turned her gaze toward me.
“Mmm! Wearing the same robe as … that must mean you’re !”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I nodded hesitantly, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She clenched her fists and nodded vigorously, as if savoring the moment.
“Mm-hmm! Not to toot my own horn, but一what a cool codename, am I right?!”
“Your own horn…?”
“Indeed! Why hide it? All the current naming conventions for [Nega-Messiah: Covenant of Salvation]一every last one一were decided by yours truly! Naturally, your codename was also one of my proudest creations!”
“────”
…Ah.
Now I understood.
This was the source of that inexplicably cringe feeling…!
“一一Chuunibyou!!”
Hearing my horrified whisper, Kushina closed her eyes in resignation, while Mion burst out laughing.
Even seemed to sway slightly, as if suppressing a reaction.
And as for the culprit herself一
“…………”
She lowered her head sadly.
That reaction told me everything.
“W-Wait, don’t tell me… that chuunibyou is your…?”
“Mm-hmm……”
What a, what a poor, poor child. …….
“Y-Your Umbra Compensation…?”
“Nope. Just my natural personality.”
“IT’S JUST YOU?!?!?”
Then why the hell did you look so sad about it?!
Kushina hunched over, shoulders trembling, while Mion howled with laughter.
This time, I was certain even was shaking.
◇◇◇◇◇
“I ran into our Sixth Seat, , on the way here, but that bastard just scoffed, ‘Like they’d punish me whether I show up or not,’ and locked himself back in his lab.”
Some time later, after the commotion had settled一
一Tsukumo (I refused to honor her with a title)一spoke up as she took her seat.
“Well, he is the Doc.”
“No point arguing with him.”
The two close friends shrugged in unison.
Just as the Sixth Seat’s absence was confirmed, a slow, deliberate click-clack of footsteps began echoing through the room.
一一The last of the executives.
In other words… the First Seat.
We held our breaths, eyes fixed on the source of the sound.
And from the shadows emerged一 A familiar face.
Earlier today, before coming here, we had stopped by her café.
“Good evening~.”
Café Owner一Bakuro Yuika.
“……Huh?”
She looked straight at me, grinning as if to say, “Surprised, aren’t you?”
Then, with a playful flourish一
She pulled out a placard from behind her back.
Written on it was:
[Today, the First Seat is absent again! ♡
一By ]
“…………”
For what felt like the hundredth time today, I slumped in defeat.
“Sigh……”
“Hehe, Ibuki, you’ve had quite the eventful day, haven’t you?”
……Well, if Kushina was enjoying herself, I guess that was fine.
As I resigned myself to the absurdity, Yuika placed the placard on the empty seat and stood behind it一
just like how I was positioned behind Kushina.
“Hey, Yuika-san, you’re…?”
“Mhm. The First Seat’s one and only subordinate.”
“Seriously…? So you are a big deal after all……”
As that exchange took place, the absence of the First Seat, , was officially confirmed.
That left only the seventh seat一the one directly opposite the First Seat’s place一
“Now then, shall we begin?”
A person now sat in what had been an empty seat.
She was clad in pure white garments.
Her opulent, gold-embroidered attire gave off a sacred, almost ethereal impression一
yet, in stark contrast, it was also extremely revealing.
Her flawless white skin was boldly exposed,
and her silken silver hair cascaded
like fragile pearls on the verge of scattering.
The polar opposite of , who exuded the aura of a shadowy noblewoman.
Her black pearl-like eyes locked onto me.
“A pleasure to meet you, .”
I bowed silently. She continued.
“I am Shinazu Dori一the standard-bearer of the Nega Messiah.”
一一Let us work together from now on.
With those words, the supreme leader of this evil organization smiled softly.
Returning only a curt nod, I couldn’t help but think一
一一Not a single one of these people is even remotely normal…
As I stared into the distance,
“Now then. There are two reasons I’ve called you all here today.”
clasped her hands together on the table.
“The first concerns the recent rampage of .”
My breath hitched at the sudden, direct mention of the incident.
But the others remained unfazed一if anything, they seemed indifferent.
“That guy’s always running wild. Nothing new.”
“The rampage itself isn’t the issue. The problem is that he was caught一something that’s never happened before.”
“Sure, his attitude was garbage, but he was a crafty bastard.”
“Exactly. And yet this time, he was captured一apparently with severe injuries.”
“Huh. Severe injuries, huh… That guy……”
I swallowed hard, gauging the direction of the conversation.
“The news made a big deal about him screwing up and getting caught… but the one who took him down was……”
“A rookie named Hinata Soehi, I believe.”
……So they didn’t know I was involved.
According to the reports, had been captured by Officer Soehi single-handedly.
It was hard to imagine Hinata had left out my involvement in her report一more likely, the higher-ups had spun it as “Rookie Officer Arrests Notorious Criminal Alone!” for PR reasons.
Not that I minded. As a traitor to the organization, it worked in my favor.
“It’s possible he simply lost due to a bad matchup with her Lux. So while we shouldn’t overreact, do keep an eye on this rising star of theirs.”
“Sure thing.”
“Kuhaha! Understood!”
“…………”
I glanced at Kushina, but she remained silent一despite knowing about Hinata’s Lux.
While I breathed an internal sigh of relief, the leader smiled gently.
“That covers the first matter. Now for the main topic.”
The atmosphere tensed as she spoke.
“The Libra faction has made a move. It seems they’ve finally decided to address a long-standing issue.”
A long-standing issue?
I scanned the room for clues.
Yuika pressed her lips together. lifted her gaze slightly. Kushina closed one eye. Mion furrowed her brows. Tsukumo tilted her head in confusion.
……Wait, you don’t know either?
seemed to notice her bewilderment.
“The discord between the Tenth Branch and its patrons. We’ve discussed it before, haven’t we?”
She then began explaining the situation to Tsukumo.
It was one of the first open secrets you’d hear if you dug even slightly into the inner workings of [Prim-Libra: White Scales of Cyclic Protection].
Normally, as a state-run organization, Libra shouldn’t have any private patrons一
but the Tenth Branch was an exception.
Ten years ago, it had been annihilated.
It happened the night the metropolis known as Shinjuku一the predecessor to Sakuramura一collapsed.
In other words, the person responsible was none other than , who now sat elegantly before us.
The current Tenth Branch was rebuilt from scratch.
And that reconstruction required massive funding一far beyond what national taxes alone could cover.
To scrape together the necessary resources, they had no choice but to accept investments from private corporations and financial groups.
“As a result, the Tenth Branch became subject to external interference.”
“Oooh, now I remember! That whole mess where they’re constantly sniping at each other, right? Pathetic, for supposed allies!”
At that moment, I didn’t miss how Kushina and Mion quickly averted their eyes.
Seems even they were aware.
“Regardless, their infighting has been quite convenient for us. However… it appears they’ve now begun taking steps to resolve it.”
“Hmm. And what might those steps be?”
“An ‘open house’ event, apparently.”
“……An open house?”
“Yes.” The leader nodded.
“To showcase the daily operations of [Prim-Libra: White Scales of Cyclic Protection]一the heroic efforts of its Tenth Branch in service of the people. A PR move, in essence.”
By inviting their patrons as well, they could simultaneously silence criticism and bolster public support.
From what I could tell, it wasn’t a revolutionary solution, but it was a solid, effective move.
The mastermind behind it was probably… that person.
“Hmm. So what you’re saying, Leader, is…”
Tsukumo nodded sagely.
“You want us to decide how to respond to Libra’s strategy?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“It’s not……?”
Tsukumo deflated.
“The truth is, I’ve already decided how we’ll proceed.”
“Already……?”
Tsukumo deflated even further.
“You see, the open house has certain restrictions on who can attend.”
Once again, the little girl looked utterly lost. smiled beautifully.
“Only children under the age of thirteen are permitted. Or一”
Her smile turned toward me.
“一men.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
TLNOTE : Shinazu Dori can also be read as undying bird
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