D-7 bowed as a formal greeting. The room they’re in was fitted to be like a regal personal library: It had a warm, yet mysterious ambience due to the wooden décor. Books were stacked along the walls, and there were no windows. The space in front of the desk where the secretary sat was big, fit for all of them as they stood in front of her.

“Designation 7, reporting!”

Ayane chuckled a bit before arranging her desk.

“When was it? About four days ago, when the reconnaissance on Mido was, sadly, ‘failed,’ to an extent?” Her commanding tone put pressure.

Fein responded, but not before glancing a bit at Mido. To the captain’s surprise, he had a serious look. For a boy who went through a lot in not less than a week, he sure adapted quickly.

“Yes. We’re sorry for our failure to respond quickly…”

Ayane stopped him. “No. There are no people at fault during that operation. At most, we’ve underestimated them. Needless to say…” She leaned a bit, looking for Mido.

“Officer! Come here.” She called for him. He promptly followed and stopped in front of his colleagues.

“I’d like to give you a formal introduction to your new group…”

“Ma’am… I believe that is not necessary…” He chuckled.

“Hm? No exceptions.” Ayane hushed. She then took a deep breath.

“Officer Mido. This is Designation Seven:”

The Captain, Fein Otto van Rosa.

Fein nodded.

The Mechanic, Gris.

“Yo, kid!” He smiled.

The Smooth Talker, Enna Celeste Grante.

“Ma’am? Since when I had that nickname?!” She bashfully said. The secretary just waved a silent grin.

The Shield, Gen Derrondale.

“Yo.”

The Eyes, Sora Mashiro.

Sora followed the captain’s lead and simply nodded.

And The Priestess, Wizbette Amaryllis.

She waved at Mido gleefully.

They all fell silent however, as both Ayane and Mido stood in front of them.

“Ma’am Secretary…” All of them inhaled together.

“Since when did you become so open?!” they exclaimed in unison. Ayane was taken aback, as well as Mido. Sure, for a woman with a naturally serious aura, it’s unusual for her to just name each of them abruptly.

She laughed. “Since today. You know, it’s been a while since we had a new recruit to join us. It’s only appropriate to greet them formally…”

“Talk about formal…” Enna whispered to Gen, but he just squeezed her cheek.

“It’s Ayane. It’s good for her to change tone for a while, so give her a break, Enna!” They were about to fight again inside the room, but luckily, Gris was there to calm them on time.

Fein immediately composed himself and reminded the secretary about their meeting.

“I believe we’re here for one purpose, ma’am.”

“Captain Van Rosa… Always on the fast lane.” She looked at him, and one gaze meant he was serious. Composing herself, Ayane went back to her desk, ushering Mido to fall back in line in the process. Once everyone has calmed down, she went back to her serious tone.

“Personally, I see you’ve quite succeeded, acquiring a new member amidst that unfortunate tragedy. But the investigation is still ongoing, obviously. We cannot ignore the fact that a small genocide has happened in that quiet town.” He quietly positioned herself back to her seat as she rummaged on the papers.

“Since your team made the decision to not let this pass, I will brief to you several recent cases of these potential… Void Vassals.” She slowly enumerated the cases as the team listened on.

“First case. A small village-town near the city of Reiss has been the case of… “reanimated corpses.” I highly doubt it in the literal sense, but such a taboo case must be the doing of a rogue Vassal, quite likely a Void.”

“Officer Wizbette. Is ‘raising the dead’ a ‘legal’ ability in Anzach, considering your religion is aligned with life?” She questioned Wiz. The latter promptly responded.

“No ma’am. It is a frowned practice to reanimate the dead, let alone use them for personal means. And I highly doubt the tones would let such inhumanity thrive as a Vassal. It destroys the natural flow of life.”

Ayane nodded.

“Thus, it is likely that who, or whatever is doing this must be a Void. Unfortunately, that is the narrowest information I can give you.”

“Second case. Disturbances on Anvil, the desert city of Vassal blacksmiths and hunters. Says that a portion of their city was ‘emanating a mysterious aura.’ Hmm…” She arranged her desk again, and leaned on her table, using both of her arms as support for her head.

“Now that’s vague…” Gris rubbed his chin.

“Don’t fret, however.” The secretary waved. “D-5 already took that investigation. I only presented this to you as exposition.”

“Huh… So, we either have the choice to take the ‘reanimation’ case, or act as recon for D-5?” Fein asked, to which Ayane nodded.

“Those are the recent cases that are related to your ongoing investigation. It’s not much, but Void Vassals are pretty much rare…”

“We will consider these cases, ma’am. We currently don’t have any leads to our target, that is why we must make do with what we can.” Said Fein.

“Indeed. Here are the documents. They might prove useful.” Ayane handed two folders. Both of them were light, and minimal in thickness. Gen and Enna carried them.

“I hope that you will succeed on your investigation, Designation Seven. That is all.”

“Thank you for your assistance, Secretary Ayane!” All of them said in unison. As one by one they left, Ayane stood up.

“Officer Mido. May we talk?” Mido looked to her, and back to his colleagues. They ushered a nod.

“Ma’am.” Mido closed the door. She approached him slowly. Although she might be older, Ayane and Mido were of the same height, albeit she’s a few centimeters taller because of her hair.

“I feel that there is something… peculiar about your ability. Tell me, Mido. How did you use Oscar’s ability against him?” She said sternly, as if interrogating Mido.

“What do you mean, ma’am? I was not aware that I did such thing to sir Oscar…” He was in fact telling the truth. If word got out that he has a sentient ability, it’s no certain that a spotlight will be pointed at him. He does not know how this world works, and even more can be said about his ability. It is a mysterious thing in of itself.

“Hmm…” They gazed each other’s eyes for a while. In the end, Ayane gave up.

“it seems that you don’t trust me yet, Officer. However, it’s to be expected. I can only advise you this: be careful, always. There’s no telling how that ability will interact with the void. I sense something from you, and believe me if you will, but that ability might help you carry the world, or the world might crash down on you.”

She was very cryptic with her words, to the point that it was almost incoherent phrasing, but Mido decided to take her advice.

“I will keep that in mind, ma’am.”

“Trust D-7. Do not ever put them unnecessarily in harm’s way. Thank you for your time, Officer Mido. Until then. You may now go.” She looked at him, and a lick of worry took its place on her lips.

“Thank you, ma’am Ayane.” Said Mido as he exited the room.

‘Ooh, look at the Beaver!” Gris exclaimed as their vehicle is being lowered via platform. After confirming their venture, they were granted permission to use their personal vehicle for service again. And it has been fitted by new parts, armor, and chassis, fit for their destination. Needless to say, the beige mobile fortress shone with luster beneath the sun.

“Seems right to refit ‘em.” Gen commented.

“Yeah, we’ll tackle a new environment, that is to say.” Added Sora. There were two destinations for them to start: first is the city of Reiss, in a particular village-town near it, and Anvil, a desert city filled with both Vassals, hunters, and blacksmiths.

“The… Beaver?” Mido asked. Sora was right next to him, so he had no choice but to answer.

“Yeah. That’s the name old man Gris decided on. Well, it caught to us quickly, and made it official.”

“It’s quite nice, actually. I’ve never seen it on this state before. It’s huge!”

Sora chuckled. “Takes me back. I had the same reaction when I first saw it. Along with Wiz over here.” He suddenly clutched Wiz on his right arm, who was right beside them the whole time.

“Sora! Stop it!” She squirmed. Just in time, Gris waved for them to get in.

“Let’s go, guys.” Mido invited.

“Mido?! Help me here!” Wiz exclaimed as Sora dragged her with him to the Beaver. When Mido got inside, however, he was greeted by an unusual nostalgia. The same dining room ‘slash kitchen greeted him, all with it’s metallic ambience and color hue. It was mostly untouched but needed a lot of cleaning.

“It felt ages since I first woke up here…” He mused. Gris, who’s sorting their left-out goods, seemed to have heard him.

“Yeah, kid. But now, you’re not nobody anymore.”

Mido grasped the medallion Gris gave to him, which he wore all this time.

“Yeah… I’m grateful.”

Mido welcomed himself and walked around a bit to get familiar with the insides of their vehicle. The last time he’s in here, he was too exhausted. Now that he’s a member, he appreciated their good graces even more.

“Mido!” Wiz called for him. She was halfway into stairs leading above.

“Come here! I wanna show you something.”

“I’m coming!” Mido then followed her. The stairs led to the vehicle’s observation post. The area gave them a better view of the landscape. From where the Beaver is parked, behind them lies the buildings of the district, and in front of them was the region’s usual landscape: its taiga forests and mountain ranges.

“Captain said tomorrow’s the day we’ll start our venture.” She commented, leaning on the metal balcony.

“Ahh~ It’s time to say goodbye to this city again, huh…” Wiz added.

“Yeah. It’s all too fast, I’m actually beginning to ask myself how I recovered so fast…” said Mido, as Wiz raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

“Ho? You’re doubting my ability? If you forgot, I’m the one that healed you.” She boasted.

“Hmm… How does that ability of yours really work?”

“Curious now, are we?”

Mido just answered with a stare, baffling Wiz.

“It’s called Weaving Rain. Here, let me show you.” Wiz then recited an incantation.

“Grantor, let thy strings of fate manifest.”

She reached out with her right arm to the air in front of her. Something sparkled on her palm, and into her fingers. Mido cannot see much of it, but he saw glimpses of translucent strings, each tethered to her fingers, waving through the air. Somehow, he felt those same things touched his soul…

“Wiz… Did you heal me with those?” He pointed to the strings Wiz manifested. Each one danced to a symphonic beat of the wind.

“Yes. My ability uses the life of the world around me. I can then use that energy to heal any injuries and sickness, as long as my capacity permits me to.”

“But, when you saved me, why did you use your own life force?”

Wizbette suddenly flustered.

“H-Huh?! How did you…”

“Something tells me you did just that.” Mido had not anticipated that he brought up that topic. The information was handed to him by Gris, and he had to lie, to keep the old man out of this.

“You’re keen, aren’t you, Mido.” She chuckled.

“Yep. I had to use my own. It comes at a high cost, but we’re lucky we didn’t pay for it too much, huh?” She nervously said.

“But you might’ve been—”

“You were on the brink of death, you know. Your lungs damaged. Your temperature uneven. I was so lucky you’re still kicking when I got to you. I had to. I don’t want someone to die, knowing that I had my ability to save them.” Wiz gripped the fencing.

“Wiz…”

“But you know what? I’m happy. I have no regrets risking my own life for… for you. A complete stranger. Because you’re standing here, right now, beside me.” Wiz closed her eyes.

“I’m a priestess of Anzach. Whenever I save a life, I’m forever grateful for it.”

‘If that’s the case…” Mido responded and held her hand.

“I will live this second life as best as I can. Thanks to you, of course.”

Wiz paused for a second, composed herself, and replied, “You… better do just that! You practically share my own life now…” As she realized what she’s saying, the volume of her voice decreased.

“What?”

“Nothing at all! Just do your best, then! I expect you of it!” She held a thumb up against Mido’s face, making him chuckle.

“Oi!” Someone called them from the stairs.

“You kids need to work your asses, now! No loitering around, let’s fix the Beaver together!” It was Gris.

“Right!” Both of them said together. Following Gris back indoors, he enthusiastically pointed at things for them to do. Cleaning, checking, maintenance, and eventually, procurement of new provisions. Their Office only gives them the most basic of goods; they must work themselves if they want to customize their habitat. As they were the only one’s left inside the vehicle, Gris informed them the others went out to buy goods assigned to each of them.

After moments of cleaning and breaking sweat, Gris gave them a checklist.

“Alright! Here’s the stuff we need. I checked out old reserves, and they are already bad, sadly.” It contained a list of equipment, materials and components.

“Really, Gris? You can’t buy these yourself?” Mido commented. Gris was surprised his intonation changed but took it positively and ushered a laugh.

“Hahaha! Kid, I’m in charge of maintenance. I can’t get out of here, not at this time.”

“Hmm… No choice then.”

As she was fixing herself, Wiz managed to eavesdrop.

“Gris! Let me go with Mido. I also have something to buy.”

“By all means. As long as it’s for the road.” Wiz nodded enthusiastically, and grabbed Mido by the hand, dragging him abruptly and marching through the door.

“Then, we’ll be out, Gris!” She yelled as a huge smile wrote down her face.

“Oi, Wiz! That was abrupt!” Mido complained.

“Hm? Oh, sorry! Since we will be on the road for a while, let’s take one last stroll!”

“But Wiz… We need to hurry with Gris’ request—” As he groaned, Wiz covered his mouth.

“Shh! He won’t know…” She giggled and pranced on the parking space and through the buildings.

As she went ahead of him carelessly, Mido heartwarmingly smiled at the sight.