Encore 52 — Lucia Winters (I)

"Not a single mission!"

Shinobu slammed the table in a fit of anger. Kyrie and Renya followed her from behind.

"P-please calm down."

Renya attempted to cool down Shinobu but she seemed even more heated.

"Hah?!"

"I-I'm sorry! D-don't be m-mad with me!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, Renya."

The small girl comforted the timid boy. Yuichi entered the room, fairly tired. He dropped onto the sofa and rested.

"Are you okay, Yuichi?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I feel weird whenever I wield Tainted Wisdom, nowadays..."

He felt disturbed whenever he wielded Tainted Wisdom. It felt as if someone was slowly corrupting his mind. His will was the only thing keeping him sane. Yuichi was hesitant even to look at his sable sword.

"Hello, everyone! Are you guys having fun?!"

Aisaka stormed into the room and happily greeted everyone. Ruby was trailing behind her. Everyone glanced over at her, disinterested.

"Oi, would you shut up?!"

Shinobu, usually the nonchalant and quiet one, leapt onto Aisaka and punched her in the face.

"We need proper missions!"

"I'm here to give your first one..."

Aisaka said, wiping the blood leaking from her nose.

"Seriously?!"

The entire room shouted in excitement since it was their first proper mission. For the past two months, or so, they have been simply helping the community almost as if they were a PR squad.

"Tell us before we get excited."

"Is this the ones you said that could protect me?"

A little girl walked into the room past the apostles. She was a girl of petite stature. The girl had long, fluffy, golden hair and crystal-white eyes. She wore a white beret on her head. She had a light complexion, almost as if she had no blood in her body. She wore a white and black gothic dress with black tights and boots.

"You guys better protect me."

"And who's this cocky little kid?"

Shinobu winced, inspecting the girl closely.

"I'm not a little kid, you little kid!"

The girl squabbled.

"I'm not a little kid, little kid! I'm Shinobu Kurokage!"

"Well, I'm Lucia Winters! You guys better protect me!"

"Why are we protecting this little girl then, Aisaka?"

Kyrie asked.

Usually, other teams would take protection missions since the target was usually important. A novice team would not be able to protect them against the ones chasing the client.

"Her name is Lucia Winters, she's being chased by BLOOD."

"BLOOD?"

Everyone seemed to know who BLOOD were, all except Yuichi. Usually, these types of things were explained to him by Kazuya. Yuichi clicked his tongue when he remembered his former teammate.

"They're an evil organisation who have been around for a long time. They increased in power and fame when Streia came about."

Aisaka explained to Yuichi. He nodded, showing that he understood.

"I was never a part of BLOOD but my brother was. They used me as a hostage to keep my brother in the group. He died a few days ago and in retaliation, I stole something precious from them."

"Something precious?"

Lucia held out her hand—a book appeared, floating above her palm. It was a black and gold book, surrounded by a golden mist.

"The mana emanating from that is..."

"It's c-creepy..."

Shinobu and Renya crept away from the ominous book.

"It's Sable Aquarius, one of the Zodiac Genesis, the twelve most powerful grimoires in the world."

"Of course, they'd come after you for that."

"The higher-ups said that this team should protect Lucia. We need to deliver her to Alice Kanta. She's the leader of a group named Wonderland. She'll protect her. You guys should change into casual wear. You shouldn't use public transport."

·———·

Team Eden set off into the streets of Japan. Lucia hung onto Yuichi's side. She clung to him happily, humming. The rest of the team trailed behind.

(I was wondering whether we could use Sable Aquarius to chase them off but it seems like the Zodiac Genesis can't be used so easily.)

Yuichi thought.

"Oh! I want a parfait! Those look tasty!"

Lucia cried out, staring at the window of a fast food place. Kyrie smiled while Shinobu grimaced. She found babysitting a child annoying, especially since it was not the mission they were looking for.

"When do you think those from BLOOD will attack?"

Shinobu asked Kyrie and Renya as they entered the fast food restaurant.

"They'll probably wait until night. We'll need to secure a hotel and someone on patrol during the night."

They all sat down at a table and Lucia began to happily look through the menu. They called the waitress over and she took their order. She left.

"Oh, have you heard, the Ironhide Squad has new members?"

Shinobu said, scrolling through her phone.

"How do you know that?"

Yuichi asked. He thought that information on the Ironhide Squad was kept secret. It should have been.

"There's a special network for those within professional Streia work like working in the Divine Church, Secret Force or for the ISS."

"Cool, who're the new members then?"

"Sho Murakami, Aria Shinomiya and Isla Chibana."

"Huh? Isla..."

"I've heard of Murakami and Shinomiya, but I've never heard of Chibana."

Kyrie mentioned.

Yuichi was about to explain but decided to keep his mouth shut. His path was different from hers. He did not need to be involved with her anymore. Not as long as he was on the path of revenge.

The waitress came over with a tray of orders. She gave out two parfaits, one for Lucia and another for Lucia. Yes, she ordered two.

Yuichi got a cup of cold water. Kyrie and Renya ordered nothing while Shinobi had a burger.

"So sweet and cold! I love it!"

Lucia began eating her parfait swiftly.

"Slow down!"

Kyrie warned.

"You'll get a—"

"Brain freeze!"

The girl tumbled around, left to right, shaking her head. The team laughed as she suffered. Once her brain freeze settled down, Lucia punched Yuichi, who was giggling.

"Oi, why me?"

He still chuckled.

"You were the closest to me."

From outside of the restaurant, in an alleyway, four silhouettes watched Team Eden as they took care of Lucia Winters.

"That's her, is it not?"

"Yeah, it is. We need to get Sable Aquarius back from her."

"Is it okay to kill her?"

"No, her brother's still alive. We need her."

"We'll start our assault tonight."