Becoming an Eminence in Shadow in the New World (DxD / StrikeTheBlood) Chapter 36: I’ve Seen the Script

"Boom!!!"

The sudden explosion interrupted the conversation between Cid and Yukina Hiragi. Both of them instinctively looked toward the source of the blast.

Under the glow of the lights illuminating Itogami Island at night, a pillar of black smoke could be seen rising into the sky.

"That direction is… the central district of Itogami Island. Could it be…"

After recognizing where the smoke was coming from, a trace of Magical Power silently appeared at Cid's fingertips. It compressed into a single point before instantly spreading outward.

As expected, the feedback from his Atomic Radar confird that the explosion had occurred at the Keystone Gate. Among the presences there, he sensed two auras he knew very well: the Ard Apostle and the artificial lifeform Astarte.

"Looks like sothing big happened."

"Senpai, I'm going to…"

"Wait, wait, wait."

Before Yukina Hiragi could finish, Cid interrupted her and grabbed her arm.

"Senpai?!"

Yukina Hiragi looked confused after being stopped, unsure why Cid had suddenly grabbed her.

"You're not thinking of playing hero again, are you? If soone hadn't saved you yesterday, you would already be dead by now.

"With a commotion this big, and right at the Security Corps headquarters, the Island Guard will probably arrive soon. You don't need to go delivering justice yourself. Let's just hurry ho. It's safer that way."

Cid's reason for stopping Yukina Hiragi was simple. He did not want her getting dragged into this ss again. If she got beaten down a second ti, he had no interest in saving her.

"But… Senpai, I…"

Yukina Hiragi's expression stiffened.

She now truly understood how difficult it was to keep her identity hidden. She had only arrived a few days ago and had already encountered terrorists, and on top of that, her Senpai seed genuinely concerned about her.

Now she could not reveal her true identity, yet her Senpai was watching her closely.

At the sa ti, she found herself hesitating, unsure whether she should rush to the explosion site to help.

Her mission was to monitor Kojou Akatsuki, not to assist Itogami Island in dealing with terrorists.

If she failed to monitor Kojou Akatsuki now, she could still explain it by saying the Lion King Organization had assigned her to the wrong school, forcing her to use a Shikigami for remote surveillance. But running off to deal with terrorists was definitely not part of the mission the Lion King Organization had given her.

And unlike yesterday's incident, which took place in a remote area without the Security Force present, this explosion occurred in the center of Itogami Island, the very location of the Security Force's main headquarters.

The Lion King Organization, the group she belonged to, was one of the island nation's magical agencies. Strictly speaking, they were supposed to avoid direct involvent with the Itogami Island Security Force. If she happened to run into them on the way, she might be able to explain it to her superiors. But abandoning her mission target and running straight to the Security Force headquarters to deal with terrorists clearly counted as a serious violation.

And according to Cid, the explosion had occurred in the center of Itogami Island. That ant the Security Force would likely deal with the terrorists quickly, so there was probably no need for her to worry.

Though many thoughts ran through her mind, only a few seconds passed in reality.

After calming herself and thinking it through, Yukina Hiragi, despite still worrying about whether the Security Force could successfully defeat the terrorists, decided to give up on heading toward the center of Itogami Island. Instead, she would return ho with Cid first and then continue monitoring Kojou Akatsuki.

"Ding-dong!"

Before she could say anything, the sound of a notification interrupted her.

Both Yukina Hiragi and Cid looked toward her backpack. The sound had co from inside it.

Yukina Hiragi unzipped the bag, took out her phone, and turned it on. The screen showed an unread ssage.

She glanced at Cid.

Understanding imdiately, Cid turned his head away.

Seeing this, Yukina Hiragi finally let out a small sigh of relief.

It was not that she did not trust Cid. Although they had only known each other for a day, she trusted him quite a lot. The real reason was that the ssage had co from the Lion King Organization. She was worried Cid might see sothing important and get dragged into trouble.

She opened the ssage from the Lion King Organization and quickly scanned it. A look of surprise appeared on Yukina Hiragi's face.

"Senpai, you should go ho first. I'm heading over there to stop this cri."

Hearing that, Cid looked at her, assuming she was simply getting fired up again.

"You're not seriously trying to play hero again, are you? I already told you the Security Force will handle it. Just trust them and go ho."

Yukina Hiragi did not respond to his advice. Instead, she crouched down, set the guitar case on her back onto the ground, unzipped it, and pulled out the silver spear Cid had seen yesterday.

"Senpai, I hope you will keep what I am about to say a secret."

Holding the silver spear firmly, Yukina Hiragi stood up straight and looked at Cid earnestly.

"Senpai, I am actually an Attack Mage from the Magecraft Disaster Managent Agency. As an Attack Mage, stopping mage-related cris is my duty. So right now, I have to go stop this incident."

"Huh?"

"Please do not worry about , Senpai. I will be fine."

After saying that, Yukina Hiragi turned and ran toward the pillar of black smoke without waiting for Cid to respond.

"Hey! Yukina…"

Hearing Cid calling from behind her, Yukina Hiragi channeled even more Spiritual Energy into her legs, increasing her speed.

Last night, when she applied to the Lion King Organization for a school transfer, she had also ntioned the mage cri incident in her report.

The ssage she had just received was from the Lion King Organization. In their reply, they said nothing about the transfer request. Instead, they assigned her a mission to resolve the mage cri and stated that, if necessary, she could reveal her identity as a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Organization to request assistance.

She did not understand why the school transfer, sothing that seed like the biggest obstacle to her mission of monitoring Kojou Akatsuki, had received no response, while the Ard Apostle matter she had casually ntioned had been given such a formal reply.

She knew the situation was suspicious.

But she did not care.

For her, it was enough that the sense of responsibility and justice she had suppressed because of her mission and cover could finally be put into action.

...

Cid watched Yukina Hiragi run toward the explosion, blinked, and rubbed his chin.

"She cannot really be the one this conspiracy is targeting, can she?"

He had said before that Yukina Hiragi, like the Ard Apostle, was one of those poor souls caught in the web buried across the whole world. But he swore he had only said that on impulse to save her. He truly had thought she was just an unlucky girl, trying to be a champion of justice and ending up getting beaten half to death for it.

Still, Cid could not help recalling the idea he had previously dismissed: that Yukina Hiragi had been sent out by her own faction to beco soone else's Peerage.

The thought sounded absurd, but Yukina Hiragi's behavior was far too strange.

Yukina Hiragi only told him her identity after receiving that text ssage. Before that, it was obvious she wanted to go and carry out her duty as an Attack Mage, yet for so reason, she had to hide her identity and could not go.

But the mont she read that text, she suddenly no longer needed to hide who she was. She even went so far as to reveal her identity to him so she could head to the Keystone Gate. That made the contents of that ssage very worth examining.

Cid looked aningfully toward the black smoke.

There were not many clues, but every one of them mattered.

With this much commotion, and in the very center of Itogami Island, letting Rudolf get away now would be overdoing the whole act. So this was probably the final stage of Rudolf's operation. The island was already on the verge of sinking.

Then there was that text ssage.

Why did it not co earlier or later? Why did it arrive precisely when the Ard Apostle and the others began sinking the island, and just so happen to remove the very reason Yukina Hiragi could not go, sending her off to stop Rudolf?

And on top of that, she had already run into Rudolf yesterday. Was that really just a coincidence?

Was it possible that yesterday it was not because of him that Yukina Hiragi ran into Rudolf, but that he himself had been dragged in because of Yukina Hiragi?

When he found Yukina Hiragi just now, the path she was taking was not the way ho. If she was not going ho, then where had she been planning to go?

Remove his own involvent and reconstruct Yukina Hiragi's movents from the start.

If Yukina Hiragi did not go ho after school, then she must have been going sowhere or going to et soone.

Assu the second possibility, that Yukina Hiragi was going to et soone. After eting that person, would they part ways, or leave together?

Continue with the second possibility. Yukina Hiragi would head back together with that person, and then they would hear the explosion.

There was no need to deduce that part. He could just copy what had happened to him a mont ago.

For so reason, Yukina Hiragi would be unable to go. Then that text ssage would arrive on her phone, removing whatever was stopping her and prompting her to reveal her identity.

There was nothing more to copy after that, but he could still make assumptions.

If Rudolf and the others were being manipulated, then they would definitely be safe until the mastermind achieved their objective. There was no way the mastermind's goal was simply to test the Security Force's combat ability.

If Yukina Hiragi really was the one being set up, then she would inevitably clash with Rudolf. With Yukina Hiragi's fighting ability, it was hard to say who would win in a one on one fight, but if it beca two against one, she would definitely lose.

So was the mastermind's goal to get Yukina Hiragi killed?

Of course not. This was where the person Yukina Hiragi had originally been on her way to et ca in.

If Yukina Hiragi really had been sent out by her own faction to beco soone else's Peerage, then what could raise affection faster than a hero swooping in to save the beauty?

Deduction complete.

Cid tilted his head. A trace of crimson gradually appeared in his black pupils and slowly spread.

"Good grief, I really am overthinking this. How could that possibly be true? How could a faction really go to such lengths just to hand one of their own over as a subordinate? And how could so many coincidences line up to form this conspiracy, only for soone as plain and ordinary as , a background extra, to guess the whole thing? How could it possibly be that convenient? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

A bright, energetic voice, the kind that gave off the feeling of a lively young boy, ca from Cid's mouth. Yet on his face, which was plainly full of mockery, even the laughter sounded flat and theatrical.

As he strolled toward a nearby alley, black sli seeped out across the surface of his skin, and a deep, mature voice ca from his mouth.

"I have already… seen the script."

...

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