An Adult's Responsibility Chapter 11

Chapter 11: “The mercenaries are called The Fixers. They have a whole construction theme, hence the overalls and the hard hats.” I explaine

Chapter 11: “The mercenaries are called The Fixers. They have a whole construction theme, hence the overalls and the hard hats.” I explaine

Chapter 11:

“The mercenaries are called The Fixers. They have a whole construction theme, hence the overalls and the hard hats.” I explained, watching as the FTF went through the files I had prepared, “They are a legitimate company that operates from within the DU, meaning that they openly accept commissions and jobs from clients and even have an active social media presence.”

“A legitimate company?” Serika spoke, rage lacing her voice, “What the hell? How could they just attack us like that then?”

“Licensed mercs can operate in all areas of Kivotos that don’t expressly forbid their operations.” I explained, “The main way of doing so is a decree from the relevant student councils. In lieu of that, they can really pick and choose which jobs they take, even if that means directly attacking an official school. Normally, they wouldn’t do such a thing, but seeing as far as everyone else knows Abydos no longer has a student council…”

“They didn’t see the risk in doing so. For all we know, they could think that we were the illegitimate ones, squatting on the property.” Hoshino finished, sighing, “Man, what a mess.”

“But that’s so unfair!” Serika complained, “Just because we haven’t specifically told them they can’t, that means that everyone can just legally attack us?!”

“That is the law.” Ayane sighed, defeated, “Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this, Sensei?”

“Yes, there is a form you can give to the GSC that will bar any Mercenary Companies from operating in Abydos, meaning that if they attack you afterwards they can lose their license. I included it in the folders, with my signature already there. If Hoshino as the Vice-president of your Council signs it, I can get it sent to the GSC right after this meeting.”

“Wow, you really came prepared Sensei!” Nonomi chirped, happily, “It’s nice to have a clean solution for once!”

Hoshino for her part, had already found the form and was carefully reading through it, not signing it immediately. That was good, showed nice instincts.

“Thanks Nonomi, I’m still getting to grips with everything otherwise I would have already suggested this. I only found out about all of these laws while doing this research.” I laughed, rubbing my arm awkwardly, feeling slightly like a failure for letting this slip past, “But, the fact that they did attack you does give us a nice opportunity to strike back.”

“How so?” Serika asked, perking up at the idea of progress.

“The money.” Shiroko spoke, quickly guessing where I was going.

“Exactly Shiroko!” I smiled at her, earning a blush, “Them being a legitimate company means that their records are accessible with my SCHALE authorization. I pulled them and spent some time going through the trail. They received the payment from the account owned by PS68, but the money was funnelled into there from several other disparate accounts, in smaller instalments. It took a while to track them all, but they all were sourced from a single entity.”

I opened my own file to the relevant page and placed it on the table, facing the majority of the girls.

“The Stygian Bank?” Ayane questioned, “That is that bank in the Black Market that was providing the tanks, right?”

“That’s right. More importantly, look at the final number that was paid to PS68 for the attack.” I tapped the page, getting the elf to look at it through her glasses, a frown on her face.

“Wait…” She spoke slowly, “That final amount…”

“It’s the same as our interest payments, isn’t it?” Nonomi asked, “There is no way that’s a coincidence, right?”

“If that’s true then… What the hell?!” Serika cursed, leaping to her feet explosively, “Not only have they been attacking us, we have been paying them for the privilege?!”

Shiroko clenched her fists, the paper crinkling between them as she did. Hoshino, meanwhile, was merely watching the proceedings calmly, a neutral expression on her face.

“Maybe.” I hedged, not wanting to commit to something off of flimsy evidence, “It is certainly the easiest conclusion to draw, what with Kaiser operating with the Bank and in the Black Market more widely. However, we shouldn’t rush to assuming something like this without proper evidence.”

“How would we even get evidence for this, though?” Ayane questioned, pointed ears twitching in thought.

“The interest payments.” Shiroko immediately suggested, “If we follow the next one, we can see where they take it. If it goes to the Bank and not Kaiser, then we will know for sure that something is fishy.”

“Exactly Shiroko, great instincts.” I praised, getting a tight smile from the girl, “The next payment will be done tomorrow, so we can confirm our suspicions very soon.”

“But then what?” Serika groused, flopping back into her chair with her head in her hands, “If we confirm the Bank is working with Kaiser and they are using our payments to fund the people attacking us, what do we do then?”

“Yeah Sensei, what then?” Hoshino asked, looking at me challengingly.

“Then we need to get something actionable. Preferably something from the Bank’s files, that directly ties them to Kaiser. From there, I should be able to hit them hard legally with the GSC. If we are lucky, that will allow us to pry your debt away from them, or if not, at least make them overreach and open up gaps to exploit.” I spoke, revealing my plan.

“Oh my.” Nonomi covered her mouth with her hands, “Sensei, surely you are not suggesting to your students that we rob a bank? What kind of teacher would do that?”

“Of course not.” I sniffed, inwardly smiling at the sudden look of intense disappointment from Shiroko, “I’m suggesting that my students help me bring down a criminal enterprise. Do you know that the Stygian Bank is not an actual licensed financial institution?”

There was a brief pause as they took in my words, before Serika cracked up laughing, “Man, you really are nuts.”

Ayane merely shook her head, rubbing her temples, “I can’t believe we are actually talking about this.”

“Oh come on, Ayane-chan.” Hoshino chirped, leaning back in her seat and smiling at her under-classman, “Just think about them as another gang, except this one is a little bit more organised.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” The elf groaned.

“Hehe, but look at how excited Shiroko is about the idea.” Nonomi giggled, “She’s rearing to go rob them blind!”

Indeed, the wolf girl was almost vibrating in her seat.

“Well, it is a teacher’s job to make their students dreams come true.” I joked, causing another groan to emanate from Ayane.

Of course, such an operation would need more than just the FTF. The Black Market had its own military, one that while not up to the standards of the Academies, would require significant force to overcome.

Luckily, I knew a group that had been out of action for some time and could use the exercise.

---RERERE---

The debt payment was scheduled to take place later in the afternoon tomorrow, meaning that besides planning out our strategy for following the truck, there was not much to do. Even that was finished quickly, Shiroko showcasing a rather worrying familiarity with how to scope out cash-in-transit vehicles.

Plan set, there was not much to do apart from lessons, which were done rather quickly, all of the Abydos girls being surprisingly studious. Even Hoshino finished her daily work fast today, which was not as rare as you might think. She may like to portray herself as sleepy and lazy, but she could accomplish tasks with frightening speed if she wanted to.

I don’t know what in particular made her want to be finished early, but I decided not to pry. I had made some progress on that front, better to let it settle before poking again.

Still, that meant that there was a sudden gap in my schedule, one that I took full advantage of. I traveled back to SCHALE and opened it for consultations, deciding to take the free time as an opportunity to catch up on the building paperwork that I was sent. As usual, a lot of it was people attempting to take advantage of my unique position as the head of SCHALE, or the fact I was the last proper teacher in Kivotos, or both.

I had been growing used to dealing with that sort of thing.

That is how I was spending my time, stamping and denying, with the rare approval, when my intercom rang.

“The door is open, please come in.” I called through the microphone, pausing in my writing before starting again.

Soon enough, the soft ‘ding’ of the elevator sounded out, admitting the visiting student into my office.

The striking, elegant form of Hasumi was one I was not expecting, but was glad to see nonetheless. Rather than greeting me immediately, however, she instead looked around the office suspiciously while at the same time attempting to seem like she was not doing so. Rotating slightly in my chair, I faced her directly, observing that she appeared slightly awkward and unsure of herself. Something that was rare for the girl from how long I had known her.

“Hasumi? To what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked, giving her a gentle smile.

“Ah, Sensei. Good Afternoon. I was just thinking that it had been some time since last we spoke and wanted to check in.” She jolted, feathers ruffling slightly before she composed herself, “I… I heard some rumours and decided that I should pay you a visit.”

“Sorry, Hasumi. I know I have been not spending as much time with the Justice Task Force as I should, it’s just been one thing after the other for a while here.” I winced, honestly feeling slightly bad.

I have gone on several more missions with the JTF ever since the one where I was introduced to their leadership, but ever since the Abydos situation became complicated and I started working on the SRT merger my time had become rather scarce.

“Oh no!” She gently exclaimed, “Please do not mistake me Sensei, it’s not your fault. This is just my own selfishness.”

“Still, I should have at least touched base.” I smiled awkwardly, “I promise to do better in the future.”

She paused at that, staring at me before a gentle smile came to her face, “Then I shall accept the apology, no matter how unwarranted.”

“Thank you.” My smile turned more genuine, “Now, what was this about a rumour that motivated you to come see me?”

Her own expression became wooden, a subtle red colour beginning to infiltrate her milky cheeks, “Please, Sensei, pay it no mind. Now that I have spoken to you, it seems absurd in the extreme. I should have known better than to be swept away by scandal.”

Scandal? Well now, I wasn’t expecting to deal with attacks to my reputation so soon. I wondered who could be behind it, my interest truly peaked.

“I can’t just let something that juicy go, especially if it was something that could fluster you so much.” I teased her, causing her blush to intensify, “What devious smears has someone cooked up for me, hmm?”

“You are being mean, Sensei.” She grumbled, before she turned her head away from me and whispered, “Slept… Night.”

I turned my ear towards her, cupping my hand over it, “I’m sorry Hasumi, I couldn’t hear that, you’ll have to speak up.”

She glared at me, without heat. Taking in a deep breath, she straightened herself out and spoke clearly, making sure to project each word.

“There was a call placed to Valkyrie about inappropriate behaviour between you and a student, Sensei. Supposedly, you spent the entire night with a Student, slept with them and then forced them to make you breakfast in the morning.” She managed to keep an impressively straight face as she spoke, despite her steadily deepening blush, “Of course, now that I am in front of you, such a baseless rumour is absurd to the extreme. I have no idea how anyone could think such a thing.”

“I know, they made me out to be some kind of conquering barbarian.” I mused, stroking my beard thoughtfully, “I could never be so cruel.”

“I know Sensei, as I said, I have no idea-”

“She made me breakfast quite voluntarily, I did not force her in any way.” I interrupted her, the opportunity too good to pass up.

Her mouth stayed open, expression frozen in shock. Her eyes widened, before a high pitched keening noise started in the back of her throat. Her wings shot out in shock and she whirled on me, indignation pouring off her every movement.

“Sensei?! You slept with a student?!” She asked, almost shouting, her composure near completely broken.

“No, she slept in my room while I took the couch.” I answered her calmly, an amused smile on my face, “She visited me rather late and I was uncomfortable with letting her return to her dorm at that hour.”

Hasumi’s wings shook, her frame shuddering, before she brought a hand to her chest, resting it on her heart, “Thank goodness. Please Sensei, don’t play such tricks on me. I was really worried for a second there.”

“Sorry Hasumi, I couldn’t resist.” I laughed, “Forgive me?”

“Of course.” She sighed, before a curious look came over her, “But why was a student here so late?”

“Oh, she was here to figure me out. You see…” I started to explain what had been keeping me so busy, both SRT and Abydos.

I didn’t reveal the debt, but told her that they were having problems with groups being backed by the Black Market. Hasumi took a seat early into the conversation, listening earnestly and nodding along, only asking a few questions before I was finished.

“I see.” She mused, looking thoughtful, “I can certainly see why you have been kept so busy, with all of that going on.”

“Yes.” I agreed, “It has been a rather frantic time here.”

“If you ever need assistance from me or the Justice Task Force Sensei, please just ask. Especially in this matter.” Hasumi earnestly spoke, hand returning to her heart, “The Black Market has been a thorn in the side of Trinity as well, our students have been purchasing an unacceptable level of contraband from it recently.”

“Thank you Hasumi.” I responded gratefully, “The current operation will be delicate and needs a smaller force, but if it every becomes larger I will definitely call upon you first. Thank you very much for the support.”

“I am glad to help Sensei, even if it is only offering it.” She beamed at my words.

“I’m sure I will take you up on that sooner or later.” I grinned, before clapping my hands, “Now, that is enough with the serious discussion. Tell me, have you had any issues with your studies since we last spoke?”

“No.” She shook her head, before pausing, “Well, actually, there was this one equation I had difficulty with…”

The rest of our time together was spent over classwork and warm tea.

---RERERE---

The morning was begun by my body absolutely rejoicing with the fact that it had been granted a full night of sleep. It did this by informing me that it vehemently disagreed with my choice of sleeping position.

Rolling my aching shoulder, I stifled a yawn as I waited in front of the door whose doorbell I had just rung. I had confirmed with Yukino over Momotalk that I had something important to discuss with FOX squad and she had agreed to hold the meeting in the SRT dorms. I had asked for this meeting place due to wanting to meet the rest of the squad as well as see what their situation was like.

From what I was looking at, I didn’t approve in the slightest. Their personal dorms were spacious and appropriate, but they still were on the old Campus of SRT. Meaning that they were the only four living in a truly massive complex. Upkeep of such an area must have been exceedingly difficult, not to mention that the large, empty space left a feeling that was nothing less than oppressive.

While walking through the halls towards the dorm, my footfalls echoed with every step, the still, dead air doing nothing to disturb the sound. It felt as if the air itself was pressing in on me, the emptiness conveying a desolate feeling of loss. While moving through the building, I could understand how Niko and Yukino felt a little bit better.

So that is how I came to stand here, slightly pensive from my trip through the dead academy. I found myself wondering why it was taking them so long to answer the door, considering that I had informed Yukino that I would be visiting beforehand.

Just as I finished that though, the door opened before me, a slightly annoyed looking Yukino being the one to perform the act.

“Good Morning Sensei. I apologise for the delay, one of my Squad members insisted on doing something foolish when they heard you were coming.” She tried to affect her military demeanour, but it was somewhat ruined when she had to stifle a yawn after her sentence.

“No worried Yukino, it’s good to see you again.” I replied, tilting my head towards the girl as I gave her a smile, “If you would like, I could come back later? I have something planned for this afternoon but I can shuffle some things around before then.”

She rapidly shook her head, vehemently speaking, “No, no! That‘s okay Sensei. Please, come in.”

She stepped out of the doorway, moving further into the room. I followed after her, noting that the entry led into what looked like a communal lounge. Yukino looked back towards me, staying to the side of the entrance into the lounge, fidgeting slightly with her hands. I could see Otogi, the brown-haired fox girl sending a lazy grin towards me, but the rest of the Squad was absent.

“Thank you for the invitation.” I spoke, turning towards Yukino, “Where is the rest of the Squad?”

“Well Niko is in the kitchen.” She seemed slightly awkward as if ashamed by something, “As for Kurumi, well…”

I heard the door close behind me, despite not having done it myself. Hearing a rustle of movement, along with Yukino’s eyes moving past me towards something behind me, I felt my instincts kick in.

“Surpri-! Ugh!” Some attempted to grab me from behind, but I had already been moving, slamming my hip into the person and twisting, throwing them to the floor with the motion.

Dropping to my knee, I pulled out my pistol in the same motion, levelling it and aimed down at the wide, surprised teal eyes of a blond fox girl. The blood that had pounded through my ears at the ambush receded, letting me hear the sound of loud giggling coming from the direction of the couch.

Quickly shaking off the adrenaline, I realised that the person I had just tossed matched the description of the final member of FOX, that being Kurumi. There was a brief pause, my pistol still extended between us, before a heavy sigh came from above me.

“I told you it was a stupid thing to do.” Yukino admonished, looking down at her fallen squad mate with disappointment, “Even if you managed to grab him, what would you have gained from it.”

Kurumi blinked, coming out of her shock as she started to grow a wide grin, and tilted her head back to look at Yukino, “Hey, you and Niko got to test him, I should be allowed to do the same!”

“So this was a test?” I questioned, voice dry, “Did I pass?”

Kurumi looked back to me, her turquoise eyes going a bit cross-eyed as she met the barrel of my pistol once again, “Oh, definitely! I haven’t been downed like this since CQC introduction! You have some really good moves!”

I raised an eyebrow, before looking up at Yukino, who nodded with another sigh. Shrugging, I stood out of my kneeling posture and holstered my gun, using the newly open hand to reach down and offer to Kurumi.

“While I appreciate the compliment, please don’t surprise me again like that. It’s not good for my heart, you know?” I snarked, still slightly rattled from the interaction.

She grabbed my hand, clambering up to her feet quickly, “Sure thing! But seriously, I could tell you know your stuff! You could give some of our instructors a run for their money.”

“I picked up a few things here and there.” I responded neutrally, looking back at the recovering form of Otogi, “So should I expect a test from you too?”

She shook her head, grin still wide, “Nah, Sensei. That sounds like way too much work.”

Yukino quickly reinserted herself into the conversation, fidgeting aggravated, “I’m sorry Sensei, Kurumi was insistent. She said something about situational awareness and-”

“It’s fine.” I cut her off, a soft smile being forced to my face as I calmed down, “While I don’t appreciate the ambush, I know that I am a stranger to you all. If it helps you be comfortable with me, I’m fine with it.”

“Wow, he really is something else.” Otogi remarked, chin resting on one of her hands, “Like a fairy tale.”

“Only you would say something that lame.” Kurumi retorted, rolling her eyes before she looked at me, a contrite expression on her face, “Sorry sensei, I just wanted to see what kind of person you were. Forgive me?”

“Sure.” I breathed out, relaxing my shoulders with conscious effort, “Just if you want to spar, warn me next time, yeah?”

“Sure thing!” Her expression brightened up.

“Sensei.” Yukino asserted herself, stepping forward, “What is it you needed to discuss with us? Is it about the merger?”

“No no, you girls can still take the time you need with that.” I was quick to assure her, getting some of the tension to bleed off from her, “I am planning an operation with one of the Academies that requested my help and thought I should offer you girls the chance to participate, see some of what I would have you be doing if you accept. No strings attached.”

“You mean you can get us back in the field?” Kurumi asked, eyes sparkling.

“Yes.” My answer caused all of them to perk up, “But let’s wait for Niko before I tell you the whole story.”