"This is all your fault!"
Bandaged from head to toe, the minister of finance, Paul Olman, cursed in anger at the five people standing in front of him.
Last night, Team Zero was called to take care of monsters, which were mimics in the form of Olman family members. This was the first case of mimics in the long history of gates and raid – one that could survive outside without a gate break.
Unfortunately, once we arrived, all that was left were signs of wrecked house with no living creature left inside. They had escaped through the windows and were now missing.
Monsters running wild in the city means a high-level danger that could threaten the citizens.
"How are you going to take responsibility for this huh?!"
We were now collecting information from the victim inside the hospital room. It might be unethical to disturb a patient who had just lost his family, but we needed to solve the problem as soon as possible. The bureau had given us access to first-class priority, meaning we could ignore the law as long as it was used to accomplish our mission.
"Because of you-! Because you can't save my wife and kids in time-! They turned into those horrendous monsters! I told you to save them didn't I? You guys are S-Rank espers! The strongest in this country! So why can't you save a woman and her children?! What are we paying you guys for then?!"
"Sir, please calm down. We also tried our best to fulfill the schedule in time, we didn't expect this kind of new monster to emerge inside the gate-"
"Shut up! You know it's an emergency but you can't even manage your team to arrive faster, what kind of manager are you?!"
Paul poured out all his rage on Shelly and our team, and it was justified. Team Zero was responsible for not recognizing the signs and took the monsters out from the gate, causing this mess.
"I apologize for everything Minister. We will try our best to make it up to you."
"You think your apology could bring back my wife and kids?! You fucking piece of shit!"
Paul couldn't contain his anger and grabbed a mug on his bedside, throwing it toward Shelly. The mug flew across the air.
CLANG!
"Ahh!"
"B-Blood!"
Red blood soon dropped onto the floor, the result of collision between sharp ceramic and flesh. But it wasn't Shelly's blood.
"Ethan!"
Ilyas stepped up, calling my name but I raised my hand to stop him from coming closer. I had shielded Shelly instead of pulling her away to dodge because I noticed Ilyas standing behind her. Because of that, I stepped up and the mug hit my head.
My face was expressionless as I stared at the fragments of shattered mug on the floor. But first things first, I needed to address this situation in a calmer manner.
I raised my gaze to the minister, he flinched when our gaze met but regardless, I bowed my head low in front of him.
"Please forgive us, minister. As the captain of this team, I am responsible for the blunder we made."
"..."
"I won't give you any excuses, it was true that we were late to save them. I know lost lives won't be able to be claimed back, so I'll carry this sin with me."
"..."
"Whether you revoke my esper license or put me in jail, I'll take responsibility, but at least let us repent our mistake by setting things straight. We have to hunt those monsters down, so we need every clue you could give us."
I gave my sincere apology in hope that Paul might understand us. Yes, not forgive us but understand our position.
I knew how painful separation from your family felt, especially since I was a transmigrator, who was basically severed from my family the moment I came to this world. But Paul needed to know we were trying our best to take revenge for his family by hunting those monsters while reducing the harm caused to others.
"Ethan..."
"You..."
My team called out to me, but I stood my ground.
Paul gave me a furious look, still fuming in anger. But in the end, he finally sighed and turned his gaze away, not sparing us another glance as he spoke.
"I noticed this last night. When they're wearing their human appearance, they have more trouble speaking than in their original form."
"..."
"And in their human appearance, they resembled their target so much I almost couldn't tell them apart – even down to their habits. There's no way I wouldn't know my own family."
Paul's gaze softened, lost in memories of the past, "If- if their act was influenced by their target's habits and emotions, I knew few places they might visit."
I pulled out my notebook and started writing the spots mentioned by Paul. The more he spoke, the more insight we could get about this mimic.
"Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Olman. We will bring you good news."
I closed my notebook and signaled Shelly. We bowed our heads to give him one last sincere apology and went out of the room.
CLACK!
The door behind us shut.
Ilyas quietly approached me with a handkerchief in hand. He gently dabbed the now dried blood from my forehead with a pained expression.
"It's okay."
I whispered under my breath, giving him a reassuring smile. It would be better for me to get hurt rather than Ilyas. I didn't know what I would do if he were the one getting injured instead.
Shelly gave me an apologetic smile, "Sorry for handling this poorly Ethan, I failed you as your manager."
"No, you already tried your best."
It wasn't entirely Shelly's fault, we as a team had thoroughly failed this mission so we had to fix this somehow.
I gave her a pat on the shoulder, "We are in a rush, so let's get going."
This was a national secret the government wanted to keep, so there was no external help other than the government's intelligence that would help us. Hopefully, we could find them by chance in this sea of humans. Still... Something about this case kept bothering me.
'I have a bad feeling about this.'