Chapter 97: Irenexia

‘Miss Yanase is Ephnel, and Shiomi Yukina is Fifina. They are sisters as well as comrades-in-arms who face life and death together. In that case, it’s only natural that Shiomi Yukina would “devour” Miss Yanase.’

Hanasou Kotone thought with some disappointment.

Ephnel didn’t deny it either.

“Then, Hanasou Kotone, please keep this matter a secret for me.”

She didn’t intend to hide anything from Hanasou Kotone.

Hanasou Kotone knew that Ephnel and Nishizaki Yuuki had a good relationship, and she had also seen Ephnel appear here with three other Agents and interact with Fushihara Ayaka.

With that, Ephnel’s identity was practically revealed.

In other words, even if Hanasou Kotone hadn’t figured it out now, if she thought about it later, she would immediately realize that Ephnel’s identity was likely linked to the Order or the Special Disaster Division, and her status was not low.

Therefore, instead of letting Hanasou Kotone guess wildly, Ephnel simply confessed herself.

“I-I will… I won’t tell anyone about Miss Yanase’s and Shiomi-san’s secret!”

“Alright, let’s not dwell on other matters. Since everyone is here, let’s move on to the next step.”

Fushihara Ayaka said at this time.

…

Ephnel, Yukina, the Agents Oguri Aya, Kiri Mahiru, Tachibana Sara, the chief of the Special Disaster Division and overall commander Fushihara Ayaka, and Nishizaki Yuuki—only these people were present in the combat briefing room of the temporary command post.

This was the first time Yukina had attended such an occasion, and she nervously held Ephnel’s hand.

Ephnel led Yukina to a seat on the side, then looked at Fushihara Ayaka and asked strangely, “Where’s your secretary? She’s not here?”

“I didn’t let her come. Someone needs to be at the rear.”

“Actually, you’re worried she’d be in danger here, right?”

Fushihara Ayaka glanced at Ephnel and didn’t deny it.

Ephnel had met that secretary before.

She was someone who had followed Fushihara Ayaka for a long time.

Her competence was one thing, but more importantly, she was very trustworthy.

It was the most prudent choice to have her act as the temporary head when Fushihara Ayaka was not at the Special Disaster Division.

“This operation’s arrangement was discussed between you and Masaki Hinaki, wasn’t it?”

“Eh? You know?”

“We agreed yesterday that I would come find you this afternoon, did you forget? At that time, your secretary told me you were at headquarters.”

“I see…”

“Since it was you who came in the end and not Masaki Hinaki, it seems you’ve already found the mole inside headquarters?”

“There’s no particularly strong evidence, but we have found some clues. Masaki Hinaki is not at ease with the situation over there, so I’m reluctantly helping her out.”

“But there’s no need for you to be here in person, right? It’s very dangerous here. Is it really okay for a commander like you to come over?”

“I have other tasks… and besides, the enemy this time may not necessarily be Erosion Organisms. So far, the confirmed intelligence only points to a few armed militants. Our Special Disaster Division exists precisely for this reason. Don’t look down on me.”

Ephnel nodded and said no more.

The others also took their seats.

Only Nishizaki Yuuki, due to her injuries, was in a wheelchair, connected to an earpiece for easy communication.

“I am honored that the Agents of the Order have responded to my request and come here. Perhaps you already know that your commander may not be convenient to be in charge of your missions at the moment. So, I’ll skip the pleasantries. From now on, your actions will be temporarily under my command.”

Fushihara Ayaka looked at Ephnel.

“If the situation changes and you need to go into battle, the battlefield command on the Agent’s side will be handed over to Ephnel.”

“No problem.”

“Also, Tachibana Sara…” Fushihara Ayaka then looked at the quiet girl with light brown hair and glasses sitting on the side.

“The task of deputy commander is yours.”

Tachibana Sara sat upright on the side and nodded with a blank expression.

“If you are disconnected from my command system after entering battle, please follow the orders of Ephnel and Tachibana Sara. If you have any objections, you can raise them now.”

Fushihara Ayaka briefly assigned the positions and looked around.

No one raised any objections.

The battlefield where Agents were active was in Erosion disasters, and the presence of Erosion would interfere with communication.

If the distance between them reached a certain point, communication would be difficult to maintain, as they couldn’t use base station equipment and satellites.

For this reason, a “battlefield commander” was usually set up when Agents went into battle to adjust combat plans and give instructions in a timely manner.

It had been proven that, compared to people like Masaki Hinaki and Fushihara Ayaka who were trained in the original command system, an Agent commander had the unique advantage of being an Agent herself.

Therefore, in every mission, a dual command strategy of “off-site commander” and “battlefield commander” was implemented.

And once a battle began, the priority of the orders given by the “battlefield commander” would directly surpass that of the “off-site commander,” becoming the only command that the Agents needed to obey.

Ephnel was the most senior, most powerful, and most experienced senior among all the Agents present.

Although Ephnel’s command experience was not as good as the missing Seiran, her ability to adapt to situations on the spot was very strong.

In the current situation, it was indeed the most appropriate to hand over the overall command of the battlefield to her.

And as a sort of insurance policy, Fushihara Ayaka also set up a battlefield deputy commander, which was Tachibana Sara.

Tachibana Sara was the Agent in charge of the outskirts of the West District and the western defensive line.

On one hand, as an Agent, she had rich experience second only to Ephnel on the scene.

Her Order weapon was a sword and shield, a rare type that was both offensive and defensive, giving her a unique advantage in battle.

On the other hand, as the “person in charge” of this area, she was very familiar with it and was very suitable to act as a deputy commander to provide advice to Ephnel, assist in battle, and also take over the on-site command task if Ephnel encountered an accident and could not command.

Actually, strictly speaking, in this mission, Tachibana Sara, who was very familiar with this area, should have been more qualified for battlefield command than Ephnel.

It’s just that… everyone present knew that Tachibana Sara was a rather quiet type.

She was rarely seen saying much, nor did she show much expression, and she couldn’t express her thoughts and feelings well.

Therefore, Fushihara Ayaka judged that she was not suitable to be the overall commander.

“Then the personnel arrangements on your Agent’s side are set. I will be mainly responsible for the command and operational arrangements on the Special Disaster Division’s side. Unless necessary, you just need to wait here.”

Seeing that the preliminary arrangements were settled, Ephnel asked Fushihara Ayaka, “It sounds like this mission is different from the past. Even you are here. Can I know what’s going on?”

…