Now, what should I do?

  I’ve spent both time and money using the fake name "Kuroda" to get hired as the assistant for this transport vehicle. I’ve made it all the way to Gifu, and now, with just a short distance left to Nagoya, the final destination.

  There’s no time left.

  Before leaving Kyoto, I had a face-to-face meeting with the five bodyguards who are riding in the back of the truck. They look capable, and it seems like it would be difficult to overpower them alone.

  As planned, I’ll need to rely on that child.

  If I ask her, she’ll gladly help. I don’t want to involve her in this kind of job, especially since I think of her like a daughter, but there was no one else I could turn to this time.

  Well, it’s a relatively safe case. With her abilities, she should be able to take care of those bodyguards without injuring them.

  “Everything’s proceeding according to the route, no problems.”

  The driver suddenly started talking to someone on his smartphone.

  “Wait, what’s this...? The route... has changed...! Hey, what’s going on?!”

  I involuntarily raised my voice. But before I could ask any more questions, the vehicle jolted. Something unexpected was beginning.

  “Damn!”

  The vehicle suddenly stopped after being hit from behind. The tremendous impact pressed my body into the seat. In the next moment, another vehicle from the front joined in, completely trapping us. There was no time to be confused. I quickly tried to clear my head, but the answer wasn’t coming immediately.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  One thing I could be sure of was that this situation was nothing like I had predicted.

  The cold sound of heels echoed on the road, and a woman slowly walked up to the driver’s seat.

  "Heh, good job, driver."

  As she spoke, the driver’s face went pale. The henchmen restrained the driver and moved toward us.

  “Don’t move.”

  A cold voice came from behind me, and my arm was grabbed. I instinctively tried to react but chose to stay still, pretending to be Kuroda and allowing myself to be restrained.

  The two bodyguards who went on the offensive did well, but they were up against the wrong opponents.

  Even in Special Operations, it would be difficult to defeat someone of that caliber.

  For a while, I did nothing but observe their movements, carefully watching the situation.

  “Now that I think about it… the captain’s Adept Stone was Tiger’s Eye, wasn’t it?”

  “Oh, yeah, I think so…”

  The woman took out several Tiger’s Eye stones from a case, inserted one into an illegal device, and placed it in the unconscious captain’s hand, activating it.

  The activation sound echoed, and the device emitted a faint glow.

  The woman nodded lightly, throwing the device aside, signaling that the attackers were ready to carry out the mission of moving the rare stones.

  Now, what should I do...?

  Normally, I would just observe and make an escape plan, but if those rare stones really exist, such an opportunity may not come again.

  (Should I blow it up...?)

  Before we left, I had set up an explosive device in the transport vehicle. It was something the doctor had made for me. Originally, I had planned to use it for the attack, but with this unexpected situation, I had no choice but to adjust the plan.

  Now, it seems like using the explosion to escape and alert my team about the trouble might be the best option.

  I might even be able to take those rare stones...

  Making my decision, I pressed the switch on the bomb.

  A few seconds later — with a deafening sound, the transport vehicle exploded. Sparks and debris flew in all directions.

  At the same time, I freed myself from the restraints and knocked out the henchmen around me, who were distracted by the explosion.

  It was easy to take them down. I also dealt with the driver, who would have caused trouble if he had started yelling that the assistant had escaped.

  While the explosion diverted their attention, I had to go after the cases that were blown away by the blast.

  I glanced at the attackers, and I noticed one of them had a case in hand.

  (...I can't reach that one.)

  After a moment of thought, I looked again at the two cases that had flown further away.

  "The chances are 50-50."

  Well, I should be able to hit that much...

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