“Just come to think of it… Is that really the way she coded a love message to you? Or… Don’t tell me... Did she actually just ask you to date indirectly?! Does she really have any shame? Don't you feel that the girl's character is very, very embarrassing? Ugh. I really want to kill her right now… You know what, Daniel? If you try, you can actually kill her with one shot from this distance.”

Shut up, Elis… She is technically the real you in this world. Why don’t you just let me enjoy these burgers in peace? You mind?

I purposely carried my lunch high up to the highest roof of this headquarters for the sake of enjoying the view alone by myself…

This view of the forest and the field filled with thousands of Sins takers personnel who are holding a morning ceremony...

But in the end, it’s all useless because every second of it, Elis never stopped to remember all the shameful deeds she had done herself.

“That's not me! That's her! Ellie! I'm not the same, you damn it! Stop equalizing the two of us! She's clearly more stupid... And shameless… God… You are also the same. Why don't you just ask her out straight away?! Why do you have to wait for her? You're a man, coward!”

Jesus, Elis… Just calm down a bit. You’re in my mind rent free right now, so please respect me as the original one.

After all, it's not always the man who has to initiate everything... There is still a great possibility in the future, not us, but an art-loving girl who started our own world war three.

Where I don't really think we're categorized into that kind of relationship you think we are yet. So just wait for the time... Let me speak directly to affirm her position in my life.

And what position I really wish I had in that girl's life…

“Oh? Nice one. I see… Sounds promising.”

“Now that we still have so much time to recover... What should we do to spoil this eye of ours? Wanna go to the beach for some vacation?

Just talking to myself, then I realized that after satisfying my vengeance a few days ago, actually we were immediately assigned to an impromptu mission without sufficient amount of rest time, right? So… Vacation?

Yeah… I think for now we’ll need some-

A little girl's voice suddenly cut off my words. “Let's just confess our love for Ellie…”

“Stop talking about romance all the time, Elis you idiot! I want to have some fun first without thinking about anything.”

“Well what can I do with that?! I'm a girl! Talking about love is the fuel of my life... And I can't talk about anything with anyone but you.”

“Sounds a little pathetic... Sorry for that.” I slowly started to walk to find a way back down from this roof.

~~~~~

Thinking about what to do all day, ending up doing nothing all day.

Next day I ventured to play games in the computer room, one part from the whole entertainment hall in this headquarters... But I couldn't even concentrate at all while enduring the pain. There are too many people in such a place though, so I always try too hard to put up a poker face around them.

A week has passed, the counter-curse on my left shoulder still looks quite wide on all sides… but at least I finally managed to fall asleep last night after being awake for six whole days.

Deo also at the end of the time, answered my call even if it was only just for a few seconds. He said that he was in such a busy week before the exam. So I don't dare to call him anymore. The point is, he’s fine…

That’s enough for me to know.

While it's such a shame that I'm still reluctant to contact Fanya. I'm sure she's still angry, especially after I disappeared from the room again, which had been quite long since the last time we met.

“I admit this second stage of the counter-curse is much more annoying than I ever thought… Next time I'll think twice before using this power for too much. But… There's one more thing that I'm worried about…”

Again, I was talking alone in a lonely storage room right in front of a window as big as the one I had in my bedroom…

“Holding my chest that suddenly feels tight, I ask myself, “Not only did my feelings for Ellie begin to surface, but I also felt something strange stir up deep in my heart. Like something very vital from the real me, being poisoned by something far so different from who the Daniel I had known all along. But what is it actually, huh?”

I slowly loosened the grip of my hand, again I tried to calm myself down…

Well…

It's quite late now…

I think Sion and the rest of my comrades have also returned to base for today. I remember that this morning we promised to have dinner together in a little while.

I usually do things like this with Deo and Fanya.

Ah fuck…

I was reminded of it again…

~~~~~

“So here you are.”

Ellie huh? “Try once to use the door or knock before suddenly speaking like that, Ellie... I'm actually having a heart attack right now.”

“You always disappear and relax in a place that is hard to predict. Just like a dying cat. You okay?”

“Yeah I'm fine. Pretty good advice tho... When the time comes, I'll do as you just said.”

“Niel…”

“I'm just joking, young lady. But whatever… Let's meet Sion and the others.”

Getting up from this simple wooden chair that I had been sitting on for a long time, I passed the girl in order to give her a quick tutorial on how to properly use the door.

~~~~~

“Are you fit enough to go on duty tomorrow, Daniel?” Frans asked.

“Yes.”

“No.”

Two different answers from Me and Ellie.

“Your wound is still quite big, right? Then it’s a no.”

“This will heal over time, so I guess I'd better do something than stay here for another week… I'm starting to get bored with this place.”

“You'll just hinder everyone's work, so my command is absolute. Wait... I'm going to have another drink in a minute.” Ellie didn't want to argue, and walked away from the table where we ate together in the cafeteria.

“Evelin acts innocent and just like a child when it's not work related. But look at her whenever she's on duty as a team leader... Resolute like an old teacher who teaches literature. Two completely different traits in one body. Very confusing…” We all nodded at the facts that were presented fearlessly by someone like Sion.

“So... Daniel. Since when did you guys start dating?”

“Hah?!”

“Don't be shy... Evelin had already said so.”

“What!? Wait… Bah, you're setting me up! Well, good effort mate… But I won't be fooled in such a way.”

Novita, who had been talking to me earlier, suddenly became annoyed as if she had failed to do something. Damn... It's a bit of a relief that I managed to read the atmosphere.

“But I know something's going on with you two!”

“Well, we plan all the things related to some specific work. So you're not wrong either.”

“Oh! About that work!” Frans seemed to have remembered something.

He said, “I heard that you great carriers will have a special team working on certain tasks. Does that mean you guys are going to part with this team?”

“Ah… That one… I dunno... But I think not. Or I hope not... Try asking Ellie.”

“She’s gone.”

While turning our heads, we began to realize that what Novita said was true. We can't see Ellie anywhere... Until suddenly she appeared teleporting behind me, making everyone in the closest distance shocked half to death.

“Edward called us both for a mission.” She said.

“Wow… That Edward!?”

Ah... I just remembered that Frans and the others had never met Edward even once. So when you think about it, it wouldn't be strange if they were a little surprised by that.

“What do you think, NIel? Should we just…”

“Nah, It’s okay. Let's just go straight away. Though there is nothing wrong with looking for the situation.”

The girl nodded and grabbed my arm before teleporting into a bus with so many monitors and a lot of people talking to other personnel off the bus via communication devices.

A vehicle without a single window anywhere… Just like a nightmare…

~~~~~

“Suburb… London.” Ellie said that, before walking towards someone with a sins taker uniform in the bus aisle. When I followed, I found two faces of young people whose auras looked familiar standing side by side with the squad leader Ellie was talking to.

A tall white man, apparently the same age as me, smiled kindly as I read the soul that was currently possessing him. The ruler of one element…

So this guy's The great carrier of fire, huh?

While the other was a blonde-haired adult woman.

Wait... Her beautiful face… I think she's Russian… That is also a great carrier. Ruler of the wind... Three masters of the elements plus Ellie. Mixed with me, non-elemental.

There is no way I can say that I am the ruler of suffering. So I'd better stick with that non-elemental false term. That it can also look cool when side by side with them…

Ow, that lady smiled at me. Shit…

“So you're Daniel? Great carrier of suffering? Nice to meet you.”

Turns out this windy woman already knew about my power…

Fuck. Pathetic…

Before I could respond to those words, Ellie came shoving me on the shoulder pretty hard with something in her hand. “Put this on,” She said.

A solid metal plate shaped like... a mask? And a lapel pin symbolizing a pen, a symbol of the Sins Taker organization. Slightly confused, I turned the iron mask over to see the inside.

Unexpectedly, the surface was transparent just like a clear glass. I could see my hand and the ground beneath them clearly from this side. But after I put it back in position, the outer part of this iron plate actually looked very solid and could not be penetrated by the naked eye.

“Whose great carrier's magic power is this?”

“Try wearing the lapel pin on your uniform.”

Without any more explanation than that, Ellie was silent waiting for me to do what she just said. And rightly so, the moment that thing was embedded in my uniform, something like a vein or plant root suddenly spread to cover the entire surface of my uniform.

It formed a very different style of dress, a black uniform with many red stripes running down almost all of the seams. Not only that, a new cloak also formed in the blink of an eye.

“What sort of magic is this!?”

Ellie smiled, hearing me, while putting her hands on her hips.

“Okay, enough with the talk. Ellie, briefly explain to your friend this situation we're in.”

The old man who was temporarily acting as our leader spoke while passing the same thing I just wore to the two great carriers of fire and wind. Meanwhile Ellie was also attaching the lapel pin while still explaining everything I needed to know.

She said, a group of members of an anonymous dark organization has taken hundreds of elementary school children as hostages. This was a direct order from Edward, who had a reason why he still dared to ask me personally to join the mission…

That is, his daughter was also held hostage in it.

So I still have the heart to seriously listen to all the directions from the people who have been watching this place since this morning.

They said that the criminals wanted a great carrier to surrender and to give them their own power, otherwise every thirty minutes a child had to die at their hands. What power-worshiping cowards, who do everything possible just to gain the power of a god...

And what got me emotional is, they weren't playing at all…

They really have killed two innocent children without the slightest sense of humanity.

“But maybe Edward is just luring you to sacrifice, Niel... Maybe he was cooperating with the terrorists.”

“Have you got the proof then, Ellie?”

“Uh… No…?”

“Then let's just follow the flow first. But if what you're saying is true, then we'd better kill Edward right after we get the evidence.”

“Got it.”

Someone suddenly spoke in a shouting manner from inside the building. “Five more minutes before we kill the third child!”

Accompanied by the terrified screams of many children as well as people around, the girl who’s the ruler of the wind suddenly gave an idea.

She said, “Let me go in there first. I have the ability to pierce through physical attacks if I have to, so let me just try to talk to them.”

“Wait. Not that easy... Let's make a plan first. Wait until the last minute, then we decide what to do. So hear me out. I have a plan.”

The leader told us all to come closer to explain a method.

“Whoever later we decide to go in and talk to the person in charge, try to buy as much time as you can. Even from now on, just try to think about what discussion is most likely to be brought up for a long time when you are talking later. Teams 9-4 through 9-9 go around this place, search all the way in and out, even try to check the underground canal in the area. Report to me within ten minutes. Then…” This man's explanation was cut short by a shout.

“One minute!”

“Ok it's about time. So who wants to come in?”

“It’s okay, I’ll go in sir.” Again the wind maiden persuaded us to sacrifice herself.

“I see… Okay, you go but remember what I just said.”

“Roger that.”

When my eyes met with that of the girl, she seemed to notice that I had a little suspicion of herself… Not something bad for me, but for this girl herself instead.

This girl's eyes really looked like she didn't care about dying at all…

“Which way are you looking, huh?!”

As I’m watching this about-to-die maiden walk slowly towards the end of her own story, Ellie yelled and hit me with a threatening expression to myself. Maybe she misunderstood the contents of my pubescent male mind, but now is the time for me to say this. “Wait!”

“The magic power of yours and whoever it belongs to, can never fall into the hands of anyone, other than those prescribed by the laws of this world. Your sacrifice will only end in vain if you decide to die there, or…”

Wait…

Why do I suddenly sound like a priest?

I have to fix my own image… By saying, “Right… How about you try explaining it to the enemy? Maybe it can also be a topic long enough to be discussed.”

“Oh… You mean about what we were talking about that time? Yes, that’s true! Your power won't fall to those terrorists if you die, Valleria! They'll just get angry and think we're tricking them, so don't be rash.”

“Wait… Ellie, you know her name?”

“Yeah, so what?! You don't need to know her!”

Somehow Ellie and I were fighting.

“Okay, you come back here, lady. I have an idea. You go with Evelina inside, explain the situation to the enemy… Also, tell them these words.” The leader suddenly told us something that made everyone nod in awe. After that, Valleria and Ellie ran while raising their hands, giving themselves up before a minute had passed and the number of victims increased by one.

This man said to those girls to explain to the enemy, that the only way to keep Valleria's power from falling into the hands of someone else randomly after she died, was to kill the girl in a deserted place with no humans in a radius of about five kilometers or so, apart from the victim and the killer. That's where Ellie's teleportation power comes in…

“And for now… Albert… You will be in charge of burning this school down.”

“Excuse me sir?” Albert, the great carrier of fire, returned to ask.

“They already killed two children. So this method is not an expensive price to save the rest, Don’t you think? If this method we devised works, and their leader agrees to go into our trap, we will go and threaten the lives of their own hostages. That way they will panic and try to protect the children if they don't want our agreement to be canceled.”

Too bold if I must say… But...

“I’m coming with you.”

I looked into the man's eyes with a confident face, until the chairman himself nodded in agreement.

“Sir, there is an underground canal that leads directly to the school section.” The person in charge of the troop who was previously assigned to monitor the surrounding area, gave his report.

“Good... Take ten people with these two great carriers, show them the way through. And the rest of you, gather here to prepare for battle.”

The last command we heard in person, we obeyed before me and Albert went to follow the mob.

~~~~~