Chapter 144: 144

Witch's Play

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

Tsugumi looked at Azalea with a small sigh, not showing his agitation.

He had heard that Azalea had been in and out of the government’s Ministry of Divine Worship since the kidnapping, but he hadn’t expected to see him while he was dressed as Hagakure Sakura.

“Oh, it’s you, Lake-san. You were summoned too? –I wonder if your family cried for you.”

Toono said with a laugh, tilting her head and looking at Azalea.

…Tsugumi remembered that Toono and Azalea had only met once at a movie theater, but did they have a chance to talk after that?

Azalea, on the other hand, was hesitant to enter the room–He was still smiling but his face looked a little pale when he saw that there were only Toono and Tsugumi – Hagakure Sakura – in the room.

Tsugumi asked Toono, wondering what to do.

“Um, you two know each other?”

“Yes, we do. I spoke to him when I was interviewing him about the kidnapping case and asked him to come to the Ministry of Divine Worship as an advisor on Western magic. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had a chance to talk to a Catholic priest.”

“A Catholic priest?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? He’s a Vatican priest.”

You’re so close to him that you went to the movies together and you don’t even know that? Toono whispered in a low voice that Azalea couldn’t hear.

…He didn’t know that at all.

Looking back on it, it did look like Azalea had a strong belief in his faith, but there was no way Tsugumi would notice it if he didn’t say anything.

“…I don’t think you’re lying when you say he’s an advisor but is half of it for surveillance purposes?”

“That’s right. It’s easier to have him by our side than to leave him alone, isn’t it? –But you don’t have to worry about it. No matter how hard he tries, his true wish will never come true.”

“Wish?”

“Yes. But I think we’re out of time for this conversation. He’s coming in.”

While Tsugumi was talking quietly, Azalea, who had made up his mind, came into the room with a slightly pale face. And as he slowly approached the table where they were, Azalea quietly opened his mouth.

“Hello, Toono-san. You are looking quite radiant again today. …For a young man like me, it’s a sight for sore eyes.”

While saying such strange phrases, Azalea gently averted his eyes from Toono.

…Azalea had referred to Toono as a “person like a mass of flame” before but perhaps he still saw her that way. It must be tough being too sensitive.

Azalea then noticed Tsugumi – Hagakure Sakura – next to Toono and gave him a small nod.

“If I remember correctly, you’re Hagakure Sakura, right? My name is Azalea Lake. I met you once before on a ship, do you remember?”

“On a ship? Oh, could you be the priest at that time?”

Tsugumi said so while clapping his hands lightly.

On the boat – just the day before Hitsugi’s incident, he saw two people dressed in priest’s clothes at a boat party he attended.

The impact of Hitsugi’s incident was so great that he completely forgot about it, but it really might have been Azalea. …In fact, he didn’t remember it well until now.

When he answered, disappointed with his memory, Azalea said with a small smile.

“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t greet you then. My companion wasn’t feeling well.”

“No, don’t worry about it. But why would a clergyman go to the trouble of cooperating with a Japanese organization?”

Currently, Roman Catholicism and Japan were somewhat hostile to each other. This was mainly because of their interpretation of God.

While Japan accepted 8 million gods as “God” as long as they had a certain amount of power, Catholics believed in only one God. It was safe to say that these ideas were parallel lines that would never cross.

It was surprising that such a clergyman attended a boat party in Japan, but why did he go to the trouble of hiding his identity to attend school? Tsugumi would like to ask various things in detail, but he couldn’t do it in his current state.

Then Azalea gave a slightly troubled smile and said deceptively, “There are various circumstances in the church.” Apparently, he didn’t intend to talk about it here.

While they were having such a conversation, people began to gather in the conference room one after another, probably because the time for the meeting was getting close.

The number of people in the room exceeded a hundred, which clearly showed how important the government thought this expedition was.

And then, Tsugumi noticed that among the last group of people to enter the room – the Transportation Management Department – there was Chidori.

–She said she got an urgent job, but don’t tell me I am going to go to England with Chidori too?

Thinking of this, Tsugumi looked at Toono with a surprised face. Did Toono know about this?

Then Toono said in a small voice, “I didn’t know about it either until she was here. Please don’t look at me like that,” she complained. Apparently, she was uncomfortable with Tsugumi’s suspicion.

…He supposed it was always worse to act suspicious.

Tsugumi let out a small sigh as he touched his ear – a hair ornament as a talisman given to him by Shiro just before he left – to calm his mind, even though he was still not fully convinced.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t strange that Chidori was here. Considering Chidori’s “Gate” ability, it would be in the best interest of the country to have her accompany him.

–Chidori’s ability to transport was limited to places she had been to once when used outside of the barrier. Conversely, once she set foot in a place, she could enter the same place as many times as she wanted.

In Chidori’s case, there were a lot of people that she could transport at once, so it was predictable that she would be taken out for mapping purposes during such excursions.

–There were a lot of people involved with Nanase Tsugumi here, but Toono didn’t seem to know anything about it, so this might have really just been a coincidence.

After the general members gathered, the conversation proceeded with confirmation of important matters, and the meeting ended without any eye contact with Chidori.

After this, only those who had made preparations and been selected would fly to England.

Well, even if they said “fly,” it wasn’t by plane, but through transportation, so he wasn’t deeply moved.

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And during the preparation, they were handed uniforms prepared by the government for the dispatch, but how could there be clothes for Hagakure Sakura, who was not scheduled to go?

At first, he was horrified that they might be sized to fit Yukino, but the clothes somehow fit Tsugumi even though he hadn’t taken a measurement. On the contrary, it was frightening.

After he was done changing, he asked Toono about it, and apparently, when the dispatch deal was first discussed in earnest, it was decided from the start that uniforms would be made for personnel of Jukka.

It seemed the size could fit perfectly because the staff member with the skill to identify three sizes had read the sizes for all of them by sight. …It was excellent, but they were just perverts.

When he returned to the conference room while reaffirming that government personnel were in the magical realm, other preparations had already been made.

The total number of people heading to the site was twelve, including Toono and Tsugumi.

In addition, about 10 non-combatants and 10 Magical Girls who also served as their escorts were scheduled to be dispatched a few hours later. Incidentally, Azalea and Chidori were part of the second group.

The Magical Girls escorting them wouldn’t participate in the battle against the Demonic Beasts unless there was a major problem, so it would be just the two of them, Toono and Tsugumi, who would be doing the actual fighting.

With Toono on the team, there was no way they would lose, but it was still a little discouraging to be fighting in a foreign land without Bell’s support.

As Tsugumi was thinking about this, Toono looked into Tsugumi’s face and opened her mouth.

“Oh my, are you nervous?”

“…Well, in a manner of speaking. I never thought I would be going to a country where I didn’t even speak the language.”

When Tsugumi shrugged his shoulders and said so, Toono laughed.

“Fufu, even though you’re strong against Demonic Beast, you’re so afraid of unknown places.”

“Are you laughing at me for being a coward?”

“No, isn’t it okay to be cute?”

With such a lighthearted remark, she put her feet on the large carpet with the teleportation circle written on it.

Those who were scheduled to be dispatched to England disappeared in an instant.

◆ ◆ ◆

At 8:00 a.m. local time in England, many diplomats had gathered in the hall of a hotel about 10 kilometers from London. Many of them had been recruited from countries other than the United Kingdom–the neighboring countries.

Originally, it was planned that only British and Japanese staff members would greet the Magical Girls, but after so many discussions, it turned out like this.

For other countries, Magical Girls who existed only in Japan–Devil Contractors–were both a threat and an object of interest. It was human nature to want to see them with their own eyes if there was any chance to meet.

Of course, everyone had already undergone body checks, so there was little chance of an emergency case happening, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any problems.

England had increased its security and wasn’t neglecting its surveillance of people from other countries, but if the Magical Girls who had been dispatched to England were harmed, they would not be able to count on them.

Edgar Burton, who was in charge of this project, asked the man standing next to him, suppressing his anxiety.

“Will there really be human beings coming out of there, Yamabuki-san?”

“Yes, that is what I’ve heard.”

The man who answered Edgar – Yamabuki, a diplomat belonging to the Japanese government, stared at the carpet in the hall without changing his expression.

–The Demonic Beast that had been appearing intermittently in London. It was good that they installed the dispatch of Japanese “Magical Girls” to deal with the problem, but the issue was how to move them.

About four days ago, a man named Yamabuki Shizuru arrived in this country on a chartered plane for a preliminary meeting, brought a large carpet with a mysterious pattern on it, and asked for a hall large enough to hold the carpet.

According to Yamabuki, the plan was to use this carpet to bring in experts of Demonic Beast’s extermination to England.

Edgar remembered being quite confused at the time because he had assumed that the other personnel would also come to England later on a plane.

After a full day of discussion, he allowed the carpet to be installed in a hotel near London under pressure from Yamabuki.

However, although he was satisfied at the time, when he saw the carpet in front of him, he began to wonder if he had made the right decision.

Edgar thought so and spoke to Yamabuki.

“I’m not doubting you, but I still think the plane would have been more reliable–“

“It’s just about time. They are coming.”

Edgar’s words were interrupted by Yamabuki.

At that moment, a chiming bell rang out in the hall–the carpet was instantly enveloped in a red pillar of fire.

“Hey!! What’s going on!?”

British personnel and guests from various countries who had gathered there screamed and tried to move away from the carpet. The only ones unmoved by the flames were those from Japan, including Yamabuki.

On the other hand, Yamabuki approached the flaming carpet with a composed face and bowed deeply.

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“–We have been waiting for you. Our beautiful flowers.”

As Yamabuki announced this in a theatrical voice, the pillars of fire that had risen up around the carpet disappeared like a phantom.

From the extinguished pillar of fire, a number of black figures could be seen.

About ten adults in black suits and a pair of beautiful girls that gave off unique presences wearing military caps and one-piece military-style uniforms stood in the center, slowly moving forward.

The more voluptuous of the two girls said in a high voice, clacking the soles of her high heels.

‘Well–who should I say hello to?”

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