Chapter 15

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At fourteen (fifteen)

In any case, although Saiku Tōno did not support and frantically pressed the oppose button, it was clear he had no way to overturn the resolute decision of Tetsurō Suehiro.

In the time that followed, Suehiro, as succinctly as possible, introduced to Utae Hoshina and Sakuto Oda part of the intelligence about the organization that could be revealed.

The globally active criminal organization known as “Sanctum” includes not only those with supernatural abilities but also a vast number of ordinary people.

Their reach seemed capable of extending to every corner of the world, crawling in the shadows like cockroaches—unseen, rustling quietly, impossible to detect yet undeniably present.

Ah, of course, if they were truly observed, then the alarms would blare, and extermination measures would immediately commence, aiming to wipe them out utterly, down to the last household register.

To official organizations of various countries, Sanctum was exactly such an entity.

An organization acting under cryptic motives, supposedly “for the salvation of all humanity,” with no fixed headquarters or known members, and even their purpose remained a mystery. The only certainty was that they operated worldwide, targeting females aged between ten and twenty-five for their hunts.

The vast majority of these females were quickly killed, their bodies discarded carelessly; only a very few vanished without a trace thereafter.

Evidently, Sanctum possessed its own strict and precise selection criteria, immediately discarding any failures.

But to this day, the nature of these standards remained unknown to outsiders.

Sanctum plagued numerous countries, and Japan, naturally, could not be an exception singled out. Because it was difficult to handle and its social impact was worsening, the case was eventually handed over to the Hounds for resolution.

Utae’s eyes lowered slightly, recalling the incident at the music festival.

Though only a fleeting and vague phrase was uttered, Utae’s memory was sharp, and she was certain she had indeed heard the word “Saint” from that supernatural individual’s mouth that day.

“Sanctum…” Sakuto frowned, racking his memory for any related information. “I have no recollection whatsoever.”

This was hardly surprising. After all, at fourteen, Sakuto had decided to give up being an assassin to focus on writing his own book. Since then, though not completely severed from his past, his ties to that world had loosened considerably.

Especially after he stopped being a “courier” and accepted Osamu Dazai’s invitation to join the Port Mafia, the connection had grown even more distant.

Now twenty-one, seven years had passed since Sakuto made that decision. Sanctum was a recently emerging organization, growing rapidly and ferociously in influence, but ultimately unrelated to a low-ranking Port Mafia member like him.

So it made perfect sense that he was unaware.

He thought to himself that he would later ask An’go about it.

As an intelligence officer belonging solely to the Port Mafia’s leader, An’go Sakaguchi handled countless pieces of information daily, covering a vast range of topics. Surely, he would have some knowledge or insight regarding Sanctum.

This was more Sakuto’s whispered thought, yet unfortunately, in front of Saiku Tōno—the king of obliviousness—no subtle sound or movement could escape his ears.

So he clearly caught Sakuto’s words and habitually curled his lips into a faint smile.

He would investigate the guardian of Utae Hoshina later; judging by their skills and the bursts of presence they sometimes displayed, they were no ordinary unknown soldiers.

Utae pursed her lips and finally nodded toward Tetsurō Suehiro.

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“If this issue isn’t resolved, then they will keep harassing me, even endangering my life and those around me, right?” the girl said. “Alright, I accept your proposal.”

Suehiro bowed his head. “Thank you for your understanding.”

As for Saiku Tōno… he thought, Is this really possible?! So it’s really that easy to reach an agreement just by talking?

He was astounded and could only attribute it to Suehiro’s simple-minded good fortune.

“Do I need to cooperate with you in any other way?” Utae asked.

She wasn’t particularly worried about her own safety—at least she was far more relaxed about it than others assumed.

Because Utae’s “trump card” was virtually unknown to anyone else.

She hadn’t wasted her time lately; although initially flustered by her first encounter with supernatural powers, with Sakuto’s help and by intuitively testing and exploring based on her own and her former guardian’s abilities, she had basically mastered her power and understood its limits.

The effects of the usual “image transformation” and the deeper “transformation” were all retained. Except for the absence of Eriu and Eru, things seemed not much different from before.

Besides these, Utae vaguely sensed another power lurking deep within her body.

It was not entirely her own, yet she clearly knew she could fully control and use it without any hindrance—as if its owner willingly gifted this power without demanding a single cent in return.

Realizing this, Utae’s eyes shifted slightly, feeling she roughly understood what this power was.

It was Dia and Amu.

As friends, even though they had gone to another world, Amu and her guardian’s power still remained within Utae, filling her heart with warmth.

Having once possessed the Black Cube, Utae understood what that power was—after all, as a little devil, Eriu already wielded astonishing effects in battle, extracting hope (the “heart’s egg”) and altering hearts (catalyzing villains), but the power of the Black Cube was even more supreme.

However, because this power wasn’t truly hers, she couldn’t use it as directly as Eriu and Eru’s abilities. It was temporarily stored within her body, perhaps waiting for a certain trigger to be activated.

All fear stemmed from insufficient firepower; now that she had confirmed the power manifested as “supernatural abilities,” there was little to worry about regarding herself alone.

Utae turned to Sakuto and whispered, “In that case, Sakuto, why don’t you go back and take care of Yukichi and protect them? I have two military police here—oh, right.”

She turned her head. “I haven’t asked yet, what are your names?”

“I am Tetsurō Suehiro,” he answered so quickly that Saiku Tōno, who had been ready to retort sarcastically or give her a hard time, immediately lost all grounds and could only press his hat down and answer grumpily, “Saiku Tōno.”

“Mm.” Utae continued speaking with Sakuto, “With Suehiro and Tōno here, there won’t be any problems.”

“And, Sakuto, you know I have ‘that.’”

Due to Osamu Dazai’s repeated emphasis, Utae did not directly mention her supernatural ability, but it was enough for Sakuto to understand.

He instinctively associated it with Utae’s extraordinary power to extract others’ supernatural abilities and even command these manifested abilities to attack.

Suddenly, Sakuto relaxed: it seemed the one who truly needed worrying was not Utae.

Then Saiku Tōno was dumbfounded to realize that Sakuto had actually left without hesitation… left!

“Are you really just leaving like that?” Saiku asked.

Sakuto looked confused. “Ah… Didn’t you say you’d handle it afterward? Or is there something else you need me to do?”

No, you, me, this?!

Saiku found it hard to describe his feelings.

Are you really that trusting?!

But Suehiro confirmed, “Yeah, Tōno, we’ve already taken over this matter.”

Saiku Tōno: “...Don’t say anything.”

His initial impression was right; these two shared certain similarities and would definitely find common ground!

After Sakuto left, Utae looked at the two military police standing before her, lifted her chin, exuding an aura nearly three meters tall.

“Since you’re going to be my assistants, you’d better do it properly.”

At Utae’s strong insistence, Saiku Tōno and Tetsurō Suehiro changed out of the Hounds’ uniforms into inconspicuous civilian clothes. Utae, growing impatient, waited in the living room for quite a while. When they finally emerged from the cloakroom one after the other, she snapped her phone shut.

“Ready? Then let’s go,” she said. “I have another job to handle today.”

With Sakuto gone, Utae immediately canceled her plan to rest for half a day and planned to head to a professional recording studio in Tokyo.

That studio was one of the top-tier facilities in all of Tokyo—indeed, a claim that extended to all of Japan. Even the least conspicuous equipment there commanded jaw-dropping prices.

If all went well, she wanted to audition and try recording the single slated for release after next year’s New Year’s—“Bud of Dreams.”

The inspiration and foundation for this song came from a melody Utae had composed as a child, which would now be refined and polished with professional insight and style, ready to be showcased on a larger, broader stage.

With the jewel-like single “Butterfly in the Maze” having been a massive sales hit, managers, companies, and even the industry held extremely high expectations for Utae’s new song. It was no exaggeration to say all eyes were on her.

As newly minted assistants, Saiku Tōno and Tetsurō Suehiro naturally had to accompany her to Tokyo.

Saiku Tōno: Please don’t run into anyone I know, please don’t run into anyone I know.

Otherwise, he’d lose face for eight lifetimes!

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