Chapter 111: Grey: Why Did It Turn Out Like This! (Monthly Ticket Extra 18)
Chapter 111: Grey: Why Did It Turn Out Like This! (Monthly Ticket Extra 1/8)
“I received the captain’s signal, combining it with the real-time status from the gas elemental—”
“The first target location has been changed from the ladies’ clothing store to the Wandering Circus on Black Lily Street.”
“The captain’s call for help should be because the waiting time at the Wandering Circus is too long… Based on the current number of people in line, we may have to wait at least two more hours.”
…
Above the Royal City, a hundred meters in the sky.
A gas elemental is hiding in the swirling clouds, its gas-formed detection core focusing downward, observing the movements of two figures within the urban area of the Royal City.
At the same time, real-time intelligence is being transmitted via the gas elemental and its master’s soul circuit… to a wooden cabin on the outskirts of the city.
Inside the wooden cabin, the members of the Guardian team are closely monitoring the intelligence relayed by the gas elemental, busily engaged in discussions.
“What if we use money to pave the way and directly bribe the owner of the Wandering Circus to clear the venue?”
“Rejected. Queen Helen may lack common sense and be inexperienced, but she is definitely not a fool… A direct clearing of the venue would seem too deliberate, possibly raising the target’s alertness and making them suspicious of being manipulated by external forces.”
“So what’s the new plan? The captain is deliberately slowing down, but will arrive at the entrance of the circus in ten minutes, and we need to resolve this issue within that timeframe.”
“If the files are correct, we have placed our third sentry near the circus. Its sequence is the same as the vice captain, ‘Shadow’, and it possesses the ‘Whisper’ ability.”
“Can we use the ‘Whisper’ ability to spread rumors that the circus performances are quite boring among the crowd of spectators, quickly reducing the circus’s foot traffic?”
“Accepted. Quickly inform the third sentry via resonance crystal, and limit it to five minutes for the diversion.”
“Understood.”
In the command center on the outskirts, various suggestions are proposed, questioned, iterated, optimized, and rejected.
Until the final plan is established, the orders are quickly transmitted via resonance crystal, swiftly reaching the Guardian sentinels inside the Royal City.
One can only say that the Guardians truly live up to their name as the strongest force on the Order side of the continent.
Although accustomed to battling the Beast Tide, Iron Cross, and cult organizations… upon first hearing about the ‘date to make her blush’ plan from the Shadow Servant, they felt somewhat bewildered as it exceeded their knowledge range.
However, once the plan began to be executed, the Guardian team still demonstrated outstanding professionalism.
As a group highly valued by Leader Cisel, the resources and personnel at the Watchtower headquarters are allowed unlimited mobilization.
Although this era lacks the handy technological devices like intercoms and reconnaissance drones found in the real world, this Guardian team is still able to achieve similar effects using extraordinary items and supernatural abilities.
Suspended among the clouds, like a drone and a spy balloon, the gas elemental monitors the movements below…
Each team member has a resonance crystal that can transmit coded messages in real-time based on the internal codebook of the Guardians…
All the necessary configurations are complete.
Under the lead of the vice captain, Shadow Servant, even concerning the seemingly ridiculous task of “assisting Captain Rast to seduce Her Majesty the Queen,” the Guardian team still exhibits high execution power.
“The venue has been cleared. According to the intelligence relayed by the gas elemental, Queen Helen herself should not have noticed the abnormal decrease in foot traffic.”
“Captain Rast and the target have entered the Wandering Circus… If they enjoy the performances and watch everything, they should leave the circus in about an hour and a half.”
“The captain sent a new signal; all subsequent preset target locations need to be canceled and reset according to Her Majesty’s preferences—circus, opera house, adventurer tavern, detective agency, and fortune-telling club.”
“Also, with today’s schedule being so packed, they might not have time to eat at a restaurant.”
“Even though both the captain and Queen Helen are of a rank that allows them to maintain energy without needing to eat, sharing food is still an essential part of a date…”
“Set up mobile food stalls selling pancakes, grilled fish balls, etc.!”
“Understood!”
“Report!” someone interrupted.
“Based on previous reconnaissance in the Royal City… there are plenty of taverns, but there are no adventurers in those taverns.”
“The adventurer profession, along with detective agencies and fortune-telling clubs, are remnants from the golden age before the Catastrophic Era, now only found in some prosperous cities… Paradise City does not have them.”
“Is that a problem?”
Shadow Servant looked at his subordinate with disdain: “Since there are no adventurers in the taverns, then we’ll do it ourselves.”
“Aren’t we Guardians the best adventurers around?”
“Who can’t boast in a tavern? Just k*ll a lizard with a bit of dragon bl**d, and you can claim to be a dragon-slaying hero.”
“The same applies to detective agencies and fortune-telling clubs, even though they don’t exist in reality.”
“But since the target, Queen Helen, likes them, we should at least set up a club here.”
“We have a few hours left, let’s get moving! This plan must succeed, and failure is not an option! Don’t let Captain Rast’s sacrifices in character and dignity be in vain!”
“Understood!”
The team member nodded vigorously in agreement and went off to carry out the orders.
…
Inside the wooden cabin that serves as the command center, it is a bustling scene, with each Guardian finding their own role.
In the inner part of the cabin, Grey is seated before a wooden table, listening to the sounds of debate from the meeting across her, while her steel pen swiftly writes on paper, recording the details of this operation.
Lines of neat characters are drawn on the sheepskin paper used for internal records, but there is evidently a hint of irritation in her writing.
Clack—
Grey’s pen briefly pauses on the paper as she realizes she has made another typo.
“Little Grey~”
“Why do you seem a bit down ever since you learned the specific details of this mission?”
“When you first joined this team, weren’t you always full of energy?”
A clear female voice rings in Grey’s ears.
It belongs to a girl of a similar age, sporting a long ponytail.
She leans close to Grey, her eyes sparkling with concern.
“You used to always score full marks in cultural courses during the training for new Guardians; I’ve never seen you make typos.”
Grey glances at the ponytailed girl beside her and sighs lightly: “I’m fine, Yannis.”
Yannis, like Grey, is also among this group of newly appointed Guardians. They met during the initial training, and their relationship has always been good.
Yannis’s supernatural ability is “Familiarization,” allowing her to create her own soul circuits on various materials, refining them into familiars that obey her commands.
Due to the high applicability of “Familiarization” in reconnaissance, Yannis was chosen by Shadow Servant, and along with Grey, she became one of the two newcomers in the Guardian team executing the “Lost Paradise” plan.
The gas elemental floating over the city, monitoring the movements of Rast and Helen, was created by Yannis.
As she and Grey are both newly appointed Guardians, their ranks are not high.
Thus, to protect the newcomers, Shadow Servant chose to keep them in the command center.
Yannis is responsible for controlling the gas elemental, while Grey is tasked with documenting this operation for archival purposes upon their return to headquarters.
At this moment, Yannis seems to have noticed that Grey is different from usual, appearing somewhat downcast, and approaches with concern.
“My physical state is fine… I just don’t know why I’ve been feeling quite irritated lately.”
Grey sighs again, her pen tip twisting on the sheepskin paper as she erases the earlier typo and continues writing new text.
“No physical problems, but a mental anomaly?”
“Little Grey, according to the Guardian handbook, this very likely indicates you are suffering from Evil God pollution, a sign of soul corrosion… This must be taken seriously.”
Yannis’s expression turns solemn: “I’ll notify the vice captain right away.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Grey hurriedly grabs Yannis: “I’m really fine…”
“It’s just—”
Her gaze involuntarily drifts towards the window of the command center, in the direction of the urban area of the Royal City.
“I’ve been worried about some things recently, and it’s been hard to concentrate, feeling a bit absent-minded.”
This feeling is something even Grey herself finds difficult to articulate.
But ever since the vice captain disclosed the details of this operation to her, knowing that Brother Rast must seduce the Queen of the Underworld for the Guardians’ righteous cause, Grey’s heart has felt somewhat hollow.
As if… something important had been taken away.
“Absent-minded, lethargic, even while talking to me you sometimes zone out and space out…”
Grey felt Yannis’s suspicious gaze linger on her face for quite some time.
Suddenly, Yannis claps her hands: “I just thought of it! Little Grey!”
“I’ve read in romantic novels that this is how it goes.”
“Whenever a girl in her teens develops feelings but can’t have the person she likes, she’ll show this kind of expression.”
“Exactly! You look just like the descriptions in the book!”
Yannis circles around Grey curiously: “So who is this person?”
“John? Powell? Among our batch of newcomers, they are the only two who are relatively good-looking.”
“But during the initial training, you clearly didn’t give them any attention…”
“Yannis, what are you talking about!”
A flush of deep red appeared on Grey’s delicate white cheeks, instantly turning her into a steamy girl.
“Hahaha, just joking, just joking!” Yannis giggled.
After a bout of playful teasing between the girls, Yannis finally seems to have set aside her mischievous thoughts.
“Alas… Little Grey, you really have seen too little; it’s easy for you to develop feelings.”
“If you ask me, boys like John and Powell, who haven’t even grown a full beard, are not worth it.”
“Compared to them, I prefer mature men like Leader Cisel, they are steadier and give a greater sense of security than those boys.”
Yannis rests her chin on her hands, lost in a daydream.
Grey:…
I wonder if Leader Cisel knows you think so highly of him?
You dare to have such fantasies about the boss when you are still a rookie in the organization; I can only imagine what you’ll do when you climb the ranks to become a senior Guardian.
“Well, seeing you so dispirited and lifeless, let’s talk about something interesting.”
Yannis seems to suddenly become interested, changing the subject: “Do you remember our Captain Rast? His movements have always been mysterious; whenever we meet, he’s always in a hood, and we can’t even see what he looks like clearly.”
“I used to think that for Captain Rast to overshadow the vice captain and become the leader of the squad, he must be either a gray-haired old man or someone disfigured, otherwise, why would he wish to hide?”
Yannis quietly lowers her voice: “But this time, through ‘Cloud Duo’s’ long-distance focus… I finally realized the captain is actually this young and handsome.”
“No wonder he was sent to carry out that so-called ‘beauty plan’; I thought it was because he mastered some ability or supernatural talent to tempt others.”
“Captain R… Rast?”
Grey instinctively looks towards Yannis.
Her relationship with Rast in Frozen Water Town is something the other Guardians naturally do not know.
And Grey does not wish for them to know, as in her heart, this is their shared secret and memory that cannot accommodate any third parties.
However, at the moment she hears Yannis mention Rast’s name, she quickly perks up.
“Little Grey, let me show you something good.”
Yannis smiles mysteriously: “I’ve adjusted the distance of Cloud Duo’s focus for a long time to get this high-definition photo… It’s making my mouth water, I plan to keep this photo for myself.”
While saying this, Yannis picks up a blank piece of paper.
In the next moment, a clear image begins to slowly form on that white paper through the power of Yannis’s “Familiarization” ability.
Yannis indeed doesn’t exaggerate; the photo has apparently undergone meticulous focus and calibration, crystal clear.
The background seems to be a bustling street, and a boy with black hair and dark eyes stands in the morning sunlight, his figure tall and upright, side profile distinctly outlined.
This is a boy whose mere presence can stun the heart… no wonder Yannis would refer to it as “something good in my room.”
But what truly caught Grey’s attention is the part of the photo that is not the focus.
There is a girl with ice blue hair and a cold demeanor, evoking involuntary associations with the Snowy Mountains of the Northern Region.
Her slender body is hidden beneath the Guardian’s standard cloak, identical in style to Grey’s.
Seemingly fearing the swirling crowd would scatter them, her right hand tightly holds Rast’s left hand.
The two drift amid the bustling crowds, yet their hands remain joined.
Rast’s right hand guards in front of that girl, and amidst the ebb and flow of people, she has not been touched by the rushing throngs.
Looking at the scene in the photo… the boy unhesitatingly protecting the girl, Grey’s motions froze.
Rip—
The sheepskin paper held in Grey’s grip is suddenly torn by her pen.
The defense is broken!
The first time out as a Guardian to execute a mission…
The first time following Brother Rast, having a chance to help him…
Twofold happiness should yield a moment ephemeral like a dream.
But why…
Why did it turn out like this!
(End of Chapter)
