Ashen Requiem-Chapter 68: Night Owls 02

10:00 PM

Shigeo’s room was locked from the inside, curtains drawn, lights dimmed. Everything to avoid suspicions.

Inside, a handful of students had gathered in the tiny living space, a cramped lounge with walls plastered in maps and old photos of Shigeowith his grand father.

A low price coffee maker hissed quietly in the corner. No one touched it.

Giana tapped her finger nervously on the low table. Looking irritated by this unexpected guest.

Saya stared at her phone without really reading anything.

Scott, slouched on the floor, chewed a tasteless energy bar.

Mina curled up into herself, hugging a cushion tightly.

Shigeo paced restlessly back and forth.

Everyone was there. Everyone... except Dante.

A tense silence had settled over them since the start.

The red-haired girl — Ginny — hadn’t been invited.

And yet, there she was. No one knew her except Shigeo.

They all stared, especially Giana, who had never seen her before.

Ginny sat with arms crossed, gaze cold.

— "We don’t have the luxury of debating why he’s locked up. What matters is getting him out."

She stepped forward and placed a folded piece of paper on the table.

Giana looked at it but didn’t touch it.

— "What is that?" Giana asked.

— "Instructions," Ginny replied. "That’s all."

Giana frowned, arms still crossed.

— "And you are...? Never seen you before. You just barge in with orders?"

— "I take care of Dante. That’s all you need to know."

A shiver ran down Giana spine.

Saya let out a low whistle.

— "Okay, you are now certified scary, congratulation." She said sarcastically, clapping her hands.

Giana snatched the paper and unfolded it.

She skimmed it, eyebrows furrowing deeper with every line.

— "You’re bold, I’ll give you that. Never seen you, and now you want us to short out the academy’s power grid? Ballsy."

Ginny didn’t flinch.

— "It’s the supply line for the cameras and listening devices in that building. We trigger a targeted surge, trip the breaker. It’ll take them at least two or three minutes to reboot the loop manually. I’ll have two minutes to act."

— "Wait... You mean Dante?" Saya asked.

Ginny nodded without looking away.

— "He’s being held in a kind of dimensional capsule. It must be classified top secret due to his sudden disappearance. He is under constant surveillance. As long as the system’s up, we can’t do anything."

— "You mean... they’ve trapped him in a spatio-temporal loop? They have terrifying powers or tools." Mina whispered, horrified.

— "Something like that."

— "And you? Who told you where he was? Where’d you get the schematics? How do you know all this?" Giana pressed, irritation rising.

Ginny met her stare. No hostility, just a weariness — like the questions themselves exhausted her.

— "I just do, another question ?"

Giana kept staring.

— "You say you look after him... So where were you? When we were sabotaging that livestream, hoping he’d make it? Why didn’t we ever see you?"

Ginny looked away, a look of sadness passing over her expression.

— "Because I wasn’t supposed to be seen. Except by that idiot Shigeo. Dante didn’t want me involved. And... I couldn’t act without tipping the scales."

— "Why show up now? Why not yesterday, or the day he was arrested?" Giana stood her ground, arms still folded, clearly unconvinced.

Ginny sighed.

— "Because he thinks I abandoned him. And because he needs answers — even if he won’t ask for them."

Giana felt a pang in her chest. Bitterness. Maybe jealousy.

She folded her arms tighter, her cheeks blushing.

— "So what are you then? His secret sister? A spy from some underground cult? Or his girlfriend?"

— "I’m his servant." Ginny said plainly.

Then she added :

— "And I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he survives. Even if it means getting my hands dirty."

Saya nodded quietly.

— "We’re with him too. Even if we don’t get all of it."

She pulled out a crumpled sheet, handwritten.

— "Shigeo, you’re handling the power surge. The secondary panel’s two floors above the gym. Five wires. Cut two. Let the overload handle the rest."

Shigeo took the paper, read it twice, then nodded, serious.

— "Alright. We’ll do it your way. But if this is a trap, I’m handing you to security. And filming the whole thing." Giana said with a sigh.

Ginny gave a faint smile.

— "Deal." Never make a deal with Ginny especially when she smiles like that.

Then she paused.

— "I’m not asking you to believe me. I’m just asking you to let me try."

She stood, grabbed her coat, and headed to the door.

— "Where are you going?" Shigeo asked.

She stopped for a second.

— "Where I belong."

Then she was gone — as quickly as she’d appeared — leaving the group with a thousand unanswered questions.

---

The next day – 11:03 PM

Under Shigeo’s bed, the tools were already lined up :

Smoke bombs, a toolbox, short-range signal jammers, and most importantly... a matte black uniform, thermoregulated and optically absorbent.

Shigeo zipped up the suit and stood, slipping on his tactical glasses. A green light blinked to life in one of the lenses.

— "...Hey agent snake, you going to assassinate someone or just cut the power?" Saya asked, sitting on the bed with a bag of chips.

Shigeo didn’t answer — just fastened his gloves in silence, his face still so serious.

— "This school’s surveillance is no joke. These guys are worse than city guards."

Scott walked in holding a small box.

— "Got the frequency jammers. They’ll hold for one minute, no more. After that, better pray the power’s out by then."

Mina watched the preparations, arms crossed, concern etched into her face.

She knew this was their best shot... but couldn’t shake the creeping dread clinging to her thoughts.

---

11:30 PM

In a corner of the room, Mina was on her knees setting up a tiny RC car.

An antenna, rotating night-vision cam, lithium micro-battery.

Model : Leviathan-12. Built in class, upgraded in secret.

— "Deploying exploration. Channel 2 secure." She murmured softly.

The car slipped under the door, cruising the halls at a moderate speed.

Through her portable screen, Mina watched the silhouettes go by.

Awake security officers in black uniforms patrolled the halls, flashlights in hand, moving with practiced discipline.

Some whispered through earpieces.

---

[ POV : Guard #04 – Kairo Nox ]

He sweeps the east corridor. Pauses. Then looks up at the sky.

— "Always quiet at night, It’s make me depressing." he mutters, checking his holographic watch.

He switches on his communicator :

— "Base, this is Renard. All clear in sector D-3."

— "Copy. Stay alert. One hour till shift change."

---

10:43 PM

Scott, Saya, and Giana escorted Shigeo out of Building A, using a blind spot Mina had flagged earlier.

They slipped past bushes, staying in the shadows of the statues.

A drone buzzed overhead — they froze.

Then it passed, heading the other way.

Giana gave the signal : all clear.

Under the dim glow of the lampposts, the group moved in silence, footsteps muffled by the damp gravel path.

Shigeo led the way, his glasses scanning every detail like a trained soldier.

Behind him, Giana, Scott, and Saya formed a protective square, nerves on edge.

Even a snapped twig or stifled cough could betray them.

A few meters ahead, a faint red light blinked— Mina’s RC car, fitted with infrared.

— "Clear on the left." Mina whispered through the earpiece.

The tiny bot advanced carefully, weaving past bushes, sweeping every corner.

Thanks to it, they could avoid security patrols without taking unnecessary risks.

Scott gripped the strap of his bag tightly, muscles tensed like a runner on the starting block.

— "Hope this works..."

Giana glanced at him, her expression a mix of worry and resolve. freēwēbnovel.com

— "Shhh." She held a finger to her lips.

The winding path led to the old East Wing, rarely used but heavily secured.

Motion detectors blinked at steady intervals— like watchful eyes waiting to betray them.

Shigeo pulled a small device from his pocket : a miniature jammer.

— "It’ll block sensors in a two-meter radius. Enough to slip past."

He switched it on. A faint hum drowned out the sensors.

The group froze, waiting for the zone to stabilize.

Then, in a collective breath, they moved forward with caution.

Mina monitored her screen constantly, scanning for any anomaly.

— "Northwest patrol approaching. Hold."

They stopped.

Four silhouettes in the distance, flashlights cutting through the night, boots echoing against the pavement.

Hearts pounding, Shigeo whispered :

— "Stay calm. Don’t move."

Silence. Every breath felt too loud.

The patrol passed, flashlights sweeping over the area.

Mina’s bot, hidden in the dark, streamed the whole thing live.

Once the threat cleared, they resumed, tense and breathless.

Soon, they reached the generator room. A heavy metal door towered before them, plastered with warning signs like "High Voltage — Keep Out."

Shigeo pulled out a screwdriver.

— "This’ll take a few minutes. Be ready."

They huddled in the shadows, figures blending into the dark, as Mina kept watch through her console.

— "They could’ve at least used a digital lock." Shigeo muttered, slowly cracking the door open.

A wave of warm air escaped.

The mission was entering its critical phase.

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