Chapter 47: Give you a holiday

The Human Federation was sending combat support to Seikyo City.

This was undoubtedly a good thing, but Ephnel felt a little uneasy.

It was as if the places of those who had left her side were about to be replaced.

Such a change made one hesitate.

“Anyway, Hinaki, are you planning to include them in our combat strength?”

“That’s right.”

“But even if we have enough manpower, we still need ample time for practice and planning. Besides, what do you plan to do if the enemy attacks while we’re away?”

“The remaining forces will handle any Erosion Organism attacks, and the ‘Apostle’ will be left to the Special Disaster Section. They seem to be very interested in her. And, I’ve had people confirm it beforehand—Maesakagawa’s ‘Sakahi’ isn’t badly damaged and is still usable. It only failed because the power supply facilities were destroyed. This means we only need to escort the engineering vehicles there and connect the lines to their temporary power supply. Then we can use it as our temporary combat base. After that, we just need to repair the power system before the temporary supply runs out.”

Masaki Hinaki picked up a pen and twirled it between her fingers, continuing.

“All in all, your mission only covers the short distance from Seikyo City to Maesakagawa. It won’t take much time, so even if something happens here, you can withdraw quickly. After the mission is complete, only one person needs to stay behind, and the others can immediately return to standby. The rest of the work can be left to the engineering staff. What do you think? It’s a pretty good mission plan, isn’t it?”

Ephnel didn’t answer, but frowned slightly in thought.

Masaki Hinaki, on the other hand, had a confident look on her face as she waited for Ephnel’s reply.

The air grew quiet.

“And there’s one more thing.”

Masaki Hinaki added.

“Maesakagawa was the first place the ‘Apostle’ struck. We might be able to find the clues we need there. Conversely, if we don’t proactively seek a new breakthrough and just keep running in circles in Seikyo City, we’ll probably just be treading water.”

Ephnel listened silently.

After a long moment, she finally sighed.

“I understand. I agree to your operational plan.”

As her words fell, a smile immediately bloomed on Masaki Hinaki’s face.

She jumped up from her chair in excitement.

“Wahoo! I knew you’d agree!”

“Don’t get too excited. We still have a lot of things to plan carefully. But… you’ve actually reminded me of something.”

Ephnel looked at the cheering Masaki Hinaki with a deadpan expression.

After a moment of contemplation, she spoke.

“That ‘Apostle’ girl went to such great lengths, destroying Maesakagawa, just to infiltrate Seikyo City and carry out her mission. So… isn’t that strange? They clearly have moles planted in our organization, so why didn’t they use them?”

Ephnel asked.

Masaki Hinaki also quieted down and frowned.

“In other words… it had to be this way?”

Masaki Hinaki said.

“Right.”

Ephnel nodded and explained.

“The only possibility is that the mission could only be completed by an ‘Apostle,’ or perhaps the appearance of the ‘Apostle’ or even the fall of Maesakagawa was just a smokescreen—I mentioned it before, right? The people I saved back then were a pair of sisters. Now the ‘older sister’ has appeared, so what about the younger one?”

Masaki Hinaki and Ephnel looked at each other, a strange, unspoken meaning in their gazes.

Ephnel was the first to break the silence.

“Anyway, this matter is of the utmost importance and must be watched closely. My participation in this operation is also partly based on the slim hope of getting a glimpse of what’s buried deep within. As I said before—was the purpose of destroying Maesakagawa to allow those two to successfully infiltrate Seikyo City, or was there another objective for Maesakagawa itself? We’ll find out if we just give it a try. If the ‘Apostles’ try to stop us from retaking Maesakagawa, then the answer will be obvious.”

Masaki Hinaki also fell into thought, then shot a peculiar glance at Ephnel.

“You, this is just another fishing expedition, isn’t it?”

“Since there’s ready-made bait, why not use it?”

“I understand. In any case, I’ll start preparing this plan on my end.”

“Okay.”

Ephnel thought for a moment, then asked.

“Then I have nothing else. Before I leave, can I know how much time we have?”

“Fifteen days,” Masaki Hinaki replied.

“It will take about a week for the support to arrive from the central province. With the remaining time, I need to deploy personnel and discuss some things with the Special Disaster Section. And you all will need time for joint training, right?”

“Okay. But before that, I have a favor to ask you.”

“What is it?”

Ephnel looked away, her gaze fixed on the empty wall with an unreadable expression.

“I’d like to request a leave of absence, until the support arrives.”

…

“A leave of absence?”

Masaki Hinaki looked at Ephnel with surprise.

“This is the first time I’ve ever heard you say something like that… How rare. Well, if you want to take a leave, of course that’s fine. In fact, even if you hadn’t requested it, I was thinking of giving you a break… But I’m a little curious. Why has a workaholic like you suddenly seen the light? Is it because of your sister?”

“Who knows? Maybe I’m tired, maybe I have things to do. Guess all you want.”

Ephnel replied nonchalantly, her gaze fixed on the floor.

“Tonight… I plan to make my identity, and my sister’s situation, public.”

“Eh… make your identity public? Eh!?”

Masaki Hinaki suddenly shot up with a slap, her face a mask of disbelief.

“P-Public?! Hey, hey, hey! Are you serious?! Did I hear you right? You’re going to make those things public too?”

“I’m serious.”

“Why?! I don’t get it!”

Masaki Hinaki frowned.

“Making this public is no small matter. You won’t be able to control which way public opinion goes. And besides, you said yourself that the organization isn’t safe right now. If you…”

“That ‘Apostle’…”

Ephnel cut off Masaki Hinaki.

“She prepared several timed emails. The content of the emails is that file… She used it as a bargaining chip to get me to let her go, but I refused.”

Masaki Hinaki was slightly stunned.

“This… how did I not know about this…”

“I didn’t tell anyone about this, so if that ‘Apostle’ didn’t say anything, no one would know.”

“So… the blank segments in the combat record were about this?”

“Yes.”

Ephnel turned around and met Masaki Hinaki’s gaze.

“So the situation now is, either she exposes me, or I face it myself… But you know, I don’t like being caught off guard. Besides, I’m tired of walking on eggshells all the time. I think it’s about time I faced all of this properly.”

“You… you’ve decided?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it because of this… that you suddenly said you wanted to apply for a leave of absence?”

“Not entirely.”

Ephnel sighed.

She would face her choice head-on, and she wouldn’t be too concerned with the outcome, but there was still some lingering hesitation.

And…

Although it was just a fleeting thought, Ephnel wanted to spend time with Yukina.

That was why she had requested a leave.

“I see…”

Masaki Hinaki slowly sat back down, staring at the documents on her desk in a daze.

“If that’s the case, I actually have a good idea that can both increase the success rate of your fishing act and allow you to take a vacation with a clear conscience.”

“Go on.”

“Suspend you from duty.”

“???”

‘What kind of crooked idea is this—’

Ephnel was about to say, but after a moment’s thought, she realized that it was indeed feasible.

Ephnel wanted to put out the information that “Ephnel and the commander had a dispute.”

At the same time, she also wanted a vacation.

If she were suspended, it would perfectly corroborate the former, and at the same time, because it was a suspension, Ephnel’s position would be completely separate from the Order Organization, allowing her to enjoy her vacation in peace.

After all, there was a qualitative difference between taking a voluntary vacation and a forced one.

But…

Being suspended from duty, Ephnel couldn’t help but feel that Masaki Hinaki was using this as an opportunity to carry out a personal vendetta.

…