### Chapter 79: That Master

In the dim living room, the briefcase bomb lay quietly on the coffee table in the center of the room, and the man in black who had just been setting it up was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's the boss?"

"I don't know."

When the other men in black returned to the living room, they found it empty and exchanged puzzled looks. Could the boss have left after setting up the bomb? That didn't make sense; he would have told them if he were leaving... Unless...

Both men swallowed hard, their minds racing. Could it be that the boss intended to blow them up too? 

As they pondered if they had done something to deserve such a fate, a white figure suddenly appeared behind them. The figure, holding a black rod-like object, swung it towards the back of one man's head.

"Bang!"

"Ah!"

With a scream, the 'black rod' made contact, and the man in black collapsed, unconscious. It looked eerily similar to what an old brewery veteran once did to a high school detective...

"What the—?!"

Hearing his companion's scream, the other man in black turned around, only to see an eerie figure. The figure, wearing a black mask, had cold eyes that seemed to glint with malice.

[Unmatched Assassin Effect Activated: All Attributes +100%]

As the system notification echoed in his ears, Fujino didn't answer the man's question. Instead, he dashed forward and kicked the man before he could react.

"Bang!"

The man stumbled back, shocked by Fujino's strength. Without giving him a chance to recover, Fujino followed up with a flurry of punches to his abdomen.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

After a four-hit combo, the man in black coughed up blood. Fujino didn't let up, pinning him to the ground and landing two more punches to his face.

"Who sent you?" Fujino demanded.

The man in black, now bleeding and missing two teeth, finally spoke after another beating. He revealed that they were sent by 'that master.' 

Initially, Fujino thought he was lying, but after further interrogation, he realized the man was telling the truth. In their organization, outer circle members referred to the internal code-named members as 'that master.'

Their mission was to come here and destroy the house, making sure nothing remained. Given the troublesome nature of the task, they were provided with a briefcase bomb. After extracting all useful information and taking the man's wallet with 150,000 yen, Fujino moved on to the briefcase bomb on the coffee table.

Examining the bomb's structure, Fujino found it familiar, similar to the one he disarmed on the Shinkansen. This couldn't be a coincidence unless the same supplier provided bombs to both the brewery and another organization.

"It seems the brewery is behind the assassination attempt," Fujino mused, rubbing his chin. The evidence pointed to the brewery being the one who ordered Miyamoto Nisaburo to kill him, likely in exchange for promises regarding his daughter, Minako.

Judging by the clean room, the last diary entry from a year and a half ago, and the toy pendant Nisaburo clutched before dying, Fujino deduced Minako was kidnapped two years ago, and Nisaburo was coerced into working for the organization.

If Minako was indeed a nineteen-year-old graduate student with special talents, the brewery might have kidnapped her for that reason. Fujino suspected that Minako might already be dead or about to be executed, with the brewery squeezing the last bit of use out of Nisaburo.

Such ruthless tactics were typical of the brewery.

With his previous bomb-disarming experience, Fujino quickly deactivated the bomb and stored it in his spatial inventory.

(End of Chapter)