He trailed off as an off-road vehicle appeared near a distant building. In the back of the MP-driven vehicle sat a large well-built man who looked exactly as one would expect of someone in a high position. A military enthusiast might have been able to tell his precise rank from the details of his uniform.
He was the commander of the base.
“Mr. President.”
When he saw the man looking down from the parked off-road vehicle, Kamijou felt his body stiffen. The nameplate on the man’s chest said Bax Silver.
Birdway had said Saronia was lessening her burden by only directly controlling the commander at the top and indirectly controlling the rest through the command structure.
That meant it was possible the other soldiers would not follow an order to shoot the president. No one would want to be known as the man who killed the president.
However, Bax Silver was different.
He was being controlled by Saronia’s spell, so there was a danger of him simply following an order to shoot the president without thinking of the consequences.
The presence of the automatic pistol hanging at his waist seemed especially heavy.
Kamijou swallowed audibly.
With his right hand, he could possibly remove Saronia’s control of the commander, but a few meters was within the kill zone for a handgun.
As Kamijou tried to figure out what to do, the commander made his move.
“I just received word that you were here. I’m so glad you are okay! I will have the base do everything we can to protect you!!”
(…Huh?)
Kamijou’s eyebrows moved up slightly and a similar thought seemed to be going through Mikoto’s head. Kamijou started to think they were being invited into some kind of trap, but…
“She can’t do it,” Birdway whispered.
She stepped past the president and toward Bax with a sneer on her face.
“You could kill the president right now, but if you did, you would lose your indirect control over this base in the confusion it caused. That is why you cannot kill him. At least not now. You must wait for the Trigger to be taken from the base.”
Bax Silver’s body trembled slightly.
It looked more like it was based on someone else’s feelings than on the commander’s own conflict.
“The fact that she cannot use the commander as a disposable tool proves something else. I already gave the answer, but do you know what that is?”
“…The Trigger is still here?” muttered Roberto before clearing his throat and taking a more “official” tone of voice. “Commander, I would like some information regarding the storage of the Trigger. Where exactly is the Trigger right now?”
Bax’s body trembled even more.
Someone was conflicted over whether to take action then or not.
Mikoto and Accelerator lowered their center of gravity slightly, but then…
“…Th-the Trigger is…”
The commander’s lips began to move.
He continued to speak as an unnatural sweat appeared on his face.
“…on the runway. It has been authorized to be taken to the island of Hawaii on a transport plane…”
“Let’s go,” muttered Birdway. “Saronia herself is likely sheltered in that ‘most welcoming place’. As Gremlin wishes to use the Trigger on Kilauea, it would be fastest to transport the user along with the device.”
“But there are three transport planes? Which one is the Trigger on…?” asked Mikoto as she stared over at the runway.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.
Kamijou and the others frantically turned around and saw the base commander had drawn his handgun. However, the bullet had not hit anyone. The nearby MP grabbed him and held him down to the ground. Most likely, the MP had jumped at him before he had fired.
“Don’t worry about him,” said the president quietly. “We will take out the cause and bring this all to an end.”