Chapter Twenty-Four: Kumiyo Kyo
I think I am now back into writing? I don't know. ...ya all should be the judge of that.
It was a fresh morning.
A day after all that ruckus.
Somehow, magically, part of the city that should've been in ruins had repaired itself overnight, as if nothing had ever happened.
Which, no one really questioned.
It was best they remained clueless about everything.
From the mail he had gotten from the school, it seemed they dismissed school immediately after that.
...well, after the town was fixed.
As he walked alongside other students, along the brick-paved sidewalk bordered by metal railings—
Vrrr~
Something vibrated in his pockets.
"Hm."
Morgan stopped his walk, hands in pocket as he pulled out his phone, with his lips parting slightly.
Unknowingly, he let out an oh sound he himself didn't expect to make when he saw the message.
[You have one unread message]
• [Cheapskate Aunt]
Of course.. It's her.
In the first place, in terms of contact information, the only contact information was his aunt's.
A small scoff escaped his lips.
...imagine. After all this time, you finally text.
Morgan's brows furrowed together in thought.
Technically, Maya wasn't even blood-related to his parents.
Apparently not; however, she and his mother were close enough due to businesses both were involved in.
That would also explain the astronomical amount of money he'd had when he first came to Tengu City.
No, he still had that much.
However,
[Cheapskate Aunt: Heyo~ my cute nephew?]
Morgan's lips twitched.
What was the question mark doing... No, it wasn't that he didn't know,
Rather he did, it was one of her quirks.
Even when she speaks—
She speaks in a manner that makes everything sound like a question if one doesn't know better.
[Cheapskate Aunt: Will you forgive this airhead aunt of yours? An important project has been occupying most of my time lately?]
[Cheapskate Aunt: You won't believe it? They transferred me from Chiyoda Prefecture to some faraway place, the worst!?]
[Cheapskate Aunt: And to top it off, I was so tired that I forgot to call, hehe?]
Morgan's lips went from twitching to an exasperated laugh.
One caught between whether he should cry or laugh.
[Cheapskate Aunt: But rejoice, my dear nephew!? Your aunt is coming back today! I'll come visit you!?]
[Cheapskate Aunt: Oh, and don't worry about sending me your address, okay? I asked the HR team to look into everything about you and your activities?]
[Cheapskate Aunt: I'm glad you've been a good boy all this time?]
Just when he thought things couldn't possibly get worse,
His lips twitched again.
"I can't believe this crazy woman."
• [That's why you're single.]
Without mercy, and without wasting another second, he fired that reply off and switched his phone off.
He could already imagine the heartbroken face she would make when she sees the message.
Well, he couldn't care less.
'Really, how can someone be so clueless yet so overprotective at the same time?'
And about that bit where she said she'd "investigated" him.
Yeah, he had a bad feeling about that.
Because of that—
Tap~ tap~ tap~
Puchi~
Morgan powered his phone back on, typed something quickly, and then continued on toward school.
It was roughly around 8:07 when he finally stepped into class.
Just as he did,
"Ooh, look who came today."
While there were a few in class, about three females, it happened to be Ai's group there.
Seeing them, Morgan loosened the hand that had been gripping the strap of his bag.
He exhaled quietly and made his way toward his seat, hanging his bag on the hook beside it.
But before he could even sit,
"What happened to you? You didn't come yesterday. What about the spacequake? Did you manage to evacuate in time?"
Ai had quickly made her way over,
Encircling him before stopping, she held his shoulders, still scanning him up and down.
Morgan tilted his head slightly.
"I'm okay…? Well, you could say I wasn't feeling very well yesterday. And yeah, I evacuated."
He lied through his teeth, wearing a perfectly remorseless expression.
"…is that so? That's good."
Only then did Ai finally step back.
"School was canceled halfway through, but we were still given assignments. I hope you know that?"
Just as Morgan was about to sit down, he froze.
…Wasn't that bad news?
His head turned toward her with the sound of an almost audible creak.
But by then,
Ai was already grinning with the expression of someone who'd seen it coming miles away.
"…kahun. Since I knew this would happen, I made a copy of the notes and assignments beforehand."
Crossing one leg over the other on the desk beside his, she announced this with unshakable pride.
"Oooh~ thank you very much, Ai, no, your highness."
Like a sly merchant sealing a deal, Morgan rubbed his hands together and smiled graciously.
Despite his appearance, he actually took his studies rather seriously.
• "Ai's already got him trapped? That was fast."
• "That's so lame."
Noises like that came from two hurdled up girls,
Morgan's ears twitched like an animal.
He was just about to take the papers when Ai yanked them out of reach, tossing her hand, and the notes, back.
"Of course, I'm not doing this for free. There's a condition."
At that moment,
Morgan decided to play dumb.
His eyes seemed to part in different ways cluelessly, with the tilt of his head.
Regardless, the female wasn't buying it.
"This weekend, you will accompany us out."
Pointing her finger towards him, she said that.
Immediately, his memories flashed to several days to weeks ago.
So... what Tonomachi said was actually right? No, he couldn't take everything that guy says for granted.
Morgan leaned back, thinking it over.
When he really thought about it, he wasn't going to be that busy this weekend.
And if, just maybe, all nine stars aligned… he might even get to see something interesting that day.
"So? What's the motive?"
"Ahh, don't worry, I'm not asking you on a date. I roped Tonomachi and a few others in. It's more like a group hangout."
Exactly what he thought.
Good thing he hadn't overthought it. But if that was the case, then…
"Sure. I'm down for some action by then."
He said it casually, snatching the papers from her hand before settling back into his seat.
With that, the girls drifted back into their huddle once more.
Tengu Military Base
AST Main Base
Inside a dimly lit room.
Rather...
what lit the room was nothing more than the holographic screens and light from monitors.
Apart from that were several different command stations with people filling the seats.
But right now...
Three people stood before the huge 4K monitor set at the front of the room.
It displayed a lot of data, maps, calculations, and so on.
Yet their attention was fixed on the central cluster of readings.
"Eh~ looks like something interesting has been happening here?"
Two new officers who had just been transferred today stood in front of her.
Leader of the Anti-Spirit Team:
Kusakabe Ryoko
The first was a girl appearing to be around middle-school age.
Long blue hair tied up in a ponytail and some bangs left out, wearing a dark-style military outfit.
On the girl's left was the second, who was more mature in features.
A woman who looked to be in her early twenties, with a much more mature body.
Waist-length black hair, with a few strands tied into a ribbon on the left.
Coupled with her ruby eyes, she wore the same dark-style military uniform.
Kusakabe Ryoko, Leader of the Anti-Spirit Team, felt a bead of sweat trace down her neck.
'Why is an executive like her here…?'
Her thoughts stumbled nervously as she looked at the older woman.
And even when she did look at the younger girl...
She forced herself to a calm.
"Hmm. To think the Spirits here are operating at this level? Interesting. It's a good thing we came, isn't it, Mana-chan?"
When the woman said that, the girl she called Mana simply let out an exhale as though annoyed.
'Haah.'
The way this woman spoke had a way of getting under people's skin, even when she didn't intend to.
Her airhead tone coupled with her sharp analysis.
She could read people easily.
Like spotting a lie from the smallest flicker of an eyelid, or the briefest twitch in a facial muscle.
...however, that alone wouldn't be humanly possible in itself.
"My~? Are you still upset about that incident?"
Eventually, after placing her hand under her chin, thinking about it for a brief moment, the woman came to that conclusion.
"Bringing me all the way here, what's your goal?"
Of course, Mana wasn't interested in small talk.
It was better to understand why someone at her level was here in the first place.
D.E.M was a big organization in itself.
Except for the director and its board, they have many executives managing branches worldwide.
There are also executives who work for HQ, moreso, these boards of directors, carrying out their will and orders.
What's more is that, these 'Special Executives' are people who even have more permissions than others Executives.
... They could personally deploy an AST unit, or even an entire military team,
So long as they had what the higher-ups would call a sufficient reason.
"Nightmare was it?"
The woman sighed.
"I find it appalling? You, of all people, struggling to grasp that little girl's power? Not like you, Mana."
Ugh.
Mana felt the invisible arrow sink straight into her chest.
"Ghk—what did you just say!?"
Despite almost blowing into a fit of rage, the woman calmly pointed towards the screen in front.
"How would you feel if I told you that 'Nightmare' can create clones and that those clones are what you've been battling?"
Saying that with an incredibly calm expression, the woman's shoulders slightly raised.
But Mana was nothing close to being calm, in the sense that her breath was caught for a moment.
Honestly, she had always thought 'Nightmare's' power had been resurrection.
…but when it came to this woman, nothing she said could be dismissed so easily.
"Every time you've faced her, haven't you noticed something off? Maybe in her behavior… or her words?"
She let that hang for a moment.
Then she saw it: the woman's side glance, faintly illuminated by the screen's light.
Her eyes were glowing unnaturally.
Mana flinched.
"Forget it?"
The woman returned to her airy demeanor.
"All I'm saying is that there's a chance Nightmare could be anywhere, or everywhere. Oh, and look there."
Once more, she pointed towards the monitor, displaying two new entries.
...one of which was already on their records, 'Princess'. And the other, a foreigner.
"Are you here to capture them?"
Mana asked.
However, the response she got, was unlike anything Mana expected.
"No way. They're threatening my cute nephew's life just by existing. What kind of responsible aunt would I be,"
The woman's tone started sweet for a moment, but as it continued, it turned darker by the moment, till—
"...if I didn't take out the trash?"
Mana eventually understood.
So this was why she'd been brought here.
…To think this crazy woman actually had a nephew.
Who could that possibly be? Whoever he was, he had to definitely be just as unhinged as the woman standing beside her.
No, she didn't want to think of it.
Ryoko, on the other hand, who had been behind so far, clenched her fist and gritted her teeth.
If this woman was involved, it could only mean one thing:
Headquarters was taking over their operations.
[Special Agent, Executive No. 1]
• Wizard: Kumiyo Kyo.
• Real name: Kunimitsu Maya.
Project's Involved:
• Project Britannia (Ashley Sinclair)
• Material A (Nia Honjou)
"Fufufu~ Just wait, Claire. Aunt will be there soon."
Mana glanced sideways.
Yep. Above all else.
This woman was a complete nutcase.