"Good work, Yozuki-kun. I'm glad to see the Holy Princess is safe and sound."
"Yagami-san, no, more importantly..."
We, the mobile unit, who annihilated the monsters released all over the island, have returned to Section Six.
In front of me are Signum-san and Vita-san. Behind me are Yuki, Cocoro, and the Holy Princess. Nanoha-san and Fate-san were also with us, but they seem to have other work.
The Holy Princess is temporarily evacuated here. I don't think there's a safer place than this.
The other princesses are being protected by their country's escorts, and Lainess seems to be with Waver.
Soon, we were ushered into the commanding officer's office.
It's fine that Yagami-san is sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. There's an unfamiliar man next to her. His name is Hebigura-san. He seems to be the head of Section Six's administrative staff. Well, there would be someone like that.
Aside from that,
"Hello, we meet again, Yozuki Sho-kun."
"Why is Finn Deimne of the Loki Familia here?"
"You don't have to be so formal. You can just call me Finn."
The man who is laughing cheerfully is a man whose height only reaches the chest of the already small Yagami-san. He's Finn Deimne, whom I met at the Holy King's Church before.
Why is the Loki Familia in the Special Forces Section Six?
"I'm surprised. I didn't know you had a male acquaintance other than Waver-san, Senpai..."
"Yes. But I still think the gender balance is bad..."
Yuki and Cocoro are saying something.
"Hmm? Oh, right... Section Six and the Holy King's Church are on good terms. We exchange a lot of information."
Yagami-san adds.
"This incident is also part of it. We, the Loki Familia, were fighting on the exact opposite side of where you were fighting. I'm just here to share information about that time."
I see. That's the connection.
"Commander Yagami, Commander Finn, what is the situation?"
The Holy Princess asks in a dignified voice.
"For now, things have calmed down. All confirmed monsters have been defeated. However, the mastermind who caused this commotion has not been captured."
"The mastermind..."
"Yes. There must have been a summoner who summoned these monsters. Ais made contact with him, but he got away."
Finn adds to my muttering.
"What? Wallenstein?"
Signum-san reacts faster than me.
"Yes. There was another swordsman on par with Ais, but he still got away. He's no ordinary summoner."
"The problem is why a summoner like that would cause such a commotion. I wonder if it's about Aria-chan after all."
Yagami-san seems to know about the attack on the conference as well.
"Yes. I got a call from Tatenashi. She's already woken up. It seems her life isn't in danger."
"I see! That's a relief...!"
"You're the one who carried her to the hospital, right? Thank you."
It's a relief that Tatenashi-san is safe, but there are still many problems. The biggest one is Aria's whereabouts.
"That's right. It can't be helped that the summoner got away. We should prioritize rescuing our comrades... or at least, I want to say that."
Finn looks apologetic.
"We have to return to the Holy King's Church for now. After that, the island's security will be prioritized. We can't cooperate with you on this."
That's understandable. It's an unprecedented situation with monsters rampaging all over the island. The sand Anubis attacking in droves seems cute in comparison. And I also fought Another OOO before that.
The island is in chaos in just a few hours. I'm also in chaos with the rapidly changing situation.
"Yagami-san, what will Special Forces Section Six do?"
"The Bureau is on high alert and on standby."
"Yeah. Even though we've annihilated them for now, we don't know when those monsters will appear again."
Signum-san and Vita-san answer instead of Yagami-san.
"But if it's to save our comrades, a little insubordination is unavoidable."
"Yagami-san...!"
As expected of our commander! What a chivalrous line!
Yagami-san nods.
"So, where was Kanzaki-san taken?"
"...Huh?"
"No, I asked where she was taken."
"Oh, um, well..."
"Hmm?"
Yagami-san stops at my hesitation.
"Could it be that you have no idea?"
"Yes. I was hoping to borrow your help for that part as well..."
Even I'm not that omnipotent. I have no clues, and that's precisely why I want to borrow their strength.
"Hmm... Even if you say that..."
Yagami-san leans back in her chair.
"If we have zero clues, it's going to take a while to find her..."
She puts a hand on her temple and groans as if it's difficult.
"We'll try to look for her. Yozuki-kun, you go home for now and check on everyone else and your house. We'll also arrange for the Holy Princess's ride."
With that, we decide to head home for now.
---------
At Yagami-san's urging, we leave Section Six.
"Aria..."
As Yagami-san said, even if I start looking for her whereabouts now, I won't find her right away. The monster commotion on the island gave Patra and the others enough time to escape.
Maybe I should have trusted Decade instead of Woz in that situation.
In fact, Decade could have handled that situation alone. It would have been easy if he had been serious.
Yuki and Cocoro encourage me with worried faces.
"Cheer up, Senpai."
"Thanks to Master coming, we didn't get hurt."
"Yeah. Thank you. Of course, I'm glad about that. But... what should I do?"
Rescuing Aria is a definite plan, but the biggest problem is still her location. I need something that can pinpoint her location.
And then, there's the fighting power. Rescuing Aria will definitely lead to a fight. In some cases, a fight on par with Another OOO.
"For now, for fighting power, I'll ask everyone..."
"Master, about that..."
"Hmm?"
Cocoro shows me her terminal screen.
"Everyone seems to be very busy..."
"Hmm..."
It seems that everyone's security has been strengthened and their hours extended because of this commotion. Everyone is saying they might not be able to come home today.
This alert will likely continue for several days. We have to rescue Aria as soon as possible. We can't wait until everyone is free.
"Yes. And if she was kidnapped by I-U, I don't think Aria-san will stay quiet."
"Something terrible might be happening to her. We have to go and save her as soon as possible."
In the end, we come back to the same conclusion, but unfortunately, we're back at the beginning. We're lacking all the means.
"U-Um, Senpai."
"Huh? What is it, Yuki?"
"Yuki-sama?"
Yuki stops and calls out to me hesitantly, looking away. Cocoro and I tilt our heads at her unnatural behavior.
Yuki beckons me without saying anything and covers her mouth with her hand. I get her intention and lean my ear toward her. Is this a conversation she doesn't want Cocoro to hear?
"Um, you want something to break this situation, right? Aria-san's location and a new ability for the rescue."
"Well, at the very least, I just want to know Aria's location."
If a convenient ability could be created so easily... don't think about it.
"Yuki..."
"What's with that look on your face? I'm telling you, this is an emergency, and it's unavoidable!"
In other words, Yuki is suggesting that we have sex to break this situation.
"D-Don't say it so directly! If there's no other way, it can't be helped, right...!"
"Well, yes, but..."
My abilities are added through a gacha. That means I can't aim for a convenient ability. I don't even know how many times it will take.
"I... I'll do my best too..."
"O-Okay..."
Yuki says, her face bright red, squeezing out the words.
If Yuki says it's okay, I guess I have no choice but to rely on that for now. She offered it herself. She's already made up her mind.
Then I have no choice but to accept her kindness.
"What about you, Cocoro? Are you going to join?"
"Of course not! What are you saying!"
"...It was a joke, of course. Yeah."
I make a lighthearted joke and end the conversation, leaving with our faces red from imagining what's to come.
"Master? Yuki-sama? What's wrong with you?"
"No, it's nothing."
Well, Yuki will never let Cocoro join, so I have to think of another way...
"Oh."
The phone is ringing.
"Waver? Hello?"
"You're connected. Are you all right over there?"
"Yeah. You seem to be fine too."
"I was with the world's greatest VIP. I was safer than anyone else on the island."
Right, that was true.
"The commotion on the island has also subsided. I've finally been released and just arrived home. You were chasing that sphinx and fighting all this time, weren't you? Did you get the girl back?"
He must have heard about me chasing the sphinx from Lainess.
"...I couldn't. I was interrupted on the way."
"Didn't you keep chasing?"
"There were circumstances that prevented me from chasing."
Another OOO was an opponent only I could defeat. No, maybe Decade could have done it, but I couldn't just throw it away.
"I see. And now you're racking your brain to get the kidnapped girl back."
"What is it, you know me too well."
"I'm not called Lord El-Melloi II for nothing."
"But what's the point if I don't know her location..."
It's meaningless if I'm full of motivation but don't know where to go.
"Hmm..."
I can sense Waver thinking deeply on the other end of the phone.
And then,
"Come to my place. I might be able to help you."
He says something like that.
---------
"Hello, welcome... Hmm? What's wrong, Yuki? You look grumpy."
"...It's nothing."
"Is that so? To me, you look like you're sulking because something you were looking forward to was taken away from you. I'm very curious."
"It's nothing!"
Lainess and Yuki, who greeted us, are arguing.
"Master, what's wrong with Yuki-sama?"
"Something bad happened."
The reason for Yuki's grumpiness... isn't really because of me! It's Waver's fault for suddenly calling and saying he had a plan to break the situation.
"Hmm? Whatever. My brother is waiting for you."
Lainess says and beckons us into the room.
"You've come."
"I'm sorry. I didn't bring any gifts."
In the bright living room, Waver, in a black suit, is sitting on the sofa. Gray is standing behind him.
"Don't worry about it. It won't take long... Have a seat."
We are urged to sit across from Waver. Lainess sits next to Waver.
"So? Are you going to show me 'that' of my brother today?"
"That's why I called Sho here."
"'That'? You mean you can find Aria with that?"
I ask eagerly.
"I don't know if I can find her. But I can definitely find a clue."
"Master."
Gray hands something to Waver from behind. I observe the object placed on the table... It's a small box-like machine, a very old type of camera?
And that long, narrow groove on the bottom. It's a Polaroid camera that spits out photos on the spot.
"I was able to use this power about 10 years ago, a little after you went back. I was surprised when I suddenly felt sick at that time."
Waver raises his right hand.
I'm shocked by what's wrapped around his hand.
"You don't mean—!"
"Yes, that's right.—Hermit Purple!"
His hand, wrapped in purple thorns, smashes the camera.
"!"
To Yuki and Cocoro, who can't see the thorns and don't understand the situation, it must have looked like Waver suddenly destroyed his own camera for no reason.
But that's not the case.
The destroyed camera activates and spits out one photo.
"I can't believe you became a Stand user."
"Don't tell anyone. It's one of the few weapons I have."
Waver picks up the photo that was spat out.
"Remember the arrow you gave Kiritsugu-san? I actually hurt my finger with it. I ignored it because the effects didn't show up immediately, but it manifested in me about three months later."
"Did you come up with the name yourself?"
"I feel like someone told me that this was the official name. It feels strangely right to me, so I've been using it."
Hmm. Well, as for the name, I guess some kind of world correction force was at work.
Hermit Purple. It's a Stand that Joseph Joestar had, and it takes the form of purple thorns.
Its ability is spirit photography, and by touching something that can display images, such as a Polaroid camera or a TV, it can show a distant location.
He can also extend the thorns to choke an opponent or use them like a Tarzan rope, but it's mainly a Stand for information gathering.
Of course, it would be unnatural for me to know this, so I just listen to Waver's explanation in silence. It seems there's nothing out of the ordinary.
Waver puts away the camera fragments and places the photo on the table.
"The kidnapped girl is here."
All of us peer at the photo.
What's in the photo is,
"An island."
"It's an island."
"It is an island."
It's a photo of an island from a high, diagonal angle. It doesn't seem to be a very large island, but it's probably an island near Academy Island.
"Let's try it again."
Waver uses his Stand again.
However,
"It's an island again..."
The angle is different, but it's probably the same island.
"Senpai, this isn't enough..."
Yuki says worriedly.
Come to think of it, when he used spirit photography to find Dio in the original story, he was able to figure out that he was in Egypt thanks to Star Platinum. Did I overestimate the power of the Stand...?
"No, but if we know which island it is, we can go there. We have a photo, so we can search the database."
They have technology in this world. They might be able to identify it even from a photo like this.
"You're right. Then, I'll contact Hayate-sama right away."
"No, you don't need to do that."
Everyone goes into combat stance at the sudden appearance.
he was standing in the room at some point. It has spikes and a crescent-shaped scar in the center of its chest.
What is this guy, I've never seen him before...!
"Whoa, whoa, put your weapons down. I'm not your enemy. I just thought I'd help you rescue Kanzaki H. Aria."
"What...?"
With his playful demeanor, this is definitely a guy you shouldn't let your guard down around.
"It's fine to be on guard. But it's going to take a while to find her with just that photo. I hope she'll be safe until then."
This spiky guy, what does he know and how much does he know? Who is he and where is he from?
"It's fine if you contact Hayate Yagami. But if you do, I'll back out."
In other words, he's telling us to choose. Do we take a certain but time-consuming route that might be too late, or do we entrust our backs to this guy with an unknown identity?
"I'll join this fight too."
A silver aurora suddenly appears in the room. From it emerges Kadoya Tsukasa, who looks the same as ever.
"This is my house..."
"Isn't that great, Brother? You have so many guests today."
Waver looks dismayed at the uninvited guests.
"I'll accompany you as well."
"Woz..."
"No, I said this is my house..."
"Give it up, Brother."
Woz, who is as elusive as ever, speaks to me with an arrogant smile.
Where was this guy and what was he doing after he disappeared from the Inter-Middle venue?
"This time, Kanzaki H. Aria was taken away by the enemy because of my lack of ability. I want a chance to atone for that, my Demon King."
Woz bows respectfully.
"Senpai, what do we do?"
"...We can't waste any time on Aria's rescue. We have to do it with this team."
Both Woz and the spiky guy are unknowns, but their aura definitely says they're strong. And with Decade here, this is probably the strongest team we can put together right now.
"And you, spiky."
"... ... Oh, me? What is it?"
he points to himself with a feigned innocent expression.
"What's your name?"
"Huh?"
"Do you want to be called 'spiky' forever?"
"I'll pass on that—I'm Jugglus Juggler."
"Nice to meet you. I'm going to have you talk about a lot of things you know."
"If I can talk about them."
The two of us shake hands.
Woz checks the contents of his book, and Tsukasa takes a picture of us.
And so, a temporary team for Aria's rescue was formed.
--------------------------------------------
🚀 Want Early Access (80+Chapters ahead ) & Bonus Content?
"Loving this story so far? You can read ALL chapters RIGHT NOW by joining my P4tr3on!
✨ Unlock instant access to the full completed novel
✨ No waiting for daily updates
✨ Support your favorite degenerate author (that's me!)
Only $5.99 for the full experience!
🔗 Check my profile for the Link!!