The Death Mage that doesn't want a fourth time

Side Chapter 20 The mastermind reveals ...., but the stage is set in Lambda

After the light faded from Pluto's eyes, Amemiya Hiroto felt a sense of disheartenment that he couldn't easily rid himself of.

In order to atone for destroying the 'Undead' without realizing that it had been one of the 101 reincarnated individuals, he had tried to save the members of the Eighth Guidance who had been saved by the Undead. Despite that, he had ended up killing the last remaining member with his own hands, even if it was to save the life of his own wife, Narumi.

And to make things worse, he had done so at the moment when Pluto had noticed the small life harbored inside Narumi's body and sacrificed herself to protect it.

I just ended up making the same mistake as I did with the Undead...

He had definitely made a mistake. This was the only thing he could think after how things had turned out; he felt an urge to let out a shout.

"... Let's at least burn their remains. I'm sure they would have wanted that," he said.

No matter what he did, time couldn't be reversed.

"You're right..." Narumi agreed as she closed Pluto's eyes. "I'm sorry that this is all we can do, even though we couldn't save the one who was important to you..."

"You might have forgotten this, but the United Nations have appealed for us to retrieve the bodies, so... alright. We just have to make it seem like we ran into unexpected resistance and couldn't retrieve the bodies, right?" said the 'Avalon' Rikudou Hijiri with a bitter smile, shrugging his shoulders. "But we should be prepared to face a lot of criticism. Everyone who is watching this through Angel right now is an accomplice."

This plan was one that had been created by the Bravers. As a result, they had succeeded in wiping out the Eighth Guidance, but the special forces of the various nations had also been almost completely exterminated, even if it had been a result of them making moves on their own.

And Amemiya Hiroto would be harshly blamed if the Eighth Guidance's corpses, the clues to death-attribute magic that the leaders and high officials of every nation so desperately wanted, could not be recovered.

"I don't mind that," Hiroto said.

He had prepared himself for that. A spell glowed in his hand. But before he could release it, news came through Angel from Iwao and the others who were keeping watch in the tunnel, telling him that circumstances had changed.

"Hiroto, Murakami and the others are here! They're saying some crazy stuff!"

"Some nonsense about them being undercover investigators!"

"Undercover investigators?" Hiroto replied. "You mean Murakami is...?!"

Through Angel, he could see Murakami, along with his three companions including Tsuchiya. They had finally shown themselves, holding identification papers from a federal state.

It was difficult to believe, but the identification papers looked genuine.

This is bad.

Hiroto didn't know how Murakami and his group had become undercover investigators for a federal nation, but he knew what they were here for. They were going to demand that the remains of Pluto and her companions be handed over.

If he let that happen, Pluto and her companions would lose their dignity. Not only that, tragic beings like the Undead and the Eighth Guidance would be created for the purpose of researching the death attribute.

Hiroto hastily began re-casting the spell that had been interrupted by the unexpected communications. "Hijiri, you take care of that boy's body –"