“It’s an ability user. There’s no other explanation.” I said in front of The Sanctuary Knights members currently gathered in our headquarters in Switzerland.
I had become assured in my statement right after I had seen Alexander’s corpse.
“But Alexander wasn’t an ordinary ability user as well. He was a Magic Knight, and one of the strongest ones at that…” said Anna, who was also a Magic Knight, with a trembling voice.
“I know. However a normal person, or a monster couldn’t have killed him in that manner.”
All of the 7 members currently within the room didn’t utter a sound. Every one of us had been shocked by the loss of our dear comrade.
“There have also been other cases of ability user killings. The person that disappeared from Suzaku was apparently found cut into square pieces as well.” reported Elias with a face full of discomfort.
“So an ability user is going around killing ability users… For what purpose exactly?” I asked.
“We still don’t know the reason, however since he’s targeting ability users it’s not gonna be strange if he goes after us next. From now on I think it would be for the best if at the very least we move in pairs of two at all times.” responded Carlo to my question. He was right, instead of thinking about the reason, focusing on how to deal with it came first.
“Everyone, make sure to always carry a weapon with you! If Alexander had his sword then maybe this time’s case could have turned out another way. Also I want you to get in contact with Suzaku and Gojo as well.”
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
“The news about Gojo had been the talk of the world for the last couple of days. It’s all because of your article Mr. Matsuda.”
“Well I guess you’re right.” answered Matsuda.
Because of his article on Gojo his name had quickly spread throughout the industry, leading to him becoming quite famous.
“There are a lot of people that are offering praise, however a number of people are speculating that it might have been Gojo that let the monsters out in the world and caused the panic in the first place.”
“Considering he’s able to control those huge monsters I don’t blame them for thinking that.” replied Matsuda.
“What do you think about it Mr. Matsuda?”
“I don’t know, and to be honest I don’t really care. The important thing is whether it has any value as an article or not. After all, chasing after this Gojo guy for the time being will bring in the best articles.”
“That reminds me, there was an article by a weekly gossip magazine called and it has apparently been getting a lot of attention.”
“That’s the world for you, as long as something seems fun it sells.” said Matsuda while stuffing his camera and his IC recorder into his bag, after which he stood up.
“Are you going to collect data?”
“I’m going to Gifu. Gojo has recently been spotted going in and out of the Gifu Airbase. I want to get an interview with him no matter what.”
“I don’t think it’s gonna go that well.”
“I have no choice but to do it! I’ll be the one to show Gojo Masakado’s identity to the world.”
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
The following day at a United Nations’ Press Centre the mutant killing incident was made public. It invited shock into the hearts of the media and the people, however the bigger problem was The Sanctuary Knights’ Alexander’s death.
Everyone was wondering who it was that could have killed an ability user as strong as Alexander. Which in turn led to the United Nations’ press officer being bombarded with questions.
“Have you found the killer? Was it really another mutant?”
“We are currently investigating the matter.”
“Numerous strong mutants are being killed one after the other, this should only be possible for a really limited number of people, what do you think about this?”
“We still do not know anything so I’m afraid I cannot comment on that.”
“There are a handful of people that suspect that Gojo Masakado is the one behind the killings, what do you have to say about this?”
“That is impossible. Mr. Gojo has been of great help to both us the United Nations, as well as to the Governments of a number of countries. Above all, he has no reason to do this.” said the United Nations’ press officer, laughing off the last question.
But even so, because of a handful of members from the media thinking it was fun and bringing it up, the hypothesis of Gojo being the killer slowly but surely began spreading.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Within one of the Gifu Airbase’s rooms, there was a satellite phone that Sakamoto had prepared for me. The connection network still wasn’t back to what it had once been, that’s why there were only a handful of methods we could use to get into contact with people from overseas.
“Leo can you hear me?”
[Yes, I hear you. Sorry that I had you take time off for this.]
Before coming here, I had received a notice that Leo had called to report an emergency case.
[There’s currently a press conference being held by the United Nations, have you heard what it’s about?]
“I heard that there was going to be a press conference, however I don’t know the details.”
[Alexander was killed.]
“Alexander was killed!? By who!”
[We still don’t know. According to the witness the killer wore a suit of black armor, that’s all the information we have about him. Due to his armor we have decided to refer to him as the black knight.”
“The black knight…”
It was shocking. Alexander had left an impression on me because he had casually talked to me during the United Kingdom’s subjugation. From what I saw he seemed fairly powerful…
[Mutants around the world are being killed. There has been one victim from Suzaku, as well as two more from other parts of the world. In total there have been four.]
“Four… Why is he doing this?”
[We have no clue. For starters considering he’s so powerful he should have been noticed by his country… But we do have your case as well, I guess there are still a lot of mutants that we don’t know anything about.]
“Are we going to look for the culprit?”
[Of course. We have to get revenge for Alexander, and there’s also that if left alone it might pose a danger to the world as well. We’ll try and catch him, and if that’s not possible we’ll kill him on the spot.]
Through the phone I could hear that Leo was really pissed.“I’ll help as well. Where should I come to meet up?”
[No, it’s best for you to stay where you are.] hearing Leo say that surprised me a bit.
“Why? Won’t it be easier if we have more people looking?”
[You might think it sounds ridiculous, however there are a handful of people that suspect you to be the killer. If by some bad luck you happen to be in the same place as the killer, it will only fuel those suspicions.]
‘I’m being suspected!?’
I was a bit shocked, however thinking about it, there really weren’t that many people that could kill Alexander…
[That is why if you stay in the Self-Defense Force’s base, we’ll at least be able to prove your innocence. So please bear with it for a bit.]
“I understand. However I have one request. Can you do me that favor?”
[What is it? Whatever it may be we’ll do it.]
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
After hanging up the phone I got lost in thought.
“What did Gojo say?” asked Carlo who was standing behind me.
“He had a request. He asked us to protect the students of a monastery located in France for the time being.”
“Well it’s not like we can refuse him anyway. We’re hugely indebted to him after all.”
“You have a point…”
“But will our enemy this time really target kids?”
“There’s that as well. It’s hard to imagine, however I’ve heard that there are some kids with quite powerful abilities in France. We should do it just in case.”
“Still, to imagine Gojo got all into that teaching role. It’s hard to think that he was so fond of kids.” said Carlo laughing. Thinking about it now Gojo has always had that kind personality.
“Still the problem is where are we going to hide them.” I continued.
“Even if we did bring them here, it’s not like we’re always here as well. We need to find a safer place.”
After both of us thought for a bit we still couldn’t think of a good place.
“Can’t we ask England’s Secret Services? They have the record of quickly helping the royal family as well as the politicians evacuate after all.” suggested Carlo
‘England huh… The Dragon appearances haven’t been that much recently and it has become way better as of late.’
“I got it. I’ll call them right away. Carlo you go get Anna and head for France to look after the kids.”
“Roger… We’ll leave right away.”