Chapter 100: Seize and Refine in an Instant
After Lina shamefully revealed the purpose of her mission, Mahiro's expression gradually grew peculiar.
"After completing the investigation, if the target is deemed too dangerous, carry out an assassination to eliminate them...? I didn't expect the prison-loving U.S. to understand me so well."
"Huh?"
Mahiro's reaction was completely beyond her expectations.
She had thought this bastard would fly into a rage upon hearing this—she had even prepared herself for death.
Yet, all she got in response was a flippant remark about understanding?
Understanding what?
"Wait... you're not angry?"
"Why would I be angry?"
Mahiro grinned and said:
"Assassination? That's exactly what I love about the prison-loving U.S.—their tendency to lose both the bait and the fish. Sending a beautiful girl to assassinate me? I suggest they send more. For example, I remember there's someone named Sylvia in your STARS team—it'd be even better if they sent her along!"
"No! If you have any issues, take them out on me! Don't you dare lay a finger on Sylvia!"
Lina's emotions flared up.
How could he!
Leaving aside the fact that Sylvia was her roommate and their relationship was special, as the captain of STARS, she naturally had the duty and responsibility to protect her subordinates.
What shocked her even more was that Mahiro had somehow uncovered the details of her team, down to its members. Who could have leaked it...?
After all, the STARS team roster was classified as top-secret information!
"Mhm, well then, that depends on your performance~"
"Ugh! You're disgusting!"
Mahiro didn't bother answering Lina's questions. He simply tossed out that remark before leaving amidst her curses.
All he could say was that occasionally, his so-called "cheap mom" was still quite useful.
Ever since subduing Lina, his school life had grown increasingly exciting.
After school, during deserted lunch breaks—whenever the opportunity arose, he would seize Lina and refine her in an instant.
As for Lina, she had gone from reluctant resistance to half-hearted compliance, until finally, she would only blush in silence, sometimes even letting out a few pleased hums.
According to her, all of this was to protect her subordinates and prevent this bastard from laying a hand on Sylvia.
How noble of her.
"Nngh...!"
With a high-pitched moan, everything once again returned to silence.
Lina propped herself up on her arms, breathing heavily, her slightly curled golden hair disheveled behind her. Her beautiful face, on par with Miyuki's, was flushed with a captivating rosy hue across her baby-soft skin.
Though her legs still trembled slightly, barely able to support her weight, she gritted her teeth and picked up the neatly folded black pantyhose, bending down to slowly pull them over her slender, jade-like legs.
Everything was methodical.
They say habit becomes second nature, and Lina seemed to have grown accustomed to this life, accepting it with resignation.
Not that she had much choice—her magic couldn't win, and neither could close combat. What else could she do?
Unless USNA suddenly allowed her to abandon her mission and return home immediately.
But that was clearly impossible.
Still, once it was over, she could at least vent her frustration, spitting out a hateful curse at the person behind her—
"Perverted, disgusting trash! A hopeless bastard!"
"You really never learn, do you, Lina-san?"
"Hmph, so what if I don't? It's not like you'd let me off anyway."
As she spoke, Lina gathered her long hair and took a deep breath, forcing herself back into the composed demeanor of the model exchange student.
But the next second, a large hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, making her delicate frame shudder.
"So what? Just a little lesson, that's all~"
"Again?!" Lina gasped in shock.
"Mhm, I'm still a bit worked up."
"You bastard, just wait—one day, I'll kill you for sure... Mmmph!"
...
...
...
An unknown amount of time later.
The door of an empty classroom finally opened.
Mahiro and Angelina stepped out together, though for some reason, Lina kept hiccuping intermittently.
"You jerk, how am I supposed to eat lunch now?!"
"My fault, huh?"
Mahiro shrugged innocently. "Who told you not to learn your lesson? You just had to curse me one last time."
"You do something this filthy and disgusting to me, and I can't even vent a little?!"
"Right, and didn't I help you vent just now?"
"Bastard! Just shut up already!"
The murderous glare in her eyes was impossible to hide.
But that was all she could do.
She couldn't out-talk him, and she couldn't outfight him.
Faced with Mahiro's shameless remarks, Lina could only bare her teeth in furious frustration before stomping off angrily down the hallway.
Then, Mahiro's voice called out from behind her again.
"Hey, Lina-san~ Remember that outfit you wore when we first met? I thought it was pretty nice—when are you gonna wear it again?"
"Never! Absolutely never! Stop daydreaming!"
She knew exactly what Mahiro wanted if she wore that outfit.
Nothing but more of his filthy, depraved nonsense!
The school cafeteria.
"Ah, Mahiro-kun!"
"Mahiro-kun! Over here~"
Honoka and Sayaka spotted him first and waved him over.
Everyone except him and Lina had already taken their seats. As usual, Mahiro sat beside Sayaka, while Lina was seated between Honoka and Miyuki.
"You're so slow!"
Erika lightly teased before eyeing him and Lina with a playful smirk. "That said, I never expected you'd come together with Lina today, Yotsuba. And taking so long too... Were you two secretly meeting up?"
"That's not a funny joke, Erika."
Miyuki stepped in to defuse the situation, saying, "Even if Mahiro-kun doesn't mind, Lina-san is an untouchable goddess in the eyes of many students. We can't just casually tarnish her reputation like that."
"Miyuki!"
Hearing this, Lina's face instantly flushed red. "If we're talking about goddesses, you're no different!"
"Fufu, I'm nowhere near as popular as Lina-san, though."
Miyuki covered her mouth with a light chuckle.
Watching the two tease each other, Mahiro smiled faintly and explained:
"Actually, Lina-san and I just happened to run into each other on the way. I noticed she wasn't feeling well, so I accompanied her to the infirmary to get some medicine. Right?"
After speaking, he turned to Lina with a smile, seeking her confirmation.
Lina forced a small smile and nodded. "Yes, just as Yotsuba-san said."
But inwardly, she was screaming in frustration.
Every single day, I have to endure this heartless bastard's torment, and now I even have to cover for him?!
There's no justice in this world, no humanity at all!
"Ehh~ What a coincidence~ But now that I think about it, you two have been getting pretty close lately, haven't you?"
Erika had keenly picked up on this.
Or rather, it wasn't just her—others had noticed it too.
Over the past while, Mahiro and Lina had indeed been just a little closer than usual, and the frequency of them being seen together had increased significantly.
Moreover, after Mahiro had revealed Lina's true identity last time, they noticed that he hadn't made any further moves. Everything had settled into an uneventful routine, with nothing out of the ordinary happening.
Not that they minded, of course.
After all, no trouble was the best outcome. None of them wanted to end up facing off against a classmate they had just become friends with.
But seeing how flawlessly he had brushed it off, Erika could only click her tongue in defeat before shifting her teasing gaze to Sayaka.
"Speaking of which, Sayaka-chan~ Your boyfriend's getting awfully close to a first-year beauty, you know~ Aren't you jealous? Be careful, or Lina-chan might just steal him away~"
"Eri!"
"Chiba-san!"
Sayaka and Lina both protested at the same time.
Mahiro quickly chimed in as well. "Erika, that's not fair. You tease me all the time, so by that logic, we're pretty close too, right? And yet, has Sayaka ever gotten jealous?"
"I'm different."
"How so? Don't tell me you don't consider yourself a beauty? If I recall correctly, you ranked pretty high in the first-year beauty rankings—second place, wasn't it? Though you dropped to third after Lina-san arrived..."
"Ahhh—Fine, fine! I admit defeat! Please, spare me any further humiliation!"
Erika cut him off with an embarrassed shout.
She couldn't understand it—why was it that she never managed to get the upper hand with Mahiro?
"Haha, alright, I'll stop. No need to get so worked up... Okay, okay, I won't say any more."
Under Erika's death glare, he wisely shut his mouth.
Then, he gently took Sayaka's hand and whispered, "I'll always love you, Sayaka."
"...Mm. Me too, Mahiro-kun."
Sayaka nodded, her cheeks instantly blooming with a shy blush.
"Ugh, in the end we got force-fed dog food again," Erika sighed, resting her chin on her hand with a helpless expression.
"So envious..." Honoka murmured quietly.
"Yes, it really is enviable..."
Miyuki nodded, her gaze revealing subtle complex emotions.
Lina noticed that seemingly all the girls present had some kind of relationship with Mahiro.
What a playboy scumbag...
Then their table also began their mealtime.
However, after finishing the meal, Mizuki who had been silent the whole time suddenly adjusted her glasses and spoke up:
"Speaking of which... have you all heard the recent rumors at school?"
"Ah, Mizuki, you mean that one, right?"
Erika, who loved gossip the most, could be said to know all the rumors circulating in school.
"That one about people hearing strange noises in the hallway after school, right?"
"!"
"Yes yes, that one! They say during dusk, what sounds like sobbing comes from an empty classroom. Do you think... the school might be haunted?"
Mizuki pushed up her glasses, unusually showing a serious expression.
"!!!"
Lina's petite body trembled slightly again, her thighs involuntarily tensing up.
"Lina? Are you okay?" Honoka noticed Lina seemed somewhat off, appearing rather nervous.
"Ah... no, actually... I don't like these kinds of ghost stories, they scare me a bit..."
Lina quickly waved her hands in explanation.
Scared? That was putting it mildly.
Those sobbing sounds were actually from her covering her mouth, she never thought someone would hear them! That bastard promised he'd use a soundproof barrier!
If people found out, she'd really have no face left to live!
A dignified Thirteen Apostle becoming an extra-large cup...
Thinking this, Lina shot Mahiro across the table a discreet glare.
But she found that bastard Mahiro remained completely calm and composed as usual.
How could he be so nonchalant about this?!
"Speaking of which Mizuki, how can you be so sure it's ghosts? Maybe it's just stray cats in heat making those sounds?"
It was Mahiro who spoke, but Lina's face also flashed with momentary embarrassment.
"Hmm... that makes sense. But they say it sounds more like human sobbing... and old books often describe it this way."
"Well, animals can mimic human voices too, like mynah birds and parrots. But if you insist it's ghosts, why not go see for yourselves?"
"What a great idea! Let's go check it out after school today!"
Hearing Mahiro's suggestion, Erika immediately got excited.
When it came to ghost hunting, she was wide awake!
"Oh right, I'll invite Miki too, he's the best at ancient spirit magic."
"I'll help too!" Mizuki pumped herself up.
The others all enthusiastically joined in as well.
Even the normally calm and elegant Miyuki decided to participate.
"Are you crazy?!"
Seeing them so excited, especially with Mahiro making such suggestions, Lina subconsciously shouted out, immediately regretting it as she became the center of awkward attention.
All eyes turned toward her.
"Lina, what's wrong? Why so suddenly worked up?"
"Ah... no... I mean... I'm not really fond of participating in these kinds of activities. They're a bit scary." After much deliberation, Lina managed to come up with this lame excuse.
"Oh come on, with so many of us together, what's there to fear? And in critical moments, you can always have Mahiro protect you~"
The speaker was Erika, who kept casting ambiguous glances between the two of them.
Meanwhile, Mahiro remained quietly smiling.
In the end, Lina reluctantly boarded this pirate ship of an outing.
But the problem was—the main characters of this incident were Angelina and Mahiro. With both of them in the group, what exactly could they hope to discover?
Naturally, they returned empty-handed.
By evening, Lina dragged her exhausted body back to the apartment.
"I'm home."
"Welcome back... What happened to you, Lina?"
Sylvia, who came to greet her at the entrance wearing an apron, couldn't help but ask upon seeing Lina's listless state.
"Ah... it's nothing, Sylvie. I'm just a bit tired... Oh, I won't be having dinner. I'll take a bath and go straight to bed."
With that, she took off her boots, brushed past her roommate, and staggered toward her room.
Sylvia watched Lina's weary back, opening her mouth as if to say something.
But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to ask.
Not just today—over the past few days, she'd noticed Lina returning home utterly exhausted every evening. Even when Mia visited the apartment occasionally, Lina seemed drowsy and worn out.
Could the investigation mission really be that difficult?
She wasn't sure, but since Lina, as the squad leader, refused to talk about it, there was naturally no way for her to ask.
Moreover, from what Lina had implied, the mission was progressing smoothly, and they'd grown considerably closer to their target.
The only remaining issue was that there were still no leads regarding the mastermind behind the "Schorched Halloween" incident.
But Lina suspected it was probably connected to Yotsuba Mahiro—perhaps that boy was the one who had unleashed that strategic-level magic!
"Never mind. Let the captain get some proper rest."
Shaking her head, Sylvia gave up on further speculation.
Late at night.
Lina, still deep in sleep, was abruptly awakened by her roommate Sylvia.
"Sylvie, what is it?"
Rubbing her bleary eyes, Lina quickly regained full alertness—her three years as a professional soldier and year and a half as STARS commander had long accustomed her to being dragged out of bed for emergencies.
In a clear voice, she demanded an explanation from Sylvia.
"Major Canopus has made an urgent contact."
At this response, Lina silently walked to the communicator.
"Ben, sorry to keep you waiting. My apologies for audio-only."
[I should be the one apologizing for disturbing the Commander's rest.]
A deep, steady male voice came through the comms.
"No matter. What's happened?"
Benjamin Canopus was STARS' Second Seat, acting as interim commander whenever Lina was unavailable.
But since they contacted her at this hour, disregarding the time difference, it must mean there's something very important, right?
[We've located the fugitives from last month.]
"What? Where are they?!"
The desertion incident of STARS First-Class Star "Fomalhaut" — Alfred Fomalhaut — wasn't just bad news within STARS; it also caused a major stir among the USNA military leadership.
That incident didn't end with Lina personally "executing" Lieutenant Fomalhaut.
During the same period, seven other magicians and several magic engineers also deserted the USNA military, including some STARS members.
This became her third mission in Japan: to capture these fugitives and carry out their secret executions personally!
[Japan. They landed in Yokohama and are presumed to be hiding in Tokyo now. However, their specific objectives remain unclear.]
"What did you say?!"
Lina was somewhat stunned.
In Japan, and in Tokyo no less—wasn't that right under her nose?!
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