The headquarter’s decision on the situation came within an hour of the end of the debriefing. Yuki had retired toward the back of the lobby, Akira and Erica accompanying her. Yuna had crept her way to them as well, brushing past a few of her fellow soldiers as she took a seat next to Yuki. They all sat together silently as they watched the lieutenant read something from his tablet, his expression darkening by the second.

“Everyone, gather around,” the lieutenant commanded, putting the tablet down. His voice rumbled in the lobby, quieting any conversations. 

The soldiers hurried at their commander’s word and formed a rough circle around the meeting table. They waited for the lieutenant to speak.

“HQ has given us their orders,” Lieutenant Mason said. “They said that they’ve looked over the report I gave them and have deliberated over our next course of action.”

He rubbed his chin.

“We’re to remain stationed here for the time being and continue watching the forest,” he said. “Our job will be to make sure that the hydra stays within the forest. If it begins to move, we are to report it and retreat.”

At the word retreat, the mood in the air lessened as soldiers let out quiet sighs of relief. 

“However,” the lieutenant continued, his voice rising a bit. “We are only to retreat if reinforcements do not arrive before we spot the hydra moving.”

The air grew heavy as the soldiers within the room realised the meaning behind what the lieutenant said.

“HQ is deciding to fight,” Mason said. His voice had quieted, but his words rang out loudly in the room. “Their reasoning is that we can’t let a rank S monster roam. Even if it’s complacent now, that doesn’t guarantee that it’ll be in the future. HQ prefers that we minimize future threats. However, they understand that a squadron will not be enough to take on a rank S monster. That is why they will be sending in reinforcements.”

“What kind of reinforcements?” a corporal asked.

“A regiment,” the lieutenant replied. Murmurs spread through the room at that. “It’ll contain members of the L-Taf as well as the Libra Army. Colonel Gyra will be leading the force. They are organizing right now. The estimate given for when they will arrive is a week.”

“Is there a strategy in place to combat the hydra?” another corporal said. 

“If there is, I haven’t received any word of it,” Mason said. “From their directive, that will be discussed when the colonel arrives.”

“Did they detail the personnel arriving?” Carol asked. 

“There are no exact specifications at this time since they haven’t gathered the men they need. However, they do have a general breakdown. They are planning to create a regiment focused on direct combat.”

Yuki frowned at that answer. They would need a lot more than pure combat capabilities in order to defeat the monster.

“Lieutenant Mason,” she said. Her words took the lieutenant’s attention immediately. “How many mages are they planning to call in?”

“Mages?” Mason frowned. “There will be quite a number of skilled magic users present if that is what you are wondering about.”

“No. I mean those with mage classes,” Yuki said. “Even those with hybrid classes. How many do you think will be in that regiment?”

“I would suspect about a fourth,” the lieutenant replied. “Most of them will be hybrid classes, but there will be a number of pure magic classes to help support and offer ranged attacks.”

‘That might not be nearly enough,’ Yuki thought. 

“You detailed that physical attacks are relatively ineffective, right?” she asked.

“It was in the report. HQ decided their decision with everything that we discussed here,” the lieutenant said. “More will be talked about when the regiment and Colonel Gyra arrive.”

“I see.” Yuki decided to leave it at that. The lieutenant wasn’t the one who was making the decisions now. 

“We’ll resume our previous watch schedule,” Mason said. His fingers began tapping on the table. “The other squads will make period trips into the forest for scouting missions. Report the usual. The mercenaries that have joined us will be providing assistance to any area that we are lacking due to our recent losses. Any questions.?”

The squadron had none.

“Alright then. Squads one, eight, and nine. You’re up for watch,” the lieutenant order. His voice grew stronger and louder as he spoke. 

“Yes, Sir,” the squads replied. Yuki heard Yuna say it next to him. 

“Squads two, four, and six will be the first to scout the forest,” Mason continued. “They’ll take the first look and will return at noon. After a meal, squads three, five, and seven will scout and return at twenty hundred.”

“Yes, Sir,” the rest of the soldiers said.

“No questions?”

“No, Sir.”

“Then get on with it.”

With the lieutenant’s words, the soldiers all moved at once to their posts.

---

 

“Thinking?” 

Yuki lifted her head toward the sound of the voice. She had been resting it on top of her arms, staring blankly at a hotel wall in front of her. Akira must have seen her and assumed that she was thinking. She wouldn’t be wrong.

“Yes,” Yuki replied. “I’m just trying to figure things out. How are things going?”

“Well, we’re going to help scout later,” Akira said. “After that, we’ll be the second shift for watch.”

“Alright. But how about you?”

“Me? Everything is fine, I guess. Nothing to complain about,” she shrugged.

“Everyone can find something to complain about. Just give it some time,” Yuki smiled. Akira laughed.

“True. People aren’t usually content for long. But we’re not exactly people, are we?” 

“No. Though, I’m not quite sure what I am,” Yuki replied. 

“Also true.” Akira pulled out a chair and took a seat beside her. “What are you thinking about?”

“This whole hydra situation,” Yuki sighed. She rubbed her eyes. “I’m trying to think of some way to defeat it, but I don’t know if I have enough information.”

“Well. Want to brainstorm?”

“Sure. It wouldn’t hurt.”

“What are you stuck on?”

“Well, I’m trying to think of a way to beat the hydra with what we have. It’s just…” Yuki paused and let out another soft sigh. “It’s just that given what we know, I can’t think of anything. The hydra’s scales are just the tip of a really big iceberg.”

“What’s bothering you the most?” Akira asked, her hand tucking a strand of her golden brown hair behind her ear. The motion distracted Yuki for a moment. 

“The most?” she repeated with a small shake of her head to focus her thoughts. “The mana the hydra has and what it could do with it. I don’t think its physical abilities are its main strengths. It seems smart as well.”

“So the hydra would know how to use that mana,” Akira said. “Did we tell them about its acid attack?”

“I’m sure Carol already did that.”

“I guess. It would be odd if she didn’t.”

“But about that acid. That’s another thing that’s problematic. Normal barriers would be dissolved if no one is continually feeding mana into it. And that’s not even thinking about what would happen if an elemental blast hit that barrier.”

“It would be shattered.”

“Exactly.”

“You’re worried about the low number of mages.”

“You could tell, huh?” Yuki said with a small smile that Akira returned. “I am. Physical attacks might not cut it. I’m trying to think of a way to use physical attacks, but they all boil down to whack away and hope you don’t get blasted to smithereens.”

“About this whole hydra situation,” Akira said. “This isn’t related to defeating it, but I was just curious. Why did you decide to get involved in this whole situation?”

“We signed a contract,” Yuki replied. “It’s part of the job.”

“But why did you sign the contract is what I want to know.”

“Oh.” Yuki pursed her lips. “Well, to put it short, it’s because of Yuna. If we’re not here, then she’s by herself fighting against that hydra. I don’t want to see her getting hurt.”

“I see. I feel the same,” Akira said.

“If it worse comes to worse, I’ll drag her away. I don’t want to see her die,” Yuki said. Just the thought of it didn’t sit well with her. “I can’t let her die.”

“Then we need to find a way to kill that monster.”

“Yes we do,” Yuki nodded. “But I can’t think of any real option.”

The two sat there quietly at the small table that rested in a corner of the hotel lobby as they thought. No one was near enough to them to overhear what they were discussing. Yuki reviewed over the issues that needed to be solved again and again, but solutions failed to appear.

“Zero,” Akira started slowly. Yuki’s ears perked up at her tone. She had an idea. “You said that you think that the Shikaku is behind this entire monster evolution thing, right?”

“Just a suspicion,” Yuki replied. “I’m not certain yet since I haven't found enough evidence. Why?”

Then let’s just say they are.” Yuki nodded, following her so far. “If they are involved, then why would they create a monster like the hydra? A monster they can’t control?”

“That’s something I was wondering as well,” Yuki frowned. “But I’ve really stopped thinking about it recently.”

“I can really only think of two reasons,” Akira said.

“What are they?”

“One is that they found a way to control the monster. But that seems unlikely since that facility was completely destroyed.”

“Yes. If they did find a way, then that hydra would be under their command and probably would t have destroyed everything.”

“Second is that they have a way to destroy the monster. Some hidden spell or powerful weapon. So if the monster rampaged, they could destroy it.”

The word weapon rang a bell in Yuki’s head. The Shikaku did have a weapon. A powerful one. Or really, they had a weapon.

“Oh god,” Yuki groaned. 

“What is it?” Akira asked, frowning.

“I think your second hypothesis is right,” she said. “They probably did think they could destroy the hydra. They had a weapon. Problem is, it’s kind of blown up.”

Akira tilted her head before understanding dawned in her eyes. That was followed by a small groan.

“Oh. That.”

“Yeah. I think it would have been strong enough to kill it,” Yuki said. “The laser.”

“I think so too. But it was either this, or let them have a weapon of that scale.”

“I know. A bit of a lose lose,” Yuki sighed. “Well. At least we know one way to kill it. Blast it with a beam with the power to run all of Junction.”

“Actually,” Akira frowned. “Since we don’t have a beam, what if we just made our own?”

Yuki scratched her chin.

“I don’t think we have the time or resources for that,” she replied.

“No, I don’t mean make a facility,” Akira laughed. “That would be way too much for us right now. I meant creating a beam of our own. An elemental blast.”

“A beam of our own,” Yuki repeated. She mulled over the idea in her head. “I can do a multi-elemental beam. I know the concept behind it as well. But we’re going to need mana. A lot of it.”

“How much?”

“More than you and I combined have,” Yuki said. “We’ll need a lot more. How big were those tanks in that place? The place with the beam?”

“I’m not sure,” Akira replied. “But, those ridyst crystals probably held most of the mana. I’m not sure how much they used per beam either.”

“Then we’ll take the safe route and say as much as we can get.”

“How would you gather that mana?” Akira asked.

“I’m not sure, actually. I don’t have anything to store it in,” Yuki said. She rested her chin on her hand. “And I don’t think we can generate enough mana before the fight.”

“Maybe we can borrow it.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re going to be working with an entire regiment of soldiers. They’ll have higher than average mana counts. If we can borrow their mana, we could do it.”

The idea intrigued Yuki. By taking a large number of people’s mana and combining them all to create a beam, it should make one strong enough to at least cripple the hydra. The only problem was that no one could use mana that wasn’t their own. Yuki was no exception.

‘Wait. Who says that I need to be the one using all that mana? I’m not even sure if I would be able to handle that amount.’

Pieces began to fly together in her mind as the wheels in her head turned.

“Autumn. You might be onto something,” Yuki murmured. 

“You have a plan?”

“I might have one soon,” Yuki replied. “I can’t borrow mana, but I can direct it. You remember the magic that I’ve been practicing lately?”

“I do. Why?”

“I can use some concepts from that, except instead of channeling my own mana, I’ll use the mana of others.”

“Which concepts?” Akira asked. “You had quite a few.”

“The altar and the target,” Yuki said. “I’ll need to alter them somewhat and find a way to combine them, but I have enough time.”

“Oh. I see,” Akira said, a smiling spreading across her lips. “Feed the altar to create the target. You’ll need a catalyst. Your necklace?”

Yuki’s hand went to the fine silver chain that wrapped around her neck and the gem that hung off of it. 

“Yes. That’ll be perfect,” Yuki nodded. A small spark of excitement ignited in her. “This might work. This just might work.”

“I’m glad I could be helpful,” Akira said. Yuki looked at her and gave her a smile.

“You know,” Yuki said, her voice low, “this reminds me of before. Us just thinking together.”

“I thought so too,” Akira replied. Her eyes drifted down. “We don’t really get to do that anymore.”

“True.” Yuki reached her hands out and touched Akira’s. “But, I have to say thank you. I don’t think I could have thought of any of this without your help.”

Akira only smiled in reply. But something in the back of Yuki’s mind told her that just saying thanks wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough for what Akira had just helped her with. 

“Um. I need to use the restroom,” Yuki said.  Akira nodded and began to pull her hands away, but Yuki held them still. “Want to walk with me?”

“Alright.” Akira’s eyes told Yuki she was confused, but she came with her anyway.

With their hands still entwined, Yuki led Akira to the hallway that led toward the hotel restrooms. Then she stopped halfway and turned around to face Akira, pulling her closer as she did. Akira’s eyes widened, but she let herself get drawn in.

“It’s been a while since it was just us,” Yuki whispered.

“It has,” Akira whispered back.

They gazed at each other, their faces just inches apart. Akira lifted a hand and tucked a strand of Yuki’s hair, her fingertips brushing against Yuki. Then, at the same moment, they leaned toward each other and kissed.

When they broke apart, their breaths came short and quick. Yuki’s chest pounded as an odd aching arose within her. More. Just this wasn’t enough. And from Akira’s eyes, Yuki felt that she felt the same.

“This is a hotel,” Yuki murmured. 

“We have some time,” Akira replied, pressing her head against Yuki’s breast. 

“What do you think?”

Akira looked up and gave Yuki another kiss, before giving Yuki a small smile.

“What do you think?” she whispered back.