Yukihime had spent the night awake. First, she had to go to the base in the center of the island to save Hajime, and then she rushed to [Scarlett Queen]'s house to talk to her.
The loli returned home only at the beginning of the morning. At that point, her mood was so foul that it was impossible for her to fall asleep.
"That woman... she's such a bitch!"
Yukihime and Veronica may have had similar power levels, but their similarities ended there. In a sense, they were each other's nemesis.
Not only were their personalities opposed, but also their fighting styles: the former preferred medium to long range, often limiting her powers to avoid unnecessary damage or deaths, while the latter preferred close combat and loved doing needless damage to things and people.
"The only positive thing today is that she won't interfere. It would still be better if I informed the others."
The [Omega Mage] was certain that her natural enemy would not interfere directly with [New Dawn] as long as they did not disturb her again. Of course, the same could not be said for the matter concerning Hajime.
"It's incredible how he always gets into trouble without even wanting to... he reminds me too much of his father in that regard."
Yukihime eventually decided to rest for at least half a day; usually, a sleepless night was not a problem for her, but it had been months since she had managed to sleep for at least four consecutive hours.
There were always problems to solve, orders to give, and issues to discuss; this was the burden of being the founder and leader of a group that aimed to overthrow a sick and corrupt government.
"(For now, Hajime-kun will be fine... and Veronica won't interfere... yet I still have the feeling that we should accelerate things... perhaps it's time for me to personally intervene in 'that' matter?)"
As she closed her eyes, the woman couldn't help but worry about all the things she still had to do. Several minutes passed before she fell into a deep sleep.
About six hours later, the sweet rest of the loli came to an end; her dreams began to turn into a mix of memories and nightmares.
The [Omega Mage] started to thrash in her sleep. The images of the laboratory where she was born, the experiments she had undergone, and all the cruelties she had suffered awakened her from her slumber.
" what a nuisance... better gather the others while I'm at it. It's going to be impossible for me to fall back asleep..."
Disappearing in a gray flash, after taking a quick shower and changing clothes, Yukihime set off for the meeting place with her collaborators. She had already sent a message on her phone to the others asking for a meeting when she woke up. She was nonetheless surprised to find them all there waiting for her.
"Oh, you're all already here?"
As expected, the other leaders, so to speak, of [New Dawn] had already arrived. If there was one thing they all understood about the [Omega Mage], it was that when she called a meeting, it was because something serious had happened.
Usually, the loli remained silent or spoke little when others brought news.
"Well, I have a lot to tell you."
There were four other people in the room.
(P.O.V. Yukihime in the past)
My four colleagues were seated at a semicircular table. Mitsuru, Jun, Izumi, and Hoshi remained composed while waiting for my next words.
Each of them had abandoned their original name and surname to distance themselves as much as possible from their old lives, dedicating themselves completely to the cause: saving [Fumetsu].
Mitsuru was a 23-year-old male with dark blue hair and black eyes. He was the youngest among us, as well as the most relaxed and calm. Sometimes his attitude bordered on laziness, but despite that, he was more than capable of performing his duties perfectly.
To his right was Jun, the man, along with Fumio, who was the most loyal to me. He was 33, had red hair tied in a ponytail, and dull orange eyes. Compared to everyone else, he was the one who most resembled, in attitude, a soldier. Besides me, he was undoubtedly the strongest member of [New Dawn].
Next to him was Hoshi, a 28-year-old woman, with sun-yellow hair and light blue eyes, whose curves were perfect enough to make any woman jealous, even me. Among the four members of the group, she was the one who watched me with the most intensity. Despite all her qualities, Hoshi easily lost her cool and had very little patience.
And finally, the last but not least, was my colleague Izumi. She was a 45-year-old woman, with long black hair that reached her waist and beautiful emerald green eyes.
Among all, she, along with me, was the one who hoped to win against the [Black Corps], causing as few deaths and injuries among innocents as possible.
Being a former doctor, her Hippocratic oath still held enormous weight for her, making her the least inclined to use her power to kill and injure.
(End P.O.V.)
"So?! Do you want to tell us what happened?!" (Hoshi)
"It's better if I start from the beginning: last night, Fumio-kun contacted me to let me know that something happened to Hajime-kun..."
"The stepson of Goto, right?" (Mitsuru)
"Yes, you should pay more attention during our meetings and when we send you the reports to read!" (Jun)
"Please, let's try to keep calm and listen to Yukihime-sama's story until the end." (Izumi)
Yukihime mentally thanked Izumi for her help; she was always the most capable of bringing calm when Hoshi lost her temper, and Jun reprimanded Mitsuru.
The [Omega Mage] continued her story, this time undisturbed. All four listened until the end without interrupting.
"Is that it?! You called us just to tell us that his [Grimoire] is a danger to himself and others, that it's a threat to our secrecy, right?!" (Hoshi)
"Yukihime-sama, I cannot disagree with Hoshi this time." (Jun)
"And there's more. Fumio-kun, thanks to Hajime-kun, discovered the presence of a very dangerous person in the central district of the island. Veronica White, or maybe you know her better as..."
"[Scarlett Queen]?" (Mitsuru)
All the people in the room, except for the little loli, felt a cold sweat running down their spines. Their plan was complex, full of moving parts, perfectly prepared details, and years of waiting; just thinking that one woman could blow everything up made them uneasy.
"Yes, that's right. I went to talk to her; perhaps I didn't mention it, but I know her personally... unfortunately."
The four leaders of [New Dawn] sighed in unison when they learned that Veronica was not an immediate threat to them.
However, it remained a problem that they would have to resolve one day in the future, if they won.
"Can we trust her word, Yukihime-sama?" (Jun)
"Yes. Veronica-kun is many things, but not a liar. Her character and way of thinking would greatly disagree with Goto and his way of doing things." (Yukihime)
"If that's the case, can't we use her somehow? She is not our enemy, but perhaps we could turn her into an enemy of the [Black Corps]?" (Mitsuru)
"No, I don't want her involved, for better or for worse; her reputation is well-deserved; where she fights, only corpses and rubble remain." (Yukihime)
"We should vote to decide on this. Do we or do we not want to try to manipulate that woman for our purposes? I say yes; alone, she could wipe out quite a few of our enemies." (Hoshi)
The [Omega Mage] and Izumi seemed to agree that it was too dangerous to get in touch with Veronica again, so they voted against any plan involving her. Mitsuru and Hoshi, on the other hand, agreed that they should take the risk if it made their objective easier. The final vote would be Jun's.
"Strategically speaking, having another [Omega Mage] fighting against our enemy would be ideal, but we all know that this is not enough... that woman would destroy a city and kill everyone in an attempt to fight the [Black Corps]... our compatriots do not deserve to have to deal with another monster like Goto. I vote no. Let's keep our distance from her; it's too dangerous to try to manipulate one of the most dangerous women on our planet. If she became our enemy, it would be the end of everything, and our sacrifices would have been in vain."
With Jun's words, the matter was closed. Having nothing else to discuss, the group split up, each going their own way.