"Lycaon? Do you know where Geno went?"
Wise, being the elder brother, was the first to calm down. Since Lycaon put it that way, it proved this was no accident.
"Yes. At my request, Mr. Geno took on the role of bait, and I planted a signal generator on him to track his location."
Lycaon explained the whole situation, then made clear the reason he had come looking for the two of them.
"Just a moment ago, the signal source on Mr. Geno vanished, and the last place it appeared was at the entrance of a small Companion Hollow. That is why I was hoping to obtain the assistance of you two."
When it came to finding someone inside a Hollow, who could possibly be more skilled than the legendary Proxy, Phaethon?
"So that's how it is. But then, since you even brought Geno in on this, do we really still need to go rescue anyone?"
Honestly, Geno getting kidnapped had to be one of the funniest jokes of the century. Sure, he'd volunteered for it, but if Geno really wanted to, couldn't he get out anytime he—
Oh. He can't find his way around. Never mind, then.
Belle had been wondering what need there even was for Lycaon to ask them for help, but after recalling Geno's terrible sense of direction, she silently shut her mouth.
As Geno's good friends, they knew just how absurd his sense of direction was—the kind of person who could get lost even walking in a straight line.
"In that case, let's head back to the shop first. Lycaon, you take Eous and go wait near the Hollow ahead of us. We'll be there soon."
Lycaon nodded, then scooped Eous up into his arms and set off toward the small Hollow where Geno was.
After watching Lycaon leave, Wise and Belle were about to drive back to Sixth Street when they suddenly remembered something and froze in place.
"What's wrong, bro?"
"Belle, do you have the car keys?"
They'd forgotten! They had come in Geno's car today! They didn't have any car keys at all!
Lycaon! Come back! Take the two of us with you!!
Meanwhile, on the other side, Geno—who had been abducted amid the chaos—was now inside a Hollow, blindfolded, hands bound, pinned down in a van as it drove deeper in.
Of course, a situation like this was hardly any trouble for Geno.
It was only to keep this whole act going that he had to keep playing the pitiful hostage, all to earn the kidnappers' trust.
"Hey, big brothers, where exactly are you taking me?"
"Quit yapping. You'll find out when we get there."
One of the kidnappers, finding Geno far too noisy, kicked him in the backside.
But to Geno, that little bit of pain didn't even amount to as much as a mosquito bite during an all-nighter.
He soon changed his mind, though.
"Don't be so rough. A fair-skinned, delicate young master like this—you've got to handle him gently. Isn't that right, pretty boy?"
A dull, coarse voice—that of a burly man—came from right beside Geno's ear.
Then Geno felt someone give his backside a light grope, and instantly every hair on his body stood on end.
Fuck! We've got a gay one here!!!
What the hell were these people even about?! Kidnappers should act like kidnappers! Could they at least be a little more professional?!
Fortunately, the other party didn't seem to have any intention of finishing Geno off on the spot, and Geno barely managed to suppress the urge to beat the man into mincemeat.
And so, jittery the whole way and forcing down his revulsion, Geno was finally brought to the destination.
Once the blindfold came off, Geno immediately began sizing up his surroundings. It looked like an abandoned factory, but judging from the traces of recent cleaning, it seemed to be in constant use—the "abandonment" was probably just a disguise.
But this was inside a Hollow. Just what kind of thing would be manufactured in such a dangerous place?
Geno could tell even by thinking with his ass that it definitely wouldn't be anything legal.
"Heh. Never thought a little punk like you would be the one to ruin my good plans."
Clack. Clack.
The sound of leather shoes walking across the floor reached Geno's ears. Turning to look, he saw Hartman's all-too-familiar face.
"I really can't figure out what that old geezer of the Timefield family saw in you—actually rejecting a partnership with the Ravenlock family and choosing you instead."
For all of Hartman's haughty airs, the truth was that, given the Ravenlock family's current state, any company that partnered with them would be dragged straight down into the muck.
Ravenlock might seize the chance to make a comeback, but the far greater likelihood was that they'd remain mired in the abyss of their decline.
It was a multiple-choice question so simple that even a three-year-old could answer it.
But Hartman—blindly arrogant, throwing his weight around on the lingering prestige of The Exaltists and TOPS—obviously wasn't about to do any self-reflection.
So much so that, to this day, Hartman still couldn't understand why Timefield had refused to partner with him.
Part of it, of course, also had to do with the fact that Twiggy's research had never been made public.
As for that, however, Geno had an even more down-to-earth reason in mind.
"An old man your age, quit putting on airs and chasing after tender young grass! If I were Grandpa Tai, I wouldn't marry Alice off to you either."
Geno's face was full of disgust. How did this stubble-faced, greasy middle-aged man even have the nerve to talk about taking a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old high school girl as his wife?
"Heh. Your tough talk now is nothing but the impotent rage of a loser. True, I no longer need the Timefield family's support anymore—but I'll still make you people understand the consequences of provoking the Ravenlock family."
Hartman paid no mind to Geno's sharp tongue, because as far as he was concerned, no matter how much Geno ranted, it wouldn't change the reality that his opponent had now fallen into his hands.
"Master, everything is ready."
"Mm. Understood."
A lackey at his side leaned in close to Hartman and said a few things Geno couldn't make out, after which Hartman's mood clearly turned eager and impatient.
"Come, let's take our great designer to go have a look at just what kind of surprise we've prepared for him!"
Then, at Hartman's command, Geno was once again hauled up and dragged toward the depths of the factory.
And the further in they went, the colder and grimmer Geno's expression became.
Because these scenes gave him a sense of déjà vu, as if he'd seen them somewhere before.
Could it be—this bastard?!
Geno instinctively tried to push that possibility out of his mind, but as they walked farther and deeper, the heart he'd held in suspense finally sank dead.
Looking at the operating table that, though scrubbed, still hadn't come truly clean, and at the unspeakable things stored in the jars and bottles crowding all around, a nameless fury blazed up in Geno's chest.
"These people are…"
"Heh, scared now? Don't worry, though—soon, you too will become one of them."
Hartman's laughter was smug and unrestrained, but to Geno's ears it truly sounded that grating.
____
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