Chapter 30: Secret Commission
A group of children were scavenging in the urban area.
Although it was an extremely dangerous ruin, the "teacher" who took care of them marked out a safe zone for them. As long as they did not exceed the scope of the safe zone, they could freely search for daily necessities on the streets.
Their home now is the place called "Nest."
The so-called "nest" is actually a shantytown built on the basis of a building, densely built at a high position above the ground, and constructed with materials that are easy to assemble and disassemble.
Although it was simple, it was enough for them to live on.
Living well is the only thing they can do now.
Of course, not all children will go out into the streets to look for supplies. There will always be some children who stay in the [nest] and take turns to take charge of other tasks.
For example, there is a little white-haired boy who is currently on the lookout.
His name was Lyle, and his original family background was actually quite good—in other words, there was probably no family that was able to live in Nagazora City that was too poor.
Of course, he has nothing now, but with the support of his teachers and other children, he has now accepted his new life.
He has always had good eyesight and observation skills, so most of the time he serves as an observer. If any accident occurs, he will immediately notify other children to retreat.
——The teacher once jokingly said that he might be suitable to be a sniper in the future.
Although there is nothing unusual most of the time, Lyle still performs his duties conscientiously to avoid regrets when something really happens.
For example, now——
Within the boy's field of vision, he saw two human figures.
One of them seemed to have lightning flashing on his body, and he jumped easily between the tall buildings, while the other one was flying in the air even more decisively, flying towards the direction of the [Nest].
This was obviously beyond the scope of ordinary people, but it was also very different from the monsters Lyle had seen before.
As they gradually approached, the boy took a closer look and found that one of them was someone he had met once before.
Um... that's the guy who sent the flight attendant here.
So he hurried back to the house and called Sora, who was cooking:
"Stewardess, your acquaintance is here!"
............
"Brother Kirataka, and Sister Bronya...!"
The petite girl came out of the kitchen and happened to see an acquaintance coming. Her originally weak tone became much more joyful.
She rushed forward in two steps at a time, almost falling in the middle, and then suddenly rushed into Kirataka's arms.
"Well, long time no see, Sora."
He smiled and touched the girl's head in his arms.
After leaving Chiba Academy with Bronya, they headed towards the East City District.
The purpose, of course, is to see Sora, whom he hasn't seen for a long time.
Bronya had met Sora once before, so she knew the purpose of his proposal.
After clearing out many of the newly generated Honkai beasts along the way, they finally arrived at the safe East City District.
The girl in his arms raised her head, looked at Kirataka with sparkling eyes, and asked:
"Brother Kirataka, where do you live now?"
"Well... it's in a place not too far from here. I came to Nagazora City to carry out a mission and brought you some supplies."
As he spoke, Kirataka put down the package on his back.
Taking the shelf life and carrying capacity into consideration, he picked out some Schicksal standard compressed dry food and some long-lasting ingredients.
Although the taste may not be very good, it is impeccable in terms of nutrition.
Noticing the arrival of outsiders, many little heads popped out from other rooms to check the situation.
At Sora's invitation, the children came to the relatively spacious living room one after another.
Bronya was originally just sitting quietly watching Kirataka playing with the children, but she noticed that there was a little girl in the crowd who was secretly staring at her.
She was a little girl who walked with a limp and had a bandage on her foot. It seemed that she was injured in the disaster in Nagazora City.
Although her life was saved, she also suffered from a disability in her legs and feet.
"Doll, cute..."
She looked at the Homu doll in Bronya's arms from afar, feeling a little hesitant and a little yearning.
For the age of these little ones, the Homu dolls are quite attractive.
"…"
The silver-haired girl stood up silently, slowly floated over, handed her doll to the little girl in front of her, and said in the softest tone possible:
"This is for you."
"Well, but…"
The little girl was a little flattered.
"It's okay. Bronya still has a lot of Homu dolls."
"Thank you, thank you, big sister..."
She thanked her timidly.
Looking at the little girl happily holding the Homu, Bronya suddenly felt a little guilty.
Perhaps it was the suggestion of the mysterious donkey-eared woman, or perhaps it was the face of these innocent children that made Bronya start to think for the first time other than blindly following the instructions of her mother, Cocolia.
For example, she began to think that it was her dear mother, Cocolia, who had made these children homeless.
Also, destroying an entire city and causing the deaths of millions of people, paying such a price to bring Seele back, would the gentle and kind girl really be happy about this?
The answer, I'm afraid, is no.
'No, after all, was everything my mother had done so far really to save Seele...?'
'Wasn't it she who made Seele disappear in the laboratory a year ago?'
"…"
The silver-haired girl was a little upset. She glanced at Kirataka, who was playing with the children, stood up, and floated outside.
............
"By the way, Sora, is your teacher in Nagazora City?"
After playing with the children for a while, Kirataka sat up and asked the purple-haired girl beside him.
"The teacher just left a few days ago and hasn't come back yet."
Sora answered obediently.
Raven only comes back here once in a while and does not stay in the nest for a long time.
This is understandable. As a capable cadre of the World Serpent, she has been carrying out various tasks all over the world.
"Well... Well, Sora, I have a letter for you. When your teacher comes back, please give it to her for me, okay?"
Kirataka took out an envelope from his arms.
This was something he had prepared last night before setting off.
When he came to the place where the children lived, besides seeing Sora whom he hadn't seen for a long time, there was something more important.
——Search for the whereabouts of Raiden Ryoma.
Although he claimed to the outside world that he was arrested and imprisoned for an economic case, people involved naturally knew that he was framed by Cocolia.
Therefore, it is worth investigating where this former executive of Anti-Entropy is being held.
Anti-Entropy is now clearly divided into the radicals headed by Cocolia and the conservatives headed by Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla. Raiden Ryoma, as a member of the conservatives, was framed, and other executives in the same camp could not have done nothing.
They must have tried to send people to find Raiden Ryoma and rescue him, but probably to no avail.
Therefore, Kirataka deduced that Raiden Ryoma was probably being held by Cocolia in a secret location controlled by her, rather than in a prison under the jurisdiction of the Far East Government.
Well, this is not a place he can guess now, so he needs special helpers to help find Ryoma's whereabouts.
If possible, he planned to rescue Mr. Ryoma as soon as possible.
On the one hand, it is for Mei, and on the other hand, he naturally hopes to use the position of the regained free Ryoma within Anti-Entropy to restrain Cocolia's usurpation of power.
——He didn't intend to wait patiently for the queen to come in a few years and then wait until the chaos in the eye of the deep broke out before going to settle accounts with Cocolia.
If you want to do it, the sooner the better.
Whether it is to persuade Bronya to rebel or to rescue Raiden Ryoma, both are part of the current plan.
And this person who can help him find the whereabouts of Raiden Ryoma...
Naturally, it was the mercenary belonging to World Serpent, Raven.
Although Mei had already asked Theresa and the others to help find the whereabouts of this matter, it was obvious that the Far East Branch's intelligence capabilities alone could not be compared with the World Serpent.
If they can take advantage of the intricate intelligence networks of the World Serpent, which has already infiltrated the intelligence networks of major organizations, it should not be difficult to find Ryoma's whereabouts.
And Raven happens to be the kind of mercenary who can do anything as long as she is paid, so Kirataka plans to entrust this matter to her.
He left a secret private email address in the envelope so that he could contact Raven when the time came.
"Okay...I'll pass it on to the teacher when she comes back."
Sora nodded obediently and put the envelope into her small bag.
Seeing that the sun was setting outside the window, Kirataka chatted with Sora for a while and then said goodbye again.
He returned to Chiba Academy with Bronya, picked up Mei, and started the return journey.
With Yuna, who survived, this team, which was on its first mission, successfully completed the mission in Nagazora City.
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