Narrative: Things were busy yet quiet. They were two seemingly contrasting words, but they both described the current atmosphere at Yggdrasil Headquarters. Unlike the lively excitement at the seaside water park, the white building was composed, reserved, and uncompromising. It could easily be called an essential location in the fight for the "future of mankind." But no matter how many elite individuals shuffled to and fro within its walls... it was always quiet. Naturally, the quietest of all was her office. She hadn't sat here and personally handled things in some time. In fact, since playername and the Heimdall Force's notoriety began to spread around the globe... Several things no longer required her authorization. This trend was blatantly obvious, which led many small yet cumbersome voices to share their opinions. She had always been non-committal in response to this. No one knew what she was thinking — step down and let someone else take the reins? Go with the flow and fade into the background? Or maybe something more radical... Everyone had their suspicions, but everyone was unsure of what would happen. It had gotten to the point that she had, on multiple occasions, seen employees holding stacks of reports stand outside her office door for a long time before finally running off. "Should I report to Director τ? Or should I ask the Adjutant for his opinion?" Even though it shouldn't have been "one or the other," at some point, everyone in the company had unconsciously developed this habit... The current depressing air weighing down on the building... was more or less irrevocably linked to this issue. So when Ji Chenxing knocked on her office door fifteen minutes ago holding a beautifully decorated envelope, even she was surprised as she stood up.
Tau: ...
Narrative: She looked up at the young girl, reached out toward the envelope, and slowly pushed it to the edge of the table.
Chenxing: ...Director τ?
Tau: What's this?
Narrative: Even though Chenxing had brought it here herself, she hadn't even looked at it. Even so, she was still extremely curious.
Chenxing: It's a... letter from home.
Tau: Hmm. Whose?
Chenxing: M... Mine. It's from my family, Director τ.
Chenxing: They had someone from Shuozhou bring it over.
Narrative: Someone brought it over? She had noticed something in those few simple words. And it was exactly what Chenxing wanted her to notice. The girl in front of her was no airhead. Rather, Chenxing was one of the candidates qualified to take her place when she eventually retired.
Chenxing: Ah, they already went back. This letter was the only thing they gave me.
Narrative: Chenxing quickly spoke up again when there was no response. This only served to further pique τ's interest.
Chenxing: The Military has its people performing joint inspections at the Holme Border Office. You already know how... sensitive things are recently. I don't want to cause any problems for you or the company...
Chenxing: So I sent them back right away as soon as I heard. They only left the letter with me.
Tau: Heh...
Chenxing: Director τ?
Tau: If this letter is from your family, why are you showing it to me?
Chenxing: Because I haven't decided what to do yet.
Narrative: She spoke extremely frankly. In contrast to her usual honest sincerity, it actually sounded somewhat ridiculous.
Tau: ...I'm not reading it. If you think I need to know what it says, just tell me.
Narrative: It was a lie. The wax seal on the envelope in front of her wasn't even broken. Chenxing herself likely hadn't even read the letter... In other words, she hadn't come to τ to simply show her this letter from home.
Chenxing: Director τ...
Narrative: The girl in front of her gritted her teeth to calm her raging emotions. Her typically unchanging expression now revealed her uncertainty. After a moment, she looked up again decisively.
Chenxing: ...I'll lay out everything for you clearly. I don't think this is a normal "letter from home."
Chenxing: I just got back from the Border Office, and I ran into the Adjutant there. He thinks you should be the first to read this letter too.
Tau: playername? He was at the Border Office?
Chenxing: Do you remember when Fritia led an all-Yggdrasil research team to analyze and test the composition of that Awakening Dust? We sent some of those samples to a third-party lab for help.
Chenxing: The results got sent out this morning. They were stuck at the Border Office thanks to the new regulations, so the Adjutant had to go get them himself.
Chenxing: He took Fritia with him, and that's where we ran into each other.
Chenxing: I took a look at the composition report. The initial rare mineral they detected... was from the <orange>Beiting outpost</> on the Shuozhou border...
Chenxing: Imagine what that must have looked like — the two of them holding that report and realizing Rozan might have gone to Shuozhou. And I...
Tau: ...just happened to be holding this letter specially sent over from Shuozhou.
Chenxing: Heh... There was a Military supervisor watching us, and his expression was really something.
Chenxing: "Why did Ji Chenxing, who rarely talks to her family, suddenly get a letter from home?" It's obvious they didn't send that person just to deliver a letter. They were here to check in on me and bring me back.
Chenxing: At that point, I might as well have written "guilty" on my forehead!
Chenxing: If this had happened at any other time, I could just brush it off. But it happened right when the Military blackmailed us into setting up a joint Border Office, and they watched it all happen...
Narrative: Despite her furrowed brow and clenched jaw, Chenxing tried her best to control her emotions and stop her anger from showing itself on her face.
Chenxing: The Military's recent behavior just makes my blood boil! It's obvious they're connected to Rozan somehow, but they're still trying to implicate us for crimes related to the Demiurges...
Tau: That's because they don't believe... there really wasn't a connection between Yggdrasil and Rozan before.
Tau: In their eyes, anyone with superhuman power is a threat. And that... isn't even considering the precedent ω, π, and ε set.
Tau: Just chalk it up to them expecting everyone else to live up to their standards.
Narrative: As she said this, she finally picked up the envelope once again, ripped off the wax seal, and pulled out two pieces of thin paper with a flick of her wrist. After a moment, she suddenly looked up from behind the letter and stared at Chenxing...
Adjutant: She's going to let you go back?
Chenxing: Yeah.
Adjutant: She's letting you go back, not ordering you to?
Chenxing: Right. Director τ said I could go back, but it wasn't an order.
Narrative: Half an hour later, Chenxing smiled wryly as she sat across from me on the base rooftop. However, her somewhat furrowed brow still betrayed some hesitation. She'd contacted me after leaving τ's office, subsequently showing me the so-called "letter from home" she'd received. Long story short, the entire letter was full of confusing, meaningless drivel. Only one thing was clear, and that was the intention to have Chenxing "return home as soon as possible."
Chenxing: ...What a mess. They know how tenuous Yggdrasil's cooperative relationships are right now, but they still wrote something like this and had it delivered.
Chenxing: This was completely unprovoked! They just want to stir up trouble!
Narrative: Chenxing's face had turned red with shame and resentment. Her shoulders were tense as her fingers wove together tightly. She was absolutely fuming.
Chenxing: I'm afraid I won't be able to come back for a few months if I go. Adjutant, I...
Adjutant: Don't worry. τ and I have your back.
Chenxing: I'm not worried. I just can't be bothered with everything going on at home... Whatever. I'll go back this time, deal with everything I can, then make a clean break.
Narrative: Take her hand
Adjutant: Okay, okay...
Narrative: I reached out, slowly and gently pulling apart her fingers that she'd laced together like slender willow branches.
Adjutant: Since you already decided to go back, just have at it. If you think someone might have ulterior motives, expose them and hang them out to dry.
Adjutant: Ignoring the fact that you're the eldest daughter, you're also an elite Heimdall operative. Who would even dream of messing with you?
Chenxing: ...Rely on my powerful connections? I don't want to.
Adjutant: That's right. You just have to rely on your powerful connections to scare them off. I mean, why else do we risk our lives every day?
Narrative: She was surprised, gazing at me with an aggrieved expression. But I decided to keep things lighthearted, shooting her a playful smile.
Adjutant: Sometimes small things seem really frustrating. We don't want to see them through because they're a pain in the neck, right?
Adjutant: If you don't want to see it through to the end, you can use compassion and authority, like "a carrot and a stick," to keep those unnecessary annoyances away.
Narrative: I shifted, moving closer to her.
Adjutant: The Heimdall force is the stick...
Chenxing: The... stick... Okay. Then I'll take that stick you're talking about and show them how this world really works, Adjutant.
Narrative: She mumbled for a moment before suddenly yanking on my hand as she stood up.
Chenxing: I'll figure it out! Worst-case scenario, I'll be there for a couple of months. No matter what happens, I'll take care of it quickly and be back ASAP!
Adjutant: Go get ready. Let me know before it's time to leave. I'll handle the rest.
Chenxing: No... I'm going by myself. Everything about this letter and the way it was delivered was strange. You shouldn't give it too much of your time. I'll take care of this.
Chenxing: You, Fritia, and everyone else have a lot of work to do. But I... can't do anything to help you guys.
Narrative: Chenxing turned away as she murmured this. She then quickly strode over to the staircase leading down from the rooftop, bumping into the person she had just mentioned.
Chenxing: Ah—
Fritia: Is the sun really beating down on the roof or something? Your face is all red, Chenxing...
Narrative: Watching as Chenxing bounded down the steps, Fritia didn't continue walking up to the rooftop. Instead, she leaned against the doorway and pouted at me.
Fritia: If she didn't remind you, would you have forgotten all about the "work" we have to do, Adjutant~?
Adjutant: ...Why aren't you resting in the medical bay!? What are you doing up he—
Narrative: I pursed my lips in silent protest, but she just whirled around, smacked her butt, and shot me a look.
Fritia: The rejection period for my new exosuit ended ages ago! Why are you freaking out?
Fritia: And we need to get out of here pronto! We know there were traces of a rare mineral only produced on the Shuozhou border in the Awakening Dust.
Fritia: I already checked in with the research team and the Logistics Department. They're putting together our travel plans for the next few days.
Fritia: You should calm down and get some rest before we leave! I don't want you looking like a raccoon when we set out together.
Narrative: She left, walking down the stairs as she said this.
Adjutant: Geez...
Narrative: I fought back a sigh, stood up, and slowly followed her. However, an inexplicable agitation was nagging at me... By the time I reached the stairs, I couldn't hold it in any longer.
Adjutant: When... did you start eavesdropping on other people's conversations?
Yao: ...Trying to pick a fight, huh? You don't hear me complaining you guys woke me up from my nap.
Narrative: Right. Yao wasn't snoozing within her "territory" in the base today. Instead, she was wearing a coverup, splayed out on a lounge chair in a corner of the rooftop. It seems like she'd been lying there long before Chenxing and I even arrived, but it's possible neither of the two girls just now noticed her presence.
Yao: Beiting outpost... Mobei... That's a desert in western Shuozhou, right? Hmm... it would be way better to sunbathe there.
Narrative: What was she up to...?
Yao: Hey, Adjutant. Don't rush out of here. Do me a favor.
Adjutant: Help you put on some sunscreen?
Yao: Hehe, nope. I won't ask you to do that. Happy now?
Narrative: ...What was going on with her today?
Yao: Geez, would you get over here...?
Narrative: I had no choice but to walk over to the corner where she was camped out. Before I even stopped next to her, she reached out and pulled me down onto the lounge chair. Her beautiful figure was on display as she laid there, her skin so fair that it shone in the sunlight. I couldn't help feeling guilty as I looked at her for some reason.
Yao: About the mission... I have a plan too!
Narrative: She narrowed her eyes cunningly. All I could do was lean in as she pulled me closer, falling further and further into her gentle trap laced with laziness. It was impossible to escape.