Through the drones’ camera, we can see Madoka jumping through the wall and head towards the mansion in a lightning-fast speed. She soon reaches the mansion and goes to the back. She then takes out a lock pick and picks the back door.

The picking only took 2 seconds, and she’s now inside. She softly closes the door behind her and proceeds to find the place where the Yamagata couple and the employees are having their meeting.

Starting from all the rooms in the 1st floor, Madoka stops at each and every one of them and puts her ear on the door. She leaves once she didn’t hear anything of interest.

More than once, a servant was passing by the hallway she was at. She avoids bumping into them by hiding behind huge vases placed at the side. You might think that it’s impossible, but that’s because you didn’t see the size of those vases. You could easily fit me inside one of them, and I’m at least 170cm.

I notice something weird after a while, and I’ve noticed it since I went there last time. I see zero security camera inside this mansion. You would think that a mansion as big as this would have dozens of cameras in order to detect intruders. At first, I thought they were all hidden, but from the way Madoka moves from one place to another, it’s confirmed that there are no cameras around.

There’s no body guard around either. Again, they’re filthy rich, but they don’t hire body guards? If the Yamagata did have some, they wouldn’t have to hire us in the first place.

Anyway, Madoka goes all the way to the 3rd floor before she finally hits the jackpot. She looks at her shoulder that has the drones perched on it and nods. I took her cue and have them go inside the room by crawling under the gap beneath the door.

‘...let us begin.’

We hear Father Yamagata’s voice the moment the drone pass through the gap. Looks like the meeting has just begun, which is a huge plus for us.

All of them are currently inside a conference room, with the usual long, rectangle tables and office chairs. Father Yamagata is sitting at one end of the table with Mother Yamagata sitting on his right. Meanwhile, the important-looking employee is sitting on the other end, with 2 of his colleagues sitting on his left and 1 on his right. There’s a bottle of sparkling mineral water in front of each of them.

I recognize the brand. It’s literally the most expensive brand when it comes to sparkling water. I guess that’s rich people for you.

‘Any comments from Chairman regarding our experiments, Hasegawa-kun?’ Father Yamagata asks.

‘Yes. He is very pleased that he has an abundant of test subjects. He said that he is very glad for your cooperation.’ the important-looking employee answers.

‘I am glad to hear it. When you get back, please tell him that we are always happy to provide him with more test subjects should he asks it from us.’

‘The thing is, Chairman Ryuuouji has specifically told us to inform you that he would like to suspend the experiment until further notice.’

‘Is it due to the fact that those pests from the Royal Blade Academy have been snooping around?’ Mother Yamagata asks.

‘Yes. Unlike the police, you can’t buy them off with bribes. Therefore, we must proceed with caution.’

See, this is why I’ve always hated the police in the anime. Their first priority is to fill their wallet, not to protect the people they’ve sworn to serve.

‘Understood. Either way, we’ve already disposed of the medicines which contain the gene-altering components that you supplied to us.’ Father Yamagata informs them.

‘You are being cautious as ever, I see.’

Father Yamagata smiles at the compliment. ‘Believe me. I would not have lasted this long at this field if I was reckless. I do apologize for wasting your precious medicines, though.’

‘It is of small matter. If we are ever exposed, the consequence will be much worse.’

‘So then, what did you want to talk to us about?’ Father Yamagata prompts.

‘Chairman Ryuuouji has been considering on moving to Phase 2 of the plan.’ Hasegawa tells them.

Father Yamagata raises his eyebrow. ‘So soon? I was told that he would like to conduct more experiments before moving on.’

‘As I have mentioned, the Chairman do not want to arouse suspicion any more, so we’ll have to make do with the 4179 test subjects that you’ve painstakingly gathered for us.’

I almost blacked out when I heard the number.

‘Did he just said…4179?’ I ask to confirm.

‘He did.’ Ichika confirms.

‘But, how did they get so much?’ Yui asks. ‘Didn’t Kojima-san said that only 43 people have gone missing?’

‘Do remember that the Yamagata Pharmacy has branches all over the world.’ Assaf-sensei reminds us. ‘And Japan isn’t the only country that has homeless people.’

I have so many things to say about that, but the meeting is still ongoing, so I decide to shut up until it’s over.

‘...with the limited resources, we are still making a good progress.’ Hasegawa reports. ‘So far, around 152 test subjects have reacted positively to our drugs.’

‘What about your funds?’ Mother Yamagata asks. ‘It must be getting drained at an alarming rate.’

‘There is no need for that concern. We have those donations you send us every month, after all. In addition, We are getting more and more sponsors as we speak.’

‘Such as?’

‘Let’s see. We have the Bournes from LA, the Joubert from Lyon, and lastly the Ishibashi and Shimazaki from Tokyo.’

Yui and I look at each other in alarm when we heard the last 2 names.

As for Father Yamagata, he furrows his eyebrows. ‘The Shimazaki, you say? Last I heard, their business in manufacturing factory-use machinery was dying. I’m surprised that they have any money to spare.’

Hasegawa shrugs. ‘From what I heard, the second son of the Shimazaki got engaged to the daughter of the Ishibashi 2 years ago.’

Father Yamagata nods in understanding.

‘I see. That explains a lot.’

‘We would love to be acquainted with the Ishibashi.’ Mother Yamagata says. ‘Unfortunately, they prefer to keep to themselves.’

‘Indeed.’ Father Yamagata adds. ‘We’ve tried to invite them to our parties on 5 different occasions, but they refused all 5 times. This one included.’

‘Perhaps I could introduce you to them in the near future.’ Hasegawa suggests.

The Yamagata couple lean forward from their seat in surprise.

‘Do you mean it, Hasegawa-kun?’ Father Yamagata asks eagerly.

‘Of course. You are our biggest sponsor, after all. This is the least I could do to pay you back, no matter how trivial it is.’

‘It’s not trivial at all!’ Father Yamagata exclaims. ‘I’ve always wondered about how they manage to make their business grow in an international scale within a short span of 2 years. After we get to know each other, perhaps they would share their secret.’

‘Perhaps. On a more serious note, we would like to apologize for not handling one of our potential test subject in a more careful way. As a result, he has intruded one of your stores.’

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

‘Ah, that. It was of small matter. We had to silence the manager who got injured, though. There was also the matter of the police, which was easily taken care of. However, we had to hire some brats from the Academy to keep watch on tonight’s party, just in case things got dangerous.’

‘So that was what you were trying to warn me just now. I have almost blurted out something that I shouldn’t.’

‘Well, the brats were probably observing the ballroom from a distance, since we forbid them from coming in. Even so, it’s better to be safe than sorry.’

I smirk in satisfaction. Little do they know that the same brats are now spying on them.

‘There’s also our daughter Amaya too. We had to be careful around her.’ Mother Yamagata says.

‘Oh, does that mean your daughter does not know of our secret?’

‘Not at all. We’ve decided to keep it a secret from her until she’s old enough to work for us.’

If I was mad at Amaya-san’s parents before, I’m officially furious at them now. What Mother Yamagata just said is equivalent to ‘We’re forcing her to bear the same sins as we did whether she likes it or not, even though she didn’t know about it until recently.’

‘By the way, is Lost Children still taking part in your experiments one way or another?’ Father Yamagata asks.

That question make my ears perk up. So the cult and the lab were already collaborating way before the former got their hands on Excalibur.

‘Indeed they are. Some of their members have certain… expertise that we dreadfully needs. Unfortunately, one of them has disappeared and was never seen again.’

‘And who might that be?’

‘Maria Assaf.’

I turn to look at Assaf-sensei and raise my eyebrow. I also realize that everyone is looking at her as well. All she do is smiles and shrugs.

‘Ah, the ageless necromancer that we don’t know what her exact age is. What exactly happened?’

‘We are not sure. Last we heard, she was attacked by a group of students from the Academy. After that, nothing.’

‘Maybe they found out about her secret and pulled her soul away from the fake body you made for her.’

‘As I said, we have heard nothing. Either way, as a result of her disappearance, we had to employ thousands of necromancers with mediocre talents. The progress was painfully much slower, but it had to be done.’

‘You have my condolences.’

‘Thank you. However, rest assured that progress had been made nonetheless, so you will hear from us soon in the near future.’

‘We’re glad to hear it. We hope you won’t disappoint us, after all the money we spent on you to produce the serum of immortality.’

Yup, that’s what this is all about. They’re not trying to earn big bucks by trying to produce state-of-the-art human soldiers. Instead, it’s to find ways to become immortal. Manufacturing mutants is just one of the process to their ultimate goal.

‘We will do our best in answering your expectations.’

Hasegawa looks at his watch.

‘It is getting late. We should get going.’

The Yamagata couple stand up from their seat when they heard that.

‘Thank you for coming all the way here.’

‘It is our job, so no gratitude is needed.’

All of them leave the conference room and head downstairs. We move the drones outside as well. A few seconds later, Madoka appears out of nowhere and retrieves them. They’re then put on her shoulder once again.

She quickly descends to the 1st floor before they get there. The mansion is so huge there are 2 sets of staircases to let you ascend and descend between floors. All Madoka had to do is use the one that they’re not using.

Once she’s near the front door, she hides behind some potted plants. We’ve waited for 5 minutes before they finally came down.

From the look of things, nothing was said between them while they were coming down. I hope that was the case. I wouldn’t want to miss anything that they said.

Once they’re at the door, they shake hand with each other.

‘Do come by again.’ Father Yamagata tells them. ‘And next time, I hope I’ll hear some great news from you.’

All the employees bow at them with Hasegawa at the front.

‘We will not disappoint you.’

And with that, the researchers leave the mansion. The Yamagata couple wait for a full minute until they start to talk.

‘Worthless.’ Father Yamagata grumbles. ‘At this rate, we’ll be old bones by the time the serums are completed.’

‘You could volunteer to be one of their test subjects, father.’ Mother Yamagata suggests. ‘Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up being their answer.’

‘Don’t patronize me, mother. Why should I offer myself when there’s so many plebeians around? I’m much too important for that.’

‘Speaking of plebeian, Inui wants to take additional sick leave after the incident.’

Father Yamagata stares at her with a blank look.

‘Who?’ he asks.

‘You know, the manager who got his arm injured when one of the test subjects broke into our branch store in Shibuya?’

‘Oh, him.’

‘Exactly, him. Would it kill you to remember the names of some of your employees?’

‘I’ve told you a lot of times, mother. I have better things to do than remembering some commoners’ names.’

Mother Yamagata sighs in defeat. ‘Fine, fine. So, what are you going to do with him?’

‘Approve it, of course. Give him a week of it. We can’t have him go around babbling about what happened, could we?’

‘I suppose not.’

‘Also, warn him that this is the final paid leave he’s getting. If he still dares to make demands, he’s going to get it.’

‘As you wish, father.’

With that, they retreat back to their bedroom. Madoka uses this chance to leave the mansion and goes back to where the rest of us are.

‘How much of their conversation did you hear back in the conference room?’ I ask her as soon as she’s back.

‘Pretty much all of them. I was listening in right in front of the door.’

‘Good. I guess we don’t have to fill you in on anything.’

‘No, you don’t have to.’ she agrees.

‘Before we start the meeting, maybe we should head back to my room first. Mashiro?’

Mashiro nods and summons Sogdrul. In the blink of an eye, we’re inside my room. I go to turn on the lights, while my girlfriends make themselves comfortable at various spots of my room. Mashiro is lying down on my beanbag. Madoka, Ichika and Yui are sitting in front of the counter. Sakuya and Assaf-sensei are sitting on my bed. I take up another spot at the counter.

‘Right, let’s summarize what we know so far.’ I begin. ‘It’s already confirmed that the Yamagata Pharmacy is the one responsible for the disappearance of lots of homeless people in not only Japan, but around the world. Their purpose is to supply Ryuuouji Bio Lab with test subjects. The lab, on the other hand, are busy with using the supplied test subjects and through experimenting them, they’re trying to create a serum that can grant immortality.’

‘Besides the pharmacy, the lab is also aided by Lost Children. They also have several sponsors that donate them money-’

‘And 2 of them are the Shimazaki and the Ishibashi.’ Yui adds.

‘This seriously complicate things.’ I end.

‘I know a Shimazaki-kun from your class, but do you know the daughter from the Ishibashi family personally?’ Sakuya asks.

‘Yes. We’ve met her when we went to the aquarium with Shimazaki-kun and the rest.’ Yui answers.

‘I wonder how far are the 2 of them involved in all this.’

‘Hopefully, they’re not involved at all.’ I pray. ‘There’s no way I could arrest one of my friends and his fiancee without hesitation.’

‘First things first, we should do something about Yamagata Pharmacy first.’ Ichika suggests. ‘They are the only group who are guilty of criminal acts and can be brought to justice without being intervened by the government.’

‘The only problem is, we don’t have definite proof. The footage from the drones is probably not enough.’

‘Speaking of the government, who knows how many countries are involved in this crazy experiment of theirs? We have to proceed with extreme caution.’ Sakuya says.

I look at Madoka.

‘Let’s say we’re going to visit the lab’s HQ and issue an arrest. How many government will step in and ensure that Ryuuouji Tstuma will walk free?’

‘4.’ Madoka answers.

‘Is Japan one of them?’

‘No.’

‘Well, that’s something at least.’

‘Even so, the situation is still dire. The lab is pretty much allowed to do whatever they want, and by the time their enhance humans are released to the world, there will be countless casualties.’

‘Oh. My head. It hurts. A lot.’ I moan.

I seriously don’t know how to solve this problem. It’s also not helping that I’m getting sleepy. I look at the time. It’s already 1:20 in the morning.

Sakuya looks at it too.

‘Well, it’s gotten very late. Fortunately, there’s no school later, so we can take our time and come up with something. For now, let’s get some sleep.’

I have to agree with her. I rarely stay up late, so I can’t stay focus if it’s late at night.

Ichika gets up.

‘Well then, I will see all of you later.’ she says to us.

‘Yeah. Good night, Ichika.’ I say to her.

Ichika was about to open the door. But then, she stops and turns around. I look around too since she’s the only one who got up.

‘Um, girls?’ I ask them. ‘Why aren’t you leaving?’

Yui starts twirling her fingers. ‘Well, my house is kind of far away…’

‘You big sister has become one with your bed~’ Sakuya answers.

‘So have I.’ Assaf-sensei says.

The 2 of them are currently lying down on both sides of my bed. There’s enough space for 1 more person in the middle.

As for Mashiro, she has straight up fallen asleep on my beanbag.

I sigh and look at Madoka. ‘And you?’

She was deep in thought until I talked to her.

‘I can’t come up with anything, so I’ll be honest here. I don’t feel like going back to my room.’

I sigh again and look at Ichika.

‘Can you overlook it just for one night?’

‘I suppose so.’ she says reluctantly.

She then starts to fidget.

‘What’s wrong?’ I ask her.

‘The truth is, I also wanted to spend the night here…’

I smile at that.

‘Then why don’t you? It’s not like we’re doing anything inappropriate.’

‘Yes. I guess it is true.’

Sakuya suddenly gets up from my bed.

‘Sakuya-senpai? Where are you going?’ I ask her.

‘As a reward for Ichika-chan being so honest, your big sister has decided to sleep on the floor. You can sleep beside Akira-kun, Ichika-chan.’

‘B-But, that is the exact definition of being inappropriate!’

‘In that case, I shall take back my spo-’

‘Thank you for the courteous!’

Ichika dashes towards the now-empty spot.

I’ve anticipated this kind of event, so I bought another closet and stored extra futons inside it. Now, I got them out and let the girls who’re not on the bed to use them. I also take out a blanket and place it on top of Mashiro.

After everyone has settled down, I turn off the light and go to lie down on my bed. Ichika immediately flinches.

‘There’s no need to be nervous, Ichika.’

‘I-I know that…’ she stutters. ‘It is just that, this is the first time I ever sleep right next to a boy.’

‘There’s a first time for everything.’

‘Well, you better get used to it if you want to go out with someone.’ Assaf-sensei advises Ichika. ‘I mean, this is just the basic.’

‘I will keep that in mind.’

‘Sensei, could you stop corrupting her?’ I tell Assaf-sensei.

‘I'm not corrupting her. I’m just educating her, like a teacher should.’

I roll my eyes. ‘Whatever you say, sensei. Well, good night, everyone.’

I got a reply from everyone minus Mashiro, who’s already sleeping.