"Kamizaka-kun, is your business finished?"
"Yeah... Did the ladies go to 'pick flowers'?"
"Yes, that's right."
With seven of them, including the exceptionally powerful Miyuki and Shizuku, Yugen doubted Jasmine or James would do anything reckless... but then, Tatsuya suddenly sighed.
"Oh? Has your 'guardian's intuition' kicked in, Tatsuya?"
"Don't call it that... I'll take care of things here."
"Understood. Honoka, Shizuku, stay here since your families are involved."
"Mm. Leave it to us."
While Isori and Minamihara might not have fully understood the exchange, Yugen acted immediately on Tatsuya's word. He used Osiris' Eye to pinpoint Miyuki's location and rushed to the scene, making full use of his perception-concealment abilities.
"...Hm?"
He arrived just outside the powder room, but the scene made him tilt his head in confusion.
Jasmine and James, the presumed culprits, were nowhere to be seen. Kanon was slumped on the floor, with Sayaka and Azusa looking over her. Miyuki, Minami, and Lina hadn't stepped in, and the reason lay further back: Toshikazu Chiba and Laura Curtis. Seeing Toshikazu holding Laura in a princess carry, Yugen deduced that he must have bumped into the two as they tried to flee and instinctively grabbed her to dodge.
"Ah, Yugen-san. I'm sorry, we let them escape."
"Well, given there were uninvolved bystanders, it couldn't be helped. Minami, Lina, you both look unharmed."
"Yes, we aren't hurt."
"Right. Though I'm frustrated we couldn't catch them."
Both Miyuki and Lina specialized in wide-area magic. Precision-targeting only a specific person while avoiding bystanders was a difficult feat of finesse.
As they explained the situation, it turned out Kanon, Sayaka, and Azusa had run into Jasmine first. Kanon, approaching carelessly, had been restrained by Jasmine—a clear case of attempted assault and coercion caught in the act.
When Miyuki tried to freeze Jasmine with surgical precision, she had apparently misjudged the output and shattered only the knife. "I tried to remove only the hostility, like Yugen-san does," she said. Given her track record, Yugen thought her attempt was actually quite commendable.
"...So they fled toward the maintenance tunnels, just as planned. Well then, Miyuki, Minami, Lina—shall we go?"
"Go where? Even if we chase them, do you know where they went?"
"It's not so much where they fled... as it is a 'trap,' I suppose."
At Yugen's words, Miyuki, Minami, and Lina all tilted their heads in unison.
Regardless of the circumstances, Yugen had no intention of letting the Australians go home for free after treating civilians this way. They needed to be made fully aware of the reality: this operation was built on the premise of their failure.
"Looks like we managed to lose them... Jaz, you okay?"
"Yeah. I never imagined the Yotsuba Princess would be there. That was outside our calculations."
Jasmine and James hadn't sensed Miyuki's presence. To be precise, the pearl necklace Miyuki wore was imbued with a spell that altered perception, much like her usual hair ornament. Since this concealment could even deceive an opponent's magical sense, it was no wonder they had misidentified her.
Furthermore, Minami and Lina were wearing accessories with similar spells. This was a countermeasure Yugen had proposed and convinced Tatsuya to implement.
"I didn't want to do this... but I'm going to use my magic on the party venue."
"Is that our only choice...?"
Unaware of the hidden truth, Jasmine and James felt forced to play their final card: the Strategic-Class Magic, Ozone Circle.
Since it was effectively a poison gas attack, no amount of justification would save them from condemnation. They would face far more intense backlash than the recent bomb terror attacks. At worst, the Australian government might simply cut them loose to avoid international scrutiny.
With external sabotage already failing and the internal mechanical overrides and magic system hacks unsuccessful, this was their last resort. Since the Australian High Command's orders were to carry out the sabotage, they had to fulfill their duty as soldiers.
"Jaz, let's move to the escape craft first. Once Ozone Circle hits, the port will be locked down immediately. We need to have our exit ready before then."
"Copy that."
Led by James, the two descended the maintenance stairs and slipped into a staff breakroom adjacent to the port. They had avoided going directly to the docks to prevent being spotted.
However, upon entering the room, they couldn't believe their eyes. The interior was a far cry from a worker's breakroom. To anyone's eyes, it was a space for VIPs, filled with high-end furnishings and decor.
"Jaz, what is this?"
"I don't know... we were definitely heading for the port."
They felt no trace of magic. The sensation of descending to the lower levels had been unmistakable. As they struggled to comprehend what had happened, a voice called out to them from across the room.
"—Welcome, you two uninvited guests. We haven't met face-to-face, but you certainly took care of me a few years ago."
"Eh...!?"
"You're..."
Jasmine and James turned their gaze in unison toward a single teenage boy sitting in a suit.
They had no direct acquaintance, but he was the nemesis they had fought in the shadows within Australia. He was one half of the target of the mission Jasmine and her team had failed—the boy who went by the name Yuto Nagano back then, but who now sat before them, radiating the presence of the 108th Head of the Guardian Kamizaka House: Yugen Kamizaka.
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