of that he would sometimes inadvertently make Raiga angry as he treated him like a child. But now even those were good memories.
“...I guess he's grown up to become an independent adult...”
He was sure that he knew everything there was to Raiga when he was young. But now that confidence was waning. Inside of his son was something like a fog that he couldn't see past. And that made Kouma uneasy and sad.
“Uncle... Raiga is still your child. You can believe in him.”
“Thank you, my lady...”
Kouma wiped away his tears and returned the photograph to its former place. After that, Kouma looked around the room. He found mostly tools for work, but he could see some items of remembrance mixed in. Like the game board they had played together, his sports uniform or the book he had read to him. Since Kouma had lost his wife early on, he had given his all to spend as much time with his son as possible. These memories filled this room. That's why when he stood here, he simply couldn't believe it. That Raiga was related to the radical faction. He couldn't help but pray that Raiga was at most being threatened and forced to cooperate. The young boy in Kouma's mind was still showing his innocent smile.
“Let's believe in Raiga, Uncle... I'm sure he will answer your expectations.”
“My lady... yes...”
Kouma nodded and sat down on the sofa that Kiriha had led him to. Kiriha had to search for clues, but she couldn't leave the depressed Kouma be.
“...Uncle Kouma...”
Sanae stared at Kouma and Kiriha.
“Alright, I'll do my best!”
Kouma wanted to prove his son's innocence. Having understood that, Sanae was more enthusiastic than normal. Normally she would claim that looking for things are too much of a bother, but unusually enough, she took the lead to 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 a captain after all. So, can you do it or not?”
“I'll give it a try. I believe I can find out if I follow the flow of electricity.”
“I'll leave it to you private.”
At first Sanae wasn't very interested in proving Raiga's innocence, but now she was really getting into it. By understanding Kouma's feelings, Sanae's matured a little more.
Looking at Sanae like that, Harumi smiled.
“Satomi-kun, we can't lose either.”
“You're right, let's give it our all.”
“But... rather than aimlessly searching for clues, we should narrow down what we're looking for like Higashihongan-san and Nijino-san.”
Raiga's room was large, since he was helping Kouma with his work, he had a lot of documents regarding the politics and history of the People of the Earth. So it was clear that it would be a waste of time searching through everything one item at a time, even with 20 something people.
Sanae and Yurika are working under the assumption that he is being threatened. In that case, we should...
Koutarou decided to work on the opposite assumption of Sanae and Yurika. In other words, he would search for clues on the assumption that Raiga was voluntarily working with the radical faction. Sadly this was something that had to be done, but not something he wanted to push onto Sanae or Kiriha. So Koutarou believed it would be best if he and Harumi did it. Truth be told he didn't want to involve Harumi in something that required her to suspect others, but there was a limit to what he could do on his own.
“...Senpai, we should look for clues using the opposite method as Sanae and Yurika.”
Koutarou whispered to Harumi. He didn't want others to hear.
“...You mean we should look for clues that Raiga-san is voluntarily cooperating with the radical faction?”
“...Yes. It's not something I'd like to do, but... please lend me your help, Sakuraba-senpai.”
“...I understand. It's something someone has to do.”
When Harumi showed a sad smile she looked like a different girl to Koutarou. It was a girl with silver hair and blue eyes. But that was for just a moment. The silvery sheen vanished and she returned to her original appearance. Koutarou was taken aback by that for a moment, but quickly recollected himself.
“...Sakuraba-senpai, I'll examine the history books. The radical faction should have some interest in that.”
“...Then I'll take a look at the accounting books. If he's working with the radical faction in secret, there should be some kind of deception in it.”
Koutarou and Harumi split up to look for clues. The two hoped for the same thing. That there wouldn't be any clues that Raiga was an enemy. They only hoped to find clues that lead to the radical faction's base. And it wasn't just the two of them. Everyone in the room wished for the same thing.
Several tens of minutes after the group had split up to search Raiga's room, a contact representative from the conservative faction jumped into the room.
“Kiriha-sama!”
“What is it?”
Leaving the searching to Koutarou and the others, Kiriha approached the contact representative. There, the representative ran up to Kiriha and whispered in a quiet voice so only she could hear. The moment she heard what the representative had to say, her expression changed.
“Aaaaaaahh!?”
But at almost the same time, Sanae let out a loud voice, so there was nobody to notice her change in expression. 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 was a small box made out of plastic.
Sanae had found a button hidden within the book. Since it had been concealed by hollowing out a book there was no way of knowing the button was there until you opened the book. In her quest for hidden cameras and microphones, Sanae happened to pick up the book by chance.
“...I don't know anything about this... Raiga, are you really...”
Kouma unsteadily approached Sanae and grabbed the book, and with a trembling hand he pushed the button. With a click the button starting glowing red.
Then the bookshelves moved to the side. Since they were moving full of books, it was a very heavy sound. Once moved, a large safe could be found built into the wall behind the bookshelves.
“Sanae, can you open it?”
“I think this one is impossible.”
The safe had been locked through a mechanism, and Koutarou hoped that Sanae could open it the same way she had with the warehouse door, but she shook her head. There was no way to open the safe from the other side, and it was a lock Sanae couldn't do anything about it.
“Then I'll do it.”
Instead, Yurika rose her hand and walked up next to Koutarou. She spoke in the same tone as always, but a strong light resided in her eyes. They were the eyes of a magical girl.
“Can you do it?”
“I think it will work if we dissolve the area around the lock with acid.”
Saying that, Yurika held her cane, Angel Halo, in both hands. Seeing her appearance full of confidence, Koutarou moved away from the safe to open up room for Yurika.
“Then please do it.”
“Yes!...Acid Splash.”
Yurika pointed her cane towards the safe's lock and spoke a very brief incantation. It was a basic spell that created and launched a strongly acidic liquid.
Since it was a basic spell, the liquid only remained acidic for a short period of time. However, it was enough to destroy the lock's mechanism, and since the acidity ran out, the other parts were left untouched. Yurika had chosen an appropriate spell.
“It's open.”
The acid melted away the lock surprisingly quickly. As a result, the safe was half opened and its contents could be seen through the gap. Inside of the safe were some kind of documents.
“Kiriha-san.”
“Yeah...”
Kiriha moved in front of the safe. Picking up one of the documents, her eyes opened up wide. It was a large map with many signs and characters written all over it.
“...Phew... sadly, the worst possible situation is progressing...”
That map was part of a plan for a military invasion of the surface.
Part 7
Apart from the invasion plans, there was sensitive information from the conservative faction hidden within the safe. A person being threatened wouldn't go out of their way to build a safe, and in that scenario it was also hard to believe that he would be in a position to come into contact with the radical faction's strategist. Thinking about it normally, it seemed like Raiga was stealing conservative faction secrets from under Kouma's nose and using them to form plans. In other words, it was very likely that Raiga was voluntarily cooperating with the radical faction, and that he was in a very high position at that.
“Clan, the situation's bad.”
“What's the matter?”
“It seems like the son of the Chief's aide is working with the radical faction. There's most likely many more inside the conservative faction.”
“Which means we'll have to do this alone. And quickly.”
“Yeah. Where are Theia and the others right now?”
“From their report just a while ago, they would soon arrive at the decided point.”
“When they reach it let me know right away.”
“I understand.”
Koutarou showed a bitter expression after his talk with Clan. The situation was exceptionally bad. The radical faction held the advantage in battle, and the conservative faction couldn't fight back seriously until the earthquake weapon was dealt with. And with Kouma's son working with the radical faction, there was most likely many more accomplices within the conservative faction. Because of that they couldn't work together with the conservative faction to find the radical faction's base. If the conservative faction made any moves the radical faction would quickly find out about it.
“Satomi-kun, what do we do now?”
“Well... let's start by examining the strategy plans, we might be able to derive the radical faction's base from them.”
The strategy plans included plans for the battle occurring right now. For a logical plan where soldiers could be swiftly deployed, the locations of the enemy base could be narrow down. Hope still existed.
“Kiriha is good at that kind of thing after all.”
“All that's left is a race against time...”
Even after narrowing down the spots, it wasn't certain how much time it would take before it was found. Luck would play a big part in it.
“Yurika, could you call over Kiriha-san?”
Kiriha had left the room to escort the greatly shocked Kouma to his own room. She needed to return right around now.
“Okay!”
Yurika put away the documents she was looking at and accepted with a smile. She was starting to get a headache from looking at all the numbers and symbols, so she welcomed the change in work and she jumped out of a Raiga's room while humming.
“Satomi-sa~n! Bad news!”
Yurika returned a few minutes later, but her expression was the opposite of the one she had left with.
“Kiriha-san is not here!”
The reason was revealed right after, Yurika couldn't find Kiriha. In this situation, that was a major problem that could have fatal consequences.
“She's not here? Yurika, explain it properly!”
“I don't really understand either! But the people of the house said that they saw Kiriha-san go outside a little while ago!”
“Why would she...?”
Koutarou had no ideas as to why Kiriha would vanish. He couldn't imagine that there was a need for it. If anything it was the opposite, as now was when Kiriha's knowledge was needed. Doubts and impatience came over Koutarou.
“Everybody... may I have your ears for a moment?”
That was when Kouma who was following Yurika entered the room. While his depression from learning of his son's involvement was large, he was the man who had served as the Chief's right arm. He had switched gears in order to play his own role.
“...I see, you do indeed look familiar... how strange...”
“Kouma-san?”
Kouma stood in front of Koutarou and looked over him, yet that was just for a moment. He soon moved onto 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 were having a hard time even finding out where said base was.
“Using Daiha-sama's life as a shield, they asked for Kiriha-sama to make an appearance.”
“Preposterous! Why didn't you stop her!?”
“I tried many times. However, Kiriha-sama said this was the only way...”
“But...”
Koutarou grinded his teeth in frustration. Knowing her personality she would appear, knowing full well the danger she would be in. That was the kind of girl she was.
“Koutarou-sama, I have received something from my lady.”
As Kouma spoke he pulled something out from his pocket and presented it to Koutarou. It was a silver colored card that had lost its sheen.
“This is...”
“My lady told me to return this to you. And she left a message, 'I will leave the rest to you.'”
This was the card that Koutarou had given to Kiriha eleven years ago. He was very well aware of how much Kiriha treasured this card. Yet she had given it back to him, and Koutarou knew just what that meant.
“...Kiriha-san is prepared to die...”
Kiriha had resolved herself to die before she headed towards the enemy base. That's why she returned the card she treasured more than her life to Koutarou. That was the safest way of protecting it.
