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Before getting in Hadzuki’s car, I received devices for commanding use. After all, without this, I won’t be able to give instructions. It consists of a tablet and a headset. I was then given a quick explanation of their use.

“All that’s left is to gather information about those involved.”

And by that, I mean the rogue den. The security company doesn’t matter either way. Their fates are already sealed. What’s more important is to prevent further escalation.

‘Can I join in, too?’
“Obviously not.”

These were Satoru’s first words immediately after taking the call. He’s the one person I can’t allow to participate in this mess. Even if I’m the one taking command, Satoru can easily turn things around. Still, he is really useful as an information source.

“Give me all the photos of everyone involved in this situation.”
‘That sounds like a threat, you know.’

It’s not a request. I don’t care if it sounds like I’m threatening you. The only answers I’ll accept are either ‘Yes’ or ‘Of course’. There won’t be any problem if he obediently answers my demand, otherwise I’ll turn him over to some special people.

“You know the consequences of refusing this, don’t you?”
‘Even I don’t want to deal with Hatsune.’

I’ll hand him over to Teacher and Step-mom as the ringleader. He’ll be the first to receive punishment among the rogues. And while Satoru can turn a deaf ear to step-mom’s scolding, he can’t handle Teacher who dishes out physical pain.

“You intend to keep your promise with me, right?”
‘Of course.’
“Incidentally, another unforeseen player has joined the fray. And isn’t it our style to take the chance to add a little twist to our games?”
‘You can say that again.’

The said unforeseen player is Hadzuki. Originally, I intended to resolve this on my own.

‘Now then, I’ll send you the data. Also, the others are taking the initiative to capture fun seekers, so be careful.’

The caretakers are taking action as well? I’d feel bad if we captured them by mistake. Though I don’t think they’d let themselves be caught so easily. Besides, Satoru should understand this, so he probably won’t include their photos.

“Satoru, I want you to help out a bit. Relay what I’m about to say to everyone participating.”
‘A rundown of the rules are necessary, after all.’
“Those who get caught before I capture Ayaka will have the worst punishment waiting for them. For those who manage to run away, I’ll overlook their part in this. However, I’ll also consider a reduction of punishment for those who cooperate with the capture of the others.”
‘As expected of our like-minded fellow. Setting things up to be on your advantage, I see. Okay, I’ll pass on the message.’

That’s all I had to say. It would be easier if Satoru would cooperate with us and leak false information so we can capture them all in one fell swoop. But that wouldn’t be fun, and Hadzuki would find that boring.

“Now then, that should be enough groundwork.”
“It’s much simpler for us now, is that really alright?”
“They’ll pull the rug under you if you underestimate them, you see. Giving them some handicap is necessary.”
“Still, are you sure about the punishment reduction?”
“I don’t have any intention of giving them that.”
“I already knew it, but you can be really nasty.”

Even Hadzuki is taken aback. There wasn’t a single lie in my statement, and Satoru surely understands my true intent. However, idiots who can’t think far enough would easily fall for this trap. Now I just have to contact my bodyguards.

“Notifying all security personnel. Within three minutes, memorize the faces on the photos sent to you. Your job will be to capture those people. There might be those among them who will try to assist in capturing the others. However, that doesn’t matter, capture everyone regardless.”

I haven’t told a lie. They’ll be punished if they’re captured. They will receive consideration if they cooperate with the capture, but I didn’t say that they won’t get captured in doing so. It’s kind of a word play, but people who know how I act shouldn’t fall for this.

“I am aware that it’s an unreasonable demand, so in the event that you successfully capture them, I will put a good word with your higher ups. You could gain a special bonus at the end of the year. On my end, I will be sure to provide a special remuneration, so do give it your best.”

That should increase the morale on our side. The twelve families never lie about rewards and remuneration. We’re not the one to con people. After all, it’ll reflect on the family’s reputation. It’s a bit materialistic to think, but money has the ability to motivate.

“Well then, let the game begin.”

Terrible how there’s been a kidnapping, and yet we’re treating it like a game. The severity of it is barely noticeable. This marks the start of the ridiculous battle between the rogue den and the twelve families.

“Time to make the first move. Identify the pursuing car and if the passengers’ faces coincide with the ones on the photos, capture them.”

Satoru should have just finished relaying the message, so they should have little grasp of the current situation. I’m sure the idiots will take immediate action, but there’s a high chance that they’re still nearby. The final outcome will depend on how many Hadzuki’s security team can chase down.

“I suppose I’ll trust the tip. Move to point F5. There seems to be someone fainted there.”

I received a message from my borrowed smartphone. It said that she knocked out one of the fools, and is leaving the body collection to me. There’s even a name included, too. As expected of Nako, her assertiveness and comprehensive skills are a cut above the rest. She probably got my contact information from Satoru.

“You sure have it easy with your cooperators. Maybe I should use my connections, too.”
“No need to hold back. It’s best to let them taste a bit of pain.”

And with that, we commanders got a lot busier. We move around our security personnel to chase down the targets. Combining the data from our cooperators and the sighting reports, we anticipate their next move. Blocking their paths in advance, we continue the capture.

“They seem to be throwing something. Boiled eggs? It’ll probably hurt getting hit, though.”
“The next one is likely the real deal.”
“My men were hit with rotten eggs. How did they even prepare those?”
“How would I know?”

Satoru should have leaked my plan around New Year’s Eve, if not during New Year’s day proper. I have no idea how those fools managed to prepare and organize themselves in such a short amount of time. To begin with, it’s stupid to even ponder about how they got those rotten eggs.

“I have someone among my forces equipped with a camera, but are these people really ordinary civilians?”
“They sure are.”

Peeking at his tablet, their target’s movements are clearly not that of an amateur. Jumping over a fence in one breath, escaping a corner with a wall jump, it’s clearly the motions of someone accustomed to making a runaway. That wouldn’t have been enough to outsmart our forces, but…

“The cheeky fools prepared damn tools for this!”
“It’s really interesting, though!”

Hadzuki is evidently getting more and more excited. Fools like these are pretty invaluable, after all. Moreover, these fools are pretty much professionals of their craft. Whatever a professional fool is.

“Begin combing Sector A23 from top to bottom. I recommend using a pincer attack.”
“There’s a sighting report on sector T4. The target is on a bike, so we might need a vehicle on our side as well.”
“That one’s hard to catch, so it’ll be best if you assign more people for the capture.”
“Is that true? In that case, I should probably have several cars and another team to handle it.”

Our advantage is our ability to easily gather sighting reports, and to summon near unlimited manpower. We have informants from Hadzuki’s connections and the cooperating rogues, and our forces consist of my security team and Hadzuki’s personal forces. Honestly, it’s overkill.

“Okay, we now have helicopters in the sky for aerial surveillance.”
“Leave the news helicopter be. I still have a use for it.”
“Understood.”

With more and more deployed from our side, the den fools are losing their paths of escape. For them, this is the first time they’ve faced this many people. It would have gone differently if they had Satoru’s support, but due to our promise, he can’t participate.

“Even with all of this, it still doesn’t feel perfect enough.”
“They’re not people you can underestimate, after all.”

I have no idea where exactly our encirclement got chewed through, since there are several places where our forces were repelled. While I am making sure to limit the damage to the surroundings, the clean up will be absolutely bothersome. I’ll just leave all that to Hadzuki.

“They’re dealing with us while keeping watch for traitors. And yet they don’t fall back and continue on, it’s just not normal.”
“Nonono, it’ll be boring if they just fall back. I really want an event like this at least once a year.”
“I’ll be dragged into it, so I’d rather not.”

More importantly, that’ll get clueless civilians involved. Unless it’s disguised to be some fake TV show or something, it’ll be near impossible to keep it secret. While the fools are being considerate and keeping things where there’s not many people, there’s a limit to that.

“Don’t you think we’ll get a lot of viewers if we did this as a TV program?”
“You want to show off this embarrassment?”

A “civilians” vs professional bodyguards show would definitely catch some attention. However, there’s no way we can do something where the professionals are losing. And they aren’t the type to take a loss for the sake of others either. They’ll play with you without holding back.

“Tsk, I guess it really wasn’t possible to catch them all within the time limit.”
“Man, they’re amazing. I can’t believe how they can just go beyond my expectations.”

They outsmarted us several times, after all. Hadzuki got hyped up every time it happened, but please don’t take interest in these fools. He’ll probably try to recruit a few of them, but I don’t think they’ll bite.

“Miss Kotone, we are nearing the target vehicle.”
“Now then, it’s time to end this nonsense.”
“It’s quite a shame, but it can’t be helped.”

Now, what actually is he disappointed about? The fact that we couldn’t capture everyone? Or the fact that our game with them is about to end? Personally, I want it to end as soon as possible, and I’ve sacrificed a few things to that end. Mainly my promise with Satoru.