Tsuchimikado and Musujime headed down the hidden stairway they had found exactly where they had predicted they would and headed for the special cells for the undocumented traitors.
They came across 2 or 3 mercenaries on the way, but Tsuchimikado silenced them with his handgun. Since the girl called Xochitl had taken most of them out and Accelerator was holding more of them off, there weren't many mercenaries left to get in their way.
Then Musujime felt a slight pain in her head.
"…The AIM jammer is even stronger."
"There are devices for outdoors, buildings, and individual rooms. The different pieces of equipment add their effects on top of each other. This is Academy City's only juvenile hall and is therefore the only anti-esper equipped facility in the world. Normal defenses wouldn't be enough."
Tsuchimikado must have been feeling a similar sensation.
It felt more like it was messing up her aim than it was holding her power in check or restraining it. It felt like she would get caught up in her own power if she carelessly tried to use it.
"Musujime. Your power is strong, but that also means one accidental discharge of it could take your life. It would be best if you didn't use it here."
"You make it sound like I have no value beyond my power."
"Shh."
Tsuchimikado held his index finger up to quiet Musujime.
The stairway and the hallway connected in an L-shape and he had heard a loud noise from around the corner. It was the sound of someone forcing open a bolted-on metal panel by sticking a metal stake in the gap. Tsuchimikado silently raised his handgun. Musujime normally relied on her power and therefore didn't have any kind of projectile weapon, so she pulled out her flashlight that could also be used as a baton.
Tsuchimikado and Musujime jumped out into the hallway.
It was a narrow passageway. Metal solitary confinement doors lined both sides and a large bear-like man was sticking something that looked like clay on one of them. A muscular woman was watching his progress from the side.
They looked up at the two who had entered.
"You have to be from Group to be here now," said the large bear-like man.
Musujime didn't immediately act because of the facility's various anti-esper devices including the AIM jammer. Tsuchimikado aimed his gun between the large man's eyes. But before he could fire, the man stuck a wire in the clay stuck to the door.
"This is a plastic explosive and this is an electric fuse."
A stern expression appeared on the muscular woman's face.
"Saku!!"
"It's no use, Teshio. We have to use a hostage here."
The large man named Saku slowly removed his hand from the bomb with the fuse stuck in it.
He was holding a device in his hand. It was the switch to detonate the bomb.
"…If you use that here, you'll be the first one to be blown to bits."
"The amount of explosive is set and I've adjusted the directionality some. The blast will all go into the door." Saku pointed towards the bomb stuck to the door. "But the shockwave will wreak havoc inside that cell. And the pieces of the destroyed door won't help matters. Destroying the door is easy, but ensuring the safety of the person inside is quite difficult. And since you two showed up to get in my way, I can't finish."
"…!!"
A loud explosion suddenly rang out.
It was due to Musujime's power exploding as she bared her teeth. A few of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling disappeared and pierced into the walls and floor.
And yet Saku and Teshio showed no concern on their faces.
"…Musujime Awaki, the Move Point." Saku smiled while gripping the switch to detonate the bomb. "Good, this saves us some time. We have both a hostage and the person to negotiate with. Let's get this started, former guide to the windowless building."
"And if I refuse?"
"You won't. Do you really want your powers to go out of control?"
Musujime went silent at that. If it weren't for the anti-esper devices, she could have just skewered Saku.
"Group, huh? Did you learn anything from the 0930 Incident?"
"What?"
"We did. We had thought that this fucked-up world was controlled by Aleister from end to end, but that isn't so. There are ways to escape his control and places to hide from him. Wonderful, isn't it? It's so wonderful it makes it seem absolutely ridiculous that we were bound by Academy City for so long. With the 0930 Incident and now the riots in Avignon, we have a chance. There's no way we can overlook this opportunity."
"So you're headed to a new world trampling others in the process. That isn't something to sound so self-important about. It just reminds me of the massacres during the Age of Exploration."
"I see. Wishing for a heaven or a paradise you don't currently have is something all humans do."
Listening to their conversation, Tsuchimikado looked at the switch Saku was holding.
With his skill, he could shoot it from Saku's hand. However, he couldn't guarantee he would succeed and it was possible it would just happen to land on the button and blow the door up anyway. If that happened, Musujime's comrade would be killed no matter where he hid in the cell.
Musujime put so much force into her jaw it looked like she was going to break all of her teeth.
Seeing that, the muscular woman, Teshio, spoke to Saku.
"..Using a hostage here isn't going to help."
"What are you talking about, Teshio? It all starts here. The hostage's value just went way up."
"The hostages were supposed to be used to get Move Point into the negotiation because we didn't know where she was. Musujime is right in front of us. The hostages' role is over. Using the bomb here will just make her more stubborn."
Teshio stared at the bomb on the door.
"Thinking back, I was against this from the beginning. I only agreed to the hostage part of the plan because it was absolutely necessary. Now that it isn't needed, we can leave the hostages alone."
"We can't do that, Teshio. Right now, we have 38 hostages! Do you understand what that means!? This is a vast fortune. We have so much, wasting a bit of it doesn't matter!! …Did you start feeling empathy for these kids from working with Anti-Skill for too long!?"
"…Saku."
"Don't get in my way!! I'm going to kill that bastard Aleister!! This is the first step. It can't all end here!! I can't waste all my time here. If you get in way, I'll kill you too, Teshio!! I'd rather not, but…"
Saku's didn't finish his sentence.
This was due to the fact that Teshio punched his huge body as hard as she could.
From the sound alone, the punch clearly had a lot of force behind it. Most likely, the man from Block had no idea what had happened to him. He was knocked back into the wall and slid to the ground. It was the first time Musujime Awaki had actually seen foam come from a person's mouth. That was how mercilessly she had hit him.
"…Don't waste time on pointless shit."
The woman named Teshio reached her hand out towards the metal door. She took the fuse out of the plastic explosive stuck to the door, removed the bomb itself, and tossed them to the ground.
"Is this enough?" she asked slowly.
"…What are you doing?" asked Musujime with a grim look on her face.
"I apologize for our rudeness. You may beat me to as much as you like."
Teshio's eyes did not waver even as Tsuchimikado aimed his gun at her.
"But I won't give in until we win. I also have a reason to kill Aleister. I won't use any hostages, but I will directly cause you pain until you give me the information."