The word “vacation” has a wonderful resonance, and that’s something no one living a life buried in work can deny.
On the fourth day since Misono Mika began her vacation—not in Gehenna but a different kind.
Nagisa was caught up in thoughts of wanting to skip everything for the first time in her life—paperwork, studies, you name it. She wanted to grant herself a different kind of vacation.
“…Health food. Sure, Mika doesn’t really need to eat health food to regain energy, but I understand her desire to prepare it. After all, despite seeming like she hates working, she always takes the lead in handling tasks. Who wouldn’t want to look after someone like that?”
“Nagisa, this is the third time I’m hearing this today. You could at least consider my situation, having already heard it seven times.”
“But…! You never said anything about sharing a bed with Hina! Eating health food and sharing a bed! This is absolutely wrong. Of course, I can accept that it’s a hundred or a thousand times better than Mika’s safety being in the hands of a vice chairperson of Manma Battle…”
“Sigh… It’s just as pointless as being hung up on purity and innocence. It was bound to break eventually, so why not think of it as just happening a little earlier? It might be time for you to regain the dignity you’ve been emphasizing so much.”
“Hung up on purity? I keep saying, that’s not what I’m worried about. Mika is just such a clueless person, so there’s no need to worry about that. Why can’t Seiya understand this simple reasoning…?”
“Well, it’s truly regrettable that you can’t accept that. How about heading back to work now? This situation isn’t just hard for you, you know. So please…”
“…Ah, really! That’s not what I meant!”
What she meant was indeed correct. The moment Seiya pointed it out bluntly, Nagisa, who was unable to think straight, kept denying and repeating the same thing.
“Sigh… Well, I suppose it’s time to accept it. When Mika comes back, she’ll be completely tainted by demons and turned into a fallen angel. She’ll be unsatisfied unless she has Hina and Kurodate, one on each arm… Ugh.”
“No, hold on. Just a moment ago, you weren’t going that far. The photo just seemed like they were having a meal together.”
“No, I found out just now while checking again… Kurodate had her hands on her wings, and Mika didn’t even care about it. Where’s the more solid evidence than that?”
“…Let me see.”
After receiving Nagisa’s phone, Seiya checked the problematic scene set as Haruna’s Momotalk profile picture and sighed deeply.
“Go home and rest, will you?”
“Guess that’s true—”
“NAGISA, it’s just an optical illusion. It just looks that way in the photo; they aren’t even touching. You don’t seem focused on work at all right now, so go home before you cause any unnecessary trouble. Today’s tasks will somehow be handled by me…”
“…I’m sorry, Seiya. I got too worked up. Just a moment, calming down with some tea should help me. Yes, let’s focus and work through this together.”
“Tea, huh? I ordered some ‘coffee’ that Mika likes to be brought by the aide…”
“Ah, come on! Just skip that part! Why make me embarrassed?”
“…Alright, I understand.”
Though agreeing, Seiya couldn’t help but chuckle, while Nagisa, who glared at her, ended up giggling shortly after.
“I didn’t expect Mika’s absence to be this big. Maybe we shouldn’t send her on business trips from now on. Especially if it’s more than one night…”
“Ah, I agree with that.”
“But what if Mika—”
“…Nagisa, please.”
Seeing Seiya sighing, Nagisa smiled. It wasn’t really a smile, though.
Given that Mika was still busy working even in Gehenna, it was just as well. Otherwise, Nagisa might have completely lost her mind.
‘Speaking of which, weren’t the operations supposed to commence tonight? I hope everything goes well…’
After receiving a request for transport using a helicopter from the Arius Squad, Nagisa reached out to Mika, who replied:
“Oh, Nagisa-chan! I was just about to contact you! What a perfect timing… Yes, it seems we have a connection! Oh, by the way, I’m planning to open a few cans tonight. So please fulfill all requests from our kids. And don’t forget that someone will come from Millennium today, and you must hand over the equipment they deliver to the kids? I’ll be counting on my favorite Nagisa-chan☆”
Nagisa let out a forced smile, thinking how annoying the person was. The sweet and bitter taste of the café mocha she sipped helped calm her tumultuous heart.
Yeah, it wouldn’t change the fact that Mika loved no one more than her. That statement was an absolute truth.
This allowed Nagisa to return to work with peace of mind, much to Seiya’s relief.
*
In the dead of night, a time when everyone should be asleep.
And completely detached from that nighttime lull, the first factory of Kaiser Industries kept running. From about 5 km away, five silhouettes descended from a helicopter that had come near the ground.
“From now on, we will begin Operation Can Opening.”
[Can opening…? Hehe, what a cute codename. Is it Mika-chan’s work?]
“…I would prefer if you refrain from mentioning anything unrelated to the operation from now on.”
“Just so you know, that codename was set by Mika-nee. I think it’s adorable.”
“Sigh… You’re not a child, what’s with that naming sense?”
[Oh my, a cute girl like Mika-chan laboring to come up with that name, and you can’t appreciate it? Truly, this is the burden of ‘our’ beautiful girls to endure… I suppose.]
“Anything unrelated to the operation… sigh.”
It’s the Arius Squad announcing the start of operations at the first factory, one of the key facilities of Kaiser Industries, backed by the vice president of Veritas, Akeboshi Himari.
And at the same time…
“Operator, this is FOX 1. We will move towards the security console on the shortest route as planned. How long do you estimate it will take to hijack the factory’s network?”
[Sigh… Hacking isn’t my favorite thing. Given that the opponent is Kaiser’s security, I can’t give an outright answer… But if we use [Mirror], it shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes.]
“3 minutes? That’s a bit long, isn’t it? I heard the top cracker is on the other side as an operator. It’s a bit embarrassing not to have the best working together with the best.”
“Because if you don’t send the best cracker on that side, there’s no way we can win, right, Kurumi?”
“…As if I didn’t know that. Autogi’s pride is hurt too, but look at you acting all high and mighty.”
[…Do you think hacking is just a matter of tapping a few keys and the door will open automatically? The fact that this is possible at all is because Kaiser Corporation’s security is based on a similar framework that we at Veritas devised.]
“Hehe… Autogi-chan, Kurumi-chan. Let’s focus on the operation, alright? Keep this up and Yukino-chan might actually get mad. And if the operation goes sideways, how will you explain it to Mika-chan?”
The FOX Squad, supported by Chihiro Kagami, the vice-chairperson of Veritas, had already managed to infiltrate the second plant, which they’d overturned once before.
“…Hehehe, it’s time for some sweet revenge. Let’s go with flashiness and fervor. Yes, I’m ready to take the repercussions, having foolishly earned the fox’s wrath, right?”
[Well, let’s hope my Athena prototype doesn’t get damaged in the process.]
[How did I end up teaming up with such a vicious criminal… Also, there seems to be a bit of noise on the line.]
Finally, a lonely avenger set foot in the headquarters of Kaiser Industries.
Unlike the Arius Squad or FOX Squad, who prioritize stealth, Wakamo, supported by Hare Omagari and Kotama Otose of Veritas, desired nothing less than sheer revenge.
This means her approach to executing missions is literally terrorism, a form of indiscriminate destruction. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that she actively lobbied Mika to join just for this.
The ultimate goal here is to install optical eavesdropping devices in key spaces like the president’s office while embedding malicious code that would continue to leak information by connecting to the computer network. This was to ensure they wouldn’t miss Kaiser’s movements while carrying out operations against other corporations in the future.
The simultaneous attacks from the best agents and top-tier support across three fronts would lead to the inevitable future where Kaiser Industries would be stripped to its very core.
