The Shogun

Chapter 25 : The Gamble

Now

"Hmm... Lady Nagant... I feel like I have heard that name somewhere before", Akira ponders loudly from his seat as Reina goes through the contents of the newspaper clipping given to her.

"The heroine who fell from grace. She was sentenced to a lifetime in prison for the murder of three people: Two heroes and the Head of the Safety Commission who got caught in the crossfire. That day, she was being moved from the city prison to Tartarus prison", Seiran says as she sips her tea.

"Yeah! I remember my father covering this story", Akira grunts with a nod.

At that very moment, Reina looks up and asks, "Ok... but why does he want her specifically? You told her how she becomes his bodyguard and all... but I believe many others could fit that role. Even Mori-san could fill that role easily. But why her?"

"Yeah... I remember the reports saying that Lady Nagant killed heroes who were best described as dutiful. So why would Izuku want her?" Akira asks.

"How can you be sure that the reports are true?" Seiran challenges her friend with a side glance.

"Ummm... they're not?" Akira asks.

"The head of the safety commission passed away. I believe something was going on and they swept it under the rug and I believe Izuku knew about it", says Reina.

"I wouldn't say he knew about it but he had his doubts. Izuku prided himself as someone who knew about Heroes more than anyone else. He was so obsessed with Heroes during his childhood. How do heroes manage their time? How big is their area coverage? What are their patrol routes? How do Heroes work out the schedules when the coverage intersects? Ask anything about heroes and if the hero was interesting enough, which in Izuku's case every hero was, he would answer it. So Lady Nagant's case confused Izuku a lot", Seiran says as she swirls her teacup.

"Confused?" Reina asks.

"Lady Nagant was a well-known hero but at the same time, she was enigmatic. She didn't have a set schedule. Her information regarding her family was nil. Nobody knew her real name. She would just appear, do her job, and leave. She would have been misidentified as a vigilante if it weren't for the police knowing beforehand. She was well-liked, but at the same time, she was not that popular either. She always kept a low profile, but those who were lucky enough to know her, always said that she was kind and polite. So for a hero who had such a good rapport, why would she risk it all? Izuku found that suspicious. Every single thing that was found related to that incident didn't make sense at all and it was even more suspicious considering how quickly they closed her case", Seiran says as she takes one last look at the hero's photo.

"So Izuku wanted to know the true story?" Reina asks.

"Maybe... but I like to believe that Izuku wanted to know the truth about her. Not Lady Nagant, but Tsutsumi Kaina", Seiran says and this causes the chief editor to be taken aback when she hears what she assumed was Lady Nagant's name and it makes her wonder how did Seiran knew about this.

"So what did Izuku learn?" Reina asks.

"Izuku learned that Lady Nagant was not only lost and used, but she was also deeply troubled", Seiran says as a distant look grows on her face.

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Then

The very first thing Izuku saw as he entered the warehouse was how worried everyone looked. All of them were tense and were on guard. Some of the people were injured and were getting seen by the members who had experience in first aid. Some of the boxes were broken and it seemed like a storm had passed through the building with how much trash was strewn all over the place. Worry washes over Izuku as he asks, "Don't tell me she escaped".