Nishizaki Yuki rummaged through her pocket, took out two plastic bags, and held them out before Efnir.
"I still have these to give you. I almost forgot..."
Inside the bags were two small items: a black communicator and a bloodstained butterfly-shaped hairpin.
Efnir froze for a moment before taking the bags.
"This is Fifina's..."
This hairpin was Fifina's "Beacon." Of course Efnir recognized it.
A "Beacon" was, in essence, a medium through which an "Agent" Resonated with the Order Force. It was a special crystal born from research into White Holes and Ruins, something that spanned both the material and energy realms.
A "Beacon" was essential for an "Agent" to Resonance with Order. Without one, they could not Resonance with Order, and thus could not enter Exile Form. Put simply, a "Beacon" was the most fundamental thing an "Agent" relied upon.
Because different "Beacons" had differing compatibility with different wavelengths, every Agent possessed a unique "Beacon."
Unlike Fifina's, Efnir's "Beacon" was a star-shaped earring worn on her left ear.
"This belongs to Fifina. I thought I should give it to you."
Nishizaki Yuki said, pulling another cigarette from her pocket.
Efnir said nothing. After standing there blankly for a long while, she took out the hairpin, carefully used the corner of her clothes to wipe away the blood, and clenched it in her palm.
It was cold.
Efnir pressed her lips together. After a pause, she picked up the black communicator from the plastic bag.
"This too?"
"Mm. Yes."
Nishizaki Yuki took out a lighter.
It was her beloved kerosene lighter. Efnir had heard her go on at length about its history, but no matter how impressive or bizarre Nishizaki made it sound, Efnir, who did not smoke, always forgot it immediately afterward.
Nishizaki cupped the cigarette and flicked the lighter. Sparks danced wildly, but it simply would not light.
"Tch..."
Clicking her tongue in irritation, Nishizaki Yuki simply took the cigarette from her lips and held it between her fingers.
"Well, there are some recordings in it... I think you should listen to them."
As Always
Inside the temporary medical tent, Efnir sat silently beside Fifina's hospital bed, rubbing the communicator in her hand.
A girl's voice came through the earphones.
At first, it was just communication from the battle, along with intermittent chatter, no different from their usual combat transmissions. Beyond that, she could vaguely hear the piercing wind atop West Capital Tower.
But at some point, the noisy sounds gradually faded away, and even the wind seemed to have been pulled far, far into the distance.
The communicator must have been taken off by then.
"Um... Master... Shiyin actually still has something she hasn't finished saying..."
Efnir's own voice disappeared, and Fifina's soft voice filled everything instead. It was nearly inaudible, like a petal drifting before one's eyes, ready to be carried far away by the slightest breeze.
She softly spoke her words, as though whispering.
"Because it's important... so I absolutely... absolutely can't leave anything out..."
From this point on, the communication log became a recording.
"What was I talking about just now... Oh, I remember..."
"A gift you dream of receiving, someone you want to get close to... Have you ever had that, Master...?"
"I really want to know... It would be nice if I could understand you a little more..."
"But... Shiyin has someone like that... Someone I dreamed of meeting, someone I admired..."
"Someone I like..."
"Someone who appeared before me and held my hand..."
Through the earphones, Fifina—or rather, Fengling Shiyin—murmured softly, as though talking to herself, yet also as though pouring out her heart.
Efnir lowered her gaze and listened quietly.
"...Something that happy was never something I once dared to hope for..."
"Master... Shiyin actually lied to you before... Shiyin doesn't have parents... So perhaps what you said, that 'joy and happiness aren't anything special,' is something I can't understand..."
Fifina's voice was quiet, like a gentle breeze brushing against the tips of one's hair.
"But what Master says can't be wrong... Because to Shiyin... Master is special... So I was looking forward to it, because if it were you..."
"I've always admired you... Ever since the first time I saw you, I dreamed that one day, if I could stand by your side... Meeting you, Master, was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me..."
"It feels so unreal..."
"Shiyin is already very satisfied... But now... I suddenly feel a little unwilling to accept it... If only... I had been a little braver..."
The voice suddenly paused for a moment.
"I don't know when I became so greedy... So... perhaps I've nearly used up all my luck..."
"Master... Shiyin still has so much she wants to tell you..."
"Master..."
The voice drifted farther and farther away. The recording ended abruptly there, and a piercing termination tone rang through the earphones.
Efnir clenched the communicator in her palm and took a deep breath. She raised her eyes and looked at the sleeping girl before her.
Fifina.
No, she should be called "Fengling Shiyin" now. She lay quietly on the hospital bed with her eyes shut and her face as pale as paper. Her right arm was gone, leaving only horrifying bloodstains and bandages wrapped around the treated wound.
"I'm sorry... for making you bear it alone for so long..."
Efnir bent down, closed her eyes, pressed her forehead against the girl's left hand, and whispered a prayer.
"Please recover soon..."
Without the Order Force, Fengling Shiyin would undoubtedly have died from wounds and blood loss like these.
She had lost a hand in battle. With only one hand remaining, she could not properly administer emergency treatment, yet she had still done everything she could to bandage the wound and hold on until the battle ended. Because of that, though, she had missed the window for treatment.
Of course Efnir knew that Shiyin had pushed herself so hard because Efnir's strategy and decisions required her—only her. If she had not done it, if she had retreated, Efnir would have been unable to command the overall situation. The Agents' Defense Line would have collapsed, and the thousands waiting for evacuation and rescue would have been exposed to the threat of the Erosion Entities.
At the time, communications had completely collapsed, headquarters was packed with Erosion Entities, combat personnel were severely lacking, and there were no reinforcements. Efnir alone had been filling that hopeless gap in combat strength. But even Efnir, dragging along her injured body, had reached her physical limit. For Fengling Shiyin at the time, with only one hand, it was already impossible to perform prompt and thorough treatment and bandaging. So Shiyin made the choice she believed was right.
If only I had noticed sooner...
Efnir thought.
But even if she had known sooner... what could she have done?
Between Shiyin and the thousands awaiting rescue, how was Efnir supposed to choose? Abandon Shiyin? Or abandon everyone else?
If only I had lost my right hand instead... If there had to be a choice, then I should have been the one to bear it in Shiyin's place. But this world held no miracle that could be granted by a simple wish.
Efnir lowered her head and leaned against the bedside.
Having lost her right hand, Fengling Shiyin would never be able to play her beloved violin again, would she? Likewise, she could no longer draw a bowstring. She could no longer pursue her dreams, nor could she fight. Perhaps she should simply retire from being an Agent...
That would be better than anything. At least she could live.
Efnir raised her head and held the butterfly hairpin before her eyes.
Fengling Shiyin.
The first time Efnir had met her was at one of her fan events. The second time had been at Orderkeepers headquarters.
"Since she's your fan, there's no problem handing her over to you, right?"
Back then, the commander had brought the timid girl before Efnir and teased her like that.
In Efnir's impression, she was strong and outstanding—a well-behaved top student at school, a lovable, obedient daughter at home, at an age when she ought to have been blooming brilliantly and passionately.
A girl like that should not have withered on the battlefield.
But... could she do it?
Making sure no one had to fight or die... wasn't that just laughably empty talk?
Shiyin had left, and this butterfly hairpin would welcome its next owner.
In the end, who had been saved?
Efnir smiled bitterly. She suddenly remembered many things. Since the distant past, she had actually always walked alone through blood.
The death rate among Agents was high, and there were no small number who were injured and disabled. It was a well-known and natural fact. During this operation, every Agent had been injured to some extent. Aside from Efnir, Fifina, and the missing Qinglan, Lily and Furan had suffered serious injuries as well. One had nearly lost an arm, while the other had suffered severe Corruption of the body and was already at risk of Dregsification at any moment.
Beyond that, countless civilians and combat personnel had died in the Erosion Disaster.
Efnir had experienced pain and parting countless times.
Yet no matter what, she could never treat them as ordinary.
If no one had to be hurt or die, that would be wonderful. But Efnir had more or less realized that it was something she could never achieve, no matter how hard she tried.
Since becoming an Agent, Efnir had continuously honed herself, carrying another person's share as well.
If she became stronger, she could save more people. Girls like Shiyin would no longer have to endure such pain and could simply bloom in peace and quiet. Her younger sister could also grow up peacefully and beautifully without any worries. That was what she thought.
But over the past year, no matter how many Erosion Entities Efnir destroyed, they kept crawling out like cockroaches from a filthy gutter, endless and unceasing.
Instead, the people around her—the seniors who had once saved her, the dependable commander, the stubborn yet straightforward medic—left her one after another.
In the organization, old people left and new ones filled their places. In the end, Qinglan was the only familiar face left.
But today, Qinglan had gone missing too.
Without realizing it, Efnir had become a "remnant" who had barely survived from a year ago until now.
[Some people say this is forced angst or something. Well, I think this doesn't even count as angst, and there's no question of whether it's forced—only something with buildup can be called angst. A plot point without buildup like this is really just explaining the worldbuilding. (quietly)]
The Curtain Falls, and Morning Comes
—Five days later.
Efnir was awakened by her alarm.
She fumbled around beside her pillow, turned the alarm off, and picked up her phone.
The morning light outside the window was dim. Squinting, she found the light from the screen somewhat dazzling.
She glanced at the time.
It was 6:40 in the morning.
There were many messages on her phone, but none were emergency contact messages from headquarters.
She pressed her lips together, set down her phone, yawned, and sat up.
After the Erosion Disaster five days ago, Xijing City had suddenly become much more peaceful. Disasters still occurred from time to time, but they were all relatively small in scale and easily suppressed by the active efforts of several younger Agents.
This brief peace had given her plenty of time to rest and recover.
It was concerning that Xijing City, where Erosion Disasters occurred so frequently, had become unusually calm after one massive, extraordinary disaster. But in any case, as long as no large-scale Erosion Disaster occurred, there would be no more sacrifices. That was something worth being happy about.
It was just that... the price paid for this peace had been somewhat too high.
Fifina was still unconscious.
Lily and Furan were injured. Lily's arm had been severely damaged, but after several days of recuperation, she had largely regained the ability to move it. Furan, however, had exhausted herself in battle and lost Synchronization. After being attacked by an Erosion Entity, her body showed signs of severe Corruption. She was now under observation and receiving treatment at United Hospital alongside Fengling Shiyin.
Beyond that, among the five rookie Agents led by Qinglan, the bodies of three had already been found. They were discovered beneath the ruins and had already lost all signs of life when found. They were registered as "killed in action."
The other two, codename Qinglan and codename Flying Swallow, were still missing and were registered as "missing in action."
Before you continue