When the door opened, the first person that exited was the pale Sarah. Well, she was more throw than everything. She had tears on her face and her eyes seemed lifeless. She didn’t seem so injured. Nearby soldiers with red crosses on their uniform immediately went to help her.

“Sarah!” “Sarah!” Tiang and Lucy, the two subordinates bullies, were outside of the barrier made of soldiers and saw the moment when Sarah was sent out of the Chamber. They could not pass through, but they still kept looking at Sarah as she was being rescued. Seeing in what state she was, the two girls, along with the other students, could not help but feel shocked. This was clearly not the initial outcome.

The man with a wild air looked at the girl and sighed in relief. ‘It looks like she spared her’. His gaze turned toward the door of the Chamber as he felt a strong presence. The man was able to sense her because he was also quite strong himself.

Since the rise of abilities, humans’ instincts also underwent change. It was easier to sense hostility, overwhelming others with one’s presence, and so on. However, this also depended on your ability. For instance, Sarah was only able to feel a bit of Talia’s power, while the man understood that he would clearly lose if he were to fight her. A normal human would not be able to sense anything.

But, one thing they each didn’t notice was that they could sense something because Talia released a part of her presence. It was totally possible to hide it to the point where she could be mistaken for a normal ability-less child.

Talia went out after throwing Sarah. When she saw all the soldiers she was surprised. Not by the fact that they were here because she noticed the commotion from inside. What surprised her was that they appeared to not be hostile toward her. ‘It’s strange. I displayed powers that I should not have and I beat a D-ranked ability user. At least they should be wary.’ She scanned her surroundings and looked at the man with wild hair.

“You are the one in charge, right? She has two broken ribs and a few injuries here and there, but nothing life-threatening. Anyway, why are you here?” Talia swept her eyes on all the soldiers.

The man and the nervous woman went before Talia. “Nice to meet you. My name is Darius Nash and I’m captain of the ninth special unit of the Abilities Regulation Army. This is Yui Haruka. she is working with me on this mission. We are here to escort you to the Union Headquarters, Union Center.

Union Center was a group of big buildings. It was there that all the higher-ups in Pacifica were. Talia’s father also worked at the Union Center. Talia was quite puzzled by the situation. She was sure that they were here to arrest her. Even if she had not harmed Sarah she still revealed powers she should not possess. Seeing her confused look, Darius also returned a confused look.

“Is there a problem, Ms. Chevalier? We were contacted by the one called ‘Lord’. He explained the situation and the higher-ups decided to invite you to discuss it.” Darius explained what he heard from his superior. At first, he didn’t want to believe it, but when he saw her in person he was forced to believe that the girl before him was indeed extraordinary.

Hearing his explanation, Talia finally understood and remembered something that happened just before she was transported back to earth. Lord and her comrades were here to sent her off. The vortex connected to earth was in the middle of stabilizing and Talia was saying farewell to everyone. Lord then said something about helping with the government. Talia at the moment was too busy thinking about her world that she didn’t pay attention. The truth was that Lord trained people for a certain reason. When he had to send them back he would explain the situation to whatever authorities in the world. It was to able the Protector Of World to display their strength without creating troublesome situations.

“I understand now.“ Talia nodded.

“That’s a relief. Now, please, co-”

“Talia!” A voice cut Darius in his track. It was a blond girl with a worried look. She was in front of the barrier made of soldiers, but they prevented her from passing. Darius looked at her with a frown, while Talia was a bit surprised. She then smiled at Sanya and turned to Darius.

“Let her through. She is my friend.”

“But she is a civilian.”

“Either you make her pass, or I make her come” Talia’s tone was still calm. It was not a threat. It basically means that she was capable of bringing her here even if they opposed and they could do nothing about it.

“...Understood” Darius seemed a bit unwilling, but he still accepted her request. Sanya was surprised when the soldier let her through, but she quickly regained her serious as she rushed toward Talia.

“Talia!”

“I’m ok.” Talia grinned with her hands on her hips. Sanya didn’t stop as she hugged Talia forcefully. Her action surprised Darius and Yui and embarrassed Talia. Talia wore a faint blush. “W-What is it?”

She could not move her arms and had to wait until Sanya move herself. Suddenly, Sanya raised her head. The corner of her eyes was full of tears and she seemed a bit angry. “What is going on?! First, you disappear for a full ten days, then you reappear, capable of beating the strongest ability user in the school! Finally, you are talking with the army like it’s nothing! Do you know how much my heart can take?! If you don’t explain to me I will go crazy.” Sanya initially thought that she could wait until Talia talks about it herself. However, all those events made her anxious. She was not explained and situations kept escalated

“O-ok, I will explain soon!” Sanya finally loosened her hug and stood beside Talia. She was a bit red as she was conscious of what she did. Talia turned to Darius and Yui unsure of what face to make. She faked a cough.

“As you saw, I will not be able to come with you today. I will try tomorrow after school.” Talia’s reply greatly troubled Darius. His orders were to bring her back today because a meeting with every important figure in Pacifica was held.

“Can you please reconsider.” The ones at the meeting were not the types that had a lot of free time. It was already amazing the fact that they were all here. Talia might be someone important, but still…

Talia put on a serious face. “Darius, come with me a second. I have another reason to not be able to come today.” Seeing her serious face, Darius also tensed up. If someone as strong as her had to be serious about something, then it had to be extremely important! Even more, if she wanted to talk about it in secret!

Darius followed Talia and they stopped 10 meters from the other two girls. With a wave of her hand, Talia instructed Darius to crouch down. She wanted to talk secretly by whispering directly into his ear, but he was too tall. He was more than 1m90, while Talia was a bit more than 1m60. After he crouched at her height, she started to whisper something.

Meanwhile, Sanya and Yui stood there, a bit clueless about the situation. They end up looking at each other.

“N-Nice to meet you. My name is Yui Haruka. I’m working at the Union Center as a contact for external relations .”

“...Sanya Cliff. Nice to meet you.” The clumsy Yui tried to lessen the atmosphere, but Sanya was still a bit intimidated by all the surrounding soldiers. This was normally not a situation where a normal high school girl should be in. Nevertheless, Talia seemed fine, or rather accustomed.

Then, Yui dropped a bombshell.

“Nonetheless, your girlfriend is quite amazing. She beat a D-ranked ability user like it was nothing.”

“....Girlfriend?! What are you saying?!” Sanya was shocked and embarrassed by the sudden statement. In response, Yui also started to panic.

“I-I was wrong?! But, you seemed so close and she also put your matter before a meeting with the most powerful people in Pacifica.” Sanya could not argue back. It was true Talia’s actions since the morning were a bit too passionate to only be out of friendship.

‘Do we really look like a couple?’ Sanya started to wonder. It was true that she thought of Talia as her most important person. She was basically lifeless when Talia went missing. Those 10 days were the worst time of her life. Moreover, this period made her discover something very important…

“You really meant it, when you said that we looked like a couple?”