Chapter 376: They Get to See What I’m Like (1/2)

The Tiwari clan seat was located in Arima Onsen Town, nestled in beauteous nature amongst thickly forested hills. The car taking Jason to meet the clan made its way north toward Kobe’s Kita-ku ward also contained the Asano clan patriarch, Shiro, and his two daughters. The elder, Akari, was sitting next to her father, unsettled at the discussion between Shiro and Jason. The younger sister, Mei, was driving the town car, with Shiro and Akari facing Jason in the back.

“So, what exactly was the plan?” Jason asked.

“Use stealth specialists to follow us to where the Tiwari clan is hiding the door,” Shiro said. “Two of them, each category three.”

“It seems that either your mother doesn’t trust you or someone else is trying to horn in,” Jason said. “Or both. There are currently four silver-rankers following us. That I’ve noticed, at least.”

“I can’t sense them,” Shiro said. “Are you sure?”

“They are all in cars,” Jason said. “It could be that a bunch of silver-rankers all wanted to visit the same hot spring town at the same time and are driving there individually,” Jason said. “Shade, go take a look. If they are here for us, go with plan C. Variant three, please.”

“Are you sure you want to make that level of commotion?” Shade asked.

“If the Network wants to tear up our arrangement, they get to see what I’m like operating without shackles.”

“Not having access to military supplies will make replenishing supplies for plan C harder.”

“No, it’ll just make it less legal,” Jason said. “It won’t be hard.”

“Very well,” Shade said.

“What’s plan C?” Akari asked.

“Plan C is all about Shade,” Jason said. “He can turn intangible, store objects in his own dimensional space and is very, very hard to detect. We loaded Shade up with a bunch of useful items and came up with a series of plans where Shade plants objects near targets.”

“Like cameras?” Akari asked. “That would be useful. Is that what the C stands for?”

“No,” Jason said, pulling out a palm-sized black box with a small antenna. It had a switch and a button under a plastic flip cover, as well as a green indicator light.

“Everything is in place,” Shade said.

“That was quick,” Shiro said.

“I was already moving when the discussion began,” Shade said.

“Plan C does not stand for plan camera,” Jason said, flipping the switch on the device, and causing the light to go from green to red. “It stands for C4. Give me the timing, Shade.”

He lifted the cover over the button.

“Now,” Shade said.

Jason pressed the button and a trio of simultaneous explosions rang out behind them.

Shiro and Akari both craned their necks to look out the back.

“I’d make sure we get out of the area before the authorities get involved,” Jason told Mei, in the driver’s seat. “It’ll be quite the commotion.”

“Commotion?” Shiro said, looking aghast at Jason. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

“Don’t worry,” Jason said with a friendly smile. “I made sure they were shaped charges, so the silver-rank shrapnel I made will have passed right up through the cars Shade attached the charges to the bottom of. It’ll hit anyone inside like a, well, bomb, while not impacting nearby civilians. Too much. Any shrapnel that makes it above a certain height will break down into metal powder, too light to fall down and hurt anyone.”

“Silver-rank shrapnel?”

“Yes, my artifice abilities are very basic, but investing some caltrops with a few simple properties is within my capabilities.”

“How can you set off bombs in Japan?” Shiro asked.

Jason looked Shiro square in the eye, the friendly, casual expression vanishing into an icy glare.

“I need something to save the world and you want to take it for your own power? The Network wants to drop me to scrabble over magical scraps, disregarding their very purpose? I can handle that kind of greed but this is what handling it looks like. The gloves are off, Shiro. I don't want to kill anyone but if saving this world from people like you means wading through a river of their blood, I will. Speaking of which, any lethal casualties, Shade?”

“No. The silver-rankers were each travelling alone, presumably to avoid low-rankers being detected. The blast itself had minimal impact on them but the magical shrapnel was much more effective. Their lives are not endangered but their ability to continue is certainly impacted and they are no longer following.”

“Good,” Jason said. “Collateral?”

“I selected a moment to avoid collateral damage, although there was some cosmetic damage to surrounding vehicles.”

“The concussive redistribution magic on the container for the shaped charge directed the sound and force up,” Jason explained. ”Even more focused than a regular-shaped charge. More power where you want it and less collateral damage. A little simple magic goes a long way when you use it right.”

“There was also some minimal property damage. Nearby civilians are unsettled, with a few minor injuries from low-speed traffic collisions in the ensuing chaos. One elderly man was having heart problems so I fed him a potion. Civic authorities have begun to arrive.”

“Thank you, Shade,” Jason said. “Excellent work, as always.”

As their car left the area quickly, Akari and Shiro continued to look at Jason with horror, while his hard expression returned to the friendly one from before, as if nothing had happened. He pulled out a sandwich, took a bite, and then looked at them apologetically.

“Sorry, did you want one?” he asked with his mouth full. “I have more. Salad, ham. One with three different kinds of salami.”

They both shook their heads. Jason took another bite and then looked at Shiro.

“So what now?” Jason asked. “What’s your mother’s contingency for her scouts getting taken out?”

“Contingency?” Shiro asked. “This is not our area of expertise. We’re monster-hunters, not special-forces soldiers. If the scalpel doesn’t work, my mother will use the hammer. If she can’t follow us to where the Tiwari are storing the door, she will likely use our silver-rank forces, most of which are loyal to her, to attack the Tiwari directly, capture the patriarch and have him reveal the location.”

Jason nodded.

“Call your mother and give me the phone.”

“You want me to call her?”

“If we have any chance of ending this peacefully, we need to talk without being able to stab each other.”

Shiro nodded.