“Enough of that, let’s get to work,” Melaine said as she rose from her seat, followed by Rekka and Chi. She then turned to Mizuki. “Mizuki. I’m sorry, but can you handle the weapons with Hyun-Woo and Hotaru?”

“Leave that to me. More importantly, please make the cure for Naomi. I can only count on you guys.”

Chi nodded her head with determination. “Please leave it to us. I promise that we will deliver the result as soon as possible.”

“That’s right, Mrs. Mizuki. You can leave this to us.” Added Rekka.

“Well then, let’s go.”

Melaine then left the room with Rekka and Chi. The three of them went to the science lab to fetch Jorden, who was now still working.

The science lab was busy. The researchers were working tirelessly to research the pills and the blood of the Esper Association’s Executives.

Amongst them, Jorden was the one who worked the hardest. He was giving instructions to the other researcher.

“Mr. Jorden. Where should I save the data that we got today?”

“Just put it inside the hard drive in the third section. Put it among the research about Esper’s blood.”

“How about the pill’s side-effects, Mr. Jorden? We are about to finish researching that thanks to the two executives that were brought here.”

“Continue researching that. We need to know about the side-effects as soon as possible so we can have an advantage in the future war.”

“Certainly!”

He was holding a stack of paper with a frown on his face. He then looked at the girl that he had just hired as his assistant, Anastasia.

“Anastasia! Bring me the document about the research of the two executives here!”

“Y-Yes!”

She was wearing a white lab coat like the others. Her ability, Scan, proved to be useful in researching the blood of the executives.

After Jorden instructed her, she could now know the chemical mixture of something when she used her ability. She could only do that when she concentrated, so she could still only do a normal scan of the human body.

However, scanning the chemical mixture of a substance took a toll on her brain. As such, Jorden only allowed her to do that when he was around.

“Here, Mr. Jorden!” She handed a stack of documents that she took from a cabinet to Jorden.

“Good. You have learned fast.”

“Y-yes…” Answered Anastasia nervously. She looked around and noticed Melaine and the others looking in their direction.

“Umm, Mr. Jorden. There is someone near the door.”

“Hmm?” Jorden then looked at Melaine and the other. When he saw them, he smiled and asked with a happy tone, “Oh! Lady Melaine, what brings you here right now? If it’s about the ring, then I believe I can finish it in two months or three. Or that’s the plan. But we can now finish faster in only a month, thanks to my assistant.” He looked at Anastasia with a warm smile.

Though, in Anastasia’s eyes, that smile was like a smile that a kidnapper had. Thinking about it, she was here because she was actually kidnapped in the first place.

‘What do I do here…?’ thought Anastasia.

On the other hand, Melaine smiled when she heard that. She had instructed Chi to make a ring that was able to use the executives' ability, and she said that the research would be done in a month or so.

However, Jorden said that it would finish in a month thanks to the assistant. This would make the work easier.

“Are you serious, Jorden?” Asked Chi. She couldn’t hide her happy tone because she heard that the time needed for the research was cut down to half.

“Yes, I am.”

“Thank god…” She patted her chest in relief. “To tell you the truth, Jorden. We need that ring in a day.”

“In a day… is it? But it will need a mon...–“ Jorden paused in the middle of his sentence as he looked at Melaine, who smiled evilly at him. “–I understand. I will have my assistant to help us too.”

“Eh?!” Anastasia let out a surprised sound. “Me?!”

“That’s truly helpful. Thank you for the understanding.” Said Melaine.

“It’s no problem. Shall we start now?” Asked Jorden. “Then Anastasia! Tell the other to leave the lab! We will have important research now!”

“Eh… eh?!” Anastasia was confused. Why did she get dragged into something that she didn’t want to be a part of?

“Now!” Shouted Jorden.

Anastasia was a bit afraid of him, so she quickly responded. “Yes!”

She then ran toward the other researchers and told them to leave the lab for now. She was able to free the lab in no time at all.

Seeing his assistant eager to work, Jorden chuckled happily. “Kukukuku, this will be an interesting thing.”

***

Naomi, who was kicked out, decided to watch a movie with Mischa in one of the movie theaters in Berlin.

However, there was one thing that he forgot. They were now in Germany, and he couldn’t understand German at all.

After he entered the movie theater with Mischa, he immediately pulled her hand and exited the theater. They immediately exited the theater because of the language and the movie… They only aired German movies with no subtitles in the theater.

“… Let’s just go shopping.” Said Naomi.

“Yeah…” Answered Mischa with a nod. Her gaze was focused on her hand, which Naomi held. “Umm… Naomi…”

“Hmm?” Naomi asked Mischa as he peered into her face. Right now, their height difference is more than 20cm. That was why he needed to bend a little to see Mischa’s face.

“H-hand…”

“Hand?” Naomi repeated and looked at his hand that held Mischa’s and let out a small voice. “Oh.”

He understood why Mischa seemed to act out of her character.

“I see…” Muttered Naomi.

Mischa seemed happy because it seemed like Naomi understood it. She sighed in relief and said. “Then, can you release it now?”

“No.” Naomi denied firmly with a smirk. “I will keep holding your hand.”

“Eh?”

“Yes. Because we are holding hands and we are going out as a boy and girl, I guess you can call this a date?”

“A date…?” Mischa’s brain short-circuited. She couldn’t understand what Naomi said to her.

Naomi, who saw Mischa’s reaction, chuckled. He was having fun teasing Mischa. He somehow wanted to be with her right now and keep teasing her.

He thought that being forced to rest was not bad at all.

There was some disappointment because he couldn’t watch a movie due to the language barrier, but he now thought that maybe shopping and trying on some clothes with Mischa was not bad.

‘Maybe I can have Mischa dress in something that I like.’

“Well then, let’s have our first date, Mischa. I will have you accompany me all day.”

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