Serial Number

In the following days, Hesta filled out dozens of forms and underwent a very thorough physical examination. Afterward, Chiba personally drove her to the AHgA Reserve Training Base.

After parking the car, Chiba led Hesta toward the office building.

The reporting center was on the fourth floor of Building A, the main building. Everyone entering or leaving wore formal attire. Hesta caught a faint scent of ink mixed with perfume, which she didn't dislike. What surprised her, however, was that almost everyone who recognized Chiba stopped to salute or greet her. After a few pleasantries with Miss Chiba, most people cast curious glances at Hesta.

Here, Chiba seemed to be a highly respected figure.

"……Masaki?" a voice called from behind them. Hesta turned her head first and saw a brown-haired woman about Chiba's age holding a few books, looking surprised.

Unlike others who only used surnames, she called Chiba by her first name, indicating they were very familiar with each other.

As expected, after turning around, Chiba also happily called out "Valenti," and the two embraced warmly.

"This is my old classmate, Viking," Chiba told Hesta. "We chat every day, but we haven't seen each other in years."

Hesta bowed slightly, as she had at the abbey, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Viking."

"The pleasure is all mine," Valenti Viking glanced quickly at the file bag in Chiba's hand. "Uh… Miss Hesta."

Chiba laughed, then introduced, "Valenti is the head of the Quicksilver Needles Reserve Personnel Psychological Support Program. If you encounter any problems at school later, you can find her."

"That's right." Valenti extended her hand to Hesta. Towards children, especially those around Hesta's age of eleven or twelve, Valenti was very mindful of etiquette. Based on her work experience, treating them as adults was often the first step to opening their hearts.

Hesta felt a bit unaccustomed but still shook Valenti's hand gently.

"Alright," Chiba said with a smile, handing the file bag to Hesta. "Take these documents to the reporting center. Once they've processed them for you, bring the receipt back to me."

Hesta took her files and, after bowing again to Chiba and the lady named Valenti, walked alone towards the reporting center office.

Valenti watched Hesta's retreating back with some curiosity. "Who is this little girl?"

"My ward," Chiba said, narrowing her eyes and smiling. "Until she turns twenty, I have to properly fulfill my responsibilities as her guardian."

Valenti was taken aback. "……You take the initiative to become a guardian?"

"What choice do I have? Bringing her here directly through the 'AHgA Reserve Guardianship Order' was the fastest way. Otherwise, I was afraid the Military Police would snatch her away through judicial means in the next couple of days… I can't let my guard down until she officially joins the AHgAs."

Valenti suddenly realized, "Ah, this child… isn't she the one from Saint Anne Abbey a while ago–"

"Yes," Chiba smiled. "But I think I underestimated the Military Police's sluggishness."

"That's incredible…" Valenti turned to look in the direction Hesta had gone, sighing sincerely. "I heard that when you found that Chelated Being, it was already severely injured?"

"Mm."

"Was it this child who did it?"

"I don't know," Chiba said softly. "But Jane's 'Secondary Awakening' hasn't happened yet."

"Are you sure?"

"Certain."

Valenti fell silent for a moment. "……This is truly bizarre."

The two chatted by the window until an unsettling sound of footsteps made all the Quicksilver Needles on that floor look toward the stairwell with alertness. Soon, two young men in Military Police uniforms appeared there. Led by the building's security, they navigated through layers of access control to reach this point. Upon seeing Chiba, they immediately hurried forward.

"Ma'am," the soldier in front showed Chiba his identification and briefly introduced himself. Then, they got straight to the point: "Where is Jane Hesta now?"

"I am her guardian. You can speak to me directly about any matters."

"Ahem." The man took out another order. "It's like this, regarding the case at Saint Anne Abbey a few days ago, there are still some on-site pieces of evidence that Miss Hesta needs to identify. We need to take her back."

"Jane is only 11 years old this year and is still a minor. The tragedy a few days ago has already caused her significant emotional distress. I don't believe it's appropriate to force her to look at related evidence at this time," Chiba replied calmly. "After we assess her mental state, we will choose a suitable time to bring her to the police station to cooperate with your official duties. Please leave your contact number."

The two young soldiers exchanged glances.

"This is a Class 5A Special Summons, Ma'am–"

"This is AHgA's headquarters, sir." Chiba slowly raised her hand. "I'd say you two are new here…"

The two young soldiers' hearts stirred. Indeed, they were rookies from the same batch, and it was their first day on duty when they encountered the Class 5A Special Summons issued by their superiors.

With this credential, they could even access some military confidential areas for searches and inquiries. However, for some reason, several senior colleagues, after understanding the situation, showed little interest in responding to this summons and kept pushing it off until it fell to the two of them.

Before they could grasp the deeper meaning of Chiba's words, they felt something sweep past their eyes like dust-laden wind. The next moment, Chiba shifted her stance, placing her hands on her hips with a frown. "Wait, where is your Special Summons?"

The two were stunned, realizing then that the summons that had been in one of their hands was gone.

"Without the summons, I certainly can't give you the person," Chiba said coldly.

"Miss Chiba."

Chiba turned around. Hesta was standing not far behind her. The file bag that had been bulging when it was handed to the girl was now empty. In her hand was a piece of very stiff white card paper, on which every newly printed ink information was embossed with a steel stamp.

Chiba looked at the two Military Police officers again. "While I admire your courage for coming here alone, matters must be handled according to regulations. Please go back and complete the necessary procedures."

"I'll show you out," Valenti Viking politely raised her hand, gesturing for the two to head towards the elevator. The two soldiers' faces were filled with astonishment, which quickly turned into amused anger. However, Chiba had already taken Hesta's hand and walked to the other side of the corridor, leaving all disputes behind them.

Chiba took Hesta's identification card and quickly scanned the girl's information.

Below the photo, she saw Hesta's number: Res-4623030042403.

Looking at the trailing 403, Chiba smiled slightly. "…We truly have fate."

Currently known information:

Res is the abbreviation for Reserve, which will change to a capital letter A upon regularization.

The meaning of the number Res-4623030042403 is: this member joined the AHgAs Reserve in the year 4623, in the 3rd major region, and is the 42,403rd anti-homogenization medium discovered to date.

And Chiba's number is:

A-4614140040392.