At the same time, on a street cleared of pedestrians, the Dark Department members belonging to School had gathered.
"Boom..."
"Rat-tat-tat-tat..."
Explosions and gunfire rang out continuously from all around, drawing the attention of School's members.
"Has it started over there too?"
Kakine Teitoku had his hands casually tucked into his pockets, looking as though he were merely out for a stroll.
"But there doesn't seem to be any word from Suna-zara."
The girl in the dress held up her phone, but she could not get through to Suna-zara Chimi.
"Could he have been taken out?"
The strange boy said it in an indifferent tone.
"Looks that way." The girl in the dress closed her phone and spoke without expression. "If he had succeeded, it wouldn't be this quiet right now."
Though explosions and gunfire still echoed around them, the girl in the dress called this situation "quiet."
Compared to the chaos caused by the murder of a world-class songstress, though, this much really did count as quiet.
"Looks like Suna-zara failed. If he hasn't contacted us, then he was probably taken out." There was not the slightest trace of regret in Kakine Teitoku's voice. It was as if the one who had died was not his companion, but a pet he had owned for only a few days. Shrugging, he said, "Figured one person alone wouldn't be enough to finish the job. Whatever. This is more fun anyway."
"What about Suna-zara?" the girl in the dress asked. "Shouldn't we recover him?"
"I'm not interested in corpses." Kakine Teitoku turned around as he answered. "Besides, people at that level can be replaced anytime. We're not the only Dark Department organization operating around that concert, and there aren't any secrets on Suna-zara worth digging up. Forget him."
At that, both the