*
We quickly left the next day, with our backs turned to the base and the directions to the next one, we proceeded with an agile pace. The sky shone with a light blue hue and the morning rays of sunshine struck everything with extreme heat. As all the continents had merged together lousily, the continental effect became worse and the day becomes extremely hot as you go further from the sea.
There were attempts to circumvent this nightmarish consequence of The Great Disaster by introducing artificial rivers, but those can only be built so far with so little time. The only place that those had helped were the more exterior regions of the Sanctuary. Central had to make do with magic instead, a group of similarly skilled magical girls had to make large reservoirs, rivers and lakes around Central to simulate the previous environment.
During the merging of all the continents by The Great Disaster, other than the disappearance of the entirety of Australia, the ground had closed up on all the lakes and water bodies. That was why it was so hot to travel during the day, however the night was even more dangerous as the enemy could use physical traps that we couldn't sense with our magic to harm us. Well, not that I have my sense of magical particles anymore. I lost that along with my sense of touch. Though I don't remember what those felt like before.
***
Somewhere far away. Despite the blazing morning light, the room was dimly lit and also poorly maintained. The walls were old creaky wood full of perforations that let slip slivers of sunlight, but nobody dared to peak into those holes. As the saying went, curiosity killed the cat. Anyone could recognise who was inhabiting such a rundown building, not to mention the street it was in. It was situated in the middle of a slum like area.
While the poor were actually quite spread out and given some welfare due to governmental efforts, there were simply some who didn't want to fulfill the requirements for that welfare. Before The Great Disaster, we would call these people neets or shut ins, people who wouldn't contribute to society. But these weren't some simple neets, these were criminals that actively harm the foundation of society, its citizens.
"Hugh! P-please.... At least spare her... She's not related to this..." (?)
There was a tied up man bound to a wooden chair by his torso and legs. It seemed like if he moved a little the chair would split and fall apart, but surprisingly it still held its integrity as shown by the countless blood stains and odours permeating it. It was like a part of history at that point for that organisation as it had seen so much action.
The man's arm was bound onto the table and unlike a normal human, he only had 3 fingers. He wasn't born with only 3 fingers on that hand. It seemed like he would get an infection at any time and keel over from the blood lose, but through the tears, snot and piss he was still pleading for the life of his daughter. He was supposedly a normal citizen like any one else in Central, but he ended up here due to not being able to pay a debt.
It was the usual illegal money borrowing, as they were not official money lenders their interest rates were too high for any common citizen. His business had flopped twice already and the bank refused to lend him any more, so he turned to this side.
"Oh~ don't worry! We will take care of her very well as well~" (?)
A deeper voice on the other side of the table spoke with a singsong tune that didn't match his tone. His words were playful as if he believed he could still taunt this cornered man who had nearly given up hope. He had believed....
"What's this? You tried to call the authorities? Hehe... Hehe.... HEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAH!!! HUHUHUHEHEHEHHEHEH!!!!
Well, nice try. But those guys you contacted weren't police." (?)
"Huh?" (?)
A horrified expression dyed the man's face in terror. A crippling fear seized his heart to a stop as the cogs in his mind quickly turned to make an explanation. There wasn't much to think about. Those people he talked to were the loan shark's underlings. But to arrive at such a conclusion would invoke so much despair that his brain rewired away from it and tried to find an alternative answer. Watching his confusion, the twisting and turning of his eyes and cheeks on the held capitive's face, he the loan shark thoroughly enjoyed himself.
"Do you understand? Those guys at the bank too, specifically the ones working that shift that refused to lend you money..." (?)
Finally the despair settled in. His eyes became lifeless and anxiety overloaded his heart. All he could think about now was his family. His single daughter and sick wife. They had miraculously survive The Great Disaster, but he inevitably lost his job as most of the previous companies were abolished.
But he couldn't find a new job that he was suited to, time and time again he was fired from his new workplace. His only relief was the smile of his daughter running up to him when he arrived home. His weary body and mind soothed by her lovely and cheery existence. She even promised to work and help him when she finished her education. She was only 8, such a low level of education was easily set up after the disaster so that children could receive it.
What a bright future he once envisioned, his right hand easily slip out of the restrains with 2 less fingers, to stretch out towards the dim lamp light. He admired that dirty and meagre light until the light in his eyes faded.
"Tch, dispose it. We have plenty of time so we'll fetch his family tomorrow. The boss said that we have to strengthen our vigilance. I'm sure you guys know what that means." (?)
As if he was looking at an insect, he spat in his mouth before he ordered his subordiantes. Behind him were 3 other guys wearing bullet vests and holding machetes. Even though it had been a year since The Great Disaster, arms production was simply too slow that only a selected few guarding the higher governmental positions could access them. That put them in a rough spot if one of them went for what was known as 'bandit hunting', but that was a rare occurrence not worth their time.
"Yes sir. We'll pull in net A, permission to execute, sir." (?)
It was foreseen that some people may get unruly. They were use to being the centre of such occasions, it wasn't uncommon for people to be dissatisfied and begin to rebel. For that, they created a 'net system' to classify all their business dealings and involvement in the public sector. Net A was the most superficial group of activities that pertained to all their interactions with the public. As for pulling back net A, that meant that their underlings either pulled back from current operations involving the public or go passive and blend in.
"Permission granted. Looks like we can't be too careful. We'll, let's retire for today. You guys are dismissed after you wrap up net A. Tell the guys in net B to watch out." (?)
Net B was those who deal with the regular clients. New regulars, old regulars. These clients often get preferential treatment and undergo even more intensive procedures that keep things under a second layer of confidentiality.
"Yes sir. And what should we do about his family after capture?" (?)
"Sell 'em. Bye." (?)
Losing his patience with all the procedures, he ended the conversation in a hurry while grumbling on his way out. He had average ruffled black hair and a face thay looked like he aged 40 years even though he was only in his 20s. He wore a casual shirt and coat, along with torn jeans and old greying shoes. The shoes' black prints faded and its white base had withered into a grey, making the shoe a few tones of grey.
Though he had subordinates and thus a managerial position, he was still one of the lowest in the echelon of the cult, in charge of only the small happenings that are involved when dealing with money. Similarly, they had a front cover company that generates their needed funds like the Rising Knight Order, this allows them to operate more discreetly under the guise of a business.
However, counterintuitively, they required their employees to already be a little well off before joining the company. This was due to their high requirements of having a communication device, ones powered by ambient magic have become widely accessible. This device was used to form an intricate network of security and communication, making the cult one of the biggest operating secret organisations with the most formidable security. That is... Until...
"Mhmm, yeah. I just finished up, Derrick. I'm heading back now, got some stuff piled up tomorrow so I gotta sleep in. Alright, catch you later." (Agrian)
"Hmm?" (Agrian)
A cold shiver passed through his elbows. Was it the evening wind? Night was likely approaching so he fastened his footsteps. Despite residing in such a dark organisation, he had his caution increased in the night. Surprise attacks on his organisations weren't much of a rare occurrence.
Though there is surveillance covering large swathes of area around their base of operations, there were certain small corners that weren't monitored so thoroughly. Some of the watchers also don't have the habit of scrutinising every single person they see, they simply take note of how many people have passed through. Well, this wasn't such an obscure place to have people walking through... But a little girl? Agrian was heavily confused, but he kept his composure with his months of experience. His heart gradually beat faster but he took no note of it.
He had joined half a year after The Great Disaster, so his employment was nearly a year now with only a couple months short. His intuition told him something was up as a young girl in a red shirt and black shorts, roughly 8 years of age stood in his way. Moreover, her gait was pretty strange for a child, it contained none of the naive innocence a regular child had in every single one of their hops. Rather it was like something else in human skin. In any case, she could just be a lost child and Agrian was over thinking it. A stiffness took root in his temples.
Wait... 8 years of age... Where had he heard that recently? In the blink of an eye, she had already approached near his stature. He attributed it to him being deep in thought, so he didn't noticed when she got close. In any case he didn't sense any use of magic nearby. But what was this odd feeling plaguing his heart? What was... Squeezing it! He jumped back out of reflex, putting distance between himself and the girl. That's it! If security could detect such an individual that he deemed dangerous himself, then it must be an especially powerful... Magical girl.
Vigilantes like this weren't rare as well, he had taken it up to himself to learn to perceive magical particles. He also taught himself some useful blood magic. Yes, he was what was known as a witch. A rare existence of a human that cannot transform into a magical girl, but could perceive magic and perhaps use it.
"It's already too late. You've stepped into it. Territory skill [Damsel of distress]" (?)
"Blood technique - Fortitude." (Agrian)
He judged accurately, from the abnormal state of his body to the name of the enemy's skill. He deduced in an instant that it was a mental attack and hardened his will and mental strength. It also increased his overall physique and durability, so it was his universal go to technique for safety. It was a unique process that only a witch lik him could pull off. Others in the same level as him in the organisation, usually can't even perceive magical particles. In that sense, he was special.
"I told you it was too late." (?)
A soft and charming voice whispered coldly behind his neck. Thankfully, this was one of his predicted scenarios. Being a witch which by nature had no ridiculous augmentation like a magical girl would, his blood magic had more versatile uses and a much larger variety of effects. This was one of them.
The strange girl was taking advantage of her augmentation, moving at a speed that Agrian couldn't perceive, easily trigerring his trap. The moment his soft barrier was breached, a large explosion erupted at the point of penetration. The explosion gave off a smoke that when inhaled created a magical illusion. It was a simple one, it cloaked anyone that was in her vision with light rays, making them invisible.
Of course such a weak explosion couldn't offset all her strength. He ran with a large open gash in his back. It's leakage barely stopped with another useful blood technique.
"Ugh, fuck! Was she that guy's daughter? Why does a little girl have so much power?!" (Agrian)