“Kaguya, Kaguya, I’m sorry—it completely slipped my mind!”
“How can you forget the transfer of one of your own officers?”
“I didn’t forget. I just didn’t remember. I was hitting a big crunch in my research at the time and it demanded all my attention.”
It was the next morning. Kaguya was currently standing outside, in front of the Technical Forces barracks.
She was waiting for someone. As she waited, she spoke on the phone to her commanding officer—the director of Technical No. 2. The director had reached her position at the tender age of sixteen.
“When you say research, you mean into the development of antihero biological weapons, don’t you? I thought that project was already shut down.”
“Not shut down, just…postponed. Remember, Kaguya, just because the bigwigs put the kibosh on an experiment doesn’t mean you can’t revisit it later. You just need to find a new name and justification for it.”
“You never change, Director…”
What did she expect from someone who was willing to go behind the brass’s backs in order to dig up inhumane experiments that had already been shut down twenty-five years ago?
“Of course…if it wasn’t for your lack of scruples, Director, the Extermination Bureau wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight. In reality, I guess we should be thanking you.”
“I object to your use of the word scruples.” The director laughed, her voice bright and clear. “We call them Chronoses, like the Greek god. Biological weapons designed to exterminate heroes more efficiently. These are living weapons, created from cells harvested from the flesh of heroes. Chronoses have already saved the human race from destruction on numerous occasions.”
A Chronos was a weapon crafted from the bodies of dead heroes. Although such research had already been halted, the weapons were still in use. They took a variety of forms, such as katanas or guns, and had proven vital in exterminating heroes for quite some time.
“Of course, the original research is from twenty-five years ago. It was an amazing leap in technology and innovation for the time, but ultimately just a first step—even today, we still haven’t solved the issue of rebounding.”
Kaguya closed her eyes in resignation. It was difficult to get the director to shut up once she got started on this topic.
As living weapons, Chronoses were extremely unusual. Derived from heroes, it was believed that each Chronos contained a will of its own.
This was because Chronoses seemed to choose their wielder. When ordinary humans attempted to use a Chronos, rebounds often occurred. For instance, someone attempting to use a katana might instead find their fingers sliced into ribbons, or the blowback from a gun might suddenly tear the wielder’s arm from their shoulder. It was why research into the weapons had been halted. Some people could use them, however. So the weapons remained in use.
“That’s why I’m working on solving the issue—”
“Yes, Director. I know,” Kaguya interrupted. “Let’s get back to my transfer. Why did you approve it? You know how important my research is, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Kaguya, but we needed more funding.”
“Funding?”
“It came from upstairs—they want Technical to cooperate horizontally and share information with other branches,” the director said in a nefarious tone that was at odds with her usually sweet voice.
Apparently, the members of the upper brass were worried about Technical hoarding its information and technology for itself.
They were right to be worried, but it was still an annoying development.
“I don’t care for it myself, either, but I decided to nominate you. They’ve allocated a budget in return, so it was an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.”
“You mean you sold me to them, Director…”
“That makes it sound worse than it is. I didn’t sell anybody; I just ascertained that an increased budget would be appropriate compensation for approving your transfer.”
“Yes, that’s what the word sell means!!”
The director was silent.
“This—isn’t just about funding, though, is it? After all, Charon is the only unit that can utilize Chronoses without rebounds. That’s your real target, isn’t it?”
This, too, was common knowledge when it came to Charon. Its squad members could wield the unique biological weapons known as Chronoses without rebounding. It was what made them the stars of the Bureau.
The director was researching Chronoses, so Charon must have been fascinating to her. Kaguya had a feeling the director expected her to dig up any information she could find.
“But I don’t want to go…”
“Look on the bright side,” the director said, bluntly changing the subject. “Why not just think of it as fieldwork? You might even enjoy yourself. Besides, the chance to see heroes up close should be invaluable for your research as well— Off you go now, Kaguya. Do us proud!”
“Director, wait—!”
But the line had already gone dead.
Kaguya sighed. The director had hung up on her.
“Ugh… She never listens to anyone but herself,” said Kaguya, scowling at her phone. “Besides, the people ‘upstairs’ she was talking about are probably only around twenty years old. They’re practically the same age as her.”
The Extermination Bureau’s operations division was extremely youthful, its members ranging from as young as eleven to as old as twenty.
They were able to keep their existence a secret from the world at large, and to secure ongoing funding, thanks to the efforts of adults who were previously part of the organization. The Bureau’s position, however, was still a shaky one. While technically a military force, rank and hierarchy didn’t carry as much weight as it might in similar organizations.
And most of its members are orphans, whose families were killed by the heroes…
To the general public, the Extermination Bureau presented itself as a large-scale orphanage. There were even associated schools. At a glance, Bureau soldiers appeared to be “ordinary” children.
Of course, at the end of the day that’s what they were, Kaguya supposed. A collection of children.
These children were fighting an enemy that adults couldn’t see. But those same adults ran the society and often left the Bureau hanging by a thread.
“I wonder how long this can go on…”
Something else needed to be done. These monsters known as heroes continued carrying out massacre after massacre, unseen by adults, while the Bureau desperately tried to bail water from a sinking ship—something Tactical didn’t seem to understand.
Kaguya sighed deeply, realizing where she was now heading. “Speaking of which, where are they? Maybe I’m in the wrong place. They’re already thirty minutes late.”
The director said her pickup would be sent to the barracks. The rendezvous was supposed to be at nine AM, but it was already nine thirty.
“It’s already well past the hour. Where are they—?”
“Sorry! I tried to get here earlier!”
A loud voice interrupted the silence. Kaguya looked up from her phone and quickly put it away.
A beautiful, boyish young woman with the ends of her hair dyed light green was standing before her, smiling briskly.
“Your director already brought me up to speed. What are you so early for, though? We’ve still got thirty minutes until we were supposed to meet up.”
“Thirty minutes…?”
“We were supposed to meet up at ten, weren’t we? I didn’t think you’d be so punctual, considering the director—although, with a commanding officer like that, I guess you’d have to stay on top of things, wouldn’t you?”
Apparently the director had gotten their meeting time wrong. At least she had given Kaguya an earlier time, though.
“Let’s see. You’re Lieutenant Kaguya Shinohara, correct? My name is Yumi Mirai, in charge of Charon’s logistic support squad. My rank is major. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Yes, nice to meet you. Um…?” Kaguya couldn’t help but ask, “I don’t mean to be rude, but…how old are you?”
“Let’s see… I turn twenty-one this year,” the woman answered matter-of-factly.
Kaguya wasn’t sure how to respond. At twenty-one, Major Mirai would be long past the age when she could still see heroes. Kaguya stuttered, not sure how to ask what Major Mirai was doing there.
The major watched her, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Ah-ha-ha! Did you think I was even older?”
“What?! No, it’s not that…”
“Ha-ha! Relax, I’m joking.” Major Mirai flashed an easy smile. “Not that I would mind looking older. Wrinkles just mean you’ve lived a full life.”
Kaguya was taken off guard by Major Mirai’s easygoing manner.
“It’s just…,” Kaguya began. “I figured that at your age you wouldn’t be able to see the heroes anymore…”
“Oh…that’s everyone’s reaction. Don’t you worry—there’s nothing special about me. I can, in fact, not see them.”
“But…if you can’t see them…”
“I don’t engage directly in battle. But there are still a lot of things I can do in the lead-up, aren’t there?”
Now that Mirai was an adult, she could no longer discern heroes, not even indirectly through video equipment. She still remembered them, however, allowing her to provide logistical support for Charon’s ground troops.
“A lot of folks like me work our way into the government or parliament.”
“Oh… Of course.”
The major smiled broadly. Her expression seemed almost parental. Kaguya looked relieved.
As part of the transfer, Major Mirai had been tasked with showing Kaguya to the combat barracks. The major smiled briskly as she hopped into the driver’s seat of her personal vehicle, a low-riding top-down roadster.
“All the necessary paperwork has already been taken care of. Your documents and information should be there when we arrive.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry for any trouble the director caused…”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve known her for a long time, so I’m well aware of how overbearing she can be.”
Mirai waved her off lightly. Kaguya noticed some sort of scar on the major’s hand. She must have seen combat while still active.
“Speaking of the director,” said Mirai, tapping the steering wheel. Her tone of voice hadn’t changed. “Are you sure you’re okay with this transfer? I know you got railroaded into all this.”
Kaguya furrowed her brow slightly. She ventured a glance at Major Mirai. Her smile had finally disappeared.
“Officially speaking, your role would be…technological liaison, I suppose.”
“Yes—I suppose so.”
“Where we’re going now is under priority monitoring and review by the Bureau. Charon’s combat prowess is significant, but their anger and hatred for heroes, in turn, is just as great. Are you sure that anger won’t swallow you up?”
There was no hint of reproach in Major Mirai’s voice. It sounded more like she was just getting all their ducks in a row.
“I’ve known the director for a long time, for better or worse, so I’m familiar with how unreasonable she can be. Lieutenant, you know she put this transfer through in order to get her hands on more funding, don’t you?”
“Yes…”
“I really don’t approve of that way of doing things. It’s almost as if she sold you. I could say something to her, if you like.”