Chapter 171: Things I want to do

Ephnel watched Yukina’s gaze and was slightly stunned.

Yukina’s lips curved into a smile.

Holding the uniform she was about to change into, she came before Ephnel and, right in front of her, stripped off her clothes inch by inch, changing into the training uniform in her hands.

The smooth, tight-fitting uniform had a certain elasticity.

Ephnel and Yukina were about the same height, so it was indeed a good fit for Yukina.

Yukina smoothed out the surface of the training uniform.

The close-fitting, elastic fabric outlined her alluring curves, the arc of light reflecting from her body sinking down into the hem of her skirt.

“Does it look good?”

Yukina suddenly asked.

“It looks good…”

Ephnel answered subconsciously, but then immediately sensed something was off—this conversation, it seemed they had had it once before, just two days ago.

But at that time, the situation was the complete opposite of now.

Ephnel remembered that at that time, it was she who was holding the under…

“Well then…”

Yukina’s face was slightly red.

She gently bit her lower lip, lifted the hem of her skirt, and sat down on Ephnel’s lap just like that.

The fabric of the uniform came into contact with Ephnel’s smooth skin.

The cool sensation pulled Ephnel’s thoughts back to reality, and then, her breath was smothered by Yukina.

A long while later, Ephnel was finally released, panting for air, her face already completely flushed.

“Yukina, don’t be like this outside…”

She protested verbally, but Ephnel made no move to push Yukina away.

She just turned her face to the side.

“Didn’t Miss Yonomori say that no Agents have come here to train for a long time?”

Yukina’s cheeks were flushed.

She panted softly, her warm breath forming small clouds of white mist in the cool air-conditioned temperature.

“That means no one will come here… right?”

Yukina’s hands on Ephnel’s shoulders pushed gently, and Ephnel was pushed over, lying on the long bench.

She took the opportunity to lean down.

“Which means I can do what I want to do…”

“Wait, Yukina, what you want to do… mmph…”

Ephnel couldn’t make a sound anymore.

…

…

…

“Next time we do this, we have to do it at home…”

Ephnel grumbled softly about Yukina’s recklessness as she tied up her messy hair.

And Yukina sat to the side, a wad of tissues in her hand, wiping the side of her leg bit by bit, then squatting down to wipe the long bench.

“Mhm, I’ll listen to Naoko.”

‘Did she really listen?’

The way she had acted just now didn’t seem like she was “listening to Naoko.”

Ephnel didn’t dislike it, but borrowing the training ground and occupying this time to do something completely unrelated made her feel a strange sense of guilt.

As if she had done something wrong.

Ephnel stood in front of the mirror, glancing sideways to lift her collar so that the hickey on her neck wouldn’t be so obvious.

“It’s a promise, okay? Not next time.”

“Naoko, what’s my training regimen for today?”

Yukina deliberately didn’t answer and changed the subject.

Ephnel shot Yukina a glare, her fingertips slowly moving away from her lips, and sighed lightly.

She spoke softly:

“The first and foremost, of course, is to have you learn the ‘Stairway’…”

“If anything comes up, you can notify me by phone at any time. Well then… I’ll be taking my leave for now…”

After Yonomori Nami finished registering the use of the training ground, she left.

She had no idea what had happened between the two sisters, Ephnel and Yukina.

The spacious training ground was all to themselves.

The training grounds were divided into two different specifications, one for Agents and one for other personnel.

Due to the various sudden situations that had occurred in the past month, the Agent training ground had not been used for a long time.

With the shortage of Agent manpower and the increasing frequency of Erosion disasters, all Agents had entered a state of high alert, ready for battle around the clock.

Naturally, they had no time to come to the training ground for combat practice.

In fact, putting aside the “possibility” that Masaki Hinaki had mentioned, the “reinforcement force” transferred from the central province was crucial aid for the current Seikyo City.

But precisely because of this, Ephnel’s training for Yukina became even stricter.

Yukina had to obtain her own strength as soon as possible.

“Based on the feeling from just now, try again.”

Ephnel stood behind Yukina, teaching her the basic movements.

Yukina wore goggles and nervously held a silver-gray handgun with a level grip, aiming at the target in the distance.

Compared to standard military-issue handguns, this was one of the enhanced versions of weapons specially made for Agents, with certain similarities to the large-caliber handguns used by the Apostle squad.

Ephnel watched her training movements from behind.

“Tense your muscles, Yukina. Lock it in with your strength.”

Ephnel spoke softly.

“…”

Yukina didn’t respond.

She adjusted the muscles in her shoulders, trying to hold the handgun steadier.

Holding the gun, aiming, and firing—it seemed simple, but she found it wasn’t easy when she actually tried to do it.

Strength alone was not enough.

“Firearms are one of the common auxiliary weapons for us Agents. Mastering a certain level of firearm use and maintenance skills can give you an advantage in surprise attacks against a large number of ‘Remnants,’ and you won’t have to expend Order energy to clean them up.”

Ephnel said.

The existence of “Remnants” was also one of the major hidden dangers brought by Erosion disasters.

Originally animals and humans that existed in the natural world, after being infected by Erosion energy, they would undergo “mutation,” lose their sanity, and become Erosion life forms filled with fear and violent aggression, attacking other living creatures.

These organisms, transformed from living beings, were called “Remnants.”

To deal with the threat posed by Remnants, personnel from the Special Disaster Division were generally sufficient for the “cleanup” work.

Because Remnants could be killed by thermal weapons.

Although compared to their original biological forms, their vitality, aggressiveness, physical strength, and body density had all increased to a certain extent after becoming Remnants, it was still just the difference between “can be solved with one bullet” and “can be solved with ten bullets.”

It was not yet a situation that required Agents to be deployed.

The main enemy of Agents was the Erosion Organism; Remnants were the secondary enemy.

The Special Disaster Division was responsible for evacuating the crowd and, at the same time, for clearing Remnants within a certain range.

To them, Remnants were the main enemy.

“When we fight ‘Remnants,’ we should get used to prioritizing the use of the guns in our hands over the limited supply of Order energy.”

Ephnel explained.

“This gun is a piece of special equipment custom-made for us Agents. The lethality of a single bullet is astonishing. If you can accurately hit a Remnant in the head, one bullet is enough to kill it. It’s a highly efficient alternative.”

In fact, there were some things Ephnel hadn’t explained to Yukina—firearm training, besides being a frequently used skill in combat against Remnants, would also need to be applied to combat against people when necessary.