He was about as tall as Kikuoka, but looked a lot shorter. His whitened hair was standing like a hill of swords, and he was wearing round rimmed spectacles that did not look too elegant. His attire of a T- shirt was faded in color, the three-quarter length jeans and the sneakers with damaged soles made him look no different from his time in university. Higa Takeru, someone she had not met in 5, 6 years, showed a sheepish smile on his boyish face that matched his body build, and said, “That’s me. As the last student of the Shigemura lab, if I don’t inherit the will of my mentors, who will?” “Really...you’re the same as ever.” The Shigemura lab in the Touto University Electrical and Electronic Engineering had two prodigious figures, Kayaba Akihiko and Sugou Nobuyuki, and Higa was under the shadows of those two like an existence in hiding. When was he involved in such a classified grand- scale plan? Rinko thought as she reached her hand out to hold her past protégé’s hand. “...Then? Who’s the third person?” She again asked after the third person, but the Self-Defense Officer showed that enigmatic-like smile that never changed and shook his head slightly. “Unfortunately, I can’t introduce him for now. Don’t worry, in a few days...” “Then, I’ll help you say the name aloud, Kikuoka-san.”