It’s been more than two weeks since Yogiri was sent to another world and she was adjusting quite nicely. The world was very strange for her since it had magic and science.

She could see appliances like TVs, refrigerators, radio, cellphone-like devices and even air conditioners. However, Amelia and Mikage told her that they worked differently compared to their other world counterparts. They were products of a mix between science and magic.

Also, the architecture of Westa was weird. The western and southern districts were filled with buildings that resembled European medieval cities. However, they were solidly constructed and were equipped with modern appliances. The eastern district had wooden buildings that looked like they came out of feudal Japan. Amelia said that they tried to copy the buildings found in Yamato, an eastern country in this world. The northern district all had buildings that could be found in a modern city. It was the technology center of Westa so it wasn’t a surprise why they had tall buildings and other things.

Westa was the central place in the western side of the world. That was why it had a diverse style of architecture in order to accommodate the preferences of the different people who visit and stay there.

Yogiri was reading a book and trying to learn as much as she could about the new world she was living in. She learned a bit about magic, races, history, and other things that she might need. Her time was quietly passing until she heard the doorbell chime.

She opened the door and saw a black-haired man. He was wearing a black coat and had a red cravat on his neck. A single monocle was over his right eye.

“Oh? I expected Amelia to open the door. Who might you be?” he asked.

“I’m Yogiri. For several reasons, I am staying with Amelia. And you are?”

“I can’t believe myself. I once chided Amelia that one should introduce themselves before asking for another person’s name. It seems that I’m too occupied with my thoughts.”

Yogiri didn’t know how to reply to him so she just nodded.

“And now I’m just rambling on. In any case, my name is Shellin Burgundy, a detective.”

“Do you want me to call Amelia? She’s in her room right now.”

“There’s no need for that. I’m just here to drop off something that I compiled. Can you give it to her?”

Shellin handed her a sealed brown envelope.

“What’s this?” Yogiri asked.

“Just tell her that this is something she begged from me. Normally, I won’t easily share the findings of my investigation especially if I only have speculations but she told me that anything about the organization that was hunting down her friend would be good.”

“Investigation? Organization? Hunting down her friend?”

“I’m not sure if I’m allowed to share it with you so you’re better off asking Amelia. I don’t think you’d want to be involved in this mess.”

Yogiri looked at the brown envelope and was curious. However, she didn’t want to be involved in another mess, especially since she just got out of one.

“I’ll be taking my leave. I trust you can give it to her without fail”, Shellin bowed and left.

The red-haired girl walked towards Amelia’s room and knocked on its door. She was on good terms with Amelia and so, she wasn’t nervous in talking to her. Mikage would often talk about how the blonde girl was amazing which caused Yogiri to develop an admiration.

“Come in”, Amelia’s voice rang out from the other side of the room.

Yogiri opened the door and she saw Amelia sitting at her desk scribbling down on a piece of paper. Her room was fairly normal. There was a bookshelf filled with books, a desk, two filing cabinets, and a single bed. A whiteboard was above the desk and there were several notes and scribbles on it.

“A guy named Shellin told me to give this to you. He said it’s a compilation of his investigation”, she walked towards her and placed the envelope on the desk.

“I see... This would be very helpful”, Amelia glanced at the envelope and then returned to looking at a piece of paper.

Yogiri took a peek at the paper and was surprised to see Japanese characters on it.

“Are you trying to decode Japanese?” she asked.

“Oh. This one? Mikage already gave me a translation of it. The problem is that the translation is a weird message. Since you’re here, can you try to translate it? Maybe Mikage had a different translation.”

Yogiri looked at the message.

Katachinaki mono jiga mo motazu

Jiganaki mono ishi mo motazu

Ishi naki mono wo seifukushikanezu

Mu wo tashika na mono ni katadoru to genkei ga hitsuyou to nari

Hitotsu no jikuunai de wa onaji sonzai ga hitotsu shika orazu no wa yo no kotowari

Yue ni betsu no jikuu kara no genkei ga hissu to naru

Ijou no jouken soroeba, yami ga shuchuu ni osameru

“If I were to translate it, it would be:

Formless things have no sense of self.

Those without self have no will.

Those without will cannot be subjugated.

To mold nothing into a concrete something, an original mold is needed.

In one dimension, the same existence is limited to one as the world's law dictates.

Therefore the original mold must be from another dimension.

If the above-mentioned conditions are fulfilled, then the darkness is within our hands”, she recited.

“Hmmm.. It’s more or less the same as Mikage’s translation. I already figured out the first part and the end. The middle is a pain”, Amelia grumbled.

“Figured it out? How?”

“The first three lines talked about controlling something. “Formless things have no sense of self” means that an abstract thing can’t have an individuality. “Those without self have no will” means that an abstract thing that has no individuality can’t have freewill or even do anything. “Those without will cannot be subjugated” means that it’s impossible to control those abstract things that have no individuality and freewill. After all, how can you control their minds if they have no minds in the first place?”

“I see...”

“I have no idea what the fifth and sixth lines mean. But I’m sure the last line talked about the Primordial Dark. And with that in mind, the entire message is like an instruction on how to control it.”

“Primordial Dark?”

“That’s correct. Primordial Beings are representatives of a certain aspect of reality. The Primordial Dark is the representative of all darkness in existence. As such, it can control any and every darkness.”

“Oh. The last line is a dead giveaway. “If the above-mentioned conditions are fulfilled, then the darkness is within our hands” means that if you accomplish the other conditions, then you can control the darkness, hence, the Primordial Dark.”

“Correct. Also, it’s said that the Primordial Dark existed before freewill and thus, it has no will. The first part of the message clearly talked about the problems in controlling something that has no freewill.”

An eerie feeling appeared in Yogiri’s mind and she stared at a direction.

“What’s wrong? Your face looks troubled”, Amelia asked.

“I could sense an eerie feeling coming from that direction. I can’t describe it but the feeling is really unsettling. It’s like...”

“Staring at a deep and dark abyss and getting a feeling that something is staring back?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Mikage told me his share of....” Amelia’s face paled, “Mikage’s supposed to be at Westa West High School, right?”

“Yeah. He’s supposed to give a career talk.”

Amelia dashed out of the room while taking her coat and cap. Yogiri chased after her since she was bothered that Mikage might be involved in that strange energy.

When they arrived at Westa West High School, they saw many knights walking around. Yogiri immediately thought that something was wrong.

Amelia walked towards a blond man.

“Temma! Where’s Mikage?!” Amelia asked.

“Amelia? What are you doing here?” he asked back.

“Just shut up and answer the damn question.”

Temma began explaining what happened a few minutes ago. A teacher of the school summoned many shadow creatures and caused chaos. He teleported away with Mikage after taking two girls hostage.

“We have no idea where Mikage could be”, Temma said.

“If I know where they are, then I could go and rescue him”, a silver-haired woman said.

“The Unkindness attacking again. And this time they got Mikage...” Amelia began muttering.

Yogiri looked west and could sense an eerie feeling.

“That’s it! Yogiri! You can feel an eerie feeling, right?” Amelia walked towards Yogiri.

“Yes? What about it?”

“Mikage said he could feel a strange energy thanks to his connection to the Primordial Dark. If we follow your senses, we can go to the source and hopefully find Mikage.”

“Do you think it would work?” the silver-haired woman asked.

“This is only speculation but it’s the best bet we have.”

“What could be her connection since she could feel what Mikage feels?” Temma asked.

“There’s no time to think! Captain Noel, you can run faster than any horse once you remove your limiters. Can you take her?”

“Alright”, the silver-haired woman started removing her armor.

Amelia handed Yogiri a rectangular device.

“This is a tracker. Keep it on you and Temma and I will arrive there with backup. Can you find Mikage for me?” she asked.

“I will”, Yogiri nodded.

“Alright. What’s your name?” the silver-haired woman walked towards Yogiri.

“I’m Yogiri.”

“Alright, Yogiri. My name is Noel Shirogane. Hang on tight”, she then piggybacked the red-haired girl.

“Ummm... Aren’t we going to ride on a horse?”

“You might not want to talk unless you want to bite off your tongue.”

“Bite off my-”

Noel leaped from the ground at incredible speed. Yogiri screamed as she hung tightly on Noel’s shoulders since she didn’t want to fall off and get hurt.

“What direction is he in?” Noel asked while running at full speed.

“Keep going straight!!”

###

“And that’s how we ended up saving you”, Yogiri explained.

For some reason, Yogiri could also sense the strange energy. How could she be related to the Primordial Dark? I also had one more question.

“That light. How did you do it?”

“I have no idea. All I thought was “I can’t let this man get Mikage!” and when I stretched my hands, that light shot off.”

It was the same as me. Maybe she used magic subconsciously. That’s what happened to me back when I first used Dark Magic to save Temma.

“What matters is that we’re all safe! That bandaged man is now history and Mikage and the two students were successfully rescued! Now, let’s go home!” Captain Noel stretched her arms.

“Will we just walk? I think I lost a few years of my life because of you”, Yogiri asked her.

“Don’t worry! I can’t carry four people at once. We’ll just walk.”

I guess that’s that. I managed to survive against an attack from the Unkindness. However, I knew that there was something up with Yogiri.

After all, she was summoned by Shiroe, the same guy who summoned me, a vessel of the Primordial Dark. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a few tricks in her sleeve which she didn’t know yet.

I’m with you in this one, Anya’s voice said in my mind.

Glad to know I’m not overthinking things.

If Yogiri is here, then she must have a part to play in Shiroe’s plans. I think you should teach her how to fight using her abilities.

Having the Primordial Dark and the Primordial Light... What could be Shiroe’s plans?

I have no idea. For starters, you can ask Haato how she used her powers as the vessel of the Primordial Insanity.

I looked at the two girls. Momo was keeping some distance from Captain Noel while Haato was humming a tune. I was glad that all of us were safe. All should be well, right?

###

It seemed that I jinxed myself again. I thought everything would be back to normal. But a few days later, a few people wearing black uniforms barged into the captain’s office of the 13th unit.

“Noel Shirogane, captain of the 13th unit. You are under arrest for involvement in acts that threaten Westa’s peace”, they said.