"That's different..."
"Relax, relax, I won't say any more. Anyway, the show's about to start. Are you ready?"
"Mm... I'm ready..."
"..."
There was a slight pause on the other end.
"You don't sound very motivated... Are you still thinking about Saori and Rin?"
"Mm..."
Efnir did not deny it.
The gift Saori had sent was still lying on the coffee table in the preparation room.
"If you can... open it after the show..."
Saori had left those words behind when she departed, and Efnir had not replied.
Perhaps... there was nothing left to say... Efnir was not much of a talker. Rather than stubbornly trying to make her stay, it was better to let her go gracefully.
Saori's words lingered in Efnir's mind.
Uzuki Saori—Efnir had always admired that lovable junior. Beneath her gentle exterior hid a forceful side. She was exceptionally serious when it came to work, even stubborn.
Her relationship with Rin was good enough to make others envious.
Though they were both orphans who had come from the same orphanage after the disaster, they had not actually known each other before becoming agents.
Yet in just one month, they had already become inseparable. Perhaps... this was what they called wishing they had met sooner?
Efnir had never experienced such an "encounter," but if Shiomi Yukina was the most important person to Efnir, then Rin was probably the same to Uzuki Saori. So Efnir could probably understand—understand Saori's thoughts, understand the despair behind her tears that day.
But conversely, Efnir could understand Shiina Rin's thoughts as well—just as Uzuki Saori fought for Shiina Rin, was Shiina Rin not also fighting for Saori? That was precisely why Shiina Rin refused to withdraw no matter what.
"If I leave, what will happen to Saori?" Shiina Rin always said that with a smile, but without a doubt, it was her truest thought. Both Efnir and Uzuki Saori knew that perfectly well.
If... just if.
If Rin died in this battle, Saori would undoubtedly break down. Rin was just that important to Saori. They were both children from the orphanage, each having become the other's support and only one, fighting while holding each other up.
Maybe they should let them withdraw...
Efnir pressed her lips together, her lip gloss squeezed between them as the clear lights shimmered.
But if that happened...
"Well... I guess so..."
Shinomiyami Nami sighed through the earpiece.
"What did you say?"
"I mean, the show's about to start. Are you really okay? If you're not in the right condition, I can shift a little time over to you."
"I'm fine, don't worry... Even if it's only this kind of work, I'll still take it seriously."
"Is that so?"
The other end fell silent for a while, and fervent cheers flooded into her mind.
Familiar music came from overhead.
"Efnir."
"Mm..."
"Well then... good luck. May your performance go splendidly."
"Mm."
A crushing weight pressed against the soles of her feet. The lift platform slowly rose, her view seeming to sink before suddenly opening into boundless space.
The performance platform had been deliberately built high, allowing her to take in the entire vast venue at a glance.
With a click beneath her feet, Efnir took a step forward and appeared onstage. The cheers suddenly surged. Columns of heated air burst from the mist machines, turning the dazzling sunlight into beautiful rainbows that scattered over her. Her image appeared on the enormous, brilliantly colored screen.
Standing onstage made her heart race.
But Efnir's reason for standing here was not something so simple.
Every day in this city, people were injured and died. Brazenly singing of happiness was a terribly despicable thing.
Fifina.
Furan.
Or Saori.
Their choices were not for Efnir to judge.
Only, if...
If...
Such wishes were like a mirage beyond the desert, distant and fragile.
The music gradually faded, and the lights converged on one spot.
Efnir took a deep breath and buried her countless thoughts in her heart.
The first performance began.
After the show, she would go to the hospital.
She would visit Fengling Shiyin and Shiina Rin.
Her persuasion would probably be useless, but perhaps rather than standing still in hesitation, taking a step forward without regard for anything else was the only way to walk out of the fog.
Efnir's singing was flawless, and her dancing was incredible too.
But that was not why Shiomi Yukina had become Efnir's fan.
She stared blankly at the figure singing and dancing atop the high stage.
She was exceptionally dazzling.
Beautiful, enough to stir one's soul.
Whether as Xijing City's most powerful chief agent, the spokesperson of the Orderkeepers Organization, or the idol in people's hearts, Efnir had always shone so brilliantly. She always gave everything she had, moving everyone present with a passion that was almost burning.
In this era, there was a reason Efnir had been embraced as a nationwide idol in the image of a hero.
And Yukina's feelings for Efnir were not merely simple admiration. They came from reverence, longing... perhaps even a trace of deeply hidden infatuation.
Yukina still remembered first seeing Efnir on television. She had happened to come across news about the newly appointed agent "Ephnel," and at the time, Yukina had only glanced at her a little longer.
—She was pretty. Beyond that, Yukina had no further thoughts.
At the time, Efnir had only been one among more than a dozen agents. Because she was beautiful, the kind of person impossible to forget after seeing once, Efnir seemed somewhat special—but that was all.
No one would specifically pay attention to news about this newly appointed agent.
"Agents" protected the city, yet they seemed separated from it by a gulf—perhaps that sounded strange, but the truth was that at first, "agents" and ordinary people's lives had been completely disconnected.
Under the threat of Corruption, ordinary people could die, and agents could too.
Since they would die either way, perhaps there was no difference?
The agents' status did not come from their sacrifices, but from people's need for them.
The same was true for Yukina.
Until that day.
When she had been helpless and desperate, Efnir saved her. She pulled her from the water, protected her from the Erosion Entity, and gave artificial respiration to her as she drowned.
Even now, Yukina still remembered the warmth of that small palm, that petite figure, those soft shoulders, and those warm lips that had pressed against hers with some force, though she could no longer remember their taste.
And those eyes from that time—complex, filled with hesitation and resolve that she could not make sense of.
For some reason, Yukina had felt safe leaning against that person's shoulder. It was like holding her older brother's hand as a child. No matter where she went, her brother had been her eternal support. But after growing up, she had never felt that way again.
She liked it. She was deeply immersed in that feeling.
As if possessed, she began following news about "agents."
Later, Efnir was suddenly chosen as the spokesperson for the Orderkeepers and became a public figure in the city.
Gradually, some things began to change.
If... she were a little more honest, what would happen?
"Sorry, coming through!"
"Huh?"
As her mind wandered, someone suddenly slammed hard into her shoulder, making Yukina stumble.
"Yukina! Are you okay?"
Her friend beside her promptly reached out and caught her.
Yukina instinctively turned around, but she only saw a slender figure disappearing into the crowd.
A girl?
"I'm fine... Someone just bumped into me..."
"Huh? Was that person blind or something?"
"It's fine, it's nothing..."
Yukina did not think much of it and turned her gaze back toward the stage.
"Tch, seriously. There's such a wide path, so why did she have to squeeze past us?"
"No manners at all."
Her friends began complaining.
"Hey, hey, could that have been a pervert?"
"Eek? Even though she was a girl?"
"There are girls like that too! Don't underestimate girls!"
"If you said she was a pickpocket, I'd find that more believable!"
"That's right! Yukina, check your pockets! What if she stole your phone?"
"Huh?"
Yukina nodded and felt around in her pocket.
"Eek?"
"Huh? What is it? Don't tell me, don't tell me she really stole something!?"
"No, she didn't... It's just..."
Yukina blinked in confusion.
Nothing was missing. If anything, there was something extra... a cold, hard object.
She pulled her hand out and opened her palm.
It was a hair clip.
A cute bow-shaped hair clip with an exquisite design, glinting with an obscure, chilly sheen beneath the sunlight.
"Huh? What a cute hair clip..."
"So pretty. I've never seen this design before."
"What? Even a fashion expert like you hasn't seen it?"
"Mm... Maybe... it's brand-new?"
"I think it might be custom-made."
Her friends all chimed in at once, while Yukina merely frowned at the item in her palm. She was certain she did not own this hair clip.
Before you continue