Chapter 3: Book of Glyphs
14:34 PM (France Time), Friday October the 15th…
"… By all the! My head hurts like hell and I'm dizzy. They did abduct me! But if they believe they'll have it easy to get away with it then think again. He'll search the whole world if needed! And you can expect the same from both the Satella Police and the "Subspace"…!"
Misora woke up, muttering aloud and sitting up on a bed.
The room had a bed, a small wooden table, and wooden chair.
There was an adjacent bathroom.
A lamp hanging from the ceiling provided the light and there was one closed door across the room.
Misora looked at her wrists and ankles to see remains of the tape and around her cheeks as well.
"They taped me and then put me inside a car… If they show their hides, then they're gonna get another beating up!"
The door opened and one of the cloaked women walked in while aiming the gun at her and holding a piece of paper.
She left it atop the table and signaled for it.
Misora lifted an eyebrow as she walked over to it and read it.
"Follow her!"
They're foreigners and they don't speak my language, hence why she brought this note from someone else! And, from the handwriting, I guess that it's a man. Whatever. I can trick them and set the safety on the gun to then brawl it outta them any time. But it'd be wiser to find out where I am!
She pocketed her hands and walked out past the cloaked woman as if she wasn't there.
She heard the door of the room closing the woman quickly walked to in front of her while aiming the gun.
Misora directed a skeptical glare at it, and the woman was surprised.
Nevertheless, the woman headed up a set of stairs.
Misora followed her and they ended up in another corridor.
I was in the basement… The closer I get to the surface, better, because I asked Dr. Kazemura to insert a chip implant like Subaru – kun's one on me! It includes a powerful GPS tracker which can't be easily intercepted, and it can only be blocked if you're underground…
The woman opened had her walk down for another minute or two until they reached a set of two wooden doors.
She knocked on them and there was a clapping sound from the inside.
She opened one of them and signaled for Misora to go inside.
Am I going to meet the jerk behind this plot?
She stepped into a living room.
It had a rectangular wooden table in the centered.
There was a fireplace on the north end.
A bookcase stood before the right wall.
There was a large "Real Wave" screen floating half-way across the left wall.
Two velvet armchairs were placed nearby.
"Welcome, Ms. Hibiki…" A voice rang out.
Misora looked at the head of the table.
There was a young man there, who could be sixteen years old.
He had neatly combed blonde hair and blue clear eye irises.
The young man was dressed in a black high school uniform, including a navy-blue tie.
Guess he's to a meter and seventy… He's the one behind this? He doesn't look like the vulgar type!
"Please have a seat!"
Maybe he prefers to keep his distance and merely have me around to play the gentleman. Whatever. I'll get to the bottom of this!
Misora sat on the armchair opposite him and crossed her arms.
The young man said something in French to the woman.
She bowed and calmly walked out, closing the door behind them.
"Welcome to my manor. I am Alexander Ferné…"
"A Frenchman?"
"Correct…"
"I take it that this is somewhere in France!" She immediately deduced.
"Obviously!" He confirmed.
"Paris?"
"Normandy!"
"Normandy!"
"I apologize if Marie and Sophie were a bit… brusque…"
"Marie and Sophie? They were women, then?"
"My mother's branch twin cousins, to be exact. They are 15 years old, and I am 16 years old. I believe you are about 14 by now, am I right?"
"What do you gain from this?"
"What do I gain? Good question!"
"Or rather… What does your Boss gain from this?" She rephrased.
"Who said that I had a boss?"
"I don't see you as the vulgar, rude and pervert type. Maybe you're the type who'd never dare to touch their idols yet something on you gives me the vibe that you're a pawn of someone else!" Misora told him.
"Is that so?"
"Let me guess. The one behind this is a man on his 30s, with an Austrian manner of clothing and blonde hair!"
She shrugged her shoulders as if she wasn't surprised.
"It could be, but…"
He hesitated, caught off-guard by the description.
"He hides behind a balaclava!" She deduced.
"No, but…"
"A bike's helmet, then!"
"No… A European armor helmet…"
"I dunno if he told you his name, but he's named Hyde!"
"I only know of him as "Lord Centurion"…" He trailed off.
"How fitting!" She dully replied.
"Is that so?"
"So? Why are you obeying him? Blackmail? Extortion? Threats?"
"More or less…"
"Give me his number and I'll tell him how pathetic he really is!"
"I don't have it!"
"I'm a member of the Satella Police! We've been chased by this guy ever since April 2204. He wants to believe he's come up with a perfect scenario to draw my friends out and try to defeat them just like he did in June 2204. Give me that number or I'll have you kiss the concrete floor!"
"B-but… I am being honest! My Hunter VG was delivered by post! It only works to answer to his calls! There are no logs and there is no memory drive to store anything else! It stays locked and only unlocks when a call comes in!" Ferné pleaded.
"Then that ain't Hyde. He wouldn't come up with something so complicated. He'd rather start going berserk amid Paris to set up bait!"
Misora yawned as if indicating her total lack of interest.
"Then who could it be?"
"Dunno. Maybe a fan of Dealer!"
"Dealer?"
"Ever heard of Mr. King, the "philanthropist"?"
"I have…"
"He led a criminal gang and tried to extortion the world using Meteor G. Didn't you all see his live broadcast?" Misora reminded him.
"I remember. So "Lord Centurion" may be someone who was fond of the chaos he organized…"
"Or King in person, too… Does he sound like an adult man?"
"Actually… He speaks Japanese, but… Sometimes he seems to get stuck at a point or two in his sentences! He stops. I guess he checks what's the correct wording. He mutters something in a foreign idiom which I don't recognize, yet I believe it may be from somewhere in Asia…" He admitted.
"But apart from that, can you guess the type of person he is?"
"I'm not sure given how his voice sounds muffled or distorted by the helmet. I can't settle it as to how old he may be…" Ferné explained.
"And? What will he gain from this?"
"I do not know. He merely told me to organize this and said he would contact me with further orders!" He confessed.
"I'll listen into the conversation to try to guess his age, and if I can notice a peculiar dialect. And I don't care how long you're obliged to keep me here because I know the Satella Police will find me sooner or later!"
"… Hmmm? Marie and Sophie… Why are you overhearing?"
Ferné had looked past Misora towards the doors to find one of them open by a slight crack.
"W-we are sorry, Master!" Both gasped.
"Jeez. Go prepare the lunch!" He ordered.
"What did you tell them?"
"To make the lunch. We're in France. It's still noon here…"
"I'd forgotten! Time zones…"
She noticed something on the shelf above the fireplace.
It was a glass case containing a book which had glyphs drawn on its cover, including the "hand with the eye on the palm" glyph.
"What's that?" She asked.
"The Book of Glyphs… I inherited it from my father, Chief Inspector Nicolas Ferné of the Normandy Police. He found it within the cache of a band of thieves who'd assaulted a private space station using Heel Wizards! As far as I know, was bought in an auction by a Netherlander, Mr. Van der Miar. Those thieves stole it and happened to end up finding the underground shelter where "some people" were hiding at. A "giant" forced them to give them the book in exchange for letting them go. And now that you've brought Mr. King's activities up, I remember about him showcasing this book as part of his private collection!" He narrated.
"And when Dealer went down, those thieves claimed it back, yet they were found by your father… And he decided to keep the book out of the confiscated booty! The "giant" had to be Joker!" She deduced.
"Correct!"
"When did "Centurion" approach you?"
"Three days ago!"
"How many people know that you can speak other languages?"
"My classmates and my relatives!"
"Couldn't this be a cruel joke by a classmate of yours?"
"I doubt it… The behavior and the accent don't match with any of them! Our middle school is very strict and always aims to punish pranks and other things..." Ferné argued back.
"Maybe this guy has done his homework, for once!"
"For once? How can you know that?"
"I was being ironic, Ferné!"
"Is that so?"
"Are you Mr. Dense or what?"
"But… I was trying to be polite!" He argued back.
"Whatever. Ya sound like a politician apprentice!"
"A politician apprentice…?" He was baffled.
"I was kidding. By the way… Did you oblige your cousins to wear like that or do they come from a rural village which is very conservative and has a monastery or such?" She switched topics.
"The later is the correct… I tried to tell them that it was rather absurd given the current age, but they would uphold to what they had been taught by their mother and grandmother… They'll only let me see their faces because I'm from the family!" He sighed.
"I knew it. By the way… What's that symbol on the book, which was on your car, too?"
"The "Hand of Wisdom"? It's a glyph of an Asian civilization! And it means to represent that all which you witness, read and contemplate is within the grasp of one's hands…"
"Hand of Wisdom? Which civilization used that?"
"The book didn't say. It was interpreted from some ancient documents left behind in a crypt somewhere close to Mongolia… It's a collection of peculiar glyphs but not all of them are fully understood!"
"That "Centurion" better hope so before I get Harp back. And then I'll make him "become one with the wall"… The Great Wall of Choina!"
"B-become one with the wall…!" He gasped.
"Remember! Any funny acts by your or your cousins, and I invite you to kiss the floor!" She warned.
"U-understood…"
"Hmpf. I hope that you set it up so that I can see media on that screen! Did you, Ferné?"
"C-correct… I can stream Japanese TV channels and programs… But let us wait until we're done with the lunch!" He admitted.
"Fair enough. Consider yourself warned!"
"U-understood!"
"If you try anything funny, the legal apparatus of Japan will make sure that you regret your actions forever!"
"N-naturally!"
"Such as trying to slip in sleeping pills in the drink or food! Or trying to sneak on me during my sleep… I have light sleep; I can detect foes when they try to sneak on me… You don't want to be on the receiving end of my martial arts, either…"
She hummed a tune and kept on inspecting the room after the warning.
She sure has an aura of authority! I've heard that she's gone through amazing adventures… Guess that's what makes her so calm and collected! I better watch my words and actions if I don't want to end up badly! However, I still don't know who "Lord Centurion" is! Maybe they want to use her as bait to lure the Japan Satella Police into a trap. I hope I'll make it alive through this… And I really should tell Marie and Sophie that it's bad manners to overhear. Rural people always have this tendency to love gossip and rumors…
Ferné started to bite his fingernails out of pure nervousness…
20:58 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Subaru! Listen!"
"What now… I'm depressed!"
"This is important! Check your email!"
"Mail…? What! T-this is…!"
Subaru was laying his head on his desktop, depressed.
War Rock began to call out for his attention.
He grabbed his device and read the contents of a new email.
"FROM: NEED NOT TO KNOW
TO: HOSHIKAWA SUBARU
SUBJECT: RANSOM
WE HAVE HIBIKI MISORA. WANT THEM TO LIVE, BRING 10 MILLION Z. DEAL WILL BE IN THE NÔTRE-DAME DE LA MER ABBEY, NORMANDY, FRANCE. TOMORROW, SATURDAY OCTOBER 20TH, 10 PM [PARIS TIME]. HOWEVER. IF YOU TRY TO BRING THE SATELLA POLICE INTO THE PICTURE, THEY SHALL PERISH IN AN AGONIZING RITUAL TO OFFER THEIR FILTHY, PLEBEIAN BLOOD TO THE BLOODTHIRSTY GOD OF ESSENCE
SIGNED: THE HAND OF WISDOM
END OF MESSAGE"
"By all the! A threatening letter…! Ransom…!" Subaru cursed.
"What do we do?"
"Tell the Satella Police AND Boss. We need to set up an ambush and apprehend them so that we can retrieve her alive! Let's go, Rock!"
"Sure! To catch Snape brewing up elixir of eternal love!
"It's not funny!"
"Get ready, greasy noses! I'll smack your plots!"
19:23 PM (Normandy Time)…
"Hmpf. As I thought. You fell for the bait. Whatever… Your blood will eventually be offered to the High One, the Bloodthirsty God of Essence… My secondary plan's preparations are underway. As soon as I seize it, I can finish implementing it. It shall not be a cowardly retreat and abandonment! It will be the creation of a new opportunity to restore the lost legacy!"
Someone stood within of a largely unlit concrete room and looking at some information displayed by a "Real Wave" screen floating in the air.
This figure wore a black cloak around the body.
They had a European armor's helmet, which hid the neck and head.
"No one shall interfere there! Or so I believe. But at the very least their power will be nothing compared to power I hold, the "Ultimate Power" that our tribe brought forth! What foolish humans! Did they really think that I would have stepped into the battlefield without a strategy or plan? Hmpf! You shall regret your arrogance forever!"
The man laughed in an icy tone of voice.
They brought up an image of Rock Man which had been edited.
A sword was driven through him, and his body was stuck into the wall.
"I would love to see that. A fallen fake hero… What "hero"? There was never any! Just weak life-forms merging with even weaker life-forms, garbage merging with garbage and giving way to further garbage as well! Were it not for those "tricks" that you were "fortunate" enough to find, you would have never defeated Andromeda and died then! Yet it makes me rejoice that you brought ruin to those fools and their devices…"
The man laughed again and switched the image for a mass of text which he read while still laughing.
"Let there be rivers and oceans of blood! The High One commands it!"
He exploded into cold and triumphal laughter…