Chapter 102

When Akane offers her a hand, the girl swats it away. Apparently, everything related to hands is a faux pas in this world. Akane tucks that information away in her head. “D-don’t touch me… Snff… I promised I wouldn’t cry anymore…” The white-haired girl wipes at the tears running down her cheeks and hops off the bed. “Snff… Snff…” She then runs off, choking back sobs all the while. “Is she going to be okay?” Akane wonders, looking on in concern. Without being able to speak the girl’s language, though, there isn’t much Akane can do for her. “You am up now.” Then the silver-haired elf Beta comes in. “Um, the other girl just ran off crying…,” says Akane. “All is a-okay.” Akane doesn’t quite understand what’s supposed to be a-okay, but Beta assures her that it is. Akane quickly realizes that pursuing this line of conversation is likely to be fruitless. “So what’s going to happen to me?” she asks instead. “What’s your group’s objective? Am I going to be able to go back to Japan?” “I understanding. I understanding very well.” Beta squeezes Akane’s hands and offers her the sketchiest smile imaginable. “Well, that’s good.” “Me, on your side. Someday, return you to Japan.” “I can go home, then?” “You probably can going home. But if you don’t help us, no going home.” “Wait, are you threatening me?” “No, not like that. Is incredibly hard technical problem.” “Oh, I see.” “So please helping us.” “I mean, if it’s within my power, sure.” Akane doesn’t trust these people as far as she can throw them, but she realizes that complaining will get her nowhere. The way things stand, learning more about this organization is her only path toward getting back to Japan, and that’s going to be easier to do if they think of her as cooperative rather than defiant. “Thank you muchly. Akane are good person. Me am on your side.” “Uh, thanks.” “For now, you become member of this group. Group is called Shadow Garden.” “You’re saying I’m going to become a member of the Shadow Garden. What kind of group is it?” “We lurking in darkness and hunting down shadows.” “Well, that sounds cool.” The description doesn’t tell Akane a thing about what the group actually does, but it certainly sounds fantastical. Come to think of it, it’s the exact kind of cool-sounding thing he used to love. A nostalgic smile spreads across her face. “Now, you are becoming number. Am Number 712 now. Not Akane Nishimura anymore.” “Okay, so I’m going to start going by a number… Wait, huh? Akane Nishimura?” Hearing that name completely interrupts Akane’s train of thought. “You am Akane Nishimura. Is wrong?” “Akane Nishimura… Why did you call me that?” There’s only one person who’s ever referred to Akane that way. “Akane Nishimura is wrong?” “No, no, that’s right. I was just curious why you knew my name, that’s all.” “Ah, making sense. Me asked someone.” “Oh, and they told you?” If it’s just a coincidence, then that’s all well and good. But if it isn’t… Akane feels her heartbeat quicken. She needs to calm down. She can’t let them know she knows. “Is right. What about it?” says Beta. “Oh, I’m just surprised there’s anyone here who knows me. Is it someone from Japan?” Akane asks, taking great care to avoid arousing suspicion by making it sound like she’s just making small talk. “Hee-hee, that is secret. But everyone in that base was knowing Akane’s name. Should not be surprising.” Beta’s right. Everyone back in Messiah knew Akane Nishino’s name. But only one person called her Akane Nishimura. If he’s here, then she needs to dramatically shift her priorities. “Oh, of course,” she says. “That makes complete sense.” Akane scratches her cheek in embarrassment, and Beta smiles before giving her a stare. “From now on, you are Number 712. Will living with Shadow Garden.” “Number 712. Got it.” “I showing you where you stay, Number 712. Follow me.” With that, Beta takes Akane by the hand and leads her out of the infirmary. The hallway outside is made of stone, with gorgeous masonry, a tall, arched ceiling, and gentle indirect lighting. It’s exactly the kind of hallway you’d expect to see in a fantastical foreign world, Akane muses, but if that’s the case, then what was up with that room she first woke up in? For whatever reason, it reminded her of modern-day Japan, as if Japanese technology had been re-created there in the fantasy world. “Did something catching your eye, Number 712?” Beta asks as she walks in front. “No, I was thinking about how different everything is here. I guess it really is another world.” “Well, that’s good. That last room was infirmary. If getting hurt, will take you there. This here is the can.” “You mean the bathroom?” “Is the can.” “Okay, sure, the can.” Beta seems oddly taken with the turn of phrase. When Akane peeks inside, she finds a private room with big tiles on the floor. It’s got a big mirror, a sink, and surprisingly, a flush toilet. “You have flush toilets here?” Akane asks. “Is newest technology,” Beta says proudly. Akane’s suspicions deepen. That toilet wouldn’t look a smidge out of place in any bathroom in Japan. “Who built it?” “Building it were Eta.” “Eta?” “The short white-coat elf. Was watching fight with me.” “Ah, her.” Akane does remember seeing an elf wearing a lab coat come in right before the fight started. “But original knowledge not coming from Eta. Is from someone else.” “Who?” Beta gives her a meaningful smile. “Is secret.” There’s that “someone” again. That someone clearly brought Japanese technology into this world. However, Akane still can’t be certain it’s the person she’s thinking of yet. “This here is cafeteria.” Next, Beta brings her to a wide, open atrium. Mealtime is over, and the space is deserted, but it’s large enough to comfortably seat a few hundred people at once. “Wow…” Akane finds herself awed at the huge space and the decorations on its walls and ceiling. “Are hungry?” “A little bit, yeah…” “I’ll go grabbing something.” Beta shows Akane to a seat, then goes off to get some food. The table Akane’s sitting at and its chairs are all of incredibly high quality. The table is a single glossy slab over thirty feet long, and the chairs are intricately engraved and pleasant to sit in. Wait—isn’t this design the same as that famous interior designer’s…? “The similarities are striking.” The renowned chairs Akane is familiar with don’t have that engraving, but the shape is a perfect match. Armed with this newfound knowledge, she turns a skeptical eye to the rest of the room’s design. Could there be something in the lighting? In the plates? Everywhere she looks, she searches for his shadow. “I have to stop.” She’s taking in only the information that suits her hypothesis. She forces herself to calm down. There’s only so many ways to build furniture for person-shaped beings, and there’s a good chance the similarities are just happenstance. “What am you looking around for?” “Oh, it’s all just so novel, I couldn’t help myself.” When Akane looks back, she discovers that Beta has returned and is sitting in the seat across from her. An elf and a therianthrope who appear to be her subordinates lay food down in front of them. “Wh-what’s going on?” Akane stammers. “What is matter?” Everything in the meal she’s just been given is unmistakably Japanese food. “Why do you have Japanese food here?” “I eating same food back in Japan.” “O-oh, of course.” That’s right. Beta lived in Japan under the name Natsume for a while. It makes perfect sense that she would try to re-create the cuisine she found there. But at the same time… “There’s miso… And even soy sauce…” Is she implying she managed to reproduce Japan’s seasonings so quickly? Akane supposes there’s a chance that Beta simply brought them back from Japan with her. “This is tasty.” The miso soup tastes of fancy skipjack dashi. “I’m glad you liking it.” Beta deftly handles her chopsticks as she eats her food. Akane quickly cleans her plate as well so as not to draw suspicion. “Meal was tasty.” As they finish eating and sip on some post-meal coffee, a familiar-looking girl pops up behind Beta. “I got permission from Alpha.” As Akane recalls, the girl’s name is Eta. She’s got sleepy eyes and a white lab coat, and she approaches Beta and starts talking in this world’s language. “Did you reeeally, now?” Beta gives Eta a dubious look, and Eta hands her a document. “Well, this is certainly a permission letter from Alpha. It says you’re to be given full authority over matters relating to Akane Nishimura.” Akane’s ears twitch when she hears the name Akane Nishimura. “And there you have it.” Eta dips under the table and swiftly moves to retrieve Akane. “Hold it right there! That’s certainly what the letter says, but there’s two things I find suspicious about it.” Beta grabs Eta by the collar, and Eta’s gaze darts around. “L-like what?” “Even if Alpha did sign off on something like this, there’s no way she’d give you unilateral authority. I’m absolutely positive she would assign someone to supervise you.” “Uh… This just goes to show how much trust I’ve built with her through my deeds and actions.” “Then there’s the other thing. The handwriting doesn’t have any flow to it. It’s almost as though somebody wrote this by painstakingly copying something Alpha actually wrote.” “I—I have no idea what you’re talking about…” Eta breaks out into a cold sweat. “Eta, we both know you forged this.” Beta glares at Eta, and Eta gives her a twitchy smile. “I hope you’re ready to face the consequences. I’m going straight to Alpha, and—” “Oh, forget this,” Eta says, coldly cutting Beta off. “It’s time I used force.” The next thing Akane knows, her field of vision is doing a one-eighty. “Wha—? AHHHHHHHHHHHH?!” There’s black slime binding her and hanging her upside down in the air. She struggles with all her might, but the slime is tough and doesn’t so much as budge. Akane tries to summon her magic, but it feels as though it’s being sucked away. “What do you think you’re doing, Eta?!” Beta and her subordinates are bound in the exact same manner. “Resorting to force. Trying to reason with laypeople is a waste of time,” Eta says bluntly as she begins making off with Akane’s inverted body. “Get back here this instant!!” Beta tears off the slime, then manifests a jet-black sword and surges toward Eta. “Hmph.” Eta narrows her eyes a little and manipulates her slime into the shape of a massive shield. Beta’s sword and Eta’s shield clash. A low, dull crack reverberates. “Wh-what’s the deal with this shield?!” Beta cries. Beta’s sword has failed to inflict so much as a scratch on it. To the contrary, the shield is sucking the sword in. Beta hurriedly wrenches her blade free and backs off. “It’s my new tech. It reacts to magic by absorbing it,” says Eta. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?! You’re supposed to report all useful inventions immediately!” When a sword and a shield are both strengthened with magic, the sword wins out. It’s a basic matter of area. For a sword, all you have to strengthen is the edge, whereas with a shield you have to strengthen its entire surface. Empowering a shield takes over twice as much mana as empowering a sword to the same degree. That’s why there are so few dark knights who even carry shields. “Uh… I’ve haven’t put it through safety testing yet, so I figured I’d write my report afterward.” “You were never planning on doing that testing, were you?!” All through their conversation, Beta continues throwing shockingly elegant strikes at Eta. Akane is bowled over. She can barely even follow Beta’s movements. “Sh-she’s incredible…” Now Akane understands why people in this organization hold someone as sketchy as Beta in such high respect. Even Number 711’s moves seem downright infantile in comparison to hers. “Stop getting in my way.” Her opponent, Eta, possesses unimaginable talent as well. She manipulates her slime freely, forming it into shields and swords and spears to intercept Beta’s blows with. Her moves aren’t exactly those of a martial artist, but they’re the moves of someone who’s honed their technique in a whole different way. Her fine control over magic and her ability to hold multiple thoughts in parallel are next-level. The two combatants seem just about evenly matched…but it’s hard to tell, considering that neither of them is using their full strength yet. They’re straddling the razor’s edge of making sure not to hurt each other. Also, Akane’s gut is telling her they both have trump cards they’re keeping hidden. “Enough already!” “Hrgh…” Beta’s attack sends Eta flying. As Eta maneuvers her shield into position to protect herself, she deftly manipulates her slime in midair to catch herself. However, she nonetheless breaks into a grimace. Beta’s subordinates have just moved in with weapons in hand to surround her. “Really, now?” Eta says. “It’s time for you to face the music,” Beta announces triumphantly. “Forgive us for our impertinence, Eta, ma’am, but we’re going to be detaining you now.” Nu, Lambda, Chi, Omega, and several of the Numbers are all gathered there. That’s enough to darken even Eta’s expression. “Hmph.” Beta inches toward her and lays on the pressure. “If you throw down your weapons, surrender, and offer us a sincere apology, I’m prepared to lighten your punishment.” “I heard a big commotion. What’s going on in here?” Then a beautiful girl with hair the color of a still lake shows up. It’s Epsilon the Faithful, fifth member of the Seven Shadows. “Two of the Seven Shadows and a bunch of extra backup,” Eta mutters. “This could be bad.” Several people frown at having been referred to as just “extra backup,” and it’s hard to blame them. Everyone there, without exception, is an absolute powerhouse. They’ve all assumed combat stances with their weapons at the ready and their mana primed, so it’s easy to tell just how strong they are. To Akane’s great shock, every last one of them is far stronger than she is. These are people with pride in their skills and confidence in their training. It’s no wonder they take umbrage at being reduced to a mere afterthought. Despite their displeasure, though, not a single one of them speaks up in protest. They all know that at the end of the day, it’s true. “Perfect timing, Epsilon. Come help us put this idiot in her place.” “Fine. But you owe me one, Beta.” The two of them are quick to reach an understanding. Epsilon is well aware that whatever’s going on, it’s almost certainly Eta’s fault. Beta and Epsilon pincer Eta from the sides, and the extra backup covers their flanks. “All right, all right. I get it.” Eta raises her hands in defeat. “You’re surrendering?” Beta asks. Nobody there is stupid enough to let their guard down. Eta still hasn’t relinquished her weapons, and they know her too well to believe she’d really give up that easily. Eta’s next words are all but unthinkable, coming from someone who’s completely surrounded and has her hands in the air. “To all the fine people trying to persecute me, you get one warning. Stand down now, or you’ll regret it.” “Do you seriously think I’m going to surrender?” Epsilon asks Eta, approaching her with extreme caution. “Yeah. Is no one backing down?” Eta looks around to check. Everyone’s on high alert, but none of them are giving up. “I see. Looks like negotiations have failed,” says Eta. “Negotiations have failed, all right,” Beta agrees. “All forces, secure Eta by any means necessary!” Everyone bursts into action at once. A moment later, everything melts. “What—?!” The girls’ magic goes haywire, and their clothes and weapons begin to dissolve. “What the hell’s going onnnnnnnnnnn?!” Beta narrowly manages to keep her equipment intact, but the extra backup is left half-naked and hardly in any state to continue fighting. “This is the Field That Disrupts Magic (Except Mine) that I made using Shadow Wisdom jamming waves,” Eta explains. “This is the exact kind of thing you’re supposed to report once you invent it!!” Beta hollers. “The setup conditions are strict, so it can only be used in limited circumstances—” “Oh, forget it!! It’s up to the two of us to deal with her, Epsilon!” Beta calls over to her trusty teammate. However, Epsilon is nowhere to be seen. All that remains of her is a hastily jotted note sitting on the table. “I just remembered I have an important mission to get to, so I have to head out. —Epsilon” “E-EPSILOOOOOOOOOOON!!” Beta howls. “You’re wide open.” Beta’s outburst leaves her vulnerable, and when Eta takes that opportunity to strike, Beta passes out and abruptly keels over. With that, Eta carts Akane away. “Hnng… Where am I?” When Akane opens her eyes, she finds herself in a gloomy basement. There’s a mass of black slime pinning her to a bed, and she’s surrounded by tools for conducting experiments and other unidentifiable junk. Akane lets out a small sigh. It feels like she’s been getting kidnapped a lot lately. She wriggles to try to get free, but her restraints hold strong. It’s amazing how resilient this black slime stuff is. “Is anyone there?” she asks. She can’t see much between the dim lighting and the mountains of miscellanea, but she can sense the presence of someone moving around. “…Hmm?” The presence turns toward her, and a face pops out of the mountain of junk. It’s Eta, the girl in the lab coat. “Your name’s Eta, right? What are you planning on doing to me?” “You’re awake. Your tolerance is surprisingly impressive. Maybe I should have used a stronger sedative,” Eta says in that otherworld language. Akane can’t understand a word she’s saying, but one look at Eta’s eyes sends a shiver down her spine. Those aren’t the eyes of someone looking at a fellow sentient being. They’re the cold, inhuman eyes of someone looking at a test subject. No, of someone looking at mere data. That girl doesn’t perceive Akane as human. Eta walks over to the bed and looks down at Akane. Her stare is just as emotionless as ever. “Breathing steady, heart rate slightly elevated, in a minor state of tension,” she says as she pokes and prods at Akane to check her vitals. “Everything working normally. No changes to the plan necessary.” Her tone is detached, like everything she’s doing is routine. “What are you saying? What’s going to happen to me?” Despite Akane’s attempts to talk to her, all Eta does is robotically return her gaze. “The presence or lack of consciousness has no impact on the plan. However, her vocal cords may prove an impediment. They’re distracting. Should I consider surgically removing them? No, maybe I should just apply sedative… But I’ll be dissecting her either way, so I suppose it could make sense to remove the vocal cords for further study. No, confirmation of ability to hold otherworld conversation needs to come first.” She seems to just be talking to herself so she can get her thoughts in order. It looks like she’s talking to Akane, but Eta isn’t paying her a bit of heed. “Again, what are you saying?” When Akane poses the question, Eta looks at her properly for the first time. “A, A, A, B C D E F G,” she says calmly. “Is my pronunciation fine?” “Y-you can talk?” “All languages spoken by intelligent life follow certain rules. He said it himself, and lo and behold, it is true.” Akane is amazed at how fluent Eta’s Japanese is. Her pronunciation and command of the language are leagues better than Beta’s. “What are you trying to accomplish? What are you planning on doing to me?” “Experiments. To satisfy my intellectual curiosity.” “Wh-what kind of experiments?” “First, conversation. I’ll learn the patterns of your thoughts and the logic behind how you communicate. Then, I’ll run tests on your body, run tests on your magic, and extract knowledge from your brain.” “What exactly do you mean, ‘extract’?” “Information from your world is valuable. But if I try to draw it out through conversation, there will be lies and nonsense mixed in. It’s a waste of time. But if I use this, it’s just a beep, beep, beep away.” Eta points to a gigantic piece of junk. It’s a device resembling a coffin all wound up in pipes and cords. Every so often, it shudders and lets out a big huff of steam. It’s obvious just from looking at it how sketchy it is. “Wh-what even is that thing?” “The Brain Slurper Mk. 23. It’s my masterpiece, capable of extracting every last bit of knowledge from someone’s brain. After a long series of failures, I’ve finally perfected it…I think.” “You think?” “I based it off ‘The Relationship Between Magic and the Brain: The Destructive and Potentially Healing Properties Magical Interference Can Have on the Mind and the Practical Applications Thereof,’ a paper written by Professor Sherry Barnett from the college town of Laugus. It’s her fault if it doesn’t work, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. I always thought there was nothing in Laugus but obstinate old men, but there’s a small number of scholars doing good work there. She’s one of them. Actually, she’s giving a lecture in Laugus next week. I wonder if I can make it…” The things coming out of Eta’s mouth are irresponsible, egotistical, and inspire zero confidence. “What are you talking about? What even am I to you?” “A relatively valuable test subject. The most valuable one after the one after the one after the one after the one after him.” “I’m sorry, I’m a what? And also, who’s ‘him’?” “He is him. A much more valuable life-form than you. It was thanks to him I was able to learn the foundations of your language.” “Someone who helped you learn Japanese… It can’t be!” A nasty feeling rises up in Akane’s gut. What if the person who taught Japanese to Eta is who Akane is thinking of? What if he’s been captured by this heartless, uncaring monster? “Has he caught your interest? He helped me test out the Brain Slurper Mk. 19 and survived, so Mk. 23 is probably fine as well.” “What…? You used that deranged machine on him?! Did he consent to that?!” “Consent? That wasn’t necessary. I just tricked him a little and shoved him in. It’s fine; he’s sturdy.” “So you forced him? You forced him to be your lab rat?!” Akane knows she needs to settle down. There’s no guarantee this guy is even the person she’s imagining. She takes a deep breath to quell her anger. “I wouldn’t call him a lab rat. I just tested out my dragon-killing poison on him and tried to dissect his brain tissue and remove his magic circuits. It was nothing serious,” Eta replies coolly. Akane grinds her molars. “Tell me,” she says, her voice trembling with rage. “Who exactly is this person?” “He is who he is. Hmm, describing people is difficult. Oh, he’s the person who wrote this.” Eta produces a note written in Japanese and shows it to Akane. The note itself isn’t anything special, but Akane recognizes the handwriting. “It can’t be. But that handwriting… Oh, Kageno…” Tears spill from her eyes. That handwriting is Minoru Kageno’s. She’s certain of it. In that moment, everything finally clicks into place for her. Minoru Kageno is here in this world. The truck accident whisked him across dimensions, and this girl Eta’s been using him as a test subject and stealing his knowledge about Japan. That means the body at the scene was a fake. In fact, there’s a chance that the whole accident was a hoax carried out by fantasy-world technology. When Akane thinks about the way he was wrenched from his home and his family and his friends, dragged into an unfamiliar world, and forced to endure this grueling environment, her body shudders with rage. “How could you? How dare you! Is he all right?!” “He’s fine…for now.” “What does that mean? What are you planning on doing to him?” “Experiments and dissections.” “That’s horrible! Where is he?!” “Who can say? Now, that should do it for conversing. I have the data I need.” Eta seems uninterested in answering any more of Akane’s questions. She turns her back on Akane and begins setting up some sort of device. “Answer me! Where…where is he?!” Akane struggles frantically against her restraints, but the slime doesn’t budge. All it does is squeeze down harder on Akane’s bones. “Preparations complete.” Eta is holding a collar. For whatever reason, it stinks to high heaven and is dripping with viscous liquid. “Wh-what is that?!” “The Vocal Cord Extractor Mk. 1. It was collecting dust in a storeroom because of how limited its use cases are, but I’m sure it’s still fine.” “G-get it away from me!” Eta attaches the weird collar to Akane’s neck. “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt. Now, three, two, one…” She goes to flip the collar’s switch. “Oh no you don’t.” A dull gong echoes, and Eta’s head rattles. “M-my cranium…,” she moans, crouching down and clutching at her skull. “No more of this nonsense. Today’s the day I put a stop to it.” There’s a beautiful blond elf standing before her. In the elf’s hand, she’s holding a hammer made of slime. That hammer is what just struck Eta. Eta gives the newcomer a death glare. “H-how could you…? When brain cells get damaged, they never heal. My precious intellect…” “Don’t you give me that look.” “Anyone who pulls a stunt like that is toast. Even you, Alpha.” “Oh?” “Taste the power of my Field That Disrupts Magic (Except Mine)!” Nothing happens. “What? But how?” “I’m told that your Field That Disrupts Magic uses jamming waves.” “It can’t be…” “I hate to break it to you, but I’ve cut them off.” Alpha strips off her clothes to reveal the shiny silver slime suit beneath them. “T-tinfoil…” “As I’m sure you’re aware, there’s a Shadow Wisdom legend that says tinfoil has the power to block radio waves.” “You mean, the legend is actually true?” “See for yourself.” Alpha swings the hammer down at Eta’s head again. Eta is so shocked by the previous revelation she can’t even dodge. “Hyeek!” With a quiet shriek, Eta falls unconscious. “Take her away. She’s earned herself a suspension from her duties and a major reduction in research funds until she’s done reflecting on her behavior. Even then, she’ll be doing the research I assign her and nothing else for the foreseeable future.” “A-at once, ma’am.” A group of girls come out from behind Alpha and retrieve Eta’s unconscious body. Alpha turns to Akane and undoes her restraints. “I’m sorry about all that.” Akane is too awestruck by the elf to do anything but stammer, “Wh-who are you?” “I don’t speak your language. Beta can handle the rest.” With that, she leaves. She’s preposterously strong. That, and beautiful. Akane can tell in her bones that she just encountered the organization’s heaviest hitter. “Are you okaying?” Soon after, the silver-haired girl shows up and rescues Akane. “This will being your room, Number 712.” Beta leads her to an unadorned door. “This one here?” “That’s right. Had to explained many lots of things. Did you understanding it all?” “Most of it, I think.” “Then here is language textbook. Make sure is learning quickly.” The book Beta hands her is titled This World’s Language for Otherworld Life-Form Dummies. “Um, do I get a teacher or anything?” “Immersion is only way. I am busier person than am looking. Now, bye-bye.” Beta turns away and briskly walks off. “…Well, I guess this is fine.” Things are most definitely not fine, but Akane’s had a long day, and she’s exhausted. She lets out a sigh and opens the door. “It’s nicer than I expected…” There are three beds in the room, one of which already has a girl sleeping in it. The girl senses Akane’s presence and sits up. It’s the small white-haired girl Akane fought earlier. “I-it’s you!” “I-it’s you!” Akane and the girl cry out all but in unison. “Y-you mean, you’re the new recruit they told me about?” “L-looks like we’re going to be roommates, huh?” Akane is quick to pull herself together, and she offers the girl a smile. “Rgh… A-as if I’d ever stay in the same room as you! I’m sleeping outside!” The girl jumps off her bed, shoots Akane a glare, and runs away. “Oh…” Akane doesn’t know what the girl just said, but it obviously wasn’t anything friendly. She heaves another sigh as she watches the girl go. She’s got more problems than she can count. She’s stuck in a foreign world, she doesn’t know the local language, everyone in this organization is freakishly strong, her roommate hates her, and she doesn’t have a single real ally. However, she has one ray of hope. “This time, I’m going to save you, Kageno!” Determination wells up in her heart, and she clenches her fists tight.