About twenty-five minutes — that was Kinuhata Saiai's favorite kind of time estimate.
"Considering the actual road conditions, it might take even less time,"
Misaki said thoughtfully, resting her chin on her hand.
"If we're talking roughly, ten minutes should be enough."
Compared to Kinuhata's guess, Misaki — who had just been speeding over here — clearly had more authority on the matter.
"In that case, we'll just have to deal with these guys later. Misaki, can I trouble you to make them hide somewhere for now?"
Makoto had only knocked these people out earlier — the two of them could wake up at any moment.
He could tie them up, sure, but when it came to restraining people, it was much easier to use Shokuhou Misaki's ability.
"I can do that, but are you really not going to reconsider your plan? I know you're worried that once you leave, the Fourth-ranked will go on a slaughter spree against your group's members. You could at least take the important people and hide in the Talent Workshop."
Just now, Misaki had learned from Makoto exactly what his so-called plan was.
And precisely because she knew, she was dissatisfied with such an extremely risky move.
"Even if we hide for now, so what? Our available fighting power won't change. Even if we're on our own turf, we don't have an esper capable of taking on the Fourth-ranked, do we? If we did, you wouldn't be trying so hard to talk me out of this."
Makoto shook his head helplessly.
"Just leave it to me. I've got a lot of confidence in this. And besides, with you and these two assisting me, I think it's not impossible to surpass even an LV5."
He spun the pistol in his hand a few times.
"Honestly… I can't win an argument with you. I'll get things ready on my side too."
Misaki let out a resigned sigh, then beckoned with her hand. From the car parked in the open area, a tall, muscular man in a black suit stepped out.
In his hand was a silver-white briefcase.
The man seemed to have no will of his own, walking step by step toward Harumura.
"What's this?"
"Just a little something the Workshop's been developing recently. Paired with this girl, I think it'll produce some unexpected results — enough to really surprise the Fourth-ranked."
Her gaze fell on Kinuhata Saiai, a playful smile curling her lips.
The burly man silently opened the briefcase and began taking out unfamiliar, unknown devices, setting them up around Kinuhata.
"This is… well. If this really works, it'll save us a lot of trouble."
…
Skrrrch—
A black truck — the kind used by moving companies — sped down the asphalt road. The tachometer on the dashboard was already maxed out.
The scenery outside the windows blurred rapidly backward, and as the tires screeched in sharp turns, the smell of burnt rubber filled the air.
"How far now, Takitsubo?"
Sitting in the passenger seat, Mugino Shizuri's agitation was impossible to hide. Her fingers tapped on her arm — a sure sign of her impatience and irritation.
"Almost there. Take the left at the bend ahead," said Takitsubo Rikou from the back seat, her eyes sharp, veins bulging at her temples.
"Faster. I don't care if you die, but if we arrive and those two are already dead, I'll make sure you join them in the grave."
The heavy stench of killing intent pressed down on the driver's frayed nerves, pushing him to the brink of collapse.
"I get it, I get it! Please, just spare me! This is as fast as this truck can go! I can't push it any further!"
Crying out, the middle-aged driver stomped the pedal harder — as if trying to channel all his fear of Mugino into the accelerator.
Skrrrch—
Another sharp squeal of tires. The handbrake was yanked, the steering wheel spun to the limit.
"We're here, we're here! It should be just ahead! So do I stop here or plow through?"
The only thing the man wanted now was to drive home, but the suffocating pressure of death forced him to keep going.
"Mugino, corner ahead, 200 meters. I've detected Kinuhata's AIM diffusion field — and another AIM diffusion field right next to her."
Takitsubo quickly reported from the back seat.
"So she's been caught… Stop."
At Mugino's sudden order, the driver reacted as if pardoned from death.
He slammed the brakes, and the truck spun several times before finally screeching to a halt. Normally, no seasoned driver would stop like that, but right now he couldn't care less.
All he wanted was to get away from this dangerous stranger.
"Hmph, useless. We really need to replenish our outer circle personnel."
Watching the man flee down the road without looking back, Mugino spat on the ground.
Without outer-circle support, they didn't even have a proper driver anymore.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent Frenda to recruit Makoto in the first place. Just now, she'd simply hijacked a truck and its driver from outside their base, forcing him to come along.
No choice — they weren't on a job right now, so the dark side's handler wouldn't assign her a driver.
Sure, she could request one, but that would be too slow. This was the fastest way.
"Mugino, what's the plan?"
Takitsubo didn't rush into action. She looked around, then pointed in a certain direction.
"The enemy is that way."
That was her ability — a Level 4 tracking power that could sense the AIM diffusion fields of espers she had previously recorded.
It could even lock onto a target within a range of two to three kilometers, though it required the use of a special enhancer called Body Crystal.
Now that she had locked onto Kinuhata's AIM diffusion field, the unfamiliar one beside it could only belong to the enemy.
Frenda was a Level 0 — she had no AIM diffusion field at all.
And at this distance, Mugino was well within striking range.
A mass of green light formed in her hand.
"You're right… let's use this to say hello first."