A Plan Takes Shape

"Transcendent beings."

"That is the term we will use for now."

Ordered by her superiors to give an "explanation," Iori Ichika wore a sour expression.

Honestly, she did not want to deal with these high-ranking officials. She would rather be out pursuing—no, searching for—Tanimura Wataru, the young man who had gained "transcendent power."

Iori Ichika's family ran a martial arts dojo. She had practiced Karate since childhood and had been invincible among her classmates.

Violence had become part of her life.

After growing up and realizing that humans had limits, she chose to enter the police academy.

The reason was simple. Firearms were a higher form of violence, and she had to hold them in her own hands.

"In this incident, the transcendent being who appeared will be referred to as 'Mr. Three.'"

"So far, Mr. Three has demonstrated the abilities to appear out of thin air, command Evil Spirits, absorb souls, and grant transcendence."

Police officers were people too. They watched anime and read novels.

The transcendent incident involving the Broken Tooth Gang could be mostly figured out by any officer who watched the surveillance footage. It was not just the police—after watching it once, the high-ranking officials in the conference room could infer this information as well.

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons was traditional Island Nation folklore. Tales of gods and ghosts had endured for ages.

That Mr. Three's manner was exactly like that of a villain collecting souls to accomplish some grand scheme.

As Iori Ichika explained, the projector image froze on the Werewolf rising to his feet.

"This man is Tanimura Wataru, twenty-one years old, born in Adachi Ward."

After briefly introducing his background and making these bigwigs understand that he bore an irreconcilable grudge against the Broken Tooth Gang, Iori Ichika pressed the machine again.

"This was three hours ago."

"This footage was captured in a restaurant in Ayase Town's Third District, a Broken Tooth Gang property—"

The photos of Fukutani, the vicious man who died with four wounds slashed across his chest, and Shibukawa, whose head had been violently torn off along with half his spine, appeared on-screen. Once again, the eyes of the many important figures lit up.

Do not misunderstand. It was not because they had some strange fetish.

These corpses had simply proven the existence of "transcendent power" to them in an extremely bloody fashion!

"Please look."

"The deepest point of the wound in this corpse's chest reached a shocking five centimeters. Skin, muscle, bone, and internal organs had all been torn apart cleanly."

"No known beast could possibly inflict such an injury!"

Not even the strongest lions or tigers could do it!

By biological definition, humans were "large animals."

Although their muscle tissue was less dense, their bones were hardly fragile. Fukutani, that vicious man, exercised regularly as well. Flesh and bone were not putty. A lion or tiger could easily kill him, but leaving such horrifying wounds across his chest exceeded the limits of normal living creatures.

Whether lions or tigers, their truly lethal weapons were their fangs. Their claws were merely tools for holding prey in place.

"This establishment had no surveillance cameras, but we have reason to believe that the killer was Tanimura Wataru, who obtained transcendent power!"

It was not difficult to guess. After Mr. Three tapped Tanimura Wataru on the forehead in the Broken Tooth Building, he had already undergone a Werewolf transformation. In addition, both Fukutani and Shibukawa, who had died, had grudges against him. The motive and means could not have been clearer.

In fact,

after watching the surveillance footage,

Iori Ichika had expected such a scene the moment she rushed to Ayase Town.

"At the same time, another team has secured Tanimura Wataru's rented apartment."

"We found a large amount of warped furniture there, presumed to be traces of him testing his power, as well as the key and rent money left in the entryway."

"All of this proves that while Tanimura Wataru gained transcendent power, he still retained clear reasoning."

The image froze on the young man leaving his apartment, his face concealed beneath a baseball cap.

Transcendent power!

The evidence was conclusive, and the important figures present felt their hearts burn.

"Tanimura Wataru is an important citizen of our nation."

"His killing was understandable."

The Chief Cabinet Secretary seated at the head of the table spoke slowly, defining the nature of the matter.

Only because everyone in the meeting room was one of their own did the Chief Cabinet Secretary dare to put it so bluntly.

"As long as we find the right approach, we can establish friendly relations with Tanimura Wataru. We may even recruit him into a state department and have him cooperate with our research."

"Director Takeya, protect Tanimura Wataru immediately. He is an important citizen of our Island Nation, and nothing must happen to him!"

That was right.

Tanimura Wataru, who had killed people, was a citizen in need of "protection."

As for the dozens of Broken Tooth Gang members, so what if they died? They were merely yakuza scum. Even if ordinary people had died, what of it?

Which person present was not an important figure who could decide the fate of tens of millions with a single word?

To them, human lives were truly nothing more than figures on a report.

What mattered was transcendent power!

When something that existed only in fantasy suddenly appeared in reality, the first reaction of the important figures in the conference room was disbelief.

After repeated verification, that became:

Ecstatic joy!

What did wealthy people want most?

From ancient times to the present, countless emperors had answered with their actions.

Elixirs of immortality, living human sacrifices, magnificent tombs, alchemy, faith in gods.

The people in this conference room had inherited the resources of their ancestors, spent most of their lives striving to reach their current positions, amassed mountains of gold and seas of wealth, and watched the joys and sorrows of hundreds of millions. Yet as spring turned to autumn, they discovered that, like "ordinary people," they too were slowly approaching the end of their lives.

How could they possibly accept that?!

Whether the "elixirs of immortality" sought by ancient emperors or the "human cryonics" pursued by modern tycoons, all were greedy attempts to seize hold of time.

The important figures' gazes fell on the being called "Mr. Three" by the Metropolitan Police Department in the surveillance footage.

He held up the stone in his hand, absorbing the souls of Broken Tooth Gang members!

It was originally an extremely horrifying sight, yet in the eyes of these important figures,

it inspired nothing but longing!

Souls really did exist.

Then perhaps they could also—

"We will do our utmost. As for the Self-Defense Force—"

Director Takeya of the Metropolitan Police Department took over, looking toward the Chief Cabinet Secretary, who held the greatest authority.

Although the Self-Defense Force's members were weak and nearly useless in combat, their American-style equipment had all been bought with real money and was far superior to that of the Metropolitan Police Department.

The ideal outcome would naturally be to "invite" Tanimura Wataru for a visit, while seeing whether they could establish contact with Mr. Three. But as Director of the Metropolitan Police Department, how could he fail to understand the principle of preparing for defeat before considering victory?

If a fight broke out, it was hard to say how much use police equipment would be.

After all, the other party was transcendent, and no one knew what abilities he possessed. If it was Mr. Three, even guns and cannons might be ineffective.

The Broken Tooth Gang had already proven that neither blades, clubs, nor bullets could hurt those female Evil Spirits. No—attacking them would only cause them to split apart endlessly.

Catching criminals was normal. Catching a transcendent being was a first.

"I will have the Self-Defense Force cooperate with you."

The Chief Cabinet Secretary nodded.

"This matter is far too significant. I must report it to the Prime Minister immediately."

"Also, ensure confidentiality. Chairman Tanahashi, while maintaining secrecy, you must coordinate with the local police headquarters."

The person named was the Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission. The Public Security Bureau under his authority was responsible for collecting information, preventing, investigating, and combating crimes against the Island Nation, including extremist groups, religions, espionage, and terrorism.

The reason he had been singled out was that the Public Security Bureau had many mixed-blood members. It was hard to say how many were America's "loyal dogs."

If America received word and the Marine Corps parachuted into Adachi Ward—

Those American beasts would absolutely do something like that!

"Yes!"

Chairman Tanahashi knew that many of his subordinates were "American-Japanese mixed bloods" and nodded heavily.

"Yu, can you do this problem?"

Just as Tokyo's armed forces gathered toward Adachi Ward with frantic urgency, Akihi Yu was enjoying high school life.

"Mm... sorry, I might need some time."

Faced with the textbook handed over by Class Monitor Nao, Akihi Yu looked over the problem and gave a vague reply.

He really could not solve it. Although he had finished high school before transmigrating, he had returned most of that knowledge to his teachers. As for this body's memories, they apparently could not solve the problem either.

"Then..."

Nao naturally sat down in front of Akihi Yu.

"I'll teach you."