Chapter 173: Unfulfilled Wishes

Head Command Center.

Masaki Hinaki leaned against her desk, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the solid wood surface.

“Commander.”

Yonomori Nami held a stack of documents.

“These are the investigation reports related to the recent Erosion disasters.”

“Mhm, just put them here.”

Yonomori Nami stacked the organized data on the desk and looked at the “young girl” sitting behind it.

Her child-faced superior was propping her cheek with one hand, but her gaze was wandering somewhere unknown.

“Spending the very first day in the training ground… she really doesn’t rest for a moment…”

The “she,” of course, referred to Ephnel.

Masaki Hinaki’s eyes were fixed on the computer screen, but her mind was constantly thinking about Ephnel.

Seeing Ephnel again, she seemed to have a kind of gentleness that her former self did not possess.

Simply put, Ephnel had always given off the impression of a “staid, strict, and very reliable and steady big sister,” but now she suddenly had a sense of déjà vu, like a “gentle, neighborly wife.”

Such a change was very subtle; perhaps only those close to her would be able to see it.

“She’s Ephnel, after all… she’s always been like this, not a single bit has changed. She always makes people worry.”

Yonomori Nami chimed in.

“Mhm. Is there any new news from Dr. Nishizaki’s side?”

“No, she seems to have been with Hanasou Kotone since yesterday until now.”

“I see.”

Masaki Hinaki said no more.

She pulled out a volume from the stacked documents, opened it, and quickly read through the report.

But after reading for a while, she couldn’t calm her mind.

Masaki Hinaki really wanted to talk to Ephnel more, but for her, such a wish was obviously not something she could easily say out loud.

Her eyes scanned the investigation report.

After a good while, she frowned slightly.

“No Erosion disasters have occurred in the western garrison district, where the ‘Boundary Monument System’s’ defenses are weakest. Instead, disasters are frequent in the eastern district…”

“Yonomori.”

“Commander, what are your orders?”

“The former Apostle squad member, Karina, she’s in the eastern district right now, isn’t she?”

“Yes. As of this morning’s surveillance records, the target appeared on Street C11, where gray-area groups congregate, and is operating from a new base. The surveillance team can’t get too close and doesn’t know what she’s doing. They can only confirm her whereabouts and travel records so far. But strangely, Karina’s movement patterns seem to be related to the recent Erosion disasters.”

“What a coincidence. Every time a new Erosion disaster occurs, she immediately heads towards the disaster site. Rather than ‘she’s related to the disaster,’ it’s more like she’s ‘trying to become associated with the Erosion disaster’… This behavior is too abnormal. I have a hunch that the recent series of Erosion disasters are pointing to some important clue. While Fushihara is tracking and monitoring Karina, we also need to continue to closely follow every disaster. Don’t let any suspicious target slip by.”

Masaki Hinaki’s gaze fell on the investigation report in her hand.

“If we don’t find the clues behind them soon, then no matter how we counter them, it will just be scratching an itch. The new plan has not yet been finalized, and an Erosion disaster occurs every two or three days. I’m worried that something else is coming. We must prepare as soon as possible.”

Masaki Hinaki sighed.

“Speaking of which, is there any new progress from the Special Disaster Division’s surveillance of Karina?”

“We haven’t been in contact with the surveillance team this afternoon.”

Yonomori Nami’s work paused for a moment.

The surveillance team was currently under the direct command of Fushihara Ayaka, and the members were all from the Special Disaster Division.

Because the mission was special and highly confidential, for security reasons, headquarters couldn’t maintain real-time communication with them.

Instead, they used periodic contact to exchange intelligence.

“As of this morning, the intelligence sent by Colonel Fushihara indicates that the surveillance target, Karina, moved towards the eastern district immediately after leaving her previous base. There is no evidence to suggest she has made any unusual moves yet. The surveillance team is still tracking her.”

“Tsk…”

Masaki Hinaki clicked her tongue under her breath.

“Is this woman a rat?”

Masaki Hinaki put down the investigation report, stood up, picked up the military cap on the desk, and casually placed it on her head.

Seeing this, Yonomori Nami took the coat from the coat rack and draped it over Masaki Hinaki’s shoulders.

“Get ready. Contact Fushihara for me, but don’t reveal my whereabouts to anyone else… hmm… except for Ephnel.”

“Is the Commander going to the Special Disaster Division?”

“No, there are just some other things I’m concerned about… You, go through those guys in the C11 district for me. From their medical records to their personal connections, including their past employment records and criminal records, pull them all out and put them on my desk.”

Masaki Hinaki paused.

“If anything else happens, report to me immediately.”

Order Organization Headquarters, Special Containment Zone—

Uzuki Saori leaned blankly against the cold corner of the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees, her vacant eyes staring up at the pale white light on the ceiling.

The fluorescent green indicator light flickered, turning into a blurry spot of light.

The blood at the corner of her mouth had not yet dried, giving off a rusty, metallic smell.

She silently raised her arm.

There were only faint black bruises on it.

Her most important piece of equipment as an Agent, the Beacon, that silver bracelet, had long since been confiscated.

She coughed softly, not quite remembering how long she had been here.

Since that day, she had been locked up here, confessing all the information she knew.

Eating, being interrogated, sleeping—repeating this every day, then waiting for her punishment to arrive.

—In a few days, she would be stripped of her identity as an Agent.

Through the relic Beacon system technology, the power to resonate with Order energy would be forcibly severed.

The ability of an Agent to resonate with Order energy, that is, the characteristic of being an “Accommodator,” would be completely erased.

This meant that Uzuki Saori would bid a complete farewell to her identity as an Agent.

Her memories of nearly a year would be erased along with it.

She would become an innocent young girl whose memory stopped before she joined the Agents, an ordinary person, continuing to live in this city she once fought for.

She would say goodbye to the self named “Lily,” and become a complete stranger to Shiina Rin.

What would life be like after that… Whether it was her wish as an Agent or herself as someone who loved Rin, everything would be stripped from this body at that time.

After struggling so hard, what awaited her was still an ending without a result.

Saori lowered her eyelashes and buried her face in her arms.

Ultimately, she was the one who had betrayed her friends, betrayed her senior, betrayed this city.

The only one who had no right to pray for anything was herself.

But Rin shouldn’t have to bear all this for her sake.

But Saori had no choice.

Her thoughts slowly surfaced from the water.

She groggily drifted off to sleep.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but the sound of footsteps slowly approached.

“Saori is in here.”

A young, girlish voice.

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