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That’s good to hear. I would honestly feel bad if people got harmed because of my whims. ‘Then just don’t do it,’ you might say, but this and that are different matters altogether. It’s the fate of those from the rogues’ den to lose to their impulses, and I’m no exception.

“It seems like my consideration bore fruit.”
“It was humiliating for us, you know? We couldn’t be losing to some amateurs.”
“The situation was simply out of your league.”
“The chief said the same thing. To think of it as a disaster and forget about it.”

They honestly were just out of your league. When it comes to running away, you already lost the moment Ruru joined me. If it were some of the liberal arts guys who were with her, they might have dragged her down; but it was me and Nako who were with her. It wasn’t difficult to match pace with Ruru.

“Also, regarding your simulation, isn’t it a bit large in scale compared to the present?”
“I’ve already shown your company my methods, after all. I treat people who have caution against me with appropriate force.”
“So the first would be normal mode, and it’ll be hard next time? For us, it already felt hard enough the first time around.”

No, that was easy mode. After all, I periodically gave out hints. Hard mode is when I have help from a few more people from the rogues’ den, I guess. Presently, it’s probably when I work together with someone from the twelve families. Anything more than that, I can’t even imagine.

“Report from the lookout. They seem to be attempting to enter your room. What now?”
“Is the manager with them?”
“She’s trying to stop them. They don’t have your permission and they aren’t even family, so it’s only normal to keep them from entering. Moreover, this is absolutely an abuse of authority.”

There’s no way a mere security group is allowed to do that. They’re probably trying to find clues on my whereabouts, but I don’t find the intrusion of someone’s room to be permissible. Beyond that is the police’s domain. These fools are so over the top, I can’t even feel angry anymore.

“Then it’s time for the police to appear as planned.”
“I genuinely didn’t expect you to have actual police on standby. Seriously, what’s with your social circle?”
“I just requested mother for this one. To keep the security team from acting foolishly. I also had them stationed around the cafe.”

I’ve decided today that I’ll make use of whatever I can, whether it be authority or anything else. I’d rather take them down at the cost of my pride than have my friends and acquaintances meet trouble because of me. Since I’ve made my decision, I’m taking them out with all I have.

“Evacuation confirmed. Several of them have been detained. I suppose they’ll be under interrogation.”
“They’re acting under my mother’s name, so bringing up my father’s name shouldn’t have much effect on them. And so the first offense is illegal trespassing.”
“Don’t tell me you still have other traps set up?”
“This is pretty much everything. For anything else, it’ll be from them self-destructing on their own.”

It would be ideal if they trespassed into one of the twelve families’ houses in search of me. Though doing that would terminate their existence along with their whole security firm. As expected, even I haven’t set them up to do that. That’s why it’s only the ideal.

“I really don’t want to have you as an enemy. It could result in large-scale damage that’ll leave one beyond recovery.”
“I believe most of the twelve families can cause greater damage than I can. They’re far beyond me.”
“What I mean is as an individual. True, it might be easy for one of the twelve families to destroy a whole company, but that’s due to their name and influence. In your case, you can fight even by yourself and you also make full use of your connections. If you utilize the people you were with before, you could cause great damage against us.”

Even as an individual, it’s possible for me to entrap a single company. This would require the cooperation of everyone from the rogues’ den, though. Personally, I think the twelve families have the strongest battle potential. My best battle potential consists of the rogues’ den. But the former would be easier to control.

“As long as it doesn’t cause trouble for us, I don’t mind it.”
“You might get dragged into the twelve family chaos I’m stepping into, you know?”
“Wait a minute!? I wasn’t told about that!?”

I didn’t say, after all. Besides, there are a lot of uncertain factors in that regard, so I can’t say for sure. The original plan is to have them be on standby outside the residence of the twelve families who know my situation. But there is a possibility that they’ll be invited inside. I can already think of people who’d do it for fun, it’s a real problem.

“Just to say, I will try to keep it from happening.”
“We’re counting on you. I really don’t want to get into trouble immediately after the new year.”
“Please understand that you’re already deeply involved.”

They’re already knee-deep from the moment they decided to help me. This could even lead to a dispute between their firms at worst, and yet the old man was surprisingly on board. It does bother me a bit, but there’s no point mulling it over now.

“Report from the lookout. Movement to the cafe confirmed. Moreover, they have mobilized a large number of people.”
“They’re stepping into the trap so easily. They’re probably following the GPS location of my smartphone.”
“There’s no way you wouldn’t anticipate their use of such a common tracking method.”
“The people from the other twelve families have already been deployed as well. I need that place protected by any means necessary.”
“You’re scaring me, Kotone.”

A twofold defense consisting of the police and the twelve families. There is no one who can break through it. I left my smartphone with Kaori. There’s a risk that they’d find my location if I had it, after all. The phone I’m currently using is one provided by Akira’s company. With this, they can track my whereabouts, likely to prevent me from actually running off somewhere.

“This time, it’ll be big trouble if you lose track of me.”
“You’re even crossing to a different prefecture, after all. That’s a large distance to cover.”

This is because the twelve families’ ancestral homes are far from each other. Without the other party preparing transport for me, I’d have to find a way to keep myself hidden. From car, to train, to helicopter, and airplane. Anything goes for this trip. Akira and the others need to keep track of me, so it would’ve been a problem otherwise.

“I’ll be heading to the Shimotsuki family first. Akira, you should brace yourselves as well.”
“Just what is going to happen there?”

I’d like to know that myself. With the others being so ominous about it, I’m scared of it as well. It’ll be mentally exhausting, that’s for sure.