“Report, no sign of the target.”
“Nothing on this side either—”
“What about Origami?”
“Negative.”
Patrolling in mid-air, the spirit power detector in her hand still showed no response.
Origami gave a terse report, her gaze sweeping back and forth across the buildings below.
It had been one hour since Beast had manifested.
After conducting a tentative bombardment on that conspicuous hollow and confirming no reaction, Ryoko Kusakabe had led the team inside to investigate.
Though traces of spirit power were still drifting into the atmosphere, the spirit was no longer here.
Even the depth of the crater was not as profound as it appeared on the surface.
A diversion—or rather, merely a decoy to buy time.
If the spirit truly intended to leave the city, this pit would have been unnecessary.
In the end, although the AST strove to kill spirits, for those types that fell outside their capability range, the priority was expulsion from the urban area to avoid civilian casualties.
Beast belonged to that category… The best strategy was to drive her away while doing everything possible not to provoke her.
It was frustrating, and she was always criticized by that eternal major for incompetence.
But there was no helping it.
Incompetent at killing spirits?
Just think about what kind of monsters had appeared these past two times.
If it were something like Hermit, a spirit that only fled without fighting back, they could still attempt a kill.
But Princess was not so easily dealt with.
Setting aside her extremely defensive Divine Raiment and the barrier that blocked artillery fire, just that absurdly oversized sword-type Angel—over ten meters long—that she had revealed left Ryoko Kusakabe with a lingering survivor’s gratitude: I only lost a leg fighting her; that was truly lucky.
Firepower suppression was useless, and that figure swinging the greatsword was impossible to approach.
Simply ensuring the safety of her subordinates while driving the spirit out of the city was already exceedingly difficult.
If it were that armchair-commanding superior in her place, he would probably die on the spot without surprise.
And then there was Beast… If they truly enraged her, who knew how many buildings in Tenguu City would remain standing?
Hadn’t the British headquarters of DEM Industries been buried underground?
Although the underground shelters were all up to standard, and a depth of fifty to a hundred meters ensured that evacuating citizens suffered no harm, post-disaster reconstruction was no small matter.
It had to be avoided if at all possible.
“I see… Do one final sweep of the city. Pay attention to the ground. If you discover any tunnels, report immediately and maintain contact.” Ryoko sighed and issued the order once more.
“Yes, ma’am!!!”
If the other party genuinely intended to leave the city, that pit should not exist, and they would only need to go through the motions of pursuit before calling it a day.
…But since the pit remained, nothing was certain.
Although the spirit power detectors showed no reaction, it was possible she was hiding inside some building, digging a tunnel to evade detection range, or employing some means to interfere with the instruments.
She could only hope that another sweep yielded no spirit power response.
If so, it would be best if Beast had simply vanished naturally.
Even if she hadn’t disappeared, the lack of spreading spirit power meant she wasn’t planning anything major.
At the very least, the residents’ safety would still be somewhat assured.
“I’ve got a bad feeling… like my vacation has abandoned me forever…”
Rubbing the spot between her brows, Ryoko Kusakabe took a deep breath under the weight of her stress.
“I hope it’s just my imagination… Please don’t let three spirits appear within a single month…”
“Right, Origami, report your position. I’m joining you.”
“No need, Captain.”
The girl’s cold voice came through the communicator.
“This is an order. Otherwise, you’re pulling out of this operation right now.”
…But Ryoko Kusakabe’s concern was not unfounded.
Her own leg, only recently freed from its cast, still ached faintly.
She would have to return to the hospital for another stay once this was over.
And the patient in the room next to hers, Origami Tobiichi, though not seriously injured, had already pushed her body to its limit.
She was a child consumed by vengeance.
Whether she would act alone upon encountering a spirit was beside the point—there was no doubt she would participate in any subsequent combat.
In that case, Ryoko Kusakabe, who would already be hobbling back on crutches, might even have to carry her.
“…Understood.”
“You…”
It was said that sighing made happiness slip away, yet Ryoko still couldn’t hold back a frustrated exhale.
“Headquarters has replied to the assistance requests from various regions. When they heard this manifestation was Beast, they told me to handle it myself. No one else needs to come.”
“Handle it myself? With what? My chest? Tell them to use those things hanging around their necks and think properly—can I handle Beast?”
“If we can drive her out of the city with as few casualties as possible, that counts as success. When you first encountered her and charged in without orders, you nearly scared me to death, you know?”
Not broadcasting to the whole team, Ryoko complained only to Origami.
She didn’t want her image shattered in front of her subordinates, but she absolutely could not ignore a teammate who might die.
“…”
“I want a vacation too~ I want to kill every last one of those spacequake-causing spirits. Every day that stinking eternal colonel points fingers, and at home they keep nagging me to get married soon and give them grandchildren. I want to date too! But now the alert level has gone up another notch—where am I supposed to find time for romance? I don’t even have enough time to lie in a hospital bed—”
“…?”
“After graduating from the National Defense Academy, I enrolled in accounting! Then there were all those aptitude tests to become a wizard. The captain back then was… a spine-chilling guy. And they promised one day off after six worked, but even medical leave gets deducted from my annual leave—is that fair?”
“Captain…”
“No need to comfort me, Origami. I’ve been unlucky all the way here, but since I’m your captain, I have to take responsibility for all of you—”
“Captain, there’s a situation.”
“Huh?”
All her complaints were instantly suppressed. Ryoko Kusakabe’s expression turned grave.
“Did you detect Beast’s spirit power?”
“No.”
“Good. Report the situation.”
As long as they hadn’t encountered Beast, it was fine.
Ryoko silently commanded her Realizer to accelerate, rapidly closing in on Origami’s position.
“…The family restaurant is gone.”
“Hm?”
“The family restaurant that Shidou occasionally visits is gone.”
Origami Tobiichi slowly descended, crouching to touch the empty plot where a building was clearly missing, her tone certain.
“…I’ll be right there. Wait and explain in person what you mean by that.”
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