CH 9.4

「The condition is that if I achieve a certain level of success int hat operation or whatever you call it, Yui will be set free.」

「Kazu……」

Yui’s eyes widened.

「What do you mean by free?」

「Yui can only fight if she wants to and won’t move at the behest of the organization. However, she must be allowed to use the information network of the Shiratori family. In addition, it is up for her to decide whom she marries. What do you think?」

「You’re making a lot of demand for my daughter though your just a stranger.」

「Children are not tools of adults」

「That’s how commoners think.」

「You can ask for other conditions. How about it?」

「You are very confident.」

Of course, I am.

No matter what condition it is, it won’t matter to me.

「Alright……okay. However, if you manage to fulfill the condition, we will occasionally ask you to do something for us. Of course, we will pay you accordingly.」

If I was able to meet the condition of Tetsugan, he would want to keep in touch with me.

He was a businessman who thought about the worst case scenario.

「I have the right to refuse, right?」

「Yes. Then, do we have a deal?」

I nodded silently.

You sighed with a “mou….” but she looked obviously happy.

「So, what’s the operation?」

「Before I give you an overview of the operation……Yui, sit down.」

Yui didn’t react to Tetsugan’s tone of command and quietly sat down next to me.

The father and daughter probably have this kind of exchange on a regular basis.

「Recently, there was a variant outbreak in Greece.」

When he mentioned the word “Greece”, Yui and I looked at each other.

We had been seeing a lot of Greek variants recently.

「There have been quite a few large scale battles. Many of our main soldiers have been killed or wounded and the Greek “organization” is in shambles.」

I have my reservations about the term “soldiers” but let’s listen first.

「The mass outbreak was apparently caused by something like a “core”. We don’t know what that “core” is.」

「By chance, you think it was brought to Japan?」

「That’s how we see it.」

「So, the operation is to destroy or seize the core?」

「Exactly」

「But, if we don’t know what that “core” is, how are we going to start the operation?」

Tetsugan stroked his beard and continued while looking straight at me.

「In Greece, there have been two mass outbreaks of variants caused by that “core”. The second time, the Vatican and Nordic organizations also entered Greece but failed to destroy the core. Although they were able to detect the powerful magic power, they were unable to locate it. The trouble is that the “core” emits almost no magic power until the moment it is triggered. At the very least, the magic power of the “core” was reported to have appeared suddenly at the time of activation.」

「What a pain in the ass……」

If it doesn’t produce magic power, how can I detect it?

If the “core” is not the energy source, could it be some kind of key or a door?

「After the two mass outbreaks, Greece has been greatly exhausted.」

「Is that the reason why they were forced to bring the “core” to Japan?」

「Probably」

「But why go all the way to Japan? Why not just go to the Vatican? 」

Yui’s question is valid.

「Fuhn, I guess they were mostly trying to take advantage of the mess in the Japanese “organization”.」

Tetsugan said as if to spit.

「Is it the same for the Nords?」

「I won’t deny that.」

The organization is connected to society from behind the scenes as we have seen with the Japanese “organization”.

If you can take over the “organization” of another mythological system, it is as close as you can get to taking over that region.

「However, we, the Nordic organization, are here to help Japan while maintaining effective control of the region. We are not like Greece, which is trying to disrupt things by bringing trouble into the region. 」

「Using that logic, how do you explain the appearance of dark Valkyries in Japan?」

If Greece’s involvement in Japan has led to the appearance of gigas, it must be the same for the Nordic dark Valkyries.

「That is because many soldiers of our Nordic organization have entered Japan.」

「I see……so, the type of variant that manifests is determined by the concentration and quality of magical power?」

If many of them have magic powers similar to those of Japanese mythology, Japanese mythology variants are more likely to appear. If it’s Norse mythology, variants from Norse mythology are more likely to appear.

The quality of magic power can be changed through training, but it is especially dependent on the environment in which one was raised in childhood.

According to this theory, the number of variants that appear should remain the same, but the proportion of each type should change.

However, the number of gigas appearing this time is clearly higher than usual.

「Then, you plan to hit the “core” once there’s a variant outbreak. That’s not much of a strategy, is it?」

「Don’t say that. We have people all over the country with high detection capabilities so that no matter where the mass outbreak occurs, we will be informed immediately. According to the organization’s projections, the next mass outbreak will occur in two weeks.」

I can’t say that I’m not responsible for the Japanese organization’s collapse.

Looking at the rotten state of the organization, it seems like it would have perished even if it had been left alone but I indeed hastened it.

Let’s try a little harder.

「See you in two weeks then」

「Wait a minute」

I was about to get up from my seat when Tetsugan stopped me.

「You are going to spend the next two weeks in hellish training with the Nordic Organization’s soldiers.」

Another pain in the ass.