Chapter 186: The Beginning of the Investigation & Strange Paw Prints
The next day, New Zealand, the small town of Wanaka.
This is one of the most famous tourist towns in New Zealand, with people coming and going at all times of the year.
After accepting the investigation task from Theresa, Kirataka also reunited with Anna and came to this bustling town.
Even in the early morning, the main street of the town was already bustling with people. Various vendors set up their stalls early, displaying all kinds of fresh ingredients, handicrafts, and special souvenirs to attract tourists.
Kirataka followed Anna through the city while admiring the scenery.
Because he had just arrived, Anna was responsible for leading the way.
Although she was stationed on the coral island most of the time, she was at least more familiar with the New Zealand environment than Kirataka.
The chestnut-haired girl seemed happy to be able to carry out a mission with Kirataka again and had a cute smile on her face.
Because the investigation was in the city, Anna did not wear the standard uniform of the Snow Lotus Squad that she usually wore during training at the base but a set of casual clothes that brought out her girlish charm.
It was a light blue dress that she had clearly carefully selected. The long skirt swayed gently with her steps, like a blooming snow lotus. The neckline and cuffs of the skirt were decorated with delicate lace, adding a bit of sweetness.
The girl's long chestnut hair fell naturally on her shoulders and behind her, complementing the color of her dress.
Anna was a very beautiful girl; there was no doubt about that.
You could also sense that she had the temperament of someone from a prominent family, but when you truly got to know her, you would find she was actually a very easy-going person.
After admiring her for a while, Kirataka shifted his gaze back to the crowd in front of him.
He had to admit, there were really a lot of people here, and people of all skin colors could be seen in the crowd.
It was precisely because of the large number of people that the branch paid extra attention to these strange traces of Honkai energy.
If an Honkai disaster occurred here, the number of ordinary people affected would be immense.
In short, the first thing he and Anna did upon arriving in this small town was to find a place to stay.
This was not an easy task during the peak tourist season.
"Ah... this hotel is also full, there are no rooms left," Anna said with a sigh.
After hitting a wall countless times, the two walked out of the hotel.
This was the downside of a tourist town. It was not easy to find accommodation. Moreover, they had come here during the peak tourist season, making it quite difficult to find a place to stay.
One step late might lead to every step late. Were they going to have to sleep on the street today?
Anna thought somewhat pessimistically.
Kirataka closed his eyes slightly, looking like he was standing there in deep thought. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and said to Anna with a smile:
"Let's go to that one and have a look."
As he spoke, he pointed his finger at a hotel at the end of the street corner. It didn't look luxurious, but it was still decent.
Anna nodded, and the two of them came to the hotel together.
After entering the hotel, Anna took the initiative to ask the front desk clerk:
"Hello, do you have any rooms available? I would like two rooms."
The hotel's front desk clerk was a brown-haired woman. She looked up at Kirataka and Anna in front of her, smiled professionally, and replied:
"Hello, two guests. Because it is the peak tourist season, we only have one room left in our hotel."
Although there was only one room left, they looked like a couple, so it probably didn't matter.
"Eh... there's only one room left, so..."
But it's better than having no place to live.
Anna was about to ask to leave the room, but suddenly she realized something.
Wait, if that's the case, doesn't that mean she will have to live under the same roof with Kirataka?
In Schicksal, which relies on women as its main fighting force, it is quite normal for the Valkyries to live together when they are out on missions. Since they are all girls, there won't be any problem.
But...
Occasionally there would be a male fighter like Kirataka, well, maybe one every few decades.
And it is always a bit shameful for men and women to live under the same roof...
Although similar things had happened before in Manila, there were subtle differences in nature.
Moreover, they had just escaped from the disaster at that time, and the atmosphere was completely different from now.
Anyway, the girl calmed down her nervousness and continued to confirm with the front desk clerk:
"Hello, let me confirm what kind of room the remaining one is."
"It's a twin room."
The other party replied with a smile.
"sigh..."
If it is a twin room, it would be fine and not unacceptable.
No, she was expecting some answer...
The chestnut-haired girl turned around a little nervously and asked in a low voice:
"Um... Kirataka, what do you think? Do you want to go out and look for another hotel?"
"If we go to other hotels, we may not be able to find a suitable room. There are too many people in this place."
Kirataka replied.
He is telling the truth.
The fact that he was able to find this hotel with vacancies with Anna was the result of him using [Time Rewind] to check the occupancy status of surrounding hotels.
The last room here is their only choice.
After a pause, he continued:
"And I just looked at the map. This hotel and this street are in a good location. They are almost in the center of the town. It is very convenient for us to investigate the surrounding areas."
"Yeah... that's true..."
The girl nodded.
What he said was indeed correct. This place was a good place to get to various areas of the town relatively quickly. Considering the investigation mission and crisis prevention, if an emergency occurred later, it would also be convenient to rush over and deal with it.
So Anna turned around and said to the waiter at the front desk:
"We'll take this room."
Although it is a bit embarrassing, it is not unacceptable if it is with Kirataka.
And... it's definitely not the first time.
.........
After storing the luggage in the hotel room, Kirataka and Anna immediately went to the place mentioned in the report where traces of Honkai energy were detected to investigate.
The Honkai energy detector installed in the city can only provide feedback on the Honkai energy content. They need to investigate in person to find out what specific traces were left at the scene.
The traces were found in a remote alley, a dark and sparsely populated place.
Anna took out the portable Honkai energy imaging device she carried with her and scanned the alley.
Soon, with the help of instruments, they found the location of the trace.
The girl looked at the image displayed on the instrument, which was the footprints of some animal.
'Is it... cat's paw print?'
She said with some doubt:
"Is it a kitten infected with Honkai energy?"
This is Anna's initial judgment and also the most reasonable understanding.
This creature is widely present in human society and can be described as being found everywhere.
If a small cat is infected with a small amount of Honkai energy, it is indeed possible that such marks will be left behind.
Stray cats are not uncommon in towns. To be on the safe side, Anna took the instrument and scanned the surroundings, confirming that this was the only place where traces of Honkai energy were left and that the footprints were exactly the same.
That is to say, there should be only one kitten infected.
"If it's a cat, it'll be a bit troublesome..."
Anna stood up and said with some distress.
In principle, these creatures infected with Honkai energy must be found and processed or recycled.
However, finding a cat in a town is not an easy task, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The girl turned around and looked at Kirataka, only to find that he was looking at the cat's paw prints on the ground, thinking about something.
"Kirataka, did you find anything?"
"...No, not yet."
Although he had some guesses, it would be better not to tell Anna for the time being as it had not been confirmed.
.........
After confirming that the creature infected with Honkai energy was most likely a kitten, Kirataka and Anna split up and searched the nearby area.
The needle-in-a-haystack search naturally yielded no results, and after a day of fruitless investigation, the two returned to the hotel.
Night has fallen, and it is almost time to wash up and rest.
The double room provided by the hotel is a standard-sized room equipped with all kinds of daily necessities.
They each opened the luggage they had put in the room during the day and sorted out the things inside by their beds.
Because it was just a short mission, Kirataka only brought a few sets of clothes for changing, which he quickly took out and put away.
He raised his head and glanced inadvertently in Anna's direction.
Well, it's a relatively small suitcase. Judging from its volume, she probably only brought some necessary things.
On the top layer of the opened suitcase, there seemed to be something small, triangular, and pink...
Because the distance was not far, he could see it very clearly.
'Well, the style is pretty cute...'
Cough cough.
He quickly looked away.
But it was too late.
Anna happened to be looking at him, and noticing Kirataka's gaze, she closed the suitcase with a swish and said nervously:
"Kirataka, you you you you... did you see it?"
The matter is so obvious that there seems to be no need to hide it.
Kirataka nodded and admitted:
"Um."
"...!"
The girl's face turned red and she stood there tensely for a long time.
Seeing that the air in the room fell into silence, Kirataka coughed lightly, took the initiative to break the silence, and asked:
"By the way, Anna, are you ready to take a bath now?"
"Yes, I do have this plan... What are you going to do?"
The girl asked nervously and shyly.
What is the problem...
"…While you are bathing, I will step aside for a while and go for a walk outside."
Kirataka explained.
"I'm sorry, I misunderstood..."
Anna whispered.
Then she told Kirataka about her bathing time.
Girls' bathing time is usually quite long. For her, it would take her thirty to forty minutes.
After confirming Anna's time, Kirataka left the room, leaving the girl alone in the house.
"Huh... I'm still a little shy..."
The girl took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
She took out her change of clothes and prepared to go to the bathroom.
At this moment, her communicator suddenly rang.
"Who is it at this time?"
Anna picked up the communicator curiously and answered the call.
"Captain, Captain~"
"Captain Anna~"
Coming from the other side were the voices of her lovely teammates.
"Yeah, I'm here, what's up?"
She asked with some confusion.
'I have only been away for less than a day. Why are they contacting me at this time? Is there something important that the Snow Lotus Team needs to deal with?'
"How's the progress over there?"
"This is a date, a date!"
"…"
The chestnut-haired girl covered her forehead slightly and shook her head helplessly.
Adolescent girls are always like this; they care a lot about emotional matters.
However, she doesn't seem to be qualified to say that about her teammates...
She said somewhat unhappily:
"I thought you were here to inquire about the progress of my mission."
"Ah, you're more concerned about the captain's life than the mission."
"Ha...I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going to take a shower."
"Take a shower?! Has it come to this?"
There was a cry of surprise from the other end of the communicator.
Only at this moment could the girls' imaginations jump so much. The word "shower" alone was enough to make them think of the rich meanings contained therein that did not exist.
"…What are you thinking? They are separated!"
After saying this, Anna realized that she seemed to have exposed something.
"Ah? Isn't that a matter of course? Why do you have to explain it in detail?"
The girls on the other end fell into a brief silence, then exclaimed:
"You guys are already living in the same room?"
It seemed that many of their empty fantasies just now had come true.
A man and a woman alone, in the same room, what does this mean? What does this mean!
"Oh, I didn't expect the progress to be so fast. I thought you were just going to a date and completing the investigation, but I didn't expect it to have reached this stage."
"Captain Anna, when will the wedding be held?"
"…I don't understand what you are talking about. Okay, I'm going to take a shower!"
Anna felt that continuing to talk like this would not be a good idea, so she simply cut off the call.
After adjusting her mood a little, she walked into the bathroom with her clothes.
What followed was the rustling sound of people taking off clothes and the gurgling sound of running water.
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