Haruo slowly raised his eyelids, waking up with a towel pressed on his forehead. Thin layers of ice covered where he slept—Breaking into tiny shards as he pressed his finger on them before turning into glistening dust.
He pressed his palm on the ground to support himself as he stood. And as he tried, he instantly fell on his own shoulder.
He took a deep breath, pressed his palm on the floor once again, and steadily stood up this time. Once he did, he felt unbalanced, and the cloth that stuck in his head fell on his feet.
It was surprising that it stuck even when he had already fallen earlier, but he paid no mind whatsoever. After regaining some balance, he began to walk out of the tent.
There he saw Ena and Leo arguing near the fireplace, while Leo was stirring a pot. While he saw Isaac was collecting sticks again, near the crowded trees.
"Who puts Chili in Rejon soup!?" Ena exclaimed.
"Rejon is good with chili! It balances the creaminess!"
"The creaminess is the best part! ..."
While Ena and Leo argued, his gaze darted around the camp, finding the last two members. But the only thing he saw was an expanding area filled with snow and trees everywhere.
It was surprisingly lively without the constant snowfall and dim light. Birds even chirped in the background. For the first time, he'd had both a proper sleep and a pleasant morning.
Isaac then spotted him as he was placing sticks on the ground. He took a short break after and made his way toward Haruo.
"Morning, Haru, how are you feeling?"
Both Ena and Leo stopped arguing for a moment after hearing Isaac say Haru. Both of them glanced at the tent and saw Haruo standing, occupied with talking to Isaac.
Both took a glance at the pot, then glared at each other before rushing toward Haruo.
"Haru! Tell Ena that rejon soup is tasty with chili!"
"Oh, please, your taste buds are just messed up!"
Haruo scratched the back of his hair before looking down at his foot, just realizing he was barefoot the entire time. He then realized he was also missing his coat. Isaac tried to stop them from fighting, trying to calm them down.
They continued to argue about that same topic whilst he tried to find his shoes and coat. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. He held his temple and directed his gaze to them.
"Where's my coat?"
After saying his words, the trio momentarily paused at his pained expression. Despite waking up fully rested, it appeared as if he fought a long battle instead of recovering, which only hindered him if anything else. He tightened his jaw, enduring the pain while he kept his composure.
Looking forward, he saw a blueish hue in his blurred vision.
It was Ena handing him his coat. Clutching his forehead, he saw Isaac hurriedly walking to the distance, to grab what looked to be his shoes from the laundry area.
Haruo took a deep breath before he reached for his coat, not hesitating to put it on whatsoever.
Slowly but surely, this pained expression slowly subsided, fading away before fixing his posture.
With almost perfect timing, Isaac returned with his leather shoes at hand, reflecting parts of the sunlight on their front.
"The siblings, where are they?"
"They're scouting the area. Last night, when Ena tried to heal you, it sent a large pulse of energy into the surrounding area. Which gave our position last night to monsters." Isaac replied.
"Not a lot of monsters came, but it was enough to get us on guard the whole night. So they went and made sure there weren't any more who could invade the camp."
Haruo raised a brow, changing his glance toward Ena.
"Pulse of energy? What exactly happened last night?"
"When I tried to heal you, your ability rejected it."
Haruo remembered back when they first met. Flashbacks of when they were still in the manor. He sighed and put on his shoes before asking:
"Anything else that happened?"
Leo only smiled and said. "No, not really, that's everything I could remember."
Haruo rolled his eyes and turned his back on them, walking away.
Isaac was about to speak before Leo grabbed his shoulder and shook his head slowly.
"I'm hungry, I don't care about the chili anymore—Anything is better than Skavilen, just hurry up."
"Finally, you've accepted the fact that rejon tastes better with chili..."
As if nothing had ever happened, the trio dispersed into their own tasks.
While fighting with Leo again, Ena caught a glance of Haruo's silhouette disappearing within the dark forest. She thought it was confusing at first, but paid no mind to it.
Step after step, Haruo only got further away from their presence. He took a deep breath and glared in the direction he came from. Seeing his hand shaking from the cold, he carefully inserted it into the pockets of his coat before delving deeper into the dark forest.
***
Nearly twelve hours had passed since Haruo's departure from the division. In just a blink of an eye, time passed quickly, turning the bright, cold morning into a constant snowing night. Even the siblings themselves arrived earlier than he did. At first, none panicked, since it was still early dawn, but as the sun fell and the moon rose, worry became inevitable.
Their leader disappeared without a trace and has been absent for hours on end. Undoubtedly, he was the mission at its core; only he knew what the real purpose of their mission was, and when to start it.
Leo was especially concerned, more than anybody else from this mission, because he knew that Haruo was the only one who knew what the mission was. Without him, it'd be no different from walking blindly.
"Where could he have possibly gone?"
However, despite their turmoil, Ena remained awfully calm throughout the whole thing.
It was the quietest they had seen her be. No worry or concern was etched anywhere in her expression.
"He'll be back."
Theodor, who was the second least concerned, was seated on the ground with his back supported by the log while taking large bites into the skewers.
"How do you know?"
"He doesn't just run off without purpose, he'll be back, and besides..."
Hooking the side of her collar, she pulled it slightly to see her neck. At first, it was blank, but as time went on, a dark tattoo became apparent, revealing itself towards the division. It was none other than the mark Kilian had inflicted on them through the contract.
"He and I are on a contract. As long as he has this, he won't run off. Just be patient... Even if it takes a few days. That guy is really unpredictable sometimes."
"But what if he doesn't? Then what do we do?" Isaac said.
"His brother's life is on the line with this mission. Let me tell you, that guy is very obsessed with his brother, like hell he'll just run away like that."
Undeniably, she had a fair point. This entire mission began with Haruo's brother being affected by manifestation failure. None refuted, not that anyone had a reason to after hearing it. So they forced themselves to calm down and patiently waited for the white-haired boy to return.
Not even a second after, Haruo's silhouette returned from the forest and gently walked toward the rest of the division. With his footsteps, all of them fixed their gazes on the forest and saw Haruo, locking it completely on him.
Just before he sat, he patted himself off the excess snow from his coat.
Gazing down at his hands. It was unnaturally pale, so pale it didn't even match his skin tone. As a matter of fact, it was so pale it turned purple, like frostbite had conquered his soft hands.
But as soon as he sat down, his hand started to return to its natural tone, from purple to blue, and from blue to pale white. Ena's eyes widened.
She, who could see someone's vitality and anatomy, couldn't quite figure out what was happening to his body.
It wasn't frostbite as she had expected, and it definitely wasn't burning. His blood seemed fine, and she even double-checked if she was mistaken. Not a single unnatural occurrence, everything was ordinary, no matter how she looked at it.
"What exactly did you do?"
Haruo, seeing her suspicion, only shook his head before saying:
"Side effects, don't think too much about it."
"What?—"
"We'll carry out the mission tomorrow. For now, let's prepare what we need."
His words caught their attention almost instantly, though they had been preparing for it for almost three months; only now was it beginning. They had traveled thousands of miles just to complete this one, singular mission.
Raising his palm forward, he continued:
"Give me your IDs."
The division glanced at each other, confused by his sudden orders. However, that didn't stop Leo from handing his ID to Haruo, without wasting a single second on hesitating.
A little shaken from his quick reaction, Haruo shrugged before inspecting his ID.
Name: Leonid Mikhail Novikov
Age: 21
Citizenship: Marion Kingdom
Occupation: Division Agency
Ability rank: Sealed record
Mana Magnitude/Sensitivity: —
"Your real name isn't Leo?"
"I prefer Leo to be honest rather than something so extra." He replied
During his inspection, many foreign things confused Haruo. Various badges on the back, his citizenship, ability rank, and a lot more, which differentiated his ID from Leo's. Even the overall design was different.
Although it made sense for someone like him to have these, semi-pures always had a chokehold on humanity. Their authority was no different from the councils of the Marion Kingdom.
Though he didn't realize it was this extra. It was much more than he expected, like the platinum-like design.
"Privileges, I guess."
He muttered to himself, yet nearly everyone heard it, while one didn't bother to listen.
Hearing his authority be recognized, Leo couldn't help but feel smug about it.
"Heh."
Leo wasn't nervous at first, but he came to realize that Haruo had always been the most impulsive one—Only second to Ena—when it came to risks that benefited him.
He had forgotten that trait about him due to his sudden appearance, and handed his ID without thinking what'd he'd do first.
"If you weren't a noble, what would be the name you wanted? You're keeping Leo as your first name, though."
"I guess it would be... I don't know, I never really thought of being an average Joe till now."
Scratching his head at his response, he opened his mana storage and took out multiple items. In his hand were multiple rectangular cards with perfectly sized dimensions, serving as identification cards.
What lay within those cards, however, was nothing short of pure white blankness. The only thing that occupied the cards was the shine being reflected by the fire in front of them.
Swiftly, he threw each member a card.
"Use this to make your new identity. Don't even think of making it too excessive or too plain. Just in case, don't make it too average as well. Other than that, you're free to do whatever."
After each member received a card of their own, they stared at the blank card before contemplating. Only then did they realize what Haruo was implying.
"You want us to forge new identities...?"
Tatiana was the first to speak, clearly flabbergasted at his statement.
She usually refrained from activities like these to avoid tarnishing her family's name. It was a shameful act, something she tends to avoid, as prideful as she was.
Her family was one of the most dignified families known not just in the Marion kingdom, but to many others as well. A political family had to decide what was best for its country as a whole. It was a disgraceful act for an honored family.
"What are you so surprised about? Your brother doesn't seem like he has a problem with it."
In the context of Ena's words, she glanced at her brother in pure disbelief. Watching him effortlessly adjust his card as if he were a kid drawing his heart out.
As he was the eldest son of the Andreev manor, he was the next in line to succeed their father. Yet, seeing as he didn't even bat an eye meant he didn't care whatsoever.
"Relax, Tia, it's only temporary. We're doing this for the family anyway."
Leo said, tugging his elbow at the disappointed Tatiana.
***
Throughout the entire night, they had spent adjusting and fixing their cards to perfection. And though they barely slept, they were still filled with energy.
"Usually, at this point, I would've made a bet whether this would work or not, but I also made a card of my own. It's not really fun insulting yourself."
Ena declared, studying the card as she was seated on the edge of a cart.
"Fiond is currently in feuds with multiple kingdoms, and there's a possibility that they might see Marion as a potential enemy."
"Why exactly?"
Haruo only stared at her for a good minute before saying:
"Does it look like I'm a politician? I barely managed to scrape a portion of information while in flight with you all. I would've gotten to know more if you three actually did something productive."
"I did something!"
"Getting to know the status of Fiond isn't our mission; just stop asking questions."
In front, massive towering gates defined the area. They could even debate that the walls they currently saw were taller than Marion had. Maybe ten feet taller.
Along with the gates stood two guards.
The two guards looked at the foreign people, on their backs, was a cart full of materials. The materials, being the dead skavilen's corpse, were harvested into leather, teeth, and even the black goo it produced. Nothing was spared.
"We're here to sell this to a pharmacy. We couldn't find any others in the nearby towns, so we decided to go to the city instead."
Although it was a valid story, the guards couldn't help but feel suspicious of the division. On the other half of the cart was hidden by a white cloth. The guard then passed through the members, excusing himself until he got to the cloth. In one swift motion, he pulled the cloth to the side, and there the guard was slightly shaken.
It was Theodor resting peacefully with the side of his head on the wooden flooring. Feeling the unwanted coldness touch his skin, he pulled the cloth back to its original position, covering himself completely.
"Yeah, don't mind that guy. He had a tiring night last night."
Leo said, assuring the guard as he tapped the cart by its edge. The guard nodded, inspected the contents, and looked for any other anomalies that didn't match their description.
With one final review, the guard nodded to his colleague before reaching his hand out.
"Identification, please."
With no hesitation, they rushed their cards into the guard's hand. Why wouldn't they? They had spent their entire night fixing and readjusting their cards to make it as real as possible.
Nervous? If anything, they were thankful he asked.
But just in case it didn't work, Ena was prepared to kill the guard with her own hands. Not because they were caught, but because she wasted her beauty sleep for something that hadn't even worked.
Swipe after swipe, the guard reviewed each one until he saw the last one.
His expression was quite different from earlier, and although he made that expression, they weren't caught. Permitting the division to enter the Kingdom without any major issues.
Large buildings were scattered all around the area. Not countless snow, but just a city with crowded people all throughout.
With their entry complete, the guards closed the gate behind them.
"Who did it?"
Almost immediately, he glared at Ena.
"HEY, DON'T LOOK AT ME, I KEPT MY NAME ENA AND JUST REPLACED MY LAST NAME!"
Each one kept denying it was them—except for Theodor, who was still asleep—Until they got to Leo. Their gazes burned through his temple, not daring to look at any of them.
Leo only fidgeted a bit before handing them his card hesitantly. Tatiana hurried to take it from him.
"Give me that!" She said with a scoff. "What could you have possibly named yourself!?"
Her face went dry, she looked visibly disappointed with not only him but herself as well.
"What?" Haruo said.
"He named himself.. 'Leo Natick'"
Empty silence filled the division.