Predicament

Conflict Arc 4

"It hasn't been long, yet you are inviting me back here again already. Tell me, what is it that is you are up to?"

Sitting in a grand room of the Saegusa Residence was Koichi and Kudo Retsu. Koichi had invited Retsu over again and while Retsu was initially reluctant to make a visit to the Saegusa amidst the high tensions out of fear that it may be seen as a partnership between the Kudo and Saegusa clan by others, he was convinced that Koichi had his own plans and wanted his opinion before acting. Judging off the devious plans Koichi had last time around when they met, Retsu felt that he had to stop Koichi if he came up with yet another immoral plan.

"That boy Tatsuya, he is as you have said, Sir. Even then I cannot help but marvel at the abilities he has, not to mention that he has so many aliases."

"Do you still think of him as nothing but a mere weapon? Getting him may strengthen your clan, but it is not the means to the end – it will not get rid of the Yotsuba clan for you. You had better get rid of such thoughts while you can and release your daughter from being your pawn."

"Surely, you do not think that I'm making use of my daughter. She is genuinely in love with him."

"For your own good and for your daughter's sake, I hope you mean it."

"Of course, I wouldn't dare lie to you, sir. That aside, looking at the current situation, I cannot help but feel that we need a sacrifice in order to appease the people. If anything, we have to abandon the wait-and-see approach and act fast before it escalates any further." Koichi had only just begun divulging his plans and Kudo Retsu already had an uncomfortably look on him.

"What do you mean by 'sacrifice'? Surely you don't mean to give in to the demands of the protestors?" Retsu shot Koichi a doubtful look as he tried to guess what Koichi was driving at.

"What I mean is to make use of a scapegoat and have the scapegoat destroyed. That would appease the protestors, would it not?"

"A scapegoat... Hmm, who would it be then?"

Exposing his sly grin, Koichi revealed it and received an immediate outburst from Kudo Retsu. Koichi had expected as much and of course, he did not get the approval of Kudo Retsu. However, it was nothing but a minor setback for him. Having the approval of Kudo Retsu might mean the support of the magic community since he held such a huge influence, but Koichi was also influential enough to pull it off without Kudo Retsu's help although he would have to struggle just a little more. Either way, prior to this meeting he had already set his plans in motion without an intention to stop regardless of the outcome of this meeting.

(Scene Change)

Tatsuya had all his focus on his tablet. He had an important exchange that was to happen any time now and he couldn't allow it to go south. Ever since he had received the full plethora of information from Maya, he had decided to be more proactive and act independently from the Yotsuba clan in dealing with the current situation. This was something only he could do and he had no other choice but to act upon it to the best he can if he wanted to protect everything he had up until now.

At the appointed time, he received the important package, containing the tape of the conversation between Kudo Retsu and Saegusa Koichi, via the designated email. He quickly pulled it offline to make sure no one else would be able to fish it out from the Internet before examining the tape meticulously, not missing out on even a single word. Of course, all of this information did not come without a cost. In exchange for this tape, he made use of a favour Nakura owed him from that time Tatsuya spared his life.

Tatsuya could only sigh after reviewing the video. He had known Koichi to be sly, but he did not expect him to be this underhanded. The more he came to know of, the more stakes were involved. At this rate, the situation will get much messier and will definitely blow out of hand.