The good mood that Hajime and his companions, as well as the boy himself, had developed during these vacation days had completely vanished.
The cause of this?
It was Kohaku's discovery that sent their happiness crashing down.
"Are you absolutely sure about what you're saying!?" (Kimiko)
Kimiko was the most vocal of the group after hearing the news. Meanwhile, Hajime and Kuro contemplatively listened to their friend's words.
Usually, the last member of the team would try to mediate between the two girls, but unfortunately, Cloe was in a state of shock, her mind trying to deny what the [esper] had told her.
"I am! Don't call me paranoid! And no, there are no mistakes! I checked multiple times!... I really hope I'm wrong... but we have to face reality: Fumio-sensei has been captured."
Her voice became almost a whisper at the end. Even she found it hard to accept the facts.
"No! I don't believe it! You don't even have absolute certainty that Fumio-sensei isn't on a mission or something like that! It's impossible that someone like him could have been captured alive!" (Kimiko)
Despite her strong words, it was clear that even the youngest member of the team was shaken.
They all were.
How could they not be?
The [mage] was not just a teacher or a mentor to them.
Takeda Fumio was their point of reference. Their rock, the only adult amidst the chaos of their lives, someone they could always rely on.
For Cloe, Kuro, and Kimiko, who had never had a paternal figure, the man was irreplaceable.
Even Kohaku and Hajime, who had good fathers, considered him an important person.
He had saved them, trained them, guided them, and prepared them for what they would have to face.
Fumio never realized it, but his students knew well that he was not entirely comfortable making them "resources" for the [New Dawn].
Even though, in the end, all five had chosen not to say anything—to keep the status quo. After all, they all had good reasons to continue down this path, wherever it might lead.
"Kimiko is right... Fumio-sensei might have everything under control." (Kuro)
"He's more than capable of holding his own against the [Black Corps]. What you found doesn't mean anything, Kohaku, unless we're sure it's not a plan by the [New Dawn]." (Hajime)
Contemplating silently, the two boys arrived at the same conclusion: they couldn't do anything without knowing the facts.
They wouldn't be the ones risking their master's mission.
"Why don't you understand!? Fumio-sensei's phone, the one he uses to call the bosses, is locked! That only means one thing: someone other than him was trying to access it! Automatically, the phone sends out an emergency signal, on the frequency used by the [New Dawn], to ask for help!" (Kohaku)
"........." (Hajime/Kuro/Kimiko and Cloe)
"We all know he would never leave his phone in enemy hands without trying to destroy it!" (Kohaku)
"If the signal reached us, then the teams here in the south should have received it too. Maybe they—" (Kuro)
"No, they haven't! And since I've been here searching for them, I haven't been able to find any base! The only possible explanation is that they—" (Kohaku)
"Are discovered? Is that what you're trying to say, Kohaku! If that's the case, then we're all in deep trouble!" (Kimiko)
"Then why isn't there chaos everywhere?! I doubt the [New Dawn] would surrender without a fight! The southern district should already be a war zone, not to mention what Goto would do!" (Kuro)
"Kuro's right, if Goto had discovered us, the whole island would be reduced to rubble and fire right now. That bastard would find a way to paint us as the most dangerous threats, use his iron fist to wipe us out." (Hajime)
The discussions continued for almost an hour until Cloe finally ended it, slamming her hand forcefully on the table.
"Enough! Please! We shouldn't fight among ourselves in a moment like this! We are companions! And first of all, we should find out if Fumio-sensei is really a Black Corps man before attacking their base!"
Everyone fell silent at her words. Maybe because she was the only one who hadn't spoken until then, but her friends felt her words weigh more heavily than expected.
"H-honestly, you're right, Cloe-chan. I'll try to find out if he's been captured... without my computers, it might take all night, maybe even tomorrow." (Kohaku)
"Guys... if Fumio-sensei is in their hands, what do we do?" (Hajime)
Hajime's question sent the youngest [mage] into overdrive.
"We save him, of course! Though I highly doubt it!" (Kimiko)
"…We should talk to the [New Dawn] first before doing anything." (Kuro)
"Since when are you so tame? You know they would never let us go save him, they'd just spit some bullshit about how we're too emotionally disturbed, unstable, and unfit for the mission. No! As a leader, I say now, and I won't repeat it, we wouldn't tell anyone what we're going to do!" (Kohaku)
"We are compromised. This is about our master... maybe we should infiltrate a [Black Corps] base we know nothing about, in a district we don't know, with no resources we usually use! Even if someone takes our gear from the central district, there are many differences between this place and our home! We wouldn't even know how to move!" (Kuro)
A doubt arose in the minds of the boys: if Fumio really was in danger, wouldn't rushing to save him with reckless abandon make things worse?
"And what if someone else was sent to help him? Kohaku, we can't intervene if another team is going to rescue Fumio-sensei. We could jeopardize everything." (Hajime)
"If there's a mission underway, I'll find out. Yukihime-sama is obsessed with putting everything in writing, or on our computers. I can access theirs remotely." (Kohaku)
"In the worst case, we'd better prepare—someone has to go get our weapons and masks." (Hajime)
"I'll do it." (Kuro)
"Hajime, you need to inform your family that we'll be here a bit longer... we can't let them suspect." (Cloe)
"I'll come up with an excuse... or something like that." (Hajime)
"I'll get to work... rest up. If I'm right, we'll need our strength for what's coming." (Kohaku)
Thus, the pseudo-meeting of the group came to an end.
************Meanwhile, Fumio was once again under torture.
His face was swollen from the beatings he had received; Cris was not holding back.
The woman also used blunt weapons to break his bones, employing torture tools like the oral pear, and repeatedly burned his body with a hot iron, causing burns severe enough to melt his skin and reach the flesh.
However, the [mage] showed no satisfaction. Aside from a few groans, not a single scream of pain escaped his lips.
"Hmm... we're not there yet. You know, I'm almost thinking of starting to peel your skin off and hang it nearby like a cloth..." (Kugutsu)
"......."
"By the way, your phone is really well protected. All important data has been deleted after the lock, but it doesn't matter, the signal it sent will be useful... who knows, maybe one of your friends will come to help you." (Kugutsu)
Finally, the [New Dawn] responded, with a faint voice.
"N-no......." (Fumio)
"Phew? What do you want to tell me, Takeda Fumio? Have you decided to chitchat?"
"N-no one will come..........." this" has always been a possibility....... for everyone." (Fumio)
"If your group is so united, by your pain, by the hatred you bear for us, then I doubt they will leave you to rot here. And your little eyes are quite precious........ it would be a shame for the [New Dawn] to lose them."
***********************
Chapter 76: In Search of Fumio (4)
"Speak! Don't waste my time! Do you think your mistress will reward your loyalty, [Black Corps]?"
One of the leaders of the [New Dawn], specifically the woman who doubted Hajime more than anyone else—Hoshi—was in an abandoned warehouse, used as a base for her rebel group.
"I—I... don't know..."
"Still with that story?! Well! Then pay the consequences!"
The [esper] was in the southern district. After the capture and killing of all her colleagues present in Kugutsu's territory, and the activation of the alarm signaling the breach of organization secrecy, Hoshi had quickly assembled a team.
While other leaders prepared themselves in case the situation spiraled out of control.
With Yukihime and Izumi absent, who had gone to Japan, to an unknown, unreachable location to speak with their "political friends," things weren't going very well.
The news of what had happened in the district hadn't leaked yet to many [New Dawn] members—at least, not yet.
Soon it wouldn't be so. If panic took over, someone might do something stupid, condemning the entire island to remain under Goto's yoke.
For this reason, Hoshi was in a hurry. She needed answers, but apparently, Kugutsu didn't have vital information, not even from the highest ranks of the [Black Corps] under her command.
"T-t… please! Enough!"
The man she was interrogating was the last of many her team had kidnapped.
Their absence from work had already been noticed. So time was running out.
"I will melt your flesh to the bone!"
Suddenly, the room's temperature rose. The reason? Obviously, it was Hoshi.
Her hands began generating a large amount of heat, causing the area of her body producing it to glow, as if made of molten metal, rather than flesh and bones. Her eyes changed from blue to the same color as her skin.
Her tissues, blood vessels, and nerves were outlined by the light, giving her a captivating yet terrifying appearance.
This was the [esper] woman's power.
Her ability made her the most dangerous among the [New Dawn] in terms of heat emission, like a burning bomb ready to explode.
No weapon could withstand her capacity: they were destroyed instantly, before they could even touch her.
When her fingers, too close to the [Black Corps], the result was gruesome to see.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The [armor] of the [mages] could easily block blunt force or cutting blows, but what about heat or cold? If they weren't produced by [mana], they could hardly be countered.
Hoshi was the perfect weapon to pierce through the defenses of mages.
"Tsk! Bring me another one!"
Eventually, her prisoner died from the heat generated, which incinerated his skin, flesh, and blood, reducing him to a charred skeleton. He was the third victim she had tortured without finding any answers. Her patience was at its limit.
"I said, bring me another!"
Not receiving any response from her team, who kept watch over the prisoners and the perimeter, Hoshi went to check.
"What's going on here?!" (Hoshi)
"Hoshi-sama! We have a problem!"
"Now what?! Goto started moving?!" (Hoshi)
"No! It's Fumio! He's been captured!"
Hoshi's [esper] eyes widened suddenly. Fumio was among the best. For a long time, he had been Yukihime's right-hand man during the founding of the [New Dawn], before his abilities became useful on the field.
She respected him as both a person and a fighter.
She had no problem letting him go on a separate mission alone, yet he had been captured?
"Impossible?! Even in a group, the half-wits of this district could never—... Kugutsu! That woman must have hidden her trump cards all this time! I want you to find her location! We have to rescue him! At worst, that woman might have already taken his eyes!"
Taking a prisoner to replace the one now incinerated, Hoshi began to drift into her thoughts.
(Yukihime-sama isn't here. She's still untraceable... yet no attack from the [Black Corps]?! This would have been a perfect opportunity to wipe us out! Or... do they want our founder's head?)
Too many unanswered questions. Unfortunately, none of the men she captured would satisfy her queries.
********After a few days, multiple movements and investigations, Hoshi arrived at an obvious conclusion.
"They're luring us into a trap. They took Fumio for this! Going to rescue him and destroying ourselves... means walking into the lion's den! I won't lead an entire squad to death!" (Hoshi)
The woman was discussing with her last two colleagues, who were present on the island, via an untraceable and unrecordable video call.
"We won't leave them to die, we're not Goto." (Mitsuru)
"But it would be useless, if we all die trying! I'd love to tear that bitch apart myself! But not at the expense of the greatest good!" (Hoshi)
"There must be a solution... we're waiting for Yukihime-sama and Izumi—" (Mitsuru)
"No, we can't wait any longer. Hoshi, stay on standby. We'll send reinforcements." (Jun)
"Do you really want to start an attack?!" (Hoshi)
"No, but I have a doubt tormenting me: We're still here... the other districts are calm, Goto hasn't sent an army to find us, do you realize what that means?" (Jun)
"Kugutsu hasn't reported to him... but why? She has the necessary information to destroy us." (Mitsuru)
"Simple! She wants something valuable enough to risk insubordination. When Goto finds out about her betrayal." (Jun)
"So what?! I should go talk to her?" (Hoshi)
"Yes, if you must. I believe she wants to abandon a sinking ship: Goto is aging, and over time he'll become more paranoid and power-hungry, eventually showing his true nature to the world. Opening a channel to us could give her a way out." (Jun)
"Or she might just make us believe that. That woman is a manipulator, who has deceived us for years. We can't trust anyone wanted in multiple countries for thousands of murders, disappearances, and God knows what else." (Mitsuru)
"This is the most logical choice; we can't make a 'right' decision without first understanding Kugutsu's motivations." (Jun)
"It would be easier if—" (Mitsuru)
Not far from where Hoshi and her colleagues were in the southern district, a powerful explosion was heard.
"Hoshi, what's happening?" (Jun)
"Are we under attack?" (Mitsuru)
"No! It's coming from nearby! Maybe the [Black Corps]! I have to go!"(Hoshi)
The woman ended the call and destroyed her phone to avoid the same mistake Fumio made.
Ready for battle, the [esper] headed toward the exit of the temporary base to meet her team.
"What's going on?! Report! Quickly!"
"There was an explosion! At the fuel tank outside the city!"
"Grab your stuff! We're evacuating!" (Hoshi)
In the distance, flames spreading and the arrival of the [White Corps], only one thought was in the mind of the [New Dawn]
(What the hell is going on!?)
*******
"Kimiko! Are you okay?" (Kohaku)
"Yes, I'm fine! Who would have thought there would be such a huge explosion!?" (Kimiko)
"I did! I told you multiple times to keep your distance before throwing the lance! But as usual, you didn't listen! Now move, the [White Corps] are coming!" (Kohaku)
"Yes, Mom!" (Kimiko)
The young [mage] quickly disappeared into the shadows, following Kohaku's instructions to move through this unknown area.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Cloe was about to do her part to attract the attention of their enemies.
"Cloe-chan, remember, don't get seen!" (Kohaku)
"Got it!" (Cloe)
Using telekinesis, the girl managed to lift about ten vehicles parked nearby, then threw them against several fuel depots to cause even more chaos.
There were more explosions, this time even larger, shaking a part of the district where the girl was.
the mission begins.