Then—
'Thud—'
At least a foot-high stack of documents waiting to be processed was slammed down in front of her by the white rabbit at her side. The white Caster wore a smile.
"Amiya, you still have a lot of work to deal with. You can't rest yet."
Amiya's long ears and the smile she had just raised froze at the same time. Just then, the sound of an elevator opening and another hurried set of footsteps came from outside the corridor. With no choice, she slumped back into her seat, her ears drooping as she waved toward Miss Provence.
And so, Miss Wolf left.
She stepped out of the office and moved aside to let the hurried clerks pass. The glow of the setting sun gradually faded beyond the windows, leaving only the faint Twilight still painting the earth.
Then she saw the red figure standing at the end of the corridor.
Hair as red as fire, seemingly passionate yet lonely in places where no one else could see. Time and space seemed to stretch endlessly, leaving only the presence of the girl at the edge of her vision, growing infinitely more vivid.
The figure seemed to sense something, then turned and glanced back.
A light breeze stirred.
The last trace of Twilight between heaven and earth gathered deep within those crimson eyes.
Time and space resumed their flow.
And she was undoubtedly Surtr.
I wrote nearly five thousand words... Why can't my hand stop itself? _(:з"∠)_
Also, Contract 42 really does lower your intelligence. Anyway, let's tentatively consider this the summit here. (I can't find any low-operator Contracts above 23 without 42...)
Section Forty: Sesame, Sesame, Open the Door
Surtr was spacing out.
Yes, that was exactly what she was doing—spacing out.
She had been busy all day, after all. Even a tool could occasionally feel a little tired. First, she had dealt with a whole mess of nonsense on the Reunion Movement's side, then she had cleared out District 59. Once the timing was right, she had also struck the Cataclysm cloud in the sky with a full-power blow. And after all those planned tasks were over, Persephone had stuffed her with a pile of unforeseen odd jobs and miscellaneous errands.
After all, the Ember Demon was the Ember Demon, and the Fire Giant King was the Fire Giant King. Now that Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals had taken over Chernobog and stepped into the public eye, it was bound to attract the attention of countless ambitious figures across the world. According to Talulah's earlier strategy, the Ember Demon's attacks against the Infected and the Originium Cataclysm would have a chance of winning the Infected population a little breathing room. But to inherit this united legacy, the successor's first task was to sever its ties with the Ember Demon... without actually severing them completely.
Whether other people believed it was one thing, but at the very least, they had to give the major international powers a step down that would let them pretend not to know. After all, even a muscle-brained battle maniac like Yan Ke could deduce Surtr's true identity from the simultaneous appearances of the mercenary Fire Giant King and the Ember Demon, as well as the inheritance of the legacy between Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals and the Reunion Movement. On this land of Terra, there were naturally plenty of minds sharper than that Bladeworks Master's.
In short, Persephone used a whole pile of strange reasons—strange because someone understood almost none of them—to prove that Miss Surtr still couldn't rest. She had to work overtime as diligently as Amiya. Thus, Miss Tool had no choice but to pull herself together and throw herself into the tedious cleanup afterward.
The tasks themselves were not complicated. They amounted to sweeping the area around Chernobog, destroying some terrain, and clearing out the Ursus field army hidden in the nearby wasteland. Without Persephone's calculations, a certain tool would never have found where those field troops were hiding. Once that stage was complete, she appeared under different identities in different Mobile Cities, or mobilized Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals' forces to create activity decoys imitating her other identities.
In short, it was extremely tedious. According to Persephone, Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals' greatest profit lay in turning Chernobog into a semi-independent city-state comparable in scale to neighboring Lungmen. It would become a medical city serving Terra's Infected population. To accomplish that, borrowing another's authority while deliberately exposing flaws in its own bluff—earning the great nations' contempt while becoming a sufficiently substantial point of contention among the various powers—was an appropriate strategy.
If there had been a Skip button, Miss Surtr would definitely have worn it out. Unfortunately, there wasn't one. So she could only let everything go in one ear and out the other before going off to complete her missions. She had been busy with this for six or seven consecutive hours after the Cataclysm cloud collapsed. By the time Persephone finally stopped sending new assignments and she returned to Chernobog, it was already dusk, with night approaching.
Twilight. She liked that color.
Whenever she watched the setting sun, she often emptied her mind and stared blankly at the lingering afterglow. Footsteps and someone's gaze seemed to come from behind her, and the feeling was somewhat familiar. With her mind blank, she calmly turned around, and a familiar face entered her sight.
Purple hair, a fluffy tail, a messenger's outfit, Lupo ears—the girl approaching her had a delighted expression. Her pretty face was flushed, and she spoke rapidly. Her small fists were clenched before her chest, bobbing slightly as she moved. She looked extremely excited.
—What was she saying? Uh... who was she again?
Surtr's mind was empty. She had no idea what she was supposed to do, so she instinctively put on a lazy, indifferent smile with a hint of friendliness. As she desperately tried to organize her thoughts and get her brain working, the girl before her seemed encouraged, and both her speech and gestures grew even more animated.
"...Surtr... squad... help... work hard..."
—She seemed to understand some of it. Squad? Had I helped her squad? What was that? I don't remember. Come to think of it, this girl was called Provence... Wasn't her tail supposed to feel nice?
—But what was Provence? Some place in France... Lavender? Something feels wrong... Damn it, brain, get moving!
Her pupils contracted, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly. Miss Tool felt as though she had returned to an advanced mathematics class. She could hear someone speaking, and every word sounded perfectly clear, but once put together, they failed to form any meaningful sense at all. Her exhausted body and gloomy brain tangled within her neural network, screaming out a protest that only she could hear.
—Brain, I don't want to think!!!
She blinked and gave a slight nod, pretending she had understood the lesson just like she did when dealing with a math teacher. That seemed to be a signal, a sign that made the girl before her even more delighted.
She seemed to have done something incredible, something completely unreasonable. Perhaps waking up immediately and clearing up the misunderstanding would be the sensible choice. But...
—No buts! Get moving!
Her vision narrowed.
Surtr's gaze suddenly sharpened. The sounds gathered into coherent thoughts, while the colors regained their clarity and contours.
Then—
Then she saw the Lupo girl before her bow.
"Understood. I'll submit the corresponding application to Amiya. I look forward to working with you in the future, Miss Surtr."
—Huh?
Surtr blinked, her face filled with confusion and bewilderment.
But the Lupo girl before her suddenly leaped up like a startled Caster, turned around, and ran off with quick yet light steps.
—Wait! What did you just say? What the hell did I just agree to?
Someone felt anxious, and the anxiety made her irritable. She looked around and found no one nearby. Amiya and Yelena were working hard in an office some distance away, accompanied by numerous clerks who were busy alongside them.
So she asked the wall in a low voice.
"You're listening, right, Persephone?"
"I always am." Then a drone carrying a walkie-talkie flew in through the window and quietly hovered beside her.
Good. As expected of Persephone—she was really good at causing trouble.
"What did I just... What did Provence just say?"
"She believes you're a senior worth learning from and wants to join your squad to strengthen her abilities."
"Squad?" Surtr frowned. "Where did I get a squad? I've always worked alone."
"Your position at Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals is inevitably that of an Elite Operator. Every Elite Operator has their own squad. You can certainly request an empty squad, but before you do so, other people are free to apply to join your team."
Before you continue