Chapter 8

### The Leader of Anonymous

The leader of Anonymous.

His codename is Hyde.

However, few call him by that name.

In Anonymous, the image of a leader is too strong.

He is clad in a pitch-black coat, his eyes firmly fixed on the enemy who blends into the darkness.

Even with a mask on, he exudes the air of a boss.

The man from the self-defense force, who had been hiding in the darkness, was convinced that he was the leader of Anonymous simply by the "aura."

That was the only reason.

The two men, aware of each other's positions, remained motionless.

"Shido."

When Hyde murmured the name of his female partner, the woman standing next to him started walking without a word.

The man in the darkness did not follow her with his eyes.

After all, "he can't catch her."

The man felt a slight irritation at being recognized as capable enough to handle the situation alone.

He was one of the top-class operatives among the lieutenant generals. In simulated battles with major generals, he could dominate with the right combination of abilities and opponents.

He had captured and killed many members of Anonymous.

Even if the two were the leader and his partner, he was confident he could kill them with his abilities.

That was what he believed.

However, the battle never became a 2-on-1.

The leader of Anonymous did not see the man as valuable enough.

As the boss of Anonymous, he should have been able to gauge the man's strength from the pressure he emitted.

Yet, he judged that the man could handle it alone.

The man was not overconfident.

He had earned his position as a lieutenant general through his achievements and evaluations.

He had no idea how many times he had vomited blood since joining the self-defense force.

That was his solid confidence.

After Shido's presence completely disappeared, Hyde moved.

He removed his mask, revealing his face.

Then, with a nihilistic smile, he turned his back and flipped his coat.

The man, seeing this, almost lost his composure.

But he held back. This was a clear provocation.

What was required of him as a member of the self-defense force now was to retreat.

He had seen the face of the enemy leader and noted his features.

However, if he could finish the job here, that would be a different story.

The man was confident he could.

He quickly made his decision and exposed his body hidden in the darkness to the moonlight.

Then he declared,

"Count your sins, Anonymous."

The man was already using his ability.

But Hyde was not there.

The man did not panic. He sharpened his senses and remained vigilant.

He was just invisible. The self-defense force had had people like that before.

"Another sin added."

Suddenly, a voice echoed from behind the man.

The man did not turn around.

The moment he heard the voice, his brain had already considered several possible next moves.

The conclusion was defeat.

The man had immediately given up on his life. He felt his life being controlled for the first time. This was the man's ability.

Indeed, there was no way to win.

Ah, he should have retreated.

Such regret echoed hollowly.

But it was too late.

The man tried to say something in his final moments but fell silent.

In the night, a life quietly faded away.

---

---

Sunday.

I had just returned from my morning jog and taken a shower.

I had decided to start training today. I don't know how long it will last, but even if I get discouraged, Roll will probably make me do it.

Anyway, I headed straight to the hideout.

For someone like me, who didn't have much to do on weekends, this new routine was bringing a bit of positive change.

When I arrived at the hideout, I headed straight for Roll's room.

But I encountered someone before I got there.

"Oh, Shizune-kun."

When I bowed to a woman I met in the hallway, she called out to me.

She had black hair and was about my height.

I had never seen her before, but who was she?

"Um..."

"Shido."

Ah, this is Boss's partner, Shido.

So, I've met her a couple of times.

"Long time no see."

"How are you? Getting along with Roll?"

"Yes, pretty well."

"That's good. I'm in a hurry, so let's have tea sometime."

"Sure, see you."

Shido's tone was similar to Roll's.

Or maybe Roll is like Shido. I think she mentioned learning her way of life from Shido.

So, did her tone change because of that?

I watched Shido's back as I thought about this.

Oh, I need to hurry to Roll's room.

I was supposed to be there by 10:00.

When I arrived at the room, a cheerful Roll greeted me.

There were several cardboard boxes in the room that hadn't been there before.

Was Roll in a good mood because of these?

Before I could ask, Roll explained.

"The weapons have arrived."

"Weapons?"

"Yes, yours and mine. Partners use the same type of weapon."

I remember that Shiroatsuchi and Kuroken had several of the same knives.

Weapons, huh. Honestly, I don't think I need them, but they could be useful. I can't attack with my ability yet.

"What are we using?"

"I ordered a variety, so let's decide now."

Roll took out a knife from a drawer and opened all the boxes.

A bunch of weapons wrapped in thick white bags came out. They were mostly small blades.

Roll's eyes were shining.

"How about this?"

With a click, Roll picked up a thin, pointed blade with a handle designed to be held like a claw.

"What's that?"

"It's a Jamadhar. You use it to stab."

Roll demonstrated by thrusting her fist in front of me.

Hmm, it doesn't feel right.

"Isn't it inconvenient to carry?"

"True. But it looks cool, right?

I was joking, but I didn't expect you to take it seriously. You're an idiot."

"It was a joke?"

Still, Roll's excitement was something else.

A girl getting excited about weapons is quite intense.

"By the way, it's not a weapon, but I have a tool I want to try out."

"What is it?"

When I asked, Roll opened a drawer and took something out.

"Here. I had it custom-made by the development department.

It was quite expensive... Of course, I made one for you too. Two in total."

Roll showed me a black cylindrical object.

It was thin enough to fit in her palm, and upon closer inspection, the handle was shaped for a comfortable grip.

"What is it?"

"It's a carbon nanofiber wire launcher. It has 100 meters of wire inside."

"Wow, that's amazing...!"

"Right?"

Roll handed me the other launcher.

I examined it closely.

To think it can do all that in such a small size.

It's really impressive.

"If you press the button near your thumb hard, the wire will be launched with force. It continues to launch as long as you hold the button. You adjust the length by how long you press the button."

"What about this button near my middle finger?"

"If you press that button, it will cut the launched wire.

But once it's cut, the weight at the end of the wire needs to be reloaded, so there's a one-minute delay before the next launch."

"I see."

"Also, this."

Roll took something else out of the drawer and handed it to me.

It was a pair of black gloves.

"To prevent injury from touching the wire directly."

"Ah, thank you.

By the way, can you retract the launched wire?"

"Of course. You just press the launch button lightly while the wire is extended.

But it doesn't have the strength to lift a person."

I see.

I got the general idea.

It could be useful for movement, but it would require a lot of training, and without the lifting function, it would be tough.

I might be better off using it as a weapon. Still, there are other uses, and it's a very convenient tool.

I want to try it out once.

As if reading my mind, Roll said,

"Want to go to the training room?"

"Sure."

---

In the training room, I was trying out the launcher, but it wasn't going well.

When I pressed the button with my thumb, the wire was launched with force. When I slightly released the button, the launched wire quickly retracted and snapped back into the launcher.

However, aiming it at a specific target was difficult.

Roll successfully launched the wire at a metal bar about 10 meters away and wrapped it around it.

The inside of her gloves, which matched mine, was slightly damp with sweat.

"It's not working at all."

"You're not getting the right pressure.

When the wire reaches the target, you need to quickly release the button for a moment."

Even with Roll's explanation, I still couldn't do it.

Roll had started training with the launcher yesterday and was already handling it quite well.

I couldn't help but feel a bit envious of her skill.

"Huff... Why can't I do it?"

"Shizune, I'm getting hungry. Let's go back to the room."

The clock on the other side of the reinforced glass pointed to 1:00 PM.

It was already that late.

I had forgotten the time because the training was quite fun, even if I wasn't doing well.

"Sure."

We decided to practice the launcher later and left the training room.

When we returned to Roll's room, she started preparing a meal.

She said it was "special."

Although she said it was special, it wasn't the first time. This was the second time she had made a special meal for me.

I picked up the weapons scattered on the floor.

I glanced through them, but I still felt I didn't need weapons.

If I had time to train with weapons, I'd rather train my ability.

The launcher was different.

According to Roll, Anonymous has few highly mobile ability users.

The lack of floating ability users is also a subtle weakness.

I am one of the non-floating, non-mobile ability users.

However, Anonymous is said to have high overall firepower.

Still, talking about firepower, each ability user has their own compatibility. Depending on the compatibility, even if there is a difference in strength, they can still put up a good fight.

The ranking in Anonymous is determined by actual battles in a tournament format. Roll is ranked 6th, but there are people ranked below her who are stronger than her.

So, Anonymous even has tournaments.

"Here."

After a while, the meal was placed on the table.

It was pork ginger stir-fry, rice, a lot of cabbage, and miso soup.

There were also leftovers from yesterday.

"Wow, thanks."

I clasped my hands and started eating.

Roll's cooking is quite delicious. The seasoning is just to my taste.

She is a good partner, I suppose.

I praised her cooking to the max.

But she seemed used to being praised and had a matter-of-fact expression.

Would she turn bright red and be happy if someone like Ganki praised her?

...No, that's not her style.

"So, did you find anything good?"

"Good" probably refers to the weapons.

"Hmm, I think the knives like Kuroken's are good."

"There are different types of knives.

They basically use larger daggers for throwing, and the grips are modified.

That's not suitable for us.

We don't need close-combat knives either.

I can kill with a touch, and Shizune doesn't need to get close.

Besides, with Shizune's detection ability, no one can get close anyway."

"Wait, so we don't need weapons?"

"You won't need them once you can properly use your ability. I might not need them either.

...But since you developed your ability late, that's still a long way off, so we need weapons.

Besides, it would be embarrassing not to be able to handle any weapons. Some people have been embarrassed in the field because of that."

Being dispatched to the field. That's a thing too.

"Hmm."

I resumed eating.

Roll also started eating and finished before me.

"How about small throwing knives?

You can't take down an opponent in one hit like Kuroken, but you can blind or immobilize them. You can carry several too."

"Throwing knives. That sounds difficult."

I've heard that you need to adjust the rotation speed based on the distance when throwing knives.

"There's no such thing as an easy weapon to handle."

"Thanks for the meal.

Then, teach me how to use throwing knives."

I took my finished dishes to the kitchen and said that.

"Okay. I'll choose which ones to use, okay?"

"Sure."

Roll will choose the right ones.

I don't know what's best for me.

In any case, our weapons will be throwing knives and the launcher.