The day after their arrival, Hajime and his team members were enjoying their well-deserved vacation, unaware of the events that had unfolded the previous night.

"Boring." (Kimiko)

"Excuse me?" (Kohaku)

"You heard me. We're in a pool on a summer day, in a beautiful hotel—paid for by someone else—and you're spending all your time in the shade with a computer! You're a nerd! An elite hikikomori!" (Kimiko)

"Can you leave?! Go bother Hajime or Kuro!" (Kohaku)

Kohaku and Kimiko were arguing, for the umpteenth time. Hajime and Kuro had recently dragged Cloe along to keep her from losing her good mood, which was threatened by the two girls' childish squabble.

"Why don't you want to have fun with us?! It's not nice if you stay all alone off to the side! It feels like we're on a mission! Damn it! If you work so hard without trying to have fun... t-then... aaah! Do whatever you want!! I don't care anymore!" 

With those last words, the 16-year-old left to cool off her anger before doing something drastic.

The [Esper] noticed a certain emotion behind her tone—beyond simple anger. Maybe her insistence on taking a break wasn't just a childish outburst.

"(Why is she so stubborn?! I'm not going to die just for using the laptop too much! Although... maybe something from her past bothers her? Am I projecting onto her? Now that I think about it, Kimiko-chan has never talked about her life before the [New Dawn]... I’m the leader; I shouldn't sow discord like this... I'll apologize to her later.)"

While pondering this, her research bore fruit, catching her attention.

"(Hmm... Fumio-sensei called back for some mission, without telling us the details, and now this? Why aren't the frequencies used by our group active in the district? I don’t see any activity from the [New Dawn] computers. Strange, this isn’t the center; they shouldn’t be so cautious like us... No, I must be paranoid. I don’t know how the others work in different districts... maybe Kimiko-chan is right: I need a break.)"

Putting away her laptop, the 17-year-old dove into the water while waiting for Kimiko to clear her mind and her anger.

Meanwhile, Kohaku was floating on her back, gazing at her friends with the corner of her eye.

"(Cloe-chan looks at me disapprovingly from down there, Kuro and Hajime do the same... Haa... I better come up with something to improve the mood of this vacation.)" (Kohaku)

************

Meanwhile, in Japan, in a secret location, a meeting was taking place that would have a huge impact on the future plans of the [New Dawn], on the fate of all Asia, and perhaps even the entire world.

There, the [Omega Mage] knew many secrets, hidden for centuries. The burdens of the secrets she had kept were heavy, even for her, but it was necessary—not only to save millions of lives of [Fumetsu], but also for the world itself.

After all, she was an artificial vampire—the living proof that humanity and the earth were not "alone."

And that external threats to the planet could one day arrive.

At this moment, Yukihime and Izumi, respectively the founder and one of the leaders of the organization, who aimed to overthrow Goto, were seated at a table, discussing with a group of Japanese and Chinese politicians, for hours, explaining every detail of their plan.

"Yukihime-sama, everything we've done will be useless if we don't have a date to start the operations. Our careers—no, our entire lives—depend on perfect timing, which we must implement to have the maximum impact on our respective peoples."

One of the men from the Rising Sun country spoke.

"Right now, you have accumulated tons of files on Goto and his illicit dealings, his accomplices, affiliates, subordinates, and colleagues. I believe it's time to start disclosing them."

"Not yet." (Yukihime)

"When will it be? For years, you’ve promised to overthrow him, but for now, all you've done is observe and wait!" 

"Please calm down. Things aren’t that simple." (Izumi)

One of the Chinese members started to laugh, and his compatriots followed immediately. The Japanese man who had initiated the discussion was in no mood to be ridiculed.

"Do you find that funny?! I remind you that in your country, the penalty for treason and conspiracy is—"

"I know it well. You don’t need to tell me... We're all risking our necks trying to break the status quo. The fragile balance that exists between the nations of the world and the seven artificial islands of Asia is nearly a century old, outdated for just as long, but few realize it."

The Chinese politician swallowed saliva and adjusted his collar.

"I don't need you to remind me! Separating those who are different from sight makes us no better than Nazis! Now more than ever, we need to be united! Only together: humans, [Esper], and [mages], can defend ourselves against external threats to our world! We don't know when or where new breaches will open! Your country didn’t perhaps defeat a dozen dragons years ago!?" (Japanese)

"Yes, exactly. I saw with my own eyes those overgrown lizards burn a battalion of mages before they were killed. And I’ve heard the words of those hiding the truth under the rug, refusing to accept that technology alone isn’t enough to protect the world!" (Chinese)

"So why don’t you agree with me?! We need to accelerate the operation! When the situation becomes critical, the system of artificial islands must already be dismantled! These events used to be rare, but over the last 8 decades, the number of mages has more than quadrupled in Asia alone!" 

"I fully agree with you! But your naivety is amusing! Do you think Yukihime-sama has lived 200 years without learning anything? If we reveal the truth about Goto, that manipulator could use it to his advantage! 'The Asian Federation took away my freedom of choice! In exchange for saving many, I had to compromise and sacrifice the few! If I hadn’t, they would have bombed the entire island!' That’s what she would say! Worst case, we might find ourselves with millions of [mages] and [Esper] against us! At that point, Goto would be unstoppable!"

Japanese and Chinese officials began arguing, insulting each other in their native languages, while Izumi tried to calm them. Eventually, even the former scientist lost her patience.

"Remember who our enemies are, gentlemen!" (Izumi)

At Izumi’s words, the two groups stopped fighting and sat back down. Thanks in part to Yukihime’s instinct for violence, which now gave her the chance to speak.

Her eyes were slightly glowing from the intense emotions she was experiencing.

“You both have a point. We can't be hasty, or everything we've worked for will be wiped out, but we can't wait any longer... give me two more years, and I promise, Goto will fall... For all the lives he has destroyed, for the future of humanity and the world, I will free [Fumetsu] from his influence, and you will root out his accomplices from your governments. Today, the tempers have flared too much... we’ll continue tomorrow."

A few minutes later, everyone left, except for the two [mages], who finally broke the tense silence between them.

"When will we tell the others the truth?.... they think we came here to get political support, not for 'this'... it’s hard to lie." (Izumi)

"I know. But for now, everyone must focus on the [Black Corps]. When that’s over, and we break the status quo, we will be honest. You know very well that freeing [Fumetsu] will only be the beginning; the other six islands will follow our example..." (Yukihime)

“Or they will be destroyed. Bombed by anti-mage weapons by those who fear our power too much.” (Izumi)

“This isn’t the world of 50 years ago, Izumi! Destroying a place full of women and children would be political suicide. There would be revolts everywhere, and no one would want to pretend nothing happened, knowing it could happen to them! It would be an era of utter chaos.” (Yukihime)

“I hope it truly will be so.” (Izumi)