"..."

"..."

"Why!? You're supposed to be with Ava at all times, Ludwig, Ayesha!"

Richard Andersson caressed his forehead with his gaze lowered. Even though he'd assigned two people to watch over his granddaughter, she still managed to slip away without anyone noticing.

The few people gathered there in the control room were restless. Ludwig scratched his head with his lips curved downward. He didn't know what to say to his superior concerning Ava's situation. After all, he was treating the injured the entire night, when Richard called him at one point.

Ludwig stared at the veiled girl standing next to him. Wasn't she supposed to be with Ava three hours ago?

"...Yes?"

Ayesha held the doctor's gaze firmly.

"...I'm guessing you know exactly what happened to the little miss," Ludwig said as quietly as possible. "And I heard Hope's missing too. Is he..."

"Your suspicion is understandable," Ayesha muttered, matching the man's low voice. "I assure you... those two will be fine. I'm planning to help them as we go about our business."

"...? That's a weird choice of word, but okay. I guess. I can see where this is going for you and me. It won't be good."

"Ludwig, Ayesha!"

Richard yelled at them. The two male and female duo braced for the long-hour lecture with an expressionless face.

═══╦═══

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"Ava's missing. She's our utmost priority, but we let her escape."

Beatrice listened to Jessica's report-like comments with her fringe covering her face. Watching those two silently as he leaned against the wall was Gawain.

He hadn't said a word since he'd entered Beatrice's room. There wasn't a need for him to say anything. Gawain had been this type of person who, if possible, would let his partner do the talking without him getting involved.

"...Hope is missing as well, and I could care less for that little girl right now. What will happen to him?"

Beatrice's sharp tone made for an uncomfortable atmosphere for a conversation. At least, Jessica thought so. She'd run her mouth without thinking, so it was her fault entirely.

"..."

"Hope will get kicked out from the group," Beatrice answered her question herself.

"Beatrice..."

"We come here to find the girl and take her back to our HQ back in the UK. The first part of our mission was easy enough. But then that girl went off on her own and ran away. What's with that? She should be thanking us! She should be in this base right now!"

"And she wants to find her parents, right? I'm sure she'll see her parents if we kill her—"

"Beatrice."

Gawain's voice cut Beatrice's incoherent line of thought. The green-haired girl shifted her attention to the blonde man.

"Don't burden yourself with these negative thoughts. Get some rest. I'm sure we'll see Ava again."

"..."

"You look childish when you let your emotions take over like that," added Gawain.

Beatrice bit her lip, buried her face in her pillow, and covered her entire body with a white blanket.

"What a brat."

"Gawain!"

Jessica stood up and pointed her finger at the blonde man. Usually, Gawain wouldn't say a word unless he had to, but there were times when he would utter sharp remarks as he had just now without warning.

"I was merely saying that she needs to grow up."

Of course, Gawain's reason didn't sit right with Jessica, and she dragged him to the hallway quite forcefully.

"I have taught you that you need to watch what you're saying," Jessica muttered as low as possible for Gawain to hear.

"...Sorry."

"Anyway, is your 'power' under control?"

"...? You should know better than anyone that I have it under control. As always."

"Not always."

Gawain noticed that his 'benefactor' was upset over his actions, more so than he'd thought. He could only think of bowing to get her to forgive him, and bow he did.

"G-Gawain?"

" I'm sorry for upsetting you. It will not happen again."

"L-Look, I get it, so stop bowing!"

Gawain abided the woman's request immediately and later followed her to her room. He realized that she was fidgeting for some reason, and he frowned.

(...Is she still upset?)

"S-See you later, Gawain," Jessica muttered, almost a whisper.

"Yeah. See you later. I have to check on the civilians, so I'll probably get my sleep a bit late."

However, when Gawain turned around, Jessica slammed her hand on his shoulder. Gawain was confused. What did she want from him?

For as long as he could remember, he could never really understand Jessica. While she had saved him, and therefore, he was indebted to her for life, her behavior had become strange after some time.

"...Why didn't you say that you wanted to go inside my room?"

Surely, Jessica's face was flushed, and her cheeks turned a pink hue.

"Huh?"

What did Jessica want? It was hard to say. After all, Gawain only sees her as someone he looked up, his benefactor for some time in the past. But Jessica loves him, to put it bluntly. She would shoot adoring looks at him from time to time, but even then, he shrugged it off.

There was no way Jessica sees him in that way, he thought.

Not understanding the woman's intention, Gawain walked away from her. He didn't notice Jessica's gentle gaze as he disappered into the hallway.

═══╦═══

═══╦═══

[At the Great Corporate United's Mobile HQ]

"An embarrassing failure for a simple mission. What's the reason for this?"

The Brunhilde's General stared at the Teria soldier standing before him, his fingers intertwined. Standing next to the General was a man in his military uniform.

An eyepatch covered this mysterious man's left eye. He appeared rather young for a soldier, but still, the intimidating aura he exuded left quite an impression on him. The Teria soldier bowing to his two superiors had sweat trickling down his forehead.

"Now, now. I'm sure it must be something 'interesting' that made him and the others ran away. Am I correct?"

The mysterious man's casual manner of speech was strange. It had caused the Teria soldier to respond a bit later.

"Yes! We were attacked by this young girl that had tendrils and whatnot coming out of her back!"

"What are you talking about?" asked the General, clearly irritated by this joke of a response.

"Now, now, that does sounds interesting, isn't it?"

The mysterious man walked over to the Teria soldier with a wide smile.

"A little girl took out thirty Teria soldiers on her own. That does sound like a laughable joke."

"But..."

"Now, now, I didn't say I don't believe you. I know exactly who this girl is."

"Huh?"

The General and Teria soldier looked at the man with wide eyes. They repeated what he had said in their mind.

"Ava Andersson, is it? A stolen subject from our lab. It was quite a nuisance, but we finally find her after all this time."

The mysterious man turned to face the General. "General, I offer my assistance this time, and only this time. I will catch the girl by myself. Don't let anyone interfere."

"..."

The way this person had used words such as 'stolen' and 'catch' was strange. To him, it was as if Ava is an object and not a human.

"Understood, my AU," responded the General.