Senso had not heard anything from Hitori or Kakashi or Eya as they had not involved him in his cultivation world, he was a samurai, not a cultivator. So he asked Mono about them.
He said he has no idea where Hitori is either. So Senso had only two options remaining– first, go to his house, or second, go to Atama. He thought storming Hitori's house was the best option, but now he was on the hallway that led to Atama's office.
Senso knew Atama usually got up at around five in the morning. He did, too, for practicing his swordsmen skills. And they had hours before the volunteers would arrive, so waiting was not an option.
Senso saw the white door in front of him. He teleported to the door and knocked. He waited, then knocked again.
"It is five thirty, who might it be?" Atama asked from the other side.
"It is me, Senso-sensei," he said.
Atama opened the door and frowned. "What are you doing here so early, Senso-sensei?"
Senso decided to enter the office before answering any further questions. He hoped to see Atama behind the door, but he saw Atama sitting on the table on the hill.
"Close the door, please," Atama said as he picked up the newspaper he was reading. "How can I help you so early? I have not even taken a bath yet, so if you could hurry."
"Have you seen Hitori around? Have you contacted him since yesterday?" Senso asked without wasting any more time.
That question planted a seed of doubt, fear of the worst, and anxiety. Atama laid the paper on his table and looked at Senso from his white glasses.
"Did something happen to him?" he asked.
"So you have not been in contact. I do not have any information either. But when he left late last evening, he looked like he would do something stupid."
"God…" Atama held his head. "Are they with him?" He pushed his glasses back.
"They must. We should wait before jumping to a conclusion. If he does not come in four hours, that means something happened to him."
"Yeah, right. Have you tried contacting them?"
"I tried. The last time I talked to Kakashi, he said he was in the Vr-cade and Eya had gone to his house with Reon. He said he would ask Eya what happened and tell me, but he never called."
"That kid… we can never rest."
"Yes. Since that happened to them, we can not rest if even a single day goes by without any contact from him." He thought it was enough for the morning. "What does the news say?" he asked, changing the topic.
"Huh?" Atama raised the newspaper and slapped it on his table. "Ah… I wonder why they made me the Minister."
"Is that news still in the air?"
"Still? It has been in the air all the time!" Atama got up from his chair and walked down the hill. "Have you read the latest news?"
Senso shook his head. He had more work than reading newspapers.
Atama sighed. "These scientists are going all over the way to accuse us for the border breakout."
"And you are keeping a scientist with them. If somebody found out—"
"Then I will do everything in my power to protect her, do you understand?"
"Why can not you just tell the media it was Onogi who did it?"
"And they will believe it? They would not. This has turned into a political matter now. One accusation from the minister and things will go south."
"What do you mean?"
Senso took his glasses and dropped his head. "A war. A war, Senso, a freaking war," he said.
If the city was not covered with the forest, Tengoku would have found a mountain. He would have packed nothing but his katana and iPhone and would have climbed the mountain.
No need for a tent or anything like that, just his katana to kill and woods to burn fire. He would have lived a perfectly normal life on the top of a mountain.
But since dragons had conquered the mountains and he could not find a mountain nearby, Tengoku was sitting on top of a border wall near the south end of the city, right in front of the forest.
The summer holidays in the science prefecture ended on the first of April, Tengoku was supposed to teach the new batch of students. They were excited to meet the infamous weapon scientist Tengoku Kagaku.
He was late that day, so they waited for him. An hour passed and he did not arrive, so the students reported his absence to the staff. They checked through his record.
He was not on holiday and he had not left the city. They sent men to his house. They saw Tengoku's men waiting for them, they told Tengoku has been missing for the past week.
At first, they thought Tengoku had left somewhere, but when he did not contact or come back for the past week, his men decided to search for him. The men from the science academy also joined the search.
Tengoku was on the wall, watching everything happen, but never bothered to come down and solve their misunderstanding. He came down only for food, which, too, he stole from stores. He took full advantage of his power.
While he was on the top, he had done some plotting on the thick walls. One name followed every part of the wall– Hitori.
Currently, he was writing a letter to Atama. It read:
"It has been two weeks since I went rogue. I am writing this to let you know that I have not been able to contact you for the past two weeks… And I have not given up on the mission, all of my best men are dead, though. What is left is quantity but not quality. What do you want me to do next? Team up with Onogi again or will you send men from your side? Or… shall I go on a rampage myself? I have been preparing for everything, just let me know."
He folded the piece of paper and waited for the night to fall.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m