It said that their information had already reached the Ashburn Arlen side, they had begun checking up on Ro and Upsilon, and they needed to return by tomorrow morning. Since for the past four days they had only visited the orphanage in the afternoon after lunch, there would effectively be no time for the orphanage tomorrow, which meant today was basically the last day of the mission.

“Even if you have some brilliant Plan B, the time is still way too tight, isn’t it?”

At last, Ro sat up with a serious face and looked at Upsilon. The expression was serious, but the bedhead sticking up like a bird’s nest undercut how dramatic it felt.

“What do you think Boss would do with the invitation list if we found it?”

At Upsilon’s sudden question, Ro thought about it for a moment before answering.

“He would check what the invitees have in common and, depending on the case, try contacting them. Why were those people invited to the charity event, whether they are friendly to Ashburn Arlen, whether any of them changed their minds, or if we can even get hold of an invitation, we might be able to forge invitations and infiltrate future charity events.”

Having the invitation list would make planning ahead easier and might also make it much easier to dig into Ashburn Arlen, but that would only come after securing the list. Robert had said to pull out if they could not confirm the list’s location by today, which meant he had already accounted for the possibility that they might fail to obtain it.

That meant he valued Ro and Upsilon getting out safely without being discovered by Ashburn Arlen more highly than taking the risk to secure the list.

“Ro. On the first day in the car coming here, you asked me, didn’t you? You said I must have my own Plan B.”

“…Yeah, I remember. You said it had no meaning right now and did not tell me.”

Ro nodded, but he looked at Upsilon with deeply ominous eyes. And before Upsilon could say the next words, he hurriedly added,

“Hmm. How do I put this… it is obviously not going to be a normal, safe Plan B, right?”

“Normal? Safe? In this situation?”

“Just in case. …No, sorry. Pretend you did not hear that.”

Seeing Upsilon frown as if to say, Try saying something that makes sense, Ro quickly withdrew his own words. Right, in this situation, what was there to nitpick? The mission was hanging by a thread, so they had to try something. Then Ro’s gaze drifted to the mirror on the bedside table.

His hair, all spiky and messy from sleeping buried under the blankets, was a total disaster. It was a little embarrassing to talk business looking like this in front of Upsilon, who had just showered and looked like his handsome face was shining.

“First, let me shower. Wait a bit. I need to wash up and get my head straight.”

“Okay. Did you sleep properly today too?”

“Yep. Honestly, I think I slept even better than yesterday. It is rare for me to sleep this well without medicine, so I guess the hotel blankets are just good. I already wrote down the blanket brand too. I plan to order them as soon as I get back after the mission ends.”

“I’m glad. Go shower. I’ll report to the boss that we are proceeding with Plan B.”

After Upsilon finished speaking, Ro nodded and headed to the bathroom. Once the bathroom door closed, Upsilon carefully sprayed the portable pheromone deodorizer he had requested from the front desk on the first day all over the room. Of course, he did not forget the bed and blankets where Ro had just been lying, the places that had been thickest with his pheromones.

“Wow, uh… hmm… okay. So we’re setting fire to the orphanage and securing the ledger while the evacuation route is in chaos?”

“Yeah. The plan itself is simple.”

After showering, Ro came out and had trouble figuring out how to react to the Plan B Upsilon explained. Upsilon had described his own plan as, “All or nothing.”

If his plan succeeded, they could definitely secure the ledger effectively within a short period. It was typical of Upsilon, who preferred fast and efficient methods, but as Ro had feared, his style still had points that made it hard for Ro to accept at once.

“Boss approved it. There is some risk involved, and he cannot promise we will secure the ledger one hundred percent, so he said whether we actually carry it out should be decided according to the situation on site.”

Upsilon watched Ro, who was sitting on the edge of the neatly made bed, towel-drying his still-damp hair with an uncertain expression. He had already known Ro would not like his plan, but there was no other way now.

Even if there had been another way, there was barely any time left on the mission limit. That was why Ro could not flat-out say no or refuse. Ro looked troubled, his mind clearly tangled, and then he opened his mouth to look at Upsilon.

“I understand enough about what your plan is. It does seem extreme, though. But if we go with that plan, this mission will…”

“It will turn into a black mission.”

“Yeah.”

And silence. Ro only had two choices. If he did not like Upsilon’s plan, he could reject it and report the mission failure to Robert before pulling out, or he could execute it on the basis that there was nothing to lose. Ro seemed to be calculating those two choices, along with any other possible alternatives, but unfortunately Upsilon had no intention of giving him a choice.

“Ro. From where I stand, it does not look like we can gain anything more from the orphanage today. Even if you do not like this plan, I am going to carry it out tonight as is.”

“…Fine. If there really is no other way like you say, then there is nothing else to do. I’ll think of a way to minimize the damage…”

“No.”

The moment it became a black mission, someone in the orphanage would almost certainly be injured or killed. Ro wanted to reduce the sacrifice of innocent people as much as possible if the situation could not be avoided, but Upsilon cut him off. Ro’s eyes turned to him.

“I’m going to move alone at night.”

“What?”

“My Plan B is something I will carry out by myself. It will be faster that way.”

At Upsilon’s words, Ro crossed his arms and let out a short laugh.

“Oh, so you’re going to treat me like dead weight?”

“I am not treating you like dead weight. This is how I have always done it. Even during the previous black mission at the illegal laboratory, I was the only one who directly handled the mission on site.”

“……”

“What you did over the past three days, your way, was valuable, and if we had had more time, the result would have been better than this. But the situation has become what it is, so even if you do not like it, I want you to go along with my way this time. Or do you have another method?”

Another method? None. Even if he tried to think of one, no matter how good it was, there was too little time to pursue safety in a way that fit Ro’s style. Even if such a method existed, Upsilon did not seem likely to agree to it now. As Upsilon had said, the only choices left were to follow him or pull out after mission failure.

For the past three days, Upsilon had stayed thoroughly in character as Mr. Vince. He had followed Ro’s plan to build rapport with the orphanage staff and gather information without complaint. Upsilon had silently followed Ro’s method of minimizing unnecessary sacrifice even when it took time, and now that method had hit its limit, Ro had no reason to refuse him.

Ro looked at Upsilon, who waited without changing expression, and after a moment let out a small sigh.

“Fine. After sunset today, I won’t interfere with whatever you do, so do it your way. Even if I do not follow you, let me know if there is anything I can back you up on.”

Ro was not foolish enough to dig in his heels just because he disliked Upsilon’s method, so he nodded and agreed. Only after the conversation ended did Upsilon speak again, watching Ro towel-dry his still-damp hair.

“Not as backup, but can you get Anne out of the orphanage today?”

The moment Anne’s name came out of Upsilon’s mouth, Ro looked at him, bewildered.

“She seems to have had contact with Ashburn Arlen, and Anne’s parents and younger brother are presumed victims of Magnet, right? Over the past three days, Anne seemed favorable toward you, and I think the information she knows could help Amabile.”

Anne was the first family member of a Magnet victim that Amabile had encountered. There was no way to confirm it, but perhaps she had not realized it herself and was already a victim who had been given Magnet S or N. Like Upsilon said, over the past three days, Anne had been much more comfortable with the smiling, gentler Ro than with the alpha Upsilon, who had a somewhat cold first impression.

If Ashburn Arlen was threatening her and she wanted to get away from them, maybe they could use that to get information from Anne about Ashburn Arlen, Magnet, or that suspicious charity event.

Thinking of the fact that Upsilon had been in contact with Robert just now, was this Robert’s idea? Ro figured out Upsilon’s intent quickly and let out a soft laugh.

“That much is nothing.”

“You should also consider the possibility that someone besides Evelyn is keeping an eye on Anne.”

“I’ll handle that.”

“Then it looks like everything for today is settled. I need to do some prep work for tonight’s infiltration, so I’m heading out first today.”

Perhaps thinking he would have to wait helplessly for Upsilon in the hotel after sunset, Ro seemed to regain some energy once he had something to do. Upsilon left him behind and headed for the room door.