Chapter 49 : A Raid

The characters are having meaningful conversations, but they have no particular relevance to the main plot of the work.

"Hikigaya... right...? And Medea too..."

Hayama Hayato muttered, somewhat stunned.

Why is he here?

I look at the media with that intention in mind, but they just shake their heads. It seems to be a complete coincidence.

"Oh... What a coincidence, Hayama. Are you slacking off too? Let's act like we never saw each other."

"Wait a second."

I tried to quickly leave, but I was caught. Damn, you recovered quickly! Let go of my arm, you're conspicuous.

"... What is this? I don't intend to tell on you or anything. In the first place, I don't have anyone to tell on."

"Don't pretend not to understand. You know something, don't you?"

"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yukinoshita-san has gone missing. She hasn't returned home since yesterday. I've asked some of my acquaintances to search for her on their own."

"Just leave that to the police. Or maybe he just skipped work and went out to have fun?"

"You're dealing with Yukinoshita-san. Do you think something like that is possible?"

"..."

I had no choice but to keep quiet. The way he was trying to act stupid was too far-fetched. It seems I'm not very calm either.

Hayama continues speaking.

"It seems that Yukinoshita's family only just became aware of the situation. The police will likely act soon. But to be honest, this is abnormal. There's no way the Yukinoshita family would lose sight of her."

What is that? That's scary. Am I the only one who thinks it's abnormal that people have this kind of perception so naturally?

"OK, I get it. I'll keep an eye on Yukinoshita. So? Why do you think I'm involved in that?"

"It's a hunch."

"No point in talking. I'm going now."

"I told you to wait… I had forgotten about you until just now. And about Medea. And I'm not the only one. No one questioned your absence. Is this normally possible? Something unusual happened in an unusual situation. It wouldn't be strange to suspect a connection."

It's certainly a hunch, but it's not completely baseless. And it hits the nail on the head. What a pain.

"That's just a coincidence. I feel like I'm always forgotten."

"There's no way Yui would forget you."

"..."

I was defeated with just one word. I'm really weak when it comes to being on the defensive.

(Hachiman-sama, do you use suggestion?)

Media sent a rescue ship via telepathy. It's true that this is the quickest and most reliable way to do it, but...

"...I get it. I'll tell you what I know. Let's go somewhere deserted."

"No. Let's talk here."

"Huh...? Why?"

"Just because. Why are you trying to avoid people?"

You... bastard...!

Hayama suspects that the abnormality in his memory is the work of me (or, more accurately, the media). And he is wary of it happening again.

It's possible to take away Hayama's memories here as well. With Medea's skill, using magic in the middle of town shouldn't be much of a problem.

But right now, the already conspicuous Hayama was grabbing the mob guy's (me) arm and arguing with him, drawing everyone's attention. If Hayama were to suddenly lose his cool, anyone who saw it would know right away that it was magic.

To be honest, it's a little late now that he's shown up at Tohsaka's place, but that's no reason to let his guard down.

What are you really going to do?

If he were to shake off Hayama and forcefully escape, he would be leaving her free to suspect, or perhaps even certain, that "Hikigaya Hachiman may be involved in this incident." In addition, he might be put on the radar of someone who might be watching the situation.

Media implication is powerful, at least not in a way that can be easily defeated by amateurs.

So if I mentioned my name to the guys at school, they would obviously respond with "Hikitani? Who is that?", but that's Hayama. He'll somehow round them up and create a network to surround me. It won't be hard to get away with Mediah's magic, but if that happens, the chances of being discovered by other Masters will increase exponentially.

In addition, Hayama will likely provide information to the police. There is no reason not to. I don't know how much the police trust what students say, but they probably wouldn't ignore what Hayama, who is highly trusted by both teachers and students, has to say.

I mean, they said that his parents were his lawyers. If that's the case, they probably have connections with the police, so there might be some police officers who know Hayama personally and trust him. I feel like there are. If that's the case, the police won't take action. Honestly, we're screwed.

I don't know how much power the supervisor Tohsaka was talking about, but even if they were able to put pressure on public institutions, they probably wouldn't be able to restrain the students who were personally cooperating through Hayama's connections.

In short, if I leave Hayama alone, I'm finished.

I can't use magic. I can't run away. So should I just say something random to confuse them?

...It's impossible. I can't imagine myself being able to talk this guy into doing anything.

I've had a lot of contact with Hayama over the past year, one way or another. I feel like my impression of him as a person has changed a lot during that time.

The image I had of Hayama.

A perfect superhuman with a brilliant mind, athletic aptitude and beautiful looks.

He is sociable, friendly, and caring, which makes him immensely popular with both men and women, and he has the ability to consistently live up to the high expectations placed on him by those around him.

He has a gentle demeanor but a strong core, is kind and fair to everyone, has an insightful eye, and is broad-minded enough to understand and accept the ill feelings of others.

To put it in words, this guy is incredible. In terms of overall strength, including his connections, not even Yukinoshita can stand a chance. Because of his good personality, he is unlikely to antagonize anyone in particular, but if he were to seriously make an enemy of her, she could be even more dangerous than Haruno.

But to be honest, these ridiculous, flowery words were laced with a lot of jealousy. In the end, I wanted to convince myself that since he was such an amazing and good guy, it couldn't be helped if I couldn't win.

But now it's different. Hayato Hayama is not just a good guy.

Just like everyone else, I worry and feel jealous. I hate others and even hate myself.

Compared to a year ago, when I only knew about Hayama through rumors, my opinion of him has dropped significantly. But even so, some aspects of my perception of him haven't changed at all since the early days.

In other words, Hikigaya Hachiman cannot defeat Hayama Hayato.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't change this perception, because this wasn't an inferiority complex or delusion, it was simply a simple fact.

Hayama would easily see through my lie. Normally he might have let it slide, but not now. Yukinoshita's safety was at stake.

And even if you did manage to fool this guy, what would you do next?

Surely there wouldn't be anyone among those helping Hayama who was stupid enough to think that a magician had kidnapped Yukinoshita.

For a non-magician to oppose a magician, they must at the very least recognize that the other person is a magician. This is why Hayama and the others will never reach Yukinoshita.

However, considering Hayama's influence, and the fact that the target of their search was Yukinoshita, there should be a fair number of collaborators. Even if it wasn't much now, that number would grow quickly. At worst, it could exceed three figures.

If that many people were pursuing Yukinoshita, then perhaps some of them would accidentally discover the truth.

If that were to happen, what would happen to it?

If you unknowingly plunge into the world of magic, there's no way you'll be saved. The only reason I'm safe is because I was lucky enough to have a Servant as my guardian.

Of course, that was just a possibility. Probability-wise, the chances of it being unnecessary worry were much higher. Still, now that it had occurred to me, I couldn't just ignore it.

If that happens, they have to somehow stop Hayama and his group's activities. But how?

All methods of influencing the group itself are rejected. I don't have the means to do so. That means I have no choice but to interfere with the core of the group, but how should I approach Hayama, that core...

In the end, I couldn't come up with any good ideas and let out a deep sigh.

"Okay. I'll explain the situation. But we'll have to change the location."

"I'm not going to a deserted place."

"If they're popular, there should be a lot of them. We'll move around a bit though. …Also, I'm going to tell you the truth, but you probably won't believe me."

"...I get it. That's fine."

"Hey, Hikigaya."

The place could be described in one word as chaos.

People dressed in unusual attire strutted about as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and incomprehensible cries could be heard all over the small space.

In the midst of all this, we sat down in a corner that seemed relatively quiet.

Of course, when I say it's quiet, it's still a relative term, so the locals immediately called out to me. I didn't panic, and instead responded in a familiar manner.

"Welcome back, big brother meow big sister meow What will we eat today, meow?"

"My sister's homemade fluffy omelet rice. And MAX coffee."

"I'd like some curry rice, made with love by the maid. And for drinks, I'd like some super divine water, please."

"Okay, meow! What will your new big brother do, meow?"

"Um... well, um, coffee..."

"Got it, meow! I'd like the maid's charm service to make things even more delicious."

"Oh, today is fine."

"Okay, meow! I'll bring it right away, so just wait meow "

After making sure that the younger sister type cat-eared maid had left, I spoke to Hayama.

"So, where should I start?"

"...There are a lot of things I want to ask, but for now, why a maid cafe?"

"I'm hungry. I was just looking for a place to eat."

"...Do you come to this store often?"

"Yeah, the media likes me. They bring me here often."

"Is that it?!"

Don't be so surprised. This guy didn't even hide his otaku hobbies at school.

While Hayama was racking his brains, the drinks arrived, and since the food would probably be ready soon, they decided to wait for them before talking.

"...First of all, as to what Yukinoshita is doing now, even I don't know. Maybe she disappeared of her own volition, or something happened that forced her to do so. But there's no doubt that someone contacted Yukinoshita right before she disappeared."

"What? Who is it?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure he's a magician."

"…………teeth?"

As I gobbled down my omelet rice, the words came out of my mouth, and Hayama just stood there, mouth open, in shock. It was quite a rare sight. If I took a picture of it, I might be able to sell it to some girls for a good price.

Hayama somehow managed to regain his composure and opened his mouth.

"...What is this, a magician?"

"It refers to people who use magic."

"How do you know he's a magician?"

"I used magic to find out."

"...So that means Hikigaya can use magic too?"

"I can't do that. It was the media that investigated."

"...Where did you learn magic, Medea?"

"This guy isn't actually human."

"Stop it already...!"

Bang! The table shook as the fist slammed into it.

The coffee cup floated up for a moment, then fell over, spilling black liquid onto the floor.

"Hikigaya, I'm being serious...!"

Hayama doesn't hide his anger as he glares at me, baring his teeth.

Without flinching, I coldly stated.

"I told you at the start, you probably wouldn't believe it."

"You're not going to have a proper conversation?"

With that said, Hayama put down the 500 yen coin and stood up.

"Okay. Do as you like. I'll do the same."

He spat those words out and headed towards the exit. As he left, he heard a muttered voice behind him.

"I'm sorry, Hikigaya."

"I think I've told you this before, but you overestimate me."

Hayama quickly left the store without responding. Seeing Hayama off, Medea, who had been silently watching the events unfold, began to speak.

"Was that okay?"

"That's fine for now."

Once humans have decided that something is "different," they cannot doubt the possibility.

If the search for Yukinoshita reaches a dead end, some fool might eventually come along and start thinking it might be something to do with the occult. If they suspect the possibility of magic at that point, they might inadvertently stumble upon the real thing.

But if he made it clear at this stage that "there's no such thing as magic," then even if someone were to suggest such a thing, he would immediately deny it. He would listen to what Hayama had to say.

"I think it's a big risk though."

"...I know."

That might be fine with other people, but it's different with Hayama personally. If the conditions were right later, he might think "maybe."

But this time it was necessary.

We need to make it clear to the guards who are probably following us that Hayama is completely unrelated to this.

If anyone had been listening to our conversation here, they would surely lose interest in Hayama, and even if they were watching from a place where they couldn't hear, they wouldn't intervene any further if they saw Hayama engaged in a misguided search. Of course, it would be best if the surveillance was just a delusion on my part.

Although...

"Still, it's not a sure thing, is it?"

I groaned at the media's words, which seemed to anticipate my thoughts.

Yes, these are all just simulations based on my wishful thinking. I think it's likely that this will happen, but there's no guarantee.

But...

"...What do you expect from me? I'm not some genius man, so there's no way I can make everything go according to plan."

What do you and Hayama think I am? I'm just a loner.

I'm sure it has some high specs, but that's it. This is the limit.

"...I see. My apologies."

Medea seemed like she wanted to say something, but in the end she went back to eating without saying anything.

"Now that I think about it, Hayato-sama also mentioned it, but why is it a maid cafe?"

Then, he suddenly looked up and asked something completely unrelated to what he had been saying up until then.

I pointed over my shoulder and opened my mouth.

"Can you hear the conversation in the back seat?"

"? yes"

"What do you think I'm talking about?"

"It must be an anime or something. It talks about engines and time machines... Ah, I see."

Medea nodded in understanding.

If you have something to say that you don't want to be overheard, either go somewhere where there are no people, or go somewhere where it won't be a problem if you are overheard.

Even if I heard talk of magic in a place like this, I'd never believe it was for real. It's the forest that hides the trees.

After finishing our meal, we wandered around the city in search of clues about Yukinoshita. First, we went to the park in Shinto, which was the closest sacred place.

"But there's nothing here."

He simply stared out at the truly pointlessly large space and muttered to himself.

Some time ago, when the topic of the disaster ten years ago came up in the Service Club, the media reacted to the name of this place. Now that I think about it, it was probably because this place was a sacred place.

That's why I had some hope, but it turned out to be a blank star. All I knew was that this land was contaminated by a curse.

So, next.

Close to the park are the church and the forest to the north of it.

Tohsaka is going to the church, so I head to the forest. I'll take a quick look at the church on the way back.

According to Medea, this forest is not a sacred place, but she can sense some kind of magical power. When she got close, she actually saw a barrier to keep people out. It seems certain that there is something there, at least.

With Medea leading the way, we proceed carefully so as not to get caught in the barrier. I have no idea how to proceed, so I'm really worried.

After walking for a while, I finally saw a Western-style mansion. It looked like something that might pose a zombie or something. ... I'm glad it wasn't night. No, maybe it would be thought of as a demon.

Medea stops and stares at it. Although it may seem like she is just staring, she is probably using her magic to see what is going on inside.

Eventually, she closed her eyes, took a quick breath, turned to face me, and opened her mouth.

"The mansion itself seems to be just a hideout. There don't seem to be any traps. However, there was a strange reaction in one room on the second floor."

"Strange reaction? What is it?"

"I don't know, but I sense a vibration that is very similar to the curse that was detected in the park."

A curse...? I can't see any connection at all. But that's to be expected, since there's so little information.

"...I guess I'll just have to check. Open the lock."

"I've finally caught up."

Do you think you can open it? Just as I was about to continue, I was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"...So there's a place like this. So, what's here?"

"Hayama...?!"

Hayama, who we thought we had parted ways with in town, suddenly appears on the path we had been walking down.

"...Hayama, why are you here?"

"Because it seemed certain that Hikigaya knew something."

"So you came late, you bastard...!"

"I told you. I'll do as I like. …You have an incredibly good sense, so it was a struggle."

This is the worst...!

This is inside the barrier. It doesn't matter who Hayama is or how involved he is in the Holy Grail War. The fact that he's here means there's no way the enemy will let him off the hook.

To a magician, ordinary people are like insects.

It might be poisonous, so let's just crush it to be safe. That's reason enough to get rid of it.

"So what is this house? It doesn't look like it's been used at all."

Hayama approaches me without any regard for my reaction. It's only natural since he doesn't know the situation, but his nonchalant attitude makes me angry.

I turned my face away and clicked my tongue.

It was pure coincidence.

I turned my face away and saw something white dancing between the trees in the forest as the sun began to set.

"media!"

At that moment, he felt an intense chill, and before he knew what it was, he called out his Servant's name. At the same time, he used telepathy to give orders not with words, but with images.

Medea responded by creating a barrier that enveloped the three of us.

"Whaaaaaat?!"

Countless things came flying out of the forest and hit the barrier with great force. Hayama screamed as they bounced back with a loud crackling sound.

"Wh-what? What?!"

The thing bounced off the barrier and fell to the ground, a black double-edged dagger. Then someone carrying the same thing appeared from the forest.

They were men dressed in black.

Around twenty men with slender bodies and jet black outfits, all wearing skull-like masks, appeared.

"Assassin...?!"

The media's astonished words struck my ears.