“Lord Azami, this way!!”
Jude’s voice rang out from ahead of him, and the next moment, the other Guard was in front of him. He quickly guided them to where he was crouching with Liam.
“Nadeshiko…!”
With a worried expression on his face, Liam watched his friend evading the bullets. It was still soon to feel relieved that they were safe.
“Let’s move to the main entrance! Shield the Agents from the front and the rear!”
Tsukihi took command, and they got on the move.
Rindo looked over his shoulder before entering the building.
He could see silhouettes gathering beyond the ice wall. They looked like phantoms wailing from the shadows to be let in.
Who are they after?
Was it Yamato’s gods? Liam? The whole group?
In any case, the best course of action was to leave the cage of a church they were currently in.
The inside of the building was in chaos. People were running every which way, while others were frozen in place. The staff was out of control. Among them, Evan Bell was holding up a long rifle.
“Fight back! Don’t let them enter the church! Protect the artwork!”
“…Chief! We should escape first!”
“We won’t let the insurgents come out on top! Grab your guns, you cowards!”
He was like a different person from the smooth talker in the meeting—the kind of person who should never hold a gun. And now he was arguing with the members of the Church.
Rosei waved his fan, sending a blast to cool Evan’s head.
“Rosei!”
Itecho grabbed Rosei and pulled him back en route.
“Get everyone out of the premises, you imbecile!” Rosei shouted at Evan.
The members of the Church nodded in reaction. But Evan furiously insisted on fighting until another official put him in a full nelson.
The Yamatoans left through the drawing room into the hallway and toward the entrance hall.
Tsukihi’s crew member at the head of the group raised a hand and stopped. A bullet shot by, nearly grazing his nose before wrecking an antique in the hall. Either the enemy wanted to make them give up or they were well aware of the Agents’ powers, as they were relentless with this gunfight.
“Fire back! Shoot!” Tsukihi shouted, and her subordinate did so.
Whether the shot hit or not was less important than gaining time to make a decision.
“The main entrance is no good…,” Tsukihi muttered in frustration. The parking lot was right on the other side. They could have escaped by car if they could only get out there.
“Rindo… I…”
Nadeshiko timidly whispered a few words from Rindo’s arms. She wanted to ask if she should act, too, although her face was as pale as a ghost’s. This girl had just learned she had killed someone last night; of course she didn’t want to attack indiscriminately. Yet Rindo did not know about this conflict in her heart.
“No, don’t. The members of the Church are here, and your power must be used carefully.”
An Agent still in training couldn’t be allowed to suppress the insurgents.
While Rindo hesitated, Jude asked, “Should we go to the back door?”
Everyone listened to his suggestion.
“We could go there, since the enemy is already hemming us in here. Then we can circle back to the parking lot, but they could be waiting for us there, too…”
“…Either we all break through together or we can split up to divide their attention… Lord Jude, do you have experience in combat?”
“Close-quarters and shooting, but I can’t do either of those while I’m holding Liam… Could you lend me some backup? If we can evacuate the children, I can join the fight…”
“The children…”
Rindo looked at Nadeshiko and Liam. First and foremost, everyone wanted to get the children somewhere safe. Jude was not just being selfish.
“Got it,” said Rosei. “Mr. Azami, let’s split up. Let Winter take over here.” He turned to Tsukihi. “Captain Aragami, keep your men with Autumn. We’re getting the children out of here.”
“Roger.”
“If going out that way is too hard, come back. But if you can, just leave without waiting for us! Got that, Itecho?”
“Gotcha. Let’s go all out over here, then. Going from the number of gunshots, they’ve got numbers and firepower. Let’s keep their attention here until the kids are out.”
“Yeah. That’s the point of the diversion.”
The parking lot for the main entrance of Kashu’s Church of the Living Gods was beyond a lush grove, and the building was right in front of it.
Winter was to advance through the enemy line toward the main entrance, while Autumn took a detour through the back door. Even if someone could break through the ice walls, they would have to come here first—like moths to a flame.
“H-hey! Wh-what about me?!” Ruri said.
“You stay here. You don’t have a Guard. Winter will protect you.”
“…You sure?”
“Yes. We have to let the children go. You be a decoy, too.”
“All right! I’m gonna go wild! Also, Raicho sounded that alarm, so I think we should be together soon enough!”
“I can confirm that, Lady Ruri. He called me, and that’s how we were able to get away.”
Ruri’s expression of anxiety softened a little at Rindo’s comment.
“Really? Then he’ll be here in no time!”
“…Yes, I’m sure!”
Ruri wanted to be with Raicho, but it was terrible timing.
Anyhow, they all decided to split up into two groups.
The main entrance group was composed of the Agent of Winter Rosei Kantsubaki, Guard of Winter Itecho Kangetsu, Agent of Summer Ruri Hazakura, Tsukihi Aragami, and six Summer and Winter escorts.
The back door group was composed of the Agent of Autumn Nadeshiko Iwaizuki, Guard of Autumn Rindo Azami, Koyoi Shirahagi, Miyabi Sanekazura, two Town of Autumn escorts, six National Security special agents, two members of the Autumn Branch of the Security Department of the Maintenance Division of the Four Seasons Agency, and guard dog Hanakiri. There were ten people in the main entrance group and fourteen, plus Liam and Jude, in the back door group.
A few more members of the Agency and Towns were on standby at the hotel and the parking lot’s cars, since not everyone was tasked with escorting the Agents.
In terms of raw combat skills, Summer, Winter, and Tsukihi’s squad were above average; but in terms of patrolling, Autumn had the most solid configuration.
“Ms. Sanekazura, can you take care of Nadeshiko? I want to be able to fight,” Rindo said while handing Nadeshiko to the maid.
“Of course. I can also carry Lord Liam, too!”
“But then you won’t be able to run. Let Lord Jude do it.”
Even Rindo could hardly run at full speed while carrying a child, and he couldn’t possibly use guns or swords like that.
He looked at Nadeshiko in Sanekazura’s arms, and she looked back at him.
“Ri—” she said softly, but she did not finish his name.
There was nothing she could ask him. She only wanted to call his name. Saying the name of her personal Guard was a form of expressing love. She could communicate everything with the emotions that filled that one word. He could sense her love, her sadness, her loneliness, her fear…
She wanted to ease her nerves by calling his name—just as she’d always done.
She wanted her beloved Guard to tell her everything would be okay. But she panicked and looked down.
She was preparing to distance herself from him.
Nadeshiko.
Rindo wanted to understand her.
His lady refused to be a child, and she thought that not relying psychologically on him in a time of emergency was another form of maturity. But Rindo only felt her rejection.
He had told her that there was no meaning in a retainer who wasn’t desired, and yet…
Anxiety flared up within him again.
Now’s not the time to think.
But even as he swallowed down the frustration and pain, he wanted to convey the boundless love he had for her.
Don’t take me for granted, Nadeshiko.
He reached for her in Sanekazura’s arms and then forcefully grabbed her chin and tilted her face up.
“R-Rindo,” she said in surprise.
Then he planted a rough kiss on her cheek.
“…Let’s go, my princess.”
Sanekazura stared blankly, while Nadeshiko herself was speechless.
But the silence only lasted for a few seconds. Rindo immediately switched gears.
“Captain Aragami, please take care of Lord Rosei and Lady Ruri!”
Rindo bowed to Tsukihi for sending all her subordinates with Autumn and left.
“We’ve got this! You take care!”
The back door team started moving with the Agents in the middle of the formation. Gunshots sounded from all around them with each step they took. The escorts on standby in the parking lot must have joined the fray. If they went down before they could escape…
“What do we do if we can’t use the cars, Lord Azami?!” Shirahagi asked Rindo.
Jude replied. “The police are helping guard the surroundings! If they get pulled into the fight, we’ll have no choice but to run to the subway! There’s an entrance right outside. We can explain to the police officer in there to get him to shelter us, or we can take the subway to the police station!”
“Got it!” Rindo replied. “We’ll take it as it comes, then!”
The back door team kept advancing through the hallway until they reached the end. They took a few seconds to catch their breath before opening the door to the outside.
“All clear! Let’s go!”
Tsukihi’s subordinates guided everyone.
They had cleared the first hurdle. No ambush here—a huge stroke of luck.
But there was no guarantee everything would go well in the end.
The group ran across the lush green campus and reached the beautiful promenade to the parking lot…and that was when they encountered the people wearing skull masks.
The heretics took cover behind the statues of the Archer of Dawn and the Archer of Twilight and fired their guns.
“Duck! Everyone get down!” shouted one of the special agents, and everyone ducked down behind the statues of the Four Seasons to fire back.
They’re close.
Rindo checked the distance between them and acted quickly.
“Back me up!” he shouted; then he jumped out from behind the statue and ran for it.
“Roger!”
Shirahagi provided cover fire right away. The enemy pointed at Rindo as he suddenly revealed himself, but Yamato fired to contain them.
It only took one distracted moment before Rindo reached the shooters.
“Sh…!”