Mayumi, Kasumi, and Izumi were temporarily admitted to the hospital where Minami was staying. When Tatsuya and Miyuki arrived, the twins were still unconscious. Mayumi, on the other hand, was already able to sit up in bed and speak.
“I’m glad you were not too badly hurt,” Miyuki said.
“I bet Minoru was holding back,” Tatsuya said.
“Minoru is just trying to get to Minami. I’m sure he doesn’t seriously want to fight us.” Mayumi smiled sadly. “Or maybe he just doesn’t want to waste his time on magicians who aren’t even close to his level.”
Miyuki didn’t know what to say.
“Mayumi…”
“Sorry,” Mayumi apologized, suddenly realizing what she was saying. “I sound so childish.”
“That’s all right,” Miyuki replied. “It is always frustrating to lose in battle.”
Mayumi bowed her head, as if on the verge of tears.
“…Have you ever lost in battle before?” she asked.
“O-of course I have,” Miyuki stuttered.
“Sorry…that was a strange question.”
Before things got awkward, Tatsuya changed the subject, “Did Juumonji go after Minoru?”
“I didn’t hear from him directly, but yes, it seems he did,” Mayumi said bitterly. “A Juumonji family member told me.”
She let out a quiet sigh. It wasn’t one of self-mocking or self-pity, but admiration.
“Juumonji is amazing,” she said. “Not many could come out of a fight with Minoru practically unscathed. He really is something.”
“I agree that Juumonji has skill,” Miyuki offered. “But he would have struggled much more if he had been on his own.”
“What do you mean?” Mayumi asked.
“Fighting you and the twins must have worn Minoru out,” Miyuki explained. “If you three had not fought him first, Juumonji might not have come out of the battle unharmed.”
“I don’t know…” Mayumi began, but she quickly shook her head. “Actually, I think I’ll believe you. Thank you.”
She smiled at Miyuki, who returned the gesture with a slight bow.
✦ ✦ ✦
After ensuring the twins had regained consciousness and could talk, Tatsuya and Miyuki went home. They decided not to visit Minami’s room since they had already seen her in the afternoon and were told that she was asleep after a tiring day of rehab.
“It seems the Saegusa sisters got home safely,” Tatsuya announced as he read a message on his portable terminal.
“I wish they had spent a night at the hospital to recover,” Miyuki replied, “but I suppose they feel more comfortable at home.”
“I doubt a Yotsuba-run hospital puts them at ease,” Tatsuya said. “At the very least, the Saegusa family head wouldn’t like it.”
“That’s not very nice, Tatsuya.” Miyuki frowned. “But you may be right.”
Tatsuya let out a bitter chuckle.
It was a relief to see him smile. For a moment, Miyuki had been afraid her comment had been inappropriate.
“By the way,” she continued, “do you think Juumonji will catch Minoru?”
She wanted to change the subject, but this was not the only reason she brought up Juumonji’s chase. It had been weighing heavily on her mind.
“It won’t be easy,” Tatsuya replied plainly from experience. “As the nickname Iron Wall suggests, the Juumonji family magic is best suited for base defense. It excels in repelling and intercepting attacks. But at the same time, it’s not as good at tracking and capturing.”
“Come to think of it, the Juumonji family magic did not perform well in tracking down the fleeing parasites during the vampire incident,” Miyuki noted.
“Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.” Tatsuya shrugged. “In Juumonji’s case, I’m sure he prefers intercepting to pursuing.”
“You should know better than that, Tatsuya.” Miyuki shook her head in mock reproach. “Suitability and preference do not always align.”
“You got me there.” Tatsuya chuckled, throwing his hands up in defeat.
Miyuki smiled in triumph. But Tatsuya’s smile quickly faded.
“Then again,” he said, “Juumonji’s thoughts don’t really matter in this case.”
Miyuki donned a similarly serious expression.
“Since Minoru’s objective was to infiltrate the hospital, his range of action was limited,” Tatsuya continued. “If he wanted to avoid as much destruction as possible, his potential entry points would be restricted to the main entrance, night entrance, staff entrance, back door, and rooftop. Juumonji simply had to wait.”
“But Minoru has Parade and Qimen Dunjia, both of which can make an opponent lose sight of what is truly in front of them,” Miyuki said. “Even if Juumonji predicted the effects of these spells, it is another story completely to break through them.”
“The thing is,” Tatsuya pressed, “Juumonji doesn’t need to know exactly where Minoru is.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t follow,” Miyuki said with a shake of the head.
“Magic barriers aren’t only for protection,” Tatsuya explained. “They can also confine someone inside and prevent them from escaping.”
Miyuki let out a small gasp, realizing what he was trying to say.
“I don’t know the exact scale to which Juumonji can expand his barriers, but I doubt it’s less than twenty meters. If he could predict Minoru’s range of movement and encircle that entire area, Minoru couldn’t even use Parade or Qimen Dunjia to escape,” Tatsuya said.
“I see,” Miyuki mused. “If we know where Minoru will appear, then Juumonji should be able to catch him.”
“Despite any magical disguises Minoru might use,” Tatsuya added.
“But in situations where we cannot pinpoint Minoru’s exact location, wouldn’t it be difficult to break through his spells?” Miyuki asked.
“That’s what I think.” Tatsuya nodded. “If my reasoning is correct, trying to capture him while he’s fleeing should prove the most challenging.”
He paused with a wry smile.
“That’s not to say I could capture him myself. If Minoru uses Parade and Qimen Dunjia at the same time, even my Elemental Sight would have trouble detecting him.”
“Hmm…” Miyuki murmured.
“Anyway, the best solution might just be to use manpower to search for him the old-fashioned way. Let’s rely on the Saegusa and Kudou family networks to track him down,” Tatsuya said with a sigh.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I was too naive…”
Minoru muttered remorsefully as he leaned back in his cabinet seat with a sigh. He had just boarded a cabinet heading north ten minutes ago to escape Katsuto’s family team. Thanks to his parasite’s regenerative abilities, the injuries inflicted by Katsuto had already fully healed. Now that his cabinet had been loaded onto a trailer, he was finally certain that he had successfully escaped.
Still, Minoru didn’t dare remove his Parade disguise. Although cabinets were supposedly private spaces, he couldn’t be sure how reliable that was. It was always possible that public security installed surveillance cameras for the Ten Master Clans to watch the footage.
Despite his inability to relax completely, Minoru found a moment to reflect on his failures of that night. He had never meant to underestimate the Ten Master Clans, but he realized now that he had been dismissive. It had been a mistake to believe he could kidnap Minami on his own.
He had even failed at infiltrating the hospital. While he had managed to get the Saegusa sisters out of his way, the head of the Juumonji family was ultimately the main obstacle in the way of his plan.
That’s not to say Mayumi, Kasumi, and Izumi were easily defeated. Although the battle seemed like a decisive victory in Minoru’s favor because it ended so quickly, each of the sisters proved to be far more formidable than he had expected.
Taking on the twins individually wouldn’t have been that hard. In fact, even if they had attacked together, it wouldn’t have posed much of a threat to Minoru at his current level.
It was their Multiplicative Cast that had pushed him into a corner. The ice magic that Izumi cast over his body was more than just a tactic to catch him off guard. If he hadn’t had his parasite’s regenerative abilities, he might have found himself in a tough spot. He also couldn’t have countered Nitrogen Storm as effectively if he didn’t know it was the twins’ specialty.
Mayumi proved to be even stronger than Kasumi and Izumi’s magic combined. The tipping point was when Minoru was forced to use old Chinese magic with a transformation medium. That had not been part of his plan. He was also thrown off guard when Mayumi broke through his Parade.
Then, there was Katsuto Juumonji. Minoru didn’t know him very well at all. Although they had met before, he had no memory of exchanging more than casual greetings.
It was only after fighting him that Minoru realized how formidable Katsuto was. Or rather, how formidable his defense was. Katsuto was truly the embodiment of an Iron Wall. Even in hindsight, Minoru couldn’t figure out how to break through his defenses.
The fact that he had just fought the Saegusa sisters minutes before was no excuse. While the back-to-back fights did leave him somewhat depleted, Minoru had expected this and proceeded with his plan despite the risks. He doubted he could have outmaneuvered Katsuto even if he hadn’t been worn out from the fight with Mayumi and the twins. It’s not that Minoru believed he was destined to lose; he just couldn’t see a way to defeat him.
Juumonji might even be a more difficult opponent than Tatsuya, he thought.
Phalanx neutralized illusions and transformed bodies, and Katsuto’s strategy consisted of confining and attacking at a wide range.
✦ ✦ ✦
Clearly, Minoru couldn’t overcome this alone.
✦ ✦ ✦
He sat in the cabinet, grinding his teeth in frustration.