December 30, 2199 - 13:35
Against a sky shrouded in gray clouds, a type of ship arrived at the port. However, it wasn't a ship that sailed across the sea. It was a ship that crossed the sky. The magical cargo ship carried goods such as humans and equipment in its swollen belly, while its wings extended outwards, absorbing seithr to enable flight.
Naturally, a port where flying magic airships docked had to be specially constructed. The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, Port 5. Smaller and less conspicuous than the others, it was a port that was used for specific purposes.
Several guards in blue and white uniforms, with guns slung over their shoulders, got off and quickly took up their positions, exchanging reports on their radios. A moment later, a pair of black leather boots stepped onto the flat ground of the port. A tall man in a black suit emerged, adjusting his slender frame. He adjusted the black hat perched atop his green hair with his fingers and tilted his face upward toward the sky. The hat shaded his eyes, but his thin lips were twisted in a dissatisfied frown.
"Oh dear. Is it raining?"
A quiet rain fell from the gray clouds that filled the sky. It had been raining for quite a while, and Port 5 was thoroughly soaked. There seemed to be no movement in the clouds, so it looked like the rain would continue for some time.
Letting out a resigned sigh, the man quickly moved to a roofed area to shield himself from the rain.
The man in the black suit was a member of the Novus Orbis Librarium, often abbreviated as the NOL, and he was part of the organization's Intelligence Department. His name was Hazama, and his rank was Captain.
The magical cargo ship he had arrived on was used by the Intelligence Department of the NOL. Port 5 was typically used for covert missions or other sensitive tasks that couldn't be made public—essentially, it served as a port for avoiding prying eyes.
"Captain Hazama! You're outside." A woman's voice called from the stairs of the magic airship, and Hazama, who had been brushing the water droplets off his suit, looked up. A young woman in a blue and white uniform with a matching poncho quickly ran down the stairs. She wore a blue beret, and her long, camellia red hair flowed past her waist.
With a splash of rainwater from her blue boots, she reached the front of the management hut where Hazama was and took a deep breath, straightening her posture. Her sky-blue eyes were stern, and her expression was serious.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting. But it would have been fine if you'd just called out to me... I thought you might still be inside, so I was looking for you," she said.
"Oh my, my. I apologize for the trouble, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi." Hazama smiled with the corners of his mouth lifted, speaking to the woman who, as her eyes suggested, spoke with utmost seriousness.
Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi. Unlike Hazama, she wasn't part of the Intelligence Department, but belonged to the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron of the Novus Orbis Librarium.
The Novus Orbis Librarium was a huge and important organization that served as a substitute for the concept of a nation in the current world. With an Imperator at the top who held absolute decision-making power, it managed and operated all social infrastructures worldwide, including government, justice, and military.
Because of this, there were a vast number of departments, and it was not common for departments with different roles to work together on a single mission. However, despite being from different departments, Tsubaki and Hazama had come to Kagutsuchi together for a certain mission.
"Well, it's terrible weather, isn't it? Searching for a single woman in vast Kagutsuchi in this rain is quite a challenge." Hazama said in a somewhat amused tone, his hand on his hat as he looked up at the rain.
Their mission was to find someone. Who were they looking for?
"Still, we must find Major Kisaragi... no matter what." Tsubaki muttered, her gaze dropping to her feet, as if reminding herself.
Major Naru Kisaragi. That was the name of the woman Tsubaki and Hazama were looking for. She was the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron and Tsubaki's direct superior. She had served as her secretary and supported her.
A few days ago, she had suddenly disappeared from the headquarters of the NOL. It was neither a mission nor a reported absence. This was a serious breach of discipline in the Librarium. It was unprecedented for the commander of a division to suddenly disappear without a clear motive. To prevent this incident from affecting subordinates and other divisions, it had not been made public.
However, there was a possibility that the situation would leak out somewhere. Hazama was ordered to bring her back as soon as possible before that happened, and the person he chose to cooperate with was Tsubaki, Naru Kisaragi's secretary.
The cold rain chilled the air. Or was it just the cold metal of Port 5?
Beyond the wet gray stairs, one could glimpse the orderly cityscape of the upper floors. Going further in and climbing several floors would lead to the top floor, the Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.
As she lifted her gaze, even from here, she could see the beautiful and majestic silhouette of the Kagutsuchi branch, towering as if it were jutting out from the peak of the high mountain. However, due to the bad weather today, a curtain of rain blurred her view.
Looking up at the hazy branch office, Tsubaki furrowed her brow slightly.
"... Why would Major Kisaragi come to Kagutsuchi?"
It was a question that anyone who knew Naru would ask.
Naru Kisaragi, the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron, was a very calm person. She was thoughtful, always analyzing the pros and cons before acting, and she was certainly not the type to foolishly jeopardize her position by suddenly turning her back on the NOL. This was truly unlike her.
Seeing Tsubaki pondering, Hazama said, "Oh," sounding a little surprised.
"This is surprising. Miss Tsubaki Yayoi, can't someone as intelligent and capable as you understand?" Hazama asked in a somewhat teasing tone, his smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Tsubaki felt a slight unease stir within her. He had a way of speaking that was just slightly grating.
Tsubaki didn't know Hazama very well. So she couldn't guess what he meant by saying that. But just those words were enough to make her dislike the man in the black suit.
Swallowing the mild discomfort that churned inside her, Tsubaki adjusted her expression to one befitting of a soldier and straightened her back. Even if she didn't like it, she was a lieutenant, and Hazama was a captain. He outranked her.
"I apologize, Captain. I..."
"You received the report, didn't you?" Hazama spread his hands slightly. Perhaps because of his teasing tone earlier, even that gesture seemed sarcastic to Tsubaki. "It mentioned that the 'Grim Reaper'—the wanted criminal Haru the Bloodedge—was heading toward Kagutsuchi. If Major Kisaragi went to Kagutsuchi, it could only be because he was pursuing the 'Grim Reaper,' right?"
It was Hazama who had provided the information that Naru's destination after leaving the NOL was Kagutsuchi. Tsubaki had heard him grumble many times in the magic airship about how he had unwittingly gathered such information, which had led to this assignment to a remote location.
"With all due respect, Captain Hazama. I understand that. What I question is why the Major had to leave the organization to chase the 'Grim Reaper'." Tsubaki said sharply. As soon as she said it, she wondered if she had been too rude. It might have been a childish attitude unbecoming of a soldier.
However, Hazama didn't seem to mind Tsubaki's irritation. On the contrary, he let out a light laugh, as if amused by her childlike rebellious tone.
"Oh, I see. My apologies, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi." He tipped his hat slightly in a salute. All the while, his thin neck trembled with a constant chuckle. "We can't possibly know what Major Kisaragi is thinking. Why don't you go and ask her directly when you find her?"
Though she thought bitterly that she was asking because she couldn't do that, Tsubaki pushed the extra words down. What she needed now was not doubt, but determination. That's what she told herself.
"... Understood, Captain." Tsubaki responded earnestly, and Hazama let out another chuckle before continuing.
"Well, there's no point in chatting forever, so let's get started on our work." The work, of course, meant the search for Naru Kisaragi.
Tsubaki's expression tightened, not due to her dislike of Hazama but out of a sense of duty toward the mission.
As Hazama glanced at the rain-soaked cityscape of Kagutsuchi, a grin spread across his lips as he continued speaking.
"First, let's confirm. Our mission is to capture Major Naru Kisaragi and force her to return to headquarters. However, since her disappearance hasn't been made public, we'll need to keep this discreet with the guards here in Kagutsuchi. Absolutely no outsiders involved."
"Yes, sir."
"Also, it's believed that Haru the Bloodedge is hiding somewhere in Kagutsuchi. Due to this, a D-alert has been issued, so be on your guard."
A D-Alert meant that a special alert was in effect by the NOL. This prohibited anyone who was not a resident of Kagutsuchi or not affiliated with the NOL from conducting any activities in the city.
"If we come into contact with someone who violates the D-Alert, should we contact the Kagutsuchi branch? Or should we handle it ourselves?" Tsubaki asked, looking at Hazama with a straight back, her manner too dignified to be dismissed as just another soldier.
And it made sense. She was the key member of the Yayoi family, one of the twelve founding families that had supported the establishment of the NOL and produced many high-ranking officials.
But Hazama replied in a casual manner and twisted his mouth, as if to say that everything about Tsubaki, from the clothes she wore to her unfailingly serious nature, stank like acid.
"Oh, it doesn't matter. Do whatever you want."
"… Yes."
"Well, I have some other business at the branch, so could you please start searching from the lower levels?"
"Other business?" Tsubaki asked, slightly confused, but Hazama only shrugged his shoulders and didn't explain.
Hazama belonged to the Intelligence Department. There were probably many things he couldn't tell other departments. Though Tsubaki felt a bit suspicious about his hidden purpose, she refrained from asking further out of consideration.
"Understood. I'll start with the lower levels... around Orient Town," she said.
"Good idea. That's one of the largest areas in Kagutsuchi, and it's a perfect place to hide." Nodding casually, Hazama took a step forward and looked up at Tsubaki from below. His eyes were hidden by the brim of his hat, but she could feel his gaze fixed on her. As if talking to a child, Hazama raised one finger. "Just be careful of one thing. Major Kisaragi's likely hiding in places with poor security, but at the same time, Haru the Bloodedge could be lurking around. If you two happen to fight, we won't be able to do anything."
"Yes... I suppose so." Tsubaki bowed her head slightly, as if retreating, and replied bitterly.
Naru was known throughout the NOL as an unparalleled swordswoman. On top of that, she possessed Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa, a phenomenon weapon said to have been used during the Dark War, a war against the Black Beast about a hundred years ago.
And Haru the Bloodedge, the "Grim Reaper," was a person with considerable power who single-handedly destroyed many branches of the NOL.
If these two were to clash, neither Tsubaki nor Hazama could stop them.
Hazama stated the biggest reason for this with a cheerful tone.
"Well, neither of us are experts in combat. If things get rough, we're completely out of our league, aren't we?"
Tsubaki had graduated from the military academy of the NOL, so she had at least undergone basic combat training. However, that was limited to self-defense techniques. After graduation, she had spent her time as Naru's secretary, dealing with paperwork and visitors on a daily basis. Under those circumstances, there was no chance for her to improve her combat skills.
On the other hand, as Hazama himself admitted, he was skilled in intelligence activities but was not good at dealing with situations with force.
With a pale hand that didn't seem to suit a weapon, Hazama waved casually in the air and grinned.
"Well, let's not push ourselves too hard. Our job is to bring back Major Kisaragi, so don't forget that."
"Understood." Without being swayed by Hazama's casualness, Tsubaki replied as a subordinate, and then straightened her back. "Then, Captain, I'll go and check the lower levels."
"Ah, yes. Please do. Kagutsuchi is quite dangerous right now, so do take care."
"Yes, sir. I'll take my leave."
Bowing deeply, Tsubaki ran out of the narrow entrance of the management hut into the rain. She climbed the stairs leading from the port into the city, splashing small amounts of water. Hazama watched her go, leaning against the wall of the management hut as the blue of her poncho and the sound of the water she splashed disappeared completely into the rain.
When the sounds of the blue poncho and splashing water disappeared completely into the rain, he slowly got up.
"Really, be careful," he murmured, his voice low and husky. With that, Hazama leisurely stepped out into the rain.