It took some time before the flames were fully extinguished. While Lyu and company had managed to preserve much of the factory’s structure, in other places, the walls had partially collapsed and the scorched interior was visible even from the outside. However, the greatest priority had been to prevent the fire from spreading, and mercifully, these efforts had succeeded. While the townspeople celebrated in the street, the girls of Astrea Familia remained inside the building to clean up the aftermath.
“Stopped the fire and rounded up the Evils! All in a day’s work! He-hem! I’m so great!”
The redheaded human girl proudly puffed out her relatively modest chest. Her name was Alize Lovell, and she was the captain of Astrea Familia, a group dedicated to the pursuit of justice.
She swept her hair with her hand, a gesture that was clearly meant to charm her audience. “Even in the depths of a burning factory,” she said, “pretty and purehearted girls like us can always bring a crisis to a swift conclusion!”
“What is that even supposed mean?” interjected Lyra, the prum. The girl had a all-knowing air that seemed deeply at odds with her cute prum features. “I don’t know how you manage to stay so optimistic,” she sighed. “I’m gettin’ tired of fightin’ all the time. It never seems to end.”
Those words seemed to dampen Alize’s spirits. She dropped her head a little and said, “Yeah, we didn’t manage to stop the Evils before they put their plan in motion. If only we’d arrived a little sooner, maybe we could have saved the factory as well.”
Her voice that had been full of sunshine shifted to a subdued whisper in an instant. Lyra held her tongue and said nothing more. However, the awkward silence lasted only a moment, before a voice like treacle joined in.
“The captain cannot be held to blame,” it said. “If anyone, it was that elf holding the rest of us back.”
These words belonged to their human comrade, Gojouno Kaguya. Her long dark hair was smooth, like silk, and her voice was as fluid and light as a musical performance. She was elegant and refined, a shining example of what those in the Far East termed a yamato nadeshiko—the embodiment of modest femininity.
“Did you find some fault in my actions, Kaguya?” Lyu Leon refused to let that insult pass without comment. Though she kept her face hidden behind a mask, it was impossible not to notice the radiant and natural blond hair that flowed down her back. Their racial differences aside, when she stood side by side with Kaguya, the two often looked like sisters from behind. In truth, the two were bitter rivals—or so they might be called if the relationship were mutual. Instead, it was mostly Kaguya who kept finding new and inventive ways to get on Lyu’s nerves.
“Why, yes. Did you not notice?”
“I’m the one who cut through the enemy lines!” Lyu roared back. “I’m the one who secured the warehouse before anyone else! Tell me, where did I fall short?!”
But Kaguya’s rude insinuations were the least of Lyu’s annoyances.
“And drop the facade,” she said. “Just listening to you is making me sick!”
“Very well, very well. In that case, as you wish, I shall speak freely.”
Lyu’s outburst did little to faze her. Without breaking her perfect smile, Kaguya dropped the hand she’d been pressing to her cheek.
And then.
“You moroooooooooon!!”
Her personality changed completely. Her deranged smile and leering eyes put even Lyu on edge.
“Did I find fault?!” She scoffed. “You bumbled your way through everything!”
“Wha…?!”
“Who do you think has to clean up after you every time you let your emotions get the better of you? Me! So don’t get uppity with me, you trash pixie!”
“Trash?!”
A pair of wild eyes and an unending stream of abuse. This was Kaguya’s true self, behind the “facade” Lyu had been referring to. Her spittle sprayed Lyu as she raged like the saltiest of sailors. The yamato nadeshiko was nowhere to be seen now.
“You oblivious, tunnel-visioned, mindless little numbskull! How dare you speak as though you’ve done a good job, you child!”
“I—I wasn’t the only one who went on a rampage out there! I would very much like to know what part of your response you considered proportionate punishment!”
“Now you’ve done it, you trash pixie!!”
“Stop calling me that!!”
A fight promptly broke out between the two second-tier Level 3 adventurers. It was a fearsome exchange of punches and kicks almost impossible for the eye to follow.
“Oh, here we go again,” sighed Lyra. “Another swearin’ match between our hardheaded elf and our far-eastern princess. I wish you’d spend all that effort buildin’ each other up instead of tearin’ each other down!”
“I like it!” said Alize, hands on her hips. “They make a good match for each other, don’t you think?”
“Please stop them instead of lookin’ so proud, Captain…” said Lyra with an even deeper sigh. Just then, another voice called out, and into the factory strode several high-tier adventurers led by a strikingly beautiful woman.
“Sorry I’m late, Alize!” she said.
“Ah, Shakti, you came!”
Her azure hair was cut rough and short, and her battle clothes had a deep slit cut into the side. She was taller than Lyu and the others, with sharp features that paired well with her wise leadership.
This was Shakti Varma, the captain of Ganesha Familia. Her appearance put a smile on Alize’s face. It was fair to say the two were bosom friends.
“Oh, well, you’re just in time; we’ve just finished doin’ all the hard work,” scoffed Lyra. “You call yourself the city watch?”
Indeed, Ganesha Familia was the other group besides Astrea Familia dedicated to upholding law and order in Orario. Following the will of their god, the Lord of Hosts, Shakti and company took it upon themselves to ensure that laws and customs were being followed all over the city. In the current Age of Darkness, Orario would have long since succumbed to violence and mayhem were it not for their constant efforts.
“Lyra!” Alize chided, “Ganesha Familia are very busy watching over other parts of the city! Don’t say things like that.”
“Well, someone has to, and you guys are all too goody-goody.”
Alize was just about to reprimand her fellow adventurer when Shakti shook her head as if to concede the point.
“It’s okay, Alize,” she said. “Lyra’s right. And though it won’t make up for our negligence, we’ll handle things from here.” She turned and barked some orders to her followers. “Take the unconscious Evils into custody! Hurry! Keep an eye out for any stragglers!”
“““Yes, ma’am!”””
The members of Ganesha Familia moved out with perfect coordination. They were both more numerous and better equipped than Astrea Familia, so the latter had no cause to object.
“This is the fourth attack on magic stone factories so far,” said Lyu, resting in a corner of the burnt-out factory as Ganesha Familia got to work in the background. “Could it be mere coincidence?”
“Four attacks is no coincidence,” replied Kaguya. “The Evils are plotting something, and no matter how many we put down, more always seem to crawl out of the woodwork.”
“And the ones we round up never seem to know the full plan,” added Lyra, clasping her hands behind her head. “Wonder if we’ll learn anything this time…”
Just then, one of Shakti’s subordinates came over and whispered a report in her ear, after which she turned to face Alize’s group.
“So what are we looking at, Shakti?” asked Alize.
“At first glance, the same as the previous raids,” Shakti replied. “An attack on Orario’s all-important magic-stone-item production industry.” She turned her sharp-witted eyes on the members of Astrea Familia. “But thanks to your timely intervention, we managed to survey the factory before everything burned down. That means that this time we noticed that something had been stolen.”
“And that was?” asked Lyu.
“A batch of magic-stone ignition pieces,” Shakti answered.
“Ignition pieces…?” asked Alize, cocking her head in confusion. At her puzzled response, Shakti launched into a careful explanation.
“Think of them as the switches that activate a magical device,” she said. “They’re an integral part of all magic items, right down to the humble magic-stone torch.”
Lyu pondered the meaning of Shakti’s words. The item in her example was something any adventurer knew how to use. They came in all shapes and sizes, but the internal mechanisms were largely the same, or so Lyu understood. Of course, she wasn’t an expert, so this was just based upon what people said. The point was, the stolen part was vital to the construction of any magic-stone item.