Chapter 46: Kidnapping "Loli loli god descent, zkyun~! Bakyun!"
Somi, who was watching over Haruna, let out a small laugh at the sight of the girl skipping along and singing innocently.
The lyrics were certainly strange, but seeing Haruna so excitedly singing a song she'd learned from her employer, Yeon-woo, was adorable enough to bring a natural smile to Somi's lips.
Somi was a professional babysitter.
She held a degree in child education and had originally graduated from a prestigious butler academy with plans to serve a noble family, but her love for children led her to become a babysitter instead.
At first, she struggled with the gap between being a butler and a babysitter. However, as the children she raised with as much care as any parent went out into the world and succeeded, Somi's reputation soared. Now, her hiring fee was astronomical.
Just before taking the job to look after Haruna, she had been tutoring the granddaughter of a major conglomerate's chairman. Yeon-woo had spoken to the chairman personally to secure her employment.
Somi had cared for many children in her time, but she liked her current situation best.
The child was never the problem.
No matter how rebellious a child might be, if you met them at their eye level, exercised patience, and showed empathy and understanding, they would all become good children.
The problem was always the environment surrounding the child.
The parents, the atmosphere of the household—there were many times when Somi's attempts to persuade them for the sake of the child fell on deaf ears.
Obsessive parents, those who overvalued their children, or those who forced a stifling family atmosphere upon a child who couldn't handle it.
None of that existed here, making Somi's working environment incredibly pleasant.
Yukina treated her with politeness and never once looked down on her.
Yeon-woo, her actual employer, left everything to Somi and made sure to ask for her opinion whenever he encountered something he found strange.
To Somi, who wanted to raise the children in her care properly, being able to communicate smoothly with her employer was the ultimate working condition.
"Somi-unni, sing with me!"
"Shall I? Loli loli loli god~"
The lyrics were difficult to sing in front of others, but Somi, holding Haruna's hand as they walked down the street, sang them without a hint of embarrassment.
Even when passersby glanced their way, Somi focused on matching Haruna's energy, refusing to dampen her spirits.
"Did Miss Yukina say she'd be late today?"
"Yeah, Unni said she had training. But I saw her packing a skirt she doesn't usually wear. I bet the training is just an excuse and she's going on a date with Oppa!"
"Hehe, in times like that, you have to pretend you don't know."
"Yeah, yeah. Haruna's lips are sealed. Somi-unni has to pretend not to know, too."
Seeing Haruna mumble while covering her mouth with both hands, Somi smiled benevolently and stroked her hair.
She had been so shocked when she heard from Yeon-woo what the two sisters had gone through.
It might be overstepping, but Somi felt that Yukina—who had likely grown up sacrificing herself without receiving proper love, just like Haruna—was also a child who needed care.
And she was proud of Haruna for growing up so bright and cheerful despite those circumstances.
I'll make sure these two grow up as loved children—
"Hey!"
Thwack!!
Somi's thoughts were cut short by a heavy impact against her back.
"Unni!!"
Her waist buckled, and she collapsed forward. Unable to even get her hands out in time, her face scraped harshly against the pavement.
Before the defenseless Somi could even regain her senses, a man kicked her squarely in the stomach.
"You, come here."
"Let go! Unni! Unni!"
"Hey, break that smartphone fast. You, check if there's any magic cast on the kid's body."
Through her blurring vision, Somi saw the men kidnapping Haruna.
The man standing over her continued to kick her mercilessly and incessantly. The sheer agony made it impossible for Somi to string a coherent thought together.
"You dumbass! Hurry up!"
"Wait, just one more hit."
"Fuck! I'm not kidding! You want to get killed by the leader?!"
His comrade urged him on, pulling at his arm, but the man managed one last kick to Somi before finally leaving.
Something—blood or dust—had gotten into her eyes, making it hard to keep them open, but Somi forced them wide, memorizing the features of the fleeing men.
"Cough—"
Somi spat out blood, her internal organs damaged. She struggled to hold onto her fading consciousness.
She couldn't pass out like this.
She gritted her teeth, blood streaming from her mouth.
Only after the men had fled did the people on the street approach Somi to check on her.
"Are you okay? We called an ambulance, so…"
"Pho… Pho, phone… Just one… let me make one call…"
Despite the pain, Somi gripped the sleeve of the man helping her with terrifying strength.
Half her face was scraped raw and bleeding, but the intensity in her eyes, set in a distorted expression of agony, overwhelmed the man. He reflexively handed her his smartphone.
Even though she could barely hold herself up, Somi rapidly dialed a number.
"Yeon-woo-ssi…"
Those motherfuckers actually did it.
I barely managed to stop Yukina, who tried to bolt out the door the moment she heard the news, and took a moment to think.
Dammit, of all days, it had to be today.
Am I just incredibly unlucky? Even Greyhound isn't here today.
The headquarters is swamped because of two large-scale commissions and some government inspectors coming in for a "suitability check" or whatever.
Those pieces of shit timed this perfectly.
I held Yukina back, telling her that rushing out now wouldn't help, but she kept staring at me with anxious eyes.
Her gaze practically begged me to let her go, so I pulled her into a hug.
"I… if anything happens to Haruna…"
"It'll be fine. Trust me."
"…Is… is Somi-ssi okay?"
"Yeah. An ambulance arrived before she hung up, so she'll be fine."
Fortunately, she seemed to calm down a bit; her shaking stopped.
Fuck, if I'd known Haruna was going to be kidnapped, I would have just told her right away that it was Akito who slept with Emma.
We haven't lived together for long, but I care about Haruna and cherish her, too.
Even while injured, Somi had relayed the characteristics of the kidnappers, but there was nothing I could do with that information right now.
I didn't have the personal capability, and Greyhound wasn't around to analyze it.
Just in case, I tried calling Frey and Turk, but their phones were turned off.
"Let's notify Yggdrasil."
"The school?"
"Yeah. The teachers are also responsible for protecting the students. With Yggdrasil's power, they'll be able to find her in no time."
I immediately called Derek and explained the situation.
I gave him everything: the descriptions Somi provided, the data Turk had sent me earlier, and even the information I knew from the game.
"I've confirmed the data. I will secure Takeo as quickly as possible and find Yukina's sister as well."
"Yes, please. I'm counting on you."
His tone was blunt, but Derek was someone I could trust.
They might not be around when you want them, but the Yggdrasil teachers were all mages with extensive field experience. They'd handle it somehow.
"Leave this matter to us and stay on standby."
Yukina, who was listening to the call beside me, reflexively tried to say something, but I raised a hand to stop her and replied.
"Understood."
"Yukina is there, listening, right? If you approach a kidnapping case recklessly, the hostage gets hurt. I understand your heart… no, honestly, saying I fully understand would be a lie. But even if you're anxious, trust us and wait. Seo Yeon-woo, take good care of Yukina."
"I will."
I hung up and looked at Yukina, whose face was full of dissatisfaction.
"Alright, then let's do what we have to do."
"What we have to do?"
"You weren't planning on just sitting still anyway, right?"
Yukina would do anything for Haruna.
She had endured a hellish life under the Organization to protect her and had sacrificed everything so Haruna could be happy.
That said, I didn't plan on acting recklessly.
Just as Derek said, there's nothing more disruptive to a rescue team than kids who don't know anything about hostage situations trying to play hero.
However, even if we rescued Haruna now, we'd only be catching a few thugs involved in the kidnapping. Unless we wiped out those bastards in the Union all at once, they would definitely keep targeting Haruna or the people around us.
I tapped my finger on the floor, thinking for a moment, then called Masayoshi to ask a favor.
"So… what you're saying is, I should access a smartphone, pull all the contacts, then use those numbers to hijack other smartphones' information?"
"Yeah, and—"
"And then use that hijacked info to specifically target the guys in the Union and plant forged data? Do you think that's possible? Even if I jump through numbers just twice, the count grows to tens or hundreds of thousands. I can't specify targets."
"Is there no way?"
"The volume of information is too massive. It would be faster to train an AI to do it."
So even God Sayoshi can't do it.
Then I have no choice but to go find him.
After hanging up, I headed to the old district of City B with Yukina.
The streets, once prosperous but now abandoned by people, were dilapidated and desolate.
We passed through a hallway filled with trash and reached a door at the end. Yukina, who had been holding back until now, looked around and asked.
"Where is this?"
"Where a hacker lives."
I pounded on the door, but there was no answer from inside.
Yukina glanced warily at the CCTV camera mounted on the ceiling, and I knocked again.
"Trevor. I know you're in there. If you run, I'll kill you. If you don't open the door, I'm breaking it down."
"… …"
"It's no use using that lightning magic you're so proud of on me."
"It's not lightning, it's electricity!"
A grumbling voice came from inside, followed by the sound of footsteps approaching the door.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Open up and talk. We don't have time for this."
"If some random bastard asked you to open the door, would you just say, 'Oh, please come in' and open it?"
"Should I tell the government that you're the one who leaked Congressman Blake's private life?"
"… …"
After a moment of silence, Trevor warily opened the door and looked at me.
"Seo Yeon-woo."
"Is that all you found out after stalling for time? Did you think I'd be surprised?"
"No, the woman next to you is Serizawa Yukina. Both of you are affiliated with Yggdrasil…"
"Enough with the background check—"
"You're looking for the kidnapped Haruna, right?"
"… …"
Holy shit—that actually surprised me.
Did he really investigate all of that in that short span of time?
Trevor was a self-proclaimed 'Internet Wizard.'
It was a title devoid of any coolness, but there was no better term to describe him.
In the game, he was the one-and-only genius mage who succeeded in integrating magic with the internet, allowing him to collect all information floating through the web or communication networks.
But all he did with that incredible ability was doxx rude people on the internet or investigate and expose the private lives of figures involved in social scandals.
He was an amazing guy who actually did the things people only imagine doing after getting pissed off by internet trolls.
Personally, I thought he was a fun guy, but much later in the story, he gets caught by Akito after being scolded with the line, 'You don't have the right to punish them!'
"Do you know where Haruna is?"
"Ah—that's not really important to me right now."
Yukina asked urgently, but Trevor looked at me, acting so obnoxious I wanted to punch him.
"How do you know about that?"
"Congressman Blake? Let's trade that for Haruna's information."
"…Well—I'm not in that much of a hurry. Report me if you want. I'll get dragged away~ and you'll never see that Haruna kid again."
This guy is a real piece of work.
Trevor smirked, shrugging his shoulders back and forth as if mocking me.
It seemed the time had come to teach him some manners.
I pulled out the Etiquette Infuser and rested it on my shoulder.
"Whoa—whoa, whoa~ Calm down, friend. If I'm gone, Haruna is gone too."
"You have two choices."
"Threats like that won't—"
"First, I'm going to beat the living shit out of you, go inside, and smash every single plastic model you've collected. The place next door is yours too, right? You're using it as a display room for your models. Want me to channel a bratty kid visiting for the holidays?"
"Wait, that's a bit…"
"Second, you take my commission. The fee is 10 million G."
"Only that? Who could possibly…"
"100 million G."
"… …"
"I guess you didn't check my bank balance because you were short on time? I'll deposit 100 million G into your account right now. Give me the number."
Trevor, seemingly still in disbelief, stuttered out his account number, and I transferred the 100 million G.
Looking at his screen, Trevor let out a hollow laugh and lowered his smartphone.
"Fuck, you're loaded. I should have asked for another zero."
"Don't worry. I'll be giving you plenty of commissions in the future."
With an expression that was neither a smile nor a frown, Trevor told us to come inside.
In the game, he was just a minor character you'd meet for a single quest, but in reality, his ability was so broken that I'd made up my mind to use him eventually. I just didn't expect to use him like this.
At any rate, I'd found Trevor, and the groundwork to take those bastards down was laid.
Now, it was time to slaughter every single one of those pieces of shit who kidnapped Haruna.
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