September 25, 2025

In the PRISM Supply Department, the commander of the Special Unit was oiling the joints of her personal droid, Midori, whom she’d animated years ago. She always did maintenance work on her own. Necromancy was prohibited, but Aoi’s Gift of Life mastery wasn’t rated as Cursed magic. The Celestial loved experiments, and as the result of one of those she got a useful assistant, good at either combat or tea brewing. However, few people were aware of this secret, as Aoi didn’t want to make a fuss and called Midori “just another prototype.”

When she was about to finish, Shadow entered her high-tech office.

“You’re back already?” she asked, still busy with the droid.

“Yes. The message about the Children of Evolution base turned out to be a false report, as we predicted. The workers of an underground textile factory were pretty much just scared when we arrived.”

“The Council summons me more and more often. Their patience is running out. ‘How come you still can’t find a bunch of criminals’—and things like that. Unfortunately, we still can’t. Even in this city stuffed with cameras, there is no difficulty in remaining totally invisible.”

The Celestial put away her tools and sighed. “I feel so weak. These ‘Children’ keep recruiting people, but our spies always fail to pass the selection and get revealed. What are their true motives? Do they want to reinitiate the war between magicless and our kind? Earn money? Take over the world?”

Shadow didn’t reply, giving her a chance to vent.

“And the Shell case is stuck as well… am I indeed losing my edge?”

She turned to her nephew, and the mages locked their eyes, both of a similar blue color. The healer reassured her, “You’re just a bit tired, that’s all. How long has it been since you took a vacation?”

“I’ll take one when I go Lackluster. Guess the time is coming. At my age… honestly, it will be a disaster if I fade out completely.”

“Will you opt for serum therapy if that could provide a better scenario?”

“Probably. I still want to achieve a few things first.”

“I am sorry I’ve stolen so many years of your life.”

“Don’t be silly…”

The mage bent and embraced Aoi from behind. He casted a small stream of rejuvenescent aura to relieve muscle tension. The woman smiled slightly and leaned back her head.

It was true she had devoted two decades to her nephew. In childhood, he’d gone through hard times within the Omnious. Although Shadow was always pious and good-tempered and demonstrated the excellent skills of an Exorcist, he developed a difficult relationship with the family due to his troublesome legacy. Besides, he adored modern technology and practices, and that went against the established traditions of the kin. After the first year of the Academy, Shadow had changed his quarters from the posh family mansion to the student campus and had never returned back home. His true family consisted only of his aunt Aoi, who had taken care of the fragile boy from his early years, replacing his late mother.

“Don’t give up just yet,” Shadow told her. “We’ll catch them, I am sure of it. Her Light will show us the way.”

~~~

Aoi stopped her silver jeep at an empty parking lot near an opulent multi-story apartment building. All she wished for was a comforting shower after this exhausting working day. Maybe Shadow was right, and she really needed to go on vacation...

Fallen leaves crunched under her shoes—it was the only thing that could break the silence of this late night. Aoi closed the car’s door and took a deep breath of the autumn air, whose heady freshness was always associated with the beginning of a school year and the time of new hopes alongside it. But a gust of wind brought a faint smell of rot, and the officer immediately realized that she was being approached from her back. Aoi placed her hand on the scabbard, but a high-pitched female voice made her stop.

“Your pet, Izumi, is sticking his nose into affairs he has no business with.”

“You’ve crawled from your cave to inform me about it in person, Hecate?”