Yukinoshita Muzan (3K)

By all rights, Artoria, a member of the Holy Britannian royal family, should have taken her extraordinary talent back to her own country.

In fact, Artoria herself had thought the same thing—but Su Yun hadn't!

As Su Yun's first Operator and a close friend, he didn't want Artoria taking her talent back home.

First, if they were far apart, keeping Artoria under his control would become very troublesome.

Second, the greater the distance, the harder it would be for him to come to Artoria's aid if she ran into danger.

Third, this was a crossover world. The world's fortune was concentrated in Yingzhou, which meant the island was destined to suffer one disaster after another. The terrifying calamities they would have to face were concentrated here, too, because the Mysteries were unconsciously drawn to this disaster-prone region and would come closer.

If Artoria wanted to grow and become an outstanding Operator, staying in Yingzhou was the best choice.

So when he passed on the legacy to Artoria, he also told her that Yingzhou would be the core battlefield in the future and that she would be better off staying here.

Of course, he only offered advice. He wasn't forcing her, because Su Yun understood that Artoria was the kind of person who responded to gentleness, not force. The harder he pushed, the more she would resist.

If he simply offered it as a suggestion, Artoria, with her convictions and sense of justice, would certainly choose to stay.

As it turned out, Su Yun knew the strong, beautiful girl very well. Not only did she make her decision that very day, she also came clean to Murata Himeko, telling her she had already gained extraordinary powers and needed to rely on their strength to fight the Mysteries.

As a member of the Holy Britannian royal family, Artoria was important—but more than anything, her personality shaped her way of thinking. She had never considered hiding the fact that she possessed extraordinary powers. Instead, she admitted it openly.

Artoria understood perfectly well that the best way to make the most of her powers was to cooperate with the official forces of the world. The education she had received from a young age had given her a deeper understanding than ordinary people of just how terrifying a nation's power could be.

And so, Artoria and Murata Himeko held a secret meeting.

It was a confession, but also a negotiation over terms and benefits.

Relying on her status as a member of the Holy Britannian royal family and the fact that she was the first human to manifest extraordinary powers, Artoria secured some very favorable terms for herself.

Of course, this also caused trouble and discontent back in the Holy Britannian Empire.

You're a member of the Britannian royal family who's gained extraordinary powers. Why aren't you thinking of serving your country? What's the meaning of running off to contribute to another country?

Although relations with the Holy Britannian Empire were no longer as hostile as they once had been—and the major powers had even entered a honeymoon period of cooperation because of the Mysteries—they were still two different countries.

Even if Artoria wasn't valued by the royal family, had been ostracized and bullied by other royals, and had even been sent abroad as an exchange student, her status meant she still had to shoulder the responsibilities of a royal. Wasn't it the job of people like her to uphold the Empire's prestige?

So, in response to Artoria's stance, the Holy Britannian Empire began diplomatic talks with Y Country, and senior officials on both sides launched into heated arguments over the matter.

Of course, the real reason a royal princess who wasn't well-liked in the Holy Britannian Empire had become the focus of the highest-level diplomatic talks was that Artoria was now an extraordinary individual.

If Artoria were still an ordinary person, the Holy Britannian Empire probably wouldn't have done more than take a passing interest. It might not even have interfered much.

After all, it was standard practice for European royals to go abroad and serve another country. It had been that way since ancient times.

Over the years, plenty of members of the Holy Britannian royal family had gone abroad to serve other countries. Someone with Artoria's ordinary status among the royals could have served Y Country in the past, or even married a man from Y Country with a decent background, without anyone batting an eye.

Political marriages were old news among the nobility. Even though the Holy Britannian Empire had officially abolished its aristocracy, the privileged class had long since put down deep roots. It wouldn't disappear just because noble titles were gone.

Simply put, the original Artoria hadn't been valued and was far down the line of succession, so the Holy Britannian Empire didn't care what the princess did. Even if she came to Yingzhou and fell in love with a foreigner, they would have left her alone as long as she didn't reveal her royal identity.

But things were different now. As the first extraordinary individual on humanity's side, her status had risen dramatically. She was every bit as important as a high-ranking heir to the throne—perhaps even more so.

With a background like hers, she could no longer decide her own freedom or personal wishes.

In other words, the Holy Britannian Empire wanted to take control of Artoria, just as it had always been domineering and high-handed.

But Artoria had gone straight into cooperation with Y Country. That was a classic betrayal, and it caught the Holy Britannian Empire completely off guard, bringing the two countries into a diplomatic standoff.

Even Morgan Pendragon, who had planned to arrive in Yingzhou during the day, was forced to delay her trip because of the diplomatic tensions.

The two countries' senior officials were now holding friendly consultations and trying to reach an agreement. Y Country naturally wasn't going to let Artoria go easily. If Artoria hadn't chosen to join them, Y Country would have had no grounds to interfere. Even if they wanted her, they would have had to respect her personal wishes. But now that she had come to them of her own accord, were they supposed to send her away?

So Y Country took a firm stance as well.

Of course, the art of diplomacy meant that no one could be completely inflexible, especially when the whole world was working together against the Mysteries.

So Y Country proposed a plan. Everyone had been discussing the possibility of closer cooperation lately, anyway. They could use Artoria as an opportunity to establish an organization—no, a transnational agency to fight the Mysteries, jointly supervised by the major powers.

Several major countries would contribute personnel and funding to establish a special organization spanning multiple nations.

Y Country also made another suggestion: since Artoria had chosen to join the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office, they could use it as the foundation for the new organization. There was no need to move the headquarters; they could simply leave it in Yingzhou.

The large island was conveniently located in the Pacific, between Y Country and the Holy Britannian Empire, making it easier for the two powers to negotiate.

The Holy Britannian Empire's response was, "Between your countries, my ass!"

They looked at the world map from every angle, and the damn place was in Y Country's inland sea. And Y Country was claiming it lay between them and the Holy Britannian Empire?

Y Country's answer: "Geographically speaking, that's exactly right! It's not like we can put it in your lousy Hawaii. That place is tiny. What if the Mysteries launched a large-scale attack? Wouldn't we all be singing 'Goodbye'?"

The Holy Britannian Empire: @#!&%...

That was how things stood. The two major powers were arguing fiercely over Artoria, even banging on the table.

Murata Himeko, head of the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office, knew all about it. In fact, the higher-ups had already told her to prepare to establish an international organization. The Holy Britannian Empire was making a lot of noise, but after dealing with them for so long, how could they not know what was going on?

The Holy Britannian Empire's show of noncooperation was just an attempt to secure a bigger share in the new organization.

To be honest, going from leading a regional agency that fought the Mysteries to heading an international super-organization was an enormous challenge for Murata Himeko, and she was under a lot of pressure.

But that pressure quickly turned into motivation. Murata Himeko had been prepared for this for a long time, and she had already begun making preparations.

So when Artoria said she wanted to fight the Mysteries, Murata Himeko agreed immediately.

She didn't ask how Artoria knew the Mysteries existed or how she had pinpointed their location. Those questions could wait. Right now, the priority was to help Artoria eliminate the Mystery and fire humanity's first shot in its counterattack!

Murata Himeko, who was equally skilled at political maneuvering, understood that this operation would affect how quickly the new organization could be established. If it succeeded, the organization could be founded much sooner.

The Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office was nothing if not efficient. As a professional agency with an exceptionally capable director like Murata Himeko, they simply couldn't afford to drop the ball.

And indeed, in less than ten minutes, Artoria had boarded a military transport plane and set off with an elite combat squad.

The combat squad, codenamed Nine-Tailed Fox, was one of the Strategy Room's ace units and had extensive experience fighting the Mysteries.

Aboard the transport plane, the squad members silently made their preparations. Not one of them said a word or questioned their orders to accompany and assist the girl sitting with them on the plane.

They were certainly confused about why their superiors had ordered them to follow and help someone like Artoria. But with their outstanding professionalism, they would still give the mission everything they had.

Before long, they arrived at their destination.

Or rather, the location Artoria had specified.

Helicopters flying at night were bound to disturb people. By the time they arrived, they had already woken many families from their sleep.

But the people there, along with the entire Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office, had no time to worry about that. They simply notified the local police so they could work overtime together.

Then everyone stared grimly at the site where the Mystery had manifested. This time, the Mystery was in the wealthy district of Chiba City, and they had narrowed it down to a family with the surname Yukinoshita.

The mansion where the family lived had somehow been shrouded in the Mystery's shadow.

What was more, this time the Mystery had completely concealed its energy. The instruments used to monitor the Mysteries in Yingzhou hadn't detected a thing.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would still have been wondering where the Mystery Artoria had mentioned was.

Their expressions darkened. A Mystery like this might not be high-level, but it was definitely extremely troublesome and possessed special abilities.

If they entered the area shrouded by the Mystery without a plan, they might all be wiped out. Countless bloody lessons and sacrifices had already made that clear.