Chapter 386: Side Chapter 52: The threats group up

Side Chapter 52: The threats group up

Joseph and the others with him, having landed safely on the ground thanks to their parachutes, regrouped to discuss what they should do next.

They were hesitant to contact the government of the South American country that had requested this mission, or the government of the Federal States… and they were also hesitant to contact the Bravers headquarters. After all, they had just been attacked by a Federal States government fighter aircraft.

This couldn’t have been a renegade act by a pilot with radical beliefs. It was unclear as to where the fighter aircraft had taken off from, but if it really was just a renegade pilot, the base would have had enough time to contact the transport aircraft and give warning that a fighter aircraft with a dangerous pilot was headed their way.

And this guarded escort mission had been planned in absolute secrecy. Given that it had been leaked, this was certainly no ordinary situation.

“I see… I get it,” said the ‘Chiron’ Derrick, nodding. “The one who leaked the information about our mission might be someone in the operations department who is close to Rikudou. So, you want to avoid contacting headquarters until we understand the situation. That’s what you’re saying, right?”

“Yes, that’s basically it. It would be a shame if we were to call for rescue, only for a bomber aircraft to come at us this time,” said the ‘Sandman’ Youdou, smiling with satisfaction at having successfully persuaded Derrick to follow this plan. “But we’re saying that we suspect Rikudou himself, not someone close to Rikudou,” he added.

Joseph, Youdou, and Nanamori were three reincarnated individuals who had been guided by Vandalieu and granted his divine protection. They had been trying to persuade Derrick, a reincarnated individual who wasn’t like them, as well as the pilots of the transport aircraft, to follow their plan. The reasons for that were exactly as Youdou had explained.

They didn’t believe that Derrick and the pilots were on Rikudou’s side. Even in that situation, Derrick had given orders that prioritized the survival of Joseph, Youdou, Nanamori, and the pilots, over his own.

“It’s true that we can’t rule out the possibility that Rikudou himself leaked information about our mission, or that he’s the mastermind behind this whole incident. I understand that this is the logical conclusion. But there’s no reason to suspect Rikudou specifically over anyone else, right?” said Derrick.

He wasn’t on Rikudou’s side, but like Amemiya, he considered Rikudou to be a trustworthy companion.

If he knew that the one piloting the fighter aircraft had been another reincarnated individual, the ‘Sleipnir’ Nishikaga Yoshihiko, he would likely have believed that Rikudou was involved. But even Joseph, the one who had repelled the aircraft, didn’t know that Nishikaga had been the pilot. And since Nishikaga had fallen into the sea or onto the ground, there was no evidence.

If the ‘crime syndicate leader’ that they had been supposed to pick up at their destination and provided a guarded escort for wasn’t there, or had never existed to begin with, that might have been another piece of evidence for Derrick to suspect Rikudou, the one who had assigned them this mission in the first place.

But because this was a top-secret mission, Joseph and the others didn’t know the name or face of this ‘crime syndicate leader.’ And since they couldn’t contact the people at their intended destination, they couldn’t confirm who he was or whether he even existed.

“Well, I suppose that’s what anyone would think. There’s no proof, after all,” said Youdou.

“Especially with a story like ours. You’d think we were on drugs or off our meds,” agreed Nanamori.

Youdou, Nanamori, and Joseph were Bravers who had taken time off missions due to mental problems. On the other hand, Rikudou had worked tirelessly to make up for the Bravers who had been lost, and he now essentially served as a deputy leader for the organization who brought everyone together.

Who Derrick would choose to believe was obvious, as he was unaware of what Rikudou had been doing in secret.

“Hey, hey, I didn’t go that far. You guys improved your abilities through your own hard work, didn’t you? If you’re capable of doing that, I don’t consider you to be unreliable or untrustworthy,” said Derrick. “But I’m just saying, we can’t conclude for certain that Rikudou is guilty.”

It was the clear choice for Derrick to believe Rikudou, but he didn’t take the words of Youdou and the others lightly, either. He believed that they had their own reasons and conclusions for suspecting Rikudou. That was why he didn’t insist on contacting Rikudou like he had originally suggested.

“But what are we going to do now? We can’t just not contact anyone. Search parties should be on their way to look for us, too,” said Derrick.

“I suppose so. The Federal States and this country that we’ve crashed in have both probably noticed that the signal of the transport aircraft is gone, after all. For now, it would be nice if we could get in contact with someone we can trust… like Ulrika,” said Youdou.

“Not Amemiya? Come to think of it, he knew about our mission, just like Rikudou,” said Derrick.

It seemed that Derrick considered Amemiya to be a suspect as well, but Youdou decided not to answer, as he couldn’t provide Derrick with an explanation as to why that wasn’t the case.

“How is it? Have you managed to get a connection?” he asked the pilots.

They had brought radio equipment with them from the transport aircraft, and the pilots were trying to contact Ulrika with it.

“… It’s no good. It seems that it broke from the impact of the fall,” one of the pilots said.

The radio equipment, a marvel of the latest magical and scientific technology, had turned into a mere box that only produced noise.

Incidentally, Derrick and the others couldn’t use their phones – there was a risk that their locations could be traced.

Joseph sighed. “Derrick, and you two over there. Could you please pretend not to see what I’m about to do?”

From his pocket, he produced a mobile phone with a design unlike any that Derrick had ever seen.

“What is that phone? And what do you mean, pretend not to see… Are you saying we should pretend we never saw this phone?” Derrick asked.

“That’s right. With this phone, we can contact someone we can trust. There’s no risk of our locations being traced, either. But this is a top-secret piece of equipment. Even when the transport aircraft was in danger of being shot down, I’d decided that I wouldn’t use this unless absolutely necessary,” said Joseph. “That’s why I want you to pretend you never saw it… Well, it is possible that in the worst-case scenario, the world will be in a state that it won’t matter whether you keep it a secret or not, but still – please do, just in case.”

Youdou and Nanamori gasped.

“Joseph, are you planning to use that?!” Youdou exclaimed.

“It’s true that now’s the time to use it, but… you could have done it while the two of us drew Derrick and the pilots’ attention…” Nanamori pointed out.

Derrick sensed that something extraordinary was about to happen. “Alright, I promise. You guys should promise, too,” he said to the pilots.

“Of course,” one pilot said.

“I trust the people who saved our lives,” said the other.

Having gained their agreement, Joseph held up this phone. “Transform!”

The phone turned into a liquid that crawled up his arm and spread all over his body, forming a bodysuit.

“G-Goddamn!” Derrick shouted. “What the hell was that?! Is this some kind of state-of-the-art power suit?!”

In Origin, a world where magic existed, power suits were used for military purposes. But they were shaped more like an inner clothing layer to be worn under the wearer’s military uniform, not like a heavy suit of armor.

They were Magic Items that were light and flexible but provided protection similar to a bulletproof vest and a certain degree of resistance to heat, as well as a boost to the wearer’s physical capabilities, at the cost of only a small quantity of Mana.

These had been worn by the now-deceased ‘Balor’ Johnny, his subordinates, and the ‘Sleipnir’ Nishikaga.

But portable power suits didn’t exist, as far as Derrick knew.

“But what is that design? You look like a character from a tokusatsu show for kids,” Derrick said with a dry laugh.

Joseph was now wearing a flashy cape and a helmet with decorations on it.

“Yeah, he apparently got some inspiration from those,” Joseph said.

The transformation equipment provided by Banda greatly surpassed the military power suits used in this world in terms of performance and function.

Despite that, Joseph hadn’t used it yet because this design… was too flashy and conspicuous. Of course, another big reason was that its technology was far too advanced for this world.

“But its functions are top-class. It has communication functions as well… This is Joseph. Are you able to talk now?” said Joseph, making contact with Banda right in front of Derrick. After listening for a few moments, he gave a startled gasp. “So, things have progressed to this point…”

He learned of the attack on the Amemiya residence and the attack on Narumi’s group. He had assumed that he and his group were the only ones Rikudou had tried to eliminate silently, but now he realized how serious the situation was, with Rikudou having made bold moves with no regard to appearances.

If they had thoughtlessly contacted the Federal States or the Bravers headquarters, there really might have been a bomber aircraft on its way to them right now.

“So… What? What do we want to eat? Umm, a-anything is fine… That only makes it harder to decide? But even if you say that…”

After conversing for a while, Joseph ended the call.

“He’s apparently coming to pick us up… and buy us some food while he’s at it,” he told Derrick and the others.

“Ah, that’s very helpful,” said Derrick, assuming that Joseph had been talking to a personal acquaintance at the local government of this country or something.

But Youdou and Nanamori had a pressing question: “How?!”

Rikudou was delivered a report that the fighter aircraft piloted by the ‘Sleipnir’ Nishikaga had disappeared from the radar and contact had been lost.

“I thought that I had a grasp over everything, and everything was in the palm of my hand… but this is simply too unexpected,” he muttered, putting a hand on his forehead. “Just what in the world is this monstrosity? Is it normal for imaginary friends these days to be completely unharmed after being showered in bullets and spells, fly around at high speeds while carrying a van, and destroy my plans?”

Rikudou had realized that the monstrosity that had appeared was Banda, the imaginary friend that Amemiya Mei had drawn.

He had realized this, but he hadn’t realized what Banda’s true identity was. If he knew that Banda was teaching Mei death-attribute magic, he would likely have realized that Banda was the same person as the ‘Undead,’ but…

The only thing he knew at the moment about Banda was that he was a monstrosity and that he was very mobile.

Reports were coming in one after another.

“The target is flying around, completely ignoring the air defenses of every nation. It’s ignoring all transmitted communications from the fighter jets that have been scrambled and deployed… No, it’s possible that it’s simply not capable of receiving those transmissions. But at the very least, it’s something that appears on the radar.”

“That might be because it is carrying a van underneath it. Banda itself doesn’t react to anything other than Mana sensors. Given that, we believe it isn’t a living creature; it is a kind of spirit that is made of Mana. This is corroborated by our autopsy on ‘Balor,’ which shows no evidence of any person being involved in his death other than ‘Balor’ himself. However, that raises the question as to why ‘Balor’ didn’t steal its Mana.”

“Based on our analysis of the footage… It is almost impossible to damage Banda with currently-existing heavy firearms. Though it’s unclear as to how, the van in which Amemiya Mei is riding is also being protected by a similar armor. There have also been videos uploaded to video-sharing websites. It seems that they used the drive-through service at a fast food restaurant after visiting a supermarket, and they paid using ‘Balor’s’ credit card.”

None of these reports contained anything that Rikudou could use to think of an effective plan. The only thing he knew was that Banda was likely invincible against anything other than the cheat-like abilities of the Bravers and death-attribute magic.

But if Banda and Mei were the only enemies of Rikudou and his allies, they might have been able to deal with this threat. After all, they were reincarnated individuals, and they were protected by their fortunes.

But the ‘Echo’ Ulrika, another reincarnated individual, was on Banda and Mei’s side. The ‘Angel’ Amemiya Narumi had joined them as well, and they were now on the way to the location of the ‘Druid’ Joseph and the others.

This was enough to nullify the fortunes that protected Rikudou and the reincarnated individuals on his side. When reincarnated individuals clashed with each other, their fortunes canceled each other out, regardless of the numbers on each side.

Rikudou was well aware of this fact, as this was the very phenomenon he had attempted to take advantage of in order to eliminate Ulrika, Joseph, Narumi, and the others. With the fortunes canceling each other out, the side that had made proper preparations and caught the enemy off guard would be the one to survive. But Banda and the reincarnated individuals who had been strengthened by him had overcome the preparations made by Rikudou and his allies, leading to ‘Balor’ and ‘Sleipnir’ being killed with ease.

“… ‘Sleipnir’ in a fighter aircraft might be able to shoot them out of the sky… No, it’s pointless to make a plan based on someone who’s already dead,” Rikudou muttered.

“… This is conjecture on my part, but if this Banda is a being that Amemiya Mei has created, or some kind of evil spirit or guardian spirit that haunts her, then would you not be able to defeat it by targeting Amemiya Mei herself?” suggested a subordinate, despite knowing that Rikudou considered Amemiya Mei to be an important sample.

Rikudou showed no anger or irritation at this suggestion, but he didn’t accept it, either. “It is true that this may be possible. But that monstrosity seems to be aware of that as well. When it killed ‘Balor,’ it protected her inside its own fur along with ‘Echo,’ and in Africa, inside a van covered in an armor that is as hard as its own body. Targeting Amemiya Mei directly will be difficult.”

His reasoning was logical, and the subordinates were convinced and stepped back. But they were surprised by Rikudou’s next words.

“Recall the subordinates and limited death-attribute mages from Africa, and prepare for a counterattack.”

A subordinate gasped. “They’re going to come here?!”

A shiver ran up the spines of Moriya and the other subordinates. The existence of this headquarters was top-secret. Even among Rikudou’s collaborators, only those in powerful positions in society knew of it – presidents of countries and chiefs of intelligence agencies.

Rikudou had even kept his distance from the ‘Balor’ Johnny and ‘Sleipnir’ Nishikaga – the only thing they knew was the email address displayed on their devices when they received their orders from him.

But there was a large hole from which their information had leaked – the ‘Metamorph’ Shihouin Mari.

“They will come. ‘Black Maria’ used some method that we failed to foresee to return to being ‘Metamorph,’ and she and the experimental subjects with her have rendezvoused with Amemiya. The improvements to her body and the experiments involving her were carried out here,” Rikudou said.

The experimental subjects that had been turned into limited death-attribute magic users were still uncompromised, but Rikudou and his subordinates had assumed that they had full control over ‘Metamorph,’ and none of them had ever even considered the possibility of information leaking through her. It was possible that they had talked about the location of this headquarters and its layout in front of her.

“But we can’t even be sure that ‘Metamorph’ remembers it! And there is no guarantee that she has ties to that monstrosity!” one subordinate said desperately.

“No, we should prepare for the worst. I can’t imagine that the monstrosity will be taking the children on a picnic and going home after this,” said the ‘Shaman’ Moriya Kousuke. “Rikudou-san, let’s gather our collaborators at our headquarters as we planned. They’re certain to have noticed the abnormality of this situation, but they likely haven’t realized how serious it is… We can’t have them abandon us now.”

Rikudou nodded in agreement. “That’s what I intend to do. And let’s proceed with preparations for our last resort. Now that an unexpected threat has appeared, we will likely be forced to abandon our initial safe plan.”

After stocking up on food and snacks from a supermarket in a certain African country, as well as buying hamburgers, fried chicken, and pizza at a drive-through, Banda’s group flew across the ocean to the continent of South America.

Fighter aircraft threatened them along the way, but Banda shook them off with his sheer speed and unmatched mobility, and then landed where Joseph and the others were waiting.

Derrick and the two pilots were petrified in shock and fear at the sight of Banda, but they became quiet after Joseph and the others explained things to them.

“… Jesus. To think that Rikudou was really a traitor who was pulling the strings of Murakami and the others, and ‘Balor’ and ‘Shaman’ are with him as well… I can’t believe it. It’s a big surprise that Narumi’s daughter can use death-attribute magic, but Rikudou’s betrayal is so shocking that I don’t care about that right now,” said Derrick.

“Derrick, I feel the same way, but… it’s the truth. Well, I do care about Mei’s magic, though,” said Narumi.

Derrick and Narumi were both surprised and crushed by the truth that had been revealed to them by Ulrika. Even Derrick, who had only half-believed Joseph and the others, was unable to deny it.

The ‘Avalon’ Rikudou Hijiri had been one of the leading members of the Bravers who had supported Amemiya Hiroto ever since he founded the Bravers, just like the now-deceased Endou Kouya and Minami Asagi.

Rikudou had never stood out back then, but through the battle against the Eighth Guidance, he had become Amemiya’s right-hand man. Now, he was responsible for a diverse range of things – he directed the operations of the Bravers; coordinated activities with the United Nations, the governments of various countries, investigation organizations, and intelligence agencies; and made media appearances.

Him betraying the Bravers was fatal to the organization. Amemiya and everyone else had spread out across the world on missions assigned by Rikudou and almost been killed, not suspecting him of a thing.

And it was also fatal to the world.

“This is the end of the Bravers, huh,” said Derrick, crestfallen. “There’s no way this scandal can be covered up… It’s a huge crime. Calling it a ‘scandal’ would be an understatement.”

“Well, I would say that it’s the end of a lot more things than just the Bravers. After all, even if Rikudou is the mastermind, there are people helping him and making their armies obey him,” said Banda’s voice coming through the Van’s speakers, attempting to cheer Derrick up.

“… That’s precisely why we’ll be blamed even more, even if we suppress Rikudou and the others. They’ll blame Rikudou and they’ll blame the Bravers for their negligence that led to all this. They’ll throw us to the wolves without blinking an eye if it means that they’ll distract even the smallest amount of public investigations away from themselves. After all, one of ours is the mastermind.”

Rikudou’s collaborators included important figures in political and business circles and mass media all over the world. If they were to conspire in order to save themselves, Derrick, Narumi, and the rest of the Bravers would all be helpless.

“In that case, I’ll do some punishing, at least for the people of the Federal States,” said Banda.

It was Rikudou’s collaborators in the Federal States that had deployed military Golems to attack the Amemiya residence and a fighter aircraft to shoot Joseph and the others out of the sky. It was their actions that had led up to this point.

Even if they were able to protect themselves through information manipulation and political maneuvering, Banda’s ‘punishment’ would await them.

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“Are you gonna meh them?” said Mei, who had been eating snacks but reacted to the word ‘punishing.’

Banda paused his conversation with Derrick to concentrate on Mei instead. “Yes, I’m going to meh the bad people who messed up your house, Meh-kun, and the ones that tried to do scary things to Uncle Joseph and the others.”

Vandalieu didn’t intend to destroy their souls, but his intention to destroy their bodies wasn’t a lie.

“Mei wants to meh them too, Banda!”

“Hmm, it might be a little too early for you, Meh-kun. And it’s something that needs to be done late at night. You won’t be able to wake up in time for breakfast, you know?”

“Aww. I won’t, then.”

“You’re such a good girl, Meh-kun.”

A tentacle suddenly appeared inside the car and patted Mei’s head to praise her for listening.

“… I think I’m going to go crazy. I’m surprised you guys are all fine with this,” muttered Derrick, looking away from the happy and cheerful Mei and turning to Ulrika, Joseph, and the others.

Incidentally, the two pilots, who were also in the vehicle, were trembling as they imagined what kind of fate the bosses of their organizations would meet.

“Fine with it, you say… Well, because it’s fine. But we were just as shocked as you when we learned that Rikudou is a traitor,” said Youdou.

“If you’re talking about Banda, it’s because it’s Banda. If it’s his tone of speech that’s bothering you, I think it’s because Mei-chan is here. You wouldn’t say that you’re going to kill somebody in front of a small child, would you?” said Ulrika.

“And Derrick, you were looking fine just a second ago when you were eating your food,” said Joseph.

They were already accustomed to Banda’s appearance and behavior. They had been surprised that he had decided to procure food supplies at a supermarket and a fast food restaurant, but that was all.

“Hey Uncle, you guys are being flamed less than I thought. Or rather… all the comments are about Banda,” said Hiroshi, showing them the screen of the mobile phone that he had brought with him from his house.

There were several video postings of Banda, as well as threads of comments discussing what he might be.

‘A mysterious monster, filmed from a cruiser ship!’

‘An alien appears in a high-class residential district and sucks out a human’s brain!’

‘Has the Eighth Guidance returned at last?!’

‘A monster buys a mountain of fried chicken and pizza in Africa!’

‘The alien’s name is Johnny Yamaoka.’

And so on.

“What a mess… Could it be that you did this on purpose?!” Derrick exclaimed.

“No. But if I make myself invisible, the parts of me that I used to improve the van will also disappear, so I can’t do that,” replied Banda.

“… I see.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to support you people at all. Joseph and Ulrika are my companions, and Meh-kun and Hiroshi aren’t entirely uninvolved, either,” said Banda.

Banda thought that the fierce criticism directed at the Bravers because of Rikudou was something that they had brought upon themselves. But he found it aggravating and illogical that Joseph and Ulrika would be criticized as well. And it would be even more aggravating if it were to also affect Mei and Hiroshi’s lives.

And he couldn’t allow only the Bravers to become the villains while the accomplices who had cooperated with Rikudou got away and continued on with their carefree lives.

“And I would like to say this specifically to Meh-kun’s mom – We’re in an emergency situation until all of this is dealt with, but once it’s over, I’d like you to do your best to not bring the troubles of work into the house,” said Banda. “If you can promise me this… I will help you.”

It would be difficult for the children to rejoice and be happy if their parents were in a miserable situation.

Considering that, the happiness of Amemiya Hiroto and Narumi was an ‘obligation’ for him. At the very least, they would have to not be so miserable and unhappy that they could not hide it from their children.

Thus, Banda wasn’t against lending them his strength.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Hiroshi and Mei, even without you telling me. I’m their mother, after all,” said Narumi.

She had learned that Mei was able to use death-attribute magic, but she didn’t see that as a problem in and of itself. To begin with, she never believed that the death attribute itself was evil.

The problem was what the people of this world would try to do with a new death-attribute mage… but Narumi was determined to do whatever was needed to protect her children from all that.

“I’m sure Hiroto feels the same way. Even if he doesn’t, I’ll make sure to convince him,” Narumi said.

“It’s a relief to hear that,” said Banda.

He was truly relieved by this answer; he had imagined that in the worst-case scenario, he might even need to make alterations to the Amemiyas’ brains.

Banda dropped cylindrical lumps of metal that landed with loud thumps in front of Narumi and Derrick.

“These are the prototype versions of the power suit I gave Joseph,” he explained. “They don’t have any design elements added, and their functions to improve the wearer’s physical capabilities and act as a magical medium are considerably inferior, but they should still be far beyond any ordinary power suits that are currently available. I’ll lend them to you, so please make use of them.”

“No design elements?! Thank god for that!” said Derrick.

“Th-thanks,” said Narumi as she picked up her power suit… a simple piece of transformation equipment.

Her mind began pondering what Banda’s true identity might be. He was teaching Mei death-attribute magic… Could it possibly be him?

Meanwhile, Amemiya’s group was moving away from the ruined city, along with the ‘Metamorph’ Shihouin Mari and the three others who were with her.

Amemiya and the others had found it very difficult to believe that Rikudou had betrayed them and was researching death-attribute magic, of all things. But the words of Mari, who had been captured and brainwashed by Rikudou, were convincing, and they could not deny what she told them.

She had explained in minute detail exactly what she had done while disguising herself as Rikudou and acting as his body double. This testimony served as plenty of proof of the truth. As for physical proof, the most significant was the ‘Ares’ Sugiura attempting to kill her right before their very eyes.

And in the building that had supposedly been occupied by terrorists were the corpses of the ‘Sahadeva’ Da and the ‘Artemis’ Katherine.

Believing what Mari was telling them, Amemiya and the others were moving away from the ruins because Rikudou and his collaborators might be aware that his plan had failed. It was possible that they would bomb the ruins to cover up the evidence and kill Amemiya and everyone else.

… Indeed, some time after Amemiya’s group left the ruins, the noise of an explosion came from the direction of the ruins, and a pillar of smoke rose into the sky.

“That must be the local government. I know there’s nobody living there, but they’ve really gone all out,” spat the ‘Titan’ Iwao, who was driving a jeep. “By the way, where are we going now? Where’s the main base of Rikudou and his allies? The Federal States? Or is it on the South or North Pole?”

“If I recall, Rikudou bought an entire ghost town district in the Chinese Republic to use as a maneuvering area. Is that where it is?” asked Amemiya, who was in the passenger seat.

Mari, who was in the back seat, gave an unintelligible muffled noise in response.

“… Sorry. Take your time to eat,” said Amemiya.

Mari was eating the portable rations that Katherine and Da had been carrying.

When ‘Ares’ destroyed her head, she had already created a spare head in advance. Capable of thinking with just her soul, she had quickly replaced her destroyed head with the spare one to survive.

Seeing this, Amemiya and the others assumed that she was essentially immortal, so they listened to what she had to say. The special forces members who had been assigned on this mission with the Bravers also assumed that she was immortal, which was why they had quietly listened to her explanation without protest. As a result, they all believed her.

But Mari wasn’t as immortal as they thought. She was able to use ‘Metamorph’ to create spare brains or hearts for herself, but the materials she used to do so was her own flesh and blood. She created them with ‘Metamorph,’ using her own blood, bones, fat, and muscle.

It wasn’t that someone had made an entirely new head and just given it to her.

On the surface, it had appeared that she was completely unharmed after ‘Ares’ destroyed her head. But in reality, her body’s weight had decreased by the same amount that her head had weighed.

Naturally, if this happened two or three times, Mari would have nothing left to create new organs with, and she would simply die.

She had kept that fact hidden and maintained a composed appearance because she hadn’t been able to trust Amemiya and the others – at least, not until they heard what she had to say and believed her.

Now that they believed her and she could trust them, she had revealed her weakness. Now, she was eating as much as she could in order to restore what she had lost.

And so, Yukijoro and Gabriel, who were in the back seat with Mari, replied instead.

“Rikudou’s main base isn’t in the Federal States, nor is it in the North or South Pole. It seems that there were research facilities there, but they have been abandoned,” said Yukijoro.

“The ghost town in the Chinese Republic was bought just to draw attention away in case he was ever suspected,” said Gabriel.

Yukijoro, Gabriel, and Bokor were all wary of Amemiya and the others, and refused to leave Mari’s side. They were afraid that if they did, they would be separated and kidnapped off somewhere else.

Thus, the back seat of the jeep was considerably cramped.

“So where are we supposed to go? Just so you know, this jeep can’t drive across the ocean,” said Iwao.

Bokor gave a cheerful laugh. “We know that! For now, we must simply move so that we are not captured, and wait for God and the saintess to descend. I am sure you will know when the time has come.”

“God and the saintess… Banda, the one who gave you your powers, and my daughter Mei, huh,” said Amemiya.

“Yes, God and the saintess.”

Bokor and the others had already explained everything about Banda and Mei – how they had met them in their dreams and been saved by them. Although it was not quite as shocking as Rikudou’s betrayal, it was still enough to leave them dumbfounded.

But in a way, it made sense. If contact had been made through dreams, a method that couldn’t possibly be prevented, then that was why it had gone unnoticed even by Rikudou, who was clever enough to have concealed his true identity for all these years.

“You’re free to regard Mei as a sacred being, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop being her father. I just want you to understand that,” said Amemiya.

Bokor laughed once more. “Of course. We do not intend to deny that you are the father of the saintess, nor do we intend to take the saintess away from you!”

“You seem like you’re enjoying yourself quite a lot. Why is that?”

“Is that how it looks? I apologize if I have caused any discomfort. My laughter is a side effect of their tampering with my brain.”

“… Sorry for asking such an insensitive question.”

“Not at all, do not pay it any mind. I am not bothered by you.”

Amemiya had wondered if the constantly laughing Bokor was speaking on the behalf of Mari and the others because they were less wary of them now, but it seemed that this was not the case.

“Ah, these three have some delicate issues, and it might be best not to ask too many questions about them. Well, it’s my fault for being so busy eating,” said Mari.

“No, don’t worry about it. It was my fault for being so inconsiderate,” said Amemiya. “More importantly, how do Mei and the others plan to get here?”

“We’ve told Banda the place, so there’s nothing to worry about. I adjusted the frequency to contact him.”

“… Does he have an antenna on him?”

“The communication is through magic, not radio waves. He told me in my dreams.”

“Do you know why he’s attached himself to Mei?”

“No. I’ve only ever conversed with him in my dreams, after all.”

“I see…”

Over a year had passed since Mei began mentioning Banda’s name. Amemiya felt a great anxiety over the realization that there had been an unidentified entity constantly in his daughter’s presence, and that it had been watching his family’s private life.

Nobody could blame him for wanting to forget that for a moment.

“By the way, what’s with that appearance of yours? You’ve made yourself look very young,” Amemiya said, trying to distract himself.

“I’ve just used ‘Metamorph’ to return to my younger self. There’s no reason to make an effort to look old, is there?” said Mari. “You know, I’m personally very surprised that you’ve accepted the truth more easily than I expected. I remember hearing you saying, ‘The death attribute is something that mustn’t exist,’ on multiple occasions when I was acting as Rikudou’s body double.”

“So that was you back then, too… My best friend really was just an illusion, it seems,” Amemiya sighed. “I still do feel that way about the death attribute. But that’s only because I don’t want tragic things like inhumane human experiments to occur for the sake of using the death attribute’s power. It’s not like I will never accept the existence of already-existing death-attribute mages like you or people like Bokor and the others.”

Amemiya believed that it was best for the death attribute to not exist, for the sake of preventing any further tragedy. But he wouldn’t tell an already-existing death-attribute mage that it would be best for them to not exist.

In the same way, he might say that false charges shouldn’t exist, for the sake of preventing tragedy, but he wouldn’t kill the policemen and victims who had resulted in the false charges and cover up the evidence in order to make it so that the charges didn’t exist.

“I’m sure you don’t want to create any more death-attribute mages at the cost of more miserable tragedies, either…” Amemiya suddenly stopped mid-sentence. “What in the world is that?!” he shouted, pointing at the sky.

Something with black wings was flying towards them at a great speed.

He gradually became able to see it more clearly – It had a black body that contrasted against the blue sky, and was carrying a black van with its six jointed legs. It was completely ignoring the laws of aerodynamics.

The other Bravers and special forces members noticed it as well, and were unsure whether they were supposed to try and flee or open fire.

“C-could it be that this is Banda?” Amemiya stammered.

“Without a doubt, it is Banda! Everyone, don’t shoot Banda or that van!” Mari shouted.

“Oh, God! God has descended!” said Bokor.

And so, all of the threats to Rikudou were gathered in one place.

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