“Sigh…”
Shido let out a deep, heavy sigh.
Looking at his sister standing at the front door with a scowling face, Shido channeled his depressed mood into a sigh, then reached out to pat her on the head.
“Hmph, don’t think a headpat is going to absolve you of the crime of coming home late.
Shouldn’t Brother explain why you’re back so late first?”
Shido’s younger sister, Kotori Itsuka, was a thirteen-year-old second-year middle school student at a local school and the commander of the Spirit protection organization, Ratatoskr.
“Where’s Tohka?”
Ignoring Kotori’s demands, Shido asked exhaustedly.
“I bought some Kinako bread from outside to coax her to sleep.
Tohka was practically crying before she fell asleep because she couldn’t wait any longer for the dinner you were supposed to cook.”
“Ah, I’m really sorry…
I’ll make a more lavish meal tomorrow…”
“So, shouldn’t you explain yourself first?”
Shido had already closed the front door and dragged his exhausted body further inside.
Kotori turned around, not stopping him, though her gaze carried a hint of genuine concern.
“Even if I explained, you wouldn’t believe me…”
“Well, now I want to hear it even more.
Just what kind of reason could make a family-oriented man like my brother come home this late?”
“Haa…”
Sighing heavily like a man in his fifties, Shido staggered as he began recounting his experiences from today.
“The truth is like this—”
First, he ran into a strange blue-haired girl.
After bumping into her twice, she not only pre-emptively answered every single concern he might have had, but it also took him a painfully long time to recover from that embarrassing state.
That wasn’t all.
While rushing back home and passing by the park, he got swept up in a chaotic crowd of onlookers and saw that girl once again; it turned out she had rescued a drowning person.
As if finding an outlet to vent, Shido poured out all his grievances to Kotori, revealing almost every detail from their encounters down to their conversations.
“…”
Although Kotori had anticipated her brother coming up with some bizarre excuse, it was obvious he had genuinely run into something today.
The overwhelming amount of information left her completely silent.
She even stopped chewing her Chupa Chups lollipop, her eyes widening slightly.
“You don’t believe me after all, do you…”
As if expecting this outcome, Shido let out another heavy sigh, right as his stomach gave a loud rumble.
He decided to make something simple; that way, he could add a little extra to tomorrow’s breakfast.
After all, it seemed he was the only one eating dinner tonight, and Shido’s current stamina wouldn’t allow him to cook anything elaborate anyway.
She looked back at Shido in the kitchen, then quickly walked into her room.
Pulling a small terminal with Ratatoskr command room authorization from under her pillow, Kotori teleported herself up.
Currently, fifteen thousand meters in the sky, the teleportation device in the center of a massive invisible airship flashed with a faint light, and Kotori quickly stepped out from within the glow.
The girl Shido described sounded very familiar—as if she had seen her somewhere before.
As the commander of Ratatoskr, if Kotori felt someone sounded familiar despite never having met them, she must have seen them in the records.
Entering the database room, a round table sat in the center of the room with an active computer, its screen continuously updating with the latest Spirit data.
Kotori was just about to sit down when she realized the seat was already occupied.
“Reine?”
Pressing a button on the wall, the bright light allowed Kotori to recognize the person leaning back in the chair.
Reine Murasame—the analyst for Ratatoskr and Kotori’s close friend.
She looked like an adult woman in her middle years, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, rumored not to have slept for several decades.
At night, Reine was either working overtime or dazing off.
At least in Kotori’s memory, this close friend of hers had never slept.
Yet right now, an unbelievable sight presented itself—Reine was lying back in the chair, taking a catnap.
“Hm?
What’s wrong?”
It seemed she had overthought it.
Reine quickly sat up from the chair, startling Kotori.
“No, it’s nothing.
I just wanted to check if the database has any records of a Spirit matching this appearance.”
Saying that, Kotori pulled a notepad from her coat pocket, wrote a few things down with a black pen, and handed it to Reine.
Upon seeing the contents on the notepad, Reine’s brows knit tightly—though only for a moment before returning to her usual exhausted demeanor.
“How is it?
Is there a Spirit matching this description in the database?”
Kotori leaned her head over, looking at the data with curiosity.
She was also quite curious about the eagle medal on the Spirit’s chest—what did she actually look like up close?
Her fingers tapped continuously on the keyboard, and Reine quickly narrowed down the range based on those fragmented pieces of information.
“Yes, and every single characteristic points to one specific Spirit.”
“Who?”
“An existence first observed twenty-eight years ago, the third confirmed Spirit in the world.
Code-named Shiratori.”
“I knew my instincts couldn’t be wrong.
What are her specific details?”
“Destructive capability is S-class.
A total of 317 people have died directly by Shiratori’s hands.
Her thought process is very peculiar; she seems to act out of a mindset of just giving things a try.
She possesses extremely powerful electronic warfare capabilities, and her Angel is…”
After listening carefully to Reine’s briefing, Kotori nodded in realization.
Her eyes met Reine’s, and both of them turned their gazes back to the screen simultaneously.
A ruthless Spirit specialized in electronic warfare?
Yet looking at the data, Shiratori didn’t seem to have any record of directly attacking civilians.
Her intelligence was rated higher than Kotori’s, yet for some reason, she gave off the impression of not being very bright.
“We really hit the jackpot without putting in any effort.
Looks like Shido had a perfect encounter with this Spirit today.”
“Yes.
With those previous interactions, Shiratori’s vigilance should be somewhat lowered, and she is currently in a state of Silent Manifestation.”
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Kotori excitedly bit through the Chupa Chups in her mouth, her lips curling into a satisfied arc.
“Mhm.
But Shiratori’s personality is a bit peculiar and won’t be easy to seal.
I suggest preparing a script in advance.”
Reine pressed a hand against her chest, lowering her voice as if remembering something.
“What’s wrong?
She looks like an emotionless girl who has just begun building a basic emotional foundation.
From that angle, she isn’t much different from Tohka Yatogami.”
Kotori rested her chin on her hand, the image she had sketched of Shiratori floating in her mind—a super tech-geek shut-in conducting research at home.
Still, feeling as though something wasn’t quite right, Kotori leaned her right hand on the desk, staring unblinkingly at the record details on the screen.
“It’s getting late tonight.
How about we hold the strategy meeting tomorrow instead?”
The digital clock on the wall had already ticked over toward midnight.
Even though Kotori was the commander of Ratatoskr, that didn’t mean she didn’t have school tomorrow.
“Let’s do that.
I’ll head back first then.
Reine, make sure to get some proper rest too.”
“Mhm.”
Kotori was indeed feeling a bit sleepy.
Rubbing her sore eyes, she turned around and walked back in the direction she had come from.
The sound of the teleportation device activating echoed as Kotori returned to her home, while Reine remained seated there, staring at the screen lost in thought.
“Haa…”
A faint, prolonged sigh echoed heavily against the walls of the database room.