When we arrived at Saratov, it was already sunset. It turned out that the time was 5:30 P.M.
Actually, our Teria airship halted in mid-air a few hours ago. Klaus mentioned something about checking up the internals and engines of the ship with the other staffs. He suspected there was a leak of some sort, and that was actually the case when he checked. It took longer than expected, but we continued to Saratov just an hour ago.
Of course, I was bored during that time. Fortunately, Sofeea and Hope played chess with me, so all was well.
Our Teria airship landed on a clearing not far from the city itself. The Lutalo group along with Gray Ludwig came out of the airship, and we were greeted with trees as far as our eyes could see. Two more Teria airships had already landed on that same clearing.
There, Beatrice and the Freya rebel group were waiting for us. Surprisingly enough, Jennifer was also there with them.
"Hola!" Caesar walked in front of us, presumably wanting to talk with those people. "You guys know where The People's Light is right now?"
"Somewhere in Saratov?" said Jessica.
"Yup. However, our Trackers seem to lean on the fact that they are underground, so to speak. There should be an underground hideout I suppose."
"Uh-huh. Technically speaking, yeah," said Jessica, unamused.
The rest of us behind Caesar caught up to him. Hope swept a quick gaze and coughed.
"I'm assuming The People's Light had been reduced to only dozens if they are indeed staying underground. Unless there's enough space for everything else, their members should be quite low in number," said Hope.
The rest nodded.
"So, how will the search go, hm?" asked Jessica to Caesar.
"Weeeell . . . How about we split into two groups, and each group carries an Aegis Tracker that Klaus had made. It's small, so one person for each group should carry it during the search."
Sofeea pulled out two white discs from her backpack. The discs then expanded to get to the size of a donut. "These are the mobile Aegis Trackers. These Trackers will respond to any tracking chips that had been installed in Aegis."
After she said that, blue arrow pattern popped into the surface of the Trackers. The sleek surface of it was a glass display, I suppose. The blue arrows spun around 360 degrees, responding to the Aegis Users nearby, which were the Lutalo group.
"Wait, so, how are we supposed to make it detect the Aegis User we want?" asked Inghild.
"That's why the one who carries the Tracker must be a non-Aegis User. When it detects one of the Users from The People's Light, the arrow will point directly at him or her," said Sofeea.
"Ah, I see."
Jessica took one of the Trackers while Gray Ludwig took the other one.
"So, I'm assuming I'll be with you Users?" said Gray.
"Yeah," said Hope simply.
Caesar clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Since the groups are two, I guess the Freya rebel group will go to the east of Saratov, while we, the Lutalo, will go to the west."
Beatrice nodded. "So that means--"
"We flip a coin! Yup!" Caesar pulled out a bronze coin and tossed in the air. He then caught it with one hand. "We decide which group go to east or west. What do you think?"
"We pick heads," said Inghild. "And we will go to the west after that."
Jessica narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't mind actually, but we can just decide right now without flipping a coin."
"I think it's fine," I said. "Caesar, Caesar! I want to flip the coin."
He handed me the coin and I immediately tossed it upward. When I caught it, heads was on top.
"That settles it, then," said Jessica.
I nodded. "Yup. Now let's go--"
"WAIT!" cried Jennifer.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"I want to go with the Lutalo group."
"Huh?!" Beatrice walked over to her side. "Why?"
"Because of my dear Hope," replied Jennifer.
She then ignored Beatrice and approached Hope. "I'm with you anywhere you go, Hope dear."
"Bllaaaargh!" Hope acted as if he was vomiting. After that, he looked at Jennifer with a serious expression. "Stop. Get some help."
"Um, if she's with Lutalo, then I'll go with her too," said Beatrice.
Hope rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on."
I pulled at Hope's uniform and whispered in his ear. "Did you forget about your promise with Luca? You agreed to get along with Beatrice. This is a chance for you to show that to her."
"Oh . . . Right." Hope stared at Beatrice and cleared his throat. "If you insist, I guess there's nothing wrong with it. But, Jessica might not like that."
Jessica walked over to our side. "I don't mind Beatrice spending time with her boyfriend. In exchange, I want an Aegis User to come with my group too for the search."
"B-B-Boyfriend?!" exclaimed Beatrice.
"Um, Miss Jessica," said Hope. "I'm sure that, after everything is over, Beatrice will still be a friend in my eyes."
"Friend-zone this early? Tough luck for you Beatrice," said Jessica, somewhat unenthusiastic.
Jennifer, on the other hand, was laughing at Beatrice.
"I'll come with your rebel group," offered Caesar. "If you don't mind that person being me, that is."
"But, Caesar!" said Lily.
"I'll be fine, Lady Lily. Anyway, keep Lady Ava safe for me. Can you promise me that?"
Lily nodded slowly. She didn't like the idea of having a group without Caesar, so she agreed with him with a heavy heart.
"I can take care of myself, actually," I said to both of them.
Lily shook her head. "The Four Pillars might be planning to come after you, Ava. Perhaps I can be of use when that time comes."
"Oh. The Four Pillars." I nodded at Lily. "Forgive me. Of course I need you and everyone else, Lily."
"It's alright."
After some time, the three Teria airships activated its invisibility cloak and the two groups went off to west and east respectively.
It didn't take long for the Lutalo group to reach the Saratov city. Though, as expected, the city was deserted. We proceeded to go to the east side, with Gray walking in front of us. Our group consisted of Hope, me, Sofeea, Jennifer, Beatrice, Lily, and Gray himself.
"Pfft. You got rejected," said Jennifer to Beatrice.
Beatrice adjusted her blue cap. "Hmph!"
"Ava," whispered Hope. "I think Beatrice is upset."
"Hahaha. You don't say, Hope . . . You don't say."
'Why is she upset though?' I thought.
To be truthful, it was probably because of what Hope said, but I was sure there was nothing wrong with it. Maybe, I could try to understand the relationship between those two.
"Hmm?"
Gray stopped walking and turned around to face us. "This Tracker seems to detect another Aegis User up ahead. Around that right corner in the street."
"Ava!" yelled Lily.
I was already running towards the corner in the street after Gray's statement.
When I emerged from that corner, I saw a few people in casual clothing kneeling in front of a tall man. He was wearing a simple gray T-shirt with black jeans. The man's short, dark hair had a silver strand coming out of it. The strand covered a part of his face, as he grabbed at another man's hair.
"Tell me where The People's Light are hiding," he demanded from the blonde man. "Tell me!"
"Ava, he's an Aegis User," said Aegis in my head.
After my Aegis said that, I quickly ran towards the Aegis User with a white scythe from my right arm.