Chapter 33: Emergency Meeting

The Fiction Countermeasures Committee is, as its name suggests, a government-controlled emergency team tasked with taking measures against the damage caused by the "Invasion of Fiction."

Bureaucrats and specialists from various fields have been brought together to bring this unprecedented situation under control.

Managing the Bluffers like Raika is also part of their responsibilities.

That said, they can't interfere much with what happens on the ground.

The biggest reason is that they can't even properly approach the battlefield in the first place. "Fictional Material," the substance produced by the "Invasion of Fiction," is a deadly poison that kills ordinary people who get too close. Only Anchors and Bluffers can even approach it.

On top of that, the attacks of the "Invasion of Fiction" sometimes exceed human imagination. There have even been cases where an entire city was lost because the response to an "Invasion of Fiction" was delayed.

During an emergency, flexibility is essential.

The ones who can make the most appropriate decisions are the Bluffers and Anchors who can observe the rapidly changing situation with their own eyes.

Having learned that lesson, the Fiction Countermeasures Committee has granted the Bluffers and the Anchors who support them an extraordinary degree of discretionary authority.

"That concludes Salvation Kanon's position. Within three days, we intend to reorganize the team and enter the Special Zone where Kanon has established her base. Our plan is to neutralize her."

After saying everything I needed to say, I quietly swallowed.

I met the eyes of the suited adults lined up in front of me.

"I understand your position, but... in that case, shouldn't we eliminate Salvation Kanon?"

At the words of the suited man standing directly in front of me, I clenched my back teeth.

"That's premature. Kanon's power is effective in the fight against the 'Invasion of Fiction.' If we make proper use of her, we can save many people."

"But if Salvation Kanon kills someone in the process, we won't be able to take responsibility for that."

"──We won't let her kill anyone."

I stated it without hesitation.

No matter what happened, I would not let Kanon kill anyone.

"You know what happened to the Ascended in the past. Most of them went insane. Almost none survived. And not a single person has ever returned to their senses while retaining red eyes."

What made Kanon fundamentally different from the survivors of the past was that she had hidden her red eyes and continued to behave normally.

Victoria and I, who had previously reached the brink of Ascension, have both returned to our normal eye colors.

There had never been a Bluffer like Kanon who concealed the red eyes that were proof of Ascension.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. But precisely because of that, this incident could become a major turning point. If we save Kanon, who has completely undergone Ascension Flyout, and prove that Ascension is not necessarily irreversible, then we'll have a precedent of someone being saved. Bluffers would no longer be seen as nothing more than suicidal soldiers marching to their deaths."

Bluffer Wearing means that every Bluffer is supposedly destined to eventually go insane and die.

That's what the more extreme media outlets keep drumming into people's heads.

It's an irresponsible way of putting it, but there isn't anyone who can deny it.

Only a few years have passed since the appearance of the "Invasion of Fiction." There isn't a single Bluffer who has lived out a natural lifespan.

Even if the fighting were to end, nobody knows whether Bluffers would ever be able to enjoy an ordinary life.

"We've treated Ascension Flyout as too much of a taboo. Killing Ascended who attack those around them indiscriminately could certainly be called an unavoidable decision. However, if we can rescue an Ascended like Kanon, whose words and actions remain relatively consistent, and analyze her mental state, perhaps we can search for a fundamental treatment for what appears to be an irreversible condition."

A man wearing a white coat over his suit folded his arms and fell into thought. He was a specialist in the medical field.

The tendency of Bluffers to lean toward bluffing remains medically unexplained.

Psychiatry, psychology, brain science, neuroscience... Various academic approaches are still in their infancy. After all, this phenomenon appeared suddenly only a few years ago, so there simply isn't enough accumulated research.

Because no one has figured it out yet, I can get away with my silver tongue.

Seeing the men around him fall silent, the man sitting in the center, who had remained quiet until now, finally spoke.

He was a man with a faint smile that had remained on his face the entire time, yet there was no telling what lay beneath it. He was the decision-maker here.

"Do you really think things will proceed that ideally? Trust is something built up over time. Even if we were to rescue Salvation Kanon and accept her at the school, would the others really accept a girl who could turn to violence at any moment? Even if you manage to save her on your own terms, wouldn't this girl named Kanon become a dangerous object, like an unexploded bomb?"

"...Whether she's an unexploded bomb or not is something we can determine."

"Oh?"

I glared back at the eyes staring sharply at me.

"We Bluffers can share memories and emotions by synchronizing with an Anchor. If we use an Anchor's power, we can determine whether Kanon is harmless."

It wasn't common knowledge, but apparently the man in front of me knew something like that as a matter of course.

"Synchronization between an Anchor and a Bluffer depends on compatibility, doesn't it? I've heard that Salvation Kanon never connected with her Anchor at West School either. Can this new Anchor, who only made contact with her recently, really serve as Salvation Kanon's monitor?"

"He can."

Ah. So we'd finally gotten to this point.

Just as I'd expected, I finally felt relieved.

Before answering, I put as much expression into my face as possible. When you're lying, it's better to be ridiculously theatrical.

I raised the corners of my mouth into a wide grin and looked straight at him with complete confidence.

"You don't necessarily need time to connect with a Bluffer. There's nothing to worry about. ──Our Fox Squad's Anchor, Shota Nakatsuka, is the strongest womanizer around. The other guys don't even compare."

"............Huh?"

The blank look on his face was absolutely hilarious. I burst out laughing without even trying to hide it.

"Haha! As long as they're heroines, they can't escape his grasp. That's just the kind of story this is!"

"...This isn't the place for jokes."

The man spoke with a bitter expression, and I immediately shot back.

"It isn't entirely a joke, though. At the end of the day, whether Kanon and he can connect with each other isn't something adults need to sit around having a serious discussion about. Isn't that right?"

"......"

He apparently couldn't immediately come up with a rebuttal to that particular point.

"It's about believing in what kids are capable of. Whether they open up to each other is up to them. Right?"

"...That may be true."

"So let us try. We'll rescue Kanon our way. If that doesn't work, then we can try the adults' cold, ruthless approach next. What do you say?"

My fists tightened.

I could almost feel cold sweat running down my back.

They spent some time considering my words, then eventually looked toward the man with the faint smile.

"...Very well. Let's proceed as follows. As the first stage, your Bluffer team will carry out an operation to neutralize Salvation Kanon. If the operation fails, or if the predetermined time limit expires, we will launch a suppression operation using modern weaponry. ...Does that sound acceptable, Ms. Usobuki Raika?"

"Yes. Thank you for your generous consideration."

I bowed my head.

I'd have to hold off on the victory pose for a little longer.

After a few brief points of coordination, I left the room.

"Raika, how did the negotiations go?"

Mana was the first person to speak to me when I returned to the school.

"They went well. More or less exactly as I expected."

"So they gave in to our proposal? That's surprising."

"No. They're probably just pretending to be convinced. They didn't want to outright reject my proposal, so they wanted to make it look like we'd reached a compromise."

It wasn't as though my words had actually changed their minds.

The committee probably wanted to avoid killing a teenage girl without even pretending to try to save her.

The media was constantly watching their actions. Since they operated using public funds, they had an obligation to report to the public after carrying out an operation.

If they reported that they'd simply killed someone without giving her a chance, they'd be met with a storm of public criticism.

That's why they wanted to show that they'd "made an effort, but it didn't work." In that sense, my proposal had fallen into their laps at exactly the right time.

When I explained that to Mana, she grimaced.

"That's awfully roundabout. They should just say so."

"Exactly."

As I answered, I reached toward my pocket, then hurriedly stopped myself.

I couldn't smoke in front of Mana.

"Anyway, I'm going to get some rest. You should get plenty of rest too, Mana, so you'll be in perfect condition when the day after tomorrow comes."

The operation was scheduled for the morning of the day after tomorrow.

I wanted to get some rest myself.

For now, I hurried off toward the back of the school building to smoke a cigarette.