"This thing sounds impossibly hard from the get-go!"
Chisato Nishikigi scanned the Chiba city map with its twenty-two red dots, quickly quipping:
"Who knows if the target's even in Chiba City? If he's in other districts of Chiba Prefecture, wouldn't we have to search them all one by one?"
"Exactly, we'd have to search them all."
Hilda's tone wasn't light as she said:
"Our opponent is cunning. He seems capable of driving Lesser Demons to roam the city deliberately, interfering with our judgment."
"Tch. With methods like these, I wonder if we've got acquaintances behind our target."
Hearing this, Mika frowned deeply and said gravely: "Are you suggesting another organisation stands behind Katsuhiko Yakushiji?"
Mika had a limited impression of Katsuhiko Yakushiji, knowing only what Luo Shu's intelligence documents mentioned. According to those, Yakushiji had only collaborated with Truth Astronomy before their falling out.
Could Yakushiji have other collaborators, such as secret organisations that the Third Action Team had previously encountered?
"That much I can't confirm." Hilda directly sat on the conference table, staring coldly at the electronic map before her. "Rather than worrying about that, we should focus on locating our target now."
"Don't forget, only the target and those related to them know the location of the demon's sealing ground."
'No, I know it too...' Luo Shu, standing at the back of the crowd, silently added in his mind.
Thanks to Utaha Kasumigaoka's Mind Reading on Ken Yakushiji earlier, Luo Shu had naturally learned the location of the demon's sealing ground.
However, aside from whether he was even willing to leak the demon's sealing ground location to the SDS, figuring out how to reasonably disclose the information was already a major headache for him.
He couldn't just shake a turtle shell with copper coins and shout, "I divined it!" could he?
Not to mention, he'd never heard of an Abyss Artefact like that.
"So, the top priority is to capture that Ryōko Yakushiji, right?" Chisato Nishikigi immediately raised her hand upon hearing this.
Beside her, Takina Inoue froze for a moment before sighing, "It's Katsuhiko Yakushiji, not Ryōko Yakushiji. They're not even the same gender—completely different people!"
Chisato awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "Ah? Sorry, I mixed her up with that Ryōko Yakushiji who's always opposing Big Sister."
Luo Shu rolled his eyes, giving Chisato a deadpan look before pondering aloud, "Still, shouldn't we at least try gathering intel from the Yakushiji family?"
"Someone's already on it, but factions within Japan's government have also sent people there."
Hilda spoke while muttering under her breath, "This tiny place may be small, but it's crawling with factions."
"So, we can't expect any intel support from the Yakushiji family for now?" Mika crossed his arms, frowning at the red dots on the map. Compared to before, three dots had disappeared—clearly dealt with by the Third Action Team.
But with 19 red dots still remaining in Chiba City alone, and an unknown total across Chiba Prefecture, the progress was still a drop in the bucket.
Meanwhile, Mizuki Nakahara casually asked, "Can we mobilise the US military?"
"Impossible. Or rather, mobilising more troops would cause trouble for the young lady."
Hilda's tone suddenly turned icy as she continued, "Deploying troops to blockade a prefecture in Japan is already pushing the young lady's limits. If the situation escalates further, I'll request a withdrawal directly from her."
At this point, Luo Shu—still curious about who this 'young lady' was—overheard Chisato muttering beside him, "Hilda really is a hardcore fan of the young lady, huh."
'Fan...' Hearing that description, Luo Shu began to understand Hilda's shift in demeanour.
But come to think of it, was the SDS's overall commander really the leader's devoted fan?
Had he accidentally joined some kind of cult?
"Regardless, over the coming weekend—including today—I expect the Tokyo branch to work with us at full capacity to locate the target."
"That's all!"
With that, Hilda turned to Mika and said, "You handle your own people, understood?"
"Understood." Mika nodded before glancing at Luo Shu and then scanning the group. "Takina, Chisato, follow the previous team assignments and start eliminating possibilities in Chiba City first."
"Understood." The assembled members nodded in unison.
After collecting the walkie-talkie and encrypted mobile phone, Luo Shu followed Takina Inoue into the elevator leading to the underground car park.
...
Once everyone else had left, Hilda gave Mika a surprised look:
"So that guy is the Wind Adept Tachibana tricked into joining this time?"
"Tricked? Well, close enough, I suppose." Mika smiled wryly.
"Aren't you planning to assign him heavier tasks?"
Hilda frowned slightly, clearly puzzled:
"At least he's a Wind Adept specialised in reconnaissance. If he puts in some effort, he could sweep through all suspected targets in Chiba City's urban area within today."
"I understand your thinking. Though the burden would be heavy, it's indeed a decent solution, but..."
Mika paused here, deliberately glancing at Hilda before continuing:
"Before departure, Miss Lacus contacted me."
Hilda's expression immediately changed dramatically: "What? The young mistress actually contacted you, you filthy gay? What if she gets contaminated by your disgusting interests?"
"I can't just let that slide." Mika glared at Hilda displeasedly. "If this weren't during a mission, I wouldn't mind sparring with you in the ring."
"Hah, you?" Hilda scoffed, then immediately pressed on eagerly: "What exactly did the young mistress say?"
"...Nothing much, really." Mika hesitated, sounding somewhat perplexed. "Miss Lacus simply told me not to force Luo Shu to work during the mission."
"Though I am rather confused why she'd give up such a quick solution to the problem."
"...Is that so? That does sound like something the young mistress would do." Hilda looked enlightened before complaining, "But you're confused? I'm the confused one here. Wasn't that newbie literally tricked into joining by Tachibana right in front of you?"
Mika suddenly had an epiphany: "Concerned about negative emotions from ideological clashes and being forced into dangerous work?"
"I see, so that's why Miss Lacus said she'd come personally?"
As soon as these words left his mouth, Hilda's voice rose sharply:
"What? The young mistress is coming personally?!"
"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"