Chapter 35: Standby

"God! How I love this scene! Look, Cloe-chan! The grimace of pain on Kuro's face when he gets taken down by Fumio-sensei!"

"Tsk! Next time, I want to see you fight him instead of me!"

"Nah, that won't happen! I'm the brains, you and Hajime are the brawn… ah! Here's where you lose consciousness! Eheheheh, it's so nice to see your body convulsing from the electric shocks!"

"Where does all this sadism of yours come from!!?!?!"

Hajime found himself listening to this conversation between Kuro and Kohaku as he arrived in the bunker.

Two weeks had passed since Fumio's test.

The 30-year-old, seeing the great improvements in the kids, had requested the [New Dawn] leaders for "heavier" missions, now that he was sure they could handle them.

Fourteen days had gone by, yet they hadn't received any updates. Apparently, here in the center of Goto's power, there were fewer tasks than Hajime and his companions had imagined.

The truth was that, with Veronica, a half-involved [Omega Mage], the heads of the organization didn't feel comfortable sending them, or anyone else, on missions.

Therefore, all pending matters in the central district were on hold until further notice.

With nothing to do, Kohaku took it upon herself to distract Hajime and Kuro, using the video she had recorded during their fight against their master to mock them in every way possible.

It was really a stressful time for the two boys. Goto's stepson wasn't even surprised to see today, with his own eyes, that the young [esper] had managed to get her hands on some sort of high-definition projector to display the video she had made on the entire wall of the base's cafeteria.

"Good afternoon, Hajime." (Cloe)

"Good afternoon to you too, Cloe. How long have those two been at it like this?" (Hajime)

"It must be almost 3 hours now."

"They've been arguing since they got out of school?"

"Yeah, they only took a break to eat, and then started again."

"They seem like an old married couple."

"Or a pair of siblings who are bored out of their minds."

"Maybe your theory holds more water than mine."

Despite Fumio having gone easy on them, the areas hit by the old [mage] during the test had suffered damage that lasted nearly a week before fully recovering.

"Eheheheh, yeah, I believe it."

These weeks had allowed the silver-haired teenager to get a bit closer to Cloe. The girl was very reserved and calm, even with her stepsibling and best friend, so she and Hajime had interacted more than usual.

Nevertheless, the boy's calm and sociable nature had allowed the two to get close enough to speak without too many issues. Although most of the time, it was him who talked while his teammate listened or only responded when necessary.

"Hey you two! Come enjoy the video!"

"Last warning, Kohaku! Take it down, or I'll destroy the projector!"

"Don't you dare! It's rented! I don't intend to pay for a new one!"

"I don't care!"

With a scythe-like movement, the object was shattered before anyone could comment.

"You! Stupid, selfish, psychopathic piece of trash! Don't you dare take my fun away!"

"I dare if this 'fun' involves me!"

In the end, Cloe and Goto's stepson intervened before things began to escalate.

Apparently, the [esper]'s teasing had gone on for too long for Kuro's standards.

Not that Hajime couldn't understand the feelings of his teammate. He too was slightly annoyed, although he showed it less, given that he spent few hours at the base with them, and also thanks to the [Grimoire] that made it easier to control his frustration as if it inhibited his emotions, reducing them to a minimum.

"Kohaku-chan, please calm down."

"How can I calm down, Cloe-chan! We've been here for a week with nothing to do! At least let me have some fun!"

Apparently, being in standby mode was beginning to irritate the forest-green-haired girl more than anyone had imagined.

"I understand how you feel, Kohaku, but we can't keep going on missions every day! We'd lose our minds if it were like that!" (Hajime)

The [Grimoire] wielder sometimes forgot that his cheerful friend shared a thirst for revenge equal to his own. When mixed with her natural creativity and impulsiveness, it could lead to disastrous results—not only for her but for everyone involved. After all, they were all in the same boat, for better or for worse.

"Mph, I'm going to my room!" (Kohaku)

The three remained in an awkward silence after their teammate left the room. Kuro softened his angry expression a bit after she had exited. He too understood why the [esper] was acting that way.

"Kuro…" (Cloe)

"Don't look at me like that; I'm frustrated too, but I don't take it out on others because of this sudden standby. I'm not going to apologize to her just because she thinks she's suffering more than us."

Cloe remained silent, saying nothing. It would be petty of her to ask her stepsibling to apologize when he had been more than patient with their friend.

"(What a situation… but where has Fumio-sensei gone?)" (Hajime)

*****

Meanwhile, the tutor of the kids, despite the imposed pause for missions, was carrying out an important task.

After all, for him, as Yukihime's most trusted person, acting without the permission of the other leaders was not a problem.

Why? Simply because it was not an option to remove him from the field. Especially now that he was advancing the project of "corrupting" the network of informants that the [Black Corps] used to control the most notorious districts of the central area.

As he had told Mark Watson, Fumio would make him a "big shot." How? Simply by killing or removing all others in his way.

After the conversation with the nurse at his students' school, the 30-year-old had set his plans in motion to promote Mark.

This afternoon, he was dealing with yet another obstacle.

The [mage] had come upon him from behind in a dark alley and stabbed the man several times with a cheap knife, taking his wallet.

"(A perfect fake robbery with murder.)" (Fumio)

Yukihime's loyal friend had already contacted a good number of informants who had, in one way or another, been brought to his "side."

"(About 30% of their information is now provided by me. Watson-san will soon be 'promoted' to a higher position in the hierarchy… I should probably stop now; how many have I killed? 20? 25? The [Black Corps] will start investigating this issue if I keep this pace.)"

While the [White Corps] spies were unreliable and "protected" to a certain extent by the island's police forces, those of the [Black Corps] were "loyal" only because they were scared to death of their bosses or because they couldn't afford to give up the few pennies they received for what they did.

It was not uncommon for them to be killed for trivial reasons, often by their own employers.

25 dead in a few weeks? For Goto's dogs, it wasn't a problem; on the contrary, they would be happy and could go to the home of some poor soul to "convince" him to take the place of one of the fallen.

As he returned home, Fumio received a phone call.

"Yukihime-sama?"

"Fumio, the others have decided to resume missions; we're already too behind on the schedule. We have a mission for the kids."

"Good. They're itching with nerves, especially Kusanagi-san and Aomori-san."

"I'll give you the details later, besides that, there's some news."

From the tone she used, it was clear to the 30-year-old that the news wouldn't be pleasant; at worst, he would call it a problem.

"Please go ahead."

"Apparently, there's a new girl that the others have decided to add to your team. It's a last-minute decision."

"Alright, I suppose I can't say no, can I?"

"I'm sorry; I know it disrupts the teamwork that Kuro-kun and Hajime-kun already have, but she will be a useful resource for the team. Since you like chess so much, I'd say that 'she' would be an excellent rook."

"I understand. I'll wait for her details and those of the mission."

"Good, see you later."

Fumio sighed slightly after ending the call.

"(A 'rook,' huh?)"

Yukihime and Fumio had played chess thousands of times. If the [mage] had described the new addition to the base as a "rook," it meant only one thing.

"(The rook is the second most important piece on the board after the queen. It has a long range and can end its movement on any square, be it white or black. It's the 'thoughtful figure' in a sense… I guess there will be a third figure stronger than Kamijo-san and Kusanagi-san in our team.)"