chapter 17

“I’ll visit you every day!”

That’s what I declared to Roll, but it appears that I won’t be able to keep my promise .

I felt a strong need to apologize to Roll, as I read an illustrated encyclopedia with the title of ‘The magical beasts inhabiting the Basara Woodland’ .

There is a desert area in the far west of our city, called the Basara Desert . It would take about two days straight to get there by car .

Right in the middle of the Basara Desert, there’s a luxuriant woodland surrounded by the huge sea of sand .

It is an oasis where vegetation grew in abundance .

I am currently looking down at this scenery from 1000 meters in the sky .

The noise coming from the helicopter’s propeller is nothing but loud .

The incredibly hot sunrays blazed down on me .

It was so hot I thought I would melt .

One thought has uninterruptedly bothered me the whole day .

It’s about me not being able to visit Roll in the hospital .

I felt really, really sorry for Roll .

I repeat . It appears that I won’t be able to visit Roll at all .

That’s because, starting today, it was decided that I would have to survive for an entire month inside the woodlands spreading under my eyes .

Yes, together with Tameiki-san .

In order to tell you how it came to this, I’ll have to go back in time a little bit .

It all happened the day before yesterday, in the evening, after I received an email from Tameiki-san .

____________

I didn’t conceal my confusion when I received that mysterious email from Tameiki-san .

The email only said ‘Come’, and I didn’t know what that meant .

Where?

Why?

All the important information was cut out .

Wait a second .

If I think about it, this might be a mistake . Maybe Tameiki-san sent it to me by mistake .

This kind of simple message can only be sent to someone who understands what that ‘Come’ means .

It has to be this .

I then pressed the reply button . I only wanted to write ‘You mistook the receiver’s address’, but I looked over my reply message again .

It kind of left unfriendly .

Tameiki-san saved us yesterday, so I’ll add a few words of thanks as well .

It’s not quite great to thank people via emails, but I’ll properly express my gratitude when I meet with Tameiki-san again .

But the thing is I never met Tameiki-san inside the organization before .

‘You mistook the receiver’s address .

And also, I feel a bit ashamed for saying this in an email, but I want to thank you for saving us yesterday . ’

I looked over my reply message again .

Good .

This should be all right .

I pressed the send button, then entered the training room .

Immediately after, my phone’s ringtone resounded again .

The sender was Tameiki-san .

It was a surprisingly fast reply .

Astonished, I opened the email in order to check its text .

It, again, only contained the word ‘Come’ .

“………”

It appears that I must to go Tameiki-san’s place .

Seeing this a second time, it meant that it wasn’t the wrong address .

The organization’s no . 2 is calling for me .

I was a little scared, but I had to go .

Because it only said to come, it also meant that all the necessary information can be deduced some way or another .

I don’t know the reason behind this, but if I was to ask about the place, it has to be Tameiki-san’s room .

But where is Tameiki-san’s room?

Unlike the members’ email addresses, our room numbers are not shared among us, so I don’t know where Tameiki-san’s room is .

I might have to go ask Roll about this .

I thought about it as I left the training room, but that’s when I came across the Boss .

“Shion?

I’m sorry about what happened yesterday . ”

The first thing he said was an apology, so I kind of panicked .

He was talking about our mission .

“No, I must also apologize for failing the mission . It all happened because I stood in Roll’s way . ”

“That’s, well, let’s not talk about past things . ”

“Right… . . ”

“So, Shion, you’re training even without Roll being around? That’s the spirit . ”

I haven’t started yet though . Tameiki-san’s email hindered my training .

I know . The Boss might know where Tameiki-san is .

I’ll ask him .

“I was just about to start my training .

…… . Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure . Ask me anything . ”

“Do you know where Tameiki-san is right now?”

“Tameiki?

Don’t tell me that person already summoned you!?”

“Eh? That’s what happened though .

What do you mean by already?”

Guessing by his way of speaking, it seems like the Boss understands something that I don’t .

Anyway, I told the Boss about Tameiki-san email, which only said ‘Come’ .

Listening to my story, he stifled his smile and answered me .

“Tameiki is in the cafeteria . We just finished talking .

That person…Ain’t Tameiki hasty now for a change!?”

“Why am I being summoned?”

“You’ll know once you get there . Good luck, then . ”

The Boss only said this, then he turned around and walked away .

What do you mean by good luck……!?

At any rate, I’ll just have to go meet with Tameiki-san .

I’m a bit nervous, to be honest .

______________

The Anonymous headquarters even has a facility used as a cafeteria .

This place is just uselessly big . They remodeled it again, or so it seems .

I came here a few times before together with Roll, but it’s the first time I came here alone .

There are a lot of people around .

The Anonymous headquarters doesn’t only have fighters, but also spies, cooks, cleaners, researchers and so on . That’s why the cafeteria is always bustling with energy .

I surveyed the cafeteria with my eyes, looking for Tameiki-san .

Having done so, I immediately found what I was looking for .

Tameiki-san was sitting loosely on a sofa somewhere in the back of the cafeteria .

With an incredibly sluggish expression, she half opened her eyes and was looking at me now .

…… . At any rate, I’ll just go there .

I had a feeling that I needed to hurry, so I walked towards Tameiki-san with a fast pace .

I stopped in front of her and decided to first greet her .

“Good-good evening . I’m Shion . ”

“I know . ”

I gulped down my saliva .

What’s with this sense of intimidation!

I was completely overwhelmed by this superior existence in front of me .

Tameiki-san sat there, wearing the same clothes she did yesterday .

Is it all right to call this sitting though?

Her posture is so shallow, she’s already close to lying down .

Her long black hair is spread around the back of the sofa .

When I look closer at her, she’s incredibly beautiful, this person……

It’s the first time we met like this, so I didn’t know it .

I have a feeling that her beauty is sometimes ruined by her personality, and in addition to that, her beauty is not at all seductive .

This is bad .

She paused the conversation and didn’t continue .

I’ll first thank her for saving us yesterday .

“Tameiki-san, thank you for coming to our rescue yesterday . ”

“…………”

No reaction . Tameiki-san’s pulse was slow and restful .

This silence lasted a while longer .

“…… . . So, what do you want to talk to me about?”

Since we couldn’t stay silent forever, I broke the ice and asked about my main concern .

Thereupon, Tameiki-san stood up slowly .

Without thinking, I put myself on guard .

She let out a long yawn, rubbed her eyes and combed her hair upwards with one hand .

Then, that hand she used for combing her hair became blurred .

“Gaah… . . !?”

Before I could notice, Tameiki-san’s fist hit me in my stomach .

That’s when I lost my senses .

______________

My body was shaking .

When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was sitting in a car’s passenger’s seat .

With the lights on, the car was running on a highway .

I looked through the window, but everything was dark, so I couldn’t see anything .

I didn’t comprehend my situation so I was kind of confused, when I realized that Tameiki-san was sitting in the driver’s seat .

She was driving with her eyes barely opened; she seemed rather sleepy .

When I saw her, my memories from right before losing consciousness came back to me vividly .

“Did you wake up?”

“What! What are you doing??”

“Haa, you’re too loud . ”

I unintentionally yelled, but Tameiki-san’s words made my spirit wither instantly .

“Forgive me . What is going on?”

“One month starting now . In short, while Roll is under medical care, I will be looking after you . ”

“Eh!?”

It’s a joke, right?

Tameiki-san is going to look after me?

Who decided this……!?

The Boss…… . ! He did have a knowing look on his face, precisely because they talked about this……!

“If you have complaints, talk to Heid . He only told me to look after you, so I’ll do just that, in my own way . ”

“…… . Is this for real?”

“If you don’t like it, you can scurry home . Although, we are about 300 km away from the city . ”

I am lost for words .

I was dragged into something unthinkable without any kind of warning .

Tameiki-san is going to look after me?

What is she gonna do to me?

Besides, where are we going?

“Where are we going then?”

“To Basara Woodland . ”

“Basara Woodland!?”

“You’re too loud . ”

“……Sorry . ”

No way!

That Basara Woodland is ridiculously far away, and it’s inhabited by swarms of dangerous magical beasts .

Why are we going there for?

Also, the restraint ring on my finger is gone……

“We’ll stop by a few branch offices on our way to Basara Woodland .

We’re going to use a helicopter midway .

Also, I threw away your restraint ring . Don’t rely on that thing . ”

“You threw it away!?”

What is this woman doing!

“Too loud . ”

“Sorry . ”

“Until we get there, learn everything in this book . ”

She said, then tossed me an illustrated encyclopedia with a title of ‘The magical beasts inhabiting the Basara Woodland’ .

It was a pretty thick book .

“…… . . ”

I was lost for words once again .

“…… . Why are we going as far as Basara Woodland for?

Is this a raw materials supply mission or something?”

I asked this, and Tameiki-san shook her head lazily before she answered .

“During this whole month, I’ll make you as strong as possible .

In other words, this is your training . ”

And so, 38 hours from now I’ll be in a helicopter above the Basara Woodland .