"You're not going to -" Haru thinks better of whatever he was going to say. "Then, uh, do you mind if we hunt in Chiyoda while you're gone?"

"Oh, I don't see why that would be a problem, you go right ahead, and best of luck."

"I understand where you're coming from, and we will of course respect any decision you make. But could I ask you to please reconsider? We are talking about all of Tokyo, and every extra hand could mean the difference between victory and defeat."

"If this is the same witch that's been disappearing entire ships? The one they call 'Walpurgisnacht'?" says Mrs. Minorikawa, shaking her head. "We'd just die."

...he wants to keep arguing, keep trying to convince them, but...

...the witch has a name. Yutaka didn't know that. And he can't, in good conscience, ask for people to die for his cause. Not when he's not even totally sure they'll win.

No, that's defeatist. They will win. They have to. It's just a matter of figuring out how. 

And if they don't win... Yutaka wished to be able to fix everything. His wish won't have been fulfilled. Surely, surely he can get Kyūbey's help—or divine providence.

They will win. Because he wished for it. He wished for it, and that means it must happen. 

"I understand. Thank you for listening to me anyway. I wish you and your husband the best." Bow.

"You too. You're very brave! I hope it all works out and help yourselves to any witches in Chiyoda while we're away."

"Thank you, that's very kind."

And she and her husband bow and depart.

And once they're gone: "What the fuck."

"I should maybe stop referring to our species of magical rocks collectively as 'superheroes'."

"We're magical people, not everyone who's given magic will use it prosocially..."

"I guess they still have to kill witches to live, that's... anything. But yeah."

"Well uh. And now we're going to have more of them to kill. 

"...we should figure out more things to do than just getting the help of magical people in Tokyo."

"Yamanaka can urge people to get out of town when the typhoon's obviously incoming, but that won't get more than a handful to leave."

"...I'm going to use Iwasaki Iemasa's endless coffers to get in contact with the weather agency and try to convince people I'm not full of shit."

"He doesn't like monitor your spending?"

"I'm sure he does, but he hasn't objected to my spending habits when they were mostly 'treat boys I'm planning on sleeping with', he might just figure that I'm finally taking up the family business of manipulating, bribing, and cheating my way into getting power."

"Huh. Okay."

"...but if he doesn't..."

"You might want some kind of explanation ready, yeah."

"I mean... if he doesn't accept it. If he wants to stop me. If he gets in my way and I can't get it otherwise. At what point... are more drastic measures... something we should consider?"

"I mean, I think you're justified in trying a few different things rewind-style, if you've gotta. Do you have a way to get unmarked money in the first place, if that's a concern - like, can you buy cashier's checks or something like that -"

"Not... straightforwardly. I could steal. I could counterfeit. If I use a check I can't imagine he wouldn't be able to know about it."