The Imperial capital was asleep.
Few lights remained on in the buildings of the business district, and one could count the number of people still on the streets.
The same held true for the Imperial forces.
Most of the soldiers had retired for the night at the women’s barracks.
“Ugh… I finally finished with work.”
As she shivered in the cold evening wind, Mismis quickly walked to the barracks.
“Ugh! Nene would normally be so happy to help me write a report, but Jhin was so stubborn and told me to do it! And I finished so late!”
She hadn’t eaten any dinner.
She thought of cooking something light from what little she had at home. Then again, taking a shower and burrowing into her sheets sounded nice, too.
Would she eat? Or have a shower?
Or maybe she would skip both and just go straight to bed?
“I know! I’ll eat while showering! Oh, but I need a good way to shower without getting my food wet… Oh?!”
A gunshot rang in her ears.
It was close enough that she could feel the sound waves against her skin. She couldn’t see anything in the dark of the night, but she knew it had happened right in front of her.
“Huh?! Who’s there?! Did something happen?!”
The gunshot had been close.
But no one answered her. Should she run over to the barracks? Before Mismis could decide, the bushes rustled.
“Who’s there?!”
She saw two figures behind the bushes.
One was sprawled on the grass, and the other ran toward her out of the bushes.
No one said anything.
Mismis quickly leaped back from the silent figure. She felt a draft right in front of her face. It was only a moment later that she realized it had come from the person swinging a fist at her.
Who was it?
The streetlights were behind the person—a blond woman of large build who glared at her. It was then that Mismis came back to her senses.
“Noro?!”
Former commander, Shanorotte Gregory.
She had been Mismis’s friend and a coworker since she had graduated the forces’ academy…or so Mismis had been led to believe. But Shanorotte had been a Nebulis Sovereignty operative all along.
And she had been hiding in wait at the Imperial forces’ barracks.
“What are you doing here?!”
The last time they had seen each other had been in the Sovereignty.
But what was she doing here in the Empire on an Imperial base?
“Tsk!”
Shanorotte held out her right hand.
This was bad. She was a Lightning astral mage, which made this deadly range. Could she run? Or would it be better to draw the gun at her hip? The moment Mismis wavered, Shanorotte let out another, “Tsk!”
Instead of firing off lightning she looked up from the corner of her eye and turned around.
The barracks were equipped with astral energy sensors. If she fired at Mismis, she would be discovered. She was likely afraid of that.
“…”
Shanorotte turned and fled.
Mismis immediately gave up on the idea of running after her.
“Are you all right?!”
“…Ugh!”
The woman on the grass weakly mouthed something.
She had a gun in her hand. She had likely fired it after Shanorotte had jumped out of the bushes at her. Then they must have had a scuffle.
“Took…it…”
Shanorotte had taken something?
But what? It wasn’t the gun. What would Shanorotte want?
“Huh! Your ID?!”
“…”
The soldier weakly nodded.
She had known it. Mismis felt a chill run up her spine upon realizing she had guessed right.
An Imperial soldier’s ID.
With just that card, Shanorotte would be able to get through an Imperial forces’ gate as though she belonged there. She was a former commander, so she even knew how to act like an Imperial soldier.
But why?
It couldn’t have been easy sneaking into the forces’ barracks. Why had Shanorotte gone to all the trouble to procure an ID? What was she planning?
“I need to tell someone! Uhhh, HQ? I know! Risya!”
She was a lot smarter than Mismis.
But it was the middle of the night.
“Risya, please wake up!”
“Hello! What is it, Mismis? Are you doing overtime?”
“Risya!”
When she heard that cheerful voice, all of her anxieties disappeared and she loosened.
“It’s awful! You know the one who was on the security footage, Nor…I mean Shanorotte, the ex-commander?”
“You found her?”
“She was hiding in the Imperial forces’ women’s barracks!” Mismis yelled into the comm. “Someone was assaulted, and she stole her ID. Shanorotte already ran off, but I think she’ll head to an Imperial base soon! With that card!”
“Hmm…” She heard Risya let out a low groan. “An Imperial, huh? But why would she want to go into a base?”
“I—I have no idea! But Imperial bases have secret information…”
“I suppose so. I’ll talk to HQ. You go talk to the barracks’ surveillance room. Once the attacked soldier recovers, we’ll question her as a witness and a victim.”
“Got it!”
“I’m counting on you.”
The line cut off.
The area around her went quiet until only the sound of the insects in the grass could be heard.
“Hold on to me! I’ll take you to the medical room!”
Mismis helped her fallen colleague up and started to walk the path into the night.
“Noro…”
Her former coworker had disappeared as quickly as the wind.
Recalling the hate toward Imperials that had glistened in Shanorotte’s eyes, Mismis bit her lip.