A week had passed since then.
Sabine-chan and Colette-chan had also resumed going to school, and their classmates were just as close as ever…or rather, they seemed to be getting along better than before.
Well, they both were the ones who saved their lives, so they couldn't show how cool they were…
Both of them were said to be at the height of their popularity as superheroines, allies of justice, on a par with "Mysterious Beautiful Warrior, Commando Kamen."
…limited to the class.
Yes, it seemed like their classmates and teachers were keeping the secret well.
As expected of a priestess! As expected of pious lambs!! …lamb is delicious… It's lamb meat! No, it's nothing.
If reports were to be believed, it seemed that the criminals were not professional agents or trained terrorists, but simply an unplanned jewellery robbery.
It's true that in addition to guns, they had folding knives, but they didn't have any special concealed weapons or poison.
After all, they were just stupid criminals, or a disposable piece of trash who was tricked into hiring them…
In the first place, if you had a good idea of making money that is guaranteed to succeed, you would do it yourself without asking others.
Having someone else do it for you means that you are safe whether you succeed or fail, and you can make the idiots expendable and make them do it again and again until you succeed, and once you receive the stolen goods you cut off the contact and don't pay any money, so the only thing the perpetrator gets for working for free is a criminal record.
Do you think that the person who approached you to commit a crime will keep his word or pay you properly?
It's simply incomprehensible me that anyone would trust someone who would use others to commit crimes, or throw their life away for a reckless, amateurish crime that has a low chance of success.
Besides, things like jewelry and luxury watches can't be sold properly without a warranty, and their value drops dramatically if they're treated as second-hand goods. The industry for these sorts of things is smaller than you'd think, and stolen goods are easily discovered...
The serial numbers of watches and other items are recorded, so as soon as you go to sell them or send them in for repair, you'll be immediately reported and traced, and everyone will be out.
When it comes to jewelry, many people are shocked by the huge difference in price between when they bought it and when they sold it.
If the cut or design goes out of fashion, it's normal for the only price to be the gold bullion price of the setting and ring part. In Japan, turning jewelry into assets is a bit of a problem...
And here, the issue was the source of the gun.
It seemed they brought their own knives, but the gun was loaned to them by someone who had put out an online recruitment request.
In other words, there was a high probability that there was an organization that smuggles a large amount of disposable cheap guns together with the people they hired. That's what the commentators on TV were saying too.
Well, the odds of aiming for a Sabi-Colé duo from the beginning was pretty low, so I wasn't too worried about that.
If the two of them were the target, they would probably have to kidnap or assault them both instead of doing something so conspicuous. As soon as they got to those two, they'd be able to find out more about this monthly apartment…
This way, they would have to negotiate with the Japanese government and police instead of with me, and as soon as it was revealed that I was involved, other countries would start interfering.
At first, I didn't know whether it was intentional or coincidental that the Sabi-Colé duo were among the hostages, but they were treated as just hostages like the other classmates, with no approach towards them. That possibility was quickly ruled out.
In the first place, very few people knew that Sabi-Colé duo were studying abroad, that they were studying abroad in Japan, and that was here.
…yes, maybe that's about His Majesty the King of that country, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the person in charge of the Intelligence Bureau, and his subordinates, who prepared the nationality and approved the request to study abroad.
The Japanese side must have thought that it was simply a study abroad program for the children of that country's nobility.
The information-related departments were probably poking their noses right now, and it looked like they'd found out.
However, no matter how hard they tried, they would end up in a certain country's royal palace.
There's no way they could just charge in there, and they probably wouldn't have the courage to charge at us, knowing that it would incur our wrath.
If you interfered with our quiet and peaceful enjoyment of studying abroad, you would cause us displeasure. An idiot who didn't understand something as simple as that would never get promoted in the information department.
Moreover, this time, the people from another world (us) were involved in a local crime. We had the official title and nationality of aristocrats from a certain country in this world.
Japan's position was very bad. They probably didn't want to spread the word that "We encountered danger in Japan" as much as possible. Both as our public status (the children of nobility from a certain country) and as our private status (a royal family from another world)...
Also, although I didn't tell them my purpose, I was able to borrow various tools such as a wristwatch-type communication device and was taught how to disguise myself by a lady from the intelligence agent of a certain country.
Even without being told anything, they would know that it was something to be used on Earth, and because the fixed unit had a larger casing, it would be easy to set up a mechanism to confirm its location.
Since it's originally a machine for emitting radio waves, it's a simple job of just installing a microchip.
Well, it didn't really matter, so I just left it alone.
Even if they found out about this, all they would know was that "a faction from another world, including Viscount Nanoha, sent talented children to study in developed countries on Earth for a short period of time."
There was no information that connected me to Mitsuha Yamano, an ordinary citizen who lived in a town several hundred kilometers away from here, and the reason why Japan was chosen as a study abroad destination was because the children were fascinated by Japanese manga and anime.
…Actually, that's true, and that's what I'd explained to the people from the country where I received my citizenship.
The person in charge gave me a wry smile, but considering it was such a silly reason, it was extremely convincing.
It was easy to believe that they studied Japanese for manga and anime. There were many people like that on earth. That's what Sabi-Colé duo also explained to the people at the academy.
Ah, according to the police forensics investigation results, there was no evidence of any firearms being used inside the school, and no warheads, shell casings, or bullet holes were found, and there was no smoke reaction. There were no rubber bullets or anything like that…
It seemed that the possibility of a less-lethal weapon that did not use gunpowder was used was investigated based on the testimonies of the hostages and the criminal, but no fragments of the warhead were found inside the room or on the criminal's clothes. They had no choice but to conclude that there was no possibility of that happening.
…of course it was.
There's no way someone could have collected all the shattered resin pieces and small lead balls packed as cushioning material in such a short time.
…for anyone other than me, right?
At best, this could be thought of as something like a more powerful air cannon.
Although it's called an air cannon, it didn't mean the ones that appeared in a certain anime, it just means something that shoots out high-pressure compressed air toward the front…
…and unlike air guns, which are completely different things, air cannons have nothing to do with the Firearms and Swords Act.
Even if it was believed that "Pretty Warrior, Commando Kamen" used it, there would be no wanted notice for suspicion of violating the Sword and Firearms Control Law.
Well, she's a person who had absolutely nothing to do with me, so it didn't really matter, yeah.