After waking up inside the automatic EV bus heading from the Nakano area to Shibuya, Haruyuki unconsciously let out a long sigh as he sank deeper into his seat.
Instantly, Kuroyukihime jabbed him lightly in the side. “Too soon to relax, Haruyuki. The main event’s about to start.”
“H-hyah. I know.” He looked up at the AR map displayed on the ceiling of the bus. Their current position was near Nakano-sakaue Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi line. The West Tokyo Loop Bus was the perfect line for their current mission, going as it did from Nakano south into Shibuya to pass through Minato before heading north up to Shinjuku and cutting across Toshima to return to Nakano. If they kept going south down Yamate-dori Street, they would cross Honan Street in a few minutes and enter Shibuya Area No. 1.
“It’s finally starting,” he muttered.
“Mm.” Kuroyukihime nodded deeply. “It’s such a terrible, terrible shame I can’t take part in the Territories.”
“It’s all right. Please wait without worry like you’re sailing on a large warship!” Haruyuki slammed a fist against his chest, but all he got in response was the familiar wry smile.
“That’s a rather iffy analogy. The warship of the Edo shogunate only looked wonderful; it was actually useless.”
“Th-then the ironclads of the American Civil War?”
“Why are you dragging out ships from ancient history?” She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Well, fine. I will relax about the main event as though I’m on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. I’m actually more concerned about the procedures that come before that, however.”
Haruyuki was forced to nod his thorough agreement. The main mission that day was the attack on Minato Area No. 3—Oscillatory Universe’s headquarters—but they had to jump through a number of complicated hoops before they could carry that mission out.
Currently, a total of sixteen members of the Legion born from the merger with Prominence—provisionally known as the third Nega Nebulus—were riding the EV bus. Specifically, there were the twelve from the previous Nega Nebulus: Haruyuki, Kuroyukihime, Fuko, Akira, Utai, Takumu, Chiyuri, Shihoko, Satomi, Yume, Rui, and special guest Rin. From the former Prominence, there were Niko, Pard, and the remaining members of the Triplex, whom they had seen in the real only now, for a total of four. The only other passengers were three older ladies at the front, so there was no chance of a Burst Linker from another Legion in the mix.
Bush Utan and Olive Grab, who had completed the transfer procedure in Nakano, were moving to Minato by train, so it was just the sixteen of them entering Shibuya Area No. 1 (still the territory of the Green Legion, Great Wall at present), together with the bus itself. And at ten seconds before four PM, the Great Wall side would renounce its rights to the area. If Nega Nebulus immediately registered an attack on the vacant area the instant the minute hand hit four, Shibuya Area No. 1 would be ceded to them in a no-show.
After that, when the bus entered Shibuya Area No. 2, Great Wall would abdicate its control over Area No. 2 in the same way, ceding rights with zero bloodshed. Once Nega Nebulus had come this far, it would finally be ready to attack the territory that bordered Shibuya Area No. 2: Minato Area No. 3—the headquarters of Oscillatory Universe. The bus carrying the attack squad would turn left off of Yamate-dori onto Komazawa-dori, cut across Shibuya Area No. 2, and enter Minato Area No. 3. If Nega Nebulus registered the attack immediately before it did, the instant the bus was straddling the boundary, the conditions for invoking the Territories would be met, so the attacking team captain would watch for the right moment to accelerate and challenge the White Legion to a fight.
If they couldn’t pull off this complicated sequence without a single mistake, the day’s mission would be a failure before it had even begun. And level niners Kuroyukihime and Niko couldn’t exactly take part in the Territories, so they would be away from the attacking team, shifted to the defense of Suginami. The plan was for them to change buses at Honan Street, the boundary between Nakano and Shibuya, and return to Suginami, so they would be able to sit next to each other like this for only another five minutes or so.
Haruyuki found it discouraging to be parted from the swordmaster in whom he placed his absolute confidence, but Kuroyukihime had to be feeling more anxious about the success or failure of the mission. In which case he had to keep his own concerns to himself.
“It’s okay. Leave it to me!” Haruyuki slapped his chest. “I’ve got all the transfer procedures right here in my head!”
However, the moment he said this, Niko popped her face up in between the headrests ahead of them.
“Now listen, Haruyuki,” she said, sounding exasperated. “The only ones actually fiddling with the menu are Raker as attack team leader and whoever from GW, y’know? You’re just gonna be sitting there.”
“Th-that’s true, but…it’s, like, about feelings…”
“I’m actually more worried about whether GW’ll abandon the territory at the right time like they promised,” Niko mused. “They’re not gonna be all, Aaactually, this is a total waste—let’s give the whole thing uuuup right before, right?”