Chapter 88 Volume 4 Chapter 21: The Order
“...Are you being serious?”
Speaking in an incomparably low voice, Ryoko Kusakabe glared at the group of people sitting in a row before her.
Inside the conference room of the JGSDF Tengu Garrison, roughly twenty people had gathered.
Sitting beside Ryoko were the former members of AST. And sitting across from them were the magicians from DEM, who had been dispatched a few days ago as replacement personnel for AST.
Jessica, seated in the very center of the dispatched personnel, raised the corners of her lips.
“Of course we’re serious. This is an order from higher-ups. If you don’t believe me, I can show you the documents signed by the top brass.”
“Then let me rephrase the question—have you all gone insane?”
Saying this, Ryoko Kusakabe, as if she could no longer suppress her fury, slammed the reorganization order onto the desk.
Facing Ryoko’s rude questioning, Jessica’s smile deepened.
With heavy displeasure, Ryoko lowered her gaze to the order in her hand.
Written on it was a mission so unbelievable that if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it.
—A plan to capture the Spirit *Princess*.
Since they had now confirmed that the student attending Raizen High School—Yatogami Tohka—was indeed a Spirit, she was to be captured.
However, all of this was still within Ryoko’s realm of understanding. She had heard that this girl resembled the Spirit Princess closely, so if they really confirmed she was a Spirit, it was indeed something they could not ignore.
“Personally, I agree with capturing Princess. Even we cannot sit idly by in such a dangerous situation.”
After saying that, Ryoko tapped the document, still suppressing her anger.
“But what is this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Answer me directly—why is there a normal human listed among the capture targets?”
That was right. Besides the girl suspected to be Princess, the document listed one more target.
Itsuka Shidou.
A normal male high school student from Raizen High School.
Details—classified.
“So this boy is also a Spirit...? Is that the ridiculous explanation you’re going with?”
“I cannot reveal the details. I can only say that he is an extremely important target.”
“You…”
“To put it another way—you have no authority to know more.”
“...Hmph.”
Ryoko glared at Jessica, who spoke with such cold finality, then glanced at the next key item.
“And what is *this*? Operation execution date, September 23rd, Saturday—sure, good enough... the location is Tengu Plaza, the Tenou Festival grounds—! What are you people thinking?! Materialization Devices are classified technology! How can you use them in front of the public—no, more importantly, how can you plan to fight a Spirit in such a crowded area?! Do you even understand what nonsense you’re spouting?!”
Ryoko’s voice rose into a near-scream.
On that day, the Tenou Festival grounds would likely be the most crowded place in Tengu City. Yet AST was supposed to storm in and capture Princess and Itsuka Shidou right in front of everyone.
If the Spirit went berserk for any reason, or if these heavy-handed DEM people acted recklessly... Ryoko and the others would not be able to stop anything!
“Why must it be done like this?!”
In contrast to Ryoko’s agitation, Jessica remained perfectly calm.
“It’s a celebration. The goal is to give a proper greeting to our dear enemies—so of course, even if it’s risky, we have to make it flashy, don’t we?”
“A celebration? A greeting… heh, if that were all you wanted—”
If all that were written had merely been suspicious or problematic orders, Ryoko might still have barely swallowed it for the sake of respecting her superiors.
But this last item was something she could never accept.
“Fine, if it were only up to this point, I’d simply think you were up to something shady—”
“Hm? And what do you mean by that?”
“Nothing really—however...”
Staring at the final item written in the order, Ryoko completely lost her patience and slapped the document right into Jessica’s face.
“What is this final instruction supposed to be?! Has DEM lost its mind?!!”
The last directive on the document demanded that the original AST members must fully assist the DEM staff in establishing effective communication with *Genie* (the Shura).
“Genie... ha. You even dare set your sights on *her*... communication? Do you have any regard for the safety of Tengu City whatsoever?! Even if you’re DEM personnel, right now you’re supposed to be part of AST too, aren’t you?! And attempting to communicate with that maniac... how many heads do you think you have to spare before she chops them off?!”
Capturing Princess… capturing a human, Itsuka Shidou… fighting in the middle of the festival… all of these were outrageous, but Ryoko could barely force herself to obey.
But this last order made her suspect the entirety of AST’s upper command had collectively lost their minds.
No one knew better than organizations like AST what kind of Spirit *Genie* was.
In just the past few months, Genie had already destroyed several cities. Had everyone simply ignored this fact?!
Without waiting for Ryoko to finish, Jessica peeled the document off her face and tossed it back onto the desk with a cold smile, then stood.
“If you disagree, that’s fine. If you have complaints about the plan, go file them with your superiors. If the plan is revoked, we’ll obediently follow orders.”
“This isn’t something you can just ‘complain to the top’ about! Genie... heh, do you DEM people even have the slightest understanding of that monster? Not to mention whether she’ll even show up in Tengu City on that day—Even if she does, do you think there will be any ‘opportunity’ to talk to her? The city will be wiped off the map before that, corpses everywhere!”
“This is an order. Obedience is a soldier’s duty, isn’t it? And besides, we’ve made thorough preparations to negotiate with the one known as the *most brutal Spirit*.”
“Preparations? Hah! Something that even the *World Joint Council* couldn’t solve—DEM can? If the higher-ups truly issued this order, then I’d rather mutiny than obey something that drags Tengu City into hell!”
“Do as you like. The order stands regardless.”
While Ryoko continued rambling in anger, Jessica suddenly stopped walking.
“Oh, right—almost forgot. You mustn’t let Tobiichi Origami know about this operation.”
“Origami? Why? She’s one of AST’s core combatants—why exclude her—”
“I heard she’s highly likely to hinder the mission. Besides, you veteran members aren’t participating in the actual combat anyway, so it shouldn’t matter, right?”
“I don’t recall you having the authority to interfere with our unit structure!”
“Don’t misunderstand. This isn’t my opinion—it’s a direct order from above—”
“To hell with your ‘above’!”
Ryoko had long since grown sick of the word “superiors,” exploding in anger again.
Seeing her like this, Jessica merely shrugged and left the room. The other DEM personnel followed after her.
“Gh...! What the hell is going on...!”
Ryoko slammed her fist onto the table, frustration and helplessness surging through her.
Her talk about mutiny earlier had just been an angry outburst—Ryoko Kusakabe had always firmly obeyed orders. It was just that this time, the command was so absurd that she simply could not accept it.
“Genie... please, please don’t come here that day...”
At that moment, the documents on the table fluttered, a few sheets falling to the ground.
Then—
Ryoko’s gaze fell on the paper with the name “Itsuka Shidou” written on it.
“...Hm?”
She frowned.
“...Come to think of it, I’ve heard the name ‘Shidou’ somewhere before...”
And then she remembered Jessica’s earlier words.
“Prohibited... from letting Origami participate—meaning... ah!”
Ryoko’s eyes widened.
Itsuka Shidou.
That was the name Origami had once mentioned—
the name of her “lover.”
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