(Elaria POV)
After seeing those two heathens out of the guild, I called for an emergency meeting with all the other Heads of Division within the An Ney May Conglomerate.
We met within one of our underground bunkers on the outskirts of town, where our people could test our creations away from public eye.
"Should we take these heathens out?" My head of security suggested, his finger thumbing one of our revolver prototypes.
I waved my hand at him, "For now, we've agreed not to resort to violence… Just maintain the status quo for the moment."
All of them nodded their heads.
Onee-sama fingered the hem of her dress, "In the meantime, Intelligence division should look into them. Find out who they are, what their plans are and why they are here. They seem to know more about us than we do them, that has to change."
A woman with her hair tied into a ponytail pushed up her glasses with a hand, "It will be done, First Lady Lindulf."
I nodded, "Alright, now where are the reports for the trade–"
One of our security team members burst into the room, "Emergency! First Lady Lindulf! Young mistress Lindulf! Your brother has been taken!"
The entire room turned to look at us.
"You… You're talking about my beloved brother and not Dailus right?" I asked, just to be sure.
The guard nodded, "A fox youkai attacked the mansion, killing off the guards you assigned for his protection and the kitchen staff before kidnapping him!"
I felt my heart drop.
"Where?" Onee-sama demanded.
"The mountains… We have no means to catch up to her…"
I clenched my fists, it seems fate really wanted to make this scenario happen no matter what. I thought I was already prepared enough for such a possibility but apparently I had been too naive.
No, not yet.
There is still something I can do.
I turned towards the only man wearing a white lab coat in the room, "R and D division, how is progress on Alpha Romeo Tango Yankee one?"
He sat a little straighter, "That… It's still in its prototype stages, the testing phase was set to be a week from now."
"We're moving that test phase forward to right now! Get it ready!"
He spluttered, "But… But to use it right now without properly testing it, especially when the ammunition is so volatile…"
I slammed my fist on the table, "I will use your innards as its ammunition if you don't get it ready now!"
The man scampered out of the room to obey.
I cursed myself for underestimating the fate of plot. What was I thinking just assigning a few goons to watch over my Onii-sama? That's literally asking for some extraordinarily strong person to come around and wipe the floor with them before stealing him away!
It's literally the troupe of a strong antagonist beating up the mob characters to get to my important person!
Wait…
It can't be those girls from before right?
But how did they know Onii-sama is the god of An Ney May?
It's a closely guarded secret within our circle that not even the division heads knew.
Both Onee-sama and I agreed that the fewer people who knew about it, the safer Onii-sama would be until he regains his divinity.
No, it might all just be a coincidence, I should just concentrate on getting Onii-sama back first!
I stood up from the table, "Everyone, I'm declaring a red alert! If that youkai can assault my family mansion and take Onii-sama right from under our noses, there's no telling what she could do! Get back to your posts!"
Everyone gave a salute before marching out of the room.
I sat back down heavily on my chair, the memory of losing Onii-sama the first time weighing upon my head.
Onee-sama placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry Elaria, our beloved brother will be fine."
I nodded, "Onii-sama has us now. He does not need to be alone anymore."
The head of our R and D division came back, bursting through the door.
"Young mistress! It is ready! We have also spotted the kidnapper!"
I leapt to my feet, rushing past him and out of the bunker.
Outside within the clearing was our newest prototype weapon, the thirty-six pounder long gun mounted on a hastily assembled wooden frame.
This was meant to be a side project that would pave the way for more advanced artillery pieces in the future, but it seems like we will get to see its use now.
One of the engineers pointed towards the mountain, "Right there, about two kilometers out. Cannon is already loaded and ready."
I looked in the direction he was pointing, just in time to see a giant pillar of lightning striking that area.
Using the spyglass he offered, I realised it was a fight between two groups of Practitioners. Unfortunately, they were too far for me to actually see if the two heathens I met before were there.
I could, however, clearly discern that there were two fox youkais present from their tails, both of them apparently at odds with each other.
Seeing no signs of Onii-sama there, I tossed the spyglass back to the engineer, "How do you know that's them? I do not see my Onii-sama there."
"There is a cave behind them, we suspect your brother is being held there by one of the two groups while the other one is a resident of the cave. We do not know which group is which though…"
"What should we do then?" Onee-sama asked.
I looked through the spyglass again, expecting to see the lone fox youkai to be easily defeated by the other group since she was outnumbered.
What I hadn't expected to see was for all of them to be prone on the ground, the lone fox seemingly pushing them down with some sort of Technique.
That was the deal breaker for me.
If she could handle being outnumbered without much effort, she must be the one who assaulted our mansion and took my dearest Onii-sama away!
"Set target to the single fox!" I ordered.
The engineer gave me an incredulous look, "With all due respect first mistress… We can't hit a target two kilometers out with such precision and this frame will break instantly upon firing…"
I cursed under my breath, none of them knew how artillery works yet, I'll have to do it myself!
I moved to the cannon, using the frame to tilt it upwards by a few more degrees and pushing it to aim at the direction of the target.
Checking wind direction and speed, I readjusted the cannon's tilt by a few more degrees.
"Pass me the linstock!" I yelled.
One of the engineers hastily handed over a stick with a coil of rope at the end, the rope already aflame.
"Backblast clear!" I cautioned, making sure no one stood behind the cannon.
I double checked the bearings one more time before lighting the quick match at the end of the cannon.
The fuse lit easily, the spark burning its way into the cannon's interior easily before a loud 'boom' was heard, the recoil from the cannon destroying the frame it was on entirely.
The six hundred kilogram gun flipped over to crash behind me a meter away, had anyone been standing there, they would have been flattened instantly.
I looked through the spyglass, watching my shot fly true.
The fox only had time to look up before the projectile landed on top of her, splattering her into a pile of bloody paste.
"Get the strike team out there now! I want that cave searched!" I ordered, shaking the shocked onlookers back to their senses.
Everyone scurried to obey while I wiped my hands clean with a piece of cloth.
After this event, I'm really going to have to speed up the rest of my plans…
Just as I was thinking about that, a ray of light descended from the sky, landing at where the cannon had been.
From within that light, a young man wearing what I recognised as a toga materialised before stepping out into the open.
"So you're the cause of the anomaly around here…" He spoke, his voice sounding like an orchestra. "I'm sorry but I will need you to disappear…"
