13 — All for the Mission

—KEN—

Mari and Lili…

Those bastards.

I can't believe they used that crappy excuse to disobey Ichika-senpai and skip the mission.

I have to remember to teach them a lesson as soon as I get the chance.

If anything goes wrong here, they'll have me to answer to.

Hm… actually, now that I think about it, maybe this turned out to be a good thing. It's been a long time since I was alone with Ichika-senpai.

Could this be my chance to talk to her?

"Don't you think it's strange, Ken?"

"S-Strange?"

Man, that startled me! I didn't expect her to call me that out of nowhere.

"Like Haruki-kun mentioned... There really isn't anyone guarding this place. Don't you find that suspicious?"

Haruki-kun.

Why can't she stop talking about that idiot?

"Ken?"

"Ah. Yeah. Maybe it's just not a high-profile spot. After all, it's just a research institute. Most attacks target crowded places or somewhere with obvious valuables."

"Maybe you're right. But considering that the restricted area is only accessible to licensed mages and the national agency, I expected better security. It gives me a bad feeling."

"I think you're worrying for nothing. Even if it's confidential info, most of the protection is system based. It's just data, so I guess it's relatively easy to delete. No need to send an army to guard a building like this."

"I really hope so."

…And even if something happens, I'm here to protect you, Ichika-senpai.

"Bzt. Ichika, Ken. From what I can see you two are near area B1. Minami and Haruki just passed E5. Maybe you'll need to wait a bit for them to arrive."

"No problem, Irumi. As soon as we get there we—"

Baaam!

Ichika-senpai's voice was cut off by a noise.

Something sounded like an explosion on lower floors.

"What was that?! Haruki-kun, Minami-san, are you okay?!"

No answer.

The smell of burning quickly reached my nose.

A minute had passed since Ichika-senpai called on the communicator and we'd had no update.

I pressed the button and shouted:

"Irumi-senpai! What happened? We lost contact with them."

"I'm trying to find out. A fire alarm activated near where they are."

"But… there shouldn't be traps in the building. We checked everything beforehand."

When Ichika-senpai said that, her expression got heavy.

"The heat sensors are way too high for a simple trap. They must have encountered a mage."

A mage.

Said Irumi-senpai.

So the earlier suspicion had just been confirmed.

There really was a watchdog guarding the place.

"Should we go down and help them? If it's just one, I think they'll manage, right?"

"Bzt. Oi! What are you saying, Ken? Of course they won't. You know Minami's condition! She's already used more mana than she should have. She wasn't supposed to be on this mission today. What if something happens to her?"

"Are you kidding? If we go down we risk the entire mission. It was hard enough to get this chip. Once we run, security will only ramp up."

"You're suggesting we let them die?"

"I know she's your sister, Irumi-senpai, but we shouldn't let feelings interfere. Besides, she's with the rookie. The two of them can manage."

"Who are you to talk about feelings?! We don't know how Haruki fights. You need to go there, now!"

"Enough."

Ichika-senpai cut us off while we argued.

"I-Ichika?"

"I understand your point, Irumi. But it's like Ken said. We don't have time to go down there. If they already ran into a mage on the lower floors, we don't know what we'll find ahead. The two of them together should be able to handle it. We need to proceed. We won't have another opportunity."

"Y-you… you can't be serious. She can't fight—"

"I said enough. No discussion. They'll be fine. Now I need you to open the elevator door for us, Irumi."

"..."

"Irumi?"

Ichika-senpai and I stood in front of the door at area B1.

There was no button to call the elevator.

All I could hear through the communicator was electric static, and still no reply from Irumi-senpai.

We stared at the door for a few seconds, and after a beep, it opened.

I knew how cruel it was to do this to him, but we couldn't waste time arguing with Ichika-senpai.

After all… we were in this together. One person's victory was everyone's victory.

"Thank you, and… I'm sorry."

"..."

We stepped into the elevator and saw the display showing floors A through G. If that was all, there'd be no need to come here, but the truth was in the trick behind the display.

Ichika-senpai pressed the buttons in order and a green light lit above them.

When the seven buttons were lit, a new button appeared. Along with it, a red scanner covered almost the whole screen.

"Ichika-senpai… the chip."

"I know."

Even with a look full of regret, she proceeded.

<—ACCESS GRANTED—>

"Yes! It worked! It's okay!"

"Don't celebrate yet, Ken."

She pressed the button marked X.

The secret floor's position on the keyboard was before A, but given the building's structure, it could only be in the basement. There was no other way to fit an entire floor otherwise.

"..."

The mood suddenly turned heavy.

Seeing her like that cut me to the core.

I wanted to support all her decisions, but I knew it must be hard for her.

Maybe it was my time to cheer her up.

"Hey. Don't be like that. I know we still have to get the data, but come on, this is already an achievement. Until now we didn't even know if the chip would work. Don't you think we should be a little happy?"

"Yes."

"..."

Damn.

All I wanted was to hug her…

Why does the world have to be so unfair?

"Sorry, Ken."

"Hm? Why are you apologizing?"

"I'm a terrible leader."

"What? Of course you're not! You're amazing!"

W-what am I saying?!

"N-no, don't get me wrong! I just wanted to say I admire you."

I gripped her wrist and continued:

"I know you feel down about that decision, but it's not your fault. Irumi-senpai knows that too. You had no choice. Also, this isn't the time to be pessimistic. We don't even know what happened. You need to trust your team. I bet they're fine."

And even if I was wrong, there was nothing we could do.

Sad as it was, that was our reality.

People die every day. If that happened to them too…

We could only blame it on bad luck.

"Pessimistic, huh?"

She pulled my hand away and gave a weak smile. There was no trace of magic from her, but I felt like I was freezing under that look.

"Yeah… I guess you're right."

"Ichika-senpai…"

"Let's leave this for later. Looks like we've arrived."

Tssshh!

After the sound, the elevator door opened.