8 — Sorry, Mom. Your Son Became a Terrorist (03)

When Minami-san's magic activated again, it was already night.

We were near an abandoned warehouse far from everything, where there were no signs, boards, markings, letters… nothing that could help me figure out where we were.

In other words:

It was the perfect place to dump me.

"How long do you plan on holding my hand?"

"Ugh, sorry."

In a few moments, I would be right in the middle of the enemy's lair.

"By the way, Minami-san. I still don't get it. If we're traveling through time to move around, why is it still nighttime? And, more importantly: why am I clothed this time?"

She let go of my hand and wiped each of her fingers on the hem of her dress.

"I don't see why your clothes should matter more than moving around, but I'll give you some credit. Though your line of thought is only half right."

"Half?"

"I can rewind space without touching time."

Simple and direct. As if it were the most obvious conclusion anyone could reach.

"Eh... Without touching time? Is that actually possible?"

"Need more proof? We're in the place I was at yesterday, but it's still today."

"I-incredible…"

Minami-san shot me a suspicious look.

"I mean, it's incredible learning how other magic works. Since everything I know is based on sound magic, I never really thought about it from that angle, haha."

"Sigh… be quiet. We're getting close."

We kept walking.

We kept walking, but nothing changed.

With each step, I grew more disoriented. I even started wondering whether we were still in Japan, or if their base was hidden in some far-off country, like a Soviet FPS map.

"I wasn't going to bring this up, Kobami Haruki, but you're starting to make me uncomfortable. And just to be clear, I'm not asking because I'm interested, but… do you mind telling me what that thing in your jacket is?"

"…"

"No. Actually, I don't want to know what it is. Just please make it stop beeping."

Jacket.

Yeah, I'd tucked something in my jacket.

And yeah, the beeping was annoying, so I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out the protection charm I'd found in the closet before leaving the apartment.

A red light blinked intermittently.

"What is that? Did you bring a bomb?"

Apparently, she didn't know what it was either—

<— Temporal Magic Detected —>
<— Diagnosis: Unable to proceed with activation —>
<— Click to Hibernate —>

"!"

The piece of junk talked?

"The ball talked!? Don't tell me… is this actually a bomb?!"

What the hell?! Since when does this thing have lights and sound?!

"Kobami Haruki. Explain yourself. Now."

Minami-san grabbed me by the collar. Since she was shorter than me, she had to stand on her toes, but that didn't make the situation any less threatening.

"Why would you bring a bomb to our base?"

"Bomb? No, no. It's not what you think. This is… a reading device!"

"Reading device?"

"Yes! It's used to read the type of magic wavelength in the environment. It analyzes the frequency and tells you the kind of mana. You know, right? I study neural connections, so it's extremely useful for me. I swear!"

"Hm… makes sense… I guess. Either way, device or not, make it shut up. If Ken sees you with something like that he'll kill you."

"T-thanks for the warning."

I hit the hibernate button and we moved on.

…Probably would've been smarter to leave the thing at home.

◈ ━━━━━━━ ◆ ━━━━━━━ ◈

As soon as we reached the warehouse , there was a gigantic metal door. It was thin, but ridiculously heavy. Not to mention so noisy that it was impossible to open without everyone knowing.

In contrast with the size of the base, the interior was surprisingly empty. Aside from a few hanging screens, the only thing I could see were the corridor walls, which, unlike the metal structure, were made of drywall.

"Show your face to the camera."

The moment she said that, I raised my head and let the camera scan me. There was a beep. And the lock behind us clicked. It was the last sign I needed to know there was no turning back.

With a dry, emotionless 'this way,' Minami-san guided me through one of the corridors, lined with several closed doors. The whole place was nearly pitch-black, and if not for a single beam of white light leaking from one door, I could barely see my own feet.

Claustrophobia.

I think that's what I was feeling.

"We're here."

"Oh, Minami-chan, you brought him?"

"As you can see."

The voice belonged to Ichika-san.

She looked very different from earlier, especially without her 'civilian' clothes.

I found it curious that she was wearing the same bodysuit as the others from last night, but I didn't dare ask whether that was their standard outfit here.

"Haruki-kun?"

Honestly, I already knew Ichika-san had a nice body, but seeing her like that, it was impossible not to be impressed. (Even if it made zero sense to feel interest—or anything else—for a criminal.)

"Ha-ru-ki-kun?"

"Ah! Good evening… Ichika-san."

Now was not the time to daydream. I couldn't let that sly smile fool me.

"Minami-chan, you're back? Oh, I see you brought our new member."

One of the girls from last night's attack approached us while drying her golden hair with a towel.

Being called 'new member' left me both nervous and concerned.

"Sorry about yesterday. I missed the chance to introduce myself properly, right? I'm Sawada Mari. Nice to meet you."

Sawada Mari.

"Oh, no problem. Yesterday was a little chaotic, haha… my name is Kobami Haruki. I'll be counting on you from today on."

She seemed easy to talk to.

…Unlike the hothead glaring at us with disgust during our handshake.

"Tch. Idiot. I don't know what Ichika-senpai sees in this weirdo."

"Hoh? What was that, Ken? Jealous much? You better watch out. If you slack off, you might lose your Ichika-senpai, hehe."

Ken and Lili were standing just behind, near a huge table pushed against the wall. That was the only piece of furniture in the room.

Actually, not only the only piece of furniture; practically the only object, as well as the only light source inside.

Several screens were attached, and a tangled mess of cables sprawled across the entire floor.

It was hard to walk without stepping on some—

"Whoa! Careful. If you're not paying attention, you'll end up kissing the floor."

A guy with a friendly smile caught me by the waist before I face-planted.

"S-sorry…"

"Don't worry about it. I fall all the time here too."

This guy was so bright I almost went blind.

…Now that I think about it, he looks a lot like—

"Wait! You…?"

"Looks like you finally remembered me. We met at the bar, didn't we?"

This dude with the black ponytail was the waiter from last night?

…That explained a lot.

No. Actually, it explained nothing.

"Now that everyone's here, how about we start introductions?"

Ichika-san leaned against the table, and everyone gathered around it.

I didn't expect a group introduction now, but this was the perfect chance to gather information.

"Seriously? We're doing introductions? Where are we, school?"

"Quiet, Lili. Don't interrupt Ichika-senpai."

"Tch, damn lovesick idiot."

Besides Ichika-san and me, there were five others. Considering she said 'everyone,' I could say the team was relatively small.

"Haruki-kun, I believe you've already met everyone here, but introductions help strengthen our bond, don't you think? I know it's not what you'd expect from a… 'criminal organization,' but forgive us if it feels childish, okay?"

"O-okay."

Why did she pause like that?

"Let's see... who wants to go first?"

"…"

No one answered.

"Moh, do I really have to choose? Fine… let's start with you, Mari."

"Ara… I already introduced myself, but okay. I'm Sawada Mari. Welcome to the team, Haruki-kun."

"Oh, thank you."

Next was Ken, who only started speaking after everyone turned to look at him.

"W-what? Why are you all looking at me?! I'm not introducing myself to this… ah, whatever. You already know my name."

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Ken," Ichika-san replied with a smile.

This atmosphere was getting weirder by the second.

I didn't know whether I should feel embarrassed or threatened.

Either way, I went next.

"My name is Kobami Haruki and, well… I know it's sudden, but I'll be counting on you from now on."

"Nice to meet you, Haruki-kun."

After that came Minami-san, Lili, Ichika-san, and Irumi-kun: the waiter.

Aside from Mari, only Ichika-san bothered saying her full name:

Kawahara Ichika.

What a peculiar name.

"Now that we've finished the introductions, it's time to talk about why I gathered you all so suddenly."

Ichika-san cleared her throat, and at the same time, Irumi-kun pressed a button on the computer, changing all the screens.

"All set, Ichika."

"Thanks, Irumi."

Judging by the setup, I was finally about to learn something relevant. With that, I'd have the grounds to hand them over to the authorities.

"It's not my habit to gather you right after a mission, but today's situation calls for urgency. We managed to get our hands on the credentials of a high-ranking licensed mage, so we have to act before they notice and deactivate the chip accesses."

Credentials?

What could you get with that which would justify killing a licensed mage?

She continued:

"That's why we'll have to move tonight."

"Hey! Hold on, Ichika. Tonight? We haven't even recovered from yesterday. Lili and I are almost out of mana."

"Mari's right! This is insane, Ichika-senpai! Yesterday you used up everything in that attack! You can't keep forcing your body like this!" Ken raised his voice.

"I understand your point, but unfortunately we can't wait another day. We need this information even if it's risky. Can you change the image for me, Irumi?"

With another click, the image changed.

"This…"

Without meaning to, the words slipped out of my mouth.

"You know this place, Haruki-kun?"

"Y-yes. That's one of the bases of the National Institute for Scientific Studies. I visited it with my college group earlier this year."

"In that case, you must know that this is where almost all the government's collected research data is stored."

Where was Ichika-san going with this?

"I wouldn't risk our lives to infiltrate a place like that without any guarantee. Irumi and I have been studying the structure since this morning, and if it goes as planned we'll have no problem infiltrating the institute. It's not a place with heavy night security, and at night it should be even easier."

"What do you mean by 'if,' and 'should'? You're really planning to throw us into an unknown place based on assumptions? We're all fighting for the same cause, but that doesn't mean we'll follow you blindly, Ichika."

Lili's words were harsh, but she had a point. The whole thing felt reckless. Even if security was lower, the place was still right next to the National Mage Agency building. Considering yesterday's situation, I could say they were skilled, but I doubted they'd manage without proper rest. If we encountered even one or two licensed mages, we'd be buried with no chance to defend ourselves.

And even I, who knew nothing about this stuff, could tell it was too rushed.

That said…

"What's the plan?"

""""""!!!!""""""

"Haruki…kun?!"

—Everyone was stunned when they heard me speak.