"Someone actually dared to abduct someone from this orphanage? Their guts are really extraordinary. Don't they know about that woman?"
Inaba Tsukiyo, having quickly changed into her miko outfit, took mikazuki munechika and followed Bronya, tracking the footprints left by the abductors.
Child trafficking is not uncommon in Siberia. In this country, people would even sell themselves to survive, let alone mercenaries tasked with missions.
If these guys had abducted someone else from the orphanage, Inaba Tsukiyo might not have reacted. But the fact that they took Seele, a Little fellow she had grown fond of, was something she couldn't tolerate.
After tracking them, the abductors stopped next to a warehouse in the Baikal Lake region.
Bronya made her move. The guard at the main door was strangled to death by Bronya, who used a silk stocking as a weapon.
"Tsukiyo-jie..."
Casually tossing the gate guard aside as if it were nothing, Bronya looked at Inaba Tsukiyo, who was walking up behind her.
"Mm, I know. There are two floors, no basement. The innermost room on the third floor has three presences. My preliminary assessment is that Seele should have been taken there."
"Now, go grab someone to make the people in the room drop their guard, then rescue Seele. Leave the rest to me. I promise that not too many people will know about what happens tonight."
Opening her eyes, Inaba Tsukiyo, who had entered the warehouse, briefly told Bronya Seele's probable location before turning and walking in another direction.
This operation was likely a mercenary mission, and Inaba Tsukiyo found it strange that with so many people in the orphanage, those guys only took Seele.
Seele had told them during their time together that she had grown up in Cocolia Orphanage ever since she could remember, so there were no parents in her life.
Using Seele to extort Cocolia? Forget it. Although she wasn't entirely clear about Cocolia's true identity, she knew very well that Cocolia definitely had a massive organization behind her.
Cocolia was different from her. For Inaba Tsukiyo, between the lives of everyone in the world and the lives of those she cared about, Inaba Tsukiyo would unhesitatingly choose the latter.
Cocolia, however, was her complete opposite. Although she treated the people in the orphanage like her own daughters, Cocolia would absolutely sacrifice her own daughter to save more people.
Then there was only one possibility: Seele herself possessed extremely significant value, prompting those who abducted her to take her, even knowing that this was Cocolia's orphanage.
It's just... what exactly about Seele was worth them taking such a huge risk to complete this mission? Inaba Tsukiyo couldn't figure it out.
"Seele… do you have some other identity that we don't know about?"
After she dealt with everyone in the warehouse, Inaba Tsukiyo stood at the warehouse entrance, carefully reflecting on her time with Seele.
Seele was different from the others in the orphanage. This kind Little fellow's attitude towards her and Bronya was genuine, and it was for this reason that Inaba Tsukiyo got along with her.
"Could it be… because of Honkai? Even if the people in the orphanage can somewhat immunize themselves to Honkai Energy, or even control Honkai Energy and turn it into their own power, Bronya should still be stronger than Seele. What exactly is going on?"
Just then, the warehouse door opened, and Bronya, covered in blood, emerged from inside the warehouse with Seele.
Bronya seemed somewhat lost in thought, pondering something, while Seele was very scared, hugging herself, seemingly in fear of something.
'Is it fear from being kidnapped? That's right, after all, she's still just a child. It's only natural for her to be afraid when facing something like this.'
Unlike her, a legal loli, Seele was genuinely afraid. How could she not be scared when facing such a situation?
Approaching this girl who usually loved to act spoiled and smiled so much, Inaba Tsukiyo embraced her.
"...Tsukiyo-jie?"
"Mm, it's me, Seele. Don't be afraid, I'm here. No matter what happens, I'll help you."
Seele's height, strictly speaking, was taller than Bronya's. Not just Seele, but even Bronya's height had started to surpass Inaba Tsukiyo's.
Rather than holding Seele in her arms, it was more like Seele was leaning on her shoulder, like a face-to-face hug.
However, this hug, which didn't seem like comfort at all, made Seele feel incredibly warm. Tears streamed from her eyes, and Seele cried loudly.
Her shoulder became wet with Seele's tears, but Inaba Tsukiyo said nothing, merely stroked Seele's small head, comforting her emotions.
However, Inaba Tsukiyo did not realize the true reason for Seele's crying. When Bronya rescued her, the bloody scene awakened her true self.
A few days later, Cocolia returned to the orphanage and heard about Seele's abduction. She anxiously summoned Inaba Tsukiyo.
After Inaba Tsukiyo briefly explained the situation, Cocolia breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems your defenses around the orphanage aren't very good, allowing people to get in so easily. And for someone to abduct people even knowing your reputation, it seems that after two months of your inactivity, the Witch's reputation has gradually faded. Those people have probably set their sights on the orphans. In their eyes, anyone targeted by the Witch could certainly become a very effective killing tool."
"Boom!!!"
Cocolia slammed the table. Emitting a threatening aura, Cocolia stared at Inaba Tsukiyo like a lion ready to attack at any moment.
Facing Cocolia's imposing presence, Inaba Tsukiyo showed no fear. Her eyes opened, and the sound of a demon also appeared behind her. The two different auras collided.
Soon, Cocolia's aura dissipated. It wasn't that Cocolia's aura lost to Inaba Tsukiyo's; she simply calmed down.
The reason she had become like that just now was not because of Inaba Tsukiyo's provocative words, but because those guys dared to act on her territory, which greatly displeased Cocolia.
They could do such a thing when she wasn't at the orphanage? Then in the future, when she wasn't here, would people be abducted? Those people… how arrogant!
"I know what I need to do. Although doing this kind of thing is just a waste of time, to make these people understand how I earned my title of 'Witch', I might be gone for a longer period this time."
"Leaving right after you just got back? You're really an unqualified parent, aren't you? Do you really like the outside world so much that you don't like staying at home?"
"No, if I could, I'd also want to stay at home. But to save this world, I must get myself moving."
Cocolia stood up, ignoring Inaba Tsukiyo who was still in the office. She walked to the bookshelf where books were kept and pulled out a certain book from it.
As the book was pulled out, the bookshelf automatically moved to the right, revealing a hidden space.
In this hidden space, a greatsword, almost as tall as an adult, stood upright.
Cocolia reached out and very easily gripped the greatsword with one hand. She swung it up and down, checking its feel.
Although she hadn't exercised in a while, her body's memory was still there. Dealing with some fodder was still not a problem.
"A greatsword… is this your preferred weapon?"
"Just a favorite weapon. If you were hit head-on by this weapon, even you would be defeated by this blade. After all, this is the latest model of weapon; its power cannot be compared to simple weapons."
"The latest model of weapon… sure enough, the so-called 'Witch' is a member of some organization. So, is your organization 'Schicksal' or 'Anti-Entropy'?"
Inaba Tsukiyo had investigated two organizations named 'Schicksal' and 'Anti-Entropy' when she was still researching Honkai.
Anti-Entropy was originally a branch of Schicksal, but for unknown reasons, it broke away from Schicksal and re-established an organization named Anti-Entropy.
The commonality between these two organizations was their fight against Honkai, but Inaba Tsukiyo did not know what unknown secrets these two organizations fighting Honkai held.
"You even know about Schicksal and Anti-Entropy? You know more than I imagined."
"Besides carrying out assassination missions, necessary investigations still need to be conducted. Moreover, Schicksal's existence isn't a secret. With a little investigation, one can still find out a bit. However, one can only find their names."
Information about Schicksal and Anti-Entropy in the outside world is very scarce. It is extremely difficult to obtain information about these two organizations through ordinary channels.
Schicksal had the most information, after all, it had a history of several hundred years, fighting against Honkai since its very inception.
"I don't know your secrets, nor am I interested in your ideals of saving the world, and I don't think your ideas are that noble. But I just want to tell you, Cocolia. Do not provoke the people around me. This was the condition of our original deal, and the only one."
This time, Inaba Tsukiyo's eyes were no longer crimson, but shone with a brilliant blue color.
Although the crimson bloodiness was gone, this brilliant blue color reminded Cocolia of the feeling she had two months ago when she and Inaba Tsukiyo talked in the room, a feeling as if facing death itself.
"Could it be… are you a Herrscher?"
Just her gaze alone put such immense pressure on Cocolia. In Cocolia's impression, only the legendary Herrscher could achieve such a degree.
"A Herrscher? Haha~ I've learned something very interesting. Thank you for your information, Cocolia."
Closing her eyes again, although she didn't know what the Herrscher Cocolia spoke of was, she would investigate it.
She didn't want to break this peaceful life so quickly; she still wanted to rest well and adapt to this newly acquired power.
She touched her aching eyes. Although it hurt a little, Inaba Tsukiyo didn't dislike this feeling.
One must know that in the past, although she could open her eyes, her pupils had no sensation, but now she had a sense of pain, which was a good thing.
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