BENJI POV

Heh, that Kon.

Years of working as BOA’s Deputy boss, and this is the first time someone threatened me with my subordinate’s life that seriously. If I was to make a move or even the slightest intent to hoodwink him, he would know and immediately let the hostage fall just to gauge my reaction.

Cold and efficient to a fault.

Yet, he would not kill. I know this because I saw those eyes of his. It’s not the eyes of a murderer.

The weird thing is, after years of experience reading other people, I am almost certain that he would not hesitate to do it. No tremor in his hand, no wavering gaze - he meant every word.

This is just my hunch, but I bet Kon’s confidence stems from the belief that his allies could overpower both me and the Goto brothers if the situation calls for it. It’s either that or he knew the fall wouldn’t be lethal.

The kid doesn’t have it in him. The resolve to kill.

Heh, Jackal’s intuition is always on point. Kon Caspier is a person worth noting. He even saw through our plan of using him as bait to draw out the greedy Vipers that want a piece of Tinker Tech.

Right now, it’s a tall order to assume that we have rounded up all the suspects, but it will get me in the right direction. After all, if there is one thing that these snakes are good at is backstabbing other people. Including their own.

So what do we do to make them cry out what we want to hear? The answer is quite simple.

Speaking of which, one of them started waking up.

“Benji boss, ugh. Thanks for rescuing us from those monsters.”

“Ah, you finally came to. No problem. When I heard there was an unsanctioned scuffle I immediately rushed over. Those Seika bastards. We BOA should look after one another, no?”

“Yes that’s right, boss! It’s all those Seika’s fault! But where are we?”

“A warehouse of sorts.”

“A-and why am I all tied up on a chair?”

“Hmm, I wonder why…..”

Questions upon questions piling up inside their head. Shaking nerves and rising anxiousness bubbles underneath. In a way, it’s like cooking. You put all the ingredients into the pot and let it simmer on its own. Wait for the fire below to work its magic.

And occasionally, you open the lid and stir a bit to let the flavor mix up well together.

“Left or right?”

“Wha? What is this about?”

I didn’t deem to answer him and instead nodded at the Goto brothers to do the deed. With him strapped onto the chair all tied up nice and tight, there is no stopping what happened next. The brother brought down the hammer and smashed his splayed fingers that had been stitched onto the hand-clamping device.

It’s the pinkies for now, but the guttural sound that followed felt like it was the whole hands that got cracked open. Kids these days lack grit.

“Left or right?”

“WHY BOSS, WHY!? I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING- GAAAAAHHH!!!”

Goto brothers began to tenderize the pinkies once again. A couple more times, and it will be useless. Should I skin it or should I just cut it off? Decisions, decisions.

“You see, my dear snake. I’m just curious. Most of your dear friends gave up on the fifth finger. But one persists until the end throughout all ten fingers. Can you imagine that? Such loyalty! That is until I pulled down his pants and asked him which ones first. So, let me ask you once again. Left or right?”

It’s at times like these I’m glad to have the sort of face that can easily instill fear in others. My face’s wide grin is a sight to behold whenever I stretch it past a certain limit. My squinty eyes, make people around me feel like I’m constantly scheming around like a Fox.

Heh, that short brat is much more of a fox than I am.

Anyway, I suppose it’s time to wrap up. I have gotten all I need from the previous pile of trash. This snake hasn’t said anything new, so I might as well just end it here and call it a day.

Leaving Goto brothers to clean up after the rest, I exited the warehouse to take a breather and compose my thoughts. The situation is more complicated than a bunch of parasites aiming for a takeover. Jackal is right, trouble is looming on the horizon, and this is just a small part of what’s coming next.

We need to be ready.

----

KON POV

“Iron Vipers desuka? A parasitic guild?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes. A guild specializes in information trade at the expense of another guild. Some of them are so entrenched in their ways to the point of becoming a double agent themselves. That’s what I tried to confirm with the hostage situation just now. Whether or not they are a bunch of Iron Vipers posing as BOA. There was a pile of garbage down below, so if did I let him fall, it wouldn’t have hurt him all that much.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I see…desuno.”

“And what did you manage to find out?” Joan asked.

“Not much. That Benji guy has his suspicions, but other than that I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes.”

Sera the club leader of our SpeedGear club remained silent on our way back to the Seika Academy, occasionally looking back at Elizabeth just to observe her outfit before quickly facing the front and acting as if nothing had happened. Uh, we have not awakened anything weird from Sera too right? I hope Zack’s corruption virus is not contagious.

I better continue. There is still tons of stuff that I would like to confirm.

“Although, it is strange how Iron Vipers operates all the way here in the middle ring.”

“Explain.” That caught Sera’s attention.

“These sorts of guilds tend to lack centralized command. The members operate mostly as a group with a borrowed name, so their HQ is not fixed in one location. They mostly exist in the outer ring near the forbidden areas.”

“So, someone intentionally targets BOA by siccing them a bunch of Vipers?”

“Could be. How’s Seika doing? Have you seen anything weird lately”

I focused my intent on them to see if they knew something about it. If BOA is not the only one, then Seika, Cosa Nostra, and The Bulls are the next most likely target to be infected and pitted against BOA. However, their response seems subdued. They are not denying it or confirming it.

Is there something that I am not getting?

“Kon, you used to live in the outer sector yes? I don’t know much about how it normally is in the outer sector. But here in the middle ring that’s closer to inner sectors, these sort of things are business as usual.” Sera answered.

I tilted my head at that. Is she telling me that traitors and backstabbers are a common occurrence to the point that getting rid of them becomes a daily routine?

“You seem confused. Let me clarify. I can’t speak for the other Guild, but here in Seika, to join the main branch you are required to undergo several layers of interviews and background checks. This level of strictness is necessary because there is no shortage of people who are trying to maneuver us to their benefit. Courtesy of inner ring politics.”

Oh, so the parasites here in the inner ring are more subtle and professional compared to the ones in the outer ring. Makes sense. However, before I could ask another question, Zack appeared beside me, grabbed the bottom of my shirt uniform, and lifted it. What in the world is he doing!?

“Wha- What are you doing Zack!? Have you become a pervert too!?” Even Sera and Elizabeth are covering their eyes. Can you please stop embarrassing me for just a single day?

“The heck you mean by ‘too.’ Take a look at your stomach dude, it’s bruised.”

Eh? I never noticed it. It’s purple and almost numb to the touch with a tinge of sharp pain. Was I hunching the whole time? So I didn’t manage to redirect the grunt’s kick completely.

Ugh, such an amateur mistake. Of course, the movement and timing needed for redirection are going to be slightly different when I’m being weighed in by the SpeedGear.

And here I am calling those grunts a bunch of amateurs when I acted like one. Seems like I still have a lot to learn.

“You are good at reading other people, but bad at reading yourself, huh?” Zack sighed.

“You are blowing it out of proportion. I should be fine after resting for a day or two.” I countered.

“No you are not desuwa! We will go to the nurse’s office right now desuno!”

“Yes, Elizabeth is right. You should get it checked at least.” Sera agreed.

Well, if it would help me avoid their questioning, then I welcome it. I hope Zack and Elizabeth can collaborate on their stories well.

Returning to the school, I was swiftly led to the nurse’s office. Personally, I didn’t consider this injury a major concern. I have endured worse during my job as a danger zone courier when the AI outbreak was at an all-time high.

Inside the nurse’s office, there were no people, it was empty. I was instructed to wait and recuperate while Sera dragged the rest for questioning. Joan went to find Ms. Emma, the SpeedGear club supervisor. I didn’t know that Ms. Emma served as a school nurse as well. That’s a welcomed surprise.

I composed myself and drew my prana to mask my intent while keeping my focus subtle. I will be ready for her this time. Minutes later, the door opened. Ms. Emma came in and settled on the chair in front of me. Now I can finally ask her about the talk we had back in the clubroom. It’s time to dig the roots of my paranoia.

I just have to stay calm and extract the information I sought.

“Good afternoon Kon. Got yourself into a scuffle are you?” Ms. Emma smiled.

“Nothing serious, I just had a minor accident and my stomach was bruised a bit.”

“let’s take a look. Can you tell me where it hurts?”

“My stomach, there is a slight pain with numbness accompanying it,” I confessed, lifting my shirt to reveal the discomfort. It felt slightly embarrassing, to expose my upper body in front of a beautiful young lady. Yet, this young lady was far from innocent.

“Ara, you are improving well, Kon. It’s becoming harder to notice your subtle application of mask.”

“Thank you for your kind praise.” I almost stammered, feeling a slight blush and heat creeping up my face. Her compliment was genuine, but my skill still fell short if it couldn’t bypass her detection.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ll clean it up in a bit, let me get a bandage compress,” she assured, standing up to retrieve supplies of alcohol and compress after diagnosing my injuries. Her touch was gentle and the procedure barely hurt. That smooth caress….

And the way her chest droop down in front of my face when she bent over to check on my stomach…….

Wait. What the heck am I thinking?

Why did thoughts about her physical allure suddenly intrude on my mind? Did she influence me with her intent during our brief eye contact? She is undeniably dangerous. I couldn’t even read her intent properly just now and yet she slips through mine that easily.

“Fufu, I know what you wanted to ask, Kon. Unfortunately, I can’t divulge anything as of now.”

I sighed, sensing no point in pressing the matter further. The feeling of being held back and told to stay put when answers lingered right in front of you is frustrating, to say the least. I don’t even know if I will ever get a proper answer from her in the first place. Looks like I will have to get my information elsewhere.

“But, I can give you a hint.” She offered.

My ears perked up. As she sat back in front of me to apply alcohol run onto my stomach and apply a compress to it.

“Do your best with the mid-year and final year exams and I will grant you a sponsorship for an internship on Highwind.” she said, concluding the treatment before returning to pack up the medical supplies.

I widened my eyes. Highwind? Does she mean the Mobile city east of Nexus? The city of entertainment and immense wealth? This is…… far larger than what I could have ever imagined. Questions upon questions keep cascading into my mind as anxiousness rises from within me.

What did the Highwind have to do with me? With my Arcanum? The sky above? I thought it was just a delusion that could be cured. Why do I suddenly feel like being faced with a looming giant?

Before panic overtook me, Ms. Emma embraced me from behind. Though I should have reacted with flustered surprise, for some reason, her next words strangely calmed me.

“Kon, please stay patient. Your answers, your worries, and your uncertainties will be answered in due time. Until then, do your best. You are doing well, Kon.”

For the first time, she dropped her mask to allow me to read her intent fully. Her words were sincere, a genuine expression of concern. She wanted me to wait because knowing more now would hurt me in the long run

I could have read her deeper with her mask off like this, but in the end, I let it go.

I gently lifted the arm around me, drawing it closer as I nestled my face against it.

It was warm.