But first, an introduction.

   ‘This is the first time we worked together, so I think we should introduce ourselves and the weapon we use so that we can work together in a more efficient way.’

   Everyone agrees, and all of them are looking at me. Well, I suppose I should start first. I slowly stand up.

   ‘I’m Kagenashi Akira. My Regalias are Gáe Bulg and this ring.’

   I show them my Ring of Putrid Water.

   ‘Both of them are water element. My usual position is at the front. And, um, that’s all.’

   ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that ring used by Maria Assaf?’ Amesaki-senpai asks all of a sudden.

   ‘Yes.’

   ‘Mind telling me how you got it?’

   There’s still time, so I guess I could humor her. I proceed to tell everyone about what had happened: our team attacking Assaf-sensei, how I managed to knock her out, how both our souls got transported to Hades by her spell, how I helped the Lord of the Underworld with his domestic problem, how he gave me this ring as a reward.

   ‘...That was, quite a story.’ Amesaki-senpai says after I’m done.

   ‘Well, I was lucky. If she was more alert, the outcome might have been a lot different.’

   She shakes her head. ‘No. A win is a win, no matter how you twist it. Besides, luck is an important factor in battles too. That said, I heard that Maria Assaf works as a teacher in the Academy now. Is that true?’

   ‘Yes. She’s the homeroom teacher of First Year’s Class 2, and the school nurse.’

   And also one of my girlfriends.

   ‘A homeroom teacher and a school nurse? I could never imagine Principal Morifuji approving it.’

   I remembered the brief but tense conversation that the 2 of them had back in his office.

   ‘Me neither.’

   ‘Anyway, thank you for your story.’

   ‘You’re welcome.’

   I sit down while listening to their applause. Sakuya stands up next.

   ‘Hello, I’m your reliable big sister Morifuji Sakuya~!’

   ‘Sakuya-senpai,’ I interrupt. ‘Now that Amesaki-senpai is here, you’re not the eldest.’

   Sakuya gasps in horror.

   ‘I’ve already graduated, remember? So technically, you’re still the eldest.’ Amesaki-senpai assures Sakuya.

   Sakuya manages to regain her composure when she hears that. She coughs on her fist and continues.

   ‘Anyway, my weapon is Morifuji Tessen, a war fan.’

   LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME.

   ‘...Akira-kun, you look like you have something to say.’

   I look at her innocently. ‘Do I?’

   ‘Yes. Would you like to share it with the rest of us?’

   ‘No at all. Do continue.’

   She glares at me for a while before doing so.

   ‘My war fan allows me to choose between offense and defense. I even have an AOE spell. Unfortunately, it’s not a good idea to use it, considering the location that we’re going to fight. However, please know that I will do everything I can to assist all of you. That’s all from me. Thank you.’

   She sits down. Another round of applause. Ichika stands up next. She bows formally.

   ‘Greetings. My name is Kurogane Ichika. My Regalia is Honjo Masamune, or Masamune for short. I do not have any fancy skills, but rest assured that my skill in swordsmanship is mostly enough to assist all of you in a fight.’

   An applause once again. Next, Mashiro stands up.

   ‘Mashiro is Fuyukaza Mashiro. Mashiro used to support everyone from the back as a summoner, but lately Mashiro can use wind magic to fight at the front.’

   Another…you know. Oomori claps especially loud.

   ‘Kyaaaaa~! Mashiro-tan, you so cute!’ she shouts.

   ‘Saya, will you calm down?’ Takayama tells her.

   Next, it’s Yui’s turn.

   ‘Um, hello. My name is Kiryuu Yui. I specialize in supporting others by using talismans. It’s a great pleasure to work with all of you.’ she says a bit shyly.

   From this point onwards, let’s just say that every time someone’s done talking, it’s followed by a round of applause.

   ‘Oh, oh! My turn! I’m Oomori Saya, and I use Moeromaru, a gauntlet-type Pseudo Regalia that lets me shoot out fireball!’ Oomori makes her self-introduction energetically.

   A fireball launcher. Why am I not surprised?

   Takayama stands up right after Oomori sits down. Like Ichika, she also bows formally before she speaks.

   ‘Good day to all of you. My name is Takayama Shizuku. Hopefully, myself and my partner, a bow Pseudo Regalia that I named Hayabusa will be able to assist all of you in the upcoming battle.’

   ‘Hold on.’ I say to her before she sits down. ‘Your partner, you say? Isn’t that supposed to be Miyahara?’

   ‘That’s right, that’s right!’ Oomori joins in. ‘Are you cheating on Miyahara-kun with your bow, Shizuku? How could you?’

   ‘Wha-? I’m not cheating at all!’

   ‘Then does that mean you love him?’ I demand.

   Takayama is blushing furiously right now. ‘I-I…’

   ‘Just say it, Shizuku!’

   ‘Don’t be shy!’

‘   The two of you are going too far again.’ Yui tells us.

‘   Oh come on, Yui. We’re just helping Mihayara here.’ I tell her.

   ‘That’s right, we’re not teasing her. We’re demanding an answer from her.’

   ‘W-Well, if you say so…’

   ‘Yui! I beg of you, don’t go over to that side!’ Takayama pleads.

   ‘Should we stop them?’ I hear Ichika asking Amesaki-senpai.

   ‘No, it’s fine.’

   I’m too busy teasing Takayama to look at Amesaki-senpai’s expression, but she sure sounds amused.

   ‘Say it! Say it! Say it!’ Oomori and I chant.

   Even Sakuya starts to join in.

   ‘I-I I love Isao even more than Hayabusa!’ Takayama shouts.

   ‘Well done, Takayama! Well done!’ I say to her.

   Takayama sits down while looking very tired.

   ‘I’m getting teased by 2 grade-schoolers.’ she mumbles.

   ‘Come on, Miyahara-kun! It’s your turn!’ Oomori urges Miyahara, whose face is all red from Takayama’s confession.

   ‘Huh? Oh, right.’

   He stands up next.

   ‘Hi there. I’m Miyahara Isao. I use a Pseudo Regalia that I named Striker. It’s a lance.’

   ‘And?’ Oomori prompts him.

   Miyahara gives her a blank look. ‘And what?’

   Oomori gestures towards Takayama, who’s busy twirling her fingers and looking at him expectantly.

   ‘Oh.’ Miyahara gulps loudly. ‘I, I love Shizuku too! Much more than Striker!’

   Oomori, Sakuya and I cheer loudly. Takayama’s face got as red as Miyahara’s, if not redder.

   Shimazaki is up next.

   ‘Hello, everyone. I am Shimazaki Shinra. I use a rapier type Pseudo Regalia called Dard.’

   Amesaki-senpai raises her eyebrow.

   ‘Are you perhaps acquainted with Jacques Delacroix?’

   ‘Why, yes. He’s my tutor in fencing.’

   ‘That would explain why his Regalia is with you. Is he well?’

   ‘Yes. It’s just that he was tired of all the action and decided to retire a year ago. At the same time, he passed on Dard to me.’

   ‘I see. The world lost another of its good fighter.’

   ‘Do you know him personally?’

   ‘We met once when I was 16 in Germany. We and a few others did a mission together for a short period of time. He taught me a lot of things. How is he spending his free time nowadays?’

   ‘He told me that he was going to open a cognac brewery.’

   Amesaki-senpai smiles at that. ‘He’s a huge alcoholic as always.’

   Finally, it’s Amesaki-senpai’s turn.

   ‘Good afternoon, all of you. I am Amesaki Miu. I used to be a student of the Royal Blade Academy just like you. After I graduated, the PM personally hired me to be one of his special task force specializing in Destroyers and magic users. I’ve been working for him and serving our country since then.’

   She shows us her sword.

   ‘This is Ensifer. It belonged to Jan Chodkiewicz, one of the greatest swordsman who ever lived. The 2 of us have been to lots of battlefield together. Hopefully, we could assist you in this mission.’

   Actually, I was hoping that I won’t be a baggage to her. She managed to became the Academy’s student council president for a reason.

   And with this, the self-introduction is over. Next is the strategy. There wasn’t much to tell, since we know too little of the place.

   ‘Our top priority is to have the lab forcefully shut down by exposing its true nature. For that, we’re going to take pictures of the place and send it to PM Shindou so that other world leaders can know the truth and back us up in the shut down. While we’re at it, we’ll try to find the names of their sponsors.’

   Takayama raises up her hand.

   ‘What about Professor Ryuuouji?’ she asks.

   ‘PM Shindou didn’t give us any order regarding him, but I suppose we should have him arrested, since he’s the mastermind.’

   ‘It won’t be easy, though. He’s probably being protected by lots of guards.’ Miyahara says.

   ‘Right. As I said, the lab is the priority. Without a facility, he can’t do anything nefarious. I hope.’

   ‘One more thing.’ I add before I forget. ‘Once we’re inside, we won’t know which researcher is there on their own accord and which is threatened to be there. Therefore, it’s better not to injure any of them if it’s not necessary. Even if they try to fight back, we’re to knock them out with minimal force. Is that clear?’

   All of them nod in agreement.

   ‘What of the security?’ Amesaki-senpai asks.

   ‘I’ve at least looked at the security of the main gate.’ Madoka supplies. ‘They have security guards equipped with machine guns, security cameras, nothing out of the ordinary.’

   ‘And the security of the underground lab?’

   Oh-oh. Here it comes.

   ‘Well, the thing is, we never get to get much information about it.’ I say nervously. ‘We have a former insider, but she wasn’t there for months, so whatever she said might not be very reliable.’

   ‘And what is the information that she provided?’

   ‘She mentioned enhanced human guards, summoned Destroyers and cultists. And the presence of one of the Lost Children’s executive Joseph Brennan.’

   Amesaki-senpai narrows her eyes when she heard that name.

   ‘If possible, I would like to have that particular individual arrested as well. He has a lot to answer for.’

   ‘Understood. Well, I can at least provide ideas to deal with the guards at the gate. Takayama, those arrows of yours. What are they made of?’

   ‘I materialize them with the Hayabusa’s power, so technically they’re made of wind.’ she answers.

   ‘So, does that mean you can change those arrows’ shapes?’

   ‘Yes.’

   ‘Then I need you to knock the guards out by using those arrows of yours. Of course, you can’t kill them, so you need to make the tip blunt.’

   ‘Understood.’

   ‘After those guards are down, we’ll jump over the gate with Mashiro’s power. And then, we’ll head straight to the underground lab.’

   After I was done, I was expecting Amesaki-senpai to berate me for doing a sloppy job. Instead, she just nods.

   ‘I suppose this is as good a strategy as any.’ she says.

   ‘Are you sure this is fine, senpai?’ I ask her. ‘Shouldn’t it be more, well, better planned?’

   ‘Not really. If you think too far ahead, you’ll tend to panic if things don’t go as planned. Better to plan as little as possible and improvise on the site.’

   ‘If you say so. Do you have anything that you would like to add?’

   ‘Yes. You don’t have to be so formal around me.’

   ‘But, you’re our senior. I’m supposed to be formal.’

   ‘You think exactly like Sakuya. It took me months to convince her that there’s no need for her to be all stiff and formal around me just because I’m her senior.’

   ‘Wait, Sakuya-senpai used to be like this too? I honestly can’t imagine.’

   ‘What’s that supposed to mean, Akira-kun?’ Sakuya asks me while smiling coldly.

   ‘It’s kind of hard to describe, but you tend to be…way too informal with people. Like doing whatever you like on a whim.’

   Ichika nods her head in agreement.

   ‘You, on the other hand, needs to be more respectful towards me. I’m your senpai too, you know.’

   ‘I definitely respect you, Sakuya-senpai. I always do.’

   ‘Oh, there you go again, being all sarcastic!’

   Amesaki-senpai chuckles. ‘Is it always this lively with your team?’

   ‘I guess. We try our best.’

   She nods approvingly. ‘That’s good. Being in a good relationship with your members will help a lot when it comes to teamwork.’

   What she doesn’t know is that the relationship between us is kind of complicated.

    ‘Well, that’s it. The meeting’s over.’

   The others go back to their chatting. I, on the other hand, asked Amesaki-senpai whether I could talk to her.

   ‘Amesaki-senpai, you mentioned back at the PM’s office that you went on a mission in Ireland. Mind telling me what kind of mission it was?’ I ask her.

   ‘Ah, that. Well, we’ve received reports that there was a Dullahan rampaging around a small town and killing innocent people. I was sent there to investigate it.’

   ‘Couldn’t the locals do something about it themselves?’

   ‘They tried, but they told me that the Dullahan was way too elusive. That said, the report itself was questionable. Dullahans never actively kill a mortal. All they do are call the names of dying people and collect their souls.’

   ‘So the Dullahan was a fake?’

   She nods her head. ‘Turns out it was just a psychopath who pretended that he’s a Dullahan. His head looked like it was severed from his body because he used illusion magic. However, the human-spine whip he used was as real as it gets.’

   I shudder at that. Who knows what he did to obtain it.

   ‘I would love to go to Ireland one day.’ I tell her.

   ‘More specifically, you want to go to the Otherworld, don’t you?’

   Drat. She read me like a book.

   ‘I guess it’s normal. After all, you’re wielding Gáe Bulg, a weapon used by an Irish hero.’

   ‘Is it impossible for a mere mortal to find the place?’

   ‘It’s hard to say, really. Certainly, there are no reports where someone managed to find it and lived to tell the tale in recent years. But, who knows? You might get lucky and find it. However, it might be more difficult for you.’

   I was about to ask the reason when I remembered the origin of my spear.

   ‘Are you saying that Coinchenn is still alive?’

   ‘Its corpse was never found after all these years. In my line of work, not finding one’s corpse means that it’s still alive.’

   ‘Great. If we meet, Curruid will definitely egg me on to avenge him.’

   Amesaki-senpai raises her eyebrow. ‘You sound like you’ve talked to Curruid.’

   ‘Well, as a matter of fact, I did.’

   I told her about the conversations I had with Curruid, and the contract we formed.

   ‘Most impressive. A lot of people have tried to form a contract with spirits within their Regalias or the Destroyers they encounter, but a vast majority of them failed to do so.’

   ‘That reminds me, did all of you do the same?’ I ask Amesaki-senpai along with Sakuya and Ichika who were listening to our conversation without saying anything themselves.

   ‘Indeed I did.’ Ichika answers.

   ‘Yes.’ Amesaki-senpai says.

   ‘Yup, it’s one of the requirements to be the student council president, after all.’ Sakuya answers.

   I was stunned by that statement which was never mentioned in the original anime.

   ‘It is?’

   ‘That’s right~! You’re popular, smart, and formed a contract with your Regalia Spirit! A total fit for the next student council president~!’

   ‘Ah, you’re the next student council president, is it? You have good eyes, Sakuya.’ Amesaki-senpai nods.

   ‘I know, right?’

   ‘Wait wait wait, hold on. It’s not decided yet. I still need some time to think about it.’

   ‘Understandable. Being a student council president is a hard work, after all.’ Amesaki-senpai says.

   I’m about to say something when the pilot informs us that we’re close to our destination.

   ‘It’s a shame that our target is underground, or we could just dive down.’ Oomori says to no one in particular.

   ‘That would be impossible, Saya-chan. Akira-kun here is scared of height.’ Sakuya tells her while gesturing towards me.

   ‘Is there a need for you to tell her that, senpai?’

   Sakuya looks a me innocently. ‘I was just trying to help you, you know.’

   ‘Uh-huh.’

   Oomori immediately flashes an evil smile at me.

   ‘Kagenashi-kun, would you like to go to D*sneyland with me one day? We can go ride the roller coaster, the thing that goes all the way up and slides down at a frightening speed, and the pirate ship thing.’

   I feel my soul leaving by just hearing the names and the descriptions of those rides.

   ‘...Yeah, I’ll pass.’

   Oomori pouts. ‘Aww, you’re no fun.’

   ‘Don’t worry, Saya-chan. We’ll make sure to drag him to the place once you’ve decided the date~.’ Sakuya says to her.

   Oomori brightens up at once. ‘Oh, thank you president!’

   ‘You’re welcome~.’

   ‘Great, now I’m screwed…’

   While we’re still fooling around, the helicopter lands at somewhere near the lab, but not too near so that the guards outside do not see us land. I’ve already seen it in the original anime, but seeing it in real life still amazes me, even if I’m looking at it from a distance.

   The lab consists of 5 buildings, each one is at least 30 floors. All of them are arranged to make the shape of a pentagon. The person who designed this lab probably got his/her idea from the US military base. There’s a see-through walkway extended from each of these buildings, and the walkways are connected at the middle. Supposedly, the middle part is a huge conference room which can seat 3,000 audiences, but I never got to see it.

   Anyway, the pilot’s supposed to wait here until we’re done with our mission. The rest of us waste no time to disembark and head for the lab.

   The lab is surrounded by a huge forest, which gives us a good camouflage while we’re approaching. After walking around 10 minutes, we see the main gate, which is our way in. Again, there are lots of trees and bushes, so we have no problem in hiding ourselves.

   As per discussed, Takayama is to knock out the guards with her blunt arrows. She places her hands in a position as if she is holding a bow. Precisely one second later, a beautiful, transparent bow appears out of nowhere. She pulls the string and a blunt arrow appears.

   The next few things happened in a flash. She releases the arrow and makes it fly towards one of the guards. Before the first one reaches the target, Takayama already has a second arrow notched and fired. One buy one, the guards go down with a thud. They probably don’t even know what hit them.

   ‘All right, let’s go.’ I tell everyone.

   They nod in response. Everyone minus Takayama and Mashiro bring out their weapon while rushing forward. Mashiro, on the other hand, opens up her choker with her key.

   Mashiro got us across the gate with her wind and put us down gently. Assaf-sensei has already given us direction on how to get to the underground lab with a message, so Madoka follows it and guides us there.