The facility granted to the Anti-Demon Special Forces may sound impressive when mentioned, but in reality, it resembles nothing more than an ordinary office.
Internally, it has certainly been modified in various ways, but at least outwardly, its uniqueness remains hidden.
Located far from the heart of Tokyo, this place is, of course, not the headquarters but rather one of its branches. However, in a corner of that branch office, Kagami Ayaka was slumped over her desk.
Her trademark ponytail hung lifelessly, and her usual cheerful demeanor had transformed into a lifeless one.
It wasn't because she had leftover alcohol from casually finishing the previous day's report. Nor was it because she had gotten in trouble for that report. It was her injuries. While they did cause some discomfort, a team of healers had managed to heal them, allowing her to continue with her daily life without hindrance.
So, why was Ayaka in such a state?
The explanation was quite simple.
"Flame... Lisha... Silver..."
While still slumped over, Ayaka mumbled the information she had acquired last night.
"Key... Holy Goddess Church..."
For a while after that, Ayaka continued to speak the information in her mind aloud, trying to organize her thoughts.
"I don't understand!"
She shouted, grasping her head with both hands.
By the way, her colleagues, who were working in the same room, were completely engrossed in their tasks, seemingly indifferent. In this line of work, it wasn't uncommon for colleagues to occasionally break down.
Ignoring her unsympathetic colleagues, Ayaka took a sip of her lukewarm coffee and pressed her hand to her forehead.
(Calm down, Ayaka. There may be limited information, but there is undoubtedly some connection between that girl Lisha and the silver knight, perhaps related to Flame.)
She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, recalling yesterday's events.
The plan she had meticulously devised to defeat Flame had been completely thwarted. Ayaka's own waves magic, combined with Tsukiko's Kinraishou (Golden Thunder Spear), should have been powerful enough to eliminate even disaster-level anomalies.
However, Flame had effortlessly countered it without a scratch, as if it posed no significant threat, leaving behind a parting gift and departing. The fiery demon that remained was a formidable entity that sent shivers down Ayaka's spine at the mere thought of it.
Then, out of nowhere, a girl claiming to be a Holy Goddess Church saint, Lisha, appeared. She was also a magician who used magic far beyond Ayaka's understanding.
However, even with Lisha's assistance, Ayaka's magic couldn't reach the fiery demon. She had resigned herself to being killed when suddenly, a flash of brilliance appeared.
In silver armor with a red cape swaying from their left shoulder, their eyes gleaming with emerald light, the knight wordlessly looked down upon Ayaka and her companions. The knight possessed extraordinary strength beyond Ayaka's ability to describe. Perhaps they were on par with the strongest mage Ayaka knew, ranking first among the first-tier magician, or maybe even surpassing that level.
A monstrous presence beyond imagination.
The knight wielded two swords. With just that, the formidable demon Ayaka had feared was completely obliterated. Looking back on it now, there were no words to describe the sheer power of that technique.
At first, Ayaka couldn't see the aftermath with her own eyes. It was only when she realized that the flaming fist that had come down on her was severed at the arm and that she finally comprehended what had happened.
And then, the knight's strike.
With a single swing, the knight annihilated a portion of the fire, which was saturated with a red-hot intensity that was beyond belief. Whether it was magic or not, that single strike left no room for doubt that this knight was a force that should never be opposed.
"Even just Flame alone is giving me a headache, but now..."
Ayaka muttered, her brow furrowing.
There are three main problems that Ayaka is struggling with.
The first issue was the word "key" that Flame had mentioned and Lisha's phrase, "You got involved." From these, it was clear that Flame was likely targeting Lisha. However, no matter how much she delved into the world of magic, she couldn't find any information about these two.
(Perhaps Lisha and Flame are vying for this "key," or maybe Flame is trying to steal it.)
If someone could use strong magic like that, it's strange that she couldn't find any trace of them. If they were hiding on purpose, they should've left some clues. Not knowing the full story was the first issue.
The second problem, needless to say, was the silver knight. Based on their actions to help Lisha and their attitude towards her, it suggested they knew Lisha or was on her side, but they were too mysterious.
While both Flame and Lisha were mysterious, the knight was even more so. Ayaka couldn't forget the emerald gaze that the knight had cast her way. One wrong move, and the silver knight would probably defeat them without hesitation.
Currently, they considered the knight as an ally due to their opposition to Flame. But it was uncertain when the higher-ups might target the silver knight. If that happened, it'd be over.
Ayaka couldn't even imagine how to deal with that knight. Confronting them would result in her swift defeat, with no chance for retaliation.
Ayaka had openly written about this in her report, but her superiors didn't fully believe it. They seemed more concerned about Flame, who escaped even Tsukiko's attempts to beat him.
The threat posed by the silver knight was the second problem.
And finally, the last problem was, in a way, the most troublesome for Ayaka at the moment.
'What are you going to do with this child?'
"———!!"
Ayaka remembered her own words and clutched her head with both hands. She had shouted that phrase impulsively, trying to protect Lisha when she thought the silver knight was taking her away.
The silver knight's presence left her in shock. In hindsight, Lisha didn't resist, and they obviously knew each other.
In other words, Ayaka had let her emotions get the best of her and had taken a hostile stance towards someone she shouldn't have. Even though she wasn't killed on the spot, her impression was definitely bad.
"Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~"
This was the worst. Her actions might even cause the silver knight to become an enemy, much like Flame. She couldn't see the silver knight as someone she could communicate with, just like Flame. Ayaka was currently grappling with the biggest failure of her life.
By the way, during this entire time, her colleagues were still ignoring Ayaka and continuing with their work. That was the kind of workplace it was.
Ayaka kept her hands on her head, trying to think of a solution.
"Oh, how can I make amends? Can I even meet them again? What should I do to appease them? Geisha? No, that's not it! Entertainment? Golf is the only thing that comes to mind! They don't seem to be interested in that too!"
Ayaka groaned. Her past experience taking a boy to a haunted spot, only to have him cry, resurfaced in her memory. That had been different; it had been during the occult trend, and she had only taken him there because he had wanted to go. Ayaka hadn't wanted to.
(And, what would make that knight happy? Are they even interested in men or women? They're alive, right? Not an inanimate object, right?)
"Aaaahhhhh."
Ayaka moaned. Her colleague walked past her without a word, of course. As they say, let sleeping dogs lie. Assigned to this department, Ayaka knew that all too well.
"If I can never meet again, it's probably for the best..."
While attempting to defeat Flame, there was a significant chance that Ayaka, Lisha, and the silver knight would cross paths. At that moment, it wasn't guaranteed that the silver knight wouldn't turn hostile.
"Oh, what should I do..."
As Ayaka muttered, she suddenly looked toward the door at the sound of approaching footsteps.
As Ayaka vaguely listened to the footsteps, not bothering to hide her frustration, the door swung open with a loud noise.
"Oh, Tsukiko?"
"..."
There stood Tsukiko, who hadn't been showing her face around much lately. Her expression clearly indicated she was in a bad mood as she walked right up to Ayaka.
"What's wrong? Why the long face?"
"..."
Without saying a word, Tsukiko extended her hand to Ayaka while Ayaka looked up at her with her cheek pressed against the desk.
"What?"
"...Training ground."
"Yes?"
"...I want to use the training ground, so submit the paperwork."
"Oh, sure, sure."
Ayaka rummaged through her desk drawer and pulled out a paper attached to a clipboard. This branch had a training facility for magicians underground. The rule was that anyone using it had to fill out this form, but Tsukiko was one of the few who followed it religiously.
Nevertheless, what a sour expression.
Even though she had been relieved and happy when Ayaka returned safely last night, now she had this expression.
Tsukiko's dere period as her little sister was short-lived, Ayaka thought, taking the document with Tsukiko's name on it.
"Why are you mad?"
"...I'm not really angry."
"No, you definitely look angry."
With that expression, claiming not to be angry was impossible. Ayaka felt like sighing. Tsukiko snorted at Ayaka's comment and headed towards the training ground with heavy footsteps.
"Hey, princess, why the bad mood?"
"What was it? Didn't she break up with that guy?"
"I heard she broke up with him herself. Why's she so irritated?"
After Ayaka, her male colleagues, who had apparently gathered without her noticing, began discussing Tsukiko, whose nickname in this branch was "princess." To the people working here, everything about Tsukiko—her family background, appearance, and age—made her seem like a princess.
Ayaka stretched her body as she watched Tsukiko head to the training ground.
"Well, who knows? She's probably angry over something trivial again."
The male colleagues became even more enthusiastic.
"Just making Princess mad is already an achievement."
"Exactly, back in the day, she never showed her emotions."
"Even when she's mad, she can't do anything to us, much better than Kagami."
"No doubt about it."
They all laughed together, saying "Ahaha." Ayaka glared at them with a cold stare.
"You guys can talk nonsense all you want, but don't forget you completely ignored me when I was in trouble just a while ago."
Instantly, her colleagues said, "Oh, we're so busy," and dispersed. Despite their similar ages and bloodlines, there was a stark difference between Tsukiko and Ayaka.
"Ugh... seriously, when things aren't going well, nothing goes well no matter what you do."
With thoughts of her little sister who was likely troubled by love and the work she had to do, Ayaka let out a deep sigh.
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