Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 12 Chapter 1 (section)

== 1.01 Monma Makoto Part 2 ==

Monma Makoto had seen the place on TV before.

It was a national sports ground that could be used for baseball, soccer, tennis and the like by switching out the artificial grass and other equipment. Makoto was pretty sure she’d watched the soccer nationals.

This all-weather sports ground dome was packed with Mushitsuki to the brim.

It was the following day after the fight against Shinpu in Akamaki City and his subsequent defeat.

Other than those elites from the Central Headquarters and other branches who participated in the fight, there were probably combatants from all over the country gathered there. Here and there she could see familiar people from her district.

There was also a place for the wounded to lie down in, and a distribution center filled with equipment and food. Where Mushitsuki of the intelligence department gathered, electronic equipment was clustered together. Perhaps the underground generators were not enough, so carriable generators hummed in the sports ground’s corners.

The lighting was gloomy.

Blackouts in the city should have been dealt with for now. Even so they received no power from the outside, probably because they relied on the generators alone.

Immediately after entering the dome, she also saw Mushitsuki guarding the circumference. An ability of a kind like some barrier was used to shut out the entire dome from the outside, probably under Miguruma’s orders.

They were cautious of “outside enemies” to an abnormal degree—

That was Makoto’s impression.

Why would they so cowardly isolate themselves from the outside even when the entire country’s Mushitsuki gathered there?

The reason for that was probably had to do with the abilities of the enemy they were about to face.

“You realize that even without you going through the trouble of walking around, the intelligence department had already grasped the situation outside?”

Miguruma Yaeko grinned at Makoto.

Vice-Deputy of the SEPB, Miguruma Yaeko. —In essence, she was the woman who had control of the organization. She was a narrow-eyed woman who smiled constantly. Although she looked like a saint, all members feared her merciless capabilities and sly personality.

“This is my habit. I thought there’d be no issues if I used my own break time for this.”

Standing straight and upright, Makoto replied briskly like a soldier.

“It is not that I want to punish you or anything of the sort. Rather, I am glad. Because my love for you is being rewarded with your diligence. I have great expectations from you.”

“It is my honor, ma’am.”

Makoto was currently inside a tent installed at a corner of the dome.

It had a few hastily-installed monitors and the branch heads of every branch were gathered there. Other than the intelligence department members controlling the monitors and broadcasting equipment, there were only few Mushitsuki.

There was Terasu, aka Monma Makoto.

As well as Fuyuhotaru, and a girl who seemed to be her aide.

“…”

Makoto glanced at Fuyuhotaru.

Her middle-schooler-like baby face was tense and she sneaked peeks at Makoto’s face as well. Since her actual behavior didn’t seem tense, it made Makoto mad.

''The surviving Rank 1… she should just die already—

She cussed in her heart, yet showed nothing on her face.

“So, what are your impressions, Terasu? How are things outside?”

“We have managed to conceal the present situation better than I expected. It was such a large-scale battle so I thought the country would be much more hectic… but never mind all the gag orders, opting to eliminate satellite monitoring at an early stage seemed to be effective. The electronic traps laid by the intelligence division also seem to have born fruits. —For now, anyway.”

Fuyuhotaru’s aide yawned upon hearing Makoto’s report. Not only did she have a bad taste in fashion, what with her wearing striped thighs, she constantly fiddled with her phone despite having a sleepy face. “Ah, I’m sooo sleepy, I hate waking up early, the reception’s bad…,” she muttered to herself.

“Indeed. Once they figure out we have tampered with each country’s satellites, we are sure to come under fire. Once our traps are exhausted, we will not be able to avoid information leaking out.”

Miguruma spoke calmly. With a tone as if she was about to pat Makoto’s head.

Meanwhile, those who never smiled at all were the adults standing near Miguruma. There was a white-haired suited man dressed richly and suited men who dressed a little less richly surrounding him.

“Hey! I heard nothing about that! Intervening with other militaries’ weapon systems is—”

“It has been approved, vice minister, sir.”

Miguruma smiled again. —Makoto knew the identity of this white-haired man because she saw him on television. She forgot what ministry he belonged to, but did remember he served as the vice minister.

“All missions related to concealing the existence of Mushi received the approvement of the relevant authorities. There are simply too many missions, so this particular case must have simply slipped from your mind.”

The vice minister was speechless.

“You can relax; everything is fine. Since Mushitsuki abilities barely leave any evidence, it will buy us some time.”

“B-buy us some time? And what about after that! If the international community starts blaming us—”

“Oh, that’s what you worry about. We will somehow handle that, too. We have a proper pipeline with intelligence agencies abroad, so if we give them some information about the untouchable Mushi, our noninterference agreement—which will expire a few months later—will probably be respected.”

The sleepy-looking cellphone girl opened her mouth.

“In that sense, it’s huge that you cut off satellite surveillance so quickly. If they can get information about Mushi that can do even that, the country’s top brass would rather monopolize the usage of it rather than reveal it to society at large.”

''Hmm? But I heard there was no one in charge of brains in Mushibane…

Makoto now estimated the need for caution against this girl who was much calmer than her looks would indicate.

“Come to think of it, there were some people who negotiated with us Mushibane in an attempt to monopolize Mushi. It seems like all people who are good in calculating profits and losses always end up thinking the same.”

“Hehe, what a smart girl you are. I think I can love you as well.”

Miguruma narrowed her eyes, looking at the cellphone girl. Being faced with the “Smile of Shackles” that bound any person gazing on it with inescapable self-love, the girl shuddered. She hid behind Fuyuhotaru.

“A-as long as it poses no danger to our citizens, though.”

She was apparently smart, but not brave. Makoto lowered her risk assessment by one rank.

“That is how it is, vice minister. I will take all responsibility, so you can relax.”

Unable to say anything in reply, the vice minister kept silent.

''Taking responsibility? So stupid—

Normally Mushi and Mushitsuki could never be managed by a single country. And yet there was a person who could perfectly manage them, shrug off any sort of interference be it domestic or foreign, and able to fully hide their existence even in the current situation.

Was she implying there was someone else able to do this other than Miguruma Yaeko herself?

The answer was no.

No matter the danger.

No matter what she schemed.

They couldn’t lose the person called Miguruma Yaeko. Because they knew that, the country would never eliminate her.

“How about we get down to business, Vice-Deputy.”

A mustached and bearded gentleman in his forties spoke while grinning.

He was North Central Branch Head, Takemi Takemasa. —He was also Makoto’s direct superior.

“Right, Branch Head Takemi.”

Miguruma returned his grin. Any discussion between the two always seemed like a farce.

A sudden image was suddenly shown on the monitor installed directly in front of them.

“…!”

She should have at least warned them beforehand.

Not only Makoto, but probably everyone other than Miguruma Yaeko thought the same.

It was only a short video with rough quality.

However, what she saw from that split instant—

“—”

All humans felt their blood drain and instinctively took a step back.

Makoto was no exception. She felt a shudder rise from the depths of her body.

Shown in the footage was an incomprehensible electronic device and a sea of control cables and power cables thicker than adult humans—

And in the center of that ocean lay a naked girl.

She was thin and her body was pale. She had loose, long hair. The only thing that could count as clothes was a tiara shaped like a crown on her forehead. She was lying down on a transparent, rectangular pedestal.

That girl, who seemed to be in her early teens—

Glared at them.

Pitch-black, wide eyes turned to the camera.

And—at the moment that the eyes grew larger and seemed to close in on the camera with a fish lens effect—the footage reversed back to the same girl lying inside the sea again.

[[File:Mushi Uta 12 p068.jpg|thumb]]

It was just footage of a few seconds filled with static.

Even so, it was clearly abnormal.

The girl’s presence, the way her pitch-dark eyes moved as she stared from the other of the screen, could not be explained with any common sense. It was as if the girl’s very existence transcended time and space, appeared only as warped.

“—ah.”

Perhaps assaulted by nausea, several of the vice-minister’s aides held their mouths and looked down.

“This is the only footage we managed to salvage from the HQ occupied by Shinpu. This was taken at the deepest layer of the Underground Fort.”

So spoke the lone person who remained calm, Miguruma Yaeko.

No, it wasn’t just that she was calm. As she looked at the girl shown in the footage, Miguruma’s eyes were as kind as those of a mother watching her beloved child.

“Ultra Class Rank 1, C. —She is currently our greatest enemy, and a target for annihilation.”

All were speechless.

Only one person showed a different reaction there. It was Fuyuhotaru.

“This is—Erii…?”

Her grim expression seemed full not of fear, but terrible sadness.

Seeing Fuyuhotaru like that, Miguruma grinned.

“Ah, right, when you escaped the HQ once, C had been sent to you as an assassin. —And to think that you have returned to me and will participate in the strategy to defeat C as she is nestling deep within the Headquarters… ah, how fate twists in amusing ways.”

“Nothing about this is amusing…!”

With a pale face, the vice-minister hounded Miguruma.

“What is up with her…! Is she really—human?”

He spoke out what nearly all people there felt.

Makoto thought the same.

By seeing that abnormal figure even for just an instant—she felt a chill and was about to vomit.

In that footage she’d seen now—that girl was—no, that creature was—

“She is obviously not human.”

Miguruma grinned.

“She is but a normal—Mushitsuki.”

This time, everyone became speechless.

“C had belonged to the Central Headquarters experiment division. And the experiment she took part in was—using the fragments of one of the Original Three, Shinpu, to revive Fallen.”

Makoto, who’d watched the video, turned to Miguruma with such vigor that it was almost audible.

''What did you just say…?

She heard an outrageous confession right now.

But since Miguruma was too calm about that, it took her a while to properly understand that.

“Unfortunately, though, C had then—”

“W-wait a mi—Vice-Deputy…?”

Branch Head of the South Central Branch was barely able to speak.

“S-Shinpu’s fragments…? Reviving Fallen…? I-I heard nothing about either of that, but what does that—”

“Leaving the experiment aside, I thought that it had already become known that we have had ''custody'' of Shinpu’s main body?”

Miguruma Yaeko looked puzzled.

''T-this woman…!

Makoto nearly forgot herself and was almost about to yell.

So they hid one of the Original Three—

Who had learned of this fact until this moment? If this really was the truth, then all those people who were afraid of Shinpu until then—

She suddenly turned toward Fuyuhotaru.

Had Mushibane known of this?

Wearing a truly shocked face, the baby-faced girl exchanged glances with the cellphone girl at her side.

“Eh? The SEPB captured Shinpu? Wow, when did that happen!”

“I-I’ll explain later, Snow-san. This isn’t them capturing him, it’s something before that. I know this is you we’re talking about, but even you might flip out once you understand this…”

Their conversation didn’t appear to be staged. Apparently even Mushibane heard this for the first time.

“How unexpected. So does that mean—that only the East Central Branch knew about this?”

Miguruma blurted out yet another surprising fact.

Everyone’s gazes focused on the Acting East Central Branch Head.

Until then standing there wordlessly, Goroumaru Touko glanced at Miguruma Yaeko with insecure eyes.

“H-how many Mushitsuki do you think became victims until we found that out—”

Makoto felt shocked.

The East Central Branch knew the secrets of Central Headquarters. The only ones to have broken through Miguruma Yaeko’s plans of concealment were, of all people, the East Central Branch—

''So that demon—Kakkou—knew about this too?

“T-that piece of shit—”

She unconsciously leaked this in a voice lower than a whisper.

“So he stayed silent about something so important…? H-how far had he—”

Makoto tried holding back her swelling rage.

“All of you, this is not good. You can be as many steps behind me as you’d like, but without the bare minimum of competence you will never win this upcoming battle, you realize?”

How many people there felt like killing Miguruma as she spoke so carefreely? Most, like the vice-minister or the branch heads, just stood there in shock.

“I will convey the details of the experiment conducted by C later to Terasu alone.”

Makoto shuddered at this unexpected designation.

The branch heads immediately lashed out.

“W-what! You tell nothing to us branch heads but to a combatant?”

“I have no choice but to do so. Although this is top-secret of the Central Headquarters alone, she must know this. Blaze Class Rank 2 member, Terasu—”

Miguruma looked at Makoto and spoke.

“I will put you in charge of the operation to annihilate C.”

Leaving aside the fact of her feeling weak-kneed due to the shock of Kakkou’s sudden dropping out, she had indeed imagined that she was going to be entrusted with an important mission. However, what she found unexpected about this was—

“I’m a Rank 2…?”

“Indeed, I will adjust the ranks of members in accordance to our strategy from now on. With you promoted to Rank 2, you are to take members such as fellow Rank 2 Kaguya or the newly-designated Rank 2 Kasuou and form a suicide corps with you in the lead.”

Suicide corps.

Seeing that footage just before, she realized that defeating that monster would be difficult. Facing that sort of thing would naturally mean risking one’s life.

“—Yes ma’am.”

Her mouth moved on its own, faster than she could think.

For some reason Fuyuhotaru interjected at that moment.

“W-wait a moment! Why do we have to beat that girl—Erii?”

With how flustered she was, it almost seemed like she was trying to defend C.

Makoto grimaced.

''So annoying. Even though she’s a Rank 1, she’s really—

“She didn’t seem like a bad kid to me.”

“Currently, C is not herself. No—”

Miguruma smiled, turning to the monitor.

“That Mushitsuki is no longer even C.”

“What… do you mean?”

North Central Branch’s Branch Head Takemi asked. As expected, his usual amiable smile was gone.

“I cannot give you any further details about the experiments conducted on C—but the goal was to save Fallen Mushitsuki. I wanted to revive those who were defeated midway to their dream… when I thought of this, a large hint appeared.”

Miguruma turned away from the footage, looking at Fuyuhotaru.

“Due to Oogui’s interference, Fuyuhotaru had been able to revive from the Fallen state.”

Fuyuhotaru lightly bit her lips.

The fact she didn’t look surprised was surprising for Makoto. Almost as if the girl knew she was related to that experiment.

“Based on that, I had a certain hypothesis. —Perhaps the Original Three can call back those who have Fallen…”

“…!”

All branch heads looked shocked at this.

“However, it is nearly impossible to capture and restrain Oogui when we can’t tell when and where she would appear. Therefore, I thought of an experiment using one of the Original Three. The Original Three that had been kept by Central Headquarters due to certain circumstances… we used Shinpu to conduct clinical experiments.”

Makoto grimaced.

In summary, they conducted human experiments using the Original Three. Miguruma’s earlier pretext of “saving the Fallen” was shameless.

“Despite being in our custody, Shinpu was still dangerous. We were unable to restrain him. However, we were able to use fragments of his power.”

It was crystal clear.

Miguruma Yaeko spoke of these experiments with a kind and cheerful disposition. 

She was undoubtedly having so much fun playing with Mushitsuki—like some great demon lord.

“C’s ability is the control of electricity. It is the optimal ability to connect people’s brains—that are controlled by electrical signals—with Shinpu’s supernatural ability to control corpses.”

Miguruma boldly recited how she went far past the human domain in her deeds.

“C’s duties were the following. To make the Fallen recall their memory and thus recall their dreams as Mushitsuki—meaning, revive them. To restrain the power of one of the Original Three, Shinpu. Finally, to persist in her own activities.”

“So why did this happen?”

Goroumaru Touko stared at Miguruma, full of hatred.

Thinking about it, Makoto heard that C had used to belong to the East Central Branch. She could have been Touko’s past comrade.

“C’s abilities were powerful beyond our wildest imagination. And I am not talking about just my own hypothesis; probably even C herself never thought this far. Her extremely powerful ability—attempted to swallow even Shinpu’s main body through the Fragments.”

“Th…this is entirely your blunder!”

Miguruma smiled and nodded at the agitated vice-minister.

“You are absolutely correct. I do apologize.”

“—!”

“Unable to fully escape from her, Shinpu was absorbed by C. Right now, she holds something like the crystallization of herself and Shinpu’s power, creating vast amounts of energy.”

“Absorbed Shinpu…? B-but we defeated Shinpu yesterday!”

Makoto raised her voice without thinking.

They paid dearly for that; even she herself nearly died, and—Kakkou also became Fallen. The end of this mortal combat was supposed to be the defeat of one of the Original Three, Shinpu.

And yet—

“That is both Shinpu and not Shinpu.”

Miguruma sneered. Completely ignoring Makoto’s grief.

“C had been driven out right after taking in this power. What remains is no more than the remnants of an unneeded personality.”

“—”

“After that, C’s own personality was destroyed. I believe this was definitely not self-destruction, but simply the process evolved from the need to hold back such immense power.”

This time she really—no, but she thought this many times before.

Anyway, she could hear the sounds of something breaking within the hearts of everyone there other than Miguruma.

“Due to the above, you can certainly say that the being called Shinpu has been annihilated. However, after absorbing Shinpu’s powers C continues operating. Seeing how her electrical signals started spreading to the entire country—she continues her mission even now.”

No one could utter a sound.

“Restraining the Original Three. —Meaning, she will kill Oogui and Sanbikime to take in their powers.”

Saying this and falling silent was perhaps Miguruma’s first actually kind action. If they were presented with any further new troubles, Makoto was unsure if she could keep her sanity.

In actuality, it took everyone in the tent a while to return to their senses.

“That kind of monster… is below us even now…?”

The vice-minister looked at his own feet.

The Central Headquarters’ Fortress existed in the vast depths of Akamaki City—

“W-we need to bomb it—”

“The deepest layer where C resides is too deep for bombs to reach. Also, her tentacles keep on reaching all over. By encroaching from paths normally impossible, it is possible for her to reach even defense installations. If she figures out weapons are directed at her, she might control them after being launched… and who knows what happens then. Even if you dispatched regular military forces, their weapons will be rendered ineffective by abnormal electrical signals.”

Miguruma quickly shut it off.

The branch heads also started making suggestions.

“If she is out of control, will she not just self-destruct with time?”

“There is no loss of control. She is completely normal. Because she has erased her personality to achieve this stability.”

“We can also just wait and see what happens without unnecessarily provoking her…”

“If we leave it like this, it will reach the point of no return. The more time passes, the stronger she shall become. After all, she controls the medium of electricity.”

Miguruma spoke in the tone of a mother boasting about her child.

“As long as electricity exists in this world, her power will continue to grow.”

Every time Miguruma joined words into a sentence, despair only increased—

“There is another factor related to her becoming more dangerous with time—but just like I said before, I will talk about this to Terasu alone.”

She needed no more information.

Makoto already reached a certain conclusion in her heart.

“O-once this is all over, be prepared. —The death penalty is always an option.”

Miguruma repelled the vice-minister’s full-blown threat with a grin.

“Is that a joke? All SEPB members are constantly in that danger.”  

Exactly so. It was the members of the SEPB who couldn’t even tell if they were going to live by tomorrow or not. An outsider only watching them simply knew too little about Mushi and Mushitsuki.

“Now, Terasu. I would like to hear your opinion. Do you think we can beat C?”

“It’s impossible—”

How should she say that?

Although she supposedly hesitated, her mouth moved on its own. Since she went ahead and said it, she held her mouth.

''I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it—

She had too many things she wanted to say and didn’t know where to start.

Not only were they exhausted after the fight against Shinpu, they even lost Kakkou—unfortunately, that Rank 1 was gone. They simply lacked fighting power.

“Ah, no, I-I mean…”

“I really am glad I chose you. Looks like you are still rational.”

Miguruma grinned.

“Eh?”

“Other than the suicide corps led by you for the mission of annihilating C, I have prepared something else.”

Miguruma spoke toward Makoto and all those who were hit by despair.

“We will create two plans for C’s annihilation. —And I have already mobilized the second one.”

“A second plan…?”

Miguruma softly stroked Makoto’s chin as the latter furrowed her brows.

“I love you so much, so I will definitely not let you rush to your deaths helplessly, right? I have prepared a new fighting force to assist you—right, a new leader instead of Kakkou.”

A new leader instead of Kakkou—

Miguruma looked happy at seeing them all widen their eyes.

“It is time for Sleeping Beauty to wake from her slumber.”