Dispatch Order

"Guardian, we've arrived."

The young officer carrying an enormous shield lowered it. They were now inside the heavily guarded Orphanage, where such stringent protection was no longer necessary.

"Thank you for your efforts." Cocolia nodded slightly. "You may withdraw, Gepard."

"It was no trouble! It was my honor." Gepard was visibly overwhelmed by the recognition.

To him, this young Supreme Guardian was very different from her predecessor: she could remember the name of every junior officer.

Seeing his reaction, Cocolia couldn't help thinking of Gepard's older sister, Serval.

She was also Cocolia's best friend from university, an outgoing, lively woman who was rebellious and irreverent.

Her younger brother's personality, however, was the exact opposite.

Introverted, loyal, and upright.

With qualities like those, he was practically a born soldier, well worth cultivating.

So Cocolia instructed him:

"Put down your shield and stay beside me as my guard."

"Yes!" Gepard followed her instructions to the letter.

The group headed toward the classroom.

Meanwhile, in the Director's Office, the Old Director and Natasha had been shut away from everyone else, with the door firmly closed.

An elderly man dressed as a butler sat by the door and said with a smile:

"Please be patient, both of you. This is merely a matter of confidentiality. You cannot leave just yet."

He spoke very politely, a professional smile on his face, the corners of his mouth raised just enough.

"First you sent us away, then you shut all those children in the classroom and left them crying. Is this what you call a visit?" Natasha's face was furious. "What big shot needs this much pomp? Is it a crime for commoners like us to even catch a glimpse?"

"That is rather unfair of you." The old butler kept smiling. "Preventing you from leaving this room is actually for your own good."

"For our own good?" Natasha laughed in anger.

Whenever she recalled the frightened looks in the children's eyes as the guards led her away, her heart ached.

Just what were these big shots from the Upper District up to?

Natasha stared at the old butler and asked:

"Which department are you from? As a citizen of Belobog, I believe I have a right to know."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot disclose that either," the old butler replied, still smiling.

After a pause, he reassured them:

"According to the schedule, I will leave in ten minutes. I imagine such a short time will not cause the children here any great harm."

The Old Director suddenly asked:

"Sir, since you're from the Upper District, do you happen to know a woman named Fuka? She claims to be an Internal Affairs Officer at Kliperburg."

Fuka? An Internal Affairs Officer? The old butler scoffed inwardly.

Where did this swindler come from? Had the people of the Underworld become ignorant enough to believe a scam like that?

Since when had Kliperburg had an Internal Affairs Officer like her?

If she was an Internal Affairs Officer, then what was he?

The real Internal Affairs Officer of Kliperburg was sitting right in front of them!

Of course, confidentiality regulations still obliged him to shake his head.

"Sorry, I'm not familiar with Kliperburg's internal affairs. That is a different department from mine."

"All right." The Old Director looked disappointed.

Natasha, meanwhile, stared at the old butler.

"I'll wait ten minutes, and not a moment longer!"

"Thank you for your understanding, ladies." The old butler offered them a smiling salute.

Outside the classroom, Cocolia watched the children through the window.

Gepard stood guard at the corridor exit when he spotted a familiar face.

Oleg was peering in their direction, his expression anxious.

Just moments earlier, a squad of Silvermane Guards from outside had taken over the sentry posts here.

They had also roughly led the Old Director and Natasha away from the classroom and shut them up somewhere unknown.

The children left in the classroom were now crying in fear.

Oleg had come to the entrance of the corridor, but he couldn't get inside, much less catch a glimpse of the big shot.

The Silvermane Guards blocking his way were all elite troops. They carried a faint air of menace and clearly belonged to a high-level Fragmentum combat unit.

There were ranks within the Silvermane Guards, too, and the Underworld security force was at the very bottom.

After all, the troops in the Upper District had to fight fragmentum monsters, while those in the Underworld only had to manage a few unruly vagrants.

So far, no Fragmentum had appeared in the Underworld.

Oleg guessed that anyone who could requisition a combat unit as bodyguards had to at least occupy one of the front rows in the Council.

Would someone like that really consider adopting an orphan?

Or did they have some other agenda?

Oleg's thoughts were in turmoil. Seele was still inside, after all.

Just then, a tall, handsome young officer walked over to him.

"Hello. I'm Gepard, this unit's deputy captain." Looking at the man he had met once before, Gepard held out his hand.

"I'm Oleg, captain of the Underworld security force." Oleg shook Gepard's hand and asked, "May I ask what's happening inside? I can hear the children crying. I'm very worried."

"I'm sorry. That was an oversight on our part. We failed to consider the children's feelings," Gepard said sincerely. "Confidentiality regulations prevent me from telling you what is happening inside. But I can promise that things here will be over soon."

As a son of a noble family, Gepard knew the inside story.

The Supreme Guardian would secretly select a child here, and the process would not take long.

"All right," Oleg said with a sigh.

Seeing this, Gepard asked:

"Are there children you know inside?"

"Yes." Oleg nodded. "Two children I care about very much."

Hearing that, Gepard thought, Just as I suspected.

The two children he had seen with Oleg at the restaurant in the Upper District that night had actually been orphans from the Orphanage.

Fortunately, his sister Serval had been there too. She had given him a stern lesson and stopped him from making a terrible mistake.

As his sister had said at the time, was there anything wrong with a kindhearted man treating two poor children to a lavish meal?

No!

If anything was wrong, then the rules themselves had to be the problem!

"Captain Oleg, you really are a good man," Gepard couldn't help saying.

Oleg gave Gepard a surprised look, apparently unable to understand why he had said that.

Suddenly, he noticed Gepard's pale blond hair.

He recalled the restaurant waiter's description.

A suspicion arose in Oleg's mind, and he couldn't help saying:

"You... you're..."

Seeing the look in Gepard's eyes, Oleg instantly became certain: he was the person who had sent them that expensive cake at the restaurant!

He instinctively wanted to say it aloud, but quickly realized this was no place to discuss it. Instead, he expressed his gratitude in a low voice:

"Thank you. Thank you."

"Captain Oleg, I don't deserve your thanks. You should thank my sister." Gepard shook his head. "If she hadn't stopped me, I would have made a terrible mistake that day."

Oleg was about to respond when a young soldier suddenly ran over, holding up a letter and panting:

"S-sir! There's a letter here for you!"

Oleg took the letter and first glanced at the seal.

It was from the Silvermane Guards Command.

Oleg opened the letter. It was a dispatch order-

"Upon receipt of this order, you are hereby commanded to assemble your troops immediately and accompany the unit currently stationed at the Orphanage in carrying out the Underworld Lockdown Mission. No delays will be tolerated!"