by <unknown>
"My name is Yulia."
"Huh?"
Brushing her beautiful hair over her ears, the silver-haired girl smiled and said:
"My name is Yulia Kochenkova."
Part 4
"Yulia Kochenkova."
Looking at the photo that had popped up, Seitenshi spoke:
"Andrei Litvintsev's Initiator, serving under the 'Witches Squadron,' a Russian special operations team consisting exclusively of Initiators, the strongest Initiator of the former Belarus, also a girl carrying cheetah factor in her genes."
The time was after 7pm. In the Satomi home where the lights were off, the crystal medium's blue light was shining randomly all over the place like yesterday, showing a holo-window.
Rentaro clicked the photo's holo-projection in the air and instantly resulted in magnification.
Probably taken secretly, the photo showed a girl who was looking to the left side, her tense lips showing indomitable will.
"A so-called Model Cheetah..."
"A speed enhanced type. In other words, you can consider her the same type of Initiator as Miss Enju."
Rentaro sighed in admiration.
Speaking of cheetahs, they were capable of reaching a top running speed of 110 km/h. Needless to say, they were the fastest predators in the animal world.
Although the combat ability of Initiators could not be determined solely by the animal factor within them, even so, a cheetah would be like a thoroughbred in the world of Initiators.
"Ranking?"
Seitenshi fell silent for a moment before murmuring a number she seemed quite reluctant to disclose.
Rentaro rubbed his arms due to feeling a chill.
Suppose that number was not exaggerated, then the job he was taking on might be unprecedented in harshness.
"You have not encountered her before, right, Mr. Satomi?"
"If we had clashed directly with this girl half a year ago, Enju and I would have been killed for sure."
Rentaro answered with a suffering look. Seitenshi also fell silent, feeling the severity of the situation, taking a sip of the tea on the low table.
"Ten years ago, when Belarus was facing the tragedy of a great extinction from the viruses released by the King of Pestilence, Yulia Kochenkova's mother fled desperately to Russia. The child was born in a refugee camp established by the Russian government, but the mother died from puerperal fever. If only the refugee camp had sufficient medical environments, her mother would not have died."
"...How are Cursed Children treated in Russia?"
Seitenshi shook her head, greatly depressed.
"Close to the worst possible situation. Besides, the most populous colony in Russia&—sh;the Moscow Area&—sh;was already shouldering massive financial strain from unconditionally accepting Belarusian refugees to begin with. This heavy burden fell upon the Russian citizens, causing widespread discontent among the populace.
"Furthermore, rumors claimed that the Belarusian refugees might be infected with slow-acting viruses spread by the King of Pestilence, hence something akin to a caste system rose up in Russia after the war.
"The refugees from Greater Minsk were regarded as untouchables of the lowest caste. Among them, Cursed Children, known as 'Witch Kindred' in neighboring countries, were not even treated as human at all.
"Once people realized that the Gastrea outside were a threat, only then were there calls to assemble a 'Witches Squadron.' When Kochenkova was picked up, she was almost on the verge of death. Reportedly, she was cowering in a dark alley, eating rotten food, without even the strength to shoo away flies that were on her face."
Seitenshi lowered her gaze.
Having known her for some already, Rentaro could understand what Seitenshi was thinking at this moment. With almost complete certainty, he guessed that she was feeling compassion and heartache for those who were unable to find salvation.
Although he absolutely did not think it was a waste of energy, occasionally, he would encounter problems when sacrifices of lives were necessary.
However, she had always resisted this.
Should she be called stubborn or a saint who was still reaching out to touch the question that Rentaro had long given up on thinking about due to fatigue...
Rentaro halted his thoughts and asked "Then what?"
"So she became who she is now?"
"Yes. After that, she received a high-quality education in the squadron, for which she is deeply grateful. Reportedly, it was during this time when she met Litvintsev."
Seitenshi turned towards Rentaro again at this time.
"Mr. Satomi, what kind of person do you think Litvintsev is? Please share your thoughts even if it is just your personal opinion."
"That guy is undoubtedly a mastermind. Someone dangerous. His brain is abnormal too."
Rentaro was reminded of his meeting with Litvintsev during the daytime, biting his lip in chagrin.
Damn it, when clearly there were very few days left.
Just at this moment, Rentaro's tightly clenched fist, resting on his knee, was suddenly covered by something warm.
Rentaro looked up in fright to see that Seitenshi had come to his side without him knowing. That pale and pretty face was so close. Fearfully, he looked at his right hand to see Seitenshi's smooth-textured full-length glove over his fist.
"It is not over yet. Place your bet on tomorrow."
"O-Okay."
Looking up at him from below with lovely endearing eyes, her pale, tender and smooth face, together with those moist and gorgeous lips, only separated from the tip of his nose by mere centimeters. Rentaro could not help but shrink his head away.
This Sentenshi, beautiful to the point that it was rumored that rich men were willing to exchange their total wealth for a pair of her lace gloves, was breathing her warm breath against his neck.
Late at night, in a man's room illuminated by the haphazard light from a crystal medium, the two of them alone in this kind of situation, wasn't she a bit too unguarded?
Looking at her, Rentaro wanted to scold her for lacking in risk awareness, but Seitenshi tilted her head in puzzlement, unaware of why she was being stared at, and asked: "What is the matter, Mr. Satomi?"
Attacked with guilt for his vulgar thoughts, Rentaro turned his gaze to Yulia's photo to escape.
"...Almost certainly, this girl must have infiltrated the Tokyo Area already, right?"
"She has completely shaken off all surveillance tailing her. Capturing her whereabouts again would be very difficult."
At this moment, the room suddenly went bright. The crystal media also switched off automatically.
"I have returned!"
Rentaro looked back to see Enju pressing the light switch at the entrance and removing her shoes.
"I made a new Initiator friend today. Do you want to hear about it, Rentaro?"
Although he definitely felt curious, Rentaro waved his hand in front of his face to express refusal due to the despairing Initiator topic of conversation just now.
"Miss Enju, welcome home."
Seitenshi greeted Enju with a gentle and demure smile.
But for some reason, Enju was staring at Seitenshi with a complicated look.
"Your Highness Seitenshi, aren't you mistaking yourself for Rentaro's newly wedded wife?"
"What?"
Enju turned herself towards Rentaro and declared angrily:
"Rentaro, I want the usual 'welcome home kiss.'"
"There nothing like that usually at all."
Enju stomped her feet on the spot and bounced up and down in fury.
"Just hurry up and kiss me, okay!?"
Rentaro had no idea why she was throwing a fit, but feeling annoying, he ignored Enju, pushing her towards the sink and making her wash her hands and rinse her mouth properly first.
Holding her cup, Enju suddenly poked her head out from behind the sink.
"Rentaro, I want to skip school tomorrow to help find the terrorists' base, okay?"
&n
bsp; "Are you saying your school is still having lessons tomorrow?"
Magata High had already announced tomorrow as a day off due to the news concerning the King of Pestilence. Rentaro had just received news of that.
"Mmm-hmm. We're going on a school trip to a power plant in an outskirt zone tomorrow. I think the teacher said something like 'since we survived the Third Kantou Battle in the end, then something major like a war isn't going to happen this time, right?'"
Rentaro was shocked.
He had apparently enrolled Enju into a very outrageous school, but immediately, he concluded this might be a good opportunity.
"Enju, you should still go to school tomorrow. It wasn't easy transferring to a new school, so you have to prioritize working hard to fit in there. You don't need to worry about us."
"But at this rate, war will..."
Placing his palm on Enju's head, Rentaro patted lightly.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely call you when I need your power."
Although she was still not at ease, in the end, Enju nodded.
Enju had already been expelled from school twice already.
Rentaro absolutely refused to let it happen a third time.
Part 5
The sea breeze blew through the gaps in the bars, causing the wind chime to ring.
The in depths of the endless darkness surrounding the moon, the sound of waves persisted together with the pungent smell of the tide that almost smelled like burning.
In the darkness after lights out, Andrei Litvintsev was sitting on the bed with his eyes closed, counting the sound of waves.
In the single jail cell opposite, bathed in moonlight, the burly man whose physique was like a pig's was unable to sleep, scratching his belly with his prison wear pulled up.
The sound of weeping and muttering could be heard from other cells.
After an indeterminate period of time, his consciousness awakened from the boundary between sleep and reality.
Instantly, a quiet call of "Captain" prompted him to silently open his eyes. Outside the rusted bars of the cage, a pair of bright eyes appeared. No, he could tell that behind that person, there were a number of people on standby even though they were subduing their breaths.
"How punctual."
He got up and went up to the bars. The electronic lock opened as though by magic. Accompanied by footsteps, the late night visitors entered this single jail cell that was definitely not spacious, entering formation neatly.
He counted five men and two girls.
"It's been a while, Captain."
The fully equipped man's voice was emotional while he took off his helmet. Litvintsev recognized his face. Following the man, the others all took off their helmets and saluted.
Litvintsev nodded and looked at their faces in turn.
"Max, Misha, also Sanja. You're here. Where's Yulia?"
"Here."
In the dark, another girl entered the single jail cell. Her ice-blue eyes and head of silver hair shone in the moonlight. Standing extremely straight, she saluted him.
After saluting, Yulia's expression instantly distorted. Hugging her petite upper body around Litvintsev's waist, she buried her face into him.
"I missed you so much, Captain."
"Situation?"
"Everything according to your orders."
Probably recalling she was still in a mission, Yulia took a step back and knelt down.
"I shall support my comrades in securing the control room."
Standing up, she turned around and silently disappeared. Taking her place, Max stepped forward and saluted.
"Please take care of things in twenty seconds. The electronic locks imprisoning all the inmates will be released thereafter to cause momentary chaos during which our boat will arrive for us to escape. The invasion operation will probably be discovered very quickly."
As though with perfect timing, noisy bells suddenly rang. The sleeping inmates all jumped up due to the unusual situation and made troubled noises.
"Speak of the devil."
Max put on his helmet again and released the safety on his rifle.
"Please hurry, taking point is our job. The Head and the Ring are already prepared, so please enjoy the final scene with your own eyes."
Someone circled around behind him and draped his favorite coat on his shoulders over his prison uniform.
Litvintsev swept his gaze across his comrades' faces in order again.
"Let's move out, for our cherished wish."
Following his comrades who were walking in front with lowered stances and rifles on their backs, Litvintsev strolled out with a swagger.
Woken up by the alarm, the prison was plunged into a vortex of turmoil.
The spiked floors meant to activate immediately to prevent prisoners from escaping were not raised. Neither was communication with the outside possible.
Noticing the abnormality, the prison guards rushed to the control room but were shocked by the spray of bullets waiting for them—
—Thunderous gunshots were heard while sparks flew from the steel table used for cover.
One of the prison guards roared angrily at the other guards, over the sound of gunshots.
"This ain't working! Those guys blocking in front of the control room are professional soldiers! This kind of equipment cannot win!"
"Then what are we gonna do!?"
The guards peeked out from behind the barricade to fire their shotguns whenever there were openings, but were always greeted by a large amount of bullets immediately, forcing them to shrink back.
Damn it. Someone cursed.
Naturally, prison guards were not professional soldiers.
Although they were barely equipped with weapons for putting down riots, compared to well-trained and obvious professionals, they had no chance of winning at all.
Just as a prison guard was clutching his head in a quandary, the gunshots suddenly stopped. Finding it suspicious, the prison guard looked out.
He saw a helmeted man tossing something into the air. Seeing that spherical object, the prison guard could only feel terror.
—A fragmentation grenade.
Shrinking his head back and expecting his entire body to be torn apart with pain, he heard an impact followed by an explosion. Hiding behind the barricade, the prison guards felt the shockwave while dust from construction materials filled the air.
"Hurry and escape, you guys are too weak!"
I'm still alive?
The prison guard opened his eyes in amazement to see a petite girl's back in front of him. She was standing there, holding a 60cm-long varanium cutlass in each hand.
The girl's earrings shook when she looked back. The guard could also see the spade painted under her right eye.
"Oh right, we still have an Initiator!"
The girl went hmph, raising her chin as though in boredom.
"I am Ritsu Urabe, IP ranking 550. By the way, mister, hurry and leave the building to call for reinforcements. I'll handle these guys."
Although the prison guard felt uncomfortable about mixing an Initiator in their workplace, after seeing her kick the grenade away just now, he was stunned for a few seconds.
"G-Got it. There are two enemies blocking the way to the control room. You take care."
After seeing the prison guard leave and pat a fellow guard's shoulder, urging him to retreat as well, Ritsu faced forward again.
Grinding her teeth horizontally, she smiled ferociously. Someone behind the barricade also took action.
Then with a violent muzzle flash, bullets flew towards her.
However, Ritsu jumped away, predicting the opponent's attack beforehand.
Amidst the flying bullets, she sidestepped while charging forward, chopping through the approaching barricade in an instant.
The enemy inside reacted with a shocked look.
Without giving him the chance to regain composure, she buried her blade into the guy's shoulder as though having fun. Making a muffled scr
eam, the guy dropped his rifle.
Then the girl jumped up, driven by beast-like instincts.
Instantly, Ritsu's former location was pierced by rifle fire with a scattering of construction materials.
"You've picked the wrong foe!"
Spinning her body, she kicked the ceiling, charging at the enemy firing at her, slashing diagonally with her left and right cutlasses as soon as she landed.
Ritsu's varanium cutlasses easily sliced open the bulletproof vest, inflicting incapacitating injuries to the enemy.
"Ga... ah..."
Victory was decided. The masked man keeled over with a splatter of blood, looking up at her in apparent chagrin.
Ritsu kept licking her lips. Seeing the struggling on enemies who looked down on her really gave her a sense of indescribable glee.
"I don't really want to kill you yet. There's so much I'd like to interrogate afterwards."
Just as she was about to turn around and enter the control room, she looked back due to sensing killing intent.
As expected, a girl slowly emerged from the depths of the corridor.
Silver hair matched with calm, ice-blue eyes, plus a khaki military uniform.
In a different setting, one might mistake her for a lost and delicate child, naturally not someone who should be appearing in this kind of battlefield.
The enemy terrorists were apparently using an Initiator too.
The girl slowly looked at her fallen comrades on the ground and made a look of comprehension.
Standing on opposing sides, the two Initiators became enemies.
Even without words, both sides knew clearly that bloodshed was coming after this.
The girl took out her weaponry.
At this moment, Ritsu could not help but burst into laughter.
"What's that? You're going to fight with that kind of weapon?"
In the shape of knuckle guards, the metal rods fitted on her arms were attached to four hooked claws each. There was a ring at the base of the claws where the thumbs could be inserted.
Known as tiger claws, this type of concealed weapon was specialized for assassins, reportedly capable of leaving lacerations akin to being torn by a ferocious beast's sharp claws with a single thrust and swipe. Both of her hands were wearing these.