Chapter 34: Awakening and Impending Doom

Meanwhile, within the true stronghold of the Dark Organization.

—!

Hane jolted awake from her worn-out bed, her eyes snapping open.

The dilapidated wooden bed groaned beneath her, the sound stirring the young girl who had been dozing, weary from her tasks, beside the bed.

—Wow, you’re awake! How do you feel? Do your wounds still hurt?

The young girl beamed a sunny smile, her tender hand reaching out tentatively towards the unfamiliar magical girl.

Hane instinctively flinched away from the girl’s touch. Yet, a moment later, she realized the wound on her waist, where a broken blade had pierced her, was now meticulously bandaged. The fragment of the blade itself had been carefully extracted and placed nearby.

The bruises left by pellet strikes had been salved with medicine, and more severe areas were considerately covered with bandages. Every cut and contusion on her body, from minor scrapes to deeper gashes, had been meticulously tended to.

—Ah… I’m alright. Did you treat my wounds? Thank you.

‘It came back to her.’

‘She had lost, an utter and devastating defeat, even her crystal gambled away to Ling Xing.’

‘She had expected to be tossed into some forgotten alley, left to her own devices now that her utility was gone. Yet, here she was, clearly cared for.’

—You’re welcome! A-Xing said you used to be a combatant from another branch. As a cadre member, it’s my duty to look after our combatants!

The young girl cheerfully puffed out her chest, then patted her own flat little chest with a soft *pat-pat*, a look of proud self-satisfaction on her face.

‘If A-Xing were here, she would surely be praised.’

‘But A-Xing was absent, and Hane merely blinked, failing to catch her drift.’

—A cadre member… I recall the cadre member of this branch being… Darkliel-sama?

—Huh? Who’s Darkliel? I’ve always been the cadre member here! I’m Dal!

The young girl waved her small fists in annoyance, symbolically *pat-pat-patting* Hane’s shoulder.

‘It didn’t hurt, the blows were slow. She could easily parry them, or even, if she wished, seize the girl and lock her throat.’

But Hane ultimately didn’t retaliate, instead letting the young girl’s small fists *pat-pat-pat* against her shoulder.

‘Even as an assassin, she hadn’t yet stooped to the point of harming such a sweet girl, especially one who had shown her kindness.’

—…My apologies, I misremembered, Dal-sama.

Hane’s gaze subtly swept across the room.

‘The Dark Branch… so this is its current state.’

Inside the antiquated shack, tattered furniture, discarded refuse, and peculiar handmade contraptions were haphazardly piled.

To any casual observer, it would simply appear to be a junk processing facility.

Only Hane, however, could discern a deeper purpose. As a former combatant, she recognized that the discarded items by the young girl’s side were being meticulously reassembled into rudimentary tools.

Smoke bombs, grappling hooks, firecrackers, lock picks… Though the materials were peculiar, and the young girl’s small hands couldn’t even craft them neatly—the same item often taking on completely different shapes—their effectiveness was undeniably inferior to standard equipment.

Nevertheless, these were undoubtedly tools intended for combatants. The lively, smiling young girl before her was, without question, the branch’s cadre.

—Hehe, it’s fine! Dal wouldn’t get angry over such a trivial thing! Oh, right, A-Xing asked me to tell you that you need to stay until tonight. Once he’s finished dealing with his… *ahem*, the Young Lady’s matters, you’ll be free to go!

—Tonight, then…

‘He had used her to buy time, reaching an agreement with the Young Lady to settle everything with a duel tonight.’

‘After the Young Lady received the main family’s samurai reinforcements tonight, it would be impossible for her to lose to Ling Xing.’

‘All she had to do now was close her eyes, sleep, and wait for the Young Lady to bring an end to everything.’

‘—Normally, one would think so.’

‘But not if one had experienced what Hane had.’

—It’s too naive. Her duel with the Young Lady won’t unfold as she expects…

Hane touched the wound on her waist with one hand, then took a deep, fortifying breath, struggling to sit upright.

—Hey, don’t push yourself so hard! Your wounds—

—There’s no time to worry about my wounds, Dal-sama! Please, I beg you, lend me a communicator!

****

At the same time, in the tower at the heart of the city.

Qi Teng Shen Xue, the captain Chao Wu had once admired so deeply, stood with an air of solitary pride on the tower’s uppermost floor, gazing down at the city through the vast window.

From the towering height of several hundred meters, the entire small city lay spread out beneath her, visible in its entirety.

—You don’t seem very pleased, Captain.

By the towering floor-to-ceiling window, a woman clad in an elegant evening gown drew near, joining her in gazing out at the cityscape.

The scene outside the window was akin to surveying the earth from the clouds, with everything in the city appearing as mere specks of dust to the eye.

—Having just witnessed research that will be etched into history, and on the cusp of participating in an experiment poised to change the world, you ought to be overjoyed, Captain.

The woman, holding a glass of red wine, extended it towards the taciturn Shen Xue.

In response, Shen Xue merely cast a silent glance in her direction.

—I am merely a warrior. I contributed nothing to the research, nor will I be present for the experiment. My sole purpose is to wield this sword, ensuring all proceeds without incident.

‘What, then, was there to be happy about?’

Qi Teng Shen Xue did not accept the wine, her gaze remaining fixed on the view outside.

‘As a true warrior, she would never allow herself to be compromised in any way while on a mission.’

The woman, sensing her unwelcome, shook her head, then tilted her own head back and drained the red wine in a single gulp.

—Our target is still embroiled with the pawns sent by the Pacific Front, showing no sign of awareness. By tonight, everything will be concluded. I truly can’t envision a situation requiring your intervention. Is there any need for such solemnity?

The woman appeared to have consumed a considerable amount of alcohol, a faint, inebriated flush staining her cheeks, and her voice, slurred with drink, carried an undisguised tone of contempt.

‘Why were the Kuonji family retainers only scheduled to arrive tonight? Why did the organization turn a blind eye to the Kuonji girl’s audacious actions? Why were there virtually no guards on the lower levels of the entire tower?’

‘Hmph… Pathetic fools. They would never uncover the truth.’

The woman contemptuously dismissed all such thoughts, then, swaying with intoxication, leaned heavily towards Shen Xue, almost collapsing into her embrace.

‘Better to nestle into Shen Xue’s arms than to waste thought on such trivialities.’

Ultimately, however, Shen Xue’s hand met her shoulder, firmly pushing her away.

—Captain?

‘Must she be so utterly devoid of charm?’

The woman pouted in displeasure, then looked up.

But the woman in her line of sight merely held the hilt of her sword against the woman’s shoulder, her gaze resolutely fixed on the world outside, never once sparing her a glance.

—They’re here.

—Hm? What? What’s coming?

The woman’s bewildered question hung in the air, but it no longer required Shen Xue’s reply.

Boom—!

A violent explosion, sharp and undeniable, reached her ears even from their perch hundreds of meters above.

Shen Xue withdrew without hesitation, leaving the unsupported woman to abruptly crumple to her knees, clinging to the window’s edge.

‘What had just happened?’

The woman knelt bewildered, her eyes darting around the room, yet no one was there to answer her unspoken question.