Chapter 46: ​​New Plan

Ephnel looked away, paused, then changed the subject.

“So, on the other side, has there been any progress with the interrogation and investigation of the ‘Apostle’ being held by the Special Disaster Section?”

“That girl? Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten any reliable responses so far…” Masaki Hinaki said.

“As you know, because our headquarters is being rebuilt, we can’t detain her here. If we want to find out anything, we have to ask for support from the Special Disaster Section. But you know how it is, on one hand, we have a cooperative and coexistent relationship with them, but on the other, we’re mutually dissatisfied and always trying to squeeze each other out. Although they usually wouldn’t give us a hard time on important matters like this, our ‘Order’ has messed up three times in a row in the last six days. The Special Disaster Section has been very blunt in expressing their dissatisfaction to my face.”

By the end, Masaki Hinaki was practically slumped over the desk, sighing like an old man on his deathbed.

“You also said earlier that we have a mole in our organization. The Special Disaster Section has guessed as much. The result is… they’re not planning on giving us intelligence so easily anymore. In short, it’s a crisis of trust…”

Ephnel fell silent.

What Masaki Hinaki said was the truth.

The Special Disaster Section and the Order Organization assisted and supported each other.

Only by dividing the labor and cooperating could they most effectively avoid casualties and property loss.

It could be said that neither could carry out counter-offensive missions against Erosion Organisms without the other.

The Order Organization and the Special Disaster Section were two parts of a whole.

But precisely because the two were so closely linked, yet belonged to different institutions, they had different priorities in some matters and decisions, and the final result was disagreement.

When disagreements occurred too often, a subtle distance would form.

If there had been no overt conflict between the two because of their common enemy, then this time, with the appearance of a mole within the Order Organization, a crack had appeared between the Order and the Special Disaster Section due to the lack of absolute trust.

“But.”

Masaki Hinaki suddenly twirled a strand of hair around her finger and said:

“The Special Disaster Section said that if it’s you, they’re willing to share intelligence.”

“Me??”

This time it was Ephnel’s turn to be confused.

“That’s right, you, Ephnel.”

Masaki Hinaki nonchalantly twisted her hair and said with mock seriousness.

“Don’t underestimate the reputation you’ve built in this city, Your Highness the Magical Girl.”

“Stop it. I get it. I’ll make a trip over there tomorrow at the latest.”

Ephnel still had mixed feelings about this title, and not wanting Masaki Hinaki to continue, she cut her off.

She paused, then added.

“But even so, you all must do your best to keep up with the Special Disaster Section. I didn’t spare that girl’s life for you to play house. It would be best if you could dig something out of her as soon as possible.”

“Right, speaking of which, I actually have something I’d like to ask you to help with.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember Maesakagawa? The town that was destroyed six days ago…”

Ephnel’s gaze flickered.

“…I remember. It’s been destroyed. That ‘Apostle’ girl started scheming against me from there. My abdomen still aches faintly from time to time. I remember it very clearly.”

“Hey, your expression is terrifying…”

Masaki Hinaki subconsciously sat up straight.

“Well, actually, I wanted to talk about something else… As you know, Maesakagawa is one of Seikyo City’s very important grain production bases. It’s truly unfortunate that it suffered such a degree of destruction this time. And because of its fall, the city’s expected grain production for this year has dropped by twenty-seven percent. Although we’ve urgently started planting additional short-term crops in other areas to buffer the impact of this disaster, that’s only an emergency measure, so…”

“So, you’re already planning a recovery operation?”

“That’s right.”

“If you’re trying to say that you need my assistance in an ‘Outer Sakahi’ operation and the recovery of the Maesakagawa Fallen Zone, then I don’t think I’ll agree so easily.”

Ephnel voiced her reservation without a second thought.

She took a deep breath and looked directly at Masaki Hinaki.

“Right now, Seikyo City is facing both internal and external threats, and our combat strength as Agents is severely insufficient. The successive major disasters have put a heavy strain on this city. At a time when everyone is on edge, I don’t think it would be a problem to postpone the recovery operation for the lost territory. Even if all those crops rot there, it’s much better than sacrificing our last remaining effective forces. And besides, right now, Seiran is also…”

Ephnel trailed off and sighed.

When Seiran was still around, “Outer Sakahi” operations were usually led by Ephnel and Seiran.

Their missions were to explore the fallen regions of the “Outer Sakahi” based on intelligence left over from that era or mission information assigned from above.

The main purpose was to search for usable natural resources or other habitable lands, and occasionally to escort personnel or equipment.

In every “Outer Sakahi” exploration, experienced combatants were essential.

It was obvious that right now, Seikyo City was stretched thin in terms of manpower, which was why Ephnel believed it was not suitable to carry out an Outer Sakahi operation.

“I can understand your concerns, Ephnel, but right now we have an excellent opportunity.”

Masaki Hinaki gave a serene smile, swiveled her chair, and took a document from the computer beside her.

She pushed the document toward Ephnel.

Ephnel reached out and took it, flipping through it briefly.

“This is a copy of a document from the Human Federation Command? That’s rare. I thought our city had been abandoned…”

Under the immense White Hole Erosion, human society had long since completely collapsed.

When “that era” came to an end, the community of human destiny—the Human Federation—was born.

As its name suggests, the Human Federation was the integration of the few remaining human nations at the time, representing humanity’s final struggle and hope.

It could be said that the Human Federation was a relic of that distant era.

In Ephnel’s understanding, there was currently very little contact between human city-settlements.

Although the Human Federation was theoretically the ultimate governing body, in reality, the cities were basically in a state of complete autonomy, with contact generally limited to adjacent cities.

The major cities were nominally responsible to the Human Federation, but Ephnel had no real sense of this.

Indeed, to Ephnel, the Human Federation only made its presence known when it occasionally issued some investigation missions and announcements.

The rest of the time, it was as if it didn’t exist.

“That’s going too far! At least I was sent here from there! Even if you’re just humoring me, at least pretend to be grateful!”

Masaki Hinaki shot back at Ephnel with dissatisfaction, but then, contrary to her usual self, she sighed and fell silent.

Ephnel glanced at her but said nothing.

The central province of the Human Federation—that was where Masaki Hinaki’s hometown was.

Last year, the former commander of the Seikyo City Order had died in battle, leaving the organization without a leader.

Masaki Hinaki had been dispatched by the Human Federation at that time—as the new commander of Seikyo City.

Accompanying her were several other Agents.

But a year later, today, those Agents had all died one by one in battle.

Now, not a single one of Masaki Hinaki’s old friends was left.

After a long moment, Masaki Hinaki spoke softly.

“Have you finished reading?”

“Yeah, I’ve glanced through it. I basically understand.”

Ephnel tossed the document back and said.

“So, because we’ve taken a heavy blow, the Federation is taking pity on us and sending us valuable combat resources, is that it?”

“That’s right.”

“Looks like… I’ll be getting new colleagues…”

“I heard that the people coming to support us this time are the best of the best, selected through multiple rounds. It’s really something to look forward to. You’d better act like a proper senpai, Ephnel.”

“I’ll do my job.”

Ephnel looked away with a distinct lack of enthusiasm and gave a perfunctory reply.

…