Hyoubu looked at the princess and Yugiri, who had just entered the room.
"Is there something you need, princess?"
"Ah, um. This girl said she has not played outside much, so I wanted to show her around my kingdom. May I?" With a confident smile on her face, she showed not a sliver of doubt or scheming in her eyes.
"What? What are you saying?! If you go outside now..." Andy exclaimed, but before he could finish his sentence, Hyoubu interrupted him.
"Wait."
He kneeled in front of Yugiri and gently asked her, "What do you want to do?"
Yugiri clutched her small fist tightly. Should she say it? She wasn't sure, but she really did want to go outside. But wouldn't that cause the major trouble?
"..." The words were stuck in her throat for a while, but eventually she made up her mind.
"I... I will protect the princess!" she exclaimed, staring straight at Hyoubu, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Hyoubu just smiled; looking at Yugiri say something like that was also a first, but this was good as well. She had always been very shy and never spoke out about anything.
"Alright."
"What?!"
But Hyoubu straight up ignored Andy's protests and patted Yugiri, on the head.
"I will leave it to you to protect the princess."
A massive smile appeared on the little girl's face. "Major!"
The princess watched this all happen right in front of her with a smile; this clearly wasn't just a criminal organization.
"Wait, you're joking, right? If that would cut it, why even kidnap her?" Andy said.
But Yugiri wasn't having it; she stared directly at him, glaring, puffing her cheeks as well.
"Uhh..."
"It'll be fine. Senzo will join them as well. Just to make sure." Hyoubu casually said.
And the moment his name was mentioned, he appeared inside the room. "You called for me?" he inquired, and upon seeing the scene in front of him, he knew exactly what Hyoubu was about to say.
Yugiri, on the other hand, was over the moon; not only was she going to play outside, but even Senzo was coming along. This was a great day!
"Oh, and I have another interesting idea. Andy, you will be coming with me."
The smirk Hyoubu had on his face looked rather evil to Andy, who couldn't help but gulp a couple times and take a step back.
***
After the princess changed out of her all-white dress into casual clothes she borrowed from Momiji, the three were now outside strolling leisurely through the streets of the small kingdom.
I can already see Andy suffering from what Hyoubu's planning; heh, that's what you get for running your mouth. Senzo was walking a small distance behind the princess and Yugiri, mocking Andy.
He had, after all, brought it upon himself; making Yugiri angry isn't a good thing. She might be the highest-ranking member because everyone dotes so much on her, especially Hyoubu.
The princess and Yugiri were completely oblivious to the suffering he would go through and instead were enjoying their time walking through the city sightseeing while eating a massive ice cream.
"Uh, Yugiri, isn't that a little too much? 5 whole scoops?" Senzo asked, seeing the massive ice cream the size of her head inside that small hand.
She just stuck out her tongue and continued munching on it.
"Guess not."
"So you're Senzo, right?" The princess suddenly asked, slowing her steps so she walked next to him.
"Yeah, I'm Senzo. But I'm rather surprised. Are you always like this, princess? Going out with your kidnappers?"
The princess puffed out her cheeks slightly and turned her head away from him. "It's Sophie. Sophie Grace."
"..."
"Alright, my bad, Sophie." Senzo stated, seeing her act like that put a smile on his face; she was, after all, very beautiful.
"So you're an esper as well? Right, I heard only espers can join Pandra." She went right back to being all chummy as if nothing had happened.
Senzo just shrugged; he had never understood women anyway, so he straight up ignored her weird behavior.
"Yea, I am an esper. And just between us, I'm the one who did the kidnapping. Oh, and thanks for all the food; it was delicious."
At some point Yugiri had also slowed her step and walked on the other side of Senzo, but instead of saying anything, she just raised her arms up in the air.
And without delay, Senzo lifted her up and put her on his shoulder. Sophie, who saw all of this happen, widened her eyes.
"Is that telekinesis?" She immediately asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Nope, I do not have that power. Mine are rather special." Senzo replied with a shrug.
Yugiri, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying her massive ice cream; she didn't even hear Senzo and Sophie going back and forth.
"Then what power was that? The only one I know that could do that is telekinesis."
Senzo rubbed his chin deep in thought. It'll probably be fine to tell her?
He wasn't too sure if it was dangerous to tell her, but her enthusiasm made it hard for him to refuse her.
With a sigh, he started explaining the power he had just used. "It's a power called vector authority. I can control, erase, or destroy vectors." He casually said, with a proud look on his face.
He was, after all, very proud of this power; it was a super useful multipurpose superpower.
Sophie's eyes sparkled upon hearing his power. "Wow, that is a very powerful ability." Her mind raced with all the possibilities that power could be used for, then her mind went back to the kidnapping incident. Before she lost consciousness, she clearly felt her body being frozen in place.
"Did you freeze everyone's vectors during the kidnapping?" She suddenly blurted out.
Her cheeks turned slightly pink at the embarrassing sight of her acting without any manners, but she couldn't help it; she had always admired espers. That was also one of the reasons she was actively advocating for esper rights.
"Impressive, yeah, that's right." Senzo said, raising an eyebrow at the observation the princess had made in that short time.