Morning arrived after a good night's sleep.

Unusual, fairly strange. Mixed feelings swirled inside me as I changed to a frilly white dress Ayesha had folded and placed on the study table.

I had expected bad things to happen at some point before, disturbing my sleep. Fortunately, nothing happened. However, thoughts of soldiers in black suddenly popping out to shoot at me filled my mind the moment I woke up. Nervous? Yes, I knew this feeling all too well. Scared? Veritably so. Was I sad? Guilty of something?

People died in front of me and some were killed by the 'weapon' hiding inside my body.

As I dressed, Ayesha gently weaved my hair into a braid with a warm smile on her face. Little did she knew that an eclectic mix of thoughts was blinding me right then. Scenes of what happened the day before rushed into my mind without me wanting to. I did not want to see those awful sights again, and yet...

"Here. It's done. Look at how beautiful you are."

Ayesha brought a mirror close to my face. She picked up a few loose strands covering my eyes and tucked it to the side.

"Now, let's go eat breakfast, shall we?" said Ayesha.

I looked on as the sliding door opened for her. She turned around and her warm smile withered when I did not follow. The girl tilted her head at me, her right index finger touched her bottom lip.

"Is something the matter, ʼānisa?"

"...N-No. It's nothing," I said while looking away, "It's just... That boy keeps his promise after all."

Ayesha smiled again upon hearing this. She seemed to know who I was referring to.

"You mean, Hope Domitius? What did he promise?"

"...He said back then, as long as I'm here, nothing bad will happen to me."

"Ah..."

Ayesha went to my side and patted my head.

"This place is safe, for you, and me. And the others as well. Your grandfather protects ʼānisa all the time, you see."

Hearing those words, I could not help but smile in return. Ayesha was the only one I had dared to talk to like this. Her aura was like a soothing blanket, calming my emotions the longer I stayed by her side. Having woken up to endless unamiable thoughts, Ayesha's presence was something I never knew I needed until then.

We exited the room and went to the hallway to our right. A cafeteria was our destination according to Ayesha. To think they had one there felt strange in a sense, but then again, this place was massive to a point where fitting a cafeteria could work without much difficulty. I wondered if there were even any problems for Grandpa or the architect when they made the place.

Ayesha and I found a staircase leading down and I raised an eyebrow at it.

"The cafeteria is underground. Yes," said Ayesha, answering the question in my mind.

Upon arrival, we met with the doctor, Gray Ludwig, sitting at a long, wooden table along with two others whom I was certain I had not met before. Instinctively, I avoided meeting their eyes when they looked in my direction.

"Oi!"

A woman carrying her food tray bumped into Ayesha and she narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"Don't stand in the middle of the road please, Ayesha?" said the woman before she walked away.

"My apologies," whispered Ayesha as she bowed her head.

"That woman..." commented Ludwig, "You two, come sit here with me."

We accepted his offer gladly.

Looking around, the cafeteria was filled with people going up and about trying to get their hands on their breakfast. About twenty people were in the cafeteria give or take. I suspected more would come down if I waited a little longer, and with how Ayesha seemed to prod me into eating in the cafeteria, perhaps Grandpa would come down after some time.

"This is for ʼānisa."

Ayesha placed my food tray on the table before she placed hers. We sat next to each other, with Ludwig to Ayesha's left.

"The little miss seems fine. She talked to you, hadn't she?" said Ludwig to Ayesha.

"A bit."

"That's improvement still. So, what did you talk about?"

Ludwig dug his spoon into his mashed potato and put it into his mouth. He motioned for his two friends to start eating too but they merely looked at each other. One of the two—a dark-haired woman with a jagged horizontal scar across her angular nose—glared at me.

"Isn't she the one? The monster?" the woman said.

"Hey..."

"Ludwig, I know the Boss made you do this. The same goes for Ayesha. Everyone has been saying it was a good choice. Though if it was me who'd been given this babysitting task, then the little girl will..."

"Stop. I know what you're trying to say," said Ludwig.

"...It was not her fault," Ayesha spoke out.

"Oh? You're siding with her, is that it? You two have seen what she's capable of. You never know when she will—"

"She won't," said Ayesha, her eyes squinted at the dark-haired woman.

"Normally, I would side with Aerin, but eh... No one knows what will happen in the near future, right? To be honest, I feel the same way ever since I saw Ava and the Aegis inside her," said Ludwig.

"Then?"

"It would be immature for us adults to accuse her of something she hadn't done yet, to us, is it? With that being said... don't be so harsh on her, alright?"

"...I get you."

"That's good—"

"But I'll eat somewhere else. Come on," said Aerin, tilting her chin at her male friend next to her.

Ludwig scratched his head as he watched Aerin walked away to a table far from us. He breathed a sigh afterward and tore his gaze away from the dark-haired woman.

"Perhaps next time, we should just bring breakfast to her in her room. I'm sure the little miss doesn't like it when everyone keeps staring at her," said Ludwig.

He said the truth about me. The whole time they were talking, I fidgeted at my white dress with eyes looking elsewhere. After all, that woman named Aerin had a clear animosity towards me that I could not help but shrunk myself to Ayesha's side, in the hope that her stare would not bother me like so. It worked for a moment until my diffidence resurfaced back up. When my eyes fell on the others who were inside the cafeteria, they, too, wore the same menacing eyes as Aerin.

"...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I said to no one.

"It's not your fault, ʼānisa," said Ayesha.

"Let's get her back to her room."

Ayesha agreed with Ludwig and they took me away from the cafeteria. I stayed close to Ayesha's side while avoiding the stares everyone gave me when we walked past them.

"Should we get Hope here?" said Ludwig as he watched me eating my cereal at my study table.

"A friend close to her age was what Za'im said his role is supposed to be."

"The little girl's guardian if I remembered correctly. From the looks of things, he's been busy."

"He always is. Like Za'im, he's occupied with a lot of things. It's admirable really if you consider how young he is."

Ludwig shrugged and sat on the floor.

"Well, we've been chosen by Her Majesty after all. Though... her putting my stupid self in here floundered me greatly when it happened. Me being chosen, who would've thought? Huh. After what I'd done back in the days, you would suspect someone like me to just rot, but... that's what she really is, Her Majesty that is."

"..."

From what I'd heard, it appeared they were grouped together by this individual called 'Her Majesty' some time ago. Perhaps Grandpa was also brought in by that person, which would explain why he was with them—the group responsible for fighting the bad guys out there.

"Hmm? Who are you?"

Ludwig said this when a group of four walked into my room. The man accompanying them was one of Grandpa's friends perhaps. For the other three, I immediately recognized them. These people, yes, they were...

"...Dale?" I said.

"Ava!" waved Dale, a young dark-haired boy about my age, "When they said you're here, I couldn't help but worry and ask them if they could take us to you. And... huh? You look weird. What's with the frilly dress?"

"I-It's not weird!"

Dale's parents laughed as Dale and I exchanged words with each other. Their escort left after the Huerter family expressed their wish to stay with me for a while. I did not mind, but to me, having Dale around with his parents made me nervous. Dale alone would be fine. But with his parents who were much older than me, I could not act the way I wanted to with them looking.

Thankfully, Ayesha and Ludwig were by my side as they conversed with Mr. and Mrs. Huerter, while Dale's attention was focused solely on me.

"Ava, they're a lot of people being brought in by them. You see, I thought I would be a goner when our city starts exploding, but phew... It must be Lady Luck helping us that whole time. We wouldn't have made it without her."

"..."

"Those nice people fight the bad guys with their guns. Bang, bang! They took them down when we were being escorted from our hideout. You know, the bookstore on the outskirts? We were hiding there before they came to help us."

"..."

Dale's hands gesticulated when he told me about his experience. He refused to sit down and stood there explaining, his blue eyes sparkled ever so often when I responded. With me sitting on my bed, it was like watching a storyteller.

Although Daddy was the greatest storyteller of all time.

"I just realized. Where are your Mommy and Daddy?" asked Dale.

"...Um."

"What's wrong?"

"...They're... not here."

I had asked the same question to Ayesha. She did not know where they were, and she elaborated that if my parents were already in this safe place, then she would know.

"No one knows where they are," I said, trying not to cry as their faces appeared in my mind.

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Dale."

"Hey, little Dale," called Ludwig, "You should visit Ava more often from now on."

Ludwig's advice seemed to put a smile on Dale's face. I would be glad if he came here again.

"Where are we going, Ludwig?" asked Ayesha as the three of us walked down the hallway.

"Well, since the little miss has started to be more open to us... um, I mean to Ayesha, I thought it would be a good idea to take her to some places. Places where she could express herself more."

"...But won't they—"

"Now, now, I know what you're thinking. Let's treat this as a lesson for her in case she needs to go here when we're not around. Even if that's not the case, I'm sure she would love to visit these places when she have time."

"Oh, is this..."

We halted in front of the cafeteria's counter. Ludwig motioned for us to go behind to get to the kitchen and we followed him.

"I can't help but think how Za'im was able to get these kitchen staff to work here. It took less than a day for him to bring them after Le Morte was dispatched to this island, isn't it?"

"Dispatched?" I said.

"To be frank, yes. But the ingredients they use were already prepared by the Boss. Remember, this base has been here and maintained for a long time. That means quite a few had been working here before us."

"...I see," said Ayesha.

"The funds given by Her Majesty to the Boss must've been a lot when you think about it. It makes me wonder if I could have a pay raise after this."

"That... would take Her Majesty's permission."

"Then I'll get it from her. Haha."

We stepped into the kitchen and a few of the kitchen staff spared a sidelong glance at us. The others kept working nonetheless, seemingly ignoring our presence.

"Here. When you feel hungry, miss Ava, and we're not around at that time, feel free to come straight here and ask for a meal prepared for you."

"I can do that?"

"A special permission by the Boss. Your Grandpa. It just came in this morning."

"Ah, that must mean I can meet Grandpa now, right?"

"Well, you can try to come to the control room upstairs. He's always there."

"Ludwig!" said Ayesha.

"What?"

"...Can you come with me?" I said while pulling at Ayesha's floor-length dress.

"Oops. I forgot one thing. The Boss had said to us personally that little miss Ava shouldn't go meet him yet," said Ludwig.

"Why?"

"Because he'll come to your room after he's done with his work. Some stuff he needs to sort out first perhaps. I don't know."

"Is it something to do with the frontline? Jessica has been mentioning it lately," asked Ayesha.

"While we are launching preemptive attacks on some other outposts, the enemy is also making a move, going deeper south with their invasion. The control room needs him there at all times," replied Ludwig.

I looked down at the floor, disappointed that the questions I had in mind would have to wait a while longer before it could be answered.

Afterward, Ludwig then took us to the 'workshop'. He referred to it as one even though it looked distinctively different when I looked inside. If I had to describe the environs, it was most likely a messy storeroom with a huge table propped up at a corner. A table lamp cast its light onto a long, slim dark blade—a half-sheath lined up alongside it with diminutive metal parts environing the two objects.

I recognized the blade. It was only for a moment when the female soldier used it to attack me back at the place filled with corpses, but I knew it was one and the same.

Why was it there?

"Hyah!"

A loud 'shiing' sound shook the air when a green-haired woman swung the blade in her hands.

She did not seem to notice us as the blade sliced and hacked at nothingness. Soft light reflected off the blade's obsidian black surface. In the next few seconds, the woman's right foot moved ever so slightly before the blade swung down and rippled the air. She twisted her body and sliced upward, her hair flew along with her swift movement.

"Beautiful..." I muttered.

"...Eh?"

Her eyes fell on the three of us at the door. She was still in her fighting stance, one she seemed to had accustomed to.

"Yo, Beatrice," said Ludwig with a smile, "Nice moves, I must say."

"Pretty. You seem to have a good grasp of what you're doing with the sword," said Ayesha, "But isn't that one of the swords Gawain brought in from that outpost?"

"E-E-EH-EHH!?"

Beatrice's eyes opened wide and she sidled up to a corner in the next moment, her arms holding onto the sharp blade.

"Wh-What are you doing here!?" she shouted.

"Just visiting. I figured the little miss would want to see you tinkering with some weapons. But... We'd gotten more than what I'd expected—"

The blade in Beatrice's hands went flying in Ludwig's direction and he dodged to the side in time.

"What the—Have you lost your mind!? said Ludwig, switching glance between the blade and Beatrice.

"That was uncalled for, Beatrice... What if it hit him?" said Ayesha.

"Hmph!"

"Still, I never knew you're good with swords. You should tell Za'im to let you use it in the future," proposed Ayesha.

"I-I want to keep this a secret. And I don't want to use a blade on the frontline if I can... It's a promise I made back in the days," said Beatrice as she picked up the blade on the floor, "A promise with someone I hold dear."

"Then we'll keep it a secret, don't worry," said Ayesha.

"Thanks. I knew I can count on you, Ayesha."

"H-Hey, apologize to me, woman!"

Beatrice ignored Ludwig's request and looked at me. She tried to put up a smile, but it lasted for a mere moment before she went to her tinkering table.

"That Beatrice. I swear I'll tell those guys who have a crush on her about this oh-so-secret of hers."

Ayesha only looked at Ludwig with an awkward smile as he complained to us.

"It's rare to see you worked up like this, Ludwig. You're always calm and composed in front of everyone, but now..."

"Ughh. I just can't stand prideful women. Brash, needlessly assertive. Blargh."

"...Did something happened in the past?"

"Sort of," sighed Ludwig, "Anyway, let's head to the nursery. I'm sure seeing the little kids would placate me."

"Hehe. You're like a father. One that can't wait to get off work and head back home to see his children," said Ayesha with a giggle.

A nursery.

My red eyes saw boisterous kids running around and incoherent shouts from some of them rattled at my ears. Among them, a tall woman with long, dark bangs called a few names and some kids responded. Her bangs covered her eyes as she moved around, and I found myself wondering if it bothered her in the least.

"Big Bro Hope, play with me!"

"No, he'll play with me!"

Three kids—two girls and one boy—were pulling at Hope's white shirt as they shouted at each other. Hope's bandaged forehead stood out to me first before I saw a patch of red marking the left part of his unkempt blonde hair. It must be blood, I thought.

"Seems noisy as always, isn't it, Arisa?" commented Ludwig.

"With the few new civilians brought in today, we have taken in some kids as well," said Arisa as she approached us.

"Orphans?" asked Ayesha.

"...They were without their guardians. Though a few said they got separated from each other."

"I see. Your work here is always appreciated, Arisa," said Ayesha.

Arisa blushed at her comment and dismissed it, saying she was only doing her job as their babysitters.

"H-Hello. Nice to see you again, Ava," said Hope.

He tried to speak to us while the kids bogged him down. They were quite insistent on wanting Hope to play with them.

"We'll leave you to your work, then. Busy as usual aren't you, Hope?" said Ludwig.

"N-No, wait! I... Waah!"

Hope fell to the floor as the kids surrounded him. By the time I exited the nursery, Hope's figure was covered by those little kids to the point where Arisa had to pull them away from him one by one.

"Hope is popular, isn't he?" said Ludwig in the hallway.

"I wanted to speak to him..." I whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I-It's nothing."

Ludwig smiled at that and tore his gaze away from me. Looking at him, I was certain he almost always had a smile on his face. Was he being ostentatious? Unlikely so. It could be a way for him to appear cordial to people. Mommy said once before that those who always smile would have more friends than those who did not.

However, in Ludwig's case, it felt...

"...Why are you putting up a facade of a smile?" I asked.

Ludwig and Ayesha stopped moving once they heard my question. It was intended solely for Ludwig, and when Ayesha realized this, she cast a furtive glance at him.

"...I don't know what you're talking about, little miss," said Ludwig before he smiled again, one who I also reckoned to be fake.