Side Story: Not the Trees or the Forest, but the Mountain

Side Story: Not the Trees or the Forest, but the Mountain

Side: None

Somewhere in a certain prefecture stood a house with an utterly ordinary appearance in an utterly ordinary residential neighborhood.

No one in the neighborhood suspected that the house was one of Public Security's bases. They believed it was home to an ordinary couple and their adorable daughter, who had unfortunately become an ability user—a family of three.

In her room, Tomi Komari called her superior, Sato, on her work phone.

'────Hmm. Understood. Thank you for the report.'

"Yes."

Tomi continued speaking in her usual manner.

"The subject's relationships are gradually returning to normal. He may be able to maintain a stable mental state from here on."

'I'm very glad to hear that. We don't want to harm a child if we can help it. And besides... if we tried to do something about him now, we'd likely suffer casualties too.'

"Well, if we assassinate him, assuming everything goes according to plan, it should end with only a few wounded."

'There is no such thing as "if everything goes according to plan" in a real battle. If we don't kill him instantly, things will get ugly. And considering the firepower we'd need to take down an ability user of his caliber, I wonder how many heads would roll in the aftermath alone...'

"Then Sato-san can shave his head and commit seppuku. I'll serve as your second."

'I don't want my head to fly off literally... Also, why did you make me shave my head first?'

"I thought it would be better to cut off your attachments to this world first. Hairless men's obsessions are scary, you know."

'I'm not bald, you know? Honestly, you really can't say things like that these days. I'll sue you, seriously. I don't care if you look and are built like an elementary schooler; there are limits.'

"That was sexual harassment too, you baldie. I mean, Sato-san."

'Urgh...! I—I am not bald yet...! I have more hair than Isono-san's father!'

"Given that your comparison is Isono-san's father, I think it's already too late."

'...Yeah, let's drop this subject! I'll also forget that Yasuda-kun told me you have a squid belly.'

"Understood. But I will never forget my plan to rein in my narrow-eyed junior who's been getting cocky lately. Who has a squid belly, huh? I have at least the vertical lines of abs."

'That's neither here nor there. You two can fight it out amicably.'

"Yes!"

'Mm, that's a good answer.'

After their usual exchange, Sato asked in a perfectly natural tone:

'So, Tomi-kun, any progress on the owner of those tire tracks?'

Tomi answered his question without any particular tension.

"There was. As I suspected, it's some kind of special golem."

'Oh? We'd gathered a few eyewitness reports on our end too, but have you confirmed it?'

"Not enough to be certain. But judging from the circumstances, there's no doubt that 'Alf' owns it."

Tomi sat in her chair and operated the tablet on her desk.

There were videos of 'Kenning' filmed during the Zmeu spiritual disaster and uploaded online.

They were all blurry, and none showed it in full. Tomi had tried enhancing them, but they had originally been nothing more than things she pulled from the internet, and the results were negligible.

It was the nighttime darkness, the power outage and communications disruption, and the pilot's skill—despite going full throttle, he hadn't caused an accident—all combining to produce this result.

But.

"The tire tracks we've found so far match perfectly. And Yahiro Kota was present at the places and times those tracks were found."

It wasn't as though the traces could simply be erased.

'So is Yahiro Kota the one controlling it?'

"No. As I told you before, I doubt it's him. The most likely candidates are Inoue Riko or Takanashi Miyu."

'I see...'

"I don't know what kind of golem it is, but there's no doubt that it has formidable combat capabilities. It's far more powerful than the one currently being built in the United States."

'Practically the strongest in the world. It's strange for a clan based in an ordinary café to own something like that... though I guess you can't say that in this day and age.'

Over the phone, Tomi sensed Sato pressing a hand to his forehead.

She nodded as well at her superior's lamenting words.

"Yes. It may not be one of the golems we know, but one controlled directly by an ability... in other words, it may be a one-off."

'If it could be mass-produced, I'd bring a gift of sweets and beg them to share the technology.'

"What should we do? Should we investigate that matter, even if we have to be a little forceful?"

'No, let's not. Takanashi Miyu, was it? She's extremely wary, isn't she?'

"Yes. She nearly noticed me tailing her several times."

Remembering the day of the Zmeu spiritual disaster, Tomi broke into a slight sweat.

In the end, Takanashi Miyu never realized that Tomi was following her. However, she repeatedly watched places from which she could easily be tailed, as well as positions where someone using standard surveillance tactics would be.

"It feels less like she received some kind of training and more like she learned in the field. Too sharp to be called a hastily acquired skill, but too rough to call her a trained soldier."

'Hmm. Like a civilian drafted into the military who spent several years serving?'

"Maybe. Though I'm not exactly familiar with how soldiers move, either."

'Either way, let's not force our way close to her. We're short-handed as it is. I can't have a valuable operative like you doing anything dangerous.'

"I was caught in crossfire from a rifle and magic while I was merely following her the other day."

'Accidents happen...'

"I didn't expect this kind of accident to happen in Japan."

Tomi grumbled with an expression suggesting that her soul was about to leave her body.

When she had been surrounded by more than twenty Zmeu, even she had resigned herself to death. Getting away with only minor injuries had been thirty percent luck.

'Anyway, good work, Tomi-kun. Keep it up.'

"Understood. How about you, Sato-san? How are things in Tokyo?"

Creak. Leaning back against the chair, Tomi asked her question.

Because she was short, her feet dangled above the floor and swung back and forth.

'It's a mess. There's been quite a split over Interim Prime Minister Izuhara's plan to consolidate the shelters, with people divided between supporting and opposing it.'

"Well, of course. It's completely different from a compact city, after all."

Tomi glared at empty space with slightly disillusioned eyes.

"Sure, making it easier for the Self-Defense Forces and police to send aid, and strengthening the defenses of each shelter, are important... but honestly, dismantling and rebuilding them alone would take a huge amount of time and money. And spiritual disasters are impossible to predict..."

'That's true. But I don't think this plan is a bad one.'

"Huh?"

Sato's agreement had been unexpected, and Tomi stopped swinging her feet.

"Are you serious...?"

'Yes. This policy will certainly cause no small amount of harm to the people. It isn't that I feel no pain at the thought of those sacrifices.'

Sato answered Tomi's question without wavering.

'But we have to look at the forest, not the trees. And we have to be prepared to become fertilizer in the process.'

Even over the phone, Tomi could tell that Sato was still wearing a gentle expression, yet staring straight through her with lifeless eyes.

Her slender throat gave a small swallow.

'The express train to hell. You made the same decision to board it, didn't you, Tomi-kun?'

"...I suppose so."

After taking a small, deep breath, Tomi glared at the empty space again.

As though someone were standing there.

"But even so, I don't think this policy will benefit the country. If the trees are people, then the country is the mountain. A mountain with fewer trees is more prone to collapse."

'...You may have a point.'

Hearing Sato sigh over the phone, Tomi relaxed as well.

'Well! No matter what we say here, it's no different from a drunk at an izakaya pontificating about politics!'

"Yeah. Really, the only place a rank-and-file Public Security officer can tell politicians what to do is in manga and anime."

'That said, don't you happen to have connections with some big-name politicians?'

"I have contacts, but I wouldn't call them connections. Besides, I've heard you're acquainted with some important people in the United States, Sato-san."

'It's not like we're close enough for me to call them acquaintances. And they're important people, but not politicians.'

"Either way, it's all talk above the clouds to people at our level."

'Our job is to deal with decisions made above the clouds while scrambling around on the ground.'

After stretching lightly in her chair, Tomi stood up.

"Then that's all for my scheduled report. Is there anything else I should pass along?"

'No, nothing in particular. I have someone to meet myself, so let's wrap up here.'

"Understood. Well, I'll be going."

'Okay. See you later, Tomi-kun.'

After ending the call, Tomi stared at the phone in her hand for a while.

"'See you later,' huh..."

She scrunched down her bangs with one hand.

"...He's seriously exactly the same as ever. Other than the number of wrinkles and the amount of hair, that old man hasn't changed one bit in twenty years."

A smile curved across Tomi's lips as her tail drooped limply.

Her back, already small to begin with, looked even frailer than usual.

────Knock knock.

At the sound of the knock, Tomi straightened her back and turned toward the door while consciously arranging her facial expression.

"Yo, who is it?"

"It's Yasuda, Senpai."

"Come in."

"Excuse me."

When Yasuda entered the room, Tomi spread both hands slightly.

"Sorry, really. Sit down for now."

"Senpai."

Interrupting her, Yasuda continued speaking.

Yasuda wore her usual narrow-eyed expression as she moved her lips matter-of-factly.

"As you instructed, I looked into the hotels Sato-san seems to have used over the past month, but..."

"What did you find? Did you locate that watch?"

"No."

Yasuda shook her head clearly.

"The watch he supposedly received from his daughter wasn't anywhere. Apparently it wasn't in any of the hotel's lost-and-found items, either."

"...I see."

Tomi's tail drooped and curled around her leg.

"Sorry, but keep investigating. Trains and taxis, and the cars used by Public Security, too. I'll investigate as much as I can, too."

"Understood."

"...I'm really sorry. Even though you're tired too."

As Tomi lowered her eyes apologetically, Yasuda shrugged.

"That's not like you, Senpai. If you don't act as overbearing as usual, Sato-san will notice something's wrong, you know?"

"...You're right."

"Besides, there's no way you'd be able to stay at a hotel even if you tried. They'd think you were a runaway or something and turn you away at the front desk."

"...You're right."

"So stay right here and hold the fort. You're already about the size of a bean, and if you keep running around until midnight, you'll shrink even more."

"...You're right."

Slowly, Tomi nodded again and again.

Then she turned a sunflower-like smile on Yasuda.

"Thank you. I know you're trying to cheer me up in your own way by provoking me like that."

"Oh. Was I too obvious? But if it helps you feel better, I..."

"So I'll go with our usual routine."

Tomi approached Yasuda with a smile, her slippers pattering against the floor.

With both hands behind her back, she leaned forward slightly and looked up at her junior. It could be called a coy gesture, but it looked perfectly natural coming from the baby-faced, petite Tomi.

Except for the special police baton that had somehow appeared in her hand.

"Yasuda, we're playing baseball. You're the ball."

Yasuda fled.

But Tomi had already circled around and cut her off.