As the bus incident came to an end, the ripples of turmoil gradually settled. Yet the waves it had sent outward still disturbed many people.
...Curacao, far away from Tokyo, was one of them.
"I never realized you were such a coward before." Rum's voice came through the receiver, carrying a trace of displeasure. "Accidentally stepping onto Uzo's stage was indeed troublesome, but you should have observed from the sidelines and reported the situation to me at any time, not gotten on a bus and left on your own, let alone run off on a business trip ahead of schedule."
Curacao: "..." Easy for you to say, but how could you be sure I was outside the stage rather than somewhere I could be dragged off to serve as cannon fodder at any moment?
Curacao: "I'm very sorry. I'll be more careful next time."
...Careful to avoid it sooner, so she could stay completely clear of that man's stage.
"Hmph. You'd better be." Though Rum was dissatisfied, he would not punish a capable subordinate over something outside the plan.
His attention soon returned to business. "Come back as soon as possible. That man has been acting restless lately, constantly meeting with lawyers. He'll probably make a move soon—I arranged for someone to approach him, but he's too vigilant. So I plan to change tactics and start from another angle."
Rum flipped through the documents at hand. "The lawyer he hired is that famous Queen of the Legal World. You happen to be a lawyer too—go make contact with Kisaki Eri and see what information you can get from her."
"Kisaki Eri?" Curacao's fingers trembled, and the cup in her hand nearly fell.
As a "lawyer," she had naturally heard that name before. But not merely because of the woman's exceptional