Enoki Daigo or The Iron Ball.
From where I stood hidden in a tree, I watched him. Even sitting down, the man was massive compared to the women pouring him sake.
'I should've brought some with me…'
Withholding a sigh, I jotted down the time he entered the brothel and compared it to the other times he'd shown up.
"Should have a few hours."
Closing the notebook and tucking it into my pants, I jumped from the tree onto a rooftop, heading toward one of the loyalists under Daigo's command.
'I've got a week before Rin and I go on a mission.'
Clicking my tongue, I mulled over what I'd uncovered about Daigo. To say there was a lot would be an overstatement. The man didn't have some tragic past or shady dealings—at least, nothing outside of what was already under Mizuki's name. On the surface, he seemed completely normal. Not the kind of person who would plan a coup.
But the deeper I dug into Daigo's life and those around him, the more I realized—he controlled Kumamoto. Or at least, he did, until the Council of Elders decided it was time for him to step down.
'And so, for the past twenty years, he and his loyal men and women have been biding their time.'
I wouldn't be surprised if the Elders were aware the whole time.
Letting out a deep sigh, I stopped running across rooftops as I reached one of the loyalist bases. My eyes scanned for the highest ranking officer's location. Once I spotted it, I paused to reconsider whether what I was about to do was really the best course of action.
'I could wait for the coup and swoop in to wipe out the rest, but…'
I wanted recognition. And I wouldn't get that by letting someone else do the heavy lifting. If I did let Daigo succeed, I wasn't sure he had a plan for Mizuki's drugs—the same drugs that made her men so loyal.
If he did have a plan, then my own would get delayed—or completely derailed—especially once my relationship with Mizuki was factored in. On the other hand, if he didn't and just let all those addicts die, sure, that would simplify things. One less mess to clean up. But I didn't want to leave it to chance—not when my current plan was something I had confidence in.
'That leads me to this…'
I'd plant messages and letters to each of the high ranking officers in Daigo's regiment, convincing them that he wanted everyone to meet at his main base because he believed the time for the uprising had come. Then I'd shut off their escape routes and wipe them out.
Was I confident I could kill what I estimated to be close to a thousand men and women?
No. No, I was not.
I wasn't confident I could even take them in a fair fight—armed and prepared to die for their cause. And that wasn't even counting Daigo. I wasn't confident I could beat him one-on-one, not the way I was now.
Even from a distance just observing him, I could feel the pressure rolling off him—even when he looked relaxed. I knew then that even if I tried to assassinate him, it would fail. Miserably.
So how did I plan to take down nearly a thousand fighters—and a man who could probably take on a thousand by himself?
Absinthe. Tobacco resin. Belladonna leaves. Amanita muscaria powder. And finally, venom from a highly venomous snake.
Combined through a specific process, they'd create a brew I'd only used three times in my previous life.
Though I had never named it, Yukiko decided it to be aptly named, Berserker Brew.
'And I know just the person to get me all these ingredients without raising any alarms.'
With the pieces falling into place, I wrote the first letter before heading out to contact my supplier, Tsukino Kaito.
-
"…You… want me to get what, exactly?"
Lying on the grass in my secluded training area, I watched the clouds drift by as Kaito mumbled something on the other end.
"You want me to repeat the items again?"
A sigh followed before I heard him typing.
"No, no… It's fine. I know someone who's got connections—someone that can get these anonymously."
I hummed, mostly just relieved I wouldn't need to hunt down someone else for this.
"The hell is this even for? I mean, Absinthe I get for drinking. But what the fuck is Amanita Muscaria Powder used for?"
I snorted, shoulders rising in a shrug as the cold grass brushed against the back of my neck.
"A few things that'll help me wipe out one of Mizuki's sub leaders. Enoki Daigo. Heard of him?"
Kaito coughed loudly before fumbling with the phone and bringing it back to his ear.
"I've heard the rumors about a coup, but I didn't think that bitch would bother with them… Fuck… This complicates things on my end."
I raised an eyebrow, then shrugged it off. 'This Coup seems more well known than I thought.'
"Right… Not sure if I should mention it Tsukino-san, but I'll be going on a mission soon—with one of my teammates. Her name's Shimizu Rin—"
I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear as something crashed on his end, followed by frantic fumbling.
"D-Did you say Shimizu?!"
I hummed in confirmation, nodding out of habit even though he couldn't see me.
"Fuck… Fuck!"
I waited in silence for him to calm down before speaking again.
"Sounds like there's a history? Something with her family?"
He snorted, and the exhaustion in his voice was sudden and heavy.
"If you count my wife's family name being Shimizu, then yeah there's history. Fuck, I didn't think… Sorry, Sato-san. I think I need a drink. I'll get you the items as fast as I can… Just—make sure she stays safe, okay?"
He hung up.
I was left staring at my phone, a little confused about what just happened. Shrugging, I sat up and decided that I'd keep Rin alive as best I could for whatever Kaito needed her for.
'Now to wait for the items to show up…'