episode_0191

After being scolded thoroughly, we went into the room. It was for a serious explanation.

Lucian’s party also participated in the conversation.

Apparently, they wanted to hear why we left them behind.

As the second explanation session began, the Violets apologized to their friends.

“I’m sorry we left you behind!”

I bowed my head and apologized. It was certainly wrong to have left my friends on the island without telling them.

“Will they forgive us for this?”

“If they don’t, there’s nothing we can do!”

We Violets tried to gauge our friends’ reactions. Perhaps because we were hit, my head throbbed.

The physical pain was less due to pain dispersion,

but I could feel that my friends were truly angry. Even Daphne had hit my head with her staff.

“Why did you leave us behind? Huh?”

Kalia shouted.

Daphne also wore a gloomy expression. Seeing her friend’s hurt face, a wave of guilt washed over the Violets’ hearts.

“That’s right, you could’ve just said you wanted to do it alone. Why did you abandon us?”

I managed to open my mouth and explain.

“No! I didn’t abandon you! I just wanted you to rest. You’ll see later, but our operation was huge. That’s why I kept you out, because it might be dangerous.”

Irene murmured quietly.

“…Right, I understand. You don’t trust us.”

“It’s not like that!”

Glimmering eyes swept over my face. Unlike their golden color, those eyes were cold, without a hint of warmth.

That chill shocked me more than my friends’ angry words.

I’d been wondering why she hadn’t joined in scolding us earlier, and it must have been due to disappointment.

“Ugh… this isn’t something we can just gloss over…”

We slowly explained our original intentions.

That while we handled the work, our friends just needed to enjoy a peaceful vacation without stress.

“I’m sorry I lied. But this was dangerous work! We had to blow up the headquarters. And burn down the academy. It was to buy time, but we even fought with the chairman! I didn’t want to see you get hurt or go wrong.”

“Then you should’ve just told us that from the beginning. We’re friends, aren’t we? Do you think we wouldn’t grant a friend’s request?”

“Ugh… Still, I thought it would be better if you weren’t inconvenienced. How could I say that?”

“Inconvenienced? I see, so that’s it.”

Irene sighed.

Her expression seemed to say, ‘Of course,’ as if she had expected everything.

The expressions of my other friends, after hearing my words, twisted as if they were applicants who had just received a rejection notice from an interviewer.

A slip of the tongue.

While making excuses, I accidentally spoke my true thoughts.

“…Are we, are we an inconvenience? Is that it?”

When Levi looked at me with a tearful face, I shook my head violently.

“Absolutely! It’s not like that! I just thought you shouldn’t have to go through anything difficult!”

I said that and looked at my friends.

And I looked at the three girls right in front of me.

These friends were the reason I fought, the purpose for taking risks.

At some point, the Violets gained a duty to protect.

That was to keep their friends safe.

“Was it overprotection?”

One of the Violets muttered unintentionally.

With that as a trigger, words poured out of their mouths as if a floodgate had burst.

“If you were with us on the operation, you could’ve been caught in explosions. You could’ve been hit by stray fire. Plus, every single enemy we faced was incredibly strong! You could die. It wouldn’t matter if we died, but for you, one death is the end!”

Irene, who had been about to say something, closed her mouth.

“Furthermore, there’s a possibility your faces could be exposed or identities revealed during the operation. We destroyed a lot in this operation, but there are still remnants and branches of their organization left on the continent. What if your identities are discovered? We don’t have parents or wealth, but if that happens to you, you won’t be able to attend school later.”

“School?”

Daphne posed the question, and I answered.

“I told you, once this is over, we’d move to a good school like Aegis Academy. A place without senior bullying or strange rules. I want to take classes with you, play, and go on field trips! For that to happen, we naturally can’t have anything that could be held against us. Irene will also be able to solve the Helios problem later. The clan matter, I mean.”

Perhaps having heard the specific word mentioned last, Irene jumped to her feet.

“Helios? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, right. I was going to help with the clan’s affairs once the Magnabyss matter was settled. That way, your account won’t be frozen again! And I’ll give that suspicious uncle a good scolding too. Look, here’s a new investigation report.”

Excited, I pulled out the documents from my bag and spread them open.

Her calm eyes flickered for a moment, and Irene shouted.

“You…! Who told you to do this? Why are you doing things you weren’t asked to do, on your own terms? Why!”

My friend’s voice was trembling.

The Violets were fidgeting. Were they angry because we did something we weren’t told to do?

“Uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d hate it…”

“I did wrong! I won’t do things on my own like this again…”

I waited, fearing what answer would come, but an unexpected reaction occurred.

Tears welled up in Irene’s eyes.

“Huh…?”

When I came to my senses, Irene was hugging me tightly.

“You idiot, why are you volunteering for all this hardship by yourself…? Why are you doing this? We just held you back instead of helping…”

I answered.

“Because we’re friends!”

Before I knew it, Kalia and Daphne were also hugging us, one by one. I was embarrassed being embraced by my friends. Why were they suddenly acting like this?

The second explanation session ended with an unexpected embrace.

Still, I’m glad they forgave us in the end. Hehe.

***

Violet’s friends left the room with complicated feelings.

‘What can we possibly do for Violet?’

They pondered how much their pure yet fierce friend had done for them, and what they could do for their friend, who had grown up so much.

No matter how much they thought, they couldn’t find an answer.

As the friends tried to organize their complicated thoughts, wiping their reddened eyes and heading down, they noticed a woman in a suit leaning against the wall.

‘It’s the Internal Affairs agent who came with the inspector. I thought everyone had withdrawn?’

Just then, the woman saw the girls, approached them, and spoke.

“My name is Sophieel. As you can see, I’m with Internal Affairs.”

Sophieel shrugged. Irene asked.

“Weren’t you supposed to withdraw?”

While the girls looked puzzled, Sophieel replied with a kind smile.

“I’d like to go home too. But unfortunately, student Violet has suspicions against her, so she’ll have to be monitored for a while. Didn’t I explain just before we withdrew? I decided to stay here. It was my sibling’s request.”

“Sibling?”

“Yes, you didn’t know? The inspector, Seijis, is my twin sibling.”

After hearing the brief explanation, the students understood. So, it was surveillance on Violet.

However, they couldn’t hide their bewilderment at her next words.

“So, I’ll be staying here for a while as well. Please take care of me.”

Another future inspector and Internal Affairs agent smiled faintly and greeted them.

***

The day after the major incident, following the inspector’s investigation and visit.

Early in the morning, citizens who were trying to resume their daily lives, putting aside the shock of the previous day, saw countless parachutes adorning the sky.

The sunlight rising from the east encountered an unexpected obstruction, casting shadows on the ground.

Dozens of giant transport planes appeared, ripping through the sky and atmosphere with their noise. Even higher in the blue sky, countless white trails, seemingly from hypersonic fighter jets, crisscrossed the heavens.

But that wasn’t all that surprised the citizens.

After all, the occasional clan aircraft flying around was a familiar sight to them.

What truly shocked them was something else.

Steel behemoths the size of houses obscured the sky above the central district of the Western Sector.

A heavy, massive declaration was amplified and broadcasted across the ground.

“Ah, citizens. Rest assured. We have come for peace. Do not be alarmed, and please continue with your daily lives. We are currently conducting a peacekeeping operation…”

The most powerful monsters humanity had forged from steel and aether engineering, equipped with dozens of anti-gravity engines on each hull.

“We are the Federal Army’s 3rd Airborne Mobile Fleet.”

Air battleships.

The fleet formation, intended more for display and intimidation than practical use, greatly overawed those who saw it.

In the center of the formation, a colossal aerial aircraft carrier, as tall as a skyscraper, stood out conspicuously.

“To think those Magnabyss bastards actually fell. I don’t know who those Ariel Group friends are, but I’d like to buy them a drink.”

On one side of the bridge, where countless soldiers came and went, the Commander of the Military Intelligence Bureau chuckled heartily.

He found amusement in the deluge of protests and concerns from the three major clans pouring into the communication network.

It was a rare opportunity to legally overturn the dirty political agreements and flimsy treaties of those clan bastards, all under a justifiable pretext.

“Admiral. Shall we begin?”

The Admiral, hearing the Lieutenant General’s words, nodded.

“All units, prepare for descent!”

A new order was issued to the fleet and escort formations.

From the transport planes and air battleships, countless parachutes scattered to the ground like dandelions.

Landed Awakened soldiers, armed, moved to seize key strongholds.

Meanwhile, larger cargo, suspended by parachutes, descended to the ground. Rockets attached to both sides of their bodies flared, reducing their speed.

-Thump!

“Landing complete!”

Air cushions, rockets, and parachutes detached one by one. Hundreds of tons of ultra-heavy federal tanks rumbled down the middle of the main street.

“All units, move to key strongholds as per operational plan! Execute!”

Walking mechs, resembling small giants in size, patrolled the streets with Awakened agents.

Armored vehicles raced around. The ground shook, and noise filled the air everywhere.

Citizens, overwhelmed by the fierce momentum, ran in surprise into buildings.

On a mid-November morning, the Federal Army launched an assault on the Western Sector.

To put an end to the Western Sector serial terror attacks and the incident that would later be known as the Magnabyss Disbandment Incident.