We made sure to wait for a few minutes before going down there, but not too long since we need an injury or two to fool all those who’re inside the lab. The office isn’t that tall, so it only took us three minutes to get to the street where all the fighting is going on. Of course, we wore our robe before going out.

   The students were done with most of the cultists when we went to the street. The remaining ones are so focused on fighting they didn’t even notice some newcomers who’re wearing the same robe as they do appearing out of nowhere. As per planned, we charge in and fight the Academy students.

   Just as Isa-senpai has assured me, the students already know how we look. I could tell without having a single conversation with them since their strikes and blows are relatively softer compared to when they were attacking the real cultists.

   Currently, I’m fighting against two students at the same time. One of them uses a normal length sword, and the other’s using two daggers. I know we’re supposed to put up an act and convince the remaining cultists who happened to look our way that we’re busy killing each other, but it’s actually quite difficult to fake it when you have to.

   The thing is, this is much more different from sparring, even though the two things are very similar in trying to fight each other without grievously injuring your opponent. For one thing, you’re mostly not allowed to use real weapons in sparring. Secondly, you’ll have to be very good at knowing how much strength you put in in each of your attacks. If you put in too little strength, you won’t look convincing. If you use too much strength, you might heavily injure your opponent. Since we didn’t rehearse what to do in advance, both sides have to be very careful.

   After fighting for a while, I start to get some cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. My two opponents also suffer from some slight injuries that won’t cost them their lives.

   I was so engrossed in this fake fight I’ve forgotten about Madoka. Also, she had been awfully quiet since we came downstairs when she usually cackles maniacally whenever she’s fighting. It took a quite a while to spot her since I have to continue to fake fight while also searching for her. It’s not helping that she has a different face too.

   Like me, she’s also dealing with two students at the same time. Instead of her usual dagger or her scythe, she’s using a whip. She’s being so graceful while using it you would think that she had been using it for decades. Strangely enough, she’s not laughing insanely at all. Is it because this is not a real fight?

   Speaking of someone who’s not using a weapon that she normally use, Sakuya is using a sledgehammer.

   …Why?

   Anyway, she’s not swinging it like a madwoman as I thought she would. She is, however, dashing all over the place and hitting any students with an opening. I really pity the students who’re trying to prevent her from moving.

   Ichika is also giving her opponents a hard time while wielding her long sword. She was never someone who goes easy on her sparring opponent. Naturally, she’s doing the same here. Her opponent, who’s also a girl, is having a hard time fighting her.

   Natsuho and Saya have teamed up to wreck havoc on the battlefield. I’ve always feared that this will happen sooner or later, and now my fear has become reality. Natsuho even went so far as using matching knuckle dusters as Saya. I’m not going to spoil her real weapon right now, but let’s just say that it’s not knuckle dusters.

   Basically, their strategy involves a two-on-one. They’ll surround an opponent and beat them up before they could gather their thoughts. I hope they remember that we’re actually on the same side.

   Compared to them, Isa-senpai, Tomita-senpai, Uchida and Konya are being quite normal. All they’re doing are straight up one-on-one with their fellow schoolmate or possibly classmate.

   Lastly, I see Mashiro some distance away from me. Contrary to the rest of us, she’s letting her summoned Destroyers to do the fighting. Four students are busy fighting off a centipede Destroyer the size of a bus, while a Destroyer that resembles a huge praying mantis is fighting four more students. While her minions are being busy, Mashiro is munching on candies.

   How I wish I could pause the fake fight I’m having and smack her head.

   Just as I’m thinking how long will this charade continues, I hear Madoka shouts, ‘Retreat! Retreat!’

   I obey without hesitation and proceed to run towards the loan company. Meanwhile, the students are either arresting the cultists or doing their best to stop the remaining ones from retreating. By the time I reach there, I notice that none of the cultists are with us. You gotta be impressed by the students’ efficiency.

   We’re greeted by Jordan, who’s comes out of the building while wielding his lightning mallet.

   ‘Get inside.’ he tells us.

   We run past him and enter the building, closing the door once we’re inside. Through the glass doors, we see the students quickly retreating while Jordan chases them down and tries to rescue his subordinates. Unfortunately for them, the students have already secured the captured cultists inside armored vehicles that drove off the moment they saw him. Some students stayed behind to hold him off. Based on how well they’re doing it, I’d say all of them are S Ranks.

   Jordan gave up the chase once all the vehicles have left the scene. He’s probably worried about only leaving Brennan and his subordinates to guard the underground lab.

   ‘Are all of you alright? Any heavy injuries?’ he asks us with a concerned tone once he’s inside.

   ‘No, sir. I only got shallow wounds.’ I answer.

   The others nod in agreement. They, too only got the shallowest of wounds, thanks to our real comrades who hold back.

   ‘That’s a relief to hear. I couldn’t save our comrades who got captured, but at least all of you here are with us. Come, let us go to the lab.’

   Jordan navigates us through rows and row of cubicles. I guess this is one of the places where the employees of the company are stationed at when they’re not outside to collect debts. As expected of loan sharks, even their cubicles are far from normal.

   They still have the standard like a desk, office chair, a computer and a telephone. And that’s all the similarities with a normal cubicle.All of them have pictures of their clients getting pinned on boards. With combat knives. Some of the photos are marked with a red X. I totally don’t want to know what that means.

   Even though no lights are turned on, the windows here let in enough light from outside so that we could see. He eventually brings us to a huge elevator that’s big enough for two semi-trailer trucks and pushes the descend button at the side. The doors are so large it took them ten seconds to open fully. After all of us got inside, they took another ten seconds to close.

   There are surveillance cameras placed at all four corners of the elevator. Those at the surveillance room are probably scanning us to make sue that we’re really part of their organization. Since they didn’t raise any alarms, I guess Madoka’s hacking was foolproof. The infiltration’s a success.

   While waiting, Jordan, who was looking at the front, suddenly looks back at us.

   ‘You may keep your weapon for now.’ he tells us. ‘The danger has passed for now. Until further ones come along, rest easy.’

   We did as he says.

   When the door opens, I see lots of cultists and lab coat-wearing researchers moving all over the place, even though it’s still very early in the morning. The cultists look fine, but every single researchers I see that passed us by have heavy bags under their eyes and share a look that imply they’re on the verge of collapsing.

   As if on cue, a man in his forties suddenly collapses a few feet away from my right. A few seconds has passed, but no one rushes forward to do anything. At least those behind him had the decency of walking around him instead of trampling over the body that’s out cold.

   Jordan is totally unfazed by the condition of the researcher. He beckons us to follow him, which we do silently. He brings us to one corner of the wall with a schedule and a map that’s side by side together. He points at the schedule.

   ‘On this schedule you will find your shift for patrol, mealtime and sleep time.’ he explains. ‘They have been arranged as fairly as possible, but since majority of those who are supposed to come here with you are absent due to the unfortunate circumstance, it is going to be rescheduled. Just follow this one until further notice.’

   He points to the map next.

   ‘This is the layout of the entire facility. I expect all of you to remember it before you start your shift. That is all from me. Now that my briefing is done, I shall take my leave.’

   With that, he leaves us to our own accords.

   For now, I should concentrate on blending in. I begin by looking at the map. It’s the same as the one Madoka showed us at the student council office, but I didn’t have the time to take a proper look at it back then.

   The first floor consists of mostly sleeping quarters and research labs. Based on how sleep-deprived the researcher I saw just now was, I have a nagging suspicion that the rooms are for Lost Children fighters only. There’s also a cafeteria on this floor.

   Second floor are full of worrying places. One of them are labeled as the Dissect Room. There’s another one called the Chemical Room. And they have something called the Disposal Room and the Experiment Room. I hope I don’t get a lot of shifts to guard this floor.

   Compared to other floors, the third one is quite empty. There’s a room at the middle which is marked as the Barrier Room. I guess this is where they keep the machine that generate anti-magic barriers. It’s also the place where Jordan is guarding. I also notice that there are a few rooms named the Executive Suites right opposite where the barrier machines are. Maybe Ryuuouji and Brennan live in those rooms. Lastly, there’s an Equipment Room. I’m guessing that this is where they keep all kinds of gadgets.

   Oddly enough, there’s a stage at the northern corner of the fourth floor. Are they getting live bands to perform for their zombie researchers so that they’ll be motivated for countless hours of work that could put sweatshops to shame? Whatever the reason, the rest of the rooms are full of labs that are numbered.

   Finally, the fifth and final floor. There’s a Security Room at the north west corner. In addition, as Madoka has pointed out, there’s a place called Special Lab in the middle of this floor, and the living quarters of the other experiments at the south-east part marked as the Tube Rooms. One room, however, distinguishes itself since its name is written over by a black marker pen. It’s marked as the Special Cell.

   There’s no doubt about it. That Special Cell is the exact location where Yui is locked up.

   Sadly, knowing her location will barely help. As I’ve told the others, we can’t be reckless or they’ll have us captured easily. Best case scenario, we’ll be imprisoned. Worst case scenario, we’ll have an appointment in one of the rooms at the second floor. At least I know where to find her if the time’s right.

   Next, I begin to look for the means to move through each floor. The huge elevator is only used for people to move between the ground floor of the loan company and the first floor of the lab. Smaller elevators does exist to travel between floors, but since they’re marked as the good elevators I guess we can only use the emergency staircases if we don’t have anything heavy to carry.

   I also couldn’t help but notice the lack of medical room inside this facility, despite the number of dangerous rooms and the possible invasion of enemies. Even so, I’m pretty sure they have some way of giving medical treatment, since there’s no way Ryuuouji and Brennan will just suck it up if they ever got injured. The slight consolation is that they have toilets on each floor.

   Now that I know the general layout of this underground lab, I move to the schedule to check my shift. The list is quite long and not arranged alphabetically, so I have a hard time on finding my fake name.

   Minamoto Satoru, Minamoto Satoru…Ah, there it is.

   My first shift starts at four o’clock, which is half an hour from now. I’m supposed to guard the entrance of the Barrier Room for five hours, and then I’m let off for breakfast which lasts an hour. After that, I’m to patrol each floor for four hours, and the list continues. Basically, I’m on guard duty for the whole day. My remaining meal times are at three o’clock and nine o’clock respectively, and I get to sleep at twelve midnight. The first shift at the next day starts at six in the morning.

   After memorizing my schedule of the day, I guess it’s time to get started. Everyone else has already looked through the map and their schedule and went to their respective posts, leaving only me behind. Not that it matters, since we’ll see each other soon enough. To the third floor.

   Now that I got a closer look at the Barrier Room, it’s around the same size as my room back at the dorm. The door to the room is made of wood, and two guards are standing on both sides.

   Both of them are watching me impassively as I approach them. As I stand a few feet away from them, I guess I should state my business.

   ‘I’m here to relief one of you from your guard duty.’ I tell them.

   After hearing my words, the one on the left leaves the place. I proceed to stand at the same place as he did. Now to wait for four hours until it’s time for my breakfast. Or until something happens. It’s so boring I don’t mind even if it’s the latter.

   While I’m just standing and doing nothing, I kept on seeing cultists walking around and researchers going to the Equipment Room to take something out from there. Once or twice, I’ve even seen some familiar faces. Other than that, there’s nothing else to do.

   Around an hour later, the other guard was subbed with Ichika. I’m glad that I’m having the same shift with one of my girlfriends, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to strike up a conversation with her. I’m not familiar with the rules of Lost Children, but based on how the two guards before us were keeping quiet, it’s better if we do the same.

   Also, I don’t fancy getting yelled at by Jordan who’s probably inside the room right now. He might or might not do that. It’s better not to risk it. In addition, there are security cameras all over the place, with four of them pointing straight at the door. I don’t fancy getting snitched at and punished.

   Hours have passed by, and nothing has happened. Man, being on guard duty is seriously boring. To make things worse, I’m nowhere closer to rescue Yui. I had to keep on telling myself to be patient to prevent myself from being overwhelmed by my own powerlessness.

   It was eight o’clock when it happened. I’m sure of the time since they have an abundant of clocks being hanged all over the place as well. It’s like they’re worried that their employees will be late or something. Prior to this, the researchers who just passed by to get stuff at the Equipment Room were rushing out and going somewhere else. I wonder where they’re going. Oh well, it has nothing to do with me, and I can’t find out even if I’m curious since I’m stuck here for another hour. And then, my curiosity got satisfied anyway.

   ‘GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOOOOOORNING EVERYONE!’ a voice suddenly thunders right below me.

   That took at least three years from my lifespan. Jeez, would it kill them to give me a little warning?

   ‘How’s everyone doing this fine morning? Good? Good? Are you doing fine?’ the voice asks some audience that I can’t see.

   After calming down, I realize that I recognize the voice. It belongs to our insane scientist Ryuuouji Tatsuma. He sounds awfully cheery. I hope it’s not because he found ways to harvest the power of the Dragon God.

   ‘...I’ve said this time and time again. It’s rude to not greet someone back when they wished you good morning.’

   The sudden change of tone sent a chill down my spine. Whereas his voice before belonged to a grandfather who refuses to grow up and loves to act spoiled, this new voice of his is extremely intimidating and terrifying. If voice could kill, Ryuuouji can be a professional hit man without trying.

   I hear some muffled voices next. I can’t catch them quite properly, but it’s probably greetings anyway. I mean, what else would it be?

   ‘That’s better.’ his tone goes back to normal. ‘Now then, let’s get on with our daily meeting so that we can go back to our work as soon as possible. First of all, Omura-kun has collapsed due to his overbearing passion for work. As per usual, he had been sent to the Dissect Room so that he could contribute to our cause in his own way. May his sacrifice guide us.’

   Once again, his words made me shiver with fear. This time, it’s because of the casual way he sent one of his employees to get dissected to further their cause as he has said, and his equally casual tone when he broke the news to the others. It’s like he doesn’t see them as fellow humans, only tools to be exploited. Then again, this is the same person who seeks immortality at the expense of the lives of others, so I guess it’s wrong for me to be surprised.

   ‘Moving on. Once again, we’ll be conducting experiment on the possessed shrine maiden to extract the power of the Dragon God at nine o’clock sharp. Previously, we lost around fifty of our test subjects, but compared to the eternal fame we get when we eventually succeed, this small sacrifice means nothing. Which is why I urge all of you to try your best. Or there will be consequences.’

   A third chill down my spine. This man is absolutely evil. I seriously hope we can spare some time to arrest him this time.

   ‘That’s all for this morning. You may go back to your stations now.’ he ends his speech by saying.