Chapter 129.2

129 Part 2

As soon as his eyes moved towards the window, Doraneko used her enlightenment skill “Misdirection”.

That caused the man to believe that there was no one inside the room.

Team Aerial’s strategy ended when the man opened the door while under the effect of “Misdirection”.

“…But why did that guy open the door by himself?”

The sullen Van muttered that as he stood on the corner of the room.

Kagemitsu had asked himself the same thing.

Normally, when a problem arises, the bigger the problem, the more it would be shared with the rest of the team.

By sharing information, multiple people would be able to deal with said problem.

In fact, Kagemitsu was expecting to have to deal with multiple people.

Even though Yoshi was tasked with singling out a sole member of the Self-Defense Force, Kagemitsu was prepared to use his presence to deal with people gathering in front of the door.

However, he had acted alone.

“I guess Yoshioka is that scary? This is definitely not a normal organization. That must have been why he tried to solve a serious situation all by himself.”

Whenever a problem that could cause someone to be reprimanded arises, that person’s state of mind would shift into a “crisis avoidance” mode as a self-defense mechanism in order to make the problem seemingly disappear.

There was nothing special about that.

A good example of this is when a mother asks her child “What are you doing?”, and they would reflexively answer “I’m not doing anything!?”.

This could happen to anyone, in any situation.

Such a shift in mental states applied to that man as well.

However, it had happened at the worst possible timing for his organization.

In any case, thanks to that, the operation had been a success.

Of course, the one who escaped wasn’t Kagemitsu and his team.

The one who was no longer inside that room was the seventh adventurer from the group –Air.

Using his non-existence presence, he left the room while the door was opened.

He did leave the room… Right?

No one in the room had actually seen him leave.

There was no use wondering about it. There was no way to confirm it.

At that moment, Air’s presence was completely non-existent.

Kagemitsu would have been able to feel any sign of him, even if he were to fully activate every single nerve on his body.

His covert ability was simply terrifying.

Kagemitsu wasn’t really concerned about whether or not Air had been able to leave the room safely.

More than that…

(Damn it, I envy you so much!!)

Kagemitsu, who once had aspired to become a ninja, was terribly jealous of his impressive covertness.

Behind Kagemitsu (who had quite the bitter expression on his face), was Van, standing with his arms crossed and pouting.

Van hadn’t done anything during the operation.

On the other hand, Yoshi, Becky, and Doraneko had been most useful, and Air was taking the most important role in this plan.

For this reason, Van was frustrated about not having been able to do anything for his team.

Van was the only member of Team Aerial that didn’t have an enlightenment skill yet.

His raw combat ability was second only to Kagemitsu, but if special abilities were to be considered, he could even see himself as inferior to Yoshi and Doraneko.

Van was very good with various tools, but that was about the only thing he could throw out his chest about.

Being good with various tools had no bearing in his combat ability.

Being good with various tools made him a bit of a Jack of all trades and master of none.

Van couldn’t stand being in that position.

As an adventurer, he wanted to have something he could excel at.

If it had only been that they chose someone outside Team Aerial for this operation, he would still tolerate it somewhat.

But no, they went and chose Air for this operation.

Van’s emotions swirled violently in his heart.

Certainly, Kagemitsu’s strategy was meant to make the best out of the abilities of those involved.

It was only natural that Air would be selected, since he could easily slip past the guard once he opened the door.

Still, when Kagemitsu presented his plan, Van opposed it vehemently.

Just what is Air going to accomplish by himself once he’s out of the room?

Yoshi, Becky, and Doraneko favored Van’s point and were also against the plan.

The girl named Karen from Air’s team didn’t say anything for or against the plan, but she seemed to have mixed feelings written all over her face.

She must have sympathized with Van to some extent.

Van tried to press Kagemitsu into changing his mind, since no one expressed their approval of his plan.

However, everyone had been decided by a single line from Air.

“…I think maybe I’ll be able to do something once I’m out.”

— But exactly what are you going to do!?

Hearing him say that caused Van’s heart boil with the darkest of emotions.

Air had sounded almost as if it was wishful thinking. “I’m an intermediate adventurer, I’m sure I’ll manage one way or another”.

For adventurers, there was sure to be a lot of abilities and other information that they weren’t able to share with the public.

He hadn’t said exactly what it was yet, but there was something in Air that just screamed “I’ll manage somehow”.

And that something might be tied to his unnaturally rapid growth as an adventurer.

Still, Van was unable to agree with Kagemitsu’s plan until the very end.

Van had wished that Kagemitsu, instead of Air, would choose to place his trust in him, and the rest of the team.

In the end, Kagemitsu never agreed with Van’s opinion.

Air left the building alone and began to move in order to prevent the destruction of the Self-Defense Force.

While keeping his irritation in check, Van hoped Air would mess it up somehow.

He recognized how filthy those thoughts were, and tried to endure the pain…

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Having successfully escaped the confinement room, Haruki felt an urge to bawl his eyes out with everything he had.

Not a single member of Team Aerial saw him as he took off his mask and activated his stealth mode.